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Cavaliers

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) &mdash; J&rsquo;Wan Roberts scored 15 points, Marcus Sasser added 13 and top-ranked Houston held on to beat Saint Mary&rsquo;s 53-48 on Saturday night.
The Cougars (8-0) won twice in their first week as the No. 1 team since the final poll of the 1982-83 regular season, when Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon led high-flying Phi Slama Jama.
Logan Johnson scored 17 points and Aidan Mahaney had 14 for the Gaels (6-3), who lost their third in a row following a 6-0 start.
Houston was the favorite to win it all in the second of three consecutive trips to the Final Four nearly 40 years ago, but lost to Jim Valvano and North Carolina State in one of the iconic championship games.
Coach Kelvin Sampson&rsquo;s first top-ranked team is coming off trips to the Final Four and Elite Eight the past two seasons.
For the third straight year, the postseason path will start at Dickie&rsquo;s Arena, where Sampson likes to bring his team during the regular season as prep for the American Athletic Conference tourney.
NO. 3 VIRGINIA 62, FLORIDA STATE 57
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Kihei Clark scored 18 points and Virginia overcame poor shooting to beat Florida State and win its 15th straight Atlantic Coast Conference opener.
Virginia (7-0) trailed 22-21 after both teams shot under 30% in the first half. The Cavaliers started the second half with a 22-9 run to lead 43-31 midway through the half.
Florida State (1-9) scored the next six points, then didn&rsquo;t score again for five minutes as the Cavaliers rebuilt their advantage.
Darin Green Jr. scored 17 points in the Seminoles&rsquo; fifth straight loss.
RUTGERS 63, NO. 10 INDIANA 48
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) &mdash; Freshman guard Derek Simpson scored 10 straight points in a game-deciding run and Rutgers beat Indiana for the sixth time in a row.
Caleb McConnell had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Scarlet Knights (6-2, 1-0 Big Ten). Simpson finished with 14, all in the second half.
Miller Kopp scored a season-high 21 points for Indiana (7-1, 0-1) . Star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis was held to 13 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out late. The rest of the team had 14 points.
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NO. 11 ARKANSAS 99, SAN JOSE STATE 58
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) &mdash; Trevon Brazile scored 23 points and Arkansas broke away in the second half to beat San Jose State.
The Razorbacks (7-1) led 40-35 at the break before erupting. It was the first men&rsquo;s basketball matchup between the schools.
Ricky Council IV had 17 points for Arkansas. Heralded freshman guard Nick Smith, Jr. contributed 16 points and five assists in his first career start in only his second game as a collegian.
Omari Moore scored 21 for the Spartans (6-3).
NO. 11 ALABAMA 78, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 65
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Freshman Noah Clowney&rsquo;s breakout game &mdash; 22 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a steal &mdash; helped Alabama recover from blowing a 20-point lead and beat South Dakota State.
Clowney shot 8 of 17, including 5 of 12 on 3s, in his highest-scoring game of the season.
Alabama (7-1) led 37-17 with 6 1/2 minutes left in the first half. South Dakota State (3-6) rallied to go ahead 51-50 on Alex Arians&rsquo; 3-pointer with 11 1/2 minutes remaining.
Charlie Easley and Arians each scored 17 points for the Jackrabbits.
NO. 17 DUKE 75, BOSTON COLLEGE 59
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Mark Mitchell scored 15 points and Kyle Filipowski posted 13 points and 10 rebounds for the freshman&rsquo;s fifth double-double as Duke beat Boston College in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.
The Blue Devils (8-2), who shot 52.8% from the field, are unbeaten in six home games under first-year coach Jon Scheyer.
CJ Penha scored 16 points and Jaeden Zackery had 14 for Boston College (5-4), which has lost eight straight to Duke.
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NO. 25 OHIO STATE 96, ST. FRANCIS (Pa.) 59
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Brice Sensabaugh led the Buckeyes with 15 points and Bruce Thornton added 13 as Ohio State surged in the second half to be St. Francis.
The Red Flash trimmed a 16-point deficit to eight in the first half, with Josh Cohen getting the first points after the break. But Ohio State (6-2) went on a 13-5 run, held St. Francis (2-7) scoreless for about five minutes in the second half and at one point went up 39 points.
Roddy Gayle Jr. had 12 points, Zed Key had 11 and Sean McNeil and Felix Okpara scored 10 apiece for Ohio State, which shot 50.7% from the field.
Cohen finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Cam Gregory added 15 points and Maxwell Land scored 14 for the Red Flash.

