Bisons

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Rodney Terry stopped on the way to the Texas locker room after his team knocked out Xavier for a spot in the Elite Eight, the interim coach fulfilling a fan&rsquo;s wish for a photograph by flashing that all-too-familiar &ldquo;Hook &rsquo;em Horns&rdquo; sign.
&ldquo;Go get that job, coach!&rdquo; the grateful fan hollered after him.
A couple more wins and the folks at Texas might not have a choice.
The longtime assistant made his boldest statement yet for the full-time gig, guiding the Longhorns without ailing big man Dylan Disu to an 83-71 win over the Musketeers on Friday night. Tyrese Hunter scored 19 points, and Marcus Carr and Christian Bishop added 18 apiece, to move second-seeded Texas within a game of the Final Four for the first time in 15 years.
&ldquo;I thought we played one of our better defensive games tonight that we played all year,&rdquo; said Terry, who stepped into the top job in December, when Chris Beard was suspended and ultimately fired following allegations of domestic violence.
&ldquo;Proud of my guys and the way they put their will on this game from the start to finish.&rdquo;
Disu, who had been dominant through the first two games of the tournament, hurt his foot in a second-round win over Penn State. He got treatment on it all week, and the Longhorns successfully kept it secret until tipoff, when the big man played just a couple of minutes and then limped off the floor and straight to the locker room.
When he returned to the bench, he was wearing a big walking boot, a black hoodie and a grim expression.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be day-to-day right now at the moment,&rdquo; Terry said. &ldquo;We got the best in the business working with us.&rdquo;
Still, the Longhorns already had a tough task ahead in No. 5 seed Miami on Sunday night, especially given the way the Hurricanes roared to an 89-75 win over Houston. The possibility of playing without Disu, who led the Longhorns to a Big 12 Tournament title and earned MVP honors on the same floor just two weeks ago, only makes it harder.
&ldquo;We knew before the game that we wouldn&rsquo;t have Dylan for the whole game,&rdquo; Carr said. &ldquo;We just wanted to really play for him. We knew how much this would mean to him. We got emotional in there knowing he wouldn&rsquo;t be out there.&rdquo;
Relegated to a 6-foot-9 cheerleader Friday night, Disu at least had plenty to celebrate.
Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 16 points and Timmy Allen added 11 for the Longhorns (29-8). The best-seeded team left in the tournament kept Souley Boum and Xavier&rsquo;s perimeter threats in check while making life miserable for Jack Nunge down low.
Adam Kunkel hit five 3-pointers and led the third-seeded Musketeers (27-10) with 21 points. Nunge scored 15 but needed 19 shots to get there, while Colby Jones also had 15 points. Boum didn&rsquo;t hit a field goal until early in the second half and finished with 12.
&ldquo;They were better than us,&rdquo; Xavier coach Sean Miller said. &ldquo;We had a very difficult time running our offense and that&rsquo;s a testament to their defense, because we&rsquo;ve been able to score virtually every game we&rsquo;ve played this year.&rdquo;
It was Texas that scored at will, though, and Carr that got them going. He spun through the lane like a Tilt-A-Whirl for tough buckets at the rim, and even knocked down a spinning, desperation 3 as the shot clock expired. And when Miller traded out a man-to-man defense for a zone, the Longhorns began to pound the ball to Bishop in the paint.
With dozens of family and friends on hand, the Creighton transfer from the Kansas City suburb of Lee&rsquo;s Summit, Missouri, went to work. Bishop threw down one dunk on Carr&rsquo;s alley-oop lob, then slammed down another a few minutes later.
By the time Allen banked in a half-court heave, the Longhorns had established a 42-25 halftime advantage &mdash; and had to be redirected from the Xavier tunnel, where they were busy celebrating, toward their own locker room.
&ldquo;Their pressure is something you can&rsquo;t really simulate until you&rsquo;re in the game against them. Their toughness, their experience,&rdquo; Miller said. &ldquo;And then offensively they have great guard play, and you feel that as well.&rdquo;
Xavier tried to creep back a couple of times, but the Longhorns never let their lead sniff single digits. And that gave Terry, who returned to Texas after head jobs at Fresno State and UTEP, a chance to breathe deeply and enjoy the moment.
The 54-year-old from the small Texas town of Angleton was on Rick Barnes&rsquo; staff the last time the Longhorns reached the Elite Eight, back in 2008. He was on the 2003 staff that guided them all the way to the Final Four, too.
Now, he&rsquo;s one step away from taking Texas on a most improbable trip to college basketball&rsquo;s biggest stage.
&ldquo;Continue to want more. I mean, each round &mdash; don&rsquo;t be satisfied,&rdquo; Terry said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to enjoy this victory for one night, like we have all year long, and we&rsquo;ll be on to the next challenge and very quickly against a really good Miami team.&rdquo;

Tyrese Hunter scored 19, and Marcus Carr and Christian Bishop added 18 apiece, to move Texas within a game of the Final Four.

Texas blows out Xavier 83-71 for spot in NCAA Elite Eight

Arizona and Virginia rightfully lay claim to proud college basketball traditions, whether you&rsquo;re talking about the Wildcats winning the national championship in 1997, the Cavaliers doing it 22 years later or the many stars the programs have sent to the NBA and overseas.
They also have developing reputations for NCAA Tournament&nbsp;disappointments.
The&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/princeton-stuns-arizona-5955-in-march-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stunning loss by second-seeded Arizona</a>&nbsp;to No. 15 seed Princeton on Thursday, and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/pegues-three-gives-no-13-seed-furman-6867-win-over-virginia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fourth-seeded Virginia&rsquo;s collapse</a>&nbsp;in the closing seconds against Furman, were merely the latest examples of their humiliating March heartbreaks.
The Wildcats have been bounced by teams seeded worse than them in five consecutive NCAA tourney trips, while the Cavaliers were bumped by a No. 13 seed for the second straight year and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ncaa-tournament-umbc-no-1-seeds-march-madness-df6c353dc4ff76ec99278efd69a8b454" target="_blank" rel="noopener">five years to the day since becoming the only No. 1 seed to lose to a 16-seed.</a>
&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t take away from what these guys have done and what we&rsquo;ve experienced over the years, but you wanted it when you felt like you had it, and that was a tough one,&rdquo; Cavs coach Tony Bennett acknowledged after the 68-67 loss to the Paladins, who essentially won by cashing in a turnover with a deep 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left on the clock.
Bennett knows as well as anyone that agonizing notoriety is easy to earn and brutally difficult to overcome.
Doesn&rsquo;t matter that the names and faces change from year to year.
The Cavaliers were Final Four favorites when they arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina, for their&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/umbcs-legacy-no-1-can-mean-oneanddone-in-march-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first-round game against UMBC in 2018</a>. Forty painful minutes later, they were saddled with&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/umbcs-legacy-no-1-can-mean-oneanddone-in-march-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a lopsided 74-54 loss</a>&nbsp;and the ignominity of becoming the first men&rsquo;s team &mdash; after 135 wins by a No. 1 seed &mdash; to lose to one of the four lowest-seeded teams in the tournament.
Most hoops fans remember the upset vividly, perhaps more than the national title the Cavs won a year later.
&ldquo;I would just say everybody at this level is good,&rdquo; Virginia guard Isaac McKneely offered by way of explanation. &ldquo;I know there&rsquo;s the seeding and all that, but everybody can beat everybody, as obviously you&rsquo;ve seen.&rdquo;
If misery loves company, the Wildcats can relate.
Since losing in the regional final to Wisconsin in 2015, Arizona has been knocked out of the opening round three times despite being seeded sixth or better each time &mdash; the first two with Sean Miller on the sideline and the most recent, a 59-55 defeat on Thursday in which No. 15 seed Princeton scored the final nine points, with Tommy Lloyd running the show.
The run of disappointments began with a loss to No. 11 seed Wichita State in 2016. It continued against No. 11 seed Xavier in a regional semifinal the next year. The fourth-seeded Wildcats lost to No. 13 seed Buffalo in 2018 and, as a trendy title pick as a No. 1 seed last year, fell to fifth-seeded Houston in another regional semifinal.
Just how easy can the stink of an upset loss settle on even the bluest of bluebloods?&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-bracket-kansas-alabama-12476411b0da681b21df9281a8332196" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Just ask Kansas.</a>
Two years after playing for the 2003 national championship, the Jayhawks were dumped by No. 14 seed Bucknell and No. 13 seed Bradley in consecutive years. Their still-new coach, Bill Self, came to rue the &ldquo;Killer B&rsquo;s,&rdquo; and not even a run to the Elite Eight could shake the questions about whether he could get it done in Lawrence.
He could, of course. The Jayhawks won the 2008 title and are&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-north-carolina-tar-heels-mens-basketball-kansas-jayhawks-mens-basketball-sports-kansas-40ab6459e3d3ee23ad12c649db44f78e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the defending national champions</a>.
Winning a national title is about the only thing missing from the resume of Gonzaga coach Mark Few, but it might take one for the Bulldogs to shake an uneasy March reputation for underachievement. They have been a No. 1 seed on five occassions, and twice reached the title game, but have become known as much for their losses as their wins.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been in enough of those 1-16 games and you&rsquo;re like, &lsquo;Holy smokes,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Few, whose team plays Grand Canyon on Friday night. &ldquo;Last year, I walked out for the tip and Georgia State, I think they were bigger than us at dang-near every position. And I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;This is a 16-seed?&rsquo; I think that&rsquo;s kind of where we are right now.&rdquo;
Plenty of schools have positive reputations come March.
Princeton has been known as a giant killer ever since its backdoor-cutting, first-round upset of UCLA&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/sacramento-kings-nba-sports-march-madness-mens-e32cb5ff7350f08c976ccc96f0a78dca" target="_blank" rel="noopener">under Pete Carril</a>&nbsp;in 1996, when current coach Mitch Henderson was playing for the Tigers. And while they beat UNLV as a No. 5 seed two years later, the Tigers had failed to reach the second round for another 25 years &mdash; until Thursday&rsquo;s win over Arizona.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s going to be some comparisons from some of you, I&rsquo;m sure, to Coach Carril. I want to be really clear that this group did this,&rdquo; Henderson said. &ldquo;That was a really long time ago. This group did something special for its university, for the fans, for the former players and for one another. Very similar way that you see in the tournament, they just came together and did it.&rdquo;

Arizona and Virginia were eliminated by underdogs on Thursday, the latest examples of their humiliating March Madness heartbreaks.

