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Pacers

Today, Rolling Loud &amp; The Crew League, announce&nbsp;the premiere of The &ldquo;We Got Next&rdquo; - 3 Point Contest. &nbsp;The Crew League&nbsp;&amp; Rolling Loud partner to present is a first-of-its-kind, unscripted basketball 3 point competition series held backstage on the grounds at&nbsp;Hollywood Park&nbsp;for Rolling Loud California 2024.
Kicking off on Monday, May 6th, the &ldquo;We Got Next&rdquo; 3 pt contest&nbsp;will feature artists from Rolling Loud California&rsquo;s lineup such as, Luh Tyler, Veeze, NLE Choppa, 310babii, 2Rare, Kaliii, That Mexican OT, Jeleel!, Rob49&nbsp;and so many more,&nbsp;along with surprise special guests like AdamW, Jabari Banks, Quincy, Adam22 and so many more, as they compete for bragging rights, a $50,000 cash prize, a custom diamond bracelet designed by Eric the Jeweler &amp; a custom one of one jacket by Jeff Hamilton. &nbsp;
In typical TCL fashion, humor will be at the center of the show. With more than fifty (50+) digestible episodes in the series hosted by comedy star, Ben Da Donnn, &nbsp;music superstar SuperDuperKyle, &amp; Treasure Wilson aka Stat Baby, this competition is sure to entertain all. &nbsp;
Talent List:
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/tcl-3pt_690w.png" alt="" />
Quotes:
&ldquo;We are excited to partner with Rolling Loud on such a disruptive concept! &nbsp;Most rappers think they can outshoot everyone from the 3pt line&hellip; &nbsp;Now we have a place for them to prove it&hellip; &nbsp;Excited for what's to come from our partnership&rdquo; &nbsp;- Elie Maroun (Commissioner &amp; Co-Founder of The Crew League)
<a href="https://next.frame.io/share/7842e3d2-68b6-4026-8006-6a605bceaa95/view/cc63fa52-0c07-4519-967b-58f435e66252">Check out the video here.</a>
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About Rolling Loud:
Founded by 7-time Billboard Hip-Hop Power Players Matt Zingler &amp; Tariq Cherif as a one-day Miami show, Rolling Loud has grown into a global festival phenomenon, putting on shows on both coasts and in multiple countries across four continents. Rolling Loud is the premier festival brand in hip-hop, known for its expert curation of wide-ranging lineups that reflect the state of the genre. In 2023, Rolling Loud expanded its empire even further, hosting a series of star-studded festivals in all corners of the globe, including debuts in Thailand and Germany, plus its flagship affair, Rolling Loud Miami, which offered its most diverse and wide-ranging lineup to date.
Throughout 2024, Rolling Loud commemorates "10 Years Of Rolling Loud," celebrating the festival's rise from humble origins to world dominance. Since the first Miami festival, Rolling Loud has evolved into a major force in hip-hop, providing a massive stage for rap's biggest names, giving early exposure to future superstars, including Travis Scott, Juice WRLD, and Ice Spice, and inspiring some of the most memorable moments in the genre's recent history. Now, Rolling Loud is hip-hop&rsquo;s biggest stage, with star-studded festivals on four continents and more milestones to come.
Stay tuned for announcements about Rolling&nbsp;Loud's 2024&nbsp;World Tour, including upcoming festivals in Los Angeles, Europe, and more.

The Crew League & Rolling Loud partner to present is a first-of-its-kind, unscripted basketball 3 point competition series held backstage on the grounds at Hollywood Park for Rolling Loud California 2024.

The Crew League 3PT Contest

One of the most underrated honors in all of basketball is the NBA&rsquo;s Most Improved Player award. 
The league is full of young, developing talents, so being selected as the player who made the biggest strides is an incredible accomplishment. This award can also be a testament to getting your career back on the right track, as was the case with last year's recipient Lauri Markkanen. Many people were ready to give up on Markkanen becoming a star-caliber player, but a change of scenery allowed him to emerge as an All-Star and post career-highs across the board with the Utah Jazz. 
The race for this year's Most Improved Player award will be very interesting, as the last few drafts featured a plethora of talent. Here are my top-five candidates for the Most Improved Player award entering the 2023-24 NBA season:
1. Mikal Bridges, Brooklyn Nets
Mikal Bridges' play became one of the most fascinating storylines during the second half of last season. Bridges was known as an elite second or third option, but he stepped up as the Brooklyn Nets' No. 1 scorer after they acquired him from the Phoenix Suns as part of the Kevin Durant blockbuster trade. Whenever a team is trading one of the best players of all-time, it's difficult to get equal value in return. However, this deal ended up being a win-win. As soon as Bridges was traded to Brooklyn, he made an immediate impact on both ends. The Nets were projected to fall in the standings and miss the playoffs. However, Bridges had something to say about that. 
In 27 games with Brooklyn, Bridges averaged 26.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.5 threes and a steal, while shooting 47.5% from the field, 37.6% from three and 89.4% from the free-throw line. These are elite numbers. On the season, Bridges played 83 games and averaged 20.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists. These are still great numbers, but it's clear that he took his game another level during the small sample size we saw of him in Brooklyn. If he can produce at that level over a full season and continue to thrive as the Nets' first option, he will, without a doubt, win the Most Improved Player award. <a href="https://www.vegasinsider.com/nba/odds/most-improved/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars and BetMGM</a> currently have Bridges as the favorite to win the award.
2. Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets
One of the most underrated candidates for this award is the young Turkish star Alperen Sengun. In just two seasons, Sengun has become one of the better offensive centers in the league. The Houston Rockets big man was very productive in 28.9 minutes per game, and he could take a massive leap this season. He finished last year averaging 14.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists, which is already very solid for a young center. However, his per-36 averages were 18.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.2 steals &ndash; fantastic numbers for a second-year player. 
With his minutes likely increasing and Sengun continuing to develop, he could be in for a huge season. The Rockets are looking to climb up the Western Conference standings after adding Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson and Dillon Brooks this summer, and Sengun could play a major role in their turnaround. Sengun has the fourth-best odds in the Most Improved Player race <a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nba?tab=player-awards" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on FanDuel</a>.
3. Austin Reaves, Los Angeles Lakers
Despite entering last season as a role player for the Los Angeles Lakers, Austin Reaves has become a household name among NBA fans. Prior to his game being on display with Team USA as they compete for the World Cup, Reaves put on a show in the postseason for the Lakers. During the regular season, Reaves averaged 13.0 points, 3.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 threes on 52.9/39.8/86.4 shooting splits. 
Then, in the playoffs, Reaves made a huge leap and averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 threes on 46.4/44.3/89.5 shooting splits. He displayed abilities that were far beyond those of a role player, and he will prove to be a very important piece for this Lakers team next season. Reaves&rsquo; success didn&rsquo;t go unnoticed, as the Lakers signed him to a four-year, $53 million contract this offseason. Reaves has the fourth-best Most Improved Player odds <a href="https://sportsbook.draftkings.com/leagues/basketball/42648?category=awards&amp;subcategory=most-improved-player" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on DraftKings</a>.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/arr.png" alt="" width="731" height="442" />
4. Shaedon Sharpe, Portland Trail Blazers
It&rsquo;s pretty rare to see a player win the Most Improved Player award in their second season. In fact, it has only happened seven times in NBA history, and the last sophomore to win the award was Monta Ellis back in 2007. That said, if any of this year's sophomores can do it, it&rsquo;s Portland Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe. With all of the drama surrounding Damian Lillard's trade request this summer, the Blazers aren&rsquo;t exactly in the best position heading into next season. But Sharpe might be able to thrive in this environment, especially if the Blazers' impending rebuild leads to significantly more playing time. 
Sharpe played just 22 minutes per game last season, and his per-36 numbers were impressive for a rookie: 16.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.1 threes and 1.9 assists. Sharpe should absolutely play 30 minutes per game next season, and he will have an opportunity to join the 20 points-per-game club. He could make a leap similar to what we saw from Tyrese Maxey in his second season. Sophomores have a tough time winning this award, especially if they were drafted very high, since drastic improvements are expected in their second season. Sharpe was the No. 7 overall pick in last year's draft, so he'll need to really turn heads in order to win this award.
5. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
While Cade Cunningham has the second-best odds to win the Most Improved Player award <a href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nba?tab=player-awards" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on FanDuel</a>, he is a very hard player to evaluate in this context. Cunningham has already played elite basketball in his young NBA career, but he appeared in just 12 games last season, leaving us with a very small sample size to analyze. The Detroit Pistons have certainly made improvements to their roster, but it remains to be seen whether they'll help Cunningham's stats (since he'll be surrounded by more weapons to distribute to) or hurt them (since they'll take away some of his touches). 
That said, he will likely be an elite scorer regardless of his supporting cast. Having him listed this low isn&rsquo;t a slight; he'll very likely emerge as a star next season. It&rsquo;s just hard to imagine him showing more improvement than other players on this list, partially because he's already looked so good at times. It's also worth noting that just one No. 1 overall pick has won the Most Improved Player award in NBA history: Pervis Ellison in 1992. Cunningham&rsquo;s biggest concern in terms of improvement this season should be games played. 
Honorable Mention: Josh Giddey, Scottie Barnes, Paolo Banchero, Tyrese Maxey, Jordan Poole

Hunter Simpson shares his top-five candidates for the Most Improved Player award entering the 2023-24 NBA season.

