Category: Sports

Louisiana-Monroe (7-17, 3-12) vs. South Alabama (15-11, 8-7)

Mitchell Center, Mobile, Alabama; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Louisiana-Monroe looks for its fourth straight win over South Alabama at Mitchell Center. South Alabama’s last win at home against the Warhawks came on Jan. 17, 2013.

SUPER SENIORS: Louisiana-Monroe’s Michael Ertel, Tyree White and Youry White have collectively accounted for 46 percent of the team’s scoring this season and have scored 52 percent of all Warhawks points over the last five games.EFFECTIVE ERTEL: Ertel has connected on 36 percent of the 139 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 9 for 20 over his last three games. He’s also converted 76.3 percent of his foul shots this season.

WINLESS WHEN: Louisiana-Monroe is 0-13 when scoring fewer than 63 points and 7-4 when scoring at least 63.

ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Warhawks have recently created baskets via assists more often than the Jaguars. South Alabama has an assist on 39 of 87 field goals (44.8 percent) over its previous three outings while Louisiana-Monroe has assists on 38 of 73 field goals (52.1 percent) during its past three games.

LOOSENING UP: Louisiana-Monroe’s defense has forced 11.7 turnovers per game this year, but is averaging 8.4 turnovers over its last five games.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (3-20, 2-9) vs. Southern (9-15, 6-5)

F.G. Clark Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Saturday, 6:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Southern looks for its sixth straight win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff at F.G. Clark Center. The last victory for the Golden Lions at Southern was a 64-58 win on Feb. 15, 2014.

SQUAD LEADERSHIP: The Golden Lions are led by juniors Dequan Morris and Markedric Bell. Morris has averaged 9.1 points and 4.6 rebounds while Bell has put up 9.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. The Jaguars have been led by Ahsante Shivers and Damiree Burns, who are averaging 9.2 and 8.5 points, respectively.

RAMPING IT UP: The Golden Lions have scored 55.1 points per game and allowed 63.3 points per game in conference play so far. Those figures both represent moves in the right direction from the 47.7 points scored and 72.9 points given up per game to non-conference foes.SHIVERS CAN SHOOT: Shivers has connected on 34.7 percent of the 75 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 4 of 12 over his last three games. He’s also converted 77.8 percent of his free throws this season.

WINLESS WHEN: Arkansas-Pine Bluff is 0-20 when scoring fewer than 60 points and 3-0 when scoring at least 60.

STREAK STATS: Southern has won its last four home games, scoring an average of 74 points while giving up 62.3.

DID YOU KNOW: Southern is rated second among SWAC teams with an offensive rebound percentage of 31.7 percent. The Jaguars have averaged 10.9 offensive boards per game.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The veteran savvy of Danilo Gallinari and Chris Paul helped Oklahoma City withstand the latest stirring performance by Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson.

Gallinari scored 11 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, Paul had 14 points and 12 assists, and the Thunder beat New Orleans 123-118 on Thursday night.

“Down the stretch, that’s when we feel like we’re at our best,” Paul said. “It was Gallo tonight. He was killer.”

Williamson set his new single-game scoring mark with 32 points for New Orleans, his second straight game scoring more than 30, but Gallinari’s clutch shooting kept the Pelicans at bay.

New Orleans, which trailed by as many as 13 points in the third quarter, rallied behind Williamson’s dominant inside play to take several slim leads inside the final six minutes.

But after Lonzo Ball’s corner 3 gave the Pelicans a 111-110 lead, Gallinari hit a fall-away in the paint and followed up by rattling in a 3. He added free throws and a left-wing pull-up in the final minutes, the last making it 121-115 with 30 seconds left.

“They just have a way of hanging in games and closing them,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. “They made plays down the stretch and we just didn’t.”

Dennis Schroder scored 22 points for the Thunder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 17 points. Thunder center Steven Adams capped his 11-point, 11-rebound, three-block night with a clutch jumper in the paint that made it 119-114.

“We had a lot of guys step up in different moments,” Thunder coach Billy Donvan said. “We found a way to make enough plays there at the end.”

JJ Redick scored 24 points for the Pelicans, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped in a compelling, highlight-filled contest that saw 22 lead changes and 12 ties.

Both teams shot better than 48%, but New Orleans was done in by 17 turnovers that the Thunder converted into 24 points. Oklahoma City committed just nine turnovers.

“With a leader like Chris Paul, he’s facilitating their offense and they were hitting shots, and we just had self-inflicted turnovers,” said Williamson, who committed three turnovers.

For much of the game, Williamson delighted the crowd on both ends of the floor. He rejected Abdel Nader’s floater in the paint with a volleyball-style spike out of play. His dunks included one on a putback and another on an alley-oop feed from Frank Jackson.

Paul had nine of his assists in the opening two quarters, the last of those coming in a rather unusual way. Paul unloaded the ball to Adams in the back court in the final seconds of the half, and Adams hurled the ball right into the hoop from 56 feet.

