Wildcats

Today, the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) announced their continued partnership in hosting the fifth&nbsp;annual Top 50 Basketball Camp. The camp will take place July 27&ndash;29 at Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, GA. &nbsp; The best players from each conference will be featured at the camp in a model like the NBPA's Top 100 Camp. Players at the Top 50 Camp will participate in basketball skill training exercises and attend leadership and life development sessions off the court. &nbsp; "NBPA members have a true appreciation for HBCUs, and the Top 50 Camp is a great way for the NBPA to continue strengthening its connection with the HBCU community," said Purvis Short, the NBPA's Chief of Player Programs. "Our partnership with the SIAC and SWAC has given us a unique opportunity to host a productive learning experience for HBCU athletes to better themselves as men on and off the court." The camp also aims to cultivate and create coaching and talent pipelines for current and retired NBA players exploring the transition into careers in intercollegiate athletics. &nbsp; "The Southwestern Athletic Conference is elated to continue our partnership with the NBPA Top 50 Camp," said SWAC Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland. "This partnership is an amazing opportunity for our student-athletes to participate in athletic and professional development initiatives that will positively impact them both on and off the court. This event has steadily grown and has quickly become a signature event that our student-athletes look forward to participating in on an annual basis." &nbsp; In addition to skill development and on-court drills, the camp will include a series of highly-competitive scrimmages and games, allowing the players to showcase their talent against the best of their neighboring conference. &nbsp; "I commend the NBPA for its commitment to HBCUs as The Top 50 Camp serves as a basketball combine for our student-athletes to showcase their talents while receiving instruction from current and former NBA players," said SIAC Commissioner Anthony Holloman. &nbsp; Camp participants from the SIAC include:
<table border="0" width="432" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">First Name</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Last Name</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">College or University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Aziel</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Blackwell</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Kentucky State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Devin</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Booker</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Tuskegee University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Eleik</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Bowles</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Savannah State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Gregg</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Boyd II</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Tuskegee University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Steven</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Dulley</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Tuskegee University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Ashton</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Hawkins</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Spring Hill College</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Martez</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Jones</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Tuskegee University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Robert</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Kendrick</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Fort Valley State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Kong</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Kong</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Kentucky State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Myson</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Lowe</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Fort Valley State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Steven</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Lyles</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Spring Hill College</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Chris</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Martin</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Clark Atlanta University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Joemel</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">McNair</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Morehouse College</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Jamir</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Moore</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Albany State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Sean</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Paige</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Central State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Ayjay</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Plain</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Savannah State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Antwoin</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Reed Jr</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Central State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Kerry</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Richardson</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Morehouse College</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Jordan</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Simpson</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Albany State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Raevon</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Thomas</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Central State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Terin</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Wofford</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Albany State University</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div>&nbsp; &nbsp; Camp participants from the SWAC include: &nbsp;</div>
<table border="0" width="432" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">First Name</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Last Name</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">College or University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Chase</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Adams</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Jackson State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Jaylen</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Bates</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Florida A&amp;M University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Eric</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Coleman</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Alabama State</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Zeke</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Cook</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Jackson State university</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Dhashon</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Dyson</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Bethune Cookman University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Ken</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Evans Jr.</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Jackson State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Jeremiah</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Gambrell</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Alcorn State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Kolby</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Granger</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Texas Southern University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Zion</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Harmon</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Bethune Cookman University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">P. J.</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Henry</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Texas Southern University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Elijah</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Hulsewe</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Bethune Cookman University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Byron</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Joshua</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Alcorn State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Jeremiah</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Kendall</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Alcorn State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">T. J.</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Madlock</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Alabama State</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Romelle</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Mansel</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Jackson State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Kylen</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Milton</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">University of Arkansas Pine Bluff</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Zytarious</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Mortle</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Texas Southern University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Festus</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Ndumanya</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Southern University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Omari</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Peek</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Alabama A&amp;M</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Dailin</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Smith</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Alabama A&amp;M</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">D. K.</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Thorn</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Alcorn State University</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Cameron</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Tucker</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Alabama A&amp;M</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Ernest (EJ)</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Williams</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Alabama A&amp;M</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Rashad</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Williams</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">University of Arkansas Pine Bluff</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Coltie</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Young</td>
<td nowrap="nowrap">Jackson State University</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

The NBPA, SIAC and SWAC will host the fifth annual Top 50 Basketball Camp from July 27-29 in Atlanta.

NBPA, SIAC and SWAC to host 5th annual Top 50 Basketball Camp

The NBA announced that 242 players have filed as early-entry candidates for the 2023 NBA Draft. Here is the complete list.

NBA announces 242 early-entry candidates for 2023 NBA Draft

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Tyler Kolek had 21 points and 10 assists, and No. 6 Marquette clinched its first outright Big East championship by beating Butler 72-56 on Tuesday night.
The victory was the fifth in a row and 10th in 11 games for the surprising Golden Eagles (24-6, 16-3), picked ninth by the league&rsquo;s coaches in the preseason poll.
Marquette, which had already secured a share of its first Big East title since 2013, had not won an outright regular-season crown since doing so in Conference USA in 2003.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper added 14 points and Oso Ighodaro had 12 for the Golden Eagles, who will be the top seed in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden &mdash; an event Marquette has never won.
Jayden Taylor scored 13 and Jalen Thomas had 10 for Butler (14-16, 6-13), which finished 4-6 in Big East home games.
NO. 3 KANSAS 67, TEXAS TECH 63
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson scored 21 points in his Allen Fieldhouse farewell, fellow senior Kevin McCullar Jr. added 14 points and nine rebounds, and Kansas clinched a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship.
Dajuan Harris had 16 points for the Jayhawks (25-5, 13-4), who would capture the outright crown if ninth-ranked Texas loses to No. 22 TCU on Wednesday night. Otherwise, the Jayhawks &mdash; now with an NCAA-leading 64 conference championships &mdash; would need to beat the Longhorns in a head-to-head showdown Saturday in Austin.
De&rsquo;Vion Harmon had 15 points to lead Texas Tech (16-14, 5-12), which was just 3 of 16 from the 3-point line. Kevin Obanor added 14 points, Fardaws Aimaq had 13 points and 18 rebounds, and Pop Isaacs finished with 11 points.
NO. 12 TENNESSEE 75, ARKANSAS 57
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Olivier Nkamhoua scored 16 points and Tennessee earned its second consecutive win.
Despite the victory, the Volunteers (22-8, 11-6 Southeastern Conference) may have sustained a significant loss. Three minutes into the game, sophomore point guard Zakai Zeigler, who brings energy on offense and defense, went down with an injury to his left knee. The extent of the injury wasn&rsquo;t immediately known, but he did not return.
Santiago Vescovi, who took over the role of point guard for Zeigler, added 14 points and Josiah-Jordan James scored 11.
Anthony Black and Davonte Davis each scored 13 for the Razorbacks (19-11, 8-9). Nick Smith Jr. scored 14 and Ricky Council 11.
NO. 13 VIRGINIA 64, CLEMSON 57
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Jayden Gardner had 12 points and nine rebounds, Armaan Franklin and Isaac McKneely each scored 12, and Virginia stopped a two-game skid.
The Cavaliers (22-6, 14-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) moved into a tie for second place in the league with No. 16 Miami with one game remaining.
PJ Hall led the Tigers (21-9, 13-6) with 19 points and Hunter Tyson had 17. Clemson got within 59-55 with 33 seconds left, but Virginia made five free throws and had a steal, sending the Tigers to their fifth loss in eight games.
IOWA 90, NO. 15 INDIANA 68
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Kris Murray scored 26 points, Tony Perkins flirted with the first triple-double in Iowa history and the Hawkeyes defeated Indiana.
Perkins had 23 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high eight assists for Iowa (19-11, 11-8 Big Ten).
Trayce Jackson-Davis led the Hoosiers (20-10, 11-8) with 26 points and 13 rebounds. He became the school&rsquo;s career rebounding leader with 1,096 &mdash; on a night the Hoosiers lost their fourth in a row in the series.
BOISE STATE 66, NO. 18 SAN DIEGO STATE 60
BOISE, Idaho (AP) &mdash; Max Rice scored 26 points and reeled off 12 straight points in a 14-0 run to close out the game and Boise State remained perfect at home in conference play.
The Broncos (23-7, 13-4 Mountain West Conference) avenged a 20-point loss to San Diego State on Feb. 3. It was the Broncos&rsquo; first win over a ranked team this season. Tyson Degenhart scored 14 for Boise State, while Naje Smith added 10.
San Diego State (23-6, 14-3), which had already claimed a share of the conference crown with its buzzer-beating win over New Mexico on Saturday, failed to hold onto a late nine-point lead. Matt Bradley paced San Diego State with 16 points, and Micah Parrish chipped in 11.
NO. 24 TEXAS A&amp;M 69, MISSISSIPPI 61
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Tyrece Radford scored 13 points as Texas A&amp;M erased an early 12-point deficit to beat Mississippi.
Wade Taylor IV added 12 points and seven assists and Julius Marble scored 10 for the Aggies, who went 13 of 16 from the free-throw line in the second half to stave off the Rebels&rsquo; attempt at a late rally.
Texas A&amp;M (22-8, 14-3 Southeastern Conference) trailed 20-8 after seven minutes but took a 29-26 lead on Taylor&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 4:06 left in the first half. The Aggies never trailed again.
Matthew Murrell made 8 of 11 from 3-point range and scored 26 points to lead Ole Miss (11-19, 3-13).

The Golden Eagles had not won an outright regular-season crown since doing so in Conference USA in 2003.

