Wolfpack

Blake Stern previews the NBA's Central Division, breaking down each team's projected lineup and burning question entering the year.

NBA Central Division Preview: Burning questions, rotation projections

It&rsquo;s the easiest call of the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-2023-wembanyama-b3449d1a5f7a7de5906bb1979ffb2a26">NBA draft</a>: The San Antonio Spurs won.
That&rsquo;s not to say other teams didn&rsquo;t do very well on Thursday, when 58 players were selected as the league&rsquo;s newest members. But the Spurs being able to take generational French talent Victor Wembanyama puts them at the head of the class.
Some of the teams that also did well: NBA champion Denver, Golden State, Toronto &mdash; even with just one pick &mdash; and Orlando, which might now be closer to returning to the postseason mix.
A breakdown of which teams had Excellent drafts, those that had Good drafts and others that will have to Wait and See:
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h2 Component-p-0-2-71">EXCELLENT</h2>
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">DALLAS MAVERICKS</h3>
Picks: Dereck Lively II (12, via trade); Olivier-Maxence Prosper (24, via trade).
Dallas got the big man it wanted and created opportunity by moving Davis Bertans. Hard to argue that it wasn&rsquo;t a good night. And now free agency awaits. Prosper is another player with big potential and was extremely hard to guard at Marquette.
Picks: Julian Strawther (29), Jalen Pickett (32, will be acquired via trade), Hunter Tyson (37),
Pickett should have gone in the first round. He&rsquo;s that good, and the NBA champions just got another do-it-all guy who will also serve as insurance should Bruce Brown leave in free agency.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">DETROIT PISTONS</h3>
Picks: Ausar Thompson (5), Marcus Sasser (25, via trade), James Nnaji (31)
No matter what, the Pistons were going to get better and deeper on Thursday night. Thompson is incredibly athletic (even by NBA standards) and plays defense with a ton of energy.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS</h3>
Picks: Brandin Podziemski (19), Trayce Jackson-Davis (57, via trade)
Play to your strength, and the Warriors got another shooter to add to the mix with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Podziemski could add something right away, and came to Golden State on the same day that the Warriors swung a deal for Chris Paul by sending Jordan Poole to Washington.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">HOUSTON ROCKETS</h3>
Picks: Amen Thompson (4), Cam Whitmore (20)
Thompson is a great move and gives Detroit another great option as it builds. If Whitmore is healthy, then Houston got an absolute steal by getting the Villanova forward at No. 20.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER</h3>
Picks: Cason Wallace (10, via trade), Keyontae Johnson (50)
Wallace was great for Kentucky in his lone college season and played perhaps his best game in the Wildcats&rsquo; finale in the NCAA tournament. He can score; he didn&rsquo;t look to score quite often enough at times in college.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">ORLANDO MAGIC</h3>
Picks: Anthony Black (6), Jett Howard (11)
Paolo Banchero got a couple more shooters to help him out, and the young and talented Magic got more young talent. An excellent night again and it&rsquo;s time to start thinking about Orlando as a team that should make a run at the play-in &mdash; at minimum.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">SAN ANTONIO SPURS</h3>
Picks: Victor Wembanyama (1), Sidy Cissoko (44).
Their grade was secured at the very moment that the last ping-pong ball appeared at the lottery last month. Wembanyama was a no-brainer, and now it&rsquo;s up to the Spurs to start the real work &mdash; get him into the gym, see how he fits, and figure out what the plan is going forward.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">TORONTO RAPTORS</h3>
Pick: Gradey Dick (13)
Dick showed up to the draft in a red-and-black jacket &mdash; a nod to Dorothy from &ldquo;The Wizard of Oz&rdquo; and his Kansas roots. The color scheme will work in Toronto as well. Dick is a pure shooter, and no team can have too many of those. The jury&rsquo;s still out on what the Raptors will be this coming season, but this kid will be a rotation piece.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">UTAH JAZZ</h3>
Picks: Taylor Hendricks (9), Keyonte George (16), Brice Sensabaugh (28)
Hendricks is what an NBA big pretty much is now; a power forward who can also defend centers. George was the Big 12 rookie of the year at Baylor and is a proven scorer. He&rsquo;s good from the line, has 3-point potential and can get to the rim. There&rsquo;s some work to do, but he&rsquo;s a serious prospect.
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h2 Component-p-0-2-71">GOOD</h2>
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">BROOKLYN NETS</h3>
Picks: Noah Clowney (21), Dariq Whitehead (22), Jalen Wilson (51)
Clowney is an athletic big from Alabama whose game is still a bit unfinished. Whitehead has enormous potential and was highly recruited by Duke, but foot issues are a concern. Wilson was the Big 12 player of the year at Kansas. The Nets likely didn&rsquo;t choose three elite programs accidentally. Lot to like here.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">CHARLOTTE HORNETS</h3>
Picks: Brandon Miller (2), Nick Smith Jr. (27), Amari Bailey (41).
Miller made sense over Scoot Henderson because the Hornets have a point guard already. But Henderson might be the more NBA-ready player.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">INDIANA PACERS</h3>
Picks: Jarace Walker (8, via trade), Ben Sheppard (26), Julian Strawther (29), Mojave King (47, via trade), Isaiah Wong (55)
Walker plays hard on both ends, and this is rare to say, but he might play harder on defense than he does on offense. And getting Wong &mdash; the ACC player of the year &mdash; so late is a steal.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS</h3>
Picks: Kobe Brown (30), Jordan Miller (48)
Brown is a strong player, addicted to rebounding, and probably needs to improve considerably on the offensive end. Miller did a little of everything for the Miami Hurricanes in their run to the Final Four.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">LOS ANGELES LAKERS</h3>
Picks: Jalen Hood-Schifino (17), Maxwell Lewis (40, via trade).
Hood-Schifino got NBA coaching in college last season; Indiana is coached by Mike Woodson. He&rsquo;s a winner; his high school teams won, his Indiana team went to the NCAA Tournament and he&rsquo;ll obviously benefit from time with LeBron James.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MIAMI HEAT</h3>
Pick: Jaime Jaquez Jr. (18)
A four-year college player whose game got more complete each year, Jaquez has a notorious work ethic that should fit in quite well with the Eastern Conference champions.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">NEW ORLEANS PELICANS</h3>
Pick: Jordan Hawkins (14)
Hawkins was a big part of UConn&rsquo;s team that won the national title last spring, earning his way onto the All-Tournament team. New Orleans got a winner.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS</h3>
Picks: Scoot Henderson (3), Kris Murray (23), Rayan Rupert (43).
Henderson has shown that he&rsquo;s NBA-ready. The Blazers drafted well. But really, the only question now is whether Damian Lillard is happy or not. Murray is the twin brother of Sacramento&rsquo;s Keegan Murray and had a big season for Iowa &mdash; averaging just over 20 points per game.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">WASHINGTON WIZARDS</h3>
Picks: Bilal Coulibaly (7, via trade), Tristan Vukcevic (42)
The Wizards are starting over, and on the day they also agreed to acquire Jordan Poole from Golden State they just happened to get a French player. (No, not that one.) But Coulibaly is highly touted by No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama, and that&rsquo;s enough of an endorsement for us.
<h2 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h2 Component-p-0-2-71">WAIT AND SEE</h2>
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">ATLANTA HAWKS</h3>
Picks: Kobe Bufkin (15), Mouhamed Gueye (39, via trade), Seth Lundy (46)
Bufkin had a great second half of the season at Michigan, and left-handers always provide defenses with an extra challenge. The best way to describe his game is this: He doesn&rsquo;t do much wrong. Very solid, can help the Hawks in a lot of ways.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">BOSTON CELTICS</h3>
Picks: James Njaji (31, via trade), Jordan Walsh (38, via trade)
Still only 18, Njaji started playing the game about seven years ago and is not even close to reaching his potential yet. Big prospect.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">CHICAGO BULLS</h3>
Pick: Julian Phillips (35, via trade)
The Bulls had to forfeit what would have been their pick because of free-agency violations last summer, and swung a deal with Boston to land the Tennessee wing.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">CLEVELAND CAVALIERS</h3>
Pick: Emoni Bates (49)
He was touted as a star since basically middle school, had more than his share of promising moments in college, and now has to really prove himself.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES</h3>
Picks: Gregory Jackson II (45), Tarik Biberovic (56)
Prospects. They&rsquo;re not expected to provide any real help anytime soon.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MILWAUKEE BUCKS</h3>
Picks: Andre Jackson (36, via trade), Chris Livingston (58)
Jackson was a big part of UConn&rsquo;s national championship. He&rsquo;s only going to benefit from being around Giannis Antetokounmpo every day.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES</h3>
Picks: Leonard Miller (33, via trade), Jaylen Clark (53)
Miller had a lot of big moments playing with Scoot Henderson and the G League Ignite this past season. Athleticism is tough to ignore.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">NEW YORK KNICKS</h3>
No picks.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">PHILADELPHIA 76ERS</h3>
No picks.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">PHOENIX SUNS</h3>
Pick: Toumani Camara (52)
Given the trades that they&rsquo;re making, this might be one of their last picks for quite some time. There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with not valuing the draft, but giving up on it entirely is a dangerous game to play too often.
<h3 class="Component-root-0-2-81 h3 Component-p-0-2-71">SACRAMENTO KINGS</h3>
Picks: Colby Jones (34, via trade), Jalen Slawson (54)
Jones has skills the Kings crave; great shooter, great passing and great vision. A young Kevin Huerter-type in those regards.

Which teams came away from the 2023 NBA Draft as big winners? Check out the AP's draft report cards.

