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Scarlet Knights

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

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

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

Here's the list of NCAA players who have as of April 6 filed for consideration as a candidate for the 2023 WNBA Draft

2023 WNBA Draft: Full list of prospects who have entered

Princeton forward Tosan Evbuomwan spent his first three college seasons enduring one disappointment after another.
Reaching the NCAA Tournament and advancing to the Sweet 16 made it all worthwhile.
After the 2020 Ivy League Tournament was canceled, after the entire 2020-21 season was canceled, after losing by two points in the conference&rsquo;s 2022 tourney title game and after watching three friends transfer just to keep playing in 2022-23, this resilient 6-foot-8 Brit has taken the Tigers on their deepest NCAA Tournament run since 1967 and has emerged as survivor of one of college basketball&rsquo;s strangest journeys.
&ldquo;I think it did start with that COVID year,&rdquo; Evbuomwan said. &rdquo;There was a togetherness with that group. One of my favorite things about that time was the Zooms with one another, the Face Times, just talking about what we wanted the next season. We wanted a championship.&rdquo;
Now,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-princeton-3e7e64d87d64a24587f258af065e7ce0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Ivy League tourney champions are the talk of the nation</a>&nbsp;and an illustration of the impact two pivotal COVID years have had on the college basketball world.
Nobody outside the Princeton locker room expected this run &mdash; especially when three of last year&rsquo;s top five scorers left to take advantage of the NCAA&rsquo;s extra season. League rules allowed them only to use that season at a non-conference school.
But these Tigers pride themselves on perseverance. So instead of allowing the obstacles to derail their dreams or steal their spirit, they dug in, stuck around, forged a bond and finished the job.
&ldquo;We missed out on a whole year. That hurt, watching essentially every other team in the country play,&rdquo; Princeton guard Matt Allocco said. &ldquo;But I think it actually helped us in the long run. We were able to get together in the spring and practice, be with each other, build those relationships. It ended up being a great experience.&rdquo;
Not everyone remembers the COVID years fondly.
San Diego State and Dayton saw their 2020 title hopes dashed by the NCAA&rsquo;s announcement. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo thought he had a Final Four team, too.
Northern Kentucky coach Darrin Horn&rsquo;s long-awaited return to March Madness was extended by three more years, prompting him to acknowledge two weeks ago that winning the 2020 Horizon League crown almost seemed like it never happened.
There&rsquo;s no way to replace what was lost &mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ncaa-march-madness-san-diego-state-charleston-orlando-0d6d6cd47a1ff1baa3bfb448286b0ff6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">even for this year&rsquo;s 16 regional semifinalists</a>.
Just ask San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher, whose team faces top-seeded Alabama on Friday in the Louisville Regional. The Aztecs were supposed to be a top-two seed three years ago.
&ldquo;As I said all those years ago, as good as Malachi Flynn and KJ Feagin and Yanni Wetzell were, they never played in the NCAA Tournament one time in their careers. That&rsquo;s unbelievable,&rdquo; Dutcher said. &ldquo;Sometimes we take for granted just going and losing in the first round. Just to have a chance to play would have meant the world to those guys so I feel bad for that, that they never got a taste of March Madness.&rdquo;
Meanwhile, at Creighton, it was a different scenario.
In 2021, the tourney provided the Bluejays with a bittersweet memory: Celebrating their first Sweet 16 appearance since 1974 inside the lonely Indianapolis &ldquo;bubble.&rdquo;
So when&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-creighton-nembhard-d5b5da14046dffc8c7fb28e2f8b2da13" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sixth-seeded Creighton knocked off third-seeded Baylor 85-76 last weekend</a>&nbsp;to return to the Sweet 16, something suddenly felt far more satisfying about Friday&rsquo;s matchup against 15th-seeded Princeton in Louisville.
&ldquo;We had a lot of fans there to celebrate at the end of the game with us (in Denver) and then you go back to the hotel with family and friends and have a chance to celebrate rather than go back to your room and eat another piece of rubber chicken out of a Styrofoam box, which is what we did in Indianapolis,&rdquo; Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. &ldquo;To get to the Sweet 16 is a difficult thing to do, it was just a little more fun to celebrate that particular night.&rdquo;
What about 2021 national champion Baylor? Of course, the Bears had no complaints.
Kansas State coach Jerome Tang was an assistant on that title team and has used the lessons from that run as the model for his third-seeded Wildcats, who take on Izzo&rsquo;s seventh-seeded Spartans on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-transfer-portal-0b9862a4e4e4b6da08ce56b3eb2c443a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tang believes the similarities in roster composition</a>&nbsp;will help Kansas State this weekend.
&ldquo;We spent 30 days in the &lsquo;bubble,&rsquo; right? And if you don&rsquo;t like each other, nobody wants to spend that amount of time together,&rdquo; Tang said. &ldquo;That team, we really liked each other. We loved being together. I mean, it was fun to be around them. I feel the same way around these guys. We could be in a bubble for 30 days and we&rsquo;ll be just fine. We&rsquo;re going to have a great time.&rdquo;
But nobody will have more fun than Princeton.
Just two years after watching everyone else&rsquo;s games, the Tigers need two wins to end a 48-year Final Four drought, two wins to become the first Ivy League team in the national semifinals since Penn in 1979 and two wins to cement their status as one of the greatest and most compelling advance-and-survive stories in tourney history.
And it might not have happened without Princeton&rsquo;s COVID experience.
&ldquo;Having to watch those games on TV, the tournament, hurt. I think looking back on it, it fueled us for the next year,&rdquo; Princeton guard Ryan Langborg said. &ldquo;I think this year, this Sweet 16 run so far, it&rsquo;s more than making up for it.&rdquo;

Princeton is on its deepest NCAA Tournament run since 1967 after surviving one of college basketball’s strangest journeys.

