Nov. 19 Notebook

NOTE: Media covering the Emerald Coast Classic, please make sure to apply for credentials at this link: https://emeraldcoastbb.wpengine.com/media/

The deadline to apply is this Tueday, Nov. 24.

Upcoming Schedule For Participating Teams

(All times listed are central)

Thursday, Nov. 19

Alabama State at Mercer, 6 p.m.

UAB at Troy, 7 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 20

Jacksonville State at Winthrop, 6 p.m., Big South Network

Saturday, Nov. 21

Trinity International at Chicago State, 2:05 p.m.

VMI at Virginia Tech, 6 p.m., ESPN 3

Chattanooga at Illinois, 7:30 p.m., Big 10 Network

Sunday, Nov. 22

Jacksonville State at UAB, 4 p.m., ASN

Monday, Nov. 23

Chicago State vs. Illinois, Springfield, Ill., 7 p.m.

Chattanooga at Iowa State, 7 p.m. Cyclone TV

Tuesday, Nov. 24

North Carolina A&T at Virginia Tech, 6 p.m., ESPN 3.

Alabama A&M at Jacksonville State, 7 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 27 – Niceville, Fla.

Alabama State vs. Chattanooga, 11, a.m.

Chicago State vs. Jacksonville State, 1:30 p.m.

Virginia Tech vs. Iowa State, 6 p.m. CBS Sports Network

Illinois vs. UAB, 8:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network

Saturday, Nov. 28 – Niceville, Fla.

Loser of Ala. State/Chatt. vs. Loser of Chicago State/Jacksonville St., 10:30 a.m.

Winner of Ala. State/Chatt. vs. Winner of Chicago State/Jacksonville St., 1 p.m.

Loser of Va.Tech/Iowa State vs. Loser of UAB/Illinois, 3:30 p.m.

WInner of Va.Tech/Iowa State vs. Winner of UAB/Illinois, 6 p.m, CBS Sports Network

MORRIS, NIANG ON WOODEN WATCH LIST: Guard Monté Morris and forward Georges Niang have been named to the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50, making Iowa State one of 13 schools with multiple players on the list.

The Cyclones are off to a 2-0 start behind the lead of Morris and Niang.

Niang, a senior from Methuen, Mass., led the Cyclones with 17 points in their season-opening win against Colorado. He is averaging 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists through two games. He’s the only active player in the nation with 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists in a career.

Morris, a junior from Flint, Mich., is averaging 13.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists while shooting 52.6 percent from the field. He dished out eight assists Monday night against Chicago State.

INTENSE PRACTICES PAY OFF: In the Nov. 18 edition of Roanoke Times, Mark Berman writes that four days of intense practices paid dividends as Virginia Tech earned its first victory of the season with a 71-62 home victory past Jacksonville State.

Bouncing back from last weekend’s season-opening loss to Southwestern Athletic Conference member Alabama State, the Hokies led the entire second half in a 71-62 win over Jacksonville State at Cassell Coliseum Wednesday.

“To have so many people here for Game 1 [6,519 fans], … for us to have the effort that we had [in that loss], that was just so disheartening,” head coach Buzz Williams said. “The things that we want to be about were much more evident tonight. So we’re a loss down and four days … late, but maybe we can manufacture it for a longer period of time and get some of those people back.”

TALKING POSITIVES: Despite suffering a 60-59 setback at Providence Wednesday, sportswriter Marcus Jackson said the Illinois basketball team stressed the positives that came from the game including limiting All-America point guard Kris Dunn to 10 points.

“I think we can play even better moving forward,” Illinois head coach Jon Groce said. “I thought it was our best game of the three, by a landslide.”

FRESHMAN CENTER FINDS COMFORT AWAY FROM FRANCE: Thomas Smallwood is quick to proclaim that the only difficult adjustments he’s faced in his first few months at UAB have come on the basketball court.

The game of basketball is much quicker and more physical than the Under-21 club basketball he played in his home country of France. The intensity and time required to play the sport is ramped up considerably. A different country. A different game.

That has certainly been a huge adjustment for the 7-foot, 231-pound post player since he arrived in Birmingham to prepare for life as a UAB basketball player in June.

MCCALL WELCOMES CHALLENGE: CollegeInsider.com conducted an informative interview with first-year coach Matt McCall who is excited about embracing the tradition of Chattanooga basketball.

McCall also talks about his 10-year tenure as an assistant coach at Florida and how Billy Donovan made an impact in his career.

“I think the biggest thing for Coach is he really tries to prepare us (to become a Head Coach),” said McCall. “I think there’s a lot of different programs where assistant coaches get labeled as just a recruiter, or just a scouter, or just an individual instruction guy. Coach isn’t like that. He wants us to have our hands in every single possible aspect of the program because he wants us to be prepared for when that call comes.”

ALABAMA STATE

Nov. 18 Hornets Prepare For Mercer

Nov. 16 Hornets Fall Late At UAB

Nov. 14 Hornets Upset Virginia Tech

UAB

Nov. 18 Blazers Travel To Troy State

Nov. 18 Sophomore Lee Eyes Improvement

Nov. 16 Blazer Escape Alabama State in Home Opener

Nov. 16 Cokley’s Double-Double Keys Close Win

Nov. 16 Cokley Named C-USA Player of Year

Nov. 15 3 Takeaways From Season Opener

Nov. 14 Cokley’s Career Night Ends in Heartbreak