5 NBA players to watch in the 2023-24 Most Improved Player race

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Miami&rsquo;s Erik Spoelstra and Denver&rsquo;s Michael Malone are two of the four NBA coaches to have spent at least eight years with their current team.
They know how rare that is &mdash; especially as the league&rsquo;s coaching changes mount.
Championship-winning or title-contending coaches aren&rsquo;t safe in the NBA these days. In recent days, 2019 NBA champion Nick Nurse, 2021 champion Mike Budenholzer, 2021 Western Conference champion and 2022 Coach of the Year Monty Williams and most recently 2008 NBA champion Doc Rivers were all fired.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/raptors-nick-nurse-fired-c2b7dc404915ee3ae12fe1a52e589830">Nurse was fired by Toronto</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-budenholzer-fired-e9ab56f83d317afd621adb7d7c244006">Budenholzer by Milwaukee</a>,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/suns-monty-williams-fired-53f33c2c3c8d69af7449cbfbf931bc0a">Williams by Phoenix</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/76ers-nba-doc-rivers-fired-09368e77a8f741576222c975c3affe55">Rivers by Philadelphia.</a>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disturbing,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;Doc&rsquo;s a Hall of Famer. ... There&rsquo;s only so many teams that can advance. It&rsquo;s just a really hard thing to do. Yeah, it&rsquo;s been a tough couple weeks, hearing the news of just some really surprising firings.&rdquo;
It doesn&rsquo;t make sense to Spoelstra, or likely to many other coaches. Spoelstra has the NBA&rsquo;s second-longest current tenure with one team. San Antonio&rsquo;s Gregg Popovich has coached the Spurs since 1996, Spoelstra took over the Heat in 2008, Steve Kerr became coach in Golden State in 2014 and Malone became coach in Denver in 2015.
&ldquo;I understand this business,&rdquo; said Malone, who&rsquo;ll lead Denver into the Western Conference finals starting Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers. &ldquo;You look around the coaching landscape, if you want a secure profession, coaching is not the one to get into. I should have been a TV reporter.&rdquo;
Of the last nine coaches to take a team to the NBA Finals, only two &mdash; Kerr and Spoelstra &mdash; are still with the franchise that they went to the title round with.
Three of the last four championship-winning coaches &mdash; Budenholzer in 2021, the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; Frank Vogel in 2020 and Nurse in 2019 &ndash; have since been fired by those clubs. Also no longer with their teams for various reasons after recent runs to the finals: Ime Udoka in Boston, Cleveland&rsquo;s David Blatt and then Tyronn Lue as well, and now Williams by the Suns.
&ldquo;This is the nature of this league and I think sometimes it&rsquo;s the chemistry,&rdquo; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN in a televised interview before the draft lottery on Tuesday night. &rdquo;They don&rsquo;t go from being great coaches to bad coaches from one year to the next. It has to do with the chemistry of the team, the style, maybe somebody believes the players need to hear a new voice. But I&rsquo;m incredibly sympathetic. It&rsquo;s a rough side of this business and I think they understand it. They choose this profession. They&rsquo;re my friends and I hate to see it.&rdquo;
Budenholzer&rsquo;s dismissal left Kerr upset, as he revealed earlier this month &mdash; but noted that all coaches understand how vulnerable they are.
&ldquo;My first response is not necessarily shock, it&rsquo;s more disappointment because Bud is a fantastic coach,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;He just won a championship and has been wildly successful in his coaching career. But this is the business we&rsquo;re in. &hellip; Expectations every year for every team are so high, and only one team can win. It&rsquo;s sad news for the coaching profession.&rdquo;
At least six teams will have new coaches next season &mdash; Phoenix, Milwaukee, Toronto, Detroit and now Philadelphia are looking, and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/rockets-udoka-celtics-b65d91fdfa3174b0c9fa36634cd20e42">Houston has hired Udoka</a>&nbsp;as the replacement for Stephen Silas. There were two in-season moves as well: Brooklyn&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-new-york-e72b511a6d8cdb4e4875dbc1b157557e">Jacque Vaughn was hired by the Nets</a>&nbsp;in November, and Atlanta&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-jazz-atlanta-hawks-nba-sports-playoffs-bce807f9f9f26951421f9ea2c2e5d52f">Quin Snyder was hired by the Hawks</a>&nbsp;in February. And two coaches in the conference finals are in Year 1 of their careers: the Lakers&rsquo; Darvin Ham, and the Celtics&rsquo; Joe Mazzulla, who had to take over unexpectedly in Boston last fall following&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/boston-celtics-nba-sports-basketball-ime-udoka-0f04a614b82c497346a423d9da036521">Udoka&rsquo;s suspension</a>&nbsp;for an inappropriate relationship with a Celtics employee.
Mazzulla will meet Spoelstra and Miami in the Eastern Conference finals starting Wednesday. Spoelstra has faced Boston three times for the East title in four years, going up against three different coaches &mdash; Brad Stevens in the NBA bubble restart in 2020, Udoka last year and now Mazzulla &mdash; and says while the coaches change, organizational stability exists and is crucial.
&ldquo;Joe was in the bubble. ... He&rsquo;s been part of some really good teams,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;That does have an impact. Probably more than anything in this league right now, you&rsquo;re looking for some kind of organizational stability between the front office and coaching staff.&rdquo;
There aren&rsquo;t many examples of that in the league right now. At minimum, 13 of the NBA&rsquo;s 30 teams will open next season with a coach who has been in place for no more than one season.
Rivers said Sunday that he expected to stay with the 76ers. &ldquo;No one&rsquo;s safe in our business. I get that,&rdquo; Rivers said.
Further proof of that came two days later, when he was dismissed.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just the business of basketball,&rdquo; Miami guard Kyle Lowry said. &ldquo;And one thing about our business is sometimes it gets a little cut-throat.&rdquo;
Spoelstra has long said part of Miami&rsquo;s strength is consistency. Managing general partner Micky Arison, CEO Nick Arison, team president Pat Riley, general manager Andy Elisburg and others have been with the Heat for decades &mdash; and from the very beginning, in Elisburg&rsquo;s case, since he&rsquo;s been with the franchise for all 35 of its seasons.
Spoelstra has been with the organization for more than half his life as well; he was 24 when he started in the video room, and now he&rsquo;s 52.
&ldquo;It takes so much time and energy to restart something,&rdquo; Spoelstra said. &ldquo;And I think that&rsquo;s part of the reason why we&rsquo;ve been able to reboot so many times, over and over and over. We&rsquo;re not reinventing a new culture and then trying to teach everybody and then all of a sudden, two years later, it&rsquo;s going to be somebody else doing the exact same thing. But particularly to have proven veteran guys (fired), it&rsquo;s just been stunning. It really has been disturbing.&rdquo;

Erik Spoelstra, Mike Malone and Adam Silver discussed the firings of Monty Williams, Doc Rivers, Mike Budenholzer and Nick Nurse.

As NBA coaching changes mount, some lament the lack of job security

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; LeBron James&rsquo; oldest son, Bronny, says he will play basketball at the University of Southern California in the fall.
Bronny James abruptly announced his much-anticipated decision on social media Saturday, about two hours before his father&rsquo;s Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series.
The 18-year-old James was a McDonald&rsquo;s All-American just like his father, but he was among the few uncommitted elite high school basketball prospects heading toward the summer. The namesake son of the top scorer in NBA history played at Sierra Canyon School, which is known for educating scions of the sports and entertainment industries in Chatsworth, an outer suburban neighborhood of Los Angeles.
James announced his decision by writing the Trojans&rsquo; school slogan, &ldquo;Fight On,&rdquo; below a photo of himself wearing his high school uniform in the Trojans&rsquo; locker room at the Galen Center.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BRONNY JAMES HAS COMMITTED TO USC 🚨 <a href="https://twitter.com/0BronnyJames?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@0BronnyJames</a> <a href="https://t.co/JVTdFzycn6">pic.twitter.com/JVTdFzycn6</a>
&mdash; Overtime (@overtime) <a href="https://twitter.com/overtime/status/1654971687274774533?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2023</a></blockquote>

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

James and his Sierra Canyon team played at the arena last January, beating a team from Georgia&rsquo;s Wheeler High School led by elite recruit Isaiah Collier &mdash; who is now James&rsquo; teammate at USC.
After choosing to stay close to home for college, the 6-foot-3 guard will join an already loaded Trojans roster coming off the school&rsquo;s third straight NCAA Tournament appearance under coach Andy Enfield.
Several key contributors to last season&rsquo;s team are returning, headlined by star guard Boogie Ellis. USC also will have guard Collier, one of the top recruits in the current high school class.
Many recruiting observers wondered whether USC&rsquo;s strong roster at guard would dissuade Bronny James from staying in Los Angeles for college, perhaps steering him toward Oregon or to an alternative to college. Instead, the son of the four-time NBA champion and league MVP didn&rsquo;t back down from the challenge of contributing to USC&rsquo;s current surge to national prominence.
The younger James&rsquo; full name is LeBron James Jr., but he&rsquo;s much better known by his family nickname. His younger brother, 15-year-old Bryce, is also an elite collegiate prospect at Sierra Canyon.
LeBron James has been an active, supportive parent for his sons&rsquo; basketball dreams. He also has frequently mentioned his desire to play in the NBA alongside Bronny, even though the logistics of such a dream would be daunting.
Last month, James spent the Saturday between the Lakers&rsquo; 81st and 82nd games of the regular season flying back and forth to Portland. James made the one-day trip with his mother, his wife and kids Bryce and Zhuri to watch Bronny play in the Nike Hoop Summit for Team USA.
The final game of Bronny&rsquo;s high school career was important enough to drive James through the weariness of an NBA season and onto a plane for the lengthy trek back and forth
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t going to miss it,&rdquo; James said. &ldquo;I understand how important fatherhood is, just coming from a no-father household. ... We always try to support each other in all our endeavors. I&rsquo;m only as good as my family.&rdquo;

LeBron James’ oldest son, Bronny, says he will play basketball at the University of Southern California in the fall.

LeBron’s son Bronny James commits to play basketball at USC

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

Spencer Davies speaks with Taqwa Pinero about his life journey and how he's preparing both the future and current hoop generations.

Taqwa Pinero's knowledge is its own currency, and he's paying it forward

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Madison Scott hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left that gave Mississippi the lead for good, Angel Baker scored 13 points, and the Rebels delivered on their declaration to get defensive, stunning top-seeded Stanford 54-49 on Sunday night to reach the NCAA Tournament&rsquo;s Sweet 16 for the first time in 16 years.
Behind the entire game, Stanford called timeout with 28 seconds left then Hannah Jump turned the ball over and Scott converted. Haley Jones lost the ball out of bounds on the Cardinal&rsquo;s last possession with a chance to tie then again in the waning moments.
Marquesha Davis hit a pair of free throws with 15.4 seconds to play as Ole Miss overcame not making a field goal over the final 5:47, going 0 for 8.
These upstart Rebels (25-8) advance to the Seattle Regional semifinal next weekend, while Tara VanDerveer&rsquo;s Stanford team (29-6) is eliminated far earlier than this group envisioned &mdash; the season ending on the Cardinal&rsquo;s home floor.
GREENVILLE 1 REGION
No. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 76, No. 8 SOUTH FLORIDA 45
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Zia Cooke scored 21 points and Aliyah Boston had her 81st career double double as South Carolina shook off a slow start to power past South Florida.
The Gamecocks improved to 34-0 with their 40th straight win overall and moved four victories away from a second straight national title. They&rsquo;ll head to Greenville, where they won the Southeastern Conference Tournament two weeks ago, to play for a spot in the Final Four.
Boston, the program career record holder for double doubles, finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, coming out of her final game at home to a huge ovation.
South Florida (27-7) entered looking for a program-record 28th win this season and its first berth in the Sweet 16, but after a feisty start, couldn&rsquo;t hang with the Gamecocks.
No. 2 MARYLAND 77, No. 7 ARIZONA 64
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) &mdash; Diamond Miller scored 13 of her 24 points in the third quarter to help Maryland to a victory over Arizona.
The Terrapins (27-6) advance to the Sweet 16 for a third straight year and the 11th time under coach Brenda Frese. Maryland trailed by a point after two quarters but ran past the Wildcats (22-10) in the second half.
Shyanne Sellers scored 15 points and Faith Masonius gave the Terps a lift with 12.
Frese was coaching against her alma mater. She played at Arizona and graduated in 1993.
Cate Reese led Arizona with 19 points.
No. 3 NOTRE DAME 53, No. 11 MISSISSIPPI STATE 48
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Lauren Ebo had 10 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks to help Notre Dame beat Mississippi State.
Maddy Westbeld added nine points and 15 rebounds for the Irish, who blew an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter before making the plays down the stretch for the win.
Mississippi State scored eight straight points to open the fourth quarter and tie the game at 41. Ebo scored the first Irish basket of the final period on an offensive putback with 4:38 remaining.
The Irish regained the lead for good on a pair of KK Bransford free throws with 3:49 left in the game, which gave Notre Dame a 45-43 advantage. The Irish held onto the lead the rest of the way.
GREENVILLE 2 REGION
No. 2 UTAH 63, No. 10 PRINCETON 56
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Alissa Pili had 28 points and 10 rebounds to lead Utah to a win over Princeton.
Jenna Johnson added 15 points for the Utes, who made only one 3-pointer but still advanced to their first Sweet 16 since 2006.
Kaitlyn Chen scored 19 points, Grace Stone had 16 and Ellie Mitchell finished with 18 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end, for Princeton (24-6).
Down the stretch, the game turned into an old-fashioned rockfight. The teams combined to miss 15 consecutive field goal attempts at one point, but Utah (27-4) got to the free throw line to advance and face No. 3 seed LSU.
No. 3 LSU 66, No. 6 MICHIGAN 42
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) &mdash; Angel Reese dismantled Michigan on both ends of the court with 25 points, 24 rebounds, six blocks and three steals to help LSU beat the Wolverines.
Reese, a 6-foot-3 All-America forward, did most of her damage with gauze wedged under her upper lip after a shot to her mouth drew blood in the opening minutes of the game.
Alexis Morris scored 11 and LaDazhia Williams had 10 points and 10 rebounds for LSU (30-2), which never trailed and held Michigan (23-10) to its lowest point total of the season.
SEATTLE 3 REGION
No. 1 VIRGINIA TECH 72, No. 9 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 60
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Georgia Amoore scored 21 points and Virginia Tech held off South Dakota State.
Elizabeth Kitley added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Hokies (29-4), who won their 13th consecutive game, to advance to the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history. They will play the winner of Monday&rsquo;s matchup between No. 12 seed Toledo and No. 4 seed Tennessee.
Virginia Tech also set a school record with its 29th win, breaking the mark of 28 set by the 1998-99 squad &mdash; the only other team in school history to advance to the Sweet 16.
Myah Selland led South Dakota State (29-6) with 17 points and nine rebounds.
SEATTLE 4 REGION
No. 2 IOWA 74, No. 10 GEORGIA 66
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark had 22 points and 12 assists while Monika Czinano added 20 points to help Iowa beat Georgia.
The Hawkeyes (28-6) advance to the ninth Sweet Sixteen in program history.
Gabbie Marshall added 15 points and McKenna Warnock had 14 for Iowa, which erased the memory of last season&rsquo;s second-round home loss to No. 10 seed Creighton.
Clark, a first-team Associated Press All-American, was held scoreless for 13 minutes in the first half, but scored 14 second-half points as the Hawkeyes finally shook off the 10th-seeded Lady Bulldogs (22-12). She made just 6 of 17 shots, but either scored or assisted on nearly every point by the Hawkeyes in the second half.
Georgia, a No. 10 seed, got within 68-66 on a 3-pointer from Audrey Warren with 2:17 left in the game, but the Lady Bulldogs would not score again, committing three straight turnovers and missing a layup.
Diamond Battles led Georgia with 21 points. Brittney Smith and Javyn Nicholson each had 12 points.

