Bearcats

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Grant Sherfield scored a season-high 30 points, and Oklahoma beat No. 2 Alabama 93-69 on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge to end the Crimson Tide&rsquo;s nine-win streak.
Jalen Hill added a career-high 26 points, helping second-year Oklahoma coach Porter Moser to his biggest win with the program. Tanner Groves had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Sooners (12-9) had lost three straight, but against the Crimson Tide shot 58% from the field.
Rylan Griffen led Alabama (18-3) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Brandon Miller, who came in averaging 19.5 points per game, finished with 11.
NO. 3 HOUSTON 75, CINCINNATI 69
HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Jarace Walker had a career-high 25 points and seven rebounds, and Houston rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to defeat Cincinnati.
Walker, who scored 13 points in the second half, was 10 of 14 from the field. J&rsquo;Wan Roberts added 14 points and six rebounds, and Jamal Shead scored 13 points for Houston (20-2, 8-1 American Athletic Conference).
Houston has won at least 20 games in eight straight seasons under coach Kelvin Sampson.
Landers Nolley II had 24 points, including 6 3-pointers. Vicktor Lakhin added 15 points, and David DeJulius had 14 points and nine assists for Cincinnati (14-8, 5-4).&nbsp;
NO. 4 TENNESSEE 82, NO. 10 TEXAS 71
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Olivier Nkamhoua scored 27 points and Zakai Zeigler had 22 points and 10 assists to lead Tennessee over Texas in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Josiah-Jordan James added 14 and Santiago Vescovi had 12 for Tennessee (18-3), which led by as many as 22 midway through the second half.
Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 21 to lead Texas (17-4). Marcus Carr and Brock Cunningham finished with 11 each.
NO. 5 KANSAS STATE 64, FLORIDA 50
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Keyontae Johnson had 13 points and 11 rebounds against his former team, Markquis Nowell flirted with the first triple-double in Kanas State history, and the Wildcats beat Florida in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Nowell finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and Nae&rsquo;Qwan Tomlin also had 11 points. The Wildcats improved to 18-3 to match the 1972-73 team for the best start through 21 games in school history.
Johnson struggled from the field, going just 5 of 16 and even getting stuffed by the front of the rim during a windmill dunk on a second-half fast break. But it was nevertheless a special night for the senior forward, who collapsed on the Gators&rsquo; sideline due to a heart condition during a game against Florida State just over two years ago.
Colin Castleton scored 13 points for the Gators (12-9). Myreon Jones and Will Richard had 11 apiece.
NO. 6 ARIZONA 95, WASHINGTON 72
SEATTLE (AP) &mdash; Azuolas Tubelis had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Oumar Ballo added 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Arizona used a big second-half run to pull away to win its fourth straight.
Tubelis topped 20 points for the first time in five games and his rebound putback while being fouled with 4:29 remaining gave the Wildcats a 78-63 lead and sent Washington fans headed for the exits.
Kerr Kriisa added 18 points, hitting six 3-pointers, and Courtney Ramey scored 14 for the Wildcats (19-3, 8-3 Pac-12).
Keion Brooks Jr. led Washington with 25 points and Keyon Menifield added 21. But the Huskies (13-10, 5-7) suffered from too many scoring droughts and didn&rsquo;t have an answer for Arizona&rsquo;s 19-1 run in the early stages of the second half.
NO. 7 VIRGINIA 76, BOSTON COLLEGE 57
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Armaan Franklin and Jayden Gardner scored 18 points each and Virginia used a big first-half run to take control over Boston College for its sixth straight victory.
The Cavaliers (16-3, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 18-15 before starting an 18-4 run over the next 11 minutes. Virginia put the game away with a 16-4 second-half spurt.
Quinten Post scored 24 to lead the Eagles (10-12, 4-7) and Makai Ashton-Langford added 12 points.
Virginia&rsquo;s Isaac McKneely finished with 12 points and Reece Beekman had 11 and eight assists.
NO. 9 KANSAS 77, KENTUCKY 68
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson scored 22 points, including one in a series of huge 3-pointers down the stretch, and Kansas avoided its first four-game losing streak under coach Bill Self.