No. 6 Marquette clinches first outright Big East title

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Miller scored 24 points and Mark Sears made seven of eight free throws over the final 1:04 to help No. 2 Alabama top Arkansas 86-83 on Saturday.
Miller delivered his second straight huge game for the Crimson Tide (25-4, 15-1 Southeastern Conference) since police alleged in courtroom testimony that he brought a gun to former teammate Darius Miles, who is charged with capital murder in a fatal shooting.
The week&rsquo;s details cast a different light on Miller&rsquo;s regular pregame introduction, which is a Tide staffer giving him a pat down. Coach Nate Oats said after the game that intro for Miller is now over.
Fellow freshman Nick Smith Jr. of Arkansas (19-10, 8-8), another potential NBA draft lottery pick who helped keep the Razorbacks in it with a late 3-pointer, scored 24 points. Davonte Davis added 21 points for Arkansas, Council scored 20, and the rest of the team combined for 18 points.
Jahvon Quinerly had 16 points and seven assists for the Tide, and Noah Clowney had 10 points and 13 rebounds.
NO. 1 HOUSTON 76, EAST CAROLINA 57
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Marcus Sasser scored 22 points to help Houston clinch outright possession of the American Athletic Conference regular-season title.
Tramon Mark added 20 points for the Cougars (27-2, 15-1), while J&rsquo;Wan Roberts had 17 points and 12 rebounds in Houston&rsquo;s ninth straight victory.
East Carolina (14-14, 5-10) had an energetic home crowd for the first-ever visit from a No. 1-ranked team to Minges Coliseum, as well as the program&rsquo;s first game against a top-ranked opponent in more than 31 years. But the Cougars never trailed and led for all but 56 seconds. Ezra Ausar scored 15 points to lead the Pirates.
NO. 3 KANSAS 76, WEST VIRGINIA 74
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Dajuan Harris was one point shy of a career high, scoring 17 points to help lift Kansas over West Virginia.
The Jayhawks&rsquo; stifling defense kept West Virginia from attempting a shot in the final 20 seconds. The Mountaineers&rsquo; Joe Toussaint traveled on their final possession of the game. Baskets by K.J. Adams and Kevin McCullar extended the Jayhawks&rsquo; lead to 75-68 late as they grinded out the victory.
Harris led Kansas (24-5, 12-4 Big 12) with 7-of-9 shooting from the field and had six assists and six steals.
Erik Stevenson led West Virginia (16-13, 5-11) with 23 points. Tre Mitchell scored 20, Kedrian Johnson scored 15 and Emmitt Mathews Jr. had 13.
NO. 17 INDIANA 79, NO. 5 PURDUE 71
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Hood-Schifino scored a career-high 35 points and Trey Galloway added 10 of his 13 in the second half to lead Indiana over Purdue.
The Hoosiers (20-9, 11-7 Big Ten) snapped a seven-game losing streak in West Lafayette and pulled their first season sweep in this bitter rivalry since 2012-13.
Zach Edey led the Boilermakers with 26 points and 16 rebounds and Fletcher Loyer added 14 points. Purdue (24-5, 13-5) has lost three of four and blew a chance to clinch a share of the conference crown in front of its home fans, who stood outside in chilly temperatures and snaking lines for hours before tip-off.
NORTH CAROLINA 71, NO. 6 VIRGINIA 63
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Pete Nance scored 22 points to lead North Carolina past Virginia.
Nance shot 7 of 10 from the floor and was 4 of 4 from behind the arc, the most 3-pointers the fifth-year forward has made in ACC play. He added two assists and four blocks.
R.J. Davis notched the fourth double-double of his career with 16 points and 10 rebounds for North Carolina (18-11, 10-8 Atlantic Coast Conference), which got a much-needed boost to its NCAA Tournament resume with a Quadrant 1 win &mdash; the first of the season for the Tar Heels.
Jayden Gardner had 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead Virginia (21-6, 13-5), which lost its second in a row. Armaan Franklin added 14 points.
ARIZONA STATE 89, NO. 7 ARIZONA 88
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Desmond Cambridge Jr. hit a 60-foot shot at the buzzer and Arizona State rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Arizona.
The Wildcats (24-5, 13-5 Pac-12) built a 10-point lead midway through the second half before going more than six minutes without a field goal as Arizona State pulled ahead by one.
The Sun Devils (20-9, 11-7) went up 86-85 on Warren Washington&rsquo;s layup with just a minute left, but Pelle Larsson put Arizona back up on a layup with 29 seconds left. Arizona State&rsquo;s DJ Horne missed a jumper with 4 seconds left and the Sun Devils had a final shot after Oumar Ballo hit one of two free throws.
Catching the ball with 2.4 seconds left, Cambridge launched a shot from beyond half-court to finish with 19 points and give the Sun Devils a big boost in their bid to make the NCAA Tournament.
NO. 9 BAYLOR 81, NO. 8 TEXAS 72
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Jalen Bridges had 17 points for ninth-ranked Baylor, which overcame a huge deficit with an impressive run right after freshman standout Keyonte George left injured early and beat Big 12 co-leader Texas.
Adam Flagler had 14 points for the Bears (21-8, 10-6). Dale Bonner added 13 points, including seven in an quick spurt after halftime while Flo Thamba had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Dylan Disu had a season-high 24 points for Texas (22-7, 11-5), which twice got even early in the second half but never could regain the lead.
NO. 10 MARQUETTE 90, DEPAUL 84
MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Kam Jones and Tyler Kolek each scored 22 points while helping Marquette clinch a share of its first Big East regular-season championship in a decade.
Kolek also had 14 assists as Marquette (23-6, 15-3) rolled to a 49-28 halftime lead and hung on after DePaul (9-20, 3-15) got close down the stretch. Marquette has won nine of its last 10, while DePaul has lost 10 straight.
This is Marquette&rsquo;s first conference title in 2013, when the Golden Eagles shared the Big East crown with Georgetown and eventual national champion Louisville.
Umoja Gibson led DePaul with 20 points and eight assists. Nick Ongenda added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
NO. 11 TENNESSEE 85, SOUTH CAROLINA 45
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Josiah-Jordan James came back from missing four games with an injury to score 18 points to lead Tennessee to a rout of South Carolina.
James, who suffered an ankle injury against Vanderbilt on Feb. 8, shot 4 of 7 on 3-pointers for the Volunteers (21-8, 10-6 Southeastern Conference). Jahmai Mashack scored 14 points, Zakai Zeigler had 13 points and 11 assists, and Olivier Nkamhoua and Uros Plavsic scored 10 each.
Hayden Brown led the Gamecocks (10-19, 3-13) with 18 points.
NO. 12 GONZAGA 77, NO. 15 SAINT MARY&rsquo;S 68
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 19 points and Gonzaga earned a share of the West Coast Conference regular-season title with a win over Saint Mary&rsquo;s.
Anton Watson had 17 points and Malachi Smith added 13 off the bench for the Bulldogs, who have won or shared the conference title in 11 straight seasons. Gonzaga (25-5, 14-2) also reached the 25-win mark for the 16th season in a row &mdash; and avenged a loss to the Gaels earlier this month in Moraga.
Logan Johnson led the Gaels (25-6, 14-2) with 27 points.
Because the teams shared the regular-season title, the WCC will use the NCAA&rsquo;s NET rankings to determine the top seed for the conference tournament.
FLORIDA STATE 85, NO. 13 MIAMI 84
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Matthew Cleveland&rsquo;s 3-pointer as time expired capped Florida State&rsquo;s comeback from a 25-point second-half deficit and a win over Miami.
Jordan Miller had given Miami the lead on a 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds left. But Cleveland let fly from about 25 feet and the ball swished to give the Seminoles (9-20, 7-11 Atlantic Coast Conference) their best moment of the season.
Cleveland and Darin Green Jr. each had 20 points for Florida State, which also got 13 from Caleb Mills and 11 from Jalen Warley.
Miller led Miami (23-6, 14-5) with 21 points. Norchad Omier had 15, Isaiah Wong scored 14 and Bensley Joseph added 12 for the Hurricanes, whose seven-game winning streak and perfect home season were ended.
NO. 18 UCONN 95, ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 86
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points, Adama Sanogo added 18 points and nine rebounds, and UConn beat St. John&rsquo;s.
Andre Jackson Jr. had 15 points, Joey Calcaterra also scored 15 to lead a strong effort by Connecticut&rsquo;s bench and the resurgent Huskies (22-7, 11-7 Big East) avenged an 11-point loss to St. John&rsquo;s at home last month.
UConn won for the sixth time in seven games, closing in on a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament.
AJ Storr had 20 points and Posh Alexander added 18 for the Red Storm (17-13, 7-12), who had won three of four.
NO. 14 KANSAS STATE 73, OKLAHOMA STATE 68
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Markquis Nowell had 22 points, eight assists and four steals in Kansas State&rsquo;s third straight win, beating Oklahoma State.
Keyontae Johnson added 17 points for the Wildcats (22-7, 10-6 Big 12), who swept the regular-season series.
Kalib Boone scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half on Senior Day for Oklahoma State. Caleb Asberry scored 13 points and John-Michael Wright added 12 for the Cowboys (16-13, 7-9), who have lost four straight.
VILLANOVA 79, NO. 19 CREIGHTON 67
PHILADELPHIA (AP) &mdash; Eric Dixon scored 18 of his career-high 31 points in the first half, Cam Whitmore added 17 and Villanova defeated Creighton.
Dixon also set a career high with six 3-pointers for Villanova (15-14, 9-9 Big East), which has won five of six.
Arthur Kaluma scored 19 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner had 18 for Creighton (18-11, 12-6). The Bluejays have lost three of four following an eight-game winning streak.
NO. 22 SAN DIEGO STATE 73, NEW MEXICO 71
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) &mdash; Lamont Butler&rsquo;s 3-pointer at the buzzer gave San Diego State a win at New Mexico.
After Jaelen House&rsquo;s steal and end-to-end run for a layup with 5.6 seconds left gave New Mexico a 71-70 lead, Butler unhurriedly brought the ball up court before dropping his shot, giving him 10 points for the Aztecs (23-5, 14-2 Mountain West).
Darrion Trammell scored 18 points to lead the Aztecs. Matt Bradley added 11 as San Diego State won its sixth straight.
Jamal Mashburn Jr. finished with 20 points for New Mexico (20-9, 7-9) and House had 15.
OKLAHOMA 61, NO. 23 IOWA STATE 50
AMES, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Jacob Groves led Oklahoma with 16 points as the Sooners knocked off Iowa State.
The Sooners (14-15, 4-12 Big 12) had lost nine of their previous 11 games but erased an early 11-point deficit and seized control with a 17-2 run in the second half.
Groves shot 4 of 5 from the 3-point line. Tanner Groves added 9 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
The Cyclones (17-11, 8-8) shot just 31%. Gabe Kalscheur led Iowa State with 12 points.
NO. 24 TCU 83, TEXAS TECH 82
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) &mdash; JaKobe Coles made two free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining, and TCU beat Texas Tech despite blowing a 12-point lead in the final eight minutes.
After De&rsquo;Vion Harmon&rsquo;s steal and layup put the Red Raiders in front by one with 12 seconds remaining, Coles caught a pass from Emanuel Miller in the lane and was fouled by Fardaws Aimaq going up for the shot. The Horned Frogs (19-10, 8-8 Big 12) weren&rsquo;t in the bonus.
Harmon&rsquo;s desperation 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded wasn&rsquo;t close, ending a four-game winning streak Texas Tech (16-13, 5-11).
Mike Miles Jr. scored 24 points for the Horned Frogs, who had lost five of six and were coming off a loss to No. 3 Kansas at home. Miller had 14 points and 12 rebounds for TCU.
Aimaq scored 19 points, Harmon had 18 and Kevin Obanor finished with 17 points and nine rebounds for Texas Tech.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 69, NO. 25 TEXAS A&amp;M 62
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Tolu Smith had 17 points and Shakeel Moore had 14 as Mississippi State knocked off Texas A&amp;M.
Cameron Matthews had 11 points for the Bulldogs (19-10, 7-9 Southeastern Conference), who held the Aggies to one field goal in the final 14 minutes and outscored them 34-18 during the same time period.
Wade Taylor IV led Texas A&amp;M (21-9, 13-3) with 21 points, including four 3-pointers, and Henry Coleman III and Andersson Garcia each had 11.

A recap of Saturday's slew of action in top 25 NCAA men's college hoops.