A recap of Sunday's slate of women's March Madness includes the Rebels upsetting the top-seeded Cardinal.

Ole Miss stuns Stanford, reaches first Sweet 16 in 16 years

Now in his eighth season with the Indiana Pacers, Myles Turner is easily the team&rsquo;s longest-tenured player. In fact, no other Pacer on the current roster has been in town longer than four seasons.
Turner arrived in Indiana as a wide-eyed teenager who was selected with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. In the years that followed, Turner would watch as the team continually changed around him. He has played for four different head coaches &mdash; Frank Vogel, Nate McMillan, Nate Bjorkgren and Rick Carlisle &mdash; and witnessed a ton of roster turnover. But despite Turner&rsquo;s name surfacing in trade rumors annually, he has been the one constant in Indiana.
As a rookie, Turner suited up alongside stars like Paul George and Monta Ellis. During his sophomore campaign, he called Al Jefferson, Thaddeus Young, Jeff Teague and Lance Stephenson teammates. The following year, Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis, Bojan Bogdanovic and Darren Collison joined the squad. Turner has also played with veterans such as Tyreke Evans, Ty Lawson, Rodney Stuckey, Caris LeVert, Doug McDermott, T.J. Warren and C.J. Miles over the years.
However, one could argue that no teammate has had a greater impact on Turner&rsquo;s game than his current star running mate: Tyrese Haliburton.
When the Pacers <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-interview-tyrese-haliburton-indiana-pacers-chad-buchanan-bennedict-mathurin-myles-turner-sacramento-kings-domantas-sabonis-trade-drew-hanlen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquired Haliburton from the Sacramento Kings</a> prior to last year&rsquo;s trade deadline, Turner was ecstatic. He was a fan of Haliburton&rsquo;s game and potential, and couldn&rsquo;t wait to team up with the pass-first point guard. Unfortunately, Turner wasn&rsquo;t able to play alongside Haliburton in the second half of last season due to a stress reaction in his foot.
This year, the Pacers&rsquo; one-two punch of Haliburton and Turner has been on full display, and they have become one of the most productive pick-and-roll duos in the NBA.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
pretty.😍 Tyrese Haliburton to Myles Turner for two. <a href="https://t.co/TupiSM909t">pic.twitter.com/TupiSM909t</a>
&mdash; Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pacers/status/1629656051175026688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Turner has set 814 picks for Haliburton, which is the third-most of any pick-and-roll duo in the league, per Second Spectrum. The only tandems who have run the pick-and-roll more are Philadelphia&rsquo;s James Harden and Joel Embiid (893 picks) and Phoenix&rsquo;s Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton (897). Possessions featuring a Haliburton-Turner pick-and-roll have generated 1.063 points per possession &mdash; the fifth-best PPP of the 24 duos with at least 500 picks.
&ldquo;This has been a wonderful opportunity for Myles to play with a playmaking guard of Tyrese&rsquo;s caliber,&rdquo; Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle told Basketball News. &ldquo;A couple weeks ago, we checked and they were top-five or top-six in the league as a successful pick-and-roll connection, and that&rsquo;s pretty amazing. Myles is getting all different kinds of stuff &mdash; he&rsquo;s getting rolls for dunks, he's getting a little bit of mid-range, he's getting good looks for threes and he's getting some late passes underneath for dunks as well.
"I just love the force that he&rsquo;s playing with. Tyrese has had a wonderful impact on Myles and certainly the rest of the team, but the connection those two guys have has been special.&rdquo;
The partnership has been mutually beneficial. Turner gets easy looks from an elite floor general who ranks second among all players in assists per game (10.2) and assist percentage (46.9%), while Haliburton gets a unique big-man partner who can score inside (62.8% on twos) and out (40.3% on threes). It&rsquo;s no coincidence that both players are having career years.&nbsp;
Turner is averaging career-highs in points (18.2), rebounds (8.0), field-goal percentage (54.9%), three-point percentage (40.3%) and made threes (1.7), while also contributing 2.3 blocks, 1.4 deflections and 0.6 steals per game. Turner's dominance shows up in his analytics too, as he's posting personal bests in win shares per 48 minutes (.157), Box Plus/Minus (+2.6), True Shooting percentage (65.8%), Player Efficiency Rating (20.6) and total rebound rate (14.7%).
&ldquo;Myles has blossomed this year. We've seen the relationship with him and Ty; they're one of the best pick-and-roll [duos] in the league right now,&rdquo; Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said recently. &ldquo;This is the beginning of a nice core &mdash; no, a great core.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Meanwhile, Haliburton <a href="bit.ly/3AyPKHC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">became a first-time All-Star</a> after averaging career-highs in points (20.1), assists (10.1) and threes (2.8), while also contributing 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals per contest. Haliburton is also posting personal bests in advanced stats like assist percentage (46.9%), PER (23.0), VORP (3.8), BPM (+6.9) and WS/48 (.189).
&ldquo;It was unfortunate that I didn&rsquo;t get a chance to play with him last year and really start to develop that synergy, but I think we&rsquo;ve really picked it up quickly,&rdquo; Turner told Basketball News. &ldquo;Ty is someone who&rsquo;s easy to play with. Obviously, he sees the floor well. And as the season has progressed, we&rsquo;ve done a better job of communicating with each other. It&rsquo;s been a fun experience.&rdquo;
Despite the fact that they&rsquo;ve only played 44 games together, they have developed a strong connection and can often anticipate each other&rsquo;s next move.
&ldquo;I think I know what he&rsquo;s going to do before he does it in a sense,&rdquo; Turner said. &ldquo;I think that just comes with playing with him.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
this sequence.🔥 a huge block by Myles Turner followed by a huge dunk by Tyrese Haliburton.👀 <a href="https://t.co/4MpAf4Kp0B">pic.twitter.com/4MpAf4Kp0B</a>
&mdash; Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Pacers/status/1630770909442191360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 1, 2023</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;We just needed time together, that&rsquo;s all,&rdquo; Haliburton told Basketball News. &ldquo;I feel like I&rsquo;ve had pretty good chemistry with my bigs throughout my NBA career, and I knew that playing with Myles wasn&rsquo;t going to be any different. He brings a different dynamic than what I&rsquo;m used to, with his ability to space the floor. And he&rsquo;s the best shot-blocker that I&rsquo;ve ever played with, so that gives me confidence on the defensive end to be able to take more risks and get into the ball a little bit more.
"I think it&rsquo;s a mutual relationship where he&rsquo;s got my back and I&rsquo;ve got his.&rdquo;
Not too long ago, Turner&rsquo;s days in Indiana seemed numbered. After all, the team traded away nearly all of its veterans last season (including Sabonis, LeVert, Torrey Craig, Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb), and Turner&rsquo;s name continued to pop up in trade rumors. However, since Turner is only 26 years old, the Pacers&rsquo; brass felt that he could be on a similar timeline as Haliburton, who is 23.
It certainly seems that the Pacers are building around this duo, especially after Turner was given a two-year, $60 million extension in January.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad that we got it done. I think it was a win-win for both sides,&rdquo; Turner said. &ldquo;I think I have a good relationship with (Pacers owner) Herb Simon, and I think he has a big belief in what I&rsquo;m capable of as well. I&rsquo;m glad that we were able to come to terms on an agreement. Behind the scenes, for me personally, I was open to the idea of free agency, but I also wanted to at least give Indy a fair chance, and both sides came to an agreement.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m comfortable. I&rsquo;m where I want to be. I&rsquo;m growing with a young team that&rsquo;s hungry. I think we&rsquo;re just trying to get better and better every day, and that&rsquo;s the main goal of this whole thing. I have a lot of belief in this city, a lot of belief in this program and a lot of belief in the guys in this locker room, so that was a big initial factor in me wanting to stay here.&rdquo;
Since Turner was a popular trade candidate, many fans of other teams got excited about the possibility of him joining their favorite squad. When Turner inked his extension with the Pacers, some of these fans reacted negatively &mdash; upset that he was no longer on the market.&nbsp;
&ldquo;What fans don&rsquo;t realize is that this is a business, and both sides have to do what&rsquo;s best for them,&rdquo; Turner said. &ldquo;Sometimes it doesn&rsquo;t work out where you&rsquo;re able to stay with the same team, but I&rsquo;ve been blessed and fortunate enough to be with the same team for my entire career. That&rsquo;s not something that happens a lot, and I never take that for granted. That was obviously something that went into my decision as well. For the casual fan, they have to realize that while basketball may be a fun game, the business aspect of it will always reign supreme.&rdquo;
As Turner mentioned, not many players stay with one NBA team for the entirety of their career. He admits that retiring in Indiana would mean a lot to him.
&ldquo;Yeah, obviously, it&rsquo;s something that would be very special,&rdquo; Turner said. &ldquo;Like I always talk about, the business of basketball always reigns supreme, but my loyalty is with the organization that drafted me and the city that took me in, and hopefully it&rsquo;s able to stay that way for years to come.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Turner has been a part of many different iterations of Pacers basketball. Now, looking at the current pieces around him, he&rsquo;s excited about the team&rsquo;s promising future.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen the growth in a lot of our young guys throughout the entire year,&rdquo; Turner said. &ldquo;The best thing for them was getting a chance to play early. For <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-feature-interview-indiana-pacers-rookie-andrew-nembhard-rick-carlisle-tj-mcconnell-gonzaga-florida" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Drew [Nembhard]</a>, Ben [Mathurin] and those guys, playing heavy minutes early was big for their development, and not every rookie has a chance to do that. The fact that they&rsquo;re getting battle-tested so early is going to bode well for them.
"I&rsquo;ve just enjoyed the overall spirit and fight of this team. We&rsquo;ve got a lot of guys who clock in and work hard day in and day out, and they&rsquo;re coming in here and getting a chance to compete after working their whole life to get here.&rdquo;
While playing alongside Haliburton has certainly helped Turner, the big man does deserve a lot of credit for the leap he has taken this season. He&rsquo;s put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes to maximize his potential and make the most of his opportunity.
&ldquo;I attribute [my career year] to patience and obviously the hard work I put in over the offseason to prepare for these moments,&rdquo; Turner explained. &ldquo;I also attribute it to just the years that I&rsquo;ve been in the league, where I&rsquo;ve been able to play out on the perimeter at the 4 position and now I&rsquo;m able to play my natural position (the 5).
"I&rsquo;m thankful that I was able to just stick it out those years that I was here and see what the other side of basketball was like, outside of just getting what you want when you want it. I think I waited my turn and, obviously, I&rsquo;m thriving now, and I&rsquo;m only hoping to get better from here.&rdquo;
Nekias Duncan contributed to this article.

