Wildcats

Gregg Popovich placed his left thumb on the inside of his right wrist, paused for a couple of moments and then confirmed that, yes, he has a pulse.
It was also an indication when asked that yes, he is thinking about Victor Wembanyama.
There are very specific rules that teams must follow right now when it comes to mentioning the name of the 7-foot-3 French phenom with big-man height and elite guard skills who will be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. Essentially, since the 19-year-old is not officially in the draft yet, they can&rsquo;t mention him.
So they don&rsquo;t. And they don&rsquo;t have to, either. Everyone knows what the teams who&rsquo;ll be in the NBA lottery next month are hoping to have happen when those 14 ping-pong balls go into a hopper and determine the future for Wembanyama and the team that&rsquo;s lucky enough to draft him.
&ldquo;If I have a pulse and I&rsquo;m in basketball, I&rsquo;m probably going to think about the ping-pong balls or the lottery, I guess. I can do that, right? It&rsquo;s not against the rules,&rdquo; said Popovich, the San Antonio coach and all-time NBA wins leader. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t talk about any players or anything, I guess. But I&rsquo;m alive. I have ears, and I see TV. There&rsquo;s a lottery, yes. I&rsquo;ve thought about it. Duh.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Duh&rdquo; would also be the appropriate answer when the lottery winner gets asked what they&rsquo;ll do with the No. 1 pick. There is no debate. Wembanyama is the pick. A team that was really bad this season is probably going to get really good really fast.
They were woeful for Wemby. Now they&rsquo;re waiting for Wemby.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a freak,&rdquo; soon-to-be Hall of Fame inductee Dirk Nowitzki said. &ldquo;I mean, unbelievable. You always think you&rsquo;ve seen it all during your life and your career and history of the league, and then somebody else comes along. Kevin Durant comes along, a 7-foot-2 two-guard. Now we have a 7-foot-4 two-guard. &hellip; This kid is unbelievable.&rdquo;
Playing for the Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92, Wembanyama leads the French league with averages of 21.3 points. 9.9 rebounds and 3.1 blocks. He makes going viral an everyday thing; his latest break-the-Internet moment was when he took a 3-pointer, missed it short, followed the shot and slammed it home in one motion, completely unbothered by the players who were in his way.
&ldquo;Yeah, I&rsquo;ve seen him,&rdquo; Houston forward Jabari Smith Jr. said. &ldquo;Yeah, he&rsquo;s a problem.&rdquo;
The teams with the three worst records this season &mdash; Detroit, Houston and San Antonio &mdash; have the best odds of winning the lottery, 14% apiece. Detroit got here by having its worst season in more than 40 years. Houston has now had back-to-back seasons of 60 losses. San Antonio had its third-worst season ever.
They were never in the playoff race, though never drew any public scorn from the NBA office for trying to tank with hopes of improving draft odds, either &mdash; unlike Dallas, which faces a league investigation now for giving up on its play-in tournament chances with two games remaining. The team that wins the lottery will say it was all worth it. The others will feel at least some pang of disappointment, whether they say it or not.
&ldquo;Talent-wise, I think he&rsquo;s something that we&rsquo;ve never seen before,&rdquo; said Tony Parker, the former Spurs guard who&rsquo;ll be going into the Hall of Fame later this year &mdash; and owned the team that Wembanyama played for in France last season.
It&rsquo;s not just Wembanyama who will be coveted at this draft, though he is far and away the top prospect. This shapes up as a loaded draft at the top with G League Ignite standout Scoot Henderson and Alabama&rsquo;s Brandon Miller expected to be the second and third picks in some order. It&rsquo;s conceivable that in any other year, they would be vying to be picked first.
&ldquo;Looks good to me,&rdquo; Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said of the top of the draft class. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s legal or not legal to say. The very top of (the draft) is very impactful.&rdquo;
Most experts would agree that Henderson and Miller are more than consolation picks. Teams that lands one of them should also get better, and that&rsquo;s why no team is betting it all on the lottery.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not really worried about where the ball drops,&rdquo; Detroit general manager Troy Weaver said. &ldquo;Would I celebrate with everybody? Absolutely, but I don&rsquo;t walk around like that.&rdquo;
Wembanyama &mdash; who keeps a relatively low public profile, rarely doing even postgame interviews despite worldwide interest in his every move &mdash; knows he captured the league&rsquo;s attention long ago. LeBron James respectfully called him an alien last fall, Durant raves about Wembanyama&rsquo;s game and French center Rudy Gobert said he knew at least three years ago that the teenager would be an enormous star.
Even Giannis Antetokounmpo marvels at Wembanyama, predicting he could be &ldquo;one of the best to play this game.&rdquo;
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to get ready for this kid,&rdquo; Antetokounmpo said.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s cool to see Giannis saying this stuff,&rdquo; Wembanyama said when he sat down with the NBA&rsquo;s social media team a few weeks ago and was shown the clip of Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s comments. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s probably like my favorite player.&rdquo;
Paolo Banchero was the No. 1 pick last year. He entered the league with massive expectations and delivered; he&rsquo;s the frontrunner to win rookie of the year after a strong opening season with the Orlando Magic. And he knows what Wembanyama will go through &ndash; on some level, anyway.
&ldquo;His hype is a lot bigger than my hype,&rdquo; said Banchero, who led Duke to the Final Four in his only year in college. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to have it probably worse than I did, but I&rsquo;d tell him to just enjoy it. I&rsquo;m sure he&rsquo;s dreamed of this for a while and a lot comes with it, but it&rsquo;s also a lot that you gain from it, a lot of good things as well. I&rsquo;d tell him embrace it all and shoot, have fun. It&rsquo;s going to be a dream come true for him.&rdquo;
A dream come true for the lucky team, too. And answers start coming soon. The draft lottery is May 16, the same day that Wembanyama&rsquo;s French season is scheduled to end. The draft is June 22. Summer league starts in early July; anticipation of Wembanyama playing in Las Vegas again after two ballyhooed games there this past fall is already building. He intends to play in the Basketball World Cup for France starting in August. And then his rookie season starts in October.
For one team, all the losing this season will be quickly forgotten, based on how four ping-pong balls land.
&ldquo;This can be his league,&rdquo; Nowitzki said, &ldquo;for a long, long time.&rdquo;
___
AP Sports Writers Kristie Rieken in Houston, Schuyler Dixon in Dallas, Noah Trister in Washington, Larry Lage in Detroit and Michael Marot in Indianapolis, along with Associated Press Writer Raul Dominguez in San Antonio, contributed to this story.

Playing for the Metropolitans 92, Wembanyama leads the French league with averages of 21.3 points. 9.9 rebounds and 3.1 blocks.

The losing is done, and teams are now waiting for Wembanyama

WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; First lady Jill Biden said Monday that she wants the defeated Iowa women&rsquo;s basketball team to be invited to the White House in addition to the national title winner Louisiana State University. She watched LSU&rsquo;s 102-85 victory over Iowa from the stands on Sunday night.
Biden, speaking at the Colorado state capital in Denver, praised Iowa&rsquo;s sportsmanship and congratulated both teams on their performance.
&ldquo;I know we&rsquo;ll have the champions come to the White House, we always do. So, we hope LSU will come,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But, you know, I&rsquo;m going to tell Joe I think Iowa should come, too, because they played such a good game.&rdquo;
The White House didn&rsquo;t immediately respond to a request for comment about whether President Joe Biden would also extend a White House invite to Iowa &mdash; and whether it would be a joint visit with LSU or a separate engagement.
Following LSU&rsquo;s victory, Tigers coach Kim Mulkey said she would go to the White House if the team was invited.
LSU star Angel Reese tweeted a link to a story on Jill Biden&rsquo;s remarks on Monday. &ldquo; A JOKE,&rdquo; she wrote, along with three rolling-on-floor-laughing emojis.
Reese &mdash; the Final Four&rsquo;s Most Outstanding Player &mdash; has gotten a lot of attention on social media during the past 24 hours, ever since she waved her hand in front of her face while staring down Iowa star Caitlin Clark in the final moments of LSU&rsquo;s win, then pointed toward her finger as if to say a ring was coming.&nbsp;
Clark set the record for points scored in an NCAA Tournament with 191 in six games. If she saw Reese&rsquo;s gestures, Clark didn&rsquo;t seem concerned about them.
Social media lit up in the aftermath, with some believing it was trash talk that&rsquo;s just part of the game while others condemned her for lacking grace in victory. Reese was unapologetic.
&ldquo;All year, I was critiqued about who I was,&rdquo; Reese said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t fit in a box that y&rsquo;all want me to be in. I&rsquo;m too hood. I&rsquo;m too ghetto. But when other people do it, y&rsquo;all say nothing. So this was for the girls that look like me, that&rsquo;s going to speak up on what they believe in. It&rsquo;s unapologetically you.&rdquo;
Reese is Black while Clark is white.
Clark, the scoring sensation who was the first with consecutive 40-point games in an NCAA Tournament, made a similar face-waving gesture to no one in particular during Iowa&rsquo;s Elite Eight victory over Louisville.
Iowa did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the invitation.
In her remarks, Biden also marveled at how far women&rsquo;s sports in the U.S. have come since Title IX in 1972 gave women equal rights in sports at schools that receive federal funding.
&ldquo;It was so exciting, wasn&rsquo;t it,&rdquo; the first lady said. &ldquo;It was such a great game. I&rsquo;m old enough that I remember when we got Title IX. We fought so hard, right? We fought so hard. And look at where women&rsquo;s sports have come today.&rdquo;&nbsp;
___
AP Sports Writers David Brandt, Schuyler Dixon and Eric Olson contributed to this story.

First lady Jill Biden wants the defeated Iowa women’s basketball team to be invited to the White House in addition to champion LSU.