Princeton’s journey becomes face of March Madness’ COVID era

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Northern Kentucky coach Darrin Horn might be looking forward to his team&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament appearance even more than his players.
The Norse won their fourth Horizon League championship since 2016-17 but will play in March Madness for the first time since 2019. They also won the league title in 2020, but there was no NCAA Tournament that year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That denied Horn a chance to lead his first NKU squad in the Big Dance, which makes this berth a bit more special. Especially after the Norse let an opportunity slip away in last year&rsquo;s Horizon Tournament.
&ldquo;We kind of feel like we had one taken from us literally, where you qualify for the tournament and then the tournament just doesn&rsquo;t happen,&rdquo; Horn said in a phone interview. &ldquo;So, to finally punch your ticket and know that there&rsquo;s going to be games and you&rsquo;re going to be a part of the process, that&rsquo;s really exciting.&rdquo;
The No. 16 seed Norse (22-12) will face Midwest top seed Houston on Thursday night in Birmingham, Alabama. NKU features the nation&rsquo;s No. 27 defense (63.6 points allowed per game) and the No. 42 scorer in junior guard Marques Warrick (19.1 points).
DEJA VU
Howard&rsquo;s last NCAA Tournament appearance in 1992 was a 100-67 loss to Midwest top seed Kansas. Back then, Kenneth Blakeney was a 20-year-old Duke sophomore on a Blue Devils squad that repeated as national champions.
Blakeney now coaches Howard and will lead the No. 16 seed Bison (22-12) against the defending national champion and top-seeded Jayhawks again, this time in a West Region first-round game. Howard topped Norfolk State 65-64 for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament championship, capping a remarkable turnaround from 4-29 in Blakeney&rsquo;s debut season in 2019-20 to their first regular-season and tournament titles since that last trip to the Big Dance.
&ldquo;To represent Howard University is a big honor for me,&rdquo; said Blakeney, a Washington, D.C., native, via email. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m humble to be a mentor at a great university. Kansas is a national, traditional and historic program. I&rsquo;m excited.&rdquo;
The D.C. school is one of two historically Black colleges and universities in the tournament. Texas Southern won the Southwestern Athletic Conference title and will face Fairleigh Dickinson in a matchup of No. 16 seeds in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio.
CHARMED EXISTENCE
It&rsquo;s been quite a year for West Virginia coach Bob Huggins.
Huggins was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September. He became the winningest active Division I coach last week when Jim Boeheim retired at Syracuse.
The Mountaineers (19-14) overcame a horrible start to Big 12 play to reach the NCAA Tournament field as a No. 9 seed. They&rsquo;ll meet No. 8 seed and state line rival Maryland (21-12) on Thursday in Birmingham, Alabama.
&ldquo;I never had any doubt that we wouldn&rsquo;t play in the tournament,&rdquo; Huggins said Sunday night. &ldquo;I thought we were getting better and better.&rdquo;
West Virginia lost its first five Big 12 games but rebounded to finish 7-11 in arguably the nation&rsquo;s toughest league. The NCAA bid wouldn&rsquo;t have been secured without three wins in the Mountaineers&rsquo; final four regular-season games, including over Iowa State and No. 12 Kansas State.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m good with it,&rdquo; Huggins said. &ldquo;Obviously we wanted to win more games. We just had some things happen.&rdquo;
RECONNECTING
Marquette&rsquo;s first-round East Region matchup Friday against Vermont gave Golden Eagles guard and Big East player of the year Tyler Kolek a chance to catch up with an old friend.
Kolek began his college career at George Mason while playing for a coaching staff that included Bryson Johnson, who is now a Vermont assistant. As soon as the matchup of No. 2 and No. 15 seeds was announced, Kolek and Johnson began exchanging texts.
&ldquo;We had some competitive fire going back and forth,&rdquo; Kolek said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d always shoot against each other (at George Mason). He actually played at Bucknell and he was a pretty good player. Just a little trash talk.&rdquo;
Marquette beat Xavier 65-51 on Saturday to earn its first Big East Conference title.
STAYING HOME
No. 1 overall seed Alabama and archrival Auburn, the Midwest No. 9 seed, won&rsquo;t have to go far for their tournament debuts.
Both schools will open in Birmingham, Alabama, a 58-mile hop from Tuscaloosa for the Crimson Tide, who on Thursday will face the winner of the No. 16 seed matchup between Texas A&amp;M-Corpus Christi and Southeast Missouri State.
The Tigers will travel about 110 miles for their first-round meeting with No. 8 seed Iowa, where Auburn coach Bruce Pearl was an assistant from 1986-92.
___
AP Sports Writers Mike Marot, Steve Megargee, John Raby and Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

A look at the top storylines in the upcoming men's 2023 NCAA Tournament.

March Madness: Norse ride again, a KU deja vu for Howard

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; When the Milwaukee Bucks needed a steadying presence Friday night at Indiana, Giannis Antetokounmpo provided it &mdash; even from the free-throw line.
The Eastern Conference All-Star captain finished with 41 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and made five of eight free throws during the final four minutes to help Bucks fend off Indiana&rsquo;s second-half rally for a 141-131 victory.
&ldquo;We had a good rhythm and were able to just hang on in the second half,&rdquo; Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. &ldquo;These road wins are pretty sweet and there were some real positive things, especially in the first half.&rdquo;
Jrue Holiday added 23 points and nine assists for Milwaukee,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1619173040289456128" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Khris Middelton added 17 despite playing just 15 minutes</a>.
Budenholzer even liked Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s form on his late free throws as the Central Division-leading Bucks won their third straight,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1619156134916390912" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this one in front of a surprisingly friendly road crowd</a>.
For the Pacers, it was a familiar script &mdash; slow start, deep hole and late comeback. They&rsquo;ve won an NBA-leading 11 times after trailing by double digits this season, twice after trailing by 20 or more points.
This time, though, the 33-point first-half deficit was simply too much. Myles Turner led the Pacers with 24 points and Buddy Hield added 22 as Indiana lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
&ldquo;The starts we&rsquo;ve been getting off to have been atrocious,&rdquo;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1619150210864918529" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">T.J. McConnell said after finishing with 19 points</a>&nbsp;and nine assists. &ldquo;It was the pace. When we get out and run and play with pace, we&rsquo;re pretty good. When we can&rsquo;t get a stop, you see what happened in the first half.&prime;
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1619139950028492800" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Milwaukee took control quickly with a balanced attack</a>&nbsp;and incredible 3-point shooting. The Bucks&rsquo; ninth 3 capped a 15-3 run to close the first quarter and gave them a 45-30 lead. The charge continued through the second quarter as the margin expanded to 85-52 in the final minute of the half.
But Indiana finally answered in the third quarter, trimming it to 114-99 and then methodically got closer in the fourth while repeatedly sending Antetokounmpo to the free-throw line. With 3:27 to go, they were within 131-124 but the Bucks didn&rsquo;t let Indiana get any closer.
TIP-INS
Bucks: The 85 first-half points were a season high. ... Antetokounmpo was playing his third straight game since missing five games with an injured right knee and was 7 of 18 on free throws. ... Brook Lopez had 15 points and Pat Connaughton had 14 as the Bucks made 19 3s.
Pacers: Indiana lost its 10th straight in the series and its fourth straight to the Bucks in Indy. ...&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1619169402968215552" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hield made five 3s to break</a>&nbsp;a tie with Jason Richardson (1,608) for No. 31 on the NBA&rsquo;s career list. Hield now has 196 this season and 1,613 in his career. ... Rookie Bennedict Mathurin had 21 points and eight rebounds.
THE CAPTAIN
One day after Antetokounmpo was selected to his seventh All-Star Game and again selected as captain of the Eastern Conference squad, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle made it clear how much he thinks of the one-time NBA champion and two-time league MVP.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s as difficult a guy to guard as there is,&rdquo; said Carlisle, winner of 885 career games and the 2010 championship. &ldquo;Giannis is very unique, and I don&rsquo;t think there will ever be a player quite like him in this league, maybe ever. He&rsquo;s a beast, just an absolute beast.&rdquo;
HALIBURTON UPDATE
Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton missed his ninth consecutive game since spraining his left elbow and left knee. When he initially got hurt against the New York Knicks on Jan. 11, team officials said he would be re-evaluated in two weeks. Apparently, that timeline has been revised.
&ldquo;I think maybe early next week,&rdquo; Carlisle said when asked for an update. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s doing well, doing well.&rdquo;

Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 41 points to help the Bucks fend off Indiana’s second-half rally for a 141-131 victory.

