Golden Gophers

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Zakai Zeigler scored 12 points, including a key 3 late in the second half as No. 7 Tennessee held off No. 13 Maryland 56-53 Sunday in a Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational matchup.
Tennessee (9-1) led by as many as 18 points in the first half before Maryland pulled within two points in the final minutes.
Tyreke Key scored nine points and Julian Phillips had six points and 10 rebounds for the Volunteers. Tennessee began the game allowing just 51.2 points per game, third fewest in the nation.
Jahmir Young scored 18 points while Hakim Hart and Donta Scott had nine apiece for Maryland (8-2), which has lost two straight.
Down by 16 in the second half, Maryland unveiled a full-court press and forced three turnovers during a 12-0 run.
NO. 20 IOWA STATE 77, MCNEESE STATE 40
AMES, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Aljaz Kunc scored 21 points and Iowa State broke away in the second half to beat McNeese State.
Jaren Holmes added 17 points for the Cyclones (8-2) and Gabe Kalscheur scored 15.
Ahead 33-24 at the break, Iowa State scored the first 15 points of the second half. McNeese (2-7) committed 10 turnovers in the first eight minutes of the period, leading to 13 points for the Cyclones.
Zach Scott and Trae English each scored eight points for McNeese, which finished with 30 turnovers.
NO. 23 MISSISSIPPI STATE 69, MINNESOTA 51
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Tolu Smith scored 20 points to lead a balanced offense that complemented Mississippi State&rsquo;s smothering defense in a victory over Minnesota to say undefeated.
Mississippi State (9-0) is one of seven Division I programs still unbeaten.
The Bulldogs held the Gophers (4-6) to 28.8% shooting and a season-low in points.
Shakeel Moore scored 17 points for the Bulldogs, while Cameron Matthews added 11 and D.J. Jeffries scored 10.
Sophomore Dawson Garcia led Minnesota with 20 points and Joshua Ola-Joseph added 9.&nbsp;

A recap of Sunday's men's college basketball slate includes a tough battle between two top-15 teams.

No. 7 Tennessee holds off No. 13 Maryland 56-53

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Iowa has had a first team All-American in three consecutive seasons, two for Luka Garza and one for Keegan Murray, raising the natural question about who the next star will be for the Hawkeyes and how quickly he can emerge.
Kris Murray, predictably, has everyone who follows the program staring straight at him.
The third-year forward has the sleek frame at 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds, the unflappable demeanor on the court and the track record of sharp improvement after increasing his scoring average by more than nine additional points per game.
But the tendency for comparison is unavoidable for the human brain, never more in the analysis of sports, and the fact that Kris Murray is Keegan Murray&rsquo;s identical twin brother will hover over him as long as he puts on a Hawkeyes uniform.
&ldquo;If he didn&rsquo;t look the same as me, we probably wouldn&rsquo;t be having this conversation,&rdquo; Kris Murray said at Big Ten media day in Minneapolis. &ldquo;Nobody expected Keegan to make the jump he did when Luka left. I think that&rsquo;s kind of the big difference. We have a really balanced team this year.&rdquo;
Keegan Murray, who averaged 23.5 points to lead the conference last season, left Iowa after his sophomore year to enter the NBA draft. He was the fourth overall pick by Sacramento.
&ldquo;It was a good thing having Keegan in every single way, so I&rsquo;m not taking away anything from him,&rdquo; sixth-year reserve Connor McCaffery said. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s a lot of shots that were in that lineup that you have to make up. So now it&rsquo;s different guys coming in, every day in practice.&rdquo;
One look across the Big Ten this fall reveals a trend of departed stars, rosters still in a rather awkward state caused by the eligibility waiver for the pandemic season, the relaxed rules around transfers playing right away and, as always, the allure of an NBA career.
Only eight of the top 25 scorers in the conference in 2021-22 returned to their teams. Just nine of the top 25 most-used players in terms of minutes per game are back.
There are some established standouts on the consensus title contenders like Indiana&rsquo;s Trayce Jackson-Davis, Michigan&rsquo;s Hunter Dickinson and Purdue&rsquo;s Zach Edey who will headline every game they play in 2022-23, but there is a wide-open stage in the league for less-heralded players like Kris Murray, Wisconsin&rsquo;s Tyler Wahl or Rutgers&rsquo; Cliff Omoruyi to step up onto it.
The Big Ten had three top-10 draft picks, with Keegan Murray, Purdue&rsquo;s Jaden Ivey (No. 5) and Wisconsin&rsquo;s Johnny Davis (No. 10). Seven other players were drafted, including two each from Ohio State (Malaki Branham and E.J. Liddell) and Michigan (Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate).
The transfer portal, of course, had exits around the conference with potential instant-impact arrivals such as Michigan&rsquo;s Jaelen Llewellyn (Princeton), Minnesota&rsquo;s Dawson Garcia (North Carolina) and Illinois&rsquo; Terrence Shannon Jr. (Texas Tech).
But the Big Ten has long been shaped by a core of established head coaches who have remained as committed as they can be in this era to running developmental programs.
Michigan State&rsquo;s Tom Izzo lost his top three scorers from last season but declined to pursue any transfer replacements &mdash; even with a nonconference schedule he called &ldquo;the most brutal&rdquo; he&rsquo;s ever had. The Spartans play Gonzaga, Kentucky, Villanova and Notre Dame, plus a trip to Oregon for the Phil Knight Invitational that matches them up against Alabama and likely two other tough opponents depending on how the bracket unfolds.
&ldquo;I choose the route I choose. I stand behind it,&rdquo; Izzo said. &ldquo;Chemistry, camaraderie, culture, loyalty are all really, really important to me. It&rsquo;s worked. New era? Maybe it won&rsquo;t work. But I like where we are right now.&rdquo;
Established coaches who have produced consistent success have more of a latitude to be patient, to be sure. Purdue&rsquo;s Matt Painter, Wisconsin&rsquo;s Greg Gard and Iowa&rsquo;s Fran McCaffery have all followed a similar philosophy. Ohio State&rsquo;s Chris Holtmann will lean on freshmen as much as ever, with prized rookies Bruce Thornton, Brice Sensabaugh, Roddy Gayle Jr., Felix Okpara and Bowen Hardman putting the Buckeyes at the top of just about all the Big Ten recruiting rankings.
This season, then, ought to serve as a test case of sorts for several of the conference&rsquo;s top teams as they put the value of stability up against some of the other powerhouse programs across the country who might be relying more on game-ready transfers.
&ldquo;We all make jumps year after year,&rdquo; Kris Murray said. &ldquo;The thing about Iowa basketball is we&rsquo;re always improving.&rdquo;