J’Wan Roberts scored 15 points, Marcus Sasser added 13 and top-ranked Houston held on to beat Saint Mary’s 53-48 on Saturday.

No. 1 ranked Houston Cougars hold on to beat Saint Mary’s 53-48

Earlier this week, the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets agreed on a trade that would send Bol Bol to Detroit in exchange for Rodney McGruder and a second-round pick. However, on Thursday, the Pistons <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/bol-bol-trade-to-pistons-voided-due-to-failed-physical" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> voided the deal because Bol failed his physical with the Pistons' doctors.
If this sounds familiar, it's because Detroit also voided a three-team trade with the Houston Rockets and Philadelphia 76ers back in 2016. In that deal, the Pistons were supposed to land Donatas Motiejunas and Marcus Thornton, but they rescinded the trade four days later after Motiejunas failed his physical.
After learning that the Pistons voided the Bol Bol deal, Motiejunas spoke out about the situation.
"I was failed on physicals and told by Detroit doctors I will not play basketball again. Six years later, I am still here and have many years to go," Motiejunas <a href="https://twitter.com/DonatasMot/with_replies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>. "They [are] destroying young players' names and futures in [the] NBA by doing this..."
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Motiejunas has spent the last few years playing overseas, and he pointed out that his value took a hit after the Pistons' doctors determined that he failed his physical.
"No one looked at me the same after that situation," he <a href="https://twitter.com/DonatasMot/with_replies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>. "How many times [will] the NBPA let this happen? They are destroying young players' careers... When stuff like that happens, you [can't] stay quiet."
When some Pistons fans pushed back on Motiejunas' claims, he mentioned that he "hasn't missed a game since the injury." Also, he returned to the Rockets' lineup several days after the Pistons voided the deal, so if Detroit's doctors said he would never play basketball again, their assessment was clearly way off.
It remains to be seen if the NBA or NBPA will look into this situation.

After the Pistons voided the Bol Bol trade, Donatas Motiejunas spoke out about how Detroit did the same thing to him back in 2016.

