Hawks

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Miller heated up and so did Alabama, which avoided the fate of two other top NCAA Tournament seeds and brushed aside Maryland 73-51 behind a dominant second half on Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide (31-5) advanced to their second Sweet 16 in the past three tournaments and ninth overall. Alabama will face&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-furman-san-diego-state-7fe292dc79cd3e7d2fa2fbd146e1698b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fifth-seeded San Diego State</a>&nbsp;in the South Region semifinals in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday.
Before the game even tipped off, two top seeds &mdash; Purdue and defending national champion Kansas &mdash; had gone down, and No. 1 seed Houston trailed Tide rival Auburn by 10 points at halftime earlier at Legacy Arena before pulling away.
Alabama and Miller got off to a slow start but the All-America freshman and top NBA prospect wound up with 19 points after going scoreless in the first-round game. Miller is nursing a groin injury and missed his first nine shots of the tournament.
Jahvon Quinerly scored 22 points on the&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-notre-dame-defeats-alabama-1c043fd0f800ecc590a6d9a7a7629503" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one-year anniversary</a>&nbsp;of his left knee injury early in a second-round loss to Notre Dame, which still limited him early this season. Quinerly made 4 of 6 3-pointers.
Charles Bediako had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Alabama&rsquo;s starters hit the bench with a couple of minutes left to chants of &ldquo;Sweet 16&rdquo; in the friendly crowd.
Julian Reese had 14 points for Maryland (22-13) before fouling out. Jahmir Young scored 12.
Alabama, the top overall seed, faced scant drama, unlike the other No. 1s.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ncaa-fdu-march-madness-upset-3e97e93cd259b1efcc16c8e6cbf62943" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson</a>&nbsp;toppled top-seeded Purdue 63-58 on Friday in only the second such upset. Then&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-kansas-arkansas-upset-dfbf9716af7de6e346e47c6edeb87277" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 8 Arkansas beat the Jayhawks</a>&nbsp;72-71 earlier Saturday. Houston ultimately pulled away from Auburn as the Tide waited for their opportunity.
The first half was more to Maryland&rsquo;s liking &mdash; other than the 28-23 deficit &mdash; for a team that came in giving up just 63 points a game.
BIG PICTURE
Maryland: The 2002 national champion Terps failed to make their 15th trip to the Sweet 16 in coach Kevin Willard&rsquo;s first season. They also lost to Alabama in the second round two years ago under former coach Mark Turgeon. Maryland&rsquo;s defense was on point enough that it kept the lead for much of the first half despite a stretch of nine straight misses.
Alabama: Its depth has been on display so far. The Tide controlled the game despite not getting much scoring from starters Mark Sears and Noah Clowney or Nick Pringle, the star of the opening game against Texas A&amp;M-Corpus Christi.
UP NEXT
Alabama faces a San Diego State team making its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2004, which was also the year of the Tide&rsquo;s only Elite Eight run. The Crimson Tide have never reached the Final Four.

No. 1 seed Alabama brushed aside Maryland 73-51 behind a dominant second half on Saturday night.

No. 1 seed Alabama beats Maryland 73-51 to advance to Sweet 16

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Jamal Shead scored 16 points, including the winning basket as time ran out, and top-ranked Houston won its 11th straight game, escaping a second-half rally to beat Memphis 67-65 in the teams&rsquo; regular-season finale.
Shead beat the buzzer with his jumper from just inside the 3-point line. Nine seconds earlier, Memphis&rsquo; Kendric Davis drove to the basket and tied the game at 65. Houston chose not to call timeout, and Shead gave the Cougars (29-2, 17-1 American Athletic Conference) the win.
Tramon Mark matched Shead&rsquo;s 16 points, while Marcus Sasser finished with 13 for Houston.
Davis led Memphis (23-8, 13-5) with 26 points, while Chandler Lawson added 10.
NO. 5 PURDUE 76, ILLINOIS 71
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Newman scored 19 points, Zach Edey added 17 and Purdue held on to beat Illinois and become the first team to win the Big Ten title by three or more games since 2014.
Braden Smith added 15 points for the Boilermakers (26-5, 15-5), who led by 24 early in the second half before the Illini rallied.
Matthew Mayer led the Illini (20-11, 11-9) with 16 points, followed by Terrence Shannon Jr. with 13, Sencire Harris with 11 and Luke Goode with 10.
The Boilermakers shot 62% for a 47-26 lead at halftime, but cooled to 29% in the second half. Mayer tied the game at 67 with 1:17 to go, but Edey&rsquo;s layup gave Purdue a 69-67 edge.
NO. 15 INDIANA 75, MICHIGAN 73, OT
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Trayce Jackson-Davis had 27 points, nine rebounds and six assists in his final home game, and Indiana forced a steal on Michigan&rsquo;s final possession of overtime.
The Hoosiers (21-10, 12-8) clinched a double bye in Friday&rsquo;s Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals by rebounding from their most lopsided home loss since 2017.
Hunter Dickinson had 24 points and 14 rebounds for Michigan (17-14, 11-9). Kobe Bufkin added 19 points and six rebounds, but the Wolverines wound up getting swept in the season series. It was the second straight overtime loss for Michigan.
Seniors Jackson-Davis, Race Thompson and Miller Kopp scored all six Indiana points in overtime.
PENN STATE 65, NO. 21 MARYLAND 64
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) &mdash; Camren Wynter made a layup with less than a second remaining to lift Penn State over Maryland.
Jalen Pickett scored 16 points, Andrew Funk had 14 and Myles Dread had 11 for the Nittany Lions (19-12, 10-10 Big Ten), who trailed by as many as 16 late in the first half.
Jahmir Young scored 14 of his 26 points in the second half for the Terps (20-11, 11-9), who entered the afternoon looking to earn the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament. Julian Reese had 12 points for the Terps, while Don Carey and Ian Martinez added 11 each.

