Center Jordan Murphy, a University of Minnesota senior from Brennan High School, is coming on strong for the Golden Gophers from the Big Ten conference.
Murphy leads the Gophers with 16.2 points per game and leads all of Division I, averaging 12.9 rebounds.
The 6-foot-7 Murphy enjoyed another double-double performance Friday night (30 points, 16 rebounds) in a home victory over North Carolina A&T.
Minnesota is 10-2 on the season and 1-1 in the Big Ten.
The University of Texas men’s and women’s basketball teams are expected to move into a new 10,000-seat arena on the Austin campus in 2021.
The arena will be expandable to 15,000 seats for concerts and touring shows, according to a news release.
UT officials laid out the plans in a news conference Thursday. They said it would be built on parking lots south of Myers Stadium.
The arena is expected to carry a pricetag of $338 million and will be developed in partnership with the Oak View Group.
According to the news release, the arena will be home to men’s and women’s basketball games, graduations, concerts and other events.
A 35-year agreement between UT and ArenaCo — which includes OVG, Live Nation, C3 Presents and Matthew McConaughey — will be groundbreaking in college athletics and provide a public benefit for UT and the City of Austin for decades to come, according to the release.
The release said the venue will be constructed on land fully owned by UT without using any university or public money.
It will replace the 41-year-old Frank C. Erwin Center, which sits on land designated for future expansion of the Dell Medical School.
UT may be responsible for certain infrastructure improvements near the site to make it ready for construction, according to the release.
Sophomore guard Jhivvan Jackson notched his seventh straight game of 20 points or more on Thursday night, scoring 22, as UTSA registered a 64-50 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Jhivvan Jackson
In the game played at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, the Roadrunners held the Islanders to 29 percent shooting from the field.
Jackson hit four 3-point buckets and pulled down eight rebounds to lead the Roadrunners, who have won two in a row and five of their last seven.
Kareem South led the Islanders with 23 points.
Records
UTSA 5-7
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 5-6
Notable
In his seven-game streak, Jackson has scored 21 against both Florida Gulf Coast and Houston Baptist, 22 against Texas State, 28 (Mid-America Christian), 20 (Arkansas), 23 (Bethany) and 22 (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi). He started the season on the bench, sitting out the first three games to complete rehabilitation from knee surgery.
Quotable
“I’m feeling great. I’m getting, basically, my conditioning back. My knee is good. It’s not bothering me or anything, and I’m just looking forward to the rest of the season.” — UTSA guard Jhivvan Jackson said on the team’s radio broadcast.
UTSA forced Texas A&M-Corpus Christi into a season-high 23 turnovers, its most since forcing the Islanders into 25 turnovers last year. In the last 80 minutes vs. TAMU-CC, UTSA has forced the Islanders into 48 turnovers. #BirdsUp🤙
Forward RJ Barrett scored 10 of his 16 points in the last 14 minutes Thursday, leading the second-ranked Duke Blue Devils to a 69-58 victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders
Duke was down 42-34 with 14:22 remaining when Tech freshman guard Kyler Evans hit a layup off a feed from Jarrett Culver.
From there, the Blue Devils picked up the defensive intensity, started to flow in offensive transition and handed the Red Raiders from the Big 12 conference their first loss of the season.
As the Blue Devils gained momentum, a 3-pointer out of the corner from Cam Reddish served to deflate the Red Raiders further.
It lifted Duke into a 63-57 lead with 3:26 remaining.
Records
Texas Tech 10-1
Duke 10-1
Individuals
Texas Tech — Jarrett Culver, 25 points 6 rebounds, 4 assists. Culver also had 6 of his team’s 24 turnovers.
Duke — Zion Williamson, 17 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out. RJ Barrett, 16 points. Tre Jones, 13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 steals.
It's been the Stanley Umude show in the first half. He flushes this one home after being left open under the basket! #GoYotespic.twitter.com/fn0K2uGqH4
Duke sensation Zion Williamson caught an elbow in the mouth in the first half, but that didn’t slow down the Blue Devils, who — figuratively speaking — smacked Princeton around for most of the rest of the night in a 101-50 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Next up for the second-ranked Blue Devils? A trip to New York for a meeting with the undefeated and 12th-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders. The game is set for Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Blue Devils had 14 blocked shots and 12 steals. It was the fifth time Duke has had 10 or more blocks in a game this season. Duke had double digit steals for the fifth straight game, which is tied for the third-longest streak in school history and the longest since a five-game streak in the 2000-01 season.
Quotable
— Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, in comments posted on the school’s website:
“The guys played great defense tonight, especially against an extended dribble. I thought RJ (Barrett) did a great job on (Devin) Cannady, who is an outstanding player. He didn’t leave him. His length and not letting him get the ball, and even when he got it, the length was a key factor in stopping him.
“Tre (Jones’) pressure on (Jaelin) Llewellyn was key, and for the most part we kept them out of the paint. And when they did get in the paint, our big guys came over and blocked a lot of shots. Which is what they are supposed to do and they did it.”
