For the first time this season, Bahamian Kai Jones and Texas Longhorns are into the top 10 in the rankings in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men’s basketball.
The Longhorns earned that distinction on Monday after taking down their first conference opponent of the season on Sunday, defeating the Oklahoma State Cowboys, 77-74, at the Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center in Austin, Texas.
The Bahamian versatile forward was held to just six points on 2-for-6 shooting from the field, but experienced significant minutes on the floor, playing 24 minutes off the bench. It was his second-most minutes in a reserve role this season, and helped the Longhorns to their seventh win in eight tries this season. The Cowboys dropped to a 6-2 overall win/loss record, 0-2 Big 12 Conference.
Jones, a sophomore, added four rebounds, two steals and a block and hit one three-point shot in three tries. He is fifth on the team in scoring, averaging 8.8 points per game, but leads the team in field goal percentage (69.2 percent), three-point field percentage (45.5 percent), is third in rebounding at 4.6 per game, third in steals (0.88 per game) and fourth in blocks (.50 per game).
Jones and the Longhorns were down by five points early in the game, and trailed by as much as six in the first half, before settling for a 34-29 deficit at the half.
The Longhorns battled back, pulling even a couple times early in the second half, but didn’t surge ahead until the 13:32 mark, when freshman forward Greg Brown buried a three-point shot. That gave the Longhorns a 44-42 lead and ignited a killer 19-3 scoring run that gave the Longhorns control of the game at the 9:14 mark of the second half.
Brown had 10 points for the Longhorns during that run including back-to-back three pointers in the midst of the run. He finished the game with a side-high 24 points on 7-for-14 shooting for the Longhorns. Brown added a game-high 14 rebounds to complete the impressive double-double and blocked three shots.
Junior guard Andrew Jones contributed 22 for the Longhorns and senior guard Matt Coleman III added 15. Both players had seven rebounds and four assists each. Kai Jones and sophomore guard Donovan Williams dropped in six points apiece for the Longhorns.
Five-star recruit Cade Cunningham, regarded as one of the top guards in the nation, scored a game-high 25 points for the Cowboys.
The Longhorns took a double-digit lead midway through the second half, and the Cowboys got to within a single score late in the game but the Longhorns held on with clutch free throw shooting down the stretch.
Jones got on the scoreboard with a layup at the 13:34 mark of the first half, pulling the Longhorns to within 9-6. His only three-point shot of the game gave the Longhorns a lead at 18-17 at the 7:59 mark of the first half. Jones’ only other point in the game came on a free shot in the second half as he hit one of two.
The Longhorns host Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi at 8 p.m. next week Tuesday and then continue play in the Big 12 Conference when they travel to Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas to play the nationally third ranked Kansas Jayhawks in a game that will be televised at noon on ESPN2 on January 2, 2021.
In women’s college basketball, Bahamian Head Coach at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Yolett “Coach Yo” McPhee-McCuin, player Valerie Nesbitt and the Ole Miss Lady Rebels were scheduled to host Jacksonville State at the Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi, on Monday, but that game was cancelled due to positive COVID-19 tests in the Ole Miss program.
Up to press time, there was no word on if McPhee-McCuin or Nesbitt were affected.
Ole Miss is now scheduled to open its Southeastern Conference (SEC) season on New Year’s Eve, Thursday, December 31, against the number five team in the nation, the South Carolina Gamecocks, at the Colonial Life Arena, in Columbia, South Carolina. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.
The post Jones, Texas enter the Top 10 appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/jones-texas-enter-the-top-10/
No comments:
Post a Comment