Mocs

The USA Men&rsquo;s National Basketball will face arguably their biggest threat in the Olympics in Team Canada on July 10 in Las Vegas. This Canadian team features a multitude of NBA talents, just like Team USA. Led by 2024 NBA MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and 2023 NBA Champion Jamal Murray, Team Canada is poised to give Team USA all the headaches and possible roadblocks in its pursuit of gold.&nbsp;
With all things considered, here&rsquo;s what Team USA could do to stamp their dominance against their neighboring rivals up North and send a message to the rest of the world eager to challenge their throne.
Dump the ball to Joel Embiid and let him go to work
Perhaps the most dominant basketball player in the world right now, there&rsquo;s probably nobody who could guard Joel Embiid one-on-one today on God&rsquo;s green earth. A 7-foot-2 big man blessed with skill, size, finesse, and power, Embiid&rsquo;s complete game will be a main problem for Team Canada. Among the frontliners they could throw at Embiid are Dwight Powell, Kelly Olynyk, and Trey Lyles but none of them - on paper and quick eye test - are quick or strong enough to deter Embiid and his dominance. Embiid dominated some of the league&rsquo;s best defensive players, putting up 50 points on 4-time DPOY Rudy Gobert and scoring 70 points in phenom Victor Wembanyama&rsquo;s head last season.
Team USA should quickly take advantage of this opportunity and run the offense through Embiid and make Team Canada send double teams at him. That&rsquo;s when advantages and opportunities will open up to the rest of the guys like LeBron cutting to the rim or Durant and Curry spotting up for wide-open threes. It could be a pick-your-poison type of game where Team Canada could let Embiid play one-on-one and destroy them inside the paint or double him and risk putting two on the ball creating opportunities for the rest of Team USA.
Get into lots of screening actions to create advantages and confuse the defense
Team Canada&rsquo;s biggest strength will be their on-ball perimeter defense. Among Dillon Brooks, Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, they will have long wings that could disrupt passing lanes and wreak havoc on the perimeter, creating easy baskets in transition. Canada&rsquo;s a relatively young team with most players in their athletic prime so they would definitely take advantage of their biggest strength and make it their main style of play.
To counter this, Team USA could involve their players in more screening actions to create advantages on offense and confuse Canada&rsquo;s defense. They should also incorporate slips and slides in those screens and in the pick and rolls for cutters and shooters to get open shots. By doing this, Team USA will negate Canada&rsquo;s biggest strength and create easy and quality looks against their vaunted perimeter defense.
Play defense
It&rsquo;s no secret that Team USA&rsquo;s core players are aging and nearing the end of their athletic peaks. Although being the superstar basketball players that they are and still being at the top of their offensive games, Team USA&rsquo;s defense will be suspect here and would probably be the main attacking point of their opponents. Jrue Holiday, Anthony Edwards, and Derrick White will have their work cut out for them in the perimeter right from the get-go as Team USA could be punished by a guard-heavy offensive team like Team Canada.&nbsp;
Team USA might outscore everyone, but you can make them work on the other side of the floor, and this could be Canada&rsquo;s main mindset coming into the game. Despite the top-end talent and superstar-level shot-making on offense, Team USA should put more effort on the defensive end of the floor if they want to win this game.

The USA Men’s National Basketball will face arguably their biggest threat in the Olympics in Team Canada on July 10 in Las Vegas.

USA vs CAN preview: 3 things Team USA could do to win exhibition game against Canada

The first round of the 2024 NBA Draft is done and dusted, and the second round will start today at 4 PM Eastern at ESPN&rsquo;s Seaport District Studios in New York. This will be the first time in NBA history that the draft will be separated into two days, with the first round being at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.&nbsp;
Here are all the first-round selections courtesy of the NBA: (article to be updated with the second-round picks)
<ol>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/zaccharie-risacher">Zaccharie Risacher</a> (JL Bourg-en-Bresse) to the Atlanta Hawks</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/alexandre-sarr">Alex Sarr</a> (Perth) to the Washington Wizards</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/reed-sheppard">Reed Sheppard</a> (Kentucky) to the Houston Rockets</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/stephon-castle">Stephon Castle</a> (Connecticut) to the San Antonio Spurs</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/ron-holland">Ron Holland II</a> (G League Ignite) to the Detroit Pistons</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/tidjane-salaun">Tidjane Salaun</a> (Cholet Basket) to the Charlotte Hornets</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/donovan-clingan">Donovan Clingan</a> (Connecticut) to the Portland Trail Blazers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/rob-dillingham">Rob Dillingham</a> (Kentucky) to the San Antonio Spurs &mdash; traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/zach-edey">Zach Edey</a> (Purdue) to the Memphis Grizzlies</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/cody-williams">Cody Williams</a> (Colorado) to the Utah Jazz</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/matas-buzelis">Matas Buzelis</a> (G League Ignite) to the Chicago Bulls</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/nikola-topic">Nikola Topic</a> (KK Crvena Zvezda) to the Oklahoma City Thunder</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/devin-carter">Devin Carter</a> (Providence) to the Sacramento Kings</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/carlton-carrington">Bub Carrington</a> (Pittsburgh) to the Portland Trail Blazers &mdash; traded to Washington Wizards</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/kelel-ware">Kel&rsquo;el Ware</a> (Indiana) to the Miami Heat</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jared-mccain">Jared McCain</a> (Duke) to the Philadelphia 76ers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/dalton-knecht">Dalton Knecht</a> (Tennessee) to the Los Angeles Lakers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/tristan-da-silva">Tristan da Silva</a> (Colorado) to the Orlando Magic</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jakobe-walter">Ja&rsquo;Kobe Walter</a> (Baylor) to the Toronto Raptors&nbsp;</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jaylon-tyson">Jaylon Tyson</a> (Cal) to the Cleveland Cavaliers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/yves-missi">Yves Missi</a> (Baylor) to the New Orleans Pelicans</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/daron-holmes-ii">DaRon Holmes II</a> (Dayton) to the Phoenix Suns &mdash; traded to the Denver Nuggets</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/aj-johnson">AJ Johnson</a> (Illawarra) to the Milwaukee Bucks</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/kyshawn-george">Kyshawn George</a> (Miami) to the New York Knicks &mdash; traded to Washington Wizards</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/pacome-dadiet">Pacome Dadiet</a> (Ratiopharm Ulm) to the New York Knicks</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/dillon-jones">Dillon Jones</a> (Weber State) to the Washington Wizards &mdash; traded to Oklahoma City Thunder (via Knicks)</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/terrence-shannon-jr">Terrence Shannon Jr.</a> (Illinois) to the Minnesota Timberwolves</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/ryan-dunn">Ryan Dunn</a> (Virginia) to the Denver Nuggets &mdash; traded to the Phoenix Suns</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/isaiah-collier">Isaiah Collier</a> (USC) to the Utah Jazz</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/baylor-scheierman-2">Baylor Scheierman</a> (Creighton) to the Boston Celtics</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
<ol start="31">
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jonathan-mogbo">Jonathan Mogbo</a> (San Francisco) to the Toronto Raptors</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/kyle-filipowski">Kyle Filipowski</a> (Duke) to the Utah Jazz</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/tyler-smith">Tyler Smith</a> (G League Ignite) to the Milwaukee Bucks</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/tyler-kolek">Tyler Kolek</a> (Marquette) to the Portland Trail Blazers &mdash; traded to the New York Knicks</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/johnny-furphy">Johnny Furphy</a> (Kansas) to the San Antonio Spurs &mdash; traded to the Indiana Pacers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/juan-nunez">Juan Nunez</a> (Ratiopharm Ulm) to the Indiana Pacers &mdash; traded to San Antonio Spurs</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/bobi-klintman">Bobi Klintman</a> (Cairns) to the Minnesota Timberwolves &mdash; traded to the Detroit Pistons</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/ajay-mitchell">Ajay Mitchell</a> (UC Santa Barbara) to the New York Knicks &mdash; traded to Oklahoma City Thunder</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jaylen-wells">Jaylen Wells</a> (Washington State) to the Memphis Grizzlies</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/oso-ighodaro">Oso Ighodaro</a> (Marquette) to the Portland Trail Blazers &mdash; traded to the Phoenix Suns (via Knicks)</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/adem-bona">Adem Bona</a> (UCLA) to the Philadelphia 76ers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/kj-simpson">KJ Simpson</a> (Colorado) to the Charlotte Hornets</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/nikola-djurisic">Nikola Djurisic</a> (KK Mega Basket) to the Miami Heat &mdash; traded to the Atlanta Hawks (via Heat)</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/pelle-larsson">Pelle Larsson</a> (Arizona) to the Houston Rockets &mdash; traded to the Miami Heat (via Rockets)</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/jamal-shead">Jamal Shead</a> (Houston) to the Sacramento Kings &mdash; traded to the Toronto Raptors</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/cam-christie">Cam Christie</a> (Minnesota) to the Los Angeles Clippers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/antonio-reeves">Antonio Reeves</a> (Kentucky) to the Orlando Magic &mdash; traded to the New Orleans Pelicans</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/harrison-ingram">Harrison Ingram</a> (North Carolina) to the San Antonio Spurs</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/tristen-newton">Tristen Newton</a> (Connecticut) to the Indiana Pacers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/enrique-freeman">Enrique Freeman</a> (Akron) to the Indiana Pacers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/melvin-ajinca">Melvin Ajinca</a> (Saint-Quentin Basketball) to the New York Knicks &mdash; traded to the Dallas Mavericks</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/quinten-post">Quinten Post</a> (Boston College) to the Golden State Warriors &mdash; traded to Thunder, then to Blazers, then to Warriors</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/cam-spencer">Cam Spencer</a> (Connecticut) to the Detroit Pistons &mdash; traded to the Memphis Grizzlies (via Timberwolves)</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/anton-watson">Anton Watson</a> (Gonzaga) to the Boston Celtics</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/bronny-james">Bronny James</a> (USC) to the Los Angeles Lakers</li>
<li> <a href="https://www.nba.com/draft/2024/prospects/kevin-mccullar-jr">Kevin McCullar Jr.</a> (Kansas) to the Phoenix Suns &mdash; traded to the New York Knicks</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;

The first round of the 2024 NBA Draft is done and dusted, and the second round will start today at 4 PM Eastern at ESPN’s Seaport District Studios in New York.