NBA draft report cards: Spurs, Rockets among teams that hit it big

On Tuesday afternoon, the NBA announced the 78 players who are expected to attend the 2023 NBA Draft Combine, which will take place at the Wintrust Arena and Marriott Marquis in Chicago from May 15-21.
Players will have interviews with NBA teams and participate in five-on-five games as well as shooting and strength-and-agility drills. Coverage of the 2023 NBA Draft Combine will begin May 17 on ESPN2 from 2-6 p.m. ET and continues May 18 from 4-8 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
The NBA Draft Combine will also be available on the ESPN App. Strength-and-agility drills and shooting drills will be broadcast live on the NBA App on May 15 from 3-5 p.m. ET.
Additionally, a select number of standout players from the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-g-league-announces-45-draft-prospects-competing-in-g-league-elite-camp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2023 NBA G League Elite Camp</a>, which takes place May 13-14 at Wintrust Arena, will be invited to participate in the NBA Draft Combine.
Unfortunately, projected No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama won't be in attendance at the 2023 NBA Draft Combine as he has yet to finish his season overseas with Metropolitans 92.
Below is a list of expected attendees for the 2023 NBA Draft Combine:
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Trey Alexander (Creighton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Seth Lundy (Penn State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Amari Bailey (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Kevin McCullar (Kansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Emoni Bates (Eastern Michigan)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Mike Miles Jr. (TCU)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Reece Beekman (Virginia)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Brandon Miller (Alabama)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Anthony Black (Arkansas)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jordan Miller (Miami)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Adem Bona (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Leonard Miller (G League Ignite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Kobe Brown (Missouri)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Judah Mintz (Syracuse)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Kobe Bufkin (Michigan)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Dillon Mitchell (Texas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Toumani Camara (Dayton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Omari Moore (San Jose State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Sidy Cissoko (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Kris Murray (Iowa)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jaylen Clark (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Grant Nelson (North Dakota State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Noah Clowney (Alabama)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
James Nnaji (Barcelona [Spain] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Ricky Council IV (Arkansas)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Julian Phillips (Tennessee)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Gradey Dick (Kansas)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jalen Pickett (Penn State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Nikola Djurisic (Mega [Serbia] )
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Brandin Podziemski (Santa Clara)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Zach Edey (Purdue)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Olivier-Maxence Prosper (Marquette)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Adam Flagler (Baylor)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Rayan Rupert (New Zealand Breakers [Oceania] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Keyonte George (Baylor)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Adama Sanogo (Connecticut)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Marcus Sasser (Houston)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Coleman Hawkins (Illinois)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Brice Sensabaugh (Ohio State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jordan Hawkins (Connecticut)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Terrence Shannon Jr. (Illinois)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Scoot Henderson (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Ben Sheppard (Belmont)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Taylor Hendricks (UCF)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jalen Slawson (Furman)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
DaRon Holmes II (Dayton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Nick Smith Jr. (Arkansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Terquavion Smith (North Carolina State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jett Howard (Michigan)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Julian Strawther (Gonzaga)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Andre Jackson Jr. (Connecticut)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Amen Thompson (Overtime Elite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
GG Jackson II (South Carolina)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Ausar Thompson (Overtime Elite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Drew Timme (Gonzaga)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Keyontae Johnson (Kansas State)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Colby Jones (Xavier)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Tristan Vukcevic (Partizan [Serbia] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jarace Walker (Houston)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Arthur Kaluma (Creighton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Cason Wallace (Kentucky)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Mojave King (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jordan Walsh (Arkansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Bobi Klintman (Wake Forest)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Dariq Whitehead (Duke)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Maxwell Lewis (Pepperdine)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Cam Whitmore (Villanova)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Dereck Lively II (Duke)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jalen Wilson (Kansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Chris Livingston (Kentucky)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Isaiah Wong (Miami)
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

The NBA announced the 78 players who are expected to attend the 2023 NBA Draft Combine.

NBA announces 78 Draft Combine participants, but no Victor Wembanyama

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

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; The Charlotte Hornets signed center Nick Richards to a multiyear contract extension Wednesday.
Terms of the deal were not immediately available. (Editor's Note: ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday that it's a three-year, $15 million deal.)
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Charlotte Hornets center Nick Richards has agreed on a three-year, $15 million contract extension, his agent Javon Phillips and Jared Mucha of <a href="https://twitter.com/excelbasketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@excelbasketball</a> tell ESPN.
&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1638678618921488385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2023</a></blockquote>

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

Richards, a second-round pick in 2020, has appeared in 58 games with five starts this season. He is averaging career highs with 7.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 18.2 minutes per game for the Hornets.
Richards has appeared in 126 games during his career averaging 5.0 points and 3.6 rebounds per game forging a role as a backup center behind rookie Mark Williams.
The 7-foot Richards played three seasons at Kentucky before joining the Hornets.
Editor's Note: Be sure to check out <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-feature-interview-nick-richards-charlotte-hornets-bench-mason-plumlee-steve-clifford-jamaica-basketball-dennis-smith-jr-kelly-oubre-lamelo-ball" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our exclusive interview with Nick Richards</a> from earlier in the season.

Richards is averaging career highs with 7.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 18.2 minutes per game for the Hornets.

Hornets sign center Nick Richards to contract extension

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Shahada Wells scored 17 points as No. 14 TCU beat No. 2 Kansas 83-60 on Saturday in one of the worst losses in Bill Self&rsquo;s 20-year coaching career with the Jayhawks.
The loss snapped a 16-game winning streak at home for Kansas and was the second-largest home loss under Self. The Jayhawks (15-3, 5-2 Big 12), who lost 83-82 in overtime at Kansas State on Tuesday, had not lost consecutive games in the state since 1989 &mdash; against K-State and Missouri.
Kansas trailed by 10 at halftime and never closed the gap within single digits. TCU extended the lead to as many as 24 points. The Jayhawks shot only 32.1% in the second half.
TCU (15-4, 4-3 Big 12), which shot 54.4% (31 of 57) from the field, got 15 points from Mike Miles Jr. and 11 from Damion Baugh.
NO. 4 ALABAMA 85, MISSOURI 64
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Noah Clowney and Mark Sears each scored 17 points, and Alabama remained undefeated against unranked teams this season.
Freshman Brandon Miller added 15 points and eight rebounds for Alabama (17-2, 7-0 Southeastern Conference), and reserve Jahvon Quinterly scored 13 points. Clowney also had 14 rebounds, and Sears finished with eight rebounds and three steals.
Isiaih Mosley led Missouri (14-5, 3-4) with 19 points. Mohamed Diarra had eight points and 12 rebounds.
NO. 11 ARIZONA 58, NO. 5 UCLA 52
TUSCON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Oumar Ballo scored 16 points, Azuolas Tubelis had a double-double and Arizona withstood a late rally to end UCLA&rsquo;s 14-game winning streak.
The Wildcats (17-3, 5-3 Pac-12) took a 56-44 lead on Ballo&rsquo;s alley-oop dunk with 2:07 left. But the Bruins (17-3, 8-1) fought back, creating four straight turnovers to pull within 56-52. UCLA then blocked consecutive shots but couldn&rsquo;t convert on two shots of its own. Arizona&rsquo;s Pelle Larsson hit two free throws with 0.9 seconds to close it out.
Tyger Campbell led the Bruins with 13 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 12 with 11 rebounds.
NO. 6 GONZAGA 99, PACIFIC 90
STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 24 of his career-high 38 points in the second half, including 18 straight points during one stretch, and Gonzaga pulled away in the closing minutes.
Timme made 17 of 23 shots and almost all of them within a couple feet of the rim. Anton Watson added 16 points and 13 rebounds for Gonzaga (17-4, 6-1 WCC). Rasir Bolton added 16 points for the Bulldogs, who had won their previous three road games in conference play by a combined eight points, and Julian Strawther had 15.
Jordan Ivy-Curry led five Pacific players in double figures with 17 points. Nick Blake scored 16 before fouling out. Keylan Boone finished with 15, Luke Avdalovic added 13 and Judson Martindale finished with 12. Pacific (10-12, 3-4) made eight 3-pointers in the first half and was tied at 47 at halftime, but the Tigers were just 1 of 8 from deep in the second half.
NO. 7 TEXAS 69, WEST VIRGINIA 61
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- Marcus Carr scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half to lead Texas.
Dylan Disu added 13 points before fouling out, and Christian Bishop and Tyrese Hunter scored 11 apiece for the Longhorns (16-3, 5-2 Big 12), who bounced back from a double-digit loss at No. 12 Iowa State on Wednesday.
The Mountaineers (11-8, 1-6) had several players in early foul trouble. Kedrian Johnson had a career-high 22 points, but his teammates fell flat in the second half against the Longhorns.
NO. 8 XAVIER 95, GEORGETOWN 82
CINCINNATI (AP) &mdash; Zach Freemantle tied a career-high with 30 points and Colby Jones had 20 as Xavier handed Georgetown its 29th straight Big East loss.
Adam Kunkel scored 14 points to help the Musketeers (16-4, 8-1 Big East) bounce back from a 73-72 loss at DePaul on Wednesday.
Primo Spears scored a career-high 37 points and Akok Akok had 14 for the Hoyas (5-15, 0-9 Big East), who have lost 10 straight. Spears&rsquo; previous high was 34 against LaSalle on March 5, 2022.
NO. 9 TENNESSEE 77, LSU 56
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) &mdash; Josiah-Jordan James scored a season-high 22 points and Tennessee defeated LSU, which has lost six straight.
James, who missed eight games in November and December due to injury, made his second straight start for the Volunteers (16-3, 6-1 Southeastern Conference). Playing 31 minutes, James was 9-of-16 from the field and matched his career-high with four 3-pointers.
Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler had 12 points and 10 assists, which tied his career high. Julian Phillips and Tyreke Key each had 10 points.
KJ Williams led LSU (12-7, 1-6) with 16 points. Trae Hannibal added 10 points. The Tigers committed 19 turnovers which resulted in 33 Volunteers points.
NO. 10 VIRGINIA 76, WAKE FOREST 67
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Armaan Franklin scored 18 of his 25 points during the first half and Virginia survived blowing nearly all of a 19-point lead to beat Wake Forest.
Kihei Clark added 12 points despite getting into foul trouble for the Cavaliers (15-3, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). But it was a day of wild swings for Virginia, who went from missing its first eight shots to suddenly being unable to miss to go up 34-15 &mdash; only to see the Demon Deacons push back to within a single point with 8 1/2 minutes left.
Damari Monsanto had a career-high 25 points for the Demon Deacons (14-6, 6-3), highlighted by making 7 of 15 3-pointers.
OKLAHOMA STATE 61, NO. 12 IOWA STATE 59
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Avery Anderson scored 18 points, including the go-ahead free throws, and Oklahoma State defeated Iowa State for its first win over a ranked team this season.
Kalib Boone added 13 points for the Cowboys (11-8, 3-4 Big 12), who won their second straight game.
Osun Osunniyi scored 15 points and Gabe Kalscheur added 14 for Iowa State (14-4, 5-2), which had won seven of its last eight games. Cyclones sharpshooter Caleb Grill spent most of the second half on the bench wearing a back brace and wasn&rsquo;t in the game in the closing minutes.
NO. 13 KANSAS STATE 68, TEXAS TECH 58
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Markquis Nowell had 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists in Kansas State&rsquo;s win over Texas Tech.
Keyontae Johnson had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats (17-2, 6-1 Big 12), who won for the 11th time in 12 games. Ismael Massoud scored 12 points.
Pop Isaacs and De&rsquo;Vion Harmon each scored 13 points for Texas Tech (10-9, 0-7), which shot 32.4% (23 for 71) from the field.
NO. 16 AUBURN 81, SOUTH CAROLINA 66
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Johni Broome had a season-high 27 points and 11 rebounds as Auburn took control late in the opening half to run past struggling South Carolina.
Broome&rsquo;s performance helped the Tigers to their fifth straight win and offset a career-best 30 points from Gamecocks&rsquo; freshman Gregory &ldquo;GG&rdquo; Jackson II.
The 6-foot-10 Broome took full advantage of South Carolina&rsquo;s undersized interior for the Tigers (16-3, 6-1 Southeastern Conference). He hit 12 of his 17 shots in 30 minutes for his sixth double-double this season and fifth against an SEC opponent.
Meechie Johnson was the only other player for South Carolina (8-11, 1-5) in double figures with 11 points.
DUKE 68, NO. 17 MIAMI
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Kyle Filipowski had 17 points and 14 rebounds and Jeremy Roach scored 14 points in his first game in more than two weeks to lift Duke over Miami.
Tyrese Proctor had 11 points and Dariq Whitehead added 10 points for the Blue Devils (15-4, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who played their first game of the season without a national ranking.
Jordan Miller&rsquo;s 19 points and Nijel Pack&rsquo;s 18 were tops for Miami (15-4, 6-3), which has lost three of its last five games.
NO. 18 CHARLESTON 87, NORTHEASTERN 61
BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Ben Burnham scored 15 points, Pat Robinson III added 14 and Ryan Larson had 12 to lead Charleston to its 20th win in a row.
The Cougars (21-1, 9-0 Colonial Athletic Association) scored 13 straight points in the first half to pull away and extend the longest active winning streak in the nation. They have not lost since the second game of the season, to then-No. 1 North Carolina on Nov. 11, climbing to their highest ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 since 1999.
Chris Doherty had 11 points and 13 rebounds and Jared Turner also scored 11 for Northeastern (8-11, 4-4). The Huskies haven&rsquo;t beat a Top 25 team since 2015.
NO. 19 CLEMSON 51, VIRGINIA TECH 50
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Hunter Tyson&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 12 seconds left lifted Clemson to a dramatic victory over Virginia Tech.
Tyson caught a pass just left of the key, took a look at at the basket and let it fly. The crowd exploded as the ball went through and the Tigers (16-4, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) continued their unexpected run atop the ACC.
PJ Hall led Clemson with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Grant Basile led the Hokies (11-8, 1-7) with 13 points.
NO. 20 MARQUETTE 74, SETON HALL 53
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) &mdash; Kam Jones scored 22 points, Oso Ighodaro had 18 on 7-for-7 shooting and Marquette beat Seton Hall.
Marquette (16-5, 8-2 Big East) shot 54% (29 for 54) from the field in its second straight win since an 80-76 loss to Xavier last weekend.
Kadary Richmond led Seton Hall (12-9, 5-5) with 10 points and five assists. The Pirates committed a season-high 26 turnovers.
NO. 21 BAYLOR 62, OKLAHOMA 60
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Bridges scored 11 points and hit a trio of game-turning 3-pointers in the final five minutes as Baylor rallied to hold off Oklahoma.
Adam Flagler had 16 points and five assists, and Keyonte George added 11 points as Baylor (14-5, 4-3 Big 12) won its fourth straight game after opening conference play with three straight losses and briefly dropping out of The Associated Press Top 25.
Jalen Hill had 17 points and nine rebounds, while Tanner Groves added 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for the Sooners (12-7, 2-5).
NO. 22 PROVIDENCE 75, DEPAUL 64
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Noah Locke had a career-high 29 points, including seven 3-pointers, to help Providence fend off DePaul.
Bryce Hopkins added 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Friars (15-5, 7-2 Big East) snapped a two-game losing skid and improved to 11-0 at home. They are 2-2 without point guard Jared Bynum, who missed his fourth consecutive game with a torso injury.
The Blue Demons (9-11, 3-6) came in fresh off a home victory over eighth-ranked Xavier. But they dropped their sixth straight road game and are now 0-4 in conference games away from home. Umjoja Gibson had 16 points and five assists for DePaul and Da&rsquo;Sean Nelson added 13 points.
NO. 24 FLORIDA ATLANTIC 67, UTEP 59
EL PASO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Johnell Davis scored 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting and Florida Atlantic extended its program record for consecutive wins to 18.
Davis hit 2 of 3 attempts from 3-point distance and was perfect on six shots from the line for FAU (19-1, 9-0 Conference USA). Vladislav Goldin finished with 11 points, six rebounds and three blocks for the Owls.
Calvin Solomon finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Tae Hardy also scored 16 points for UTEP (11-9, 4-5). Mario McKinney Jr. added 11 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
NO. 25 ARKANSAS 69, OLE MISS 57
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) &mdash; Anthony Black scored 17 points, reserve Joseph Pinion had 13 and Arkansas snapped a four-game losing streak by topping Mississippi.
Only nine teams in Division I had made fewer 3-pointers than Arkansas (13-6, 2-5 Southeastern Conference) this season, but the Razorbacks tied a season high by making eight from beyond the arc. They led by as many as 21 points.
Pinion and Devo Davis each made three 3s. Davis had 16 points and Jordan Walsh finished with 13.
Ole Miss (9-10, 1-6) committed 17 turnovers. The Rebels had six giveaways in the first six minutes of the second half, helping Arkansas extend its three-point halftime lead to 11 at the first media timeout after the break.

