Category Archives: College basketball

Is it really time to fear the Wofford Terriers?

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If you’re looking for a bracket-busting NCAA tournament team in March, keep an eye on the Wofford Terriers.

Wofford, based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, made headlines on Wednesday night by beating the 5th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, 79-75.

A stunning victory? Well, in more than one way, it definitely was.

The Terriers came into Chapel Hill on an 0-22 skid against ranked opponents.

They have played in four NCAA tournaments since 2010 but have emerged from those spotlight experiences 0-4.

Still, it’s not like the Terriers have never had success.

In 2015, coach Mike Young’s team won 28 games and pulled down a No. 12 seed in its NCAA region.

Wofford nearly knocked off fifth-seeded Arkansas in the first round that year before falling by three (56-53) at Jacksonville, Florida.

This year, they have a phenomenon on their team. He goes by the name of Fletcher Magee.

Magee is a brazen scorer who came into the home of the defending NCAA champions averaging 24.1 points per game, second in the nation only to Oklahoma freshman Trae Young.

Against the Tar Heels, Magee scored 27, including 16 in the second half.

“Magee was not typical Fletcher (tonight),” Wofford coach Mike Young said. “His numbers have been staggering, and people are starting to
take notice. He missed a couple, one that was like a layup to him.

“(But) 27 points in this environment; Kenny Williams and Theo Pinson, those guys can guard you,” the coach said. “That kid (Magee)
makes you look pretty good (as a coach) sometimes.

“He just rises up and hits a shot. He certainly did that a
couple of times tonight.”

So, make a mental note. In a few months, if you’re looking for an underdog to pick among double-digit seeds in the tournament, look up the Terriers.

They might be ready to roar.

UTEP rallies at home for 72-66 victory over Incarnate Word

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UTEPs Omega Harris (No. 2) drives on Incarnate Word guard Jalin Hart.

The UTEP Miners forced mistakes with their defense and rallied in the second half Tuesday night for a 72-66 victory over the University of the Incarnate Word.

Playing in El Paso at the Haskins Center, the Cardinals performed well for most of the night and held a 49-43 lead when Sam Burmeister buried a three-pointer with 10:26 remaining.

But, at that point, guards Kobe Magee and Omega Harris hit consecutive baskets to kick-start a 10-1 run for the Miners.

A Harris jumper capped the streak and gave UTEP a 53-50 edge with 6:57 left.

Down the stretch, the Cardinals (5-4) went cold, failing to make a basket for a span of 4 minutes and 43 seconds.

The Miners (4-6) did just enough to hold on for their third win in a row under interim head coach Paul Johnson. Johnson is 3-1 after taking over for Tim Floyd, who has retired.

Forward Paul Thomas led short-handed UTEP with 16 points and eight rebounds. Harris scored 15. Both Harris and Magee contributed three steals.

Miners’ injured 7-foot-1 center Matt Willms did not play.

For the Cardinals, forward Simi Socks led with 21 points, his second straight game with 20 or more. Socks hit 3 of 4 from three-point territory.

Forward Shawn Johnson scored 14, and Christian Peevy came off the bench for 10. UIW hit 9 three-pointers for the game but made too many mistakes, turning it over 25 times.

UIW plays on the road again at Florida on Friday night before opening Southland Conference play next week.

The SLC schedule starts with a road trip to Louisiana and games at McNeese State and Nicholls State.

TCU improves to 11-0 with win over Texas Southern

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JD Miller scored 20 points on 9 of 13 shooting Monday night, helping undefeated and 15th-ranked TCU to break away in the second half for a 91-72 victory over winless Texas Southern.

Vladimir Brodziansky (in the photo, above) added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Frogs (11-0).

Guard Demontrae Jefferson poured in 29 for the Tigers (0-12) in the game played on TCU’s home floor in Fort Worth.

The Tigers of the Southwestern Athletic Conference stayed with the Big 12 powerhouse for a half, trailing by only two at intermission.

Texas Southern traded baskets with the home team early in the second half before TCU constructed a 10-0 run to open up a 53-43 lead.

The Tigers never got closer than five the rest of the way, with the Frogs pushing the lead to 25 down the stretch.

TCU remains as one of four unbeaten teams in the nation, joining No. 1 Villanova, No. 3 Arizona State and No. 6 Miami.

The Horned Frogs will play Friday at home against William and Mary before opening Big 12 play Dec. 30 at home against the Oklahoma Sooners.

Texas 47, Tennessee State 46

The Texas Longhorns hit a clutch shot with 11 seconds remaining Monday night, escaping with a 47-46 victory over the Tennessee State Tigers.

Matt Coleman’s runner allowed Texas (8-3) to avert disaster against Tennessee State (5-5) of the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Tigers, on their last possession, missed a wild three with the clock running down.