Wilson made 9 of 18 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds for Kansas (17-4), which finished even with Kentucky at 49% shooting. K.J. Adams Jr. added 17 points, Dick had 13 and McCullar 11 with 12 rebounds as the Jayhawks edged Kentucky 34-29 on the glass.
Oscar Tshiebwe had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Jacob Toppin and Cason Wallace each added 14 for Kentucky (14-7), which had won its previous four.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 81, NO. 11 TCU 74, OT
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Tolu Smith had 27 points, 13 rebounds and five assists to lead Mississippi State to an overtime victory.
Dashawn Davis added 16 points to help Mississippi State (13-8) snap a five-game losing streak. Shakeel Moore had 11, including six in overtime, while Cameron Matthews had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Tyler Stevenson also added 10 points off the Bulldogs&rsquo; bench.
Damion Baugh led TCU (16-5) with 19 points and Emanuel Miller had 13. Shahada Wells and Jakobe Coles each had 12 for the Horned Frogs and Chuck O&rsquo;Bannon had 10.
Davis&rsquo; 3 pointer with 55 seconds left in the second half gave the Bulldogs a 66-64 advantage. Emanuel Miller scored with 32 seconds remaining and then both teams missed chances to win in regulation.
MISSOURI 78, NO. 12 IOWA STATE 61
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Kobe Brown scored 20 points, and D&rsquo;Moi Hodge scored 17 points to help Missouri take down Iowa State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Brown scored 14 of his points in the first half and led Missouri (16-5) with 12 rebounds. Nick Honor added 12 points and DeAndre Gholston scored 10.
Jaren Holmes led Iowa State (15-5) with 19 points, and Gabe Kalscheur added 14.
The Tigers&rsquo; 78 points were a season-high for an Iowa State opponent in regulation; the Cyclones are 0-3 this season when allowing at least 70 points in regulation.
CREIGHTON 84, NO. 13 XAVIER 67
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Arthur Kamula scored 20 points, Creighton&rsquo;s four other starters finished in double-figures and the Bluejays earned their fourth straight Big East win.
Creighton (13-8, 7-3) steadily built a double-digit lead throughout the game and made 34 of its 60 field goal attempts (56.7%) before a sold-out crowd.
Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 17 points, Baylor Scheierman had 14, Trey Alexander finished with 13 and Ryan Nembhard added 11 for the Bluejays, who avenged a 90-87 loss at Xavier on Jan. 11.
Zach Freemantle led Xavier (17-5, 9-2) with 18 points, followed by Colby Jones and Adam Kunkel with 13.
NO. 14 GONZAGA 82, PORTLAND 67
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Julian Strawther had a career-high 40 points, including eight 3-pointers, and Gonzaga pulled away down the stretch for its 16th consecutive victory over Portland.
Anton Watson added 17 points for Gonzaga (18-4, 7-1 West Coast Conference).
Strawther is the first player to reach 40 points for the Zags since Kyle Wiltjer had 45 against Pacific in 2016.
Portland (11-13, 3-5) was led by Moses Wood with 19 points. Juan Sebastian Gorosito, a freshman, finished with a career-high 17 points.
WEST VIRGINIA 80, NO. 15 AUBURN 77
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) &mdash; Erik Stevenson scored a career-high 31 points and West Virginia withstood a furious late rally from Auburn to win an SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchup.
The Mountaineers (13-8) have won two straight for the first time in a month. Jimmy Bell Jr. added 15 points for the Mountaineers.
Charles Barkley cheered on his alma mater from a courtside seat, but Auburn (16-5) couldn&rsquo;t overcome another slow start. The Tigers have lost two straight for the first time in two years.
Jaylin Williams led Auburn with 18 points. Johni Broome added 15 and Allen Flanigan scored 13.
NO. 16 MARQUETTE 89, DEPAUL 69
CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; David Joplin went 8 for 11 from 3-point range for a career-high 28 points, Tyler Kolek had 24 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds, and Marquette defeated DePaul.
Marquette has won eight of its last nine games, and moved into a tie with No. 13 Xavier atop the Big East.
Marquette (17-5, 9-2) pulled away in the second half. Oso Ighodaro had 10 points, making all five of his shots, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 13 and had 8 rebounds.
Umoja Gibson scored 25 points for DePaul (9-13, 3-8) on 8-of-12 shooting.