Miller has another big game as No. 2 Alabama tops Arkansas

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) &mdash; De&rsquo;vion Harmon scored 25 points and Kevin Obanor added 19 as Texas Tech defeated its second ranked opponent in three days, upending No. 6 Texas 74-67 on Monday night.
Fardaws Aimaq had a season-high 12 points for the Red Raiders, who led by 13 in the second half before fending off the Longhorns down the stretch.
Texas Tech (14-12, 3-10 Big 12) also topped No. 12 Kansas State on Saturday.
&ldquo;Obviously, I&rsquo;m extremely excited for these guys,&rdquo; Red Raiders coach Mark Adams said. &ldquo;It was a great team effort. That is a good basketball team that we beat. Texas plays hard. We matched their intensity and played, I thought, 40 minutes of great basketball.&rdquo;
Texas (20-6, 9-4) tied the game at 64 on a 3-pointer by Dylan Disu, but Tech responded by scoring the next six points as Obanor had two dunks and Aimaq converted a tip-in. Harmon added a driving basket with 35.1 seconds remaining, and the Red Raiders held on.
&ldquo;Give them credit,&rdquo; Texas interim coach Rodney Terry said. &ldquo;They made shots. Our guys had great effort. We just didn&rsquo;t do enough to put ourselves in position to win. In our league, anybody can beat anybody.&rdquo;
Marcus Carr led the Longhorns with 23 points, and Disu scored 11.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a team that has been through a lot of adversity this season,&rdquo; Obanor said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like being in a boxing match, and you get beat up, but it speaks to your character when you get back up, have a sense of urgency and refuse to give up.&rdquo;
Texas Tech scored on seven consecutive possessions spanning halftime, taking a 51-38 lead. Texas used a 12-4 spurt to get within 59-54, and a 3 by Tyrese Hunter trimmed it to 64-61 before Disu&rsquo;s tying shot.
Harmon had 21 points in the first half and scored his team&rsquo;s final seven as the Red Raiders took a 44-35 lead at the break. Both teams connected on more than 45% of their shots. Tech went 7 of 12 from 3-point range, and Texas countered by shooting 6 for 11 from beyond the arc.
After the Longhorns pulled to 37-35 on Carr&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 1:40 remaining in the half, Harmon answered with a short jumper in the lane, two free throws and a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
Texas&rsquo; shooting cooled in the second half as the Longhorns connected on 10 of 30 shots overall and went 5 of 16 from 3-point range. Texas Tech tightened its defense after halftime, forcing the Longhorns to work on every possession.
&ldquo;They play well here,&rdquo; Terry said. &ldquo;Texas Tech has good personnel and a coach who does a great job getting them in position.&rdquo;
BIG PICTURE
Texas Tech has won 10 of the past 12 meetings and holds a 37-29 edge in Lubbock. ... The Red Raiders have beaten three ranked Big 12 opponents at home this season, including Iowa State in overtime.
UP NEXT
Texas hosts Oklahoma on Saturday.
Texas Tech visits West Virginia on Saturday.

De’vion Harmon scored 25 points and Kevin Obanor added 19 as the Red Raiders defeated their second ranked opponent in three days.

Harmon, Obanor lead Texas Tech to 74-67 win over No. 6 Texas

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; D&rsquo;Andre Gholston hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Missouri a stunning 86-85 victory over No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday night.
With 4.2 seconds left in the game and the Volunteers (19-6, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) leading 85-83, Santiago Vescovi missed a free throw. His second attempt was waived off when Tobe Awaka committed a lane violation, setting up a final chance for the Tigers (19-6, 7-5).
Gholston took the inbounds and dribbled up the court before taking an off-balance contested 3-pointer from about 30 feet that swished through the net at the buzzer for the win. He was mobbed by his teammates after hitting the shot.
Tennessee came back from a 17-point deficit early in the second half and led the last 7:11 of the game.
NO. 3 ALABAMA 77, AUBURN 69
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Rylan Griffen scored 16 points, Mark Sears added 15 and Alabama held off a big challenge from its in-state rival Auburn.
The Crimson Tide (22-3, 12-0 Southeastern Conference) remained the only Power 5 team without a league loss. Sears and Griffen helped Alabama overcome an off shooting performance from star Brandon Miller, who had 13 points but missed all seven 3-point attempts.
Wendell Green Jr. had 16 of his 24 points in the second half for Auburn (17-8, 7-5).
STANFORD 88, NO. 4 ARIZONA 79
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Spencer Jones scored all 18 of his points in the second half for Stanford and played a key role in neutralizing Pac-12 leading scorer Azuolas Tubelis, as the Cardinal stunned Arizona.
Stanford (11-14, 5-9 Pac-12) beat a ranked team for the first time this year and a top-five team for the second time in two seasons. Arizona (22-4, 11-4), hoping to stay a half-game behind UCLA for the conference lead, had a seven-game win snapped.
Courtney Ramey scored a season- and game-high 26 points for Arizona. Tubelis was held to four points and did not have any rebounds.
Stanford&rsquo;s Michael O&rsquo;Connell scored a team-high 22 points, helping the Cardinal outshoot the Wildcats 61% to 46% from the field.
NO. 5 TEXAS 94, WEST VIRGINIA 60
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Sir&rsquo;Jabri Rice scored 24 points in just 17 minutes in Texas&rsquo; win over West Virginia.
Texas (20-5) remained in first place in the Big 12 at 9-3, while West Virginia (15-10, 4-8) lost for the sixth time in its last seven games against the Longhorns.
Rice, a guard who transferred this season from New Mexico State, was nearly perfect. He converted 5 of 6 field-goal attempts, including 4 of 5 3-pointers and all 10 free throws.
Emmitt Matthews led West Virginia with 13 points.
NO. 8 VIRGINIA 69, DUKE 62, OT
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Armaan Franklin scored 23 points, including a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left, to lift Virginia over Duke in overtime.
Kihie Clark added 16 points and Ben Vander Plas 13 for the Cavaliers (19-4, 11-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won despite a 9 for 22 performance from the free-throw line.
Duke (17-8, 8-6) seemed poised to win when Kyle Filipowski drove on the final play of regulation and two defenders contested his shot. The officials initially whistled a foul, but waved it off after a lengthy review. Jeremy Roach led the Blue Devils with 16 points.
NO. 9 KANSAS 78, OKLAHOMA 55
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson scored 18 points, and Kansas rolled past Oklahoma.
Wilson, who entered the day leading the Big 12 with nearly 21 points per game, bounced back from a two-point outing against Texas on Monday.
Dajuan Harris scored 16 points and Kevin McCullar added 13 for the Jayhawks (20-5, 8-4 Big 12).
Jalen Hill scored 14 points and Otega Oweh added 11 for the Oklahoma (12-13, 2-10). Grant Sherfield, who leads the Sooners with nearly 17 points per game, was held to 10 on 4-for-14 shooting.
NO. 10 MARQUETTE 89, GEORGETOWN 75
WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; Kam Jones, Oso Ighodaro and Tyler Kolek each scored 14 points to lead a balanced scoring attack for Marquette in its win over Georgetown.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper had 11 points and Chase Ross added 10 for Marquette (20-6, 12-3 Big East), which moved into first place in the conference.
Jay Heath scored 18 points to lead last-place Georgetown (6-20, 1-14), which has lost five straight after ending their league record 29-game conference losing streak on Jan. 24.
OKLAHOMA ST 64, NO. 11 IOWA ST 56
AMES, Iowa (AP) &mdash; John-Michael Wright scored 19 points and Oklahoma State rallied past Iowa State.
The loss was the Cyclones&rsquo; fourth in five games.
Bryce Thompson added 12 points for the Cowboys (16-9, 7-5 Big 12) in their fifth straight win.
Aljaz Kunc scored 13 for Iowa State (16-8, 7-5).
TEXAS TECH 71, NO. 12 KANSAS STATE 63
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) &mdash;De&rsquo;Vion Harmon scored 20 points, including a crucial driving basket in the final minute, as Texas Tech upended Kansas State.
The Red Raiders (13-12, 2-10 Big 12) held the Wildcats to two field goals in the game&rsquo;s final four minutes.
Kansas State (19-6, 7-5) edged as close as one point throughout the second half, but Tech answered with key baskets to maintain the lead. The Wildcats were led by Markquis Nowell&rsquo;s 18 points. Desi Sills added 12 points.
NO. 14 BAYLOR 72, NO. 17 TCU 68
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) &mdash; Adam Flagler scored 28 points, with 16 in a row for Baylor during the stretch when the Bears overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half and then held on to beat TCU.
LJ Cryer had 23 points for the Bears (19-6, 8-4 Big 12), who on Jan. 4 at home against TCU blew a 17-point lead in an 88-87 loss. They have won nine of their last 10 games.
Damion Baugh had 16 points and 10 assist for TCU (17-8, 6-6).
NO. 15 SAINT MARY&rsquo;S 81, PORTLAND 64
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Logan Johnson had 34 points, six rebounds and six assists as Saint Mary&rsquo;s handled Portland on the road.
Alex Ducas added 18 points and six rebounds for the Gaels (22-5, 11-1 West Coast Conference) and Aidan Mahaney contributed 10 points and five assists.
Kristian Sjolund led the Pilots (13-15, 5-8) with 12 points, and Juan Gorosito and Tyler Robinson each added 10 points.
NO. 18 INDIANA 62, MICHIGAN 61
Trayce Jackson-Davis had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Jalen Hood-Schifino scored 21 points and Indiana held on for a win over Michigan.
Freshman Jett Howard was short on a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, leaving the Wolverines without a point for the final 5:12.
The Hoosiers (18-7, 9-5 Big Ten) trailed by 11 in the first half and for much of the second, but went ahead for good with 2:58 left when Hood-Schifino made two free throws for their last points.
Michigan (14-11, 8-6) fell to 0-4 against teams in the AP Top 25, losing each game by five or fewer points.
Hunter Dickinson scored 16 points, Kobe Bufkin had 14 points and Howard added 12 for the Wolverines.
NO. 19 MIAMI 93, LOUISVILLE 85
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Nijel Pack scored 22 points in Miami&rsquo;s win over Louisville.
Five days following its dominant 22-point home win over Duke, Miami (20-5, 11-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) could not shake off the conference&rsquo;s last-place team until Pack&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 2:44 remaining made it 82-72. Pack shot 8 of 14, including 4 of 9 on 3-pointers.
Isaiah Wong and Norchad Omier finished with 21 points each and Jordan Miller added 10 for the Hurricanes, who are 14-0 at home.
El Ellis scored a career-high 33 points and had five assists while Jae&rsquo;Lyn Withers finished with 18 for the Cardinals (3-22, 1-13).
ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 73, NO. 20 PROVIDENCE 68
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; David Jones scored 16 points and AJ Storr added 15 for St. John&rsquo;s, which beat Providence.
Joel Soriano had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Storm (15-11, 5-10 Big East).
Bryce Hopkins equaled a career best with 29 points for the Friars (18-7, 10-4).
NO. 22 NORTH CAROLINA STATE 92, BOSTON COLLEGE 62
BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Jarkel Joiner scored 26 points and D.J. Burns Jr. added 18 with 10 rebounds to lead North Carolina State over Boston College.
Terquavion Smith scored 17 points for the Wolfpack (20-6, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), giving him 1,000 points for his career.
Quinten Post scored 20 points for Boston College (12-14, 6-9).
NO. 23 CREIGHTON 56, NO. 21 UCONN 53
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Trey Alexander scored 17 points to lead Creighton past UConn after the Huskies had what would have been a tying 3-pointer erased on video review in the final seconds.
Creighton (17-8, 11-3) is a half-game behind Big East-leading Marquette with its eighth straight win. The Huskies (19-7, 8-7) lost for the first time in four games.
Adama Sanogo had 17 points and 10 rebounds for UConn.
ILLINOIS 69, NO. 24 RUTGERS 60
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) &mdash; Coleman Hawkins scored 18 points and Illinois held Rutgers scoreless for more than 10 minutes in the second half to rally for the win.
Illinois (17-7, 8-5 Big Ten) trailed 47-41 with 14 1/2 minutes left before Hawkins&rsquo; 3-pointer started a 19-0 run. Hawkins hit four consecutive shots &mdash; including a 3 &mdash; and gave the Illini the lead for good at 48-47.
Rutgers (16-9, 8-6) missed 15 straight shots during its drought.
NO. 25 SAN DIEGO STATE 82, UNLV 71
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Adam Seiko scored all 18 points on 3-pointers and Matt Bradley added 17 points for San Diego, the Mountain West Conference front-runner that beat UNLV for its third straight win and seventh in eight games.
The Aztecs (20-5, 11-2 MWC) buried the Runnin&rsquo; Rebels in a blizzard of 3-pointers and slam dunks, including during a 14-0 run midway through the first half, to sweep the season series and top UNLV the fifth straight time. Keshad Johnson scored 11 of his 14 points in the game&rsquo;s first 6 1/2 minutes and Nathan Mensah had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Elijah Harkless scored 24 for UNLV (16-9, 5-8) before fouling out with 2:05 to go. Keshon Gilbert added 19 for the Runnin&rsquo; Rebels, who didn&rsquo;t get their first assist until two minutes into the second half.