Arizona, Virginia add to reputations for March sadness

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) &mdash;&nbsp;Mitch Henderson&rsquo;s victory leap&nbsp;that punctuated Princeton&rsquo;s famed upset over UCLA in 1996 has become an iconic moment. There is a picture of the joyous jump at the school&rsquo;s practice facility that serves as a constant reminder of what&rsquo;s possible.
Now Henderson&rsquo;s current players have authored one of their own.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
History repeats itself. Pete Carril is smiling upstairs - Congrats <a href="https://twitter.com/M_Henderson98?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@M_Henderson98</a> <a href="https://t.co/V2cbrCVz6I">pic.twitter.com/V2cbrCVz6I</a>
&mdash; Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) <a href="https://twitter.com/GottliebShow/status/1636493636153262081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2023</a></blockquote>

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

Ryan Langborg lifted Princeton&nbsp;to its first lead with 2:03 to play and the Tigers used a late-game run to earn their first NCAA Tournament win in 25 years, topping No. 2 seed Arizona 59-55 on Thursday.
&ldquo;Pretty surreal feeling,&rdquo; guard Matt Allocco said. &ldquo;To beat a great team like that on this stage is a pretty special feeling. But also I can&rsquo;t say I&rsquo;m surprised. This team has been so good all year, so gritty. On paper, it&rsquo;s going to look like a big upset. But we believe in each other and we think we&rsquo;re a really good team. When we&rsquo;re at our best, then I think we can beat anybody in the country.&rdquo;
The 15th-seeded Tigers (22-9) scored the final nine points, holding the Pac-12 Tournament champion scoreless over the final 4:43.
Tosan Evbuomwan scored 15 points in Princeton&rsquo;s first tournament victory since beating UNLV in 1998 when Henderson was a player for the Tigers.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FGDaNvjflL4" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Henderson also played on the 1996 team that beat defending champion UCLA in the school&rsquo;s final tournament under coach Pete Carril, who died in August. This victory fittingly came in Sacramento, where Carril spent time as an NBA assistant after retiring as Tigers coach.
&ldquo;He would be very proud of the group,&rdquo; Henderson said. &ldquo;He wouldn&rsquo;t want any attention to be brought other than what these guys did. They played to win. We knew we had to keep the game low possessions.&rdquo;
Princeton advanced to play seventh-seeded Missouri in the second round of the South Region. The Tigers beat Utah State 76-65.
Azuolas Tubelis scored 22 points for the Wildcats (28-7), who haven&rsquo;t won a tournament game in consecutive years since 2014-15.
It marked the third straight year and 11th time overall that a No. 15 seed won a first-round game. Arizona is the only school to be on the wrong end of one of those upsets twice, also losing to Steve Nash and Santa Clara in 1993.
&ldquo;If you want to be a great player, you want to be a great coach, we all got to learn from this,&rsquo;&rdquo; coach Tommy Lloyd said. &ldquo;We got to go back and figure out what happened and understand the value of being up 10 to 12 points with 10 minutes to go, putting the hammer on people, not letting people get back in the game.&rdquo;
The Wildcats seemed in control of this one when Oumar Ballo&rsquo;s basket put them up 10 with eight minutes left.
But the Tigers responded with seven straight points, capped by&nbsp;a second-chance 3-pointer&nbsp;from Blake Peters that made it 51-48 with about six minutes left.
They closed the game with a 9-0 run &mdash; just like they did in their most memorable tournament win against UCLA in 1996.
Keeshawn Kellman started the spurt with a putback dunk before Langborg hit a jumper and then a layup to give the Tigers the lead.
The Wildcats then missed all five shots down the stretch and Princeton put it away at the foul line. Langborg also blocked Courtney Ramey&rsquo;s shot with 50 seconds left and the Tigers protecting a one-point lead.
&ldquo;When I blocked it I saw the whole crowd erupt,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;My teammates were all locked in with each other and it was kind of that moment where you know, like, &lsquo;Wow we can really do this. We&rsquo;re going to do this and nothing&rsquo;s going to stop us.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Ramey, who hit a game-winning shot in the Pac-12 Tournament, missed a contested 3-pointer with 14 seconds left that could have tied the game. Kerr Kriisa also missed from long range after an offensive rebound,&nbsp;sending Princeton into an early celebration.
LET THEM PLAY
The game featured just 12 free throws, with four coming after intentional fouls by Arizona late in the game. The Wildcats went to the line seven times despite a big size advantage with Tubelis and Bello.
&ldquo;You go inside over and over and over again, and you shoot seven free throws. I mean, I don&rsquo;t know if they&rsquo;re fouls or not. They must not have been because obviously they didn&rsquo;t get called,&rdquo; Lloyd said. &ldquo;When the game is reffed like that, it makes it tough.&rdquo;
BIG PICTURE
Princeton: The Tigers gave the Ivy League its first tournament win since 2016 when Yale beat Baylor. The conference had been one-and-done the last four trips, having missed the 2021 edition because of COVID-19.
Arizona: The Wildcats got little help offensively outside of Tubelis and Ballo, who combined for 35 points. The rest of the team shot 9 for 27.
UP NEXT
Princeton will look to win two games in the tournament for the first time since 1983.

The 15th-seeded Tigers (22-9) scored the final nine points to finish the upset, holding the Wildcats scoreless over the final 4:21.

No. 15 Princeton stuns No. 2 Arizona 59-55 in March Madness

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Felton Spencer, who set Louisville single-season and career records in field goal percentage before playing 12 years in the NBA, has died. He was 55.
Spencer&rsquo;s sister, Tammy Pollock, tweeted of his death on Sunday afternoon and the school confirmed information with the family. No cause of death was given.
Louisville tweeted that it was &ldquo;heartbroken&rdquo; by Spencer&rsquo;s passing. Former Cardinals teammate and current coach Kenny Payne expressed love and prayers for Spencer&rsquo;s family on social media.
The 7-foot Louisville native known as &ldquo;Chief&rdquo; scored 1,168 points from 1986-90, including 32 against Tulane on Feb. 27, 1990, that&rsquo;s tied for eighth all time at the school. Spencer averaged 14.9 points per game as a senior with 188 baskets on 276 attempts (68.1%) to establish the Cardinals&rsquo; single-season field goal percentage mark. His career percentage record of 62.8% (409 of 651 shots) still stands.
Spencer also averaged a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game and was a first team All-Metro Conference selection with teammate LaBradford Smith.
The Minnesota Timberwolves drafted Spencer sixth overall in 1990, and he made the NBA all-rookie team while playing three seasons there. He also played with Utah, Orlando, Golden State, San Antonio and the New York Knicks.
Spencer later worked as an assistant coach at Spalding and Bellarmine universities in Louisville.

Spencer set Louisville single-season and career records in field goal percentage before playing 12 years in the NBA.

