Monthly Archives: January 2018

Tulane basketball rebounding under Mike Dunleavy

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Mike Dunleavy played on the first Spurs basketball team I ever covered.

He came off the bench in the 1982-83 season, when the Silver and Black won 53 games and advanced to the NBA’s Western Conference finals.

In the wake of his playing career, Dunleavy became an NBA head coach for more than 20 years, working for four franchises, notably the Los Angeles Lakers.

Last year, he surprised some by taking a job at Tulane of the American Athletic Conference.

Tulane won six games last season in a difficult first year in New Orleans, but the Green Wave have since started to raise some eyebrows.

Thursday night, they knocked off the SMU Mustangs, 73-70.

People took notice because SMU was a 30-win, NCAA team from last year, and it’s a good bet that the Mustangs will play in the national tournament again this year.

Here’s a story from the New Orleans Advocate on the victory.

I haven’t checked all 351 NCAA Division I programs, but I do know that Dunleavy is one of at least four former Spurs players coaching at that level.

The others, that I know of, are Avery Johnson at Alabama, Larry Krystkowiak at Utah and Johnny Dawkins at UCF.

UTSA beats Louisiana Tech, 78-76, on winner by De Nicolao

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Guard Giovanni De Nicolao hit a driving layup with one second remaining Thursday as UTSA held off the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, 78-76, in a Conference USA thriller at Ruston.

Giovanni De Nicolao

Louisiana Tech guard Jacobi Boykins knocked down three free throws to tie the game with 9.5 seconds remaining to set up De Nicolao’s game-winner.

Electing not to call time out, the Roadrunners rushed it up the floor, looking for Keaton Wallace.

With Wallace covered on the wing, De Nicolao drove and double-clutched a shot that fell through to give UTSA the lead.

Inbounding from under UTSA’s basket, Louisiana Tech threw it down court and misfired on a desperation play that left the Roadrunners (9-7, 2-1) with the victory.

The Bulldogs (9-7, 0-3) led by nine with 11:14 remaining on a layup by freshman guard Amorie Archibald.

Undeterred, the Roadrunners roared from behind with a 25-10 streak highlighted by nine points from Jhivvan Jackson, who led the team with 21 on the night.

A layup by Wallace capped the run and gave UTSA a 74-68 edge with 2:01 left.

At that point, Louisiana Tech mounted its own rally. Boykins hitting a three-point shot with 25 seconds left and then tied the game at 76-76 on three free throws.

In UTSA’s last game, a 72-71 loss at home to North Texas on Saturday, De Nicolao had a chance to win it and missed a driving layup attempt in the final seconds.

He gained a measure of redemption with a couple of clutch plays against Louisiana Tech.

With 2:56 remaining, the 6-3 sophomore from Italy drained a three-pointer to give his team a five-point lead.

At the end, with the game tied, he connected again on a freelance play for the winner.

“We were supposed to run a play for Kea (Keaton Wallace),” De Nicolao told the team’s radio broadcast. “That was denied, so I just went one on one.

“I bounced off my man and I shoot … I knew it was going in because I can’t miss twice in a row (on a) buzzer beater.”

The Roadrunners likely gained some confidence with their first road win of the season in conference, in a traditionally tough place to play, and doing it by rallying from nine-point deficits in both the first and second halves.

“We can make runs in one minute,” De Nicolao said. “We can score 10 points in a row. But I think the main focus, why we came back, was because of our defense.

“If we get stops on ‘D’ we can run and we can score from three.”

Last year, UTSA beat Louisiana Tech in Ruston 69-68, with De Nicolao scoring the go-ahead basket on a three-pointer with 20 seconds left.

“He’s never been afraid of the moment, from the time he stepped on campus,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said. “In an exhibition game last year, he hit a game winner. He steps up and makes a lot of big plays in games. We have a lot of confidence in him.”

Coming up

UTSA at Southern Miss, Saturday, 4 p.m.

Southern Miss at a glance

Southern Miss beat UTEP, 85-75, Thursday night in Hattiesburg, Miss. Dominic Magee led the Golden Eagles with 21 points and 8 rebounds.

With the victory, Southern Miss improved to 8-8 overall and 1-2 in Conference USA.

UTSA notes

UTSA became the first Conference USA team to win back-to-back games at LA Tech’s Thomas Assembly Center. UTSA is also only the second program to win in the facility since LA Tech joined the C-USA in 2013-14.

Markus Howard: ‘Every shot … you feel like it’s going to go in’

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Every time record-breaking Marquette sophomore Markus Howard touched the ball, it felt like something good was about to happen.

Howard scored 52 points Wednesday night to lead a 95-90 overtime victory over Providence College, at Providence, Rhode Island.

Howard started out inconspicuously with 10 points in the first half. But then he exploded for 32 in the second half and added another 10 in the overtime.

Altogether, Howard finished 17 of 29 from the field, including 11 of 19 three pointers. He knocked down all seven of his free throws.