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

Three-pointer at buzzer lifts Missouri over No. 6 Tennessee

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) &mdash; Texas Tech coach Mark Adams was just happy fans stuck around for the biggest comeback in school history, and the first Big 12 win of the season for a Sweet 16 team from a year ago.
The Red Raiders erased a 23-point deficit after halftime to end an eight-game conference skid, with De&rsquo;Vion Harmon scoring all 16 of his points after the break in an 80-77 overtime victory against No. 13 Iowa State on Monday night.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still in shock here,&rdquo; Adams said. &ldquo;I was just so proud of our guys. They didn&rsquo;t give up on themselves. I was proud of the fans. I was afraid they were going to leave at halftime.&rdquo;
The 23-point comeback matched the largest in a win in Division I this season and the largest in a power conference game since Boston College overcame the same deficit to beat Clemson on Jan. 15, 2022, according to KenPom.
The Red Raiders trailed 59-36 with 12:36 remaining after one of Caleb Grill&rsquo;s career-best eight 3-pointers, but a 20-3 run started not long after to make it close down the stretch.
Kevin Obanor had 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Raiders (12-10, 1-8 Big 12), who won their second consecutive game including a victory over LSU in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Grill scored 24 points but missed his final three 3-pointers after starting 8 of 9. One miss was an off-balance air ball on a frantic game-ending sequence in which the Cyclones (15-6, 6-3) missed three from long range trying to force a second overtime.
&ldquo;They just decided they were going to crank up the pressure, really come after us and try to spread us out,&rdquo; said Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger, whose team was coming off a double-digit loss to Missouri in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge that followed a win over fifth-ranked Kansas State. &ldquo;We got out of sorts.&rdquo;
Iowa State still led by five with 40 seconds remaining in regulation when Obanor hit a 3-pointer and the Red Raiders forced one of 13 second-half turnovers from the Cyclones on the inbound play.
Harmon, who had 11 points in the second half and five in OT, was fouled on a drive and made both free throws for the first tie of the game at 71-all with 21 seconds remaining after Iowa State had led from the opening bucket.
Iowa State&rsquo;s Gabe Kalscheur had 19 points but went 0 of 6 from 3, with one of the misses coming up short at the buzzer in regulation.
The Red Raiders took their first lead early in overtime on a layup by D&rsquo;Maurian Williams, and their biggest lead was the final margin.
Harmon put them ahead for good with one of two free throws with 42 seconds remaining in overtime, and Obanor hit two more after another of Grill&rsquo;s late misses on an off-balance 3.
Grill had the first long try in the final seconds, Jaren Holmes got the rebound but also was short from beyond the arc. Holmes ended up with the ball one more time, but was short again as the buzzer sounded.
Texas Tech&rsquo;s biggest previous comeback was from 17 down in a 99-94 overtime victory at Nevada on Dec. 27, 1997.
&ldquo;I thought our defense was much better (in the second half), but the big thing was just we were the most aggressive team on both ends of the floor the second half,&rdquo; Adams said. &ldquo;That was the difference.&rdquo;
The Cyclones, who beat Texas Tech by 34 points at home last month, led by 17 at halftime and took their first 20-point lead one of Grill&rsquo;s 3s in the opening seconds of the second half.
BIG PICTURE
Iowa State: The Cyclones entered with the Big 12&prime;s best scoring defense and had held their first seven conference opponents under 70 points for the first time since joining the conference in the mid-1990s. But three straight teams, including the SEC&rsquo;s Missouri in a 78-61 win Saturday, have surpassed that mark.
Texas Tech: The Red Raiders rallied without freshman point guard Pop Isaacs, their leading scorer scorer in conference play. He missed a second consecutive game with an ankle injury while 6-foot-11 senior center Fardaws Aimaq was out with a foot injury.
GOING COLD
Iowa State&rsquo;s only field goal in the final 10 minutes of regulation was the 3-pointer that gave Grill his career high of eight. The Cyclones were 3 of 16 in the final 10 minutes of regulation and OT.
&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t a time to figure out who&rsquo;s fault it was and doom and gloom,&rdquo; Otzelberger said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had some really great moments. We&rsquo;re going to continue to have some great moments.&rdquo;
UP NEXT
Iowa State: No. 8 Kansas visits Saturday. The Jayhawks beat the Cyclones by two at home on Jan. 14.
Texas Tech: At No. 11 Baylor on Saturday. The Bears can sweep the season series after the Red Raiders swept last season, including a victory in Waco when Baylor was No. 1.

The 23-point comeback matched the largest in a win in Division I this season. The Red Raiders trailed 59-36 with 12:36 remaining.

Texas Tech rallies from 23 down, beats No. 13 Iowa St. in OT

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

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

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

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

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

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

Basketball News highlights the reporting, analysis and podcasts that defined a year of basketball in 2022.

Best of Basketball News: Spotlighting our top content from 2022

MARYVILLE, Mo. (AP) &mdash; There is growing fear among college basketball coaches at the lower levels of the sport, the vast majority of which do not make seven-figure salaries, fly around the country in private jets or hang out with rich and famous boosters and fans.
It&rsquo;s a fear that comes with success.
It only takes a couple of marquee players to compete for championships at the Division II or III level, the NAIA or even in low-major Division I leagues. But in an era of freedom of transfer and name, image and likeness endorsement money, the reality is this: If your program is too good, there&rsquo;s a good chance those prolific players will be playing elsewhere next season, recruited to major programs that can offer them more exposure, opportunities and financial benefits.
When it happens, lower-level coaches who might be coming off a 20-win season could be left rebuilding their rosters and fighting for 10 wins and, potentially, their jobs.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s always been an opportunity to poach kids if you want to poach them, but it&rsquo;s all become easier now,&rdquo; said Joe Lombardi, the longtime coach of Division II powerhouse Indiana (Pa.). &ldquo;I believe in karma. I&rsquo;m not doing that, OK? But some places it has become a way of life. It&rsquo;s disappointing that people invest in kids and, you know, they get poached.
&ldquo;They don&rsquo;t just go to the market,&rdquo; Lombardi added. &ldquo;Some do, but a lot of them are talked into it.&rdquo;
His team reached the Final Four last season thanks largely to shooting guard Armoni Foster, who averaged 18 points for the Crimson Hawks, but who will be playing Division I ball for Buffalo this season. And while Lombardi encouraged him to seek a better opportunity for his final year of eligibility, the coach acknowledges that won&rsquo;t always be the case.
Especially when players no longer have to sit out a year under the NCAA&rsquo;s transfer rules.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had guys that Division I schools made overtures about and I&rsquo;m eventually going to lose someone, and it might not be amicable,&rdquo; Lombardi said. &ldquo;I might not be happy with the move. But if you&rsquo;re in it long enough, that will happen.&rdquo;
It happened at Nova Southeastern, the top seed in the NCAA Tournament last year. Sekou Sylla, who averaged 22.4 points and 10.4 rebounds for the Division II program, will be playing for Towson at the Division I level this season.
And it happened at Hillsdale, another strong Division II program, where Patrick Cartier caught the attention of Colorado State. And at Bentley, which saw shooting guard Colton Lawrence follow up a strong season by leaving for Maryland-Baltimore County, a low-major program but nonetheless an opportunity for him to compete at the Division I level.
Even the bluest of the bluebloods have kept their eyes open for lower-level transfers.
Cam Martin, a bruising 6-foot-9 forward, was a two-time All-American for Missouri Southern who chose to continue his career elsewhere. He landed at Kansas, the defending Division I national champion, about a 3-hour drive from the Lions&rsquo; campus in Joplin but light years away in terms of opportunity and experience.
Martin, who graduated from Missouri Southern and is pursuing his graduate degree at Kansas, went from starting every game and playing major minutes to being a key practice player but rarely seeing the floor in actual games.
&ldquo;You have the good and bad stories that come of it,&rdquo; acknowledged Dennis Gates, the new Missouri coach who brought three players with him when he was hired from Cleveland State. &ldquo;But the rules give student-athletes an opportunity, no different than coaches have opportunities now, to represent a different program.&rdquo;
Still, as TCU coach Jamie Dixon admitted, the fact that players no longer have to sit out has changed the dynamic.
&ldquo;A kid having success at a lower conference than, say, the Big 12, was likely not to transfer and sit out because he&rsquo;s playing well,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s getting his minutes. Why would he want to sit out?&rdquo;
When the NCAA removed that impediment, it became easier for players to move on &mdash; and move up. And when NIL legislation came along, allowing players to profit off their celebrity, it created a situation where high-major programs can effectively offer financial benefits unavailable at most lower-level programs.
Throw in the chance to compete at a higher level and it&rsquo;s hard for kids to turn their back on the opportunity.
Fardaws Aimaq remembers playing for Utah Valley in the WAC Tournament last spring, and five or six NBA scouts were sitting in a corner. Aimaq dominated the first half of the Wolverines&rsquo; game, only to see the scouts get up and walk out, and he recalled thinking, &ldquo;Why did they leave?&rdquo; Aimaq texted his advisers afterward, and the answer was simple: &ldquo;They wanted to know if I was really that good or the competition was not that good.&rdquo;
Aimaq ended up transferring from the low-major school to Texas Tech in the hopes of raising his NBA draft profile this season.
&ldquo;Leaving was hard,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but it was just the best decision for me business-wise.&rdquo;
Just like it was for Malachi Smith, a prolific shooting guard who spent the last two seasons at Chattanooga but will play for Gonzaga this season, or Johni Broome, a 6-10 forward who transferred from Morehead State to Auburn.
Transfers go both ways, of course. Plenty of players leave high-majors for low-majors, or even lower divisions, where they might go from benchwarmer to starter. But they are typically easier for big-budget programs to replace.
It&rsquo;s tougher to accept at small schools, though, when a player who might have slipped through the recruiting cracks not only got an opportunity to play but was also developed over time &mdash; only to take their game somewhere else.
&ldquo;There could be a great player at Division III. I will not make an overture for that kid. I will not do it,&rdquo; said Lombardi, the Division II coach at Indiana (Pa.) &ldquo;Maybe I would if I was 10-20 for three straight seasons &mdash; I might then. But I just don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s for the good of the kid or the good of athletics.&rdquo;

There is growing fear among college basketball coaches at the lower levels of the sport.