A recap of three games in top-25 men's action Sunday includes a game-winner from the top team in the country.

No. 1 Houston nips Memphis 67-65 for 11th straight win

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) &mdash; No matter what the postseason holds for the Maryland Terrapins, they&rsquo;ll be able to point to some real accomplishments in Kevin Willard&rsquo;s first season as their coach.
For example, they won all their Big Ten home games.
Jahmir Young scored 18 points and Don Carey added 13 to help Maryland wrap up an undefeated home season in conference play with a 75-59 victory over No. 21 Northwestern on Sunday.
&ldquo;Going 10-0 in this conference at home, that&rsquo;s pretty impressive for this group,&rdquo; Willard said. &ldquo;I just think it shows you how great of a program this is, how great of a fan base it is.&rdquo;
The Terrapins (20-9, 11-7) finished 16-1 overall at home, and they used unusually impressive 3-point shooting to turn back the Wildcats (20-9, 11-7). Maryland&rsquo;s win also clinched at least a share of the Big Ten title for No. 5 Purdue.
The Boilermakers (24-5, 13-5) now have a record 25 Big Ten championships, three more than Indiana, which is one of several teams that can still tie Purdue at the top this year. Remarkably, Maryland and Northwestern also are in that group. The Terps have made huge strides since Willard arrived from Seton Hall, and Chris Collins&rsquo; Wildcats entered the AP Top 25 this week before losing to Illinois and Maryland.
&ldquo;This league is hard. You play good teams,&rdquo; Collins said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not down in any way. We&rsquo;re still excited. We&rsquo;ve got a big week coming up again, and you&rsquo;ve just got to learn from these games and go home and try to make it right when you get another opportunity to play.&rdquo;
The Terrapins have not been a good 3-point shooting team this season. They entered their game Sunday at 31% from beyond the arc but went 14 of 22 against Northwestern. Young and Carey made four each.
The 6-foot-1 Young threw down an emphatic dunk to give Maryland a 35-32 lead. He later made a 3 at the buzzer to put the Terps up 41-39 at halftime.
&ldquo;I was feeling it from 3 early on, so just trying to get a shot up,&rdquo; said Young, who scored 16 of his points before halftime.
Maryland was 8 for 11 from long distance in the first half, and both teams were shooting around 60% from the field. The Terps didn&rsquo;t regress much in the second. A 3 by Carey capped a 12-2 run that put Maryland up 67-51, and it was smooth sailing from there.
Chase Audige led Northwestern with 16 points.
BIG PICTURE
Northwestern: Purdue&rsquo;s recent struggles gave the Wildcats a shot at their first Big Ten title since 1933, but those chances took a big hit Sunday in front of a packed house at Maryland.
&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t been good enough the last couple years probably to kind of warrant that kind of spirited crowd,&rdquo; Collins said. &ldquo;They knew this was a high-level game. They knew there was a lot on the line for both teams here late in the season.&rdquo;
Maryland: The Terps went unbeaten at home in Big Ten play for the second time. They also did it in 2014-15, their first season in the league. Maryland made more than 10 3s in a game for only the second time this season. The Terps had 13 in a win over Saint Louis in November.
SENIOR SENDOFF
Willard said he tried to stay loose on a day Maryland honored its senior class.
&ldquo;I wanted to have fun. I never have fun on senior night. I&rsquo;m an emotional wreck, and that goes off onto my players,&rdquo; Willard said. &ldquo;So the only thing I told them was I just wanted to have fun today. ... I was going to have fun no matter what. We got blown out by 20, I was going to enjoy the fact that this group has worked really hard, and I was going to be appreciative of what they&rsquo;ve given us.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
Northwestern: The Wildcats host Penn State on Wednesday night.
Maryland: The Terps play at Ohio State on Wednesday night.

Jahmir Young scored 18 points and Don Carey added 13 to help Maryland wrap up an undefeated home season in conference play.