UTSA’s Nick Allen played with a sore foot but recorded 12 points and 8 rebounds in 18 minutes in the Roadrunners’ 101-77 victory over Bethany on Monday, Dec. 17, 2018 at the UTSA Convocation Center. – photo by Joe Alexander
The UTSA Roadrunners enjoyed the feeling of a 101-77 victory Monday night over the Bethany College Swedes.
A dozen Roadrunners played and 11 of them scored, as they kicked the lead up to as many as 33 points in the last few minutes at the Convocation Center.
In the aftermath, however, UTSA senior Nick Allen said he recalled a different mood in the dressing room at halftime.
It was a foul mood, in some respects.
Players were mad that they led the NAIA program from Lindsborg, Kansas, by only eight points.
Coach Steve Henson was upset about it, as well, and he let the players know it.
“He was just frustrated because I think he sees what the older guys are seeing,” senior forward Nick Allen said. “Man, we can be so good. Why are we not fulfilling our potential for 40 minutes?’ ”
In response, the Roadrunners clamped down on defense early in the second half to take charge on one end of the floor.
On the other end, they ran their offense well, at one time outscoring the Swedes 16-0 to build a 65-42 lead.
Bethany never got closer than 21 the rest of the way.
Notable
Guards Keaton Wallace and Jhivvan Jackson scored 23 points apiece to lead the Roadrunners. The two were aided by Allen, who produced 12 points and eight rebounds and Adokiye Iyaye, who added 11 points off the bench. Byron Frohnen scored 10.
Quotable
“We felt good about the way we came out and started the second half. We had to get after ’em at haltime a little bit, which we didn’t want to do. We just didn’t quite have enough fight there in the first half.” — UTSA coach Steve Henson
Records
UTSA 4-7
Bethany 7-6
Ties that bind
Bethany is led by head coach Dan O’Dowd, a former UTSA assistant coach. Former UTSA center Edrico McGregor is a Bethany assistant. O’Dowd, who worked under the late Brooks Thompson at UTSA, served as the initial recruiting contact for Allen.
In addition, UTSA coach Steve Henson lived in Lindsborg when he was a toddler.
With his father an athlete and a student-teacher at Bethany, Henson recalled that he once wore a “Swede outfit,” complete with a “fake beard, a helmet and a fake sword.”
Jhivvan Jackson passes to Keaton Wallace, who soars for a first-half alley-oop slam.
San Antonio connections
Bethany point guard Isiah Saenz, from St. Anthony, produced 9 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Forward Lavaris Duncan, from Judson, had 12 points and 6 rebounds.
Bethany coach Dan O’Dowd (standing) and assistant coach Edrico McGregor (sitting right) both have ties to UTSA.
Bethany coach Dan O’Dowd, assistant coach Edrico McGregor, sophomore guard Isiah Saenz and sophomore forward Lavaris Duncan all were on familiar ground Monday when the Swedes played UTSA at the Convocation Center.
O’Dowd is a former assistant coach at UTSA. McGregor played at UTSA. Saenz played high school basketball in San Antonio at St. Anthony’s. Duncan is from Converse Judson.
Michigan coach John Beilein addresses the media at the NCAA Final Four.
Is the Big Ten regaining its swagger in NCAA Division I men’s basketball?
Led by undefeated Michigan, the Big Ten leads all conferences with seven teams in this week’s edition of the Associated Press Top 25, according to the poll released on Monday.
Michigan, an NCAA Tournament finalist last year, moved up one spot to fourth. Michigan State dropped one place to 10th.
Others from the Big Ten in the seventh installment of the Top 25 include Ohio State (15), Wisconsin (16th), Indiana (22), Iowa (23) and Nebraska (25).
The ACC has five teams in, including Duke (2), Virginia (5), North Carolina (9), Florida State (11) and Virginia Tech (13).
Last year, the Big Ten’s image took a blow when only four of its teams reached the field of 68 in the NCAA Tournament.
It was the lowest total for the conference since 2008.
In addition, only two Big Ten schools — Michigan and Purdue — reached the Sweet 16.
Michigan helped the conference save face when it stormed through the West as the No. 3 seed to reach the Final Four in San Antonio.
At the Alamodome, Michigan knocked off Loyola-Chicago to reach the championship game, where it was throttled 79-62 by Villanova.
–AP Top 25
1. Kansas 9-0 Big 12
2. Duke 9-1 ACC
3. Tennessee 8-1 SEC
4. Michigan 11-0 Big Ten
5. Virginia 9-0 ACC
6. Nevada 11-0 Mountain West
7. Auburn 9-1 SEC
8. Gonzaga 9-2 West Coast
9. North Carolina 8-2 ACC
10. Michigan State 9-2 Big Ten
11. Florida State 8-1 ACC
12. Texas Tech 10-0 Big 12
13. Virginia Tech 9-1 ACC
14. Buffalo 10-0 Mid-American
15. Ohio State 9-1 Big Ten
16. Wisconsin 9-2 Big Ten
17. Mississippi State 9-1 SEC
18. Arizona State 8-1 Pac 12
19. Kentucky 8-2 SEC
20. Marquette 8-2 Big East
21. Houston 10-0 American
22. Indiana 9-2 Big Ten
23. Iowa 8-2 Big Ten
24. Furman 12-0 Southern
25. Nebraska 9-2 Big Ten