Portal chaos puts pressure on hoops coaches in lower levels

The stage is set with 6:24 left in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals.
The Las Vegas Aces hold a 60-59 lead coming out of a timeout, and have just put their knockout lineup on the floor. Their small unit &mdash; Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, Riquna Williams, Jackie Young and A'ja Wilson &mdash; will be tasked with bringing things home.
On the other side, the Connecticut Sun are rolling with their big unit. Courtney Williams, DeWanna Bonner, Alyssa Thomas, Brionna Jones and Jonquel Jones &mdash; a group that shrinks the floor for the opposition and bludgeons them in the paint &mdash; pose a significant challenge. It's the starkest example of the stylistic clash this series represents.
The Aces have to work on their first possession. Gray brings the ball up the floor while being hounded by Thomas. Plum comes to set a screen for Gray in an effort to pry Thomas away &mdash; and put Courtney Williams in the action &mdash; but Thomas stays attached. Plum eventually gets the ball and drills a tough pull-up triple over Williams, but the shot comes nearly 20 seconds into the possession.
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But that possession is instructive for the Aces. They recognize that the Sun aren't going to allow Gray to beat them. And while they'd love to get Wilson involved as a screener, doing so consistently would invite even more size and length for Gray to have to navigate.
Roughly a minute later, the Aces push after a miss. Gray is once again hounded by Thomas, so the Aces counter with a pair of early drag screens. Wilson sets the first, while Riquna Williams sets the second. Gray is able to get downhill and drag Williams' defender, Jonquel Jones, with her.
A switch is forced as Gray loops around the paint, kicks the ball to Young and receives it back on the left wing. The Sun don't want Jones defending Gray, so Thomas peels over to trap her. Mayhem occurs from there: Gray's pass to the now-open Williams is deflected, but recovered. Young ends up with the ball and pump fakes, then, cans a crucial pull-up jumper.
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It's at that moment the Aces know that Riquna Williams is the pressure point that will bring them home. Or, more coldly: They know Jonquel Jones is the player they want to attack in space.
You know the rest of the story by now. The Aces find gold with Williams setting screens and flaring out above the three-point line. She would finish the game with 17 points, 11 of them coming in the fourth quarter and 8 of those coming in the final two minutes.
For all the discussion about the Aces' bench throughout the season, it's at least a little funny that a bench player slammed the door of a closeout Finals game.&nbsp;
The buckets from Williams were loud, but the calculated nature of the Aces' attack is what spoke loudest to me. Sun head coach Curt Miller described the Aces' offensive attack as "NBA-like'' when asked about it<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wnba-finals-2022-catching-up-coach-curt-miller-connecticut-sun-las-vegas-aces-jonquel-jones-alyssa-thomas-dewanna-bonner" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> ahead of Game 2</a>. He made a similar comparison when asked about the guard-guard screens the Aces ran to close out Game 4.
"The guard-to-guard screens, as they ghosted out of a lot of them, tried to put us in rotation," Miller told Basketball News after the game."
&ldquo;They were searching. They were trying to get some switches to the matchup advantage they were looking for. That was the chess match. Then, as we went big, they started to put different bigs in that action also. Ultimately, a lot of that pro mentality that leaps into the league from the NBA. We become a copycat league, and that was the action they chose to run late."&nbsp;
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Considering the recent background of Aces head coach Becky Hammon &mdash; she was hired as a San Antonio Spurs assistant coach under Gregg Popovich in 2014, and held the position until taking the Aces job this year &mdash; it makes sense that there were NBA elements to her game plan. When asked about coaches that influenced her style, Hammon referenced some of the top coaches in the NBA.
"I really liked watching Brad Stevens, when he was coaching, obviously. Quin Snyder, [Erik] Spoelstra, Mike Malone. There have been a lot of people that I've watched over the years," Hammon told Basketball News.
"I was in San Antonio for eight years. That's close to 700 games; and that's just our games, not me watching other teams' games for scouting purposes. It's a lot of basketball, so you just see certain things along the way. Some of them are stolen right off the page; other ones, I tweak and put different things in different places."
Look at the coaches referenced from Hammon, and you'll see some fingerprints.
Guard screening, on and off the ball, has been <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/changing-of-the-guard-the-future-of-screening-is-here" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on the rise in the NBA</a> for quite some time. The type of mismatch hunting the Aces utilized down the stretch of Game 4 is commonplace in the NBA, particularly in the playoffs.&nbsp;
During Hammon's last season as an NBA assistant (2020-21), Synder's Utah Jazz (17.3 per 100 possessions), Stevens' Boston Celtics (13.4), and Spoelstra's Miami Heat (10.6) all ranked in the top 10 in on-ball screens set by guards per Second Spectrum. That trend holds with off-ball screens, with the Heat (23.0), Malone's Nuggets (20.8) and the Celtics (19.2) populating the top 10.&nbsp;
You'll have to hone in on the ATOs to see some of the "stolen off the page" examples, like Hammon using the "Winner" set that <a href="https://youtu.be/c7i0Fs7QfgY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stevens' Celtics popularized</a> during the semifinals against the Seattle Storm.
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This doozy was also pulled out against the Storm, a nice call-back to a set ran by Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr &mdash; another Popovich disciple.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
A brilliant ATO drawn up by Becky Hammon gave the Las Vegas Aces a crucial basket against the Seattle Storm last night. It looked like a familiar play... because Steve Kerr also drew it up for the Golden State Warriors a couple of months ago vs. the Memphis Grizzlies. <a href="https://t.co/ibjMZL2pOk">pic.twitter.com/ibjMZL2pOk</a>
&mdash; Joe Viray (@JoeVirayNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeVirayNBA/status/1566818735465172992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2022</a></blockquote>

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But the broader concepts &mdash; the way Hammon uses her stars together to put strain on defenses &mdash; really shine through with the examples she used.
The Aces loved to use "Get" action &mdash; a pitch to a guard that flows into a handoff and next flows into a ball-screen &mdash; as part of their early offensive strategy. That was a Snyder staple in Utah, one used to get Donovan Mitchell (or Mike Conley) downhill against a titled defense.
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There were the Plum screens set for Wilson to pry her free. Between traditional cross screens, pindowns inside the arc and random pin-in screens on the perimeter, you can easily draw parallels between those two and the two-man actions we'd see from Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic under Malone.
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I'd wager the Spoelstra influence is felt more on the defensive side of the ball. He's one of the brightest defensive minds in NBA history, with his hallmark being his team's versatility.
The Aces certainly embodied that, eschewing their conservative style from last season to more of a hybrid system. They were aggressive against ball-screens &mdash; until they weren't. They deployed drop coverage, until they wanted to switch.
There was zone. So much zone &mdash; another Spoelstra hallmark.
(It's also worth noting it's a Ty Lue staple. Aces assistant coach Natalie Nakase brought her experience as a Clippers assistant coach &mdash; among other stops &mdash; with her this season.)
While Riquna Williams was bombing away on one end, the Aces went to a zone to close things out on the other end. That often left Gray, Williams and Young battling on the boards against the Sun's massive frontcourt. This possession still rings in my head.
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When asked about the process about implementing such a varied style, Hammon said she wanted to keep everyone &mdash; her opponents and her team &mdash; on their toes.&nbsp;
"When I went back and watched, obviously, a lot of games from the last year, and just me watching the WNBA over the last eight seasons since I've left, really, [it was] just something to mix things up," Hammon told Basketball News.
"You know, we've tried different defenses on Steph Curry, Dame Lillard. If we can junk it on them, we can junk it on anybody. It was just an idea to try to give people a different look to try to mix it up."
While the schematic shifts and tactical excellence was easy to see this year, it would all be moot without getting commitment from her players. If there's a through line between Hammon and the coaches she referenced, it's the ability to engage players and get them to buy in.
"I think the bigger thing is the players really bought into it," Hammon told Basketball News about the defense.
"It doesn't matter what scheme you're doing; the players have to believe in it. I think, at the end of the day, they saw enough good results. There were times when Chelsea was calling the defense, junk defense. I'm not even putting us in junk; she's putting us in junk. It's a fun way to play and it keeps the players locked in and alert because we do switch it up quite a bit."
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Nakase recently <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2022/09/20/swanson-becky-hammon-proved-she-can-lead-a-winning-team-next-up-someday-the-nba/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">echoed those sentiments</a>, saying Hammon's "ability to get buy-in is probably the fastest I&rsquo;ve ever seen." That's strong praise for a coach who's spent time working with Lue and Doc Rivers.
It's hard to overstate how good of a job Hammon has done in Year 1. While it would be easy to highlight how foolish some NBA decision-makers should feel for not offering Hammon a head coaching job &mdash; they absolutely should feel foolish &mdash; it's worth celebrating how she flipped the slight on its head.&nbsp;
"I mean, my journey is not by mistake," Hammon said after Game 4. "Every hard thing that I've gone through has built something in me that I've needed down the road, and even though it sucks in the moment to not to be picked or to get hurt or whatever it might be, the hard stuff builds stuff in you that's necessary for life and you'll use it down the road. It may not feel like it in that moment.
"For me, it's not really about proving other people wrong, it's about proving myself right. If you guys haven't figured out yet, I don't really care."
A wonderful bar from a wonderful coach to cap a wonderful debut season.

Nekias Duncan talks to Aces head coach Becky Hammon about some of her NBA influences, then showcases examples.

Becky Hammon's NBA coaching influences showed in Aces' WNBA title run

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) &mdash; A historic effort from Alyssa Thomas helped the Connecticut Sun stave off elimination again.
Thomas had the first triple-double in WNBA Finals history, and the Sun beat the Las Vegas Aces 105-76 in Game 3 on Thursday night.
She finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists for the Sun, who have now won all four of their elimination games in these playoffs, topping Dallas on the road in the first round and beating Chicago in Games 4 and 5 to close out that series.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been struggling offensively and we finally got a game back at home and my teammates were hitting shots,&rdquo; Thomas said. &ldquo;None of this would have been possible without them.&rdquo;
Las Vegas leads the best-of-five series 2-1 with Game 4 on Sunday in Connecticut.
The Aces got off to a fast start, scoring nine of the first 11 points and forcing Connecticut to call a timeout. That settled the Sun down and they took over, outscoring the Aces 32-10 the rest of the quarter, including 25 of the final 29 points. Connecticut made 14 of its 17 shots in the period and DeWanna Bonner was a big reason why.
Bonner struggled in the first two games of the series, scoring five points total while missing 16 of her 18 shots. She had seven points in the opening 8 minutes on Thursday night and finished with 18.&nbsp;
&ldquo;She was huge. She&rsquo;s been here before. She&rsquo;s won it. So, we lean on her,&rdquo; Thomas said. &ldquo;And she&rsquo;s been struggling offensively, but we had nothing but faith in her and she came out and did her thing tonight.&rdquo;
Jonquel Jones led the Sun with 20 points.
Jones, Bonner and Thomas helped Connecticut dominate inside as the Sun set a Finals record with 64 points in the paint while holding Las Vegas to 26.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s been the M.O. of the playoffs,&rdquo; Jones said. &ldquo;Even the Chicago series, the team that won the paint, won the game. That&rsquo;s where it&rsquo;s done. A long time ago, I talked to Lisa Leslie and she said to win a championship you have to win the paint. I see it now and feel it now. I can go back to that and see she was right.&rdquo;
Connecticut used that advantage to lead 53-34 with 1:44 left in the second quarter before the Aces closed the period by scoring the final nine points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Kelsey Plum from just inside half-court.
The Sun seized momentum back to start the third quarter, scoring the first five points. Las Vegas couldn&rsquo;t get closer than six the rest of the game.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a team that is very resilient. If you could encapsulate Connecticut it&rsquo;s physical and very resilient,&rdquo; Aces coach Becky Hammon said. &ldquo;They are physical and resilient and we didn&rsquo;t match that tonight in any category.&rdquo;
Jackie Young scored 22 points and A&rsquo;ja Wilson added 19 for the Aces.
Las Vegas was thwarted in its first attempt at winning the franchise&rsquo;s inaugural WNBA championship. The team had been in the Finals twice before and got swept in 2008 and 2020.
SHE SAID IT
&ldquo;I went to a UFC fight the other night. ... I would not want to get in the cage with her.&rdquo; &mdash; Hammon on Thomas&rsquo; toughness.
TRIPLE THREAT
Thomas now has three triple-doubles in her career &mdash; all this season. This was the third in WNBA playoff history. Chicago&rsquo;s Courtney Vandersloot and Houston&rsquo;s Sheryl Swoopes had the others.
TIP-INS
Former Aces president and coach Bill Laimbeer sat courtside. He took over the franchise when it moved to Las Vegas in 2018 before retiring at the end of last season. Laimbeer was instrumental in assembling the championship roster by drafting Wilson first in 2018 and getting Gray to come to the team last season as a free agent. ... Aces owner Mark Davis sat on the baseline. ... Had the Aces been able to complete the comeback, they would have broken the mark for biggest rally in WNBA Finals history. The New York Liberty came back from 18 down in 1999 against Houston when Teresa Weatherspoon hit a game-winning shot from half-court. Hammon played for the Liberty in that game.
HONORED
Wilson and Seattle&rsquo;s Breanna Stewart were unanimous choices for the All-WNBA first team that was announced Thursday. Plum also was on the first team as well as Phoenix&rsquo;s Skylar Diggins-Smith and Chicago&rsquo;s Candace Parker. Thomas and Jones were on the second team along with New York&rsquo;s Sabrina Ionescu, Los Angeles&rsquo;s Nneka Ogwumike and Minnesota&rsquo;s Sylvia Fowles.

