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.

Markus Howard: ‘Every shot … you feel like it’s going to go in’

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Every time record-breaking Marquette sophomore Markus Howard touched the ball, it felt like something good was about to happen.

Howard scored 52 points Wednesday night to lead a 95-90 overtime victory over Providence College, at Providence, Rhode Island.

Howard started out inconspicuously with 10 points in the first half. But then he exploded for 32 in the second half and added another 10 in the overtime.

Altogether, Howard finished 17 of 29 from the field, including 11 of 19 three pointers. He knocked down all seven of his free throws.

“When you’re in a rhythm like that, every shot you throw up, you feel like it’s going to go in,” Howard told Andy Katz of ncaa.com. “My teammates did a great job of finding me. My coaches did a great job of setting up plays.

“So it was really my job just to create and get the best shot for our offense.’

Daniel Rapaport of Sports Illustrated reported that it is the first 50-point performance of the season in NCAA Division I and the most since Nate Wolters scored 53 for South Dakota State in 2013.

Central Michigan guard Marcus Keene, out of San Antonio’s Warren High School, scored 50 last year.

Howard, a 5-11 guard from Arizona, entered the game at Providence’s Dunkin’ Donuts Center as the nation’s 37th best scorer at 20.5 points per game.

With his outburst, he tied the Big East Conference single-game scoring record set in 2011 by Providence’s MarShon Brooks and also eclipsed a nearly 60-year-old school record.

Marquette’s previous record of 44 points was set in February of 1958 by Mike Moran against Creighton and tied in 1990 by Tony Smith against Wisconsin.

Other school records set by Howard included field goals and three-pointers.

The 11 3-pointers tied his own MU record established earlier this season against Chicago State.

Texas Tech makes history with first victory at Kansas

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The Texas Tech Red Raiders guarded the three-point line effectively and came away with an impressive 85-73 Big 12 road victory at Kansas Tuesday night.

It was the first win by the Red Raiders at historic Phog Allen Fieldhouse in 18 tries, the Associated Press reported.

A good argument can be made that the Red Raiders won the game with their perimeter defense.

Kansas hit 17 of 35 three-point shots in a 92-86 win at Texas on Friday night.

Texas Tech didn’t allow the defending conference champions to shoot like that two games in a row, limiting the Jayhawks to 6 of 26 from long distance .

As a result, the 18th-ranked Red Raiders improved to 13-1 overall and 2-0 in conference under second-year coach Chris Beard.

The 10th-ranked Jayhawks, under veteran coach Bill Self, fell to 11-3 and 1-1.

“It’s impossible to stop ’em,” Beard said. “You just try to contain ’em, and you try to contest shots.

“Like, the way they shot the ball in Austin the other night, they’re not going to get beat, cause Texas did a good job contesting most of ’em. They’ll play on the final Monday (of the NCAA tournament, if they shoot well).

“You got to be fortunate and tonight, we were. They got some good looks. We made some mistakes on switches. So we were fortunate tonight. But you got to give our guys credit. I did feel like there was a sense of urgency to guard the three-point line.”

Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham led all scorers with 27 points, but he didn’t have much help.

In contrast, ten players played for the Red Raiders and nine of them scored.

Senior Keenan Evans led Texas Tech with 15 points. Justin Gray, Norense Odiase and Jarrett Culver added 12 apiece. Zhaire Smith scored 11.

TCU escapes with 81-78 victory at Baylor in overtime

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Forward Vladimir Brodziansky hit the go-ahead basket with 90 seconds remaining Tuesday night, and the 16th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs went on to beat the Baylor Bears 81-78 in overtime.

With the win on Baylor’s home floor in Waco, the Frogs improved to 13-1 overall and to 1-1 in the Big 12. The Bears fell to 10-4 and 0-2.

Brodziansky, a 6-11 senior from Slovakia, led five TCU players in double-digit scoring with 18 points on 6 of 12 shooting. Sophomore guard Jaylen Fisher added 15 points and four assists.

Junior forward J.D. Miller had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Horned Frogs, who bounced back from Saturday’s one-point home loss to Oklahoma.

Center Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. led the Bears with 28 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bears trailed by 12 early in the second half and came back to tie it 74-74 at the end of regulation.

Down by two in overtime, TCU called on Brodziansky, whose three-pointer with 1:30 remaining lifted the Frogs into a 75-74 lead. TCU never trailed again.

Longhorns grind out a 74-70 win in OT at Iowa State

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Forward Dylan Osetkowski scored a career-high 25 points Monday as Texas subdued the Iowa State Cyclones, 74-70, in overtime at Ames, Iowa.

