Phoenix

The NBA announced that 242 players have filed as early-entry candidates for the 2023 NBA Draft. Here is the complete list.

NBA announces 242 early-entry candidates for 2023 NBA Draft

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Braden Smith scored a career-high 24 points to lead No. 1 Purdue to an 87-73 victory over Iowa on Thursday night.
Smith, a freshman guard, shot 8 of 10 &mdash; including 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Zach Edey scored 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Edey, who was averaging 22.4 points entering the game, had just four points until the final 8 1/2 minutes. Edey grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds, and Caleb Furst added 10 rebounds as Purdue held a 43-23 edge.
Fletcher Loyer scored 17 points, Furst 11 and Mason Gillis 10 for the Boilermakers (23-2, 12-2 Big Ten).
Kris Murray led Iowa with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting, and Filip Rebraca had 17 for the Hawkeyes (15-9, 7-6).
NO. 4 ARIZONA 85, CALIFORNIA 62
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Azuolas Tubelis had 23 points, 14 rebounds and four steals for his 11th double-double of the season to lead Arizona.
Pelle Larsson added 16 points to help the Wildcats (22-3, 11-3 Pac-12) to their seventh win in a row and 13th straight over Cal. Oumar Ballo had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Cedric Henderson Jr. chipped in 11 and eight boards.
Sam Alajiki scored 12 points to lead the Bears (3-21, 2-11), who dropped their eighth in a row. Lars Thiemann added 10 points and eight rebounds.
NO. 7 UCLA 62, OREGON STATE 47
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Amari Bailey scored a career-high 24 points to lead UCLA past Oregon State.
Bailey, a freshman guard, was 10 of 16 from the field and scored 18 points in the second half.
Jaylen Clark added 16 points and three steals for the Bruins (20-4, 11-2 Pac-12), who lead the conference in scoring defense.
Jordan Pope led the Beavers (9-16, 3-11) with 17 points.
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 78, NO. 15 ST. MARY&rsquo;S 74
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Cam Shelton scored all of his career-high 31 points after halftime, enough to overcome him mistakenly taking a timeout late in overtime and lead Loyola Marymount.
Loyola Marymount (17-9, 7-5 West Coast Conference) had lost 21 straight to Saint Mary&rsquo;s and trailed 16-0 less than six minutes into this game.
Shelton scored 24 of the Lions&rsquo; final 31 points, including a tying layup with two seconds left in regulation. Alex Merkviladze added 15 points for Loyola Marymount, three weeks after it won at then-No. 6 Gonzaga.
Logan Johnson scored a career-high 31 points and Aidan Mahaney had 24 for Saint Mary&rsquo;s (21-4, 10-1), which had won 12 in a row. The Gaels were coming off a win over then-No. 12 Gonzaga on Saturday.
NO 16 GONZAGA 99, SAN FRANCISCO 81
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Rasir Bolton had 23 points and six assists, Drew Timme scored 21 and Gonzaga beat San Francisco.
Gonzaga (20-5, 9-2 West Coast Conference) extended its streak of seasons with at least 20 wins to 26, bouncing back from last weekend&rsquo;s overtime loss at No. 15 Saint Mary&rsquo;s.
Khalil Shabazz led San Francisco (15-12, 4-8) with 25 points and Tyrell Roberts added 16. The Dons have lost 26 straight to Gonzaga.

A recap of Thursday night's action in men's college hoops includes the Boilermakers holding their ground at the top of the standings.

