Jones, Texas lose in first round of NCAA Tournament

Bahamian Kai Jones might have played his final collegiate game on Saturday as he and the Texas Longhorns came crashing out of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.

In one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far, the Longhorns (19-8, 11-6 Big 12), number three in the East Region, fell to the 14th seeded Abilene Christian Wildcats (24-4, 13-2 Southland), 53-52, as Wildcats’ junior forward Joe Pleasant buried two free shots with just 1.8 seconds left on the clock.

A turnover by the Longhorns in the waning seconds sealed the stunning first-round win for the Wildcats at Lucas Oil Stadium, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Jones, who started just his fourth game of the season, scored 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting for the Longhorns. He added three rebounds, a season-high three blocked shots and had two assists. The Bahamian sophomore, who is projected as a first-rounder, should he enter the National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft this summer, reached double figures in scoring for the 13th time this year and 15th time in his career. He registered a team-best plus-minus total of plus-11 in 31 minutes of play.

The Longhorns were a heavy favorite but never seemed in full control of the game and one never got the feeling that they would comfortably dispose of the resilient Wildcats.

An 8-0 scoring run early in the first half gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 12-10. They never went away after that, always staying within striking distance, and leading by as many as five points in the second half.

The Longhorns led 28-23 at the end of the first half, and by nine early in the second half as Jones hit back-to-back shots, but the Wildcats kept fighting, eventually pulling ahead again, 37-36, on a jump shot from senior guard Reggie Miller at the 12:58 mark. That came in the midst of an 18-4 run by the Wildcats, giving them a 41-36 lead with 11:12 left.

The Longhorns didn’t regain the lead again until junior guard Andrew Jones made a three pointer with just 13.8 seconds left on the clock, putting them ahead 52-51. However, Pleasant’s two free shots with two seconds left put the Wildcats back in front and they were able to hold on to the impressive upset win. The Longhorns were held to a season-low 52 points while committing a season-high 23 turnovers on the night.

Andrew Jones led the Longhorns with 13 points. Kai Jones added 11 and senior forward Jericho Sims was their only other player in double figures with 10 points and added a game-high 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double for the season. Senior guard Matt Coleman III scored nine.

Pleasant and senior guard Coryon Mason paced the Wildcats with 11 points apiece. Junior forward Clay Gayman came off the bench to score nine.

Bahamian Jones ended the season averaging 8.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game – a significant improvement from his freshman season when he turned in numbers of 3.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Jones shot 58 percent from the floor this season and 50 percent in his freshman season a year ago. He shot 38.2 percent from three point land this season and 29.2 percent from distance last year.

If this was his last collegiate game, the sophomore forward will enter the draft as one of the most sought-after versatile big men in the country.

Jones was the Big 12 Conference Sixth Man of the Year this season and helped lead the Longhorns to their first Big 12 postseason championship while showing tremendous versatility, quickness and aggressiveness on both ends of the court. He received honorable mention for the all-conference teams in the Big 12 and became the first Longhorns men’s basketball player to earn the conference’s Sixth Man Award since the honor began in 2006-07.

Jones finished sixth on the team in scoring, third in rebounding and third in blocks and fourth in steals while averaging 22.8 minutes per contest.

The Longhorns ended the regular season as the number 13 ranked team in the nation, third in the Big 12 Conference, and improved to the number nine ranked team in the nation following their Big 12 Conference championship win. Texas posted seven wins against Associated Press ranked opponents, just one shy of the school’s single-season record.

Meanwhile, with Bahamian Head Coach Yolett “Coach Yo” McPhee-McCuin home after testing positive for the coronavirus COVID-19, the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Lady Rebels find themselves in the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), matching their best-ever performance in that postseason tournament.

The Rebels (13-11, 4-10 SEC) defeated the Samford University Bulldogs (14-10, 11-2 Southern), 64-45, on Friday, and came back one day later and defeated the Tulane Green Wave, 72-61, to reach the tournament quarterfinals. They are set to take on the Colorado Buffaloes at 8 o’clock this evening in Memphis, Tennessee, in the regional final.

This is the Rebels’ first postseason appearance since the 2016-17 season when they lost in the first round of the WNIT, and their 25th total postseason appearance. All-time, the Rebels hold a 6-7 win/loss record in the WNIT.

The Rebels experienced their best season in McPhee-McCuin’s three years at the helm, notching three ranked victories, four NET top-50 wins, and had several other narrow ranked losses and a run to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) quarterfinals for the first time since 2010. Bahamian point guard Valerie Nesbitt was a vital part of the growth this season, starting 10 of 22 regular season games and averaging 6.9 points and 3.1 assists per game. She had two points, four rebounds and three assists against Samford on Friday, and four points, three rebounds and two assists against Tulane on Saturday.

McPhee-McCuin helped transform the Lady Rebels into a squad to be reckoned with this year, turning around a program that produced just one conference win the season prior to her arrival in 2018 and helping to build a winning culture.

On the men’s side, Rebels sophomore forward Sammy Hunter, a Bahamian, had seven points and seven rebounds in a 70-61 for the top-seeded Rebels (16-12, 10-8 SEC) loss to the fourth-seeded Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (22-7, 12-4 C-USA) Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, in the first round of the Men’s NIT on Friday.

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