Alex Kennedy catches up with Pacers big man Myles Turner to discuss his extension, playing with Tyrese Haliburton and more.

Pacers' perfect pairing: Turner, Haliburton form dominant 1-2 punch

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Zia Cooke scored five of her 24 points in overtime to help No. 1 South Carolina remain unbeaten with a 64-57 victory over Mississippi on Sunday.
The defending national champion Gamecocks (27-0, 14-0 Southeastern Conference) got one of their biggest scares of the season before winning their 33rd straight game. The Rebels (20-7, 9-5) never trailed by more than six points in regulation and flirted with their first win over a No. 1 team in 46 years.
Cooke had six rebounds and four assists to help off-set a 7-of-18 shooting performance. Aliyah Boston added 13 points and 11 rebounds on 4-of-14 shooting and didn&rsquo;t score in the first quarter.
The deep Gamecocks didn&rsquo;t get their usual supply of scoring help for the two stars, though Kamilla Cardoso had eight points and 11 boards.
Angel Baker led Ole Miss with 17 points.
No. 2 INDIANA 83, PURDUE 60
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Mackenzie Holmes scored 20 points, Grace Berger added 14 points and 10 assists and Indiana beat Purdue to clinch a share of its first Big Ten regular-season title in 40 years.
The Hoosiers (26-1, 16-1 Big Ten) won their 14th straight, matching the second-longest winning streak in school history, before cutting down the nets in front of the program&rsquo;s first home sellout. Indiana has broken the single-game attendance mark four times this season, this time celebrating its 18th straight home win in front of 17,222.
Lasha Petree led Purdue with 23 points and Abbey Elliss added 12. The Boilermakers (17-8, 8-7). have lost nine straight in this rivalry.
No. 4 UTAH 74, ARIZONA STATE 69
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Gianna Kneepkens scored 22 points and Jenna Johnson added 15 to push Utah to a Pac-12 victory over stubborn Arizona State.
The Utes (23-3, 13-3), who had a seven-game winning streak stopped at No. 18 Arizona on Friday, struggled to put away Arizona State without post player Alissa Pili.
Pili, the Pac-12&rsquo;s leading scorer at 20.7 points per game, did not play after suffering an apparent right ankle sprain the final minutes of the loss at Arizona. Her ankle was re-taped on the bench after the first quarter but she never entered the game.
Sydney Erikstrup had 15 points, Treasure Hunt had 13 and Kayla Mokwuah had 11 for the Sun Devils (7-18, 0-16), who lost their 16th straight game despite leading most of the way.
No. 5 LSU 90, FLORIDA 79
GAINSVILLE, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Angel Reese had her ninth first-half double-double, Jasmine Carson had a career-high five 3-pointers before the break, and LSU raced past Florida.
Reese finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds for her 25th double-double of the season, two shy of Sylvia Fowles&rsquo; LSU single-season record. She also had five assists, three blocks and two steals.
Carson also scored 25 points, a career-high, as the graduate transfer from West Virginia went 7 of 14 behind the arc, helping the Tigers (25-1, 13-1 Southeastern Conference) to a season-best 11 3s on 20 attempts. The last time LSU had a player hit seven 3-pointers was in 1997.
KK Deans, a West Virginia transfer, matched her career high with 30 points, for the Gators (14-13, 3-11), who have lost five straight.
No. 9 DUKE 56, VIRGINIA 52
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Elizabeth Balogun scored 12 points, Taya Corosdale had 10 and Duke survived a stern test from Virginia.
The Blue Devils (22-4, 13-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) led only 47-45 with just over eight minutes left, but Celeste Taylor hit a 3-pointer from right in front of the Duke bench to make it a five-point game, starting a 7-2 run that gave them some breathing room and they held on.
Taylor Valladay led Virginia (15-12, 4-12) with 19 points and McKenna Dale had 10. The Cavaliers had split their last six meetings with the Blue Devils after ending a 26-game losing streak in the series, but still lost for the 30th time in the last 33 meetings.
No. 10 NOTRE DAME 83, PITTSBURGH 43
PITTSBURGH (AP) &mdash; Maddy Westbeld and Sonia Citron scored 13 points each and Notre Dame used a huge first-quarter push to race by Pittsburgh.
The Fighting Irish (22-4, 13-3 ACC) went on an 18-3 burst over the final 6:47 of the opening frame to build a 16-point lead that the Panthers (10-17, 3-13) never really threatened.
Ten days after avoiding an upset at home against Pitt and three days after Olivia Miles hit a game-winning jumper at the buzzer to top Louisville, the Fighting Irish made sure no such heroics were necessary this time around.
No. 11 VIRGINIA TECH 75, N.C. STATE 62
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Roommates Elizabeth Kitley and Georgia Amoore both had double-doubles and Virginia Tech won its fifth straight, defeating North Carolina State.
Kitley had 24 points and 10 rebounds for her 50th career double-double and had six blocks. Amoore had 15 points and 11 assists, which tied her career high.
Virginia Tech (22-4, 12-4 ACC) has won six straight, the previous three against ranked teams, starting with a 73-61 win over the Wolfpack. That marked the Hokies&rsquo; first-ever win in Raleigh and now they have their first-ever sweep of NC State.
Aziaha James scored 20 points in her first start for the Wolfpack (18-9, 8-8), who are out of the poll for the first time in 96 weeks dating to February of 2018.
No. 15 OKLAHOMA 86, KANSAS 80
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Madi Williams scored 23 points, Liz Scott had a double-double, and Oklahoma held off Kansas.
A free throw by Zakiyah Franklin drew Kansas within 82-80 with 3:12 remaining. Neither team would score another field goal as Kansas missed its last nine shots and Oklahoma&rsquo;s last field goal came with 5:12 remaining.
Williams made two free throws with 37 seconds left and Ana Llanusa added two more with nine seconds left to wrap up Oklahoma&rsquo;s sixth consecutive victory.
Scott had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Sooners (22-4, 12-3 Big 12).
The Jayhawks got 73 of their 80 points from the trio of Franklin, Holly Kersgieter and Taiyanna Jackson. Franklin led with a career-high 30 points, Kersgieter added 24 and Jackson 19 for Kansas (16-9, 6-8). Jackson added 13 rebounds.
No. 17 TEXAS 74, WEST VIRGINIA 48
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Shaylee Gonzales had 18 points, Rori Harmon scored 16 and Khadija Faye added a double-double to power Texas to a romp over West Virginia.
Gonzales made half of her six 3-pointers and all seven of her free throws for the Longhorns (21-7, 12-3 Big 12 Conference). Harmon sank 10 of 12 fouls shots and added six rebounds and six assists. Faye finished with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 11 rebounds.
Ja&rsquo;Haiya Quinerly had 16 points before fouling out to pace the Mountaineers (16-9, 7-7). Madisen Smith hit three 3-pointers and scored 12. Jayla Hemingway pitched in with nine points and seven rebounds.
No. 18 ARIZONA 61, No. 21 COLORADO 42
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Shaina Pellington scored 19 points with five assists and Arizona smothered Colorado, ending the Buffaloes&rsquo; five-game winning streak.
The Wildcats (21-6, 11-5 Pac 12 Conference) held the Buffaloes to their lowest total of the season and their worst shooting game, 28.3% overall (15 of 53), 1 of 12 from 3-point range (8.3%).
Esmery Martinez had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and seven rebounds for the Wildcats, who were coming off a 10-point win over No. 4 Utah and have won five of six.
Tameiya Sadler led the Buffaloes with 12 points and Quay Miller added 10 with 10 rebounds.
No. 19 NORTH CAROLINA 71, WAKE FOREST 58
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Deja Kelly had 24 points, five rebounds and six assists to lead North Carolina to a victory over Wake Forest.
Destiny Adams added 11 points off the bench and Kennedy Todd-Williams scored 10 for the Tar Heels (19-8, 10-6 ACC).
North Carolina went up by 20 midway through the fourth quarter and cruised from there, making just two field goals and three free throws over the final 6 1/2 minutes.
Wake Forest (14-13, 5-11) shot 3 for 14 in the third quarter and was outscored 16-6. The shooting slump came after the Demon Deacons shot 50% in the first half and trailed just 40-36 at halftime.
No. 24 FLORIDA STATE 80, GEORGIA TECH 66
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Ta&rsquo;Niya Latson scored 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 9-of-10 free throws, leading Florida State to a victory over Georgia Tech.
Latson scored 24 points through three quarters and the Seminoles took a 63-57 lead into the fourth. Latson, a freshman averaging 21.8 points per game, had gone nine games without reaching 20 points.
Georgia Tech got within four points early in the fourth quarter, but the Seminoles responded with an 8-0 run that gave them a 73-61 lead with 4:11 remaining. Florida State added 3-pointers from Latson and Erin Howard to close out the victory. The Yellow Jackets made one of their last 12 shots from the field.
Sara Bejedi scored 14 points and O&rsquo;Mariah Gordon added 10 off the bench for Florida State (22-7, 11-5 ACC).
Cameron Swartz scored 17 points, Kara Dunn 16, and Kayla Blackshear 10 for Georgia Tech (13-13, 4-11).
CALIFORNIA 81, No. 25 USC 78, OT
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Jayda Curry scored 27 points and Michelle Onyiah had six points in overtime as California upended USC.
The Trojans (19-8, 9-7 Pac-12), back in the rankings for the first time since 2016, had their chances to win this one after falling to No. 3 Stanford 50-47 on Friday.
From the final four minutes of regulation until Destiny Littleton hit a 3-pointer with 1:08 to go in overtime, USC missed eight straight shots. After Littleton tied the game at 78 and Leilani McIntosh put the Golden Bears (13-14, 4-12) on top with two free throws with 44 seconds to go, the Trojans came up empty on their next possession despite two offensive rebounds.
Onyiah made 1 of 2 from the line with eight seconds to go and Littleton&rsquo;s late 3 was off the mark.

