Sports

NBA Scouts Will Watch Trae Young vs. Collin Sexton This Weekend

January 28, 2018 02:07·
Collin Sexton Trae Young stand at the center of Alabama Oklahoma matchup

Collin Sexton Trae Young stand at the center of Alabama Oklahoma matchup

Heading into Saturday's game, many anticipated the matchup between Oklahoma freshman guard Trae Young and Alabama guard Collin Sexton.

There was a whiteout and most of the fans complied.

The Big 12 now leads the Big 12-SEC Challenge 3-2, but there are still some interesting matchups to come on Saturday evening.

Baker Mayfield, the 2017 Heisman Trophy victor, and Wooden Award favorite Trae Young's collegiate careers intersected for just one year, but the two have a chance to do what Sam Bradford and Blake Griffin did during the 2008-09 athletic season. In fairness to Young, Mayfield has won 3 consecutive Big 12 titles, led the Sooners to the College Football Playoff two of the last three years.

"I'm honored to be a part of it".

Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger called it a great battle of "two of the premier [point guards], without question, in the country". Alabama dictated much of it.

When was the last time an opposing coach said that and meant it? At a minimum, Alabama established the Crimson Tide as a serious contender - if not a favorite - to make the NCAA Tournament.

This was the kind of game that Alabama used to find ways to lose. I loved the balance of his game today. We heard people talking, saying we were going to lose.

It's definitely one to build on, especially since just about everyone contributed in a significant way. We think he's an outstanding two-way player, and he's (facing) a guy that we know can get 50 points in a game. Leading for almost the entire game, Alabama used an impressive 13-0 run in the second half to build a decent lead before running clock and letting its defense do the rest.

Federer sets up Cilic showdown after Chung retirement
Bashing winners for fun he repeated the trick twice to grab the opening set in 33 minutes. Because he has played so many matches in the row, I think that's why it was a build-up.

Musician Hugh Masekela had 'humour to the very end,' son says
In the 1980s, Masekela appeared with Paul Simon and several other South African musicians as part of the " Graceland " album tour. The singer underwent eye surgery in 2016. and later in October it was revealed that that he was battling cancer since 2008.

US, Poland oppose gas pipeline linking Russian Federation to Germany
Tillerson encouraged further such sales and spoke in favour of a pipeline that would run from Poland to Norway. Poland began importing liquid natural gas from the US past year .

Young needed more than 11 minutes to get free for his first basket on a 10-foot floater in the lane, but Sexton responded nearly immediately with a 3-pointer.

"He's a poster child for what Alabama basketball is all about", Johnson said. He's on track to become the first player to lead college basketball in points and assists.

Using multiple defenders and face-guarding Young the length of the floor on many possessions, Alabama's defense wore down the star freshman guard as he finished with 17 points and eight assists - well below his season averages.

Coming in, Young led the nation in scoring (30.3) and assists (9.6) per game.

Twenty-five National Basketball Association teams will watch Trae Young vs.

That isn't to say you need to immediately sell your stock in Young and Oklahoma. "I've seen every type of defense". Defensively, we mixed up seven different things and six of them worked. And Sexton did just that, playing such tight off-ball defense that it appeared at times as if he were wearing Young's No. 11 jersey. "He had a few rim-rattling slam dunks, and the 6'7" forward was one of the main players responsible for defending Young in the second half.

"Just wanted to win", Sexton said. Collin was terrific tonight on so many different levels. "We've got to get tougher".

It was after Oklahoma caught Alabama and took a small lead midway through the second half that the Crimson Tide took over for good.

Oklahoma outscored Alabama 19-10 over the first nine minutes of the second half, but UA responded with a 13-0 run capped by the two Key 3-pointers.

Recommended News

Join The Conversation

We are pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news.
Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper.
Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.