Newspaper Page Text
2B Tuesday, December 18, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
SPORTS
COLLEGE BASKCTBALL
Furman off to perfect start
BY PETE IACOBELLI
Associated Press
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Furman forward
Clay Mounce has a simple question in the
team video before the Paladins take the
court each home game: “Haven’t you heard
of us?”
Not many college basketball fans have.
Though it’s a question fewer people are
ask ing about Furman, which is in the Top
25 for the first time. The undefeated Pala
dins (12-0) have road wins over last year’s
Final Four participant Loyola Chicago and
defending national champ Villanova.
Nonetheless, most college basketball fans
probably haven’t bought into the plucky
Paladins yet and Furman forward Matt Raf
ferty said with a grin, “I don’t know if they
will.”
But Furman, which won two games last
week and still dropped a spot to No. 24, has
an opportunity for another resume-building
road win when the Paladins travel
to LSU on Friday night, the Paladin
final game before starting Southern
Conference play.
“It’s a big one,” Furman coach
Bob Richey said.
The Paladins are among nine
undefeated teams left out of 353
Division I programs through Sat
urday. They made their first-ever
appearance in the Top 25 earlier
this month and see LSU as a next
step toward ending a 38-year NCAA Tourna
ment drought.
Richey expects his players will be ready
for the moment as they were when they
trailed Loyola Chicago by 13 points in the
second half and won 60-58 on Mounce’s one-
handed jam with 1.6 seconds to go. Or when
they opened overtime at Villanova with a 7-0
run in the 76-68 win.
“In life, most of the time, when you get big
opportunities, it still comes back to the sim
plest fundamentals,” Richey said. “There’s
not going to be anything that we’ve got to go
do different than what we’ve done in order
to try and play our best.”
Here’s a quick introduction to Furman
basketball:
THE COACH
Richey, 35, joined Furman as an assistant
in 2011 and earned the head coaching job
after the 2017 season after former coach
Niko Medved left for Drake. Ever since,
Richey’s led a revival at Furman, which
hasn’t enjoyed this sort of basketball atten
tion since the 1970s when it played in six
NCAA Tournaments from 1971-80.
NOT A FLUKE
Furman tied its school record with 23 vic
tories last season, Richey’s first as a fulltime
coach. The Paladins are already more than
halfway to that mark.
THE PLAYERS
■ Jordan Lyons, a junior, is the team’s
leading scorer who had 54 points in defeat
ing North Greenville earlier this season.
He’s joined in the backcourt by Andrew
Brown, who along with Rafferty, are Fur
man’s only two seniors in d its main rotation.
■ Rafferty is a 6-foot-8 forward — Fur
man has no players taller than 6-8 — who’s
adept and relentless in post, whether it’s
backing down opponents for a layup and
grabbing a rebound to keep the Paladins
possession alive. He’s had six games with
double figure points and rebounds this sea
son, including 15 points and 17 rebounds at
Villanova.
■ Mounce is a dynamic, 6-7 sophomore
comfortable with playing inside and outside.
His cut toward the basket from the three-
point line sprung him for the game-winning
dunk at Loyola Chicago. He had six of Fur
man’s 17 3-pointers this past Saturday in the
blowout win over UNC Wilmington.
It all has added up to high expec
tations for Furman basketball.
The Paladins’ early run has elec
trified the well-respected private
school that has had a few stellar ath
letic moments. In 1954, Frank Selvy
became the school’s “Man of the
Century” when he scored 100 points
in a game against Newberry and
remains the only Division I player
to accomplish the feat.
Sam Wyche may be Furman’s most rec
ognizable athletic alum. He was Furman’s
quarterback in the late 1960s before he
helped revolutionize the game with the no
huddle offense. The Paladins football pro
gram also won a national Football Cham
pion Subdivision title in 1988 and has been
runner-up two other times.
Former U.S. men’s soccer captain Clint
Dempsey played at Furman before his
accomplished international career.
These days, however, the hype around
Greenville, South Carolina is about hoops.
