Middle Tennessee defense dominates UTSA, 75-51

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Championship teams share a few common characteristics.

They play with consistent aggression and never allow an opponent to think they can win.

The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders used that formula to dominate the UTSA Roadrunners 75-51 Thursday night in Conference USA men’s basketball.

In the game played at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the Blue Raiders buried the Roadrunners with a 40-24 second half.

“They just took it right to us,” UTSA coach Steve Henson told the team’s radio broadcast. “They wore on us and wore on us and dominated the glass, and … we just couldn’t make…we just didn’t compete offensively.

“We just don’t compete enough. We just settle for shots. When it’s hard, we don’t know how to respond, and it was hard.”

After representing the C-USA at the NCAA tournament two years in a row, the Blue Raiders showed why they are projected to make it three straight.

Forwards Nick King and Brandon Walters had their way, with King scoring a game-high 22 points and Walters grabbing 14 rebounds.

Middle Tennessee (15-5, 7-1) also enjoyed a strong showing from guard Antwain Johnson, who scored 15.

Jhivvan Jackson scored 17, but nobody else hit double figures as UTSA (10-11, 3-5) recorded its fewest points in a game this season.

Henson said he liked how his players protected the ball in the first half, when they led briefly 14-11 and went into the dressing room down only 35-27.

“Other than that, offensively, you got to drive it down in there and expect to finish,” Henson said. “We’re taking jump shots. I think guys shooting ’em are expecting ’em to go in. It’s just easier to let it fly.

“We got to find a better balance between having some offensive freedom and taking bad shots. We got to drive it. We don’t get to the free throw line. We got to get on the attack. We got to … get in the paint and finish around the rim.”

UTSA hit 4 of its first 8 from 3-point range and then went cold, hitting only 3 of 16 the rest of the way.

The Blue Raiders held the Roadrunners to 21 of 61 from the field overall for 34 percent.

“I thought our guys started the game with a terrific mindset,” Henson said. “I thought we were fighting defensively. We did some really good things from the scouting report.

“We took away some of their strengths. We did a good job on (guard Giddy) Potts all night. We paid extra attention to him. But (with) their style, their toughness, just wore on us, just kept chipping away at us.

“Kind of shows us how far we’ve got to go to become a good ball club.”

UTSA will move on to play at Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday night. UAB broke a two-game losing streak by defeating UTEP 85-78 Thursday.

Lewis Sullivan scored 19 as the Blazers (14-7, 5-3) shot 55.2 percent from the field.

C-USA road test: UTSA takes on Middle Tennessee

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UTSA forward Kendell Ramlal rises up to dunk off a pass from Byron Frohnen in last Saturday’s 65-61 victory over UTEP in San Antonio.

The UTSA Roadrunners have emerged with a few of their better performances this season on big stages.

They stayed with the Oklahoma Sooners well into the second half in Norman.

They battled the Nebraska Cornhuskers with explosive offense into the last few minutes.

The Roadrunners will need another strong effort Thursday night in a Conference USA test against the defending champion Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.

Middle Tennessee (14-5, 6-1) and UTSA (10-10, 3-4) are set to play at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Following back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, the Kermit Davis-coached Blue Raiders are averaging 6,118 fans, second in the C-USA only to UTEP.

They’re stacked with talent again, as evidenced by victories against Vanderbilt and Ole Miss in non-conference, not to mention a 66-62 victory last Saturday at Western Kentucky in conference play.

The Roadrunners will have their hands full with the C-USA co-leaders, who feature the likes of Nick King, Giddy Potts and Brandon Walters.


UTSA’s Keaton Wallace shakes a defender to hit a first-half three against UTEP.

UIW’s losing streak hits 10 as Houston Baptist wins, 102-86

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The Houston Baptist Huskies broke a nine-game losing streak Wednesday night in a 102-86 victory over the slumping Incarnate Word Cardinals.

Playing at home, the Huskies got off to a hot offensive start behind guard Jalon Gates to build a 44-36 halftime lead.

Afterward, HBU was never seriously challenged in extending UIW’s losing streak to 10 games.

Forward Charles Brown III led the Cardinals with 22 points on 9 of 15 shooting. Shawn Johnson added 16 points and Cody Graham 14.

Not to be deterred, the Huskies got 23 points from Gates, a sophomore from Clemens, and 22 each from Braxton Bonds and David Caraher.

Will Gates Jr., Jalon’s older brother, scored 11.

HBU capitalized off of UIW’s mistakes, producing a 20-8 edge in points off turnovers.