Felton Spencer, ex-Louisville star and NBA veteran, passes away at 55

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

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 20 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and overtime, and No. 6 Texas held off Oklahoma 85-83 on Saturday.
Rice&rsquo;s fourth 3-pointer of the game gave Texas an 84-77 lead with 2:26 left in overtime.
Oklahoma, however, had a chance to tie or win when Texas&rsquo; Tyrese Hunter missed one of two free throws with 6.8 seconds left. But Sam Godwin missed a shot from near the rim, and Texas extended its winning streak against Oklahoma to five games.
Marcus Carr added 17 points for Texas (21-6, 10-4 Big 12), and Timmy Allen had 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Grant Sherfield led Oklahoma (13-14, 3-11) with 18 points, including a 3-pointer that sent the game to overtime. Milos Uzan scored 15 for the Sooners.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 108, GEORGIA 59
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Miller scored 21 points, Nick Pringle had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Mark Sears made five 3-pointers in the first half to lead Alabama.
The Crimson Tide (23-4, 13-1 Southeastern Conference) rebounded from their first SEC loss by racing to a 54-25 halftime lead and a season scoring high. Alabama was coming off a 68-59 loss at No. 10 Tennessee on Wednesday night after rising to No. 1 for only the second time in program history and first in 20 years.&nbsp;
ustin Hill led Georgia (16-11, 6-8) with 17 points. Terry Roberts scored 11 and Braelen Bridges 10.
NO. 4 UCLA 78, CALIFORNIA 43
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 20 points and UCLA routed last-place California to improve to 15-0 at Pauley Pavilion this season and extend the nation&rsquo;s longest home winning streak to 23 games.
Amari Bailey added 16 points and nine rebounds for the first-place Bruins (23-4, 14-2 Pac-12), who clinched a first-round bye in next month&rsquo;s Pac-12 Tournament with their 11th win in a row over last-place Cal.
Kuany Kuany scored 14 points to lead the Golden Bears (3-24, 2-14), who dropped their 11th in a row. They fell to 0-3 against top-5 teams this season, having also lost a pair against No. 8 Arizona.
NO. 5 KANSAS 87, NO. 9 BAYLOR 71
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; DaJuan Harris scored all 14 of his points in the second half as Kansas stormed back from a double-digit halftime deficit.
The Jayhawks (22-5, 10-4 Big 12) outscored the Bears 55-26 in the second half. Jalen Wilson led Kansas with 21 points and 13 rebounds. KJ Adams added 17 points and Gradey Dick had 16.
The Jayhawks are tied with Texas for the top spot in the Big 12 Conference.
Baylor (20-7, 9-5) got nearly all of its scoring from its three-guard combo of Adam Flagler (22 points) Keyonte George (20 points) and LJ Cryer (15 points).
NO. 7 VIRGINIA 57, NOTRE DAME 55
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Kihei Clark scored 15 points, including a pair of critical free throws with 22.6 seconds left, and became Virginia&rsquo;s career assist leader in the narrow win over Notre Dame.
With Notre Dame closing to 55-54, Clark converted both ends of a one-and-one. Trey Wertz made the front end of a one-and-one with 3.9 seconds left for the Fighting Irish, but missed the second after a timeout. The ball was tipped out to Dane Goodwin for a potential game-winning 3-pointer, but his shot bounced off the rim.
Armaan Franklin added 12 points and Reece Beekman had 11 for Virginia (21-4, 13-3 Atlantic Coast Conference). Nate Laszewski led Notre Dame (10-17, 2-14) with 18 points and Goodwin had 12.
NO. 8 ARIZONA 78, COLORADO 68
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Oumar Ballo had 18 points and 16 rebounds, Cedric Henderson Jr. added 15 points and Arizona dominated inside to beat Colorado.
The Wildcats (24-4, 13-4 Pac-12) opened with a rash of turnovers, falling into an early 12-point hole. Arizona righted itself quickly with a big run and slogged through a slowed-down second half by shutting down the Buffaloes.
Tristan da Silva had 18 points the Buffaloes (15-13, 7-10), who shot 38%.
KENTUCKY 66, NO. 10 TENNESSEE 54
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Cason Wallace and Oscar Tshiebwe each scored 16 points and Kentucky rushed to a big lead and beat Tennessee.
The Volunteers (20-7, 9-5 SEC) trailed by 20 points at halftime and lost in their first game since toppling No. 1 Alabama.
The Wildcats (18-9, 9-5) earned their first regular-season sweep of Tennessee since the 2011-12 season. Kentucky defeated the Volunteers 63-56 on Jan. 14 in Knoxville.
Wallace had totaled nine points in the Wildcats&rsquo; previous two games. Chris Livingston added 12 points and Jacob Toppin had 11.
NO. 12 KANSAS STATE 61, NO. 19 IOWA STATE 55
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Markquis Nowell hit a 3-pointer from near midcourt with 2:42 remaining to help Kansas State over Iowa State.
Nowell finished with 20 points. Keyontae Johnson had 15 points for the Wildcats (20-7, 8-6 Big 12).
Aljaž Kunc led Iowa State (17-9, 8-6) with 15 points. Without their 3-point leader Caleb Grill in the lineup, the Cyclones worked inside the paint. They had 24 points inside and relied on a balanced scoring line led by Kunc.
NO. 13 GONZAGA 97, PEPPERDINE 88
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half and Julian Strawther added 28 points to help Gonzaga extend its winning streak over the Waves to 45 games.
The Bulldogs (23-5, 12-2 West Coast Conference), who haven&rsquo;t lost to Pepperdine (9-10, 2-12) since Jan. 18, 2002 and have won 20 straight on the road against the Waves.
Timme moved past Bill Cartwright, who scored 2,116 points for San Francisco (1975-79), into eighth on the West Coast Conference&rsquo;s career scoring list with 2,117.
Houston Mallette led the Waves with 22 points. Jevon Porter and Maxwell Lewis added 20 points apiece.
NO. 14 INDIANA 71, ILLINOIS 68
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Trayce Jackson-Davis finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds, Jalen Hood Schifino made two free throws with 30.7 seconds left, and Indiana rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit to beat Illinois.
Hood-Schifino had 13 points for the Hoosiers (19-8, 10-6 Big Ten), who have won nine of 11 overall and 15 straight on their homecourt.
Matthew Mayer scored 24 to lead the Fighting Illini (17-9, 8-7), who were without injured leading scorer Terrence Shannon.
NO. 15 MIAMI 96, WAKE FOREST 87
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Isaiah Wong scored 27 points and Nijel Pack finished with 24 in Miami&rsquo;s win over Wake Forest.
Norchard Omier had 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting while Jordan Miller added 14 points for the Hurricanes (22-5, 13-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their sixth straight and improved to 15-0 at home.
Tyree Appleby scored 15 points and Damari Monsanto and Cameron Hildreth had 14 each for the Demon Deacons (17-10, 9-7). Andrew Carr and Mathew Marsh finished with 12 points each.
NO. 16 XAVIER 82, DEPAUL 68
CINCINNATI (AP) &mdash; Jack Nunge had 18 points and 10 rebounds as Xavier bounced back from a pair of narrow losses to beat DePaul.
The Musketeers (20-7, 12-4 Big East) reached the 20-win mark for the 34th time in school history, 32 of which have come since the 1982-83 season. It was the 17th career double-double for Nunge, eighth this season. Adam Kunkel scored 16 points and tied a career-high with eight assists for Xavier.
Umoja Gibson had 17 points and De&rsquo;Sean Nelson 16 for DePaul (9-18, 3-13), which lost its eighth in a row.
NO. 17 ST. MARY&rsquo;S 71, BYU 65
MORAGA, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Logan Johnson scored 27 points and Aidan Mahaney delivered once again in the second half to lead Saint Mary&rsquo;s to its 15th win in 16 games.
Mahaney scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Mitchell Saxen added 13. The Gaels (24-5, 13-1 West Coast Conference) won their 16th straight conference home game to maintain a one-game lead over Gonzaga in the standings.
Fousseyni Traore scored 16 points to lead the Cougars (16-14, 6-9). BYU has lost four straight and was swept in the season series by the Gaels.
NO. 18 CREIGHTON 77, ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 67
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Arthur Kaluma hit three straight 3-pointers down the stretch and Creighton overcame a second-half scoring drought to pull away from St. John&rsquo;s.
Creighton (18-9, 12-4) remained in a three-way tie for second place in the Big East after Providence and Xavier won earlier in the day. Marquette holds a one-game lead in the conference standings.
Ryan Nembhard scored 16 points for the Bluejays. Kaluma finished with 13 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner added 12 as Creighton won for the ninth time in 10 games.
Joel Soriano led St. John&rsquo;s with 15 points and eight rebounds. David Jones added 14 points off the bench but the Red Storm (16-12, 6-11) were unable to get their third straight win.
NO. 20 UCONN 64, SETON HALL 55
STORRS, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points and UConn used a big second-half run to beat Seton Hall.
Andre Jackson had a career high 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for UConn (20-7, 9-7 Big East).
Al-Amir Dawes and Tyrese Samuel each had 16 points for Seton Hall (16-12, 9-8), which trailed by 16 points with six minutes to play before a late run that fell short.
NO. 22 TCU 100, OKLAHOMA STATE 75
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) &mdash; Mike Miles Jr. had 15 points in his first game in three weeks, five other TCU players also scored in double figures, and the Horned Frogs snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Oklahoma State.
Emanuel Miller had 18 points to lead TCU (18-9, 7-7 Big 12), which shot a staggering season-high 68.4% (39 of 57) from the field. Damion Baugh had 16 points with 11 assists. Shahada Wells had 15 points, Chuck O&rsquo;Bannon 12 and Micah Peavy 10.
Bryce Thompson had 18 points and John-Michael White 15 for the Cowboys (16-11, 7-7).
NO. 24 PROVIDENCE 85, VILLANOVA 72
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Ed Croswell scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Providence earned its 20th victory of the season.
Bryce Hopkins added 19 points and 12 rebounds. Noah Locked finished with 16 points. Croswell connected on two late free throws to notch the 1,000th point of his career.
The Friars (20-7, 12-4 Big East) have recorded 20 or more wins in seven of coach Ed Cooley&rsquo;s 12 seasons. They improved to 15-0 at home, including 8-0 in conference play.
Eric Dixon had 18 points and eight rebounds and Justin Moore added 17 points for the Wildcats (13-14, 7-9)&nbsp;

A recap of Saturday's action in men's college basketball includes a full slate of top-25 teams in heavy competition.

No. 6 Texas needs OT at home to hold off Oklahoma 85-83

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Every game the Texas Longhorns play feels like an audition for interim coach Rodney Terry.
At some point, the school must decide if he deserves a callback.
What would that take? A Big 12 championship? A deep run into the NCAA Tournament? Texas hasn&rsquo;t won the league&rsquo;s regular-season title or made it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since doing both in 2008.
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte won&rsquo;t discuss the search for a permanent replacement for Chris Beard, who was fired Jan. 5, or whether Terry is a top candidate for the position.
But the AD can see what everyone else can: Texas (17-3, 6-2 Big 12) is ranked No. 10, shares first place in the Big 12 and hasn&rsquo;t missed a step since Beard was first suspended on Dec. 12 and then fired following his arrest on a felony domestic violence charge.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really proud of what they are doing,&rdquo; Del Conte said of the team this week. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t be more pleased for him and our entire team.&rdquo;
Terry, who was the head coach at Fresno State and UTEP before joining Beard&rsquo;s Texas staff, also deflects questions about his future in burnt orange and whether he&rsquo;s thinking about it every time he&rsquo;s on the court.
&ldquo;The thing I can control right now is working with these guys every single day. I love the team that we have. They believe in what we&rsquo;re trying to get done,&rdquo; Terry said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a firm believer in living where your feet are and living in the moment. Enjoy this season, this journey. Tomorrow is not promised to us.&rdquo;
Terry took over a team that&rsquo;s deep in veteran experience and maturity. Star guard and leading scorer Marcus Carr is a sixth-year graduate student. Forward Timmy Allen, the second leading scorer, is a fifth-year senior. Both are 23 years old.
Sixth man Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice is a graduate transfer from New Mexico State and the Longhorns&rsquo; go-to player to put games away in the final minutes with his 86% free-throw shooting &mdash; third in the Big 12.
Texas players have described the confusion that surrounded Beard&rsquo;s arrest, suspension and ultimate firing. Carr said the older players quickly redirected the focus to the basketball court and not the courtroom.
In return, Texas is 10-2 under Terry, with its only losses coming against No. 5 Kansas State and No. 12 Iowa State, the two teams at the top of the Big 12 with the Longhorns.
Terry wasn&rsquo;t a stranger to Texas, having served on Rick Barnes&rsquo; Longhorns staff from 2002-2011.
Terry and Barnes will see each other again Saturday when the Longhorns play at No. 4 Tennessee in the Big 12/SEC challenge. When they were together at Texas, the Longhorns had their greatest decade in program history: two national players of the year in T.J. Ford and Kevin Durant and making the Final Four in 2003 and the Elite Eight in 2006 and 2008.
Terry said Barnes called him after he led Texas to an overtime win over Rice, which came just hours after Beard was first suspended.
&ldquo;He said to me, &rsquo;Be prepared to will this team throughout the course of the rest of this season, and you&rsquo;re more than prepared for this opportunity ... Go out and enjoy the ride try to take these guys as far as you can take them,&rdquo; Terry said.
Beard was hired to jumpstart a program that became stagnant in Barnes&rsquo; final years and couldn&rsquo;t break through under Shaka Smart. It was working, too. Last season, Texas got its first NCAA Tournament win since 2014. Beard also pushed for people to come to Texas&rsquo; new arena, the Moody Center, and connected with fans during his campus &ldquo;fireside chats.&rdquo;
Then came the arrest and the charges, and Terry&rsquo;s takeover.
Terry recently stepped into the spotlight a bit by appearing on a weekly radio show and a television program on the Longhorn Network. Del Conte said putting Terry in those slots fulfills network contract obligations.
But they also allow Terry to build his own voice as the leader of the Longhorns program, one that he insists is a player-led team.
&ldquo;You put your players first,&rdquo; Terry said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t need to be the face of the program. My face is not pretty enough.&rdquo;

I love the team that we have. They believe in what we’re trying to get done,” Terry said.

