The Washington Post - 09.11.2019

SATURDAy, NOVEMbER 9 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST eZ M2 D5

than anything else right now.” That i ncreases the learning curve, which is already significant for freshmen, but Scott has veterans to lean on for help, including morsell, who also had to learn multiple positions as a freshman. Turgeon said Scott will primar- ily play at p ower forward to begin the season. But once the team progresses into its Big Te n sched- ule, Scott could play more at s mall forward, thanks to expected im- provement from the 6-foot-10 mitchell twins and the possible debut of Chol marial, the 7-2 freshman center who had surgery in September to repair stress frac- tures in both legs. Until then, the Te rps still have new options to go along with their deep pool of players who returned. makhel mitchell, a three-star recruit who came in alongside his more highly touted brother, has been the most pleasant surprise, playing better than Turgeon said he expected. All four healthy freshmen have proved to be good passers who understand the game well. When asked after friday’s practice to describe the freshman class, Ayala pointed to the court, where Hart and the mitchells were taking extra shots while hav- ing fun, too. They have the potential but not the pressure of Ayala and his sophomore classmates, who knew they would make up the core of last year’s team right away. “They all have such an upside, which is good,” Turgeon said. “But are they all ready to play? Yeah, they’re all ready to play. Are they ready to help us win a league championship? maybe not, but not many freshmen in the country are at this point. So I’m really proud of my young guys.” [email protected]

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Nikita Kucherov got the Ta mpa Bay Lightning off to a fast start in Sweden. Kucherov scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves to help Ta mpa Bay beat the Buffalo Sa- bres, 3-2, on friday night in the first of their two regular season games in Stockholm. The sold-out games at E ricsson Globe are part of the NHL Global Series. Alex Killorn and Yanni Gourde also scored for the Lightning. Sam reinhart scored twice for Buffalo. The Sabres have lost four straight. Kucherov opened the scoring at 3 :19 of the first period. Brayden Point and Kevin Shattenkirk set up the play for Kucherov to sweep in on a one-timer. The reigning NHL mVP has five goals and seven assists this season. He had 41 goals and 128 points last season. “That’s a world-class finish,” Ta mpa Bay Coach Jon Cooper said. “Great play. Great for Shatty to recognize that and wrap that around. I’ll have to see, but I don’t know if that puck hit the ice. Not a lot of guys can do that, but he’s one of them. I thought he had a great game after that.” Shattenkirk has three assists in

the past two games. Kucherov made his presence felt again later in the period when Buffalo forward Vladimir Sobot- ka needed assistance from his teammates to get off the ice after a hit from the Lightning star. “Their decision was it was a fair hit,” Buffalo Coach ralph Krueger said. “We need to move on wheth- er we like it or not.” Krueger said Sobotka was “def- initely” out Saturday. “I think both teams understand the competitiveness of our division and this first challenge between us is worth more than just two points, and that’s why you had that intensity tonight.” It’s the third straight year — and eighth overall — the NHL has played in Europe to try to in- crease its local following in hock- ey-mad countries. l RED WINGs 4, BRUINs 2: robby fabbri scored twice in his first game with Detroit as the visiting red Wings handled Bos- ton to snap a four-game skid. fabbri was acquired from St. Louis on Wednesday night and quickly got his second and third

goals of the season. Dylan Larkin and Anthony mantha also scored for Detroit, and Ty ler Bertuzzi had two assists. Jonathan Bernier stopped 26 shots and also had two assists. The red Wings had been stuck in a 1-11-1 rut, their worst skid since 2017-18 when they went 1- 12-1. l JEts 4, cANUcKs 1: Kyle Connor had a goal and an assist as host Winnipeg upended Vancou- ver. Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for his ninth consecutive victory over the Canucks. Jack roslovic, mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry also scored to help the Jets improve to 3-0-1 in their past four games. J.T. miller scored his team- leading eighth goal and Thatcher Demko stopped 31 shots for Van- couver. l OIlERs 4, DEVIls 0: Alex Chiasson had a goal and an assist and mikko Koskinen made 26 saves as host Edmonton blanked Detroit to snap a two- game losing streak. Leon Draisaitl, Gaetan Haas and James Neal also scored for the oilers (11-5-2), who improved to 6-2-1 at home. The Devils (4-7-4) have lost two straight.

