Category Archives: College basketball

Kentucky toughens up, holds off Texas A&M, 74-73

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Kentucky coach John Calipari was calling for toughness from his team Tuesday night in a Southeastern Conference struggle against Texas A&M.

For awhile, the Aggies out-toughed the Wildcats, playing on even terms for most of the night and then pushing out to a six-point lead with a little less than nine minutes remaining.

In the end, you could say the Wildcats heeded their coach’s call.

But after Kentucky’s late push allowed it to escape with a 74-73 victory at rowdy Rupp Arena in Lexington, you could also argue that A&M just simply let the game get away.

The Aggies turned it over too many times down the stretch, not to mention missing three key free throws.

As a result, the Wildcats (13-3, 3-1) took another baby step toward the excellence that their fans demand, while luck-less A&M (11-5, 0-4) lost its fourth straight.

Forward Tyler Davis and the Aggies, a team once ranked fifth in the nation a few weeks ago, put up a pretty good fight.

Davis hit 8 of 10 shots from the field and led A&M with 21 points.

Guard Admon Gilder added 14 in his first game back after sitting out five straight with a knee injury.

But the Aggies made far too many mistakes at the end to win.

Hamidou Diallo led the Wildcats with 18 points, while back-court mate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was everywhere and did almost everything, producing 16 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks.

In addition, PJ Washington scored 16 and Kenny Knox added 15.

A&M lost 69-68 to LSU on Saturday in College Station, when Tremont Waters hit a three with 1 second left to win it for the Tigers.

The end at Kentucky was almost as gruesome for the Aggies, who missed two wide-open, three-point shots in the final 23 seconds.

Trailing by the eventual final score, A&M also had a chance on the final play.

Kentucky missed two free throws and A&M kicked it out to the wing.

But when the Aggies tried to throw a long pass to the other end, it sailed out of bounds and over an A&M player tangled up with a Kentucky player in the paint.

Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said he thinks his team had opportunities in a hard-fought game.

“I thought when we needed to make … a big shot, we got good looks,” Kennedy said. “We just didn’t knock em down. We just didn’t make enough plays at the end and (we) put them at the free-throw line in one stretch that was critical.

“I think they shot six or eight free throws in a row. We had a hard time guarding them without fouling.”

Kennedy didn’t take issue with the non-call on the last play, but he did say his players were not happy with it.

“At the end, there, I didn’t see what happened,” he said. “That’s a tough call to make. Our guys tell me he was bear-hugged (by a Kentucky player).

“But I don’t know if the clock went out there. I don’t know what happened. It’s something I got to go watch.”

Calipari said later that his team still hasn’t reached the level of toughness it needs to play at a higher level.

“Look,” he said, “toughness doesn’t mean roughness.”

“Toughness means that you’re engaged, that you’re playing people before they catch the ball, that you’re meeting people before the ball hits the rim, that you’re sprinting the floor every time and bouncing, and you’re talking.

“We got closer but we’re still … that’s going to be a work in progress. And until we get real good at that, we’re going to be who we are.”

Villanova takes over No. 1, with West Virginia No. 2, in AP Top 25

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Villanova is No. 1 again in the Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday.

West Virginia has jumped to No. 2, up from sixth, in the highest ranking for the program since December of 1959.

Jerry West was a West Virginia senior at the time.

Texas Tech moved up to No. 8, the first time for the Red Raiders have been in the top ten since 1996.

Here’s the Top 25

1. Villanova (14-1) Big East
2. West Virginia (14-1) Big 12
3. Virginia (14-1) ACC
4. Michigan State (15-2) Big Ten
5. Wichita State (13-2) AAC
5. Purdue (15-2) Big 10
7. Duke (13-2) ACC
8. Texas Tech (14-1) Big 12
9. Oklahoma (12-2) Big 12
10. Xavier, Ohio (15-2) Big East
11. Arizona State (13-2) Pac-12
12. Kansas (12-3) Big 12
13. Seton Hall (14-2) Big East
14. Cincinnati (14-2) AAC
15. Gonzaga (14-3) West Coast
16. TCU (13-2) Big 12
17. Arizona (12-4) Pac-12
18. Miami, Fla. (13-2) ACC
19. Clemson (14-1) ACC
20. North Carolina (12-4) ACC
21. Kentucky (12-3) SEC
22. Auburn (14-1) SEC
23. Florida State (12-3) ACC
24. Tennessee (10-4) SEC
25. Creighton (13-3) Big East