No. 1 Purdue has five players in double figures, tops Iowa 87-73

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Marcus Carr scored 19 points and made two free throws with 10 seconds left as No. 2 Texas held off No. 7 Creighton&rsquo;s furious late-game rally and beat the Bluejays 72-67 on Thursday night.
Texas led by 11 points in the second half, but Creighton got within three points a few times in the final minutes.
Tyrese Hunter scored 15 points for Texas (6-0), which got its second win over a top 10 opponent in its new arena. The Longhorns beat then-No. 2 Gonzaga on Nov. 16.
Ryan Kalkbrenner had 20 points and 13 rebounds for Creighton (6-2), and Ryan Nembhard scored 17 points. The Bluejays were 4 of 27 on 3-pointers, but found a late shooting touch in the final seconds to stay close.
UTAH 81, NO. 4 ARIZONA 66
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Branden Carlson scored 22 points and Utah handed No. 4 Arizona its first loss of the season in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.
Carlson went 5 of 9 from 3-point range. Rollie Worster had 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the Utes (6-2), and Gabe Madsen and Ben Carlson scored 11 points apiece.
Oumar Ballo led Arizona (6-1) with 22 points and seven rebounds. Azuolas Tubelis added 20 points for the Wildcats, who trailed wire to wire and didn&rsquo;t resemble the high-flying team that won the Maui Invitational.
The Utes forced 11 turnovers in the first half that they converted into 15 points.
NO. 8 UCONN 74, OKLAHOMA STATE 64
STORRS, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Jordan Hawkins scored a career-high 26 points to lead UConn past Oklahoma State in the Big East-Big 12 Battle.
Adama Sanogo added 20 points and Andre Jackson scored 11 for the Huskies (9-0).
It was the smallest margin of victory for UConn so far this season. The Huskies&rsquo; next closest was an 82-67 win over then-No. 18 Alabama last Friday at the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Oregon.
Kalib Boone scored 15 points to lead the Cowboys (5-3). Avery Anderson III added 14.
NO. 9 KANSAS 91, SETON HALL 65
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Kevin McCullar Jr. returned from an injury to score 17 points and grab 10 rebounds, Jalen Wilson added 15 points and 13 boards, and Kansas rolled past Seton Hall in the big East-Big 12 Battle.
KJ Adams had 11 points, DaJuan Harris Jr. had 10 with seven assists and Ernest Udeh Jr. also scored 10 for the Jayhawks (8-1), who now have more than a week off before visiting bitter rival Missouri for the first time in a decade next Saturday.
Kadary Richmond had 17 points but also turned the ball over seven times for the Pirates (4-4), who were 4 of 19 from the 3-point arc in losing their third straight game. Tyrese Samuel added 16 points.
NO. 21 UCLA 80, STANFORD 66
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 27 points to help UCLA open up Pac-12 play with a win over Stanford.
The Bruins (6-2, 1-0 Pac-12) have won three straight after dropping back-to-back games to No. 6 Baylor and No. 16 Illinois in Las Vegas.
Tyger Campbell had 17 points and was two assists shy of a double-double, while Amari Bailey scored a season high-tying 19 points.
The Cardinal (3-5, 0-1) outscored the Bruins 37-30 in the second half, starting with three straight baskets within 90 seconds from Spencer Jones, who set a season high and led the team with 18 points.&nbsp;

A recap of Thursday night men's college hoops includes a close battle between two top-10 teams in Texas and Creighton.