Maryland rolls in second half, beats No. 21 Northwestern 75-59

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) &mdash; Maryland&rsquo;s Kevin Willard walked away from a Thursday morning film session with little doubt his team would upend No. 3 Purdue less than 12 hours later.
Then his Terrapins went out and proved the first-year coach prophetic, unleashing a dominant stretch in the middle of the second half to rally past the Boilermakers 68-54 and deal Purdue its second consecutive loss.
Students stormed the court --- and one even climbed onto a basket --- after Maryland earned its fourth victory of the season over a ranked team. Exactly 10 years earlier, fans rushed onto the same court after Maryland beat then-No. 2 Duke.
&ldquo;I knew we were going to win,&rdquo; Willard said. &ldquo;This was not a surprise to me. This is an unbelievable program. It&rsquo;s one of the best programs in the country. I thought it was important for the fanbase and it was important for the students to just understand what this program is really all about.&rdquo;
Jahmir Young scored 20 points for the Terps (18-8, 9-6 Big Ten), who trailed 37-29 before erupting on a 29-4 burst to take control. Hakim Hart added 13 points for Maryland, which defeated a top-three team for the first time since toppling then-No. 3 Iowa 74-68 on Jan. 28, 2016.&nbsp;
Maryland improved to 14-1 at home this season and continued its resurgence after going 15-17 last season, the program&rsquo;s first losing season since 1992-93.
&ldquo;Like coach said in the locker room, &lsquo;Just think of where you were last year,&rsquo;&rdquo; said forward Julian Reese, who had 10 points and nine rebounds. &ldquo;At this time last year, we had a bad record --- I&rsquo;m not exactly sure what it was --- and (now) it&rsquo;s (18-8) and we just beat a top-five team in the country. It&rsquo;s definitely a confidence booster, but we have to keep working.&rdquo;
Zach Edey and Braden Smith both scored 18 points for Purdue (23-4, 12-4), which has lost three of four --- all on the road. The Boilermakers were outrebounded 35-23 by the smaller Terps. It was their largest deficit on the glass all season and only the third time they were beaten on the boards.
&ldquo;We have to be tougher,&rdquo; Purdue coach Matt Painter said. &ldquo;You have to come in here and win the possession battle. You have to have more rebounds and fewer turnovers. Now you can start right there and work toward something. We didn&rsquo;t do that. When you get on the road and you have fewer possessions and now you don&rsquo;t shoot well, oh that&rsquo;s going to be a long night versus a quality team.&rdquo;
The Boilermakers seemed headed for a bounce-back from Sunday&rsquo;s 64-58 loss at Northwestern when they took an eight-point lead in the second half. But a possession after a basket by Young, Purdue forward Mason Gillis was called for a foul and then was assessed a technical foul for arguing with official Doug Sirmons.
&ldquo;It was definitely a momentum swing,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;We just tried to limit them to one shot and get out in transition. That&rsquo;s when we play our best ball.&rdquo;
That effectively ignited a 10-0 spurt that prompted Painter to call timeout. He tried to again stem the run when Hart hit a 3 to make it 50-41 &mdash; a 21-4 spree at that point.
Maryland kept surging after the timeout, and by the time Hart made another 3 with 7:15 remaining, the Terps were up 58-41 and Purdue faced its largest deficit of the season.
&ldquo;It just seemed like they were living about eight feet from the rim right in the middle, and they were just breaking us down off the dribble,&rdquo; Painter said.
The Terps eventually pushed the advantage to 18 and never saw their lead cut to single digits the rest of the night against a team that was ranked No. 1 earlier this month.
BIG PICTURE
Purdue: The Boilermakers&rsquo; recent struggles have all come against good teams, but they haven&rsquo;t been as sharp as they were during their 22-1 start. There&rsquo;s still time to sort things out before the postseason, and Purdue should get a boost from playing three of its final four regular-season games at home.
Maryland: The Terrapins improved to 8-0 in conference home games under Willard. Maryland also avenged an earlier loss for the third time this season; the Terps also split with Michigan and Wisconsin.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Purdue fell from No. 1 to No. 3 after its loss at Northwestern on Sunday, and the Boilermakers seem likely to slip at least a few more spots next week.
UP NEXT
Purdue plays host to Ohio State on Sunday.
Maryland visits Nebraska on Sunday.

The Terrapins improved to 14-1 at home this season and continued their resurgence after going 15-17 last season.

Maryland surges past No. 3 Purdue 68-54 behind second-half rally

NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Zakai Zeigler scored 12 points, including a key 3 late in the second half as No. 7 Tennessee held off No. 13 Maryland 56-53 Sunday in a Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational matchup.
Tennessee (9-1) led by as many as 18 points in the first half before Maryland pulled within two points in the final minutes.
Tyreke Key scored nine points and Julian Phillips had six points and 10 rebounds for the Volunteers. Tennessee began the game allowing just 51.2 points per game, third fewest in the nation.
Jahmir Young scored 18 points while Hakim Hart and Donta Scott had nine apiece for Maryland (8-2), which has lost two straight.
Down by 16 in the second half, Maryland unveiled a full-court press and forced three turnovers during a 12-0 run.
NO. 20 IOWA STATE 77, MCNEESE STATE 40
AMES, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Aljaz Kunc scored 21 points and Iowa State broke away in the second half to beat McNeese State.
Jaren Holmes added 17 points for the Cyclones (8-2) and Gabe Kalscheur scored 15.
Ahead 33-24 at the break, Iowa State scored the first 15 points of the second half. McNeese (2-7) committed 10 turnovers in the first eight minutes of the period, leading to 13 points for the Cyclones.
Zach Scott and Trae English each scored eight points for McNeese, which finished with 30 turnovers.
NO. 23 MISSISSIPPI STATE 69, MINNESOTA 51
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Tolu Smith scored 20 points to lead a balanced offense that complemented Mississippi State&rsquo;s smothering defense in a victory over Minnesota to say undefeated.
Mississippi State (9-0) is one of seven Division I programs still unbeaten.
The Bulldogs held the Gophers (4-6) to 28.8% shooting and a season-low in points.
Shakeel Moore scored 17 points for the Bulldogs, while Cameron Matthews added 11 and D.J. Jeffries scored 10.
Sophomore Dawson Garcia led Minnesota with 20 points and Joshua Ola-Joseph added 9.&nbsp;

A recap of Sunday's men's college basketball slate includes a tough battle between two top-15 teams.