Rodney Terry constantly auditioning as Texas interim coach

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Marcus Carr tied a Texas record with 10 3-pointers and matched his career high with 41 points as the sixth-ranked Longhorns beat Texas A&amp;M-Commerce 97-72 on Tuesday night.
Carr, a senior, previously scored 41 while playing for Minnesota against Nebraska on Feb. 27, 2021. He scored 33 points in the first half alone Tuesday, matching a Texas record for a half set by Jim Krivacs in 1978.
Carr&rsquo;s total was the most by a Texas player since Reggie Freeman had 43 points against Fresno State on Dec. 14, 1996.
&ldquo;We wanted to make Texas beat us from 3,&rdquo; A&amp;M-Commerce coach Jaret von Rosenberg said. &ldquo;Carr really had a night. The rim looked like an ocean for him.&rdquo;
Texas (11-1) played its fourth straight game without coach Chris Beard, who was suspended without pay after his Dec. 12 arrest on a felony family violence charge. It was the Longhorns&rsquo; first game since Beard&rsquo;s fianc&eacute;e, Randi Trew, issued a statement saying Beard did not strangle her and she never wanted him arrested or prosecuted.
Carr converted 13 of 19 shots in 30 minutes, including 10 of 15 3-pointers. He has totaled 103 points in his last four games. He made eight 3s in the first half, a school record for a half, as the Longhorns led 47-29 at the break.
&ldquo;Most of the shots that I put up felt really good,&rdquo; Carr said. &ldquo;I thought they were going in. My teammates just kept giving me confidence after they&rsquo;d seen me knock down the first couple. They just said, &lsquo;We&rsquo;re going to look for you. Keep shooting. Keep knocking them down.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Carr attempted only four shots in the second half. He had two assists in each half.
&ldquo;You&rsquo;d think he&rsquo;d want to try to continue gunning, but he came out the opposite,&rdquo; acting coach Rodney Terry said. &ldquo;He was a willing passer.&rdquo;
Terry removed Carr with 3:26 remaining knowing he needed one more 3-pointer to break Al Coleman&rsquo;s school record set in 1997.
&ldquo;We need him on Saturday (at Oklahoma),&rdquo; Terry said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t need him the last three, four minutes of the game, and he turns his ankle. We need him healthy.&rdquo;
Carr said he became aware of the 3-point record when it was posted on the arena&rsquo;s video board.
&ldquo;Timmy (Allen) looked at me and said get one more,&rdquo; Carr said. &ldquo;Not to say I didn&rsquo;t want to break it. But it wasn&rsquo;t of as much importance to me. Honestly, at that point, I was really just focused on trying to get better on defense.&rdquo;
Freshman Dillon Mitchell scored a season-best 16 points for Texas, providing an inside complement to Carr&rsquo;s long-range shooting. Arterio Morris scored 12 points. Allen had eight points, eight assists and six rebounds. Tyrese Hunter also had eight assists.
C.J. Roberts scored 20 points to lead A&amp;M-Commerce (4-10). Tommie Lewis added 19 points for the Lions.
Carr is the first Longhorn other than Terry to be allowed to speak to the media since Beard&rsquo;s arrest.
&ldquo;Right now, R.T. is our coach. We&rsquo;re focused on being led by him. Obviously, it&rsquo;s an adjustment, but a good and smooth one,&rdquo; Carr said.
BIG PICTURE
Texas A&amp;M-Commerce: The Lions moved up to Division I this season, and the transition has not been easy. They played 13 of their first 14 games on the road or at neutral sites and have lost six straight by an average of 15.8 points. They attempt a lot of 3-pointers, 29 a game before Tuesday, with 27% accuracy. Texas limited A&amp;M-Commerce to 15 attempts. The Lions made seven, and they shot 53% overall.
Texas: The Longhorns have 73 assists on 101 baskets in their last three games. They made 28 assists on 37 baskets against A&amp;M-Commerce.
DISU UPDATE
The Longhorns caught a break when the left knee injury starting forward Dylan Disu suffered last week against Louisiana-Lafayette was diagnosed as a sprain and not something more serious. Disu had season-ending surgery to the same knee while playing for Vanderbilt in 2020-21. Disu practiced this week but did not play Tuesday.
UP NEXT
Texas A&amp;M-Commerce hosts Incarnate Word Saturday in its Southland Conference opener.
Texas is at Oklahoma Saturday for its Big 12 opener.

Carr’s total was the most by a Texas player since Reggie Freeman had 43 points against Fresno State on Dec. 14, 1996.

Carr hits 10 threes, scores 41, No. 6 Texas beats A&M-Commerce

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Makai Ashton-Langford had 21 points and seven rebounds, hitting a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left in overtime to clinch a win Wednesday night for Boston College over No. 21 Virginia Tech 70-65.
Devin McGlockton added 18 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles (7-6, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who have won back-to-back games to snap a four-game losing streak. It was Boston College&rsquo;s first win over a ranked team since 2020, making it the first for second-year coach Earl Grant.
Sean Pedulla and Justyn Mutts had 18 points apiece for Virginia Tech (11-2, 1-1), which had won six in a row.
NO. 1 PURDUE 74, NEW ORLEANS 53
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Redshirt freshman Trey Kaufman-Renn scored a season-best 24 points to lead Purdue past New Orleans.
Kaufman-Renn hit 8 of 10 shots and 8 of 10 free throws for the Boilermakers (12-0). The only other Boilermaker in double figures was Mason Gillis with 11 points.
The Boilermakers played without 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey, who was sidelined by illness.
Jordan Johnson scored 17 points to lead the Privateers (3-8), who have lost five of their last six games. Tyson Jackson had 14 for New Orleans.
NO. 3 HOUSTON 83, MCNEESE ST. 44
HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Ja&rsquo;Vier Francis scored a career-high 23 points and had 13 rebounds as Houston routed McNeese State.
Emanuel Sharp added 18 points while going 6 of 9 on 3-pointers for the Cougars (12-1), and Marcus Sasser hit 5 of 10 from long range and scored 17 points. The pair combined to shoot 9 of 14 on 3s in the first half.
Roberts Berze scored 13 points and Christian Shumate added 10 for McNeese State (3-10). The Cowboys lost their fourth straight game.
NO. 7 TEXAS 100, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 72
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Freshman Arterio Morris scored a season-best 25 points in just 18 minutes in Texas&rsquo; victory over Louisiana-Lafayette.
Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr scored 17 apiece for the Longhorns (10-1), whose 100 points were a season-high and their most since a 105-59 victory against Northwestern State on Nov. 10, 2017.
Jordan Brown, a 6-foot-11 forward, led Louisiana-Lafayette (10-2) with 20 points.
NO. 8 TENNESSEE 86, AUSTIN PEAY 44
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Olivier Nkamhoua scored 20 points to lead Tennessee to a victory over Austin Peay.
Santiago Vescovi had 18 points, shooting 5 for 5 on 3-pointers, and Jonas Aidoo set a career high with 10 points and matched his career best with nine rebounds as the Volunteers (10-2) cruised in their final tune-up before the start of Southeastern Conference play next week.
The Governors (6-7) were led by Sean Durugordon and Elijah Hutchins-Everett with 11 points each.
NO. 10 ARKANSAS 85, UNC-ASHEVILLE 51
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Graham scored a season-high 16 points and Arkansas breezed past UNC-Asheville.
Graham, who hadn&rsquo;t played more than 11 minutes in a game this season, logged 19 minutes and shot 8 of 10 from the field as the Razorbacks (11-1) shot 53.3% overall.
Arkansas was missing standout freshman Nick Smith Jr.
Taijon Jones led UNC-Asheville (8-5) with 14 points and Jamon Battle scored 10.
NO. 13 UCLA 81, UC DAVIS 54
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Jaylen Clark had 18 points and 11 rebounds as UCLA returned from a productive East Coast trip to earn a victory over UC Davis.
Tyger Campbell scored 17 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 14 as the Bruins (11-2) won their eighth consecutive game.
Elijah Pepper scored 16 points for the Aggies (7-5), just under his 20-point average per game. Robby Beasley added 14 points and Ty Johnson had 13 points for UC Davis.
NO. 19 KENTUCKY 88, FLORIDA A&amp;M 68
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Cason Wallace scored a career-high 27 points to help Kentucky beat Florida A&amp;M.
Wallace scored the first seven points of the second half for the Wildcats (8-3) as they took a 69-48 lead. The Rattlers (2-8) answered with a 14-0 run, cutting the deficit to seven points on Jaylen Bates&rsquo; 3-pointer. Wallace steadied Kentucky with a jumper and an assist on Antonio Reeves&rsquo; dunk.
Bates led the Rattlers with 21 points and Dimingus Stevens added 13 points.
NO. 20 TCU 75, UTAH 71
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Emanuel Miller had 21 points and seven rebounds and TCU beat Utah.
Mike Miles added 18 points for the Horned Frogs (10-1), and center Eddie Lampkin had 10 rebounds in his return from a back injury.
Gabe Madsen made seven 3-pointers and scored 26 points &mdash; both career highs &mdash; for Utah (9-4). Marco Anthony added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Branden Carlson had 14 points and eight rebounds. The Utes have lost two in a row.
NO. 23 AUBURN 84, WASHINGTON 61
SEATTLE (AP) &mdash; Jaylin Williams scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half, Johni Broome also scored 18, and Auburn ran away in the second half for a win over Washington.
Chris Moore added 12 points and Wendell Green Jr. added 11 for Auburn (10-2), which shot 21 of 29 (72.4%) in the second half and led by as many as 27.
Keion Brooks Jr. led Washington (9-4) with 15 points and Koren Johnson scored 12.
SAN FRANCISCO 97, NO. 25 ARIZONA ST. 60
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Khalil Shabazz scored 26 points and San Francisco routed Arizona State to end the Sun Devils&rsquo; nine game winning streak.
The Sun Devils had entered the AP Top 25 poll on Monday for the first time since their No. 23 ranking on Dec. 7, 2020.
The Dons opened the game on a 24-2 run, had a 27-point advantage at the break and a 47-point lead with about six minutes left.
Isaiah Hawthorne added 19 points for San Francisco (10-4). Tyrell Roberts scored 14 points.
DJ Horne and Duke Brennan scored 12 points apiece for Arizona State (11-2).

A recap of Wednesday night's men's college basketball slate includes the upset-minded Eagles taking down the Hokies.

Boston College beats No. 21 Virginia Tech 70-65 in overtime

Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s first press conference after returning from his suspension was met by a barrage of reporters seemingly throwing a series of questions at him that could have potentially resulted in him being suspended again.
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The media smh <a href="https://t.co/6ZsGU5llll">pic.twitter.com/6ZsGU5llll</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1594830463675375620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2022</a></blockquote>