2024 NBA Draft: Full results

What seemed to be a lost season for the Utah Jazz has suddenly turned around due to the team's recent success, winning 15 of their last 21 games.&nbsp;
After starting just 7-16, the Jazz have since gone 11-4 and are now in contention for one of the Western Conference's play-in spots. They&rsquo;ve had an incredible week thus far, with wins over the contending Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets.
The win over the defending-champion Nuggets proved that the Jazz can hang with any team on any given night. Denver was 18-0 against sub-.500 teams entering the game, but Utah stained their erstwhile unblemished slate.
How did the Jazz do it? Let's take a look at some of the things they did to upend the Nuggets.
The Jazz stretched the floor&nbsp;
With John Collins starting at center instead of Walker Kessler, Utah's game plan was to pull Nikola Jokic from the paint. Jokic, who&rsquo;s usually a drop-big on defense, almost always stays near the shaded area in pick-and-roll actions. Utah tried to take advantage of this early by hunting out threes and exploiting the point-of-attack defenses of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Four of their first five attempts were three-pointers and they connected on two to jump out to an early lead.
Denver tried to counter by running zone, leaving Collins open a couple of times in the first quarter. However, Collins made them pay by hitting two threes, as Jokic was more than content to leave him open for threes. This allowed the Jazz to get rolling even more and gave them the freedom to attack the basket and get downhill.
Another possession in the zone found Reggie Jackson and Jokic in a miscommunication, leading to Jordan Clarkson drilling an easy 10-foot jumper. When the Nuggets tried to switch up their defense back to a man-to-man, the Jazz found the answer with some off-ball movement and timely cuts to the rim. Overall, it was an offensive clinic that caught the defending champs off guard.
The Jazz mixed their coverages on Jokic and gave him different looks on defense
You can't entirely stop an all-world talent like Nikola Jokic, you could only hope to contain him, which is still really tough considering how talented he is and his ability to get his teammates involved.
Although he still put up a monstrous stat line of 27 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists on an absurd 8-of-9 shooting from the field, what the Jazz and Will Hardy did was mix-up coverages on him. They showed multiple defensive looks each time down, which partly confused Jokic as he committed 6 turnovers in the game.
Sometimes, it was single coverage; other times, they sent doubles at him. Three different players &mdash; Lauri Markannen, Collins and Kessler &mdash; each took turns guarding him and all three provided different looks on the Joker. Markannen used his strength, Collins had his quickness and quick hands, while Kessler provided verticality with his 7-foot-1 frame.
The Jazz also sent different doubles at Jokic, sometimes crowding him in the paint with early double-teams, breaking up his low-post attacks with guards doubling him, and sending late doubles with another big or using a help weakside defender to try to affect him as he attempted a shot.
All of these defensive coverages were designed to make Jokic feel uncomfortable with different styles thrown at him, and the Jazz were successful at that with this blowout win.&nbsp;
Will Hardy figured out the rotations and had the Jazz playing with confidence
Although their defense is still suspect, the Jazz&rsquo;s offense has been nothing but spectacular. This can be attributed to head coach Will Hardy figuring out his rotation and which players synergize well together. This impressive run over their last 20 games started when Hardy made Kris Dunn, Collin Sexton, Simone Fontecchio, Lauri Markannen and John Collins the starting five. Off the bench, Jordan Clarkson and Kelly Olynyk provide stability as veterans while second-year guys Walker Kessler and Ochai Agbaji help out on defense with their length and tenacity.
Utah&rsquo;s offense was on full display against Denver, picking them apart with set plays and off of read-and-react actions. Although the Nuggets were coming off two days of rest and just an hour flight, the Jazz capitalized on their momentum and pounced right from the start.
Markannen has picked up right where he left off in last season&rsquo;s All-Star campaign, maintaining his shooting and scoring while improving his ball-handling this season. He&rsquo;s much better off the dribble now, which makes him one of the most coveted (if not most coveted) trade targets as the Feb. 8 deadline approaches.
Clarkson has also learned to move the ball more since being back to his regular sixth man role while continuing to score the ball effectively, and it has produced good results.
Dunn and Sexton allow the Jazz to play with pace and energy on both sides of the floor and their efforts are infectious.
Despite all of the trade rumors swirling around this team and rival teams trying to pry their players away, GM Danny Ainge and coach Will Hardy deserve credit for helping the Jazz build good habits and play the right way, which has resulted in beautiful basketball all around.&nbsp;

What seemed to be a lost season for the Utah Jazz has suddenly turned around, as they have won 15 of their last 21 games.

How the Utah Jazz earned their statement win over the Denver Nuggets

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Aaron Gordon scored 27 points, Nikola Jokic added 23 and the Denver Nuggets moved one win away from their first NBA championship by beating the Miami Heat 108-95 on Friday night to take a 3-1 lead in the title series.
Bruce Brown scored 21 off the bench for the Nuggets, who took both games in Miami to grab complete command. They&rsquo;ll have three chances to win one game for a title, two of those in Denver, the first of them in what&rsquo;s sure to be a raucous atmosphere for Game 5 on Monday night.
Jamal Murray had 15 points and 12 assists &mdash; his fourth consecutive double-digit assist game &mdash; for Denver.
Jimmy Butler scored 25 points for Miami, which has now fallen into 3-1 holes in each of its last three finals appearances &mdash; this one joining 2014 and 2020. Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, while Kyle Lowry had 13 points.
The Heat walked off the floor in silence, fully aware of how much trouble they&rsquo;re in now.
The Nuggets were overwhelming favorites to start the series, for obvious reasons. Denver was the Western Conference&rsquo;s No. 1 seed; Miami was the Eastern Conference&rsquo;s No. 8 seed. The Nuggets had won nine of the last 10 regular-season meetings between the teams, and their run of success over the Heat has continued through four games of the finals.
Denver led by 13 going into the fourth, and Miami came out for the final quarter with appropriate desperation. The Heat scored the first eight points, Jokic committed his fifth foul and had to go to the bench with 9:24 left &mdash; and it was down to 86-81 when Butler converted a three-point play with 8:42 remaining.
But the Nuggets &ndash; who fell apart in the fourth quarter of Game 2 for their lone loss of the series &ndash; didn&rsquo;t fold, even with their two-time MVP still out. Murray made a 3-pointer to stop Miami&rsquo;s 8-0 spurt, and Jeff Green made a huge corner 3 from near the Heat bench for a 94-85 edge with 6:21 left.
Jokic checked out with Denver up 10. He came back with the Nuggets up nine.
Miami didn&rsquo;t take advantage of that chance, and now finds itself on the wrong end of history. Teams that take a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals have won 35 out of 36 previous times, and the Heat will have to buck that trend to keep Denver from winning its title.
The Nuggets even survived a scare. Jokic tweaked his right ankle when he landed on the back of Max Strus&rsquo; foot midway through the opening quarter. He remained in the game after it happened, briefly retreated to the Denver locker room before the start of the second quarter and played the rest of the way with no evident issues.
TIP-INS
Nuggets: Murray played with tape protecting the bottom of his left hand, thanks to a nasty floor burn he got in Game 3. &hellip; It was Denver&rsquo;s 25th win on the road this season, tying a franchise record set last season. ... Michael Porter Jr. scored 11 for the Nuggets.
Heat: It was retiring 20-year veteran Udonis Haslem&rsquo;s 43rd birthday and rookie Nikola Jovic&rsquo;s 20th birthday. Jovic was 58 days old when Haslem signed his first Heat contract. &hellip; If it was Miami&rsquo;s home finale this season, then the Heat went 613-299 in its home arena during his career. &hellip; Miami started the playoffs 6-0 at home. The Heat are 0-4 on their home floor since.
SLOW START
Miami led 21-20 after one quarter. The 41 combined points were the fewest in the first quarter of the last 24 finals games; the first quarter of Game 4 of the Toronto-Golden State series in 2019 had 40 points.
CELEB WATCH
Kentucky coach John Calipari was in the crowd, as was Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker, two-time WNBA MVP A&rsquo;ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields and twins Haley and Hanna Cavinder &mdash; who helped the Miami Hurricanes make the Elite Eight in this year&rsquo;s NCAA women&rsquo;s tournament.

The Nuggets moved one win away from their first NBA championship by beating the Heat 108-95 on Friday night to take a 3-1 lead.

Nuggets now in full command of NBA Finals, top Heat 108-95 for 3-1 lead

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) &mdash; When the Denver Nuggets faced the most crucial stretch of the biggest road game in franchise history, Nikola Jokic took over both on the floor and in the huddle.
The two-time MVP decided he would run a two-man, pick-and-roll offense with Jamal Murray late in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals on Saturday night, and Jokic came through with a 15-point fourth quarter. He also commanded his teammates to buckle down on defense against the Lakers, and the Nuggets responded by taking over the game on both ends.
&ldquo;Coach Jokic did a great job tonight,&rdquo; Denver coach Michael Malone said with a smile.
When told of his new job title, Jokic grimaced.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to be a coach,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s the worst job on the planet, for sure.&rdquo;
Jokic had simply done what was necessary &mdash; and that&rsquo;s the story of Denver&rsquo;s entire season.
Whenever a challenge arises, whether it&rsquo;s in the doldrums of a dominant regular season or in tough playoff matchups with the star-studded Suns and Lakers, Jokic and the Nuggets figure out a path around it, over it or through it to keep moving toward their goal.
That goal now is only five wins away, as Murray repeatedly pointed out after&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-playoffs-2023-lakers-nuggets-e164ab7e5200562166975ec15e08a4a0">the Nuggets&rsquo; 119-108 victory in Game 3</a>. With one more win over LeBron James and the reeling Lakers on Monday night, Denver can secure its first trip to the NBA Finals in the franchise&rsquo;s 47 years in the league.
&ldquo;We know next game is going to be another test,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to come out more aggressive. (Anthony Davis) is going to be more aggressive. LeBron is going to be more aggressive, so the crowd is going to be more into it.&rdquo;
The Nuggets also can make another bit of history with a win in Game 4: Although this franchise has won 15 playoff series, Denver has never swept an opponent.
It&rsquo;s clear that this current version of the Nuggets is the best team in franchise history precisely because these players care only about team success. Denver has won five straight games while going 11-3 in the postseason, leaving no doubt about the identity of the NBA Finals favorite and the best team in a competitive conference.
While Jokic and Murray are stars, their supporting cast is the vital difference between the Nuggets and the NBA&rsquo;s other star-based teams. Personal stats, playing time and egos simply don&rsquo;t seem to matter to this group, according to its coaches and players.
&ldquo;I mean, I never doubted my team,&rdquo; Jokic said. &ldquo;We have some really good players that can step up in the right moment, and that&rsquo;s what we did.&rdquo;
Just don&rsquo;t tell the Nuggets they&rsquo;re the clear favorites to win it all: They still seem to be fueled by an underlying anger and an inferiority complex about their collective success, even after winning three Northwest Division titles and six playoff series (and counting) during five straight postseason appearances. Denver is the top seed in the West, yet seems to believe its success is a triumph over innumerable naysayers and stark odds.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re the underdogs,&rdquo; Denver&rsquo;s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope claimed. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t get enough credit for what we do.&rdquo;
That passion sometimes comes out in surprising ways, even during this dominant playoff series. Malone, who complained in Denver about his perception of national media narratives, took time out from praising his team after Game 3 to take a shot at Davis and the NBA officials, claiming the Lakers big man constantly violates defensive rules by &ldquo;playing free safety, sitting in the paint for eight seconds at a time.&rdquo;
Lakers coach Darvin Ham declined to counter Malone&rsquo;s criticism of Davis&rsquo; defense Sunday, saying only: &ldquo;I have a ton of respect for Mike, and his thoughts are his thoughts. His words are his words.&rdquo;
Instead, Ham got back to work after two hours of sleep focused on the first step in Los Angeles&rsquo; formidable task. Los Angeles had a lengthy film session to address the mistakes that have kept the Nuggets in control of the series.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got an opportunity, man,&rdquo; Ham said. &ldquo;Everybody is counting us out. It&rsquo;s crazy. It&rsquo;s no different than what we&rsquo;ve been through all year. It&rsquo;s the uphill battle, and trying to solidify ourselves and re-establish what this culture is all about with the Laker organization. I think we&rsquo;ve done that, and we&rsquo;ve got an opportunity to take another step in the right direction come tomorrow.&rdquo;
The Lakers are on the ropes after their first three consecutive losses since early February, and perhaps the only element of encouragement is the fact that all three games were close late. Los Angeles had golden opportunities to win twice in Denver, and the Lakers rallied from 14 points down to take the lead early in the fourth quarter of Game 3 before Jokic ran over them.
The Lakers&rsquo; first home loss in nearly two months has left them requiring an unprecedented comeback to keep their season alive: All 149 teams that previously fell into an 0-3 hole in the NBA playoffs lost the series.
&ldquo;It ain&rsquo;t over until it&rsquo;s four games, and that&rsquo;s the best part about it,&rdquo; Lonnie Walker said. &ldquo;Kings don&rsquo;t look down when they&rsquo;ve got crowns on their head. You don&rsquo;t want that to fall. We&rsquo;re not over with. We&rsquo;re a whole bunch of kings over here. We&rsquo;re ready to eat. We&rsquo;re starving.&rdquo;