A roundup of Saturday's top-25 action in men's college basketball includes a TCU rout of the second-ranked Jayhawks on the road.

No. 14 TCU blows out No. 2 Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; KJ Adams scored a career-high 22 points and No. 2 Kansas closed the game on an 18-4 run to beat Oklahoma 79-75 on Tuesday night.
Kansas (14-1, 3-0 Big 12) got 17 points from Jalen Wilson, 11 from Dajuan Harris and 10 from Zach Clemence. The Jayhawks have won 22 straight games against Oklahoma in Allen Fieldhouse, including 16 straight under coach Bill Self.
Oklahoma (10-5, 1-2 Big 12) was led by Grant Sherfield&rsquo;s season-high 25 points. Sam Godwin added 12 points, Milos Uzan had 11 and Tanner Groves had 10.
Kansas went more than 12 minutes without a field goal in the second half, but Adams ended that streak with a thunderous dunk at the 5:06 mark.
NO. 5 TENNESSEE 77, VANDERBILT 68
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Santiago Vescovi and Julian Phillips each scored 15 points as Tennessee recovered from a halftime deficit to pull out a win over Vanderbilt.
Vescovi scored 12 of his points in the second half to lead the recovery for the Volunteers (14-2, 4-0 Southeastern Conference), who won their 25th straight game at Thompson-Boling Arena. Uros Plavsic contributed 11 points.
Vandy&rsquo;s 7-foot Liam Robbins won the battle of the big men with 18 points off the bench. Noah Shelby had 12 points and Jordan Wright added 13 for Vanderbilt (8-8, 1-2).
NO. 11 KANSAS STATE 65, OKLAHOMA STATE 57
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Markquis Nowell scored 20 points and found Keyontae Johnson for an alley-oop dunk with 38 seconds left as Kansas State held off Oklahoma State.
Johnson added 12 points and Desi Sills had 11 for the Wildcats (15-1, 4-0 Big 12), who won their ninth straight and matched their victory total from last season. Predicted to finish last in the Big 12, Kansas State went from unranked last week to just outside the top 10 in the AP poll.
Kalib Boone scored 23 points and Caleb Asberry had 15 for the Cowboys (9-7, 1-3), who have lost three of four, all by 10 points or fewer.
NO. 13 VIRGINIA 65, NORTH CAROLINA 58
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Ben Vander Plas had 17 points and eight rebounds and Virginia used a 17-2 second-half run to beat North Carolina, which lost leading scorer and rebounder Armando Bacot to a left ankle injury.
Reece Beekman scored 13 points and Armaan Franklin had 12 points and nine rebounds as the Cavaliers (12-3, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) won their eighth straight meeting with the Tar Heels at John Paul Jones Arena.
Bacot rolled his ankle 1:18 into the game and did not return. RJ Davis led the Tar Heels (11-6, 3-3) with 16 points and Caleb Love and Jalen Washington added 13 each. Washington, a freshman, played 27 minutes in Bacot&rsquo;s absence.
NO. 14 IOWA STATE 84, TEXAS TECH 50
AMES, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Gabe Kalscheur scored a season-high 25 points to help Iowa State roll past Texas Tech.
Kalscheur made five of six shots from 3-point range and was 10 of 14 overall as the Cyclones (13-2, 4-0 Big 12) coasted to their sixth straight win.
Jaren Holmes added 15 points. Caleb Grill finished with 14 after hitting four of his first six 3-pointers. Iowa State finished 12 of 22 from behind the arc.
De&rsquo;Vion Harmon led Tech (10-6, 0-4) with 14 points.
MICHIGAN STATE 69, NO. 18 WISCONSIN 65
MADISON, Wis. (AP) &mdash; A.J. Hoggard made a tiebreaking layup with 41 seconds left and Michigan State rallied past Wisconsin for its seventh consecutive victory in a game that had 14 lead changes.
Wisconsin (11-4, 3-2 Big Ten) was playing its second straight game without leading scorer and three-year starter Tyler Wahl, who averages 13.2 points per game.
Joey Hauser had 20 points for Michigan State (12-4, 4-1), which won its first road game since Dec. 7. Tyson Walker added 13 points, Jaden Akins 12 and Hoggard 10.
Steven Crowl scored 19 points, Chucky Hepburn 14 and Connor Essegian 13 for Wisconsin.
NO. 21 AUBURN 82, OLE MISS 73
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Wendell Green Jr. scored 23 points, including 18 in the second half, and Auburn dominated after halftime to beat Mississippi.
Auburn (13-3, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) trailed 35-34 at the break but put together runs of 6-0, 10-2 and 9-4 in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.
Johni Broome had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Allen Flanigan added 15 points and Jaylin Williams scored 11 for the Tigers, who shot 17 of 28 (60.7%) in the second half.
Matthew Murrell led Ole Miss (8-8, 0-4) with 24 points, adding six rebounds and four assists. Tye Fagan scored 13 points and Jaemyn Brakefield added 12 for the Rebels, who lost their fifth straight.
NO. 23 SAN DIEGO STATE 74, NEVADA 65
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Matt Bradley scored 17 points and Lamont Butler added 15 and San Diego State took sole possession of first place in the Mountain West Conference.
The Aztecs (13-3, 4-0 MWC) dominated on both ends of Steve Fisher Court in a showdown between the last two undefeated teams in the conference to extend their winning streak to six games. Keshad Johnson added 11 points for SDSU, which has beaten Nevada nine straight times.
Nick Davidson scored 17, Kenan Blackshear 12 and Jarod Lucas 11 for Nevada (14-4, 4-1), whose six-game winning streak was snapped.

A recap of Tuesday's men's top-25 action includes a career night from Jayhawks forward KJ Adams.