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One interpretation is that the reporters were just doing their job in asking Kyrie the questions that inquiring minds would like answered. However, another interpretation is that Kyrie asked (very politely) if the reporters could simply stick to questions about the actual game, and they seemingly ignored his request and continued to ask questions that could potentially get him in hot water once again &mdash; an intentional attempt to set him up.
I wanted to delve deeper into this topic, so I reached out to journalist Chuck Modiano, who is a senior writer for Deadspin and has also written for the New York Daily News.
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Etan Thomas: Does it seem like the media is now picking on Kyrie?
Chuck Modiano: Let me first say that you have been doing a great job on social media covering this.
Thomas: Oh, I appreciate that.
Modiano: No problem. Well, there are definitely a couple of members who keep harping on it, but the problem is, they don&rsquo;t do that to other athletes. I don&rsquo;t think Jerry Jones is going to be peppered the same way. I know initially they asked him, but I doubt the questions will continue. I could be wrong, but we&rsquo;ll see. But the double standard always exists with Black athletes and it always has, and part of that double standard is the makeup of the press &mdash; and what the press finds noteworthy and not noteworthy to pursue. So yeah, it&rsquo;s definitely there and will continue to be there and we have to keep calling it out.
Thomas: I agree, but I don&rsquo;t see enough people calling it out and that&rsquo;s the part that frustrates me. It seems like it&rsquo;s just accepted. And let&rsquo;s take the actual content of everything that happened with Kyrie out of the discussion for a moment, and just compare this to how, say, Brett Farve was dealt with in the media. I mean, he didn&rsquo;t have to do anything &mdash; he didn&rsquo;t have to apologize or nothing?
Modiano: I think Brett Favre is a great recurring example. With Kyrie, it goes so far beyond the initial discussion of anti-semitism. It goes to something greater in media. The Black athlete is profitable and the Black athlete&rsquo;s perceived misbehavior is profitable. And we know this when a discussion should shift and it does not. So I&rsquo;ll give you an example. So there was a period of time where the discussion moved from Kyrie Irving to Jeff Bezos &mdash; let&rsquo;s hold Amazon accountable. He&rsquo;s making all this money off "Hebrews To Negroes." And let&rsquo;s form a petition, etc. And there were some famous actors joining in the charge. Rolling Stone actually had pictures of those actors, but most publications, even if the article was focused on Jeff Bezos and Amazon, still had the cover picture of Kyrie. So I said, "Well, that&rsquo;s not about perceived anti-semitism, that&rsquo;s about anti-Blackness." Because, again, the whole article was about Jeff Bezos and Amazon, so why is Kyrie on the cover picture? That was an editorial choice and that&rsquo;s when you have to examine the fact that anti-Blackness will get you more clicks and there is more profit in anti-Blackness.
Thomas: That&rsquo;s interesting. Now that you say that, I definitely noticed that as well. And to your point, there are a lot of Black media that participate in that as well. Right now, there are a lot of people trying to give Jerry Jones a pass. I just saw Stephen A. Smith and Jason Whitlock both defending him today. I actually tweeted about it.
Modiano: It&rsquo;s completely ridiculous. And listen, I am someone who has marched with former Nazis who are now against Nazis and are now on the anti-racism side and it&rsquo;s their life mission to flip other Nazis. So I am someone who believes to the greatest extent that reform is possible. But let&rsquo;s take Jerry Jones here, and put aside the fact that probably 95% of white people in Arkansas in 1957 more than likely shared a certain belief about Black people, I think we can safely say that. But not everyone joined a mob to terrorize Black students, so there is a difference between racist thoughts and racist actions. And it&rsquo;s important to remember that in 1954, the Brown vs. Board of Education was put into law, and the one of the ways white people would fight against that law was through mob action, and Jerry Jones was a part of that. So if you&rsquo;re going to tell me he&rsquo;s changed, I need to see it. I see his comments about [Colin] Kaepernick. I see the fact that he has never had a Black head coach. I see him donating half a million to Governor [Greg] Abbott&rsquo;s campaign. This doesn&rsquo;t sound like he has changed too much since 1957.
Thomas: And the same with Brett Favre. I haven&rsquo;t seen anything where he's tried to make amends after this $77 million Mississippi state-welfare-fund scandal or any evidence that he has changed. They say it&rsquo;s always something with Kyrie; well, it&rsquo;s always something with Brett Favre, right?
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JerryJones?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JerryJones</a> <a href="https://t.co/kpy9G3XaFU">pic.twitter.com/kpy9G3XaFU</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1596296501747228674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2022</a></blockquote>

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<div>
<div>Modiano: Oh, don&rsquo;t get me started on Brett. He has a long, ugly history and I&rsquo;m not just talking about outwardly supporting Donald Trump at the height of his racism and Charlottesville and Jan. 6th, or the inappropriate messages and nude pictures he sent to New York Jets game day host Ms. Sterger, but yes there is definitely enough history for there to be much more upheaval of outrage from the media. So we have to ask, why is the Brett Favre scandal not given the same attention and scrutiny as Kyrie? The answer could be simply that Brett Favre is not going to produce the amount of clicks that Kyrie will. But then you have to ask: why is Kyrie going to produce more clicks? Because Brett is retired and Kyrie is an active player? I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s it. I think it&rsquo;s because of anti-Blackness. We have a white customer service base that likes to see Black athletes being denigrated and will use Black media talking heads, like the ones you named before, to do the actual denigrating. That&rsquo;s the bottom line. So some will say, "No, it&rsquo;s the anti-semitism that is a much bigger issue." Well, if that were the case, all forms of perceived anti-semitism would garner the same reaction that Kyrie did, and it doesn&rsquo;t.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: And to your point, let me read this <a href="https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1596184440513777665" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweet from Shaun King</a> that read: &ldquo;So we now know that Donald Trump just had dinner with one of the most explicit bigots and Holocaust-deniers in the world right now, Nick Fuentes. I need to see if Trump and the people who support him get the Kyrie Irving treatment now. I seriously doubt it." Now they can&rsquo;t say that Kyrie has more power and influence than Trump, so will there be a big outrage about Trump?&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Modiano: We already know the answer to that. Of course there won&rsquo;t and Nick Fuentes is a proud white supremacist and racist. He is an actual Holocaust denier and has spewed actual anti-semetic rhetoric out of his mouth. And Trump has himself said a lot of perceived, I&rsquo;ll say, antisemitic statements. So in comparing the reaction of that to Kyrie, you&rsquo;re right; it&rsquo;s not the same outrage.&nbsp;A few years ago, I wrote an article with the New York Daily News asking, "Why are we not critiquing white athletes?" Whether it&rsquo;s Tom Brady with the Trump hat in his locker or Brett Favre posing in a picture with him on the golf course, where were those same reporters who pressed Kyrie then? Where were the pointed questions that we are seeing repeatedly with Kyrie? So if we are going to have a media that is critiquing athletes the way they are with Kyrie, ok that&rsquo;s fine, but let&rsquo;s do it with the white athletes too.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: So, how can Kyrie navigate through this? Because it seems like the media is going to continue to press him on topics where they&rsquo;re almost trying to play GOTCHA with him. He has to meet with the media, or he&rsquo;ll get fined. So should he just keep repeating the phrase, "Can you please only ask me basketball questions?" Or do the Marshawn Lynch ("I&rsquo;m just here so I won&rsquo;t get fined")?</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Modiano: I&rsquo;ll tell you what, I thought he turned the Thanksgiving question on its head pretty nicely. I thought it was brilliant how he navigated that. He ended positively, he wished everyone a happy holiday, and he did it with a smile, but he also made the point clear: I&rsquo;m not personally celebrating Thanksgiving. And I think that&rsquo;s great because it now brings the much larger discussion that is not going on about the actual history of Thanksgiving and the treatment of indigenous people of this country, so I thought he navigated that question brilliantly.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: But do you think the media was again trying to pick at him? I tweeted about this and it got a very strong response. Anyone who has been even remotely following the NBA knows about Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s connection to his Native American heritage. When I saw that, I was like, "Are they just trolling Kyrie now?" They could&rsquo;ve asked any other player on the team that, but they ask him in particular? I just don&rsquo;t think they would&rsquo;ve asked Deni Avdija (the Washington Wizards forward who is Jewish) if he would like to wish everyone out there a Merry Christmas; I just personally don&rsquo;t think they would.&nbsp;</div>
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They know Kyrie Irving doesn&rsquo;t celebrate Thanksgiving and they know exactly why because he has explained his connection to his Native American heritage and the celebrated slaughter of his people. The media is being very intentional right now with Kyrie <a href="https://t.co/RCKWhaJn0I">https://t.co/RCKWhaJn0I</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1595784312359624707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<div>Modiano: So, I&rsquo;m leaning toward what you&rsquo;re saying. I don&rsquo;t know who the particular reporter was, I don&rsquo;t know the history, and we have to look at media collectively, not just this one person.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: Oh yeah, it wasn&rsquo;t particular to Meghan Triplett, the Nets new sideline reporter; I wasn&rsquo;t saying that. I was just using this one instance as yet another example, not her in particular. &nbsp;</div>
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<div>Modiano: Right, but I think collectively, it&rsquo;s no question the media has a double standard with Kyrie. It&rsquo;s abundantly clear. So I&rsquo;ll say it like this: I can&rsquo;t say definitively that it&rsquo;s a racial double standard, but I will say that it&rsquo;s worthy of an investigation of a possibly racial double standard. And it&rsquo;s not just Kyrie, there has been a racial double standard historically with Black athletes for decades.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Thomas: So let me ask you this: People like Shaq and Charles Barkley were very direct with their critique of Kyrie. I actually tweeted about this as well.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>
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Immediately they got <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CharlesBarkley?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CharlesBarkley</a> to go live and condemn <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KyrieIrving?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KyrieIrving</a> and I know he hadn&rsquo;t actually watched <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HebrewsToNegroes?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HebrewsToNegroes</a> to even know what he was talking about. But Barkley is one of the go to Black Media used to condemn Black People and it&rsquo;s sad<a href="https://t.co/58aGoedJo8">https://t.co/58aGoedJo8</a> <a href="https://t.co/XC1kdKqKXi">pic.twitter.com/XC1kdKqKXi</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1595022874901090311?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<div>Modiano: I&rsquo;m telling you, you&rsquo;ve been on it on social media. And your interviews have been great too. Different perspectives. You even got a Rabbi! I haven&rsquo;t seen anyone go to the length to actually sit down with a Rabbi and discuss this.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: (Laughing) Well, there&rsquo;s been a lot to cover, but it seems like people like Charles Barkley and those of his ilk are just not willing to move past it. He brought it up again last night, saying he was disappointed that more NBA players didn&rsquo;t come out and speak against him. I&rsquo;m just like... he has apologized, served his suspension, went through the entire ridiculous six-step criteria they laid out for him, met with Adam Silver, met with Joe Tsai, and they all gave him the stamp of approval that he is not anti-semitic (although he never said anything out of his mouth that was anti-semitic). He went through all of those steps, so how long will it be before the media as a collective whole stops trolling him?&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Modiano: My response to the many problematic things that come out of Charles Barkley&rsquo;s mouth is: Why is he being uplifted as this voice of Black America or something? I remember a few years ago, CNN did this series called Race In America, led by Charles Barkley. What qualified him to lead that series?&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Thomas: They could&rsquo;ve gotten Craig Hodges, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Colin Kaepernick, John Carlos, Tommie Smith or if they wanted contemporary athletes, they could&rsquo;ve gotten LeBron James, Eric Reid, Jaylen Brown, the Olympian Gwen Berry, Swin Cash... There are so many combinations of athlete activists they could&rsquo;ve gotten. And I interviewed most of them in my book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/We-Matter-Athletes-Activism-Sports/dp/1617755915/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=66c9a448-2d15-42b5-ad8b-555bf1229604" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"We Matter: Athletes And Activism.&rdquo;&nbsp;</a></div>
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<div>Modiano: Right, but they didn&rsquo;t want any of them, they wanted Charles Barkley. Why? The same reason he was on CNN being the spokesperson of Black America, which I believe you tweeted about too.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: Yes, <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1594710024969912322?s=46&amp;t=DudNOqBBO4hPI-A58FFLUg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I did actually.</a>&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Modiano: I told you, you&rsquo;ve been on it! (laughing) But why Charles Barkley? Because they know what his position will be on the topic, so it doesn&rsquo;t matter that he doesn&rsquo;t have a rich history of social justice like all the athletes you mentioned before and interviewed in your book. They like the positions he takes so that will trump his actual qualifications. Same with Herschel Walker. But just think about it, they don&rsquo;t do that with white athletes; they don&rsquo;t turn them into the spokespersons for white America on race relations. Anybody know where Larry Bird stands on anything? Kevin McHale? Dirk? Jerry West? Chris Mullin? We have to question these networks who continue to put the mic in Charles Barkley&rsquo;s face but at the same time, we know the answer. It&rsquo;s because he is saying what they want to hear a Black person say. Anti-Black is anti Black whether it&rsquo;s on Fox News, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Jason Whitlock or Charles Barkley.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: So basically, a lot of people in the media are pawns like Kyrie said&hellip; You don&rsquo;t have to answer that. Like you said, we already know the answer.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Check out these related episodes of "The Rematch."</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Craig Hodges and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf:</div>
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<div>Rabbi Harry Rozenberg:</div>
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<div>Dave Zirin:</div>
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Has the media treated Kyrie Irving fairly? Etan Thomas sits down with journalist Chuck Modiano to discuss the coverage of Irving.

