Termine » Lane had gone to USC and he needed

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- After a 62-52 loss to North Carolina Central Monday night, Missouri coach Kim Anderson required his players to practice the entire week without wearing team athletic gear.He didnt wear any either.However unorthodox the method, it would appear the message got through.Frankie Hughes had 18 points and four rebounds as Missouri narrowly escaped Western Kentucky in a 59-56 victory Saturday.Kevin Puryear had 12 points and five rebounds, including 8 points in the second half, and Russell Woods scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds, tying a team high.The Tigers (4-3) held a 10-point lead near the 12-minute mark, but the Hilltoppers whittled it away, mounting a 14-5 run while Missouri missed its final eight field goal attempts.Pancake Thomas missed a 3-pointer with :04 seconds remaining and Missouri guard Cullen VanLeer secured off the rebound before being fouled. He sank two free-throws to extend the Tigers one-point lead before the Hilltoppers last-second half-court shot fell short. Thomas finished with nine points and five rebounds on 3-for-12 shooting.Hughes stressed the impact of this win on the teams morale.Its most definitely a confidence booster, Hughes said. Of course, coming off the disappointment from last game, we were coming in with a locked-in mindset, just trying to basically focus in on what (the opponents) do, and just trying to get stops and let our defense create our offense.Anderson discussed the details of motivating his players following Mondays loss.They worked hard all week, Anderson said. They worked hard in white cotton t-shirts and black cotton shorts that we bought from a local department store. They didnt wear Missouri gear all week.Western Kentucky (3-5) jumped out to an early 9-3 lead while Missouri shot 3-for-13 from the field to start the game. Hughes was the only Missouri player to score for a 5:09 window of the first half, scoring 12 points, including three consecutive 3-pointers.The Hilltoppers missed their final four shots of the first half, allowing Missouri to close on a 7-0 run. By halftime, the Tigers led 33-30 despite shooting 29-percent to the Hilltoppers 43.3.Justin Johnson led the Hilltoppers with 14 points and five rebounds, and Que Johnson added 12 points and a team-best eight rebounds.The Tigers outrebounded Western Kentucky 44-30, their largest rebounding margin since their season-opening 99-44 victory when they outrebounded Alabama A&M 43-29.?Probably a couple years ago, Missouri wouldnt have won a close game, so give them some credit, Western Kentucky coach Rick Stansbury said. Theres no question this is Kims best team hes had. Hes doing a really good job with them. When you win some close games like that, it gives your kids a lot of confidence, too.HIGHLIGHT REELWith 12:04 seconds remaining, VanLeer stole the ball in the low post from Que Johnson and threw a full-court lob pass over several Western Kentucky players, finding Hughes in stride for a two-handed breakaway dunk.HALFTIME HEAVEMissouri undergraduate student Aaron Brown won $5,000 during the halftime show after sinking a half-court shot. Brown made more free-throws than another eligible contestant in order to advance to the grand prize opportunity.BIG PICTUREWestern Kentucky: The Hilltoppers are in the midst of a seven-game road stretch. They last played at home on Nov. 22 in a 77-56 win over North Carolina A&T and will return to E.A. Diddle Arena to host Ohio Dec. 21.Missouri: Jackson is the Tigers leading scorer through seven games, averaging 14.1 points per game and 3.2 rebounds per game. Puryear is the second leading scorer on the team, averaging 11.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Puryear led Missouri in scoring as a freshman in 2015 with 11.5 points per game.UP NEXTWestern Kentucky visits Indiana State Dec. 11.Missouri hosts Miami (Ohio) Monday. Miguel Sano Jersey . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Paul Molitor Jersey . -- Most satisfying to Russ Smith about No. http://www.baseballtwinsprostore.com/ . LOUIS -- St. Brian Dozier Jersey . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. Harmon Killebrew Jersey . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. LOS ANGELES -- Clay Helton, whose first season as head coach of No. 20 USC begins against No. 1 Alabama on Saturday night at AT&T Stadium (8 p.m. ET, ABC), is replacing more than just a coach. He is replacing an era.When Pat Haden, the former Trojans athletic director, took interim off of Heltons title last November, USC formally stopped trying to extend Pete Carrolls nine-year tenure of glitz and glamour.USC is not Hollywood, Helton said.Wait just a minute, Coach. Or should we say Cut!?John Wayne played for USC, for heavens sake. Frank Gifford and O.J. Simpson glided through the Trojans line and into TV careers. During Carrolls wildly successful tenure -- two national championships, three Heisman Trophy winners, seven conference championships and 28 All-Americans -- USC became Reggie Bush and Kim Kardashian. Matt Leinart and Lindsay Lohan. Snoop Dogg and Will Ferrell on the sideline.Thats exactly who the new head coach of USC isnt. Carroll, the bling coach, is gone. His successors, Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian, melted in front of TMZs lights. They proved ill-equipped to handle the pressures of trying to win with their hands tied by NCAA probation. The devastating penalties took away 30 scholarships over three seasons and resulted in USC being stripped of two Pac-12 titles and Bushs Heisman.The probation is over, too, and there is a sense of a fresh start at USC. Sarks replacement, Helton, hunts alligators. Hes courtly and self-deprecating, two traits that every Southern parent demands. His mantra is faith, family and football, and those items are not just in alphabetical order. And the only Kim hanging around the Trojans these days is Heltons father. Kim Helton was the head coach of the Houston Cougars for seven seasons and spent 12 as an NFL assistant.To repeat, USC is not Hollywood, at least in the mind of its new head coach.When you think of the names Marcus Allen and Ronnie Lott, Marv Goux, a legendary [assistant] coach here, you just think of toughness and physicality, Clay Helton said. Those are the things that have won championship after championship here.The image of Carrolls teams was of a regular lunchpail crew, if you buy your lunchpails at Prada.It is customary in college football to hire a new coach who is the opposite of the old, failed predecessor. A disciplinarian follows a players coach. A defensive guru takes over from a guy who kept all the talent on offense.So, ditch the limo; cue the Ford F-150. Lets all pretend that USC has left La La Land (meaning Tinseltown, not the new Emma Stone-Ryan Gosling romantic comedy).Take the new discipline inside the Trojans locker room. Before Helton took over, if a player skipped a class, he got two hours of physical drills. Now, if a player skips a class, his whole position group gets the extra work.You had guys who would book it in their weekly schedule, their two-hour punishment, quarterback Max Browne said. They may miss class, and on Friday afternoon, I might die for those two hours, but Ill be able to sleep through a class for the rest of the way. Its one thing if you miss a class, you get punished yourself and only yourself. But when your teammates are also getting punished? Thats a whole other element.Take the feeling of family. Clay hired his brother, Tyson, to coordinate the Trojans passing game. You can cry nepotism, at least until you see that for the last two seasons, he ran the Western Kentucky offense in which Brandon Doughty threw for 9,885 yards and 97 touchdowns.Tyson Helton brought offensive line coach Neil Callaway with him. Callaway was on the Auburn staff when Clay Helton signed there as a quarterback in 1990. Callaway spent four seasons as Kim Heltons offensive coordinator at Houston. Kim Helton spent five seasons as Callaways offensive coordinator at UAB.Callaway started for Bear Bryant on the Alabama team that beat USC in 1977. He spent more than two decades as an assistant at Auburn, Georgia and Alabama before he went to UAB. Callaway has a voice thats part syrup, part metal grinder. Actually, he just grinds up players.He brings us Southern hospitality, Southern gentlemanship and very much a Southern toughness, Clay Helton said. I just knew that experience, that knowledge, that toughness and physicality was something that I really wanted for our culture.Helton warned his offensive line.I said, Guys, just understand, Helton said. Youre going to think this guy is literally the devil. But after a month youre going to love him, because youre gonna know hes going to make you better as a player.After three sessions of spring practice, offensive tackle Zach Banner cornered Helton in the locker room and said, Coach, know this. Were taking Coach Callaway out to dinner and youre never going to see him again because were going to kill him.We gott a good bunch of guys, Callaway said of his players.dddddddddddd I dont mean theyre all angels. I aint saying that. But all the kids are into ball. Its important to them.There aint been a whole