No. 7 Tennessee holds off No. 13 Maryland 56-53

Over the past few seasons, the talk around the DMV in regards to the Maryland Terrapins has been an abundance of criticism, frustration and disappointment. It seemed as though Maryland basketball as a whole had lost its luster. Even the Xfinity Center wasn't the same &mdash; it was no longer an electric atmosphere.&nbsp;
Many will attempt to attribute the decrease in fan attendance and overall participation to COVID, but those in the know will tell you that that&rsquo;s not 100% accurate. The fact of the matter is: while the Xfinity Center was once one of the BIG 10's most difficult arenas for opposing teams to play in, it had lost its sizzle.&nbsp;
However, Friday night was a return to the good ol' days, as a sold-out Xfinity Center was buzzing with an atmosphere usually seen during March Madness. No. 22 Maryland beat No. 16 Illinois 71-66, bringing their record to 8-0. This was the first big home game of the Kevin Willard era and possibly the biggest home game since the pandemic. The student section was rocking, the band was playing, and there was a sea of fans dressed in gold for the annual &ldquo;gold rush&rdquo; game. This atmosphere was exactly what many Maryland fans had been longing for.
I caught up with Lonny Baxter and Byron Mouton &mdash; two members of the 2001-02 Maryland championship team &mdash; to get their thoughts on their alma mater&rsquo;s red-hot start, which has the entire DMV buzzing.&nbsp;
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Etan Thomas: Your team is looking good. They've started off 8-0 and got a really nice win last night against a good Illinois team. How does it feel, seeing how Maryland is playing right now?&nbsp;
Lonny Baxter: "Oh man, I&rsquo;m super proud. We&rsquo;ve had some up-and-down years over the past few years. And to see this team &mdash; which is technically a 'rebuild team' &mdash; doing as well as they are, I think we are surprising a lot of people who weren&rsquo;t expecting much from us this season. But we are opening a lot of people&rsquo;s eyes. Coach Willard has come in and done a tremendous job right from the jump. We&rsquo;re really looking good right now."
Thomas: You mentioned Coach Willard, and there was initially some skepticism when he was hired &mdash; talk of him not technically being from within the Maryland program, etc. But immediately upon arrival, he made it clear that he was going to have an emphasis on local DMV players, which has been a criticism of Maryland for quite some time now, as you know. He had three high recruits right from the DMV: Jamie Kaiser, DeShawn Harris-Smith and Jahnathan Lamothe. And the point guard from the transfer portal, Jahmir Young, is from the DMV as well. How much has he shifted the narrative locally with this start?&nbsp;
Baxter: "Not only that, he also hired two great assistants from the DMV who are both good friends of mine: David Cox and Tony Skinn. They know the area, they have relationships locally whether it&rsquo;s high schools or AAU programs, and they are doing a great job of changing that very narrative you were talking about. David Cox had me come up to the school and showed me around, introduced me to all the guys, told them the history of this program (which I am blessed to be a part of) and really made an effort to connect everything to the community, and that&rsquo;s what we need."
Thomas: I hear a lot of announcers refer to the culture that Coach Willard has created here from the beginning. You mentioned that there were a couple of down years, but even aside from the 8-0 start, it seems like there is a certain electricity that had been missing for a while.
Baxter: "Coach Willard did a great job at Seton Hall. Then, he comes here and brings that same energy. He reminds me of a Gary Williams Jr. so to speak &mdash; a lot of grit and a lot of fight in him. And you see that energy transfer to the court."
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Thomas: I love that they brought you back to talk to the team. You were on a special team, the championship team of 2001-02. How was your conversation with the guys?&nbsp;
Baxter: "He brought me and a lot of former [Maryland] guys into the locker room and just introduced us to the guys. He wanted them to know who we were and what we were a part of. And like I said, this is a rebuild year for them technically, but they are laser focused. They know the expectations of them, they know the history and legacy of the program that they are now a part of, and they are getting the job done. Hats off to them. They just beat a good Illinois team last night. We are really playing well. Love what I&rsquo;m seeing."
Thomas: You mentioned the Illinois game and I referenced the electricity &mdash; you saw it in the crowd and the announcers kept bringing it up. They said that a year ago, the stands were empty. But last night, it was a sold-out crowd. You saw the energy in the student section. Talk about how special that is, because y&rsquo;all had that when you guys were playing but, like you said, it&rsquo;s been up-and-down for the past few years. That electricity, that crowd support, was definitely present last night.&nbsp;
Baxter: "I wasn&rsquo;t able to go last night, but a lot of people were texting me during the game like, 'Are you here?!' It hasn&rsquo;t been this way in a long time. It&rsquo;s amazing! [People were] sending me videos and screen shots, and I regret not being there. I had already made my plans and cleared my schedule to be at the UCLA game, but I am mad that I missed it last night. But that&rsquo;s what we need. There&rsquo;s been so many up-and-down years, so many disappointments. We&rsquo;ve had some good teams, don&rsquo;t get me wrong, but the support and the energy really dipped for a few years. But [now], everyone is all on social media excited. Like, Maryland basketball is back! It&rsquo;s great for Maryland, great for the DMV. The guys are playing really well and I&rsquo;m looking forward to the rest of the season."&nbsp;
Thomas: Now, let&rsquo;s reminisce for a quick minute about the good ol' days, because y&rsquo;all had such a special team. Yourself, Steve Blake, Juan Dixon, Byron Mouton, Chris Wilcox... y&rsquo;all had a crew. Talk about how special that championship team was.
Baxter: "Our team was definitely special because we weren&rsquo;t a lot of McDonald's All-Americans. We were just a bunch of guys who were hungry, gritty and we loved to play together. Great chemistry. We&rsquo;re even friends to this day, we have a group chat that we all talk on just about every week. We&rsquo;re texting each other, congratulating each other on accomplishments, birthdays, talking about the games, etc. It just shows how close of a unit we were. Even when I spent some time with the Wizards when you were there, me, Juan and Steve Blake, it was like we were inseparable. But like I said, we were just hungry and determined and focused, and we played together as a team. Everyone bought into their roles and played to the best of their ability. That might sound cliche, but that&rsquo;s really what happened! (laughing)"