No. 2 Kansas extends home win streak against Oklahoma to 22

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Justyn Mutts scored 27 points to lead Virginia Tech to an 80-72 victory over No. 18 North Carolina on Sunday.
Mutts scored 21 of his points in the second half for the Hokies (8-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who built an 18-point, second-half lead and then held on to hand the slumping Tar Heels (5-4, 0-1) their fourth consecutive defeat.
North Carolina cut that lead to 67-64 on a layup by Caleb Love with 3:06 remaining, but Mutts answered with a basket 17 seconds later, and the Tar Heels got no closer.
The Associated Press&rsquo; preseason No. 1 team, North Carolina played without center Armando Bacot, who missed the game with a bruised shoulder.
Caleb Love, Pete Nance, and RJ Davis each scored 18 for North Carolina.
NO. 4 ARIZONA 81, CALIFORNIA 68
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo combined for 42 points and 19 rebounds and Arizona bounced back from its first loss by holding off winless California.
Tubelis had 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Ballo &mdash; the Division I leader in field goal percentage &mdash; made 7 of 10 shots en route to 17 points, with seven rebounds and four blocks.
The Wildcats (7-1, 1-1 Pac-12) were coming off an 81-66 loss Thursday at Utah, just their fifth in 44 games under second-year coach Tommy Lloyd.
Cal (0-9, 0-2) continued its worst start in program history, extending the nation&rsquo;s longest active losing streak to 12 games. The Golden Bears were led by guard Devin Askew, who had 25 points, while forward Lars Thiemann added 18 on 9-of-14 shooting.
NO. 5 PURDUE 89, MINNESOTA 70
WEST LAFAYETE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Zach Edey set career highs with 31 points and 22 rebounds, powering Purdue past Minnesota in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
The 7-foot-4 Edey started slowly, making only one of his first seven shots. He dominated after that, finishing 11 of 23 from the field and 9 of 10 from the foul line.
Fletcher Loyer scored 20 for Purdue (8-0).
Jamison Battle led the Golden Gophers (4-4) with 21 points. Ta&rsquo;Lon Cooper added 15 points for Minnesota.
NEBRASKA 63, NO. 7 CREIGHTON 53
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Derrick Walker scored a career-high 22 points as Nebraska upset Creighton, the highest-ranked opponent the Cornhuskers have beaten on the road since 1997.
Nebraska (6-3) beat the Bluejays for the first time in 14 regular-season meetings in Omaha since 1995. Creighton (6-3) lost its third straight, with its previous two against ranked opponents.
Sam Griesel scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half and Juwan Gary finished with 12 as the Huskers turned back every comeback attempt by the Bluejays.
Francisco Farabello scored 16 points to lead the Bluejays, going 5 for 9 on 3-pointers. Baylor Scheierman and Kalkbrenner had 10 points apiece.
NO. 13 TENNESSEE 94, ALCORN STATE 40
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Olivier Nkamhoua scored 20 points and Tennessee flexed its defensive muscles in a victory over Alcorn State.
The Volunteers (7-1) also got double-digit point production from Julian Phillips (18), Jahmai Mashack (13), Uros Plavsic (12), Tyreke Key (11) and Zakai Zeigler (10).
Dominic Brewton led the Braves (3-6) with 10 points.
NO. 19 KENTUCKY 73, MICHIGAN 69
LONDON (AP) &mdash; Cason Wallace scored 14 points and Oscar Tshiebwe had a double-double to lead Kentucky over Michigan in a London showcase of two marquee American college sports teams.
Wallace was 4 of 4 on 3-point shooting with his most important one giving the Wildcats (6-2) a five-point lead with 1:11 to play.
Tshiebwe, last season&rsquo;s consensus national player of the year, scored 13 points and pulled down 14 rebounds amid foul trouble that kept him on the bench for extended spells.
Hunter Dickinson led Michigan (5-3) with 23 points and nine rebounds. Jett Howard, Michigan&rsquo;s second-leading scorer, was in early foul trouble but had 16 points for the Wolverines.
NORTHWESTERN 70, NO. 20 MICHIGAN STATE 63
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Boo Buie scored 20 points and Northwestern beat Michigan State in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Chase Audige also added 15 points and Ty Berry had 13 for Northwestern (6-3).
Mady Sossoko and A.J. Hoggard each had 12 points for Michigan State (5-3) and Joey Hauser added 10. The Spartans have lost two in a row, falling to Notre Dame earlier in the week.
NO. 21 UCLA 65, OREGON 56
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Jaylen Clark and freshman Amari Bailey scored 14 points each and UCLA rallied in the final four minutes to hold off Oregon for its fourth straight win.
The Bruins (7-2, 2-0 Pac-12) hadn&rsquo;t had a big scoring run all game until they pulled away late.
The Ducks (4-5, 1-1) had won four straight over the Bruins. Guerrier led the Ducks with 15 points and Will Richardson added 13 points.
NO. 23 IOWA STATE 71, ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 60
AMES, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Jaren Holmes scored 14 points and Aljaz Kunc added 12 as Iowa State handed St. John&rsquo;s its first loss of the season.
Kunc also contributed eight rebounds and three assists for the Cyclones (7-1). Robert Jones had 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Posh Alexander led St. John&rsquo;s (8-1) with 14 points.

A recap of Sunday's men's college basketball slate includes a handful of top-25 upsets.

Virginia Tech hands No. 18 Tar Heels fourth consecutive loss

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Aliyah Boston missed the second half of No. 1 South Carolina&rsquo;s game against Hampton on Sunday with her right foot in a walking boot, but reserves Bree Hall and Ashlyn Watkins scored 14 points each in an 85-38 win.
Kamila Cardoso added 11 points and 14 rebounds for South Carolina. It was the 6-foot-7 forward&rsquo;s eighth career double-double.
Boston, the reigning Associated Press Player of the Year, took a hard fall on a drive to the basket late in the second quarter and needed several moments to stand up. Soon after, she headed to the locker room before the period ended.
Boston did not come out for the start of the third quarter, returning to the bench midway through the period with a walking boot on her right foot. Boston spent the rest of the game cheering on her teammates, who improved to 6-0 this season and 5-0 all-time against the Pirates.
No. 2 STANFORD 68, HAWAII 39
HONOLULU (AP) &mdash; Ashten Pretchel scored 12 of her season-high 17 points in the first half to help Stanford easily defeat Hawaii on the final day of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown.
The Cardinal (7-1) erased an early deficit and held the Rainbow Wahine (1-6) to a season-low scoring output.
Pretchel came off the bench and shot 6 of 10 from the field, including hitting five 3-pointers. She also grabbed 11 rebounds.
Lily Wahinekapu led Hawaii with 12 points.
NO. 3 UCONN 86, NO. 9 IOWA 79
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Azzi Fudd scored 24 points to rally UConn past Iowa in the championship game of the first Phil Knight Legacy women&rsquo;s tournament.
Fudd had plenty of help, with Aaliyah Edwards (20 points, 13 rebounds) and three other Huskies (5-0) scoring in double-figures. Edwards was named MVP of the tournament.
Iowa (5-2) star Caitlin Clark had 25 points, and Kate Martin added 20.
Edwards got UConn off to a strong start, scoring 10 points while the Huskies built a 20-14 edge.
Clark and the Hawkeyes then surged with a 13-2 run to begin the second quarter and led 41-35 at halftime. Clark scored 17 points in the first half.
NO. 4 OHIO STATE 105, NORTH ALABAMA 67
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Rebeka Mikulasikova scored 23 points and Cotie McMahon added 20 to lead Ohio State past North Alabama.
The Buckeyes (6-0) shot 58.6% from the field as all five starters reached double figures in scoring.
North Alabama (3-3) trailed by eight points with less than eight minutes to go in the second quarter, but Ohio State extended its lead on an 11-0 run keyed by five points from Madison Greene.
The Buckeyes held a 59-37 lead at halftime and stretched it to as large as 39 with less than three minutes remaining.
No. 8 NORTH CAROLINA 73, No. 5 IOWA STATE 64
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Deja Kelly scored 29 points to power North Carolina to a 17-point comeback over Iowa State and win in the championship game of the Phil Knight Invitational tournament.
Kennedy Todd-Williams added 17 points to help the Tar Heels (6-0) complete the comeback and remain undefeated on the season. Alyssa Ustby contributed 14 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Stephanie Soares led the Cyclones (5-1) with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Ashley Joens had 18 points and nine rebounds as Iowa State suffered its first loss of the year.
NO. 11 VIRGINIA TECH 89, LONGWOOD 28
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Elizabeth Kitley had a double-double, Kayana Traylor added a double-double off the bench, and Virginia Tech rolled over Longwood.
Kitley had 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Hokies. Traylor had 11 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Ashley Owusu scored 21 points, making 4 of 5 3-pointers.
The Hokies established a program record by holding South Carolina Upstate to 24 points on Nov. 14. Longwood passed 24 points when Adriana Shipp-Davis made a layup with 4:44 remaining.
Shipp-Davis had seven rebounds for Longwood (1-5). The Lancers shot 16.7% overall, which was also their 3-point percentage (3-for-18).
NO. 14 MARYLAND 87, PITTSBURGH 63
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Abby Meyers scored 12 of her 23 points in Maryland&rsquo;s 36-point third quarter and the Terrapins rolled past Pittsburgh to finish the Ft. Myers Tip-Off.
Brinae Alexander hit three 3-pointers in the Terps&rsquo; biggest quarter of the season and was 5 of 7 from distance to finish with 17 points. Lavender Briggs contributed 10 points as the three transfers had their biggest outputs of the season for Maryland. Shyanne Sellers added 13 points for the Terrapins (6-2), who went 2-1 in the tournament.
Maryland went 7 of 10 behind the arc and shot 55% in the second half.
Maliyah Johnson had 15 points for the Panthers (5-2), who only had one less 3-pointer but was outscored by 13 at the foul line where Maryland was 20 of 23.
No. 18 OREGON 86, MICHIGAN STATE 78
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Endyia Rogers scored 19 points, including critical back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, Phillipina Kyei had a double-double with career highs and Oregon held off Michigan State in the third-place game of the Phil Knight Invitational.
The Ducks led 29-12 when Rogers scored the opening basket of the second quarter but the Spartans slowly came back behind Kamaria McDaniel, who had a season-high 28 points. McDaniel hit a 3-pointer and Matilda Ekh had a steal and layup and Michigan State tied the game with 7:17 to play.
That&rsquo;s when Rogers, who had a career-high five 3-pointers, scored from distance, the first coming after a timeout and the Ducks regained control.
Isaline Alexander scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Ekh 12 for the Spartans (6-2).
NO. 19 TEXAS 74, PRINCETON 50
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Sonya Morris scored 15 points, Taylor Jones notched a double-double and Texas breezed to a victory over Princeton.
Morris sank 5 of 10 shots from the floor with two 3-pointers for Texas (3-3). Jones finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Rori Harmon had 11 points and Aaliyah Moore scored 10.
The Longhorns picked up their second straight win after a three-game losing streak. Texas fell 16 spots in the AP poll.
Kaitlyn Chen topped Princeton (3-2) with 15 points. Julia Cunningham added 10 points. Ellie Mitchell came into the game leading the nation with 16.2 rebounds per game. She didn&rsquo;t score and had seven boards.
No. 22 MICHIGAN 84, No. 21 BAYLOR 75
ESTERO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Emily Kiser scored 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds, Laila Phelia added 20 points and Michigan scored the final 11 points to beat Baylor in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Maddie Nolan scored seven of her 12 points in a 20-5 run over the final 4-plus minutes and Leigha Brown finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists forMichigan (7-0).
Ja&rsquo;Mee Asberry scored inside to give Baylor a 75-73 lead with 2 minutes to go but Brown made a layup and, after a missed 3-point shot on the other end, grabbed her own offensive rebound and kicked it out to Phelia for a 3 that gave the Wolverines the lead for good with 48 seconds to go.
Jaden Owens scored 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting for the Bears.
NO. 23 TENNESSEE 105, EASTERN KENTUCKY 71
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Rickea Jackson scored 15 points to lead a balanced attack and Tennessee coasted to a win over Eastern Kentucky.
Jordan Horston added 14 points for the Lady Vols (4-4), Jillian Hollingshead and Tamari Key 13 each and Karoline Striplin 10. Jackson and Horston both had five assists and joined Hollingshead with eight rebounds.
Antwainette Walker scored 18 points for the Colonels (4-3).
NO. 23 VILLANOVA 72, SOUTH FLORIDA 50
ESTERO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Maddy Siegrist scored 25 points to surpass 2,000 for her career and Villanova used a hot start to beat South Florida in the third-place game at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Siegrist scored 13 points in the first half and 10 in the third quarter as the Wildcats (6-1) took a 58-36 lead. Lucy Olsen scored 10 of her 13 before the break.
Siegrist became the third player in Villanova history to reach the 2,000-point plateau when she hit a jumper at 3:46 of the third quarter to put the Wildcats up 50-31.
Sammie Puisis scored 17 points for the Bulls (7-2). Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu had 14 points with 17 rebounds &mdash; matching her career high, and Elena Tsineke scored 11.