NO. 17 BAYLOR 67, ARKANSAS 64
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Keyonte George scored 24 points, including seven in a row down the stretch, and Baylor beat Arkansas in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Baylor (16-5) fell behind by as many as eight points in the second half after an early 11-point lead. But the Bears closed it out after Flo Thamba made two free throws for a 55-53 lead with 3:37 left.
LJ Cryer added 20 points and Jalen Bridges had 10 for the Bears, who won their sixth game in a row despite shooting a 34% (20 of 59) from the field. They offset the season-worst shooting from the field by making 21 of 24 free throws, including two by Cryer with 10 seconds left and two by George with 4.3 seconds remaining.
Ricky Council IV scored 25 points for Arkansas (14-7). Davonte Davis had 16 points, but missed the front end of a 1-plus-1 with 2.3 seconds left, though Joseph Pinion got the ball in the right corner only to miss wildly on a 3-pointer as time ran out.
HOFSTRA 85, NO. 18 COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 81
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Aaron Estrada scored 25 points and Darlinstone Dubar added 18 as Hofstra ended College of Charleston&rsquo;s 20-game winning streak.
The Pride (15-8, 8-2 Colonial Athletic Association) were down 28-20 early before rallying past the Cougars (21-2, 9-1), who had not lost since falling to then-No. 1 North Carolina on Nov. 11.
Tyler Thomas had 17 points and eight rebounds for Hofstra.
Ante Brzovic finished with 18 points to lead Charleston.
PITTSBURGH 71, NO. 20 MIAMI 68
PITTSBURGH (AP) &mdash; Blake Hinson tipped in a Jamarius Burton miss with 31 seconds remaining and Pittsburgh rallied past Miami.
The Panthers (15-7, 8-3 ACC) held the Hurricanes (16-5, 7-4) scoreless over the final 2:26 while closing on an 11-0 run to beat a ranked team for the third time this season to bolster its increasingly impressive NCAA tournament resume.
Hinson finished with 21 points for Pitt. Burton had 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Panthers stunned Miami in front of a rare sell-out crowd at the Petersen Events Center.
Jordan Miller led the Hurricanes with 18 points. Isaiah Wong added 14 but Miami committed three of its 12 turnovers in the final 35 seconds as the Panthers stormed back.
NO. 21 FAU 70, W. KENTUCKY 63
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Weatherspoon scored 14 points and Florida Atlantic remained undefeated at home.
The victory extended FAU&rsquo;s winning streak to a program-record 20 games, which is now the nation&rsquo;s longest. The Owls&rsquo; 21 victories on the season ties their Division I record set in 2010-11. Western Kentucky (11-11, 3-8 Conference USA) has lost five straight.
Alijah Martin scored eight while grabbing seven rebounds for the Owls (21-1, 11-0).
Jordan Rawls led all scorers with 17 for W. Kentucky. Dayvion McKnight and Emmanuel Akot each had 16.
NO. 22 SAINT MARY&rsquo;S (CAL) 57, BYU 56
PROVO, Utah (AP) &mdash; Logan Johnson had 14 points and freshman Aidan Mahaney scored all 10 of his points, including a fade-away jumper just before the buzzer, in the second half and Saint Mary&rsquo;s (Cal) won its 10th in a row.
Mitchell Saxen had 11 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks for Saint Mary&rsquo;s (19-4, 8-0 West Coast Conference). Alex Ducas scored 12 points and Augustas Marciulionis added 10.
Dallin Hall was fouled on a driving lay-up attempt with 10.2 seconds left and made 1-of-2 free throws to give BYU a 56-55 lead but Mahaney took the inbounds pass, probed the defense before he drove the lane, stopped near the right block and pivoted away from the basket before hitting the winning jumper over the out-stretched arm of defender Fousseyni Traore.
Hall scored a career-high 23 points on 9 of 14 shooting but made just 3 of 6 from the free-throw line for BYU (14-10, 4-5). Fousseyni Traore added 11 points and eight rebounds.
NO. 24 CLEMSON 82, FLORIDA STATE 81
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Chase Hunter drove the lane and drew a foul, sinking the free throw, to help Clemson escape with a win over Florida State.