A recap of a busy Sunday in top-25 women's action includes a thriller between the Gamecocks and Rebels that had to go to overtime.

Top-ranked South Carolina edges Ole Miss in OT

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Shaina Pellington made 11 straight shots on her way to scoring a career-high 35 points, leading No. 18 Arizona over No. 4 Utah 82-72 on Friday night.
Cate Reese added 16 points for the Wildcats (20-6, 10-5). Helena Pueyo had 12 points, including four free throws in the final 90 seconds.
&ldquo;I started off on fire,&rdquo; Pellington said. &ldquo;I feel like when I saw the first one go in, the second one go in, the third one go in. ... It just kept going and going and going. I also wanted to make sure that I was making sure that I was taking shots that made sense in the flow of the game.&rdquo;
Arizona broke the Utes&rsquo; seven-game winning streak and avenged an 80-79 loss in Salt Lake City a month ago.
Allison Pili scored 26 points, Jenna Johnson had 19 and Gianna Kneepkens 13 for the Utes (22-3, 12-3), who entered with the highest ranking in program history.
&ldquo;To lose it with 1.5 seconds left there on free throws, that was tough to swallow&rdquo; Arizona coach Adia Barnes said of the game in Salt Lake City. &ldquo;We really were focused at home and we need these wins. Everybody needs these wins. We&rsquo;re all chasing the top four in the Pac-12 tournament. We&rsquo;re playing for postseason standings.&rdquo;
Pellington had 23 points in the first half when she made all 10 field goal attempts. She made her first shot in the second half before missing.
Pellington finished 13 of 18 with eight rebounds and five steals.
&ldquo;This game will help us in a lot of ways,&rdquo; Barnes said. &ldquo;Came out and battled against a very good Utah team. We&rsquo;re starting to peak at the right time.&rdquo;
Utah trimmed a 10-point deficit to 76-72 on Pili&rsquo;s three-point play with 1:08 remaining before Madi Conner made two free throws for a 78-72 lead with 48.4 seconds remaining after Utah was called for an intentional foul. The Utes missed a 3-pointer on their next possession and were 4 of 19 from distance.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what it came down to,&rdquo; Utah coach Lynne Roberts said. &ldquo;We missed shots. That&rsquo;s just how the game goes sometimes. This game was not a must-win. Our backs were not against the wall. It was an incredibly physical game. Our offense is predicated on ball movement and player movement. It was hard to do. We couldn&rsquo;t even cut.&rdquo;
Utah, sixth in Division I in scoring, was held 12.7 points below its average. Arizona beat its fourth ranked team this season after wins over Baylor, Oregon and UCLA.
AN INCH OF SEPARATION
Utah beat the Wildcats on Jan. 15 when the lead changed hands twice in the final two seconds. Paris Clark&rsquo;s steal and layup gave Arizona a 79-78 lead. After a Utah timeout, Pili was fouled after catching a long pass and made two free throws with one second left.
HOME CROWD
The Wildcats drew 8,238, the second-largest this season after drawing 9,868 against Stanford last Friday. The largest crowd the Utes had seen this season was 6,289 at Oregon.
BIG PICTURE
Utah: The Utes&rsquo; only other losses are to ranked Pac-12 teams No. 3 Stanford and No. 21 Colorado. With a strong finish, they could capture one of eight host sites in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, which would be another program first.
Arizona: The Wildcats can bank on their third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, and the victory over the Utes helps make the journey one step easier.
UP NEXT
Utah: At Arizona State on Sunday.
Arizona: Hosts No. 21 Colorado on Sunday.

Shaina Pellington made 11 straight shots on her way to scoring a career-high 35 points, leading No. 18 Arizona over No. 4 Utah 82-72

Shaina Pellington scores 35, No. 18 Arizona tops No. 4 Utah

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Zakai Zeigler and Santiago Vescovi each scored 15 points and No. 10 Tennessee took down newly minted No. 1 Alabama 68-59 on Wednesday night.
Playing its first game as the top-ranked team since the 2002-03 season, the Crimson Tide (22-4, 12-1 SEC) led just once in the early going and committed 19 turnovers.
Unlike football, when Tennessee fans stormed their home field after beating No. 3 Alabama 52-49 in October, this sellout crowd stayed in the seats when it was over. &ldquo;Rocky Top&rdquo; loudly blared as the Volunteers (20-6, 9-5) ended a two-game skid.
Alabama&rsquo;s loss was the eighth by an AP No. 1 team this season. That ties the most in a regular season with 1993-94 in a stat dating to 1948-49.
Alabama became the last Power 5 men&rsquo;s team to lose a conference game this season. The Tide reached No. 1 in the latest poll by The Associated Press on Monday, but its only lead in this game came at 12-11.
Jonas Aidoo had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Tennessee.
Brandon Miller led Alabama with 15 points, Jaden Bradley added 14 and Nimari Burnett had 11.
NO. 7 VIRGINIA 61, LOUISVILLE 58
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Armaan Franklin and Kihei Clark each scored 14 points and Virginia overcame poor foul shooting to win its third straight game.
The Cavaliers (20-4, 12-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) led 58-50 with 3:47 remaining but missed five free throws down the stretch to give the ACC-worst Cardinals (3-23, 1-14) a chance.
El Ellis had 21 points for Louisville, which has lost four straight since its lone ACC victory.
NO. 11 MARQUETTE 69, NO. 16 XAVIER 68
MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Olivier-Maxence Prosper tipped in a putback with 1.6 seconds left and Marquette edged Xavier to extend its slim Big East lead.
Marquette (21-6, 13-3), picked to finish ninth by the league&rsquo;s coaches in the preseason poll, moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Xavier (19-7, 11-4), No. 24 Providence and No. 18 Creighton.
After a layup by Jack Nunge put the Musketeers ahead 68-67 with 8.3 seconds remaining, Marquette raced up the floor. Kam Jones missed his driving layup attempt, but Prosper used his right hand to tip in the offensive rebound and put the Golden Eagles back in front.
Xavier&rsquo;s Jerome Hunter threw a long inbounds pass to Nunge, whose deep 3-point try caromed off the backboard as the buzzer sounded.
NORTHWESTERN 64, NO. 14 INDIANA 62
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) &mdash; Boo Buie scored the tiebreaking basket with two seconds remaining and Northwestern followed up its first win over a top-ranked team by beating Indiana.
After defeating Purdue on Sunday for the program&rsquo;s first victory over an opponent ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, the Wildcats (19-7, 10-5 Big Ten) blew a 19-point halftime lead before topping the Hoosiers (18-8, 9-6).
Northwestern took sole possession of second place in the conference standings with its program-record fourth victory over a ranked opponent this season. Northwestern hadn&rsquo;t beaten Top 25 teams in consecutive games since January 2009.
Buie had 21 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Trayce Jackson-Davis led Indiana with 23 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
NO. 19 IOWA STATE 70, NO. 22 TCU 59
AMES, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Aljaz Kunc had career highs of 22 points and five 3-pointers in his first start in nearly two months, and Iowa State never trailed.
The Cyclones won their nation-best seventh game against a Top 25 opponent.
Jaren Holmes added 16 points for the Cyclones (17-8, 8-5). Kunc, playing his fourth game since missing six weeks with a broken finger, made four of his 3s in the first half.
TCU (17-9, 6-7) lost its fourth straight while playing its fifth game without injured conference preseason player of the year and top scorer Mike Miles Jr.
NO. 21 SAN DIEGO STATE 45, FRESNO STATE 43
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Matt Bradley scored 10 points and San Diego State slipped past Fresno State in a defensive struggle.
San Diego State (21-5, 12-2 Mountain West Conference) has won four in a row and eight of nine overall, extending its win streak against the Bulldogs to eight games.
Nathan Mensah had eight points, eight rebounds and four blocks for SDSU, and Keshad Johnson added seven points and eight boards.
Isaiah Hill led Fresno State (9-16, 5-9) with 16 points. The Bulldogs shot 31% from the field and went just 2 of 25 from 3-point range.&nbsp;

A recap of Wednesday night's action in men's college hoops includes another top-ranked team falling for the eighth time this season.