Boston, the reigning Associated Press Player of the Year, took a hard fall on a drive to the basket late in the second quarter.

Boston hurt in No. 1 Gamecocks’ win; No. 3 UConn tops Iowa

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) &mdash; Bobby Pettiford Jr. made a twisting reverse layup off a loose rebound with 0.2 seconds left in overtime to give No. 3 Kansas a 69-68 win over Wisconsin in a Battle 4 Atlantis semifinal on Thursday.
Pettiford&rsquo;s layup marked his only points of the game, capping a thriller that saw Wisconsin rally from 15 down early in the second half.
Jalen Wilson scored 29 points and had 14 rebounds for the reigning national champion Jayhawks (6-0), and Kevin McCullar Jr. had 18 points and nine rebounds &mdash; and a 3 to force overtime.
Tyler Wahl led the Badgers (4-1) with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Most of his points came after half in what was at times a one-man comeback, including a spinning drive against a falling Wilson for a layup and a 68-67 lead with 21 seconds left.
Kansas will take on No. 22 Tennessee in the tournament title game on Friday.
NO. 1 NORTH CAROLINA 89, PORTLAND 81
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Pete Nance scored 28 points, Caleb Love added 23 and North Carolina survived an unexpected test from Portland in the opening round of the Phil Knight Invitational.
The Tar Heels (5-0) needed a late 14-3 run to finally pull away from one of the tournament&rsquo;s host schools. Love carried them in the first half with 16 points and reached the 1,000-point mark in his career, becoming the 80th North Carolina player to reach that mark.&nbsp;
Nance picked up the slack after halftime with 20 points and matched his career high in scoring set last season when he was playing for Northwestern.
Moses Wood led Portland (4-3) with 21 points.
The Tar Heels will face Iowa State in a semifinal game Friday. Portland will play Villanova in a consolation game.
NO. 8 DUKE 54, OREGON STATE 51
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Kyle Filipowski had 19 points and 14 rebounds as Duke held off a challenge from Oregon State in the opening game of the Phil Knight Legacy tournament.
Ryan Young added 11 points and 15 rebounds off the bench and was the only other Blue Devils (5-1) player to score in double figures.
Jordan Pope led the Beavers (3-2) with 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Dexter Akanno hit two 3-pointers and scored 11 points.
The Blue Devils will face Xavier in a PKL semifinal on Friday, while the Beavers will take on Florida.
NO. 6 GONZAGA 102, PORTLAND STATE 78
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Malachi Smith led six players in double figures with a season-high 23 points and No. 6 Gonzaga used a big first half to beat Portland State in the opening round of the Phil Knight Legacy tournament.
The Bulldogs (4-1) led by 27 in the first half, led 55-31 at halftime and withstood a sloppy second half.
Drew Timme scored 18 points and the only shot he missed was a dunk attempt midway through the second half. Rasir Bolton had 14 points and a career-high eight assists, while Julian Strawther, Anton Watson and Hunter Sallis all finished with 10. Gonzaga shot 60% for the game.
Jorell Saterfield led Portland State (2-3) with 21 points.
Gonzaga will face No. 24 Purdue in the semifinals Friday.
NO. 18 ALABAMA 81, NO. 12 MICHIGAN STATE 70
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Freshman Brandon Miller scored 17 of his 24 points in the first half and Alabama pulled away to beat Michigan State in the opening round of the Phil Knight Invitational.
After a rather light schedule for the first couple of weeks, Alabama (5-0) passed its first test of the season against the short-handed Spartans (3-2).
Tyson Walker led Michigan State with 21 points and A.J. Hoggard added 18.
Alabama will face No. 20 UConn in the semifinals Friday. Michigan State will play face Oregon in&nbsp;
NO. 20 UCONN 83, OREGON 59
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Tristen Newton scored 23 points, leading UConn to a win over Oregon at the Phil Knight Legacy tournament.
Jordan Hawkins scored 18 points, Adama Sanogo added 12 and Joey Calcaterra came off the bench to score 11 for the unbeaten Huskies (6-0).
Kel&rsquo;el Ware led the Ducks (2-3) with 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench. N&rsquo;faly Dante contributed 15 points.
NO. 22 TENNESSEE 73, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 66, OT
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) &mdash; Julian Phillips scored a season-high 25 points to help Tennessee hold off Southern California in overtime at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The first-year forward made 7 of 13 shots and 10 of 12 free throws to go with eight rebounds for the Volunteers (4-1), with four of those free throws coming in overtime.
Santiago Vescovi overcame a rough shooting game to hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:45 left in the extra period, while Zakai Zeigler went 4 for 4 at the line in the final 23.7 seconds left of overtime to seal the win.
Boogie Ellis scored 21 points in his second big output in as many days to lead the Trojans (4-2).
The Vols advanced to Friday&rsquo;s championship game to face No. 3 Kansas, which edged Wisconsin in overtime.
NO. 24 PURDUE 80, WEST VIRGINIA 68
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Zach Edey had 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead Purdue past West Virginia in the opening round of the Phil Knight Legacy tournament.
Mason Gillis added 14 points for the Boilermakers (4-0), and Brandon Newman came off the bench to score eight points.
Erik Stevenson scored 17 points as the Mountaineers (3-1) lost for the first time this season. Joe Toussaint added 16 points off the bench.
The Boilermakers will face the No. 6 Gonzaga on Friday in the semifinals.

A recap of the standout games on Thanksgiving Thursday was highlighted by a thriller in the Bahamas.

Pettiford’s last-second layup saves No. 3 Kansas in Bahamas

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Joel Embiid had 33 points and 10 rebounds in his return after missing three games with the flu, Georges Niang scored 21 points on 7-for-10 shooting on 3-pointers, and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Phoenix Suns 100-88 on Monday night.
Tobias Harris added 21 points and Tyrese Maxey had 11 on 4-for-18 shooting from the field to help the 76ers win for the second time in six games.
&ldquo;Our season began today,&rdquo; Embiid said. &ldquo;Everything before tonight didn&rsquo;t count. The Phillies season is over and I enjoyed watching them, and this was our first game since then, so this was the first game of the season.&rdquo;
Devin Booker scored 28 points for the Suns, who have lost two of three after winning seven of their first eight games to begin the season. Mikal Bridges had 15 points, and Cameron Payne and DeAndre Ayton each added 14.
Embiid had been struggling in practice with maintaining stamina as a result of breathing issues related to his flu recovery. He was dominant in his return, adding five assists and shooting 16-for-16 from the free-throw line in 36 minutes.
&ldquo;Forget about Joel, let&rsquo;s talk about Georges Niang,&rdquo; Harris joked after the game. &ldquo;Every time they made a run, Georges was there to make a big shot. Especially in the fourth quarter. He would stretch the lead from six to nine or seven to 10 and eventually it deflated them.&rdquo;
Niang helped keep the Suns at bay as they tried to rally from a 19-point deficit. Damion Lee's 3-pointer pulled Phoenix to 78-74 early in the fourth quarter. However, Niang made three 3s as the 76ers closed with a 22-14 run the rest of the way.
&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t give him the respect he deserves,&rdquo; Suns coach Monty Williams said. &ldquo;I think 75 percent of his shots come from 3. We&rsquo;re a shift team, but we shifted off of him too much.&rdquo;
Niang missed the only 2-point shot he attempted.
LET&rsquo;S GET PHYSICAL
Both Philadelphia and Phoenix play physical, and the tempo was set early with the officials letting the teams play with a little more contact than usual.
Still, the two teams combined for 41 personal fouls, with six players picking up four fouls or more.
Harris and Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers praised De&rsquo;Anthony Melton, who was tasked with guarding Booker for much of the night, but it was Embiid who called Melton a &ldquo;monster&rdquo; defensively.
Despite Booker's scoring total and Melton picking up five fouls, Melton finished plus-12 while on the floor and Booker was minus-9.
TIP-INS
76ers: Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers was preaching patience &ndash; even with his own coaching staff &ndash; when it comes to Maxey filling in for the injured James Harden at point guard. He said that as talented as he is, Maxey is still young and is sometimes missing the plays that the Sixers have designed. &ldquo;When I was playing, if a player wasn&rsquo;t where he&rsquo;s supposed to be, I&rsquo;d pull it back out and tell my teammate where to go,&rdquo; Rivers said. &ldquo;Tyrese isn&rsquo;t seeing yet. He&rsquo;ll still try to make the play and make a turnover. Those are the little things you have to live with right now." ... F Danuel House Jr. remained out with flu symptoms.
Suns: G Chris Paul started the game, but gingerly left the court in the second period and did not return to the lineup. According to the Suns, Paul was dealing with right heel soreness. He had two points, two assists, two rebounds and two steals in 13:45.
UP NEXT
Suns: At Minnesota on Wednesday night.
76ers: At Atlanta on Thursday night.

Joel Embiid had 33 points and 10 rebounds in his return after missing three games with the flu.