How long will the media continue to troll Kyrie Irving?

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Jordan Poole's bobblehead doll was a big hit &mdash; and the real guy himself sure shined, too.
Back in the starting lineup for a night, Poole scored a season-best 36 points and led the Golden State Warriors past the San Antonio Spurs 132-95 on Monday.
&ldquo;I loved it. Everything,&rdquo; he said.
A performance fitting of a Poole Party, indeed: He shot 13 for 20 and knocked down five 3-pointers. With 10:36 left, Poole fired a 3 under pressure and the ball bounced high against the backboard before falling through. He converted the free throw for a four-point play.
Poole received a warm ovation when he exited for good at the 8:04 mark of the fourth quarter following his 13th career game with 30 or more points.
&ldquo;Jordan was pretty amazing offensively,&rdquo; Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. &ldquo;He got it rolling right away.&rdquo;
Stephen Curry added 16 points, five rebounds and five assists in 27 minutes. Andrew Wiggins scored 10 for the Warriors in the second game of a back-to-back after they lost 122-115 at Sacramento on Sunday to fall to 0-7 on the road.
Golden State grabbed an early lead and ran away from the Spurs for a 61-45 advantage at the break. That allowed Kerr to use his reserves in extended stretches. Anthony Lamb scored 17 points and Jonathan Kuminga contributed 15 off the bench.
Keldon Johnson scored 15 points for injury-plagued San Antonio, warming up in the second half. The Spurs snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Milwaukee Bucks 111-93 on Friday night.
RUN TMC
The Hall of Fame trio of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin served as the broadcast team for the &ldquo;Run TMC Takeover.&rdquo;
&ldquo;It was very special. When I was here as an assistant I got to enjoy Timmy and Mully &mdash; Mitch was gone," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "It was cool, it was fast-paced, it was creative. The people really bought into it. It was a wonderful time in the NBA. These guys were one of the best shows available, for sure.&rdquo;
The Warriors hadn't opened 0-7 on the road, though, since that group lost its initial nine away games in 1989-90.
On the broadcast, Hardaway made a reference to rape while describing a defensive play by Draymond Green, and later apologized for his poor choice of words.
POOLE PARTY
Poole started in place of Klay Thompson and was thrilled with his first bobblehead doll.
&ldquo;I love it, it&rsquo;s absolutely amazing," Poole said. "It&rsquo;s really a special accomplishment. It&rsquo;s an honor. I&rsquo;m glad it came out the way it did.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Spurs: G Tre Jones missed the game with a stomach illness. Jeremy Sochan moved into the starting lineup. ... Johnson has made a 3-pointer in 30 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in franchise history behind Danny Green&rsquo;s 32 straight in 2012. ... The Spurs had won the previous two on Golden State&rsquo;s home floor.
Warriors: Curry was selected Western Conference player of the week for the 19th time. He became the oldest player with back-to-back 40-point performances since Michael Jordan in 2002. ... Thompson rested as he typically does during one of the back-to-back games as the Warriors use caution given his right Achilles tendon surgery that kept him out until January. ... C James Wiseman will report to the G League Santa Cruz Warriors for an extended period of perhaps 10 straight days, Kerr said.

Jordan Poole scored a season-best 36 points and led the Golden State Warriors past the San Antonio Spurs 132-95.

Poole scores 36 on bobblehead night, Warriors rout Spurs

Arguments over conference supremacy have begun well before the start of the college basketball season.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim offered one of the most quotable remarks of the preseason when he pointed out the Big Ten&rsquo;s failings in the postseason.
&ldquo;At the end of the day, you play for the tournament,&rdquo; Boeheim said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what you play for. It&rsquo;s simple. You can say all you want about the Big Ten. They sucked in the tournament. So to me, that&rsquo;s what they did. I don&rsquo;t care what they did in the regular season.&rdquo;
The Big Ten led all conferences with nine NCAA Tournament bids last season but sent only two teams ( Michigan and Purdue ) to regional semifinals and didn&rsquo;t have anyone last beyond the Sweet 16. Syracuse plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which got five bids but sent three teams to the Sweet 16 and had North Carolina and Duke reach the Final Four.
One year earlier, the Big Ten had nine NCAA Tournament bids to again lead all leagues but advanced only Michigan beyond the round of 32.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what you play for, to get in the tournament and to win in the tournament,&rdquo; Boeheim said. &ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t do that, then you&rsquo;re not good.&rdquo;
As we rank the top six conferences for the upcoming season, we don&rsquo;t give the No. 1 spot to either the Big Ten or the ACC. That honor instead goes to the league that has produced the last two NCAA Tournament champions.
1. BIG 12
The Big 12 kept its hold on the national title when Kansas won last season after Baylor earned the crown a year earlier. The Big 12 nearly had three straight championships by three different schools, as Texas Tech lost the 2019 championship game to Virginia in overtime. The Big 12 has five teams in the preseason Associated Press Top 25. Kansas and Baylor are tied for fifth. The other ranked teams are No. 12 Texas, No. 14 TCU and No. 25 Texas Tech.
2. SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
A look at the preseason Top 25 indicates the SEC could emerge as the best conference of all. The SEC has five ranked teams, all in the top 20: No. 4 Kentucky, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 15 Auburn and No. 20 Alabama. Arkansas, Alabama and Kentucky brought in three of the nation&rsquo;s top five freshman classes according to composite rankings of recruiting sites compiled by 247Sports. Kentucky&rsquo;s Oscar Tschiebwe was the consensus national player of the year last season.
3. ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
The ACC has the nation&rsquo;s top-ranked team in North Carolina, which returns preseason AP All-America selection Armando Bacot from a team that lost to Kansas in last season&rsquo;s championship game. No. 7 Duke begins the post-Mike Krzyzewski era by welcoming in new coach Jon Scheyer and the nation&rsquo;s top-ranked recruiting class. The only other ACC team in the preseason Top 25 is No. 18 Virginia.
4. BIG TEN
The Big Ten figures to take a step back this season after having three players (Iowa&rsquo;s Keegan Murray, Purdue&rsquo;s Jaden Ivey and Wisconsin&rsquo;s Johnny Davis) among the top 10 picks in the NBA draft. No. 13 Indiana is the only Big Ten team ranked higher than 22nd in the preseason Top 25. The league&rsquo;s only other ranked teams are No. 22 Michigan and No. 23 Illinois. Perhaps this is the year the Big Ten gets fewer NCAA Tournament bids but ends up lasting longer in the tournament.
5. PAC-12
The Pac-12 sent just three teams to the NCAA Tournament despite benefiting from the resurgence of Arizona in coach Tommy Lloyd&rsquo;s debut season. The Pac-12 heads into this season with three ranked teams in No. 8 UCLA, No. 17 Arizona and No. 21 Oregon.
6. BIG EAST
The retirement of Villanova coach Jay Wright could shake things up in this league. No. 9 Creighton is the preseason pick to win the Big East by the league&rsquo;s coaches, the first time the Bluejays have had that honor since joining the conference for the 2013-14 season. The only other ranked Big East team is No. 16 Villanova under first-year coach Kyle Neptune. Providence must replace all five starters from the team that won last year&rsquo;s Big East title.

Arguments over conference supremacy have begun well before the start of the college basketball season.

Big 12 has upper hand from recent NCAA postseason success

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

Etan Thomas speaks with Dr. John Carlos, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Craig Hodges to memorialize the late, great Bill Russell.

Dr. John Carlos, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Craig Hodges remember Bill Russell