Antetokounmpo scores 41 points, Bucks beat Pacers 141-131

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Zia Cooke scored 16 points and Aliyah Boston added 12 to help No. 1 South Carolina remain unbeaten with a 58-51 win over Mississippi State on Sunday.
The Gamecocks were held to a season-low point total but were able to find a way. Boston added 15 rebounds in the win.
South Carolina (16-0, 3-0 SEC) had a massive advantage at the free throw line where the Gamecocks were 14 of 24 while MSU was 2 of 5. The Gamecocks also dominated the boards with a 53-35 edge including 22 offensive rebounds.
Jerkaila Jordan led the way for the Bulldogs (12-5, 1-3) with 13 points and five rebounds. Jessika Carter had 11 points and nine rebounds.
NO. 2 STANFORD 60, CALIFORNIA 56
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Haley Jones scored the go-ahead layup with 1:17 to play, Cameron Brink had 25 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots as NBA pal Stephen Curry watched courtside, outdueling Leilani McIntosh down the stretch as Stanford held off California.
Jones wound up with 12 points and 11 rebounds as the Cardinal (16-1, 4-0 Pac-12) ran their winning streak to 11 games.
McIntosh finished with 19 points for the Golden Bears (10-5, 1-3).
Stanford won its 38th straight game against Pac-12 teams including the past two conference titles and postseason.
NO. 3 OHIO STATE 87, ILLINOIS 81
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Taylor Mikesell scored a game-high 31 points as Ohio State erased a halftime deficit and avoided an upset.
Mikesell shot 50% from the field and Cotie McMahon added 22 points for Ohio State (17-0, 6-0 Big Ten). Taylor Thierry had 12 points and swiped four steals.
Kendall Bostic notched her sixth double-double of the season behind 27 points and 15 rebounds. Genesis Bryant finished with 20 points, Makira Cook had 12 and Brynn Shoup-Hill tallied 10 for Illinois (14-3, 4-2).
NO. 22 NORTH CAROLINA 60, NO. 4 NOTRE DAME 50
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) &mdash; First-year guard Paulina Paris scored 11 of her season-high 16 points in the fourth quarter to help North Carolina push past Notre Dame.
Deja Kelly added 14 points for the Tar Heels (10-5, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who snapped a four-game skid that had drained some of their early season buzz.
Olivia Miles had 15 points and seven rebounds to lead Notre Dame (12-2, 3-1), which had entered Sunday as one of two unbeaten teams in ACC play.
NO. 6 INDIANA 72, NORTHWESTERN 50
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) &mdash; Mackenzie Holmes scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Indiana beat Northwestern.
Grace Berger finished with 16 points and five assists for the Hoosiers (14-1, 4-1).
The Wildcats got a boost off the bench as Jasmine McWilliams added eight points on 3-for-3 shooting in the third. McWilliams and Sydney Wood led Northwestern (6-9, 0-5 Big Ten) with 10 points each in their seventh loss in nine games.
NO. 7 LSU 67, KENTUCKY 48
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Flau&rsquo;jae Johnson scored 26 points, including eight during a 12-0, second-quarter run to break the game open, Angel Reese also scored 26 and LSU earned its best start in school history.
Reese had 13 rebounds for her nation&rsquo;s-best 16th double-double. The Tigers (16-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) outshot Kentucky just 40%-35% but dominated nearly every other statistical category including rebounding (45-23).
Maddie Scherr had 22 points for Kentucky (8-8, 0-4), which dropped its fourth in a row and lost its second game this season in Rupp Arena, home of the men&rsquo;s basketball team.
MIAMI 77, NO. 9 VIRGINIA TECH 66
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Jasmyn Roberts scored a career-best 23 points, Haley Cavinder added 19 and Miami held off Virginia Tech.
Roberts was 8 for 12 from the field, 5 of 7 from 3-point range for the Hurricanes (10-6, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their third straight game. Cavinder was 6 for 12 from the field, and Miami shot 54%.
Elizabeth Kitley scored 20 for Virginia Tech (13-3, 3-3), which had beat Miami five consecutive times. Georgia Amoore added 13 for the Hokies.
NO. 10 NC STATE 87, VIRGINIA 62
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Jada Boyd scored 13 points and No. 10 North Carolina State snapped a two-game home losing skid.
Camille Hobby and Mimi Collins both had 12 points, and Diamond Johnson and River Baldwin added 10 points apiece for the Wolfpack (13-3, 3-2). Jakia Brown-Turner and Madison Hayes each finished with nine.
Camryn Taylor scored 16 points, Taylor Valladay had 13 and Sam Brunelle 12 for Virginia (13-3, 2-3), which dropped a game to a top-10 team for the second time in four days after losing Thursday at No. 9 Virginia Tech.
NO. 17 OKLAHOMA 82, NO. 11 IOWA STATE 79
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Ana Llanusa scored 23 points, Skylar Vann hit the final go-ahead basket, and Oklahoma defeated Iowa State in a matchup of the Big 12&prime;s top two offenses.
In a game with 25 lead changes, Oklahoma struck last.
Vann finished with 13 points and eight rebounds for Oklahoma (12-2, 2-1 Big 12). Nevaeh Tot also scored 13 points, and Taylor Robertson finished with 10.
Ashley Joens finished with 27 points and nine rebounds. She made 12-of-13 free throws. Lexi Donarski scored 20 and Nyamer Diew 14 for the Cyclones (10-3, 2-1).
NO. 12 UCLA 61, SOUTHERN CAL 60
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Freshman Londynn Jones scored 13 of her career-high 22 points in the second half and UCLA used a big fourth-quarter run to beat Southern California.
Emily Bessoir hit 3 of 5 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points for UCLA (13-2, 2-1 Pac-12). Charisma Osborne scored six of her nine points in the fourth quarter.
Rayah Marshall had 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for Southern Cal (11-4, 1-3) and Kayla Williams also scored 15 points. Okako Adika added 11 points and Destiny Littlejohn 10.
NO. 15 ARIZONA 79, NO. 18 OREGON 71
TUSCON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Madison Conner scored 16 second-half points to lead five Arizona players in double figures and the Wildcats beat Oregon.
Shaina Pellington had 14 points, six rebounds and six assists, Jade Loville scored 13 points and Esmery Martinez 11 for Arizona (14-2, 4-1 Pac-12). Kate Reese had 10 points.
Grace VanSlooten led Oregon (12-4, 3-2) with 18 points. Te-Hina Paopao and Endyia Rogers scored 17 apiece, Chance Gray added 10 and Phillipina Kyei had six points and 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-8 Kyei has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in eight consecutive games.
NO. 24 ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 71, XAVIER 52
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Jayla Everett scored a season-high 26 points and St. John&rsquo;s bounced back after its first loss of the season.
Jillian Archer had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Storm (14-1, 5-1 Big East Conference).
Mackayla Scarlett had 18 points for the Musketeers (7-9, 0-7), who have lost six straight as well as 15 straight to St. John&rsquo;s.
NO. 25 CREIGHTON 68, MARQUETTE 42
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Lauren Jensen scored 19 points and Creighton defeated Marquette after holding the Golden Eagles to 14 points in the first half.
Chloe Marotta scored 20 points for Marquette and Jordan King added 13. Only four players scored for the Golden Eagles (10-6, 3-4 Big East).
Jensen made 9 of 14 shots and added three rebounds and five assists. Morgan Maly had 10 points and seven rebounds, and Emma Ronsiek scored 10 for the Bluejays (10-5, 4-3) who had lost four of their last five games.

A recap of Sunday's women's college basketball slate features the top-ranked Gamecocks in a battle with the Bulldogs.