With the victory, Texas improved to 2-1 since they lost leading scorer Andrew Jones to a wrist injury.

No. 14 Kansas 109, Omaha 64

Svi Mykhailiuk tied his career high with six 3-pointers and scored 26 points as Kansas routed Omaha 109-64 Monday night.

Mykhailiuk hit the winning shot in the Jayhawks’ 73-72 victory over Nebraska in Lincoln on Saturday night.

Kansas, who have won 13 Big 12 regular season titles in a row, had lost two straight leading into the Nebraska game.

They Jayhawks (9-2) will now take a two-game winning streak on the road to play Stanford in California on Thursday.

It’s the last non-conference game for Kansas before it opens Big 12 play on Dec. 29 at Texas.

1-2-3 in AP poll? Villanova, Michigan State, Arizona State

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Undefeated Villanova remained as the No. 1 team in the nation, according to the Week 7 release of the Associated Press college basketball poll.

Michigan State, unbeaten Arizona State and Duke were ranked second through fourth, respectively, with defending NCAA champion North Carolina coming in fifth after Sunday’s victory at Tennessee.

Undefeated Miami placed sixth, with Kentucky at No. 7 and Texas A&M in the eighth spot. It was Texas A&M’s fourth straight week in the top 10. Xavier of Ohio was ninth and West Virginia of the Big 12 was 10th.

Other Big 12 programs that made the top 25 included twice-beaten Kansas at No. 14, undefeated TCU (15), Oklahoma (17), Baylor (tied for 18th) and Texas Tech (21).

Villanova, the 2016 NCAA champions, kept the No. 1 spot for the second straight week based on a 20-point blowout of Temple.

Jalen Brunson scored 31 as the Wildcats (11-0) pounded Temple 87-67 last week in a battle of Philadelphia-based powers.

Michigan State also played only once last week, knocking off Oakland (Mich.) on Saturday in Detroit, 86-73.

The Spartans won despite 35 percent shooting in a game that they dominated on the boards (45-30).

Arizona State sold out Wells Fargo Arena on Sunday afternoon and played to the 10,797 fans with a 76-64 victory over Vanderbilt.

In a chaotic sequence of events last in the first half, Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley lost a championship ring from his days as a player at Duke, found it, and then led his team to victory.

Sports writer Doug Haller’s game story at azcentral.com is also a winner. Call it up by clicking the link in the following tweet.

Best in the nation? ‘Forever’ Trae Young states his case

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Oklahoma guard Trae Young just keeps stacking dominant performances, one on top of another.

You read about his exploits and you wonder if he can really be that good, and then he does it again.

After he led OU to a 91-83 victory at No. 3 Wichita State on Saturday, he stirred the discussion again.

Read a story by Taylor Eldridge in the Wichita Eagle for the latest on a player that is storming NCAA Division I basketball.

At the jbreplay.com, we will be singing the praises of “Forever” Trae Young, at least until someone figures out a way to stop him.

UTSA routs Bethany as offense continues to roll

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UTSA forward Nick Allen hits a three-pointer out of the corner in the second half Saturday night against Bethany College. Video: thejbreplay

UTSA guard Jhivvan Jackson told reporters Saturday night that coach Steve Henson delivered a mostly positive message in the dressing room after the Roadrunners scorched the NAIA Bethany College Swedes, 95-67.

“He said we played great, but we got to get better on the defensive end,” said Jackson, who led UTSA with 19 points. “Going into Nebraska, (we need to) have some good hard practices and play our best game.”

The Roadrunners (7-5) play at Nebraska on Wednesday night.

Thirteen UTSA players played against Bethany and 13 scored in Dan O’Dowd’s return to campus.

A former 10-year assistant with the Roadrunners, O’Dowd is the first-year head coach of the Swedes.

In spite of the lopsided score, O’Dowd took away a few positives from his first game back to the arena where he worked with former coach Brooks Thompson for a decade through 2016.

No. 1, the game didn’t count on his record.

No. 2, Bethany freshman point guard and former St. Anthony standout Isiah Saenz scored 21 points on seven three-pointers.

Saenz showed off a flashy game that included one-handed, no-look passes.

“He’s going to be good,” O’Dowd said.

Bethany point guard Isiah Saenz brings the ball up and drains a three-pointer. Video: thejbreplay.com

Bethany College coach’s trip to UTSA ‘like coming home’

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Bethany College coach Dan O’Dowd chats with his players during Saturday’s shoot-around at UTSA. Video: thejbreplay.com

Dan O’Dowd walked into the UTSA Convocation Center Friday and angled toward the corridor leading into the home team dressing room.

“I started heading in there and, ‘Oh wait,’ ” he said, smiling.

