seasons in Calgary, including a Grey Cup in his first

AUSTIN, Texas -- After Eric Davis Jr. finally made some shots and emerged from a season-long slump, teammate Tevin Mack turned to him and said, Welcome back, E.D.Back indeed, at least temporarily. Davis scored 16 points to help Texas erase a 12-point deficit and defeat Long Beach State 71-65 on Saturday.Mack scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half. Kendal Yancy added 11 points and some critical hustle.Davis, a sophomore, hit 3 of 7 3-pointers, a marked improvement after a 6-for-41 (14.6 percent) start this season. Last season he converted 38 percent of his 3-pointers.While he tried to work through his ordeal, Davis teammates provided encouragement.They said keep shooting the ball, Davis said. I stay confident. Thats who I am.Coach Shaka Smart is not so sure of that.Absolutely not, Smart said. Youd have to be a machine to not be affected by having a string of games when things dont go your way. Hes 19 years. Nobody wants to admit those sorts of things.Evan Payne led Long Beach with a season-best 26 points,Payne, a junior, made a career-best eight 3-point baskets. His 3-pointer early in the second half gave Long Beach (2-10) a 12-point lead.But Texas chipped away, with Mack and Davis combining to score 12 straight Texas points as the Longhorns overtook Long Beach and created separation.Davis made consecutive baskets, one a 3-pointer, to give Texas (5-4) a seven-point lead with less than six minutes remaining. Macks 3-pointer from the corner put Texas ahead by eight with 4:40 to go.Long Beach coach Dan Monson said his perimeter players were supposed to help defend inside against Texas big men, but not by leaving Mack, the Longhorns most reliable shooter this season.If you dont stay with the game plan, they are gonna burn you, Monson said. He sure did.Payne averaged 12 points a game before Saturday. He scored 17 in the first half against Texas, converting 5 of 6 3-point attempts while helping Long Beach to a 34-28 lead at the break.But the 49ers could not sustain the effort.We let them hang around, Monson said. In the second half defensively we got tired and just let them in the paint too much.BIG PICTURELong Beach: Monson has believed in aggressive scheduling since the late 1990s when he was the head coach at Gonzaga, setting the stage for that schools elevation to national prominence under Mark Few. This season the 49ers are 0-6 against teams from Power Five conferences by an average of 23 points. The 49ers also lost to non-Power Five Wichita State by 37. Before beating Pepperdine at home on Wednesday, Long Beach went 0-9 on a road trip during which it traveled 15,125 miles.We played this schedule to get better, Monson said. I think we got better today, but this team needs to reward themselves with some wins.Texas: The Longhorns began the game ranked last in the Big 12 with 42.7 percent field-goal-shooting accuracy. They hit 33.3 percent in the first half against Long Beach and broke loose in the second half to hit 53.8 percent and score 43 points.ADVANTAGE TEXASBefore Saturday, Long Beach State ranked 331st in the nation in 3-point field goal defense, allowing opponents 41 percent accuracy. Texas, meanwhile, ranked 337th in 3-point shooting accuracy at 27.5 percent. But the Longhorns hit 9 of 25 against Long Beach, a pretty decent 36-percent mark.UP NEXTLong Beach faces Oregon State on Friday in Portland, Oregon. This will be the 49ers seventh game against teams from Power Five conferences away from home.Texas faces Arkansas in Houston on Dec. 17 as part of the Lone Star Shootout doubleheader. Texas A&M meets Arizona in the other game. Penny Hardaway Jersey . Here are his mid-season NBA awards. MVP: (KEVIN DURANT-Thunder) - Has been sensational this season and more importantly, the most consistent player in the league. Considering that his team has been without star guard Russell Westbrook and with the free agent departure of sharpshooter Kevin Martin, hes had to carry the majority of the load to not only keep his team afloat but more importantly, at an elite level. Shaquille ONeal Jersey .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. http://www.magicauthentic.com/kids-terrence-ross-magic-jersey/ . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. Timofey Mozgov Magic Jersey . But what about the officials? Every sport has officials and they also have stories about hard work and sacrifice but their accomplishments are seldom recognized by anyone outside their inner circle. Vince Carter Magic 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.Every day, Dan Hawkins encounters something new in the Canadian Football League. The 52-year-old former U.S. college coach took over the Montreal Alouettes this season with plenty of enthusiasm but little knowledge of the 12-man game. "Its a very fun game," said Hawkins. "Its because of the pace, and all the situations. "Its a long way from your sideline to the other, especially when your bench is at one end and youve got to run guys to the other side. But thats the joy of it." Hawkins is the only truly new head coach in the eight-team league this season. There is a new man with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Kent Austin, but he knows the CFL inside out as a former quarterback and coach. Austin was last seen in the CFL in 2007, leading the Sakatchewan Roughriders to a Grey Cup. And while Tim Burke replaced the fired Paul LaPolice as interim head coach in Winnipeg last Aug. 25, it will be his first start to a campaign with the Blue Bombers in that role. Back for their second seasons are Scott Milanovich of the Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts, Mike Benevides of the British Columbia Lions and Corey Chamblin of the Edmonton Eskimos. Kavis Reed is entering his third campaign with Saskatchewan, while John Hufnagel is now the longest-serving coach with one team in his sixth season with the Calgary Stampeders. Hawkins replaced Marc Trestman, who left the Alouettes to become head coach of the NFLs Chicago Bears after five years and two Grey Cups with Montreal. Trestman also entered the league with no CFL experience, but at least he had many years working with pros as an offensive co-ordintaor and quarterbacks coach in the NFL. Hawkins made his name as head coach at Boise State University, but then posted a 19-39 record over five difficult years at Colorado. He spent the last two years as a football analyst on television. It seems a sketchy background for a new leader of a perennial Cup contender, but general manager Jim Popp saw potential in a coach known as more of an overseer than a hands-on boss. Hawkins calls his style "situational leadership." "I can micro-manage if I need to, and I will, but to me, its fine-tweaking everything and co-ordinating everything, and knowing its not just offence or defence or special teams," he said. "Its how do you win as a football team." To ease the transition, Popp has expanded the coaching staff to 12, and brought in veteran Doug Berry as senior adviser to the head coach. Berry was an assistant in Montreal from 1999 to 2005 and was head coach in Winnipeg for three years. "I think we learned our lesson with coach Trestman," said Popp. "It helps to have some experienced CFL people. "To have Dougs voice in that room, having been a co-ordinator, offensive-line coach, quarterbacks coach and head coach, he has a wealth of experience that he can bounce off people. And hes been in different cities. He can explain about going out west, how the wind is and how the stadiums are. You cant replace that." Already, Berrys been helpful. Hawkins recalled how before a pre-season ggame, he was overseeing warm-up and wondering when the officials would come over for the pre-game meeting, as they do in the U.ddddddddddddS. Berry told him that in the CFL, it is the coaches who go to the referees at midfield for the meeting. "So everything is an adjustment," Hawkins said with a laugh. "We call ourselves the adjustment bureau." Hawkins has large boots to fill after Trestman, while Austin has the weighty task of turning Hamilton into a winner. The talented Ticats have threatened to become an East Division power in recent years, but now they need to win games on the field. They were 6-12 under George Cortez last season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008. They were first in the league in both points scored and points allowed. The 49-year-old Austin, who is also vice-president of football operations, has the credentials for the job. His 10 seasons as a player included leading the Roughriders to a Grey Cup victory over Hamilton in 1989. He was offensive co-ordinator on a Grey Cup winner in Toronto. After coaching Saskatchewan to a Cup he left to become offensive co-ordinator at the University of Mississippi, his alma mater, before becoming head coach at Cornell. Not long ago, there was a coaching carousel in the CFL, with mentors like Dave Ritchie and Don Matthews moving from team to team. Now Austin is the only one who has ever been head coach of another team in the league. Milanovich was Trestmans right hand man in Montreal before he jumped at his shot for a first head coaching role with Toronto last season. The 40-year-old whose specialty is quarterbacks has set the bar high after winning a Cup in his rookie campaign, but will have a chance to repeat with star pivot Ricky Ray behind centre. Burke fulfilled a long-standing dream to be a head coach when he took over the Bombers last season and was confirmed as head coach on Nov. 1. There will be pressure from the outset for the former Alouettes defensive co-ordinator with the team moving into the new Investors Group Field. The Bombers were 6-12 last year and were crushed in both of their pre-season games this year. Hufnagel, another former CFL quarterback, is 59-30-1 in his five seasons in Calgary, including a Grey Cup in his first year in 2008. The 61-year-old was offensive co-ordinator for the Stampeders in the 1990s, then went to the NFL before moving back up north as a head coach. Benevedes had the thankless task of replacing the respected Wally Buono, who remains general manager. All went well in a 13-5 regular season, but the former Lions defensive co-ordinator is 0-1 in the playoffs after losing to Calgary in the West final. The 40-year-old Reed is another who is under the gun in Edmonton. All went OK in his first year as they lost the West final after an 11-7 season, but last year, the Eskimos dropped to 7-11 and were bounced in the first round. Chamblin is charged with bringing the Roughriders back to respectability after an 8-10 campaign as a rookie head coach on a team with a lot of rookie players. Hell have Cortez as his offensive co-ordinator. ' ' '