NHl roUNDUP

In Sweden, Kucherov is quite a hit

LIGHtNING 3, sABrEs 2

He led a balanced attack for the Hokies (2-0), who gave new coach mike Young his first home victory. The Hokies blitzed Coppin State (0-1) from the start, building a 27-3 lead in the first 12:15 of the game. l RIcHMOND 100, st. FRANcIs (PA.) 98, Ot: Nathan Cayo scored at the basket in the final minute of overtime to give the S piders the lead, a nd t hey held on to win in richmond. Jacob Gilyard scored four late points to tie the game for richmond (1-0) with 27 seconds left to force overtime. l NAVY 62, EAst cAROlINA 57 : John Carter Jr. had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and the mid- shipmen used a second-half surge to win at home in the Veterans Classic. Navy (1-1) trailed with 61 / 2 minutes to go before finishing with a 19-10 run. l GEORGE MAsON 7 6, lONGWOOD 65: Jamal Hartwell II posted 19 points and Javon G reene added 1 8 points a nd six rebounds as the Patriots pre- vailed at E agleBank Arena. AJ Wilson added 11 points and five blocks and Josh oduro had 10 points for the Patriots ( 2-0).

ASSOCIATED PRESS

mike’L Simms hit a pair of three-pointers in the final 2:07 for his only baskets of the game, and No. 25 VCU held off North Te xas, 59-56, on friday night in richmond. marcus Evans led VCU (2-0) with 13 points and De’riante Jen- kins had 12, including two free throws w ith 1 0.5 s econds left. The mean Green (1-1) had a chance to tie it but never got off a shot against the rams’ tight de- fense. l WIllIAM & MARY 79, AMERIcAN 70: Nathan Knight had 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Tribe w on at B ender Arena. Andy Van Vliet had 18 points and 10 rebounds for William & mary (2-0). Sa’eed Nelson had 22 p oints for the Eagles (0-2). l VIRGINIA tEcH 74 , cOP- PIN stAtE 42: Nahiem Alleyne got the start in his second colle- giate game and s cored 18 points to lead the Hokies in Blacksburg, Va.

AreA meN’s College BAsKetBAll roUNDUP

No. 25 Rams avoid an upset

thanks to Simms’s late threes

VCU 59, NOrtH tExAs 56 ASSOCIATED PRESS

The feel-good season for No. 14
memphis plunged into uncertain-
ty friday after the school said sec-
ond-year coach and former NBA
star Penny Hardaway gave more
than $11,000 to the family of top
prospect James Wiseman, who got
a court order allowing him to play
while the university tries to re-
store his NCAA eligibility.
memphis issued an extraordi-
nary statement less than an hour
before the Tigers played Illinois
Chicago a t home, s aying Wiseman
was going to be kept out of games
based on interpretation of a rule
by the NCAA until the temporary
restraining order obtained by
Wiseman’s attorney, Leslie Ballin,
late friday afternoon.
“The University is currently
working with the NCAA staff to
restore his playing status, and we
are hopeful for a speedy r esolution
to the m atter,” t he statement said.
The 7-foot-1 Wiseman scored
17 points, grabbed nine rebounds
and h ad five blocks i n a 92-46 win.
Hardaway declined to take

questions on the NCAA and legal issues after the game. The coach also made clear that Wiseman will continue to play, at least until a Nov. 1 8 hearing, and liked how the freshman handled a roller-coaster day. l KENtUcKY 91, EAstERN KENtUcKY 49: In Lexington, Ky., Nick richards had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Immanuel Quickley added 16 and the No. 2 Wildcats (2-0) scored the game’s first 14 p oints t o follow up Tuesday night’s victory over top-ranked michigan S tate. l KANsAs 74 , UNc GREENs- BORO 6 2: Devon Dotson had 22 points and six assists, Udoka Azubuike added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the No. 3 Jay- hawks. Kansas (1-1) shot 41.7 percent from beyond the arc in the second half to pull away. DUKE 89, cOlORADO stAtE 55: Tre J ones had 15 p oints and eight assists in the No. 4 Blue Devils’ win in D urham, N.C. Cassius Stanley led the Blue Devils (2-0) with 19 points. l NORtH cAROlINA 78, UNc WIlMINGtON 62: freshman star Cole Anthony had 20 points and 10 rebounds to help the ninth-ranked Ta r Heels win in