Carr scores 19 as No. 2 Texas outlasts No. 7 Creighton 72-67

While NBA teams are looking ahead to the upcoming draft with much anticipation, that doesn&rsquo;t necessarily mean the incoming freshman class of college basketball players is any better than usual.
The fact of the matter is that the top 2023 draft prospects aren&rsquo;t playing college basketball.
That goes for Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 French phenom who almost certainly will be selected No. 1 overall. The same is true of Scoot Henderson, who plays for the G League Ignite and is generally rated just behind Wembanyama.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a chance conceivably that a college player might not even get taken in the top five,&rdquo; said Eric Bossi, the director of basketball for 247Sports.
Indeed, ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony released a mock draft last month that was headed by three guys who aren&rsquo;t playing college basketball: Wembanyama, Henderson and Amen Thompson of Overtime Elite, a new basketball league that offers training and a salary for pro prospects willing to forfeit their college eligibility. Givony did have Arkansas freshman Nick Smith Jr. going fourth.
Even though they might not get taken at the top of next year&rsquo;s draft, plenty of exciting freshmen are ready to make an impact this season. Duke coach Jon Scheyer is beginning his career with the nation&rsquo;s top-ranked recruiting class according to composite rankings of recruiting sites compiled by 247Sports.
The seventh-ranked Blue Devils signed five of the nation&rsquo;s top 27 recruits in this class: Dereck Lively (No. 1), Dariq Whitehead (No. 2) and Kyle Filipowski (No. 4), Mark Mitchell (No. 22) and Tyrese Proctor (No. 27). Mitchell scored 15 points and Filipowski and Proctor had seven each Wednesday in the seventh-ranked Blue Devils&rsquo; 82-45 exhibition victory over Fayetteville State.
Lively and Whitehead didn&rsquo;t play in that game as they recover from injuries.
&ldquo;Dariq definitely won&rsquo;t play Monday,&rdquo; Scheyer said, referring to Duke&rsquo;s regular-season opener against Jacksonville. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s still a couple of weeks away. With Dereck, he&rsquo;s still day-to-day. He&rsquo;s been really ramping up. I think the big thing for both of those guys is not just being completely healthy, which they&rsquo;re right there. But you have to build up your game shape again, and we don&rsquo;t want to put them out too early at all.&rdquo;
Here&rsquo;s a look at some freshmen who could have big seasons.
AMARI BAILEY, UCLA
This 6-foot-5 guard is from Chicago but actually played high school basketball at Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth, California. He&rsquo;s ranked ninth in his class according to the 247Sports Composite. He started and had six points and eight rebounds in UCLA&rsquo;s exhibition victory over Concordia on Wednesday. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve got two guys that are rock solid they can count on in Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez, but they really need a third guy to step up and be a threat on a nightly basis,&rdquo; Bossi said. &ldquo;Bailey&rsquo;s the right kind of guy.&rdquo;
KEYONTE GEORGE, BAYLOR
Big 12 coaches made their expectations for George clear when they named him the conference&rsquo;s preseason freshman of the year. The 6-4 guard averaged 22.8 points for Baylor this summer at the GLOBL JAM international tournament. George is from Lewisville, Texas, but played for IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He&rsquo;s ranked seventh in the 247Sports Composite.
GG JACKSON, SOUTH CAROLINA
Jackson was regarded as the nation&rsquo;s No. 1 prospect until he decided to reclassify and enter college a year early. Jackson had been committed to North Carolina until he reclassified and opted to enroll at South Carolina. The 6-9 forward from Ridge View High School in Columbia, South Carolina, is ranked sixth in this class, according to the 247Sports Composite. South Carolina says he&rsquo;s the highest-ranked prospect ever to sign with the Gamecocks. Jackson was named the MVP of the National Basketball Players Association top-100 camp in July.
DERECK LIVELY II, DUKE
Once he&rsquo;s healthy enough to play, this 7-1 center from Philadelphia should emerge as an immediate force on defense. Scheyer says Lively &ldquo;is as unique of a big as there is in the country&rdquo; because of his ability to defend in a variety of ways. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve talked about how to maximize what he can do on the defensive end especially, but that versatility for us is something that we can really use throughout the course of the season,&rdquo; Scheyer said. Lively played at Westtown School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which also produced former Duke player and NBA lottery pick Cam Reddish.
NICK SMITH JR., ARKANSAS
Although he hasn&rsquo;t played a college game yet, Smith earned preseason first-team all-Southeastern Conference honors from the league&rsquo;s coaches and media. His prep career at North Little Rock (Arkansas) earned him the USA Today national high school player of the year award. The 6-5 guard is ranked third in the 247Sports Composite. &ldquo;He is a player that kind of moves on the floor effortlessly almost like he is on skates,&rdquo; Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. &ldquo;He is cosmetically pleasing to watch offensively with the way that he can find seams in the defense, and he is a really good shooter as well.&rdquo;
CASON WALLACE, KENTUCKY
Wallace, a 6-4 guard from Dallas, is the nation&rsquo;s No. 8 player in his class according to the 247Sports Composite. He averaged 10.5 points and had a team-high 12 steals in Kentucky&rsquo;s four-game international exhibition tour this summer. Wallace had nine points and a team-high seven rebounds Sunday in an exhibition victory over Missouri Western State. Kentucky coach John Calipari has praised Wallace&rsquo;s defense.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer is beginning his career with the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class.

No. 7 Duke’s class heads list of impact freshmen

With the 2022 NBA Draft less than a month away, BasketballNews.com will have you covered from top to bottom. The NBA Draft Combine in Chicago began the pre-draft process for a number of hopeful prospects as they try to break into the league.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Louisiana State wing Darius Days, who averaged 13.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game for the Tigers this past season. We discussed his path to IMG Academy, his role on an NBA floor and his week at the Combine.
Prior to your time in LSU, you had deep Florida roots. Could you start off with giving us an idea of what your childhood was like growing up there?
Darius Days: "Honestly it was just really hot, like anyone would think about Florida. I&rsquo;m the youngest son of three boys. I lived with my mother and father; we&rsquo;re from the rural area of Raleigh, Florida, probably the best place in Florida. There isn&rsquo;t much to the area where I&rsquo;m from, nothing too much beyond trees and nature."
When did you first start playing basketball, and when did you realize you would have a serious future in the game?
Days: "I played youth leagues here and there growing up, but I don&rsquo;t think I started taking it super seriously until around eighth or ninth grade. I didn&rsquo;t really think I could be really, really good until probably about 10th grade. That&rsquo;s when I thought, 'Oh I can really do something with this.' Being in the gym constantly and playing for more and more prestigious teams on the grassroots circuit and traveling around the country is when I thought, 'I can take this to the next level.'"
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You left Gainesville and moved to Bradenton to play at IMG Academy, one of the premier programs in the country. How was that transition for you? And what prompted you to make that decision to transfer?
Days: "I felt like there was a certain ceiling that you hit playing at that level. I felt like IMG, with their national schedule, would definitely help me get ready for college. The regimen helped too &mdash; I would eat breakfast in the morning and then go right to practice, then to the weight room and then class. That part really helped me get ready for the college life in general."
How do you feel the transfer to IMG helped your preparation for the next level?
Days: "On the floor, I think it helped to play with other high level players. That team had me, Jah&rsquo;Mius Ramsey (Texas Tech), Josh Green (Arizona), Silvio De Sousa (Kansas/Chattanooga), Chol Marial (Maryland), etc. So being able to compete with those guys and hold my own helped me get ready for the college level."
You decided to play for coach Will Wade and LSU. What was it about the program that enticed you to play there?
Days: "Baton Rouge is similar to Gainesville as a college town. I fell in love with the campus, and I fell in love with the people when I went on my official visit in October of 2017. They were playing Auburn (in a football game where LSU upset No. 10 Auburn, 27-23). The game was insane, going there, sitting in the box; seeing all the basketball players in the student section cheering the football team on was an experience like no other. I also wanted to play early as a freshman, and I think that LSU gave me a better opportunity to do that than the other schools who were recruiting me."
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For those who haven&rsquo;t seen you play, how would you describe your game?
Days: "I&rsquo;m someone who will give 110% the whole game, you know, play hard. I like to rebound out of area, shoot the three-ball, and I like to mix it up with the trees and bang down low. I think I&rsquo;m a great team player, leading by example, helping get people in the right spots and communicate on defense, I&rsquo;m very vocal."
What did you focus on the most during your time in Baton Rouge in terms of development? What are one or two skills that you would like to focus on and improve on your game moving forward?
Days: "Early on, I was an energy guy who would come off the bench, give that spark and shoot threes. My sophomore year, it kind of took a turn. I began to start more, but still brought that same energy and shot-making. My junior year, I think I began to focus on being more efficient, playing with guys like Cam Thomas, Javonte Smart and Trendon Watford. I became the most efficient I think I've been in my life. My senior year, I had the ball in my hands a lot more; I got to the rim a lot more and got to show my versatility more on both ends. Defensively, I switched a bunch and switched 1-through-5. Going to the NBA, I want to get to the rim a lot easier, be more consistent with my jump shot and bring as much as I can to the table."
What role do you feel you can fulfill for an NBA team early on in your career?
Days: "I think I can definitely be a floor-spacer; I think thats what a lot of teams like about me. I bring versatility on the defensive end, guarding 3-through-5. I&rsquo;m going to be able to shoot the three-ball at a consistent rate. I bring 110% every night; I play hard for my guys, sacrificing my body for the team. I do what I&rsquo;m supposed to do, on and off the court."
What is one short-term and one long-term goal that you have set for yourself?
Days: "Short-term, I want to stay in the gym as much as possible. I want to get more comfortable with the ball, get to the rim. Long-term, I want to play in the NBA at a high level for as long as I can &mdash; 8, 9, 11-12 years. I want to play with the best of the best every day for many years."
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Could you take us through your daily routine currently as you prepare for the NBA Draft?
Days: "I wake up in the morning, get a healthy breakfast. From there, I go get a workout, I&rsquo;ll go the track, run some stadiums, work on my conditioning. Then, I go back to the gym and shoot and work on ball-handling. In the afternoon it&rsquo;s more off-the-dribble, work, finishing, touch shots. Things like that."
Talk to me about how your week was in Chicago at the Combine.
Days: "I feel like I got to show people how much I can play. In the G League Combine (Elite Camp), I played mostly the 4 and sometimes a small-ball 5. I can play whatever my team needs me to play. When I got the call up to the NBA Combine I played primarily the 3. I feel like I got to show that I could play multiple positions. I feel like in the NBA I&rsquo;ll be playing mostly the 4, so I&rsquo;m very it excited. It was a fun opportunity for me. I showcased a lot of things, and it helped build my confidence for my workouts and the NBA Draft."
Who is one player you model your game after the most?
Days: "I&rsquo;d say Draymond Green and P.J. Tucker. Draymond because I&rsquo;m a 6-foot-7 guy who can shoot the three-ball and go out there and guard 1-through-5. He does all the little things to help his team win. I feel like without Draymond a lot of things wouldn&rsquo;t move as smoothly. I think to live up to that comparison there&rsquo;s some things I have to work on; definitely getting more comfortable bringing the ball up and making split-second decisions. P.J. Tucker, it&rsquo;s almost the same thing &mdash; shooting and spacing the floor, he&rsquo;s also very solid on the defensive end as well. I like the way they carry themselves and the heart that they play with."
Let's pretend that you've just entered an elevator with a general manager of a team that's considering selecting you. What is your elevator pitch as to why you're their guy?&nbsp;
Days: "I&rsquo;m telling them that I&rsquo;m a hard worker, whatever you need me to do I&rsquo;m going to make sure I get it done. Rain, sleet or snow I&rsquo;m going to be at the gym."
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Darius Days discusses his path to IMG Academy, his role on an NBA floor and his week at the NBA Draft Combine with Derek Murray.

Brayden