With one more win, the Denver Nuggets can secure their first trip to the NBA Finals in the franchise’s 47 years in the league.

One win from NBA Finals, Nuggets credit teamwork for playoff dominance

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic had 39 points and 16 rebounds to rally the Denver Nuggets to a 97-87 win over Phoenix on Monday night, taking a 2-0 lead over the Suns in the Western Conference semifinals.
Jokic, who learns Tuesday if he&rsquo;s edged Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo for his third consecutive NBA MVP award, recently renamed for Michael Jordan, scored 26 in the second half as the Nuggets erased a seven-point third-quarter deficit.
Jokic&rsquo;s big night was necessary as Jamal Murray scored just 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting after he scored 34 in the series opener when he had six 3-pointers. Murray was 0 for 9 from long range Monday night.
Aaron Gordon added 16 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 14 points and went 4 for 4 from beyond the arc, including back-to-back swishes that erased a 73-70 deficit and put the Nuggets ahead for good early in the fourth quarter.
Devin Booker led Phoenix with 35 points and Kevin Durant added 24.
The teams get an extended break before the series resumes with Game 3 in Phoenix on Friday night.
The Suns, who lost Chris Paul to a tight left groin late in the third quarter, took a 73-70 lead thanks to Booker&rsquo;s 31 points &mdash; which matched Jokic&rsquo;s output &mdash; entering the fourth quarter.
The Suns went cold, however, and Denver surged ahead 76-73 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Caldwell-Pope, forcing a Phoenix timeout at the 8:56 mark.
After allowing Denver to take 17 more shots than they had in Game 1, the Suns flipped things Monday night, taking 15 more shots than the Nuggets in the first half, but they led just 42-40 at the break.
The Suns pushed the lead to seven in the third quarter but both Durant and Deandre Ayton picked up their fourth fouls late in the period, taking a seat, and Paul walked gingerly to the locker room at the 4:32 mark and didn&rsquo;t return.
TIP-INS
Suns: Phoenix held the Nuggets to their lowest-scoring first quarter all season, limiting them to 18 points. ... The Suns didn&rsquo;t shoot a single free throw in the first half. ... Paul finished with 8 points.
Nuggets: Jokic scored 11 of Denver&rsquo;s first 14 points but only had 13 by halftime. ... The Nuggets had 68 points by halftime in the series opener but made just 16 first-half shots Monday night. ... Murray was 1 for 7 from the floor before halftime and scored just 4 points before the break.

Nikola Jokic had 39 points and 16 rebounds to rally the Nuggets to a 97-87 win over Phoenix on Monday, taking a 2-0 lead over the Suns.

Nikola Jokic’s 39 points leads Nuggets past Suns 97-87

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic has his bandmates back together. They&rsquo;re making up for lost time, too.
Paired again in the playoffs&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1651051540634017792" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">with Jamal Murray</a>&nbsp;and Michael Porter Jr., Jokic and his crew made quick work of short-handed Minnesota, closing out the Timberwolves with a 112-109 win&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/playoffs-nuggets-timberwolves-edwards-jokic-2da19619ba1700de0b50478cb7cef58b">in Game 5 of their first-round series</a>&nbsp;Tuesday night. Denver, the No. 1 seed in the West, will face a Phoenix Suns team led by its own terrific trio &mdash; Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Kevin Durant &mdash; starting&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.nba.com/playoffs/2023/west-semifinal-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Saturday</a>&nbsp;at Ball Arena.
The trifecta of Murray, Porter and Jokic haven&rsquo;t been plugged in at the same time for the playoffs since the NBA bubble in 2020. It was a magical time, too, in Florida, when the team advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost to LeBron James and the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.
It seems so long ago, with Murray missing the last two versions of the playoffs as he recovered from a torn left ACL and Porter sitting out last season&rsquo;s postseason due to a balky back.
But they knew that once they were all reunited, they could be a powerful force.
They flashed that Tuesday by doing a little bit of everything. There was Murray, coming up big at crunch time on his way to 35 points. And Jokic, the reigning back-to-back NBA MVP who did his usual thing with 28 points, 17 boards and 12 assists. Porter, too, who despite struggling from the field found a way to contribute with defense &mdash; something he wasn&rsquo;t always known for &mdash; and by grabbing 10 rebounds. He also scored eight crucial points in the fourth quarter.
&ldquo;It was good to be back in the playoffs and just be playing at a high level along with Jamal,&rdquo; said Porter, who swished two big 3-pointers to help Denver fend off Anthony Edwards and the plucky Timberwolves. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good feeling.&rdquo;
A year ago, guard/forward Bruce Brown was swept out of the postseason as a member &mdash; along with Durant &mdash; of the Brooklyn Nets. Brown did his homework as he looked for a new team last summer and liked the what he saw in the Mile High City. He and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have given the Nuggets better depth in these playoffs.
&ldquo;I just knew they had a bunch of great players,&rdquo; said Brown, who wore a cowboy hat as he walked out of the locker room after a game in which the Nuggets went 32 of 36 from the free throw line. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very impressed (with this team).&rdquo;
Next up, a Suns team that swept the Nuggets in the second round of the 2021 playoffs. But that was without Murray. This is a revamped Nuggets cast.
Phoenix has a new look, too, with Durant coming over from the Nets as part of blockbuster deal at the NBA&rsquo;s trade deadline day.
This could be the start of something good. Despite Denver being the top seed &mdash; and Phoenix being No. 4 &mdash; the Nuggets feel overlooked.
&ldquo;Nobody is out there picking us to win,&rdquo; Nugget forward Jeff Green said. &ldquo;We know we have what it takes to win. We&rsquo;ve just got to keep showcasing.&rdquo;
First, some time to rest &mdash; and celebrate.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone wants his players to appreciate what they just accomplished. Him, too, as he earned his 25th playoff win to break a tie with Doug Moe and become the Nuggets&rsquo; winningest coach in the NBA playoffs.
&ldquo;To win a series in the playoffs is hard,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;So I&rsquo;m really proud of our guys.&rdquo;
The Suns and Nuggets split their season series 2-2. But it was hard to gain any sort of read into the series as Jokic sat out the last two, so he hasn&rsquo;t played the Suns with Durant.
Both teams put on quite a show on Christmas night, with&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1607264124186107905" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Aaron Gordon turning</a>&nbsp;in one of the most spectacular dunks of the season. It paved the way to a 128-125 overtime win where Jokic had 41 points, 15 boards and 15 assists.
&ldquo;Probably, they&rsquo;re the favorites to win the championship,&rdquo; Jokic said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be a big challenge for us.&rdquo;
These are the types of moments Porter pondered when he was sidelined with the bad back last year.
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t trying to look too far ahead, but to get back here and be competitive in a playoff series, man, it&rsquo;s a great feeling,&rdquo; Porter said. &ldquo;Especially considering everything I&rsquo;ve been through.&rdquo;

Denver, the No. 1 seed in the West, will face a Phoenix team led by its own terrific trio: Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Kevin Durant

Back to health, Porter and Murray help Nuggets to next round

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

NBA announces 242 early-entry candidates for 2023 NBA Draft

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic had a triple-double and Jamal Murray scored 35 points as the Denver Nuggets eliminated the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-109 in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday night.
Anthony Edwards, who led Minnesota with 29 points, hit the back iron on a 27-foot 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime.
Jokic overcame a slow offensive start to finish with 28 points, 17 rebounds and a dozen assists. He made just 8 of 29 shots, but scored eight points down the stretch to help the Nuggets fend off the pesky Timberwolves.
Michael Malone passed Doug Moe with his 25th playoff win as Nuggets head coach.
The top-seeded Nuggets will face the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers-Phoenix Suns series in the second round. Those teams tipped off later Tuesday night with the Suns needing one more victory to end the Clippers&rsquo; season.
Denver advanced thanks to making 32 of 36 free throws.
Michael Porter Jr. was held without a basket until his dunk with 10:08 left in the game. Jokic missed eight of his first 10 shots 48 hours after tying his career playoff high with 43 points in a Game 4 overtime loss at Minnesota.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 26 points for the Wolves, Rudy Gobert had 16 points and 15 rebounds before fouling out and Nickeil Alexander-Walker chipped in 14 points.
The Nuggets got 14 points from Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown, who was in Edwards&rsquo; face on the game-tying attempt at the buzzer. Porter scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of clutch 3-pointers after missing his first five shots from behind the arc.
The Nuggets went into halftime with the lead for the fifth time in the series, but they were up just 48-47 after Jokic and Porter combined to go 2 for 16 from the floor.
Murray, whose 16 first-half points kept the Nuggets in it after they fell behind by 13 early on, got a long rebound and pulled up for a 26-foot 3-pointer when no defender picked him up in transition. That put Denver ahead 48-45 with their first lead since the opening minutes.
The Wolves, who avoided a sweep with an overtime win in Minneapolis on Sunday, jumped out to a 25-12 lead before the Nuggets began chipping away.
TIP-INS
Timberwolves: Kyle Anderson, who sustained a left eye injury and facial bruise in Game 4, didn&rsquo;t make the trip back to Denver so he could see some specialists, coach Chris Finch said.
Nuggets: Denver won a playoff series under Malone for the fifth time in the last five seasons. They were beaten in five games last year by the eventual champion Golden State Warriors when Jokic was without Murray and Porter, who were both recovering from surgeries.