lot of Trojans assistant coaches saying aint lately.Take the way that Helton and his staff are coaching. The players understand why theyre so tough.He loves us, you know what Im saying? Toa Lobendahn said of Helton. A big thing in life for me is giving out love. I feel hes a big proponent of that. The way he treats us and respects us and even coaches us, thats the way we want it to be.The only time Ive ever seen him get [upset] is if weve done something outside of football -- if weve left our dining area dirty and [the custodial staff] had to clean up for us and he had to hear about it, or we left our players lounge dirty.Hes probably the most genuine guy Ive ever met, not even just [in] football but outside of it, Browne said of Helton.All of which shows how Helton is wrong. USC is still Hollywood, but under Helton, its rated G. Frank Capra would have loved him.Helton was practically born in a college football stadium. Kim was a graduate assistant at Florida in 1972, the year Clay was born.Heck, the first year of my life were living in the Swamp, Helton said. Were living in the dorms right at the stadium. I grew up in the profession.As a quarterback at Auburn and then for his dad at Houston, Helton proved he would be a better coach than player. As soon as he graduated, Duke head coach Fred Goldsmith, an old colleague of Kim, made Clay a graduate assistant. A year later, at age 23, Helton became the Blue Devils running backs coach. He went into the family business. The construction business lost a hardhat.I think my mom is still mad at me, Helton said. I was nine hours short of a mechanical engineering degree. I had enough hours to get an interdisciplinary math and science degree.Helton spent 10 seasons as an offensive assistant coach at Memphis, rising to the job of offensive coordinator. He coached All-America running back DeAngelo Williams. And in his last season, 2009, as the Tigers plummeted to a 2-10 record that cost head coach Tommy West and his staff their jobs, Helton made an impression.When Memphis lost to Tennessee and first-year head coach Lane Kiffin, 56-28, the Tigers rushed for 210 yards and threw for 193. After the season, Monte Kiffin, the Vols defensive coordinator and Lanes dad, called Helton.He said, Clay, yall did the best job against us. Do you mind taking me through what you saw? Were going to play Virginia Tech [in the Chick-fil-A Bowl]. I feel like theyre going to do some of the things that you did. What did you see? So we ended up talking for a couple of hours, Helton said.Helton left Memphis and landed at Arkansas State. Weeks later -- so soon after the move that Helton was still sleeping on the floor of his new Jonesboro office -- Monte Kiffin called again. Lane had gone to USC and he needed a quarterback coach. Helton agreed to interview after signing day.Not thinking that I have a chance in hell, he said, laughing. Got through signing day, came out here, and something just clicked. ... Probably some guys said no, and youre the one left standing. Something clicked. Like I told everybody, I felt like I won the lottery coming out here.Helton weathered the storms of coaching under Kiffin and Sarkisian. When interim head coach Ed Orgeron refused to coach the Trojans in the 2013 Las Vegas Bowl, Helton took over. And when USC fired Sarkisian after five games last season, Helton took over again. The Trojans went 5-2 over the rest of the regular season, and the day after they beat crosstown rival UCLA to clinch the Pac-12 South championship, Helton lost his interim status.If you want to see people who think they won the lottery, watch the video of the teams reaction when Haden told the USC players their new coach would be their current coach. It looks like every World Series celebration youve ever seen, minus the champagne.With all of Heltons new responsibilities, Browne said his head coach hasnt changed one bit. The feeling around the team, though, changed a lot.Less on edge, I guess, Browne said. Just to be going out and playing a game, playing football, I think it was nice to just kind of move on from all that. It just seemed more free, and I dont want to say that because it makes it sound like it was unstructured. It wasnt unstructured. But it seemed like guys were just going out there and having fun.If there is to be a Clay Helton era at USC, the lights, camera and action begin Saturday night. USC football is still Hollywood. Theres just a new guy in charge of the studio. Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Stitched Jerseys Cheap Jerseys 2020 Cheap NFL Jerseys China Jerseys NFL China Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '