Knee injury to sideline UTSA’s Jhivvan Jackson for the season

The season for record-setting UTSA freshman guard Jhivvan Jackson has come to an end.

“Unfortunately, Jhivvan suffered a knee injury that will require surgery,” coach Steve Henson said in a news release. “This is a season-ending injury.

“Jhivvan was having a terrific season for us. We have a fantastic team of athletic trainers and doctors who will take great care of him.”

Photo caption: UTSA’s Jhivvan Jackson (left) poses after a team practice with his grandfather, Flor Melendez, a former Puerto Rico national team coach.

Leading a hoops resurgence

Jackson suffered the injury in the opening minutes of UTSA’s last game on Saturday night, a 74-64 home victory over Louisiana Tech.

The 6-0 guard from Puerto Rico had a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam on Monday, and UTSA released the results Tuesday morning.

In 29 games, Jackson led UTSA to a 17-12 record, the most wins in a season for the Roadrunners in six years.

He also set the UTSA freshman scoring record with 534 points.

His effort surpassed the previous mark of 483 established 19 years ago by former Spurs player Devin Brown.

Brown’s first year at UTSA out of West Campus High School was in 1998-99.

Jackson also made his mark nationally, averaging 18.4 points for he fifth highest average among freshmen in NCAA Division I.

Freshmen ranking ahead of Jackson in the latest Division I scoring list include Oklahoma’s Trae Young (28.3), Howard’s RJ Cole (23.6), Duke’s Marvin Bagley III (20.7) and Arizona’s Deandre Ayton (19.9).

Young leads all scorers in Division I.

Looking to the future

But in UTSA’s 97-85 loss at OU earlier this season, Jackson had 31 to Young’s 28.

“Jhivvan’s support from his family is terrific, and he has an extremely bright future with us,” Henson said.

UTSA closes out the regular season this week with road games at North Texas on Thursday and at Rice on Saturday.

The Conference USA tournament is scheduled March 7-10 in Frisco.

Jackson was born in Bayamon Puerto Rico, and played on three Puerto Rican junior national teams.

He moved to the Dallas area in middle school and attended Euless Trinity High School.

Azubuike leads Kansas past Bamba-less Texas, 80-70

The sixth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks clinched the Big 12 basketball title outright Monday night, downing the short-handed Texas Longhorns, 80-70, at Allen Fieldhouse.

Two days ago, Kansas won on the road at Texas Tech to secure at least a tie for the crown.

By beating Texas, the Jayhawks (24-6, 13-4) won their fifth game in a row and ensured that they would finish in first place all alone for their Division I record 14th straight championship.

Kansas center Udoka Azubuike scored 20 points to lead Kansas. Guard Svi Mykhailiuk added 17.

Not to be outdone, Jayhawks point guard Devonte Graham added 10 points, 11 assists and four rebounds, fueling speculation that he could challenge Oklahoma’s Trae Young for Big 12 Player of the Year honors.

“I knew I was going to cry,” said Graham, a senior playing his last game at home. “I wasn’t trying to play it off like a tough guy. We got to bring all the trophies out, watch the videos and really soak it all in. It’s special.”

For the Longhorns (17-13, 7-10), the loss left them in uncertainty as to how their record will stand up to scrutiny by the NCAA tournament committee.

Texas might need to win in its regular-season finale against West Virginia, and then win at least a couple of games in the Big 12 tournament, to get an NCAA invitation on March 11.

In their favor, the Longhorns battled hard against the Jayhawks, even without injured freshman center Mo Bamba.

Trailing by 13 at the half, the Longhorns put on a surge to cut the lead to six with 15 minutes remaining.

In response, Marcus Garrett hit a layup and Malik Newman buried a three for Kansas, expanding the lead to 56-45.

Later, Texas charged again, with guard Jacob Young making a steal and a layup to pull the Longhorns within 77-70.

