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5 Jul 2018 at 04:26

SHANGHAI -- Reid Travis was elated to be back on the court after missing most of last season with an injury. Braden Smith Jersey . It didnt matter if it was at home in Stanford -- or on the other side of the world in China.Travis scored 24 points and grabbed 17 rebounds -- both career highs -- to lead Stanford (1-0) to an 80-70 win over Harvard on Saturday in just the second regular-season college basketball game to be played in China.Travis, the Cardinals top returning scorer and rebounder, was back in the lineup for the first time since missing the final 22 games of last season with a stress reaction in his left leg.I only played eight games last year so I spent a lot of time on the bench in a sweat suit cheering these guys on, he said. I could barely sleep last night. I slept like three hours just itching to put that jersey back on and get back on the court and compete with my teammates.Its been a long process, a long summer, a long preseason -- just staying healthy, getting healthy.Michael Humphrey added 15 points and Grant Verhoeven, Marcus Allen and Dorian Pickens each scored 10 to give Stanford its first win under new coach Jerod Haase, who coached at UAB the last four seasons.Haase said he was glad his team got a tough early-season test from a team like Harvard, which has captured five Ivy League championships in the last six years.Maybe the most important thing is Harvards really good, he said. Not only are they good now, theyre going to be much better as the year goes on. With all their youth and all their talent, theyre going to be a team to reckon with.Harvard (0-1) closed the gap to 67-61 with 4:00 remaining after Bryce Aiken hit a 3-pointer and Siyani Chambers followed with a layup, but Stanford made several stops down the stretch and hit key free throws to put the game away.Aiken, a freshman, led Harvard with 21 points and Chambers added 12, but the Crimson only connected on 37 percent of their shots and were just 4 of 17 from 3-point range.I think youve seen some of the potential of our younger guys, Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. The seasons just starting and were very excited about what lies in front of us.The game was sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference and Chinese tech giant Alibaba, which brought Washington and Texas to Shanghai last year for the first regular-season NCAA mens basketball game to be played in China. Earlier Saturday, the Pac-12 announced UCLA and Georgia Tech would play next season in China.Chinese basketball star Yao Ming watched Saturdays game courtside, along with NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton and former NBA player Jimmer Fredette, who scored 51 points for the Shanghai Sharks in a Chinese Basketball Association game against Guangdong on Friday night.BIG PICTURE:Stanford: The Cardinal showed its experience against Harvard, with senior Verhoeven providing a spark off the bench and Travis helping give Stanford a 42-36 advantage on the boards.Harvard: Following a disappointing 14-16 record last season, the Crimsons highly touted recruiting class is off to a promising start this year, with Aiken leading all Harvard scorers and fellow freshman Chris Lewis adding 10 points and two blocks in the first half.HE SAID:We went on a riverboat tour (in Shanghai) and outside of basketball, thats the biggest thing Ill remember is just cruising up and down the river, just looking at the buildings and taking in the beauty of the city at night, Travis said of his first trip to China. It was amazing to me because if you think New Yorks big ... you come to Shanghai, its just eye-opening.UP NEXT:Harvard has six days off before playing its home opener against crosstown NAIA team Fisher College on Thursday and Holy Cross on Nov. 22.Stanford has three home games coming up, starting with Cal State-Northridge on Tuesday, followed by Weber State two days later. Tyquan Lewis 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. Kemoko Turay Jersey . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. www.cheapindianapoliscoltsjerseys.com/ . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. In a year that already has proved to be massive for the UFC, with one major card after another, UFC 205 on Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York looks to be the biggest and most important of them all. In honor of such a marquee event, ESPN.com is providing dedicated previews to all 13 bouts on the card, breaking down whats at stake and projecting who will win, along with quotes and statistics for each fighter.Middleweights: Rashad Evans (19-5-1) vs. Tim Kennedy (18-5)Odds as of Nov. 3: Kennedy -240; Evans +200Dana Whites thoughtsI always thought Rashad was small for 205. And lets not forget, he fought on the heavyweight version of The Ultimate Fighter. I always thought he should be at 185 pounds, but he didnt want want to do it.Listen, Rashad is a super talented guy. My thing with Rashad -- the last few years I didnt know how much his head was in it. Kennedy is a tough dude who always comes forward and I think hell bring the best out of Rashad. Ive had those talks with Rashad: It doesnt seem like youre here, man. Ive just always thought hes super talented, explosive, great wrestler, knockout power, hes got all the tools.Whats at stake?Kennedy: After UFC 205, Bisping title shot or ... retirement?Kennedy is pretty confident he can beat Michael Bisping, the current UFC 185-pound champion. Probably because it hasnt been that long since he did it.For Kennedy, 37, UFC 205 will mark his first appearance since a frustrating, controversial loss to Yoel Romero in September 2014. At this point in his career, Kennedy is pretty committed to only accepting big fights. Hes also frequently out of the country, which can make booking a fight difficult.An offer to fight Evans in Madison Square Garden was just the kind of offer to bring him back into the cage, but Kennedy says that should say something about his future demands. Basically, it will take an even sweeter offer to bring him back beyond this.If [the UFC] isnt saying, Your next fight is against Bisping, who I smashed last time, then I dont even know, Kennedy said. I cant imagine the fight that would bring me in again. If it took Madison Square Garden, on the biggest fight card in MMA history, against a former light heavyweight champion, perennial contender, coming to a new weight class for the first time, in a state where they just legalized MMA -- If it took that much to get me back here in the first place, it will sure as hell take a big, shiny belt for me to stay.Not that Kennedy is overlooking Evans, whom he has trained alongside at Jackson-Wink MMA in the past and says naturally outweighs him by as much as 35 pounds. This will be Evanss first fight at 185, after years of competition at 205.He had about 20 to 30 pounds on me when he was here, and that was when he was in fight camp, Kennedy said. So, maybe a 35-pound difference naturally.Hes been a special athlete for a long time. Hes going to show up on weight on that scale and hes gonna do it smart. I always thought he was an undersized light heavyweight. Im confident hes doing it the correct way, dieting, exercising, doing the work.Evans: Once I made up my mind to continue, the doubt stopped right awayIf Evans fighting career wasnt quite in jjeopardy following a first-round knockout loss in April, it was at least a bit uncertain. Jordan Wilkins Jersey. The 12-year veteran lasted less than two minutes in that fight before succumbing to a Glover Teixeira left hook. Afterwards he called the performance embarrassing, and said he didnt want to lose heart or hope in fighting but something had to change.One big change ahead of this fight is a 20-pound change. Evans has played with the idea of moving to middleweight in the past and hell ultimately do so here, in his 26th professional fight.Im usually counting down the days of a fight camp, waiting for that week off before the fight. Evans said. This camp, Ive been telling myself to go easy during some of these days, I feel so good. I feel healthy. Ive cleaned out my diet. Im really happy with everything and Im walking around everywhere with my shirt off.Once I made up my mind this was something I was going to continue, the doubt stopped right away. Those were my raw feelings at the time, after the loss. When I stepped in the Octagon, I didnt feel the connection I normally did. A lot of it was just bringing things in to the cage from my personal life. Ive made peace with a lot of areas and its allowed me to just focus on fighting.In addition to turning heads in south Florida, Evans says his new, leaner physique will allow him to do something he hasnt been able to do for years competing at a higher weight -- impose his strong wrestling skills on opponents.A lot of these guys were cutting from 230. As Im getting older and lighter, I was going in at 210 pounds. The impact was a lot different and I finally said, You know what? These guys are just way bigger. I havent had the strength to grab someone and really impose my will on them. Thats when I decided to make the drop.Key statsEvans: 19-5-1 (14-5-1 UFC); middleweight debutEvans: 50 takedowns in UFC career, eighth-most among active UFC fightersKennedy: 18-5 (3-1 UFC); first fight since Sep 2014Kennedy: 14 of 18 wins by stoppage (7 by knockout, 7 by submission)BreakdownIts easy to talk yourself into an Evans win here. Kennedy has been away for two years, but more than that, Evans still seems like hes one right hand or left hook away from old magic.The unfortunate truth is that minus one dominant performance against Chael Sonnen three years ago, Evans hasnt looked right in a while. Whats interesting about that is that Sonnen is a middleweight, and if you listen to Evanss comments, he believes thats noteworthy. At light heavy, Evans was undersized. At middleweight, maybe he will look like that power wrestler his career was built on.If that is to be the case though, this seems like a tough matchup for his middleweight entrance. Kennedy will not be an easy target for offensive wrestling, and even though Evans hits harder, Kennedys chin is probably in better shape at this point. Evans has been a little gun-shy in recent years and the weight cut is a bit of an unknown. Early success with his wrestling would be a huge confidence boost.Prediction: Kennedy by decision.You make the call: Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Cheap NFL T-shirts Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Discount NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Hoodies Stitched Jerseys NFL Jerseys China ' ' '  



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