No. 1 South Carolina battles back to beat Mississippi State

When the season began, it wasn't clear how much longer Myles Turner would be with the Indiana Pacers.
That's still a reasonable question &mdash; but now there's another one alongside it: How much longer can those Pacers stay in the playoff race?
After losing 57 games a season ago, the Pacers are a .500 team at the moment &mdash; and that's despite dropping seven of their last 10. Coach Rick Carlisle's group can push the tempo, and the Pacers have a 22-year-old standout in point guard Tyrese Haliburton. Indiana is not a team that should be taken lightly.
&ldquo;They beat us the last time and they&rsquo;re ahead of us in the standings,&rdquo; Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said Monday when asked about not overlooking opponents. &ldquo;There is more parity, I think, overall in the league and I think it&rsquo;s good for the league."
The Heat did beat Indiana 87-82 on Monday night in what was easily the Pacers' lowest-scoring game of the season. They've been held under 100 points only one other time.
Indiana is fifth in the NBA in pace after ranking 18th last season.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not that surprised, seeing Ty ... for two months last year and knowing we&rsquo;d get (T.J.) McConnell back and he plays pretty fast,&rdquo; Carlisle said. &ldquo;But it does tell a story of who we are as a team and it tells a story that if we don&rsquo;t come up with rebounds, we&rsquo;re not going to be able to play fast. We love playing fast. It&rsquo;s fun (and) it&rsquo;s gotten interest from the fans in this team.&rdquo;
The Pacers are showing the type of improvement that can easily stay under the radar. They aren't leading their conference like New Orleans, another sub-.500 team from last season. Instead, they're in the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference. Joining them there are the New York Knicks, who have won four straight to pull a game above .500 &mdash; after going 37-45 in 2021-22.
No matter how the rest of this season unfolds for the Pacers, they have some young talent they can get excited about. Haliburton is averaging a career-best 19.4 points per game in his third season. Bennedict Mathurin is averaging 17.6, and fellow rookie Andrew Nembhard had 31 points and 13 assists in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/indiana-pacers-golden-state-warriors-nba-sports-858f0912dc57c9407c81b68de5b174d1">a win over Golden State</a> last week. Nembhard also made a 3-pointer <a href="https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-lakers-indiana-pacers-nba-sports-b6e1415dd4d8fa0fac2a10c8477da348">at the buzzer</a> to beat the Los Angeles Lakers last month.
That talented trio is one the Pacers can move forward with even if they end up dealing the 26-year-old Turner and 29-year-old Buddy Hield. Although for now, those two are still with Indiana and making their own contributions, averaging about 17 points apiece.
Turner is in the final year of his contract and could bring back a good haul in a trade. Indiana is still less than a year removed from a major makeover. The Pacers traded star forward Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento in February and received Haliburton in return. Hield also went to Indiana in that deal.
The Kings have certainly reaped the benefits. After losing 52 games last season, they're above .500 and positioned in the top six in the West. While it's not clear how long Hield will be with the Pacers, they're off to a decent start, too.
Indiana does have a couple of obvious weaknesses it needs to shore up. The Pacers are allowing opponents to shoot 25.8 free throws a game, the second-most in the NBA. Rebounding is also an issue. The 6-foot-11 Turner is one of the game's top shot blockers, but on the boards, the Pacers are vulnerable.
Indiana ranks 27th in the league in defensive rebounding percentage. The Pacers gave up 29 offensive boards to the Brooklyn Nets in Saturday's loss.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s effort really and that&rsquo;s something we talked about in practice,&rdquo; Carlisle said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;ve got to concentrate on. We need it to be a real wake-up call.&rdquo;
Indiana lost that game to a depleted Brooklyn team 136-133 despite 35 points from Haliburton. Then the Pacers dropped a low-scoring game to Miami. In the next couple of weeks, Indiana has a rematch with Golden State, plus games against Cleveland, Boston and New Orleans. That stretch might indicate whether the Pacers will remain an intriguing playoff contender.
___
AP Sports Writer Michael Marot in Indianapolis contributed to this report.
___
Follow Noah Trister at https://twitter.com/noahtrister

No matter how the rest of this season unfolds for the Pacers, they have some young talent they can get excited about.

Fast-paced Indiana holding its own in Eastern Conference

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Olivia Miles had 21 points and eight rebounds for No. 7 Notre Dame, and UConn star Azzi Fudd was injured in a collision with a teammate as the Fighting Irish handed the third-ranked Huskies their first loss of the season, 74-60 on Sunday.
Fudd, who came in averaging 24.0 points per game, exited in the final minute of the first quarter following a collision with teammate Aaliyah Edwards. She returned midway through the second period to play four minutes, but sat the rest of the day, going scoreless on two shots over 13 minutes.
Maddy Westbeld added a season-high 17 points and nine rebounds for Notre Dame (7-1), which bounced back from a 74-72 loss to No. 20 Maryland three days earlier.
Lou Lopez Senechal led UConn (6-1) with 21 points. Edwards added 14.
No. 2 STANFORD 84, No. 23 GONZAGA 63
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Cameron Brink had 14 points and a season-high 16 rebounds and Brooke Demetre made five 3s and scored 17 points, leading Stanford past Gonzaga.
The Cardinal (10-1) have now won five straight games after falling to top-ranked South Carolina in overtime on Nov. 20.
Hannah Jump hit four 3s and scored 14 points and Haley Jones had 12 points for Stanford.
Short-handed Gonzaga (7-2), limited to seven players because of illness and injuries, had won three in a row.
No. 4 OHIO STATE 82, RUTGERS 70
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) &mdash; Rebeka Mikulasikova scored a career-high 31 points and Taylor Mikesell added 30 to help Ohio State beat Rutgers, a day that the Scarlet Knights honored former coach C. Vivian Stringer.
The school dedicated the court to Stringer, who retired after last season.
Buoyed by the return of their Hall of Fame coach, Rutgers played its best game of the season against a ranked opponent. Ohio State (8-0) jumped out to a 20-6 lead after one quarter, but the Scarlet Knights (4-6) wouldn&rsquo;t go away.
They were down 18 near the end of the half before Kaylene Smikle hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to get within 43-28. Rutgers continued that momentum in the second half and made it 53-45 with 3:25 left in the third quarter.
Mikulasikova and Mikesell then scored the next six points for Ohio State to restore the double-digit advantage, and Rutgers couldn&rsquo;t recover.
Smikle led Rutgers with 21 points.
No. 5 INDIANA 65, ILLINOIS 61
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Mackenzie Holmes scored 23 points, including a go-ahead layup with 37 seconds left, and Indiana got past Illinois in their Big Ten opener.
Indiana (9-0) had not trailed in the second half of any game this season before going back and forth in the closing minutes with Illinois (3-7).
Makira Cook scored 33 points to lead the Illini.
The Hoosiers were coming off an 87-63 win over No. 6 North Carolina.
No. 9 VIRGINIA TECH 59, TENNESSEE 56
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Kayana Traylor scored 18 points and Virginia Tech held off Tennessee in a Jimmy V Women&rsquo;s Classic matchup.
Jordan Horston led Tennesssee (4-5) with 26 points and 11 rebounds, but missed a pair of late shots that would&rsquo;ve tied it.
Trailing 58-56 with 3 seconds left, Horston was off on a jumper. Down three with 1.1 seconds remaining, her 3-point try from the top of the key bounced off.
Cayla King scored 11 points and Georgia Amoore and D&rsquo;asia Gregg each had 10 for the Hokies (8-0).
Tennessee played without leading scorer and rebounder Rickea Jackson, who was absent because of a coach&rsquo;s decision.
No. 10 IOWA 102, WISCONSIN 71
MADISON, Wis. (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for her seventh career triple-double to break the Big Ten record in Iowa&rsquo;s win over Wisconsin.
Clark surpassed the record of six career triple-doubles set by former Iowa player Samantha Logic, who achieved the feat from 2012-2015.
Iowa (6-3) stopped a two-game skid and beat the Badgers (3-7) for the 26th straight time.
No. 11 LSU 85, TULANE 72
NEW ORLEANS (AP) &mdash; Angel Reese scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds and Jasmine Carson scored 21 and LSU beat Tulane.
The Tigers (9-0) are off to their best since winning their first nine in the 2009-10 season.
LSU led 27-20 in a first quarter in which it made 11 of 16 shots and Tulane 9 for 17. The Tigers extended their lead to 40-27 at halftime before the Green Wave unloaded with a 30-point third in which it shot 12 for 16 including 6 for 7 from 3-point range. Dynah Jones scored 16 of her team-high 25 points for Tulane in the quarter and the Green Wave closed to 61-58.
Reese made 1 of 2 foul shots for the Tigers and Kahia Warmsley responded with a layup for Tulane to get it within two, but LaDazhia Williams made a layup and Carson a 3 and LSU kept Tulane at bay from there. Reese made two foul shots with 5:01 left to extend the lead to 73-62.
Marta Galic scored 21 points for Tulane.
ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 66, No. 13 CREIGHTON 62
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Jayla Everett scored 20 points and St. John&rsquo;s remained unbeaten by handing Creighton its first loss.
The Red Storm had a 47-32 lead in the middle of the third quarter before the Bluejays got it down to a one-possession deficit in the final 90 seconds.
After Emma Ronsiek&rsquo;s basket pulled Creighton within 61-59 with 1:27 to play, the Bluejays had a possession to tie or take the lead but couldn&rsquo;t score.
Kadaj Bailey and Unique Drake had 13 points apiece for St. John&rsquo;s (8-0, 2-0 Big East Conference).
Lauren Jensen scored 21 points for the Bluejays (7-1, 2-1) but couldn&rsquo;t get the tying jumper to fall with 13 seconds to go.
No. 14 ARIZONA 77, NEW MEXICO 60
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) &mdash; Jade Loville made 10 of 13 shots, including a career-best six 3-pointers, and scored 27 points to lead Arizona to a win over New Mexico.
Shaina Pellington added 19 points for the Wildcats (7-0), who had their lowest output of the year and won by less than 20 for only the second time this season.
Paula Reus scored 14 points for the Lobos (4-4).
No. 17 MICHIGAN 77, NORTHWESTERN 66
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Emily Kiser and Laila Phelia scored 18 points each and Michigan shut down Northwestern with an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter.
Leigha Brown added 10 points and 11 assists for Michigan (9-0), which won its Big Ten opener.
Jillian Brown had 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals for Northwestern (4-4, 0-1 Big Ten). Caileigh Walsh had 12 points and four blocks, and Sydney Wood scored 10 points.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 67, No. 18 LOUISVILLE 49
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Savannah Wheeler had 23 points, six rebounds and five assists, Courtney Whitson added 16 points and 10 rebounds and Middle Tennessee beat cold-shooting Louisville.
Middle Tennessee (5-2) won its first home game against a ranked opponent since the Lady Raiders beat No. 6 Kentucky 70-58 on December 28, 2011.
Kseniya Malashka added 15 points for Middle Tennessee (5-2).
Olivia Cochran scored a season-high 14 points for Louisville (5-4).
NEBRASKA 90, No. 20 MARYLAND 67
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) &mdash; Jaz Shelley scored 29 points, Nebraska dominated the second half and the Cornhuskers surprised Maryland in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams.
Allison Weidner had 13 points and 15 rebounds for Nebraska (6-3). Isabelle Bourne had 18 points and Alexis Markowski added 14. Shelley had six 3-pointers, five assists and three steals.
Two free throws from Diamond Miller drew Maryland (7-3) to within 77-67 points with 4:03 remaining, but the Terrapins would not score again while Nebraska scored 13.
No. 21 BAYLOR 79, HOUSTON CHRISTIAN 35
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Freshman guard Bella Fontleroy came off the bench to score 17 points and grab 11 rebounds and Baylor romped to a victory over Houston Christian.
Fontleroy sank 6 of 10 shots with three 3-pointers for the Lady Bears (6-2) and notched her first double-double. Jaden Owens added 14 points and six assists. Kendra Gillispie scored 10 on 5-of-6 shooting.
Marilyn Nzoiwu was the lone bright spot for the Huskies (3-4). She finished with 13 points and five rebounds, sinking 6 of 9 shots from the floor. Her teammates made 8 of 40 shots, including 2 of 15 from beyond the arc.
The Lady Bears played a fifth straight game without injured leading scorer Aijha Blackwell.
No. 22 TEXAS 92, SOUTHERN 43
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Shaylee Gonzales scored 22 points, Sonya Morris added 20 points, and Texas routed Southern.
Aaliyah Moore scored 11 points and DeYona Gaston had 10 for the Longhorns (4-4). Rori Harmon had nine points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman guard Sirviva Legions led the Jaguars (2-5) with 13 points off the bench.
The Longhorns rolled to a 29-10 lead through the first quarter after making 10 of 14 shots. They scored 11 points off seven Southern turnovers. Texas went on to lead 46-16 at halftime.
SETON HALL 82, No. 24 MARQUETTE 78
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (AP) &mdash; Lauren Park-Lane scored 17 of her 31 points in the fourth quarter, Sidney Cooks added 23 and Seton Hall knocked off Marquette.
Kae Satterfield added 12 points for Seton Hall (6-4, 2-0 Big East Conference), which has won four straight. The Pirates last beat a ranked team, No. 24 DePaul, in January 2019.
Chloe Marotta scored 30 points and had 12 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (7-2, 1-1). Jordan King added 14 points and Liz Karlen had 12 points and nine rebounds.
No. 25 VILLANOVA 79, PROVIDENCE 54
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Maddy Seigrist scored 20 of her 29 points in the first half and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Villanova past Providence.
Seigrist was 12-of-18 shooting, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. The Wildcats (7-2, 1-1 Big East Conference) made 12 of 28 behind the arc and shot 52% overall (33 of 63). Lucy Olsen added 14 points and Bella Runyan 10.
Janai Crooms led the Friars (6-4, 0-2) with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