But Kansas, aided by a Texas turnover, scored the final three points in the last 80 seconds to put the game away.

Kerwin Roach produced 18 points, eight assists and four rebounds for the Longhorns.

Henson, UTSA eye postseason possibilities in CBI or CIT

The UTSA Roadrunners are in discussion about the possibility of playing in the postseason beyond the Conference USA tournament, coach Steve Henson said Monday.

Henson and the Roadrunners have two games left in the regular season, both on the road, against North Texas and Rice.

UTSA plays at North Texas on Thursday and at Rice on Saturday.

After that, the team will re-focus for the conference tournament, which is set for March 7-10 in Frisco.

Winning the title in Frisco is the goal, because, with it, the team also would get a ticket to the NCAA tournament.

But Henson said even if UTSA comes up short of the dream scenario, it still could play in either the College Basketball Invitational or the CollegeInsider.com tournaments.

“Very strong possibility of that,” Henson said. “With the overall record right now (17-12) those tournament directors … are already fielding inquiries from a lot of teams in positions like us.

“I think there’s a very good chance of that happening.”

UTSA is playing well, having won three straight and seven of eight.

Regardless, the team knows it faces the possibility of playing the rest of the way without injured star Jhivvan Jackson.

Jackson suffered a left knee injury early in Saturday night’s home victory over Louisiana Tech.

As a result, UTSA’s leading scorer had an MRI on Monday and wasn’t practicing Monday afternoon.

Henson said it’s possible that Jackson has an anterior cruciate ligament injury, which traditionally takes months of recovery time.

“We’ve been playing a lot of guys lately, the coach said. “A lot of guys have been producing. The guys are ready to step up and move on and hope we get some good news.”

Virginia claims No. 1 ranking for third straight week

Virginia is the No. 1-ranked team in college basketball for the third straight week, according to the Associated Press poll released Monday.

AP Top 25
Feb. 26

1 Virginia 26-2 ACC
2 Michigan State 28-3 Big Ten
3 Xavier 25-4 Big East
4 Villanova 25-4 Big East
5 Duke 24-5 ACC
6 Kansas 23-6 Big 12
7 Gonzaga 27-4 West Coast
8 Purdue 26-5 Big Ten
9 North Carolina 22-7 ACC
10 Cincinnati 25-4 American
11 Wichita State 23-5 American
12 Texas Tech 22-7 Big 12
13 Ohio State 24-7 Big Ten
14 Auburn 24-5 SEC
15 Michigan 24-7 Big Ten
16 Tennessee 21-7 SEC
17 Rhode Island 23-4 Atlantic 10
18 Clemson 21-7 ACC
19 Arizona 22-7 Pac-12
20 West Virginia 21-8 Big 12
21 Nevada 25-5 Mountain West
22 Saint Mary’s 27-4 West Coast
23 Kentucky 20-9 SEC
24 Middle Tennessee 23-5 Conference USA
25 Houston 22-6 American

Top 25 notable

Virginia clinched its third ACC title in five years by beating Pittsburgh, 66-37. Cavaliers held the Panthers to seven points in the first half…

Michigan State claimed the outright Big Ten championship with a 68-63 victory Sunday at Wisconsin. Sophomore guard Miles Bridges was cleared by the NCAA just before game time after he was linked in media reports to the college basketball corruption scandal …

Xavier was hammered by 16 at Villanova on Feb. 17 but rebounded last Wednesday to beat Georgetown 89-77. Freshman Naji Marshall was the man with a career-high 21 points. Xavier leads Villanova by one game in the Big East …

Villanova suffered a blow to its conference title chances when it lost Saturday at Creighton, 89-83, in overtime. Guard Phil Booth has returned to play the past two games after sitting out a month with a broken hand, but the Wildcats have lost three of their last six …

Center Marvin Bagley III has returned for Duke after sitting out four games with a knee injury. Bagley, a projected NBA lottery pick, scored 19 in a 60-44 home victory over Syracuse. Duke plays at Virginia Tech tonight …

Texas Tech point guard Keenan Evans is shooting just 2-for-13 from the field in his last two games while trying to play on an injured toe. The Red Raiders lost both games, at Oklahoma State and Kansas, to fall out of first place in the Big 12. Tech plays at West Virginia tonight on Big Monday.