No. 10 Tennessee beats newly crowned No. 1 Alabama

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; D&rsquo;Andre Gholston hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Missouri a stunning 86-85 victory over No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday night.
With 4.2 seconds left in the game and the Volunteers (19-6, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) leading 85-83, Santiago Vescovi missed a free throw. His second attempt was waived off when Tobe Awaka committed a lane violation, setting up a final chance for the Tigers (19-6, 7-5).
Gholston took the inbounds and dribbled up the court before taking an off-balance contested 3-pointer from about 30 feet that swished through the net at the buzzer for the win. He was mobbed by his teammates after hitting the shot.
Tennessee came back from a 17-point deficit early in the second half and led the last 7:11 of the game.
NO. 3 ALABAMA 77, AUBURN 69
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Rylan Griffen scored 16 points, Mark Sears added 15 and Alabama held off a big challenge from its in-state rival Auburn.
The Crimson Tide (22-3, 12-0 Southeastern Conference) remained the only Power 5 team without a league loss. Sears and Griffen helped Alabama overcome an off shooting performance from star Brandon Miller, who had 13 points but missed all seven 3-point attempts.
Wendell Green Jr. had 16 of his 24 points in the second half for Auburn (17-8, 7-5).
STANFORD 88, NO. 4 ARIZONA 79
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Spencer Jones scored all 18 of his points in the second half for Stanford and played a key role in neutralizing Pac-12 leading scorer Azuolas Tubelis, as the Cardinal stunned Arizona.
Stanford (11-14, 5-9 Pac-12) beat a ranked team for the first time this year and a top-five team for the second time in two seasons. Arizona (22-4, 11-4), hoping to stay a half-game behind UCLA for the conference lead, had a seven-game win snapped.
Courtney Ramey scored a season- and game-high 26 points for Arizona. Tubelis was held to four points and did not have any rebounds.
Stanford&rsquo;s Michael O&rsquo;Connell scored a team-high 22 points, helping the Cardinal outshoot the Wildcats 61% to 46% from the field.
NO. 5 TEXAS 94, WEST VIRGINIA 60
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Sir&rsquo;Jabri Rice scored 24 points in just 17 minutes in Texas&rsquo; win over West Virginia.
Texas (20-5) remained in first place in the Big 12 at 9-3, while West Virginia (15-10, 4-8) lost for the sixth time in its last seven games against the Longhorns.
Rice, a guard who transferred this season from New Mexico State, was nearly perfect. He converted 5 of 6 field-goal attempts, including 4 of 5 3-pointers and all 10 free throws.
Emmitt Matthews led West Virginia with 13 points.
NO. 8 VIRGINIA 69, DUKE 62, OT
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Armaan Franklin scored 23 points, including a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left, to lift Virginia over Duke in overtime.
Kihie Clark added 16 points and Ben Vander Plas 13 for the Cavaliers (19-4, 11-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won despite a 9 for 22 performance from the free-throw line.
Duke (17-8, 8-6) seemed poised to win when Kyle Filipowski drove on the final play of regulation and two defenders contested his shot. The officials initially whistled a foul, but waved it off after a lengthy review. Jeremy Roach led the Blue Devils with 16 points.
NO. 9 KANSAS 78, OKLAHOMA 55
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson scored 18 points, and Kansas rolled past Oklahoma.
Wilson, who entered the day leading the Big 12 with nearly 21 points per game, bounced back from a two-point outing against Texas on Monday.
Dajuan Harris scored 16 points and Kevin McCullar added 13 for the Jayhawks (20-5, 8-4 Big 12).
Jalen Hill scored 14 points and Otega Oweh added 11 for the Oklahoma (12-13, 2-10). Grant Sherfield, who leads the Sooners with nearly 17 points per game, was held to 10 on 4-for-14 shooting.
NO. 10 MARQUETTE 89, GEORGETOWN 75
WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; Kam Jones, Oso Ighodaro and Tyler Kolek each scored 14 points to lead a balanced scoring attack for Marquette in its win over Georgetown.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper had 11 points and Chase Ross added 10 for Marquette (20-6, 12-3 Big East), which moved into first place in the conference.
Jay Heath scored 18 points to lead last-place Georgetown (6-20, 1-14), which has lost five straight after ending their league record 29-game conference losing streak on Jan. 24.
OKLAHOMA ST 64, NO. 11 IOWA ST 56
AMES, Iowa (AP) &mdash; John-Michael Wright scored 19 points and Oklahoma State rallied past Iowa State.
The loss was the Cyclones&rsquo; fourth in five games.
Bryce Thompson added 12 points for the Cowboys (16-9, 7-5 Big 12) in their fifth straight win.
Aljaz Kunc scored 13 for Iowa State (16-8, 7-5).
TEXAS TECH 71, NO. 12 KANSAS STATE 63
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) &mdash;De&rsquo;Vion Harmon scored 20 points, including a crucial driving basket in the final minute, as Texas Tech upended Kansas State.
The Red Raiders (13-12, 2-10 Big 12) held the Wildcats to two field goals in the game&rsquo;s final four minutes.
Kansas State (19-6, 7-5) edged as close as one point throughout the second half, but Tech answered with key baskets to maintain the lead. The Wildcats were led by Markquis Nowell&rsquo;s 18 points. Desi Sills added 12 points.
NO. 14 BAYLOR 72, NO. 17 TCU 68
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) &mdash; Adam Flagler scored 28 points, with 16 in a row for Baylor during the stretch when the Bears overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half and then held on to beat TCU.
LJ Cryer had 23 points for the Bears (19-6, 8-4 Big 12), who on Jan. 4 at home against TCU blew a 17-point lead in an 88-87 loss. They have won nine of their last 10 games.
Damion Baugh had 16 points and 10 assist for TCU (17-8, 6-6).
NO. 15 SAINT MARY&rsquo;S 81, PORTLAND 64
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Logan Johnson had 34 points, six rebounds and six assists as Saint Mary&rsquo;s handled Portland on the road.
Alex Ducas added 18 points and six rebounds for the Gaels (22-5, 11-1 West Coast Conference) and Aidan Mahaney contributed 10 points and five assists.
Kristian Sjolund led the Pilots (13-15, 5-8) with 12 points, and Juan Gorosito and Tyler Robinson each added 10 points.
NO. 18 INDIANA 62, MICHIGAN 61
Trayce Jackson-Davis had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Jalen Hood-Schifino scored 21 points and Indiana held on for a win over Michigan.
Freshman Jett Howard was short on a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, leaving the Wolverines without a point for the final 5:12.
The Hoosiers (18-7, 9-5 Big Ten) trailed by 11 in the first half and for much of the second, but went ahead for good with 2:58 left when Hood-Schifino made two free throws for their last points.
Michigan (14-11, 8-6) fell to 0-4 against teams in the AP Top 25, losing each game by five or fewer points.
Hunter Dickinson scored 16 points, Kobe Bufkin had 14 points and Howard added 12 for the Wolverines.
NO. 19 MIAMI 93, LOUISVILLE 85
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Nijel Pack scored 22 points in Miami&rsquo;s win over Louisville.
Five days following its dominant 22-point home win over Duke, Miami (20-5, 11-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) could not shake off the conference&rsquo;s last-place team until Pack&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 2:44 remaining made it 82-72. Pack shot 8 of 14, including 4 of 9 on 3-pointers.
Isaiah Wong and Norchad Omier finished with 21 points each and Jordan Miller added 10 for the Hurricanes, who are 14-0 at home.
El Ellis scored a career-high 33 points and had five assists while Jae&rsquo;Lyn Withers finished with 18 for the Cardinals (3-22, 1-13).
ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 73, NO. 20 PROVIDENCE 68
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; David Jones scored 16 points and AJ Storr added 15 for St. John&rsquo;s, which beat Providence.
Joel Soriano had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Storm (15-11, 5-10 Big East).
Bryce Hopkins equaled a career best with 29 points for the Friars (18-7, 10-4).
NO. 22 NORTH CAROLINA STATE 92, BOSTON COLLEGE 62
BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Jarkel Joiner scored 26 points and D.J. Burns Jr. added 18 with 10 rebounds to lead North Carolina State over Boston College.
Terquavion Smith scored 17 points for the Wolfpack (20-6, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), giving him 1,000 points for his career.
Quinten Post scored 20 points for Boston College (12-14, 6-9).
NO. 23 CREIGHTON 56, NO. 21 UCONN 53
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Trey Alexander scored 17 points to lead Creighton past UConn after the Huskies had what would have been a tying 3-pointer erased on video review in the final seconds.
Creighton (17-8, 11-3) is a half-game behind Big East-leading Marquette with its eighth straight win. The Huskies (19-7, 8-7) lost for the first time in four games.
Adama Sanogo had 17 points and 10 rebounds for UConn.
ILLINOIS 69, NO. 24 RUTGERS 60
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) &mdash; Coleman Hawkins scored 18 points and Illinois held Rutgers scoreless for more than 10 minutes in the second half to rally for the win.
Illinois (17-7, 8-5 Big Ten) trailed 47-41 with 14 1/2 minutes left before Hawkins&rsquo; 3-pointer started a 19-0 run. Hawkins hit four consecutive shots &mdash; including a 3 &mdash; and gave the Illini the lead for good at 48-47.
Rutgers (16-9, 8-6) missed 15 straight shots during its drought.
NO. 25 SAN DIEGO STATE 82, UNLV 71
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Adam Seiko scored all 18 points on 3-pointers and Matt Bradley added 17 points for San Diego, the Mountain West Conference front-runner that beat UNLV for its third straight win and seventh in eight games.
The Aztecs (20-5, 11-2 MWC) buried the Runnin&rsquo; Rebels in a blizzard of 3-pointers and slam dunks, including during a 14-0 run midway through the first half, to sweep the season series and top UNLV the fifth straight time. Keshad Johnson scored 11 of his 14 points in the game&rsquo;s first 6 1/2 minutes and Nathan Mensah had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Elijah Harkless scored 24 for UNLV (16-9, 5-8) before fouling out with 2:05 to go. Keshon Gilbert added 19 for the Runnin&rsquo; Rebels, who didn&rsquo;t get their first assist until two minutes into the second half.

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

Three-pointer at buzzer lifts Missouri over No. 6 Tennessee

The Las Vegas Aces just shook the league.
Months after winning their first title in franchise history, and with the backdrop of multiple star talents &mdash; Jonquel Jones, Natasha Howard, Allisha Gray &mdash; changing teams via&nbsp;trade&nbsp;this offseason, the Aces have made the first free-agency splash.
Candace Parker, one of the best basketball players to ever grace the planet, announced <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn-cIIYyMde/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet">earlier today on Instagram</a> that she plans to join the reigning champions instead of returning to the Chicago Sky.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Full statement from Candace Parker on her decision to sign with the Aces. ⬇️ <a href="https://t.co/ers2dP0l3h">https://t.co/ers2dP0l3h</a> <a href="https://t.co/rG1UePbqt9">pic.twitter.com/rG1UePbqt9</a>
&mdash; Khristina Williams (@Khristina) <a href="https://twitter.com/Khristina/status/1619463948776116224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Per <a href="https://twitter.com/alexaphilippou/status/1619481461521895425?s=20&amp;t=ZuSHUUU5BAE4LBe379txJw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN's Alexa Philippou</a>, Parker's deal with the Aces will be for one year. The signing won't become official until February 1 (Wednesday) at the earliest, which is when players are allowed to formalize new agreements.
In a perfect world, it would be easy to get excited about the prospect of Parker and A&rsquo;ja Wilson &mdash; she <a href="https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/35546744/wnba-free-agent-candace-parker-sign-las-vegas-aces" target="_blank" rel="noopener">played a role in recruiting Parker</a>&nbsp;&mdash; playing together.
I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s going to be a better defensive frontcourt in The W, provided both stay healthy. Wilson won last year&rsquo;s Defensive Player of the Year award due to her work as a scheme-versatile anchor. Parker, the (controversial) 2020 DPOY, is still an elite defender in her own right. The amount of different looks the Aces will be able to throw at teams will be insane.&nbsp;
On the other end of the floor, Parker remains a star due to her ability to operate as a hub. She can pry folks open with handoffs and screens, or even initiate some pick-and-rolls if you want to have a guard screen for her. She isn't able to toast bigger defenders off the bounce with the same regularity as her prime years, but Parker can still get busy in the mid-post or lower.&nbsp;
This is a slam dunk on the court, but the on-court stuff feels secondary right now. Frankly, it&rsquo;s hard not to think of Dearica Hamby in this situation.&nbsp;
I don&rsquo;t think trading Hamby, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/aces-trade-allstar-forward-dearica-hamby-to-the-sparks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in what can certainly be viewed now as a salary dump</a>, is a bad thing on its face. Heading into the offseason, the Aces had the least amount of cap space in the W, <a href="https://herhoopstats.com/salary-cap-sheet/wnba/summary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per Her Hoop Stats</a>. In order to add reinforcements of any kind to the roster, there would have to be some sort of cap casualty &mdash; whether that was Hamby or Riquna Williams. Even after moving Hamby, the Aces ranked 12th out of 12 teams in available cap space.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
It makes sense that the Aces would choose to move Hamby after winning a title without her being a major postseason contributor due to injury. Kiah Stokes filled in admirably, and the Aces ultimately won the title behind their small-ball lineups featuring Williams.
Sadly, it's hard to view this solely through a basketball context.
Not long after we learned about the trade, Hamby made a post on Instagram (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CnsXXblSRPN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">you can read it in full here)</a> thanking her teammates and Aces fans... and leveling some uncomfortable-at-best allegations at the organization. Some of the accusations include:
<ul>
<li class="p1">Being accused of signing her contract extension knowingly pregnant, without informing the team.</li>
<li class="p1">Not holding up "her end of the bargain," i.e. not getting pregnant during her two-year deal.</li>
<li class="p1">Not taking precautions to prevent pregnancy.</li>
<li class="p1">Not taking her offseason workouts seriously, in light of her pregnancy and availablity ahead of next season.</li>
</ul>
The allegations were so serious that the WNBPA immediately released a statement, saying they would seek an investigation into the organization.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
WNBPA Statement <a href="https://t.co/JDVtmNgzkU">pic.twitter.com/JDVtmNgzkU</a>
&mdash; WNBPA (@TheWNBPA) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheWNBPA/status/1616924611412897792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2023</a></blockquote>

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The vast majority of players in the WNBA are black women. An allegation of a black woman being, in Hamby's words, "lied to, bullied, manipulated, and discriminated against" by management shouldn't be taken lightly.&nbsp;
And if any of this is true, it's an especially bad look for the Aces. They rightfully made waves last offseason by hiring Becky Hammon and making her the highest-paid coach in The W. More pressing is the fact that the two most influential voices in the organization are black women: team president Nikki Fargas and general manager Natalie Williams.
How do you go about making things right in that scenario, much less recover from that kind of publicity?
Also, it's at least worth noting that Parker is a mother in her own right. She mentioned the importance of her family in her post, and how that factored into her decision to join the Aces. This isn't to suggest that Parker deserves any ire for signing with Vegas, because she doesn't; if there was foul play at hand, any criticisms should start and stop with the guilty parties within the Aces organization.
But how does Parker feel about the allegations? How much was she made privy to before agreeing to sign? It's fair to ask that much, though the opportunity to ask won't appear until next week at the earliest.
(Full disclosure: I plan to take part in Parker's introductory presser, either in person or on Zoom if that's an option. If I'm not able to ask Parker those questions, I'm certain another member of The W media will. At the very least, they should.)
Without the Hamby/Aces investigation being complete, there's only so much room to opine. What I will say is that this just feels... weird, man. There will be time for a deeper dive of the on-court fit, but I think we should make sure nobody was harmed first.

