Louisiana Tech 77, Samford 64
RUSTON, La. -- Against the defending Conference USA champions and National Invitational Tournament (NIT) quarterfinalists from a year ago, the Samford University basketball team battled hard versus the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and nearly challenged for a huge early-season upset Friday at the Thomas Assembly Hall.
Leading by seven at the half, 34-27, Louisiana Tech (5-1) shot a torrid 58.3 percent from the field in the final period and eventually pulled away for a 77-64 victory over Samford (2-5).
“This was a tough loss, but I thought our effort was great,” said Samford head coach Scott Padgett. “This is how we have to play every game in order to win. When we play Jacksonville on Monday, this is the kind of effort that we need to have. I’m really proud that we never gave up and stopped giving effort, even when we were losing by double digits in the second half.”
With its hard-fought win, Louisiana Tech extended its home winning streak to 17-consecutive games dating all the way back to January of 2012. Last year, Louisiana Tech earned 29 victories and made a run in the 2014 NIT Postseason Tournament.
Samford came to play with fire and intensity Friday as the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 13-8 advantage with 13:20 remaining the first half in front of a stunned 4,214 Louisiana Tech fans.
During its quick run to open the game, Samford shared the ball extremely well and scored on layups from Darius Jones-Gibson, Michael Bradley, Nnamdi Enechionyia, Alex Peters, Christen Cunningham and Brandon Roberts.
Peters, the Bulldogs’ talented true freshman from Mountain Brook, Alabama, turned in his best game of the season Friday and registered 10 points and eight rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting from the field.
Samford continued its solid play throughout the first half and weathered a 12-2 Louisiana Tech run midway in the period to trail by just three points, 30-27, with 1:18 remaining until the intermission.
Louisiana Tech scored the final five points of the opening period, including a Raheem Appleby 3-point basket at the buzzer to garner a 34-27 lead at halftime.
Appleby’s 3-pointer immediately before the half awakened Louisiana Tech’s leading scorer as he tallied 15 of his team’s first 17 points of the final period to build a 53-37 advantage over Samford.
Down the stretch, despite trailing by double digits for a majority of the second half, the Bulldogs never stopped hustling and eventually trimmed Louisiana Tech’s lead to 77-64 at the buzzer.
Samford’s leading scorer Friday proved to be Jones-Gibson with 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the field. He also grabbed seven rebounds, recorded three steals and added two assists. Cunningham tallied 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting and accumulated two rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.
The Bulldogs out-rebounded Louisiana Tech, 42-41, including a 21-15 margin on the offensive end of the court.
Samford also forced Louisiana Tech into 21 turnovers, and only committed 15 of its own. Additionally, the Bulldogs were rewarded with 27 points off turnovers, as compared to 20 from Louisiana Tech.
Indiana 87, UNCG 79
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The UNCG men’s basketball team broke a 44-year record Saturday night as the Spartans posted a valiant second half effort mounting a strong comeback before falling to perennial Big Ten power Indiana at famed Assembly Hall. The Spartans connected on an Assembly Hall record 14 3-pointers in the loss as they rallied form 22-points down in the second half to pull within six points in the final minute, before suffering the loss to the home standing Hoosiers.
The Spartans connected on 14-of-23 (60.9%) from long range in the loss, including 7-of-9 in the second half where they out-scored the Hoosiers 45-37. The 14 3-pointers are the most all-time for any opponent in Assembly Hall in the 44-year history of the building, surpassing the 13 3-pointers hit by Ohio State in 2013.
Senior guard Nicholas Paulos and sophomore guard Clay Byrd combined for 12 of the 14 3-pointers on the night as they finished a combined 12-of-19 from distance. Paulos led all scorers with a season-high 24 points as he was 9-of-12 from the field and 6-of-8 from distance while also grabbing six rebounds, dishing out three assists and notching three steals. Byrd scored a career-high 20 points as he was 7-of-13 from the field and 6-of-11 from long range.
“In the first half, rebounding crushed us but in the second half, we were into it defensively and communicating as a team and that is something we can build on going forward,” head coach Wes Miller said. “We have guys on our team who can really make catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. Clay and Nicholas are two of the best at that in Division I and they showed that tonight. We are really beat up with injuries right now and as soon as some good things started to happen for us in the second half, you saw our team start playing with confidence in a hostile environment.”
The Spartans finished the game shooting 49.2 percent (31-of-63) from the field, including 62.1 percent in the second half. Junior forward Kayel Locke scored 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting while sophomore guard Tevon Saddler chipped in 14 points and six rebounds. Sophomore forward Jordy Kuiper added a career-high five assists and four rebounds off the bench to spark the Spartans.
Indiana finished the game shooting 50 percent (28-of-56) from the field and hit 9-of-24 from long range. The Hoosiers went to the free throw line 29 times, compared to just seven attempts for the Spartans. All five Indiana starters scored in double figures with James Blackmon leading the way with 24 points and nine rebounds.
