Terrapins

In a significant move, the WNBA has witnessed a major three-team trade involving the Las Vegas Aces, Seattle Storm, and Los Angeles Sparks. The trade, effective February 1, 2025, sees six-time All-Star Jewell Loyd joining the Aces, three-time All-Star Kelsey Plum heading to the Sparks, and the Storm acquiring center Li Yueru along with the No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft.&nbsp;
**Trade Details:**
- **Las Vegas Aces Receive:**
&nbsp;&nbsp;- Jewell Loyd
- **Los Angeles Sparks Receive:**
&nbsp;&nbsp;- Kelsey Plum
&nbsp;&nbsp;- No. 9 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft
- **Seattle Storm Receive:**
&nbsp;&nbsp;- Li Yueru
&nbsp;&nbsp;- No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft
&nbsp;&nbsp;- First-round pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft
This trade marks the first instance where two former No. 1 overall draft picks have been exchanged in the same transaction. Loyd, who spent a decade with the Storm, secured two WNBA championships and earned the 2023 scoring title. She now joins an Aces roster that has clinched two of the last three WNBA titles, forming a formidable trio with A'ja Wilson and Jackie Young.
Kelsey Plum, averaging 17.8 points and 4.2 assists last season, is anticipated to take on a leadership role with the Sparks, complementing a youthful core and reuniting with former teammate Dearica Hamby. The Storm, entering a rebuilding phase after key player departures, benefit from enhanced draft positions and the addition of Yueru to strengthen their frontcourt.&nbsp;
This strategic maneuver is poised to significantly influence the competitive dynamics of the upcoming WNBA season.&nbsp;

In a significant move, the WNBA has witnessed a major three-team trade.

Plum to LA, Loyd to Las Vegas: Blockbuster three team trade reshapes WNBA landscape

Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd, Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas and New York Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot have earned the 2023 WNBA Peak Performer Awards as the league leaders in points, rebounds and assists per game, respectively.&nbsp;
2023 SCORING LEADER
Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm &ndash; 24.7 PPG
Loyd is the WNBA's scoring leader for the first time. She finished with the second-highest single-season scoring average in league history (24.7 points per game) and tied a WNBA record with 12 games of 30 or more points. Her 939 total points were the most ever in a season.
2023 REBOUNDING LEADER
Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun &ndash; 9.9 RPG
Thomas is the WNBA'srebounding leader for the first time. She also set league records for most triple-doubles (six) and total assists (316) in a season.&nbsp;
2023 ASSISTS LEADER
Courtney Vandersloot, New York Liberty &ndash; 8.1 APG
Vandersloot is the WNBA's assists leader for the seventh time. She recorded at least 10 assists in 14 games.

Jewell Loyd, Alyssa Thomas and Courtney Vandersloot have earned the 2023 WNBA Peak Performer Awards.

WNBA gives out peak performer awards to Loyd, Thomas, Vandersloot

PARIS (AP) &mdash; Adieu France, hello America.
They were hugs of goodbye &mdash; not of joy &mdash; for Victor Wembanyama as he bid farewell to his teammates and the French league, before jetting off for what&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-2023-wembanyama-396be2a8eeb0be8e3323bb509405695c">many predict</a>&nbsp;will be a glittering NBA career.
Wembanyama&rsquo;s performance &mdash; 22 points, seven rebounds and four blocks &mdash; couldn&rsquo;t prevent his Boulogne-Levallois team losing 92-85 to Monaco in a must-win Game 3 in the best-of-five French league championship series on Thursday.
To accommodate escalating interest in seeing the 19-year-old&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-las-vegas-6f4ac3d44f624ef36ddb00e314cf0401">French prodigy</a>, Game 3 &mdash; and 4 if they had won &mdash; were switched from a 4,000-seat venue to Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros, home of the French Open tennis championship which seats&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/LNBofficiel/status/1669390713434275842" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more than 14,000</a>.
Fans sang &ldquo;Merci, Wemby&rdquo; as&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/wembanyama-nba-lottery-draft-french-finale-e8d2b9e7cf97ab22df549a03d1124456">the hugely popular Wembanyama</a>&nbsp;waved and clapped at them.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry for the fans who love to see a show,&rdquo; Wembanyama said on beIN Sports television after the game. &ldquo;Of course I&rsquo;m proud of what I&rsquo;ve managed to do along with my coach (Vincent Collet), in bringing the team to the finals. But I&rsquo;m not satisfied.&rdquo;
Next week, the San Antonio Spurs are expected to make the 7-foot-3 Wembanyama&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-draft-lottery-2023-victor-wembanyama-7ac2a47737c20c0df4543e1626407e47">the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft</a>, where he&rsquo;ll follow in the footsteps of France great Tony Parker and Hall of Famers David Robinson and Tim Duncan.
With Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadiv&eacute; among the crowd &mdash; likely with an eye on&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-mock-draft-wembanyama-c9dfd3d19592e1de44f5957ea2aa8b48">Wembanyama teammate Bilal Coulibaly</a>&nbsp;ahead of the draft &mdash; the Mets opened up big leads but with 50 seconds left the score was tied at 85-85. Jordan Loyd, a former NBA player with the Toronto Raptors, sank two 3-pointers to end Wembanyama&rsquo;s hopes of signing off with a French crown.
Ranadiv&eacute; told beIN Sport that Wembanyama is &ldquo;amazing&rdquo; but that &ldquo;I&rsquo;m also excited about Bilal. Young guy, lot of skills, so French basketball is in great shape.&rdquo;
Wembanyama, who opened the scoring with&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/LNBofficiel/status/1669413577068019712" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a reverse alley-oop dunk</a>, looked sad as he hugged his teammates while Monaco celebrated.
&ldquo;Wemby had a great game, but this team&rsquo;s unbelievable,&rdquo; said Loyd, who finished with 22 points.
Everything had pointed to a special night for Wembanyama and then a Game 4 on Saturday. Wembanyama clenched his fist when his pass inside for Devante Jones made it 24-10, then drew roars when he used his giant frame to block a shot early in the second quarter.
The &ldquo;Wemby, Wemby&rdquo; chants became louder when&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/LNBofficiel/status/1669432798598381573" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">he hit a 3-pointer</a>&nbsp;to make it 47-37, louder still when&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/LNBofficiel/status/1669431516190101504" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">he dished to Coulibaly</a>&nbsp;for a dunk early in the third quarter.
It was not enough, though, and it was &ldquo;Wemby&rdquo; who put Elie Okobo on the foul line to give Monaco its first lead, 82-81, with just over three minutes left.
Loyd &mdash; not Wembanyama &mdash; ended up with&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/LNBofficiel/status/1669449924562305028" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the MVP award</a>&nbsp;and the winners&rsquo; medal on the court where Novak Djokovic made men&rsquo;s Grand Slam history last Sunday with&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/novak-djokovic-grand-slam-titles-french-open-6f822dca855478163696538f37ff534b">his 23rd men&rsquo;s major title</a>.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-nba-sports-detroit-pistons-paris-ba85137c70a09ac5efcea7f5e8e472a1">Wembanyama&rsquo;s journey to greatness</a>&nbsp;in his sport, however, might only just be starting.

With today's loss to Monaco, Victor Wembanyama will leave his teammates and the French league to prepare for his NBA career.

Wembanyama bids adieu to France with a defeat as NBA Draft nears

LAS VEGAS (AP) &mdash; Courtney Ramey had missed all four of his previous 3-point attempts Saturday night when the ball wound up back in his hands at the most critical moment.
Ramey shook a defender and then calmly drilled one from the top of the key with 16.7 seconds left to put Arizona in front. The eighth-ranked Wildcats hung on from there, beating No. 2 UCLA 61-59 in the Pac-12 championship game.
&ldquo;I kept telling myself, the next shot is going in,&rdquo; Ramey said. &ldquo;My job was to make a play.&rdquo;
The Wildcats (28-6) boosted their case for a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. UCLA (29-5) still hopes to land the No. 1 seed in the West and return to Las Vegas in two weeks for the regional.
It was the second year in a row Arizona beat UCLA in the Pac-12 title game.
Arizona second-year coach Tommy Lloyd can&rsquo;t lose in Las Vegas. He is 9-0 in this city, 8-0 at T-Mobile Arena and 6-0 in the Pac-12 Tournament.
&ldquo;It was a knock down, drag out and I had a feeling it was going to be that way,&rdquo; Lloyd said. &ldquo;So much respect for the UCLA program. Obviously, they&rsquo;re going through a lot of injury stuff right now, but they&rsquo;re resilient and I knew it was going to be like that.&rdquo;
Ramey&rsquo;s 3-pointer put the Wildcats ahead 60-58. The clutch shot came after teammate Azuolas Tubelis missed a 3 that was rebounded by Pelle Larsson, who got the ball to Ramey.
UCLA guard Tyger Campbell was fouled with 6.8 seconds left, and he made the first free throw but missed the second. Tubelis hit one of two free throws with 5.8 seconds to go, and UCLA&rsquo;s Dylan Andrews missed a 3 at the buzzer to ensure Arizona&rsquo;s victory.
&ldquo;Wide-open shot to win the game,&rdquo; UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. &ldquo;Tyger&rsquo;s beating himself up over a missed free throw, but that had nothing to do with some of our bad fouls and defensive breakdowns. Those are controllables. I&rsquo;ll take Tyger at the line and put my career on the line with Tyger at the line.&rdquo;
Tubelis, the tournament&rsquo;s Most Outstanding Player, had 19 points and 14 rebounds for second-seeded Arizona. Oumar Ballo scored 13 points and Larsson had 11.
Amari Bailey led top-seeded UCLA with 19 points. Campbell scored 16 and Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bruins knew coming in they wouldn&rsquo;t have guard Jaylen Clark (lower leg) or Adem Bona (shoulder), and their problems only mounted when two of Bona&rsquo;s replacements in the post got into foul trouble.
Mac Etienne and Kenneth Nwuba each had four fouls in the second half, forcing Cronin to play at least one of them. Etienne fouled out with 9:35 left and Nwuba with 4:27 remaining, meaning the Bruins had to play with a smaller lineup the rest of the game.
Arizona wasn&rsquo;t completely healthy, either. Point guard Kerr Kriisa has been playing with a balky shoulder this tournament.
POSTGAME COMMOTION
An Arizona fan was yelling at Cronin&rsquo;s dad, Hep, after the game, according to UCLA radio broadcaster Josh Lewin. When a reporter told Cronin afterward, he immediately left the postgame news conference. Athletic director Martin Jarmond quickly followed him.
BIG PICTURE
Arizona: The Wildcats entered the game just 10 3-pointers behind their school record set in the 2010-11 season. But long-range shots didn&rsquo;t fall for them against the Bruins until the end. Arizona went 6 of 20 from beyond the arc.
UCLA: The question is the health of Clark and Bona. Cronin won&rsquo;t provide any information other than saying before the Pac-12 Tournament that Clark wouldn&rsquo;t play. UCLA was easily the class of the Pac-12 this season, but not having those players was quite noticeable, especially against Arizona.
UP NEXT
Arizona: Likely will be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA: Almost certainly a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the NCAA tourney.