Thomas: (Laughing) Yeah, it does, but I know what you mean. What advice would you give the team now? It sounds like when they brought you in, it was more to just introduce you to them. But if you could give them all some advice &mdash; coming from a member of the 2001-02 championship team, which is the ultimate goal &mdash; what advice would you give this young, rebuilding team?&nbsp;
Baxter: "Just stay humble and stay hungry. Keep doing what you&rsquo;re doing, and never be satisfied. The hard work, the long hours in the gym, it&rsquo;s all paying off. They&rsquo;re jelling on the court and playing some complete games &mdash; both offensively and defensively. But keep that underdog mentality, keep that chip on your shoulder and stay hungry."
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Thomas: The team is really looking good. What are your thoughts on how everything is going so far?&nbsp;
Byron Mouton: "You know, the first time I met Coach Willard, I had a good feeling about him and this upcoming season. He was direct and to the point, and he doesn&rsquo;t hide his feelings. And I know a lot of the players. Jahmir, I&rsquo;ve known since he was in the fifth grade. He has a high basketball IQ, understands the game and is a team player, and has always been that way. And he plays winning basketball, so I was definitely excited for Maryland to get him."
Thomas: Can you explain a little more about why you had that good feeling about Coach Willard?&nbsp;
Mouton: "Well, from the start, he set the tone. [He] brought a lot of us alumni back and had a meeting with us, and told all of us that he valued us, respected us, appreciated us and wanted us involved with the team moving forward, and that was big. He made the point clear that his goal was to bring us back to a consistent top-10 program, which is what it should be."
Thomas: So, he valued the legacy of Maryland.&nbsp;
Mouton: "Exactly. And he made the point clear also that in order to be amongst the best, we had to compete against the best. He said he didn&rsquo;t believe in hiding from anyone and that was music to my ears. When I played for Gary Williams, we always played the best teams in the non-conference, early schedule. We would go to Maui, preseason NIT... wherever the top competition was, that&rsquo;s where we went. Mark Turgeon didn&rsquo;t want to do that; he wanted to play in these little cupcake tournaments where we&rsquo;re heavy favorites and expected to win, but that&rsquo;s not how you get better. That&rsquo;s not how you prepare for regular-season Big 10 games."
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Thomas: I see. And talk about Coach Willard's passion and energy. He showed a lot of energy on the sidelines last season with Seton Hall, and it seems like he brought that same energy here to Maryland.
Mouton: "I don&rsquo;t want to compare him to Gary Williams, but there are a lot of similarities. Passionate, honest, doesn&rsquo;t hold back his emotions or his feelings. I love coaches like that. I can&rsquo;t play for a guy who just wants to sit on the bench and call out plays, but shows no passion. I wanna know that you&rsquo;re in this battle with me."
Thomas: I hear you. Like, he shares your passion.&nbsp;
Mouton: "Yes. And he holds everyone accountable, the practices are intense, and he has that fire. And he teaches. So, he has all the keys to being successful at this level, and that&rsquo;s exactly the kind of coach I would want to play for."
Thomas: It seems like he&rsquo;s earned the players' trust very early. Sometimes, as you know, it&rsquo;s difficult for a new coach to do that.
Mouton: "Yes, it definitely can be. But at the same time, as you know, in order for any head coach to be really successful, it&rsquo;s crucial to hire great assistants, and he did that with Coach Cox and Coach Tony Skinns. I&rsquo;ve played with them and against them; I know them know them. And they have great ties to the DMV community, so I gotta include them as far as being vital for the overall success of the team."&nbsp;
Thomas: Let&rsquo;s talk about Jahmir Young. He really shined last night and you&rsquo;ve known him for a long time &mdash; you said since he was in the fifth grade?&nbsp;
Mouton: "Yeah, definitely. And like Coach said last night, he came here to do exactly what he did last night. A lot of teams are building their rosters through the transfer portal &mdash; that&rsquo;s just where college basketball is right now. It&rsquo;s not like in the old days when we played; coaches have to win now so they try to get players who are ready immediately. And Jahmir knows the game of basketball. Team player, leader, and was ready day one. He leads by example and also holds himself accountable. That&rsquo;s how a leader should be. And he&rsquo;s always under control, that&rsquo;s one of the things that&rsquo;s most impressive about him. He doesn&rsquo;t let anything that the opponent is doing speed him up or make him panic. He plays at his pace and runs the team. He&rsquo;s special."
Thomas: I asked Lonny Baxter this and I&rsquo;mma ask you the same thing: Y&rsquo;all had a special championship team. What was it that made y&rsquo;all work so well?&nbsp;
Mouton: "Well, in my opinion, it was about how competitive we were every single day. Everyone held everyone else accountable. Nobody allowed anyone else to coast in practice, or not give it their all, or not play at the highest level every single day. People held me accountable, I held them accountable &mdash; about everything. Not running the sprints hard enough in practice, not being where you&rsquo;re supposed to be on the defensive rotation, not giving the effort, whatever it was. And our practices were intense, and that carried over into the game."
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Thomas: What advice would you give to this current team?&nbsp;
Mouton: "Well, as you know, as the entire DMV is buzzing about them now, they have to stay together when that tide changes. They&rsquo;re not going to be buzzing like this all year (laughing) &mdash; that&rsquo;s just not the way it works. I&rsquo;ll give you an example. The year before we won the national championship, we were playing Duke. We were up 10 points with 1:04 left, and we lost. Craziest game I have ever been a part of in my entire college career. All the fans were booing us, the papers were killing us. People on campus were looking at us sideways when we walked by (laughing). Everyone was down on us. And after that, we lost three-straight games. I&rsquo;ll never forget when we lost to Florida State and their little point guard jumped on the scorer&rsquo;s table and was talking noise to our fans, waving bye-bye to them, and our fans started letting us have it. We could&rsquo;ve crumbled as an entire team after that, but we didn&rsquo;t. We pulled together and developed an us-against-the-world mentality. I say that because, there will come a time during this season when all the cheering stops, and maybe even some boos start. And now they have social media, so everyone can tell you that you suck (laughing). I would tell them when that happens, to pull together. Take on the us-against-the-world mentality. Don&rsquo;t splinter and start pointing fingers and playing the blame game because that happens, but stick together, pull together in tough times, and keep that passion and excitement and love for the game they have now, and they will do just fine."