Nekias Duncan gives his initial, complicated thoughts on the Aces signing Candace Parker.

Aces to sign Candace Parker, though it's hard to be excited right now

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Boogie Ellis scored 27 of his career-high 31 points in the second half, leading a 27-6 run that put the Trojans ahead for good, and Southern California beat No. 8 UCLA 77-64 on Thursday night.
Three weeks ago, the Bruins eked out a 60-58 victory after blowing an 18-point lead in front of their home fans.
This time, UCLA led by 12 in the first half only to watch Ellis put on a show after he scored four points and went 0 for 5 from 3-point range in the first half.
Drew Peterson added 16 points for the Trojans (15-6, 7-3 Pac-12). They improved to 10-1 at home this season, having won 10 straight at Galen Center since dropping their season opener to Florida Gulf Coast.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 15 points and David Singleton and Tyger Campbell added 14 points each for the Bruins (17-4, 8-2).
NO. 1 PURDUE 75, MICHIGAN 70
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Zach Edey had 15 of his 19 points in the first half and Fletcher Loyer finished with 17 points to help Purdue hold off Michigan.
The Boilermakers (20-1, 9-1 Big Ten) had a 15-0 run to go ahead 41-28 lead in the first half after there were 10 lead changes and four ties, but they couldn&rsquo;t pull away.
Hunter Dickinson scored 21 points for Michigan. The Wolverines (11-9, 5-4) were without standout freshman Jett Howard, who missed the game with an ankle injury, and hung around until the final seconds.
Joey Baker made a 3-pointer &mdash; off the glass &mdash; with 5.9 seconds left to pull Michigan within three points, but Purdue&rsquo;s Brandon Newman sealed the victory with two free throws.
NO. 6 ARIZONA 63, WASHINGTON STATE 58
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Azuolas Tubelis had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Arizona beat Washington State.
Kerr Kriisa added 15 points to help Wildcats (18-3, 7-3 Pac-12) split the season series with the Cougars (9-13. 4-7).
Washington State beat a Top 5 team on the road for the first time when it upset the Wildcats 74-61 in Tucson this month. The Cougars ended Arizona&rsquo;s 28-game home winning streak with the biggest victory of Kyle Smith&rsquo;s coaching tenure.
Justin Powell and Mouhamed Gueye each scored 15 points for Washington State.
NO. 21 FLORIDA ATLANTIC 85, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 67
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Johnell Davis scored 25 points and Florida Atlantic won its school-record 19th straight game, beating Middle Tennessee.
The victory gave FAU (20-1, 9-0 Conference USA) only the second 20-win season in the program&rsquo;s Division I history and coach Dusty May his first 20-win season.
Eli Lawrence led Middle Tennessee (13-8, 6-3) with 17 points.

A recap of Thursday's action in men's college hoops includes a critical conference win by the Trojans over the No. 8 Bruins.

Boogie Ellis leads Southern Cal past No. 8 UCLA, 77-64

Gear up for fireworks, folks.
The fun period of the WNBA offseason is on the horizon. As of yesterday, teams are now allowed to offer qualifying offers and core designations to their own restricted and unrestricted free agents respectively. That period ends on Jan. 20, with (outside) free agents and teams being able to negotiate deals on Jan. 21.
With superstars like Breanna Stewart, Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike headlining the market &mdash; and with rumors already swirling about Stewart eyeing the Big Apple &mdash; this is one of most anticipated free-agency periods in recent memory.
Below the star tier, it's worth keeping an eye on what's happening with the Dallas Wings.
Midway through <a href="https://twitter.com/Khristina/status/1548019576142585857" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last season</a>, Khristina Williams of Girls Talk Sports (<a href="https://twitter.com/Khristina" target="_blank" rel="noopener">follow her!</a>) reported that Allisha Gray &mdash; an All-Star caliber wing for Dallas &mdash; would stick around through the trade deadline, but was expected to be moved during the offseason.
Well, the offseason is here, and, per Williams, that's looking more like an inevitability.
Here's her report from Wednesday night:&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
SOURCES: Allisha Gray is expected to be traded from Dallas. Possible destinations include Washington, Chicago, Connecticut,and Atlanta. Gray is in the last year of her contract and plans to exercise free agency when her contract is up. <a href="https://twitter.com/GrlsTlkSportsTV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GrlsTlkSportsTV</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WNBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WNBA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WNBAFreeAgency?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WNBAFreeAgency</a> <a href="https://t.co/KEp5ALIMib">https://t.co/KEp5ALIMib</a>
&mdash; Khristina Williams (@Khristina) <a href="https://twitter.com/Khristina/status/1613363135146037254?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Not only do we have a follow-up on Gray, but we also have potential destinations!&nbsp;
The Connecticut Sun are fresh off a Finals appearance (and a loss to the Las Vegas Aces), but have their own tightrope to walk with an actual All-Star. Brionna Jones, a two-time All-Star and reigning Sixth Woman of the Year, is an unrestricted free agent this offseason. And because of the Sun's salary crunch, they may not be able to retain her on the max deal she's worthy of without moving a piece (or two) of their core.
Aside from the Seattle Storm, there may not be a team in The W with more potential roster turnover than&nbsp; the Chicago Sky. After losing to the Sun in the Eastern Conference Finals, they're now faced with a daunting offseason. Parker is a free agent, as is All-Star guard Courtney Vandersloot, sharpshooter Allie Quigley and budding star big Azura Stevens.
The Washington Mystics are stacked with talent, headlined by Elena Delle Donne and a pair of two-way forces in Natasha Cloud and Ariel Atkins. Though they have pending free agents like Alysha Clark, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Elizabeth Williams, they don't run the risk of losing core talent like the Sun and Sky, which sets them up as an interesting landing spot for Gray.
And then, we have the Atlanta Dream, whose <a href="https://www.wnba.com/news/theyve-got-next-an-inside-look-at-the-atlanta-dream-rebuild/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">organizational overhaul</a> has set them up for long-term success. Not only do they have talent now &mdash; reigning Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard has "star" written all over her, and versatile big Cheyenne Parker is coming off the best season of her career &mdash; they're flush with cap space.
In summation, the destination list contains three recent contenders and one team that's on the upswing and has plenty of money to spend. All four could use a shooting boost in particular.
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To that end, it's easy to see why Gray is so coveted. She was one of six players to knock down 40% of her threes while attempting at least four per game. Her ability to play-make against tilted defenses adds to her offensive value. Add in her defense &mdash; the list of players who can defend on the perimeter like or better than Gray is a short one &mdash; and you have one of the most versatile wings in the sport, smack dab in the middle of her prime.
When players like her are on the trade market, it would behoove a good team to pounce. Her contract status could complicate things a bit; she has one year left on her deal and, per Williams, she plans on testing the market next offseason. But this is the type of player you shouldn't have issue commiting to long-term.
Among the teams listed, I'd probably give the Mystics the edge here.
In light of Dallas having some questions in the frontcourt &mdash; Isabelle Harrison is an unrestricted free agent who isn't far removed from complaining about her playing time; Teaira McCowan is a restricted free agent with up-in-the-air market value due to play style &mdash; the Mystics could use Myisha Hines-Allen to headline a package. Beyond that, the Mystics have draft equity to use, including the No. 4 overall pick in this year's draft.&nbsp;
A starting five of Cloud, Atkins, Gray, Delle Donne and Rookie of the Year runner-up Shakira Austin (already a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/how-the-washington-mystics-are-winning-with-activity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">near-elite defender</a>) would challenge the Aces for the best unit in The W.
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Among the teams not listed in Williams' report, I wonder if the New York Liberty could get into the mix. They could surely use more punch in their stable of perimeter options.
It was almost comical how much better their defense looked &mdash; roughly <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/wnba?TeamId=1611661313&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=204335" target="_blank" rel="noopener">five points per 100 possessions stingier</a> &mdash; when Betnijah Laney rejoined the rotation after recovery from meniscus surgery. She was the Liberty's only wing option that could credibly defend while also drawing the attention of defenders when operating off the ball.
Regardless of who lands her, you can put Gray's name on the list of players whose acquisition could help shape this year's title picture in The W.

Nekias Duncan digs into a buzzworthy 2023 WNBA offseason that could include Wings guard Allisha Gray being on the move.

Weighing sensible landing spots for Dallas Wings' Allisha Gray

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — After a young Memphis Grizzlies fan had her prized basketball stolen, Ja Morant jumped in to ease the anguish.
Ellie Hughes, an 11-year-old Grizzlies fan, was trying to get Morant's attention for an autograph at Monday's game against San Antonio when two people swiped her special ball.
Hughes, of Forrest City, Arkansas, had collected players’ signatures on the ball for the past six years. 
Hearing of her plight through social media, Morant reached out to her family, invited her to Wednesday night's rematch against the Spurs and then gave her his game-worn jersey and Ja 1 Nike shoes, which haven’t been released to the public yet.
“It’s something I pretty much love to do,” Morant said of his warm gesture. “You touch somebody’s heart like that. A big fan of the Grizzlies for years. It’s moments like that that mean the most to them. Something they will never forget.”
Morant put on a show, too, scoring 38 points as the Grizzlies held off San Antonio 135-129 for their season-high eighth straight victory.
The star guard, who missed the previous two games with right thigh soreness, was 14 of 25 from the field, including 3 for 5 on 3-pointers. He also had a right-handed hammer dunk over Spurs center Jakob Poeltl with 3:35 left to help Memphis preserve its lead.
___
More AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

Ja Morant invited a special 11-year-old Grizzlies fan to their recent game and gave her his game-worn Ja 1 Nike shoes.