The Denver Nuggets eliminated the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-109 in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday night.

Nuggets eliminate Wolves 112-109 behind Murray, Jokic

PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; Load management is a big topic across the NBA these days.
One great way to make sure players get rest in the playoffs is to end the series early.
The Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics all have that opportunity on Tuesday night when they host Game 5s with a 3-1 lead in the series.
&ldquo;Closeout games are always the hardest,&rdquo; Suns center Deandre Ayton said. &ldquo;We expect it&rsquo;s going to be a battle. We&rsquo;re just gearing up.&rdquo;
The Western Conference top-seed Nuggets already had one opportunity to end their series, but the feisty Timberwolves managed to extend it with a Game 4 win in overtime on Sunday.
&ldquo;We really wanted to come out and have a sweep under our belt. Didn&rsquo;t happen,&rdquo; Nuggets guard Jamal Murray said. &ldquo;They fought. They fought like hell, all game long. Even when we put a scare in their heart a little bit, they kept fighting, kept playing, and the crowd was into it.&rdquo;
The Suns-Los Angeles Clippers series has been shaped by Kawhi Leonard&rsquo;s knee injury. Leonard has missed the past two games with a sprained knee, which has helped tip the series in favor of Phoenix.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s definitely hurt. It&rsquo;s not load management where he&rsquo;s taking time off,&rdquo; Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s shown in the past that he&rsquo;s played through injuries in the playoffs and so if it&rsquo;s something he can&rsquo;t play through, then it has to be pretty serious.&rdquo;
L.A.&rsquo;s Paul George has been out since March 21 with the same injury as Leonard.
HAWKS AT CELTICS
Boston leads 3-1. Game 4, 7:30 p.m. EDT, TNT.
&mdash; NEED TO KNOW: The Celtics have never lost a best-of-seven playoff series after building a 3-1 lead. They are 27-0 in those situations over their storied history.
&mdash; KEEP AN EYE ON: Jaylen Brown&rsquo;s facial wear. The Boston star had been using a protective mask since February, when he sustained a broken bone in his face. But he ditched the mask in the second quarter of Game 4 after making just 1 of 7 shots. He went 11 of 15 the rest of the way to finish with 31 points in a 129-121 victory. Presumably, he won&rsquo;t be wearing the mask anymore in these playoffs. &ldquo;As soon as I took it off, things started to turn around a little bit,&rdquo; Brown said.
&mdash; INJURY WATCH: Boston G Marcus Smart looked just fine in Game 4 after falling hard on his tailbone in the previous contest. He said they were times when his lower back tightened up, and he&rsquo;ll have to remain diligent in his treatment to make sure the pain doesn&rsquo;t keep him off the court. &ldquo;Throughout the game, it got a little tight on me. It flared up. But once I got it stretched out again, got it loose, got some heat on it, it was pretty good,&rdquo; Smart said.
&mdash; PRESSURE IS ON: The Hawks. It looks like another brief playoff appearance unless they can pull of a win in Boston, and the challenge got even tougher when guard Dejounte Murray was suspended for Game 5 after bumping and verbally abusing an official after the end of Game 4. Murray is averaging 25.3 points in the series. Atlanta has lost five straight at TD Garden since its last victory on Feb. 17, 2021, including a pair of 13-point defeats in the first two games of this series. If the Hawks lose, it would be the second straight year they&rsquo;ve gone down in five games in the opening round and could signal major changes heading into the offseason.
TIMBERWOLVES AT NUGGETS
Denver leads 3-1. Game 5, 9 p.m. EDT, NBA TV.
&mdash; NEED TO KNOW: The Nuggets closed the last 2&frac12; minutes of the fourth quarter of Game 4 on a tying 12-0 run, but the Timberwolves recovered with an 18-point overtime on 6-for-8 shooting for a 114-108 victory. It denied Denver a first playoff-series sweep in franchise history and keep the first-round matchup alive despite Nikola Jokic&rsquo;s playoff-career-high-tying 43 points.
&mdash; KEEP AN EYE ON: Anthony Edwards. Minnesota&rsquo;s All-Star guard has 129 points in four games, the second-most in the NBA playoffs behind Phoenix&rsquo;s Devin Booker (139). He delivered a wide array of clutch baskets down the stretch for the Wolves in Game 4, including a pull-up 3-pointer from the wing with 11.5 seconds left in overtime to push their lead to four. He&rsquo;s the first player in Wolves&rsquo; history with 100-plus points over three consecutive playoff games. Only LeBron James (eight) had more 30-plus-point playoff games before age 22 than Edwards does (five). Still, Edwards was aiming for a higher bar after his 12-for-27 shooting performance.
&ldquo;I played terrible, if you ask me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I took three bad 3s, three terrible possessions, and I damn near shot us out the game.&rdquo;
&mdash; INJURY WATCH: Wolves sixth man Kyle Anderson was inadvertently struck by a stray arm from Edwards during a leap for a rebound late in the third quarter and did not return after suffering what the team announced as a left eye and facial contusion. Coach Chris Finch said Anderson went to see an eye specialist. ... Nuggets coach Mike Malone on Jokic&rsquo;s aggression with 12 free-throw attempts in Game 4 after zero in Game 3: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s banged up. He&rsquo;s playing hard.&rdquo;
&mdash; PRESSURE IS ON: Jamal Murray. After scoring 40 points in Game 2, Denver&rsquo;s standout point guard missed 26 of 43 shots over the two games in Minnesota. He had 19 points in Game 4, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker frequently picking up his defense before half court and making him work hard for every shot, drive and pass.
CLIPPERS AT SUNS
Phoenix leads 3-1, Game 5, 10 p.m. EDT, TNT
&mdash; NEED TO KNOW: The Suns took control of the series with two wins in Los Angeles and now return to Phoenix to try and close it out. The Suns have taken advantage of the absence of L.A. star Kawhi Leonard, who missed both Games 3 and 4 because of a sprained knee.
&mdash; KEEP AN EYE ON: Three-time All-Star Devin Booker is cooking for the Suns, averaging 34.8 points on 57.1% shooting. The 26-year-old isn&rsquo;t just scoring, he&rsquo;s averaging 5.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 1.3 blocks.
&mdash; INJURY WATCH: All eyes are on Leonard to see if he can return. The Suns have been without backup point guard Cam Payne, who hasn&rsquo;t played in the series because of a sore back.
&mdash; PRESSURE IS ON: Russell Westbrook. If Leonard can&rsquo;t play, the Clippers almost certainly have to have another massive game from Westbrook, who has played well in the series. He&rsquo;s improved his scoring total each game, rising from 9 points in Game 1 to 28 in Game 2, 30 in Game 3 and 37 in Game 4. L.A. might need a 40-spot from him on Tuesday to extend the series.

The Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics all have an opportunity to advance on Tuesday night when they host Game 5s.

Suns, Nuggets, Celtics can all advance with Game 5 wins

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic had 31 points and 11 assists, Jamal Murray finished with 26 points and nine assists, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 129-106 on Saturday night in a late-season showdown of the NBA&rsquo;s conference leaders.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 19 points for West-leading Denver (50-24), which outscored East-leading Milwaukee 68-40 in the second half.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 31 points -- just seven in the second half -- and grabbed nine rebounds for the Bucks (53-20).
The battle of the top teams in each conference -- and two strong MVP candidates -- was more competitive than the teams&rsquo; first meeting, won by the Bucks 107-99.
SUNS 125, 76ERS 105
PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; Devin Booker scored 29 points, Bismack Biyombo added 17 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks, and the Phoenix Suns snapped a three-game losing streak.
Phoenix got good minutes from most of their bench players, particularly Terrence Ross and T.J. Warren. Warren finished with 16 points, while Ross had 15. Booker shot 9 of 18 from the field and hit all nine of his free throws.
The Suns won despite a huge game from Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey, who finished with 37 points on 14-of-19 shooting, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range. Joel Embiid added 28 points and 10 rebounds.
KINGS 121, JAZZ 113
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Kevin Huerter scored 27 points, had seven rebounds and four assists and Sacramento beat Utah.
Domantas Sabonis finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists for his NBA-leading 60th double-double of the season. Harrison Barnes added 18 points. Keegan Murray scored 14 of his 22 total points in the first quarter and knocked down six three-pointers for the Kings.
Jazz rookie Walker Kessler scored a career-high 31 points for the Jazz. Kessler added 11 rebounds and finished 14 of 16 from the floor. Kelly Olynyk finished with 17 points and 10 assists, Ochai Agbaji scored 20 and Jarrell Brantley added 13 off the bench for Utah.
NETS 129, HEAT 100
MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Mikal Bridges scored 27 points, and the Brooklyn Nets opened the third quarter on a 31-6 run on the way to rolling past Miami and leapfrogging the Heat back into the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference.
Cam Johnson added 23 points and Spencer Dinwiddie scored 15 for the Nets (40-34), who snapped a five-game slide. They&rsquo;re only a half-game up on Miami (40-35) in the race for the sixth and final guaranteed playoff berth, but swept the Heat 3-0 this season and would also own a head-to-head tiebreaker.
Max Strus scored 23 for the Heat, all of them in the first half. Tyler Herro scored 23, Jimmy Butler had 18 and Bam Adebayo finished with 16 for the Heat. Miami was outscored 64-31 after halftime.
HAWKS 143, PACERS 130
ATLANTA (AP) &mdash; John Collins led eight Atlanta scorers in double figures with 21 points and the Hawks overcame Jordan Nwora&rsquo;s season-high 33 points and protected their shaky hold on the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference playoff standings
Trae Young was ejected in the third quarter after firing an unusually hard pass to referee Scott Wall during a timeout. Wall caught the ball. Young was immediately called for a technical foul and ejected. Young had 14 points and five assists. Dejounte Murray had 20 points in his return after missing two games with a non-COVID illness. Saddiq Bey led Atlanta&rsquo;s bench with 18 points.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 19 points and Buddy Hield had 16 for Indiana.
PELICANS 131, CLIPPERS 110
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Trey Murphy III scored 32 points, Brandon Ingram had 32 points and 13 assists, and the New Orleans Pelicans never trailed against the Los Angeles Clippers.
C.J. McCollum had 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Pelicans, who have won four in a row.
Bones Hyland scored 18 points and Kawhi Leonard added 12 points and six rebounds for the Clippers, who have lost three of four.
At risk of falling out of the play-in tournament with a loss, the energized Pelicans started out hot, scoring the first eight points, and never let up.