Etan Thomas chats with former Maryland Terrapin greats Lonny Baxter and Byron Mouton about their alma mater’s red-hot start.

Lonny Baxter, Byron Mouton have high praise for Maryland Terps

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; The Purdue Boilermakers are coming off a 29-win season in which they were ranked in the AP top 10 from wire to wire, including the No. 1 spot for one week in December, and drew a No. 3 seed for the NCAA Tournament.
Still, they finished one game shy of first place in the conference, lost to Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament final and were upset by upstart St. Peter&rsquo;s in the Sweet 16. That didn&rsquo;t sit well with coach Matt Painter or anybody else associated with the program.
&ldquo;We thought we had a team that could do more damage than it did. As a coach, you take sole responsibility for that,&rdquo; Painter said Tuesday in Minneapolis at Target Center, where the conference took its basketball media days this year. &ldquo;I thought we should have won our league. I thought we should have won our tournament. I thought we should have gotten to the Final Four. We didn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;
While the Boilermakers have lost first team All-Big Ten guard Jaden Ivey and stalwarts Trevion Williams and Sasha Stefanovic, they&rsquo;ve still got a team headlined by the 7-foot-4 Zach Edey &mdash; one of three unanimous picks for the 11-player preseason all-conference team &mdash; that ought to be able to contend for the conference title again.&nbsp;
These days, with the transfer portal doing heavy business, picking the favorites is even more of an inexact science. The Boilermakers were pegged for fifth in the Big Ten preseason media poll.
&ldquo;You have some people that are being picked in the top half, and 70 to 80% of their guys didn&rsquo;t play for them last year. Normally when that&rsquo;s the case, they don&rsquo;t get picked in the top half,&rdquo; Painter said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got a good chunk of some of these guys that have had really good careers so far so it&rsquo;s easier to gauge, easier to say this guy averaged 16 points in another high major conference, he&rsquo;s going to be successful here. Having that experience of success together is still important.&rdquo;
FRESH START
Kevin Willard took over the Maryland program after 12 seasons at Seton Hall. A longtime resident of New York and New Jersey, Willard revealed some of the discoveries he&rsquo;s made since moving down the Atlantic coast. The first thing to stand out to him was the quality of recruits playing in the Terrapins&rsquo; backyard &mdash; including the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.
&ldquo;High school basketball, AAU basketball in the DMV is by far second to none,&rdquo; Willard said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of cool being there because you get first dibs on a lot of kids that obviously we couldn&rsquo;t get before.&rdquo;
The first player Willard signed upon arriving in College Park was 6-foot-6 swingman Noah Batchelor, a native of Frederick, Maryland, who played last year at the IMG Academy in Florida. He also picked up a graduate transfer in guard Jahmir Young, a product of DeMatha Catholic High School in the D.C. suburbs who averaged 16.7 points per game over three seasons at Charlotte.
But Willard knows there&rsquo;s no such thing as building a fence around the state.
&ldquo;You&rsquo;re never going to keep all your local kids home,&rdquo; Willard said. &ldquo;Fan bases love saying that. If you keep everyone home, then you&rsquo;re not going to be able to play everybody and everyone is going to get mad at you anyways.&rdquo;
His steepest learning curve might actually be in the dining room.
&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to know how to eat crab cakes. I&rsquo;m learning how to crack crabs and eat crabs. It&rsquo;s a new thing for me. Very hard,&rdquo; Willard said with a laugh. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to split the middle, take the legs off, go through the whole process.&rdquo;
THREE-PEAT IN JERSEY?
Rutgers is aiming for a third straight NCAA Tournament berth, a streak the program has never before accomplished. Coach Steve Pikiell&rsquo;s returning players accounted for 64% of the team&rsquo;s minutes played last season. Key among those players is fifth-year guard Caleb McConnell, the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
There&rsquo;s also a significant homecourt advantage the Scarlet Knights have developed in recent years at the 8,000-seat building now known as Jersey Mike&rsquo;s Arena, enough to warrant attention in a conference with some of the country&rsquo;s most imposing gyms for visiting teams.
When Indiana&rsquo;s Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson were mulling over the most raucous road-game scenes, they mentioned usual suspects Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue. But also:
&ldquo;Rutgers is pretty lit,&rdquo; Thompson said.
&ldquo;Yeah, Rutgers is awesome,&rdquo; Jackson-Davis said.
Pikiell praised the fan base for the environment.
&ldquo;I think they really like our guys and respect how they play,&rdquo; Pikiell said. &ldquo;They play with a little Jersey grit and excitement and enthusiasm.&rdquo;
DAD JOKES
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery again has two of his sons on the roster, with sixth-year forward Connor McCaffery back for one more ride in a reserve role and fourth-year forward Patrick McCaffery returning to the starting lineup.
There are downsides to playing for dad, of course. Connor told on himself for feeling &ldquo;a little bit more comfortable talking back&rdquo; to the coach than anyone else in authority. Patrick cited the pressure that comes from the family name and the unfounded assumptions of nepotism around status on the team.
The good outweighs the bad, though, like being part of a true family environment. Then there&rsquo;s the credibility that Connor has built up through so much time in the program.
&ldquo;We think alike,&rdquo; Connor said. &ldquo;My suggestions and points a lot of times are on the same page. He gives me the freedom to audible plays and call plays.&rdquo;
___
AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell contributed to this report.

These days, with the transfer portal doing heavy business, picking the favorites is even more of an inexact science.