Jill Biden wants champions LSU — and Iowa — at White House

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Miller scored 24 points and Mark Sears made seven of eight free throws over the final 1:04 to help No. 2 Alabama top Arkansas 86-83 on Saturday.
Miller delivered his second straight huge game for the Crimson Tide (25-4, 15-1 Southeastern Conference) since police alleged in courtroom testimony that he brought a gun to former teammate Darius Miles, who is charged with capital murder in a fatal shooting.
The week&rsquo;s details cast a different light on Miller&rsquo;s regular pregame introduction, which is a Tide staffer giving him a pat down. Coach Nate Oats said after the game that intro for Miller is now over.
Fellow freshman Nick Smith Jr. of Arkansas (19-10, 8-8), another potential NBA draft lottery pick who helped keep the Razorbacks in it with a late 3-pointer, scored 24 points. Davonte Davis added 21 points for Arkansas, Council scored 20, and the rest of the team combined for 18 points.
Jahvon Quinerly had 16 points and seven assists for the Tide, and Noah Clowney had 10 points and 13 rebounds.
NO. 1 HOUSTON 76, EAST CAROLINA 57
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Marcus Sasser scored 22 points to help Houston clinch outright possession of the American Athletic Conference regular-season title.
Tramon Mark added 20 points for the Cougars (27-2, 15-1), while J&rsquo;Wan Roberts had 17 points and 12 rebounds in Houston&rsquo;s ninth straight victory.
East Carolina (14-14, 5-10) had an energetic home crowd for the first-ever visit from a No. 1-ranked team to Minges Coliseum, as well as the program&rsquo;s first game against a top-ranked opponent in more than 31 years. But the Cougars never trailed and led for all but 56 seconds. Ezra Ausar scored 15 points to lead the Pirates.
NO. 3 KANSAS 76, WEST VIRGINIA 74
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Dajuan Harris was one point shy of a career high, scoring 17 points to help lift Kansas over West Virginia.
The Jayhawks&rsquo; stifling defense kept West Virginia from attempting a shot in the final 20 seconds. The Mountaineers&rsquo; Joe Toussaint traveled on their final possession of the game. Baskets by K.J. Adams and Kevin McCullar extended the Jayhawks&rsquo; lead to 75-68 late as they grinded out the victory.
Harris led Kansas (24-5, 12-4 Big 12) with 7-of-9 shooting from the field and had six assists and six steals.
Erik Stevenson led West Virginia (16-13, 5-11) with 23 points. Tre Mitchell scored 20, Kedrian Johnson scored 15 and Emmitt Mathews Jr. had 13.
NO. 17 INDIANA 79, NO. 5 PURDUE 71
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Hood-Schifino scored a career-high 35 points and Trey Galloway added 10 of his 13 in the second half to lead Indiana over Purdue.
The Hoosiers (20-9, 11-7 Big Ten) snapped a seven-game losing streak in West Lafayette and pulled their first season sweep in this bitter rivalry since 2012-13.
Zach Edey led the Boilermakers with 26 points and 16 rebounds and Fletcher Loyer added 14 points. Purdue (24-5, 13-5) has lost three of four and blew a chance to clinch a share of the conference crown in front of its home fans, who stood outside in chilly temperatures and snaking lines for hours before tip-off.
NORTH CAROLINA 71, NO. 6 VIRGINIA 63
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Pete Nance scored 22 points to lead North Carolina past Virginia.
Nance shot 7 of 10 from the floor and was 4 of 4 from behind the arc, the most 3-pointers the fifth-year forward has made in ACC play. He added two assists and four blocks.
R.J. Davis notched the fourth double-double of his career with 16 points and 10 rebounds for North Carolina (18-11, 10-8 Atlantic Coast Conference), which got a much-needed boost to its NCAA Tournament resume with a Quadrant 1 win &mdash; the first of the season for the Tar Heels.
Jayden Gardner had 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead Virginia (21-6, 13-5), which lost its second in a row. Armaan Franklin added 14 points.
ARIZONA STATE 89, NO. 7 ARIZONA 88
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Desmond Cambridge Jr. hit a 60-foot shot at the buzzer and Arizona State rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Arizona.
The Wildcats (24-5, 13-5 Pac-12) built a 10-point lead midway through the second half before going more than six minutes without a field goal as Arizona State pulled ahead by one.
The Sun Devils (20-9, 11-7) went up 86-85 on Warren Washington&rsquo;s layup with just a minute left, but Pelle Larsson put Arizona back up on a layup with 29 seconds left. Arizona State&rsquo;s DJ Horne missed a jumper with 4 seconds left and the Sun Devils had a final shot after Oumar Ballo hit one of two free throws.
Catching the ball with 2.4 seconds left, Cambridge launched a shot from beyond half-court to finish with 19 points and give the Sun Devils a big boost in their bid to make the NCAA Tournament.
NO. 9 BAYLOR 81, NO. 8 TEXAS 72
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Jalen Bridges had 17 points for ninth-ranked Baylor, which overcame a huge deficit with an impressive run right after freshman standout Keyonte George left injured early and beat Big 12 co-leader Texas.
Adam Flagler had 14 points for the Bears (21-8, 10-6). Dale Bonner added 13 points, including seven in an quick spurt after halftime while Flo Thamba had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Dylan Disu had a season-high 24 points for Texas (22-7, 11-5), which twice got even early in the second half but never could regain the lead.
NO. 10 MARQUETTE 90, DEPAUL 84
MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Kam Jones and Tyler Kolek each scored 22 points while helping Marquette clinch a share of its first Big East regular-season championship in a decade.
Kolek also had 14 assists as Marquette (23-6, 15-3) rolled to a 49-28 halftime lead and hung on after DePaul (9-20, 3-15) got close down the stretch. Marquette has won nine of its last 10, while DePaul has lost 10 straight.
This is Marquette&rsquo;s first conference title in 2013, when the Golden Eagles shared the Big East crown with Georgetown and eventual national champion Louisville.
Umoja Gibson led DePaul with 20 points and eight assists. Nick Ongenda added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
NO. 11 TENNESSEE 85, SOUTH CAROLINA 45
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Josiah-Jordan James came back from missing four games with an injury to score 18 points to lead Tennessee to a rout of South Carolina.
James, who suffered an ankle injury against Vanderbilt on Feb. 8, shot 4 of 7 on 3-pointers for the Volunteers (21-8, 10-6 Southeastern Conference). Jahmai Mashack scored 14 points, Zakai Zeigler had 13 points and 11 assists, and Olivier Nkamhoua and Uros Plavsic scored 10 each.
Hayden Brown led the Gamecocks (10-19, 3-13) with 18 points.
NO. 12 GONZAGA 77, NO. 15 SAINT MARY&rsquo;S 68
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 19 points and Gonzaga earned a share of the West Coast Conference regular-season title with a win over Saint Mary&rsquo;s.
Anton Watson had 17 points and Malachi Smith added 13 off the bench for the Bulldogs, who have won or shared the conference title in 11 straight seasons. Gonzaga (25-5, 14-2) also reached the 25-win mark for the 16th season in a row &mdash; and avenged a loss to the Gaels earlier this month in Moraga.
Logan Johnson led the Gaels (25-6, 14-2) with 27 points.
Because the teams shared the regular-season title, the WCC will use the NCAA&rsquo;s NET rankings to determine the top seed for the conference tournament.
FLORIDA STATE 85, NO. 13 MIAMI 84
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Matthew Cleveland&rsquo;s 3-pointer as time expired capped Florida State&rsquo;s comeback from a 25-point second-half deficit and a win over Miami.
Jordan Miller had given Miami the lead on a 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds left. But Cleveland let fly from about 25 feet and the ball swished to give the Seminoles (9-20, 7-11 Atlantic Coast Conference) their best moment of the season.
Cleveland and Darin Green Jr. each had 20 points for Florida State, which also got 13 from Caleb Mills and 11 from Jalen Warley.
Miller led Miami (23-6, 14-5) with 21 points. Norchad Omier had 15, Isaiah Wong scored 14 and Bensley Joseph added 12 for the Hurricanes, whose seven-game winning streak and perfect home season were ended.
NO. 18 UCONN 95, ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 86
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points, Adama Sanogo added 18 points and nine rebounds, and UConn beat St. John&rsquo;s.
Andre Jackson Jr. had 15 points, Joey Calcaterra also scored 15 to lead a strong effort by Connecticut&rsquo;s bench and the resurgent Huskies (22-7, 11-7 Big East) avenged an 11-point loss to St. John&rsquo;s at home last month.
UConn won for the sixth time in seven games, closing in on a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament.
AJ Storr had 20 points and Posh Alexander added 18 for the Red Storm (17-13, 7-12), who had won three of four.
NO. 14 KANSAS STATE 73, OKLAHOMA STATE 68
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Markquis Nowell had 22 points, eight assists and four steals in Kansas State&rsquo;s third straight win, beating Oklahoma State.
Keyontae Johnson added 17 points for the Wildcats (22-7, 10-6 Big 12), who swept the regular-season series.
Kalib Boone scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half on Senior Day for Oklahoma State. Caleb Asberry scored 13 points and John-Michael Wright added 12 for the Cowboys (16-13, 7-9), who have lost four straight.
VILLANOVA 79, NO. 19 CREIGHTON 67
PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Eric Dixon scored 18 of his career-high 31 points in the first half, Cam Whitmore added 17 and Villanova defeated Creighton.
Dixon also set a career high with six 3-pointers for Villanova (15-14, 9-9 Big East), which has won five of six.
Arthur Kaluma scored 19 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner had 18 for Creighton (18-11, 12-6). The Bluejays have lost three of four following an eight-game winning streak.
NO. 22 SAN DIEGO STATE 73, NEW MEXICO 71
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) &mdash; Lamont Butler&rsquo;s 3-pointer at the buzzer gave San Diego State a win at New Mexico.
After Jaelen House&rsquo;s steal and end-to-end run for a layup with 5.6 seconds left gave New Mexico a 71-70 lead, Butler unhurriedly brought the ball up court before dropping his shot, giving him 10 points for the Aztecs (23-5, 14-2 Mountain West).
Darrion Trammell scored 18 points to lead the Aztecs. Matt Bradley added 11 as San Diego State won its sixth straight.
Jamal Mashburn Jr. finished with 20 points for New Mexico (20-9, 7-9) and House had 15.
OKLAHOMA 61, NO. 23 IOWA STATE 50
AMES, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Jacob Groves led Oklahoma with 16 points as the Sooners knocked off Iowa State.
The Sooners (14-15, 4-12 Big 12) had lost nine of their previous 11 games but erased an early 11-point deficit and seized control with a 17-2 run in the second half.
Groves shot 4 of 5 from the 3-point line. Tanner Groves added 9 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
The Cyclones (17-11, 8-8) shot just 31%. Gabe Kalscheur led Iowa State with 12 points.
NO. 24 TCU 83, TEXAS TECH 82
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) &mdash; JaKobe Coles made two free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining, and TCU beat Texas Tech despite blowing a 12-point lead in the final eight minutes.
After De&rsquo;Vion Harmon&rsquo;s steal and layup put the Red Raiders in front by one with 12 seconds remaining, Coles caught a pass from Emanuel Miller in the lane and was fouled by Fardaws Aimaq going up for the shot. The Horned Frogs (19-10, 8-8 Big 12) weren&rsquo;t in the bonus.
Harmon&rsquo;s desperation 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded wasn&rsquo;t close, ending a four-game winning streak Texas Tech (16-13, 5-11).
Mike Miles Jr. scored 24 points for the Horned Frogs, who had lost five of six and were coming off a loss to No. 3 Kansas at home. Miller had 14 points and 12 rebounds for TCU.
Aimaq scored 19 points, Harmon had 18 and Kevin Obanor finished with 17 points and nine rebounds for Texas Tech.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 69, NO. 25 TEXAS A&amp;M 62
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Tolu Smith had 17 points and Shakeel Moore had 14 as Mississippi State knocked off Texas A&amp;M.
Cameron Matthews had 11 points for the Bulldogs (19-10, 7-9 Southeastern Conference), who held the Aggies to one field goal in the final 14 minutes and outscored them 34-18 during the same time period.
Wade Taylor IV led Texas A&amp;M (21-9, 13-3) with 21 points, including four 3-pointers, and Henry Coleman III and Andersson Garcia each had 11.

A recap of Saturday's slew of action in top 25 NCAA men's college hoops.

Miller has another big game as No. 2 Alabama tops Arkansas

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 20 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and overtime, and No. 6 Texas held off Oklahoma 85-83 on Saturday.
Rice&rsquo;s fourth 3-pointer of the game gave Texas an 84-77 lead with 2:26 left in overtime.
Oklahoma, however, had a chance to tie or win when Texas&rsquo; Tyrese Hunter missed one of two free throws with 6.8 seconds left. But Sam Godwin missed a shot from near the rim, and Texas extended its winning streak against Oklahoma to five games.
Marcus Carr added 17 points for Texas (21-6, 10-4 Big 12), and Timmy Allen had 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Grant Sherfield led Oklahoma (13-14, 3-11) with 18 points, including a 3-pointer that sent the game to overtime. Milos Uzan scored 15 for the Sooners.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 108, GEORGIA 59
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Miller scored 21 points, Nick Pringle had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Mark Sears made five 3-pointers in the first half to lead Alabama.
The Crimson Tide (23-4, 13-1 Southeastern Conference) rebounded from their first SEC loss by racing to a 54-25 halftime lead and a season scoring high. Alabama was coming off a 68-59 loss at No. 10 Tennessee on Wednesday night after rising to No. 1 for only the second time in program history and first in 20 years.&nbsp;
ustin Hill led Georgia (16-11, 6-8) with 17 points. Terry Roberts scored 11 and Braelen Bridges 10.
NO. 4 UCLA 78, CALIFORNIA 43
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 20 points and UCLA routed last-place California to improve to 15-0 at Pauley Pavilion this season and extend the nation&rsquo;s longest home winning streak to 23 games.
Amari Bailey added 16 points and nine rebounds for the first-place Bruins (23-4, 14-2 Pac-12), who clinched a first-round bye in next month&rsquo;s Pac-12 Tournament with their 11th win in a row over last-place Cal.
Kuany Kuany scored 14 points to lead the Golden Bears (3-24, 2-14), who dropped their 11th in a row. They fell to 0-3 against top-5 teams this season, having also lost a pair against No. 8 Arizona.
NO. 5 KANSAS 87, NO. 9 BAYLOR 71
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; DaJuan Harris scored all 14 of his points in the second half as Kansas stormed back from a double-digit halftime deficit.
The Jayhawks (22-5, 10-4 Big 12) outscored the Bears 55-26 in the second half. Jalen Wilson led Kansas with 21 points and 13 rebounds. KJ Adams added 17 points and Gradey Dick had 16.
The Jayhawks are tied with Texas for the top spot in the Big 12 Conference.
Baylor (20-7, 9-5) got nearly all of its scoring from its three-guard combo of Adam Flagler (22 points) Keyonte George (20 points) and LJ Cryer (15 points).
NO. 7 VIRGINIA 57, NOTRE DAME 55
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Kihei Clark scored 15 points, including a pair of critical free throws with 22.6 seconds left, and became Virginia&rsquo;s career assist leader in the narrow win over Notre Dame.
With Notre Dame closing to 55-54, Clark converted both ends of a one-and-one. Trey Wertz made the front end of a one-and-one with 3.9 seconds left for the Fighting Irish, but missed the second after a timeout. The ball was tipped out to Dane Goodwin for a potential game-winning 3-pointer, but his shot bounced off the rim.
Armaan Franklin added 12 points and Reece Beekman had 11 for Virginia (21-4, 13-3 Atlantic Coast Conference). Nate Laszewski led Notre Dame (10-17, 2-14) with 18 points and Goodwin had 12.
NO. 8 ARIZONA 78, COLORADO 68
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Oumar Ballo had 18 points and 16 rebounds, Cedric Henderson Jr. added 15 points and Arizona dominated inside to beat Colorado.
The Wildcats (24-4, 13-4 Pac-12) opened with a rash of turnovers, falling into an early 12-point hole. Arizona righted itself quickly with a big run and slogged through a slowed-down second half by shutting down the Buffaloes.
Tristan da Silva had 18 points the Buffaloes (15-13, 7-10), who shot 38%.
KENTUCKY 66, NO. 10 TENNESSEE 54
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Cason Wallace and Oscar Tshiebwe each scored 16 points and Kentucky rushed to a big lead and beat Tennessee.
The Volunteers (20-7, 9-5 SEC) trailed by 20 points at halftime and lost in their first game since toppling No. 1 Alabama.
The Wildcats (18-9, 9-5) earned their first regular-season sweep of Tennessee since the 2011-12 season. Kentucky defeated the Volunteers 63-56 on Jan. 14 in Knoxville.
Wallace had totaled nine points in the Wildcats&rsquo; previous two games. Chris Livingston added 12 points and Jacob Toppin had 11.
NO. 12 KANSAS STATE 61, NO. 19 IOWA STATE 55
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Markquis Nowell hit a 3-pointer from near midcourt with 2:42 remaining to help Kansas State over Iowa State.
Nowell finished with 20 points. Keyontae Johnson had 15 points for the Wildcats (20-7, 8-6 Big 12).
Aljaž Kunc led Iowa State (17-9, 8-6) with 15 points. Without their 3-point leader Caleb Grill in the lineup, the Cyclones worked inside the paint. They had 24 points inside and relied on a balanced scoring line led by Kunc.
NO. 13 GONZAGA 97, PEPPERDINE 88
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half and Julian Strawther added 28 points to help Gonzaga extend its winning streak over the Waves to 45 games.
The Bulldogs (23-5, 12-2 West Coast Conference), who haven&rsquo;t lost to Pepperdine (9-10, 2-12) since Jan. 18, 2002 and have won 20 straight on the road against the Waves.
Timme moved past Bill Cartwright, who scored 2,116 points for San Francisco (1975-79), into eighth on the West Coast Conference&rsquo;s career scoring list with 2,117.
Houston Mallette led the Waves with 22 points. Jevon Porter and Maxwell Lewis added 20 points apiece.
NO. 14 INDIANA 71, ILLINOIS 68
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Trayce Jackson-Davis finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds, Jalen Hood Schifino made two free throws with 30.7 seconds left, and Indiana rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit to beat Illinois.
Hood-Schifino had 13 points for the Hoosiers (19-8, 10-6 Big Ten), who have won nine of 11 overall and 15 straight on their homecourt.
Matthew Mayer scored 24 to lead the Fighting Illini (17-9, 8-7), who were without injured leading scorer Terrence Shannon.
NO. 15 MIAMI 96, WAKE FOREST 87
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Isaiah Wong scored 27 points and Nijel Pack finished with 24 in Miami&rsquo;s win over Wake Forest.
Norchard Omier had 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting while Jordan Miller added 14 points for the Hurricanes (22-5, 13-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their sixth straight and improved to 15-0 at home.
Tyree Appleby scored 15 points and Damari Monsanto and Cameron Hildreth had 14 each for the Demon Deacons (17-10, 9-7). Andrew Carr and Mathew Marsh finished with 12 points each.
NO. 16 XAVIER 82, DEPAUL 68
CINCINNATI (AP) &mdash; Jack Nunge had 18 points and 10 rebounds as Xavier bounced back from a pair of narrow losses to beat DePaul.
The Musketeers (20-7, 12-4 Big East) reached the 20-win mark for the 34th time in school history, 32 of which have come since the 1982-83 season. It was the 17th career double-double for Nunge, eighth this season. Adam Kunkel scored 16 points and tied a career-high with eight assists for Xavier.
Umoja Gibson had 17 points and De&rsquo;Sean Nelson 16 for DePaul (9-18, 3-13), which lost its eighth in a row.
NO. 17 ST. MARY&rsquo;S 71, BYU 65
MORAGA, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Logan Johnson scored 27 points and Aidan Mahaney delivered once again in the second half to lead Saint Mary&rsquo;s to its 15th win in 16 games.
Mahaney scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Mitchell Saxen added 13. The Gaels (24-5, 13-1 West Coast Conference) won their 16th straight conference home game to maintain a one-game lead over Gonzaga in the standings.
Fousseyni Traore scored 16 points to lead the Cougars (16-14, 6-9). BYU has lost four straight and was swept in the season series by the Gaels.
NO. 18 CREIGHTON 77, ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 67
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Arthur Kaluma hit three straight 3-pointers down the stretch and Creighton overcame a second-half scoring drought to pull away from St. John&rsquo;s.
Creighton (18-9, 12-4) remained in a three-way tie for second place in the Big East after Providence and Xavier won earlier in the day. Marquette holds a one-game lead in the conference standings.
Ryan Nembhard scored 16 points for the Bluejays. Kaluma finished with 13 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner added 12 as Creighton won for the ninth time in 10 games.
Joel Soriano led St. John&rsquo;s with 15 points and eight rebounds. David Jones added 14 points off the bench but the Red Storm (16-12, 6-11) were unable to get their third straight win.
NO. 20 UCONN 64, SETON HALL 55
STORRS, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points and UConn used a big second-half run to beat Seton Hall.
Andre Jackson had a career high 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for UConn (20-7, 9-7 Big East).
Al-Amir Dawes and Tyrese Samuel each had 16 points for Seton Hall (16-12, 9-8), which trailed by 16 points with six minutes to play before a late run that fell short.
NO. 22 TCU 100, OKLAHOMA STATE 75
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) &mdash; Mike Miles Jr. had 15 points in his first game in three weeks, five other TCU players also scored in double figures, and the Horned Frogs snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Oklahoma State.
Emanuel Miller had 18 points to lead TCU (18-9, 7-7 Big 12), which shot a staggering season-high 68.4% (39 of 57) from the field. Damion Baugh had 16 points with 11 assists. Shahada Wells had 15 points, Chuck O&rsquo;Bannon 12 and Micah Peavy 10.
Bryce Thompson had 18 points and John-Michael White 15 for the Cowboys (16-11, 7-7).
NO. 24 PROVIDENCE 85, VILLANOVA 72
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Ed Croswell scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Providence earned its 20th victory of the season.
Bryce Hopkins added 19 points and 12 rebounds. Noah Locked finished with 16 points. Croswell connected on two late free throws to notch the 1,000th point of his career.
The Friars (20-7, 12-4 Big East) have recorded 20 or more wins in seven of coach Ed Cooley&rsquo;s 12 seasons. They improved to 15-0 at home, including 8-0 in conference play.
Eric Dixon had 18 points and eight rebounds and Justin Moore added 17 points for the Wildcats (13-14, 7-9)&nbsp;

