Hyland and Murphy were among six prospects on Saturday to participate in pre-draft workouts with the Lakers.
VCU guard Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland and Virginia guard Trey Murphy III were among six prospects on Saturday to workout with the Los Angeles Lakers, the team announced.
Hyland was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year last season after averaging a league-high 19.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game. He scored 30 or more points on three occasions last season and was in double figures in 22 of 23 contests.
Meanwhile, Murphy averaged 11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 25 games last season. He shot 50.3% from the field and 43.3% from 3-point range, ranking seventh among all ACC players in 3-pointers made (2.1) per game.
In addition to Hyland and Murphy, the Lakers also brought in Oklahoma guard Austin Reaves, Stanford forward Oscar Da Silva, Michigan guard Chaundee Brown Jr. and NC State forward DJ Funderburk.
Los Angeles enters the draft with just one current pick, the 22nd overall selection. Certainly, Hyland and Murphy project to be available in their range and could be potential options to consider when they are on the clock on July 29.
The Lakers have been heavily linked to guards in mock drafts, which would help add depth to the backcourt. The future of Dennis Schroder in L.A. is not certain and they could elect to take a guard as some insurance in case they cannot come to terms with him in free agency.
In any case, it will certainly be worth watching how the Lakers handle the draft as they look to regroup following an early first-round exit in the playoffs this year.
We are halfway through the quarterfinals of the 2020 ACC Tournament, and things continue to hold to form. Duke led for almost the entirety of the closest-seeded game of the round. The Blue Devils will face top-seeded Florida State after disposing of in-state rival NC State, 74-60.
Duke led by as much as eight during the first half, but NC State rallied to tie it late before settling for a three-point deficit at halftime. The Wolfpack continued to keep pace early in the second half, even briefly holding a pair of one-point leads. It was after that latter lead that the Blue Devils went on a 12-2 run to go up nine and not fall behind again. Although the Wolfpack were able to cut it to a six-point game with less than three minutes to go, the Blue Devils finished it with a 9-1 run.
Tre Jones came agonizingly close to a triple-double, finishing with 17 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, all of which were game highs or tied for them. Vernon Carey was almost as impressive for the Blue Devils, scoring 15 and pulling down seven boards. Despite shooting 4 of 13, Cassius Stanley finished with 10 points.
Markell Johnson was the key player for the Wolfpack with 13 points and seven rebounds. DJ Funderburk scored 12 on a 4-of-7 performance from the field. Devon Daniels had 10, a mark equaled by Pat Andree off the bench.
Wisconsin takes on NC State on Wednesday in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Badger fans should be sure to know these three opposing players.
Wisconsin (4-3) will look to rebound from its abysmal performance at the Legends Classic last week and snap a two-game losing streak when it takes on NC State (5-2) in Raleigh tomorrow night as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Badgers got the better of the Wolfpack in last season’s matchup between these squads at the Kohl Center, pulling out a narrow 79-75 victory.
Both sides are coming off of losses in their most recent outings, with Wisconsin falling to New Mexico by nine last Tuesday and NC State by five to then-No.16 Memphis on Thursday in the Barclays Center Classic.
After how awful the Badgers looked at the Legends Classic, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that ESPN’s Basketball Power Index is giving them just a 39.9 percent shot at taking down the Wolfpack on the road tomorrow evening. Head coach Kevin Keatts boasts a talented roster with five players currently averaging double-figures and eight averaging over seven points per game.
Here are the three players on the other side who Badger fans should keep a close eye on throughout tonight’s contest.
Bryce has been a massive addition to this NC State program since he opted to transfer and follow Keatts from UNC-Wilmington to Raleigh. After making an instant impact for the Wolfpack last year by starting 35 of 36 games and averaging 11.6 points and 4.6 rebounds while leading the team in steals, the 6-5 guard has been playing the best ball of his career this season.
The senior has been stuffing the stat sheet, leading NC State in scoring, rebounding, and steals and ranking second in assists. Bryce has without question been the team’s go-to bucket getter, scoring 16 or more points in five of the Wolfpack’s first seven games. However, he is coming off what may have been his worst outing of the season in last Thursday’s loss to Memphis, having only mustered seven points on 2-12 shooting from the floor.
Bryce had an excellent game in last season’s showdown between these programs, racking up 18 points (6-11 shooting) and seven rebounds.
Mar 14, 2019; Charlotte, NC, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack guard Markell Johnson (11) dunks the ball against the Virginia Cavaliers in the first half in the ACC conference tournament at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
The Wolfpack’s third-leading scorer this season, if Johnson can replicate the success he found against Wisconsin last year when he led all scorers with 21 points to go along with five assists, three rebounds and a steal, NC State will likely be sending the Badgers home with its third consecutive loss.
After trailing only Bryce in scoring average in 2018-19, Johnson’s production as a shooter has declined a bit so far this season. His average has dipped from 12.6 to 12.0, as have his shooting percentages from beyond the arc and the field overall. However, I would expect those numbers to get better sooner rather than later, as Johnson has proven to be a far more efficient player throughout his career than what he has shown so far this year. For example, he shot 42.2 percent from long range and 48.8 from the field last season.
He’s capable of being NC State’s top scorer on any given night, but where Johnson makes his biggest impact on the game is as a facilitator. His career assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.11 ranks seventh in program history, and he actually led the ACC in assists per game in 2017-18. It’s been more of the same for Johnson this year, as his current average of 6.7 is No. 3 in the conference and No. 13 nationally.
DJ Funderburk – Forward
2019 stats: 12.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.0 spg, 70.0 FG%,
Funderburk finished in a tie for second in the ACC Sixth Man of the Year voting last season, and based on his production so far in 2019, he looks to once again be a top contender to take home the award this time around.
He may not start or play the type of heavy minutes that Bryce and Johnson do (he has only averaged 21 per game to this point in the season), but Funderburk sure does make the most of them. For example, despite playing more than ten fewer minutes per contest than Johnson, the 6-10 big man boasts the same scoring average right now.
Funderburk has only shot the ball from the field 30 times in the five games he’s played since missing the first two with a suspension, but he’s made 21 of them. His efficiency isn’t a fluke, either: his he led the Wolfpack in field goal percentage a year ago at 55.2 percent, and his two-point percentage of 59.5 was fifth in the ACC. Funderburk also takes advantage of his trips to the line as a career 77.1 percent shooter from the charity stripe.