Purdue back near Big Ten top? Portal makes predictions tough

March 15 marks a meaningful date in the life of Michael Carter-Williams.
Next Monday will be the two-year anniversary of his 10-day contract signing with the Orlando Magic, a moment that kickstarted an injury-riddled, tumbling career that almost ended abruptly before it began.
&ldquo;There was a lot going on, on and off the court in my life at that time,&rdquo; Carter-Williams told BasketballNews.com in an exclusive phone interview, recalling when he was out of the NBA for two months in 2019. &ldquo;That was definitely the most adversity that I've faced in my career.&rdquo;
When the Houston Rockets traded Carter-Williams to the Chicago Bulls that season, he was immediately waived in order to avoid guaranteeing his contract. For the first time in his career, he did not have an NBA home.
&ldquo;I didn't know where my future was gonna go. I kept thinking, 'Am I gonna go the G League route? Am I gonna go overseas? Do I even want to play at all anymore?' There was a lot of things that went through my head at the time,&rdquo; Carter-Williams said. &ldquo;But after all those thoughts went in my head, I just told myself that I believed I was gonna get another chance, and I just started working my ass off. It was like, if I do get another chance, I just want to be fully ready. I don't want to regret thinking that I won't get another chance and not be prepared for it. That would be worse to me than getting released itself.&rdquo;
Luckily for him, an old friend was in dire need of a point guard not too long afterward. One phone call from Steve Clifford later, and Carter-Williams was a member of the Magic. The reunion made a lot of sense for both former Charlotte Hornets, especially with the head coach knowing firsthand what the 6-foot-5 guard could bring to the table.
It didn&rsquo;t take long for Carter-Williams to make his presence felt, and despite Orlando coming up short in the 2019 playoffs, he played a pivotal role in the team&rsquo;s series against the Toronto Raptors -- a stretch he considered &ldquo;huge&rdquo; for his career. Ever since the Magic presented him with a chance that he&rsquo;d been hoping for, Carter-Williams&rsquo; relationship with the organization has just clicked.
&ldquo;I have full confidence that the coaches and the staff members trust me on this team,&rdquo; Carter-Williams said. &ldquo;I've kinda crawled my way up and just earned their trust by making the right plays, being a good person on and off the court -- even when I'm not playing, having a good attitude -- just doing all the little things. Trying to get the guys going in practice or whatever the case may be. Every time I step on the floor, I try to give my all and I just try to compete.&rdquo;
It always helps when you have tight-knit bonds with the guys in your locker room, too. Carter-Williams has individual-level friendships there, many from his past. He and Dwayne Bacon go back to their Hornets&rsquo; days, while James Ennis and Gary Clark played with Carter-Williams in Houston. He&rsquo;s known Khem Birch since he was in ninth grade. And even the connections he&rsquo;s forged with Terrence Ross, Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu have been natural because of whom they&rsquo;ve all played with in the past. This all goes without mentioning Carter-Williams&rsquo; infatuation with combat sports, an interest that is shared by quite a few of his teammates (he brought up the golfers and fishers they have too).
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In his eighth season as a pro at 29 years old, Carter-Williams has blossomed into a leader. He feels that during his time in Orlando, he&rsquo;s built a good rapport with everybody from top to bottom, younger and older.
&ldquo;I've got an interesting role on this team,&rdquo; Carter-Williams said. &ldquo;It's kind of fluctuated from coming off the bench to starting, and I was the new guy at one point. Once I settled down, I kinda was the voice of the team and the voice of reason. I'm always communicating. It comes natural to me. I've always communicated with my teammates, whether I didn't have a huge part on the team or even if I wasn't a leader."
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Carter-Williams remembers when he was with Chris Paul and James Harden on the Rockets, never shying away from even telling All-Stars what he saw on the floor. Looking back, he finds it a little funny that he didn&rsquo;t have too many vets that guided him along. When he began his career with the Philadelphia 76ers, the team had Spencer Hawes, Thaddeus Young and Evan Turner as their &ldquo;veterans,&rdquo; yet they were only in their mid-to-late 20s. Carter-Williams does credit Jason Richardson for the talks they had about the then-rookie&rsquo;s future and that season.
Speaking of the Sixers, it&rsquo;s been easy for Carter-Williams to make friends with Markelle Fultz (who is now his teammate in Orlando). They&rsquo;ve had similar experiences to share, both being drafted by Philadelphia and having poor injury luck. Before the former No. 1 overall pick went down with a devastating ACL injury early this season, Carter-Williams loved what he was seeing from Fultz on the floor -- his aggressiveness and confidence, getting into the lane and performing on the defensive end.
&ldquo;It's been tough [without Fultz],&rdquo; Carter-Williams said. &ldquo;Injuries are hard, man. He does a great job of staying positive. He's diligent with his rehab. He knows he has a long career [ahead of him] in this league, so hopefully all his injuries are behind him and he can just keep healthy for the rest of his career."
If anybody knows what that kind of agony feels like, it&rsquo;s Carter-Williams. He had right shoulder surgery after his rookie campaign with the Sixers. In 2016 with the Milwaukee Bucks, he tore the labrum in his left hip, which required surgery and forced him out for the rest of that season. When he was traded to the Bulls (for the first time), he dealt with knee issues and a sprained wrist. In March 2018, after 52 games with the Hornets, he suffered a posterior labral tear in his left shoulder.
&ldquo;There was times where I thought that I couldn't deal with the pain that I was going through,&rdquo; Carter-Williams said. &ldquo;I felt like my mind was telling my body to do certain things that it just couldn't do.&rdquo;
But timing is everything, and help was on its way. Around that time, Carter-Williams met Tito Ramirez, a physical therapist who worked at ProActive Sports Performance, a highly-regarded professional facility in Westlake Village, California that turned things around for the banged up guard.&nbsp;