One look across the Big Ten this fall reveals a trend of departed stars, but there are more players set to shine this season.

Next wave of Big Ten stars primed to shine after many exits

NEW YORK&nbsp;&ndash; The NBA G League today announced the field of&nbsp;40 prospects for NBA Draft 2021 presented by State Farm&reg;&nbsp; who will attend the 2021 NBA G League Elite Camp, which will take place June 19-21 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
The 2021 NBA G League Elite Camp gives players an opportunity to showcase their skills in front of NBA and NBA G League scouts, coaches and front-office executives by playing in five-on-five games and participating in strength and agility drills throughout the three-day event.
A select number of players from the NBA G League Elite Camp will be invited to participate in the 2021 NBA Draft Combine based on their performance.&nbsp; The NBA Draft Combine will be held June 21-27 at Wintrust Arena and the Marriott Marquis in Chicago.
Below is a list of attendees for the 2021 NBA G League Elite Camp*.
<table style="width: 95.1767%;" width="510">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 179.362%;" colspan="2" width="510">NBA Draft-Eligible Players (College/Club)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Alston Jr., Derrick (Boise State)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Koprivica, Balsa (Florida State)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Aluma, Keve (Virginia Tech)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Lawson, A.J. (South Carolina)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Alvarado, Jose (Georgia Tech)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Liddell, E.J. (Ohio State)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Begarin, Juhann (Paris, France)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">McClung, Mac (Texas Tech)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Brown, Chaundee (Michigan)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">McLaughlin, JaQuori (UCSB)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Burns, Jordan (Colgate)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Mitchell, Matt (San Diego State)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Carr, Marcus (Minnesota)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Nembhard, RJ (TCU)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Carton, DJ (Marquette)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Omoruyi, Eugene (Oregon)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Cisse, Moussa (Memphis)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Onu, E.J. (Shawnee State)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Cockburn, Kofi (Illinois)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Pippen Jr., Scotty (Vanderbilt)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">da Silva, Oscar (Stanford)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Robinson Jr., Orlando (Fresno State)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Days, Darius (LSU)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Simms, Aamir (Clemson)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Dickinson, Hunter (Michigan)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Smart, Javonte (LSU)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Garcia, Dawson (Marquette)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Smith, Mike (Michigan)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Garrett, Marcus (Kansas)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Stewart Jr., D.J. (Mississippi State)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Guo, Haowen (Shanghai, China)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Teague, MaCio (Baylor)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Huff, Jay (Virginia)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Walker, M.J. (Florida State)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Jarreau, DeJon (Houston)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Washington Jr., Duane (Ohio State)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Jones, Carlik (Louisville)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Wiggins, Aaron (Maryland)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 49.971%;" width="240">Jones, DeVante (Coastal Carolina)</td>
<td style="width: 129.391%;" width="270">Wilson, Jalen (Kansas)</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

The NBA G League announced the field of 40 prospects for NBA Draft 2021 who will attend the NBA G League Elite Camp, which will take place June 19-21 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.