ed two of three Hispanic-American head coaches in NCAA Division I in South Carol

LEXINGTON, Ky. Don Ohl Jersey . -- After playing in the bright lights and hype of the Champions Classic at New Yorks Madison Square Garden, a big question will be how No. 2 Kentucky responds to more subdued environment.The Wildcats return home fresh off their impressive 69-48 rout of No. 13 Michigan State and they will get their answers Sunday night against Duquesne.Great question, Kentucky associate head coach Kenny Payne said Friday. But we dont have to worry about that. The way that we coach, the way that we prepare those kids know that after that game is over, we celebrate. Its over. On to the next.The issue is outside of this environment. The friends. The parents. Their families. Now, they might talk to them about, Man, you all are the real deal. But when they walk in this gym and they walk in our offices, they know its on to the next. So they have no time to relax and feel good about anything. Were trying to get better.Payne explained it is part of the regular process in playing at Kentucky where everyone else is always trying to fast-forward to an NCAA championship.Its in everything we do every single day, Payne said. Were trying to get better every day. Are we happy we beat Michigan State thats a really good team? Yes, we are. Did we play our best? Not even close. Not even close.The top concern for coaches is rebounding. Kentucky was out rebounded 44-40 by Michigan State and 36-28 by Stephen F. Austin. UK did top Canisius 39-36.I think one of the things that has been a little disappointing with our athleticism, energy and length is that we havent dominated teams on the glass thus far, Payne said. Dont see that as a long-term problem, but its something that we have to focus on and get better at.In Duquesne, the 3-0 Wildcats will face a team that is 2-2 on the young season. The Dukes defeated Loyola Maryland 65-60 and Saint Francis 89-75 but lost to Penn State 82-74 and Canisius 78-77 on Friday.We just need maturity and more time together, Duquesne coach Jim Ferry said. The biggest issue we have is the schedule. Were basically playing every other day. So weve not had the practice time we really needed. Our practices have been our games (leading to) making decisions on the fly.Duquesne is trying to restart after losing its top three scorers to graduation. Sophomore guard Tarin Smith leads the way at 15.5 points per game followed by freshman forward Isiaha Mike at 12.0. Darius Lewis, a 6-11 senior post player from Lexington, Ky., is the top rebounder at 6.5.Kentucky is averaging 83 points per game and has three players scoring in double figures, all guards. Sophomore Isaiah Briscoe is tops at 19.7 points per game followed by freshman Malik Monk at 16.3 and DeAaron Fox at 15.0.Freshman Bam Adebayo and sophomore Isaac Humphries share the rebounding lead at 5.7 per game.Monk is coming off his best game with a team-best 23 points against Michigan State during which he made 7-of-11 from 3-point range. In fact, it was the best overall game by Kentucky to date. To fend off any letdown, coaches make sure players are competing against themselves.They dont really know, and theyre learning, Payne said. For every one of these kids in this program, other than Isaiah Briscoe, everybody is still learning who they are as a player. There have been times when they havent been in dog fights before. So, theyre getting a chance to see. Justin Robinson Jersey . - Oakland Raiders running back Rashad Jennings was speaking to a group of local high school students earlier this week when the conversation turned to the importance of being prepared when opportunities in life arise. Wali Jones Jersey .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. https://www.cheapwizardsonline.com/ .C. -- Rodney Hood connected from all over the court while freshman Jabari Parker was busy swatting shots and scoring in transition. TAMPA, Fla. -- Frank Martins uneasiness about how No. 16 South Carolina might respond to its first loss of the season was unfounded.PJ Dozier and Duane Notice assured that, stepping up in the absence of leading scorer Sindarius Thornwell to help the Gamecocks (9-1) shrug off cold shooting and pull away to a 77-66 victory over South Florida on Saturday.Dozier scored 11 of his 23 points in the closing minutes and Notice gave South Carolina a spark by contributing 14 of his 15 points after halftime to help the Gamecocks bounce back from last Mondays 67-64 loss to Seton Hall.It was my concern for this basketball team coming into this game, coming off our first loss, being so young, that some guys wouldnt handle it (well). Losing is an epidemic, and losing is not good. And young people dont know how to handle losing, Martin said.It was our first experience as a team to go through it. I think we kind of came out and played the first half like somebody took our dog. We didnt have our enthusiasm, the fight that weve played with every single day out, Martin added. But Im equally as pleased, I thought we played well in the second half as a basketball team. Different guys doing things. Obviously PJ continues to grow as a player here and do unbelievable things. But like I told him, its also his challenge.The Gamecocks (9-1) improved to 2-1 without Thornwell, who has been suspended indefinitely for violating athletic department policy.With Sind being out, we had only two seniors out on the floor. So as Coach said, were young. Were a young team and were just looking to grow, Dozier said.We came out first half a little sluggish. We make our offense out of our defense and wasnt doing that the first half, the 6-foot-6 sophomore guard added. We went into the locker room and Coach gave us that word that we needed and came out with the intensity we should have started with.Jahmal McMurray led USF (5-4) with 25 points. Malik Fitts had 12 points and Geno Thorpe finished with 11 points and nine rebounds for the Bulls, who led 37-31 at halftime.South Carolina began the second half with a 17-9 burst to take a 48-41 lead. Dozier and Notice keyed the initiial surge and Dozier took over down the stretch, when the Gamecocks led by as many as 13. Chris Chiozza Jersey. We got, maybe, a little bit complacent. Didnt come out with the fire that we had in the first half, McMurray said. The second half, we just have to ... come out with the same fire.THE BIG PICTURESouth Carolina, which has its highest ranking since being No. 14 in the final poll of the 1997-98 season, obviously misses Thornwell, who leads them in assists, as well as scoring and rebounding. With Notice missing the first eight shots he attempted, including six from 3-point range, the Gamecocks trailed at halftime for the first time this season.Not surprisingly, South Florida faded down the stretch. Luis Santos made a layup to trim South Carolinas lead to 64-61 with 7 minutes left, however the Bulls didnt score again from the field until Bo Zeiglers basket with 29 seconds left.FIRST BIG TESTSouth Carolina is only Power 5 opponent USF is scheduled to face this season. The Bulls fell to 0-4 against ranked opponents under coach Orlando Antigua and have dropped 20 consecutive games to Top 25 opponents since knocking off No. 15 Louisville on the road on Feb. 29, 2012.POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Gamecocks may lose some ground in the next AP poll, however, rebounding on the road -- albeit against an opponent thats had its share of problems against a weak schedule -- will likely keep the Gamecocks in the Top 25.UNIENDO LOS TOROSUSF designated Saturday as Uniendo Los Toros, which in English translates to Uniting The Bulls. The game featured two of three Hispanic-American head coaches in NCAA Division I in South Carolinas Martin and USFs Antigua. Miamis Jim Larranaga is the third. Early arrivals among the announced crowd of 2,489 at the Sun Dome received white T-shirts commemorating the occasion.UP NEXTSouth Carolina: Returns home to face intrastate rival Clemson on Wednesday.South Florida: Faces Northern Illinois at home on Tuesday.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. ' ' '