Brown, a senior guard, said professors
and students who hadn’t paid much atten
tion to the team now congratulate him regu
larly and ask for updates. Selvy and Wyche
both attended Saturday’s win against UNC
Wilmington.
“They seem like they get better every
year,” said Selvy, also a former head coach
at Furman.
Selvy would love to see the Paladins back
in the NCAAs since their last appearance in
1980 as would students who filled 3,500-seat
Timmons Arena with chants of “We Want
Kansas” as time ran down in the UNC Wilm
ington win.
Rafferty believes Furman’s successful
ride will continue.
“It’s really coming together for us,” Raf
ferty said. “That’s one of biggest things if
we’re going to keep this thing going, we’ve
got to stay confident and stay humble.”
Richey
SCOREBOARD
Basketball/College
AP Top 25 Men’s
Record
Pts
Prv
1. Kansas (56)
9-0
1586
1
2. Duke (5)
9-1
1488
2
3. Tennessee (2)
8-1
1464
3
4. Michigan (1)
11-0
1442
5
5. Virginia (1)
9-0
1400
6
6. Nevada
11-0
1319
7
7. Auburn
9-1
1156
8
8. Gonzaga
9-2
1147
4
9. North Carolina
8-2
1126
12
10. Michigan St.
9-2
1070
9
11. Florida St.
8-1
949
10
12. Texas Tech
10-0
912
11
13. Virginia Tech
9-1
838
13
14. Buffalo
10-0
684
14
15. Ohio St.
9-1
647
15
16. Wisconsin
9-2
619
16
17. Mississippi St.
9-1
529
18
18. Arizona St
8-1
415
20
19. Kentucky
8-2
377
19
20. Marquette
8-2
350
21
21. Houston
10-0
266
24
22. Indiana
9-2
226
25
23. Iowa
8-2
224
22
24. Furman
12-0
208
23
25. Nebraska
9-2
156
Others receiving
votes:
Oklahoma
115,
Maryland 103, Kansas St 90, St. John’s 59,
Villanova 52, NC State 38, Purdue 20, TCU 17,
Iowa St. 9, Cincinnati 7, Louisville 6, Minnesota
3, Florida 3, Belmont 2, San Francisco 2, NJIT1.
AP Top 25 Women’s
Record
Pts
Prv
1. UConn (31)
9-0
775
1
2. Notre Dame
9-1
738
2
3. Louisville
11-0
712
4
4. Mississippi St.
10-0
681
5
5. Maryland
10-0
632
6
6. Baylor
8-1
585
3
7. Oregon
8-1
583
7
8. Stanford
7-1
561
11
9.Tennessee
8-0
558
9
10. NC State
11-0
510
10
11. Oregon St.
8-2
429
8
12.Texas
8-2
390
12
13. Minnesota
10-0
387
13
14. California
9-0
386
13
15. Syracuse
9-2
337
15
16. Iowa
8-2
303
16
17. Arizona St.
8-2
227
17
18. Kentucky
10-1
215
18
19. Marquette
8-2
191
19
20. DePaul
7-3
185
20
21. Gonzaga
10-1
148
21
22. Michigan St.
9-1
134
23
23. Texas A&M
8-2
98
24. Miami
9-2
95
24
25. South Carolina
6-4
66
25
Others receiving votes: Iowa St. 22, South
Dakota 22, Florida St. 21, Virginia Tech 21, South
Florida 19, Missouri 13, Indiana 11, Georgia 8,
Utah 5, Southern Cal 4, West Virginia 1, Drake 1,
South Dakota St. 1.