A few questions and answers about the Big 12 basketball race

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Sitting around on a Sunday afternoon wondering about a few topics of discussion in the Big 12 basketball race:

First, how did West Virginia contain Oklahoma’s Trae Young? Young, OU’s sensational freshman, scored 29 points but had to work hard to get every one of them. West Virginia ended up winning 89-76 in Morgantown even with its own standout, Jevon Carter, on the bench in foul trouble in the second half. Mitch Vingle of the Charleston Gazette-Mail breaks it down.

Second, who is Mitch Lightfoot, and why aren’t Billy Preston and Silvio De Sousa playing for the Kansas Jayhawks? Gary Bedore of the Kansas City Star has some answers. On Saturday, Kansas registered an 88-84 victory at TCU with Lightfoot playing a leading role.

Moving on, how did Baylor finally get its mojo back? Well, for starters, guard Manu Lecomte emerged from his shooting funk and hit a few key three-pointers as the Bears downed the Texas Longhorns, 69-60, in Waco. In addition, senior center Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. out-played UT freshman Mo Bamba. Here’s a recap from the Associated Press.

And, finally, what is going on in Lubbock? Texas Tech kept it rolling with its eighth win in a row Saturday, a 74-58 home victory over Kansas State. Carlos Silva Jr. of the Lubbock Avalanche Journal has the story. Keenan Evans scored 27 to pace the Red Raiders, 14-1, 3-0, who are tied with West Virginia for the early lead in the conference.

Reasons to believe in the Incarnate Word Cardinals

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It’s back to the film room for UIW coaches a day after an 85-74 home loss to the Sam Houston State Bearkats.

Clearly, the Cardinals will need to figure some things out before this week’s Southland Conference road trip to Central Arkansas and Stephen F. Austin.

Yes, UIW has lost five in a row. And, yes, senior point guard Jalin Hart says he expects to be out two weeks getting some academic issues resolved.

But that doesn’t mean the Cardinals (5-8, 0-3 SLC) can’t get some momentum going during a stretch of four-of-five games on the road over the next three weeks.

Here are a few reasons to hold out hope for the Cardinals in their quest to reach the SLC tournament.

No. 1, power forward Charles Brown III (jersey No. 13 in your program) is playing well. See video below.

As mentioned, UIW faces a tough stretch in the schedule — at Central Arkansas and at Stephen F. Austin. Then home against Lamar and back on the road again to New Orleans and Houston Baptist.

But the presence of Brown on the floor may command a double team, even on the road, if he can keep hitting shots like this:

Another intriguing talent at UIW is redshirt freshman Christian Peevy.

In the second half against Sam Houston when the Bearkats made their big run, Peevy seemed to lose some confidence, not unusual for a young player.

But in the first half he showed some grit on the defensive end, taking a charge, and then displayed nice touch on a mid-range jumper.

See below:

Senior Sam Burmeister, the coach’s son, played a solid all-around game against the Bearkats, scoring 16 off the bench on 6 of 10 shooting.

Burmeister is a tenacious competitor and can hurt an opposing team with his long-range accuracy.

We have the evidence:

With Hart out of the lineup, Cody Graham will start. And, if you missed it, that was Graham getting into the paint and kicking out a pass to Burmeister in the video clip above.

Other players will need to step up. Forward Simi Socks didn’t seem comfortable in the offense against the Bearkats. Socks can score and is just in a funk right now.

I also think 7-foot Konstantin Kulikov will be OK. But Kulikov played only one minute against Sam Houston. Coaches just seemed hesitant to put him on the floor.

A key to any long-range aspirations for the Cardinals is true freshman Keaton Hervey, who has been erratic, while also showing flashes of talent.

Here’s a clip of Hervey, dunking in the first half:

Of course, after Hervey’s dunk, UIW coaches took him off the floor because of some sort of strained muscle.

Which, when you think about it, is the story of the Cardinals’ season thus far.