Hunter Tyson scored 27 points on 10 of 17 shooting for Clemson (18-4, 10-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which halted an eight-game road losing streak to Florida State. Hunter finished with 25.
Matthew Cleveland scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half for Florida State (7-15, 5-6), which made a season-high 13 3-pointers. Caleb Mills and Darin Green Jr. each hit four 3-pointers for the Seminoles. Freshman forward Baba Miller had his best game, scoring 11 points and pulling down four rebounds in 20 minutes.

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

Oklahoma's rout of No. 2 Alabama one of many top-15 upsets on Saturday

In a game where the home faithful blacked out the arena, No. 6 Houston visited Cincinnati and had their way with the Bearcats, winning 80-58. Fabian White Jr. had a tremendous game and led Houston in scoring, finishing with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. David DeJulius led all players with 25 points.&nbsp;
Houston (20-3, 9-0 AAC) entered this one undefeated in conference play amidst a tremendous season. They are led by Texas Tech transfer Kyler Edwards, who is shooting 38.6% and averaging 14.2 points per game. UConn transfer and senior center Josh Carlton is also playing well, and averaging 10.7 points over his last 10 contests.
The Bearcats (15-7, 5-4 AAC) are led by DeJulius, who over the last four games entering this one was scoring 16.8 points on 50% shooting from three. Junior wing Jeremiah Davenport is averaging 13.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
The Cougars got started early, hitting five of their first seven shots and jumping out to a 12-3 lead. They would stretch the lead to 36-15 at the 5:30 mark and it appeared to be getting ugly. DeJulius and the Bearcats would answer over the next few minutes, ending the half on a 12-2 run.
Houston led 42-31 at the break. DeJulius led all scorers with 18 points, while White Jr. started 3 of 3 from deep and posted 15 points. Edwards had 8 points at the half.
Davenport connected on a deep triple to open the second half which got the crowd raucous again, but White would follow up with his fourth to re-extend the lead to 11 points.&nbsp;
The rest of the game was pretty cut and dry. Each time the Bearcats scored, the Cougars had an answer. Jamal Shead had a phenomenal second half and at times was unguardable. He finished the night with 17 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
Taze Moore ended with 13 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds. The Bearcats hit only 4 of 20 from behind the arc, but Jeremiah Davenport connected on 2 of his own to end with 9 points. Viktor Lakhin provided 7 points off the bench.&nbsp;
Houston was a -6.5 favorite entering the night and is now on a 12 game winning streak.&nbsp;
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UPCOMING
Houston visits SMU on Wednesday.
Cincinnati travels to South Florida on Wednesday.
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No. 6 Houston visited Cincinnati and had their way with the Bearcats, winning 80-58. Fabian White Jr. led them in scoring, finishing with 22

No. 6 Houston defeats Cincinnati 80-58, White scores 22

Carmelo Anthony, a future Hall Of Famer who currently ranks 15th on the NBA&rsquo;s all-time scorers list, was out of the league for a full year. It seemed as though the entire basketball world was convinced that he could no longer contribute to an NBA roster. Some wondered if Anthony had played in his final NBA game, bringing an end to an outstanding career.
Then, opportunity presented itself. A series of injuries plagued the Portland Trail Blazers and &lsquo;Melo got his chance to prove all of the naysayers wrong. He could silence the multitudes campaigning for him to retire, the commentators who suggested he was done and should bow out gracefully. He was given a chance at redemption and he has taken full advantage of it.
This season, Anthony has continually knocked down game-clinching shots in the final minutes of one-possession, must-win games. He's shooting 42.6 percent from three-point range in the bubble (including the postseason). He&rsquo;s been a vital piece of the puzzle for the Blazers, averaging 15.1 points per game in Orlando. Anthony has received high praise from everyone in the Portland organization, including Damian Lilard.