No. 8 Arizona beat No. 2 UCLA 61-59 in the Pac-12 title game, boosting their case for a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Ramey lifts No. 8 Arizona over No. 2 UCLA for Pac-12 title

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) &mdash; The players flooded off the Texas bench, right past interim coach Rodney Terry and to the middle of the court inside T-Mobile Center, where they couldn&rsquo;t wait to get their hands on the trophy crowning them Big 12 champions.
After the season they had, who could blame them?
It began under the darkest of clouds with their high-profile coach, Chris Beard, fired following a domestic incident. Terry was given the job and the tall task of guiding the Longhorns through a grueling schedule, and what many have called one of the toughest conferences in college basketball history.
But after finishing second to Kansas in the regular season, the seventh-ranked Longhorns proved Saturday night they were champs in their own right, blowing out the third-ranked Jayhawks 76-56 in the Big 12 finals.
Dylan Disu overcame early foul trouble to score 18 points and was tournament MVP. Marcus Carr and Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice, who also landed on the all-tournament team, had 17 apiece. And just about everyone wearing burnt orange had a hand in shutting down the Jayhawks, who were trying to win a second straight tournament title.
&ldquo;There probably hasn&rsquo;t been a team challenged as much in terms of adversity or staying the course,&rdquo; Terry said, his voice long gone hoarse. &ldquo;There was no nights off. This tournament, we knew, was going to be tough as well, but we were excited about it, and these guys&rsquo; approach and their attitudes &mdash; they wanted to be champions, and they made it happen.&rdquo;
After going more than two decades without a Big 12 tourney title, the Longhorns (26-8) have won two of the past three, and likely wrapped up a No. 2 seed in next week&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament with their performance in Kansas City.
&ldquo;You only take this win for one night,&rdquo; said Brock Cunningham, who was on that 2021 title team that was then bounced in the first round of the NCAA tourney. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have this win tonight and then we&rsquo;ll get back to work.&rdquo;
The Jayhawks played once again without Hall of Fame coach Bill Self, who went to the emergency room on the eve of their quarterfinal for an undisclosed medical procedure. Self&rsquo;s longtime assistant and acting coach, Norm Roberts, said afterward that he hopes to have Self back when they begin defense of their NCAA title next week.
Jalen Wilson scored 24 points and Joseph Yesufu, pressed into the starting lineup due to injuries, finished with 11 for the Jayhawks (27-7), who had won 13 of their previous 16 trips to the Big 12 finals.
The question now is whether the defending national champs did enough before Saturday night to earn the overall No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, and with it a favorable road through Kansas City in the regional round.
&ldquo;Give Texas a lot of credit. They played really well,&rdquo; Roberts said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re very athletic; we knew that. Fast. They have some really good offensive players. I thought we did a good job early in the game, but then we missed a bunch of bunnies, easy shots and putbacks that could have kept us in the game, and then I think fatigue took over.&rdquo;
Both teams were missing starters Saturday night due to injuries &mdash; Kevin McCullar Jr. for the Jayhawks, Timmy Allen for the Longhorns &mdash; yet there was still plenty of star power on display inside T-Mobile Center.
Wilson, the league&rsquo;s player of the year, kept the Jayhawks afloat during a scattershot first half. He scored 17 points, more than half their total, while pounding the glass and even picking up a steal.
Texas, meanwhile, relied on depth and balance in forging a 39-33 halftime lead. It had to after losing Disu, a revelation in the previous two rounds, to a pair of fouls less than eight minutes into the game.
&ldquo;Everybody on the court was doing their part,&rdquo; Carr said later, &ldquo;cutting, moving, knocking down shots.&rdquo;
When Disu returned, the big man went right to work. He had a couple of baskets in the opening minutes, and a nearly five-minute drought by Kansas allowed the Longhorns to extend their lead to 53-41 with 12 minutes to go.
By that point, about 500 Texas fans sounded like 15,000. And about 15,000 Kansas fans were dead silent.
The knockout blow came moments later, when Disu&rsquo;s baskets bookended one by Rice, and Arterio Morris added an ally-oop dunk. That pushed the Longhorns&rsquo; lead to 70-50 with 4 1/2 minutes to go, and while Roberts finally called a timeout to slow the onslaught, it came far too late to make a difference.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we really thought about the game was over at any point,&rdquo; Rice said. &ldquo;We just kept playing, and whatever the outcome was going to be when the buzzer sounded, that&rsquo;s what we cared about.&rdquo;
MISSING STARTERS
McCullar, the Jayhawks&rsquo; defensive dynamo, has been dealing with back spasms that flared up again during a semifinal win over Iowa State; he watched from the bench in sweats.
The Longhorns were without Allen all tournament while the veteran leader rested a lower leg injury ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
THE TAKEAWAY
Texas shot 50% from the field but was especially good inside the arc &mdash; the Longhorns were just 4 of 17 on 3s. And rarely did they go more than a couple of minutes without a basket, preventing Kansas from getting its crowd into the game.
Kansas was forced to use some different lineups with McCullar out, playing freshman MJ Rice extra minutes. The Jayhawks rarely seemed in sync, and that was evident in Dajuan Harris Jr. turning the ball over an uncharacteristic four times.
UP NEXT
The Longhorns and Jayhawks are headed to the NCAA Tournament. They&rsquo;ll learn Sunday night who, when and where they will play in the first round.

The seventh-ranked Longhorns blew out the third-ranked Jayhawks 76-56 in the Big 12 finals on Saturday.

No. 7 Texas rolls past No. 3 Kansas 76-56 for Big 12 title

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Jamal Shead scored a career-high 25 points, Marcus Sasser added 24 and No. 1 Houston defeated Wichita State 83-66 on Thursday night.
Shead shot 10 of 17 from the field. The junior was 4 of 8 on 3-pointers.
Sasser tied the school career record for most 3-pointers set by Robert McKiver with 261. He also scored at least 20 points for the sixth straight game, and chants of &ldquo;Sasser&rdquo; filled the Fertitta Center after it was over.
Jarace Walker had 11 points and nine rebounds for Houston (28-2, 16-1 American Athletic Conference). The Cougars shot 47%, including 9 of 25 on 3s, in winning their 10th straight game.
Houston forced 20 turnovers, which it converted into 17 points.
Craig Porter Jr. had 17 points and seven rebounds, Jaron Pierre Jr. added 16 points and Kenny Pohto had 12 for Wichita State (15-14, 8-9).
No. 4 UCLA 79, ARIZONA STATE 61
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 26 points as UCLA pulled away in the second half to defeat Arizona State.
Tyger Campbell added 16 points and Jaylen Clark 15 for the regular-season Pac-12 champion Bruins (26-4, 17-2), who have won nine straight as they continue their bid for a top seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
DJ Horne had 13 points and Warren Washington added 12 for the Sun Devils (20-10, 11-8).
Jaquez scored 15 of UCLA&rsquo;s first 19 points. He started 6 of 8 from the field while the rest of the team was 1 for 11.
The Bruins led 38-34 less than a minute into the second half before they broke things open with a 12-3 run that included five points by Campbell and four from Clark.
No. 5 PURDUE 63, WISCONSIN 61
MADISON, Wis. (AP) &mdash; Zach Edey had 17 points and 19 rebounds as Purdue outlasted Wisconsin, damaging the Badgers&rsquo; NCAA Tournament hopes.
Purdue (25-5, 14-5) already had clinched the Big Ten regular-season title outright before the end of this game by virtue of Illinois&rsquo; 91-87 double-overtime victory over Michigan. The Illinois-Michigan game concluded late in the first half of the Purdue-Wisconsin matchup.
But there was still plenty at stake in this game as Purdue sought to make its case for a No. 1 seed and Wisconsin (16-13, 8-11) attempted to boost its postseason credentials. Neither team led by more than three points for the final 12 minutes.
In the eighth and final lead change of the second half, Edey made both ends of a one-and-one to put Purdue ahead 58-57 with 1:45 left. Edey had been 1 of 6 from the line before sinking those two.
Wisconsin&rsquo;s Chucky Hepburn missed a baseline jumper with 1:15 remaining, but Purdue&rsquo;s Ethan Morton misfired on a 3-pointer with 47 seconds remaining.
The Badgers called a timeout and got the ball to Max Klesmit, who missed a driving layup attempt as the Kohl Center crowd pleaded for a foul call.
No. 8 ARIZONA 87, USC 81
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Azoulas Tubelis scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and No. 8 Arizona ended USC&rsquo;s 14-game home win streak.
It was the Wildcats&rsquo; first game since they were upset by rival Arizona State on an improbable half-court shot at the buzzer, 89-88. Arizona has not lost back-to-back games in the two seasons Tommy Lloyd has been its coach.
Arizona&rsquo;s inside game with Tubelis and Oumar Ballo gave the Trojans trouble all night and the pair finished with 35 points and 15 rebounds, plus each had three assists, a steal and a blocked shot.
The Wildcats (25-5, 14-5 Pac-12) extended their lead to as many as 15 points midway through the second half, but Ellis poured in 16 points over the final nine minutes to get the Trojans within five points in the final minute.
Boogie Ellis scored 35 points to lead the Trojans (21-9, 13-6),

A recap of Thursday's action in top-10 men's college hoops includes the No. 1 Cougars routing the Shockers.

Shead, Sasser lead No. 1 Houston past Wichita State 83-66

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Kansas State coach Jerome Tang grabbed a microphone and stood amid a sea of purple, moments after delirious fans had flooded the floor to celebrate the No. 13 Wildcats&rsquo; 83-82 overtime win over second-ranked Kansas on Tuesday night.
&ldquo;You have one court-storming,&rdquo; the Wildcats&rsquo; first-year coach told them over the din. &ldquo;After this, we expect to win.&rdquo;
Expectations are sure to soar in the Little Apple now.
After blowing a 14-point first-half lead, the Wildcats responded to every haymaker Kansas threw down the stretch. And when their game went to overtime, and players kept fouling out, Keyontae Johnson delivered for Kansas State, throwing down a go-ahead alley-oop dunk with 25 seconds left that ultimately proved to be the difference.
&ldquo;In order to elevate,&rdquo; Johnson said later, &ldquo;we have to beat teams like Kansas.&rdquo;
Johnson and Desi Sills finished with 24 points apiece, and Nae&rsquo;Qwan Tomlin had 15 points and 10 boards, as the Wildcats (16-2, 5-1 Big 12) bounced back from a blowout loss to TCU by beating the Jayhawks for the first time since Feb 5, 2019.
Jalen Wilson tried to take over in overtime for Kansas, converting a three-point play, knocking down a 3-pointer and making a pair of free throws for an 82-80 lead with just over a minute to go. But after Johnson made a free throw at the other end, Wilson missed a deep 3-pointer as the shot-clock expired to give the Wildcats another chance.
After a timeout, Markquis Nowell threw the lob that Johnson slammed down for an 83-82 advantage.
Kansas (16-2, 5-1) also called a timeout to set up its own finishing play, but normally sure-handed Dajuan Harris Jr. lost the ball in traffic, and the Jayhawks never got a chance to put up a potentially winning shot.
&ldquo;If you told me we&rsquo;d have the ball with a chance to win twice, that&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;d probably sell out for,&rdquo; Kansas coach Bill Self said. &ldquo;That last possession is one possession I probably wish we could take back.&rdquo;
Wilson played all 45 minutes and finished with a career-high 38 points for the Jayhawks. KJ Adams had 17 points and Gradey Dick had 16, though both of the key players were riding the bench at the finish after fouling out.
Both teams had chances to win in the final 30 seconds of regulation.
Kansas had possession first with 23 seconds to go and the game tied at 72, only to watch Harris lose control near the midcourt line &mdash; much like he did at the finish to overtime. The Wildcats grabbed the loose ball and pitched it ahead to Johnson, but the star forward missed a wild shot at the rim just before the buzzer sounded.
Johnson wouldn&rsquo;t miss when he got another winning chance in overtime.
It was the most anticipated Sunflower Showdown in years, drawing a capacity crowd that snaked around Bramlage Coliseum hours before tipoff as it waited to get in. and it was the less-regarded Wildcats rather than the defending national champions that demonstrated early poise and precision.
Kansas State made its first five 3-pointers and shot 52% from the field in the first half. It stuffed Wilson, the Big 12&prime;s top scorer, three times before he made a basket. And at one point, the Wildcats led by as many as 14 points.
&ldquo;They were shooting lights-out,&rdquo; Adams said.
Yet there&rsquo;s a reason the Jayhawks entered the night 29-5 in Bramlage Coliseum.
They always seem to deal with the pressure there.
Wilson finally got on track, scoring 12 in the first half, and Adams found success with floaters in the lane, pouring in 15 by the break. The Jayhawks eventually closed down the perimeter, forcing Kansas State to unsuccessfully drive to the basket, and they slowly trimmed away at their deficit, closing within 44-39 by halftime.
Despite foul trouble, the Jayhawks eventually made it all the way back, taking their first lead since the opening minutes at 59-57 with just under 8 minutes to go. But neither team was willing to give up down the stretch.
That&rsquo;s why 40 minutes wasn&rsquo;t enough to decide it.
&ldquo;The great thing about basketball is we&rsquo;ll have another game in two days, three days. We can&rsquo;t dwell on this,&rdquo; Wilson said quietly. &ldquo;We have another good team coming up and we&rsquo;ll see them again. That&rsquo;s the beauty of the Big 12.&rdquo;
THE TAKEAWAY
Kansas hung around despite foul trouble, going 24 of 34 on free throws and shooting 6 of 29 from the 3-point arc. The Jayhawks did it by turning around early turnover trouble and effectively getting to the rim on offense, though they weren&rsquo;t able to do that given one last chance in overtime.
Kansas State relies heavily on Nowell to make things happen, particularly on offense, and his worst games have led to losses. He was held to 13 points by Butler and committed five turnovers against TCU. But despite scoring just four points against Kansas, he piled up seven assists with none more important than the last.
UP NEXT
Kansas returns home to play No. 14 TCU on Saturday. Kansas State plays Texas Tech the same day.