Back to back: Colorado beats both Arizona State and Arizona

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Colorado senior George King from Brennan (24) blocks Arizona forward Ira Lee (11)

The Colorado Buffaloes were on a skid. They had lost six of their last eight games. The Buffs had been blown out at both Oregon State and Oregon last week.

Considering that Colorado had posted a combined 25-31 record in the conference since 2014-15, as of early this week, fans of both the Arizona Sun Devils and Arizona Wildcats likely had projected both games as victories.

Surprise.

The Buffaloes have made a statement of sorts, beating both of the nationally-ranked title contenders in a span of three days.

After knocking off Arizona State 90-81 in overtime Thursday night, Colorado followed it up with an 80-77 victory Saturday.

So, what is the statement?

“The statement is, if we play the way we are capable of playing, we can play with anybody in this league,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle told reporters. “We still have to prove that on the road. That’s the next challenge to this team.

“We get a chance to do that in L.A. against USC, on Wednesday night. That’s the statement we’ve made. I believe in this group and want ’em to get better. They’re a joy to coach.”

Colorado senior George King, a starting guard from Brennan High School, is playing well, averaging 13 points and 8.1 rebounds for the season.

Against Arizona State, the 6-6, 225-pounder had 18 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks. He added 5 points and 11 rebounds against Arizona.

Before the season, Boyle told Athlon Magazine, “George is probably the guy we’re counting on the most from a leadership standpoint. He’s really turned into a very good college player.

“His next step is hopefully to make his teammates better.”

Southern Miss rolls to an easy 93-83 victory over UTSA

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UTSA missed seven of its first eight shots, fell behind by 10 points in the first six minutes and set the stage for a frustrating afternoon.

The home-team Southern Miss Golden Eagles took full advantage of the situation, rolling to a 93-83 victory over the Roadrunners Saturday at Reed Green Coliseum.

“We opened the game very poorly, almost sleep-walking out there,” UTSA coach Steve Henson told the team’s radio broadcast. “Their style of play has a little to do with that. There wasn’t much energy going either direction.”

Kevin Holland scored 23 points to lead the Golden Eagles (9-8, 2-2 in Conference USA) to a sweep of their two-game home stand.

The Roadrunners (9-8, 2-2) got 30 points from freshman Jhivvan Jackson and 21 from Deon Lyle, settling for a split of a two-game road trip.

UTSA defeated Louisiana Tech 78-76 Thursday night, winning the game on a buzzer-beater by Giovanni De Nicolao.

At Southern Miss, the Roadrunners couldn’t get anything going early, and it cost them dearly.

“We had some good looks,” Henson said. “Wide open three-pointers didn’t go down. It was almost as if they were daring us to shoot there for awhile. We’re usually a pretty aggressive team.

“We just got a little tentative (and) didn’t make aggressive plays.”

UTSA returns home for two games next week, against Florida International and Florida Atlantic.

Sam Houston rallies past short-handed UIW, 85-74

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UIW freshman Keaton Hervey drives the baseline for a dunk in the first half

Former MacArthur standout Marcus Harris scored 16 points Saturday as the Sam Houston State Bearkats rallied for an 85-74 victory over the University of the Incarnate Word.

Playing its Southland Conference home opener, UIW (5-8, 0-3) shot 55.6 percent in the first half and surged into an 11-point lead with 1:27 left before intermission.

Sam Houston (8-8, 2-1) retaliated in the second half with aggressive play and 65.5 percent shooting to outscore the home team 52-34.

Saddled with its fifth straight loss, UIW was without starting point guard Jalin Hart, who says he is sidelined for two weeks because of academic issues.

The Cardinals also suffered a blow with an injury to guard Keaton Hervey, who couldn’t finish the game.

Hervey started fast with nine points on 3 of 5 shooting before he had to sit down.

Sparking the Bearkats, Harris hit 4 of 9 from the field and 8 of 11 at the free-throw line.

He led five other Sam Houston players in double figures, including John Dewey III with 13, and Josh Boutte, Abrian Edwards, Josh Delaney and Jamal Williams with 10 each.

Charles Brown III led UIW with 21 points on 6 of 7 shooting. Sam Burmeister came off the bench for 16. Cody Graham, starting for Hart, finished with 15 points and four assists.

Incarnate Word hosts Sam Houston, hoping to end skid

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Incarnate Word's Simi Socks (3) drives to the basket. The Incarnate Word men's basketball team opened the season with an 87-71 victory over Southwestern on Friday night. (Joe Alexander / theJBreplay.com)

Simi Socks (3) says he is preparing to play more on the wing to give UIW more flexibility in its rotation of big men. (Joe Alexander / thejbreplay.com)

After spending a lot of time during the past month on the road, members of the University of the Incarnate Word men’s basketball team relished a chance to return home last weekend.

To sleep in their own beds. To practice in their own gym.

“Just to re-focus and get our chemistry back in order,” junior forward Simi Socks said Friday.

Intent on snapping a four-game losing streak, UIW will host Sam Houston State in a Southland Conference game on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

“We’re going to be picking it up on the defensive end,” Cardinals forward Simi Socks said. “We’re really going to be attacking.”

Coach Ken Burmeister said it will help playing at home.

“It’s going to be good to be home, playing on our own floor,” the coach said. “We’ve had a lot of travel with the UTEP and Florida games and then going out on the road, taking the bus, and then coming back.

“But we’ve got to move forward. We had a week at practice. Guys have gone hard (and) picked up our intensity on defense. We’ll see where it goes.”

Against Sam Houston State, UIW (5-7, 0-2) is looking for its first win in the SLC phase of its schedule.

It won’t be an easy task, as the Bearkats (7-8, 1-1) will bring in a trio of standouts in forward Chris Galbreath Jr. and guards John Dewey III and Jamal Williams.

Williams and Marcus Harris scored 15 apiece in an 82-76 victory Wednesday at home over Central Arkansas.

An ugly road trip

The Cardinals haven’t played since last Saturday when they lost in Thibodaux, Louisiana, to cap an ugly road trip, which included non-conference losses at UTEP and Florida and then SLC losses at McNeese State and Nicholls State.

UIW actually played well for long stretches against both UTEP and Florida. Against Florida, UIW trailed by only five with 12 minutes remaining.

But when conference play started, the Cardinals crumbled, getting schooled 85-62 at McNeese and 77-60 at Nicholls.

What happened? Well, it’s complicated. In both games, UIW fell behind early and shot the ball poorly as a team.

Just why they shot so poorly (32 percent against McNeese and 35 percent against Nicholls) might be up for debate.

It could have been the competition. It could have been the challenge of playing on the road.

But it also could be traced to UIW’s evolution as a team as it tries to mesh 7-foot center Konstantin Kulikov into the playing rotation.

Konstantin Kulikov (Soobum Im / The University of the Incarnate Word)

Kulikov, from Russia by way of San Jacinto College, played for the first time this season at Florida on Dec. 22 after being cleared by the NCAA.

In three games, he’s averaging 2.7 points in 12.7 minutes per game on 33 percent shooting.

Burmeister said Kulikov will come off the bench against Sam Houston State after starting against Nicholls.

“Kuli’s conditioning needs to get better,” Burmeister said. “He’s trying hard. But we ran into some good big people that took advantage of him, and he’s just got to learn from experience.”

With Kulikov and Charles Brown III in the paint, Socks moved more to a wing position, which didn’t work out so well.

Making adjustments

Against Sam Houston, the coach said he wants Socks to play more inside.

But the explosive 6-foot-7 junior, a native of Zimbabwe out of Coppell High School, said he wants to be as versatile as possible to help the team.

“I got to get used to playing on the wing more,” Socks said. “I was used to playing on the wing before I got here. But it’s been three years. I got to be able to adjust to what coach needs me to do.

“So if he needs me on the wing, I got to be ready to do that. Be ready to go, always.”

Socks plays a leading role with the Cardinals, averaging a team-high 12.7 points and 4.9 rebounds.

UIW also gets major production from redshirt freshman forward Christian Peevy, junior forward Charles Brown III and senior guards Shawn Johnson and Jalin Hart.

The mood in the UIW camp was down when the team returned home last weekend, Socks said.

“But we really picked it back up in the past week, getting ready for this game,” he said.

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.