A recap of Saturday's slate of NBA hoops includes the East and West's best going head-to-head.

Conference leaders clash as Nuggets top Bucks 129-106

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Knocking No. 1 seed Houston out of the NCAA Tournament made Jim Larra&ntilde;aga feel like dancing.
Much to his players&rsquo; delight, the 73-year-old Miami coach busted moves straight out of the disco era in the locker room Friday night to celebrate an 89-75 Sweet 16 victory that left the tournament without a No. 1 seed among its final eight teams for the first time since seeding began in 1979.
Larra&ntilde;aga is known to dance in the locker room after his biggest wins, and this one in the Big Dance surely qualified.
&ldquo;We were all hyped up,&rdquo; Jordan Miller said. &ldquo;We love when Coach L dances. That&rsquo;s probably the best celebration we could look forward to.&rdquo;
Nijel Pack and Miami (28-7) hit shots from near and far against the stingiest defense in the country as the Hurricanes became only the fifth team this season to score at least 70 points against Houston (33-4).
&ldquo;We just wanted it really bad,&rdquo; Miller said. &ldquo;We came into this game as the underdogs. We had a lead throughout the whole game. I wouldn&rsquo;t say a comfortable lead, but a lead, and we just didn&rsquo;t want to let up.&rdquo;
The fifth-seeded Hurricanes made their second straight Elite Eight and will play second-seeded Texas in the Midwest Region final. Larra&ntilde;aga is seeking his first Final Four with Miami and second overall &mdash; he took George Mason there as an 11 seed in 2006.
About 30 minutes before Houston&rsquo;s loss, top overall seed Alabama fell to San Diego State in Louisville, Kentucky. Fellow No. 1 seeds Purdue and Kansas lost during the tournament&rsquo;s first weekend.
The Cougars simply couldn&rsquo;t stop a multifaceted Miami offense led by Pack&rsquo;s 3-point shooting. He had season highs of seven 3-pointers on 10 attempts and 26 points.
Isaiah Wong&rsquo;s mid-range game helped get the &rsquo;Canes out to a fast start, and he finished with 20 points. Miller hurt the Cougars with his penetration and had 13 points, and Norchad Omier was his usual rugged self under the basket while recording his 16th double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
&ldquo;We emphasized moving the ball and finding the open man, and the guys did such a fantastic job from start to finish,&rdquo; Larra&ntilde;aga said. &ldquo;We only ended up with six turnovers. So that&rsquo;s the name of the game. And we tied them in rebounding. A great performance by our guys.&rdquo;
It was Pack who hit big shot after big shot, some from near the logo. He was comfortable inside T-Mobile Arena, where he played five games during his two seasons at nearby Kansas State.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a blessing to be back in this arena for sure,&rdquo; Pack said. &ldquo;My teammates found me early and kept me going. They instilled confidence in me from the jump ball. They kept feeding me and telling me to shoot the ball, and I shot it with a lot of confidence, and they were able to go in.&rdquo;
Houston was in the Sweet 16 for a fourth straight time, had won 15 of its last 16 games and had the season-long goal of playing in next week&rsquo;s Final Four in its home city.
&ldquo;Unfortunately, one off-night and you go home in this tournament,&rdquo; Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said. &ldquo;We just never could get a foothold. We kept climbing, and we&rsquo;d get ahead of them, and then we just couldn&rsquo;t put stops together.&rdquo;
Miami used a 16-5 run spanning the halves to go up by double digits, with Omier&rsquo;s three-point play and Miller&rsquo;s short bank-in with the left hand making it 47-36 and prompting Sampson to call timeout less than two minutes into the second half.
Houston battled back to make it a two-point game, but then Pack made three 3s and Miller and Wooga Poplar hit one each to fuel a 16-2 run that put the Canes ahead 70-53. The lead grew to as much as 17 points, and Houston never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Walker led the Cougars with 16 points. Jamal Shead added 15 and All-American Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark had 14 apiece for the Cougars, who shot just 37% overall and 29% from distance.
&ldquo;It was an amazing run,&rdquo; Sasser said. &ldquo;Came up short, but the time that we got to spend throughout these months, I couldn&rsquo;t have asked for nothing better.&rdquo;
Houston &mdash; which came into the game as a 7.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook &mdash; found itself behind at half for the second straight game after the Hurricanes played their sharpest half of the tournament.
Miami turned the ball over just once the first 20 minutes, converted Miami&rsquo;s six turnovers into 15 points and shot 6 of 14 from distance against the second-best 3-point defense in the country.
Pack made four of them, and all were timely. His first three gave Miami leads and his fourth broke a 31-all tie.
&ldquo;The Pack kid, some of the shots he made were shots you hope he takes,&rdquo; Sampson said. &ldquo;The problem was he made them. Some of those were Howitzers.&rdquo;
Oh, about that dance Larra&ntilde;aga did. He said it was to the Commodores&rsquo; 1985 song &ldquo;Nightshift.&rdquo;
Miller gave his coach&rsquo;s moves a grade of A.
&ldquo;Not an A-plus &mdash; it was a little stiff,&rdquo; Miller said. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s still very mobile for his age.&rdquo;
BIG DAY FOR THE U
The Hurricanes reached the regional final just a few hours after Miami&rsquo;s ninth-seeded women&rsquo;s team hung on to beat Villanova and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time. Miami and UConn are the only schools with teams remaining in both tournaments.

Jim Larrañaga is seeking his first Final Four with Miami and second overall — he took George Mason there as an 11 seed in 2006.

Miami beats No. 1 seed Houston; all four top NCAA seeds out

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Marcus Sasser looked just fine, scoring 22 points, and top-seeded Houston stifled local favorite Auburn in the second half for an 81-64 victory in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.
The Cougars (33-3)&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1637256045235171328" target="_blank" rel="noopener">overcame a 10-point halftime deficit</a>, returning after the break with a chip on their shoulders.
Essentially shutting down the lane, Houston played with the desperation of a national championship contender that wasn&rsquo;t ready to suffer the same fate as Purdue and Kansas &mdash; No. 1s that already were sent home.
Led by Tramon Mark with 26 points, Houston advanced to face either No. 4 Indiana or No. 5 Miami, which play Sunday, at the Sweet 16 in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Tigers (21-13) were doomed by a stretch of more than 10 1/2 minutes without a field goal and finished just 4 of 24 from the field in the second half.
Auburn did draw plenty of fouls, only to struggle mightily at the line at 19 of 36. Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome led the Tigers with 14 points apiece.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-houston-sasser-a327324228d43a8792f496890a5e7bc9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sasser had dealt with a groin injury</a> over the past week, but that didn&rsquo;t seem to cause him any problems. When he swished a 3-pointer to push Houston back ahead, 46-45, he let out an emphatic scream on his way back down the court.
He finished 5 of 9 beyond the arc.
Sasser&rsquo;s only issue was foul trouble. The All-American guard and his running mate, point guard Jamal Shead, were both forced to the bench with four fouls apiece with the game still in doubt.
But Mark kept the Cougars right on rolling offensively, and the Jarace Walker-led defense just refused to let Auburn back in the game.
Houston had 12 blocks, half of them swatted away by Walker. Houston scored the final nine points to blow it open at the end, with Sasser delivering another key shot from beyond the 3-point stripe.
Auburn ripped off a 17-4 run over the final 5 1/2 minutes of the first half. Williams scored eight of those points, swishing a 3-pointer and also converting a three-point play.
Houston missed six of its last eight shots in the half, its only baskets coming on a pair of layups.
But the Cougars would not be denied, even with the Tigers having a home-state edge. Legacy Arena in Birmingham is only about a two-hour drive from their east Alabama campus.
BIG PICTURE
Auburn: The Tigers wrapped up an inconsistent season in appropriate fashion. They last won back-to-back games on Jan. 18 and 21, closing out the season by winning only five of their last 15 games.
Houston: Sasser now has plenty of time to rest his groin, which should give him even more confidence that he&rsquo;s not going to have any more problems.
UP NEXT
Houston is heading to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the last five years under Kelvin Sampson. The Cougars have never won a national title, despite six appearances in the Final Four.

Marcus Sasser scored 22 points and top-seeded Houston beat Auburn 81-64 in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.

March Madness: Sasser, Houston beat Auburn, move on to Sweet 16

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) &mdash; With All-American Marcus Sasser watching from the bench, top-seeded Houston shook off Northern Kentucky for a 63-52 victory to open the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.
Chants of &ldquo;NKU!&rdquo; and &ldquo;Overrated!&rdquo; filled Legacy Arena&nbsp;as the 16th-seeded Norse trailed by only three at halftime and made it 36-all with under 16 minutes to go against the Cougars (32-3).
But Houston pulled away&nbsp;behind 16 points from Jarace Walker, advancing to face ninth-seeded Auburn on Saturday.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t coach Northern Kentucky, but I was proud of their team tonight,&rdquo; Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. &ldquo;They fought. Their kids are tough. They&rsquo;re smart.&rdquo;
Now, all eyes turn to Sasser, Houston&rsquo;s top scorer and its first member of The Associated Press All-America first team since 1984.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/marcus-sasser-houston-injured-aac-39f06479277c8f000600262dfe7d4bea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">After going down last weekend with a groin injury</a>&nbsp;in the American Athletic Conference Tournament, Sasser was a game-time decision for the start of the NCAA Midwest Region.
He got the start and looked just fine when he knocked down an early 3-pointer. But Sasser didn&rsquo;t do much else, finishing with five points on 2-of-5 shooting in just under 14 minutes of playing time.
When the second half began, Sasser wasn&rsquo;t on the court. The school announced he had aggravated his groin problem, forcing him to watch the rest of the game from the bench.
&ldquo;He said it felt funny,&rdquo; Sampson said. &ldquo;So he shut it down, which is the right thing to do.&rdquo;
Sampson also revealed that guard Jamal Shead is bothered by a sore knee, thought he managed to play more than 36 minutes. Shead chipped in with 13 points and six assists.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to see how many healthy bodies we have right now,&rdquo; Sampson said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s probably our most important thing.&rdquo;
The Cougars got by without Sasser on this night.
The Norse&rsquo;s upset bid went down in a hail of clankers, the Horizon League champions shooting just 27.5% from the field (19 of 69) &mdash; including a horrendous 5 of 34 from 3-point range &mdash; to ruin any chance of becoming the next UMBC.
The Retrievers remain the only 16th seed in NCAA history to knock off a No. 1 seed, shocking Virginia in 2018.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m unbelievably proud of our team, the fight that we showed,&rdquo; coach Darrin Horn said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s a stretch to say we outplayed Houston tonight. We just didn&rsquo;t make enough shots.&rdquo;
Sam Vinson led the Norse (22-13) with 15 points, though he made just 1 of 8 from beyond the arc.
&ldquo;It was frustrating a little bit, but we don&rsquo;t think about that during the game,&rdquo; Vinson said. &ldquo;The coaches keep saying, &lsquo;Shoot the ball, shoot the ball.&rsquo;&rdquo;
The Cougars avoided UMBC&rsquo;s fate but things figure to get much tougher in the next one, especially if Sasser can&rsquo;t go.
Auburn knocked off No. 8 seed Iowa 83-75 and will have another de facto home game in the second round, playing just a two-hour drive from its campus.
&ldquo;Good for them,&rdquo; Sampson said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great break.&rdquo;
The Cougars struggled offensively against Northern Kentucky&rsquo;s matchup zone, which was unlike any defense they had seen this season. Houston led just 30-27 at halftime and finished well under its 75-point average coming into the game.
Sampson and his players also conceded to a lack of toughness.
&ldquo;They were more aggressive,&rdquo; said J&rsquo;Wan Roberts, who had 11 points and 12 rebounds. &ldquo;It felt like they wanted it more. We&rsquo;ve got to learn from that and get better.&rdquo;
BIG PICTURE
Northern Kentucky: The Norse have yet to win three NCAA Tournament appearances, losing as a 14th, 15th and now 16th seed.
Houston: The Cougars hardly looked like a national championship contender, and Sasser&rsquo;s health makes a title run look even more tenuous.
UP NEXT
The Cougars will be playing Auburn for the first time since Dec. 8, 1982, when Houston&rsquo;s &ldquo;Phi Slama Jama&rdquo; powerhouse featuring Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler prevailed 77-65 against the Charles Barkley-led Tigers. Overall, the teams have met just seven times, with the Cougars winning six. Auburn&rsquo;s lone victory in the series came in 1962.