“When you’re in a rhythm like that, every shot you throw up, you feel like it’s going to go in,” Howard told Andy Katz of ncaa.com. “My teammates did a great job of finding me. My coaches did a great job of setting up plays.

“So it was really my job just to create and get the best shot for our offense.’

Daniel Rapaport of Sports Illustrated reported that it is the first 50-point performance of the season in NCAA Division I and the most since Nate Wolters scored 53 for South Dakota State in 2013.

Central Michigan guard Marcus Keene, out of San Antonio’s Warren High School, scored 50 last year.

Howard, a 5-11 guard from Arizona, entered the game at Providence’s Dunkin’ Donuts Center as the nation’s 37th best scorer at 20.5 points per game.

With his outburst, he tied the Big East Conference single-game scoring record set in 2011 by Providence’s MarShon Brooks and also eclipsed a nearly 60-year-old school record.

Marquette’s previous record of 44 points was set in February of 1958 by Mike Moran against Creighton and tied in 1990 by Tony Smith against Wisconsin.

Other school records set by Howard included field goals and three-pointers.

The 11 3-pointers tied his own MU record established earlier this season against Chicago State.

Texas Tech makes history with first victory at Kansas

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The Texas Tech Red Raiders guarded the three-point line effectively and came away with an impressive 85-73 Big 12 road victory at Kansas Tuesday night.

It was the first win by the Red Raiders at historic Phog Allen Fieldhouse in 18 tries, the Associated Press reported.

A good argument can be made that the Red Raiders won the game with their perimeter defense.

Kansas hit 17 of 35 three-point shots in a 92-86 win at Texas on Friday night.

Texas Tech didn’t allow the defending conference champions to shoot like that two games in a row, limiting the Jayhawks to 6 of 26 from long distance .

As a result, the 18th-ranked Red Raiders improved to 13-1 overall and 2-0 in conference under second-year coach Chris Beard.

The 10th-ranked Jayhawks, under veteran coach Bill Self, fell to 11-3 and 1-1.

“It’s impossible to stop ’em,” Beard said. “You just try to contain ’em, and you try to contest shots.

“Like, the way they shot the ball in Austin the other night, they’re not going to get beat, cause Texas did a good job contesting most of ’em. They’ll play on the final Monday (of the NCAA tournament, if they shoot well).

“You got to be fortunate and tonight, we were. They got some good looks. We made some mistakes on switches. So we were fortunate tonight. But you got to give our guys credit. I did feel like there was a sense of urgency to guard the three-point line.”

Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham led all scorers with 27 points, but he didn’t have much help.

In contrast, ten players played for the Red Raiders and nine of them scored.

Senior Keenan Evans led Texas Tech with 15 points. Justin Gray, Norense Odiase and Jarrett Culver added 12 apiece. Zhaire Smith scored 11.

TCU escapes with 81-78 victory at Baylor in overtime

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Forward Vladimir Brodziansky hit the go-ahead basket with 90 seconds remaining Tuesday night, and the 16th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs went on to beat the Baylor Bears 81-78 in overtime.

With the win on Baylor’s home floor in Waco, the Frogs improved to 13-1 overall and to 1-1 in the Big 12. The Bears fell to 10-4 and 0-2.

Brodziansky, a 6-11 senior from Slovakia, led five TCU players in double-digit scoring with 18 points on 6 of 12 shooting. Sophomore guard Jaylen Fisher added 15 points and four assists.

Junior forward J.D. Miller had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Horned Frogs, who bounced back from Saturday’s one-point home loss to Oklahoma.

Center Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. led the Bears with 28 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bears trailed by 12 early in the second half and came back to tie it 74-74 at the end of regulation.

Down by two in overtime, TCU called on Brodziansky, whose three-pointer with 1:30 remaining lifted the Frogs into a 75-74 lead. TCU never trailed again.

Longhorns grind out a 74-70 win in OT at Iowa State

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Forward Dylan Osetkowski scored a career-high 25 points Monday as Texas subdued the Iowa State Cyclones, 74-70, in overtime at Ames, Iowa.

With the scored tied, Osetkowski hit a three-pointer, lifting the Longhorns into a 70-67 lead with 36 seconds left in OT.

From there, 6-foot-11 UT center Mo Bamba contributed on the defensive end with a blocked shot.

Bamba’s play was the beginning of the end for the Cyclones (9-4, 0-2 in the Big 12).

The Longhorns (10-4, 1-1) made it a five-point game when when Matt Coleman knocked down the first two of his four straight free throws in the final 12 seconds.

After Coleman’s first two freebies, Nick Weiler-Babb gave Iowa State a glimmer of hope in front of the home fans when he hit a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining, cutting the UT lead to 72-70.

But Coleman answered again with two more free throws to account for the final points.

Texas returns home to face the Baylor Bears on Saturday.

West Virginia wins again

The West Virginia Mountaineers entered play Monday ranked sixth nationally in the Associated Press poll and then backed it up with their 13th win in a row, a 77-69 road victory at Kansas State.