Lumberjacks

After a dominant college career, Caitlin Clark is set to bring her act to the pro scene.
As expected, the Indiana Fever picked Clark as its no.1 overall selection in the 2024 WNBA Draft on Monday night at Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York.
Arguably the best women&rsquo;s college basketball player of all time, Clark will now head to the WNBA to the Fever to team up with last year&rsquo;s first overall selection Aliyah Boston. Clark and Boston will make up one of the league&rsquo;s most exciting young duos as they try to lead Indiana back to the playoffs.
Stanford University standout and 2021 WNCAA champion Cameron Brink went second overall to the Los Angeles Sparks while recently crowned 2024 WNCAA champion Kamila Cardoso from the University of South Carolina was taken by the Chicago Sky as the third overall pick.
Check out the complete recap of the draft below:
Round 1
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Indiana Fever: Caitlin Clark, G, Iowa</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Los Angeles Sparks: Cameron Brink, F, Stanford&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Sky (via Phoenix Mercury): Kamilla Cardoso, C, South Carolina</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Los Angels Sparks (via Seattle Storm): Rickea Jackson, F, Tennessee</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Wings (via Chicago Sky): Jacy Sheldon, G, Ohio State</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Mystics: Aaliyah Edwards, F, UConn</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Sky (via Minnesota Lynx): Angel Reese, F, LSU</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Minnesota Lynx (via Atlanta Dream): Alissa Pili, F, Utah</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Wings: Carla Leite, G, France</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun: Le&iuml;la Lacan, G, France</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Liberty: Marquesha Davis, G, Ole Miss</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Atlanta Dream (via Las Vegas Aces): Nyadiew Puoch, F, Australia</li>
</ol>
Round 2
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Sky (via Phoenix Mercury): Brynna Maxwell, G, Gonzaga</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Seattle Storm: Nika M&uuml;hl, G, UConn</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Indiana Fever: Celeste Taylor, G, Ohio State</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Las Vegas Aces (via Los Angeles Sparks): Dyaisha Fair, G, Syracuse</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Liberty (via Chicago Sky): Esmery Martinez, F, Arizona</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Las Vegas Aces (via Washington Mystics): Kate Martin, G, Iowa</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun (via Minnesota Lynx): Taiyanna Jackson, C, Kansas</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Atlanta Dream: Isobel Borlase, G, Australia&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Mystics (via Dallas Wings): Kaylynne Truong, G, Gonzaga&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun: Helena Pueyo, G, Arizona&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Liberty: Jessika Carter, C, Mississippi State</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Las Vegas Aces: Elizabeth Kitley, C, Virginia Tech</li>
</ol>
Round 3
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Phoenix Mercury: Charisma Osborne, G, UCLA</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Seattle Storm: Mackenzie Holmes, F, Indiana</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Indiana Fever: Leilani Correa, G, Florida</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Los Angeles Sparks: Mackenzie Forbes, F, USC</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Phoenix Mercury (via Chicago Sky): Jaz Shelley, G, Nebraska&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Mystics: Nastja Claessens, G, Belgium</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Minnesota Lynx: Kiki Jefferson, G, Louisville&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Atlanta Dream: Matilde Villa, G, Italy</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Wings: Ashley Owusu, G, Penn State</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun: Abbey Hsu, G, Columbia&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Liberty: Kaitlyn Davis, F, USC</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Las Vegas Aces: Angel Jackson, C, Jackson State</li>
</ol>

After a dominant college career, Caitlin Clark is set to bring her act to the pro scene.

2024 WNBA Draft Recap: Caitlin Clark goes No.1 to the Indiana Fever

SEATTLE (AP) &mdash; Elizabeth Kitley scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Georgia Amoore added 24 points and top-seeded Virginia Tech advanced to the Final Four for the first time in school history with an 84-74 win over No. 3 seed Ohio State in the Seattle 3 Regional final on Monday night.
For the seventh time in the past 10 Final Fours there will be a first-time participant and it&rsquo;s the champions of the ACC, adding another accomplishment to the best season in school history.
Playing in its first regional final, Virginia Tech (31-4) won its 15th straight game and will head to the Final Four having not lost in more than two months. The Hokies will face LSU in the national semifinals on Friday in Dallas.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not just going to the Final Four. We&rsquo;re in the Final Four. That&rsquo;s something that means the world to me,&rdquo; Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks said.
Kitley, the Hokies 6-foot-6 center and leading scorer this season, took over on the interior in the second half. She scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter and her three-point play gave Virginia Tech a 70-60 lead.
Amoore hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game to push the lead to 13. Ohio State pulled within six in the final minute, but the Hokies were nearly perfect at the foul line down the stretch.&nbsp;
After the final buzzer sounded and Virginia Tech was celebrating at midcourt, the sounds of &ldquo;Enter Sandman&rdquo; by Metallica blared through the speakers of Climate Pledge Arena, setting off an even louder party for the Hokies fans in attendance.
Amoore shook off the scare of a potential leg injury in the first half to scored 16 points in the second half. She had a career-high 29 in the regional semifinal win over Tennessee. Cayla King added 12 points, all in the first half for the Hokies.
Taylor Mikesell led Ohio State (28-8) with 25 points, but 19 of those came in the first half. Mikesell didn&rsquo;t score the first 16 minutes of the second half before hitting a 3-pointer with 3:35 remaining.
Jacy Sheldon scored 19 and Big Ten freshman of the year Cotie McMahon added 18. But the pressure defense that Ohio State used to befuddle UConn into 25 turnovers in the regional semifinal was easily handled by Amoore and the Hokies in the opening minutes and mostly abandoned by the Buckeyes.
&ldquo;I felt we were a little tired coming into it. We put so much energy into Saturday&rsquo;s game and we didn&rsquo;t quite have the same energy in the press,&rdquo; Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. &ldquo;And when you don&rsquo;t have it, it&rsquo;s tough because you can really get but up on the back end and give up easy baskets.&rdquo;
Ohio State was looking to join its Big Ten Conference partner Iowa in reaching the Final Four for the first time in 30 years. The Buckeyes stayed with Virginia Tech shot-for-shot through a highly entertaining and high scoring first half.
But the shots that dropped in the first 20 minutes stopped falling in the second half. Ohio State shot 64% in the first half, including five 3-pointer from Mikesell, but that dropped to just 28% in the second half.
RARE COMPANY
Brooks is the third Black male coach to take a team to the women&rsquo;s Final Four and second since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1994. Winthrop McGriff with Cheyney in 1984 and Quentin Hillsman with Syracuse in 2016 were the others. Brooks is in his seventh season in Blacksburg.
&ldquo;I do know that when I was trying to make a name for myself, there wasn&rsquo;t very many people that were doing it or advocating for people that looked like me. In this profession, I think that we belong. I think that there&rsquo;s a place for Black males to come in and be a positive influence,&rdquo; Brooks said before the Sweet 16.&nbsp;

Virginia Tech won its 15th straight game and will head to the Final Four having not lost in more than two months to take on LSU.