Embiid has double-double in return, 76ers beat Suns 100-88

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; James Harden and the 76ers watched plenty of their bad plays on film during recent practices. The clips magnified the results on the court.
&ldquo;I felt like we were 0-82,&rdquo; Harden said.
They don't have to worry about that now.
Harden had 29 points and 11 assists, and Joel Embiid scored 26 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to their first win of the season, 120-106 over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.
The Sixers started 0-3, dropping the first two games to Eastern Conference contenders Boston and Milwaukee. Embiid dropped 40 points in a loss to San Antonio as the Sixers still joined Orlando as the only East teams at 0-3.
&ldquo;We've got to continue to work, continue to build really good habits and live with the results,&rdquo; Harden said.
Harden made 10 of 18 shots from the floor and hit two straight 3s in the fourth that pushed the lead to 109-95.
&ldquo;I'm trying to create the best shot available,&rdquo; Harden said.
The Sixers put the smack down on the Pacers from the jump and a little bit of something from everyone to cruise into the win column. The Sixers had six players each hit one 3-pointer in the first quarter. They made 12 of 22 shots in the second and raced to a 19-point lead. Harden and Tobias Harris combined for nine of Philadelphia's 19 3-pointers.
&ldquo;We have a team that can shoot 3s, right? if you&rsquo;re open, shoot them,&rdquo; Rivers said.
Harris hit four 3s and scored 18 points.
&ldquo;People don't talk about Tobias Harris enough,&rdquo; Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. &ldquo;He's a tremendous player.&rdquo;
Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers with 19 points and 10 assists. Buddy Hield had 18 points.
The good news for Philly, the Sixers didn&rsquo;t need much out of Embiid. The reigning NBA scoring champion, Embiid said over the weekend his offseason were slowed by a battle of plantar fasciitis (pain under the heel and foot). Embiid said he essentially shut down all physical activity for two months headed into training camp and said he was still &ldquo;trying to work my way back.&rdquo;
He threw down a <a href="https://twitter.com/sixers/status/1584709915074969600">thunderous right-handed baseline dunk</a> late in the third that woke up a quiet crowd.
&ldquo;I liked his patience,&rdquo; Rivers said. &ldquo;This is one of those games, you haven&rsquo;t won a game, they were trapping him every time. He just kept moving it. There was no rush. I just liked how he approached the game.&rdquo;
The good news for the Sixers, their slow start was lost in the Philly sports shuffle among the Phillies trip to the World Series, the Eagles&rsquo; 6-0 start and the Union&rsquo;s run to the Eastern Conference final.
Plus, it&rsquo;s early and Rivers believed the Sixers can straighten out and contend rather than fall into a long losing streak.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen talent,&rdquo; Rivers said. &ldquo;It just has to match and work. I just like our guys in the locker room. There&rsquo;s no reason to believe the other way, personally.&rdquo;
Rivers, in his third season as Philadelphia&rsquo;s coach, added the Sixers still have to shore up some weaknesses to become the kind of team that can make a run in the East.
&ldquo;We may go on a run. Even if we do, we&rsquo;re not ready yet to be that team,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just going to take time.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Pacers: Made only 12 of 44 3-point attempts. ... The Pacers did have a 30-30 fourth against the 76ers but they could not stop Harden.
&ldquo;I think everyone that plays Philadelphia has got to figure out what they're willing to live with,&rdquo; Carlisle said.
76ers: G Shake Milton made his season debut in the second quarter. Milton, once seen as a second-unit spark, is in his fifth season with the Sixers. He did not score in 6 minutes. ... G De&rsquo;Anthony Melton scored all of his season-high 11 points in the first half.
UP NEXT
Pacers: Continue their road with games against Chicago (Wednesday), Washington (Friday), and consecutive games in Brooklyn on Saturday and Monday.
76ers: Play consecutive games in Toronto on Wednesday and Friday.

James Harden had 29 points and 11 assists, and Joel Embiid scored 26 points to lead the 76ers to their first win of the season, 120-106 over the Indiana Pacers

Harden, Embiid lead 76ers past Pacers 120-106 for first win

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) &mdash; Jay Wright famously mouthed &ldquo;bang&rdquo; after Kris Jenkins won the 2016 national championship on a buzzer beater. Wright went back to the catchphrase well this month in his latest motivational video --- &ldquo;just when you think you know what&rsquo;s going to happen, bang&rdquo; -- for the Philadelphia Union.
Wright squeezed in the extra work when he wasn&rsquo;t rooting for the Phillies in a playoff game. Or as he acted as an adviser for Eagles coach Nick Sirianni. Wright even gave the commencement speech at Villanova&rsquo;s spring graduation.
The former Wildcats coach has been spotted just about everywhere in the city since his stunning retirement at the end of last season.
His successor wouldn&rsquo;t mind if Wright&rsquo;s travels lead him back to the practice court.
&ldquo;I try and beg him to come around,&rdquo; Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said.
The Hall of Fame coach has tried to stay out of the spotlight on campus and let the 37-year-old Neptune find his own way with the program.
Much like Hubert Davis at North Carolina and Jon Scheyer at Duke, Neptune takes over a program that has hummed along as one of the nation&rsquo;s best and expectations are as high as the championship banners that hang in the rafters. Wright won two of them -- and led Villanova to two more Final Fours, including last season -- before he stepped down and essentially made Neptune his hand-picked choice to keep championships coming.
Neptune certainly knows Wright&rsquo;s blueprint following a lengthy stint that started in 2008 as a video coordinator and ended with him as the longest-tenured member on the coaching staff that won the 2016 and 2018 national championships. While some new coaches in any sport often try and shy away from comparisons to their successful predecessors, Neptune has embraced Wright&rsquo;s methodology in building a Big East behemoth.
&ldquo;I never focused on not being him,&rdquo; Neptune said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a Hall of Famer. To me, the best coach in college basketball the last 10 years. I would like to be a lot like him.&rdquo;
A season ago, Villanova posted a 30-8 overall record and advanced to its third Final Four since 2016. It also won the Big East Tournament title, the ninth consecutive season in which it claimed a regular season or league tourney crown. Neptune went 16-16 in his lone season at Fordham, an Atlantic 10 program with just four NCAA Tournament appearances.
Neptune said it was easy to slide back into the program after a year away.
&ldquo;I think I learned to cherish how unique our players are,&rdquo; Neptune said. &ldquo;How locked in they are every day for what we do and not take that for granted. No knock against anyone at Fordham, but they just didn&rsquo;t know exactly what we were looking to do.&rdquo;
The Wildcats are again dotted with likely all-Big East picks and future NBA draft picks. The coach might not be the same -- but the winning streaks should have a familiar feel.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not trying to say I&rsquo;ll do exactly the same thing. It just so happens that so much of what this place is, I believe in,&rdquo; Neptune said. &ldquo;So much of what coach Wright did, I believe in, as well. That&rsquo;s why it will probably look very similar.&rdquo;
DEMOTED RANKS
Villanova was picked to finish third in the Big East by the league&rsquo;s coaches. It&rsquo;s the first time since 2013-14 that the Wildcats were not picked first or second. Villanova is No. 16 in the AP Top 25, the lowest preseason ranking for the Wildcats since 2008.
MOORE PROBLEMS
Justin Moore still has no timetable for a return as he recovers from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in the Elite Eight win over Houston. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 34.4 minutes, 14.8 points and 4.8 rebounds. He was a second-team All-Big East selection.
&ldquo;When it first happened, I couldn&rsquo;t grasp what was going on,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When I got back home, I got to relax, sit down with my family and friends and take into account what was really going on.&rdquo;
Moore said he won&rsquo;t come back until he&rsquo;s &ldquo;110%&rdquo; and has done light individual workouts and other non-contact drills. Neptune said Moore &ldquo;looks fine to me&rdquo; but that team doctors will decide when he can return.
CAM DO
Cam Whitmore is the Big East pick to be Freshman of the Year but he is likely to miss the start of the season after recent surgery on his right thumb. Whitmore, a 2022 McDonald&rsquo;s All-American, was injured in practice earlier this month.
SCHEDULE
The Wildcats open the season Nov. 7 against coach Fran Dunphy and La Salle. It&rsquo;s another Big 5 team Nov. 11 against Temple. Villanova will face Tom Izzo&rsquo;s Michigan State team on Nov. 18 in one of the major attractions of the seventh Gavitt Tipoff Games.

Much like Hubert Davis at UNC and Jon Scheyer at Duke, Kyle Neptune takes over a team that has been one of the nation’s best.

Villanova moves on from Wright with former assistant Neptune

Tennessee finally ended a decades-long drought last season. Coach Rick Barnes just might have a better team this time around trying to do something that the Volunteers have never managed.
Final Four, anyone?
The biggest knock on Barnes is his teams&rsquo; struggles to go deep in the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee hasn&rsquo;t reached a regional final since 2010 when the Vols lost by a point to Michigan State, and Barnes is the fourth different coach trying to end that skid.
Last March, the Volunteers won the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship for the first time since 1979 and finished fifth in the final AP Top 25 poll. Then they lost to 11th-seeded Michigan by 10 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for a 27-8 record.
Barnes certainly has a more experienced squad with two of the three Volunteers who tested their NBA draft stock among nine players back this season. Tennessee starts this season ranked 11th.
&ldquo;Obviously we&rsquo;re counting on the leadership that we had a year ago to pick up not only where it left off but take it to another level, and there&rsquo;s not one person in the program that doesn&rsquo;t have to get better some way, some how,&rdquo; Barnes said.
FIVE-STAR OUT, FIVE-STAR IN
Tennessee lost guard Kennedy Chandler to the NBA after one season when his hometown Memphis Grizzlies traded up to get him from San Antonio at No. 38 overall. Now Barnes has 6-foot-8 forward Julian Phillips, and the Tennessee coach says he doesn&rsquo;t think Phillips is thinking one and done for now.&nbsp;
Barnes said Phillips has sought out their director of sports performance Garret Medenwald and has been a dream to coach with no sense of entitlement.
&ldquo;Talk to him or even his family, his circle of trust, they&rsquo;ll tell you there&rsquo;ll be a time to make those decisions,&rdquo; Barnes said. &ldquo;I can tell you we&rsquo;re excited and he&rsquo;s happy he&rsquo;s with us because he gives us another guy who gives us terrific versatility. ... He&rsquo;s got a wealth of talent.&rdquo;
NO NBA FOR NOW
The Vols have returning starters in guards Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi. They are a big reason why Tennessee has 58.3% of its scoring from last season back, trailing only Georgia and Texas A&amp;M in that category.
WIth Zakai Zeigler back for his second season, the Vols have three of their top four scorers back. Vescovi averaged 13.3 points a game, James had 10.3 and Zeigler 8.8. Vescovi joined Chris Lofton as the only Vols in program history to make 100 or more 3s in a single season with 102.
REPLACING FULKERSON
Fans will have to get used to not seeing 6-9 John Fulkerson, who has wrapped up his college career after six seasons, one of seven players gone from last season&rsquo;s roster. The Vols have plenty of options to replace him and bulk up inside at the same time.
Olivier Nkamhoua is back after season-ending surgery on his left ankle in early February. Barnes said Nkamhoua benefited from playing with Finland over the summer. The Vols also have 7-1 Uros Plavsic along with 6-11 Jonas Aidoo.
TOUGH SCHEDULE
As if playing in the SEC isn&rsquo;t challenging enough, Barnes upped the ante. The Vols will play No. 2 Gonzaga in an exhibition Oct. 28, helping raise money for the McLendon Foundation to help minorities wanting to work in athletic administration. That adds to a slate featuring six AP Top 25 preseason teams.
Tennessee will play Colorado in Nashville on Nov. 13 and host Florida Gulf Coast. The Vols will play Butler and either BYU or Southern Cal in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Other nonconference games include Maryland in the Hall of Fame Invitational and a trip to Arizona on Dec. 17.
The SEC slate starts Dec. 28 against Mississippi. Barnes will coach against his old team Texas in Knoxville on Jan. 28 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The SEC Tournament is back in Nashville starting March 8, where the Vols will hope for a repeat.

Last March, the Volunteers won the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship for the first time since 1979.