Forgive the first-year head coach of the Bethany College Swedes for making a wrong turn on his first trip back to the ‘Bird Cage.’

Some things you do in life are just reflex, especially if you’re O’Dowd, and you’ve spent 10 years of your career working out of the home of the Roadrunners.

O’Dowd admitted Saturday morning that it’s an emotional visit for him as his Kansas-based NAIA team prepares to play a road game against UTSA tonight.

Tipoff is at 7 p.m. between the Swedes and the NCAA Division I Roadrunners.

“You know, San Antonio is home,” O’Dowd said. “My wife and kids are still here. Our oldest finished high school last year. The youngest is a junior and we wanted him to finish school and sports with all the kids he’s grown up with.

“So, it’s like coming home. You know, I spent a lot of time in this gym. It’s just fun to see the changes and improvements that they’ve made.”

O’Dowd, a Colorado native and a Bethany graduate, worked for a decade at UTSA through 2016 under the late Brooks Thompson.

After UTSA, he moved on to work for a year at North Texas, before taking the job at Bethany last May.

Nick Allen, one UTSA’s hottest players at the moment, said it was fun to see O’Dowd again on Friday.

The two were able to catch up in a brief conversation.

“He just wanted to see how I was doing,” Allen said.

It was sort of like Allen’s first meeting with the coach, when O’Dowd visited his high school on a recruiting trip.

Of the first meeting, Allen remembers the coach being “really cool, really relaxed.”

“But you could tell he was serious,” said Allen, from Surprise, Arizona. “He was about his business when he came in. Just a good guy. I don’t know. I didn’t get any bad vibes from him. He’s the one that recruited me here. So I’ve got a lot of appreciation for him, a lot of respect for him.

“He’s a great coach. If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be here. He’s a good dude. He means a lot to me.”

Dane Pavlovich, Bethany’s dean of athletics and student development, said it’s been fun to watch O’Dowd at work in his first year.

“He’s been a joy to work with,” Pavlovich said. “He also serves as assistant athletic director. So he helps us out with game management for football games and all the different other events.

“He’s really thrown himself into being a part of the Bethany culture. Being an alum, the job isn’t too small for him.

“He’s coached at some of the highest levels of NCAA basketball … but he’s thrown himself into (this job), being a part of the Bethany campus and the Lindsborg community … It’s been a lot of fun.”

O’Dowd, who has worked as an assistant at high-major jobs at Ole Miss and Arizona State, said he’s enjoying being the head coach.

“As an assistant coach for 30 years, you have a special relationship with your players, but you’re not the guy. Being head coach is fun, just the respect factor they have for you is a little bit different,” he said. “But it doesn’t change much. Biggest difference is that as an assistant you’re making suggestions. As a head coach you’re making decisions.

“I’ve been fortunate to work for coaches that prepared me for that. Whether its dealing with the media, going out (and) speaking at fundraisers, everything that I’ve needed to do to be prepared. So, it’s been a lot of fun.”

Baylor’s Lual-Acuil scores 18 in front of his proud parents

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The video from Baylor athletics says it all.

Senior center Jo Lual-Acuil, Jr., running ahead of the competition on the fast break, fielding a pass and dunking.

Lual-Acuil punctuated a big day in his college basketball career with 18 points, as the 21st-ranked Bears ran away with a 99-68 victory Thursday night over the Texas Southern Tigers.

What was so big about a game in December? Well, for starters, his parents traveled from Africa to Waco to see him play.

According to ESPN, his parents made the trip to see their son play and to attend his graduation, which is scheduled Saturday.

For more on Lual-Acuil’s amazing story, here is an article authored by John Werner of the Waco Tribune-Herald.

Published in January last season, it’s a fascinating chronicle of Lual-Acuil’s journey from the Sudan, to Uganda, to Australia, to Chanute, Kansas, and, finally, to Waco.

Lual-Acuil is listed on the roster at 7-feet and 225 pounds.

After sitting out the 2015-16 season with a heart condition, the transfer from Neosho Community College (in Kansas) emerged last year as one of the top shot-blockers in the nation.

Lual-Acuil had 87 blocks in 35 games.

This year, his game is expanding. Both his scoring and rebounding numbers are up. Coming into the Texas Southern game, Lual-Acuil was averaging 13.9 points and 10.1 rebounds.

After blocking two shots against the Tigers, he has produced 14 rejections in 10 games for the Bears (8-2).

Baylor, in a push to prepare for the start of Big 12 play later this month, hosts Savannah State at home on Sunday.

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Charlotte fires Mark Price after a 3-6 start; assistant takes over

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UNC Charlotte has fired basketball coach Mark Price, according to a statement from the university’s athletic department.

Assistant Houston Fancher has been elevated to a position as interim coach.

In two-plus seasons with the 49ers, Price produced a 30-42 record.