Selection Sunday is two weeks away, so, who’s in?

With two weeks remaining until Selection Sunday, here are the Texas-based teams projected into the NCAA tournament by Jerry Palm of cbssports.com:

(3) Texas Tech, in the South, at Dallas
(6) TCU, in the East, at Dallas
(7) Houston, in the West, at Pittsburgh
(9) Texas A&M, in the South, at Charlotte
(12) Texas, in the East, at Dayton (R-68)

Note: Texas is projected to play in the round of 68 and the others in the round of 64.

Coaching uncertainty shadows No. 14 Arizona

Who is the coach of the 14th-ranked Arizona Wildcats?

It’s uncertain after assistant Lorenzo Romar coached the team Saturday night in Eugene, Oregon.

Embattled head coach Sean Miller wasn’t on the bench as the Oregon Ducks downed the Wildcats 98-93 in overtime.

Miller’s status is apparently under review after a report linking him to college basketball’s burgeoning corruption scandal surfaced late Friday night.

Here is the full story from azcentral.com.

The adversity comes at an inopportune time for Arizona.

The Wildcats host Stanford and Cal this week to close their regular-season schedule.

Also looming? The Pac-12 tournament and the NCAA tournament.

In the meantime, Arizona (22-7 and 12-4) is clearly in need of coaching-staff clarity.

UTSA rallies to beat LA Tech, 74-64, after Jackson limps off


Known more for his jump shot, UTSA forward Deon Lyle weaves through traffic and double-clutches for a layup late in the game against Louisiana Tech.

UTSA shrugged off an injury to its leading scorer Saturday night and won its 17th game of the season, 74-64, over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

Playing for most of the night without guard Jhivvan Jackson, who hurt his left knee early in the first half, the Roadrunners rallied with double-figure scoring from Deon Lyle, Giovanni De Nicolao, Keaton Wallace and Byron Frohnen.

“LA Tech’s a good team with a lot of good athletes, and they shoot the ball very, very well,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said. “We had to lock in and do it with our defense tonight. We did some good thing offensively, but I loved our fight and our effort on the defensive end.”

Lyle led the Roadrunners with 17 points and seven rebounds. He hit five 3-point baskets.

De Nicolao scored 11, including nine points in the final 5:28. Wallace contributed 10 points and eight assists, while Frohnen produced 10 points and nine rebounds.

Guard Jacobi Boykins scored 17, including a 3-pointer to pull the Bulldogs to within three with 3:42 left.

But Boykins was held without a point after that against UTSA’s stingy perimeter defense.

LA Tech forward Oliver Powell added 14 points and guard Exavian Christon came off the bench for 11.

With the win, the Roadrunners remained in fifth place in the Conference USA standings, one game out of fourth with two to play.

The top four in the C-USA get a bye through the first round of the tournament.

UTSA’s main concern looking forward is the status of Jackson, who is scheduled for an MRI early next week.

Diagnosis on Jackson termed ‘very concerning’

“It’s the type of play that looked bad,” Henson said. “The initial diagnosis is very concerning. We’ll just have to wait until we get more (information).”

Henson said he was proud of Jackson for displaying a positive attitude on the bench.

“It’s a very, very difficult thing,” the coach said. “The doctor told him it was serious. He could have sat over there and pouted but he stayed very involved.

“He was involved in the huddles. In the locker room at halftime, we could hear him talking to the players before we got in there.

“So, it’s hard to keep your head up in a situation like that. But he handled it very, very well.”