&ldquo;He helped me out a lot with my hips and my shoulders and my knees. Being at ProActive itself, working out with a trainer there named Evan and just everyone who runs that whole weight room, they really helped me get back into shape and they limited a lot of my pain,&rdquo; Carter-Williams said. &ldquo;Ryan [Capretta], he's the head of it and he runs an unbelievable gym with so many talented people in there that really changed the course of my career."
On top of that, there was the social-media element where people would poke fun at his expense. If you&rsquo;ve posted a negative tweet about Carter-Williams, past or present, he&rsquo;s seen it. There is a difference in how he handles naysayers these days, though.
&ldquo;I used to play to prove people wrong and try to live up to expectations of others, and now, I see it and I kinda laugh at it or I use it when I'm by myself in the gym or those days that I don't feel like getting up,&rdquo; Carter-Williams said. &ldquo;But I always play for myself now. I've done so much in this league and I've accomplished so much and I know I have such a bright future ahead of me. I just believe in myself. It's almost like I'm playing with house money right now just because I've come such a long way.&rdquo;
Being from the small town of Hamilton, Massachusetts, Carter-Williams admitted that he couldn&rsquo;t dream of earning a Division I scholarship or winning NBA Rookie of the Year -- yet he was able to do both at Syracuse and with the Sixers. When asked to reflect on the ups and downs of his time in the league, he&rsquo;s extremely grateful for all of his experiences; it's all been "beneficial" to him as his career marches on.
&ldquo;Not too many people in the league can say that they've been through every possible situation in the league,&rdquo; Carter-Williams said. &ldquo;I've been Rookie of the Year, I've been a guy that's come off the bench as a sixth man, I've been a guy who's had DNPs in the season, I've been a defensive guy, I've been a backup point guard, now I'm back to being a starter.&nbsp;
&ldquo;So I've been in so many different positions that I'm able to share that with other people, I'm able to relate to other people, I'm able to put things in perspective easily. I really take it as a blessing. I went through so many injuries, I went through so many difficult situations that there's really nothing that I believe that I can't handle to succeed."
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Carter-Williams falls back on his wild ride when it comes to giving tips and pointers. He specifically looks at the length of the season and how it affects the players who aren&rsquo;t the stars of the show.
&ldquo;So many guys are in so many different positions that somebody's leash may not be as long as somebody else's,&rdquo; Carter-Williams said. &ldquo;There's very few guys that are the main guys on their teams, so there's a pool of a bunch of guys that the game can be pretty stressful for. I think the big part of this game is just turning the page. If you have a bad game one game, the great thing about the NBA is that you could have a game a day later or two days later and get back to the drawing board and refocus and stay confident."
For him personally, it&rsquo;s about playing loose and having fun, a simple but important factor that Carter-Williams feels that many professional players forget about. It&rsquo;s translated into the best production he&rsquo;s had since the 2015-16 season in Milwaukee. Returning from a left foot sprain sustained in early January, he&rsquo;s since averaged 11.7 points, 5.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds in 29 minutes per contest.
"I think I've been finding some openings,&rdquo; Carter-Williams said. &ldquo;I've been getting more comfortable being back at the 1. I'm just being aggressive, staying with my work -- after practice, before practice, listening to coaches, not trying to force too much.&rdquo;
In addition to those averages, over that 10-game span, Carter-Williams has knocked down 36.8% of his triples. Although he&rsquo;s usually not taking too many perimeter shots, he understands they&rsquo;re important. With the evolving pace-and-space direction of the NBA, he concedes that he did have to rethink his approach at a point in time.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I contemplated that in my head,&rdquo; Carter-Williams said. &ldquo;Like, 'Okay, a lot of guys are shooting threes. Do I just work on all shooting threes?' And I think I found the right balance of shooting the ball and still playing my game -- still getting to the rim, maybe mixing up a post-up here and there, using pull-ups, but also when open, to shoot the outside three. So for a while I contemplated that, but I definitely think I've found a good balance to play my game and to play the new-age game."
Over the All-Star break, Carter-Williams watched Vucevic do his thing in Atlanta. He's a teammate Carter-Williams commends for not only individually producing, but also for drawing a bunch of attention and opening up driving lanes in the process for the guard. &nbsp;
Meanwhile, back in Orlando, Carter-Williams got plenty of gym work in with the time off. He also spent time with his family in their brand-new house, tidying up as any homeowner would. The second half of the Magic&rsquo;s season resumes on Thursday in South Beach, as the team tries to snap a five-game skid against the Miami Heat. Carter-Williams remains upbeat about what&rsquo;s to come for this Orlando bunch.
&ldquo;We've been in games. We've been right there,&rdquo; Carter-Williams said. &ldquo;We've lost a couple tough ones that we should've won. We've just gotta get back to our principles defensively, mostly -- our offense has been pretty good -- so if we get back to those, I think we'll be able to run off some wins.&rdquo;
There&rsquo;s that, and then there&rsquo;s the slew of missing bodies they&rsquo;ll gradually get back in Gordon, Anthony, Ennis and Fournier. Carter-Williams is not on that list this time. He feels good and healthy. The only goal he has right now is to keep playing and continue taking advantage of the opportunity he&rsquo;s had.&nbsp;
Ask him what his rookie self would say to his present self, and Carter-Williams quips, &ldquo;&lsquo;I wish you did a better job of taking care of your body.'&rdquo;&nbsp;
But what isn&rsquo;t a joke is how he feels about where he&rsquo;s at mentally and physically now as a player.
&ldquo;I honestly think I'm a lot better than I was my rookie year right now,&rdquo; Carter-Williams said. &ldquo;If I went up against myself my rookie year, I think I'm stronger, I think I'm faster, I think I'm more skilled and I think I'm just as confident."

Spencer Davies goes one-on-one with Michael Carter-Williams to discuss the ups and downs of his career and why the Magic have been a great fit.

Rahmir