A recap of Sunday's women's college basketball slate features a top-10 battle.

Notre Dame tops UConn as Azzi Fudd gets hurt

According to the <a href="https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1523786483291029504?s=20&amp;t=79vLlu7LnWGaClE0qT1aww" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boston Celtics Official Twitter Account</a>, Robert Williams III will be held out of Game 4 against the Milwaukee Bucks because of knee soreness.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NEBHInjuryReport?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NEBHInjuryReport</a> update: Robert Williams (left knee soreness) - OUT
&mdash; Boston Celtics (@celtics) <a href="https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1523786483291029504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

The Celtics have confirmed that Robert Williams III will be held out of Game 4 because of left knee soreness.

Celtics: Robert Williams III out for Game 4 with knee soreness

When Rick Carlisle started job hunting last summer, Indiana quickly emerged as a favored destination.
The Pacers had an experienced roster, playoff aspirations and a hungry group eager to fulfill its full potential.
Eight months later, a rash of injuries, COVID-19 absences, and a flurry of trade-deadline moves changed the plan. Expectations were lowered dramatically with a suddenly fresh-faced team hovering near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and trying to rebuild on the fly.
It's forcing everyone to embark on a new journey..
&ldquo;You kind of scale down the menu of things you're doing offensively. You get to the core of what's most important and you kind of rebuild based on personnel," Carlisle said. &ldquo;It's been a little bit of a whirlwind for these guys, but it's a great opportunity for them and for us."
This is not uncharted territory for Carlisle, the Dallas Mavericks career wins leader.
Coaches who stick around the league for two decades, like Carlisle, have been down this course multiple times. They've endured the midseason swaps, the changing philosophies, the mixing and matching of rotations as each game becomes a new audition &mdash; and survived..
For Indiana, though, this is a stark departure from standing operating procedure.
Since the early 1990s. Indiana's decision-makers &mdash; Donnie Walsh, Larry Bird and president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard &mdash; largely kept the cornerstones in place and tinkered around the edges to stay competitive.
But multiple injury-riddled seasons, a franchise-record nine straight playoff losses, no playoff series victories since 2013-14 and the likelihood of a second straight postseason absence convinced Pritchard to pull the plug. Sagging attendance and the possibility of a second straight losing season at home only expedited it.
So Pritchard sent two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento and starting guard Caris LeVert to Cleveland. Guards Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb and forward Torrey Craig also were dealt away.
They&rsquo;ve been replaced in the rotation by 3-point specialist Buddy Hield and two recent first-round draft picks, forward Jalen Smith and an emerging star in 21-year-old point guard Tyrese Haliburton.
&ldquo;I think there's a journey starting here, a journey with some younger players, a journey with some existing players, but I do feel the best I've felt in a long time about the direction of this team," Pritchard said after also adding two potential top-40 draft picks. &ldquo;We have the point guard of our future and if you've been in this business for a long time, you know getting a point guard who is young with upside who you feel like you can build around for the next 10 years, those don't come around very often. We feel like Tyrese is that guy.""
Trying to piece it together over this final 22-game run won't be easy. It begins Friday against Oklahoma City.
Pacers fans got a brief preview of coming attractions before the All-Star break, but with eight days between games, Carlisle, his staff and players have had time to map out a new strategy.
How exactly the Pacers intend to play it remains uncertain.
Carlisle remains hopeful that veterans Malcolm Brogdon and two-time blocks champion Myles Turner will return from injuries soon. Brogdon has missed 27 of the past 30 games with a sore right Achilles tendon and made his last appearance Jan. 19, though he told reporters he expects to play Friday. Turner, meanwhile, has been out since Jan. 14 because of a stress reaction in his left foot.
While Smith and Hield have been solid since arriving two weeks ago, Haliburton has become the feature attraction. Despite practicing sparsely with his new teammates, he averaged 20.8 points and 11.0 assists in his first four games &mdash; before leaving the All-Star weekend festivities so he could retrieve his clothes from Sacramento. It didn't deter his focal point.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve gotten more unsolicited messages about this kid as an amazing person, an amazing player, how joyful he is &mdash; it&rsquo;s been a little bit overwhelming,&rdquo; Carlisle said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a pass-first guy that&rsquo;s always looking to involve all of his teammates and yet he finds a way to get the ball in the basket. He&rsquo;s a special young player.&rdquo;
Brogdon and Turner will have to adapt, too. They&rsquo;ll need to work their way into game shape, learn the nuances of their new teammates, and get reacquainted with an offense designed to run through Haliburton.
It won't be easy and it might not be pretty as Carlisle pieces the Pacers back together with an eye toward making a playoff run in 2022-23. But it will give the Pacers two months to recast their future plans &mdash; and find a new landing spot with a revamped roster.
&ldquo;The whole week&rsquo;s been crazy, but what can you do?&rdquo; Haliburton said before leaving town. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve just got to go out there and hoop.&rdquo;