UTSA forward Nick Allen sees an opening on the baseline and takes it to the rim for a stuff against Louisiana Tech.

In the opening minutes of the game, Jackson appeared to be in good form. He hit two three pointers and was active defensively.

On the fateful play, he took off speeding down court on the dribble and drove hard, only to crumple to the court underneath the goal.

Staying on the floor until a trainer came out, the 6-foot guard from Puerto Rico was helped off without putting much weight on the leg.

Jackson was leading the team with an 18.9 average, the fifth best in the nation for freshmen.


UTSA guard Giovanni De Nicolao maneuvers into the lane and lofts a soft floater into the net for two points late.

Records

UTSA 17-12, 10-6
Louisiana Tech 16-14, 7-10

Seniors’ last hurrah

It was a sweet win for UTSA’s four outgoing seniors, Austin Karrer, Kendell Ramlal, James Ringholt and Kyle Massie, who waved to the crowd for the last time at the Convocation Center.

Karrer, from New Braunfels Canyon, had four points, three rebounds and an assist. Ramlal also scored four points, including a mighty, two-handed slam at the end for UTSA’s last field goal.

Karrer said he had “mixed emotions” playing for the last time at home, noting, “l love these guys. I’d spend four more years here if I had ’em.’ They all know that. They know I love ’em. I’d like to think they played a little harder for me. I’d like to think that, at least.”

Coming up

UTSA at North Texas, Thursday; UTSA at Rice, Saturday (end of regular season)

C-USA tournament, March 7-10, at Frisco

UIW beats A&M-Corpus Christi, snaps 17-game losing streak

The beleaguered Incarnate Word men’s basketball program snapped a 17-game losing streak Saturday afternoon, beating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 69-62, on the road in the Southland Conference.

Charles Brown III, Shawn Johnson and Augustine Ene scored in double figures for the Cardinals’ first victory since Dec. 16 when they beat Missouri-Kansas City at home.

“It was a great team win with a lot of people contributing,” UIW coach Ken Burmeister said. “It was nice to hang in there when the game got tight.”

Brown produced 18 points and eight rebounds for the Cardinals, who improved to 6-20 and 1-15 in the SLC.

In addition, UIW’s Shawn Johnson had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Augustine Ene had 12 points and four assists.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi allowed UIW to hit 11 3-point shots in falling to 9-17 on the season and 6-10 in conference.

Joseph Kilgore (23 points) and Sean Rhea (18) led the Islanders, who shot 39 percent from the floor and 25 percent from three (5 of 20).

Coming up

UIW hosts two games next week, taking on Houston Baptist Wednesday night and then closing the season against Abilene Christian on Saturday afternoon.

Arizona coach Sean Miller linked to basketball corruption scandal

Add the name of Arizona head coach Sean Miller to the burgeoning corruption scandal in college basketball.

ESPN is reporting that Miller discussed with a representative for a professional player agent a plan to pay $100,000 to center Deandre Ayton.

Authored by Mark Schlabach, the story is linked here.

The corruption investigation by the FBI came to light last fall with indictments of officials in and around college basketball for bribery and fraud.

Among those indicted were assistant coaches at Arizona, Auburn, Oklahoma State and Southern Cal.

The story intensified earlier this week when the NCAA ordered Louisville to vacate victories over a four-year period that included the 2013 national title.

Louisville fired coach Rick Pitino last fall after Pitino was linked to a plan to pay a recruit.

Pitino has not been charged criminally.

Another chapter in the tale unfolded Friday when Yahoo Sports reported that players from more than 20 Division I teams had been identified as possibly breaking NCAA rules, according to information uncovered in the probe.

See the story, written by Pete Thamel and Pat Forde, here.

Some of the players identified are being held out of practices and games leading into the final few weeks of the regular season.

Texas, for instance, is holding out guard Eric Davis Jr.

But other schools, namely Duke, Alabama and Michigan State, are allowing players linked to the investigation to play.