With All-American Marcus Sasser watching from the bench, top-seeded Houston beat Northern Kentucky for a 63-52 victory to open the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.

Sasser reinjured as top-seeded Houston beats Northern Kentucky

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Jamal Shead scored a career-high 25 points, Marcus Sasser added 24 and No. 1 Houston defeated Wichita State 83-66 on Thursday night.
Shead shot 10 of 17 from the field. The junior was 4 of 8 on 3-pointers.
Sasser tied the school career record for most 3-pointers set by Robert McKiver with 261. He also scored at least 20 points for the sixth straight game, and chants of &ldquo;Sasser&rdquo; filled the Fertitta Center after it was over.
Jarace Walker had 11 points and nine rebounds for Houston (28-2, 16-1 American Athletic Conference). The Cougars shot 47%, including 9 of 25 on 3s, in winning their 10th straight game.
Houston forced 20 turnovers, which it converted into 17 points.
Craig Porter Jr. had 17 points and seven rebounds, Jaron Pierre Jr. added 16 points and Kenny Pohto had 12 for Wichita State (15-14, 8-9).
No. 4 UCLA 79, ARIZONA STATE 61
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 26 points as UCLA pulled away in the second half to defeat Arizona State.
Tyger Campbell added 16 points and Jaylen Clark 15 for the regular-season Pac-12 champion Bruins (26-4, 17-2), who have won nine straight as they continue their bid for a top seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
DJ Horne had 13 points and Warren Washington added 12 for the Sun Devils (20-10, 11-8).
Jaquez scored 15 of UCLA&rsquo;s first 19 points. He started 6 of 8 from the field while the rest of the team was 1 for 11.
The Bruins led 38-34 less than a minute into the second half before they broke things open with a 12-3 run that included five points by Campbell and four from Clark.
No. 5 PURDUE 63, WISCONSIN 61
MADISON, Wis. (AP) &mdash; Zach Edey had 17 points and 19 rebounds as Purdue outlasted Wisconsin, damaging the Badgers&rsquo; NCAA Tournament hopes.
Purdue (25-5, 14-5) already had clinched the Big Ten regular-season title outright before the end of this game by virtue of Illinois&rsquo; 91-87 double-overtime victory over Michigan. The Illinois-Michigan game concluded late in the first half of the Purdue-Wisconsin matchup.
But there was still plenty at stake in this game as Purdue sought to make its case for a No. 1 seed and Wisconsin (16-13, 8-11) attempted to boost its postseason credentials. Neither team led by more than three points for the final 12 minutes.
In the eighth and final lead change of the second half, Edey made both ends of a one-and-one to put Purdue ahead 58-57 with 1:45 left. Edey had been 1 of 6 from the line before sinking those two.
Wisconsin&rsquo;s Chucky Hepburn missed a baseline jumper with 1:15 remaining, but Purdue&rsquo;s Ethan Morton misfired on a 3-pointer with 47 seconds remaining.
The Badgers called a timeout and got the ball to Max Klesmit, who missed a driving layup attempt as the Kohl Center crowd pleaded for a foul call.
No. 8 ARIZONA 87, USC 81
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Azoulas Tubelis scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and No. 8 Arizona ended USC&rsquo;s 14-game home win streak.
It was the Wildcats&rsquo; first game since they were upset by rival Arizona State on an improbable half-court shot at the buzzer, 89-88. Arizona has not lost back-to-back games in the two seasons Tommy Lloyd has been its coach.
Arizona&rsquo;s inside game with Tubelis and Oumar Ballo gave the Trojans trouble all night and the pair finished with 35 points and 15 rebounds, plus each had three assists, a steal and a blocked shot.
The Wildcats (25-5, 14-5 Pac-12) extended their lead to as many as 15 points midway through the second half, but Ellis poured in 16 points over the final nine minutes to get the Trojans within five points in the final minute.
Boogie Ellis scored 35 points to lead the Trojans (21-9, 13-6),

A recap of Thursday's action in top-10 men's college hoops includes the No. 1 Cougars routing the Shockers.

Shead, Sasser lead No. 1 Houston past Wichita State 83-66

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Jarace Walker had 15 points, including the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 4:27 left, and No. 3 Houston rallied to beat Wichita State 70-61 on Thursday night.
Marcus Sasser also scored 15 for the Cougars (21-2, 9-1 American Athletic Conference), who trailed by six midway through the second half. Jamal Shead added 13 points and seven assists.
&ldquo;We are showing signs of maturity, not getting too high or too low,&rdquo; Shead said. &ldquo;We are following our leader, Marcus. When he came in and started to do his thing, we rallied behind him.&rdquo;
All five starters scored in double digits to help Houston win its third straight since a one-point loss to Temple.
Jaykwon Walton equaled his career high with 24 points for the Shockers (11-11, 4-6), who went 3 for 20 from 3-point range and shot 39% from the field overall.
&ldquo;I thought the difference in the game was the 3-point line,&rdquo; Wichita State coach Isaac Brown said. &ldquo;We went 3 for 20 and, down the stretch, their big man, Walker, was 3 for 6 from the 3-point line and I thought that was the difference in the game.&rdquo;
James Rojas added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Shockers. Kenny Pohto pulled down 12 boards to go with eight points.
Coming off a career-best 25 points against Cincinnati, Walker shot just 3 for 9 in the first half. But he drained a 3-pointer to trim Houston&rsquo;s deficit to 50-47 with 10:17 remaining, then tied it 54-all with another 3 at the 6:15 mark.
Walker followed with his 3 from the corner that put the Cougars ahead 57-54, and they opened a seven-point cushion with under three minutes left after a layup by Shead and a 3 from Tramon Mark.
&ldquo;We made some bad mistakes, but when it came winning time, I think our DNA kicked in,&rdquo; Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. &ldquo;We know how to win and there is a lot to be said about that.&rdquo;
In a matchup between the top two scoring defenses in the AAC, the Cougars held a 30-29 lead at halftime.
Wichita State built a seven-point advantage early in the second half as foul trouble began to pile up for Houston.
BIG PICTURE
Houston: Improved to 9-2 against the Shockers in the AAC era. Houston evened the all-time series at 18 apiece dating to 1949.
Wichita State: Fell to 1-4 in conference home games this season.
UP NEXT
Houston visits Temple on Sunday looking to avenge its only conference loss.
Wichita State plays at Tulsa on Sunday.

All five starters scored in double digits to help Houston win its third straight since a one-point loss to Temple.

