Daily Briefing — Dec. 7, 2021: New head coaches for New York and Phoenix

W Roundup: Coaching carousel commences

New York: Head coach Walt Hopkins is out after two years. Our Liberty reporter, Jackie Powell, contextualizes the news.

Phoenix: will not be re-signing head coach Sandy Brondello, shortly after Brondello recently bought a house in Arizona. Multiple sources tell The Next‘s Howard Megdal this wasn’t a mutual decision. Our Mercury reporter, Alex Simon, discusses the news in relation to this past season.

(All times in Eastern)

Watch List, Tuesday, Dec. 7

Must-watch

None

Good games

None

Also watchable

None

Sickos games

None

Pac-12 or Big Ten on national television (or national streaming)

#25 Colorado @ Southern Utah, 8:30 p.m., ESPN+

Sunday, Dec. 5 recap

#10 Indiana: 70-40 win over Penn State. Won the middle half 42-17, which is a lot. Shot 51.0/42.9/75.0 (FG%/3P%/FT%); forced 22 turnovers; allowed no free-throw attempts. All five starters scored in double figures: center Mackenzie Holmes, team-high 16 points, on 7-for-10 shooting with six rebounds (three offensive) and two blocks; combo guard Ali Patberg, 15 points, on 6-for-9 shooting (2-3 3pt.) with two assists against three turnovers; combo guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary, 14 points, on 5-for-12 from the field and 3-for-6 from three with seven rebounds, five assists, and five steals against four turnovers; big Aleksa Gulbe, 11 points, on 3-for-6 shooting (1-2 3pt.) with four rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and three turnovers; point guard Grace Berger, 10 points, on 3-for-8 shooting with six rebounds and four assists. The Nittany Lions were led by point guard Makenna Marisa’s game-high 21 points on 10-for-22 from the field and 1-for-7 from three, five rebounds, and three assists against three turnovers.

Introducing a new TDB Watch!

The Daily Briefing Indiana Bench Scoring Watch: Four points (5.7% of team total), six attempts (11.8%) today; 49 points (8.6%), 44 attempts (9.4%) for the season.

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RV* Nebraska: 70-67 win over Minnesota, just the Huskers’ third-ever win in Minneapolis; Nebraska won by the same margin over the Golden Gophers that Jacksonville did. Make of that what you will. Combo guard Jaz Shelley had 15 points on 5-for-12 from the field and 3-for-9 from three, four rebounds, five assists, three steals, and three blocks; big Bella Cravens scored a season-high 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting with seven rebounds against four fouls; point guard Sam Haiby notched 13 points — 10 in the fourth quarter — on 4-for-14 from the field (5-6 FT), six rebounds (three offensive), six assists, two steals, and a season-high two blocks without a foul or turnover. Big Kadiatou Sissoko led Minnesota with 25 points on 10-for-19 shooting (0-3 3pt., 5-6 FT) — career-highs in both points and makes — six rebounds (four offensive), and three turnovers.

South Dakota State: 55-52 loss to Missouri State. Reigning Summit League Player of the Year big wing Myah Selland “is expected to be out a while,” per Argus Leader’s Matt Zimmer. Pain.

Northern Iowa: 110-34 win over NAIA Graceland, a school single-game scoring record.

Sacred Heart: Did not play its scheduled game against Fairfield “due to a positive COVID-19 case… within the program,” as announced Monday, an hour before scheduled tip-off.

Blown Leads

Furman: 70-59 overtime loss to Kennesaw State. Had a 97.5% win expectancy with a three-point lead and 13 seconds left in regulation as the Owls missed a three, but gave up an offensive rebound and buzzer-beating three to go to overtime. Allowed an 11-0 Kennesaw State run to open overtime before finally scoring a layup with 25 seconds left. Suffice it to say they did not win.

*Receiving Votes