Author Archives: Jerry Briggs

Middle Tennessee hosts Marshall after clinching C-USA crown

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The 24th-ranked Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders will play host to Marshall on Saturday, having already clinched the Conference USA regular-season championship.

Heading into the regular-season finale for both teams, the Blue Raiders have locked up the No. 1 seed in next week’s C-USA tournament.

Middle Tennessee doesn’t have any motivation in that regard.

But it does have an opportunity to show once again that it belongs in the NCAA tournament field no matter what happens next week in Frisco.

The Blue Raiders certainly lived up to their billing Thursday night.

They trounced a good Western Kentucky team 82-64 in front of 11,307 boisterous fans in Murfreesboro.

“It was electric,” Blue Raiders coach Kermit Davis said, via the Associated Press.
“I’ve said it ever since we’ve been ranked — and I don’t say it boastfully, I just say it honestly — that we look and play and prepare like a Top 25 team.

“And everybody asks me the question, ‘How are your guys going to handle it?’ The more success, the more motivation.”

Middle Tennessee (24-5, 16-1) toyed with Western Kentucky (22-8, 14-3).

The front line combination of Brandon Walters and Nick King produced 36 points and 20 rebounds.

There isn’t a team in the conference that can handle the Blue Raiders when those two are playing at that level.

“Brandon Walters is playing like an elite center in college basketball,” Davis said. “When Brandon plays like that, we can play with a lot of people in college basketball.”

One team in the conference cheering for Middle Tennessee on Saturday is UTSA.

Seeking a bye in the first round of the tournament, the Roadrunners need to win on the road against Rice and also have Middle Tennessee register a victory against Marshall.

Such a scenario would produce a tie for fourth in the standings between UTSA and Marshall.

UTSA subsequently would get the No. 4 seed and the bye based on an 81-77 victory over Marshall in San Antonio on Feb. 1.

Rice also enters the final weekend with something on the line — a shot at making the 12-team tournament in spite of a 23-loss regular season.

The Owls need a win over the Roadrunners and a UTEP loss at North Texas to claim the No. 12 seed.

C-USA Standings

Middle Tennessee 16-1, 24-5
Old Dominion 14-3, 23-6
Western Kentucky 14-3, 22-8
Marshall 11-6, 20-10
UTSA 10-7, 17-13
UAB 9-8, 18-12
North Texas 8-9, 15-15
FIU 8-9, 14-16
Louisiana Tech 7-10 16-14
Southern Miss 6-11, 13-17
Florida Atlantic 6-11, 12-17
UTEP 5-12, 10-19
Rice 4-13, 7-23
Charlotte 1-16, 5-23

Saturday’s games
Louisiana Tech at Southern Miss, 4 p.m.
UTEP at North Texas, 5 p.m.
FIU at Old Dominion, 6 p.m.
Marshall at Middle Tennessee, 6 p.m.
FAU at Charlotte, 6:30 p.m.
WKU at UAB, 7 p.m.
UTSA at Rice, 7 p.m.

Arizona clinches share of Pac-12 title as Sean Miller returns

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Embattled coach Sean Miller returned to the bench Thursday night, and his Arizona Wildcats responded with a 75-67 victory over Stanford to clinch at least a share of the Pac-12 basketball title.

After sitting out one game, Miller received the backing of his university administration, which paved the way for him to work the Stanford game at the McKale Center in Tucson.

At issue was an ESPN report quoting anonymous sources saying that Miller had discussed with an agent a payment to center Deandre Ayton.

The report’s validity has since come into question following publication of a story by another news organization.

A story at si.com says that details of a wiretapped phone conversation involving Miller were inaccurately reported by ESPN.

Earlier Thursday, the drama unfolded when Miller issued a statement denying he approved a payment to Ayton, the Pac-12’s scoring and rebounding leader.

Also, Arizona’s president said there is no evidence of wrongdoing by the coach.

ESPN said it stands by its reporting.

In the aftermath, Arizona took the court and surged to a 37-28 halftime lead over Stanford.

The Cardinal rallied to pull within 67-62 when Dorian Pickens hit two free throws with 4:33 remaining.

Afterward, Arizona steadied itself with guard Alonzo Trier hitting six straight free throws down the stretch.

Trier sat out last week’s road games at Oregon State and Oregon after failing a drug test.

Read the complete report of the game at azcentral.com.

North Texas cruises past UTSA, 80-62, to sweep season series

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Roosevelt Smart and DJ Draper combined to hit 10 three-point baskets as the North Texas Mean Green rolled to an 80-62 victory Thursday night at Denton in Conference USA basketball.