The Huskies also dominated with a 27-10 advantage on second-chance points.

Records: UIW (5-13, 0-8), Houston Baptist (5-16, 1-7)

Coming up: UIW hosts New Orleans Saturday at 2 p.m.

Photo caption: Guards Will Gates Jr. (left) and Jalon Gates of Houston Baptist.

No. 1 Villanova loses Phil Booth indefinitely with hand injury

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An examination Wednesday revealed that redshirt junior guard Phil Booth suffered a fractured bone in his right (shooting) hand during the second half of top-ranked Villanova’s 89-69 win over Providence on Tuesday night.

According to a news release from Villanova, the injury will sideline Booth – who missed all but three games of the 2016-17 season due to a knee injury – indefinitely.

Booth ranks second in the Big East to teammate Jalen Brunson in assist-to-turnover ratio (64 assists, 26 turnovers, 2.5 ratio) and averages 11.6 points per game.

He has started all 20 games for the Wildcats, averaging 28.3 minutes per outing. He is 40-of-93 from beyond the 3-point arc (.430).

The Wildcats travel to Milwaukee to meet Marquette Sunday at 1 p.m.

Booth emerged in the national spotlight two years ago in Houston when he scored 20 points in 25 minutes off the bench in Villanova’s 77-74, NCAA championship-clinching victory over North Carolina.

Clutch shooting lifts OU past Kansas, 85-80

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Christian James and Brady Manek knocked down clutch three pointers in the final 69 seconds Tuesday night as 12th-ranked Oklahoma rallied for an 85-80 victory in Big 12 men’s basketball over No. 5 Kansas.

National player of the year candidate Trae Young, a freshman, assisted on both baskets.

Playing at home before an energized crowd, Oklahoma (15-4, 5-3) led for much of the first half and held a two-point edge at halftime.

But first-place Kansas (16-4, 6-2) started to click after intermission, surging into a 10-point advantage with nine minutes left.

When guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk buried a three pointer with 9:26 remaining, the Jayhawks had a 72-62 lead.

At the end, Kansas seemed to have control when Lagerald Vick followed a Devonte’ Graham miss.

The basket silenced the crowd and put the Jayhawks up 80-77 with 2:33 left.

From there, the Sooners went on an 8-0 run to the final buzzer.

Young hit a couple of free throws and then created plays for James and Manek.

On the first play, Young drove baseline and, from under the goal, he passed outside to James on the wing.

James, who was 0-for-6 from three-point range in his last game, swished the shot with 1:09 remaining to give the Sooners an 82-80 lead.

After Mykhailiuk missed a three on the other end for Kansas, Young got the ball in his hands again, and he punished the visitors.

Dribbling at the top of the three-point circle, Young drove to his right. With his head down, he hooked a no-look pass to Manek on the right wing.

Manek swished it with 27 seconds left for the final points.

Young, who ranks No.1 in the nation in scoring and assists, finished with 26 points and nine assists. James scored 15 points and Manek had 14.

Mykhailiuk scored 24 to lead the Jayhawks, while Malik Newman added 20.

Graham, Kansas’ leading scorer at 18 points per game, had a rough night shooting the ball, hitting only 4 of 19 from the field.

He finished with 11 points and nine assists.

Around the Big 12

Down by 15 points in the second half, 14th-ranked Texas Tech came from behind to stun Oklahoma State, 75-70, in Lubbock…

The conference race has tightened considerably, with Kansas (6-2) leading by a game over Oklahoma, Texas Tech, West Virginia and Kansas State (all 5-3). Texas (4-4) is two games back …

Kansas leads Big 12 basketball race by two games

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The first-place Kansas Jayhawks might be hard to catch in the Big 12 basketball race if they can win at Oklahoma Tuesday night.

Kansas will take a two-game lead in the loss column on four different ball clubs leading into a game against OU at the Lloyd Noble Center.

West Virginia trailed Kansas by a game until Monday night, when it got beat 82-73 at TCU.

Now, Kansas (16-3, 6-1) leads by a game and a half and two in the loss column over both West Virginia (16-4, 5-3) and surging Kansas State.

Kansas State (15-5, 5-3) won on the road Monday night, knocking off Baylor, 90-83.

OU (14-4, 4-3) and Texas Tech (15-4, 4-3) both are two full games back with a little more than a third of the conference schedule in the books.

In Fort Worth, TCU started its day getting dropped from the AP Top 25 rankings.