Wilmington, N.C. Graduate transfer Justin Pierce had 18 points and 12 rebounds to offset a bad shooting night for Anthony, who made just 7 of 24 shots f or the Ta r Heels (2-0). l WAsHINGtON 67, BAY- lOR 64: The Huskies closed the game with eight straight points to knock off the No. 16 Bears in An- chorage. Nahziah Carter, who made a game-tying three-pointer with 1:38 remaining and t hen a late free throw to extend t he lead f or Wash- ington ( 1-0), finished with a game- high 23 points. Sophomore guard Jared Butler led B aylor (1-1) with 18 points. l UtAH stAtE 89, WEBER stAtE 34: Justin Bean had 18 points and nine rebounds and Sam merrill added 14 points, six rebounds and six assists as the N o. 17 A ggies w on in L ogan, U tah. Abel Porter added 10 points and 10 assists for his first career double-double for Utah State ( 2-0). l XAVIER 81, sIENA 63: Tyr- ique Jones and Naji marshall each scored 20 points for the No. 19 musketeers in C incinnati. Xavier i mproved to 2-0. l lsU 88, BOWlING GREEN 79: Javonte Smart and Emmitt Williams each scored 21 points,

and t he No. 22 Tigers opened their season with a win in Baton rouge. Skylar mays, t he only returning starter in the Tigers’ lineup, had 18 points a nd eight r ebounds. l AUBURN 7 6, DAVIDsON 66: Isaac okoro scored 17 points, Danjel Purifoy had 14 and the No. 24 Tigers eased past the cold- shooting Wildcats i n Annapolis. returning two starters from a team that reached the final four last season, Auburn (2-0) never trailed against t he Wildcats (0-1).

Baylor women dominant Defending national champion Baylor is getting everyone in- volved in big blowouts to start its new season. All 1 1 players for the N o. 2 Bears scored, with a school-record eight in double figures, and NaLyssa Smith and Lauren Cox both had double-doubles again in a 120-46 win o ver Grambling State in Waco, Te x. Baylor (2-0) has won its two games by a combined 140 points. l lOUIsVIllE 76, MURRAY stAtE 40: Jazmine Jones was perfect from the field; little else was perfect for the No. 9 Cardi- nals, but t hey still came away w ith a lopsided v ictory. Jones scored 14 points to lead host Louisville (2-0).

NAtIoNAl College BAsKetBAll roUNDUP

Tigers star Wiseman is ruled ineligible but plays

MEMpHIs 92, ILLINOIs CHICAGO 46

sound penalty kill was last season’s Phoenix team, which had 16 shorthanded goals. Calgary led the league with 18. “I think we got it,” Arniel said. “A s a coaching staff, we like what we are seeing. They are recognizing. We aren’t telling them go here or you shouldn’t go here. That’s the worst thing you can do on the ice as a player.” Specifically, the defensemen on the penalty kill have been a big boost, with Gudas and Siegenthaler the first ones over the boards. Arniel said the unit’s biggest asset is the ability not to use the team’s top players on the penalty kill all the time. A prime example is John Carlson. If the Capitals are able to use players such as Gudas, Siegenthaler, michal Kempny and Nick Jensen on the penalty kill most of the time, then Carlson is freed up to join the kill with only 30 seconds to go. Then the Capitals are able to get their top line of Alex ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and T. J. os- hie over the boards when the kill is finished, and now they are part of the offensive rush, which is a good chance to catch some teams tired. “We are in a better situation because we have more natural killers,” Arniel said. [email protected]

one tally finally came on the
fourth kill of the night.
“It starts with the mind-set,
guys that really want to kill and
do it for the team and take pride
in it, and I think it starts there,”
Hagelin said. “Then once you
start feeling good and the season
rolls on, you need your goalie to
make key stops on the PK and
sacrificing your body.”
The Capitals entered last sea-
son seeking to be more aggres-
sive on the penalty kill, but they
soon realized at t imes that meant
they were too aggressive, which
ended up with opportune chanc-
es for opposing power plays.
Arniel described the unit as “all
over the map.”
“Just an all-out blitz all the
time. It didn’t work so good for
us at times last year, so we found
a real good balance there,” Arniel
said.
Players are better this season
at making the correct reads,
recognizing when they need to
attack in “trigger situations”
and also when to fall back if the
opposition wants to stay on the
edges. Arniel said he no longer
tells p layers what to do on
the ice; they’re doing it on the
go.
for example, if opponents are
coming below the hash marks,

cAPItAls from D1

the defensemen know what they are supposed to do without th inking about it. If t he opposing forwards are working up the half wall, the Capitals’ forwards understand how to cut that off as they anticipate the next play. T he group also has placed extra em- phasis on its shared clears shorthanded, an area Arniel said has vastly improved. maybe a player doesn’t have a good look to shoot it down the ice, but he can bump it 10 feet to someone who can, which can lead to opportunities. “A s a group, we’ve done a better job at helping each other,” Arniel said. The Capitals are tied for fourth in the league with three shorthanded goals. Arniel said a good example of a systematically