Keyontae Johnson and Desi Sills finished with 24 points apiece as the Wildcats bounced back from a blowout loss to TCU.

No. 13 Kansas State defeats No. 2 Kansas 83-82 in overtime

Don't forget about the other summer blockbuster.
You can't go online without the Rudy Gobert trade being flamed. It's hard not to question that move considering how clunky things have looked for the Timberwolves on both ends, a recent winning streak when Gobert was out of the lineup, and a slide coinciding with Gobert's return &mdash; featuring closing minutes with Naz Reid instead of Gobert.
You know who else has looked clunky on both ends of the floor? The Atlanta Hawks, fresh off a loss to LeBirthday and the Los Angles Lakers on Friday night.
The Hawks are currently sitting two games under .500 (17-19), with a bottom-10 net rating (-1.7, 24th) and more rumors swirling than a high-school hallway. The latter portion &mdash; the outside noise &mdash; is really what sucks about this Hawks season.
It's understandable enough that there would be growing pains when implenting former Spurs All-Star Dejounte Murray into the mix. I was ultimately <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-offseason-trade-news-dejounte-murray-fit-atlanta-hawks-trae-young-bogdan-bogdanovic-deandre-hunter-san-antonio-spurs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high on the move</a>, but the Young-Murray fit hasn't been clean. The Hawks are <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612737&amp;Season=2022-23&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=1629027,1627749" target="_blank" rel="noopener">barely winning the minutes</a> &mdash; plus-1.8 in 695 minutes &mdash; with them sharing the floor.&nbsp;
It's even tougher considering the injury woes the Hawks have dealt with. Clint Capela has missed nine games; John Collins and De'Andre Hunter have missed eight. Bogdan Bogdanovic, an important spacer and secondary creator, made his season debut on December 2.&nbsp;
In a perfect world, this is just a matter of on-court chemistry building. But alas, it doesn't appear to be just that. The cloud surrounding the relationship between Young and head coach Nate McMillan is hard to ignore at this point.
Before the season, Young and McMillan each referenced their need to improve communication with each other. McMillan took steps over the offseason <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34656193/atlanta-hawks-look-improve-communication-trae-young-coach-nate-mcmillan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with an in-house visit</a>, for a quick example. Naturally, Young missed a home game against the Denver Nuggets earlier this month due to [checks notes] <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/trae-young-reportedly-sat-out-fridays-game-vs-nuggets-after-feud-with-coach-nate-mc-millan-232604712.html#:~:text=The%20team%20said%20at%20the,to%20be%20any%20further%20discipline." target="_blank" rel="noopener">morning shootaround etiquette.</a>
(As the story goes, Young wanted to bypass morning shootaround to receive extra treatment for a troublesome shoulder. McMillan gave Young a choice: either come off the bench [for missing a normally-mandatory shootaround], or stay home. Young opted for the latter.)
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That's a petty story at best, another notch on the "what-the-heck's-going-on-with-those-two?" belt at worst. It didn't look good for Young, who simply could've played if he wanted to. It didn't look good for McMillan, who wouldn't have lost sleep over letting Young slide considering the circumstances &mdash; and his importance to the team, but you know.
Fast forward to Friday, before the Lakers loss, and we get a report from The Athletic's Shams Charania that McMillan has <a href="https://theathletic.com/4046211/2022/12/30/nate-mcmillan-hawks-considers-resigning/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">considered resigning from the job</a>. When asked about the report, McMillan didn't necessarily <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/hawks-coach-nate-mcmillan-responds-to-report-suggesting-he-may-resign-well-move-on-past-that/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shut things down</a>:
"I read that article briefly, I've never spoke to that reporter before,"&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Pat_Benson_Jr/status/1608958610905903105?s=20&amp;t=p8pumdwNvGb35E1h4W7reQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">McMillan said</a>. "I think the last two weeks, he's written a couple articles with some sources in our organization that are making some comments about me, and some things that I'm saying and doing. Look, at the end of the year, I'll do as I've always done, at the end of the season I talk with my family and see if I still have that flame, that fire to continue next season. That's the end of the season. All of us think about retiring, but that's at the end of the season. So we'll move on past that."
What makes this dynamic &mdash; and the Hawks in general &mdash; so difficult to parse through is the chicken-or-egg nature of it.&nbsp;
For the "star &gt; coach" crowd, there are arguments to make.
There is a level of rigidity with McMillan from a scheme perspective. That isn't inherently bad; he provides structure, and that appeal is what helped land him the job after the Hawks fired Lloyd Pierce in the first place. But it's part of why teams have been willing to move on from McMillan after a spell, looking for a new voice or a boost in creativity. The Hawks very well could use that.&nbsp;
On the flip side, how much more can be done with this personnel? That's worth asking before factoring in the injury woes.&nbsp;
Daryl Morey would throw up at the Hawks' shot profile: 37.5% of their shots come from the mid-range area (1st), while they lag way behind in rim (32%, 20th) and three-point rate (30.5%, 29th). But when your shooting talent underperforms (Collins, Hunter, Justin Holiday), is mostly unavailable (Bogdanovic) or trying to learn the ropes in year one (AJ Griffin), what should the expectation be?
McMillan, like virtually every coach in existence, has had his rotations questioned during his tenure. But with the revolving door of talent he's had at his disposal this season, what should the expectation be?
And then there's Young himself.&nbsp;
He's underperformed by his lofty standards. Averages of 27.4 points and 9.9 assists are dope; averaging career-lows from just about everywhere &mdash; 31% on 7.2 threes, 47% on 13.8 two-pointers &mdash; is admittedly not dope.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_19684868.jpg" alt="" width="629" height="419" />
He hasn't been able to can the pull-up threes that make him such a lethal pick-and-roll threat. His floater, one of the NBA's best weapons, has largely failed him this season. (Ja Morant's dealing with a similar floater issue, hence his career-low in two-point percentage.)
Young missing shots wouldn't be as tough if his play-style didn't exacerbate things. He dictates a ton of the action &mdash; and rightfully so, with his blend of playmaking and scoring chops. After <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches?Season=2021-22&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=AVG_DRIB_PER_TOUCH" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leading the NBA</a> in seconds per touch and dribbles per touch last season, Young ranks... second and first respectively <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches?CF=GP*GE*20&amp;Season=2022-23&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=AVG_DRIB_PER_TOUCH" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this season</a>.
After an encouraging start to the year, the off-ball juice just hasn't been there for Young. We're back to pass-and-stand with the ball out of his hands. He's taken just 23 relocation threes this season, per Second Spectrum; that's on pace to smash last season's number (26), but still well below the threshold you'd like to see from Young.&nbsp;
The primary reason that people questioned the Young-Murray fit was because of the off-ball woes. Murray was a fine-not-threatening catch-and-shoot threat, while Young just wasn't particularly engaged in that area. Sadly, it's been mostly a "my turn, your turn" ordeal between the two.
It's fair to question if McMillan can bring this team to the next level, and if he can connect with Young enough to make that possibility a reality. It's also fair to question how much of a limiter Young's style is to building the sort of multi-faceted attack that can take the Hawks to the next level.&nbsp;
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That question, in addition to the weird relationship with McMillan, is why <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10059477-sources-trae-young-could-be-next-nba-superstar-to-request-trade" target="_blank" rel="noopener">executives have started chirping</a> about the possibility of Young eventually asking out.
This is where I pause and state the obvious: executives saying "hey, he might be the next star to ask out" is not a report. It's notable conversation, and fun to think about. It's not an actual trade request.
Even with that context, it's interesting to think about what a Young trade would even look like. The Hawks pushing that button would signify, "We can't do this," "We don't want to deal with this," or a combination of the two. How would that message be received league-wide?
Young is an offense unto himself; that's incredibly valuable and, oddly enough, part of the problem with building around him. Add in the defensive concerns &mdash; he's a small dude whose attention span wanes off the ball too often &mdash; and a Young trade sweepstakes won't be as simple as "this dude's good so we should sell the farm for him."
Go down the line of fake trade destinations, and you'll come across some roadblocks.
That Young-for-KAT swap seems plausible until you think about Young, Anthony Edwards and Gobert in the same locker room. Gobert was frustrated enough being blamed for Utah's defensive miscues; cleaning up for Young and&nbsp;Edwards' off-ball lapses feels like trouble waiting to happen.&nbsp;
The New York Knicks should be happy with the All-Star caliber play that Jalen Brunson has provided this season. Brunson isn't a Young-level talent, nor is he a Young-level star. I'd be shocked if they didn't at least consider constructing a package for Young.
In light of Chris Paul's decline, I'm sure the Phoenix Suns would sniff around. The prospect of pairing Young and Devin Booker together would be interesting, though building out an offer would induce headaches.&nbsp;
(I don't know if anyone wants to hear this, but there's probably a conversation to be had between Atlanta and Philadelphia depending on what James Harden wants to do with his player option.)
For a player as talented as Young, that's not a long list of suitors. And again, you could poke holes in all of those. Ideally, this doesn't become a real talking point to begin with. The Hawks want Young to be the face of the franchise, and he's already shown he's talented enough to lead them on a deep playoff run.
What needs to change for the Hawks to turn things around? The anwer is a little bit of everything.&nbsp;
More malleability from McMillan would be nice. A healthier roster &mdash; and better shooting talent &mdash; would give McMillan more room to experiment. Obviously there's no "shoot-the-ball-better" button to press, but Young can control his own engagement level off the ball &mdash; on both ends of the floor.&nbsp;

What's wrong with the Hawks? Nekias Duncan breaks down the team's issues and Atlanta's options moving forward.

What's wrong with the Atlanta Hawks?