The shot, which gave the Thunder a 66-58 lead, was the first 3-pointer of Adams’ career. He celebrated it with a brief, smiling shimmy before jogging with teammates toward the tunnel to the locker room.

TIP-INS

Thunder: Have won 15 of their last 18 road games. … Oklahoma City’s bench has outscored opponent reserves in 41 of 55 games this season. … Shot 50% (46 of 92) and went 13 of 27 from 3-point range.

Pelicans: First-time All-Star Brandon Ingram missed his third straight game with a right ankle sprain but still intends to attend All-Star weekend with the possibility of playing. … Outrebounded Oklahoma City 46-40. … Went 14 of 35 from 3-point range. … Williamson, slated to play in the NBA All-Star weekend future stars game, has scored at least 20 points in eight of his first 10 NBA games and reached 30 twice.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Adams was amused by his half-ending 3 from beyond half-court because he’d made a similar shot to win a half-court shooting competition at the end of practice a day earlier.

“I ended up winning that one because I did exactly the same shot,” Adams said. “As you could tell, I was pumped. After the shot went in, I kind of blacked out. I kind of seen what I had done. I was doing a shimmy. I don’t know. Alter ego coming out, mate.”

Adams, now in his seventh season, came in 0 for 9 in his career from 3-point range. His first make from deep also resulted in one of the most unlikely of Paul’s 9,542 career assists.

“Our team is a very fun, together team. So, to see that, that was a special moment,” Paul said.

UP NEXT

Thunder: Host Denver on Feb. 21.

Pelicans: Visit Portland on Feb. 21.

Here are a few things to watch in Southeastern Conference basketball this week:

GAME OF THE WEEKEND

Mississippi State (15-9, 6-5 SEC) at Arkansas (16-8, 4-7): This game features two bubble teams that desperately need a win to boost their NCAA Tournament credentials. Arkansas started out 14-2 this season but has gone 0-3 since second-leading scorer Isaiah Joe underwent arthroscopic debridement surgery on his right knee. The slide includes overtime defeats against Auburn and Missouri, plus a blowout loss at Tennessee. Mississippi State needs to bounce back after getting drubbed 83-58 at Mississippi on Tuesday.

LOOKING AHEAD

Who might join the SEC’s three ranked teams in the NCAA Tournament?: No. 11 Auburn, No. 12 Kentucky and No. 25 LSU all should feel pretty comfortable about their NCAA hopes at this point, but it’s tough to figure out which other SEC teams might earn bids. The SEC has plenty of bubble teams, but many of them aren’t playing particularly well. We already noted the recent struggles of Arkansas and Mississippi State. Florida (15-9, 7-4) and South Carolina (15-9, 7-4) are tied for fourth in the SEC standings, but the surging Gamecocks are stuck in the mid-60s of the NET rankings that are used as an NCAA Tournament selection evaluation tool. Florida has won three of its last four but lost three straight before that. Alabama (13-11, 5-6) is hovering around the top 40 of the NET rankings, but has a suspect record. Tennessee (14-10, 6-5) is seeking a third straight NCAA bid but is outside the top 60 of the NET.

NUMBERS GAME

Four of Auburn’s last five games have gone to overtime, including a double-overtime victory over Ole Miss. Auburn came out on top in all four of those overtime contests as part of its current seven-game winning streak. … Alabama set SEC records for 3-point baskets (22) and 3-point attempts (59) in its 95-91 overtime loss to Auburn on Wednesday. … Alabama’s Kira Lewis Jr. had a triple-double in that Auburn game with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists. He was the first SEC player to get a triple-double in a loss since Alabama’s Roy Rogers did it on Feb. 10, 1996, according to STATS. … Arkansas’ Jimmy Whitt Jr. is a 6-foot-3 guard who is scoring 14.9 points per game this year despite attempting just one 3-point shot all season. He missed the lone 3-point attempt. … Kentucky’s 78-64 victory over Vanderbilt on Tuesday marked the Wildcats’ eighth straight win in this series. In five of those games, Kentucky has rallied from a double-digit deficit. … LSU’s Darius Days is shooting just 28.3% from 3-point range but is making a remarkable 73.5% of his attempts from two-point range. Days is shooting 50.5% overall and is coming off a 20-point, 10-rebound performance in an 82-78 triumph over Missouri.

IMPACT PERFORMER

Ole Miss guard Breein Tyree has averaged 33.7 points during the Rebels’ current three-game winning streak. Tyree scored 38 points against South Carolina, 23 against Florida and 40 against Mississippi State. The 6-2 senior has shot 11 of 21 from 3-point range and 23 of 26 from the free-throw line during this stretch. Tyree outscored the entire Mississippi State team 27-24 during the second half of Ole Miss’ 83-58 victory over the Bulldogs on Tuesday. Tyree is averaging 20 points to rank second in the SEC, behind Arkansas’ Mason Jones.