The Pacers will have two months to recast their future plans — and find a new landing spot with a revamped roster.

Pacers' revised roster faces different challenge after break

Stephen Curry hears the roaring crowds everywhere he travels these days.
His pursuit of the NBA's career 3-point record has created warm and fuzzy environments for the Golden State Warriors at each stop. Fans want to see history, and they want to see the 33-year-old Curry break Ray Allen's career 3-point record in person.
Yet among those he calls friends and foes around the league, Curry knows there's a very different feeling. They want to challenge the soon-to-be 3-point king.
&ldquo;Yeah, you hear a little bit of everything," Curry said after Monday's 102-100 victory at Indiana. &ldquo;I saw what Joel (Embiid) said the other day in his postgame. I know teams are coming out and making sure it's not going to happen against them, especially when it's 16 or 10 or seven. But I won't get this again, and once you get over the mountaintop, it's just how far you can push it."
Opponents have delayed Curry's quest about as long as possible.
After making five 3s, scoring 26 points and rallying the Warriors to a victory Monday, Curry needs one more 3 to tie Allen's mark of 2,973, and two to surpass on the grand stage of Madison Square Garden. Ticket prices have reportedly quadrupled on the secondary market, and Reggie Miller, who held the record until Allen broke it in February 2011, is expected to call the game for TNT.
But reaching this point seemed unlikely when critics deemed the 6-foot-2 college star as a shooting guard trapped in a point guard's body. They questioned his size, his shot selection, even whether he could make a successful transition from Davidson to the NBA.
Pacers assistant coach Lloyd Pierce got an up-close experience when he worked with Curry during his second pro season.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s funny when you were around him during that year there were some games he was like 1 for 10 or 1 for 11 and you know everyone that goes up looks good,&rdquo; Pierce said. &ldquo;He liked to shoot on the gun back then and I was like, &lsquo;What are you doing, you&rsquo;re just coming into the league. You need bodies on you, you need to work.&rsquo; That was one thing we did, was always have a body on him.&rdquo;
Curry wasn't like anyone else, though.
Nobody could match his prolific shooting beyond the arc and Curry spawned imitators leaguewide as teams relied on analytics that suggested they would score more points if they attempted more 3s instead of long 2s. Curry starts Tuesday night with 6,889 career 3-point attempts compared with 6,935 2-pointers.
Brooklyn's James Harden is second among active players and fourth all-time with 2,509 3s, and 13 of the top 30 players on the 3-point list are still active.
It took Miller 1,389 games to set the NBA record of 2,560. Allen needed 309 fewer games to pass Miller, and now Curry is on the precipice after playing 788 career games.
But even Warriors coach Steve Kerr can see it's taking a toll and All-Star forward Draymond Green is hoping the record-breaker comes quickly Tuesday night so things can get back to normal.
&ldquo;Everybody wants to see the record broken, so it&rsquo;s not just our fans," Green said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure it will be electric (in New York). Hopefully, he makes the first two 3s he shoots in the first quarter and then that&rsquo;s it."
Curry sure hasn't looked like his usually proficient self the last three games.
On Wednesday, Curry was 6 of 17 on 3s in his final home game before embarking on a five-game trip. He went 3 of 14 behind the arc in a rare loss Saturday to the 76ers and his brother, Seth. Then Monday, he was 5 of 15 with his last errant 3 leading to the winning putback &mdash; even though he didn't tie Allen.
&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s been trying a little bit too hard the last few games, just trying to make 3s and get to this record,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be a relief for him, I think, and for our team when he does break it."
And for Curry, who said he wanted to play for the Knicks before Golden State took him No. 7 overall in 2009 long before he won two MVP Awards and three NBA titles in four years, it's an experience he wants to savor.
&ldquo;I appreciate it, it's a blessing to play at this level," he said. &ldquo;This is part of history and it's a different vibe when you're on the road and you get that kind of reaction. It's a special time."

Stephen Curry needs one more three to tie Allen's mark of 2,973, and two to surpass on the grand stage of Madison Square Garden.