Ja Morant gifts gear to young fan who had signed ball stolen

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Ja Morant scored 38 points, Jaren Jackson added 21 points and 12 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies hung on to beat the San Antonio Spurs 135-129 Wednesday night for their season-high eighth straight victory.
Morant, who missed the previous two games with right thigh soreness, was 14 of 25 from the field, including 3 for 5 from outside the arc. He also had a right-handed hammer dunk over Spurs center Jakob Poeltl with 3:35 left to help preserve the Memphis lead.
“He was huge for us,” coach Taylor Jenkins said, adding that Morant had “a pop to him” from the rest. “When he gets to his spots, and he plays at that level, it’s really important to us.”
Desmond Bane finished with 18 points and Tyus Jones added 16 for the Grizzlies.
Morant had averaged 38.8 points over his previous four games against the Spurs.
“It’s just pretty much me getting to my spots on the floor,” he said. “I feel like that’s pretty much it. Obviously, the shooting around me helps a lot.”
Keldon Johnson, who missed the past two games with left hamstring tightness, led the Spurs with 24 points. Tre Jones had 22 points and six assists, while Poeltl added 17 points, 13 rebounds and a season-high five blocks.
Memphis, up 14 at halftime, maintained the lead through the third quarter before consecutive 3-pointers from Josh Richardson (12 points) early in the fourth helped get the Spurs within single digits. San Antonio trailed 130-127 after a floater by Richardson with 2:42 left, but the Grizzlies closed it out.
The late rally was indicative of what Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has seen from his team, an attitude of playing hard even when the deficit reaches double digits.
“They never quit,” Popovich said. “That’s a tribute to their character. You can’t coach that. I was really proud of them.”
TIP-INS
Spurs: Doug McDermott was 4 of 4 in the first half, including a pair of 3s. He finished with 15 points ... Poeltl blocked four shots in the first quarter.
Grizzlies: Dillon Brooks passed O.J. Mayo for 10th place on the franchise scoring list. Mayo had 4,584 points. ... The 76 first-half points matched a season high for Memphis. ... Jackson’s 12 rebounds matched his career high.
JA GIVES AFTER THIEVES TAKE AWAY
At Monday’s game against the Spurs, 11-year-old Grizzlies fan Ellie Hughes had an autographed ball stolen by two people as she tried to get Morant’s attention to sign it. Hughes, of Forrest City, Arkansas, had collected players' signatures on the ball for the past six years. Hearing of her plight through social media, Morant reached out to her family, invited her to the game and then gave her his game-worn jersey and his Ja 1 Nike shoes, which haven’t been released to the public yet.
“It’s something I pretty much love to do,” Morant said of the gesture. “You touch somebody’s heart like that. A big fan of the Grizzlies for years. It’s moments like that that mean the most to them. Something they will never forget.”
MORANT APPRECIATION
Morant didn’t play Monday in the opener of the two-game series, and it’s hard to believe Popovich would relish facing a player who came in averaging 27.8 points in 11 career games against San Antonio. But he was looking forward to the challenge.
“It’s good for our guys to go against that sort of thing,” the veteran coach said. “Every time he plays, he brings it. So, I’m looking forward to it. One of my coaches is going to try and get his autograph.”
UP NEXT
Spurs: Host the Golden State Warriors on Friday in the Alamodome.
Grizzlies: Travel to Indianapolis to face the Pacers on Saturday.
___
More AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

Ja Morant scored 38 points, Jaren Jackson added 21 points and the Memphis Grizzlies hung on to beat the San Antonio Spurs 135-129.

Morant scores 38 in return as streaking Grizzlies top Spurs

Basketball News highlights the reporting, analysis and podcasts that defined a year of basketball in 2022.

Best of Basketball News: Spotlighting our top content from 2022

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the list of eligible candidates for the Class of 2023, including several high-profile, first-time nominees including Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich, Dwyane Wade and the 1976 U.S. Olympic Women&rsquo;s Basketball Team. &nbsp; A first look at the list of eligible nominees was provided by &ldquo;NBA Today&rdquo; on ESPN; the complete list of eligible candidates can be found below. &nbsp; Finalists from the North American and Women&rsquo;s committee for the Class of 2023 will be announced on February 17, at 5:30 p.m. ET in Salt Lake City, Utah, during NBA All-Star Weekend. &nbsp; The entire Class of 2023, including those selected by the direct-elect committees, will be unveiled during the NCAA Final Four in Houston, Texas, on April 1, in a nationally televised broadcast at 11 a.m. EST.
NORTH AMERICAN NOMINATIONS &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ken Anderson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Beilein (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Bess (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Chauncey Billups (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Chambers (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Clougherty (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Michael Cooper (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Joey Crawford (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Curran (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mark Eaton (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cliff Ellis (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Michael Finley (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pau Gasol (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leonard Hamilton (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lou Henson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ed Hightower (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; David Hixon (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mark Jackson (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marques Johnson (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Keady (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Larranaga (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Maurice Lucas (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Shawn Marion (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Rollie Massimino (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Motta (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dirk Nowitzki (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jake O&rsquo;Donnell (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tony Parker (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Phelan (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gregg Popovich (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bo Ryan (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Stan Spirou (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Reggie Theus (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dwyane Wade (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Buck Williams (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Williamson (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Paul Westhead (COA)
WOMEN&rsquo;S NOMINATIONS &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leta Andrews (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jennifer Azzi (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gary Blair (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Doug Bruno (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Becky Hammon (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Becky Martin (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Debbie Miller-Palmore (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kim Mulkey (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Valerie Still (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marian Washington (COA) &nbsp; INTERNATIONAL DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jackie Chazalon &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mirza Delibasic &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dusan Ivkovic &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Semen Khalipski &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Vladimir Kondrashin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Eduardo Lamas &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marcos Leite &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Shimon Mirrahi &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Amaury Pasos &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Manuel Sainz &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Togo Soares &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ranko Zeravica &nbsp; WOMEN&rsquo;S VETERANS DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1976 US Olympic Team (TEA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1982 Cheyney University NCAA Final Four Team (TEA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Alline Banks Sprouse (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Edmonton Commercial Grads (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Head (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Yolanda Laney (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Nashville Business College (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lometa Odom (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Harley Redin (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Hazel Walker (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Valerie Walker (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dean Weese (COA)*
CONTRIBUTOR DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pete Babcock &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Baumgartner &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Henry Bibby &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marty Blake &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Vic Bubas &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Doug Collins &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wayne Duke &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bill Foster &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bob Gibbons &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Simon Gourdine &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tim Grgurich &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Junius Kellogg &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Johnny &ldquo;Red&rdquo; Kerr &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Konchalski &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bobby Lewis &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred McCall &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack McCloskey &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jon McGlocklin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Speedy Morris &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dennis Murphy &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Curly Neal &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Powers &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Will Robinson &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Shue &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Valvano &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Donnie Walsh &nbsp; VETERANS DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1936 US Olympic Team (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1972 US Olympic Team (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Barnett (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Blackburn (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sid Borgia (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Brown (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Freddie Brown (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Coleman (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Eckman (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leroy Edwards (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leo Ferris (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Hy Gotkin (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Travis Grant (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Hartman (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cam Henderson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert Hopkins (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Keinath (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Greg Kelser (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kentucky Wesleyan 1966, 1968, 1969 (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bob Love (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Loyola of Chicago (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Billy Markward (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ed McCluskey (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack McKinney (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bill Melchionni (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Francis Meehan (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lucias Mitchell (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Donald &ldquo;Dudey&rdquo; Moore (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Joe Mullaney (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Willie Naulls (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; North Catholic High School Junior Varsity (Philadelphia, PA) (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Don Otten (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Philadelphia SPHAS (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kevin Porter (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Glenn Roberts (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lennie Rosenbluth (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kenny Sailors (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred Schaus (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sam Schulman (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Paul Silas (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Van Arsdale (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Van Arsdale (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lambert Will (CONT)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Max Zaslofsky (PLA)

Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich and Dwyane Wade are among the candidates for the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Basketball Hall of Fame announces candidates for Class of 2023

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Marcus Sasser scored 25 points, Tramon Mark added 16 and No. 1 Houston routed Norfolk State 100-52 Tuesday night in the Cougars&rsquo; first game as the top-ranked team in nearly 40 years.
Sasser finished 7 of 12 on 3-pointers, rebounding nicely after making only one of 10 from behind the arc in Houston&rsquo;s win over Kent State on Saturday.
Houston (7-0) was 17 of 33 on 3s, including 10 of 18 in the first half. The Cougars went on a 42-7 first-half run.
Jamal Shead finished with 12 points and 11 assists, J&rsquo;Wan Roberts had 10 points and Ja&rsquo;Vier Francis had 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Kris Bankston scored 14 points and Cahiem Brown added 11 points for Norfolk State (5-3).
NO. 3 VIRGINIA 70, MICHIGAN 68
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Jayden Gardner made a go-ahead jumper with 39.9 seconds left and blocked Jett Howard&rsquo;s 3-point shot just before the buzzer, allowing Virginia to hold on and beat Michigan in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Cavaliers (6-0) trailed by 11 points at halftime, rallied to go ahead with 7:25 left and built a five-point lead that didn&rsquo;t last.
The Wolverines (5-2) went ahead 66-65 at the 1:42 mark when Hunter Dickinson made one of two free throws, but the standout center missed a hook shot in the final minute. Dickinson scored 23 points and Howard had 15.
Reece Beekman finished with 18 points for Virginia. Gardner, Kihei Clark and Kadin Shedrick scored 12 apiece and Ben Vander Plas had 10.
MARQUETTE 96, NO. 6 BAYLOR 70
MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 24 points and Marquette capitalized on a dominant start from its defense to roll past Baylor in the Big 12-Big East Battle.
Marquette (6-2) raced to a 51-25 halftime lead thanks to a 24-0 edge in points off turnovers. This was the highest-ranked team Marquette has beaten under second-year coach Shaka Smart.
Kam Jones had 20 points and David Joplin added 19 as Marquette shot 58.3% overall to win its third straight.
LJ Cryer scored 19 points, Adam Flagler 16 and Keyonte George 12 for Baylor (5-2).
NO. 16 ILLINOIS 73, SYRACUSE 44
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) &mdash; Coleman Hawkins had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and Illinois thumped Syracuse.
Illinois (6-1) hit six of its 15 3-point attempts in the second half to send the Orange (3-4) home with their third straight loss.
Terrence Shannon Jr. had 17 points on 5-of-17 shooting for the Illini. All of his makes were 3s. RJ Melendez scored 15 points.
Jesse Edwards had nine points and 17 rebounds to lead Syracuse, and Judah Mintz also scored nine.
Hawkins sent a lively crowd into a frenzy by securing his 10th rebound to complete the triple-double with 1:34 to go and Illinois up 68-44.
NO. 19 KENTUCKY 60, BELLARMINE 41
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Antonio Reeves scored 18 points to lead Kentucky past Bellarmine.
Jacob Toppin had 12 points and CJ Fredrick finished with 11 as the Wildcats (5-2) overcame a slow start. Trailing 32-28 with 15 minutes left, Kentucky used a 23-3 run to pull away.
Curt Hopf led Bellarmine (2-6) with 15 points.
NO. 22 MARYLAND 79, LOUISVILLE 54
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Donta Scott scored 18 points and Maryland made five consecutive 3-pointers to open the second half and run away from Louisville.
The Terrapins (7-0) led throughout, including 37-26 at halftime, before Don Carey sank the first of two from long range during the 15-6 surge that featured two 3s from Scott and one from Hakim Hart.
Maryland shot 50% overall while posting its seventh consecutive double-digit win under new coach Kevin Willard.
El Ellis scored 15 points for the Cardinals (0-7), whose nightmarish start continued as they shot 34% against their third ranked opponent in four games.
NO. 24 SAN DIEGO STATE 72, UC IRVINE 69
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Micah Parrish hit a 3-pointer from the left corner with 2.4 seconds left and San Diego State rallied to beat UC Irvine.
Nathan Mensah scored 18 points to lead the Aztecs (5-2).
DJ Davis scored 28 points for the Anteaters (6-2), who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

A recap of Monday evening's men's college basketball slate includes a number of interconference battles and the No. 1 Cougars' rout.