Those players include forward Wendell Carter at Duke, guard Collin Sexton at Alabama and Miles Bridges at Michigan State.

With the reports swirling about Miller and Ayton, Arizona is set to play tonight at Oregon.

Miller was unavailable for comment to the media Friday night, per a story at azcentral.com. See the story here.

Arizona (22-6, 12-3) and Southern Cal (20-9, 11-5) are 1-2 in the Pac-12 standings.

The 7-foot-1 Ayton, averaging 19.6 points and 10.9 rebounds, is considered a potential NBA lottery pick if he comes out for the draft this summer.

UTSA beats Southern Mississippi for its 16th victory

Nearly two years have passed since the UTSA men’s basketball program bottomed out with a 5-27 record.

Nick Allen was a part of that squad, and so he takes great pride in knowing that he has figured prominently in re-making a culture that prides itself on winning.

Allen produced a career-high 18 points and 11 rebounds Thursday night, and UTSA won its 16th game with a 64-56, grind-it-out victory over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at the Convocation Center.

The 6-8 junior from Arizona was beaming when a reporter asked about the atmosphere in the locker room.

“I think we’ve won six out of the last seven, so that’s huge,” Allen said. “The locker room culture has definitely changed. I was part of the team that didn’t do too hot two years ago.

“And, it’s crazy how much the culture’s changed. We want to win. It’s a lot (more fun). Everybody wants to win. Everybody wants to be here. So, it’s definitely nice.”

With the victory, UTSA improved to 16-12 overall and 9-6 in Conference USA. Southern Miss fell to 13-16 and 6-10.

The Roadrunners remain on pace for their best record since the basketball program transitioned out of the Southland Conference six years ago.

UTSA finished 18-14 and 10-6 in conference in 2011-12, its last year in the SLC.

The nine conference victories are the most for any UTSA team in the past five years, since it played one year in the Western Athletic Conference and the past four in the C-USA.

With three games left in the regular season, plus the C-USA tournament, the possibility of reaching 19 or even 20 victories in coach Steve Henson’s second year as coach seems to be a distinct possibility.

“We’re proud of our guys,” said Henson, who finished 14-19 last year. “(But) we’re not talking about a win total right now. We’re talking about what we’re still playing for.

“The results tonight put us back in the hunt for that No. 4 seed, which is huge in the conference tournament.”

After losing 84-79 to Old Dominion, fourth-place Marshall (19-9, 10-5) now leads fifth-place UTSA by only a game.

A tie for fourth would go to UTSA since it beat Marshall 81-77 in San Antonio on Feb. 1.

The top four seeds gain a bye through the first round in the 12-team C-USA tournament.

UTSA’s defense forces a Southern Miss turnover, leading to a layup on the other end, during a key sequence in the second half.

After leading by 22 early, UTSA ducked into the dressing room at intermission with only a 37-28 advantage.

Southern Miss played well in final eight minutes, out-scoring the home team, 19-6.

Guard Tyree Griffin led the charge with seven points. Guard Domini Magee also produced a key sequence with a layup, a steal and another layup.

At one point, the Roadrunners held a 31-9 advantage when forward Deon Lyle nailed a three with 8:19 remaining.


Nick Allen scores on a fast break layup on an assist from Keaton Wallace early in the first half.

Stat leaders

UTSA: Nick Allen (18 points on 8 of 13 shooting, 11 rebounds); Deon Lyle (14 points, including four 3-pointers); Jhivvan Jackson (10 points, seven rebounds); Keaton Wallace (10 points, four assists).

Southern Miss: Tyree Griffin (17 points, two 3-pointers, four assists); Cortez Edwards (12 points, seven rebounds). 2 of UTSA’s first 14 points.

Coming up

Saturday: Louisiana Tech at UTSA, 7 p.m., Southern Miss at UTEP.

Tournament time

March 7-10: C-USA tournament at Frisco.