Curry embracing roar of crowds in record-breaking quest

The Indiana Pacers needed a respite after last season.
COVID-19 precautions tested everyone's patience, a rash of injuries thinned their bench, tempers flared and sometimes the discord even spilled openly into public view. They traded a two-time All-Star and his replacement was diagnosed with cancer. They missed the playoffs for the first time in six seasons and missed the fans, too, as the league's longest active streak of consecutive winning seasons at home ended at 31.
For those in the locker room, it might have the most forgettable seven months of their pro careers.
So when president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard changed directions by making the inevitable coaching change, Pacers players quickly embraced Rick Carlisle's approach.
&ldquo;So far, so good," center Myles Turner said during Indiana's annual media day. &ldquo;For me, it&rsquo;s more of a philosophy change. I want to show I&rsquo;m more of a two-way player and I think now I&rsquo;ll be more utilized that way, which is what I&rsquo;ve been seeking here for a couple of years."
The selection of Carlisle may seem an odd fit given Pritchard's preference last October to hire a young, new-age coach with the potential to make Indiana a title contender.
When the experiment fizzled, Pritchard fired Nate Bjorkgren and two weeks later persuaded the 61-year-old Carlisle to begin his third stint in Indiana &mdash; this time with less hair and a stronger resume.
Carlisle starts his 21st NBA season ranked 15th in career wins (836) and a very different coach from the one Larry Bird fired in 2007.
He spent the next season working for ESPN, which helped to develop his communication skills. In 2008, the Mavericks hired him and he won the 2010-11 NBA championship.
Along the way, Carlisle evolved as a coach by helping promising youngsters become superstars and developing a better understanding of things such as load management.
Now, the guy players sometimes complained about in Indiana and Dallas looks like a perfect fit with Indiana.
&ldquo;Coach Carlisle is very smart and I think he&rsquo;s one of these guys who&rsquo;s not afraid to think outside the box,&rdquo; Caris LeVert said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s obviously coached great players, he&rsquo;s won championships. That &rsquo;s definitely something I&rsquo;m looking forward to. I&rsquo;ve talked to a lot of people about him and, obviously, he&rsquo;s a great coach but he&rsquo;s a great person as well and I&rsquo;m looking forward to building that relationship.&rdquo;?
Carlisle can't wait to get started either even though he's already dealing with some unexpected twists.
Indiana's top scorer in the abbreviated 2019-20 season, forward T.J. Warren, is out indefinitely as he rehabs his left foot following surgery for a stress fracture. Doctors are scheduled to re-evaluate the injury in three weeks.
On Tuesday, the Pacers announced LeVert has a stress fracture in his back. He's expected to miss at least two to three weeks but could return for the Oct. 20 season opener at Charlotte.
&ldquo;We have a young veteran team that I think is a really exciting group,&rdquo; Carlisle said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a lot of terrific players but we&rsquo;re going to have to do things together at very high level to do what we want to do, which is become relevant in the East again."
Pacers fans would welcome the change.
Since losing to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in their second straight Eastern Conference final matchup in 2014, Indiana hasn't advanced beyond the first round. The Pacers were swept three times in four years and lost a franchise-record nine straight postseason games before beating Charlotte in last season's play-in round.
It was a rare silver lining in a season thrown off by reports of locker room dissension, Bjorkgren's abrasive style and a shouting match between backup center Goga Bitadze and former assistant coach Greg Foster during a May game.
&ldquo;I think a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff happened because last season was so taxing,&rdquo; guard Justin Holiday said. &ldquo;I think it showed and, this sounds crazy, but I think it showed we wanted to win and when that happened we actually played better and started to win.&rdquo;
But it cost Bjorkgren his job after just one season. Pritchard then brought in a known commodity in Carlisle to revive the franchise's blue-collar image and winning ways.
&ldquo;Our goal is to be very good defensively and to be a team that nobody wants to play,&rdquo; Carlisle said. &ldquo;Certainly there is an element of disappointment with last year but it&rsquo;s a new beginning. It&rsquo;s important we listen to these guys and hear what they have to say and process those things and then be on point with who we are and what we&rsquo;re going to stand for.&rdquo;

When Kevin Pritchard changed directions by making an inevitable coaching change, Pacers players quickly embraced Rick Carlisle.

Rick Carlisle's approach brings welcome change to Pacers

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Rick Carlisle chose the Indiana Pacers for many reasons.
He enjoyed his first two stints in Indianapolis, already had strong relationships with team owner Herb Simon and president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard and thought the roster was a good fit for his coaching style.
The Pacers appreciated something else &mdash; Carlisle's championship resume. On Wednesday, nearly a full week after Pritchard hired him, Carlisle mapped out his vision for the Pacers.
&ldquo;This is my kind of team. As I look at the roster and as I&rsquo;ve talked to all these guys, I have an even greater feeling that it&rsquo;s a group of guys I will have a blast working with," he said. &ldquo;I like the way they&rsquo;re talking. We&rsquo;re going to find a way to play better defense and we&rsquo;ve got to get back to the playoffs and win in the playoffs."
For the 61-year-old Carlisle, it's essentially a homecoming.
Before spending 13 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, going 555-478 and winning the NBA championship in 2010-11, Carlisle had already made two stops in Indiana. First, he was Larry Bird's assistant coach during the most successful three-year run in franchise history. Then he returned in 2003 for four seasons as head coach, a tenure best remembered for a brawl during a game at Detroit and the ensuing suspensions that took the Pacers out of title contention.
Four times during those seven seasons, Carlisle helped the Pacers reach the Eastern Conference finals.
His new task is to finish what he started.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re in a win-now mode, we&rsquo;re trying to win and so we identified some traits or characteristics we wanted in a coach," Pritchard said. &ldquo;Those characteristics were first of all multi-year experience, we really wanted to have someone who had a championship pedigree and that can be challenging to find all of them in one person. What happened in this year&rsquo;s search is Rick became available.&rdquo;
Pritchard's description is a stark contrast to search he conducted after firing Nate McMillan last August. Back then, the Pacers wanted a new-age thinker who valued relationships. Nate Bjorkgren got the job in October and was fired in early June after one tumultuous season.
Carlisle is the opposite &mdash; a proven winner who does his best work with veteran teams.
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So when Carlisle decided to leave Dallas&nbsp;earlier this month, Pritchard contacted his friend. Carlisle's interest changed everything.
Pritchard scuttled his plans to conduct a far-reaching search and instead focused on Carlisle, wrapping up the deal in less than a week.
Carlisle is expected to sign a contract Monday when he arrives after a short working vacation. He said he's spoken with each player and sounds like he's already making plans for next season.
Carlisle provided an impromptu scouting report Wednesday on almost every Pacers player and explained why he thinks this team, which finished 34-38 and missed the playoffs for the first time in six years, will get back into the postseason and contend for championships.
&ldquo;My goal with this group is to develop it to a point a where we take great joy in getting good shots on the offensive end and take great joy in playing good defense,&rdquo; he said before addressing the Domantas Sabonis-Myles Turner combination. &ldquo;I think there are ways we can work with their individual games and help them mesh with other guys on the floor. I&rsquo;ve talked to both of them about it, and they&rsquo;re open to it. Myles is such an elite rim protector and that&rsquo;s such an important part of the game if you&rsquo;re going to get better defensively. And Domas, as I mentioned earlier, can do so many things.&rdquo;
What's hindered Indiana most recently has been injuries. The Pacers lost T.J. Warren, their top scorer in 2019-20, after just four games and Turner won the NBA blocks title despite missing 24 of the Pacers' last 25 games.
Carlisle has a history of managing players' workload when they're dealing with physical issues.
&ldquo;If a guy has a significant injury history and you play him the first 12 minutes of the game, that&rsquo;s tough,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;As a guy becomes fatigued, he becomes more susceptible to injury. So one of the things we did with Dirk Nowitzki the year we won the championship is we started playing him three stretches per half. In that scenario, playing those six or seven-minute stretches, he never gets gassed and he helps the players around him.&rdquo;

New Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle is thrilled to be back in Indiana and he can't wait to get to work: “This is my kind of team."