A recap of Saturday's action in men's college basketball includes a full slate of top-25 teams in heavy competition.

No. 6 Texas needs OT at home to hold off Oklahoma 85-83

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

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Marcus Carr made the go-ahead 3-pointer with a minute to play and Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice hit three free throws over the final six seconds, sending No. 10 Texas to a wild 79-75 win over No. 17 TCU on Wednesday night.
The Horned Frogs led by 18 in the first half and appeared in total control on their way to what would have been the program&rsquo;s first road win over a top-10 opponent.
But then Texas (14-2, 3-1 Big 12) chipped away in the early minutes of the second half and rallied behind Rice and Dylan Disu, who combined for 27 points after halftime. Rice scored 10 in a row during one burst and Disu had 12 in a five-minute span as Texas tied it 71-all on his layup.
&ldquo;In the Big 12,&rdquo; Longhorns interim coach Rodney Terry said, &ldquo;we&rsquo;re going to be in games like this all season long.&rdquo;
After Carr&rsquo;s 3-pointer gave Texas the lead, TCU&rsquo;s Emanuel Miller had a chance to tie it with a three-point play but missed the free throw. Rice got a rebound off a Longhorns miss at the other end and made two free throws to stretch the Texas lead.
Miller scored 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting to lead TCU (13-3, 2-2).
&ldquo;In the second half, we&rsquo;ve got to pick up our pace and show our will,&rdquo; Miller said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to know every possession matters. In this league you mess up one possession, it can cost you the game.&rdquo;
The previous time the teams met in last season&rsquo;s Big 12 tournament, Texas led by 18 at halftime only to watch the Horned Frogs rally to win.
Timmy Allen scored 17 points to lead the Longhorns. Rice had 15, all in the second half.
Texas shot 59% from the floor after the break in its largest comeback win since 2013, when the Longhorns rallied from 22 down in the second half to beat Oklahoma in overtime.
Allen started the rally with a steady diet of mid-range jumpers that seemed to loosen up the Horned Frogs&rsquo; defense for Disu to get to the basket for layups and dunks.
Texas trimmed the deficit to two, only to see the Horned Frogs push it back to 12 with about nine minutes left.
&ldquo;It was, &lsquo;Cut it to 10, cut it to five.&rsquo; Getting the run to get the momentum back on our side was key,&rdquo; Allen said. &ldquo;Work the game for 40 minutes, good start or bad start.&rdquo;
BIG PICTURE
TCU: The Horned Frogs disrupted the Longhorns with quick hands and pickpocket steals that turned into early points. Texas had six turnovers before making five baskets &mdash; all on TCU steals. But those mostly stopped when Texas rallied. The Longhorns committed only three turnovers in the second half.
&ldquo;Our defense was really good in the first half. ... We didn&rsquo;t sustain it,&rdquo; TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. &ldquo;They were just more physical and more active in the second half.&rdquo;
Texas: Every game the rest of the season will likely have the feel of an audition for Terry as school officials consider who will replace Chris Beard full-time next season. Terry is 7-1 since taking over the program when Beard was initially suspended after an arrest on a felony domestic violence charge Dec. 12. Beard was fired last week.
TIGHTENING UP
After giving up a whopping 116 points in a loss a week ago to No. 11 Kansas State, Texas has tightened up the defense. The Longhorns held Oklahoma State under 50 points, then outrebounded TCU by seven in the second half to limit the Horned Frogs&rsquo; possessions during the rally.
DISHING IT
Carr and fellow guard Tyrese Hunter were just 7-of-24 shooting but combined for 13 assists.
UP NEXT
TCU hosts No. 11 Kansas State on Saturday.
Texas hosts Texas Tech on Saturday.

“In the Big 12,” Longhorns interim coach Rodney Terry said, “we’re going to be in games like this all season long.”

Carr’s three-pointer lifts No. 10 Texas over No. 17 TCU, 79-75

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Jeremy Roach scored 16 first-half points to help seventh-ranked Duke open Jon Scheyer&rsquo;s coaching tenure with a 71-44 win over Jacksonville on Monday night.
Freshman Mark Mitchell had a team-high 18 points for the Blue Devils, who used a 25-4 run spanning halftime to blow the game open.
It was a quality start to a season of massive change for the Blue Devils, starting with Scheyer taking over for retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski. Duke has 11 new players, including the nation&rsquo;s No. 1-ranked recruiting class and two power-conference transfers. The Blue Devils didn&rsquo;t have top freshmen Dereck Lively II and Dariq Whitehead for this one as they recover from preseason injuries.
Mike Marsh scored 15 points to lead the Dolphins, who shot 34% and missed 18 of 19 3-pointers before making two meaningless 3s late.
NO. 1 NORTH CAROLINA 69, UNC WILMINGTON 56
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Caleb Love and RJ Davis scored 17 points apiece and North Carolina began a season of grand expectations by pulling away from UNC Wilmington.
Armando Bacot added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Tar Heels, who were perhaps most impressive at the defensive end. UNCW shot 29.8% from the field.
The Tar Heels, who were the NCAA Tournament runner-up in April, began the new season with the top ranking for the first time in seven years. It&rsquo;s a record 10th time that North Carolina has been ranked No. 1 to start a season &mdash; one more than rival Duke.
Trazarien White scored 19 points for UNCW, which faced a top-ranked team for the first time in program history.
NO. 2 GONZAGA 104, NORTH FLORIDA 63
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 22 points, Julian Strawther added 16 and No. 2 Gonzaga used a big first-half run to beat North Florida in both teams&rsquo; opener.
Anton Watson had 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and five steals for Gonzaga, which won its 68th consecutive home game, the nation&rsquo;s longest such streak.
Carter Hendricksen scored 16 points, Jadyn Parker 13 and Jose Placer 12 for North Florida, a veteran-laden team from the Atlantic Sun Conference that returned its top four scorers from last season.
NO. 3 HOUSTON 83, NORTHERN COLORADO 36
HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Marcus Sasser scored 21 points, J&rsquo;Wan Roberts added 12 points and six rebounds, and Houston opened the season by beating Northern Colorado.
Sasser, a preseason All-American, scored 11 points in the first half. He finished 7 of 14 from the field and made 4 of 8 3-pointers. The senior guard missed the second half of last season and all of Houston&rsquo;s run to the Elite Eight with a toe injury.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson won his 700th career game and 200th with the Cougars.
Matt Johnson II, Riley Abercrombie and Caleb Shaw each scored eight points for the Bears.
NO. 4 KENTUCKY 95, HOWARD 63
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Antonio Reeves scored 22 points, CJ Fredrick had 20 and Kentucky beat Howard with All-American Oscar Tshiebwe and two other players sidelined.
Tshiebwe had a procedure last month on his right knee. Point guard Sahvir Wheeler (right leg) and sophomore forward Daimion Collins (personal reasons) were also out, but the Wildcats still shot 55% against the overmatched Bison.
Jacob Toppin and freshman Cason Wallace each added 15 points for Kentucky.
Kobe Dickson scored 17 points and Elijah Hawkins had 14 for Howard, which shot 34%.
NO. 5 KANSAS 89, OMAHA 64
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Gradey Dick added 23 points in his debut, and Kansas began defense of its national championship without suspended coach Bill Self by routing Omaha.
Bobby Pettiford Jr. added 13 points, Dajuan Harris had 11 points and eight assists, and Texas Tech transfer Kevin McCullar Jr. scored 10 for the Jayhawks, who broke open a close game in the second half with two big runs.
Self served the first of a four-game punishment along with assistant Kurtis Townsend as part of the fallout from a 2017 federal investigation into college basketball corruption.
Jaeden Marshall scored 13 points and Luke Jungers had 12 for the Mavericks.
NO. 5 BAYLOR 117, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE 53
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Adam Flagler scored 21 points to lead six players in double figures as Baylor won the opener of its 20th season with coach Scott Drew.
Flagler, a preseason All-Big 12 pick who also was the Bears&rsquo; leading scorer last season, also had eight assists and one of his four 3-pointers started a 24-0 run midway through the first half.
LJ Cryer had 16 points and Dale Bonner, another returning guard, had 14.
Alvin Stredic scored 14 points and Terry Collins 10 for Mississippi Valley State in its first game for new coach George Ivory.
NO. 9 CREIGHTON 72, ST. THOMAS 60
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Baylor Scheierman made back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half to give Creighton the lead for good.
Arthur Kaluma scored 17 points, Trey Alexander had 12 and Scheierman added 11 as the Bluejays won their 25th opener in 26 years.
St. Thomas, a Summit League member beginning its second season in Division I, gave the Bluejays all they could handle until the last few minutes. Andrew Rohde had 15 points to lead the Tommies.
NO. 10 ARKANSAS 76, NORTH DAKOTA STATE 58
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) &mdash; Trevon Brazile had 21 points and 12 rebounds in his debut as Arkansas won its season opener.
Brazile, a sophomore transfer from Missouri, scored six straight points during an 11-0 run early in the second half that gave Arkansas a 16-point lead with 15 minutes left.
Wichita State transfer Ricky Council led the Razorbacks with 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting.
Grant Nelson and Boden Skunberg had 17 points apiece to lead North Dakota State.
NO. 11 TENNESSEE 75, TENNESSEE TECH 43
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Tyreke Key came off the bench to score 17 points and Tennessee beat Tennessee Tech in both teams&rsquo; opener.
Key, an Indiana State transfer, connected on 4 of 8 3-pointers to ignite a sluggish Volunteer offense. Zakai Zeigler scored all but two of his 12 points in the second half.
Brett Thompson led the Golden Eagles with 15 points.
NO. 12 TEXAS 72, UTEP 57
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Tyrese Hunter scored 18 points to lead Texas past UTEP in the debut of its new arena.
Hunter, a transfer from Iowa State, was 6-of-8 shooting and added five rebounds. Ze&rsquo;Ri Onyema led UTEP with 10 points.
Texas this season moved to the $375 million Moody Center on the edge of campus, leaving behind the old Frank Erwin Center after 45 years.
NO. 13 INDIANA 88, MOREHEAD STATE 53
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Preseason All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis and freshman Malik Reneau each scored 15 points, helping Indiana beat Morehead State in the season opener for both teams.
The Hoosiers have won all six matchups in the series and are 26-0 all-time against Ohio Valley Conference foes.
Mark Freeman led the Eagles with 14 points, and Drew Thelwell had 11 for the OVC favorites.
NO. 14 TCU 73, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 72
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Mike Miles hit a 3-pointer with 51 seconds remaining to finally put TCU ahead to stay against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which built an early 20-point lead in the season opener for both teams.
Miles, the preseason Big 12 player of the year, hit from deep beyond the top of the key for a 71-68 lead.
Emanuel Miller had 15 of his 19 points in the second half, and Miles finished with 15 points for the Horned Frogs. They returned all five starters and five other scholarship players after winning their first NCAA Tournament game since 1987.
Shaun Doss had 25 points with four of Arkansas-Pine Bluff&rsquo;s 13 3-pointers.
NO. 15 AUBURN 70, GEORGE MASON 52
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Wendell Green Jr. scored 16 points while K.D. Johnson and Johni Broome each had 12 to lead Auburn to a season-opening win over George Mason.
The Tigers weren&rsquo;t really challenged much in their first game since losing NBA first-round draft picks Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler.
Ronald Polite III led George Mason with 10 points, and Victor Bailey Jr. had nine.
NO. 16 VILLANOVA 81, LA SALLE 68
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) &mdash; Caleb Daniels scored 24 points to make coach Kyle Neptune a winner in his Villanova debut.
Neptune replaced Hall of Famer Jay Wright, who retired in the offseason. The Wildcats returned three starters (a fourth, Justin Moore, was injured) from the team that lost a national semifinal game to Kansas. Eric Dixon added 20 points for Villanova.
Daniels made his first five 3-pointers and the Wildcats used an early 10-0 run to put away their city rival and spoiled 74-year-old coach Fran Dunphy&rsquo;s return to the bench.
Josh Nickelberry scored 22 points to lead the Explorers.
NO. 17 ARIZONA 117, NICHOLLS STATE 75
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Azuolas Tubelis scored 23 points and Arizona went on a massive opening run to begin its second season under coach Tommy Lloyd with a rout.
Ballo scored 18 points, helping Arizona set a school record with 71.7% shooting from the floor against the reigning Southland Conference regular-season champions. The Wildcats opened the game with a 30-4 run.
Micah Thomas led Nicholls State with 20 points.
NO. 18 VIRGINIA 73, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 61
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman sparked a 15-2 second-half run, and Virginia beat North Carolina Central after blowing a 16-point first-half lead.
Armaan Franklin led Virginia with 21 points in the season opener for both teams, and Francisco Caffaro had 10.
Justin Wright scored 20 and Eric Boone had 18 for the Eagles, who used a 12-0 run just after halftime to go ahead. But Clark hit a 3 and Beekman followed with a steal and a breakaway.
NO. 19 SAN DIEGO STATE 80, CAL STATE FULLERTON 57
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Darrion Trammell hit three 3-pointers during a 29-10 run to open the second half and finished with 18 points as San Diego State beat Cal State Fullerton.
Fellow newcomer Jaedon LeDee and Lamont Butler scored 11 points apiece and Nathan Mensah had 10 for the Aztecs, who won their 10th straight season opener and their 17th in 18 seasons.
Vincent Lee scored 11 and Jalen Harris 10 for the Titans, the defending Big West Conference champions.
NO. 20 ALABAMA 75, LONGWOOD 54
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Freshman Brandon Miller had 14 points and 13 rebounds in his debut as Alabama beat Longwood.
Fellow freshman Rylan Griffen also scored 14 for the Crimson Tide, and point guard Mark Sears had 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Freshman guard Jaden Bradley added 11 points and six boards.
Alabama held Longwood to 27% shooting and blocked nine shots. Michael Christmas led Longwood with 12 points.
NO. 21 OREGON 80, FLORIDA A&amp;M 45
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) &mdash; N&rsquo;Faly Dante had 16 points and 10 rebounds as Oregon opened with an easy win over Florida A&amp;M.
Keeshawn Barthelemy added 13 points for the Ducks, ranked to start the season for the ninth straight year. Will Richardson scored 11.
Jordan Tillmon and Jordan Chatman had eight points apiece for the Rattlers, who have 11 new players. Florida A&amp;M coach Robert McCullum was on Oregon coach Dana Altman&rsquo;s staff from 2014-17.
NO. 22 MICHIGAN 75, PURDUE FORT WAYNE 56
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Hunter Dickinson had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and freshman Jett Howard added 21 points in Michigan&rsquo;s season-opening win.
After Purdue Fort Wayne opened an 8-4 lead, Michigan went on a 20-0 run to take control.
Quinton Morton-Robertson scored 15 points and Bobby Planutis added 13 for the Mastodons.
NO. 23 ILLINOIS 87, EASTERN ILLINOIS 57
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) &mdash; Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 24 points and Coleman Hawkins had 23 points and 12 rebounds as Illinois cruised past Eastern Illinois.
Dain Dainja added 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Illini, who outrebounded the Panthers 53-30 in the opener for both teams.
Kinyon Hodges scored 14 points and Yaakema Rose added 10 for Eastern Illinois.
NO. 24 DAYTON 73, LINDENWOOD 46
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Mustapha Amzil scored 14 points, DaRon Holmes II and R.J. Blakney each had 13 and Dayton beat Lindenwood in a sluggish opener for both teams.
Dayton was without injured point guard Malachi Smith and didn&rsquo;t play particularly well until late, but it had a large margin for error against Lindenwood, which was playing its first game after moving up to Division I.
Chris Childs had 15 points for the Lions, who shot 33% from the field.
NO. 25 TEXAS TECH 73, NORTHWESTERN STATE 49
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) &mdash; Daniel Batcho had 12 points and 10 rebounds as Texas Tech rolled past Northwestern State in both teams&rsquo; opener.
Texas Tech broke it open late in the first half and led 42-23 at halftime.
Isaac Haney led Northwestern State with 16 points.

