r Gallant, who had just been given a two-year contract extension in the offseason.Lets get through this road trip. Lets maybe evaluate n the middle of December, Rowe said he told Viola. Th

NEW YORK -- Until last week, Semi Ojeleye had not appeared in a game for nearly two years and even when he played at Duke, the minutes were limited.Since then, Ojeleye has been putting in the work away from the court and so far it is paying off much to the delight of SMU coach Tim Jankovich.Ojeleye continued his torrid start by scoring 20 of his 24 points in the second half and SMU defeated Pittsburgh 76-67 in the first semifinal of the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.Of course, its enjoyable when a guy sits out, (is) a transfer and you hope he has success, Jankovich said. But Ill triple that because Semis one of the most outstanding young men that you could ever be around your entire life and on top of that he is arguably the hardest worker away from practice time in terms of the time he puts in.Hes a machine, literally, and were like blown away. Weve been around a lot of hard-working guys. I have not been around a guy you set your clock by this guy. Its each and every day and he cant get enough.Ojeleye scored 46 points in 23 games in two seasons with Duke before transferring to the Mustangs following the 2014-15 season. The junior forward surpassed his point total from Duke in the first half when he shot 2 of 7 and then surged past it with several outstanding athletic plays during the second half.Just staying confident, Ojeleye said. Nothing changed in the locker room. I didnt think about what the stats were. I kept trying to do the same stuff I was doing in the first half.Ojeleye missed his first two shots of the second half before starting to roll. He made a 3-pointer about 3 1/2 minutes into the half to give the Mustangs the lead for good and capped his 9-for-17 showing by converting a transition layup in the final minute.Ojeleyes 7-for-10 showing in the final 20 minutes was part of a second half when the Mustangs shot 57 percent after missing nine straight shots to end the first half.Besides Ojeleyes impressive showing, Shake Milton added 14 points while Ben Moore contributed 12.Michael Young scored nearly half of his 22 points at the foul line for Pittsburgh. Jamel Artis added 20 for the Panthers, who had averaged 96 points in home wins over Eastern Michigan and Gardner-Webb.Hes athletic, Young said of Ojeleye. He can really get up vertically and he can make some shots. We knew that going in. He got it going in the second half and guys like that we got to take away air space and make them uncomfortable.BIG PICTURESMU: The Mustangs came into the game playing effective defense by allowing 54 points per game and for the most part they continued it. Their defense forced several traveling violations, including one with about 13 1/2 minutes left which resulted in an unsportsmanlike technical and ejection for Sterling Brown. Brown was handed the technical for emphatically applauding in the face of Artis after his defense resulted in a traveling violation.Pittsburgh: The Panthers have struggled defensively and other than the final five-plus minutes of the first half, their defensive issues continued. The Panthers have allowed an average of 82 points so far and even when Stallings started instructing his players to press, it was unsuccessful. Turnovers also continued to be an issue as Pittsburgh committed 13, resulting in 11 fewer field-goal attempts.FAMILIAR COACHING MATCHUPJankovich and Stallings worked together at Vanderbilt. Jankovich was an assistant under Stallings from 1999 to 2002 and the Commodores made two NIT appearances. Jankovich also coached at Illinois State from 2007-2012 over a decade after Stallings coached there.ANOTHER JETER IN NEW YORKFor the second college game at Madison Square Garden, there was a Jeter on the court. Unlike Dukes Chase Jeter, who wears the number two -- the same as the former Yankees captain -- Pittsburghs Sheldon Jeter wears number 21, the same as Pirates Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente. Jeter had averaged 13 points in his first two games but was held to five points on 2-of-8 shooting.UP NEXTSMU: Will play in the 2K Classic championship game Friday.Pittsburgh: Will play in the 2K Classic consolation game Friday.Charlie McAvoy Jersey . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. Milan Lucic Jersey . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. http://www.cheapbruinsjerseys.com/?tag=adidas-david-krejci-jersey . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Patrice Bergeron Jersey .C. -- Todd Fiddler scored a hat trick, including the overtime goal, as the Prince George Cougars survived an 8-7 win against the Kamloops Blazers in Western Hockey League play Sunday. Ray Bourque Jersey . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta.SUNRISE, Fla. -- Here come the ex-Panthers.Three former Florida Panthers -- right winger Jack Skille, defenseman Erik Gudbranson and goalie Jacob Markstrom -- will arrive at the BB&T Center on Saturday night feeling pretty good as they prepare to face their old team.All three players contributed for their Vancouver Canucks (12-13-2) in Thursdays 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.Gudbranson scored his first goal of the season and added an assist. Skille scored his first two goals of the season and Markstrom entered the game in relief of injured Ryan Miller, making a pair of saves.Skille, a fourth-line winger who scored his two goals in less than eight minutes of ice time, credited Gudbransons excellent outlet pass for his first score.It was a good heads-up play by Erik, said Skille, a 29-year-old from Wisconsin who is playing for his fifth NHL team. I just took it to the net. I was fortunate it went in.The Canucks also feel fortunate to have Gudbranson, a 24-year-old who was Floridas first-round pick (No. 3 overall) in the 2010 draft.Gudbranson did solid work for the Panthers before they traded him in May for center Jared McCann, 20, in a deal that also involved draft picks going both ways.For the Canucks, Gudbranson has been reliable, playing every game and ranking second on the team in minutes. Only Ben Hutton, a fellow defenseman, has received more ice time for Vancouver.That brings us to Markstrom, who likely will start on Saturday because Miller left Thursdays game with 6:02 left due to a lower-body injury.Coach Willie Desjardins said Miller, who stopped 38 of the 39 shots he faced, was not seriously injured.He felt sore, Desjardins said. He didnt feel quite right, so we took him out as a precaution.Miller, 36, has made 15 starts this season and is 6-9-0 with a .916 save percentage and a 2.63 goals-against average. Markstrom, 27, has made 12 starts and is 6-4-2 with a .900 save percentage and a 2.75 GAA.The 31st overall pick by Florida in the 2008 draft, Markstrom had to wait until Jan. 23, 2011, to make his NHL debut.Markstrom, though, couldnt clutch the starting job in Florida and was traded to Vancouver in the March 4, 2014, blockbuster deal that sent goalie Roberto Luongo back to the Panthers.A native of Sweden, Markstrom has never had a winning record in any NHL season. His career record is 32-46-11 with a 2.97 GAA.Markstrom, who is having the best season of his career, could see increased ice time if Millers injury is morre serious than Vancouver has reported.dddddddddddd.And that could certainly be the case. Last season, Miller injured his groin in December while making a save against the Panthers and missed three weeks. Initially, that injury also was downplayed -- the Canucks said it was just dehydration.Luongo did not have a great game in Thursdays 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He knocked in one puck off his right skate, gave up a rebound on a soft shot that was converted into a goal and allowed himself to get screened by two teammates on a third shot that went past him.That loss continued a bad trend. The Panthers are just 1-2-3 in the six games since ownership fired coach Gerard Gallant, putting general manager Tom Rowe behind the bench.In a Sportsnet story, Rowe revealed that Panthers owner Vinny Viola called him during that fateful night when Gallant was fired. The Panthers had built a 2-0 lead at Carolina before the Hurricanes stormed back to win 3-2.Viola wanted to meet with Rowe and Gallant after the game. Rowe said he wanted to buy more time for Gallant, who had just been given a two-year contract extension in the offseason.Lets get through this road trip. Lets maybe evaluate n the middle of December, Rowe said he told Viola. Then if things arent going good and you want to make the decision to let Gerard go, then maybe thats the better time to do it.Obviously, Rowe said, the decision was made sooner.And, obviously, the decision to make the coaching switch has not provided the spark the Panthers were seeking.In other story lines for Saturdays game:--The Canucks could call up rookie goalie Thatcher Demko to serve as Markstroms backup if Miller is not capable of playing on Saturday.A 21-year-old who played at Boston College, Demko is considered one of Vancouvers two top prospects. He is 5-1 with a 1.50 GAA in his past six starts in the American Hockey League.With Millers contract expiring after this season, Demko could be up to stay in Vancouver starting next year.--Canucks center Jayson Megna, who also scored twice on Thursday at Tampa Bay, is not a former Panther but he is a local player. He was born in Fort Lauderdale, just a short Uber ride away from the BB&T Center.--Rowe said defenseman Aaron Ekblad and center Aleksander Barkov will see their minutes go up in his coaching tenure as opposed to Gallant. ' ' '