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Tyrese Haliburton scored 29 points, Buddy Hield made a 3-pointer three seconds into the game and added 25, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 135-126 on Thursday night.
Haliburton was 6 for 8 from 3-point range and Hield, who leads the NBA in 3-pointers, was 5 for 6. The Pacers finished 19 of 31 from beyond the arc.
&ldquo;You can't ask for much better shooting than that,&rdquo; said Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith, who had 22 points. &ldquo;They shoot the ball like that, it's going to be tough to beat us any night.&rdquo;
Indiana trailed by seven early in the fourth quarter before rallying. Hield fed Nesmith for a go-ahead dunk to give the Pacers a 120-119 lead with 4:26 remaining.
&ldquo;This is the most fun I&rsquo;ve had playing basketball in a very long time,&rdquo; said Nesmith, a third-year pro acquired from Boston in the offseason.
Haliburton converted a three-point play on the next possession and the Pacers never surrendered the lead.
&ldquo;This game was about our defense, or the lack of it,&rdquo; said Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff, whose team ranks No. 1 in fewest points allowed at 105.5 per game. &ldquo;We decided we wanted to play Indiana Pacers basketball and that's their strength. We didn't play Cleveland Cavaliers basketball and play to our strength.&rdquo;
Bennedict Mathurin scored 23 points and Myles Turner 14 as Indiana snapped a five-game losing streak against the Cavaliers, who have lost three in a row.
&ldquo;Any time the ball is going into the basket like that, you feel good,&rdquo; said Pacers assistant coach Lloyd Pierce, who took over after Rick Carlisle was ejected. "But (the Cavaliers) are capable of doing that. And that's scary for us.
&ldquo;When the ball goes into the basket, it makes you want to play that way. We have to play that way. And Ty is our leader. He's going to set the tone and the pace for us."
All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell scored 28 points to lead a balanced Cleveland offense with seven double-digit scorers. Mitchell sank five of the Cavaliers' 12 3-pointers.
&ldquo;We kept giving up 3s,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said. &ldquo;The 3-ball is the way back into the game. It&rsquo;s personnel-driven, understanding the person you&rsquo;re guarding, being on high alert that that&rsquo;s what they are looking for. I just didn&rsquo;t think we had the focus on the defensive end of the floor because we were scoring points. We have to be able to do both."
Cleveland's Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen each had 19 and All-Star guard Darius Garland finished with 18 points and eight assists.
The 3-point barrage began just three seconds in as the opening tip was batted directly to Hield, who turned and swished a shot that was the fastest 3-pointer recorded since play-by-play began in 1996-97. In the first half, the Pacers hit 9 of 15 from beyond the arc and the Cavaliers 7 of 13. The Cavaliers led 68-64 at halftime.
TIP-INS
Cavaliers: Dropped to 6-10 on the road. ... Forward Cedi Osman (back) was a last-minute inactive and center Robin Lopez (illness) missed his second consecutive game.
Pacers: Carlisle was assessed two technicals and ejected with 1:29 remaining in the third quarter after arguing that an off-balance Mitchell threw the ball off the backboard to himself. ... Mathurin leads the league in bench scoring at 17.6 points per game.
UP NEXT
Cavaliers: Visit Chicago Bulls on Saturday.
Pacers: Host L.A. Clippers on Saturday.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Tyrese Haliburton scored 29 points, Buddy Hield added 25, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 135-126.

Haliburton, Hield combine for 11 3s, Pacers top Cavs 135-126

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

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd knew there was talent on his roster. He wasn&rsquo;t exactly sure how good the team would be.
The former longtime Gonzaga assistant had a similar view of last year&rsquo;s team and that one turned out to be pretty good, running all the way to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
This year&rsquo;s team could end up being even better.
Buoyed by transfers and improved returning players, Arizona has rolled through the early part of its schedule, climbing to No. 4 in this week&rsquo;s AP Top 25 after winning the Maui Invitational.
&ldquo;I learned that we&rsquo;re good,&rdquo; Lloyd said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re tough. We&rsquo;re gritty. I think there&rsquo;s going to be some great things for us to really double down on and some things to show our guys where we went the wrong way.&rdquo;
Lloyd had a superb first season in the desert, earning coach of the year honors last season with a team that lost three players to the NBA.
The Wildcats (6-0) had to replace three NBA players again this season. Again, they made a seamless transition.
Improvement on the part of the returning players has been a big part of it.
Oumar Ballo, considered a project as a freshman at Gonzaga, has transformed into one of the nation&rsquo;s best big men. The 7-foot, 260-pound center from Mali has vastly improved his footwork and developed patience in the post, setting himself up for good shots instead of trying to bull his way to the basket.&nbsp;
Ballo is averaging 19 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 76.7% from the field, fourth-best nationally. He was named Maui Invitational MVP after finishing with 30 points and 13 rebounds against No. 7 Creighton in the title game.
Not bad for a player who averaged 2.5 points and 6.3 minutes per game two years ago at Gonzaga.
&ldquo;When he struggled, I still believed in him,&rdquo; Lloyd said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t need for him to be instantly successful for me to reaffirm my belief in him. When he struggled, we continued to love him and work with him and then he continued to hang in there and I think it is a great story.&rdquo;
Fellow big man Azuolas Tubelis has made a few strides of his own, adding strength and toughness to his athletic, fluid game. The 6-10 forward leads Arizona with 19.3 points per game while grabbing 8.0 rebounds.
Fiery point guard Kerr Kriisa has rounded into a reliable floor leader, averaging 15.3 points and 7.5 assists while shooting 51% from the 3-point arc.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t pay attention to the antics because they don&rsquo;t mean anything to me,&rdquo; Lloyd said. &ldquo;I know maybe that draws attention to him from other people but when it comes to just pure basketball, I mean he is doing a good job and I think he is really showing something.&rdquo;
So is Courtney Ramey.
The Texas transfer has given the Wildcats a huge boost in his first season in Tucson, providing hounding defense, leadership and another scoring option. He&rsquo;s averaging 16 points per game and has hit 10 of 16 from 3-point range so far this season.
Campbell transfer Cedric Henderson Jr. has provided an athletic lift off the bench and 7-foot Estonian Henri Veesaar has given Arizona solid minutes.
The mix of new and old has helped Arizona lead the nation with 97.5 points a game and rank second with 21.8 assists per game. The Wildcats climbed 10 spots in this week&rsquo;s poll after wins over Cincinnati, No. 24 San Diego State and Creighton.
Arizona opens Pac-12 play Thursday at Utah.
&ldquo;It was good to get the recognition, but we&rsquo;re not satisfied,&rdquo; Ramey said. &ldquo;Our ultimate goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the season and be the final two teams playing, so I think the regular season matters but it&rsquo;s not the ultimate goal for us.&rdquo;
The Wildcats are certainly off to a good start.

Buoyed by transfers and improved returning players, Arizona has rolled through the early part of its schedule.

No. 4 Arizona turning heads early in the season

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Klay Thompson scored a season-high 41 points and Steph Curry added 33 as the Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets 127-120 on Sunday night for their first road win.
The Warriors snapped an 0-8 start away from home to improve to 8-9 on the season. Golden State has won five of its last seven games following a 3-7 start.
&ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t sit well with us, our 0-8 record,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;We had to scratch and claw to get this one, so to get that monkey off your back and feel good about yourselves outside of the Chase Center, it matters.&rdquo;
Thompson had a vintage performance, hitting a sizzling 10 of 13 3-pointers and went 14 of 23 from the field.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just something for me to build on,&rdquo; Thompson said. &ldquo;I was really wanting a game like this, so it felt great for me to just let that thing fly.&rdquo;
Longtime teammate Draymond Green said of Thompson: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the most competitive guy that I&rsquo;ve ever played with, and the most important thing to him has always been winning.&rdquo;
Curry struggled early but finished 11 of 20 from the field, including 7 of 14 from 3. He also had a season-high 15 assists, just one shy of his career high.
Curry hit a big 3 just inside of two minutes remaining that doubled the Warriors&rsquo; lead to 121-115. Curry made another with less than 40 seconds remaining to put Golden State up by nine, and he gestured to the crowd like he put the game to sleep.
&ldquo;I surprised myself with that shot,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;Me and Draymond put our hands above our heads like we really won something, kind of making fun of ourselves for our slow start.&rdquo;
Andrew Wiggins hit 6 of 11 3s and scored 22 points for Golden State.
Kevin Porter Jr. led Houston with 30 points, Jabari Smith Jr. had 22, and Jalen Green added 16. Rookie Tari Eason scored a career-high 19 points and added eight rebounds off the bench.
Golden State jumped to an 11-0 lead from the tip and led 40-28 after 20 first-quarter points from Thompson. Houston quickly answered, opening up the second quarter on a 17-2 run to build a small lead.
The Rockets led 65-61 at halftime.
&ldquo;We played a great team, we got down big and fought back,&rdquo; Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. &ldquo;We took the lead, we were neck-in-neck down the stretch, and they had to make some great shots to beat us.
&ldquo;We have to learn some discipline, but this is a team that&rsquo;s been together for years and won championships and all that. We should definitely be proud. It&rsquo;s disappointing that we didn&rsquo;t get the win, for sure, but nobody in that locker room should have their head down.&rdquo;
The loss dropped Houston to 3-14, the worst record in the Western Conference.
TIP-INS
Warriors: Golden State received two delay of game warnings in the first half, resulting in a technical. Houston later received the same technical in the second half. &hellip; Jordan Poole had 10 points off the bench.
Rockets: Porter returned after a one-game absence with left lower back soreness. &hellip; Jalen Green committed an uncommon turnover near the end of the third quarter, walking the ball slowly up the court following a Warriors basket and receiving a 10-second backcourt violation.
&lsquo;FLOODGATES&rsquo; OPEN?
After Thompson promised on Instagram last week that &ldquo;the floodgates will open&rdquo; following early struggles, he said Sunday, &ldquo;I can confidently say they&rsquo;re open now.&rdquo;
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he hoped Thompson's "ffollowers are happy with Klay promising that. I hope there&rsquo;s a lot of good interaction between followers and Klay and everybody can be happy.&rdquo;
RAPPERS IN ATTENDANCE
Hip-hop artist 50 Cent sat courtside, as did Houston-native rapper Tobe Nwigwe, who was recently received a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
GREEN AND GOLD
The Rockets wore throwback white jerseys with gold lettering and green trim as a nod to the original San Diego Rockets.
&nbsp;

Klay Thompson scored a season-high 41 points and Steph Curry added 33 as the Warriors beat the Rockets 127-120.