Alyssa Thomas had the first triple-double in WNBA Finals history, and the Sun beat the Aces 105-76 in Game 3.

Sun stay alive, beat Aces 105-76 in Game 3 of WNBA Finals

The Las Vegas Aces just can't stop winning.
They finished the regular season with the best record in the WNBA (26-10). They snatched the Commisioner's Cup, an in-season tournament the league introduced during the 2021 season, in convincing fashion this year. Their playoff run has been a successful one thus far, with a two-game sweep over (what's left of) the Phoenix Mercury and a thrilling 3-1 series win over Breanna Stewart's Seattle Storm.
Then, there are the awards.
Kelsey Plum, who's <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wnba-playoffs-screen-time-kelsey-plum-las-vegas-aces-becky-hammon-aja-wilson-seattle-storm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">done a little bit of everything</a>, won All-Star Game MVP with a record-tying 30-point performance. Chelsea Gray, in the midst of one of the most ridiculous shot-making runs in basketball history, was named MVP of the Commisioner's Cup championship game. WNBA legend and first-time head coach Becky Hammon was awarded Coach of the Year earlier this month. Two-way forward Jackie Young, who <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1567559975261569030?s=20&amp;t=AhANKxl5GkIxjfNNRuqrkw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">came up huge</a> during the Aces' series-clinching 97-92 win on Tuesday night, won the Most Improved Player award.&nbsp;
Future Hall-of-Famer A'ja Wilson won her first Defensive Player of the Year award &mdash; she'd probably have my vote for Most Valuable Defender if the award existed &mdash; and was named to the All-Defensive First team (her second All-Defensive selection of her career).&nbsp;
And now, you can add another MVP to Wilson's trophy case.
Wilson &mdash; with per-game averages of 19.5 points (fifth), 9.4 rebounds (second), 1.4 steals, and 1.9 blocks (first) &mdash; received 31 first-place and 24 second-place votes for the award. She edged out Breanna Stewart and teammate Kelsey Plum to round out the top-three.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/image-4.png" alt="" />
With her second MVP award (first in 2020), she becomes the seventh player in WNBA history to win multiple MVPs. Look at the legends she finds herself in the room with now:
<ul>
<li>Cynthia Cooper, Houston Comets (1997, 1998)</li>
<li>Sheryl Swoopes, Houston Comets (2000, 2002, 2005)</li>
<li>Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks (2001, 2004, 2006)</li>
<li>Lauren Jackson, Seattle Storm (2003, 2007, 2010)</li>
<li>Candace Parker, Las Angeles Sparks (2008, 2013)</li>
<li>Elena Delle Donne, Chicago Sky/Washington Mystics (2015, 2019)</li>
</ul>
It doesn't stop there. Wilson joins Jackson (2007), Leslie (2004), Swoopes (2000, 2002), and Yolanda Griffith (1999) as the only players to win MVP and DPOY in the same season. Suppose the Aces are able to finish the job against the Chicago Sky or Connecticut Sun in the Finals (we'll have the matchup late on Thursday night) &mdash; Wilson could join Swoopes (2000) as the only players to win MVP, DPOY and a championship (and possibly Finals MVP) in the same season.
Naturally, Wilson was the engine that made the Aces go on both ends of the floor. While it's easy to point to the Aces finally embracing modern basketball offensively &mdash; and Wilson played a role in that, shooting 37% from three on moderate volume &mdash; their spread, read-based offense wouldn't work without Wilson as a presure point.
Wilson's work as a roller and popper in ball-screens helped unlock Gray, Young and Plum. Her ability to self-create in the mid-post or lower put defenses in a bind. She could overpower smaller frontcourt players, or blow past larger ones. Defenses either had to let Wilson cook 1-on-1, or send help and open up opportunities for her teammates to attack tilted defenses in the process.
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The Aces posted a 109.6 Offensive Rating <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=OFF_RATING&amp;dir=-1&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">during the regular season</a>, the best mark in the league and second highest clip in WNBA history (112.9 by the 2019 Mystics). They were even more prolific when Wilson was on the floor, with their scoring efficiency <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/wnba?TeamId=1611661319&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=1628932&amp;OnlyCommonGames=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rising to 114.3</a>.
They were more diverse offensively, but their versatility really stood out defensively. They were comfortable playing at the level of ball screens, or outright trapping them. Zone was sprinkled in. Switching was something they went to often during the second half of the season. Drop coverage was utilized, but higher up to take away obvious pull-up pockets for opposing guards.
That versatility wouldn't have been possible without Wilson holding things down at the 5. With the departure of Liz Cambage, Wilson slid down a position and didn't see a meaningful hit in field goal percentage allowed at the rim (64% <a href="https://www.positiveresidual.com/shiny/wnba/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last season</a>, 63% <a href="https://www.positiveresidual.com/shiny/wnba/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this season</a>) or defensive rebound rate (75.8% <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=DREB_PCT&amp;dir=-1&amp;Season=2021&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last season</a>, 74.5% <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=DREB_PCT&amp;dir=-1&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this season</a>). The box score stats &mdash; 7.6 defensive rebounds (second) and a league-leading 1.9 blocks per game &mdash; tell a bit of the story, but Wilson unlocked so much more than her basic stats would indicate.
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It's fitting that Wilson receives this award now. Though MVP is a regular season award, Wilson is on one heck of a postseason run. After a subpar Game 1 against the Storm, Wilson averaged 30.0 points, 12.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 2.3 blocks in three straight victories to punch a ticket to the Finals. Oh, and Wilson played roughly 123 (122:44 for the nerds) of a possible 125 minutes during that stretch.
What. A. Baller.&nbsp;

Nekias Duncan breaks down A'ja Wilson's MVP season with the Las Vegas Aces.

Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson adds second WNBA MVP to her collection

"We need a three!"
As head coach Becky Hammon calls out instructions for her players during a timeout, the desire for a three-pointer is repeated. The Las Vegas Aces, who have controlled things for most of the afternoon, find themselves down 89-85 with 11.3 seconds left in the game.&nbsp;
It would be easy to get lost in the "how" of the current situation. How a 15-point lead through the second quarter was suddenly a deficit in third. How Breanna Stewart, cold for most of the game, had hit three bleep-you shots in the past minute in a half to give the Seattle Storm a late-game edge.
There was no time for those thoughts though. The Aces needed a three, which means they needed to rely on Kelsey Plum.
Well, sort of.&nbsp;
You'd think the play was being called for Plum. She's one of the best shooters in the world, fresh off a season where she led the WNBA in three-pointers made (3.1 on average, 113 total) and doubled as one of five players to convert at least 40% of their threes while taking 5 or more attempts per game.
Hammon had different plans.
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Instead of using her shooting ability, Hammon leveraged Plum's gravity and toughness to help pry open Riquna Williams &mdash; an unabashed gunner off the bench who'd made several big shots in the quarter.&nbsp;
"You're screening for A'ja [Wilson]," Hammon tells Plum before the players break the huddle.
"Jackie [Young] is ripping through. KP screens [for] A'ja; A'ja, come around and screen for Bay (Riquna Williams)."
Sure enough, the Aces execute the play perfectly.
Young cuts through the middle of the floor and relocates to the right corner. Plum sets a solid screen on Ezi Magbegor. Stephanie Talbot, Plum's defender, is caught in a bind. She doesn't want to switch onto Wilson for obvious size and skill reasons, leaving a gap. Thanks to the Wilson screen on Sue Bird, Williams is able to run into that gap and fire up an uncontested three-pointer.
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From that point on, madness ensued.&nbsp;
Tina Charles missed a pair of free throws. Wilson gave the Aces a lead with a tough drive, though it's hard to look past the missed travel call. Bird nearly rendered the discussion moot by draining a go-ahead three with 0.8 seconds remaining. The Aces countered by drawing up a play for Young, who converted a layup over the outstretched &mdash; well, the not-stretched &mdash; arms of Magbegor to send the game into overtime.&nbsp;
The Aces would outscore the Storm by 12 in the overtime period to snag a 2-1 series lead.
If I can re-center the conversation on Plum, it's worth putting more spotlight on her. She's fallen by the wayside in a sense, though it's somewhat understandable due to the historic performances that Wilson and Gray are in the midst of.&nbsp;
Plum hasn't been at her regular season level; her per-game and efficiency numbers are slightly down. It's important to note that it hasn't shifted the way she's been defended. She's carefully watched off the ball, and occasionally trapped when she has it.
Despite her shot not falling at an elite clip right now, she's remained impactful because of her gravity. And as the play above showed, she hasn't been afraid to get her hands dirty when necessary.
The fun part? The rugged screening we saw from Plum in this game isn't a new development. It's been an under-the-radar staple of the Aces' half-court offense. I don't think it's hyperbole to call Plum one of The W's best screeners, regardless of position.
It would appear that Plum agrees.
"I feel like you see me," Plum told Basketball News with a laugh when asked about her screening after practice on Saturday.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Ask basketball questions and good things usually follow lol <a href="https://t.co/sUwQxFn3he">https://t.co/sUwQxFn3he</a> <a href="https://t.co/CotaVrj90J">pic.twitter.com/CotaVrj90J</a>
&mdash; Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1566176708528570368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2022</a></blockquote>

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When asked if there was a coach that pushed her to grow as a screener, she pinpointed former Aces head coach &mdash; and Detroit Pistons Bad Boy &mdash; Bill Laimbeer as an influence.
"Honestly, I learned that from Bill," Plum said. "We did a lot of block-to-block screens, so I was setting more Flex screens. Becky has me setting more back screens and cross screens."&nbsp;
We'll take a brief pause here to showcase some examples. Plum has done a tremendous job of prying her teammates open, from a variety of angles.&nbsp;
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Plum doesn't go half-speed when she's asked to screen someone open. She relishes the contact, and manages to toe that line without committing fouls that often.
"I definitely try to stick 'em," Plum says.
"I know, especially with Seattle, they're gonna stay on me. If I can give A'ja just a second, I really try to [make contact]. My family played football, so I feel like I have a little of that in me."
Plum likened herself to a linebacker trying to thump a ball carrier; I may lean more towards a fullback with the duality of lead blocking or slipping out and becoming a threat herself.
The Aces now find themselves in the red zone, if we want to carry the cross-sport comparison forward. With a 2-1 lead heading into Tuesday night's Game 4, they now have a pair of shots to punch their ticket to the WNBA Finals.
Following their overtime thriller, the momentum is certainly on the Aces' side right now.

