Month: February 2020

Tyreke Key scored 27 points on 10-of-11 shooting with nine rebounds and Indiana State defeated Missouri State 78-68

Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry is making progress in his comeback from a broken left hand and could return in March

Milan Acquaah had 18 points and eight assists as California Baptist defeated Seattle 72-65

The bitter rivalry between Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai will be taken to the next level when they meet in a Street Fight at NXT TakeOver: Portland.

Marrow, Stanley lead Hampton past Presbyterian 87-81 in OT

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Garrett Sams score 21 points in 28 minutes and Wajid Aminu scored 10 points with 14 boards and North Florida beat Kennesaw State 86-45

Check out the top highlights and interviews from the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 118-106 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

A young U.S. men’s national team beat a more experienced Costa Rica 1-0 in an international friendly match on Saturday.

Minus all of its top European-based players outside of a FIFA international window, a young U.S. men’s national team beat a more experienced Costa Rica 1-0 in Carson, Calif., on Saturday. The standout player for the U.S. was 18-year-old winger Ulysses Llanez, who scored from the penalty spot on his national team debut.

Four months after Costa Rica’s previous coach, Gustavo Matosas, had quit his job by saying he was “bored,” several of the Tico players looked lethargic and bored on Saturday as well.

But that wasn’t the case for the majority of the Americans, who had the upper hand for the first third of the game possession-wise and got a deserved goal early in the second half after right back Reggie Cannon pushed up and earned a penalty after receiving a nice pass from Paul Arriola.

Here are my three thoughts on the game:

• Llanez couldn’t have asked for a much better debut. The Wolfsburg under-19 player was competing in front of his family and home fans, where he used to play for LA Galaxy II, and showed some cojones to step up and take the penalty when he got a chance. Llanez, playing on the left wing, created some dangerous moments in the early parts of the game, but he slowed down for a stretch after a rough collision with Costa Rican goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado. Llanez seemed refreshed after halftime, though, and coolly slotted home the penalty before joining his teammates in a turn-around-jumper goal celebration honoring Kobe Bryant. A Mexican-American who still is eligible to play for both countries at the senior level, Llanez could be a significant part of March’s Olympic qualifying tournament for the U.S. if Wolfsburg can be convinced to release him for the games.

• Several other young Americans had promising games. Sam Vines of the Colorado Rapids started at left back, worked well with Llanez and got upfield on several occasions. Jesús Ferreira got the start at centerforward and had a few good moments on the ball. And Cannon, who has a bit more experience, patrolled the right side well from the back to the front. A bit less impressive was Brenden Aaronson, though he still was able to unspool one good shot on goal. Ultimately, this was a good opportunity for coach Gregg Berhalter to go with several players who will be age-eligible to play in the Olympic qualifying tournament as the U.S. hopes to advance to the Olympics for the first time since 2008. Intriguingly, Costa Rica—whom the U.S. will play in the opening game of that Olympic qualifying tournament—chose not to start several Olympic age-eligible players and instead went with older teammates.

• This was a weak crowd. Granted, this was hardly the varsity playing, but the announced attendance of 9,172—which was far more than the number of actual butts in seats—was a real bummer. Why couldn’t U.S. Soccer give free tickets to kids in L.A. for a game like this? Why couldn’t there be some sort of imaginative idea that would have drawn more fans out to L.A. at a glorious time of the year there weather-wise? Maybe another location for the game would have drawn more attendance? From a soccer sense, this game was promising. From an atmosphere sense, it could have been a lot better.

Jackson accounted for 4,333 yards and 43 total touchdowns during the 2019 regular season.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was named the AP’s Most Valuable Player on Saturday night. He was a unanimous selection, receiving every first-place vote for only the second time ever.

Jackson delivered plenty of highlights in his second season while leading the Ravens to a league-best 14–2 record. He threw for 3,127 yards and an NFL-leading 36 touchdowns, which set a Ravens single-season record. Jackson also broke an NFL single-season record for quarterbacks with 1,206 rushing yards.

After his stunning regular-season performance, the Ravens surprisingly fell 28–12 to the Titans in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Jackson joins Patrick Mahomes (2018), Dan Marino (1984) and Walter Payton (1977) as the only players to be named MVP at age 23. Browns running back Jim Brown, who won the honor at 21 and 22, is the only person to receive the award at a younger age.

In January, Jackson was selected for the AP’s All-Pro first team and received the NFL MVP award from the Pro Football Writers of America. 

More From RavenCountry:

Harbaugh Confident Baltimore Will be Destination for Free-Agent Receivers

Lamar Jackson’s Popularity Extends to the Kids of Rival NFL Quarterbacks

Ravens’ Durability Key to Success