It was a quality start to a season of massive change for the Blue Devils, starting with Jon Scheyer taking over Duke's program.

Roach leads No. 7 Duke past Jacksonville in Scheyer’s debut

MARYVILLE, Mo. (AP) &mdash; There is growing fear among college basketball coaches at the lower levels of the sport, the vast majority of which do not make seven-figure salaries, fly around the country in private jets or hang out with rich and famous boosters and fans.
It&rsquo;s a fear that comes with success.
It only takes a couple of marquee players to compete for championships at the Division II or III level, the NAIA or even in low-major Division I leagues. But in an era of freedom of transfer and name, image and likeness endorsement money, the reality is this: If your program is too good, there&rsquo;s a good chance those prolific players will be playing elsewhere next season, recruited to major programs that can offer them more exposure, opportunities and financial benefits.
When it happens, lower-level coaches who might be coming off a 20-win season could be left rebuilding their rosters and fighting for 10 wins and, potentially, their jobs.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s always been an opportunity to poach kids if you want to poach them, but it&rsquo;s all become easier now,&rdquo; said Joe Lombardi, the longtime coach of Division II powerhouse Indiana (Pa.). &ldquo;I believe in karma. I&rsquo;m not doing that, OK? But some places it has become a way of life. It&rsquo;s disappointing that people invest in kids and, you know, they get poached.
&ldquo;They don&rsquo;t just go to the market,&rdquo; Lombardi added. &ldquo;Some do, but a lot of them are talked into it.&rdquo;
His team reached the Final Four last season thanks largely to shooting guard Armoni Foster, who averaged 18 points for the Crimson Hawks, but who will be playing Division I ball for Buffalo this season. And while Lombardi encouraged him to seek a better opportunity for his final year of eligibility, the coach acknowledges that won&rsquo;t always be the case.
Especially when players no longer have to sit out a year under the NCAA&rsquo;s transfer rules.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had guys that Division I schools made overtures about and I&rsquo;m eventually going to lose someone, and it might not be amicable,&rdquo; Lombardi said. &ldquo;I might not be happy with the move. But if you&rsquo;re in it long enough, that will happen.&rdquo;
It happened at Nova Southeastern, the top seed in the NCAA Tournament last year. Sekou Sylla, who averaged 22.4 points and 10.4 rebounds for the Division II program, will be playing for Towson at the Division I level this season.
And it happened at Hillsdale, another strong Division II program, where Patrick Cartier caught the attention of Colorado State. And at Bentley, which saw shooting guard Colton Lawrence follow up a strong season by leaving for Maryland-Baltimore County, a low-major program but nonetheless an opportunity for him to compete at the Division I level.
Even the bluest of the bluebloods have kept their eyes open for lower-level transfers.
Cam Martin, a bruising 6-foot-9 forward, was a two-time All-American for Missouri Southern who chose to continue his career elsewhere. He landed at Kansas, the defending Division I national champion, about a 3-hour drive from the Lions&rsquo; campus in Joplin but light years away in terms of opportunity and experience.
Martin, who graduated from Missouri Southern and is pursuing his graduate degree at Kansas, went from starting every game and playing major minutes to being a key practice player but rarely seeing the floor in actual games.
&ldquo;You have the good and bad stories that come of it,&rdquo; acknowledged Dennis Gates, the new Missouri coach who brought three players with him when he was hired from Cleveland State. &ldquo;But the rules give student-athletes an opportunity, no different than coaches have opportunities now, to represent a different program.&rdquo;
Still, as TCU coach Jamie Dixon admitted, the fact that players no longer have to sit out has changed the dynamic.
&ldquo;A kid having success at a lower conference than, say, the Big 12, was likely not to transfer and sit out because he&rsquo;s playing well,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s getting his minutes. Why would he want to sit out?&rdquo;
When the NCAA removed that impediment, it became easier for players to move on &mdash; and move up. And when NIL legislation came along, allowing players to profit off their celebrity, it created a situation where high-major programs can effectively offer financial benefits unavailable at most lower-level programs.
Throw in the chance to compete at a higher level and it&rsquo;s hard for kids to turn their back on the opportunity.
Fardaws Aimaq remembers playing for Utah Valley in the WAC Tournament last spring, and five or six NBA scouts were sitting in a corner. Aimaq dominated the first half of the Wolverines&rsquo; game, only to see the scouts get up and walk out, and he recalled thinking, &ldquo;Why did they leave?&rdquo; Aimaq texted his advisers afterward, and the answer was simple: &ldquo;They wanted to know if I was really that good or the competition was not that good.&rdquo;
Aimaq ended up transferring from the low-major school to Texas Tech in the hopes of raising his NBA draft profile this season.
&ldquo;Leaving was hard,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but it was just the best decision for me business-wise.&rdquo;
Just like it was for Malachi Smith, a prolific shooting guard who spent the last two seasons at Chattanooga but will play for Gonzaga this season, or Johni Broome, a 6-10 forward who transferred from Morehead State to Auburn.
Transfers go both ways, of course. Plenty of players leave high-majors for low-majors, or even lower divisions, where they might go from benchwarmer to starter. But they are typically easier for big-budget programs to replace.
It&rsquo;s tougher to accept at small schools, though, when a player who might have slipped through the recruiting cracks not only got an opportunity to play but was also developed over time &mdash; only to take their game somewhere else.
&ldquo;There could be a great player at Division III. I will not make an overture for that kid. I will not do it,&rdquo; said Lombardi, the Division II coach at Indiana (Pa.) &ldquo;Maybe I would if I was 10-20 for three straight seasons &mdash; I might then. But I just don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s for the good of the kid or the good of athletics.&rdquo;

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Season 2 of Athletes Unlimited Basketball is coming relatively soon — with new players.

Allisha Gray, NaLyssa Smith headline Athletes Unlimited new additions

On Thursday, Athletes Unlimited &mdash; a network of professional women's sports leagues founded in 2020 &mdash; announced it received $30 million in new funding. Early investors include Kevin Durant and Rich Klieman's 35V, David Blitzer, Jane Gottesman of Earlystone Management and film producer Sharon Harel-Cohen, Angela Ruggiero, Salil Seshadri and Keith Meister.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We have been advisors for AU since the very beginning, and we're excited to be a part of this capital raise. Athletes Unlimited is at the forefront of women's sports and an inspiration for how sports leagues can thrive with an athlete-first business model," Durant said.
"Every pro sports league should take note of what AU is doing, especially the pathway for athletes to have a financial stake in their own leagues," Kleiman added.
Athletes Unlimited is a network of four sports: Basketball, softball, volleyball, and lacrosse. On the basketball side, plenty of WNBA players have populated rosters. Just last year, players included star guard Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana Fever), All-Defensive First Team member Natasha Cloud (Washington Mystics), WNBA Finals representatives in Courtney Williams, Odyssey Sims, Dijonia Carrington (Connecticut Sun) and Sydney Colson (Las Vegas Aces), versatile big Izzy Harrison (Dallas Wings) and more.&nbsp;
The league serves as a way to keep WNBA players stateside during the offseason and provide opportunities to grow their games, and gives free agents the ability to pitch themselves to other teams.
Los Angeles Sparks guard Lexie Brown, for example, performed well during AU's circuit last season &mdash; shooting a blistering 46.9% from three and nearly topping the leaderboard in steals (38). Brown carried that momentum into the regular season, doubling as one of the most prolific three-point shooters in The W last season &mdash; and an odd snub for the three-point contest &mdash; by canning 39.8% of her triples on roughly four attempts per contest and being an active defender.
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Brown has spoken <a href="https://auprosports.com/read/lexie-brown-seeing-the-big-picture-when-it-comes-to-women-in-sports/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">glowingly of the league</a>, highlighting the power its given female athletes.
"Another sign of progress has been Athletes Unlimited, providing female athletes with a voice and a new model which affords us another opportunity to compete. Not just that, but it puts the power in our hands as we govern our own affairs on and off the court," Brown said. "Athletes Unlimited has played a major role in rejuvenating my WNBA career. AU gave me a platform and visibility to showcase the work I had been putting in. I was given opportunities and exposure that I have never gotten and possibly will never get in the WNBA. We need more examples like it."
Cloud has <a href="https://queenballers.club/basketball/natasha-cloud-athletes-unlimited" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offered similar sentiments</a>.
"To have a league here, to establish another league here in the States, where women don&rsquo;t have to go overseas and be away from their families, where they don&rsquo;t have to put their bodies through year round-play. Just five weeks playing competitive basketball," Cloud said. "It means everything for me to be an intricate part of bringing this here, because it&rsquo;s a progression of women in sports. When we talk about investing in women, believing in women, valuing women and what they bring, AU is a prime example of that."

Nekias Duncan highlights the fresh investment into Athletes Unlimited from Kevin Durant's Thirty Five Ventures and others.

