The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

CONFERENCE play continued to heat up in men’s NCAA division basketball and two Bahamian players were able to post career numbers, despite coming in a losing effort for their teams.

The Oklahoma Sooners’ Buddy Hield and the Texas A and M Aggies each set new career marks Saturday afternoon for their respective squads.

Hield, the 6’4” junior guard, scored a career high 31 points as the No.18 ranked Sooners were upset at home by the Kansas State Wildcats, 66-63.

Hield made 5-9 from three-point range and also added five rebounds and three steals and also became the 41st member of the Sooners’ 1,000-point club.

The preseason all Big-12 conference selection entered the game averaging 16.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He is shooting 42 per cent from the field, 38 per cent from three-point range and 85 per cent from the free throw line.

In the overtime period, Hield made a driving layup with 28 seconds to tie the score, however, the Wildcats’ Marcus Foster hit the go-ahead basket on the ensuing possession to seal the win.

“When you give a good player any good look he is going to take that shot. I thought I contested it really well, but when you are playing against a good player, any shot is a good shot for him. He elevated and put up a good shot. There’s nothing I could do about it,” Hield said.

“It feels bad, losing. We just have to do better at getting ready and coming out attacking people to get guys going earlier. This is a good loss to learn from. We have to go prepare for next week.”

The Sooners will look to rebound 7pm (local time) tonight when they travel to face No. 16 West Virginia, broadcast live on ESPNews.

In the Southeastern Conference, a Bahamian player was nearly apart of college basketball’s biggest upset for the second time in as many weeks.

Miller and the Aggies came up just short at home when they were outlasted by the No. 1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats 70-84 in double overtime.

The 6’7” sophomore forward played a career high 22 minutes and finished with six rebounds, two points and a blocked shot.

It was Miller’s second game back after missing seven consecutive contests and just his sixth game of the season. He returned for the SEC opener, January 6, when he grabbed a career high eight rebounds in a 65-44 loss to Alabama.

Free throws became a deciding factor in the Aggie’s loss to the Wildcats, and Miller, who had made only 20 of 41 free throws in his career before Saturday, missed four of six free throws.

Aggies coach Billy Kennedy expressed his confidence in the seldom used forward and said nobody works harder on free throws than Miller, whom he thought deserved the chance.

He made one of two at the line with 27 seconds left in the first overtime to give A and M a 57-55 lead.

“I thought he’d make both,” Kennedy said.

Miller is currently averaging 3.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

The Aggies will look to regain a spot in the win column with they face in-state rival Mississippi State 7pm tonight.