Nekias Duncan breaks down the impact Aces guard Kelsey Plum is having beyond her scoring.

Screen time: Highlighting Kelsey Plum's not-so-hidden talent

The WNBA playoffs just started, and we've already had our fair share of unforgettable moments.
The New York Liberty boast a pair, with guard Marine Johannes' ridiculous Game 1 pass and her star teammate Sabrina Ionescu's five-point burst in five seconds. I'm still not over the overwhelming defensive possessions from the Chicago Sky to close out Game 3 against the Liberty. Chelsea Gray and the Aces set a three-point record in Game 2 of their series against (what's left of) the Phoenix Mercury; the tactical warfare of the Seattle Storm-Washington Mystics matchup was too good for a first round series.&nbsp;
As if there isn't enough to talk about, regular season awards are beginning to drop. On Monday, Chicago Sky head coach and general manager James Wade was named Executive of the Year for his offseason work. We'll be getting word on the rookies &mdash; Rookie of the Year and the All-Rookie team &mdash; on Thursday. You can see the rest of the schedule for announcements <a href="https://www.wnba.com/news/wnba-announces-new-process-for-selecting-all-wnba-teams-and-unveils-end-of-season-awards-schedule/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Before the official awards are announced, here's who I would've chosen on my fictitious ballot. Part I will be focused on first batch of awards: Rookie of the Year, the All-Rookie team, Coach of the Year, and Most Improved Player.
(If someone from The W's league office is reading this: Hi, hello, I'd love to vote next season if you'll have me!)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (AUGUST 25)
Honorable Mention (HM): Rebekah Gardner &mdash; Chicago Sky
Gardner's averages (8.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists) don't scream off the page, but she's one of the league's best role-players. She's a spirited driver with a blend of physicality and graceful footwork that allows her to bully weaker defenders. Her nose for the ball is uncanny for a guard; she's good for at least one "Where did she come from?" rebound in a crucial point of a game.
And then there's the defense.
She led all rookies in steals per game (1.4), but that honestly doesn't do her justice. Gardner is a&nbsp;nasty&nbsp;screen navigator, and she pairs that with an unrelenting motor. Turn on a Sky game and you'll see her hounding the opposing team's best perimeter player to the point of needing screens in the backcourt. Here's&nbsp;some&nbsp;of the work she did in the Liberty series &mdash; and note that the last clip is a&nbsp;bad&nbsp;foul call.
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Her quickness, aggression, and ability to anticipate help make her one of The W's best defenders. Spoiler alert: She got an All-Defensive First Team nod from me because of her work.&nbsp;
3. NaLyssa Smith &mdash; Indiana Fever
I don't begrudge folks for looking at the Indiana Fever's record (5-31) or their score differential (minus-11.1) and deciding to pass on watching 20-plus games of theirs. This was an incredibly young team that also went through an early season coaching change. They ended the season on an 18-game losing streak; trust me, I get it.
But man, there was some fun in there if you gave them a chance. The play of NaLyssa Smith was certainly one of the bright spots.
Though listed at 6-foot-4, Smith doesn't operate much like a true big. There's a fluidity and shiftiness present that makes her a matchup nightmare. Players her size shouldn't be able to use their handle to get to spots at a whim&nbsp;and&nbsp;shoot from distance if given the space.&nbsp;
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Smith led all rookies in rebounds (7.9) and ranked second in scoring (13.5) behind Atlanta Dream wing Rhyne Howard (16.2). Smith racked up eight double-doubles on the season; the rest of the rookie class combined for nine.
2. Shakira Austin &mdash; Washington Mystics
Rookie bigs aren't supposed to be as good as Austin is defensively. To be a key cog as a rookie is wildly impressive; to be a key cog on the best defense in basketball &mdash; the Mystics had a sterling 96 defensive rating &mdash; is absurd, frankly.&nbsp;
Austin was tasked with banging with post brutes like Sylvia Fowles while also being asked to play multiple coverages against ball screens. Her activity and footwork pops in space. She was a shortlist All-Defensive team candidate for me (ultimately didn't make it) this season, and it shouldn't surprise anyone if she becomes a mainstay moving forward. She's that&nbsp;good already.
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The offensive flashes are intriguing. The same footwork she displays defensively allows her to be a productive roll threat offensively. She's already flashed the ability to make short roll reads, and she's comfortable putting the floor on the deck for a dribble or two. I'm not sure if the finishing or the jumper expands first, but growth in either area would take her to another level offensively. The fact that there's a pathway to&nbsp;both&nbsp;happening ... the Mystics have a good one on their hands.
1. Rhyne Howard &mdash; Atlanta Dream
Though I wouldn't be opposed to Austin winning the award, I think the answer is Howard.&nbsp;
Leading all rookies in scoring is an easy thing to point to. The efficiency numbers &mdash; 37.9% from two-point range, 34.3% from three, 48.9% True Shooting &mdash; are an easy counter for people who think Austin should win it. I think either argument is missing the forest for the threes.
In year one, Howard was good enough to be the number one option on a just-missed-the-playoffs team. She got the opposing team's best defender from day one while playing in an offense lacking multiple dribble-drive threats for most of the season.&nbsp;
The context wasn't easy, and Howard found a way to score at a high clip, display in-season growth as a creator,&nbsp;and&nbsp;be a plus-wing defender at the same time.&nbsp;
Howard is a pull-up artist, a moving target off the ball, a willing passer against aggressive ball screen coverages, and someone who closed the year getting to the rim at a high clip. Over her last seven games, she averaged 8.6 three-point attempts (35% efficiency) and 7.7 free throw attempts. That is incredibly&nbsp;difficult for someone in her position to do.&nbsp;
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I can't wait to see her with more offensive talent around her. The foundation for Howard is already strong.
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM (AUGUST 25)
Rhyne Howard, Shakira Austin, NaLyssa Smith, Rebekah Gardner, Queen Egbo (Indiana Fever)
Egbo (and her frontcourt teammate Emily Engstler) got less attention than Smith, but it's hard not to be excited about the defensive prowess. Egbo has pretty wild timing as a shot-blocker. She generally leaves the floor after her opponent goes up, giving her a cleaner window to swat shots.
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I'm a fan of her mobility, and I think there's real potential for her to be a scheme-diverse weapon once she cleans up some of her technique. Foul trouble was a bit of an issue, and a large part of that was because she coudn't contain herself when asked to play more aggressively in PnR. She'd often run into the ball-handler when hedging out, or swipe down at the ball and get caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
A year of seasoning will do her some good, as would gaining some upper body strength to help with her finishing and post defense.
COACH OF THE YEAR (AUGUST 26)
3. James Wade &mdash; Chicago Sky
You have to give Wade, The W's Elevator Emperor, his coaching chops, too.
The Sky led The W in assist rate (70.7% of field goals assisted) by a healthy margin and posted a top-three offensive rating (105.8). Their high-octane defensive system led to an elite mark once again (99.7 defensive rating). The only player on the roster to appear in all 36 games was new addition Emma Meesseman, and Wade made sure her versatility was highlighted in his inverted offensive attack.
2. Becky Hammon &mdash; Las Vegas Aces
Hammon will likely win the award, and it'll be well&nbsp;deserved if/when she does. Though there was plenty of talent on the Aces roster when she took over, it is&nbsp;not&nbsp;easy to implement drastic scheme changes on both ends of the floor. It takes a high-level of trust and buy-in to make that happen; for Hammon to garner that much respect in her rookie* season as head coach is outstanding.
The Aces went from a team that infuriatingly ignored the three-point line (ranked last in three-point rate in each of the past four seasons) to one that bombed away (4th this season). A'ja Wilson was&nbsp;finally&nbsp;empowered (I'm not mad, I promise) to fire from deep, and she answered the bell with a 37.3% clip on moderate volume. The freedom given to Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray was on full display all season long. Jackie Young was trusted with more responsibility.
Quietly, the defense arguably looked more different than the offense did. Gone were the consistent deep drops against ball screens as a way to encourage pull-ups and wall off the paint. The Aces ramped up the pressure this year.
To begin the year, their bigs were tasked with playing at the level of the screen. That shifted to more drop coverage towards the middle of the season, but the drop was maybe a step below the screen -- still much higher than last season.
We saw more switching, and scram-switching to get smaller guards out of mismatches. The result wasn't always clean, but we saw a level of versatility from this group that was nearly unheard of under the previous (and to be fair, pretty successful) regime.
1. Tanisha Wright &mdash; Atlanta Dream
It's hard to overstate just how much of a mess the Dream were last season. On the court, they were rough; they finished with the second-worst record in the league (8-24) while finishing ninth in offense (97.5 ORTG) and defense (104 DRTG). Off the court, it was even worse.
They cycled through multiple head coaches last season and faced front office turnover. There was a Chennedy Carter...suspension? Erasure? Placement in purgatory? We're still not 100% sure what happened. There was video of a fight posted that featured several members of the Dream roster. Last season was an absolute mess.
For Wright to come in and help establish structure and culture &mdash; on and off the floor &mdash; impressed the heck out of me. She was tasked with building an offense around a rookie (Howard), and managed to do so while also empowering Cheyenne Parker as a post hub. It's hard to stress how few rim threats Wright and the Dream had to work with; Aari McDonald, 11 games of Tiffany Hayes (who then left during the playoff push) and 15 games of AD Durr was the best she had.
I think there would be more of a groundswell of support for Wright's case if the Dream made the playoffs. Missing out by a game isn't enough to deter me, though.&nbsp;
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER (AUGUST 29)
HM: Sophie Cunningham (PHX), Aari McDonald (ATL)
<ul>
<li class="p1">Speaking of McDonald, she deserves flowers for her work as a driver, improved shooting, and fiesty point-of-attack defense. It's pretty hard to lose her because of her speed and ability to navigate screens. She's also (annoyingly) good at drawing fouls/selling contact. I'm excited for Year 3 Aari.</li>
<li class="p1">Cunningham saw her role change midway through the season. Suddenly slotted <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/sophie-cunningham-giving-phoenix-a-lift-at-the-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as a small-ball 4</a>, Cunningham thrived as a spacer, embraced on and off-ball screening, and punched above her weight defensively.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
3. Sabrina Ionescu &mdash; New York Liberty
I went back and forth with Cunningham and Ionescu for the third spot. Do you reward Ionescu's bump in production with a healthier campaign, or do you reward Cunningham's bump in production due to the heightened role?&nbsp;
I landed on Ionescu, who saw increases in virtually everything; no, seriously, the only box score stat that didn't improve (or decrease, when it comes to turnovers) from last year was her foul rate (1.8 to 2.1 this season).&nbsp;
She was a first-time All-Star with averages of 17.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.3 assists. Spoiler: she was the only player in The W to average at least 17-7-6 this season, and only the second player in W history (Candace Parker, 2015) to accomplish the feat.&nbsp;
Ionescu is one of the most dynamic ball screen operators in the sport. She's a daring passer, aggressive driver, and fearless pull-up shooter. When the latter is going, there isn't much you can do with her.&nbsp;
2. Ezi Magbegor &mdash; Seattle Storm
Don't let the Seattle Storm's midseason addition of Tina Charles &mdash; and her insertion into the starting lineup eight games after her debut &mdash; throw you off the scent. Ezi Magbegor balled out this year.&nbsp;
Magbegor was a Day 1 starter for the first time in her career and flourished with more playing time. Her defensive prowess <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ezi-magbegor-cares-not-for-your-space" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was evident early on</a>, making life incredibly difficult for her foes. Because of her length and timing, teams didn't have much luck challenging her at the rim. And because of her mobility, attacking her in space &mdash; either with ball screens or in isolation &mdash; wasn't a fruitful endeavor, either. She was building out a legitimate DPOY case through the first month of the season.
That dwindled as the year went along. While she was and is more disciplined than she was last season, Magbegor still dealt with bouts of foul trouble. Bulkier centers can still move her on the block when given those matchups. Overall, Magbegor remains a high-level defedner that should be in DPOY or All-Defensive team talks for years to come.
What's gone under the radar is her growth offensively. She became a more willing jump-shooter, though the volume isn't at the point where teams have to worry altering her gameplan against her yet. I found myself floored by some of her self-created shots this season.&nbsp;
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Color me intrigued moving forward.
1. Jackie Young &mdash; Las Vegas Aces
Young's case is pretty straightforward -- her numbers <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/players/y/youngja01w.html#per_game0">jumped across the board</a>, she defended at an All-Defense level for a large chunk of the season, and she's turned herself into a reliable shooter. The latter point, her shooting growth, has spearheaded a lot of what she's now able to accomplish offensively. Aside from Sixth Player of the Year, this may be the slam dunk-iest award selection of the season.
For a deeper dive into her on and off-court growth, I'd highly <a href="https://www.wnba.com/news/the-journey-of-jackie-young/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recommend this piece</a> from my guy Mark Schindler of WNBA.com.

