Category Archives: College basketball

Texas Southern upsets 18th-ranked Oregon, 89-84

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Chalk up another victory over a power conference opponent for the Texas Southern Tigers.

Led by center Trayvon Reed’s 23 points, the Tigers downed the No. 18 Oregon Ducks, 89-84, late Monday night in Eugene.

“Trayvon did an excellent job,” Texas Southern coach Johnny Jones told the Associated Press. “It was his best game by far all year long. I thought he performed at a really good pace on both ends of the floor.

“Offensively, he was very effective, and he played with a lot of energy on the defensive end. I thought he had them uncomfortable at both.”

Houston-based Texas Southern (2-4) is no stranger to success.

Under former coach Mike Davis, the Tigers won six straight Southwestern Athletic Conference championships and qualified for four NCAA tournaments.

But this year, Texas Southern is winning in November against the name schools.

The Tigers opened the season with a three-point victory at Baylor. After the win at Oregon, it marked the first time since 2014-15 that they’ve won two games in a season against power programs.

Reed and guard John Jones, the coach’s son, led the way against the Ducks.

Battling against Oregon’s Bol Bol, Reed had his hands full, as the Ducks’ freshman produced 32 points and 11 rebounds.

But Reed held his own, connecting on 9-for-9 from the field — all on dunks. Jones hit four 3-point shots and scored 20.

Calling it a “big win,” coach Johnny Jones applauded the team effort.

“We played the 18th-ranked team in the country and a program that has been to the Final Four, and for us to leave here with a win speaks volumes as to how well these guys played tonight,” said Jones, who has coached previously at Memphis, North Texas and LSU.

Texas moves up to No. 17 in AP Top 25; Texas Tech is 20th

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The Texas Longhorns and Texas Tech Red Raiders have moved into the Associated Press Top 25 in college basketball for the first time this season, according to the poll released Monday.

Texas (5-1) is ranked 17th after knocking off North Carolina by three points last week in Las Vegas. The Longhorns let a 19-point lead slip away the following day in falling to Michigan State.

Texas Tech (6-0) climbed into the No. 20 position following double-digit victories in Kansas City over Southern Cal and Nebraska. The Red Raiders followed on Saturday night by routing Northern Colorado, 93-63, in Lubbock.

The TCU Horned Frogs had been ranked in the first three polls of the new season but fell into the ‘others receiving votes’ category following a 73-64 loss to Lipscomb, (Tenn.) of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

AP Top 25
Week 4
1. Gonzaga 6-0 West Coast
2. Kansas 5-0 Big 12
3. Duke 5-1 ACC
4. Virginia 6-0 ACC
5. Nevada 6-0 Mountain West
6. Tennessee 4-1 ACC
7. Michigan 6-0 Big Ten
8. Auburn 5-1 SEC
9. Michigan State 5-1 Big Ten
10. Kentucky 5-1 SEC
11. North Carolina 6-1 ACC
12. Kansas State 6-0 Big 12
13. Virginia Tech ACC 5-0
14. Iowa 5-0 Big Ten
15. Florida State 5-1 ACC
16. Ohio State 6-0 Big Ten
17. Texas 5-1 Big 12
18. Oregon 4-1 Pac 12
19. Purdue 5-1 Big Ten
20. Texas Tech 6-0 Big 12
21. Buffalo 5-0 Mid-American
22. Wisconsin 5-1 Big Ten
23. Villanova 5-2 Big East
24. Maryland 6-0 Big Ten
25. Mississippi State 4-1 SEC

Forward Rui Hachimura and Gonzaga leaped from third to No. 1 in the rankings after winning the Maui Invitational.

The Bulldogs capped the tournament with an 89-87 victory over previously top-ranked and undefeated Duke. In the new poll, Kansas of the Big 12 remained in second, while Duke tumbled to third.

Michigan State rallies past Texas, 78-68

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Trailing by 19 points after nine minutes, the 11th-ranked Michigan State Spartans settled down and then roared from behind to beat the Texas Longhorns 78-68 Friday to win the championship in the Las Vegas Invitational.

Guards Joshua Langford and Cassius Winston led the comeback with a remarkable perimeter shooting display.