With the victory, North Texas ended UTSA’s three-game winning streak.

The Mean Green also swept both games from the Roadrunners in the season series between the in-state rivals.

Smart led North Texas with 22 points, including four field goals from beyond the arc. Draper hit 6 of 7 from the field, all from three.

Playing its first game without injured freshman standout Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA was led by Deon Lyle with 15 points.

“We weren’t very good on either end of the floor,” UTSA coach Steve Henson told the team’s radio broadcast. “We were just out of sorts offensively.”

Jackson is out for the season with a knee injury that he suffered last Saturday night at home against Louisiana Tech.

Records
North Texas 15-15, 8-9
UTSA 17-13, 10-7

Coming up
UTSA at Rice, Saturday, 7 p.m.

C-USA tournament
Despite the loss to North Texas, UTSA will have an opportunity on the last day of the regular season to secure the No. 4 seed and a bye in the first round of the C-USA tournament.

UTSA remained solidly in contention for the fourth seed when UAB defeated Marshall 91-77, in Birmingham. The loss dropped Marshall to 11-6 in conference, one game ahead of UTSA.

Marshall finishes its regular season Saturday at first-place Middle Tennessee.

To get the fourth seed, UTSA needs to defeat Rice and hope that Middle Tennessee beats Marshall.

The tiebreaker would favor the Roadrunners under that scenario because of their 81-77 victory over the Thundering Herd in San Antonio on Feb. 1.

Henson said it won’t be easy to beat the Owls on their Senior Night.

“We’ve got to play better basketball,” the coach said. “Their match-up defense, they’re doing some really good things with it. They’re playing (a) 3-2 (zone). It’ll be frustrating if we can’t get some better movement and knock down some shots.”

The tournament runs March 7-10 in Frisco.

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UIW beats Houston Baptist 83-71 as Shawn Johnson scores 28

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UIW senior Shawn Johnson follows his own miss with a rebound and a 15-foot jumper in the second half against Houston Baptist.

Incarnate Word coach Ken Burmeister barked at guard Shawn Johnson during a timeout early in the first half Wednesday night.

In response, Johnson seemed to take it out on the Houston Baptist Huskies for the rest of the game.

The senior from New Orleans hit career highs with 28 points and 17 rebounds as UIW won its second straight, downing Houston Baptist, 83-71.

In what seemed like a highlight-a-minute first half, Johnson had two powerful dunks and a couple of blocked shots to keep the Cardinals close.

Trailing 41-37 at intermission, they played better team ball in the second half, shooting 51.6 percent from the field.

Asked after the game about the motivation for his burst of energy, Johnson grinned and said, “Coach started yelling.”

“I don’t know, something clicked, and I was like, ‘I got to go get some buckets for the team,’ ” he said. “That’s what really happened. I wanted it, so I went to go get it.”

Johnson’s 17 rebounds were his career best. His also had 28 points last year against Rice.

The game between in-state rivals in the Southland Conference unfolded before an announced 1,052 at UIW’s Convocation Center.

Both teams have been eliminated from contention for the SLC tournament.

Johnson will play his last college game Saturday when UIW hosts Abilene Christian at 3 p.m.

An engineering major, Johnson said he has one more semester of school remaining before he graduates next December.

“I’m proud that I made it through college,” he said. “It’s touching A lot of people wouldn’t be able to finish it, and it’s difficult, but I stuck with it and I’m glad I made it.

“I’m not down about it. I’m really just happy about it.”

Records

Incarnate Word 7-20, 2-15
Houston Baptist 6-24, 2-15

Coming up

Abilene Christian at Incarnate Word, 3 p.m. Saturday, regular-season finale


Incarnate Word forward Christian Peevy spins to the hoop for a basket in the first half Wednesday against Houston Baptist.

Conference tournaments in D-I basketball are underway

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Michigan State freshman Jaren Jackson Jr., the son of former Spurs guard Jaren Jackson, has been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

Conference tournaments in NCAA Division I college basketball opened this week.

The A Sun tipped off on Monday, the Big South on Tuesday and then the Big Ten and a handful of others were set to start tonight.

The winners of 32 conference tournaments receive automatic bids to the NCAA tournament.

Another 36 teams will be picked at large by a selection committee. The field of 68 will be announced on March 11.

A link to the conference tournament schedules is here.

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

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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

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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

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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

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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?

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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.