Thompson nets 10 3s, has 41 points in Warriors' 1st road win

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Jeremy Roach scored 16 first-half points to help seventh-ranked Duke open Jon Scheyer&rsquo;s coaching tenure with a 71-44 win over Jacksonville on Monday night.
Freshman Mark Mitchell had a team-high 18 points for the Blue Devils, who used a 25-4 run spanning halftime to blow the game open.
It was a quality start to a season of massive change for the Blue Devils, starting with Scheyer taking over for retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski. Duke has 11 new players, including the nation&rsquo;s No. 1-ranked recruiting class and two power-conference transfers. The Blue Devils didn&rsquo;t have top freshmen Dereck Lively II and Dariq Whitehead for this one as they recover from preseason injuries.
Mike Marsh scored 15 points to lead the Dolphins, who shot 34% and missed 18 of 19 3-pointers before making two meaningless 3s late.
NO. 1 NORTH CAROLINA 69, UNC WILMINGTON 56
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Caleb Love and RJ Davis scored 17 points apiece and North Carolina began a season of grand expectations by pulling away from UNC Wilmington.
Armando Bacot added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Tar Heels, who were perhaps most impressive at the defensive end. UNCW shot 29.8% from the field.
The Tar Heels, who were the NCAA Tournament runner-up in April, began the new season with the top ranking for the first time in seven years. It&rsquo;s a record 10th time that North Carolina has been ranked No. 1 to start a season &mdash; one more than rival Duke.
Trazarien White scored 19 points for UNCW, which faced a top-ranked team for the first time in program history.
NO. 2 GONZAGA 104, NORTH FLORIDA 63
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 22 points, Julian Strawther added 16 and No. 2 Gonzaga used a big first-half run to beat North Florida in both teams&rsquo; opener.
Anton Watson had 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and five steals for Gonzaga, which won its 68th consecutive home game, the nation&rsquo;s longest such streak.
Carter Hendricksen scored 16 points, Jadyn Parker 13 and Jose Placer 12 for North Florida, a veteran-laden team from the Atlantic Sun Conference that returned its top four scorers from last season.
NO. 3 HOUSTON 83, NORTHERN COLORADO 36
HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Marcus Sasser scored 21 points, J&rsquo;Wan Roberts added 12 points and six rebounds, and Houston opened the season by beating Northern Colorado.
Sasser, a preseason All-American, scored 11 points in the first half. He finished 7 of 14 from the field and made 4 of 8 3-pointers. The senior guard missed the second half of last season and all of Houston&rsquo;s run to the Elite Eight with a toe injury.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson won his 700th career game and 200th with the Cougars.
Matt Johnson II, Riley Abercrombie and Caleb Shaw each scored eight points for the Bears.
NO. 4 KENTUCKY 95, HOWARD 63
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Antonio Reeves scored 22 points, CJ Fredrick had 20 and Kentucky beat Howard with All-American Oscar Tshiebwe and two other players sidelined.
Tshiebwe had a procedure last month on his right knee. Point guard Sahvir Wheeler (right leg) and sophomore forward Daimion Collins (personal reasons) were also out, but the Wildcats still shot 55% against the overmatched Bison.
Jacob Toppin and freshman Cason Wallace each added 15 points for Kentucky.
Kobe Dickson scored 17 points and Elijah Hawkins had 14 for Howard, which shot 34%.
NO. 5 KANSAS 89, OMAHA 64
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Gradey Dick added 23 points in his debut, and Kansas began defense of its national championship without suspended coach Bill Self by routing Omaha.
Bobby Pettiford Jr. added 13 points, Dajuan Harris had 11 points and eight assists, and Texas Tech transfer Kevin McCullar Jr. scored 10 for the Jayhawks, who broke open a close game in the second half with two big runs.
Self served the first of a four-game punishment along with assistant Kurtis Townsend as part of the fallout from a 2017 federal investigation into college basketball corruption.
Jaeden Marshall scored 13 points and Luke Jungers had 12 for the Mavericks.
NO. 5 BAYLOR 117, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE 53
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Adam Flagler scored 21 points to lead six players in double figures as Baylor won the opener of its 20th season with coach Scott Drew.
Flagler, a preseason All-Big 12 pick who also was the Bears&rsquo; leading scorer last season, also had eight assists and one of his four 3-pointers started a 24-0 run midway through the first half.
LJ Cryer had 16 points and Dale Bonner, another returning guard, had 14.
Alvin Stredic scored 14 points and Terry Collins 10 for Mississippi Valley State in its first game for new coach George Ivory.
NO. 9 CREIGHTON 72, ST. THOMAS 60
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Baylor Scheierman made back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half to give Creighton the lead for good.
Arthur Kaluma scored 17 points, Trey Alexander had 12 and Scheierman added 11 as the Bluejays won their 25th opener in 26 years.
St. Thomas, a Summit League member beginning its second season in Division I, gave the Bluejays all they could handle until the last few minutes. Andrew Rohde had 15 points to lead the Tommies.
NO. 10 ARKANSAS 76, NORTH DAKOTA STATE 58
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) &mdash; Trevon Brazile had 21 points and 12 rebounds in his debut as Arkansas won its season opener.
Brazile, a sophomore transfer from Missouri, scored six straight points during an 11-0 run early in the second half that gave Arkansas a 16-point lead with 15 minutes left.
Wichita State transfer Ricky Council led the Razorbacks with 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting.
Grant Nelson and Boden Skunberg had 17 points apiece to lead North Dakota State.
NO. 11 TENNESSEE 75, TENNESSEE TECH 43
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Tyreke Key came off the bench to score 17 points and Tennessee beat Tennessee Tech in both teams&rsquo; opener.
Key, an Indiana State transfer, connected on 4 of 8 3-pointers to ignite a sluggish Volunteer offense. Zakai Zeigler scored all but two of his 12 points in the second half.
Brett Thompson led the Golden Eagles with 15 points.
NO. 12 TEXAS 72, UTEP 57
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Tyrese Hunter scored 18 points to lead Texas past UTEP in the debut of its new arena.
Hunter, a transfer from Iowa State, was 6-of-8 shooting and added five rebounds. Ze&rsquo;Ri Onyema led UTEP with 10 points.
Texas this season moved to the $375 million Moody Center on the edge of campus, leaving behind the old Frank Erwin Center after 45 years.
NO. 13 INDIANA 88, MOREHEAD STATE 53
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Preseason All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis and freshman Malik Reneau each scored 15 points, helping Indiana beat Morehead State in the season opener for both teams.
The Hoosiers have won all six matchups in the series and are 26-0 all-time against Ohio Valley Conference foes.
Mark Freeman led the Eagles with 14 points, and Drew Thelwell had 11 for the OVC favorites.
NO. 14 TCU 73, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 72
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Mike Miles hit a 3-pointer with 51 seconds remaining to finally put TCU ahead to stay against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which built an early 20-point lead in the season opener for both teams.
Miles, the preseason Big 12 player of the year, hit from deep beyond the top of the key for a 71-68 lead.
Emanuel Miller had 15 of his 19 points in the second half, and Miles finished with 15 points for the Horned Frogs. They returned all five starters and five other scholarship players after winning their first NCAA Tournament game since 1987.
Shaun Doss had 25 points with four of Arkansas-Pine Bluff&rsquo;s 13 3-pointers.
NO. 15 AUBURN 70, GEORGE MASON 52
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Wendell Green Jr. scored 16 points while K.D. Johnson and Johni Broome each had 12 to lead Auburn to a season-opening win over George Mason.
The Tigers weren&rsquo;t really challenged much in their first game since losing NBA first-round draft picks Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler.
Ronald Polite III led George Mason with 10 points, and Victor Bailey Jr. had nine.
NO. 16 VILLANOVA 81, LA SALLE 68
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) &mdash; Caleb Daniels scored 24 points to make coach Kyle Neptune a winner in his Villanova debut.
Neptune replaced Hall of Famer Jay Wright, who retired in the offseason. The Wildcats returned three starters (a fourth, Justin Moore, was injured) from the team that lost a national semifinal game to Kansas. Eric Dixon added 20 points for Villanova.
Daniels made his first five 3-pointers and the Wildcats used an early 10-0 run to put away their city rival and spoiled 74-year-old coach Fran Dunphy&rsquo;s return to the bench.
Josh Nickelberry scored 22 points to lead the Explorers.
NO. 17 ARIZONA 117, NICHOLLS STATE 75
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Azuolas Tubelis scored 23 points and Arizona went on a massive opening run to begin its second season under coach Tommy Lloyd with a rout.
Ballo scored 18 points, helping Arizona set a school record with 71.7% shooting from the floor against the reigning Southland Conference regular-season champions. The Wildcats opened the game with a 30-4 run.
Micah Thomas led Nicholls State with 20 points.
NO. 18 VIRGINIA 73, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 61
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman sparked a 15-2 second-half run, and Virginia beat North Carolina Central after blowing a 16-point first-half lead.
Armaan Franklin led Virginia with 21 points in the season opener for both teams, and Francisco Caffaro had 10.
Justin Wright scored 20 and Eric Boone had 18 for the Eagles, who used a 12-0 run just after halftime to go ahead. But Clark hit a 3 and Beekman followed with a steal and a breakaway.
NO. 19 SAN DIEGO STATE 80, CAL STATE FULLERTON 57
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Darrion Trammell hit three 3-pointers during a 29-10 run to open the second half and finished with 18 points as San Diego State beat Cal State Fullerton.
Fellow newcomer Jaedon LeDee and Lamont Butler scored 11 points apiece and Nathan Mensah had 10 for the Aztecs, who won their 10th straight season opener and their 17th in 18 seasons.
Vincent Lee scored 11 and Jalen Harris 10 for the Titans, the defending Big West Conference champions.
NO. 20 ALABAMA 75, LONGWOOD 54
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Freshman Brandon Miller had 14 points and 13 rebounds in his debut as Alabama beat Longwood.
Fellow freshman Rylan Griffen also scored 14 for the Crimson Tide, and point guard Mark Sears had 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Freshman guard Jaden Bradley added 11 points and six boards.
Alabama held Longwood to 27% shooting and blocked nine shots. Michael Christmas led Longwood with 12 points.
NO. 21 OREGON 80, FLORIDA A&amp;M 45
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) &mdash; N&rsquo;Faly Dante had 16 points and 10 rebounds as Oregon opened with an easy win over Florida A&amp;M.
Keeshawn Barthelemy added 13 points for the Ducks, ranked to start the season for the ninth straight year. Will Richardson scored 11.
Jordan Tillmon and Jordan Chatman had eight points apiece for the Rattlers, who have 11 new players. Florida A&amp;M coach Robert McCullum was on Oregon coach Dana Altman&rsquo;s staff from 2014-17.
NO. 22 MICHIGAN 75, PURDUE FORT WAYNE 56
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Hunter Dickinson had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and freshman Jett Howard added 21 points in Michigan&rsquo;s season-opening win.
After Purdue Fort Wayne opened an 8-4 lead, Michigan went on a 20-0 run to take control.
Quinton Morton-Robertson scored 15 points and Bobby Planutis added 13 for the Mastodons.
NO. 23 ILLINOIS 87, EASTERN ILLINOIS 57
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) &mdash; Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 24 points and Coleman Hawkins had 23 points and 12 rebounds as Illinois cruised past Eastern Illinois.
Dain Dainja added 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Illini, who outrebounded the Panthers 53-30 in the opener for both teams.
Kinyon Hodges scored 14 points and Yaakema Rose added 10 for Eastern Illinois.
NO. 24 DAYTON 73, LINDENWOOD 46
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Mustapha Amzil scored 14 points, DaRon Holmes II and R.J. Blakney each had 13 and Dayton beat Lindenwood in a sluggish opener for both teams.
Dayton was without injured point guard Malachi Smith and didn&rsquo;t play particularly well until late, but it had a large margin for error against Lindenwood, which was playing its first game after moving up to Division I.
Chris Childs had 15 points for the Lions, who shot 33% from the field.
NO. 25 TEXAS TECH 73, NORTHWESTERN STATE 49
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) &mdash; Daniel Batcho had 12 points and 10 rebounds as Texas Tech rolled past Northwestern State in both teams&rsquo; opener.
Texas Tech broke it open late in the first half and led 42-23 at halftime.
Isaac Haney led Northwestern State with 16 points.

It was a quality start to a season of massive change for the Blue Devils, starting with Jon Scheyer taking over Duke's program.