But it finished with authority, recording a victory at home over a Top 10 team for the first time in nearly five years.

Guard Alex Robinson produced 17 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to lead the Frogs, who are playing without injured standout Jaylen Fisher.

Fisher was lost for the season last week after right knee surgery.

West Virginia came into Fort Worth on a roll, having blown out Texas 86-51 at home on Saturday, only to follow it up with a 33 percent shooting performance at TCU.

Jevon Carter had 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Mountaineers.

Bamba scores 24 as Texas throttles Iowa State, 73-57

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The Texas Longhorns refused to let a lost weekend in West Virginia keep them down for long.

Playing at home in Austin, UT hammered Iowa State 73-57 Monday night behind freshman center Mo Bamba’s career-high 24 points.

Two days ago, the seventh-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers crushed the Longhorns, 86-51.

After an attitude check and a road trip back home, UT (13-7, 4-4 in the Big 12) spanked Iowa State, leading for the entire 40 minutes.

Referencing the game in Morgantown, Bamba told reporters Monday night, “It was obviously a tough loss. It was a quick turnaround, and we kind of had to go into self-reflection mode and just build off of what we could have done better.”

Added Bamba, in comments posted on UT’s website, “Our motto coming into this was ‘Someone has to pay for it.’ Unfortunately for Iowa State, it was them, but the league is very competitive, and you don’t want to go on a losing streak.”

Iowa State (11-8, 2-6) fell behind by 11 at intermission, regrouped over the first seven minutes of the second half to pull within six, then faded.

Nick Weiler-Babb’s three-point shot for Iowa State made it 49-43 with 12:53 remaining.

At that point, Texas responded with a dunk from Kerwin Roach II, a three from the 6-11 Bamba and jumper by Eric Davis Jr., pushing the lead to 13.

The Cyclones never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

Texas entered Monday night’s game projected by at least one statistical analysis as a low-seed in NCAA tournament.

If the Longhorns make the NCAA field, it will be because of their defense, as they have held nine foes to fewer than 60 points.

Of course, without guard Andrew Jones, who is stricken with leukemia, the Longhorns will need higher-level performances from everyone.

Bamba seems to be playing harder and with better efficiency.

“I thought tonight was about as clean of a game as he’s played in terms of efficiency,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said. “For those of you guys who were giving me a hard time about his threes, he was 2-for-2. He can make the shot. It’s a weapon for us if teams are going to leave him wide open.

Next up for Texas is a non-conference home game Saturday against Ole Miss.

Next week, the Longhorns travel to play at 14th-ranked Texas Tech and return home to face No. 12 Oklahoma.

The OU game is set for 5 p.m. on Feb. 3 in Austin.

Villanova, Virginia, Purdue remain 1-2-3 in AP Top 25

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Villanova, Virginia and Purdue remained 1-2-3 in the Associated Press Top 25, according to the wire service’s weekly college basketball poll released Monday.

In a resurgence for traditional programs, Duke and Kansas moved up to the 4-5 spots, respectively.

The AP is reporting that Kentucky has fallen out of the Top 25 for the first time since 2014.

Three games will be played tonight in the Big 12, including a feature match on ESPN between TCU (14-5, 2-5) and seventh-ranked West Virginia (16-3, 5-2) in Fort Worth.

The injury-scarred Frogs fell out of the Top 25 in the wake of a 1-1 week with a home victory over Iowa State and a road loss at Kansas State.

TCU has lost standout guard Jaylen Fisher to a knee injury that he suffered in practice last Tuesday.

Fisher had surgery on Thursday, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Also tonight, Texas hosts Iowa State and Baylor hosts Kansas State.

AP Top 25

1 Villanova 18-1 Big East
2 Virginia 18-1 ACC
3 Purdue 19-2 Big Ten
4 Duke 17-2 ACC
5 Kansas 16-3 Big 12
6 Michigan State 17-3 Big Ten
7 West Virginia 16-3 Big 12
8 Xavier 18-3 Big East
9 Cincinnati 17-2 American
10 North Carolina 16-4 ACC
11 Arizona 16-4 Pac 12
12 Oklahoma 14-4 Big 12
13 Ohio State 17-4 Big Ten
14 Texas Tech 15-4 Big 12
15 Gonzaga 17-4 West Coast
16 Saint Mary’s 19-2 West Coast
17 Wichita State 15-4 American
18 Clemson 16-3 ACC
19 Auburn 17-2 SEC
20 Florida 14-5 SEC
21 Arizona State 15-4 Pac 12
22 Tennessee 13-5 SEC
23 Nevada 18-3 Mountain West
24 Rhode Island 15-3 Atlantic 10
25 Michigan 17-5 Big Ten

UTSA ends skid by rallying past UTEP, 65-61

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UTSA’s Jhivvan Jackson strips Omega Harris and races for a layup, giving the Roadrunners a three-point lead with 12 seconds left.