RJ Nembhard Jr. had 16 points and six assists, Isaiah Mobley added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers held off the Atlanta Hawks 94-90 on Saturday in the NBA Summer League.
Mobley, a second-round pick in this year's draft, grabbed six rebounds on the offensive end and added four assists for the Cavaliers (3-2). Fellow second-rounder Luke Travers pitched in with 14 points and five boards. Cam Young scored 15 points. First-round pick Ochai Agbaji did not play.
Tyrese Martin scored 21 to top the Hawks (2-3). Chaundee Brown Jr. added 17 points. Chris Clemons finished with 16 points, while Tyson Etienne scored 13.
Atlanta's top pick A.J. Griffin &mdash; 17th overall &mdash; did not play.
PISTONS 102, MAGIC 86
Jules Bernard had 22 points and nine rebounds, Charlie Moore had 21 points and eight assists, and Detroit cruised past Orlando.
Bernard sank all three of his 3-point attempts for the Pistons (3-2). Braxton Key added 15 points, while Stanley Umude scored 13. Detroit sat first-rounders Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren for the finale.
Justin James had 18 points to lead the Magic (2-3). Tommy Kuhse added 13 points, while Zavier Simpson and Daniel Oturu scored 10 apiece.
Orlando dropped its final three games without top pick Paolo Banchero. The Magic decided to pull Banchero from the event just hours before a showdown with No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren and Oklahoma City.
TIMBERWOLVES 89, HORNETS 86
Kevon Harris scored 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting to help Minnesota fend off Charlotte.
Harris hit all four of his 3-pointers for the Timberwolves (2-3). Wendell Moore Jr. had 15 points, while second-round pick Josh Minott scored 12. Marial Shayok had seven points, 10 rebounds and four steals.
JT Thor finished with 28 points and five steals for the Hornets (2-3). Justin Minaya scored 10 points and Mark Williams, the 15th overall pick, had eight points and seven rebounds.
Thor completed a three-point play, then buried a 3-pointer to get the Hornets within 88-86. Jacob Gilyard sank 1 of 2 free throws with 4.9 seconds left and Minott blocked Bryce McGowens' 3-pointer to end the game.
SPURS 90, GRIZZLIES 87
Malaki Branham made five 3-pointers and scored 23 points to help San Antonio turn back Memphis.
Branham, the 20th overall pick, was 5 of 8 from distance to help the Spurs (1-4) notch their first win in their final try. DJ Stewart added 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while Robert Woodard II had six points to go with 10 rebounds.
Kenneth Lofton Jr. paced the Grizzlies (2-3) with 27 points and 12 rebounds. First-rounder David Roddy added 19 points. Ronaldo Segu and Kennedy Chandler scored 13 and 10, respectively.
Lofton sank a 3-pointer with 2:07 remaining to give Memphis an 87-86 lead. Branham answered with a 3 and Blake Wesley &mdash; the No. 25 pick &mdash; hit 1 of 2 free throws with 4.1 seconds left to cap the scoring. Dakota Mathias missed a 3-pointer on the game's final shot.
BULLS 119, 76ERS 104
Marko Simonovic scored 26 points, Malcolm Hill added 23 and Chicago breezed past Philadelphia.
Simonovic made 11 of 15 shots and grabbed eight rebounds to help the Bulls (4-1) close out with three straight wins. Carlik Jones scored 15 points but had seven of Chicago's 15 turnovers. Dalen Terry, the 18th overall pick, had three points, two assists and two rebounds in nine-plus minutes.
Charlie Brown Jr. led the 76ers (2-3) with 21 points. Grant Riller scored 19. Trevelin Queen had 16 points and seven of Philadelphia's 21 turnovers. Filip Petrusev scored 14.
NETS 102, CELTICS 95
Cam Thomas scored 25 points, David Duke Jr. added 24 and Brooklyn knocked off Boston.
Thomas added six assists for the Nets (3-2), while Duke handed out five. Kessler Edwards scored 15 points and Day'Ron Sharpe had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Juhann Begarin topped the Celtics (3-2) with 25 points. Mfiondu Kabengele scored 18. Second-rounder JD Davison &mdash; Boston's only pick in the draft &mdash; totaled 17 points and 10 rebounds.
KINGS 92, ROCKETS 81
Jeriah Horne scored 20 points to lead Sacramento over Houston
Jared Rhoden pitched in with 15 points and seven rebounds for the Kings (3-2). Sacramento chose to sit No. 4 overall pick Keegan Murray for the finale.
Tari Eason, the No. 17 pick in the draft, had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets (2-3). TyTy Washington Jr. scored 15 points, while Daishen Nix had 14 points and seven boards. No. 3 overall pick Jabari Smith Jr. had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
LAKERS 95, MAVERICKS 84
Cole Swider scored 16 points to spark Los Angeles past Dallas.
Swider sank 4 of 6 from 3-point range for the Lakers (3-2). Jay Huff had 13 points, Javante McCoy scored 12 and Scotty Pippen Jr. 11.
A.J. Lawson had 19 points to lead the Mavericks (0-5) &mdash; the only team without victory in the event. Moses Wright scored 17 with six boards. Jaden Hardy scored 15 but had seven of Dallas' 19 turnovers. Lawson turned it over six times. Jerrick Harding had 11 points and five assists.
HEAT 86, CLIPPERS 83
Kyle Allman Jr. scored 26 points, sinking a go-ahead 3-pointer with 31 seconds left, and Miami rallied past Los Angeles.
Allman added seven rebounds and six assists for the Heat (2-3). Dru Smith had 22 points and Jamal Cain pitched in with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Miami outscored Los Angeles 31-20 in the final quarter
Reggie Perry, Jay Scrubb and Xavier Moon all scored 16 for the Clippers (2-3).

Check out this recap of Saturday's NBA Summer League action.

Nembhard, Mobley lead Cavs past Hawks 94-90 in Summer League

Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in the draft, had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to an 84-81 victory over the Orlando Magic on Monday night in the Las Vegas Summer League.
Holmgren shot 7 of 10 in a game that was originally expected to be a matchup of the Nos. 1 and 2 picks. But the Magic announced earlier Monday that Paolo Banchero would not play the remainder of the summer after averaging 20 points, five rebounds and six assists in his two games in Las Vegas.
Josh Giddey added 12 points, seven rebounds and eight assists for the Thunder (1-1).
Holmgren, a 7-footer out of Gonzaga, did a little bit of everything, from bringing up the ball to anchoring the Oklahoma City defense. He threw down dunks, was 2 of 4 from 3-point range, blocked two shots and changed multiple more, but committed four turnovers.
Justin James led Orlando (2-1) with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Tommy Kuhse scored 14 points, Devin Cannady added 12 and Zavier Simpson had 11 points, seven assists and five steals. Emanuel Terry scored 10 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
ROCKETS 97, SPURS 84
Tari Eason had 22 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and two blocks, and Jabari Smith Jr. had 19 points and nine rebounds as Houston rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat San Antonio.&nbsp;
Josh Christopher scored 13 of his 18 points in the final six minutes as Houston (2-1) pulled away. Daishen Nix added 18 points, six assists and two steals for the Rockets.
San Antonio led 54-36 with 2 minutes left in the first half. Houston used a 16-5 run midway through the third quarter to take a 62-61 lead after Smith hit a 3-pointer.
Malaki Branham led San Antonio (0-3) with 20 points. Blake Wesley made just 3 of 20 from the field &mdash; 0 of 7 from 3-point range &mdash; but finished with 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Josh Primo (health and safety protocols) did not play for the Spurs.
CELTICS 111, BUCKS 109
Matt Ryan scored 23 points and hit six of Boston&rsquo;s 18 3-pointers &mdash; including a tightly contested running 3 with 0.8 seconds to play &mdash; and Boston stunned Milwaukee.
After Lindell Wigginton made two free throws to give the Bucks a one-point lead, Ryan took the inbounds pass, dribbled up the left sideline and went behind-the-back near midcourt and hit a straight-away 3 with the 6-foot-7 MarJon Beauchamp in his face. Ryan appeared to hurt his left ankle on the play and writhed in pain on the court before Wigginton missed a heave from beyond half court as time expired.
Mfiondu Kabengele had 15 points, 11 rebounds &mdash; including seven offensive &mdash; four assists and two blocks, while Brodric Thomas made 4 of 8 from 3-point range and finished with 14 points and eight rebounds for Boston (1-1). Juhann Begarin scored 13 points, Sam Hauser 12 and Justin Jackson added 10.
Milwaukee&rsquo;s Sandro Mamukelashvili had 28 points and nine rebounds. Wigginton added 24 points and Beauchamp scored 15.
PELICANS 101, HAWKS 73
Trey Murphy III, the No. 17 selection in the 2021 draft, had 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting and Daequan Plowden scored 16 to help New Orleans beat Atlanta.
Dyson Daniels, the Pelicans&rsquo; first-round draft pick (No. 8 overall), did not play because of an ankle injury.
Jared Harper made 9 of 12 from the free throw line and finished with 14 points and seven assists for the Pelicans (1-1). Tyrique Jones added 11 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
AJ Griffin, the Hawks&rsquo; No. 16 pick in the draft, did not play did not play due to discomfort in his right foot.
Chaundee Brown Jr. and Justin Tillman scored 14 points apiece for Atlanta (0-2).
The Hawks shot 31.7% (26 of 82) from the field and made 3 of 24 (12.5%) from 3-point range.
JAZZ 83, MAVERICKS 82
Tacko Fall and D.J. Funderburk each had a double-double and Johnny Juzang hit a step-back 3-pointer in the closing seconds to help cold-shooting Utah beat Dallas.
Fall scored 12 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked three shots, while Funderburk added 10 points, 10 rebounds and two steals. The Jazz (2-0) outrebounded Dallas 65-46 overall and had a 22-7 advantage on the offensive glass. Fall pulled down 12 offensive rebounds as Utah outscored the Mavericks 21-0 in second-chance points.
Juzang, Justin Robinson and Xavier Sneed scored 11 points apiece for the Jazz. Jarod Butler finished with nine points, 10 assists and three steals but made just 3 of 22 (16%) from the field and went 0 for 10 from behind the arc.
Jerrick Harding led Dallas (0-2) with 18 points and A.J. Lawson had 15 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks. Jaden Hardy was just 4-of-15 shooting but finished with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists. Derrick Alston Jr. scored 13 points and Moses Wright added 11.
Utah shot just 31% (26 of 84).
TRAIL BLAZERS 88, KNICKS 77
Trendon Watford scored 18 points and Jabari Walker had 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds to help Portland overcome a slow start to beat New York.
Craig Randall II hit 4 of 8 from 3-point range and finished with 12 points, Keon Johnson scored 11 and Brandon Williams added 10 for the Trail Blazers (2-1).
Portland shot just 3 of 14 from the field in the first quarter and trailed 24-9. The Trail Blazers were 27 of 48 (56.3%) the rest of the way.
Quentin Grimes scored 24 points for the Knicks (2-1), who led 13-0 for the second straight game. Miles McBride scored 16 and Feron Hunt added 12. Jericho Sims had six points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
ESPN analyst and former NBA player Richard Jefferson, who won an NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, officiated the second quarter.&nbsp;

The Thunder were victorious with an 84-81 victory over the Magic on Monday night in the Las Vegas Summer League.

Holmgren, Giddey lead Thunder over Magic in NBA Summer League

WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; Bradley Beal and the Wizards renewed their commitment to each other when he agreed to a five-year deal worth up to $251 million to stay in Washington.
Whether that commitment will make the next five years any more successful than the last 10 is the big question.
&ldquo;I want to win a championship and I want to do it here,&rdquo; Beal said Friday in a news conference to discuss his max-value contract. &ldquo;I believe that we can win in D.C.&rdquo;
There hasn&rsquo;t been much evidence that the Wizards can back up that belief. Since drafting Beal in 2012 to play alongside point guard John Wall, the Wizards have made five playoff appearances, never advancing beyond the second round &mdash; and the last time they got even that far was five years ago, the last full season Wall played in Washington.
Since then, the Wizards have had a revolving door at point guard alongside Beal, who averaged over 30 points in 2019-20 and 2020-21, and haven&rsquo;t persuaded a big-name free agent to join him in a star-driven league.
&ldquo;We have the opportunity to show the NBA what happens, the commitment that we&rsquo;ll make to our players, to their career,&rdquo; general manager Tommy Sheppard said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re talking about one of the most coveted free agents on the market re-signing with the Washington Wizards, committing to what he believes, that we can win here.&rdquo;
This season, the Wizards will surround Beal with big man Kristaps Porzingis, acquired in a midseason trade with Dallas; Kyle Kuzma, who became the team&rsquo;s primary scorer with Beal sidelined by injury in the second half of last season; a new point guard in Monte Morris, acquired in a trade with Denver; and a collection of young role players including Rui Hachimura, Deni Avdija, Corey Kispert and Daniel Gafford.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re doing everything we can to make that mix right. We&rsquo;re a free agent away,&rdquo; owner Ted Leonsis said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re always looking at how we can improve, and Tommy has been given the green light and I&rsquo;ve said no to nothing. I want to win.&rdquo;
Beal has become rooted in the Washington area through philanthropic efforts and has shown a growing awareness of social issues. He began his news conference by lamenting the imprisonment of WNBA star Brittney Griner in Russia; the mass shooting at a July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois; and a spate of gun violence in his hometown of St. Louis.
His two young sons attended the news conference and Beal noted that because of his financial security, &ldquo;they think they won&rsquo;t have to work for anything. I have to try to find that balance and figure it out. You don&rsquo;t see that all the time, especially in the Black community.&rdquo;
Beal said he&rsquo;s comfortable with his decision and that winning a championship in Washington would be more satisfying than chasing a title with a &ldquo;super team.&rdquo;
&ldquo;You proved all the doubters wrong. You did everything you possibly could to make it work and you did it. That would mean everything to me,&rdquo; Beal said. &ldquo;That would mean more than leaving and playing with four All-Stars. And, having conversations with guys who have done that, it&rsquo;s not always great. It&rsquo;s not always fun. It&rsquo;s not always what you think it is.&rdquo;

“I want to win a championship and I want to do it here,” Bradley Beal said on Friday. “I believe that we can win in D.C.”