Roach leads No. 7 Duke past Jacksonville in Scheyer’s debut

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Arizona is a bit of an unknown quantity, with a key returning core surrounded by talented newcomers who hope to make up for the loss of NBA talent.
If it sounds familiar, that&rsquo;s just where the No. 17 Wildcats were heading into last season, Tommy Lloyd&rsquo;s first as a head coach.
That one turned out pretty well, so no reason to think it won&rsquo;t happen again.
Arizona enters its second season under Lloyd with several new players, but it&rsquo;s a mix that&rsquo;s expected to make the former longtime Gonzaga assistant two for two in NCAA Tournament opportunities.
&ldquo;We have some really good players,&rdquo; Lloyd said. &ldquo;As a team we still have to put everything together, but at the end of the day we&rsquo;re going to be really hard to beat.&rdquo;
Arizona proved that last season. Arizona lost three players to the NBA, but Lloyd added some key components to the players who opted to return. Arizona won 33 games, reached the Sweet 16 and Lloyd won multiple national coach of the year honors, including from The Associated Press.
The Wildcats have a similar feel this season.
Bennedict Mathurin, Christian Koloko and Dalen Terry are now in the NBA. Azuolas Tubelis, Kerr Kriisa, Pelle Larsson and Oumar Ballo are all back. The cast of new players Lloyd added are impressive.
Guard Courtney Ramey arrives after playing four seasons at Texas, most of the time as a starter. Cedric Henderson Jr. was a proven scorer at Campbell, averaging 13.7 points in three seasons.
Serbian forward Filip Borovicanin and Estonian forward Henri Veesaar have proven themselves against international competition. Arizona also added two highly touted freshmen, big man Dylan Anderson and point guard Kyland Boswell, who will be eased into the rotation after offseason foot surgery.
It may take the new crew time to gel, but the talent and pieces appear to be in place for another March run.
BAL&rsquo;S PROGRESS
Arizona could get a big boost from a player who was already on its roster: Adama Bal.
The 6-foot-6 French wing played a limited role last season, averaging 4.5 points in 23 games, but he played well for France in the FIBA under-20 championships this summer. Given a bigger role this season, Bal could be ready for a breakout season.
&ldquo;By the time November rolls around, I figure he&rsquo;s going to be a mainstay and have a chance to impact every single game,&rdquo; Lloyd said.
GETTING PHYSICAL
One of Lloyd&rsquo;s goals within his program is to add toughness after the Wildcats were manhandled by Houston in the Sweet 16.
Lloyd has pushed his players to be more physical in practice, particularly in the paint. He&rsquo;s also urged players like the 6-11, 245-pound Tubelis and 7-foot, 260-pound Ballo to use their size and leverage more to their advantage.
&ldquo;To me, there&rsquo;s nothing that bums me out more than physically being overmatched,&rdquo; Lloyd said. &ldquo;So what do we have to do to make sure when we tee it up we can physically bring the fight. To me, therein lies toughness. That&rsquo;s the price of entry: you&rsquo;ve got to be tough.&rdquo;
LARSSON&rsquo;S CLIMB
Larsson got a late start to his first season in Tucson due to offseason foot surgery. The Swedish transfer from Utah had a solid year, averaging 7.2 points and 3.4 rebounds, but Lloyd would like him to play with more confidence and ramp up his defense.
&ldquo;Pelle has to manifest a bit of his success and have more belief in himself,&rdquo; Lloyd said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a really good basketball player and definitely trending in the right direction.&rdquo;
SCHEDULE
Lloyd likes to schedule tough, something he learned from Gonzaga coach Mark Few. The Wildcats had a few games fall through for various reasons, but will still have some tough nonconference games.
Arizona&rsquo;s first big test will come at the Maui Invitational. The Wildcats open against Cincinnati, with potential games against No. 10 Arkansas, No. 25 Texas Tech, Louisville, Ohio State and No. 19 San Diego State later in the bracket.
Arizona also plays Indiana in Las Vegas and has a home game against No. 11 Tennessee.
&ldquo;I definitely think we scheduled well enough to give ourselves a chance to win an at-large bid, and if we perform well in our schedule, we probably have a chance to get a decent seed in the (NCAA) tournament,&rdquo; Lloyd said.

Ben Mathurin, Christian Koloko and Dalen Terry are in the NBA. Azuolas Tubelis, Kerr Kriisa, Pelle Larsson and Oumar Ballo are back.

No. 17 Arizona aims to keep momentum in Lloyd’s second season

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Doc Rivers is at ease using his platform as an NBA coach to fight bigotry and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-lakers-orlando-magic-milwaukee-bucks-covid-nba-a0eb7661e235e49472f8fe634e5694f7">racial injustice</a>, campaign for politicians he believes in and advocate for social change on themes ranging from poverty to police brutality.
Sometimes, his speeches sound like they were delivered by someone running for office. Might the 60-year-old Rivers, the son of a Chicago police officer, someday stump for change as an actual politician?
&ldquo;Oh God, no. I wouldn&rsquo;t win, number one,&rdquo; Rivers said. &ldquo;And number two, that&rsquo;s not what I want to be.&rdquo;
Rivers is fine with wading into political waters &mdash; and the older he gets and the more he learns about modern issues and Black history with deep meaning to him, the more he speaks out. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/la-sp-election-doc-rivers-20161109-story.html">At Donald Trump</a>. At police misconduct. At the horrors of racism that have shadowed him his entire life. At the idea that, even as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, it can still be hard to find his place as a Black man in America.
&ldquo;When you hear, &lsquo;America first,&rsquo; that scares me, because I&rsquo;m a Black man and that&rsquo;s not including me,&rdquo; Rivers said last week in an interview with The Associated Press. &ldquo;I want us to all be included. I want us all to function with each other.&rdquo;
Rivers has become an agent of change in the NBA and found his voice as an activist, trying to contribute perhaps more to the league than he has already, first as an All-Star guard and then with a coaching career that includes the 2008 championship with Boston and a spot this year on the list of the <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/nba-75-top-15-coaches-league-history">15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History</a>. That outreach starts at home &mdash; or perhaps, on this point, on the road &mdash; where Rivers used training camp not just as the usual time to rehash X&rsquo;s and O&rsquo;s but as a daily history class. The Sixers practiced at The Citadel, the military college where tanks and jets and plaques dedicated to prisoners of wars dot the campus, an education all part of Rivers&rsquo; plan to squeeze more out of camp than basketball.
&ldquo;All of it is good for us,&rdquo; Rivers said.
The Sixers usually hold camp at their New Jersey complex but Rivers wanted to strengthen team bonding with a road trip. The Sixers gathered last week for team dinners, played card and video games, and had serious conversations, the type of day-to-day activities largely shelved the last two seasons because of COVID-19 protocols.
&ldquo;When you have camp at home, you don&rsquo;t get that,&rdquo; Rivers said. &ldquo;They go home at the end of practice and they don&rsquo;t spend time with each other.&rdquo;
Rivers was a guard with the Knicks in the early 1990s when the team held camp at the College of Charleston. Back then, coach Pat Riley made the players walk from the team hotel to the arena.
The 76ers stuck to the team bus last week.
Rivers and the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CjNiiDBOzeX/?hl=en">Sixers organized field trips to the Old Slave Mart Museum</a>, often staffed by individuals who trace their history to the enslaved people of Charleston, and to the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture. Citadel President Gen. Glenn Walters and retired professor and historian Bernard Powers both spoke to the team.
&ldquo;My people, my African people coming here, the people that gave up their lives for us to be able to be in this position, it was good to learn about all of that,&rdquo; said center Joel Embiid, who was born in Cameroon and recently <a href="https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-76ers-nba-sports-basketball-joel-embiid-84c7239b1fd373687d0e4efba7688623">became a U.S. citizen</a>.
Powers said by phone that he talked to the Sixers at their team hotel about such topics as the role Charleston played in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the slave revolt of 1739 and the descendants of enslaved people known as <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lawsuits-georgia-property-taxes-savannah-2037b8ba08c5aad82cc3ebbb89849874">Gullah</a>, who live in small island communities scattered over 425 miles (684 kilometers) of the Southern Atlantic U.S. coast.
&ldquo;This was the port where a greatly disproportionate number of Africans were brought here,&rdquo; Powers said. &ldquo;This place, more than any other, might be very likely a source of their ancestry. They could think about perhaps having a personal connection to this place.&rdquo;
Rivers believed the experiences resonated with a team full of 20-somethings all the way up to coaching staff veterans.
&ldquo;Teaching American history is under assault right now. And it&rsquo;s not Black history or teaching about slavery, it&rsquo;s American history,&rdquo; Rivers said. &ldquo;And so I was amazed. The first thing that I was taught the other day was, how many players, and not only players, coaches, came up to me and said, &lsquo;Wow, I never was taught that in my history class.&lsquo;&rdquo;
Rivers referenced learning about shameful historic chapters such as the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tulsa-massacres-race-and-ethnicity-af589e8c37a31bcd30f0f7977a9ca4c0">Tulsa Race Massacre</a> as an adult rather than learning about the white mobs in school as one reason he has pushed for more Black history to be taught in all schools.
&ldquo;You should know your history. You really should,&rdquo; Rivers said. &ldquo;Could you imagine if we were not taught the history of Germany and the Holocaust? There really is no difference. I want to make sure we&rsquo;re taught the same history.&rdquo;
History matters, but it's today&rsquo;s headlines that trouble Rivers.
Before he took questions from reporters after Wednesday&rsquo;s practice at The Citadel, Rivers addressed the death of a 14-year-old shot in the chest near a northwest Philadelphia high school athletic field. The <a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-philadelphia-710cc55cdb89fa8a946db84d3cb74924">shooting occurred</a> hours after Mayor Jim Kenney signed an executive order banning guns and deadly weapons from the city&rsquo;s indoor and outdoor recreation spaces including parks, basketball courts and pools.
Rivers, as he has in the past, urged for stricter laws on firearms.
&ldquo;Obviously, if anybody knew the answer, we would try to find the answer there, you know, other than taking guns off the street,&rdquo; Rivers told reporters. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s too political. So we&rsquo;ve got to figure it out.&rdquo;
Rivers mentioned a few times during his AP interview that he doesn&rsquo;t want to get &ldquo;too political&rdquo; but matters of state matter to him. He was invited before the 2020 election to <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2020/11/02/doc-rivers-joe-biden-rally-philadelphia-76ers-donald-trump-election/">speak at a Joe Biden rally</a> after the <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/76ers/news/presidential-candidate-joe-biden-quotes-76ers-doc-rivers">Democratic presidential candidate used Rivers&rsquo; words</a> on the Jacob Blake police shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in his own speech at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, calling for racial unity. Rivers later <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-joel-embiid-doc-rivers-philadelphia-76ers-michael-jordan-fdc9df2eb2206acf110a02d6d51d5c5d">decried the riotous Jan. 6 attack</a> on the U.S. Capitol, though he said at the time that &ldquo;democracy will prevail.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t used to be&rdquo; political, Rivers said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been aware of politics, I&rsquo;ve always been involved. But what got me involved is, we have this separation of race now, of pitting races against each other.&rdquo;
Rivers <a href="https://coalition.nba.com/about/">serves on the board</a> of the NBA Social Justice Coalition. The advocacy organization called members of Congress in support of an executive order designed to improve accountability in policing. Rivers was in Washington when <a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-biden-covid-health-law-enforcement-agencies-10587efaf2a8858261ad00c92a575aef">Biden signed the order</a> on the second anniversary of George Floyd&rsquo;s death at the hands of Minneapolis police. The order was meant to reflect the challenges in addressing racism, excessive use of force and public safety when Congress is deadlocked on stronger measures.
&ldquo;I think we need police reform,&rdquo; Rivers said. &ldquo;Our training has to be better. The thing that bothers me is that everyone should want that, including the police.&rdquo;
The Sixers coach said today&rsquo;s NBA players are more politically aware and involved in societal change than when he played in the 1980s and '90s but he wanted more of the wealthy players, especially ones with millions of social media followers, to speak up on thorny current events. Rivers talked to the Sixers about the power of voting &mdash; the NBA this season scheduled no games on <a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-nba-sports-voter-registration-827945d5b94f984baa992d71809a1c6b">Nov. 8, which is Election Day</a> &mdash; but won&rsquo;t force his players to vote.
But he can make them listen.