Athletes Unlimited receives $30 million in new funding via Durant, more

Unless you&rsquo;re an NBA junkie, you&rsquo;re excused if you&rsquo;re not familiar with Omer Yurtseven... for now.
Yurtseven is a 24-year-old big man entering his sophomore season in the NBA. He went undrafted in 2020 after playing three college seasons &mdash; two at NC State and one at Georgetown &mdash; but signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Oklahoma City before the 2020-21 season. During that campaign, Yurtseven averaged 15.2 points and 9.3 rebounds in 21.1 minutes per game with the OKC Blue, the Thunder's G League affiliate, and caught the eye of decision-makers at the next level &mdash; particularly in South Beach.
In May 2021, Yurtseven signed a deal with the Miami Heat before the end of the season and inked a standard multi-year contract with the team before the 2021-22 campaign.
Though he hadn't yet secured a significant spot in the Heat's rotation, the rookie big man <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/y/yurtsom01/gamelog/2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stepped up in the winter months</a> when Miami needed him most last year.
His coming out party was on Dec. 26 against the Orlando Magic, a night where he scored 16 points and collected 15 rebounds in 33 minutes &mdash; the first double-double of his career.
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The momentum only continued from there.
In January 2022, Yurtseven nearly averaged a double-double (10.6 points, 9.9 rebounds) in over 22 minutes per contest. That stretch included a 22-point, 16-board performance in Sacramento, and, most impressively, going toe-to-toe with Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers; Yurtseven produced 22 points and 11 rebounds in a starting role for his eighth double-double in 10 games.
Yurtseven only received spot minutes following that contest, in both the regular season and the playoffs. However, that winter stretch taught him quite a bit about NBA bigs.
&ldquo;Going against bigs like Joel Embiid, [Jusuf] Nurkic &mdash; those heavy hitters taught me that I need to be stronger,&rdquo; Yurtseven told Basketball News in a phone interview. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the best part about basketball: There is no limit that you can cap yourself on if you keep working and keep believing.
&ldquo;I saw I needed to add strength. But you can&rsquo;t disregard agility because you have to keep up with the skinnier and faster bigs, too. Playing against Embiid, though, I think I made it hard for him and contested shots. But I know I can be stronger.
Yurtseven's highlights are impressive. He moves well without the ball, gets up and down the floor, screens and rebounds well, and demonstrates good moves in the mid-post and around the rim.
His playstyle is a bit of a throwback. Despite knowing that the game is more perimeter-oriented than ever, he only attempted 11 three-pointers last season. Standing 7-foot tall, being an active rebounder and performing at his best when catching the ball on the block, Yurtseven leans on the most natural parts of his game.
When asked about his first NBA season, he relays he learned a lot, and notes that there is still work to be done to improve.
"Last year was basically my rookie year, and that was my first time against Embiid. I had my first start last year, my first double-double," Yurtseven said. "So, this year, it&rsquo;s all something I&rsquo;ve done before. I&rsquo;ll be better prepared knowing what I&rsquo;ll face and knowing the ups and downs.
Looking ahead is a natural part of professional sports, and it&rsquo;s no different for Yurtseven. In speaking to him, it&rsquo;s evident that he&rsquo;s excited about what&rsquo;s to come, and he has set out many goals for himself in the near future. &nbsp;
&ldquo;No. 1 is getting that rotational spot during training camp and throughout the season. In order to do that, I need to be in the best shape I can, which I am [currently],&rdquo; Yurtseven said. &ldquo;Cutting down the body fat and increasing weight, it&rsquo;s been a grind. But it&rsquo;s an everyday thing. I&rsquo;ve been doing it non-stop for four years now.&rdquo;
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Yurtseven&rsquo;s success, at least this season, will be predicated on how well the lineups in which he's featured fare. Understanding that each play could impact his future, and that legends like coach Erik Spoelstra and Pat Riley are directly involved, would rattle most of us, but Yurtseven isn&rsquo;t the least bit intimidated by it.
&ldquo;[It's] exciting more than anything because every day is a different challenge,&rdquo; Yurtseven explained. &ldquo;They demand a lot of you, but that also shows their belief. That&rsquo;s what a lot of players misinterpret. They think, &lsquo;Coach is yelling at me,&rsquo; and [will] be bummed about it. Or, [instead], they can say 'He believes in me and knows and wants that extra edge that he knows I can give him.'"
All NBA teams have strength and conditioning programs, but none are as notorious as Miami&rsquo;s. That program has led to some seriously impressive transformations. (Notably, former guard Dion Waiters, who was in good-but-not great shape before joining the Heat, sporting six-pack abs after landing in Miami.)
And while it involves treacherous preparation, it&rsquo;s all just part of Spoelstra&rsquo;s plan to be better prepared to run than the competition. However, it's Yurtseven&rsquo;s personal training regimen that makes him confident about winning his spot in the Heat's rotation come training camp.
&ldquo;All the coaches have been saying is, 'If you want minutes, come get them in training camp.' So, that&rsquo;s my focus,&rdquo; Yurtseven said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no such thing as over-preparation. So, I have to be in the best shape of my life and be ready &mdash; the rest will take care of itself. (The Heat coaching staff) is extremely demanding. Mondays are really tough in camp,&rdquo; Yurtseven continued. &ldquo;They know you got a little rest on the weekend. So, you go all out, and it takes everything out of you.&rdquo;
A major part of Miami&rsquo;s training camp is the &ldquo;10's," a timed test that players must pass. It involves running 10 baseline-to-baseline sprints in under a minute.
&ldquo;You do 10's, and before that, you do a lift, conditioning workouts,&rdquo; Yurtseven said. &ldquo;Personally, I go for extra vitamin sessions at night, too.&rdquo;
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Yurtseven is keen to point out that the adage about achieving success through goals and habits is accurate. In doing so, he revealed a lot about the dedication, on and off the court, that&rsquo;s necessary for success.
&ldquo;When you get your body fat percentage down, it gives you another gear. I&rsquo;ve realized that more since I&rsquo;ve dropped body fat,&rdquo; Yurtseven explained. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been amazing to feel that and get closer to [reaching] your potential or maximum speed. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a saying that you can&rsquo;t outwork a bad diet, and it&rsquo;s definitely true. I&rsquo;ve tried it both ways &mdash; I&rsquo;ve tried to outwork a bad diet, and it did not work. You just have to watch what you eat.
&ldquo;I have a chef now who takes care of my nutrition. He adds up my daily protein, carbs, calories, whatever. He knows what I&rsquo;m trying to do, and that helps me control energy levels and stay on top of body fat,&rdquo; Yurtseven continued. &ldquo;You see guys like Jimmy [Butler] with very low body fat and you see it in his reaction time, and speed and agility. Everything is more explosive because he doesn&rsquo;t have excess body fat that slows you down.&rdquo;
Dietary concessions are a necessary part of preparing for an NBA season, but those are usually difficult to make. Like the rest of us, Yurtseven struggles with cutting out foods. But he dropped some knowledge on how he approaches clean eating and exactly which foods he avoids.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a long list. I think I have a sweet tooth. And overall, I love eating and trying different foods,&rdquo; Yurtseven said. &ldquo;Where I&rsquo;m from, I was introduced to a whole different array of flavors. No. 1, though, is sweets, which I&rsquo;ve had to cut out. There&rsquo;s no end to the amount of calories [that sweets add].
&ldquo;Trail mix, too, because they seem like an innocent snack. But [it&rsquo;s] all sweets: Cookies, ice cream, even cereal. It&rsquo;s just little changes that add up, eliminating 1,000 or more calories per day.&rdquo;
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Considering the reputation Miami has for its nightlife, you might imagine that a young and handsomely paid individual like Yurtseven might struggle with that side of the world, too. But fortunately for all involved, that&rsquo;s not a problem for Yurtseven.
&ldquo;The scene is always there. Overall, you have to put the horse blinders on," Yurtseven said. "There&rsquo;s no doubt that alcohol is not good for you, and guys do drink. I don&rsquo;t consume alcohol because of my religious beliefs, but it can make you retain body fat.
&ldquo;The party life can consume so much time and energy that you can otherwise invest in yourself. I think clubs are weird; I&rsquo;ve never been to one in Miami. I&rsquo;m trying to keep that streak going. I just stay in &mdash; play my video games if I need to, [take advantage of] pool time, [go to] the beach. There are a lot of distractions here, and it&rsquo;s a big challenge for anyone who comes here. It&rsquo;s just a sacrifice that you have to have in mind.&rdquo;
Ultimately, Yurtseven just wants to secure that spot with the Heat, though, and his mindset and worth ethic should aid him in securing it.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a little crazy, too,&rdquo; Yurtseven joked. &ldquo;I always do extra &mdash; extra reps or whatever it is that gives me an edge, I&rsquo;m going for it. The Heat culture is intense, but I&rsquo;m a little crazy (too), so I do more on top of the crazy.
&ldquo;I just have to play [in a strong manner] so they say, 'How can we not play him? He helps us in all these areas.&rsquo; And I will showcase that,&rdquo; Yurtseven continued. &ldquo;Np. 1 is defense, my change in agility, energy and focus; once I show that, it will give them the confidence to trust me and leave me out there, and that opens the door for me to showcase my offensive package.
&ldquo;The goal is having that role where I shoot the ball, rebound the ball, defend, and I&rsquo;m able to showcase my skill set more in the mid-post when I get a catch. Being able to have my go-to moves to shoot a high clip.&rdquo;
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Having reached the NBA Finals in 2020, appearing in the playoffs for three straight years and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, the Heat have had their fair share of success.
But Yurtseven hopes the team eclipses all recent outcomes in 2022-23.
&ldquo;One-hundred percent [the goal is a] championship,&rdquo; Yurtseven stated. &ldquo;I think we fell short last year because there were moments when the team needed another guy or two to step up in every area. Sometimes it was offense. Sometimes it was defense. And that&rsquo;s what I think we&rsquo;ll do this year.&rdquo;
Longer term, Yurtseven sees his future in Miami, too. And while many present-day athletes tend to stay mum on the subject of contract negotiations, Yurtseven seems to feel strongly about being with the Heat organization. Still, as an unrestricted free agent after this season concludes, he understands that where he plays is not entirely his decision.
&ldquo;Miami [is] a team that believed in me when a lot of teams did not," Yurtseven said. "And I would love to finish and retire and say that I started my journey here and ended my journey here. But you never know because it is a business.&rdquo;
While the 2022-23 season counts as Yurtseven&rsquo;s sophomore campaign, there&rsquo;s already a make-or-break feel to it, with nowhere to go but up. If he outperforms expectations, Yurtseven could secure a longer-term deal &mdash; with the Heat or elsewhere.
And if that happens, we're all more likely to get familiar with Omer Yurtseven.&nbsp;

Omer Yurtseven could be poised for a breakout season in 2022-23. And if he succeeds, he can thank his "crazy" work ethic.

Omer Yurtseven's 'crazy' work ethic fits perfectly with Heat culture

On Aug. 6 at 8 p.m. ET, former Maryland and Georgetown men&rsquo;s basketball players will look to rekindle a local rivalry when they face off in an alumni game at the Xfinity Center in College Park.
This will be the first event under the Alumni Basketball League, which was co-founded by former Missouri and Los Angeles Lakers guard Kareem Rush. In his three years at Missouri, Rush was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year, a two-time selection on the All-Big 12 First Team and even Missouri&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s basketball player of the decade for the 2000s.
I sat down with Rush to discuss how this league came about, how the Alumni Basketball League differs from other established leagues (such as The Basketball Tournament and the BIG3), their plans moving forward as far as other historic rivalry games and what fans can expect on Aug. 6 when Georgetown faces off against Maryland.
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Etan Thomas: So tell me about the Alumni Basketball League and how it all came about.
Kareem Rush: "Sure, The Alumni Basketball League is the first professional league exclusively for college alumni teams. So back in 2017, I was watching the TBT tournament and looking at the roster, I saw that 27 of these teams were alumni teams, and I was like, 'Man, why not just create a league specific for alumni teams?' Also, I was a part of the first year of the BIG3, so I understood when I went through that try-out, it was literally hundreds of guys with tons of NBA experience vying for 20 spots. So I was like, 'Man, I know guys are always looking for an opportunity to play.' The NCAA is really the only entity that's capitalizing on the collegiate marketplace, so I was like, 'Man, why not just create a league specifically for those guys?' So 2018, being a Mizzou guy, and my younger brother being a KU guy, which is a huge rivalry in Kansas City...
Etan Thomas: Right.
Kareem Rush: "So, the first game, centered around a charity, we were doing it for The Boys and Girls Club, but the response was amazing. We had over 2,500 people there. I was like, 'This could be something.' So, the following year, we wanted to expand the concept. We had Kansas State and Arkansas scheduled to come in, but ended up running into some scheduling conflicts because of the TBT and the BIG3. So we put the second year on the shelf. And then COVID hit, so it sat there for two years. Fast forward to March of this past year, I'm down in Missouri for our 20-year reunion and one of my buddies and former teammates, Jack Jackson, who's now a big DMV guy, asked me what I've been up to. I told him a little bit about the concept, he's like, 'Man, I love it.' So he decided he was going to back it, then the last three months, we've been pushing forward.
"We ended up bringing another former teammate, Jason Conley, aboard and he's based in the DMV area. We asking him like, 'What can we pull off for a couple exhibition games in this first year?' And so, he knew the guys over at Georgetown and Maryland and really led that charge to get the game going. We've been just going as we go for the last month, brought in a couple of the guys, Ricky Goings and Marc Stern, added to our organization and now, here we are a month later; we got this game scheduled for August 6. Our plan is to do another one here in Kansas City in late August or early September to get two proof-of-concept games under our belt. And then, really zero in on identifying teams for the 2023 season where we play between eight-to-16 games. Ideally, having between 16 and 32 of these teams put together."
Etan Thomas: Word traveled fast about this. People are really excited about it in the DMV.
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Kareem Rush: "I know, and that&rsquo;s mostly just from the initial marketing through social media and me reaching out to some of these GMs on some of these TBT teams who already got these teams established. The response has been great from players. Being a former player, I understand that guys just want an opportunity to stay in shape, make a little money. Our target guys are those guys either fresh out of college, guys who play overseas. You come back in town, you want to stay in shape, make a little money. This is the league for them. Then another unique aspect of what we're doing, all these leagues are built off the back of these players but very few have actual ownership. So another piece that we're doing is once we get the model established and we can really see what we're doing, we want to allow these guys to be able to buy in and own their own franchises.
"So you see these former NBA guys or current NBA guys who still have huge events for their colleges may want to come in and buy a franchise and operate and run it like the businessmen they are today. So, we believe we have a good starting point. Like I said, the response has been great. We&rsquo;re just looking forward to getting these first two exhibitions off the ground, really focusing in on that 2023 season where we launch media partners, streaming, eventually gambling. So we got a lot of things that we're working on."
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Etan Thomas: I really like the player-empowerment part. You don't see that in most of these leagues. The people who are usually benefiting the most are people outside of the player boundaries. How did you decide to add that component to everything that you're doing?
Kareem Rush: "Being a former player and really seeing that first year in the BIG3, where a lot of those guys &mdash; you got Baron Davis, the Junkyard Dog, Al Harrington, all those guys &mdash; where that little per-game check was not really moving the needle for them; they really want to own some things. And now today, as you see what LeBron and KD and all these guys are doing business-wise, I was like, 'Man, a lot of these guys are really business savvy, so why not give them an opportunity to be on the ground level of a league where they lend their celebrity and influence to the league and they grow with the league?' And so, that's where the concept came from. Like I said, as a former player, I would love to have some ownership in what I'm doing and as we see how much these franchises are worth, why not give the opportunity back to the players who build the league?"
Etan Thomas: So you're planning on taking this show on the road in 2023. Do you already have teams in mind? People are buzzing about the different possibilities or potential rivalry games that we could see. Have you keyed in on the other possible rival games?
Kareem Rush: "I&rsquo;m glad you asked that and yes, we actually have. Once the TBT started putting out their schedule, I was able to literally just reach out to some of those GMs from those teams and have initial conversations. This is a few months back before we started having some development and shape into our league. So we got a pretty good list of teams that we want to target. A lot of these teams are already established, so it's really just about getting the scheduling on our end. But I would say we probably talked to 12-or-16 teams at this point who all have shown interest. And I think for the first part of the league, our first couple of years, we really want to zero in on those historic college rivalries where we can build the concept around those fan bases and that madness and hoopla that build around those rivalries.
"Think of a Duke/North Carolina or a KU/MU or UCLA/USC. From my playing days, I still got connections to a lot of those teams and I think once the concept is out there and marketed properly, we're going to have guys reaching out to us, beating down our door to be a part of it."
Etan Thomas: And correct me if I&rsquo;m wrong, but your model differs from TBT because you offer an actual per-game salary for the players, correct?&nbsp;
Kareem Rush: "I see you did your homework, that&rsquo;s exactly correct. So, unlike TBT, where one team gets all the money and the other teams who come out and prep for months and months on end don't really see anything on the back end. So we're allowing guys to make a decent amount of money in the summertime, stay in shape, and then, once the overseas season goes, 'Go ahead and go back over there,' we want to be that league where you come home and play in front of your fans. You can really tap into that network."
Etan Thomas: Could the players also benefit from NIL deals or sponsorships as well?&nbsp;
Kareem Rush: Definitely. Now with the NIL, we can actually present some of the current players that come back [with deals] because I don't see any university that doesn't want to keep that connection with their former alumni. So bridging the gap there, allowing these guys to come back and play on campus is beneficial for everyone involved."
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Etan Thomas: So for this game in Maryland, you got the Xfinity Center. That shows right there that it&rsquo;s beneficial for the college. It's not like y&rsquo;all are playing at the YMCA or something.
Kareem Rush: "Exactly, I was actually surprised I was able to get the Xfinity Center for this first game in Maryland. We originally had Georgetown Prep scheduled. So that shows you that the schools will eventually want to jump on board and be a part of this because we have between eight-to-16 former legends coming back to be a part of the game. So we're excited about it, man. Like I said, we think we've got some legs. We're looking forward to pushing it full scope in 2023."
Etan Thomas: Sounds great. Don't forget to throw Syracuse in that mix when you&rsquo;re moving forward!
Kareem Rush: "Oh definitely, I already talked to the Boeheim Army guys so we got you! (laughing)"
Etan Thomas: Great, great. Yeah, because especially from that Big East, there are some great rivalries &mdash; I mean the original Big East. Now, of course, the conference is all messed up. Don't even get me started on that. But yeah, the original Big East rivalries, there's Syracuse/Georgetown, Syracuse/St. John's, Villanova/UConn. Those are classic Big East rivalries. But let's talk about this one that's coming up with Maryland and Georgetown and what everybody can expect. Both Maryland and Georgetown have a huge fan base here. I live here in Maryland, so I see it. Everybody was excited when you put out the roster of players, and they get more excited every time they announce another alumni who's going to be in attendance. I saw Georgetown legends like JYD, Michael Graham, Mark Tillmon, Gene Smith and Maryland legends like Joe Smith, Walt Williams, Duane Simpkins, Tony Massenburg. Every name creates more buzz, but talk about what everybody can expect for this game coming up on the 6th.
Kareem Rush: "We just want to put a good product on the court. Like I said, we have a nice mix of young and older players, because we always want to tap into those older fans who saw Juan Dixon, Steve Blake, Lonny Baxter and that group when they won the championship. So trying to get those guys to come up for those people who love the University of Maryland and Georgetown from top to the bottom. Come out, expect a good time! And as this concept grows, we plan on having a family night when we can come in and do some networking events with the guys, interacting with the former alumni and all that type of stuff. So we plan on building much more than just a game. It's going to be more of an entertainment-and-networking event component for them to do moving forward. So just come out, see some old players, have a good time, get a chance to honor and meet-and-greet some of the legends and then, just get ready for 2023!"
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Kareem Rush speaks to Etan Thomas about the Alumni Basketball League and the first matchup between Maryland and Georgetown.