Langford scored 29 points and Winston added 20 points and 10 assists.

Combined, the two hit nine three-point baskets. The Spartans (5-1) erased what had been a 25-6 deficit.

The Longhorns (5-1) shot 34.4 percent from the field a night after they hit 52 percent in upsetting the seventh-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels.

UT guard Kerwin Roach II, who scored 32 on North Carolina, was held to 15 and 4 of 14 shooting. Forward Dylan Osetkowski and point guard Matt Coleman III had 13 points.

Freshman Jaxson Hayes produced 11.

Texas upsets seventh-ranked North Carolina, 92-89

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Guard Kerwin Roach soared for slams. He glided inside for floaters. He sank rainbow jumpers.

He did a little bit of everything in scoring a career-high 32 points as the unranked Texas Longhorns stunned No. 7 North Carolina, 92-89, Thursday night in Las Vegas.

“Happy Thanksgiving, Longhorn nation,” Roach told the FoxSports1 television audience. “This is for ya’ll.”

In defeating one of the blue-blood programs in college basketball, the Longhorns offset a team rebounding disadvantage (43-32) with season-high shooting of 52.5 percent from the field.

Texas also forced 17 North Carolina turnovers and turned them into 31 points.

Several players had key roles, including Matt Coleman III, Dylan Osetkowski and Jaxson Hayes, but Roach served as the maestro in orchestrating the Longhorns’ biggest victory of the season.

Roach filled up the boxscore with seven assists, six rebounds and four steals.

Furthermore, he shot 12 of 15 from the field to meet the challenge of negating a standout performance by North Carolina freshman guard Coby White, who scored 33.

North Carolina charged to a 17-4 lead, but Texas would not back down.

“We just stayed resilient,” Roach said on the FS1 broadcast. “We stayed within each other. We just played our game, and it came to us. We didn’t force anything. We played great defense and we played great offense.”

As a result, the Longhorns rallied to take a one-point lead at halftime and then extended it to 11 points in the second half.

The Tar Heels rallied to within two twice down the stretch, the last time when Nassir Little hit a three-pointer with four seconds left.

On the next possession, Longhorns guard Jase Febres was fouled and hit one of two free throws to account for the final score.

Texas deflected the ensuing inbounds pass on the last play, denying North Carolina a shot as the clocked ticked to 0:00.

Records

Texas 5-0
North Carolina 5-1

Coming up

Texas vs. Michigan State, at Las Vegas, 5:30 p.m.

Quotable

“(Roach) gave us everything he had tonight. At the four-minute media (timeout) I turned to our strength coach and said, ‘I hope he’s got four minutes left.’ Because he did look winded. But he’s really fought, battled, got himself in unbelievable shape. Obviously he was everything for us in terms of creating offense.” — Texas coach Shaka Smart. (Interview with FS1)

Notable

In the past 15 seasons under coach Roy Williams, North Carolina has won three national titles. The Tar Heels’ last championship came in 2017. They were knocked out in the round of 32 last year by Texas A&M. In three seasons under Smart, Texas has reached the NCAA tournament twice but hasn’t won an NCAA game. The Longhorns, despite what was then a career-best 26 points from Roach, were ousted by Nevada in the first round last year.

UIW vs. Northern Colorado photo gallery

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Northern Colorado beat UIW 90-64 on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018 at the UIW Convocation Center.

UIW’s Cody Graham (right) drive’s on Northern Colorado’s Johnatan Reyes.

Northern Colorado beat UIW 90-64 on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018 at the UIW Convocation Center.

Jhivvan Jackson scores 21, UTSA breaks into the win column

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UTSA's Jhivvan Jackson shoots around before the Roadrunners' game against Oklahoma on Monday, Nov. 12, 2018. The sophomore guard has not played yet this season while he rehabs from an injury he suffered last season. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Jhivvan Jackson shoots around before the Roadrunners’ game against Oklahoma on Nov. 12. – photo by Joe Alexander

Sophomore Jhivvan Jackson scored 21 points Wednesday as the UTSA Roadrunners won their first game of the season, downing Florida Gulf Coast, 76-65.