Charlotte is 3-6 and has lost four games in a row heading into a road contest Monday at East Carolina.

The 49ers compete in Conference USA, along with UTSA.

Price’s ouster represents the second coaching change in the C-USA in 18 days, following Tim Floyd’s retirement at UTEP on Nov. 27.

Phil Johnson, a member of Floyd’s staff, has since taken over head coaching duties for the Miners on an interim basis.

UNC Charlotte chancellor Philip Dubois and athletic director Judy Rose made the announcement on Price in a news release Thursday morning.

According to the release, Price has been released from his contract, effective immediately.

Price enjoyed a standout career as a player, earning all-America honors at Georgia Tech and later spending parts of 12 seasons in the NBA.

Playing point guard, his best years in the NBA were in Cleveland, where he led the Cavaliers to the 1992 Eastern Conference finals against the Chicago Bulls.

As a head coach, his program at Charlotte never seemed to gain traction.

In 2015-16, Charlotte produced a record of 14-19 and 9-9 in the C-USA. Last year, he was 13-17 and 7-11.

The move caught Price by surprise, according to a story in the Charlotte Observer.

“I”m still stunned to be honest,” Price told the Observer. “I was called in this morning and was told they were going to make a change. … They said they didn’t like the direction of the program was taking and that I might have lost some of my players, which I don’t agree with.”

Texas offense needs work after 59-52 loss to Michigan

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The Texas Longhorns are expected to get an earful from Coach Shaka Smart in coming days.

Smart just might be in the players’ ears and in their faces through Saturday, when they host Louisiana Tech at the Erwin Center.

The coach said as much after Michigan throttled Texas 59-52 on Tuesday night.

Smart’s message? Stay with the game plan, even when adversity strikes.

“I think that the things that we didn’t do, in terms of following our plan, that stuff needs to be exposed on film and that stuff needs to be hammered hard,” Smart told reporters. “Because regardless of the opponent, the stuff we planned and worked to do in practice, that has to be carried over into the game.

“That (plan) could be different from game to game, but our willingness to go and execute that stuff, through whatever happens, must be better.”

Leading into the Michigan game, Texas planned for the absence of its leading scorer, Andrew Jones, who is out with a hairline fracture in his right wrist.

In the aftermath, they learned that the adjustment won’t be easy.

At the outset against the Wolverines, the Longhorns played well on the defensive end. But a 2-0 lead after the first four minutes easily could have been 10-0 or more.

As the Longhorns sputtered, the Wolverines started to find a rhythm. They started hitting shots and surged into a 32-20 halftime lead.

Texas got within three once in the second half, but couldn’t dig out of the hole. The offense, without Jones on the floor, never got untracked for any extended period of time.

On top of that, Michigan occasionally would hit a difficult shot or would take advantage of a defensive breakdown, and the body language on the floor for Texas would sag again.

Smart traced it to not staying with original plan.

“With young guys like some of our freshmen, young guys that haven’t played a lot, it’s certainly understandable that that might affect them, but it’s not acceptable, the coach said. “There’s a difference between those two things and we have to understand that to whom much is given, when there’s an opportunity, much is expected, of all of us.

“And it starts with me.”

Texas center Mohamed Bamba who finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, said he can do more on the offensive end.

“I can definitely be more aggressive, get fouled more and just throw my body around, he said.

A case could be made that Bamba, a lithe, 6-foot-11 post, might benefit from getting a few more touches on the perimeter, facing the basket.

But, in the meantime, the heralded first-year player from New York said he needs to attack more from the low post.

“In high school, you don’t have guys who are 6-10 and 200-and-whatever pounds,” he said. “That’s one of the things we have the liberty of practicing against.

“We have to go up against DO (Dylan Osetkowski), James (Banks III), Jericho (Sims) and Royce (Hamm Jr.)

“When game time comes it’s a little bit easier, because there are fouls being called,” Bamba said. “But I still have to keep that aggressive mindset and keep attacking.”

Guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman paced the Wolverines with a double-double, producing 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Charles Matthews finished with 12 points, while Moritz Wagner and Duncan Robinson had 10 each for the Wolverines (9-3).

Texas (6-3) didn’t have as many players show up on offense as the coaching staff would have liked.

Osetkowski hit 6 of 11 from the field and scored 17. Guard Kerwin Roach II added 11 points on 4 of 8. Bamba, for his part, was 4 of 10 from the floor.

Michigan coach John Beilein said he thinks the Texas coaching staff will figure out how to adjust without Jones, a sophomore from Arlington.

“Hopefully Jones won’t be out too long, but watch other people just get better as they go through this,” he said. “We went through this three years in a row — your other guys get better and coach may have to change some things here and there.

“It’s hard to change that immediately, but Shaka (Smart) will find a way.