Barnes, Tennessee shooting for more than SEC tourney title

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Tyrese Maxey spent his summer on a tour worthy of a rock band.
He turned up at gyms, high schools, and in California and Texas and even at Phillies and Union MLS games. Rest? Not a lot of it. Maxey burned the wick to the point where the 76ers coaching staff considered an intervention.
Take a breather, Ty.
His response: Thanks, but no thanks.
Joel Embiid and James Harden are the super-sized salaried franchise players that are expected to carry Philadelphia deep into championship contention in coach Doc Rivers&rsquo; third season. But the 6-foot-2 Maxey is trying to wedge his way into All-Star talk and possibly form a true Big 3 with his more famous &ldquo;big brothers&rdquo; (as he calls Embiid and Harden). His joyous attitude, wide smile, and fan friendliness made him one of Philadelphia&rsquo;s most popular athletes in less than three seasons. His 17.5 points last season and postseason success -- carrying the team when Embiid was injured -- made him one of the Sixers&rsquo; most vital cogs as they try and win their first NBA title since 1983.
The group isn&rsquo;t bad. Well, at least a starting five that can rival the best in the NBA with Embiid, Harden, Maxey, holdover Tobias Harris and <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-76ers-miami-heat-nba-sports-doc-rivers-21d4dd3487d97940a85250d97ef5284e">veteran free-agent pickup P.J. Tucker.</a> Embiid is the reigning NBA scoring champion -- and new American citizen -- and Harden is trying to prove the hamstring injuries that hampered his effectiveness in 21 regular-season games with the Sixers are behind him.
Maxey has used the preseason as a showcase for his summer work -- his motto is getting better by 1% every day. His shooting percentages are growing at a more rapid rate. He shot 79% through the first three preseason games and hit three 3-pointers in a game against Cleveland.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not really worried about individual accolades,&rdquo; Maxey said. &ldquo;One of the main things I really focused on was trying to become a better leader. I feel like I have this personality where I&rsquo;m always smiling, I&rsquo;m always happy. I work extremely hard. I try to push my teammates. I try to push them all the time.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s Maxey&rsquo;s push that could thrust the Sixers into an NBA championship.
HOPEFUL HARDEN
Harden took a roughly $14 million pay cut when he declined a $47.4 million option for this season and <a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-76ers-nba-sports-basketball-69223d67d321b31c99d8c9eaf42e7d54">signed a new two-year deal</a> that will earn him a still-massive $33 million this season. Harden said he turned down the option so the Sixers could use the extra money to sign free agents. The Sixers did -- and the NBA launched an ongoing tampering investigation into Harden&rsquo;s decision and the ensuing transactions.
The 33-year-old is starting his first full season with the 76ers. The 10-time All-Star said he has snapped out of the &ldquo;tough times, lot of dark moments&rdquo; that plagued him the last couple of seasons as he dealt with injuries.
He lost weight -- he joked 100 pounds -- and seems in better condition for the long grind of the season.
&ldquo;I feel like this is my first year,&rdquo; Harden said.
FANDUEL PICKS
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nba?tab=conf-div-winners" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FanDuel Sportsbook</a> put the 76ers at 16-1 to win the NBA championship, with only Boston, Milwaukee and Brooklyn out of the East with better odds at winning a championship. Embiid has 7-1 odds to win NBA MVP, he was the runner-up each of the last two seasons.
SCHEDULE STACKED
The Sixers didn&rsquo;t get any easy ones to start the season. The Sixers open the season Tuesday at Boston and then return to Philadelphia for the home opener against Milwaukee on Thursday. The Sixers also get a spotlight Christmas game at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks. The Sixers can only hope they&rsquo;re on 50-win pace as they head into March. The Sixers open the month with five straight road games, at Miami, Dallas, Milwaukee, Indiana and Minnesota. The Sixers play 17 games in March.

Maxey shot 79% through the first three preseason games and hit three 3-pointers in a game against Cleveland.

76ers counting on Tyrese Maxey to form Big 3 with Harden, Embiid

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Plenty of people have called for NCAA Tournament expansion. Count ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips among them.
Phillips said Wednesday at the ACC Tipoff that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s time to look at&rdquo; expanding the field beyond the 68 teams currently invited to the Big Dance each March.
Phillips believes the NCAA&rsquo;s best tournaments are the ones that feature the most schools. That&rsquo;s part of why he&rsquo;s hopeful of eventual expansion, not just for the men&rsquo;s event but for all NCAA championships.
Increasing the field also brings rewards for those &ldquo;schools that are spending a tremendous amount of resources in sports and not having a chance to access those championships,&rdquo; he said.
Currently, just 68 of 358 men&rsquo;s basketball programs qualify for the men&rsquo;s NCAAs &mdash; 32 conference champions and 36 at-large teams picked by the selection committee. Phillips said the logistics of staging a bigger tournament need to be worked out.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has advocated for more teams in the field the past 30 years. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been knocked down every year I&rsquo;ve brought it up,&rdquo; said the 77-year-old Boeheim. &ldquo;I stopped bringing it up. Everybody thought I was an idiot.&rdquo;
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey projects adding three more First Four pods &mdash; one for each region &mdash; could work and take the field up to 80.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s throw three more Daytons in, regionalize it up and play it out, let some more kids get in there,&rdquo; Brey said.
Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton wants to double the field &mdash; and double the experience for athletes who work hard all year for their moment in March. &ldquo;Do you realize how it would be an opportunity for all these youngsters to participate in the NCAA Tournament?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the greatest games in history.&rdquo;
BACOT BACK
North Carolina&rsquo;s Armando Bacot could&rsquo;ve easily jumped to the NBA, especially after leading the Tar Heels to the NCAA championship game last season. Instead, the 6-foot-11 senior wanted another run to finish the job.
Bacot, a likely pick for ACC preseason player of the year, was among four Tar Heels who held off going pro in the wake of their 72-69 title-game loss to Kansas in the NCAA Tournament in April. North Carolina was up 40-25 at halftime before the Jayhawks&rsquo; rallied.
For Bacot, it was a difficult outcome that fueled his decision to return. He doesn&rsquo;t spend much time thinking about the NBA, concentrating on improving his game and helping the Tar Heels win.
&ldquo;Going through last year with our ups and downs,&rdquo; Bacot said. &ldquo;Our ups were really high and a lot of fun. Just being able to experience that for a full year was a no-brainer.&rdquo;
PERFECT YOUNG
Virginia Tech coach Mike Young led his Hokies to a surprise ACC Tournament title last March, defeating second-seeded Notre Dame in the quarterfinals, third-seeded North Carolina in the semis and top-seeded Duke, 82-67, for the school&rsquo;s first-ever tournament crown.
That improved Young&rsquo;s record to 6-0 in tournament finals. Young, beginning his fourth season at Virginia Tech, won all five Southern Conference championship games he reached during 16 seasons leading Wofford.
The secret? Don&rsquo;t change anything. &ldquo;We all know what&rsquo;s at stake,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s go have a good time, lay our ears back and let it rip.&rdquo;
DUKE INJURY
Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said prize freshman Dariq Whitehead is progressing well about six weeks into recovery from a foot injury.
Whitehead is a 6-foot-7 forward from Newark, New Jersey, who was rated the country&rsquo;s No. 2 prospect by ESPN this past recruiting season.
Whitehead is entering the next phase of his recovery where he&rsquo;s able to get out on the court more, Scheyer said. The first-year coach can&rsquo;t yet say when Whitehead will be ready to play, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;s progressing in a great way and he&rsquo;s working hard, and I know he&rsquo;s anxious to be out here with these guys practicing every day.&rdquo;
PASTNER TIME
Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner is excited about &mdash; well, everything.
He thinks the ACC is deep and great. His players are smart and hardworking. And his school is a leader in the space industry.
&ldquo;They found water on Mars from Georgia Tech,&rdquo; said Pastner, bragging on 14 Tech grads who&rsquo;ve been to space. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s amazing about this school. It&rsquo;s incredible.&rdquo;
Pastner gushed that he thinks North Carolina should be ranked No. 1 nationally to start the season. He also would pick Virginia as the league&rsquo;s best team. &ldquo;I know it sounds crazy when I say this,&rdquo; said Pastner, opening his seventh year with the Yellow Jackets.&nbsp;

Phillips believes the NCAA’s best tournaments are the ones that feature the most schools.

ACC Commisioner Phillips: Time to expand NCAA’s Big Dance

The NBA Replay Center has a new leader.
Kane Fitzgerald, who spent 13 years working as an NBA referee, has been announced as the league’s new vice president of referee operations and replay center principal. He’s replacing another former referee in Jason Phillips, who left the job after three years.
The 41-year-old Fitzgerald officially started his new job Sunday at the opening of the league’s annual preseason referee meetings.
“I’ve always kind of been excited about new challenges, and it’s a rare opportunity that you can come off the floor as a referee and find a position in the NBA of this magnitude,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m excited about the challenge, something new, something different, seeing if I can grow into the role and being as successful as I was on the floor.”
Fitzgerald worked his way up the ranks steadily throughout his on-court career. At 18, he was officiating high school games in his native New Jersey, introduced to the job by his father — who has been a referee for 49 years and is still working games.
From there, Fitzgerald did stints at the college level — the Big South, Atlantic Sun and Ohio Valley conferences — before two years in the WNBA and four more in the G League. He was picked to work four NBA Finals games, the last of those coming this past season in the Boston-Golden State series.
At that time, he had no idea this opportunity would present itself.
“Kane’s broad experience and distinguished record as an NBA official make him well suited to oversee our efforts to maintain the highest of standards for the NBA Replay Center,” said Byron Spruell, the NBA’s President for League Operations. “We are fortunate that he will bring his skills and expertise to such an important leadership position.”
In his new role, Fitzgerald will oversee the day-to-day operations of the NBA Replay Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. He also will be involved with referee operations in ways such as creating training videos and interpreting the rules of the game for officials, teams, broadcasters and media.
The move allows Fitzgerald to have a more normal schedule with his family. The work will remain demanding and travel will still be involved — his home is in Florida now, the job is in New Jersey — but not officiating 50 or more games a year will bring a better work-life balance.
“I’ve probably had Christmas on Christmas Day maybe five out of the last 17 years,” Fitzgerald said. “And last year was the first year I was ever home for Thanksgiving. So, there will be some very positive changes for the family with this schedule.”
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Fitzgerald is replacing another former referee in Jason Phillips, who left the job after three years.

Kane Fitzgerald taking over NBA's replay center operations

Shabazz Muhammad hasn't played in an NBA game since the 2017-18 season, but the No. 14 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft is looking to make a comeback.
After recently working out for the Sacramento Kings in Las Vegas, Muhammad is also expected to work out for the Los Angeles Lakers soon, according to <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-rumors-jamal-murray-reggie-bullock-lakers-celtics-timberwolves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HoopsHype's Mike Scotto</a>.
In recent years, the 29-year-old wing has had stints in China and the Phillippines. Last season, he suited up with the San Miguel Beerman for four games, averaging 35.3 points, 18.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 threes and 1.0 block while shooting 47.6% from the field. His best game was a 57-point, 19-rebound performance where he helped his team overcome a 26-point deficit to beat the Meralco Bolts.
Over the course of his five-year NBA career, Muhammad has suited up with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks, averaging 9.0 points and 2.8 rebounds on .473/.319/.751 shooting splits.
During his most-recent NBA stint, he played 11 games for the Bucks, averaging 8.5 points and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 55.2% from the field, 37.5% from three and 89.5% from the free-throw line.&nbsp;

Shabazz Muhammad hasn't played in an NBA game since the 2017-18 season, but the 29-year-old is looking to make a comeback.