Football/NFL
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
East
W
L
T
Pet PF PA
New England
9
5
0
.643 374 310
Miami
7
7
0
.500 295 374
Buffalo
5
9
0
.357 215 333
N.Y. Jets
4
10
South
0
.286 292 359
W
L
T
Pet PF PA
Houston
10
4
0
.714 352 281
Indianapolis
8
6
0
.571 372 300
Tennessee
8
6
0
.571 268 254
Jacksonville
4
10
North
0
.286 225 289
W
L
T
Pet PF PA
Pittsburgh
8
5
1
.607 384 316
Baltimore
8
6
0
.571 341 253
Cleveland
6
7
1
.464 309 348
Cincinnati
6
8
West
0
.429 337 413
W
L
T
Pet PF PA
x-Kansas City
11
3
0
.786 499 380
x-L.A. Chargers
11
3
0
.786 395 298
Denver
6
8
0
.429 306 299
Oakland
3
11
0
.214 260 418
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
East
W
L
T
Pet PF PA
Dallas
8
6
0
.571 276 269
Philadelphia
7
7
0
.500 311 318
Washington
7
7
0
.500 265 310
N.Y. Giants
5
9
South
0
.357 307 348
W
L
T
Pet PF PA
y-New Orleans
11
2
0
.846 447 283
Carolina
6
7
0
.462 324 332
Atlanta
5
9
0
.357 356 381
Tampa Bay
5
9
North
0
.357 344 403
W
L
T
Pet PF PA
y-Chicago
10
4
0
.714 383 264
Minnesota
7
6
1
.536 323 308
Green Bay
5
8
1
.393 332 331
Detroit
5
9
West
0
.357 284 333
W
L
T
Pet PF PA
y-L.A. Rams
11
3
0
.786 448 343
Seattle
8
6
0
.571 363 292
San Francisco
4
10
0
.286 301 373
Arizona
3
11
0
.214 192 367
x-clinched playoff spot
y-clinched division
Saturday’s Games
Houston 29, N.Y. Jets 22
Cleveland 17, Denver 16
Sunday’s Games
Baltimore 20, Tampa Bay 12
Washington 16, Jacksonville 13
Indianapolis 23, Dallas 0
Buffalo 14, Detroit 13
Chicago 24, Green Bay 17
Minnesota 41, Miami 17
Tennessee 17, N.Y. Giants 0
Atlanta 40, Arizona 14
Cincinnati 30, Oakland 16
Pittsburgh 17, New England 10
San Francisco 26, Seattle 23, OT
Philadelphia 30, L.A. Rams 23
Monday’s Games
New Orleans at Carolina, Late
Transactions
BASEBALL
American League
NEW YORK YANKEES — Signed LHP J.A. Happ
to a two-year contract. Designated RHP Parker
Bridwell for assignment.
TEXAS RANGERS — Signed RHPs Matt Bush
and Tim Dillard, LHP Zac Curtis and INF Chase
d’Arnaud to minor league contracts.
National League
PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Signed RHP Jordan
Lyles to a one-year contract.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Traded 2B
Andruw Monasterio to Cleveland to complete
an earlier trade.
BASKETBALL
National Basketball Association
ATLANTA HAWKS — Transferred F Alex
Poythress to Erie (NBAGL).
INDIANA PACERS — Named Kelly Krauskopf
assistant general manager.
WASHINGTON WIZARDS — Traded F Kelly
Oubre Jr. and G Austin Rivers to Phoenix for F
Trevor Ariza.
FOOTBALL
National Football League
NFL — Suspended Green Bay G Alex Light
one game for violating the NFL policy and
program for substances of abuse.
ATLANTA FALCONS — Placed RB Ito Smith on
injured reserve.
NEW YORK JETS — Signed WR DeAngelo
Yancey to the practice squad.
Pro Football Hall of Fame
PFHOF — Signed president and CEO David
Baker to a five-year contract extension.
Canadian Football League
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS — Agreed to
terms with LB Jesse Briggs on a two-year
contract.
HOCKEY
National Hockey League
NEW JERSEY DEVILS — Placed G Cory
Schneider on injured reserve. Recalled G
Mackenzie Blackwood from Binghamton (AHL).
NEW YORK RANGERS — Assigned LW Matt
Beleskey and G Dustin Tokarski to Hartford
(AHL). Recalled G Alexandar Georgiev from
Hartford.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS — Fired coach Dave
Hakstol. Named Scott Gordon interim coach.
