The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

NCAA basketball season is officially underway and Bahamian players were among the few in opening weekend action throughout several Division I conferences on the hardwood.

Leading the way for the group was a more offensive minded Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr as he embraced the role of floor general in the Spartans’ season opener.

The sophomore point guard finished with seven points, five rebounds and four assists in the No.13 ranked Spartans’ 82-55 win over the Florida Atlantic Owls at the Breslin Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Friday night.

After banking in his first long range two-pointer, he shot 3-5 from the field.

Despite the margin of victory, Nairn heralded his team’s defence as the calling card which will carry them throughout the remainder of the season.

“I thought we came out aggressive and playing defence. They only had four points for a while in the first half. We followed the scouting report really well. But even though we won by 27 points, I still think we have a lot of room to improve. We have a big week ahead of us and we really need to focus on getting better,” he said following the game.

“That’s the main thing we need to be able to defend people. We know we can score the ball but we need to be able to get stops if we’re trying to win championships.”

Michigan State will undergo an early season test when they face the No.4 ranked Kansas Jayhawks at the United Center in Chigago, Illinois, in the Champions Classic Tuesday night. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN at 10pm.

“It’s going to be a tough game – it’ll be a dogfight,” Nairn said. “We have to be really sharp to get a win against Kansas. They have a great coach, great programme, but if we play defence like we can, box out like we can, we’ll be fine.”

Over in the Big 12, Shaquille Cleare made his debut with the Texas Longhorns but it was one both Cleare and new head coach Shaka Smart would like to forget.

The Longhorns fell 77-71 to the Washington Huskies in the first-ever regular-season men’s basketball game played in China.

The junior forward came off the bench to finish with two points and six rebounds in just 13 minutes.

Tied at 34, the Huskies were outscored 43-37 in the second half.

On the women’s side of the NCAA Divison I slate, it was a quick start for one heralded incoming freshman and another senior leader for their respective teams.

Joining Cleare at the University of Texas is freshman phenom and preseason Big 12 freshman of the year LaShann Higgs.

Higgs finished with 11 points, a team high four steals and three rebounds in 19 minutes in her debut, a 90-53 win for the No.12 Longhorns over the University of Texas San-Antonio.

The Harbour Island native was consensus All-American at Cedar Ridge High School (Round Rock, Texas), and emerged as the No. 7-ranked player overall and third-ranked guard in the class of 2015, according to ESPN.com.

Higgs averaged 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists per game in her senior season for a Cedar Ridge team that reached the third round of the University Interscholastic League’s Class 6A playoffs in Texas.

In the A10, Jonquel Jones and the No.21 ranked George Washington Colonials took an 85-58 win over Grambling State in the season opener.

Jones was prone to foul trouble on the night, but still finished with six points, three assists and a game high 10 rebounds.

She was tabbed to the Preseason All-America First Team by Sporting News, averaged 15.3 points and 12.5 rebounds per game last season.

The reigning Atlantic 10 Player and Defensive Player of the Year, Jones was the only player in the conference to average a double-double in 2014-15, leading the league and ranking sixth nationally in rebounding while finishing sixth in the conference in scoring, and she posted a league-best 20 double-doubles, 10th-most in the NCAA.