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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.

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.

UIW beats A&M-Corpus Christi, snaps 17-game losing streak

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The beleaguered Incarnate Word men’s basketball program snapped a 17-game losing streak Saturday afternoon, beating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 69-62, on the road in the Southland Conference.

Charles Brown III, Shawn Johnson and Augustine Ene scored in double figures for the Cardinals’ first victory since Dec. 16 when they beat Missouri-Kansas City at home.

“It was a great team win with a lot of people contributing,” UIW coach Ken Burmeister said. “It was nice to hang in there when the game got tight.”

Brown produced 18 points and eight rebounds for the Cardinals, who improved to 6-20 and 1-15 in the SLC.

In addition, UIW’s Shawn Johnson had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Augustine Ene had 12 points and four assists.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi allowed UIW to hit 11 3-point shots in falling to 9-17 on the season and 6-10 in conference.

Joseph Kilgore (23 points) and Sean Rhea (18) led the Islanders, who shot 39 percent from the floor and 25 percent from three (5 of 20).

Coming up

UIW hosts two games next week, taking on Houston Baptist Wednesday night and then closing the season against Abilene Christian on Saturday afternoon.

Jackson-led UTSA beats Charlotte in overtime, 97-89

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Freshman Jhivvan Jackson scored 30 points Saturday as the UTSA Roadrunners turned back the Charlotte 49ers, 97-89, in overtime.

In the game played at Charlotte, North Carolina, UTSA’s all-time freshman scoring leader reached the 30-point mark for the third time this season.

Jhivvan Jackson

He made 11 of 22 shots from the field and, for good measure, he also nailed 4 of 12 from three-point distance.

Freshman Keaton Wallace scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half for the Roadrunners, who barely escaped against the last-place team in Conference USA.

Charlotte has lost 12 straight. UTSA, meanwhile, bounced back from Thursday night’s 100-62 loss at Old Dominion.

The Roadrunners are 6-2 in their last eight.

Crunch time

With the game on the line, Jackson nailed two straight jumpers in the final 25 seconds of regulation.

After Jackson hit the first one, guard Andrien White completed a three-point play to give Charlotte an 84-82 lead.

With the clock ticking under 10 seconds, UTSA advanced the ball and found Jackson, who hit the tying shot with 2.9 ticks left.

Jon Davis missed the potential game winner off the front of the rim at the regulation buzzer.

Overtime heroics

Jackson scored seven points in the extra period to give him 30 for the game and 518 for the season.

Devin Brown held the UTSA freshman record of 483 points until Jackson surpassed it Thursday night at Old Dominion.

In the overtime against Charlotte, he showed that he can also do more than score.

The former three-time Puerto Rican junior national team member created opportunities for teammates.

Two of Jackson’s late drives to the bucket led directly to four points, on a layup and two free throws, by Byron Frohnen.

Records

UTSA 15-12, 8-6
Charlotte 5-20, 1-13

Quotable

“Exactly what I expected. I thought they’d be really, really good and that it’d be a fight the whole way, and it was. They have good players. They’re just a little snake-bitten. They can’t quite finish ’em right now. They have a couple of terrific guards. It was tough.” — UTSA coach Steve Henson.

Charlotte highlights

Junior guard Andrien White produced 25 points, six rebounds and four assists. Backcourt mate Jon Davis had 18 points and eight assists.

Coming up

Southern Miss at UTSA, 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 22
Louisiana Tech at UTSA, 7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 24

Stephen F. Austin builds early lead and cruises past UIW, 81-70

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UIW center Devin Wyatt beats the SFA defense for a dunk in the first half.

Forward Leon Gilmore III produced 22 points and 11 rebounds Saturday afternoon as Stephen F. Austin claimed an 81-70 victory at the University of the Incarnate Word.

UIW freshman guard Augustine Ene sparked a rally that cut what had been a 20-point SFA lead near the end of the first half to six with 12:17 remaining in the game.

But SFA just had too much firepower and sent UIW reeling to its 16th straight loss.

“The guys could have folded, and it could have been a 30- or 40-point loss,” UIW coach Ken Burmeister said. “But they came back in the second half and gave us great effort.

“We made some threes and Augustine gave us some open-play ball where he was going downhill.

“He picked up the pace. (But) their size just hurts us. Gilmore and (AJ) Holyfield hurt us pretty good.”

With the loss, hard-luck UIW fell to 5-19 overall and 0-14 in the Southland Conference. SFA improved to 22-5 and 11-3.

The Cardinals have already been eliminated from contention to play in the SLC postseason tournament.

“I give Incarnate Word all the credit for battling back the way they did in the second half,” SFA coach Kyle Keller said. “We got some frustration in us on the defensive end. They just attacked us on the bounce and had some shots go in.

“Whether it’s a double-figure win or close to it, you’ll take that on the road anytime.”

Kevon Harris scored 22 and Shannon Bogues added 19 for the Lumberjacks, who have won four straight and six of seven.

For UIW, Shawn Johnson had 23 points and eight rebounds. Sam Burmeister chipped in with a season-high 18 points.

UIW notebook

Sidelined and not in uniform for UIW were center Konstantin Kulikof and guard Jorden Kite.

Kulikov was held out because of a compliance issue, a school spokesman said.

Burmeister declined comment on Kulikov’s situation. The coach said that Kite has a wrist injury.

UIW has been without starting point guard Jalin Hart for the past 12 games.

Hart, who averaged 15.9 points per game in 2016-17, is out for the season because of academics.


SFA’s Aaron Augustin takes a charge to force a turnover late in the first half of Saturday’s game at UIW.

Lamar hits 10 threes in 85-62 victory over Incarnate Word

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Nick Garth came off the bench for 19 points Wednesday night as the Lamar Cardinals routed Incarnate Word 85-62 at Beaumont in Southland Conference men’s basketball.

Garth hit five of Lamar’s 10 three-pointers in handing UIW its 15th straight loss.

Shawn Johnson led UIW with 27 points and 7 assists.

Records

Incarnate Word 5-18, 0-13
Lamar 16-11, 8-6

Coming up

Stephen F. Austin at Incarnate Word, Saturday at 3 p.m.