Walker rallies No. 3 Houston past Wichita State, 70-61

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Grant Sherfield scored a season-high 30 points, and Oklahoma beat No. 2 Alabama 93-69 on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge to end the Crimson Tide&rsquo;s nine-win streak.
Jalen Hill added a career-high 26 points, helping second-year Oklahoma coach Porter Moser to his biggest win with the program. Tanner Groves had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Sooners (12-9) had lost three straight, but against the Crimson Tide shot 58% from the field.
Rylan Griffen led Alabama (18-3) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Brandon Miller, who came in averaging 19.5 points per game, finished with 11.
NO. 3 HOUSTON 75, CINCINNATI 69
HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Jarace Walker had a career-high 25 points and seven rebounds, and Houston rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to defeat Cincinnati.
Walker, who scored 13 points in the second half, was 10 of 14 from the field. J&rsquo;Wan Roberts added 14 points and six rebounds, and Jamal Shead scored 13 points for Houston (20-2, 8-1 American Athletic Conference).
Houston has won at least 20 games in eight straight seasons under coach Kelvin Sampson.
Landers Nolley II had 24 points, including 6 3-pointers. Vicktor Lakhin added 15 points, and David DeJulius had 14 points and nine assists for Cincinnati (14-8, 5-4).&nbsp;
NO. 4 TENNESSEE 82, NO. 10 TEXAS 71
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Olivier Nkamhoua scored 27 points and Zakai Zeigler had 22 points and 10 assists to lead Tennessee over Texas in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Josiah-Jordan James added 14 and Santiago Vescovi had 12 for Tennessee (18-3), which led by as many as 22 midway through the second half.
Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 21 to lead Texas (17-4). Marcus Carr and Brock Cunningham finished with 11 each.
NO. 5 KANSAS STATE 64, FLORIDA 50
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Keyontae Johnson had 13 points and 11 rebounds against his former team, Markquis Nowell flirted with the first triple-double in Kanas State history, and the Wildcats beat Florida in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Nowell finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and Nae&rsquo;Qwan Tomlin also had 11 points. The Wildcats improved to 18-3 to match the 1972-73 team for the best start through 21 games in school history.
Johnson struggled from the field, going just 5 of 16 and even getting stuffed by the front of the rim during a windmill dunk on a second-half fast break. But it was nevertheless a special night for the senior forward, who collapsed on the Gators&rsquo; sideline due to a heart condition during a game against Florida State just over two years ago.
Colin Castleton scored 13 points for the Gators (12-9). Myreon Jones and Will Richard had 11 apiece.
NO. 6 ARIZONA 95, WASHINGTON 72
SEATTLE (AP) &mdash; Azuolas Tubelis had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Oumar Ballo added 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Arizona used a big second-half run to pull away to win its fourth straight.
Tubelis topped 20 points for the first time in five games and his rebound putback while being fouled with 4:29 remaining gave the Wildcats a 78-63 lead and sent Washington fans headed for the exits.
Kerr Kriisa added 18 points, hitting six 3-pointers, and Courtney Ramey scored 14 for the Wildcats (19-3, 8-3 Pac-12).
Keion Brooks Jr. led Washington with 25 points and Keyon Menifield added 21. But the Huskies (13-10, 5-7) suffered from too many scoring droughts and didn&rsquo;t have an answer for Arizona&rsquo;s 19-1 run in the early stages of the second half.
NO. 7 VIRGINIA 76, BOSTON COLLEGE 57
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Armaan Franklin and Jayden Gardner scored 18 points each and Virginia used a big first-half run to take control over Boston College for its sixth straight victory.
The Cavaliers (16-3, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 18-15 before starting an 18-4 run over the next 11 minutes. Virginia put the game away with a 16-4 second-half spurt.
Quinten Post scored 24 to lead the Eagles (10-12, 4-7) and Makai Ashton-Langford added 12 points.
Virginia&rsquo;s Isaac McKneely finished with 12 points and Reece Beekman had 11 and eight assists.
NO. 9 KANSAS 77, KENTUCKY 68
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson scored 22 points, including one in a series of huge 3-pointers down the stretch, and Kansas avoided its first four-game losing streak under coach Bill Self.
Wilson made 9 of 18 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds for Kansas (17-4), which finished even with Kentucky at 49% shooting. K.J. Adams Jr. added 17 points, Dick had 13 and McCullar 11 with 12 rebounds as the Jayhawks edged Kentucky 34-29 on the glass.
Oscar Tshiebwe had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Jacob Toppin and Cason Wallace each added 14 for Kentucky (14-7), which had won its previous four.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 81, NO. 11 TCU 74, OT
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Tolu Smith had 27 points, 13 rebounds and five assists to lead Mississippi State to an overtime victory.
Dashawn Davis added 16 points to help Mississippi State (13-8) snap a five-game losing streak. Shakeel Moore had 11, including six in overtime, while Cameron Matthews had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Tyler Stevenson also added 10 points off the Bulldogs&rsquo; bench.
Damion Baugh led TCU (16-5) with 19 points and Emanuel Miller had 13. Shahada Wells and Jakobe Coles each had 12 for the Horned Frogs and Chuck O&rsquo;Bannon had 10.
Davis&rsquo; 3 pointer with 55 seconds left in the second half gave the Bulldogs a 66-64 advantage. Emanuel Miller scored with 32 seconds remaining and then both teams missed chances to win in regulation.
MISSOURI 78, NO. 12 IOWA STATE 61
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Kobe Brown scored 20 points, and D&rsquo;Moi Hodge scored 17 points to help Missouri take down Iowa State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Brown scored 14 of his points in the first half and led Missouri (16-5) with 12 rebounds. Nick Honor added 12 points and DeAndre Gholston scored 10.
Jaren Holmes led Iowa State (15-5) with 19 points, and Gabe Kalscheur added 14.
The Tigers&rsquo; 78 points were a season-high for an Iowa State opponent in regulation; the Cyclones are 0-3 this season when allowing at least 70 points in regulation.
CREIGHTON 84, NO. 13 XAVIER 67
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Arthur Kamula scored 20 points, Creighton&rsquo;s four other starters finished in double-figures and the Bluejays earned their fourth straight Big East win.
Creighton (13-8, 7-3) steadily built a double-digit lead throughout the game and made 34 of its 60 field goal attempts (56.7%) before a sold-out crowd.
Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 17 points, Baylor Scheierman had 14, Trey Alexander finished with 13 and Ryan Nembhard added 11 for the Bluejays, who avenged a 90-87 loss at Xavier on Jan. 11.
Zach Freemantle led Xavier (17-5, 9-2) with 18 points, followed by Colby Jones and Adam Kunkel with 13.
NO. 14 GONZAGA 82, PORTLAND 67
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Julian Strawther had a career-high 40 points, including eight 3-pointers, and Gonzaga pulled away down the stretch for its 16th consecutive victory over Portland.
Anton Watson added 17 points for Gonzaga (18-4, 7-1 West Coast Conference).
Strawther is the first player to reach 40 points for the Zags since Kyle Wiltjer had 45 against Pacific in 2016.
Portland (11-13, 3-5) was led by Moses Wood with 19 points. Juan Sebastian Gorosito, a freshman, finished with a career-high 17 points.
WEST VIRGINIA 80, NO. 15 AUBURN 77
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) &mdash; Erik Stevenson scored a career-high 31 points and West Virginia withstood a furious late rally from Auburn to win an SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchup.
The Mountaineers (13-8) have won two straight for the first time in a month. Jimmy Bell Jr. added 15 points for the Mountaineers.
Charles Barkley cheered on his alma mater from a courtside seat, but Auburn (16-5) couldn&rsquo;t overcome another slow start. The Tigers have lost two straight for the first time in two years.
Jaylin Williams led Auburn with 18 points. Johni Broome added 15 and Allen Flanigan scored 13.
NO. 16 MARQUETTE 89, DEPAUL 69
CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; David Joplin went 8 for 11 from 3-point range for a career-high 28 points, Tyler Kolek had 24 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds, and Marquette defeated DePaul.
Marquette has won eight of its last nine games, and moved into a tie with No. 13 Xavier atop the Big East.
Marquette (17-5, 9-2) pulled away in the second half. Oso Ighodaro had 10 points, making all five of his shots, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 13 and had 8 rebounds.
Umoja Gibson scored 25 points for DePaul (9-13, 3-8) on 8-of-12 shooting.
NO. 17 BAYLOR 67, ARKANSAS 64
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Keyonte George scored 24 points, including seven in a row down the stretch, and Baylor beat Arkansas in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Baylor (16-5) fell behind by as many as eight points in the second half after an early 11-point lead. But the Bears closed it out after Flo Thamba made two free throws for a 55-53 lead with 3:37 left.
LJ Cryer added 20 points and Jalen Bridges had 10 for the Bears, who won their sixth game in a row despite shooting a 34% (20 of 59) from the field. They offset the season-worst shooting from the field by making 21 of 24 free throws, including two by Cryer with 10 seconds left and two by George with 4.3 seconds remaining.
Ricky Council IV scored 25 points for Arkansas (14-7). Davonte Davis had 16 points, but missed the front end of a 1-plus-1 with 2.3 seconds left, though Joseph Pinion got the ball in the right corner only to miss wildly on a 3-pointer as time ran out.
HOFSTRA 85, NO. 18 COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 81
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Aaron Estrada scored 25 points and Darlinstone Dubar added 18 as Hofstra ended College of Charleston&rsquo;s 20-game winning streak.
The Pride (15-8, 8-2 Colonial Athletic Association) were down 28-20 early before rallying past the Cougars (21-2, 9-1), who had not lost since falling to then-No. 1 North Carolina on Nov. 11.
Tyler Thomas had 17 points and eight rebounds for Hofstra.
Ante Brzovic finished with 18 points to lead Charleston.
PITTSBURGH 71, NO. 20 MIAMI 68
PITTSBURGH (AP) &mdash; Blake Hinson tipped in a Jamarius Burton miss with 31 seconds remaining and Pittsburgh rallied past Miami.
The Panthers (15-7, 8-3 ACC) held the Hurricanes (16-5, 7-4) scoreless over the final 2:26 while closing on an 11-0 run to beat a ranked team for the third time this season to bolster its increasingly impressive NCAA tournament resume.
Hinson finished with 21 points for Pitt. Burton had 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Panthers stunned Miami in front of a rare sell-out crowd at the Petersen Events Center.
Jordan Miller led the Hurricanes with 18 points. Isaiah Wong added 14 but Miami committed three of its 12 turnovers in the final 35 seconds as the Panthers stormed back.
NO. 21 FAU 70, W. KENTUCKY 63
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Weatherspoon scored 14 points and Florida Atlantic remained undefeated at home.
The victory extended FAU&rsquo;s winning streak to a program-record 20 games, which is now the nation&rsquo;s longest. The Owls&rsquo; 21 victories on the season ties their Division I record set in 2010-11. Western Kentucky (11-11, 3-8 Conference USA) has lost five straight.
Alijah Martin scored eight while grabbing seven rebounds for the Owls (21-1, 11-0).
Jordan Rawls led all scorers with 17 for W. Kentucky. Dayvion McKnight and Emmanuel Akot each had 16.
NO. 22 SAINT MARY&rsquo;S (CAL) 57, BYU 56
PROVO, Utah (AP) &mdash; Logan Johnson had 14 points and freshman Aidan Mahaney scored all 10 of his points, including a fade-away jumper just before the buzzer, in the second half and Saint Mary&rsquo;s (Cal) won its 10th in a row.
Mitchell Saxen had 11 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks for Saint Mary&rsquo;s (19-4, 8-0 West Coast Conference). Alex Ducas scored 12 points and Augustas Marciulionis added 10.
Dallin Hall was fouled on a driving lay-up attempt with 10.2 seconds left and made 1-of-2 free throws to give BYU a 56-55 lead but Mahaney took the inbounds pass, probed the defense before he drove the lane, stopped near the right block and pivoted away from the basket before hitting the winning jumper over the out-stretched arm of defender Fousseyni Traore.
Hall scored a career-high 23 points on 9 of 14 shooting but made just 3 of 6 from the free-throw line for BYU (14-10, 4-5). Fousseyni Traore added 11 points and eight rebounds.
NO. 24 CLEMSON 82, FLORIDA STATE 81
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Chase Hunter drove the lane and drew a foul, sinking the free throw, to help Clemson escape with a win over Florida State.
Hunter Tyson scored 27 points on 10 of 17 shooting for Clemson (18-4, 10-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which halted an eight-game road losing streak to Florida State. Hunter finished with 25.
Matthew Cleveland scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half for Florida State (7-15, 5-6), which made a season-high 13 3-pointers. Caleb Mills and Darin Green Jr. each hit four 3-pointers for the Seminoles. Freshman forward Baba Miller had his best game, scoring 11 points and pulling down four rebounds in 20 minutes.

A recap of Saturday's action in men's college hoops includes five upsets in the AP top 15.

