Texas Tech suspends Mark Adams over racially insensitive comment Vanderbilt center Liam Robbins out for the season with leg injury Nathan Davis out as Bucknell head coach Minnesota’s Whalen resigns after third straight losing season Washington State upsets No. 3 Utah 66-58 in Pac-12 quarters Antoine Davis finishes shy of passing Maravich scoring mark

LUBBOK, Texas. Texas Tech suspended coach Mark Adams for an “inappropriate, inappropriate, and racially insensitive comment” he made to a player.

Athletic director Kirby Hockatt said he became aware of the incident and issued a written reprimand before deciding to suspend Adams for further investigation.

The incident occurred during a meeting between Adams and an unidentified player, the school said in a statement.

“Adams urged the student-athlete to be more receptive to training and referred to Bible verses about workers, teachers, parents and slaves serving their masters,” the statement said. “Adams immediately reached out to the team and apologized.”

The school didn’t immediately say who would replace Adams as coach at the Big 12. Texas Tech (16-15, 5-13 Big 12) is in ninth place and will play West Virginia on Wednesday night in Kansas City, Missouri.

Adams, 66, is in his second season. He replaced Chris Beard, who left to coach Texas, his alma mater. But Beard was fired this season by the Longhorns after he was charged with domestic violence; prosecutors later dropped the charge.

The Red Raiders entered the Sweet 16 in Adams’ first season, but started 0–8 in the Big 12 this season. The team’s hopes for a fifth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament are low.

Three years ago, Pat Chambers resigned from Penn State after one of his former players reported that the coach said he wanted to “loosen the noose around your neck” when talking to a player about helping him reduce his stress levels. Chambers was hired as Florida’s Gulf Coast coach this season.

In the 2020-21 season, Creighton coach Greg McDermott apologized for telling his team after the loss to “stay on the plantation” to remind them to stick together. The school has not identified any disciplinary action against McDermott.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee. Vanderbilt announced on social media that scoring leader Liam Robbins will miss the remainder of the season due to a leg injury sustained early in the 68-66 win in 23rd seed in Kentucky.

The school wished the 7-footer a speedy recovery on their Twitter account and added: “On the court, Liam presented himself and Vanderbilt first-class.”

The fifth year left the game just four minutes after a rebound and a bad touchdown.

Commodores coach Jerry Stackhouse said at 102.5 The Game’s Chase & Michelle Show that Robbins had surgery to repair a broken tibia.

Robbins led the growing Commodores (17-13, 10-7 Southeastern Conference) with 15.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and a conference-best 82 blocks in 26 games. His 3.2 blocks per competition ranks third in the nation.

“Liam has been incredible for us this year,” the trainer said on the show. “Since he’s been here, he’s been getting better and better. Before that, he struggled with some injuries, but when he plays at a high level, it took our team to a high level, gave our whole team a lot of confidence.”

The former Drake and Minnesota player averaged 22.0 points, 10.1 rebounds and 4.6 blocks per game last month to help Vanderbilt go 6-1, the best February performance since 2008.

LEWISBURG, Pennsylvania. Nathan Davis stepped down as head coach at Bucknell, ending an eight-year tenure during which he lost twice to much higher-seeded opponents in the NCAA Tournament.

The move was announced by Bucknell athletic director Jermaine Truax.

The Bison went 12-20 this season, ending with a 64-59 loss to the American in the first round of the Patriot League tournament.

Davis became Bucknell’s head coach with a 129–115 record. Bison lost to fourth-seeded West Virginia 86–80 in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, and lost to third-seeded Michigan State 82–78 in the 2018 tournament.

Davis, 48, had previously been an assistant at Bucknell for five seasons. He was also head coach at his alma mater, Randolph-Macon, and assistant at the Navy and Colgate.

“I am grateful for the positive mentoring Nathan has provided to our student athletes, however the last four seasons have not met the high standards of on-court success we expect from our men’s basketball team,” Truax said.

MINNEAPOLIS. Lindsey Whalen, considered the greatest player in Minnesota women’s basketball history, resigned as coach Thursday after losing her third consecutive losing season.

The Gophers’ 11–19 season ended with a first-round loss to Penn State in the Big Ten on Wednesday. They finished 12th in the Big Ten with a 4-12 record, their fewest wins in 12 years.

Whalen, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, was hired five years ago with no coaching experience. Whalen, who earned a base salary of $547,000 this year, received a contract extension for the 2024-25 season last March. Athletic director Mark Coyle said Whalen will remain special assistant director of athletics until April 12, 2025.

Whalen, in a statement, thanked Coyle for the opportunity.

“We did everything right and created a lot of memories,” she said, “but now is the perfect time for me to step aside and be a proud graduate again. I look forward to supporting and cheering for the next head coach.”

Whalen was supposed to appear at the press conference with Coyle, but did not show up. Coyle said she was busy meeting with her staff. Whalen tweeted Thursday night that her absence was due to being overwhelmed with emotion in the elevator on her way to the press conference. “I am human,” she wrote.

When Coyle was asked if the breakup was a joint decision, he said he had a long meeting with Whalen three or four weeks ago to discuss the situation.

“Together, we just felt that now was the right time for her to retire,” Coyle said. “She will continue to be part of our program. She is so loved in these corridors and in these buildings. Obviously, she is an icon. She’s on Mount Rushmore, Minnesota.

Whalen grew up an hour west of Minneapolis in Hutchinson and played for the Gophers from 2000 to 2004. She left as the program’s all-time leader in points, second in assists, and third in steals. Her #13 jersey was retired.

She won Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016 and played for the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA.

Whalen returned to varsity in 2018 after coach Marlene Stallings left for Texas Tech and Whalen’s first team went 21-11 and 9-9 in the Big Ten.

The next four seasons did not closely match the first. The Gophers have never competed in the NCAA Tournament and have never finished higher than sixth in the Big Ten. Whalen was 71-76 overall and 32-58 in conference games.

The Gophers have regressed this season after losing top players Sarah Scalia and Destiny Pitts to a transfer portal. According to ESPN, Whalen was ranked 10th among freshmen in the country, and three of them were freshmen.

Mara Brown, who averaged 15.6 points per game, ranked second among Big Ten freshmen. Fellow freshman Mallory Heyer and sophomore Alanna Michaud also hit double figures.

“I don’t think we’re starting over,” Coyle said. “I think we have a really great core group of people who have made progress over the past year and it’s our job to find a coach who can continue to build on that success.”

Minnesota has struggled to succeed in both men’s and women’s basketball, a fact Coyle acknowledges. The men’s team is 7-20 overall and last in the Big Ten at 1-16 under sophomore coach Ben Jonson.

Coyle said the programs have ample administrative support, but there have been far fewer than 0.500 in the “Big Ten” over the past quarter century.

“We have everything in place,” he said. “There is no reason why it cannot be done here. That’s the question we need to find out.”

LAS VEGAS — Bella Murekatete scored 19 points as Washington State upset No. 3 Utah State 66-58 in the Pac-12 quarterfinal game.

The Cougars (21-10) led the top three with 39.3 seconds left and had the ball, and instead of fouling, the Utes allowed Charlisse Léger-Walker to actually circle the shot clock, make one pass, return the ball, and exhaust. a three-pointer with eight seconds left extended the lead to 64-58.

Léger-Walker finished with 15 points and Ola Motuga scored 13 points for the Cougars.

Utah (25-4) led Gianna Niepkens with 18 points. Alyssa Pealy added 11 points to Utes.

Trailing by four at halftime, the Cougars beat Utah 27–11 in the third quarter after closing the period with a 14–0 record and leading 53–41 in the final period.

Washington State hit 11 of 19 (57.9%) from the floor in the third, including 5 of 7 (71.4%) from three-point range, while the normally prolific Cliff fought for 36.4% of shots (4 of eleven).

Opening the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from Nipkens, the Utes conceded eight shots in a row while the Cougars took a 14-point lead, 58–44, with 7:41 left in the game.

The Cougars capped Utah’s second chances with a defensive rebounding percentage of 77.1%. Washington State also passed Utah on second chance points, 11–4.

BIG PICTURE

Washington State: The Cougars took revenge on last year’s tournament when the teams also met in the quarterfinals. Utah beat Washington State 70-59.

Utah: The Utahs were the top-scoring team in the Pac-12 this season, averaging 84.4 points per game. They never found their way offensively from the start, as they scored a rather dismal 27% in the first five minutes.

NEXT

Washington State: Play Colorado State or Oregon State in Friday’s semi-final round.

Utah: NCAA bid pending. —

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