Freshman guard Keaton Wallace broke out of a scoring slump with 20 points, and the UTSA Roadrunners ended a three-game losing streak with a 65-61 victory Saturday night over the UTEP Miners.

The lead changed hands three times in the final minute of a tense contest played before a season-high crowd of 2,210 at the UTSA Convocation Center.

Forward forward Nick Allen hit a short runner in the lane with 24 seconds left as the Roadrunners took the lead for good, 62-61, with 24 seconds remaining.

On UTEP’s next possession, UTSA freshman guard Jhivvan Jackson picked up a steal and drove three quarters of the court for a layup, making it a three-point game.

In response, UTEP went to Isiah Osborne, who hit five three-pointers in the game.

But Osborne missed a three from the top of the key with four seconds left, effectively sealing UTSA’s first victory since Jan. 4.

UTSA made a free throw on the other end for the last point and then celebrated.

“It feels good,” UTSA guard Giovanni De Nicolao said. “It feels good, because we needed it. When we were minus one with two minutes (left), we were talking on the bench (saying) we got to win this.

“We can’t keep losing close games.”


UTSA junior forward Nick Allen weaves through traffic to hit a short runner as the Roadrunners take the lead, 62-61, with 24 seconds left.

With the Conference USA regular season a little more than a third of the way complete, UTSA (10-10, 3-4) tinkered with its rotation.

Coach Steve Henson elected to insert Jackson into the starting five for the first time and bring Wallace off the bench.

The Miners (7-12, 2-5) seemed to have the answers to anything Roadrunners threw at them early, jumping out to a 21-5 lead after the first eight minutes.

But when Wallace entered the game and teamed with Jackson and Deon Lyle to spread out the UTEP defense, the momentum shifted.

Wallace scored 12 in the first half as the Roadrunners rallied to make it a four-point game, with UTEP leading 42-38 at intermission.

The Miners surged again after intermission, scoring seven in a row to boost their lead to 49-40.

Not to be denied, UTSA answered by slugging it out in a slow, methodical push for a 14-4 run.

De Nicolao capped the streak with back-to-back driving layups that pushed the Roadrunners back out front, 54-53, including a nifty, go-ahead bucket when he sliced into the paint and twisted a reverse off the glass.


UTSA sophomore Giovanni De Nicolao seemingly made all the right moves down the stretch. Here, he twists a reverse layup off the glass to give UTSA a 54-53 lead.

The story of the game might have been Wallace, the talented lefty from Richardson who had shot 3 for 25 from the field over his last three games.

Extended back to his last six, he had been 16 of 60.

Wallace put all that behind him against the Miners, nailing 7 of 12 from the field and 3 of 7 from three.


UTSA freshman Keaton Wallace gets open and sinks a foul-line jumper in the first half against UTEP.

Louisiana hits 13 threes, downs Texas State, 80-55

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Guard Malik Marquetti knocked down five of his team’s 13 three-point field goals Saturday afternoon, lifting the streaking Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns to an 80-55 victory over Texas State.

Playing a game for the Sun Belt Conference lead at Texas State’s Strahan Coliseum, the Cajuns (17-3, 7-0) won their seventh in a row by smothering Bobcats, who shot only 32 percent shooting from the field.

As a result, Texas State (13-8, 6-2) had its six-game winning streak snapped.

Marquetti and Justin Miller hurt Texas State badly with perimeter shooting.

A transfer from Southern Cal, Marquetti hit 5 of 6 from three-point range. Miller knocked down 4 of 7.

Miller and starting guard Frank Bartley IV scored 14 apiece for the Cajuns, from Lafayette, La.

Judson grad Shelby Adams led the Bobcats with 10 points off the bench. But the Bobcats’ leading scorers — Nijal Pearson and Tre Nottingham — were held in check with five apiece.

Pearson was limited to 2 of 13 shooting.

The Bobcats entered the match-up with high hopes, having knocked off their last six foes, including Coastal Carolina, South Alabama, Troy, Arkansas State, Arkansas-Little Rock and Louisiana-Monroe.