Doc Rivers is at ease using his platform as an NBA coach to fight bigotry and racial injustice.

76ers' Doc Rivers merges Black history lessons into camp

LAS VEGAS (AP) &mdash; The Seattle Storm are the lowest remaining seed in the postseason and came in looking to steal at least one of the first two road games against the top-seeded Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA semifinals.
Mission accomplished.
Jewell Loyd scored 26 points, including Seattle&rsquo;s final six, and the Storm edged the Aces 76-73 on Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series in front of a Las Vegas playoff-record crowd of 9,944.
Loyd made a go-ahead free throw with 1:16 to play, then a jumper for a three-point lead with 34 seconds remaining before the Storm held on for the win. She had 10 of Seattle&rsquo;s 16 points in the fourth quarter.
&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t just me, it was a team effort for sure,&rdquo; Loyd said. &ldquo;It helps when you have really good teammates ... you believe in them, they believe in you. That&rsquo;s the biggest thing for us, is that each of us have to stay confident in what we do and what we can bring to the team. That&rsquo;s been the key for us.&rdquo;
Associated Press MVP Breanna Stewart had 24 points and six rebounds for the fourth-seeded Storm, while Tina Charles added 13 points and franchise playoff-record 18 rebounds.
&ldquo;We knew that this was going to be tough. These games against Vegas have been tough all regular season and previous seasons, and we have a lot of respect for their players and what they do,&rdquo; Stewart said. &ldquo;We knew that coming here to their home court, we wanted to obviously try to steal one, we wanted to get one and get our momentum going in the right direction.&rdquo;
Chelsea Gray scored 21 points for the Aces. Kelsey Plum added 20, but missed a tying 3-point attempt with 2.9 seconds to play.
Jackie Young finished with 11 points but Aces star A&rsquo;ja Wilson was held to just eight on 3-of-10 shooting.
Seattle controlled much of the game, leading through the first 3 1/2 quarters after building a 12-point lead in the first half.
Las Vegas didn&rsquo;t enjoy its first lead until the fourth quarter, when veteran guard Riquna Williams&rsquo; 3-pointer from the corner made it 65-64 with 6:09 left.
The Storm wasted no time in attacking early, as they built a 15-4 lead midway through the first quarter. Seattle got balanced scoring, with five players contributing, including Ezi Magbegor coming off the bench to add four.
Las Vegas struggled to find any sort of rhythm, as a pop-and-shot approach left them with a paltry 5-of-18 (27.8%) shooting performance in the first quarter. Both Wilson and Plum went scoreless while the Storm held a 26-15 lead after one.
&ldquo;I thought we played tight, especially in the first quarter,&rdquo; Aces coach Becky Hammon said. &ldquo;We played like the world was on our shoulders.&rdquo;
The Aces responded with a much better defensive effort and seemed to be much more comfortable attacking the rim to climb back into the game.
Led by Wilson, the Aces used a 12-4 run to cut Seattle&rsquo;s lead to 30-27. Stewart took over from that point, scoring nine of her team&rsquo;s points during a quarter-ending 13-9 run to send the Storm into the locker room with a 43-36 halftime lead.
BROKEN RECORD
In addition to Charles&rsquo; record-breaking night, retiring Sue Bird had 12 assists and no turnovers. Her final assist gave her a WNBA-record 342 in the playoffs. Lindsay Whalen had 341 in 82 games. Bird broke the record in 57.
NOT SO FAST, VEGAS
Taking a page out of the Aces&rsquo; playbook, the Storm outscored Las Vegas 16-0 in fast-break points. Seattle also held the edge with second-chance points, 5-0.
GUCCI ROW
The stars came out for the series opener, joining Aces owner Mark Davis and Raiders tight end Darren Waller, fixtures at home games all season. Also in attendance were women&rsquo;s basketball Hall of Famer Ann Meyers Drysdale, Raiders coach Josh McDaniels, Los Angeles Clippers coach Ty Lue, Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, UFC president Dana White, Golden Knights goalie Logan Thompson, and Governor Steve Sisolak.
UP NEXT
The Storm and Aces play Game 2 in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Jewell Loyd scored 26 points, including Seattle’s final six, as the Storm beat the Aces 76-73 on Sunday to take a 1-0 series lead.

Jewell Loyd has 26, lifts Storm over Aces in WNBA semis opener

Breanna Stewart had 23 points and 12 rebounds, Jewell Loyd scored 12 of her 16 points in the final five minutes and the fourth-seeded Seattle Storm beat the fifth-seeded Washington Mystics 86-83 on Thursday night.
Loyd didn&rsquo;t make her first field goal until the 4:52 mark of the fourth quarter, but she came up huge in the closing minutes.
Loyd missed a long 3-pointer with 51 seconds left, but Tina Charles grabbed the offensive rebound, leading to Loyd&rsquo;s runner in the lane that gave Seattle an 82-81 lead. Washington turned it over and Loyd was fouled with 24.2 seconds left before making two free throws.
Elena Delle Donne was long on a 3-point attempt for Washington, and Stewart sealed it with two free throws with 14.6 left.
&ldquo;The fact that Jewell just stuck with it, that just shows that she&rsquo;s a vet,&rdquo; Stewart said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not rookies anymore, we&rsquo;ve been here for awhile. We know what to do, and we just stick with the game play.&rdquo;
Gabby Williams added 12 points for Seattle, which will host Game 2 on Sunday. Sue Bird scored 10 points and became the fourth player in WNBA history with 100 career 3-pointers in the playoffs.
Delle Donne made 11 of 17 shots and scored 26 points for Washington in her first playoff game since the 2019 WNBA Finals. Natasha Cloud and Ariel Atkins each added 16 points.

Breanna Stewart had 23 points and 12 rebounds and Jewell Loyd scored 12 of her 16 points in the final five minutes to lead Seattle.

Loyd has big finish, Storm beat Mystics 86-83 in Game 1

WNBA playoff basketball is finally here! With things kicking off on Wednesday night, I decided to highlight an X-factor I'll be keeping tabs on for each best-of-three first round series.
For Part II of this two-part series, let's look at the Thursday night matchups, which features the Connecticut Sun taking on the Dallas Wings and the Seattle Storm battling with the Washington Mystics. If you missed Part I, featuring the Las Vegas Aces-Phoenix Mercury and Chicago Sky-New York Liberty matchups, you can <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/2022-wnba-playoff-primer-las-vegas-aces-phoenix-mercury-chicago-sky-new-york-liberty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">read that here</a>.&nbsp;
(For deeper thoughts on each series, listen to our playoff preview on the latest episode of&nbsp;<a href="NBA%20playoff%20basketball%20is%20finally%20here!%20With%20things%20kicking%20off%20on%20Saturday,%20I%20decided%20to%20highlight%20an%20X-factor%20I'll%20be%20keeping%20tabs%20on%20for%20each%20first-round%20series.%20Let's%20dig%20in,%20shall%20we?%20%20(For%20deeper%20thoughts%20on%20each%20series,%20listen%20to%20Part%20I%20and%20Part%20II%20of%20our%20series%20previews%20at%20The%20Dunker%20Spot.)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Dunker Spot.</a>)
(4) SEATTLE STORM vs. (5) WASHINGTON MYSTICS
THINGS TO KNOW
<ul>
<li>Storm won season series 2-1
<ul>
<li>June 23: Storm 85-71</li>
<li>July 30: Storm 82-77</li>
<li>July 31: Mystics 78-75</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Mystics star Elena Delle Donne played in all three matchups, and should be fully available for the postseason.</li>
<li>The Storm (22-14) finished No. 6 in offense (102.6 ORTG), No. 3 in defense (97.4 DRTG) and No. 4 in Net Rating (+5.2).</li>
<li>The Mystics (22-14) finished No. 7 in offense (101.1 ORTG), No. 1 in defense (96 DRTG) and No. 5 in Net Rating (+5.1).</li>
</ul>
KEY QUESTION: Who can create easy buckets?
It is both a treat and a disgrace that two legitimate title contenders are facing off in the first round. It's cruel that we may get, at most, three games of Delle Donne after the Mystics were so diligent about load-managing her so she'll be in peak condition for the postseason. And the thought of Sue Bird's career ending &mdash; or Breanna Stewart's career in Seattle ending, if you <a href="https://www.si.com/wnba/2022/01/21/breanna-stewart-free-agent-reportedly-met-new-york-liberty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">believe the New York smoke</a> &mdash; with a first-round ouster just seems unfair.
Beyond that &mdash; holy bleep, are these teams ridiculously good defensively.
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The Mystics and Storm ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=DEF_RATING&amp;dir=-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Defensive Rating respectively</a>. That Moreyball stat from the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/2022-wnba-playoff-primer-las-vegas-aces-phoenix-mercury-chicago-sky-new-york-liberty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aces-Mercury section</a> &mdash; the percentage of shots that come at the rim or behind the arc &mdash; can be flipped to see which teams are&nbsp;preventing&nbsp;their opponents from taking shots from fruitful areas. The Mystics (54.4% of shots) and Storm (59.0%) have <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/totals/wnba/opponent?Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;StartType=All" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allowed the lowest share</a> of those shots in the league.
As dominant as they are defensively, they've been equally middling on the glamour end of the floor. They're separated by roughly a point in terms of Offensive Rating, with the Storm (102.6, sixth) edging out the Mystics (101.1, seventh) this season. Quiet as kept, neither team <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/totals/wnba/team?Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;StartType=All&amp;Type=Team&amp;Table=Shooting&amp;StatType=Totals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gets to the rim that often</a>.
They've both struggled with flow in the half-court, though some of their struggles can be explained away. The Mystics haven't always had Delle Donne in the lineup; with her being the only player that consistently draws an extra defender, it's led to a lot of side-to-side passing and unsavory shot selection. As good as Natasha Cloud and Ariel Atkins are, teams are pretty comfortable ducking under picks against them to:
<ol>
<li>Keep them out of the paint</li>
<li>Stay out of rotation</li>
</ol>
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With the Storm, things would fall off a cliff whenever Stewart would leave the court. Ideally, this would set the stage for Jewell Loyd to lead second units. Her blend of driving and pull-ups should help weather storms (sorry), but she simply hasn't made shots at the same clip. She converted a career-worst 40.3% of her two-point shots, including a ghastly 33.7% on shots between 3 and 10 feet.
With that, I wonder how each team goes about unlocking itself in the half-court beyond, "Give it to Stewie/EDD and get out of the way."
For the Storm, that may be experimenting with more on-ball reps for Gabby Williams, who's both the worst spacer in their starting unit and a sneaky-good pick-and-roll player. They trust her with reps in early offense situations, either above the break or emptying a side and letting her zig and zag.
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Utilizing Williams on the ball could limit the help the Mystics can send. If Williams is the one setting the table, the star talent she's surrounded with could feast on catch-and-shoot or catch-and-drive opportunities against a tilted defense.
On the Mystics side, I'm intrigued by the inverted pick-and-rolls and ghost screens they've mixed in with their guards. That could be a way to get the Storm to put two on the ball, which could open up short-roll opportunities and easy drive-and-kick scenarios.
(3) CONNECTICUT SUN vs. (6) DALLAS WINGS
THINGS TO KNOW
<ul>
<li>Wings won season series 2-1&nbsp;
<ul>
<li aria-level="3">May 24: Wings 85-77&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="3">May 26: Sun 99-68&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="3">July 5: Wings 82-71</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale will miss the first round after having core muscle surgery/</li>
<li aria-level="2">The Sun (25-11) finished No. 2 in offense (105.8 ORTG), No. 2 in defense (96.3 DRTG) and No. 1 in Net Rating (+9.5).</li>
<li aria-level="2">The Wings (18-18) finished No. 4 in offense (104.6 ORTG), No. 9 in defense (104.3 DRTG) and No. 6 in Net Rating (+0.2)/</li>
</ul>
KEY QUESTION: How impactful can Teaira McCowan be?
This has felt like a popular upset pick, and I get the argument for it. The Wings&nbsp;did&nbsp;win the regular season series, though the wins came with Ogunbowale averaging 18 points and drilling crucial shots and versatile forward Satou Sabally doing a little bit of everything. Neither will be available once the series starts.
There's also the matter of the Sun, as talented as they are, also having a tendency to lose the plot in the half-court. Even amidst their overall success &mdash; I hear having the second best ORTG in basketball is a good thing &mdash; the lack of Jonquel Jones <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/players/clutch-traditional/?sort=FGA&amp;dir=-1&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;PerMode=Totals&amp;TeamID=1611661323" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in crucial moments</a> continues to baffle me.
Ultimately, I think the Wings' chances for an upset will depend on how well McCowan can hold up.
She's been <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wnba-teaira-mccowan-shining-surging-dallas-wings-arike-ogunbowale-marina-mabrey-allisha-gray-kayla-thornton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a revelation of late</a>, holding down the fort inside with deep seals, post hooks, offensive boards and plenty of fouls drawn. She's also seen her fair share of double teams, and that's where things could get dicey.
Jones is a good defender in her own right. She won't&nbsp;need&nbsp;help in form of a double or hard dig. But she may get them, mostly because Alyssa Thomas is one of the best defenders on the planet. She's an event creator of the highest order, and an instinctual defender willing and able to take aggressive gambles. I think back to this recent possession from a Wings-Mercury game:
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If Sophie Cunningham can fluster McCowan with help like that, what kind of damage could Thomas do?
McCowan has been able to plow through opposing defenses &mdash; figuratively and literally &mdash; as the Wings have closed their season on a high note. Being game planned against in a playoff setting is different altogether. It's where the foul trouble and the less-than-sterling assist-to-turnover ratio &mdash; she had 8 assists and 14 turnovers in her last five games &mdash; come into play.
I'm a little less worried defensively, but it's worth keeping an eye on her in a drop. Courtney Williams is not gun-shy; she took by far the <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/players/shooting/?Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;DistanceRange=By%20Zone&amp;sort=Mid-Range%20FGA&amp;dir=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most mid-range jumpers</a> in The W, and I'd worry about the cascading effect of McCowan's drop turning into a late switch.
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Not that Kayla Thornton and Allisha Gray aren't good rebounders in their own right, but tasking them with battling with Connecticut's size on the glass is unfair to them. McCowan in space is also asking for an advantage to be given up, or fouls to be committed. And without Ogunbowale, she's frankly too important to log under 30 minutes a game if she can help it.