&ldquo;He should have been here three years ago,&rdquo; Lillard <a style="color: #d8d8d8;" href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2903604-damian-lillard-blazers-wouldve-made-2019-finals-if-they-had-carmelo-anthony" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said after the Blazers&rsquo; play-in victory</a> over the Memphis Grizzlies. &ldquo;I feel like we could have been in the Finals last year if we had him.&rdquo;
In Game 3 against the Los Angeles Lakers, Anthony exploded for 13 points in the third quarter, showing an array of offensive moves (including post-ups against LeBron James, short jumpers, three-pointers, fast-break dunks and pick-and-pops). He finished the night with 20 points, six rebounds and four steals. Even his defense received praise, as ABC and ESPN announcer Mark Jackson stated live on air, &ldquo;People who killed Carmelo Anthony for his defense were wrong.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Carmelo not having a job never made any sense to me," former head coach Stan Van Gundy told me <a href="https://www.fli.tv/stan-van-gundy-interview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on my show The Rematch</a>. "People are dying for scoring in this league and he is one of the best scorers in our game, and he couldn&rsquo;t get a job? And he couldn&rsquo;t at least be that bench scorer that all the contending teams need?&rdquo;
So, how did everyone get it so wrong about Carmelo? What exactly happened? 
Were people too quick to accept a series of misconceptions about his attitude and willingness to take on a lesser role? Were Anthony&rsquo;s failed stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets misinterpreted? Were teams scared off because his former coaches slandered him? Was there too much of a reliance on analytics? 
The answer may very well be all of the above. 
Let&rsquo;s start with the widely accepted notion that &lsquo;Melo was stuck in the netherworld of a once-dominant superstar &ndash; past his prime, unable (or unwilling) to adjust his role for the good of the team and against the unfamiliar idea of coming off the bench. Although this was the prevailing narrative, his public statements and actions didn&rsquo;t support this theory. Remember, he came off the bench during his time with the Rockets. 
While &lsquo;Melo did voice his disapproval about being a sixth man with the Oklahoma City Thunder and stated that he was still capable of being a starter, he accepted the role that was given to him. I don&rsquo;t know a player who ever existed that didn&rsquo;t believe he was capable of a bigger role than the one given to them by their coach. What did the media expect Carmelo to say? &ldquo;Yeah, I&rsquo;m washed up. I simply don&rsquo;t have it anymore. I&rsquo;m not the player that I once was.&rdquo;
When discussing his season in OKC, Anthony <a style="color: #d8d8d8;" href="https://es.pn/2HX7Rwl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told ESPN</a>: &ldquo;I was willing to accept that challenge in that role (coming off the bench), but I think I bring a little bit more to the game as far as being more knowledgeable and what I still can do as a basketball player.&rdquo;
Nowhere in there did &lsquo;Melo express that he wasn&rsquo;t willing to accept a reserve role if that&rsquo;s what was given to him. But of course he is going to feel that he still can contribute as a starter. He&rsquo;s Carmelo Anthony! A future Hall of Famer. A top-15 scorer in NBA history.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/Carmelo_3_lg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="AUTO" />
This brings us to the disastrous Houston stint that resulted in the Rockets waiving Anthony after 10 games. Make no mistake, the Rockets were struggling as a team. But, for some reason, the majority of the blame was directed at Anthony &ndash; someone who was coming off of the bench and playing a reduced amount of minutes.
This really shouldn&rsquo;t have been surprising after what happened in New York, when head coach Mike D&rsquo;Antoni blamed the Knicks&rsquo; struggles on Carmelo. In fact, many people around the Knicks organization have confirmed that D&rsquo;Antoni was the one who gave the ultimatum: &ldquo;Either &lsquo;Melo goes or I go.&rdquo; The Knicks chose &lsquo;Melo. Now, did Anthony happily accept D&rsquo;Antoni&rsquo;s plan to move him to power forward? No. But it was D&rsquo;Antoni who quit on the team, not Anthony. (How D&rsquo;Antoni got another job after that, I will never know, but I digress).
Another damaging factor for Anthony was George Karl&rsquo;s tell-all book, which supported the notion that Carmelo was a selfish teammate and introduced a new caveat as he questioned his overall character. 
&ldquo;Carmelo was a true conundrum for me in the six years I had him," Karl <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2017/01/10/george-karl-book-excerpt-furious-george-carmelo-anthony-jr-smith" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote in his book</a>. "He was the best offensive player I ever coached. He was also a user of people, addicted to the spotlight and very unhappy when he had to share it.