Virginia Tech women headed to first Final Four after topping Ohio St

SEATTLE (AP) &mdash; UConn&rsquo;s record Final Four run is over, thanks to a monumental performance by Ohio State.
The Buckeyes ended UConn&rsquo;s unprecedented streak of reaching 14 consecutive Final Fours, beating the Huskies 73-61 on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament.
&ldquo;The problem with streaks is the longer they go, you&rsquo;re closer to it ending than you are to the beginning of it,&rdquo; UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a matter of time. I mean, it&rsquo;s not if it&rsquo;s going to happen. It&rsquo;s just a matter of time when it&rsquo;s going to happen. And it was going to happen sooner rather than later.&rdquo;
Cotie McMahon scored 23 points for the Buckeyes, who snapped their three-decade Elite Eight drought. The Buckeyes hadn&rsquo;t made a regional final since 1993, when they eventually lost in the title game to Texas Tech.
&ldquo;When I had the opportunity to come to Ohio State, this was certainly the goal and the vision to go farther than they have been going,&rdquo; said coach Kevin McGuff, who had never beaten UConn. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not easy to get here, obviously. But I&rsquo;m really proud of our team and our program of how we&rsquo;ve evolved to be able to get to this point.
&ldquo;Like I said, I mean, I have so much respect for Geno and his staff and all that they have accomplished. So for us to be able to win this game in the Sweet 16 is obviously extremely significant. They&rsquo;re just hard to beat. They&rsquo;re so well-coached. So this is a great win for us.&rdquo;
The third-seeded Buckeyes (28-7) forced No. 2 seed UConn (31-6) into 25 turnovers, ending the Huskies&rsquo; season before the national semifinals for the first time in 14 seasons. UConn hadn&rsquo;t been eliminated this early since 2006.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an impossibility to do what we have done already,&rdquo; Auriemma said. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s the next highest streak? ... And you take that in stride and you say, yeah, it was great while it lasted and it&rsquo;s a credit to all the players that we had and all the times that you have to perform really, really well at this level.&rdquo;
Ohio State will play Virginia Tech on Monday night in the Seattle 3 Region final with a trip to Dallas at stake. The Hokies beat Tennessee 73-64.
Ohio State, which had to rally from a double-digit deficit in the first round against James Madison, used full-court pressure to disrupt the Huskies&rsquo; offense.
&ldquo;Our press is what we rely on, and sticking together and talking through it,&rdquo; said Ohio State&rsquo;s Jacy Sheldon, who had 17 points and went 10-for-10 from the foul line. &ldquo;We knew UConn was going to be ready for us, so we knew we were going to have to stay consistent throughout the game.&rdquo;
This has been the most trying year of Auriemma&rsquo;s Hall of Fame career. UConn was beset by injuries and illnesses to both players and coaches, including a torn ACL that sidelined star Paige Bueckers all season. It got so bad the Huskies had to postpone a game when they didn&rsquo;t have enough scholarship players. They also saw their unbelievable run of 30 years without consecutive losses come to an end.
&ldquo;We picked the worst day to actually be doing the things that we&rsquo;ve been struggling with all year long,&rdquo; Auriemma said in a sideline interview during the game.
Lou Lopez Senechal scored 25 points for the Huskies, Azzi Fudd had 14, and Ohio State transfer Dorka Juhasz finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Huskies led 17-9 before Ohio State started scoring and turning UConn over with its full-court press. The Buckeyes scored the next 17 points, forcing 11 turnovers during that stretch, which spanned the first and second quarters. UConn had eight turnovers to start the second quarter, leaving Auriemma exasperated on the sideline.
McMahon was converting those turnovers into points for the Buckeyes as the freshman finished the half with 18 points &mdash; equaling the number of turnovers the Huskies had in the opening 20 minutes. Ohio State led 36-26 at the break.
This was only the sixth time UConn had trailed by double digits at the half in an NCAA Tournament game, according to ESPN. The Huskies lost all of those.
UConn did a better job of taking care of the ball in the second half and cut the deficit to 44-39 on Senechal&rsquo;s layup with 3:53 left in the third quarter. Ohio State responded and still led by 10 after three quarters.
The Buckeyes didn&rsquo;t let the Huskies make any sort of run in the fourth quarter. UConn got within nine with 4:30 left, but McMahon had a three-point play to restore the double-digit lead. The Huskies never threatened after that.
Now the Huskies will start their offseason sooner than anytime in the past 17 years.
TIP-INS
This was the first win for Ohio State over UConn in seven tries. The teams&rsquo; last meeting was in the 2019-20 regular season. ... UConn was a paltry 7-for-15 from the foul line while Ohio State went 22-for-30. ... UConn&rsquo;s season high for turnovers was 27 against Princeton.
THE HOUSE THAT SUE BUILT
The Seattle Regionals are being playing in Climate Pledge Arena &mdash; home of the Seattle Storm. UConn and Storm great Sue Bird was in the stands, sitting a few rows behind the scorers&rsquo; table. She received a loud ovation from the crowd when she was shown midway through the first quarter on the videoboards.
FAMILIAR FOE
Juhasz graduated from Ohio State two years ago and flourished there, earning all-Big Ten honors twice. She came to UConn last year looking for a new challenge and wanting to play for a team that could compete for national championships. She&rsquo;ll leave without one.
There is a mutual respect between Juhasz and the Buckeyes&rsquo; coaching staff.

The Buckeyes ended UConn’s unprecedented streak of reaching 14 consecutive Final Fours, beating the Huskies 73-61.

Ohio State ends UConn women’s run of 14 straight Final Fours

The Sweet 16 features a new format and a bit of history when it begins later this week.
The NCAA changed its setup for the women&rsquo;s tournament this season, trimming the traditional four regional sites to two. Seattle and Greenville &mdash; a city of 71,000 in South Carolina about halfway between Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina &mdash; will each host eight teams before sending the winners on to Dallas for the Final Four.
It is also just the second time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994 that two of the No. 1 seeds didn&rsquo;t reach the regional semifinals after Mississippi and Miami knocked out Stanford and Indiana, respectively. It also happened in 1998.
The other top seeds &mdash; South Carolina and Virginia Tech &mdash; advanced. The Gamecocks, led by star Aliyah Boston, are four wins from completing their own historic journey and back-to-back national championships. They are seeking just the 10th undefeated season ever in women&rsquo;s basketball, and the next steps for coach Dawn Staley&rsquo;s team are just a 90-minute trip from campus.
There are a lot of teams that have ended long Sweet 16 droughts, like the Hokies, Hurricanes, Colorado and Villanova. UConn, on the other hand, will be playing in its 29th consecutive regional semifinal.
Despite the parity that took place during the regular season and the exit of those two No. 1 seeds, it is the second time in the past six years that no double-digit seed reached the round of 16. It&rsquo;s also the first time since the Big 12 was formed in 1996 that no teams from the conference reached the second weekend.
There&rsquo;s plenty of star power across the field with Angel Reese, Maddy Siegrist, Caitlin Clark and Elizabeth Kitley joining Boston in the regional semifinals.
GREENVILLE 1
The Gamecocks are the heavy favorite to come out of this region and, for that matter, to win another title. The regional semifinal opponent is No. 4 seed UCLA. The Bruins gave the Gamecocks a competitive game back in November, leading at halftime by four before losing by nine.
No. 2 seed Maryland will play No. 3 seed Notre Dame in the other semifinal. The Terrapins, led by Diamond Miller, used a strong second half to get by Arizona in the second round. The Fighting Irish overcame season-ending injuries to Olivia Miles and Dara Mabrey to get to the Sweet 16. Notre Dame got a strong effort from post Lauren Ebo, who set a school NCAA tourney record with 18 rebounds in a win over Mississippi State.
GREENVILLE 2
With Indiana losing, the bracket is more open, with Villanova and Siegrist playing the Hurricanes in one of the semifinals. Siegrist, who leads the nation in scoring, has the Wildcats back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003. Miami&rsquo;s drought was even longer, not making it this far since 1992.
The other semifinal in the region pits two of the most talented forwards in the country against each other: LSU&rsquo;s Angel Reese and Utah&rsquo;s Alissa Pili. Reese helped the Tigers reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2014. The &ldquo;Bayou Barbie&rdquo; had 25 points, an eye-popping 24 rebounds and six blocks in the third-seeded Tigers&rsquo; rout of Michigan. Second-seeded Utah is back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2006 after edging Princeton in the second round.
SEATTLE 3
Second-seeded UConn, which has dealt with injuries all season, will face third-seeded Ohio State in one semifinal. The Buckeyes needed a shot in the final few seconds by Jacy Sheldon to advance this far for the fourth straight season.
Top seed Virginia Tech is the newcomer here, making its first appearance in the Sweet 16 since 1999 after two impressive home wins in the first two rounds. Kitley and Co. head across the country for a rematch against Tennessee. The two teams played Dec. 4 and the Hokies came away with a three-point win. The Lady Vols were missing Rickea Jackson for that game and it was the final one that Tamari Key played in before being sidelined for the season with blood clots.
Tennessee has run through the first two rounds, becoming just the fourth team to win each of its first two games by 45 points or more. UConn did it the other three times, according to ESPN.
SEATTLE 4
Ole Miss crashed the party with its upset of Stanford and is back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007. Coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin&rsquo;s defensive-minded squad will face a Louisville team that routed Texas on the Longhorns&rsquo; home court. Cardinals star Hailey Van Lith grew up in Central Washington, a few hours from Seattle.
The other matchup will feature Clark and her logo-range shooting for Iowa against Colorado. Iowa edged Georgia in the second round, erasing the memory of last season&rsquo;s round of 32 defeat to Creighton. The Hawkeyes will face a Colorado team in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003.&nbsp;

Seattle and Greenville will each host eight teams before sending the winners on to Dallas for the Final Four.

Women’s Sweet 16 features new format and historic field

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Destiny Harden made a shot in the lane with 3.5 seconds left to send ninth-seeded Miami past top-seeded Indiana 70-68 on Monday night, lifting the Hurricanes to their first Sweet 16 since 1992.
The Hoosiers (28-4) became the second No. 1 seed to be eliminated in two nights. Stanford was upset Sunday on its home court. It&rsquo;s the second time since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1994 that two No. 1 seeds didn&rsquo;t make the Sweet 16. It also happened in 1998.
Harden finished with 18 points and Lola Pendade had 19 points for the Hurricanes (21-12), who never trailed.
Indiana tied the score at 68 on Yarden Garzon&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left but couldn&rsquo;t get the defensive stop it needed and turned the ball over on the final possession to seal their only home loss of the season.
No. 4 VILLANOVA 76, No. 12 FLORIDA GULF COAST 57
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) &mdash; Maddy Siegrist scored 31 points and sent the winningest team in Villanova history into the Sweet 16 for the second time in program history with a win over Florida Gulf Coast.
The fourth-seeded Wildcats (30-6) won their record 30th game and celebrated the March Madness milestone in front of another packed house at the Pavilion. Siegrist, the first-team AP All-American, made 13 of 24 shots in what was likely her final home game. The four-year star has left some wiggle room that she could return for a fifth season, but all signs point toward her playing in the WNBA this summer.
One thing is sure, Siegrist is headed to the Sweet 16.
The Wildcats are going for the first time since 2003 -- the coach of that team, Harry Perretta, watched this one from behind the basket -- and they will the play winner of Monday&rsquo;s game in Indianapolis between top-seeded Indiana and No. 9 seed Miami.
SEATTLE 3 REGION
No. 4 TENNESSEE 94, NO. 12 TOLEDO 47
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Reserves Sara Puckett and Jillian Hollingshead led five Lady Vols in double figures with 13 points apiece as Tennessee routed Toledo.
This is the first time since 2015 and 2016 that Tennessee (25-11) has reached consecutive Sweet 16s and the first in coach Kellie Harper&rsquo;s fourth season. The Lady Vols now have reached the Sweet 16 for the 36th time as the only program to play in all 41 NCAA Tournaments.
Toledo (29-5) snapped a program record 17-game winning streak and missed out on its first Sweet 16. The Rockets lost for the first time since Jan. 18 at Bowling Green, which was avenged in the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship for their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2017.
Quinesha Lockett led Toledo with 19 points.
No. 3 OHIO STATE 71, No. 6 NORTH CAROLINA 69
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Jacy Sheldon made a tiebreaking jumper in the lane with 1.8 seconds left to lift Ohio State to a win over North Carolina and help the Buckeyes advance to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season.
With the game tied, Sheldon took the pass from Eboni Walker and floated in the game-winning score. North Carolina had one final chance, but turned it over with a second remaining.
Ohio State (27-7) saw its 12-point lead with 7:02 to go erased as the Tar Heels went on a 13-2 run midway through the fourth quarter. The Tar Heels did most of that run without star Deja Kelly, who exited midway through the final quarter with a leg injury. She went to the locker room, but returned to the court a short time later.
Trailing 66-63, Kelly made two free throws before Paulina Paris made a layup in transition to give the Tar Heels (22-11) its first lead of the game with 2:09 left.
No. 2 UCONN 77, No. 7 BAYLOR 58
STORRS, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Azzi Fudd scored 16 of her 22 points in a decisive third quarter, leading UConn to a win over Baylor and into a 29th straight Sweet 16.
Aaliyah Edwards added 19 points and Nika Muhl had 10 assists for the Huskies (31-5). Dorka Juhasz chipped in with 11 points and Caroline Ducharme added 10.
Ja&rsquo;mee Asberry scored 15 points and Jaden Owens had 14 for Baylor, which finishes its season 20-13. Bella Fontleroy scored 12 points for the Bears, who made 12 3-pointers after hitting 14 in their first-round win over Alabama.
But the Huskies dominated inside, outscoring the Bears 36-12 in the paint and outrebounding Baylor 42-31.
SEATTLE 4 REGION
No. 5 LOUISVILLE 73, No. 4 TEXAS 51
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Hailey Van Lith scored 21 points and Louisville rolled over Texas on the Longhorns&rsquo; home court to send the the Cardinals to the Sweet 16 for the sixth NCAA Tournament in row.
In a matchup of two teams that began the season in the Top 10 only to all out of the rankings before regrouping late, the Cardinals smothered the Longhorns and standout point guard Rori Harmon all night, stretching a 14-point halftime lead to 21 by end of the third quarter.
Louisville (25-11) led by as much as 27 early in the fourth. The win sends the Cardinals to the Seattle 4 Region to play No. 8-seed Mississippi, which upset No. 1 Stanford on Sunday.
DeYona Gaston scored 12 points to lead Texas (26-10).
No. 6 COLORADO 61, No. 3 DUKE 53
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Quay Miller had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Aaronette Vonleh converted two overtime baskets in the lane after picking up her fourth foul, helping Colorado beat Duke.
Jaylyn Sherrod had 14 points and Vonleh finished with 12 as the Buffaloes (25-8) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 20 years.
Elizabeth Balogun scored 14 points and Reigan Richardson had 10, but the Blue Devils didn&rsquo;t hit a field goal in overtime. Duke overcame a 13-point deficit in regulation.
Next up for Colorado is Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the Seattle 4 Region semifinals.
Duke lost for the third time in its last four second-round home games in the NCAA tourney.
GREENVILLE 1 REGION
No. 4 UCLA 82, No. 5 OKLAHOMA 73
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Charisma Osborne scored a career-high 36 points in her final game at Pauley Pavilion and UCLA rallied in the fourth quarter after blowing an 18-point lead to defeat Oklahoma.
The Bruins, who had an 18-point lead in the second quarter, found themselves trailing 54-50 late in the third quarter before Osborne started the comeback. She drove the lane and hit a layup while being fouled by Beatrice Culliton. Osborne made the ensuing free throw to bring them within one.
She had 13 points in the final 10 minutes as the Bruins (26-7) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019. UCLA regained control by going on a 6-1 run at the beginning of the fourth.
Kiki Rice added 14 points for the Bruins, who will face top-ranked South Carolina on Saturday in a Greenville 1 Regional semifinal. UCLA hung tough with the Gamecocks earlier in the season before losing 73-64.
Madi Williams scored 24 points and Ana Llanusa 15 for the Sooners, who end their season 26-7.

A recap of Monday's action of the 2023 Women's NCAA Tournament includes yet another eight seed upending a top seed.

Miami women shock top-seed Indiana in March Madness

The chase for the perfect March Madness bracket will have to wait another year. Again.
In a men&rsquo;s tournament that saw a 2 and a 4 seed lose on Day 1, only a relative handful of brackets were still intact in the biggest contests when 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson took the floor against Purdue. The Knights&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/no-16-fairleigh-dickinson-stuns-no-1-seed-purdue-in-march-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stunned the top-seeded Boilermakers</a>&nbsp;Friday night, sending the remaining perfect brackets into trash cans everywhere.
On the CBS Sports site, 0.0003% of brackets were perfect through the eight early Friday games, according to Jared Shanker, the network&rsquo;s senior director of digital communications. A few hours later, the network tweeted that &ldquo;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/CBSSports/status/1636900591908818944?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March is for busted brackets</a>&rdquo; in describing the goose egg.
Consider that 98.7% of CBS brackets selected Purdue to defeat FDU while just 0.4% picked FDU to reach the Sweet 16. The network said 38.4% had Purdue in the Final Four and 8.8% had the Boilermakers winning the national championship.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.espn.com/perfect-bracket/2023/mens/28" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No perfection</a>&nbsp;for ESPN&rsquo;s Tournament Challenge bracket game, either; only 22 brackets out of more than 20 million filled out were still perfect earlier Friday and they vanished as the games wrapped up.
Ditto for&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1636912960822992897" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NCAA March Madness</a>. None left, out of unspecified millions.
Victories by double-digit seeds Princeton, Penn State and Furman on Thursday did particular damage. Only 1.4% of ESPN&rsquo;s brackets had all three teams making it out of the first round, and only 0.1% had them surviving the weekend. Fairleigh Dickinson delivered the final blow.
A University of Illinois professor who runs an analytics website said Friday he thinks the transfer portal has hurt some power conference schools in the NCAA Tournament.
Changes brought on by an increasingly active portal have diminished the cohesiveness within some marquee programs, said&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-ncaa-tournament-betting-cc00e2c6133cad5089537b497998533d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sheldon Jacobson, who operates the site BracketOdds.</a>&nbsp;Lower-seeded teams from mid-major conferences are more likely to have a core group of players who have been together three or four years.
Seven No. 15 seeds have won at least one game over the past 11 years, including each of the last three NCAA Tournaments for the first time.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/princeton-stuns-arizona-5955-in-march-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The latest of course, was Princeton</a>&nbsp;over Arizona this week. And&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/pegues-three-gives-no-13-seed-furman-6867-win-over-virginia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 13 Furman topped No. 4 Virginia</a>&nbsp;in another big upset &mdash; even before FDU ousted Purdue.
&ldquo;So although it looks like, &rdquo;Wow, we have these big upsets,&prime; statistically speaking, it is not that unusual,&rdquo; Jacobson said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s not much difference between a five, six or seven and a 10, 11 or 12. Surely, the five, six and seven are going to win more often, but not that much more often statistically speaking.&rdquo;
Jacobson said a day of upsets often leads to a predictable set of results the following day. Much of Friday played out that way, until the FDU-Purdue game.
Looking ahead to the Final Four, Jacobson said the averages indicate at least one of the teams usually comes from outside the top five seeds in each region. Four No. 8s have reached the Final Four, and five No. 11s have made it.
&ldquo;This data says that, yeah, you want one or two No. 1s,&rdquo; Jacobson said &ldquo;You probably want a No. 2 also &mdash; sorry, Arizona &mdash; but after that, you want anything between a three and 11, and it&rsquo;s pretty much of a crapshoot.
&ldquo;All the sports pundits say, &lsquo;I can&rsquo;t imagine any of the ones losing.&rsquo; I guarantee they&rsquo;re going to lose. In fact, I guarantee two of them are going to lose and maybe three before we get to the Final Four.&rdquo;

The chase for the perfect March Madness bracket will have to wait another year. Again.

Zero perfect brackets remaining after March Madness upsets

The women&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament field is set and now the fun begins with 68 teams vying for the national championship and cutting down the nets in Dallas.
There&rsquo;s a new format to March Madness, with two regionals in Seattle and Greenville, South Carolina, instead of the usual four. Here&rsquo;s a look at what could happen over the next few weeks. This guidance will be 100% accurate &mdash; until the first round tips off on Friday.
CHALK RULES
A No. 1 seed has won the national championship the past 10 tournaments and 14 of 15. The only time that didn&rsquo;t happen was in 2011 when coach Gary Blair led Texas A&amp;M to the title as a No. 2 seed. Since 2005, at least two of the No. 1s have made the Final Four every year except for 2016. This year&rsquo;s overwhelming betting favorite is top-ranked and defending national champion South Carolina, the only undefeated team in the tourney.
LACK OF MAJOR UPSETS
There is a feeling that parity continues to find its way into women&rsquo;s basketball with 19 losses by top 10 teams in the AP Top 25 poll to unranked schools. Still, it&rsquo;s hard to pick against the top teams in the tournament as no 14 or 15 seed has ever won a game (the women&rsquo;s tournament was the first to see a 16 seed upset a top seed when Harvard beat Stanford 71-67 in 1998). Two came close last season with Jackson State falling late to LSU and UT Arlington hanging tough with Iowa State.&nbsp;
BEWARE THE 12
No. 12 seeds have had success, just like in the men&rsquo;s bracket the last few seasons, beating some of the 5s. At least one 12 has made it out of the first round in four of the last five tournaments, including two last season.
And now the picks:
GREENVILLE REGION 1
Analysis: South Carolina won&rsquo;t have to leave the state to reach the Final Four if it wins, playing its first two games at home and then traveling 90 minutes to Greenville for the regional. The Gamecocks (32-0) have been tested this season and still found a way to win every game. Dawn Staley&rsquo;s squad is looking to be the 10th team to finish a season unbeaten by winning a national championship. Second-seeded Maryland and No. 4 UCLA both played South Carolina during the season, giving them familiarity if there&rsquo;s a rematch.
Players to watch: Aliyah Boston, South Carolina; Cherita Daugherty, Southern Utah; Diamond Miller, Maryland; Charisma Osborne, UCLA.
Bracket Buster: Sixth-seed Creighton is the team most likely to spoil brackets. Last season as a 10-seed the team made the regional final before falling to South Carolina. Host Notre Dame is missing star Olivia Miles and the third-seeded Irish could fall to the Bluejays.
First-round picks: South Carolina, South Florida, Oklahoma, UCLA, Creighton, Notre Dame, Arizona, Maryland.
Second-round picks: South Carolina, UCLA, Creighton, Maryland.
Regional semifinal picks: South Carolina, Maryland.
Regional champion pick: South Carolina.
GREENVILLE REGION 2
Analysis: Indiana has been the second-best team most of the season behind South Carolina and earned the first No. 1 seed in school history. Led by Mackenzie Holmes in the middle and a dominant defense, the Hoosiers will be looking to reach their first Final Four. There&rsquo;s a lot of star power in the region including Villanova&rsquo;s Maddy Siegrist, LSU&rsquo;s Angel Reese and Utah&rsquo;s Alissa Pili.
Other players to watch: Leigha Brown, Michigan; Kaitlyn Chen, Princeton; Charlisse Leger-Walker, Washington State.
Bracket Buster: UNLV is one of three 30-win teams in the country, yet the Lady Rebels haven&rsquo;t faced many teams as good as Michigan this year. Florida Gulf Coast knocked off Virginia Tech as a 12 seed last season and could do it again this time if they beat Washington State.
First-round picks: Indiana, Oklahoma State, Florida Gulf Coast, Villanova, Michigan, LSU, Princeton, Utah.
Second-round picks: Indiana, Villanova, Michigan, Utah.
Regional semifinal picks: Indiana, Utah.
Regional champion pick: Indiana.
SEATTLE REGION 3
Analysis: No one had a worse string of injuries than UConn this season and yet Geno Auriemma has the Huskies playing their best basketball heading into the tournament. They&rsquo;ve made every Final Four since 2008 and there&rsquo;s no reason to think that streak can&rsquo;t continue if star guard Azzi Fudd keeps getting healthier. Virginia Tech is the one seed and has had a stellar year behind Elizabeth Kitley.
Other players to watch: Ashley Joens, Iowa State; Myah Selland, South Dakota State; Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State.
Bracket Buster: No. 9 seed South Dakota State ran through the Summit League and also beat Louisville and Kansas State this season. The Jackrabbits have enough talent to put a scare into the Hokies in the second round. No. 12 seed Toledo beat Michigan earlier this season and has won its last 16 games. Iowa State could be victim No. 17.
First-round picks: Virginia Tech, South Dakota State, Iowa State, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio State, Baylor, UConn.
Second-round picks: Virginia Tech, Iowa State, North Carolina, UConn.
Regional semifinal picks: Virginia Tech, UConn..
Regional champion pick: UConn.
SEATTLE REGION 4
Analysis: Stanford is in its usual spot as a No. 1 seed but has looked vulnerable this season, struggling on offense at times. The second-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes have had no problem scoring and are one of the hottest teams after winning the Big Ten Tournament behind star Caitlin Clark. No. 4 Texas was picked in the preseason top five before struggling with injuries and fitting transfers in. Vic Schaefer has had a lot of success in March and this could be another one of his great coaching jobs.
Other players to watch: Cameron Brink, Stanford; Rori Harmon, Texas; Ta&rsquo;Niya Latson, Florida State; Hailey Van Lith, Louisville.
Bracket Buster: No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee has won 10 straight games and had an early season victory over Louisville so Colorado should beware. Drake has been playing well lately, sweeping its way to a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title. Louisville has been playing better lately, but needs to be sharp against the 12th-seeded Bulldogs.
First-round picks: Stanford, Gonzaga, Louisville, Texas, Middle Tennessee, Duke, Florida State, Iowa.
Second-round picks: Stanford, Texas, Duke, Iowa.
Regional final picks: Stanford, Iowa.
Regional champion pick: Stanford.
THE FINAL FOUR
Analysis: There should be some familiarity in the Final Four, which will likely see three teams from last season&rsquo;s national semifinals returning. South Carolina will likely face Stanford in a rematch of a November game that the Gamecocks won in overtime while UConn will likely face Indiana.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Pick: South Carolina and UConn will meet again and the Gamecocks will win back-to-back titles.
Analysis: The teams played in February and the Huskies gave the Gamecocks one of their stiffest tests of the season. UConn didn&rsquo;t have Fudd for that game (knee injury). Fudd is back, but she won&rsquo;t be enough for the Huskies to stop the Gamecocks from becoming only the fourth different school to win consecutive titles (USC, UConn and Tennessee).

Here’s a look at what could happen over the next few weeks in the 2023 Women's NCAA Tournament.

Chalk rules in women’s March Madness bracket picks

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

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Colin Castleton is accustomed to being double-teamed every time he touches the ball, so he was pleasantly surprised &mdash; maybe even downright stunned &mdash; when Tennessee opted to guard him with a single defender in the second half.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to take advantage of that,&rdquo; Castleton said.
He did. Castleton scored 20 points, including 16 in the second half, and Florida upended the second-ranked Volunteers 67-54 on Wednesday night.
Kyle Lofton added 14 points for the Gators, who delivered coach Todd Golden his most significant victory in his first season in Gainesville. It was Florida&rsquo;s second Quad 1 win in the last two weeks.
The Volunteers, playing with their highest ranking in four years, lost for the first time in five games. They had won nine of 10.
&ldquo;Our guys are disappointed,&rdquo; Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re better than this, but tonight we weren&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
Tennessee (18-4, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) looked like it had taken control midway through the second half. They outscored Florida by 10 points in the early going to take a six-point lead.
But the Gators (13-9, 6-3) stormed back behind Castleton, who scored 11 of 14 points as Florida rallied. The senior had a dunk, two free throws, a three-point play, a layup and a short jumper &mdash; essentially putting the team on his back down the stretch.
&ldquo;They went small, and I felt like I had a mismatch,&rdquo; Castleton said.
Myreon Jones and Will Richard chipped in nine points apiece for the Gators.
Zakai Ziegler led the Vols with 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Olivier Nkamhoua added 11 points and nine rebounds for the visitors, who also got 11 points and eight boards from Vescovi Santiago.
The Gators were red hot to start the game, making six of their first eight shots &mdash; including all three from 3-point range &mdash; while building a 17-4 advantage. But they quickly cooled against the nation&rsquo;s best defense, missing nine of their next 11 as Tennessee made cut it to 22-21.
The Vols had it going coming out of the locker room, with Ziegler getting into the paint and making things happen. But it was short-lived &mdash; thanks mostly to Castleton.
&ldquo;We gave them a chance to start believing in what they&rsquo;re doing, and they took it,&rdquo; Barnes said.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Tennessee surely will drop a few spots in next week&rsquo;s AP Top 25 college basketball poll.
BIG PICTURE
Tennessee: The Volunteers gave up 10 points in the opening four minutes of the games, a rare sluggish start for the nation&rsquo;s best defense. Tennessee had held four of its first eight SEC opponents scoreless at the first media timeout, roughly the first four minutes of games. It was a sign of things to come.
&ldquo;We kept fighting uphill all night long,&rdquo; Barnes said.
Florida: The Gators are two games into the toughest stretch of their season. Coming off a loss at Kansas State, they have road games against Kentucky and Alabama up next. So to say they needed this one would be an understatement.
&ldquo;It was a desperation game,&rdquo; Castleton said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a tough schedule here and we&rsquo;ve got to win games. We were able to claw and fight.&rdquo;
IN THE HOUSE
Football coach Billy Napier watched the game from a few rows behind Florida&rsquo;s bench alongside his two sons and receiver Ricky Pearsall. Former Florida tennis star Ben Shelton, the NCAA singles champion in 2022, also was in attendance. So was former Gators and NFL quarterback Doug Johnson.
UP NEXT
Tennessee hosts No. 25 Auburn and former coach Bruce Pearl on Saturday.
Florida plays at Kentucky on Saturday. The Gators have lost seven of eight in the series.
NO. 1 PURDUE 80, PENN STATE 60
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Mason Gillis broke the Mackey Arena record by making nine 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 29 points as Purdue beat Penn State.
Gillis went 10 of 14 from the field and 9 of 12 from beyond the arc. Zach Edey added his 18th double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
The Big Ten-leading Boilermakers (22-1, 11-1) have won nine straight overall, six straight in the series and are the only Power Five team with fewer than two losses this season.
Seth Lundy had 18 points to lead the Nittany Lions (14-8, 5-6).
NO. 14 MARQUETTE 73, VILLANOVA 64
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (AP) &mdash; Tyler Kolek scored 20 points and Marquette rallied down the stretch to beat Villanova and maintain a share of the Big East lead.
Kam Jones added 18 points for Marquette (18-5, 10-2), which has won four straight games and nine of 10.
Eric Dixon and Caleb Daniels scored 14 each for Villanova (10-12, 4-7), which committed a season-high 19 turnovers. Brendan Hausen added 12 points.
In a game neither team led by more than six until the final minute, Kolek put Marquette ahead for good at 63-62 by sinking two free throws with 4:32 remaining, starting a 10-0 spurt.
NO. 16 XAVIER 85, NO. 17 PROVIDENCE 83, OT
CINCINNATI (AP) &mdash; Jack Nunge had 23 points and 14 rebounds as Xavier held off Providence in overtime.
Colby Jones and Souley Boum each scored 20 for the Musketeers, who won a first-place showdown in the Big East without injured forward Zach Freemantle.
Noah Locke had 22 points and Ed Croswell added 21 for Providence (17-6, 9-3), which had beaten Xavier three straight times.
A layup by Boum put the Musketeers (18-5, 10-2) ahead 82-79 with 51 seconds remaining in overtime. A layup by Devin Carter cut Xavier&rsquo;s lead to one with 24 seconds left. Boum hit one of two free throws, and Jared Bynum&rsquo;s 3-point attempt from the left corner rimmed out at the buzzer.
NO. 25 AUBURN 94, GEORGIA 73
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Johni Broome scored 19 points and matched a career high with 18 rebounds, Allen Flanigan scored a season-high 22 points, and Auburn beat Georgia.
Wendell Green Jr. added 18 points and six assists and made two 3-pointers during a 17-0 first-half run for the Tigers (17-5, 7-2 Southeastern Conference).
Broome secured his seventh double-double of the season with 2:54 remaining in the first half, then added six points and six rebounds in the second half.
Mardrez McBride led the Bulldogs (14-8, 4-5) with 20 points.

A recap of Wednesday night's action in men's college basketball includes an impressive upset in SEC play from the Gators.

Florida upends No. 2 Tennessee 67-54 behind Colin Castleton

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Cam Shelton banked in a go-ahead runner with 13 seconds left and Loyola Marymount snapped No. 6 Gonzaga&rsquo;s 75-game home winning streak with a 68-67 victory on Thursday night.
The home streak for the Bulldogs (16-4, 5-1 West Coast Conference) was tied with Long Beach State (from 1968-74) for the eighth-longest in Division I history.
Shelton scored 27 points to lead the Lions (14-7, 4-3), who hadn&rsquo;t won in Spokane since 1991 and had lost 25 straight overall to the Zags.
Gonzaga had won 93 straight games against unranked opponents with 69 of those coming at home, and had won its previous 116 WCC games against teams other than Saint Mary&rsquo;s and BYU.
Gonzaga&rsquo;s streak of 36 straight wins in the month of January also ended. Coach Mark Few&rsquo;s Bulldogs had won 11 straight overall, the fourth-best streak in the country, since losing 64-63 to Baylor on Dec. 2.
Jalin Anderson added 15 points and Keli Leaupepe had 11 for the Lions. Loyola Marymount led by as many as nine in the second half and held off Gonzaga&rsquo;s late run.
LMU led 66-59 with 2:55 left after Shelton&rsquo;s 3-pointer, but the Zags scored the next eight points to take 67-66 lead on Drew Timme&rsquo;s free throw with 41 seconds left. With the shot clock running down, Shelton converted a runner from just outside the lane to give the Lions the lead, and Timme&rsquo;s last attempt at a winner was partly blocked by Leaupepe.
Timme led the Zags with 17 points. Nolan Hickman chipped in 12 points and six assists for the Zags, who were coming off a 115-75 win over Portland last Saturday.
Gonzaga struggled from the field, shooting 44.4% overall and going 4 of 14 (28.6%) from 3-point range and 15 of 23 (65.2%) from the free-throw line.
BIG PICTURE
The Lions improved to 2-2 on the road in WCC play.
Gonzaga had won 29 of its last 30 over Loyola Marymount.
UP NEXT
Loyola Marymount: Hosts Portland next Thursday night.
Gonzaga: At Pacific on Saturday night.

Cam Shelton banked in a runner with 13 seconds left and Loyola Marymount snapped Gonzaga’s 75-game home winning streak.

Loyola Marymount ends No. 6 Gonzaga’s 75-game home streak

Over the next week, more than 200 high-school basketball teams and prep programs will travel to Las Vegas to compete in the 2022 Tarkanian Classic. The prep schools will compete from Dec. 16-18, while the high-school teams will play from Dec. 19-22.&nbsp;
Bishop Gorman High School will serve as the event's headquarters, but games will also be played at other local high-school gyms. Every game will be live-streamed on BallerTV.com.
The Tarkanian Classic is NBA-certified, meaning NBA executives and scouts can attend the games and evaluate players in-person. This is one of just three high-school-basketball events that the NBA certified this year, and most of the league has already requested credentials for their talent evaluators.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
23 NBA teams so far have requested credentials for 70+ team scouts for upcoming <a href="https://twitter.com/TarkClassic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TarkClassic</a> This year's Tark is 1 of only 3 HS regular season events that are NBA certified this season - permitting NBA teams to send their scouts <a href="https://twitter.com/FrankieBur?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FrankieBur</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DraftExpress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DraftExpress</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RonMFlores?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RonMFlores</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/krystenpeek?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@krystenpeek</a>
&mdash; Dinos Trigonis (@Trigonis30) <a href="https://twitter.com/Trigonis30/status/1602528535872212992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

For over a decade, the Tarkanian Classic has featured top high-school teams and players. In recent years, top prospects such as Deandre Ayton, LaMelo Ball, Evan Mobley, Lonzo Ball, Jonathan Kuminga, Onyeka Okongwu, Marvin Bagley III and Jaden McDaniels have competed in the Las Vegas tournament.&nbsp;
This year, the event will feature 136 high-school teams from across the nation including host Bishop Gorman (NV), Liberty (NV), Mater Dei (Santa Ana CA), Oakridge (FL), Bishop O'Connell (VA), Rainier Beach (WA), Prestonwood Christian (TX), St. Augustine (CA), Calvary Christian (FL), St. Bernard (CA), Faith Family (TX), St. Raymond (NY), St. Ignatius (OH), West Ranch (CA), Douglass (TN), Durango (NV), Putnam City West (OK), St. Mary's (AZ), Rancho Christian (CA), JSerra (CA), Buchtel (OH), Coronado (NV), Bishop O'Dowd (CA), Crossroads (CA), Sheldon (CA), Kell (GA), Redondo Union (CA), Santa Margarita (CA), Coeur d'Alene (ID), Crean Lutheran (CA), Desert Pines (NV), Alta (UT), Mater Lakes (FL), Clovis West (CA), Monterey Trail (CA), Foothill (NV), Wilson (SC), Constitution (PA), Birmingham (CA), St.Paul (CA), Oakland (CA), Cypress Bay (FL), Bingham (UT), Miami Country Day (FL), Houston Christian (TX), Brentwoood (CA), Hillcrest (CA), Peninsula Catholic (VA), Sandra Day O'Connor (AZ), Valor Christian (CO), Arbor View (NV), San Gabriel Academy (CA), Valley (NV), Coral Glades (FL), Buckeye (AZ), Mother Teresa (Canada), Canyon Springs (NV), Jones (FL), Cheyenne (NV), Layton (UT), Spring Valley (NV), Roosevelt (CA) and Centennial (AZ).&nbsp;
There are also more than 60 prep programs participating including Prolific Prep (CA), SoCal Academy (CA), Dream City Christian National (AZ), Accelerated Prep (CO), Central Pointe Christian (FL), Dynamic Prep (TX), Bella Vista (AZ), NBA Academy I, II &amp; III, SCA Post-Grad (CA), Real Salt Lake (UT), Veritas Prep (CA),&nbsp; Skyline Prep (AZ) and Colorado Prep (CO).&nbsp;

Over the next week, more than 200 high-school teams and prep programs will travel to Vegas to compete in the Tarkanian Classic.

NBA-certified Tarkanian Classic set for this weekend in Las Vegas

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Taylor Mikesell scored 20 of her 25 points in the second half, leading No. 14 Ohio State to an 87-75 victory over No. 5 Tennessee on Tuesday night in the season opener.
Ohio State erased Tennessee&rsquo;s 41-33 halftime lead and outscored the Lady Vols 30-13 in the third quarter. Mikesell powered the Buckeyes&rsquo; surge as they closed the third on a 12-0 run, contributing 10 points during that span.
Reigning Big Ten regular-season champion Ohio State forced 29 turnovers, leading to 37 points. The Buckeyes shot 51% from the field, including 63.3% in the second half.
Mikesell went 4 for 10 on her 3-point attempts. Jacy Sheldon swiped a career-high eight steals and scored 14 points as Ohio State had five players reach double figures.
Jordan Horston led Tennessee with 20 points and Jasmine Powell contributed 10. The Lady Vols shot 48% and held a 40-30 advantage on the glass.
NO. 11 INDIANA 86, VERMONT 49
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Yarden Garzon scored 19 points in her freshman debut, Mackenzie Holmes added 16 points and Indiana rolled over Vermont in a season opener.
Garzon, a 6-foot-3 guard from Ra&rsquo;Anana, Isreal, was 7 of 12 from the floor and 5 of 8 from 3-point range. Holmes made 7 of 9 field goals. Grace Berger, who led the Hoosiers in scoring last season averaging 16.2 points, added 14 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.&nbsp;
Sara Scalia chipped in 11 points and made three 3s for Indiana, which shot 49% overall and hit 12 of 25 from beyond the arc.
Emma Utterback scored 19 points to lead Vermont. Catherine Gilweeto made three 3s and finished with 11 points.&nbsp;

Taylor Mikesell scored 20 of her 25 points in the second half, leading No. 14 Ohio State to an 87-75 victory over No. 5 Tennessee.

Mikesell leads No. 14 Ohio State past No. 5 Tennessee 87-75

In Kansas City, Missouri I had the chance to attend the Hall of Fame Classic, which featured the No. 13 Arkansas Razorbacks, No. 14 Illinois Fighting Illini, Cincinnati Bearcats and Kansas State Wildcats. The event was the stage for a handful of potential NBA and next-level prospects, so I would like to share my thoughts on players who caught my eye.
Kofi Cockburn | Illinois | Center
In his season debut, Kofi Cockburn showed immediately that he&rsquo;s a force to be reckoned with in the post. He had the opposing bigs in foul trouble early and often, and was able to throw down a powerful dunk early, which got the Illinois fans off their feet. Monday night, he posted 18 points, 7 rebounds and a block. He continues to improve his footwork and post moves on the offensive end, but the defensive versatility and mobility questions remain. Cockburn will likely test the NBA Draft waters again in 2022, and he has a chance to be a second-round selection.
Andre Curbelo | Illinois | Guard
After a fairly slow start in the first two games, Andre Curbelo showed again why, when locked in, he can be one of college basketball&rsquo;s most electric point guards. He showed both mental and physical toughness, as he played through some obvious pain in the first half. He isn&rsquo;t the biggest or most physically imposing player &mdash; which can bring some limitations &mdash; but he used his footwork, change-of-speed ability and craftiness to create opportunities for both himself and his teammates. Curbelo needs to cut down on the turnovers and improve as a shooter, but he did hit some smooth pull-up jumpers vs. Cincinnati, and ended with a stat line of 12 points, 5 assists, and 5 turnovers.
Davonte Davis | Arkansas | Guard
Davonte Davis is an athletic combo guard who excels on the defensive end and has shown flashes as both a slasher and shooter. He was averaging 6.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game coming into the contest. He only posted 4 points, 4 rebounds, an assist and a steal Monday, but he made some really nice passes that created good looks for his teammates. The Razorback backcourt is loaded, so it&rsquo;s difficult for any of the guards to have high-volume nights. Still, Davis&rsquo; impact in transition and on the defensive end allow him to flash next-level potential.&nbsp;
Coleman Hawkins | Illinois | Forward
Averaging 14.3 points and 9.3 rebounds entering the contest, Coleman Hawkins displayed tremendous vision and ability as a passer. On the defensive end, he&rsquo;s disciplined and plays with purpose, using his length to contest shots. Listed at 6-foot-10 and 215 pounds, his ability to play both inside and on the perimeter make him a valuable player, one that has flashed next-level potential. He didn&rsquo;t fill up the box score Monday night by posting only two points, but he was still impactful.
Jaylin Williams | Arkansas | Forward
Jaylin Williams is a tough, competitive big man who continues to get better with every game. At 6-foot-10 and 240 pounds, he is a physical force who dominates the boards. While he may not do anything in high volume, he does the important things well. He&rsquo;s a solid interior scorer who is learning to stretch the floor, a great rebounder and a phenomenal passer. Monday night, he only posted 6 points and 8 rebounds in the win, but his impact was felt any time he was on the floor. (Plus, Williams had a solid stat line last week vs. Northern Iowa.)
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Jaylin Williams (6-10, 240) does it all again for the Razorbacks. 11 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks and 1 steal for the sophomore. Continues to show great vision/passing, instincts and toughness. <a href="https://t.co/Xx58P9rFeC">pic.twitter.com/Xx58P9rFeC</a>
&mdash; Derek Murray (@DMurrayHoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/DMurrayHoops/status/1461167599996260355?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Other Notables:
JD Notae | Arkansas | Guard
A quick-twitch guard with terrific speed, JD Notae was again the spark that got the Hogs off and running. He averaged 21.7 points in the first three games, and has a quick trigger as a result. Sometimes, the shot selection is questionable, and the misses can be bad, but he&rsquo;s becoming a tremendous volume scorer.
Jeremiah Davenport | Cincinnati | Guard
With good positional size at 6-foot-6, Jeremiah Davenport has the frame and tough shot-making ability to be a next-level player. He led the Bearcats at 12.5 points per game entering the event, and shot 4-of-8 from deep for a total of 19 points, leading the Bearcats to a big win Monday night.&nbsp;
Stanley Umude | Arkansas | Wing
The South Dakota transfer has played well early this season as part of a busy Razorback backcourt. Stanley Umude has good positional size and strength, allowing him to be effective and score both inside and out. Monday night he was impactful, hitting tough shots and causing multiple turnovers.&nbsp;
Selton Miguel | Kansas State | Guard
After playing with the Angolan Senior National Team, Selton Miguel enters his second season in Manhattan, KS. At 6-foot-4, he is a tough, physical and competitive guard who can impact the game in multiple ways, excelling on the glass and at getting to the rim. With his strong frame, he welcomes contact at the finish point and can be a real impact player on defense. While he&rsquo;s not a 2022 NBA Draft prospect, he&rsquo;s one to monitor as a future professional player. He finished with 14 points and 9 rebounds to go along with an assist, block and steal each.

Derek Murray shares his takeaways from the Hall of Fame Classic, which featured a number of potential NBA prospects.

2022 NBA Draft: Scouting the Hall of Fame Classic

Joining the likes of many successful players before him (such as Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Kevin Love, John Wall and Isaiah Thomas), NBA hopeful and Clemson Tiger alum Aamir Simms is tirelessly grinding at Impact Basketball to prepare for the upcoming 2021 draft.&nbsp;
Working with longtime pro trainer Joe Abunassar, one of the most respected influences in the game, Simms has toiled away in the gym with the scorching Las Vegas heat seeping into the facility, focusing on two areas of his skill set that he believes weren&rsquo;t on display in college: shooting the basketball and defending 1-through-5.
&ldquo;I feel like a part of my game was definitely kinda swept under the rug a little bit 'cause of what I had to adapt to when I was at Clemson, and I wasn't able to showcase as much,&rdquo; Simms told BasketballNews.com in an exclusive phone interview. &ldquo;There was a lot asked of me while I was there, so I had to kinda sacrifice that part. Not that it was a bad thing, but I'm definitely ready to showcase [those skills].
&ldquo;I'm still trying to improve in [my] consistent shooting. At times, throughout my two years as a junior and senior, I had some streaky shooting times, especially at the beginning of the year. As the season went on and progressed, I definitely shot the ball better to raise my percentages... I didn't shoot it as much at school as I wanted, but just being out here and working with Joe, I have more confidence than I ever have [had] in my shot. And going into these workouts, being able to show that and just being able to defend. That's my biggest area of improvement, to show people that I can guard guys that [are] quicker or maybe the same size and faster, so those two areas are just something we've emphasized while I've been here. Guarding guys that's a lot quicker, smaller than me, it's just been really helpful for my hips and my lateral movement.&rdquo;
Simms has been in this position before. In March of last year, he declared for the 2020 NBA Draft, but withdrew his name within a couple of months to return for his senior season with the Tigers -- a decision that he feels good about now looking back.
&ldquo;Last year was tough,&rdquo; Simms said of the pre-draft process. &ldquo;I felt as though, at least in the draft, it came down to picking names out of a hat. They didn't really have guys come work out, they didn't have guys they really interviewed or anything like that. It was over Zoom and whatnot, and it's not the same when it's [not] in person.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I was projected [as a] late-round [pick] in the second, so being able to come back to school and showcase a little bit more of what they'd asked me in my interviews, I think it definitely helped, and I had a good feeling going back to school. I thought I improved in the areas they asked, and just coming out now, I definitely see a difference and it's definitely given me a step ahead of other guys who are coming out for the first time."
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This weekend, Simms is set to be one of 40 participants at the G League Elite Camp in Chicago, which will allow him the chance to prove himself in front of executives, scouts, coaches and notable personnel in the NBA and G League. Standouts from the event will be awarded an opportunity to participate in next week&rsquo;s NBA Draft Combine.
The version we see of Simms today is not the same version of Simms from 2020, nor the same as the Virginia native that took one visit to Clemson and decided to make the university his home for the next four years.&nbsp;
Every season, Simms got better, and molded his craft with his experiences. It&rsquo;s that amount of experience that he claims gives him an edge on inexperienced prospects who need polishing, and will allow him to come in on day one and help a team right away.
&ldquo;A lot of teams don't value a four-year veteran in college as much. That's not really the sexy thing nowadays. But for the teams that do, I definitely think I'll be better at making an impact early 'cause I understand the game a lot better,&rdquo; Simms said. &ldquo;Being at Clemson, we kinda transitioned to an NBA-type offense where there was a lot of motion and you've got to make a read instead of having a set play. We had our plays, but the majority of our offense was motion offense and playing out of the high post and down screens and away screens and curls and everything.&nbsp;
&ldquo;So I think I do have that advantage on the young guys. A lot of guys that go into [the draft] young have got the potential 'cause of their skill set and being able to score, but when it comes to thinking games and the mental game, I think I've got the upperhand on that.&rdquo;
Experience is something you can&rsquo;t teach, but Simms also possesses another unteachable quality, and that&rsquo;s a professional physique. In addition to his lengthy wingspan, he stands at 6-foot-8 and weighs in at 245 pounds, sporting a frame that most rookie players don&rsquo;t have.
&ldquo;There's a lot of switching in the league, and a lot of guys get stuck on bigger opponents, and they just kinda crab dribble down to the rim and dunk the ball. In my workouts that I've been going through, I've been guarding guys two inches, three inches taller than me [and] probably 10 or 20 pounds heavier or just around the same weight, and I think I do a pretty good job of standing 'em up,&rdquo; Simms said. &ldquo;So obviously, someone like Joel Embiid who's got 40 pounds on me, I'm definitely gonna have to try a little harder. But for the most [part], I think I can hold my own against anybody that's in my same weight class or a little bit heavier.&nbsp;
&ldquo;At the end of the day, it's a mental thing. As long as you put your mind to it, you can do it, so I definitely think I can make an immediate impact."
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Simms anticipates going up against more NBA talents when the draft approaches nearer in July. He&rsquo;s looking forward to gaining knowledge and taking tips from whoever comes through Impact and other workouts he&rsquo;s planning on having. At the moment, he&rsquo;s not close with many guys at the next level, meaning this whole college-to-pro ordeal is an adventure.
&ldquo;I'm definitely a lone wolf out here,&rdquo; Simms said.
One of the guys he has a great relationship with is Milwaukee Bucks big man Mamadi Diakite, a high-school teammate of his at Blue Ridge whom Simms battled with for a number of seasons when Clemson faced off against the Virginia Cavaliers. Those matchups helped Simms mature as a player over the years, as did the lessons he took from his elder Tigers.
Donte Grantham, Gabe DeVoe, Elijah Thomas, Marcquise Reed, Shelton Mitchell and David Skara all taught him what it meant to play in the vaunted ACC. Though coaches knew he had the chops to do a little bit of everything, Simms primarily set screens and pick-and-popped, while his teammates did the facilitating and distributing during his freshman year.&nbsp;
Clemson&rsquo;s staff knew that he had a knack for backdoor finds and a high-basketball acumen, the team just didn&rsquo;t require him to bring that to the table in his early seasons. However, with each season, his responsibilities increased, as did his statistical output. Once he was given free reign to expand his game in his junior and senior years, he was able to produce the numbers to confirm his contributions. Simms averaged 13.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and a steal in over 30 minutes per game in his upperclassmen seasons.
Ask him what he got better at from year one to year four, and Simms will tell you: everything.
&ldquo;Whether it was putting the ball on the floor, half-court or full-court, shooting the ball in many different actions (pick-and-pop, catch-and-shoot or off down screens), and just my toughness,&rdquo; Simms said. &ldquo;I came in as a pretty tough kid [and] I'm pretty competitive naturally, but going against Eli and other greats of the ACC at the 5 and 4, that time I was there, it improved my toughness and the physical component that I think other people lack at times.&nbsp;
&ldquo;And just being able to bring it every night. I just thought I saw a huge improvement in that. My defense improved every year, being able to guard different guys, [as well as] being able to shoot and kinda make plays from the top of the key or the elbow was just a huge improvement I saw... Just from the first day I was there, to my last, the environment, the atmosphere did nothing but [help me] grow and progress in my four years. It taught me a lot of life lessons, and the doors that opened in my four years was just unbelievable and definitely unexpected. That's a place, if you really buy into [it] and trust and give it your all, it's gonna set you up for future endeavors for the rest of your life... I would definitely say my four years at Clemson was nothing short of amazing.&rdquo;
There wasn&rsquo;t a single summer where Simms took a vacation in the offseason. He&rsquo;d stay in the gym, relentlessly working on his perimeter shooting with Clemson assistants Steve Smith, Antonio Reynolds Dean and Dick Bender. He got as many reps up as possible, until his "arms fell off&rdquo; to get his muscle memory down on his jumpers.&nbsp;
While Simms had a fair share of outstanding performances with the school, none compare to what happened in his third season at Clemson. In mid-January 2020, the Tigers knocked off the North Carolina Tar Heels in Raleigh for the first time in program history in 60 meetings. The following game three days later, Clemson returned home and took down the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils in front of a raucous crowd for&nbsp; Brad Brownell's record-setting 178th win as head coach. It was the first time the men&rsquo;s basketball team defeated both schools since 1995-96.&nbsp;
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Simms scored 20-plus points and nabbed 8-plus rebounds in back-to-back games as a major part of that, among the stat-sheet filling he did in those consecutive wins.
&ldquo;I just felt like I was just on another level in that time frame,&rdquo; Simms said. &ldquo;Performing the way that I did for my team and my school is just something I won't forget, being able to do what we did at UNC and knocking them off at home for the first time, and then turn [it] around beating Duke, who at the time was ranked third in the country. Beating those schools for the first time back-to-back in almost 20 years was just unbelievable... I felt as though I always had the upper hand. Those two games alone, I think, stand out for themselves."
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The body of work Simms had at Clemson speaks for itself. He leaves behind a decorated career that saw him make two All-ACC teams, win the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award as the top scholar-athlete in the conference and become just the fourth player in the program&rsquo;s history to record over 1,000 points, 600 rebounds, 150 assists, 75 steals and 75 blocks.&nbsp;
What Simms accomplished, he admits he won&rsquo;t appreciate fully until down the road. He&rsquo;s had conversations with his parents about the success he had as a Tiger, and everybody is proud. But right now is a time to focus on the next chapter, and that&rsquo;s all he&rsquo;s zoned in on.
Though he had to adapt in college to what the team asked of him, Simms considers himself a tweener 4 with an ability to play as an undersized 5. He does feel that he&rsquo;ll be able to play the 3 as he sharpens his skill set further in the pros. He models his game after four NBA guys: Jae Crowder, Paul Millsap, Al Horford and Tobias Harris. Simms likens their physique and capabilities to his: scoring at all three levels and providing versatility. They can put it on the floor, face-up, play from the block and catch-and-shoot.
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Along with that set of skills, Simms has the determination to prove his worth in the pros.
&ldquo;Since I've been at Clemson or since I've come out of school, I've been ranked in all these other things, but I've always felt as though my game was underappreciated,&rdquo; Simms said. &ldquo;So I think going into it, being able to be an older guy both still with a great skill set and understanding the game or being able to adapt to it, it's kinda the thing that separates me from a lot of guys.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I'm not just a shooter on the perimeter. I'm not just a good passer. I'm an all-around player, I think, and that's something I think that separates me. I'm not a one-dimensional guy. I think there are many attributes to my game that people have yet to see because of my [adaptation] at Clemson. But I think coming out, once I get into this Combine, I'll really get myself going. A lot of people are gonna see why I say what I say, and that's just something I think that separates myself is being able to adapt to the game while being an older guy who's still kinda young and affecting the game in many ways that most people don't really see."
His motivation isn&rsquo;t just that, either. It&rsquo;s about his future, his family&rsquo;s future and others. Minoring in Nonprofit Leadership, Simms understands that there are bigger things than the game of basketball, and those philanthropic moments he desires to create will ultimately stem from the career path he&rsquo;s chosen.
&ldquo;Basketball is not the only thing that inspires me in life. Helping others is a huge thing, and I know a great way to do that is by playing basketball, making the most out of what I can with my time there and then being set up to be able to help others -- whether it's in this country or others, being able to help people who need it more than I do,&rdquo; Simms said.
&ldquo;Looking at guys like Harrison Barnes and Jimmy Butler and other guys who are deeply involved in their community, that's something that pushes me. They just kinda go hand-in-hand with basketball and that's a huge passion and motivation for me. So I can work my butt off on the court, so when I'm off the court, I can help people who need it more than I do."

Spencer Davies speaks with Aamir Simms about his time at Clemson, the skills he's looking to showcase in the pros and more.

Aamir Simms eager to exhibit more of his game at the next level

Each day, BasketballNews.com scours #NBATwitter to bring you the best tweets from the previous day. Some are insightful, some are just hilarious (so we had to include them).
Without further ado, here are the tweets of the day for January 25, 2021.
Greek Freak Asleep 
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Did Giannis just get called for a 10-second free throw violation?? That's gotta be the first one in AGES!!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FearTheDeer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FearTheDeer</a>
&mdash; Sully Akbari (@SullySays__) <a href="https://twitter.com/SullySays__/status/1353543550114398208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2021</a></blockquote>
Concentration is one thing, but there is a thing as too much focus on the goal at hand. Classic case of overthinking, which explains the ghastly 58.5 percent at the charity stripe.
In the words of the great Wes Mantooth... 
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me: lebron james and sue bird winning championships in year 17 is incredible. they're ageless. what an incredible accomplishment. longevity should be celebrated. also me: tom brady retire bitch
&mdash; Matt Ellentuck (@mellentuck) <a href="https://twitter.com/mellentuck/status/1353476781848862726?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2021</a></blockquote>
Dear TB12: "Deep down in my stomach, with every inch of me, I pure, straight hate you! But God damn it, do I respect you!"
Halipuppy
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My son!💛 <a href="https://t.co/jn6iIdZMZO">https://t.co/jn6iIdZMZO</a>
&mdash; Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) <a href="https://twitter.com/TyHaliburton22/status/1353076687206932480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2021</a></blockquote>
That doggo is gonna learn how to anticipate where that tennis ball is going in less than a month.
Love and Basketball 
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Quarantine has allowed us to pursue side hustles we didn&rsquo;t know we had...me included. 🤓 That being said, check out these sneaker/ball inspired greeting cards. Perfect for those couples who find themselves in situationships and need some clarity for an upcoming holiday...🙄 <a href="https://t.co/pGaeMYB3zD">pic.twitter.com/pGaeMYB3zD</a>
&mdash; Zharita Sese (@zharitamay) <a href="https://twitter.com/zharitamay/status/1353199984791924737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2021</a></blockquote>
In the 28 years I've been on this planet, the only time I've celebrated Valentine's Day was in my elementary school classroom, and these would have been at the top of my list even as a kid.
Abort Mission 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
when you see your friend flirting with their ex at the party <a href="https://t.co/l9UHJC325M">https://t.co/l9UHJC325M</a>
&mdash; Molly Morrison (@mollyhannahm) <a href="https://twitter.com/mollyhannahm/status/1353189484515495940?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2021</a></blockquote>
"Why don't we go see what's going on over here," you said, knowingly dragging your friend to the opposite side of the house.
Who Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea? 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
this week's mailbag is going to be special, let me tell ya <a href="https://t.co/wvQSo4TndE">pic.twitter.com/wvQSo4TndE</a>
&mdash; Orange is the New Openly Black (@NekiasNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1352986280230055937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2021</a></blockquote>
Send us your NBA comparison for the Eugene H. Krabs vs. Sheldon J. Plankton series. I want to know.
DeMar DeFROzan 
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open for a surprise <a href="https://t.co/9Czc5AFyew">pic.twitter.com/9Czc5AFyew</a>
&mdash; din (@klooowry) <a href="https://twitter.com/klooowry/status/1352740706759172096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2021</a></blockquote>
That's what you call a max vert.
I'm Here, Too 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Kawhi Leonard had 34 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 0 turnovers today. It's only the 10th time in NBA history a player has recorded at least 34-9-8 with 0 turnovers, and the first since Nikola Jokic in October 2018. Clyde Drexler is the only player to ever do it twice.
&mdash; Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) <a href="https://twitter.com/FlyByKnite/status/1353487928048029696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2021</a></blockquote>
Paul George has been getting all the hype, but Kawhi is just quietly ho-humming along with his own 50-40-90 season.
Top of the Line 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Current NBA league leaders w/ at least 10 GP. PPG &mdash; Beal (34.9) RPG &mdash; Drummond (15.1) APG &mdash; Harden (11.0) SPG &mdash; L. Nance (2.4) BPG &mdash; M. Turner (4.1) MPG &mdash; Harden &amp; Sabonis (38.2) PER &mdash; Jokic (31.3) FG% &mdash; R. Holmes (67.7%) 3P% &mdash; Caruso (56.7%) FT% &mdash; Redick (25-for-25, 100%)
&mdash; J.E. Skeets (@jeskeets) <a href="https://twitter.com/jeskeets/status/1353334506745421825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2021</a></blockquote>
From a diehard Akron Zip, shout out to MAC alum and former Bowling Green State University Falcons standout Richaun Holmes. Though I still don't know what the Sacramento Kings are, I do know that dude brings energy and hustle on a nightly basis.
Crispy 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Portland, Oregon. Tomorrow we feast on FREE <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/McNuggets?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#McNuggets</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/Dame_Lillard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Dame_Lillard</a> gets us to 100 points and once again it&rsquo;s a GREAT day to be a blazer fan <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/McNuggets?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#McNuggets</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RipCity?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RipCity</a> <a href="https://t.co/6aJiIARYkP">pic.twitter.com/6aJiIARYkP</a>
&mdash; Did Blazers Get McNuggets? (@BlazerMcNuggets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlazerMcNuggets/status/1353567037918826496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2021</a></blockquote>
I'm sorry, I can't find the greatest caption for this one because I keep humming the "Bolt 24" commercial. I blame you, Dame.
And That's What's Up 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
&ldquo;Defence is cool. Defence is neat. Yo who clamped down Brogdon? His name is Fredderick Edmund VanVleet.&rdquo; <a href="https://t.co/RzosCXpe9c">pic.twitter.com/RzosCXpe9c</a>
&mdash; Mya (@matthomasburner) <a href="https://twitter.com/matthomasburner/status/1353562819224956928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2021</a></blockquote>
Look who's inching back up the standings...*eyes emoji*
See a tweet that should be featured in tomorrow's Tweet of the Day piece? Send it to <a href="https://twitter.com/kelsea_lately" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@kelsea_lately</a>.

Every day, our staff scours #NBATwitter to find the best posts. Here are the tweets of the day for Jan. 25, 2021.