In a game for seventh place at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Florida, Keaton Wallace produced 19 points for the Roadrunners, who improved to 1-5.

Christian Carlyle led the Eagles with 16 points as Florida Gulf Coast dropped to 2-5.

UTSA entered the tournament in Florida coming off losses to Division II St. Edward’s and to Division I powers Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

Jackson, coming off knee surgery, did not play in any of the games as he completed his rehabilitation from ACL knee surgery.

Cleared to play before the road trip to Florida, he competed in all three games, with his playing time restricted to 15 minutes.

He scored 10 points in a 65-56 loss to UC Irvine and then had another 10 (on 2 of 11 shooting) in a 99-79 loss to South Dakota State.

Against Florida Gulf Coast, Jackson scored his season high on 7 of 15 shooting from the field and 5 of 10 from three-point range.

Wallace, also a sophomore, played well with 19 points, including four three-pointers.

Last year, Jackson and Wallace emerged as two of the keys in UTSA’s resurgence as a basketball program.

The Roadrunners produced a 20-15 record for their first 20-win season in seven years.

Notable

Florida Gulf Coast center Ricky Doyle played against his father’s alma mater. Doyle had 2 points, a rebound and an assist for the Eagles. His father is Rick Doyle, who was UTSA’s first great center. Doyle played for the Roadrunners from 1982-84. He teamed with Derrick Gervin to lead UTSA to its first 20-win season in 1983-84. Doyle was a fifth-round draft pick by the Detroit Pistons and went on to play professionally in France for 11 years. Ricky Doyle was born in Pau, France, in 1996. Rick was in the stands to watch the game, an FGCU spokesman said.

Quotable

“It was a good trip for us in terms of learning. (We played) three really good teams. Those three teams we played will all be the favorites in their conference. I told our guys just now I’m happy for them. We got the win. We’re making progress. I really liked the way they responded yesterday at halftime. You know, down, and came out and fought. Some good signs there.” — UTSA coach Steve Henson, on the team’s trip to Florida. (Interview on KTKR radio).

Daum, South Dakota State romp past UTSA, 99-79

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When forward Mike Daum wasn’t hitting shots from outside the three-point arc Tuesday morning, guard Skyler Flatten was getting open and firing from some other far-away location.

Daum and Flatten combined for 11 three-pointers and 69 points as the South Dakota State Jackrabbits rolled past UTSA, 99-79, at the Gulf Coast Showcase.

Daum, a 6-9 senior forward, finished with 41 points on 14 of 25 shooting. The NBA prospect hit 5 of 12 three-point baskets. Flatten added 28 points on 10 of 11 from the floor. He was 6 of 6 from three.

Bidding for their fourth-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament this season, the Jackrabbits (4-2) of the Summit League showed that they’re warming up to meet the challenge.

They built an eight-point lead at halftime and then continued to pull away from the Roadrunners (0-5), who will close out the tournament with a third game in three days Wednesday morning.

Guard Keaton Wallace led UTSA with 21 points. Nick Allen had 12 and Atem Bior 11. Jhivvan Jackson scored 10 in his second game back to the lineup after rehabilitation from a knee injury.

Notable

With his performance against UTSA, Daum became South Dakota State’s all-time leading scorer. He has scored 2,388 points to surpass Nate Wolters’ record of 2,363, set in four seasons through 2013. Daum has scored 156 points in six games for an average of 26 per game, which likely will boost him into the national top ten.

Quotable

“The way they use him, the way they get him in different spots, it wasn’t like he was going to the same spot (on the floor). We couldn’t really double him. We tried some different people on him but … every second or third trip down the floor he was scoring again. He’s a terrific player.” — UTSA coach Steve Henson on trying to defend Mike Daum, South Dakota State’s all-time scoring leader. (Interview on KTKR radio).

Just like old times: Undefeated Texas Tech rallies to rout USC

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As one of the darlings in the NCAA Tournament last year, the Texas Tech Red Raiders fired up their fan base with an epic run to the Elite Eight.

Given the success, you’d think that Texas Tech at least would have cracked the Top 25 in the Associated Press poll in the first few weeks of the new season.

