The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

It was an historic feat in Bahamian basketball with the latest release of the NCAA rankings when Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr and the Michigan State Spartans were ranked No.1 while Buddy Hield and the Oklahoma Sooners were ranked No.3.

It marked the first time two Bahamian players were starters on teams ranked this high in the AP poll and both continued the trend with standout individual performances this past weekend as both teams remained undefeated.

For the second consecutive Saturday, Hield scored at least 30 points but this time he set a new career high with 33 points in the Sooners’ 87-74 win over the Creighton Blue Jays on Saturday. He shot 12-22 from the field, including 3-6 from beyond the three-point arch.

Hield continues to display an improved skill set off the dribble in his senior season as his Sooners contend and he positions himself for next June’s NBA Draft.

“I have a tendency to settle in too much so it’s about attacking and getting aggressive. I just took what the defence gave me and tried to make plays for my teammates,” Hield said following the win. “It was a great feeling. Creighton was tough and they spread the floor. They had good guards penetrating, driving, kicking and making shots. It was good for us. We had a good practice preparing for this. This game was good for us. We feel the crowd. We love it. I’m a player who loves to hype the crowd up. It’s fun to see the crowd come out and support us. The more fans that come, the better for us. We get hyped on the floor.”

In the second half, the Bluejays seemed on their way to an upset when they trimmed the lead to just three (71-68). Hield responded in a major way by scoring nine straight points in just over a minute. His run gave Oklahoma an 80-68 advantage with 3:16 to play in regulation.

Hield is averaging 23.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and is shooting 48 per cent from the field this season.

Nairn continues to showcase improvement of his own as he reached double figures in scoring for the second time in his career.

Nairn scored 11 points and dished out three assists as the Spartans beat the Northeastern Huskies 78-58 on Saturday to improve to 12-0 this season.

The Huskies actually held a 15-10 lead midway through the first half before the Spartans went on a 7-0 run, capped by a Nairn jumper to take the lead for good. The Spartans would eventually take a 34-25 lead at the half.

The Spartans have now matched their best start in school history. They also opened the 2000-01 season 12-0 before losing to Indiana.

Nairn averaged 2.2 points, 2.4 assists and 1.6 rebounds in just over 19 minutes per game for the Spartans in his freshman season. He shot just 32 per cent from the field, 30 per cent from three-point range and 54 per cent from the line while attempting just 2.3 shots per game.

As a sophomore, he increased those numbers to 3.8 points, 4.4 assists in over 22 minutes. He is shooting 37 per cent from the field and is attemptimg more than four field goals per game.

His season high as a freshman was eight points, but Nairn has scored more than eight in three games already as a sophomore, including a career high 13 points and equalled his career high with eight assists against Boston College last month.