ON THE WOMEN’S SIDE

No. 1 South Carolina’s 70-52 rout of No. 5 Connecticut on Monday was the first time the Gamecocks had beaten the Huskies in nine attempts. Tyasha Harris had 19 points, 11 assists and zero turnovers in that game. …. No. 6 Mississippi State beat No. 16 Texas A&M 69-57 on Sunday after trailing 37-26 at halftime, marking the first time the Bulldogs had erased a double-digit halftime deficit to win since a victory over Iowa State on Dec. 3, 2016.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Houston Astros players Alex Bregman and José Altuve said Thursday the team is sorry for its sign-stealing scheme that was investigated and punished by Major League Baseball.

“I am really sorry,” Bregman said.

Astros owner Jim Crane and new manager Dusty Baker — who replaced the fired AJ Hinch — also spoke at a news conference at the team’s spring training facility.

“We cannot take back what happened,” Crane said.

MLB did not punish any players for the cheating and Crane said he stood by that.

We’re not going to do anything to the players,” the owner said.

Altuve said there was a full team meeting Wednesday to discuss what happened.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred disciplined the Astros after he found the team broke rules by using electronics to steal signs during its run to the 2017 World Series championship and again in the 2018 season.

The Astros were fined $5 million, the maximum allowed under major league rulesion, and forfeited their next two first- and second-round amateur draft picks.

The investigation found that the Astros used the video feed from a center field camera to view and decode opposing catcher’s signs. Players banged on a trash can to signal to batters what was coming, believing it would improve chances of getting a hit.

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — This time the Auburn Tigers survived a record-setting 3-point barrage in their latest foray into overtime.

Austin Wiley had 18 points, a career-high 17 rebounds and five blocked shots and No. 11 Auburn continued to live on the edge, beating rival Alabama 95-91 Wednesday night in overtime.

The Tigers (22-2, 9-2 Southeastern Conference) picked up their fourth overtime win of the last five games to remain in a first-place tie with No. 12 Kentucky and No. 25 LSU. They did it even though Alabama (13-11, 5-6) set SEC marks with 22 3-pointers and 59 attempts (37.3%).

The attempts were the most by a major conference team all-time according to STATS LLC.

“Normally teams don’t win giving up 22 3s,” Auburn guard Samir Doughty said.

The Tigers scored the first eight points of overtime and held on for redemption from an earlier 19-point loss to the Tide that was Auburn’s first defeat.

“The first one was like a hit in the mouth,” Wiley said. “I feel like we got better because of that.”

J’Von McCormick, who hit the game-winner and three big 3-pointers in an overtime win over LSU, made two free throws with 18 seconds left.

Along the way, Alabama rallied from big deficits in both halves with an SEC-record night of 3-point shooting led by Jaden Shackelford’s seven 3s and 28 points.

“They did make 22 but they did miss 37,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “They only had eight two-point baskets. So we had the advantage on the inside and they had the advantage on the outside.”

Isaac Okoro had 19 points and nine rebounds for Auburn before being helped off the court with a pulled right hamstring late in regulation. Pearl said he would be evaluated on Thursday.

Auburn also got 18 points from Doughty. Anfernee McLemore scored the game’s first eight points and finished with 13.

Alabama’s shooting onslaught kept it close until the end.

John Petty Jr. had six 3s for 20 points.

Kira Lewis Jr. had 10 points and career-highs of 10 rebounds and 13 assists for his first triple double. He was coming off a 37-point night in an overtime win at Georgia. Lewis became the first SEC player to have a triple-double in a loss since Roy Rogers on Feb. 10, 1996 according to STATS. He also played for Alabama.

“Nothing really matters if you lose,” Lewis said. “It would feel better if I had won, but we lost, so it’s a triple double and a loss.”

Petty, who forced overtime on a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in regulation, and Shackelford both hit 3-pointers to make it 93-91 with 24 seconds left.

Auburn had a final chance to avoid another overtime venture, but McCormick couldn’t make a 3 over Herbert Jones at the buzzer.

“We just have to figure out how to get stops and figure out how to play a full 40 minutes,” Tide coach Nate Oats said. “We’re capable of beating anyone in the league when we’re playing for 40 minutes. It just didn’t happen tonight.”

Auburn scored the game’s first 16 points, but Alabama made nine first-half 3-pointers to close the gap to 44-41 at halftime. Then the Tide quickly tied it on Shackelford’s 3-pointer after the break.

Auburn eventually pushed it back to 11 points before Alabama climbed back into it again.

BIG PICTURE

Alabama: Fell to 1-4 against Top 25 teams this season. Previous season-high was 17 3-pointers against Samford. Outrebounded 60-44, thanks largely to Wiley’s dominance inside. Auburn: Has won seven straight games and seven of the last eight meetings with Alabama at Auburn Arena. Missed 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch in regulation.

JONES RETURNS Alabama starter Herbert Jones returned to action of the bench after missing the last three games with a fractured left wrist. Jones was scoreless but had three rebounds and a steal before fouling out at the end of overtime.

UP NEXT

Alabama: Hosts No. 25 LSU on Saturday, two weeks after the Tigers won the first meeting 90-76.

Auburn visits Missouri on Saturday in the lone meeting.