It hasn’t happened — yet.

But, it might not be long before it does, considering the way the Red Raiders stormed from a 13-point deficit to down the Southern California Trojans 78-63 on Monday night in Kansas City.

Playing at the Sprint Center in the Hall of Fame Classic, the Red Raiders turned up the intensity in the second half, suffocating USC on defense and unleashing the likes of Matt Mooney, Davide Moretti and Tariq Owens on offense to pull away.

One highlight came with 6:20 remaining when Tech guard Jarrett Culver tossed a ball high above the rim, where Owens grabbed it with one hand and tomahawked a vicious dunk. For emphasis, Owens added two more slams late in the game.

In the first half, nobody saw the onslaught coming. It seemed, in fact, as if the Trojans would have a fairly easy night.

Fueled by Bennie Boatwright and Elijah Weaver, USC poured it on, sprinting out on a 10-0 run to take a 30-17 lead with 3:33 remaining. Boatwright and Weaver both hit long threes in the streak.

Individuals

Texas Tech — Tariq Owens 18 points, Jarrett Culver, 18 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, Matt Mooney, 17 points, Davide Moretti, 17 points.

USC — Kevin Porter, Jr., 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, Bennie Boatwright, 14 points, Jonah Mathews, 12 points, three 3-pointers.

Records

Texas Tech: 4-0
Southern Cal: 2-2

Quotable

“What you try to control is what you can — which is attitude and effort … Tonight was a lot of fun. I think we’re going to get in a groove.” — Texas Tech guard Matt Mooney, in an interview with an ESPN broadcast crew.

Jhivvan Jackson cleared to play for UTSA basketball

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UTSA guard Jhivvan Jackson has been cleared to play and is expected to play limited minutes today in Florida against UC Irvine, a UTSA assistant coach said on the team’s radio broadcast.

Jackson led the Roadrunners in scoring last year with 18.4 points per game.

The former Puerto Rico junior national team standout is coming off a knee injury that knocked him out of tournament play last spring and kept him out of the first three games this season.

UTSA will take an 0-3 record into the Gulf Coast Showcase, which is being played in Estero, Florida. Undefefated UC Irvine has won at Texas A&M and is 4-0.

The Roadrunners lost twice last week to Big 12 opponents. They dropped an 87-67 decision at home to Oklahoma and then played Oklahoma State at Stillwater, where they fell, 82-60.

Dawkins’ shooting touch lifts UCF to Myrtle Beach title

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Charles Bassey and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers started fast Sunday night in the finals of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.

But they couldn’t finish, as Aubrey Dawkins and the Central Florida Knights rallied for a 78-62 victory in Conway, S.C.

Dawkins, the son of UCF coach Johnny Dawkins, hit five 3-pointers and led the Knights with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists.

The game started as a battle between preseason favorites in the American Athletic Conference (UCF) and Conference USA (the Hilltoppers).

Also, it was an ESPN2 showcase of sorts featuring Bassey, one of the nation’s most prized freshmen, and 7-foot-6 UCF center Tacko Fall.

While Bassey steamed out of the gate with 15 points in the first 13 minutes of the game, Fall controlled the paint in the second half.

Using his imposing size, Fall bulled his way to 10 of his 13 points in the second half, including several dunks.

Bassey, so hot with his shooting touch early, appeared to get winded and missed some opportunities late.

One Bassey miss on a breakaway layup led to a UCF transition basket going the other way.

But, all in all, the 6-foot-11 freshman was dynamite, finishing with 25 points and 10 rebounds in only his fifth game in college.

First half summary

After Bassey’s initial explosion, Central Florida went to a zone defense to limit his touches.

It worked, allowing the Knights to get back into the game. But Bassey adjusted, as well, going strong to the offensive glass, and running the floor to catch passes on the fast break.

By halftime, Western Kentucky held a 32-28 lead, and Bassey had 18 points and seven rebounds.

San Antonio connections

Bassey, a native of Nigeria, played two seasons of high school basketball at St. Anthony in San Antonio. UCF coach Johnny Dawkins, a Duke graduate, played three seasons in the 1980s with the Spurs.