Lakers expected to work out Shabazz Muhammad

PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; James Harden saw the fake beards dangling from chins, oversized cutouts of his head waving above outstretched arms and heard 76ers fans shouting from the stands that they loved him.
Harden knew from his first step on the court that his nearly 14-month, three-team journey &mdash; that he in large part orchestrated &mdash; brought him exactly where he wanted to play.
&ldquo;I just wanted to come out there and show my love back,&rdquo; Harden said.
Much like the bushy beard that defines his image, Harden has grown on the 76ers.
Harden had a packed house in a frenzy from the moment he was introduced as &ldquo;making his Philadelphia home debut,&rdquo; then flashed his MVP form with 26 points, nine assists and nine rebounds to lead the 76ers to a 123-108 win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.
Joel Embiid had 27 points and 12 rebounds. Tyrese Maxey scored 25 points.
&ldquo;We all just fit together,&rdquo; Embiid said.
But the night belonged to the Beard.
The Sixers moved to 3-0 with Harden in the lineup and his dynamic duo hookup with Embiid has suddenly stamped the Sixers as legitimate contenders in the Eastern Conference.
&ldquo;I feel like you can put me anywhere in the room and I can fit in,&rdquo; Harden said. &ldquo;Here is no different. Just see what you have and try your best to fit in. Be the best James Harden I can be in every aspect.&rdquo;
Harden needed time to warm up to the new digs. His first points came with 5:32 left in the first quarter on, naturally, an and-1 conversion. He followed that with, yup, his step-back 3 to give him five fast points.
There was much more to showcase.
He scored 13 points in the second quarter and had fans shooting video on their phones.
Philly&rsquo;s hype for the new arrival rivaled the anticipated first games over the last 25 years of Terrell Owens (Eagles) and Bryce Harper (Phillies). The Wells Fargo Center was jammed with 21,333 fans and tickets for a top seat -- not far off from rapper Meek Mill&rsquo;s courtside view -- were sold for thousands on the secondary market.
Even director M. Night Shyamalan attended for the city&rsquo;s biggest happening on the sports scene.
&ldquo;It felt like a playoff atmosphere,&rdquo; Embiid said. &rdquo;I&rsquo;ve given a lot of credit to Philly fans over the years and they&rsquo;ve always come through, win or lose.&rdquo;
The masks came off -- and the beards went on. With Philadelphia dropping the indoor mask mandate, Sixers fans had faces clear to buy the $5 fake beards in team merchandise stores. The Sixers seemingly could have paid Harden&rsquo;s salary on the amount of his gear sold alone before tipoff. Fans packed the stores and stands and picked up the new No. 1 jerseys, socks and T-shirts emblazoned with Harden&rsquo;s image.
Sixers fans wore his jersey as they hanged over the tunnel to the locker room and waited for Harden to run out onto the court. With about an hour left in warmups, Harden emerged to a big ovation. He shot 3s and joked with coaches and teammates, oblivious to the expectations ahead.
Sixers coach Doc Rivers has built winners with Hall of Famers and All-Stars on his roster and understands the need to shut out the frenzy that followed Harden&rsquo;s debut.
&ldquo;I do the same job, the same work. It&rsquo;s just that more people notice,&rdquo; Rivers said. &ldquo;I think when you get a guy like James and Joel together with what we have, with all of our other guys, our guys sense it, too. Not the hoopla, though. It&rsquo;s that they have a real shot. You don&rsquo;t get many of these.&rdquo;
The Knicks, losers of 13 of 15 games, led at halftime and kept the lead early in the third. Embiid twice hit 3s that brought the Sixers within one. Then Philly got going. Maxey scored 11 points in the quarter and the Sixers outscored the Knicks 38-19 to finally grab the lead for good. Embiid, Maxey and even Georges Niang each hit two 3s in the quarter.
TIP-INS
Knicks: New York is 9-20 against opponents over .500. ... Kentucky coach John Calipari reunited for a brief chat with his former player, Julius Randle. ... RJ Barrett scored 30 points.
&ldquo;I just want us to lock into improvement. come in every day, put everything you have into it,&rdquo; Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s where our focus has to lie right now. We&rsquo;ve got to get over the hump and close the games out. That&rsquo;s our challenge. Keep growing, keep getting better ,learn from mistakes.&rdquo;
76ers: Harden hit two 3-pointers. Ben Simmons, the All-Star he was traded from Brooklyn for, made five total in his four-year 76ers&rsquo; career.
WILT&rsquo;S 100
The 76ers celebrated the 60th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain&rsquo;s 100-point game. On March 2, 1962, at the Hershey Sports Arena, Chamberlain shot 36 of 63 from the floor and an un-Wilt-like 28 of 32 from the free throw line. He played all 48 minutes in the Philadelphia Warriors&rsquo; 169-147 win over the Knicks. Members of Chamberlain&rsquo;s family helped ring the pregame bell.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
BOOS TO BOOZE
Stateside Vodka, a Philly-based vodka company, had offered $25 gift cards as part of a trade-in for old Simmons jerseys. The company said Wednesday it received 352 jerseys that were donated to shelters in Brooklyn.
UP NEXT
76ers: Host Cleveland on Friday.
Knicks: Open a six-game road trip -- though the final game is in Brooklyn -- on Friday in Phoenix.

Harden flashed his MVP form with 26 points, 9 assists and 9 rebounds to lead the 76ers to a 123-108 win over the Knicks.

Harden shines in Philly home debut with 26 points vs Knicks

I can't help but love a good rebuilding basketball team.
Maybe it's the romantic MyLeague player in me, who spent hours trading 2026 draft picks and using Untapped Potential camps (if you know, you know) to turn a roster of under-25 players into a dynasty. But watching a young core struggle, learn and adjust to the NBA game never gets old. When those glimpses of the future sneak out, they make every loss seem worthwhile.
That's where I'm at with the Orlando Magic, who have become one of the most fun bottom-feeders in the NBA. The Magic, at 2-8, aren't exactly lighting up the league. But three prospects in particular have stood out in surprising fashion, giving fans even more optimism that this core can contend down the road.
Second-year guard Cole Anthony is the first and most obvious young talent on breakout watch. Anthony has been a simply phenomenal shot-maker &mdash; even beyond what I realized.
According to NBA Stats, the 2020 No. 15 pick is shooting 48.4% on pull-up threes &mdash; tops in the entire league among players with at least 20 attempts. Among 119 players with at least 20 pull-up attempts from anywhere on the court, Anthony's Effective Field Goal percentage is tied for fourth-best with Darius Garland (59.8%).
Overall, Anthony's perimeter game has taken a dramatic leap. He's shooting 7.7 threes per game compared to just 3.7 as a rookie, and his three-point attempt rate (the percentage of his shot attempts that are threes) has skyrocketed from 31.2% to 50.7%. Anthony has whittled down his rookie mid-range game and traded it in for a three-point fireball.
Per Cleaning the Glass, Anthony has jumped from the 19th percentile among guards in points per shot attempt as a rookie to the 66th percentile this season. That's massive. And even though Anthony himself is not massive (6-foot-2), his 7.5 rebounds per game rank fourth-most among all guards, behind only Russell Westbrook, Luka Doncic and Dejounte Murray. Altogether, it's been an extremely fun start for Anthony, and he's still very much a work in progress.
Anthony shares the starting backcourt with No. 5 overall rookie Jalen Suggs, who is enduring his fair share of bumps as he adapts to the NBA. But Orlando's other rookie lottery pick has come out firing.
Franz Wagner has already made 20 total catch-and-shoot threes per NBA Stats, which is tied for the 10th-most in the entire league. He's done so at a very respectable 40.8% clip, and is shooting 39.6% from three overall. Wagner is also finishing an impressive 71.4% of his attempts at the rim, and to the delight of analytics folks, has not attemped a single long two-pointer all season.
He's not Mikal Bridges, but Wagner can very clearly fill a Bridges-like offensive role as a sharpshooter who can effectively attack the basket off-ball. Orlando is 17.1 points per 100 possessions better when the eighth overall pick is on the court. Sects of Draft Twitter were extremely high on Wagner throughout the summer. I concede I was not, and am happily wrong so far.
Speaking of efficiency... Mo Bamba, everybody.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
NBA players finishing at over 70% in the restricted area and 40% on threes (min. 20 attempts of each): - Mikal Bridges (87.5%/44.0%) - Nikola Jokic (78.0%/40.6%) - RJ Barrett (77.8%/42.9%) - Mo Bamba (77.8%/40.6%) Some elite efficiency 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/iv1d9rS8eX">pic.twitter.com/iv1d9rS8eX</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1455909816380051466?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2021</a></blockquote>

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

Bamba has made 40% of his catch-and-shoot three-pointers. And while he's technically dipped under the original stat, the 23-year-old is still canning 39% of his career-high 4.1 three-point attempts per game. The former fifth overall pick also continues to be a forceful rim-protector; his 3.4% block rate is in the 86th percentile at his position, per Cleaning the Glass.
There's a level of surprise to all three of these breakouts. The public had come pretty close to slapping the "bust" label on Bamba after three seasons glued to the bench behind Nikola Vucevic. Anthony appeared to be much more of a long-term project after last season, and Wagner was frequently overshadowed by his pre-draft counterpart in Suggs.
But all three are delivering, particularly as scorers. It's an exciting development for an Orlando franchise that has lacked shooting depth for the better part of a decade. In fact, Orlando hasn't yielded an above-average offensive rating (by Cleaning the Glass standards) or a top-10 team-wide eFG% since 2011-12.
Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz are still working to get back into the fold. Chuma Okeke and Wendell Carter Jr. are finally stringing some healthy contests together. The Magic have turned me from "intrigued" to "Christmas morning excitement" with this season's early developments, and the best should be yet to come.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I find in the void):
<ul>
<li>One more thing on the Magic: Orlando led the league in three-point rate for five straight seasons from 2007-2012 &mdash; when Dwight Howard was on the team! Props to Ryan Anderson, Hedo Turkoglu, JJ Redick, Mickael Pietrus, Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis.</li>
<li>Malcolm Brogdon continues to fly under the radar. The talented Pacer point guard drives 23.2 times per game and dishes out 3.5 assists per game on drives &mdash; both tops in the NBA. He's even leading the league in passes made per game (68.8)m and is fourth in potential assists per game (16.3).</li>
<li>Stealing this one from our own Jackson Frank: 96% (49 out of 51) of Julius Randle's assists this season have been on at-rim makes or threes. That's a testament to many things: Randle's improved facilitating, the Knicks' improved perimeter presence and perhaps an overall stronger offensive focus. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-bizarro-world-new-york-knicks-reside-in-the-big-apple-these-days" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Go read his story for more</a> on this because it's phenomenal.</li>
<li>Congrats to Owen Phillips (@<a href="https://twitter.com/owenlhjphillips" target="_blank" rel="noopener">owenlhjphillips</a>) on getting a job with the Knicks' coaching analytics department! He's been my gold standard of stats gurus; I highly recommend you check out his Twitter and Substack. Phillips creates relevant, unique, understandable data visualizations, which is all you could ask for.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Ethan Fuller takes a look at exciting young Orlando players and Malcolm Brogdon in his latest Stats Notebook.