ABL: Maryland, Georgetown alum set to battle Aug. 6 at Xfinity Center

Through two weeks of the WNBA season, where does each team stack up and what are some prime takeaways?

WNBA Power Rankings 5/22

Right before officially clinching their seventh Final Four berth this past weekend, the Villanova Wildcats lost junior guard Justin Moore, who had to be helped off the floor after a freak injury while dribbling to kill the clock with less than 45 seconds to go.
'Nova beat Houston 50-44 in the Elite Eight to become one of the last four standing teams in the Big Dance for the first time since 2018. However, it was announced days later that Moore &mdash; Villanova&rsquo;s second-leading scorer at 14.8 points per game on .397/.356/.750 shooting splits &mdash; ruptured his right Achilles tendon, prematurely ending his season.
Much of the basketball world united in comforting Moore during an excruciatingly awful time to receive such news, including Kevin Durant, who ruptured his own Achilles during the 2019 NBA Finals.
&ldquo;I texted Kevin; he called me,&rdquo; Wright recalled <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/college-sports/villanova/justin-moore-achilles-kevin-durant-villanova-20220331.html">to the Philadelphia Inquirer</a>. &ldquo;And Kevin said, &lsquo;I was watching that, and it looked just like &mdash; I knew it when he went down; it looked just like mine.&rsquo; So we talked for a while about it.
&ldquo;What was so impressive to me was, Durant said, &lsquo;I&rsquo;d like to talk to [Justin], talk to the parents about the process. I want to tell him that.&rsquo; He listed himself, Klay Thompson, a couple other guys I can&rsquo;t remember &mdash; he goes, 'Look, these guys had it in the NBA.' And people in the NBA know now that you can come back from that.&rdquo;
Moore wasn&rsquo;t just 'Nova&rsquo;s second-best scorer throughout the 2021-22 season, but the 6-foot-4 guard earned Second Team All-Big East honors and All-Big East Tournament honors earlier this month. Moore&rsquo;s been a starter in all three of his seasons at Villanova, and has seen his scoring averages jump from 11.3 to 12.9 to 14.8 points per game. This season, he netted a career-best 17.1 points per 40 minutes while also being the Wildcats&rsquo; best rebounding guard, pulling down 4.8 boards per contest.
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According to FiveThirtyEight, there have been six major injuries to Final Four bound teams in the Men&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament since 2010. Using the qualifier of players logging at least 20 minutes in an NCAA Tournament, these players include Kalin Lucas of Michigan State in 2010, Darryl Bryant of West Virginia that same year, Louisville&rsquo;s Kevin Ware (do not Google it if you&rsquo;re reading this during lunch) in 2013, Willie Cauley-Stein of Kentucky in 2014, Auburn&rsquo;s Chuma Okeke in 2019, and now Moore.
Lucas <a href="https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2010/news/story?id=5017721" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruptured his Achilles against Maryland</a> in Round 2, and the Spartans subsequently lost in the Final Four. Oddly enough, <a href="https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2010/news/story?id=5022928" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bryant broke his foot in the same round</a>, and his Mountaineers were also eliminated in the Final Four. Ware had a gruesome injury against Duke in the Elite Eight, and his Cardinals are the only team of this specific group that became national champions so far. Cauley-Stein <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2014/3/28/5559920/willie-cauley-stein-injury-kentucky-vs-louisville" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suffered a left ankle injury in Round 1</a>, and his Wildcats lost in the title game. And Okeke <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2019/3/29/18287843/chuma-okeke-injury-bruce-pearl-crying-auburn-sweet-16-ncaa-tournament-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tore his ACL in the Sweet 16</a>; Auburn reached the Final Four round before having its season end.
So, how does 'Nova piece together the production and minutes to replace Moore? He&rsquo;s logged 35.9 minutes per game since the beginning of the Big East Tournament, and has led the Wildcats with 34.6 minutes per contest this season.
Collin Gillespie &mdash; the 2022 Big East Player of the Year, Big East Tournament MVP and Third-Team All-American &mdash; will likely be keyed in on that much harder against Kansas this weekend. (I mean, that&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;d all do if you were in charge of the Jayhawks' defense, right?)
Gillespie&rsquo;s dropping a team-best 15.6 points and 3.3 assists per game on .431/.409/.905 shooting splits. Team sixth-man Caleb Daniels, a 6-foot-4 guard like Moore, has averaged 10.2 points on .427/.377/.851 in 27.3 minutes per contest this season.
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Though the Villanova-Houston offense resembled the (lack of) effectiveness of the Brock Lesnar-Goldberg match at WrestleMania 20, Daniels came up big with 12 points in 35 minutes, even as it came on 4 of 16 shooting. Every point matters against Houston, who had become a tournament favorite with sportsbooks due to its defensive run to the Elite Eight.
Jermaine Samuels, who led the game with 16 points, is 'Nova&rsquo;s leading non-guard scorer at 11.1 points per contest. The 6-foot-7 big also pulls down a team-high 6.5 boards per contest while shooting 47.4% from the field and 77.3% on free throws. Eric Dixon and Brandon Slater are the other two starting forwards, and there, you have 'Nova&rsquo;s main minute-eaters.
Moore, Gillespie, Slater, Samuels, Daniels and Dixon are the only Wildcats averaging at least 10 minutes per game this season, ranging from 34.6 to 25.1 in the order they&rsquo;re listed.
At least one of the following two guys will have to step up going forward to really alleviate the non-Moore minutes. The first would be Bryan Antoine, a junior who has come off the bench for three seasons with the Wildcats and wasn&rsquo;t one of the seven players to log minutes against Houston. Antoine hasn&rsquo;t played more than 11 minutes in a game since Jan. 25 and has scored 2 points since Feb. 12 (seven games, 35 minutes), but has battled injuries of his own, which is why he didn&rsquo;t appear until December.
He <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/03/29/march-madness-justin-moore-injury-gives-bryan-antoine-big-chance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently told the New York Post</a> that &ldquo;I&rsquo;d say I&rsquo;m pretty confident. I&rsquo;ve had the same mindset from Day 1. It hasn&rsquo;t really changed for me. Obviously with the injuries, I have been set back, but I&rsquo;m still the same player from high school.&rdquo;
Three years ago, Antoine was a five-star, top-20 recruit and McDonald&rsquo;s All-American who <a href="https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/24575439/bryan-antoine-commits-villanova-wildcats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chose Villanova over Duke, Florida, Kentucky, and Kansas</a>. The 6-foot-5 guard should have a chance to prove he can still resemble that as the Wildcat rotation now has to expand beyond six.
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The other guard in waiting is fellow 6-foot-5 junior Chris Arcidiacono, the brother of the Ryan. The younger Arcidiacono did log two minutes against Houston but hasn&rsquo;t cracked 10 since March 5, which is the only other time he&rsquo;s scored in a game since Feb. 22. <a href="https://villanovan.com/20381/sports/with-moore-out-its-time-for-arch-madness/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Per the Villanovan</a>, Arcidiacono downplayed his potentially increased role with a boring quote.
&ldquo;Really, nothing changes,&rdquo; Arcidiacono said. &ldquo;My role is I come off the bench, bring energy, and just make sure we&rsquo;re playing Villanova basketball for 40 minutes. So whenever I&rsquo;m in, I&rsquo;m going to help our team play Villanova basketball.&rdquo;
He&rsquo;s downplaying it here, but no doubt that it&rsquo;s possible both Antoine and Arcidiacono receive increased roles against Kansas this Saturday.
Villanova will need to squeeze everything they can out of their non-regulars in hopes of finding something unexpected to help their championship quest.
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Villanova played one game this season without Justin Moore --- an 85-74 win over UConn on February 5th in South Philadelphia. Chris Arcidiacono had nine points in 26 minutes off the bench. The Wildcats don't have what they had, but they still have enough. <a href="https://t.co/DckgK3BJyi">https://t.co/DckgK3BJyi</a>
&mdash; Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1508236981083553793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Bryan Fonseca looks at who 'Nova can turn to with Justin Moore sidelined for the rest of the NCAA Tournament.

Villanova will have to survive without Justin Moore in the Final Four

In a battle between the top two teams in the Big East, this game, like many others in the conference's regular season, went down to the wire. The Villanova Wildcats held on to a 76-74 victory over the Providence Friars, as Caleb Daniels led all players with 20 points off the bench.
Villanova (22-7, 15-4 Big East) entered this one ranked No. 12 in Adjusted Efficiency and projects as the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They are led by senior guard Collin Gillespie, who is averaging 16.6 points per game and continues to make a strong case for the 2022 NBA Draft.
Despite the loss, Providence (24-4, 14-3 Big East) wrapped up a phenomenal season, one in which the team is projected as the No. 4 seed in March Madness; the Friars are No. 39 in Adjusted Efficiency in the nation. Nate Watson leads the team with 14.0 points per game, and is one of the best upperclassmen centers in the country.
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The Friars jumped out to a 9-2 early lead, but Brandon Slater and Jermaine Samuels were able to reel it back in. After the score was 24-24, Gillespie, Daniels and the rest of the Wildcats ended the half on a 16-2 run.
Villanova took a 40-26 lead into the break behind 10 points and 3 assists from Gillespie. Samuels and Eric Dixon had 7 points each. Noah Horchler led the Friars in scoring with 6 at the half.&nbsp;
Providence came roaring back to start the second half behind A.J. Reeves, cutting the lead to 53-51 by the 10-minute mark. At 4:13, Villanova held a 62-60 lead, as Justin Moore and Daniels continued to hit tough shots. At 1:46, Gillespie had a crucial steal which led to a Moore free throw at 1:26.&nbsp;
It felt like the Wildcats were close to wrapping it up, but Justin Minaya hit a clutch triple with 33 seconds remaining for Providence to cut the deficit to 69-68. After a pair of Dixon free throws, Jared Bynum hit a layup for the Friars to make it 71-70 in favor of Nova with 14 seconds on the clock.&nbsp;
Daniels hit two more free throws to make it 75-72 at the three-second mark, and Villanova was able to hold on from there, 76-74. The Wildcats have a hold on the No. 2 seed in the Big East as the regular season closes in on its end.&nbsp;
Bynum had a tremendous game for the Friars, posting 19 points and 10 assists. Horchler and Reeves pitched in 15 points each.
Eric Dixon recorded 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals for the Wildcats, while Gillespie finished 14 points and 5 assists.&nbsp;
UPCOMING
Villanova visits Butler on Saturday afternoon for the regular-season finale.
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The Wildcats held on to a 76-74 victory as Caleb Daniels led all players with 20 points off the bench.