&ldquo;He really lit my fuse with his low demand of himself on defense. He had no commitment to the hard, dirty work of stopping the other guy. My ideal &mdash; probably every coach&rsquo;s ideal &mdash; is when your best player is also your leader. But since Carmelo only played hard on one side of the ball, he made it plain he couldn&rsquo;t lead the Nuggets, even though he said he wanted to. Coaching him meant working around his defense and compensating for his attitude.&rdquo;
Karl basically described Anthony as lazy and a bad teammate, which are some of the worst accusations that you can make against an NBA player. And once those accusations are floated around the league, especially from a head coach, they begin to spread like wildfire. There&rsquo;s no question that this was damaging to Carmelo&rsquo;s overall reputation. 
Why would Karl stoop to such a low level, criticizing his former player just to sell a book? Very good question.
It&rsquo;s also important to note that Karl has had major issues with just about every star player he has coached, including Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith, the late Robert "Tractor" Traylor, Todd Day, DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Iguodala and Ray Allen (just to name a few). Whoever heard of a coach actually having issues with Ray Allen? It seems as though once Karl&rsquo;s coaching days ended, he resorted to slandering his former players for profit. Unfortunately, this character assassination further contributed to Anthony&rsquo;s tarnished reputation among NBA circles.
Anthony&rsquo;s reputation took yet another hit after the overall condemnation from the Zen Master himself, Phil Jackson, who won 11 rings as an NBA head coach and led two of the greatest dynasties the sport has ever seen. Jackson repeatedly showered Anthony with criticism after he took the reins in the Knicks&rsquo; front office. Jackson, one of the most successful coaches in NBA history, lambasted Melo in private and in public.
Jackson <a style="color: #d8d8d8;" href="https://nypost.com/2017/04/14/phil-jackson-tells-the-world-its-time-for-carmelo-to-go/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told the press</a>, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve not been able to win with him on the court at this time. I think the direction with our team is that he is a player that would be better off somewhere else and using his talents somewhere where he can win or chase that championship."
The reality was, Jackson simply wanted to blow up the Knicks and create his own roster, so he could say that he rebuilt the entire organization himself. He wanted to unload Carmelo&rsquo;s contract and started leaking things to the media, while &lsquo;Melo stayed above it all and remained professional. For a long time, Jackson&rsquo;s apparent strategy was to antagonize &lsquo;Melo into lashing out through the media and losing his cool, which would then cast &lsquo;Melo as a &ldquo;problem&rdquo; - thus justifying his desire to trade him. But &lsquo;Melo never took the bait. While Jackson&rsquo;s stint in New York resulted in nothing but more frustration for an already disgusted Knicks fan base, the situation was also damaging to &lsquo;Melo&rsquo;s reputation. 
But with all of this behind him, the entire basketball world is now praising and appreciating &lsquo;Melo. Here&rsquo;s what fellow Syracuse royalty Lawrence Moten and John Wallace had to say about Carmelo&rsquo;s comeback story:
&ldquo;I always had faith in him, it was just about him getting on the right team,&rdquo; Moten told me. &ldquo;The other teams tried to change his game instead of letting him do what he does best. Portland is allowing &lsquo;Melo to be &lsquo;Melo, and that&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s working.&rdquo;
&ldquo;So happy for our &lsquo;Cuse brother,&rdquo; Wallace added. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s always been clutch, just look at his career. He always wants the big shot, and he has the best shooting percentage in NBA history with at least 10 made FGs [in clutch time]. [It&rsquo;s] good to see him block out the haters and focus on himself. Now, he&rsquo;s better because of it.&rdquo;
Sure, Moten and Wallace possess a bit of Syracuse bias, but everyone knows what &lsquo;Melo has been through, which makes his success even sweeter. This is his redemption story, and it&rsquo;s been a joy to watch him knock down big shot after big shot for the eighth-seeded Blazers.&nbsp;
As Chiney Ogwumike <a style="color: #d8d8d8;" href="https://twitter.com/chiney321/status/1294743185806114816?s=21" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> after Anthony&rsquo;s game-sealing shot in the play-in game versus Memphis: &ldquo;We can learn a LOT from Carmelo Anthony&hellip; Stay ready. Keep grinding. Know your value. Find your tribe. Understand your role. Never give up.&rdquo;

Carmelo Anthony was written off and his name was dragged through the mud, but now he's a key contributor for the Blazers. Etan Thomas breaks down his comeback.