Nekias Duncan previews two series in the first round of the WNBA Playoffs, highlighting a key question heading into each.

2022 WNBA Playoff Primer Part II: Sun-Wings, Storm-Mystics

The Las Vegas Aces have the most prolific starting lineup in the WNBA.
No unit has played more than the 537 minutes they've logged together. Among high-volume lineups &mdash; <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/lineups/advanced/?Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;sort=NET_RATING&amp;dir=1&amp;CF=MIN*GE*150" target="_blank" rel="noopener">let's say 150 minutes</a> &mdash; their plus-13.9 Net Rating ranks second in the league. The Seattle Storm's original starting group &mdash; Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd, Gabby Williams, Breanna Stewart and Ezi Magbegor &mdash; slightly edges them out (plus-14.4 NET in 324 minutes).
It's easy to see why the Aces lean on this group. A'ja Wilson is playing MVP ball, and should be the front-runner for the award in my opinion. Kelsey Plum will likely make the All-WNBA First Team. Jackie Young will be in consideration for a spot on the First or Second Team. We recently <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wnba-las-vegas-aces-dont-forget-about-chelsea-gray-commissioners-cup-kelsey-plum-aja-wilson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sang the praises of Chelsea Gray</a> in this space, a former All-Star in her own right.&nbsp;
Dearica Hamby is a gap-filler to the highest order.
She was an All-Star this season because of her ability to do whatever was asked of her. Defensively, she's been tasked with guarding up or down the spectrum: taking on power forwards (her natural matchup), banging with centers when asked to do so (read: take some pressure off of Wilson) and defending wings when the Aces go to their three-big lineups. And that's before getting into the multiple schemes the Aces employ on that end.
Offensively, Hamby has mostly taken what's been left over. She's a willing screener, a plus-passer in high-post actions, a heady cutter and someone who has a nose for offensive boards. There is room for aggression; her ability to grab-and-go after misses make the Aces even more difficult to deal with in transition. They don't call her "Big Guard" for nothin' folks.
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Hamby's versatility has long helped the Aces dial up the pressure on both ends. The Hamby-Wilson frontcourt has been blitzing the league for years; <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/wnba?TeamId=1611661319&amp;Season=2019,2020,2021&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=1628932,204324" target="_blank" rel="noopener">from 2019 to 2021</a>, the Aces outscored opponents by nearly 13 points per 100 possessions in the 1,227 minutes the two shared the court together. It should come as no surprise that the pairing has been fruitful (plus-15.9 in 771 minutes) with Hamby's insertion into the starting lineup.
Hamby is a good, multifaceted and important player for the Aces. In regards to the Aces' title hopes, I'd argue that Hamby has a case for being their most important player.
She is the X-factor at best, and a primary question mark, at worst, among the starting unit.
Hamby's value defensively is derived from her ability to do just about anything in a pinch; I would not say there is an elite&nbsp;skill present &mdash; and that's okay. That does leave the door open from subs, namely Kiah Stokes' name being called upon when the Aces want a little more beef against opposing centers.
The real question mark comes offensively. While she can be used as a passing or handoff hub, she is the worst of great options for the Aces. Pick-and-rolls with Plum or Gray at the helm are more fruitful; Young has grown as a creator out of ball screens; clearing the floor for Wilson is the bailout option of all bailout options in The W.
With that dichotomy present, Hamby has seen her on-ball usage drop. In a literal sense, Hamby's usage rate (16.5%) and assist rate (5.8%) are <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/player/204324/advanced/?Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">career-lows for her</a>. Roughly 20% of her offensive possessions have come via pick-and-roll screening (13.9), post-ups (4.1) or handoffs (2.0) per InStat tracking data; post-ups alone accounted for over 18% of her possessions last season.
And with Hamby not having the ball in her hands as a post or handoff hub, the spotlight has been put on her off-ball chops. Or, more accurately, there's been little spotlight put on her by opposing defenses.
Tuesday night's contest between the Aces and Washington Mystics featured plenty of possessions where Hamby was the help-off point. When spaced in the short or weak-side corner, the Mystics were okay with rotating off of her to blow things up elsewhere.
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It's generally a safe gambit for defenses because Hamby doesn't have a reliable three-point shot. She's bumped up her volume to career-high levels (2.2 attempts), but that number isn't high enough to force closeouts, nor is her perimeter percentage (23.9%) close to high enough to scare defenses right now.&nbsp;
The Aces are a machine when they're able to play with flow, force help defenders to commit and attack scrambling defenses. That becomes muted if teams are ignoring Hamby on the perimeter, mucking things up at best or turning half-court offense into a 4-on-5 affair at worst.
The "duh" solution is to hope Hamby regains form with her shot. It's gone right now; she made four triples in July (4-of-26), and has not made one since July 17.
Though Hamby's never been a high volume shooter, she's only a couple of seasons removed from a 47.4% clip on similar volume. Once the playoffs hit, you don't have to be a sniper; you just have to hit enough to survive a game or two.
Fundamentally, the answer may be in channeling her screening and hand-off abilities as counters to disrespectful defenses. Similar to Draymond Green's snappiness when he's ignored off ball, Hamby can hurt defenses with timely flare or pin-in screens, or flow into quick-hitting exhanges with guards. Her on-ball screening has been much more effective than her off-ball picks; it'll take real commitment, but there have been enough flashes to signify that it's possible.
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Without a solution, the trend of Hamby finishing games from the sideline will continue. The Aces have closed with Stokes and Iliana Rupert in Hamby's spot in different spots this season. There's value to each of those options &mdash; Stokes is better equipped to deal with true centers, and Rupert is a more willing and effective three-point shooter &mdash; but neither of them bring the connective tissue that Hamby does on both ends of the floor.
The best version of this Aces team &mdash; the team that has enough talent to win it all this season &mdash; is with Hamby on the floor.
Or at least it should be.

Nekias Duncan examines the importance of Aces forward Dearica Hamby to Las Vegas' title hopes.

The Las Vegas Aces won't reach full potential without Dearica Hamby

Recently, LeBron James <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ifwhen-the-nba-adds-a-team-in-las-vegas-lebron-james-wants-to-own-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made headlines</a> when he said that he wants to own an NBA team in Las Vegas.
Well, he's not the only one.
Floyd Mayweather just revealed that he has been in talks with "certain individuals" at the NBA about bringing a franchise to Vegas and owning said team.
"I've been talking to certain people for the last six months," Mayweather <a href="https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/boxing/mayweather-working-behind-the-scenes-to-bring-nba-to-las-vegas-2591937/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told reporters</a>. "That's something I've been working on behind the scenes, but I've never come out to publicly talk about it with the media. My team and I have been working behind the scenes with the NBA. I can't say exactly where, but I'm working on getting a team."
Mayweather has said that his net worth is over $1.2 billion. This week, Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattcraig/2022/06/12/billion-dollar-ballers-these-athletes-tiger-woods-lebron-james-federer-messi-ronaldo-mayweather-have-earned-more-than-1-billion-apiece/?sh=2e6bb0e74501" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimated</a> that James' net worth is roughly $1.16 billion and they have Mayweather's estimated net worth at $1.08 billion.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has said that Las Vegas "has shown itself to be a great sports market" and that when the league seriously explores expansion, there is "no doubt Vegas will be on the list."&nbsp;
And Las Vegas is doing all of the right things to be ready when that day comes, as our Tommy Beer <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ifwhen-the-nba-adds-a-team-in-las-vegas-lebron-james-wants-to-own-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote earlier this week</a>:
Earlier this year, the Oak View Group&nbsp;<a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2022/03/30/las-vegas-nba-arena-rumors-sports-entertainment-district-oak-view-group" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a>&nbsp;that it had purchased 25 acres of land in Vegas to build a $3 billion sports and entertainment district that will include a 20,000-seat arena.
"The arena will be world-class,"&nbsp;<a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2022/03/30/las-vegas-nba-arena-rumors-sports-entertainment-district-oak-view-group" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said CEO Tim Leiweke</a>.&nbsp;"It will be for music, it'll be for sports, it'll be for cultural activities, and should the NBA decide to come &mdash; and by the way, there's no certainty or no guarantees that the NBA is ever coming to Vegas but should they come &mdash; we certainly will be NBA-ready and make sure that we hit all of their standards."
The arena will be located 10 minutes from the strip and it's expected to break ground sometime in 2023.

Floyd Mayweather says he has been "working behind the scenes with the NBA" to bring a franchise to Las Vegas.