With the scored tied, Osetkowski hit a three-pointer, lifting the Longhorns into a 70-67 lead with 36 seconds left in OT.

From there, 6-foot-11 UT center Mo Bamba contributed on the defensive end with a blocked shot.

Bamba’s play was the beginning of the end for the Cyclones (9-4, 0-2 in the Big 12).

The Longhorns (10-4, 1-1) made it a five-point game when when Matt Coleman knocked down the first two of his four straight free throws in the final 12 seconds.

After Coleman’s first two freebies, Nick Weiler-Babb gave Iowa State a glimmer of hope in front of the home fans when he hit a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining, cutting the UT lead to 72-70.

But Coleman answered again with two more free throws to account for the final points.

Texas returns home to face the Baylor Bears on Saturday.

West Virginia wins again

The West Virginia Mountaineers entered play Monday ranked sixth nationally in the Associated Press poll and then backed it up with their 13th win in a row, a 77-69 road victory at Kansas State.

Smart scores 22, North Texas holds on to beat UTSA, 72-71

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The North Texas Mean Green, leading by eight points with seven minutes remaining, made just enough defensive plays to hold on for a dramatic, 72-71 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners Saturday night.

Playing at home in the Convocation Center, UTSA had a couple of chances to take the lead in the last 12 seconds but came up empty on two possessions.

First, North Texas center Shane Temara, shown in the video above, blocked a shot by UTSA’s Byron Frohnen.

On the other end, the Mean Green missed a free throw, which gave UTSA one last opportunity.

Roadrunners point guard Giovanni De Nicolao rushed it up court on the left side, angled to his right and stretched out to attempt a sweeping layup, which skipped off the front of the rim.

Nick Allen had a chance to follow it, but his tap was too strong, and it went over the goal.

The buzzer sounded as the teams battled for possession under the basket (see video below).

Guard Roosevelt Smart led North Texas with 22 points. Ryan Woolridge scored 18 points and A.J. Lawson added 14.

The victory gave North Texas (9-6, 2-0) a sweep of two road games — both victories by one point — to start the Conference USA phase of its schedule.

The Mean Green also dealt the Roadrunners (8-7, 1-1) their first loss at home this year after 6-0 start.

Freshmen guards Keaton Wallace and Jhivvan Jackson scored 17 points apiece for UTSA.

“We had a bad stretch to start the second half,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said. “Down the stretch, we did some things right, to give ourselves a chance after being down.

“Came out of a couple of timeouts with the right mindset defensively and offensively. Cut into that lead. Got a steal. Got a run out.

“Just didn’t seal it.

“(We) told our guys, ‘That’s the way conference games go. You know, the teams that finish in the top two or three spots find a way to win all those games. The teams that finish at the bottom lose all those games.”

The details

With UTSA playing well and gaining momentum at the outset, North Texas put a stop to it, getting back into the game in the closing minutes of the first half.

The Mean Green continued to battle through the first 13 minutes after intermission. Three times in that span, the visitors opened leads of eight points.

The Roadrunners rallied with a 12-4 run to tie the game, 70-70. In retaliation, the Mean Green called on A.J. Lawson to hit a jumper for what would be the deciding basket with 1:02 remaining.

Jhivvan Jackson hit a free throw for UTSA to pull the Roadrunners to within one, but the Roadrunners would be denied on their final two possessions.

Once, Temara got the block against Frohnen. On the last play, UTSA’s Giovanni De Nicolao drove and missed a contested layup.

A tip by Nick Allen was long as the buzzer sounded.

First half highlights

Freshman Keaton Wallace led the UTSA offense in the first half.

Playing in front of the home fans, the 6-foot-3 lefty scored 11 points and hit three 3-point shots before intermission.

The Roadrunners held the Mean Green to 35 percent shooting and, at one time, led 38-25.

Leading by 13 points with 4:41 left, UTSA suffered a defensive letdown.

North Texas closed with a 9-3 run, including this buzzer-beating, bank shot by Smart over Kendell Ramlal.

Second half

The Mean Green continued to play well after halftime. UTSA would make a run on the visiting team, but North Texas would counter with a run of its own.

In the video above, freshman center Zachary Simmons dunks in front of his appreciative teammates on the Mean Green bench.

The play, set up by a Simmons steal on the other end, gave North Texas an eight-point lead (64-56) with 9:16 remaining.

UTSA made some plays down the stretch. Just not enough. In the video above, De Nicolao misses a shot on a drive but Austin Karrer is trailing the play, cleaning up with a stick-back.

Young scores 39 as OU beats TCU 90-89 in Fort Worth

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Amazing game in Fort Worth today. Oklahoma scored the first 11 points. TCU rebounded with authority, surging into what became a 13-point lead with 10 minutes left. But the Sooners rallied and knocked off the previously undefeated Frogs, 90-89, in the Big 12 opener for both teams. OU freshman Trae Young produced 39 points and 14 assists.

De Nicolao’s steady play triggers UTSA’s free-wheeling offense

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UTSA point guard Giovanni De Nicolao drives to the bucket Thursday night in the first half against Rice. Video: thejbreplay.com

Giovanni De Nicolao admits that he faced a period of social adjustment when he first arrived in San Antonio in 2016.

Born and raised in Italy, he was a long way from home.

Giovanni De Nicolao

“Initially it was a little bit hard,” UTSA’s sophomore point guard said. “Everything is different, away from family. When I got here, I didn’t know anybody, but I adapt easily.

“Especially, with the coaches, they did a really good job. (Incoming players in) my class, my freshman class, we were just friends – on the basketball team and also outside (of the gym). That was kind of, last year, my family.”

If De Nicolao has ever been homesick, it’s been hard to tell based on his performance level on the court.

In a little more than two seasons with the Roadrunners, he has started every game.

At the moment, the 6-foot-3 guard from Padua, Italy, is sort of like the maestro of a finely-tuned orchestra.

With De Nicolao’s hands on the ball coming up court, free-wheeling UTSA (8-6, 1-0) ranks second in the conference in scoring at 86.6 points leading into tonight’s home game against North Texas (8-6, 1-0).

He leads a fast-improving program in assists (3.8) and steals (2.1) and is second in minutes played (25.3).

“He hasn’t had a bad day in a year and a half,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said. “He hasn’t had a bad practice. Every day, he walks in and he’s ready to practice. He’s all about the right things. He never takes a practice off.”

Henson traced that mindset to De Nicolao’s background in basketball.

“His dad is a coach,” Henson said. “He’s got an older brother that plays (professionally). He’s grown up the way a lot of kids in the states (did) 20 years ago (in) the way he thinks.”

De Nicolao is a pass-first guard, always looking for his teammates. He shoots only when the situation calls for it.

“The point guard position has changed so much,” said Henson, who once played the position at Kansas State. “So many of the elites, those guys they watch in the NBA, those guys are the leading scorers on their teams.

“He’s a little more of a throw-back guy. He’s about running the show and leading with his defense and penetration and assists.”

Last year, the Roadrunners struggled to shoot from the perimeter, meaning that De Nicolao often found himself forced to make a play when the shot clock was running down.

This year, with freshmen sharp-shooters Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace on the floor, the pressure is off the lead guard.

De Nicolao said it’s almost like a point guard’s dream to play on this team, with so many confident shooters.

“As you say, if someone miss one or two in a row, I’m going to find them again to get the third one, because I know they’re going to make it,” De Nicolao said. “Also, I don’t have to pass only to one guy. I can distribute the ball.

“I can get it to Kea(ton), Deon (Lyle), to Jhivvan, and I know they’re all going to make the shot. If they miss one, I know the next one is going to go in.”

De Nicolao acknowledged that he feels more at ease on the court this year, in part, because of his solid friendships and a growing familiarity with his surroundings.

“That definitely impact my game, because I feel more free, and secure,” he said.

Even so, De Nicolao said he talks regularly via FaceTime with members of his family back home.
He said he typically calls home following an afternoon practice, or, between 11 p.m. and midnight in Italy.

The conversations invariably turn to basketball.

“Both my brothers are both point guards,” De Nicolao said. “Also, my dad, he was a point guard. So, we have that point guard mentality.”

In San Antonio, he feels most at home with his closest friends, his teammates.

De Nicolao said after a Friday workout that he likes UTSA’s chances for continued success because of players’ unselfish attitude about the game.

“I think we have real good freshmen this year,” De Nicolao said. “Not only can they score. Not only can they make shots. But, they also pass the ball really well. Today I noticed (that) nobody forced a shot. We’re always trying to make an extra pass to get someone open.

“Whoever is going to shoot the ball, everyone is excited, because we know (it’s) going to go in.”

The ball moves quickly in UTSA’s offense, this time from Jhivvan Jackson on the left, to Giovanni De Nicolao in the middle. De Nicolao promptly executes a touch pass to Keaton Wallace for the three-pointer. Video: thejbreplay.com