Indiana came out and opened to a quick 8-4 lead to force the Spartans into an early timeout as UNCG was settling into the game. The Spartans trimmed the deficit to 11-9 as Sadler scored four straight in the early going, Paulos hit a 3-pointer and Locke scored in the paint. The Hoosiers responded with an 18-5 run on its way to a 28-10 run, taking a 39-19 lead with 5:37 left in the half.
The Spartans kept battling and posted an 8-1 spurt to trim the deficit to 40-27. Paulos was the key in the attack, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers. After the Hoosiers answered with an 8-1 run of their own, the Spartans closed the half on a 6-2 run. Paulos hit his four 3-pointer of the half and Locke capped the first half by hitting a 3-pointer on the run with 0.7 seconds left to send UNCG into the locker room trailing 50-34.
The Spartans connected on 38.2 percent (13-of-34) from the field and 50 percent (7-of-14) from 3-point land in the first half. Paulos led all scorers with 14 points while Locke chipped in 10 points. The Hoosiers dominated the glass, holding a 28-13 edge in rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass that they turned into 12 second-chance points.
Indiana connected on 51.4 percent (18-of-35) from the field and 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from long range in the opening 20 minutes. The Hoosiers also went to the free throw line 13 times, compared to just three for the Spartans. Blackmon led Indiana with nine points as nine different Hoosiers scored in the first half while UNCG only had points from four different players in the opening half.
After the Hoosiers scored the first five points of the second half, Byrd nailed a 3-pointer to settle the Spartans down in front of the crowd of 12,285 fans. The Spartans started to chip away at the deficit and posted a 10-2 run to narrow the gap to 62-49 with 13:53 left. Paulos started the run with five straight points while junior walk-on Asad Lamot added four straight in the run.
Indiana answered back and extended the lead back to 19 points at 68-49 when Yogi Ferrell hit a 3-pointer. The Spartans showed their mettle and answered back with a 15-4 run to take the deficit to single digits at 72-64 with 8:52 remaining. Paulos again played a key role as his 3-pointer started the run before Byrd accelerated the action scoring eight points in the stretch, including two from distance and a basket in transition.
UNCG kept battling and kept the game in single digits for most of the closing stretch. Saddler scored on a drive with 48 seconds left to make it an 81-74 contest but Blackmon hit a pair of free throws to answer. Byrd nailed his sixth 3-pointer to make it a six-point contest but the Hoosiers hit their final four from the charity stripe to seal the victory.
The Spartans finished the game with a season-high 17 assists on the night while only committing 12 turnovers. Additionally, UNCG posted nine steals in the loss, forcing Indiana into 13 miscues.
UCSB 65, Mercer 60
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An electrifying comeback by Mercer men’s basketball was thwarted by a UC Santa Barbara buzzer-beating 3-pointer in Friday’s 65-60 overtime loss at the Great Alaska Shootout.
The loss drops Mercer to 3-3 on the season and sends the Bears to Saturday’s top game of the consolation bracket against Pacific at 9 p.m. EST. UCSB jumped to 3-2 on the year and will face Colorado State in the tournament final.
The Bears’ starters did the heavy lifting on Friday night, as Mercer was held without a bench point for the first time since January 1, 2010. Junior Phillip Leonard paced the team with 17 points, while Ike Nwamu and T.J. Hallice netted 16 apiece and Darious Moten added 11.
Mercer fell behind by as many as 10 at the outset of the second half, but a dazzling 14-0 charge late in the period gave the Bears a 45-40 lead with 5:42 to play. During the rally, the Bears won over the non-partisan crowd with a series of exhilarating dunks by Nwamu and Moten.
After the Bears had gone ahead, the Gauchos pulled back within one with 19 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by DaJuan Smith. Nwamu put Mercer on top 53-50 with free throws on the ensuing possession, setting the stage for an improbable play at the end of regulation.
UCSB’s John Green was force to launch a deep triple with the clock winding down, but T.J. Taylor grabbed the offensive board and tipped it to Bryson Mitchell, who drilled a 28-foot heave as time expired.
The Gauchos raced out to a 60-54 lead halfway through the overtime period, but the Bears regained life as a steal by Jestin Lewis led to a fast-break and-one layup by Nwamu that cut the deficit to 60-58 with 1:44 to play.
UCSB went 1-of-2 at the free throw line the next time down, but Mercer opted for a quick score as Leonard slashed to the rim. Trailing 63-60 with 21 seconds to go, the Bears were unable to come up with a necessary stop on the final UCSB possession of the game.
Hallice’s 16 points marked a career-high and came along with eight rebounds, an assist and a block. Leonard’s 17-point outing also featured five assists, six rebounds and a steal in 40 minutes of work.
Nwamu earned the brunt of his points at the free throw line, going 9-of-11 in the losing effort. Moten was also credited with four rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Mercer, which entered the game 12-2 in its last 14 overtime games, was forced to play an extra period for the second time in as many days. The loss was just the team’s second in its last seven overtime chances.