Oklahoma's rout of No. 2 Alabama one of many top-15 upsets on Saturday

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Emanuel Sharp came off the bench to score 18 points and No. 3 Houston bounced back from a loss that knocked it from the top spot in the rankings, beating UCF 82-71 on Wednesday night.
Jarace Walker added 17 points, Jamal Shead had 14 points and 10 assists, and Marcus Sasser also scored 14 for the Cougars (19-2, 7-1 American Athletic Conference), who lost 56-55 at home to Temple on Sunday.
Ithiel Horton scored 18 points and Taylor Hendricks had 17 for UCF (13-7, 4-4). Hendricks&rsquo; three-point play capped a 6-0 run that pulled the Knights within 67-62 with 7:02 remaining.
NO. 2 ALABAMA 66, MISSISSIPPI STATE 63
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Jahvon Quinerly scored 14 points and Alabama rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half to beat Mississippi State.
The Crimson Tide (18-2, 8-0 Southeastern Conference) had to climb out of a hole and then hold on two days after reaching the program&rsquo;s highest ranking since rising to No. 1 in the 2002-03 season. The result was a ninth straight win and the first real scare during that stretch.
Quinerly had four assists for the Tide and scored nine in the second half. Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney both scored 13, and Clowney had eight rebounds.
Tolu Smith led Mississippi State (12-8, 1-7) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Dashawn Davis added 14.
NO. 4 TENNESSEE 70, GEORGIA 41
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Zakai Zeigler had 11 points and seven assists and Tennessee held its 10th opponent to 50 or fewer points.
Tobe Awaka came off the bench to score 10 points. Santiago Vescovi had six rebounds, four assists and six steals to go with his eight points as Tennessee (17-3, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) got its first win at home since having its 25-game home winning streak snapped by Kentucky more than a week ago.
The Bulldogs (13-7, 3-4), who managed just 29% shooting from the field, were led by Terry Roberts with 11 points.
NO. 13 XAVIER 82, NO. 19 UCONN 79
STORRS, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Souley Boum scored 21 points, Colby Jones added 20 and Xavier won its 13th in 14 games.
Jack Nunge had 12 points and Jerome Hunter added 11 for Xavier (17-4, 9-1 Big East), which led by 17 in the first half and 39-24 at halftime.
Jordan Hawkins scored 26 of his 28 points in the second half for UConn (16-6, 5-6), leading a comeback that fell just short. Tristen Newton added 23 points for the Huskies.
TEXAS A&amp;M 79, NO. 15 AUBURN 63
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Tyrece Radford had 30 points and nine rebounds and Texas A&amp;M ended the nation&rsquo;s longest active home winning streak at 28 games.
The Aggies (14-6, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) used a strong offensive start to hand Auburn its first loss at Neville Arena since Feb. 23, 2021.
Wade Taylor IV finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting for the Aggies.
Johni Broome and Wendell Green Jr. each scored 16 points for the Tigers (16-4, 6-2), who had won five straight games overall.
NO. 23 PROVIDENCE 79, BUTLER 58
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Bryce Hopkins had 16 points and seven rebounds as Providence dominated Butler inside.
Devin Carter added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Friars (16-5, 8-2 Big East), who have won two straight since back-to-back losses at Creighton and Marquette. Providence had a 42-24 rebounding edge and outscored the Bulldogs 48-20 in the paint.
Eric Hunter Jr. had 12 points and Jayden Taylor scored 10 with a team-high five rebounds for Butler (11-11, 3-8).&nbsp;

A recap of Tuesday night's action in men's college hoops includes a bounce-back victory for the Cougars and an upset at Auburn.

Sharp scores 18 off the bench, leads No. 3 Houston over UCF

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Marcus Sasser scored a career-high 31 points, Jamal Shead added 20 points and six rebounds, and No. 1 Houston used a huge second half to beat South Florida 83-77 on Wednesday night.
Sasser scored 25 points and Shead had 13 as the backcourt mates combined to score 38 of Houston&rsquo;s 46 second-half points. Sasser, a preseason All-American, finished 7 of 17 from the field, including 6 of 12 on 3-pointers. In the second half, Sasser and Shead combined to shoot 10 of 16 from the field and were 6 of 11 on 3s.
&ldquo;My teammates were telling me it&rsquo;s time step up,&rdquo; Sasser said. &ldquo;They were trying to get me going, giving me confidence. Being a senior on the team, being a leader, I&rsquo;ve kind of seen it all. ... When you have good teammates, they trust you with the ball and feel like you can change the game.&rdquo;
Tramon Mark scored 13 points for Houston (17-1, 5-0 American Athletic Conference), which won its eighth straight game.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson appreciated his team&rsquo;s grit during a less-than-stellar performance.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had a lot of nights where we&rsquo;ve played poorly and won over the years, but it&rsquo;s a beautiful win,&rdquo; Sampson said. &ldquo;That game was a thing of beauty. ... Get the win and go home.&rdquo;
Tyler Harris scored a career-high 31 points, Russel Tchewa added 14 points and eight rebounds and Jamir Chaplin scored 14 points for the Bulls (7-10, 0-4), who lost their fourth straight.
South Florida coach Brian Gregory said Houston needed an All-American effort out of Sasser to beat the Bulls, and that&rsquo;s what he gave the Cougars.
&ldquo;It challenged our guys a little bit in terms of the competitiveness and toughness that you have to play with,&rdquo; Gregory said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a good team. We&rsquo;ve had second-half leads in all four games in our league. ... It&rsquo;s disappointing where we&rsquo;re at.&rdquo;
Harris was 9 of 13 from the field, including 6 of 10 on 3-pointers.
Houston shot 42%, including 11 of 27 from the 3-point line. The Cougars forced South Florida into 18 turnovers and converted those into 13 points.
South Florida shot 49%, including 10 of 21 on 3-pointers.
&ldquo;Every time it looked like we were about to stretch it out from 10 to 12 or 12 to 15 or something like that, they would bang a 3,&rdquo; Sampson said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been a poor 3-point shooting team and free throw (shooting team). Not tonight, but that&rsquo;s how upsets occur. It&rsquo;s nights like tonight.&rdquo;
Trailing 53-48 with 14 1/2 minutes remaining, Houston went on a 20-4 run over the next 7 1/2 minutes to open up an 11-point lead on a 3-pointer by Shead. Sasser scored 13 points during the burst. The Bulls got no closer than six points the rest of the way.
Houston used a 10-0 run to open a 37-26 lead on a 3-pointer by Emanuel Sharp with three minutes left in the first half, but South Florida answered with a 10-0 run to end the half to cut the lead to one on a layup by Chaplin.
BIG PICTURE
South Florida: The Bulls fell to 0-6 all-time against No. 1-ranked teams. ... South Florida did not hit a field goal for nearly 8 1/2 minutes in the second half as Houston went on its run. ... The Bulls outrebounded Houston 36-30, and South Florida had a 26-22 edge in points in the paint.
Houston: Jarace Walker, who had scored more than 20 points in two straight games, was out of the lineup with an illness. ... The 36 first-half points by the Bulls were the most Houston has allowed before halftime this season, and the 77 points allowed was also a season high. ... Houston won its 12th straight over the Bulls.
FOUL TROUBLE
The teams combined for 45 fouls. Houston shot 22 of 32 from the free-throw line, led by Sasser, who was 11 of 14. The Bulls were 21 of 27 from the line, with Tchewa going 8 of 9.
UP NEXT
South Florida: At East Carolina on Sunday.
Houston: At Tulane on Jan. 17.

Marcus Sasser scored 25 and Jamal Shead had 13 as the backcourt mates combined to score 38 of Houston’s 46 second-half points.

Sasser, Shead lead No. 1 Houston past South Florida 83-77

DENVER (AP) &mdash; Nikola Jokic needed only five shots on his way to a league-leading 11th triple-double of the season. How's that for efficient.
&ldquo;A truly selfless superstar,&rdquo; Denver coach Michael Malone said.
Jokic finished with 14 points &mdash; a perfect 5 of 5 from the floor, 3 of 3 from the line &mdash; grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 16 assists as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 122-109 on Monday night in a game where LeBron James sat out due to a sore left ankle.
&ldquo;I know a lot of players that if they took five shots in 35 minutes would be (mad) right now,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;Nikola doesn&rsquo;t care whether he takes five or 25. There&rsquo;s not many guys like him that I&rsquo;ve ever been around."
Count Lakers coach Darvin Ham as impressed. It marked the 12th triple-double in league history with five or fewer shots, according to the Nuggets.
"The way (Jokic) puts his fingerprints all over the game, that&rsquo;s a rarity, especially at his size,&rdquo; Ham said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s only a few of those guys in the league that&rsquo;s able to do that.&rdquo;
Jamal Murray added a season-high 34 points to help the Nuggets win their 11th straight home game. It&rsquo;s their longest home streak since capturing 12 in a row in 2018.
Denver remains tied with Memphis for the top spot in the Western Conference.
&ldquo;We did what we were supposed to do,&rdquo; Malone said. &ldquo;The guys came to work with a work mindset. Everybody stepped up and did their job.&rdquo;
Russell Westbrook finished with 25 points despite dislocating his pinky finger &mdash; &ldquo;I put it back in, twice,&rdquo; he explained &mdash; and Thomas Bryant added 17 along with 10 boards for the Lakers, who saw their five-game winning streak halted.
James was ruled out hours before tipoff, joining injured forward Anthony Davis (right foot) on the bench. Patrick Beverley didn't play after halftime due to a hip injury.
The Lakers entered the game without Troy Brown Jr. (strained left quadriceps), Austin Reaves (strained hamstring strain) and Lonnie Walker IV (knee tendinitis).
&ldquo;Kudos to our guys &mdash; they kept fighting and just had a couple bad turnovers, couple balls that didn&rsquo;t go our way, couple shots didn't go down,&rdquo; Ham said. &ldquo;The group that was out there, they were competitive, then gave it their all until we couldn&rsquo;t give anymore.&rdquo;
Leading by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter, the Nuggets saw the Lakers make a mini-run. But Murray calmed things down with a 3-pointer.
Murray's scoring spree was another big step as the point guard rounds back into form from a torn ACL that caused him to miss all of last season.
&ldquo;I was just playing my game,&rdquo; Murray said of his performance that included five of the team's 15 3-pointers.
TIP-INS
Lakers: G Kendrick Nunn had 15 points. ... G Dennis Schroder was called for a technical in the third quarter.
Nuggets: F Zeke Nnaji turned 22 on Monday. ... The Nuggets were called for two delay of game technical fouls. ... Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 16 points and Bruce Brown 15. ... It was Jokic's 87th career triple-double.
DAVIS UPDATE
The Lakers are starting the ramp-up process for Davis when they return home.
&ldquo;There are different benchmarks built within the process of the upcoming weeks and if he meets those marks and checks off those boxes, then he&rsquo;ll be back on the court,&rdquo; Ham said. &ldquo;Am I willing to put a timetable on it? No.&rdquo;
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
James was named Western Conference player of the week Monday. He averaged 35 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7.7 assists over his last three games.
The 38-year-old James is 35 points away from joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as members of the NBA&rsquo;s 38,000-point club.
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Nikola Jokic finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and dished out 16 assists as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 122-109.

Jamaal