The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

ALREADY a landmark year for Bahamians in NCAA Division I basketball, this week provided an opportunity for several of the country’s top players in primetime games, broadcast live by ESPN - the worldwide leader in sports.

ESPN’s Big Monday featured Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr and Buddy Hield, followed by the Super Tuesday lineup which featured Dwight Coleby, and the trio of Danrad Knowles, LJ Rose and Mikhail McLean.

It was a major milestone for Nairn as he received the first start of his collegiate career in the Michigan State Spartans’ 70-50 win over the Indiana Hoosiers in the Big 10. He scored a career high seven points on 3-5 shooting, added two assists and finished with no turnovers in 26 minutes.

The freshman point guard had not scored a field goal in the previous seven games but got the start ahead of senior guard Travis Trice.

Spartans head coach Tom Izzo discussed the reasons for the start and what impact, if any, it would have on the team’s rotation moving forward.

“There were a couple of reasons. Number one, Travis [Trice] has been struggling a little bit. I think he’s pushing himself a little bit and he was run down a little bit last night. Denzel [Valentine] didn’t even practice. So, I just decided that between that and between the fact that we’ve got some rotation problems when we start the three shooters. Now we bring in Tum and maybe a guy like Alvin and all of a sudden we’re taking two shooters out. It’d be nice to keep two in and rotate one,” Izzo said. “What I do from here on in - I don’t know. I don’t plan on it being a permanent thing, especially with [Travis] Trice. I’m proud of him for what he did tonight under the circumstances he was under.”

Nairn scored his first basket on a jumper less than two minutes into the game to set the tone for his best outing in 15 games as a Spartan.

Michigan State held Indiana to a season-low 50 points on 28.3 per cent (17-60) shooting from the floor.

Nairn and the Spartans will travel to face the Iowa Hawkeyes 7pm tonight.

The second half of the Big Monday double header featured preseason All-Big 12 selection Buddy Hield and the No.18 ranked Oklahoma Sooners in a dominant performance on the road in a 70-49 win over the No. 10 Texas Longhorns.

Hield finished with 13 points and seven rebounds in the Big 12 marquee matchup. He is currently the fourth leading scorer in the conference at 15.8 points per game.

Oklahoma improved to 11-3, 2-0 in conference play and beat a top 10 team on the road for the first time since 1993. Hield is slated to be back in action when Oklahoma takes on Kansas State, 6pm Saturday (January 10).

The Bahamian public can look forward to future nationally televised Sooner matchups on ESPN’s Big Monday when Oklahoma takes on Kansas (January 19) and Iowa State (February 9).

A possible fourth matchup in the series will take place March 2 as a flex pick when ESPN will decide between Oklahoma at Iowa State or Baylor at Texas.

On Tuesday, Dwight Coleby and the Ole Miss Rebels nearly pulled off the college basketball upset of the season, but came up just short in an 89-86 overtime loss to the No.1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats on the SEC Network.

Coleby finished with a productive eight points and four rebounds in 27 minutes on the floor. The sophomore forward was pivotal down the stretch on the defensive end and tied at 83, made two foul shots with 2:24 left to play in the extra period to give the Rebels their last lead of the game.

The Rebels fell to 9-5 overall, 0-1 in the Southeastern conference.

Coleby, who averages 6.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, was a force behind the Rebels

outscoring the Wildcats 30-26 in the paint and controlling the boards for much of the game.

Concurrently, despite their best efforts, the drought in American Athletic Conference play continued for the Houston Cougars following a 79-78 loss to the UCF Knights.

Danrad “Chicken” Knowles scored in double figures for the first time in five games when he finished with 15 points and eight rebounds in the loss. He shot 5-9 from the field, including 2-4 from three-point range.

LJ Rose added 15 points and seven assists, while Mikhail McLean added two rebounds and one assist. The Cougars fell to 7-7 on the season after they overcame a 12-point halftime deficit to eventually take an 11-point lead in the second half. They look to claim their first AAC win of the season when they host the Memphis Tigers on Sunday (January 11).