Donatas Motiejunas calls out Pistons for voiding trades after physicals

As NBA players, guys might not be the most savvy when it comes to the salary cap and CBA, but one date that everyone has circled on their calendars is Dec. 15.
That&rsquo;s the day when trade season officially begins.&nbsp;
Depending on your specific situation, you&rsquo;re either looking forward to the day or nervous about it. The established superstars know that some of their teammates could be shipped out, while non-superstar players know they could be packing their bags.
Either way, you have that date circled.
Trades are a part of life in the NBA. As we hear all the time, it&rsquo;s a business. As players, we always understood that there was a bit of a double-standard when it came down to it, though. Teams can trade you whenever they want, but as a player, if you make a trade request, people want to say that you&rsquo;re spoiled or entitled or that you&rsquo;re a quitter, things like that.
Sometimes, though, there are valid reasons to request a trade; I know I had my reasons when I asked the Indiana Pacers to trade me back in 2011. They didn&rsquo;t, and I believe it indirectly ended my playing career.
After my time in Boston came to an end, I signed with New Orleans. They were an up-and-coming team led by Chris Paul and David West &mdash; two players I had existing relationships with. I thought I could help get them to the next level, much in the way I helped in Miami and Boston.&nbsp;
At that time, CP was playing at an MVP level, but the Western Conference was no joke. We got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs my first season there, and didn&rsquo;t even make the playoffs my second season. CP missed 37 games the second year, though, which explains that.
Winning those 37 games should&rsquo;ve probably been considered an accomplishment, to be honest with you, and there&rsquo;s no way we would&rsquo;ve done it without Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton. They both established themselves as good young players in the league, but that meant other teams wanted them. Next thing I knew, I was being traded to Indiana with Darren. I was kinda caught in the middle, and that&rsquo;s the part of trades that most fans and outsiders can&rsquo;t really understand.
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A big part of the reason I signed with New Orleans was because of my pre-existing relationships with CP and West. I wouldn&rsquo;t really say that the organization recruited me, so to speak, but I also signed there because of the role that I knew I would have. To players, it&rsquo;s not always only about the contract; oftentimes, it&rsquo;s also about the role and the fit.&nbsp;
But in a really short period of time, New Orleans decided they wanted to try something different, and the deal that came together was one that got them Trevor Ariza. They ended up doing a four-team trade with the Rockets, Pacers and Nets. Indiana sent Troy Murphy out in the deal, and got Darren and me back.&nbsp;
I wouldn&rsquo;t say that Indy didn&rsquo;t want me or value me, but they really made the deal because of Darren. So, I packed my bags again.
I wasn&rsquo;t happy leaving New Orleans, obviously, but I was able to embrace going to Indy for many of the same reasons I did New Orleans. They were a young team trying to find their way and they had some young players I enjoyed being around. T.J. Ford and I are good friends to this day, and I had an opportunity to see a young Paul George develop some of the habits that turned him into a superstar.&nbsp;
But man, things changed for me, and fast.
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Our coach, Jim O&rsquo;Brien, was fired after 44 games and one of his young assistants &mdash; a guy named Frank Vogel &mdash; took over.
The organization&rsquo;s leadership decided they wanted to focus on developing the team&rsquo;s younger players and I, at 34 years old, didn&rsquo;t really fit in with their long-term plans. I went from playing 20 minutes a game to not dressing, and I was perfectly healthy and still felt like I could make a difference. It hurt.
I&rsquo;ll never forget the conversation I had with Coach Vogel when he told me that I wasn&rsquo;t going to be playing. We were in New Jersey getting ready to play the Nets, and Coach straight up told me that I wasn&rsquo;t going to be playing at all.
&ldquo;Like, you mean NOOOOO minutes?&rdquo; I remember asking him.
&ldquo;Like, none at all?&rdquo;
Sadly, the answer was no!
He offered me the opportunity to sit in on the coach&rsquo;s meetings to try to absorb some of his staff&rsquo;s knowledge, but the truth of the matter is that I still wanted to play. I knew I could still make a difference.
So I asked for a trade.
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I was a 34-year-old champion who still had a lot left to offer, but I was on a team that was just at a different place in its developmental cycle. It wasn&rsquo;t a fit, and that happens to a lot of veteran players in the NBA.
Coach Vogel and I had that conversation on Feb. 6, 2011, and it turns out that the trade deadline was on Feb. 24. They didn&rsquo;t have the time to find a trade, I guess, so I sat on the bench, mostly in street clothes. I watched as our team got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, and next thing we all knew, the 2011 lockout happened.
Once the lockout ended, Indy waived me using the one-time &ldquo;amnesty&rdquo; right they got under the new collective bargaining agreement. I wasn&rsquo;t too enthused about signing with a new team and having to move during a lockout-shortened season. Remember, the 2011-12 season was only 66 games, and they were crammed into a shortened period of time.
To be honest, though, by the time the 2012-13 season was beginning, I hadn&rsquo;t gotten the kind of offer I was looking for. Some teams offered me a 10-day contract, which wasn&rsquo;t something I was willing to accept.
And just like that, my playing career was over.
It felt like one minute I was being courted by New Orleans and having an opportunity to join a young MVP-caliber player, and the next minute, I&rsquo;m being told by Frank Vogel that I&rsquo;m not going to play anymore.&nbsp;
It happens fast, and it happens to the best of us, and that&rsquo;s why players have to take their careers into their own hands when they have the opportunity to.
If KG, LeBron and KD never left the Timberwolves, Cavaliers or Thunder, there&rsquo;s no guarantee they would&rsquo;ve ever been able to win a championship. Right now, Damian Lillard is facing a similar situation. Ben Simmons decided that it&rsquo;s time for him to leave Philly not too long ago.
When I began thinking about it recently and looking back at my situation in Indy, I only wonder what could&rsquo;ve been if I&rsquo;d requested a trade sooner. Who knows? If I would&rsquo;ve asked earlier, maybe I would&rsquo;ve landed in a better situation. Maybe my playing career wouldn&rsquo;t have ended the way it did.
I never told that story before, but today, on Dec. 15 &mdash; when NBA trade season officially begins &mdash; it seemed appropriate.

As NBA trade deadline season begins, James Posey recalls how an unfulfilled trade request indirectly helped end his career.