No. 11 Villanova defeats No. 9 Providence 76-74 in a nail-biter

In recent years, the NBA has seen a wave of superstar point guards come in and command the spotlight right away &mdash; no matter their size. Ja Morant, Trae Young and Darius Garland are a few names that come to mind, and they're setting the tone for those who want to follow suit and be next in line.&nbsp;
As the top point guard in his class, University of Tennessee commit Kennedy Chandler is determined to cut in and join them, and he happens to know all three talented pros personally.
&ldquo;Ja and Trae and Darius, they came from being unknown to being top players in the world,&rdquo; Chandler told BasketballNews.com in a phone interview. &ldquo;Trae, everybody thought he was small, wouldn't be able to make it. Ja, same way, too skinny; nobody knew who Ja was. Just the hunger, I feel like we have a lot in common from being nobody to being one of the top players in the nation, I feel like I can do the same thing they did."
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A recently-turned 19-year-old five-star recruit out of Eads, Tennessee just east of Memphis, Chandler has befriended each at different points in his life. In his younger years, he was a part of &ldquo;We All Can Go,&rdquo; an AAU program that featured Garland and Marvin Bagley III headlining the eighth-grade squad. During that time, Chandler grew close to the Garland family, particularly Darius&rsquo; father, Winston.
&ldquo;His dad and my dad talk probably every day,&rdquo; Chandler said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s when [WACG] were <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3m1DmlHzTE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">competing against a team called Izod</a>. And ever since then, we just built the relationship, my family and his family built the relationship, and I just call him for any advice I [need]. His dad told me I can ask him any questions. His dad was a great basketball player, and I've got a great relationship with him and his family.&rdquo;
The Garlands have told Chandler the amount of work that is required if he wants to make it to the league. (&ldquo;If you really want to do it, you&rsquo;ve got to do it.&rdquo;) They&rsquo;ve also told him about the differences in the level of competition between high school, college and the pros. Winston was a seven-year NBA player, so Chandler has soaked in the knowledge he&rsquo;s been presented.
When he reached eighth grade himself, Chandler began to realize that he could make a career out of basketball. After his first session at the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League with MOKAN Basketball, the offers flooded in.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I was like, 'I really could take this basketball [thing] to a higher level,'&rdquo; Chandler said. &ldquo;And from that point on, I just changed who I was and changed how I needed to work and my work ethic. I just changed everything.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I had a great work ethic from my eighth grade year, but it wasn&rsquo;t how it was after my first EYBL session. Because at first, nobody really knew who I was. I had maybe one offer, two offers. And, you know, it was just me continuing trying to work to prove everybody wrong. From that point on, I picked up more offers after my first game. That made me really think about who I was and what I could do with this game of basketball. And MOKAN helped me be the player I am today.&rdquo;
Part of the reason Chandler came aboard the MOKAN program was because of Young&rsquo;s influence. (Chandler was so committed to MOKAN that he'd actually fly out to Kansas City to practice on the weekends there when he was still at Briarcrest Christian School before he transferred to Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita.) He&rsquo;s also taking a page out of the Atlanta Hawks star&rsquo;s book by playing for a college in his home state.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing. Nothing wrong with playing at your home state &mdash; notice how he played at Oklahoma, I&rsquo;m playing in Tennessee,&rdquo; Chandler said. &ldquo;Knoxville, Tennessee, it&rsquo;s about six hours away from home. So, for me to play here&hellip; the fan base is crazy here. They love basketball and football. And I just can&rsquo;t wait to put on a show for Knoxville.&rdquo;
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This is different Lil bro.... I LOVE IT!!! Ain&rsquo;t nothing like reppin the home state, trust me🙏🏽💯 Go Crazy! <a href="https://t.co/fcIm848v0L">https://t.co/fcIm848v0L</a>
&mdash; Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheTraeYoung/status/1294347799048392704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2020</a></blockquote>

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It just so happens that he&rsquo;ll share the Volunteer state with Morant, whom Chandler is closest with out of the point-guard trio. When the Memphis Grizzlies favorite was drafted, he followed Chandler on Instagram after IMG Academy assistant coach Trey Draper suggested the two connect. Morant then sent Chandler a direct message asking where he could get some sessions in.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I texted him back,&rdquo; Chandler said. &ldquo;I was just shocked, you know? I didn&rsquo;t think that he even knew who I was. Ever since then, we've played together in the hoop runs, played against each other, and ever since then, our bond has gotten closer and closer.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I call him anytime. They&rsquo;re like family to me, his family is like family. His dad gives me great advice all the time. He&rsquo;s like a big brother to me.&rdquo;
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my brother 🖤 <a href="https://t.co/EVRmhFCss6">https://t.co/EVRmhFCss6</a>
&mdash; Ja Morant (@JaMorant) <a href="https://twitter.com/JaMorant/status/1294284090057908224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2020</a></blockquote>

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Continuing the theme of looking up to guards like him, Chandler mentions that he actually models his game after Chris Paul. His film sessions focus on how the All-Star maestro gets inside and gets players open. At the moment, Chandler is confident in his finishing around the basket and using his speed and vision to find open teammates. He trusts in his jumpshot and is looking to progress it and extend his range.
Chandler was able to showcase those talents this past summer on Team USA&rsquo;s U-19 World Cup gold medal squad headed by Jamie Dixon. Boasting a roster full of potential and collegiate studs &mdash; Chet Holmgren and Jaden Ivey, plus Mike Miles Jr. and Kenneth Lofton among others &mdash; the Americans jelled overseas in Latvia; however, it didn&rsquo;t come as easily as anticipated.
&ldquo;That was a great experience. That was my first time going across the country,&rdquo; Chandler said. &ldquo;I'd say for my sake, it's more physical over there. They let you play. Them teams there, their chemistry's really good. So for us, we didn't have the chemistry. I don't think nobody really knows, we lost our first scrimmage to Australia. So we had to get used to playing with each other, knowing what each other does, knowing that it's not for us [individually]; it's about what we're wearing on our chest.&nbsp;
&ldquo;For me to win gold was a dream come true as well. I learned a lot from playing over there and coming back over here, me playing for USA and going across to Latvia really helped me."
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Riding that momentum coming into this year, Chandler will have the opportunity to be under the tutelage of Rick Barnes, a well-respected coach in the basketball world who&rsquo;s worked with a number of notable players over the course of his career. Before Barnes came to Tennessee, he made waves with the Texas Longhorns. He coached quite a few guards who were shorter in size, including a highly-touted prospect in 2001 who made his way to the next level: T.J. Ford.
&ldquo;He thinks I'm just like T.J. the way I act. It's kinda funny,&rdquo; Chandler said. &ldquo;I didn't even know who T.J. Ford was, to be honest with you. I didn't know who he was once I committed there, and I started looking to watch his highlights; he was a great player. T.J. texted me and told me he was gonna be down here soon and talk to me 'cause I know he's a trainer down in Houston. So I know T.J. told me he'll come down here soon, work with me. I'm looking forward to meeting him, talking to him.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Coach Barnes had other guards like D.J. Augustin, a small guard. So that's why I came here as well, 'cause Coach Barnes knows what he's doing with his point guards."
Barnes already sees how intense Chandler is in practice. The Vols head coach is keying in on his newest point guard valuing possessions and getting into his assignments defensively. Chandler already has a set of goals for himself going into the season, and Tennessee fans will love to hear his high aspirations.
&ldquo;For me to come in, lead the team. Even though I'm a freshman, being able to lead the team and just bring a different dog,&rdquo; Chandler said. &ldquo;Bring a competitive player, for me, which he knows I am. Bring defense, bring anything to the table as well. But for me, as a small guard, just bringing the hustle... I want to have a great assist-to-turnover ratio. That's what I want to do, and lead the team to somewhere Tennessee's never been, as far as I can...
&ldquo;I just think I'm about to surprise people [with] how well I do this year."
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Basketball News Lead NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock happens to agree with Chandler:
Kennedy Chandler may be on the smaller side, but he possesses elite speed and quickness, which allow him to be a dynamic scorer and playmaker. Since I first watched him a couple of years ago, he&rsquo;s continued to improve his game all the way around. I&rsquo;ve gotten to know Kennedy on a personal level, and in doing so, I&rsquo;ve come to find Kennedy to be a hard worker that is very driven. I&rsquo;ve also been impressed with his eagerness to seek advice and his ability to accept constructive criticism. After a season at Tennessee with veteran head coach Rick Barnes, I&rsquo;m expecting Kennedy to be one of the first point guards selected in the 2022 NBA Draft, if not the very first one.
Chandler&rsquo;s already felt the level increase in the short time he&rsquo;s been in the gym with the Vols. He felt that his lone year at Sunrise Christian Academy was competitive, but he quickly realized that college is a step up. He feels blessed to be playing at a Power Five Division I school, welcoming the challenge that awaits. He can&rsquo;t wait to take on the best that the SEC &mdash; and NCAA as a whole &mdash; has to offer.
Being as notable of a prospect as he is, the bright lights and attention come with it. Chandler doesn&rsquo;t treat it any differently than when he was off the radar, though. He&rsquo;s keeping his head down and staying humble because his journey is still ongoing. He's also fully invested in his studies of Communication &mdash; he'd like to be a basketball commentator when he's finished with his career. It's a big reason he went to school in lieu of going a separate route. (Rod Strickland and the G League Ignite reached out to him when Chandler was a junior, but he was focused on getting an education).
Still, right now, reaching the NBA is the primary goal, and this upcoming campaign with the Vols is critical to achieving that. When asked if he believes that he&rsquo;s the top point guard in his class, the answer is a confident &ldquo;yes&rdquo; because of his work ethic.
&ldquo;I was nothing at first. Nobody knew who I was,&rdquo; Chandler said. &ldquo;My hard work really paid off, and people started recognizing who I was. And my hard work just showed who I really was and that I deserve my respect, you know? That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ll continue to do, and I&rsquo;ll continue to work hard every single day.&rdquo;
Underestimate Chandler at your detriment. While he doesn&rsquo;t let the perception around his size get to him, he absolutely takes it as a slight. Not only does he have the desire to outwork everybody, he also has a chip on his shoulder.
&ldquo;I don't think it's fair at all,&rdquo; Chandler said. &ldquo;People, they consider me a small guard, but I'm playing against all big guards you can name that are freshmen now in college that are 6-foot-2, 6-foot-3. Size is just nothing to me. I play as [if] I'm a big guard. I don't believe me saying I'm a small guard really should affect me being [able] to play at the level of the NBA or just wherever I want to play at. I just take that as... it makes me work harder. It just makes me work harder every day 'cause I know me being 6-foot has nothing to do [with] me to play against [anybody] at any level.
&ldquo;That's not gonna bother me, them being taller than me, being this height. 'Cause I know I'm gonna get stronger as I am in college, which I am right now. I'm getting stronger and stronger every single day. So for people to consider me a small guard really doesn't bother me 'cause I've seen lots and lots of small guards that are in the league right now. I know if they can do it, I know I can do it as well.&rdquo;

Spencer Davies chats with Tennessee point guard Kennedy Chandler about his NBA relationships, high aspirations and more.

Tennessee's Kennedy Chandler intent on showing size isn't everything

The Memphis Grizzlies&rsquo; future revolves around Ja Morant. Selected second in the 2019 NBA Draft, the springy athlete has quickly become one of the most explosive and entertaining point guards in the entire NBA. However, some who follow the Grizzlies closely consider 25-year-old wing Dillon Brooks to be the heart and soul of the squad.
Echoing old-fashioned imagery of the Grit 'N&rsquo; Grind era led by Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Tony Allen, Brooks&rsquo; tenacious style of play quickly made him a fan favorite on Beale Street. Last season, Brooks established himself as Memphis&rsquo; top secondary scoring option alongside Morant, putting together a career-best season with averages of 17.2 points, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
Brooks is on a bargain contract as well. With two years remaining at $23.6 million, Brooks&rsquo; value is stellar compared to other score-first starting wings around the league. Due for a raise soon enough, likely to double his annual salary, Memphis has <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/-dillon-brooks-kyle-anderson-available-for-the-right-price" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly made Brooks available</a> &ldquo;for the right price,&rdquo; per Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor.
Although Brooks has established himself as a complementary piece in the Grizzlies&rsquo; young core that brings 100% effort on each possession, this is a smart move. And no, this isn&rsquo;t a hot take.
Should Memphis really bet on Brooks being potentially their No. 2 scoring option throughout the prime of Morant&rsquo;s career? It&rsquo;s a risky proposition, especially when you realize how inefficient Brooks&rsquo; offensive profile is.
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(Brooks' 2020-21 shot chart, courtesy of InStat)
Brooks is a high-volume shot-chucker who rarely finds a good shot within the flow of an offensive system. Carrying a pedestrian 51.5% True Shooting percentage during the 2020-21 campaign, Brooks put himself in interesting company as it relates to scorers carrying a heavy burden of offensive creation. There are six players who notched a TS% below 52% with a usage rate at or above 25% last season: Russell Westbrook, John Wall, Victor Oladipo, Andre Drummond, Josh Jackson and Brooks.
Factoring in that Wall was coming back from two career-altering injuries, plus Oladipo&rsquo;s quad injury continued to linger, it&rsquo;s not a great list to be a part of. Westbrook remains an outlier due to his all-around play, which makes up for a continued lack of efficiency as a primary scoring option. When you also filter it to players who attempted 15 or more shots per game on a sub-52 TS%, the four included are Westbrook, Oladipo, Wall and Brooks.
And when you realize this is Brooks&rsquo; second time being on that particular list in two seasons under the age of 25, the others who have accomplished that lack of efficiency on multiple occasions should serve as a warning when you&rsquo;re thinking about paying him near $100 million on his next contract. Here are the wings since 2010 who have made multiple appearances on the sub-52 TS% and 25+ USG% list: DeMar DeRozan, Michael Beasley, Tyreke Evans, Dion Waiters, Josh Jackson and Brooks.
DeRozan&rsquo;s evolution throughout his prime years is the lone exception for a success story among those six names mentioned. Honestly, Brooks&rsquo; scoring does mimic an Evans or Waiters-like profile. All three fit within the score-first inefficient criteria, which should give a team serious pause on wanting to cough up big-time money to Brooks unless he undergoes a DeRozan-esque metamorphosis &mdash; and that's very unlikely.
Right now, Brooks&rsquo; value around the league would be at an all-time high. Coming off a playoff series where he averaged 25.8 points per game, a playoff contender could sell themselves on Brooks being a strong scoring punch to toss into their rotation. For a team like Memphis that isn&rsquo;t close to true contention &mdash; potentially another No. 8 seed is its ceiling outcome &mdash; selling high on Brooks would be the smart play long-term.
Three young players on the bench need more playing time alongside Morant &mdash; De&rsquo;Anthony Melton, Desmond Bane and No. 10 overall pick Ziaire Williams. When Morant and Melton shared the floor last season over 453 minutes, the duo outscored the opposition by a team-best 12.6 points per 100 possessions (116.7 ORTG, 104.1 DRTG). Bane showed in Las Vegas Summer League action that he&rsquo;s poised for a sophomore leap, continuing to build upon his strong rookie campaign as an above-average floor-spacing wing who can hold his own defensively. Meanwhile, Williams is a lottery ticket with immense upside. If the lanky wing from Stanford pans out, he&rsquo;s an ideal complement alongside Morant and 2018 No. 4 overall pick Jaren Jackson Jr.
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The Grizzlies are missing an efficient secondary scoring option to take them over the top to consistent contention, which needs to also include another health-permitted leap forward from Jackson Jr. in his fourth season. Brooks is a great piece to the current puzzle in Memphis, but does he make a lot of sense in the long-term picture alongside Morant, Jackson Jr. and other young prospects progressing along the way? It&rsquo;s a legitimate question to ask if you&rsquo;re in the Grizzlies&rsquo; front office.
Brooks is an in-your-face player who brings excellent effort on both ends of the floor. Being able to defend a team&rsquo;s top backcourt option while also knocking down open three-pointers is a necessity in today&rsquo;s NBA. There&rsquo;s no wonder why the city of Memphis is in love with a player like Brooks, but there&rsquo;s a real debate to undergo for whether he&rsquo;s a piece of the next great Grizzlies era. I believe Brooks&rsquo; best role in Memphis or elsewhere would be as a microwave sixth-man scoring option.
For the Grizzlies, they would be wise to canvass the market to see what the current asking price is on the former second-round pick from Oregon. If they are able to add future draft capital or more appealing young assets, Memphis can continue to stockpile intriguing pieces that fit best around their centerpiece in Morant.
Memphis is stuck in the middle right now within a Western Conference arms race that shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Swapping out Jonas Valanciunas for Steven Adams while moving up seven spots in the draft was an interesting move, but it seems like the Grizzlies also felt uncomfortable paying above market value to keep their starting center around past the 2021-22 season.
The same fate could soon be in store for Brooks, which brings another array of questions for the team&rsquo;s future. Brooks can fill up the stat sheet, but doing so at an inefficient clip in his manner will not help his case if he wants to get a massive raise. Recent history has shown it.

