Here’s the bracket for the Southland Conference men’s basketball tournament.
It’s set for Wednesday through Saturday in Katy.
Incarnate Word (7-21, 2-16) in San Antonio was eligible to reach the tournament for the first time this season but did not make it into the eight-team field.
Southeastern Louisiana is the top seed, followed by Nicholls State, Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston.
Abilene Christian kept its Southland Conference playoff hopes alive Saturday with a 69-59 victory over the Incarnate Word Cardinals.
The Wildcats held UIW to 27 percent shooting in the second half in rallying from a four-point halftime deficit.
Center Jalone Friday led Abilene Christian with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Tevin Foster also scored 17 for ACU.
Forward Charles Brown III paced UIW with 12 points and 7 rebounds.
Trailing by nine points, Incarnate Word rallied Saturday into a 37-33 halftime lead over Abilene Christian in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Charles Brown III hit two baskets, followed by a driving layup from Augustine Ene.
Finally, Sam Burmeister drained a three pointer at the buzzer (see video above) to lift the Cardinals into a four-point lead at the break.
The game was played in front of an announced crowd of 1,256 at UIW’s Convocation Center.
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 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.
Your 2017-18 ACC Regular-Season Champions! ? #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/aGeqOZxkeJ
— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) February 24, 2018
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Roadrunners win 16th of the season, ninth in C-USA play and sixth of last seven. #RunWithUshttps://t.co/Pxm5o5g7j2
— UTSA Basketball (@UTSAMBB) February 23, 2018
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.