ST. LOUIS BLUES — Reassigned C Tanner
Kaspick from Tulsa (ECHL) to San Antonio (AHL).
Recalled LW Zach Sanford from San Antonio.
American Hockey League
HAMILTON BULLDOGS — Acquired F Tag
Bertuzzi from Guelph for a 2020 second-, 2021
third- and 2022 third-round draft picks.
MOTORSPORTS
INDYCAR — Promoted Jay Frye to president,
effective Jan. 1.
SOCCER
Major League Soccer
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION — Re-signed F
Juan Agudelo to a multi-year contract.
PHILADELPHIA UNION — Signed D Fabinho,
M Warren Creavalle and F Kacper Przybylko.
SPORTING KANSAS CITY — D Brad Evans
announced his retirement.
TORONTO FC — Exercised its option on M
Auro Alvaro da Cruz Junior. Signed F Jahkeele
Marshall-Rutty to a USL contract.
TODAY ON TV
FOOTBALL
■ UAB VS. Northern Illinois, 7 p.m.,
ESPN
SOCCER
■ Fortuna Dusseldorf vs. Borussia
Dortmund, 2:30 p.m., FS1
HOCKEY
■ Predators at Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m.,
NBCSN
BASKETBALL
■ Princeton at Duke, 6 p.m., ESPN2
■ Appalachian State at Georgetown,
6:30 p.m., FS1
■ Xavier at Missouri, 7 p.m., ESPNU
■ NBA: Wizards at Hawks, 7:30 p.m., Fox
Sports Southeast
■ Buffalo at Syracuse, 8 p.m., ESPN2
■ Presbyterian at Butler, 8:30 p.m., FS1
■ Creighton at Oklahoma, 9 p.m.,
ESPNU
■ Women’s: Mississippi State at Oregon,
10 p.m., ESPN2
COLLEGE BASKCTBALL | Top 25 Poll
Kansas stays on top
ORLIN WAGNER I Associated Press
Kansas guard Charlie Moore, right, shoots over Villanova forward Jermaine Samuels, left,
during the game on Saturday, Dec. 15 in Lawrence, Kan.
Jayhawks remain at No. 1 spot in latest poll
BY AARON BEARD
Associated Press
Kansas didn’t get the
chance to hold onto its
preseason No. 1 ranking
in the AP Top 25 very long,
even as an unbeaten team.
The Jayhawks are sticking
around this time.
The Jayhawks sat atop
Monday’s latest men’s col
lege basketball poll for a
second straight week. That
didn’t happen earlier this
season, when Duke jumped
Kansas to take No. 1 in the
first regular-season poll
after a dominating romp
against Kentucky despite
the fact the Jayhawks had
beaten a top-10 Michigan
State team.
The Jayhawks (9-0) spent
four weeks at No. 2, includ
ing one in which Gonzaga
hurdled them for No. 1
after beating the Blue Dev
ils in the Maui Invitational
championship game. But
Kansas reclaimed the top
spot last week after Gonza-
ga’s loss to Tennessee and
stayed there after beating
reigning national champion
Villanova 74-71 at home.
It marked Kansas’ fifth
victory by six or fewer
points this year, including
an overtime win against
now-No. 3 Tennessee on
Nov. 23.
“I don’t think we’ve
played great, by
any stretch,” Kan
sas coach Bill Self
said after the Villa
nova win. “But we
played a lot better
today than we’ve
been practicing.
I’m optimistic,
very, leaving out
of here knowing
there is (another)
gear we can get to that
hasn’t been apparent on a
daily basis.”
AT THE TOP
Kansas, Duke and Ten
nessee were 1-2-3 for the
second straight week, with
the Jayhawks earning 56 of
65 first-place votes to stay
firmly in place. The Blue
Devils got five first-place
votes to stay at No. 2, while
the Volunteers had two.
Michigan and Virginia
each claimed one first-
place vote, helping them
climb into the top five.
Among that quintet, Ten
nessee is at its highest spot
since reaching No. 1 in Feb
ruary 2008 while Michigan
has its highest ranking
since February 2013.