Rick Carlisle brings optimistic vision back to Pacers bench

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; When Kevin Pritchard hired a new coach in October, he took a calculated risk. This time, the Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations went for the known commodity.
Pritchard hired longtime Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle on Thursday, reuniting the 61-year-old with the team that helped relaunch his head coaching career almost two decades ago.
&ldquo;Rick is a proven winner with a championship and will be a Hall of Fame coach,&rdquo; Pritchard said in a statement. &ldquo;He has demonstrated throughout his career an ability to build something with sustainable success. He has great respect for our franchise and our fans from his previous times here. We are very happy to welcome him back to Indiana.&rdquo;
Clearly, the Pacers believe Carlisle can bring stability to a veteran team that battled a severe rash of injuries last season. The result was a losing record and their first playoff absence in six years.
Carlisle will get a chance to make a quick fix with the same organization he led from 2003-07 and took to the Eastern Conference finals in his first season with the team.
This time, he becomes the third Pacers coach in less than 12 months.
Nate McMillan was fired in August following his fourth straight first-round playoff exit, just weeks after signing a contract extension. His replacement, Nate Bjorkgren, lasted one tumultuous season in his first NBA head coaching gig.
&ldquo;I wanted to take a risk,&rdquo; Pritchard said while announcing Bjorkgren's firing June 9. &ldquo;I wanted to take a chance and have something that had a lower floor but a higher ceiling. This year, maybe it&rsquo;s skewed down and we look at something a little bit different."
The Pacers know exactly what they&rsquo;re getting in Carlisle &mdash; a disciplined, details-oriented, old-school coach who spent three seasons as Larry Bird&rsquo;s assistant during the most successful era in franchise history. Those traits could help the Pacers defense, which allowed 115.3 points per game and was ranked 25th last season.
The bigger question might be whether Carlisle is the right fit.
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After an embarrassing season-ending loss to Washington in the play-in round, Pritchard acknowledged Pacers players described Bjorkgren as a micromanager in end-of-season interviews. The problems even spilled into public view during an in-game shouting match between backup center Goga Bitadze and assistant coach Greg Foster amid reports of locker-room drama.
Carlisle had similar issues in his 13th and final season in Dallas.
Two-time All-Star Luka Doncic occasionally showed his anger by making animated gestures toward the coach during games and there were reports of &ldquo;simmering tension&rdquo; between the two before Carlisle resigned last week. Team owner Mark Cuban said Carlisle made the decision to leave, one day after general manager Donnie Nelson also left.
With all five starters under contract, Pritchard believes the Pacers can contend quickly &mdash; with a healthy roster, a stronger defense and better coaching. He also wants to see more leadership from the players.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a decent team and we&rsquo;re trying to go to good, and those players will give us some feedback,&rdquo; Pritchard said two weeks ago. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to push players. You&rsquo;ve got to get them to be their best. That&rsquo;s what great coaches do. Individually, I really like the locker room. During exit meetings, I was probably as hard as I&rsquo;ve ever been on a group that someone has to be a vocal leader. Right now, I&rsquo;m not sure who that is.&rdquo;
Carlisle is 836-689 overall with the Pacers, Pistons and Mavs. He went 555-478 and led Dallas to its only NBA championship in 2010-11 with superstar Dirk Nowitzki, becoming the winningest coach in franchise history. But after making the title run, Carlisle didn&rsquo;t win another playoff series.
The Mavericks lost in the first round six times, including this year and last year to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first two postseason appearances for Doncic.
Cuban had said he expected Carlisle to return next season. But after the departure of Nelson, who once called Carlisle &ldquo;our Jerry Sloan,&rdquo; Carlisle opted for a fresh start and landed in a familiar place.
&ldquo;My sincere thanks to (Pacers owner) Herb Simon, Kevin Pritchard and the entire Pacers organization for the opportunity to come back to basketball&rsquo;s heartland,&rdquo; Carlisle said. &ldquo;My wife, Donna, daughter, Abby, and I are truly grateful.&rdquo;
Carlisle spent three seasons as Bird&rsquo;s assistant before taking the Detroit Pistons job in 2001. He was the 2001-02 NBA coach of the year. Two years later, Indiana hired Carlisle, who went 181-147 in four seasons.
He also played five seasons in the NBA, winning a championship in 1985-86 as Bird's teammate with the Boston Celtics. Following the end of his career in 1989, Carlisle spent the next decade bouncing around as an assistant before getting his big break in Detroit.

Kevin Pritchard: “Rick is a proven winner with a championship and will be a Hall-of-Fame coach. We are very happy to welcome him back.”

Rick Carlisle takes over Pacers for 2nd time after leaving Mavs

WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; After the work Russell Westbrook, Bradley Beal and the rest of the Washington Wizards did to reach the NBA's play-in round, all will be for naught with a loss to the visiting Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.
So what if Washington went 17-6 down the stretch to end up eighth in the Eastern Conference standings after being 17-32 in early April? So what if Westbrook averaged a triple-double, broke Oscar Robertson's record for most career games with that statistical achievement and led the league in assists? So what if Beal finished second in scoring at 31.3 ppg?
And so what if the Wizards went 3-0 against the Pacers? If Domantas Sabonis leads Indiana to victory in Thursday's win-or-go-home game, that's who will move on to face the East's No. 1 seed, Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers, in the playoffs.
&ldquo;We were a long way from even thinking about this seven weeks ago,&rdquo; Wizards coach Scott Brooks said Wednesday. &ldquo;But the grit and the toughness and determination and stick-togetherness that we&rsquo;ve shown and displayed over the last seven weeks put us in this position to play the Pacers on our home court to advance into the playoffs to face the Sixers.&rdquo;
Thursday's loser is done.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m confident. I&rsquo;m sure my teammates are, too,&rdquo; Beal said after Washington allowed 50 points to Jayson Tatum in a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ma-state-wire-washington-wizards-boston-celtics-nba-sports-90691f2f36f8d3bb9406550a52a2b64b">118-100 loss at Boston</a> in a play-in opener Tuesday. &ldquo;But we can&rsquo;t talk about it. We&rsquo;ve got to go out there and compete.&rdquo;
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The Pacers, meanwhile, ended up 10th in the East despite having the conference's best road mark (21-15). They extended their season by overwhelming the Charlotte Hornets 144-117.
With Westbrook and Beal making things go, Washington averaged 116.6 points to finish third in the league in scoring, trailing only Milwaukee and Brooklyn.
Like most opponents, Indiana was unable to quiet Washington's offense, giving up an average of 139.7 points in their three meetings.
Asked what the biggest challenge is that the Wizards pose, Pacers coach Nate Bjorkgren replied: &ldquo;The speed at which they play."
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very big game for us to play at the tempo we want to play at," said Bjorkgren, in his first season with Indiana, &ldquo;because Russell will get that rebound and they&rsquo;ll push it. So transition (defense) is No. 1.&rdquo;
The Wizards are a 3-point favorite, according to <a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/">FanDuel Sportsbook</a>.
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WHO'S HEALTHY AND WHO'S NOT
One key element in this matchup is health &mdash; for both teams.
Westbrook didn't seem himself for much of the Boston loss; he ended up with five assists, less than half of his 11.7 average, shot just 6 for 18, and went to the locker room early. &ldquo;A lot of nicks and bruises, but I'll be all right,&rdquo; he said.
Beal wore four compression sleeves on his strained left hamstring, which kept him out of three of Washington's last four regular-season games, and acknowledged afterward, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t be as explosive as I want to.&rdquo;
Bjorkgren said Wednesday he would prepare as if the Pacers would be without all four players who sat out against Charlotte: second-leading scorer <a href="https://apnews.com/article/indiana-pacers-charlotte-hornets-new-orleans-pelicans-canada-nba-d91d88f489bd15a29a35b8a589e94e45">Caris LeVert</a> (COVID-19 protocols), NBA blocks leader Myles Turner (right foot), T.J. Warren (left foot) and Jeremy Lamb (left knee).
Guard Malcolm Brogdon, who averages 21.2 points and 5.9 assists, missed Indiana's last 10 regular-season games because of an injured right hamstring but returned Tuesday. He knows the sorts of limitations Beal is dealing with.
&ldquo;There is a bit of hesitation when you're out there. There are things you're not going to do,&rdquo; Brogdon said after his 16-point, eight-assist game against the Hornets. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t going to go for any rebounds in the crowd. I'm not jumping as high as I can. Consciously and unconsciously, you're actually thinking of stuff to avoid.&rdquo;
MISFIRING LASER
Davis Bertans, aka the "Latvian Laser," is a career 40% shooter from 3-point range but went 0 for 7 against Boston.
That was part of a 3-for-21 evening from beyond the arc for Washington.
&ldquo;Every shooter (has) some cold nights,&rdquo; Bertans said. &ldquo;This was one of them.&rdquo;
DOMINANT DOMAS
Indiana's offense runs through 6-foot-11 point forward Sabonis, who delivered 14 points, 21 rebounds and nine assists before taking an early seat in Tuesday's blowout.
&ldquo;This is the best time of the year to be playing,&rdquo; said Sabonis, twice an All-Star in five NBA seasons and the son of former Portland Trail Blazers star Arvydas Sabonis.
The younger Sabonis is the first player since Kevin Garnett in 2002-03 to average more than 20 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in a season.
___
AP Sports Writers Jimmy Golen in Boston and Michael Marot in Indianapolis contributed.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

On Thursday night, the Wizards will host the Pacers in the Eastern Conference's final play-in game, with the winner taking on the 76ers.

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