CA PItAls’ Next tHree

vs. Vegas golden Knights

Today7 nBCSW

vs. Arizona Coyotes

Monday7 nBCSW, nBCSn

at Philadelphia Flyers

Wednesday7:30 nBCSn

Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500 AM)

Capitals boast influx of ‘natural killers’

BY EMILY GIAMBALVO

When maryland’s expectation-
packed season began this week, so
did the college careers of four
freshman Te rrapins. Donta Scott,
who has impressed since he ar-
rived in College Park, entered
Tuesday’s season-opening win
against Holy Cross early in the
first half. Scott said he thought to
himself, “We’re finally here.”
After Scott’s college debut, in
which he scored nine points with
six rebounds and a steal, junior
Darryl morsell said if he had
peered into the gym as a stranger,
he probably would have guessed
Scott, a Philadelphia native, was a
graduate transfer.
“Donta’s different,” morsell
said. “He’s like a bull.... I guess
it’s the Philly in him.”
In transition, morsell said the
freshman plays like a “freight
train coming downhill.”
Scott and forward makhi
mitchell were the first freshmen
on the court during the opener,
and they’re both poised to earn
meaningful playing time this sea-
son. Scott played 18 minutes
against Holy Cross and 19 in the
exhibition game. In both match-
ups, his time on the court skewed
closer to that of the returners
than his fellow freshmen.
Those two contests against in-
ferior opponents do little to indi-
cate how performances will trans-
late through the season. But Sat-
urday’s game against a solid
rhode Island team will start to
provide answers.
In the first half against Holy
Cross, when the Te rps’ rotation
more closely resembled that of a
typical game, Scott played 10 min-
utes, scoring six points during
that stretch. He made his college
debut when Coach mark Turgeon
substituted four of his starters
with the game tied after six min-
utes. The group of four reserves,

along with starting point guard Anthony Cowan Jr., sparked a 12-2 run that gave maryland a com- fortable lead for the first time. With seven returners from last year’s r otation, Scott and mitchell could fill out a nine-man corps this season. mitchell’s t win brother, makhel, played seven minutes against Holy Cross, while freshman guard Hakim Hart entered late in the second half and hit a three-pointer. makhi mitchell played only eight minutes against Holy Cross

but finished with six points and three rebounds. All of his points came during a 3^1 / 2 -minute stretch in the second half. Between two of his layups, mitchell had a long pass to sophomore Serrel Smith Jr., who converted a fast-break layup. maryland struggled to hit shots from deep in the opener, but Scott was one of the four players with a three-pointer. Earlier in the game, Scott corralled Jalen Smith’s m iss and turned it into an emphatic dunk.

The freshmen provided “a lot of energy,” Cowan said after the game. “The twins really gave us that big aggressiveness that we need down low. Donta came in, and he had a nice putback dunk, one of the best I’ve probably seen. He was pretty high on that.” A year ago, Turgeon had no choice but to thrust freshmen into games and starting roles. freshmen took five of eight spots in the rotation. Jalen Smith and Eric Ayala started nearly every game. This season, with the luxury of

returning talent, Turgeon can wait until the first-year players are ready. But particularly in Scott’s case, it appears some are already prepared. “Donta’s got the toughness,” Turgeon said. “He’s got a really good feel.... Donta gets better every day. And when the lights come on, he’s pretty good.” Since arriving at maryland, Scott has had to master two positions, small forward and power forward, and Turgeon said, “I’ve got him a little bit more confused

Led by Scott, Terps’ freshmen flash potential without bearing much pressure

TOnI L. SanDYS/THe WaSHIngTOn POST Maryland forward Donta scott delivered a promising debut, scoring nine points in 18 minutes off the bench in the win against Holy cross.

rhode Island at maryland Today, 9 p.m., Fox Sports 1

The Washington Post - 09.11.2019

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