Dillon Brooks has become a strong secondary option for Memphis, but his inefficiency may be in the way of a long-term play.

Why the Grizzlies would be wise to explore trade market on Dillon Brooks

As things currently stand, the Detroit Pistons will shell out their biggest player paycheck for 2021-22 to someone who isn't on the roster. The Portland Trail Blazers owe money to one player through 2024, even though he never played a game for the team. The Indiana Pacers are still paying Monta Ellis.
In the complex world of the NBA salary cap, "dead money" is one oft-forgotten consequence of buyouts and cuts around the league. These situations happen when a player is released with guaranteed money left on his contract. The team has to pay the rest of the salary, so they'll either foot the bill as the contract originally stated, or stretch the remaining salary over a longer period to make the payments more manageable per-year. These still count against the team's salary cap (<a href="https://www.slamonline.com/nba/cba-explained-the-stretch-provision/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here's a good explainer</a>).
In many cases, the cap and financial impacts look insignificant on their own. But dead money can range from a nuisance to a handicap for franchises that often brush right up against salary-cap constraints.
When the league calendar flips in August, half of the NBA will be completely free of dead money, according to salary figures provided by <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotrac</a> and <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Basketball Reference</a>. The Memphis Grizzlies, for example, had over $29 million tied to Gorgui Dieng and Dion Waiters through this past season.
However, half of the league remains tethered to players and cap holds. A browse though the books reveals some surprising names still on NBA payrolls.&nbsp;
Let's start with the Pistons, who are far and away the most hamstrung organization. They'll be paying Blake Griffin approximately $29.8 million next season, easily the highest dead-money total in the NBA. Unless the franchise makes a major splash in the offseason, that number shatters the $20 million owed to Detroit's highest-paid active player, Jerami Grant.&nbsp;
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Griffin isn't alone on the payroll. Former 2018 first-round pick Zhaire Smith is owed $1.068 million and change into the 2022-23 season. Then there's Dewayne Dedmon, who checks in as one of my favorite players in this unique circumstance.
The Pistons acquired Dedmon via trade from Atlanta last November and promptly waived the 31-year-old center. But they stretched the remainder of his three-year, $40 million deal&nbsp;way out. Detroit plans to pay Dedmon $2.87 million each year through the 2024-25 NBA season &mdash; without him ever suiting up for the Motor City.
Dedmon is one of two players who will assuredly get a paycheck from an NBA team without ever playing a game for them. The other is Andrew Nicholson, who has been out of the NBA since 2017. Still, the Portland Trail Blazers must pay him $2.84 million per year through the 2023-24 season. That means he'll still be cashing NBA paychecks seven years after his last game.
Most dead-contract situations are less complicated than Detroit's traffic jam. The Oklahoma City Thunder are the only other franchise with three players in dead-money territory. But the penalties are much less severe; Admiral Schofield will receive $300,000 next season, Patrick Patterson will make $737,066 next year, and Kyle Singler (inactive since 2018) will earn $999,200 per year through 2022-23.
Aside from Griffin, Nicolas Batum wields the largest single dead-cap hold. When the Charlotte Hornets waived him last November, they stretched the rest of his five-year, $120 million deal. The franchise owes Batum a bit over $9 million through 2022-23.
Including Batum, most of the biggest dead-cap condundrums stem from the lucrative 2016 free-agency period. It resulted in a ton of eye-popping deals for players, and even after things went south with the respective teams, they're still making money from that fateful July.
Batum, Joakim Noah (tied to the Knicks), Ryan Anderson (Heat) and Luol Deng (Lakers) are all making at least $5 million in 2021-22 because of contracts they signed in 2016.
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How are other contenders doing in the dead-money department? Ten of the 2021 playoff squads are free of dead-cap hits. The Golden State Warriors owe $666,667 to Shaun Livingston next season, while the Boston Celtics owe just under $1.2 million combined to Guerschon Yabusele and Demetrius Jackson.
The Milwaukee Bucks join the aforementioned three franchises with a notable chunk of dead money; they're giving up over $5 million to the duo of Jon Leuer and Larry Sanders. Five million dollars may not seem like a ton in the grand scheme of NBA money-spending. But during the quest for an NBA title, droplets of cap space matter as teams try to facilitate trades, make small additions and even avoid the luxury tax.
So next time you hear a buyout rumor, think about the potential dead-money impact. One case on the horizon could involve Kevin Love. According to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle, there is "growing sentiment around the league" that Love and the Cleveland Cavaliers <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/warriors-flirting-with-the-idea-of-acquiring-kevin-love" target="_blank" rel="noopener">could reach a buyout agreement</a>.
Love still has over $60 million left on his contract over the next two seasons. As the Cavs eventually try to move from rebuilder to contender, do they want that kind of money on their books over the next two seasons? Or, if they waive and stretch Love, how would the stretched contract affect their cap standing over the next decade?
It's a tricky space to navigate, and only one of the many challenges on the plates of every NBA front office.

When a guaranteed-contract player is cut, their salary becomes dead money. Which teams have the most dead money on their books?

As NBA offseason nears, which teams are in the dead money doldrums?

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; The time Paul George has been waiting for is now.
The Los Angeles Clippers star, so good during the regular season, has another chance to rewrite his disappointing playoff history starting Saturday in Game 1 of a first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks.
George made no secret of his struggles living in isolation in the NBA bubble last season. Away from his family and only seeing the same faces over and over affected his mental health. He all but disappeared in <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/clippers-championship-dreams-crumble-game-7-loss-nuggets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Game 7 loss to Denver in the West semifinals, </a> with 10 points on 4 of 16 shooting.
&ldquo;This year has been easier," George said. &ldquo;It's a big difference between bubble life to where I am now from a headspace point."
That's good news to the Clippers, who pit their star duo of George and Kawhi Leonard against the Mavs' single superstar Luka Doncic.
"It's just about between the ears now," said Leonard, the two-time NBA Finals MVP. "How much are we willing to sacrifice to get a ring, how much of our mind and body are we going to put into this playoffs?&rdquo;
The fourth-seeded Clippers are a 5 1/2-point favorite, <a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/sports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to FanDuel Sportsbook.</a>
The opener is an early afternoon game at Staples Center, a time of day that didn't work out too well for the Clippers in the teams' first meeting. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-los-angeles-tim-hardaway-jr-kawhi-leonard-paul-george-916f9adaef82499c1b32d5a76b394be2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Mavs thrashed them by 51 points </a> on Dec. 27, raising questions about whether the Clippers would be title contenders.
&ldquo;It's an adjustment when you're playing that early,&rdquo; George said.
His teammate, Ivica Zubac, lamented, &ldquo;I can't take a nap.&rdquo;
The Clippers don't want to be caught sleeping, especially as they seek to put last season's playoff demise far, far behind them. They beat the Mavs in six games in the first round of the bubble, only to blow a 3-1 lead in losing to Denver.
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Unlike in the bubble, they'll have the advantage of playing in front of a limited home crowd at Staples during the best-of-seven series.
Led by Doncic, fifth-seeded Dallas is seeking to win its first playoff series since earning the NBA title in 2011. He averaged 31 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists against LA in last year's playoffs.
&ldquo;The level of the challenge is huge,&rdquo; Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. &ldquo;We've got to be fearless. We've got to be very together. We've got to be very focused.&rdquo;
ALL HEALTHY
Both teams enter the playoffs healthy, something that wasn't always the case during the season. Leonard missed several games with a sore right foot, something he said he's been playing with for a while. &ldquo;I'll be capable enough to play,&rdquo; he said.
Serge Ibaka just returned for the Clippers, and with only two games under his belt, he'll be working off the rust.
Mavs forward Maxi Kleber missed six of his last eight games with a sore right Achilles, and his status is up in the air. He was the primary defender against Leonard last year.
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THE POINT IS
The Clippers figure to run the point by committee. Reggie Jackson has been reliable throughout the season and Patrick Beverley is back from an injury. They've also got Rajon Rondo, acquired in a midseason trade to provide an experienced veteran who acts as an assistant coach when he's on the sideline. Whoever shows the ability to slow down Doncic ("the head of the snake," according to Clippers coach Tyronn Lue) will get the most minutes.
DONCIC'S RESET
Doncic avoided a regular-season suspension by holding at 15 technicals, tying with Philadelphia's Dwight Howard for most in the league. The Dallas star actually was called for 16, which would have triggered a one-game suspension, but it got rescinded by the league office.
The good thing for him is that the tech count resets for the playoffs. He would need to rack up seven to be suspended, and the Mavs can't afford to be without his emotion and energy.
NO HARD FEELINGS
Marcus Morris and Doncic settled any hard feelings from last year's playoffs when the Clippers forward accidentally stepped on the back of Doncic's heel.
Doncic already had a sprained ankle during the series, when Morris was guarding him most of the time.
Morris said he apologized before a game earlier this season and Doncic accepted.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s definitely a mutual respect between us as players," Morris said. &ldquo;I told him before the game, I&rsquo;m not into making no dirty plays and trying to hurt nobody. I&rsquo;m a competitor first; I love taking on the matchup."
In turn, Doncic praised Morris as &ldquo;a hell of a player, hell of a defender."
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GROWING CROWD
The Mavericks said Friday they plan to be near capacity for Games 3 and 4 in Dallas. That likely means at least 15,000 fans. The club also said it would host vaccination drives during both games. Game 6, if necessary, also will be in Dallas.
Before the pandemic, a sellout for the Mavericks was about 20,000. But almost all the seats near the court are gone, at least for now. Dallas hosted fans for the first time in its 11th game, starting with about 1,000 essential workers and season-ticket holders who attended for free. The announced crowd for the final home game of the regular season was 4,493.
___
AP Sports Writer Schuyler Dixon in Dallas contributed to this report.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Clippers and Mavericks will face off today in Game 1 of their first-round series - a rematch of last year's first-round matchup.

Leonard and George lead Clippers against Doncic and Mavs

Referring to a contract as a "bargain" is saying that a player's talent overwhelmingly exceeds what they are paid. When you look around the NBA, plenty of these value deals exist, especially in the realm of rookie-scale contracts. But outside of that, there are teams that have gotten the best bang for their buck with the players they've signed.
Since a lot of the noise tends to be around the bigger contracts, BasketballNews.com wanted to take a different spin and look at some of the deals that teams were smart to negotiate, so we asked our staff:
 Which NBA contract is the biggest bargain?
Alex Kennedy: Back in 2019, Caris LeVert signed a three-year, $52.5 million extension with the Brooklyn Nets. That&rsquo;s why he's earning just $16,203,704 this season, despite being one of the league&rsquo;s rising stars. Eric Bledsoe, Ricky Rubio and Gorgui Dieng are some of the players who earned more than LeVert this season. Now, as our Spencer Davies noted, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-indiana-pacers-caris-levert-has-not-lost-a-single-step-after-surgery-domantas-sabonis-malcolm-brogdon-edmond-sumner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LeVert is producing at a high level</a> (averaging 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.3 blocks this month) for the Indiana Pacers, who have to be thrilled about January&rsquo;s trade.
Spencer Davies: There are too many obvious rookie-scale players that come to mind for this topic, so let&rsquo;s stick to players with contracts that don&rsquo;t fall under that criteria. Even though he falls under a similar age group, Luguentz Dort went undrafted in 2019 and signed a two-way contract that summer with the Oklahoma City Thunder. From that point on, the burly guard shot up the depth chart, earned a four-year standard minimum deal in June 2020 and ended up giving James Harden all he could handle in the first round of last year&rsquo;s playoffs in the bubble. Last offseason, Dort signed a four-year, $5.4 million deal (and it was only partially guaranteed until recently!). He&rsquo;s earning $1,517,981 this season, and he'll make $1,782,621 next year. In 2022-23, he has a team option worth $1,930,681. That&rsquo;s a damn steal for an everyday starter who has made a marked improvement on the offensive side of the floor (did you *see* his career-night Tuesday?) and <a href="https://twitter.com/The_BBall_Index/status/1381766585463885827?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continues to be tasked with the most difficult assignments defensively</a>.
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Nekias Duncan: The easy answer would be someone Luka Doncic or Zion Williamson since they&rsquo;re still on their rookie contracts. That feels like cheating. Instead, I&rsquo;ll go with Julius Randle, an All-NBA caliber player this season while making a shade under $19 million.
Chris Sheridan: Easy. LeBron James. If there was not a salary cap, he would be making $150 million or more. Instead, he makes the max, just like a whole bunch of guys who have NOT been to 10 NBA Finals.
Ethan Fuller: Excluding rookie deals, I would say Jaylen Brown's four-year, $107 million contract is fantastic for the Boston Celtics. We're talking about a third overall draft pick who rapidly ascended the league's hierarchy and became a potential perennial All-Star. Brown's value as a two-way wing and long-term piece is tremendous. Most young players at his stage earn maximum rookie extensions, making this contract quite a bargain.
Mark Gunnels: If we're not including players on their rookie contract, then the obvious answer for me is Duncan Robinson. I mean, we're talking about one of the top five shooters in the world whose base salary is only $1.6 million this season. Unfortunately for the Miami Heat, Robinson is a restricted free agent this summer.
Jonathan Concool: Considering the state of today&rsquo;s NBA contracts, Jordan Clarkson gets my vote. He is making just $11.5 million this year, and he&rsquo;s having a career year with the Jazz. The current favorite to win the Sixth Man of the Year award is currently averaging 17.2 points. 3.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in just over 25 minutes per game. He&rsquo;s the second-leading scorer on the team with the best record in the NBA. Clarkson also leads the league in free-throw shooting percentage (95.5%), which is up from 78.5% last season. Tony Snell, Taurean Prince, Dion Waiters and Trevor Ariza are among the players who are currently making more money than Clarkson.
Who do you think has the NBA's biggest bargain contract? Tweet us your answer <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@basketbllnews</a>!

Which NBA contract is the biggest bargain? The BasketballNews.com staff weighs in.