THE TOP 10
The rest of the top 10 fea
tured Nevada at No. 6, fol
lowed by Auburn, Gonzaga,
North Carolina and Michi
gan State.
For Auburn, the Tigers
have their highest ranking
since the 1999-2000 season,
when they spent 13 weeks
in the top 10 and peaked at
No. 2.
RISERS AND SLIDERS
Gonzaga and North Caro
lina met over the weekend
in a marquee matchup
between teams that played
for the national champion
ship less than two years
ago. A 103-90 win
by the homestand
ing Tar Heels led
to some of the
week’s biggest poll
movement.
The Zags had
the biggest fall,
sliding from fourth
to eighth. The Tar
Heels climbed
three spots to ninth and
were joined by No. 21
Houston and No. 22 Indiana
as the week’s biggest risers.
SMALL MOVEMENTS
Outside of Gonzaga and
UNC, there wasn’t a huge
amount of significant poll
movement. Eight teams
stayed in the same spots,
including No. 13 Virginia
Tech, No. 14 Buffalo, No. 15
Ohio State, No. 16 Wiscon
sin and No. 19 Kentucky.
Among the climbers, No.
18 Arizona State moved up
two spots while six others
rose only one slot, including
No. 17 Mississippi State and
No. 20 Marquette.
Five of the week’s
ranked sliders fell only
one spot, including No. 11
Florida State, No. 12 Texas
Tech, No. 23 Iowa and No.
24 Furman.
NEWCOMER
No. 25 Nebraska was the
only addition to this week’s
poll, though the Cornhusk-
ers were ranked No. 24 ear
lier this month.
SLIDING OUT
For the second time
this season, the reigning
champs are out.
Villanova was ranked
17th last week before losing
to Penn — snapping a city-
record 25-game winning
streak against its Philadel
phia “Big 5” rivals — and
then at Kansas to fall out
of the poll again. The Wild
cats were ranked eighth in
November before losses
to Michigan and Furman
knocked them out of the
poll, though that turned out
to be merely a one-week
absence.
Kansas State and Syra
cuse were the other teams
to fall out of the poll.
Self
ATHLETE
■ Continued from 1B
him for stalling, thus
awarding Hawthorne the
third decisive point in the
extra period.
“Logan just broke the kid
— physically (and) men
tally,” Nichols said. The
kid just did not get up and
move, I mean was physi
cally exhausted. Logan had
physically and mentally
worn him out.”
Hawthorne applied
the same approach in the
final. Against a stronger
and more athletic wres
tler, Hawthorne continued
his pursuit. By the second
period, Carrollton’s Sippola
was forced to take an injury
timeout, basically to take a
break to Nichols’ surmise.
And soon after the break,
Hawthorne made his move
to get on top and work his
opponent into a pin.
The moment itself had
been building up ever since
Hawthorne’s joined the
program as a freshman
and failed to qualify for the
state tournament in that
first season. The upward
climb to Hawthorne’s big
gest individual accolade
of his career comes after
snagging a top-three finish
at the Class 3A traditional
meet as a sophomore.
“He’s just been getting
better and better. And this
is just the culmination of a
lot of hard work and a lot of
dedication,” Nichols said.
... Anybody who knows
him, he’s just a humble,
caring individual.... You’d
be hard-pressed to find a
better kid.”
North Hall grapples
seven-time state champion
Gilmer County on Wednes
day in Gainesville for the
team’s senior and youth
night.
Falcons RB Ito Smith sent to IR
The Atlanta Falcons placed rookie running back Ito Smith on injured reserve with a
knee injury on Monday and are moving closer to ruling out a return for starter Devonta
Freeman this season.
Coach Dan Quinn said Monday Smith will have surgery this week.
Smith, a rookie, was questionable with back and knee injuries before aggravating the
knee injury in Sunday’s 40-14 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Quinn said the injury is not
to Smith’s anterior cruciate ligament.
Smith is the ninth Atlanta player to be placed on IR this season.
Associated Press