Bradley Beal believes Wizards can win title after his max deal

Keep track of where the top 2022 undrafted free agents are headed after draft night.

2022 NBA UDFA Tracker: Latest news on undrafted free agents

After weeks of speculation and countless trade-machine ideas floating around, The Athletic's Shams Charania has reported that the Brooklyn Nets and Kyrie Irving are at an "impasse" about his future with the franchise.
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Sources: Kyrie Irving, Nets are at impasse in conversations about his future in Brooklyn, clearing way for the seven-time All-Star to consider the open market. Lakers and Knicks expected to emerge among potential suitors. Inside Pass at <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAthletic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheAthletic</a>: <a href="https://t.co/VbOOtrzdTB">https://t.co/VbOOtrzdTB</a>
&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1538873230534090755?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Irving has until June 29 to decide whether to exercise his player option that will be an expected cap figure just under $37 million for the 2022-23 season. To be clear, Irving hasn't explicitly said that he wants out of Brooklyn, and Sean Marks has never said that he wants to move on from the All-NBA point guard.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
The Nets would prefer a shorter-term, incentive-based deal with Kyrie Irving, per <a href="https://twitter.com/JakeLFischer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JakeLFischer</a> Dialogue between both sides is expected to remain 'fluid' up until the June 29 deadline for Irving to opt into his $36.9M player option <a href="https://t.co/HonP7DgQ09">pic.twitter.com/HonP7DgQ09</a>
&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1539230313242669057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Basically, Marks wants Irving to opt out oand sign a deal for less money/average annual value for cap space to fill out the roster. The theoretical fit of Irving, Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons has yet to be seen, and one would imagine that the Nets would prefer to give the trio a chance. With the return of Joe Harris from injury and Seth Curry still under contract, Brooklyn could still be the odds-on favorite for an NBA title next season when they are at full strength.
However, if the impasse between the two continues, Marks may very well opt to move on. While remaining in Brooklyn is likely the final outcome of this saga, there are a few other destinations that make sense for both Irving and the Nets to strike a deal.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS 
According to Marc Stein, Irving has had some <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/kyrie-irving-latest-more-trade-talk?sd=pf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent contact with LeBron James about a reunion</a>. (It's worth mentioning that Stein's sources told him it'd be "a stretch" to say L.A. is actively pursuing Irving.) Also, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Lakers are the most significant threat to sign Irving away from the Nets.
This is an obvious hypothetical destination for Irving, as the Lakers have a player with a similar contract who makes for a logical financial swap. However, swapping Russell Westbrook for Irving would not be something the Nets would entertain. Outside of trying to force a second marriage between Westbrook and Durant, the pairing of Westbrook and Ben Simmons would provide the least amount of spacing that $60 million could buy.&nbsp;
For the Lakers to reunite Irving with LeBron, there would need to be a third team to reroute Westbrook to. One team that seems like a possible match for such a deal is the Indiana Pacers, who are actively shopping both Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner. Sending those two to Brooklyn and Westbrook to Indiana is a possibility, but not all that attractive for the Pacers, as they look to build around Tyrese Haliburton as their lead guard. Perhaps if enough draft picks are attached, Indiana may be willing to help.
Other possible third teams include the Charlotte Hornets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets.
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The Hornets have been mentioned due to the relationship between Westbrook and team owner Michael Jordan, but again, LaMelo Ball plays the same position.
Oklahoma City has been known to take on a bad contract in return for a handful of assets, which neither L.A. nor Brooklyn really have; plus, there's the whole reunion story where he could mentor Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey.
The Rockets are interesting because it could simply be a three-player deal where each team just gets a new point guard, landing John Wall in Brooklyn.
While it's fun to speculate about a reconciliation between LeBron and Kyrie for another title run, this still feels highly unlikely, and Brooklyn still seems like a better situation for Irving than the Lakers.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS 
A sleeper team in the potential Kyrie sweepstakes is the Los Angeles Clippers. This is the one team that could perhaps assemble a better "Big Three" than the Nets. Irving alongside Paul George and Kawhi Leonard might instantly become the best trio in the NBA.&nbsp;
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_15520646-1_690w.png" alt="" width="756" height="378" />
A package of Norman Powell, Marcus Morris Sr. and Ivica Zubac, plus draft compensation could do the trick. If the Clippers do not want to part with Zubac, they could possibly package Reggie Jackson, Robert Covington, Powell and picks.
If the Clippers are able to assemble a lineup of Irving, George, Leonard, Luke Kennard, Morris/Covington, Terance Mann and/or Zubac, this would be a top-five rotation in the league at worst.&nbsp;
Brooklyn taking back Jackson, Powell and Covington would be a nice return of players to fit around Durant, but it still fails to replace the talent of Kyrie. If the Clippers, who also lack draft capital, can put together an enticing enough package to land Irving, this would be an optimal landing spot for him.
NEW YORK KNICKS 
The Knicks have been linked to almost every available player via trade or free agency. They have longed for a superstar since the Carmelo Anthony era, and it just so happens that a point guard is also a position of need for the historic franchise.
In order for this to work financially, the Knicks would have to part with some combination of Alec Burks, Kemba Walker, Nerlens Noel, Evan Fournier and Derrick Rose. The Nets would do well to come away with Noel, Walker and Burks in terms of roster fit, but that return is hardly enough talent-wise for Brooklyn. Including the No. 11 pick in this year's draft &mdash; plus one of Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin or Cam Reddish &mdash; may be required.
Kyrie staying in New York and swapping local teams may make some sense on paper, but it would be a step backwards in pursuit of a championship for Irving. At this point in his career, championship rings appear to be the goal for Irving, and he'd be better off working it out with the Nets than making a move to the Knicks.
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WASHINGTON WIZARDS 
A team with a long shot to land Irving would be the Washington Wizards, but the franchise has made it known that it is going to do whatever it takes to make Bradley Beal happy. Wizards president Tommy Sheppard mentioned using the No. 10 pick in this year's draft to acquire a veteran point guard.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see a rookie starting at point guard for us next season. I could be wrong, but I just don&rsquo;t see that," Sheppard said in an April interview with Team 980 hosts Chris Russell and Pete Medhurst. "I think free agency or trade is probably the right route to go.&rdquo;
It has been <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wizards-pursuing-shai-gilgeousalexander-dejounte-murray-malcolm-brogdon-nba-trade-rumors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the Wizards have inquired about Dejounte Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Malcolm Brogdon, so clearly they are kicking the tires on notable point guards. While Brogdon may be the better fit next to Beal, the opportunity to add a talent like Irving doesn't come around often. Sheppard has talked about swinging for the fences and pouncing on opportunities when they present themselves.
"I can&rsquo;t say this enough: you can&rsquo;t be afraid to take big swings when you get an opportunity... Some things present themselves to you," Sheppard said in February. "Jerry West told me when I got this job, &lsquo;Don&rsquo;t ever be afraid to take a big swing.&rsquo; There&rsquo;s only going to be so many opportunities to get talent and to get talent, you have to give up talent."
The Wizards could send Kristaps Porzingis, No. 10 and either Corey Kispert or Deni Avdija to the Nets. Brooklyn could then use the 10th pick to acquire a veteran point guard themselves.&nbsp;
This deal, of course, relies upon Beal opting into his player option rather than the current reports that he has <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/bradley-beal-to-decline-player-option-enter-unrestricted-free-agency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declined his option to pursue unrestricted free agency</a>. The Wizards have not been afraid to swing for a big trade, and they may have the ammo to do just that here.&nbsp;
BROOKLYN NETS 
Ultimately the best possible destination for Irving is the Nets. Durant hand-picked him as his running mate for another championship, and it is in the best interest of all parties involved to figure this out.
As mentioned above, the trio of Kyrie, KD and Simmons has yet to take the floor together; the Nets and the NBA world need to see how that would play out. Kyrie can still get paid, the Nets can still be contenders and in the end, they would keep Durant happy, which should be priority No. 1 for Marks.&nbsp;
Trade speculation is fun, but it is often merely speculation in the end. Kyrie is a Brooklyn Net with a player option that would net the highest possible payday he could receive for the 2022-23 season, as it is unlikely anyone offers him a long-term max contract.
Maybe Irving and Marks find an acceptable restructure of his contract that is more incentive-laden, or maybe he opts in for the full amount. At the end of the day, there is a next-to-zero chance the Nets get a package in return for Kyrie that matches his talent level.
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Justin Lewis analyzes landing spots that would make sense for Kyrie Irving in a trade, explaining which ones make the most sense.

Examining potential destinations for Kyrie Irving

Washington has also cast a wide net in hopes of pairing a more established floor general beside [Bradley] Beal. League sources say they&rsquo;ve checked in with Oklahoma City regarding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, San Antonio regarding Dejounte Murray, and Indiana regarding Malcom Brogdon. Beal is believed to welcome the acquisition of any of the three, I&rsquo;m told.
SOURCE: <a href="https://mayoh.substack.com/p/wizards-point-guard-search-heating?sd=pf&amp;s=r" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Quinton Mayo, Substack</a>
ANALYSIS: It seems unlikely that Washington could pry Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out of Oklahoma City or Dejounte Murray out of San Antonio, but it can't hurt to call. Malcolm Brogdon seems like the most realistic target of the bunch, as <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-destinations-for-malcolm-brogdon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent reports have indicated that Brogdon could be dealt</a> this offseason.
Also, this report lines up with some recent comments from Wizards team president Tommy Sheppard, as Mayo noted in his article.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see a rookie starting at point guard for us next season. I could be wrong, but I just don&rsquo;t see that," Sheppard said in an April interview with Team 980 hosts Chris Russell and Pete Medhurst. "I think free agency or trade is probably the right route to go.&rdquo;
Back in February, Sheppard also talked about taking big swings when given the chance.
"I can&rsquo;t say this enough: you can&rsquo;t be afraid to take big swings when you get an opportunity... Some things present themselves to you," Sheppard said. "Jerry West told me when I got this job, &lsquo;Don&rsquo;t ever be afraid to take a big swing.&rsquo; There&rsquo;s only going to be so many opportunities to get talent and to get talent, you have to give up talent."
Perhaps Washington will try to make a splashy addition this offseason. The Wizards finished this season 35-47, which was the 12th-best record in the Eastern Conference.

The Washington Wizards have reportedly inquired about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dejounte Murray and Malcolm Brogdon.