Nekias Duncan gives his award picks for Rookie of the Year, the All-Rookie team, Coach of the Year, and Most Improved Player.

2022 WNBA Awards: ROTY, All-Rookie Team, COTY, Most Improved

Is the NBA ready to add an expansion team? Evan Sidery explores what kind of team you could build in a present-day expansion draft.

NBA Expansion Mock Draft: What would a new expansion team look like?

CJ McCollum scored 27 of his 32 points in the first half, Brandon Ingram shook foul trouble to add 27 points and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the San Antonio Spurs 113-103 on Wednesday night in a Western Conference play-in game.
The Pelicans, who finished ninth in the West after starting the season 3-16, will play at the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night, with the winner getting the eighth seed and a spot against the top-seeded Phoenix Suns in the first round. New Orleans beat Los Angeles in three of four meetings this season.
The Pelicans seemed headed to a rout, leading 96-75, with 10:39 left, but the 10th-seeded Spurs used a 16-1 run over the next 5:25 to cut it to 97-91. The Pelicans missed seven consecutive shots during the run.
Ingram a pair of soft jumpers in the lane and Jonas Valanciunas added a short jumper to out New Orleans back on top, 103-91. Valaciunas had 22 points and 14 rebounds.
Devin Vassell led San Antonio with 23 points. Dejounte Murray had 16 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
After Ingram went to the bench with three fouls 5:17 before halftime, McCollum carried the Pelicans offensively. In a 14-4 run over the final 3:36 of the half, McCollum made two 3-pointers and pierced the San Antonio defense for two finger-roll layups on strong drives into the lane as New Orleans built a 61-50 lead.
McCollum made 10 of his first 12 shots, including 2 of 3 from long range, despite drawing consistent double teams.
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TIP INS
Spurs: After eight years as a San Antonio assistant, Becky Hammon officially assumed her new position as head coach of the WNBA&rsquo;s Las Vegas Aces. Coach Gregg Popovich said he would miss Hammon&rsquo;s contributions. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s been wonderful for a while,&rdquo; Popovich said. &ldquo;I just wish her well, and I just wish she was here.&rdquo; &hellip; G Dejounte Murray had two of his 13 triple-doubles against the Pelicans in the regular season.
Pelicans: While F Zion Williamson missed the entire regular season with a fractured right metatarsal, the former No. 1 overall pick was doing 360-degree dunks in pregame before sliding back into his street clothes. Coach Willie Green said he was not looking for Williamson to return until the beginning of next season.

The New Orleans Pelicans beat the San Antonio Spurs 113-103 on Wednesday night in a Western Conference play-in game.

McCollum, Ingram lead Pelicans past Spurs 113-103 in Play-In game

Three weeks ago, the hottest basketball team in the NBA was 1-16, its head coach was <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/whats-wrong-with-the-houston-rockets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly on the hot seat</a>, and its best guard <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/john-wall-will-continue-to-sit-games-after-meeting-with-rockets-front-office" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was asking why he couldn't play</a>.
Now, the Houston Rockets are steamrolling through their schedule (albeit an easy one) and have won seven contests in a row &mdash; the longest active streak in the entire league.
According to Cleaning the Glass, since Nov. 24 (when the streak began), Houston has the third-best offensive rating in the NBA; the team ranks 27th on the season. Further, parts of the streak have come without No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green, top scorer Christian Wood and lead ball-handler Kevin Porter Jr. due to injuries.
... How on Earth?
The Rockets have done it with a true ragtag bunch of players I thoroughly enjoy, ranging from unproven rookies to undrafted fliers to castoff veterans. In their most recent win against the Brooklyn Nets, Houston was without Porter Jr. and Green, but had six players reach double-digit points. Only 32-year-old Eric Gordon and 2021 No. 24 pick Josh Christopher were drafted.
Garrison Mathews was cut by the Boston Celtics in training camp after two seasons in Washington. The 25-year-old forward has now latched on with Houston &mdash; and is leading all NBA wings in points per shot attempt (1.37). His shot diet, per NBA Stats:
<ul>
<li>32-for-80 (40%) on jump shots, all of which have been threes, with 71 as catch-and-shoot</li>
<li>5-for-5 on dunks</li>
<li>7-for-8 on layups</li>
<li>Of his 93 total shot attempts, 85 had him holding the ball for less than two seconds</li>
</ul>
That's the whole thing. Mathews, like Stephen Silas and the Rockets, is an efficiency extremist.&nbsp;
Undrafted guard Armoni Brooks has taken on a rotation role since Houston's last loss to the Boston Celtics. He's another volume three-point shooter who lives to fire away from above the break; per Cleaning the Glass, a whopping 76% of his shots have come from that one zone. Brooks has canned 42% of those shots since he joined the full rotation, which ranks in the 81st percentile at his position.
The 23-year-old is also a solid ball-mover. Brooks has handed out 15 assists against just 6 turnovers in those eight games, five of which involved zero turnovers at all. I'm a major fan of his game dating back to summer league, and the opportunity is well-deserved.&nbsp;
Of course, there's also second-year standout Jae'Sean Tate, who is building on his breakout season as an undrafted rookie in 2020-21. Tate is averaging a healthy 15.3 points, 5.3 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game on the winning streak. He's bullied his way to the basket; 62% of Tate's shots have come at the rim on this run, and he's finishing at a high-level 69% clip. His 1.6% block rate is in the 90th percentile among forwards.
Houston obviously has Christian Wood and Eric Gordon as well, who are both making over 46% of their respective threes during this run. The rookie Christopher cashed in with 18 points on 7-for-7 shooting on Wednesday night. Journeyman D.J. Augustin may not be the engine, but he's drilled 50% of his threes while averaging 3.2 assists in 14.6 minutes per game off the bench during this stretch.
The team's shot chart reads like a "Basketball Analytics for Dummies" manual. The Rockets lead the entire league in rim frequency and are fifth in three-point frequency. That trend hasn't changed with the winning &mdash; Houston is actually up to second overall in three-point frequency since the streak began.&nbsp;
What's different is that the shots are going in. Since Nov. 24, the Rockets have the eighth-best percentage at the rim (66.4%) and are fifth-best beyond the arc (40.7%). A remarkable 67.2% of their made field goals have been assisted by a teammate, which is second among all teams over their past seven games.
Is this just some giant collective hot streak bolstered by a lull in the schedule? Or have the young Rockets finally clicked? Either way, it's been fun watching players capitalize on their opportunities &mdash; despite their record, this is a team worth tuning in to watch.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I find in the void):
<ul>
<li>Speaking of hot shooters, we have to give Mike Conley more love. Among NBA players with at least 75 pull-up attempts this season, he leads with a 61.5% Effective Field Goal percentage. That's over six percentage points higher than second-place Stephen Curry, who's a decent shooter in his own right.</li>
<li>Marvin Bagley III has played in 6 of the Kings' last 8 games since Alvin Gentry took over as interim head coach. He appeared in just four games under Luke Walton this season. Bagley is averaging 9.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in 20.5 minutes under Gentry, while making 11 of 13 at-rim shot attempts and 5 of 12 three-point attempts. It's nothing wild, but I'll have Bagley in the back of my mind going forward.</li>
<li>We're back to grumbling about the Mavericks' shot distribution. They're 3-11 since Nov. 17 and, rank 29th in at-rim frequency during that span. This is a team with arguably the best driving threat in the league in Luka Doncic and a cast of good pick-and-roll bigs. WHY??</li>
</ul>

Garrison Mathews and Armoni Brooks have helped complement a red-hot Houston Rockets team.

Stats Notebook: Rockets winning with an unlikely band of heroes

The bedrock of any fruitful offense is a player who generates advantages, and is either adept enough to capitalize individually or surrounded by teammates capable of doing so. As such, Spencer Dinwiddie, despite missing most of the 2020-21 campaign after tearing the ACL in his right knee, should be one of the most coveted free agents in the NBA this offseason.
Dinwiddie is a premier advantage creator. His 2019-20 showing underlined his value to an offense, as he averaged 20.6 points, 6.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds on 54% True Shooting percentage. Kevin Durant&rsquo;s year-long absence and Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s injury struggles left the Brooklyn Nets low on initiators. That thrust Dinwiddie into an outsized lead ball-handling role, though one that enabled him to exhibit the depths of his entire game and illuminate why he&rsquo;d provide considerable impact to potential suitors moving forward.
According to Synergy, only 11 players logged more isolation possessions than him in 2019-20. Despite the mammoth volume (205 possessions), he ranked in the 69th percentile in points per possession (0.951), which was seventh among the 12 players meeting that threshold. James Harden, Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard, Luka Doncic, Chris Paul and Jayson Tatum were the only players to finish above him. Dinwiddie blends both usage and production in a manner emulated by a select number of preeminent offensive orchestrators.&nbsp;
The foundation of his isolation excellence is a standstill burst accompanied by a mastery of pace. His 0-60 acceleration is elite. He regularly burns defenders with sudden tweaks of tempo and explodes out of dribble moves or changes in direction, while maintaining leverage by getting lower than opponents. Bigs caught on an island are ruthlessly exposed; by controlling the cadence in ball screens, he forces these desirable matchups. At 6-foot-5, he overwhelms opposing guards and varies his stride length to cover ground as he deems appropriate. He&rsquo;s technically savvy and athletically gifted, rendering him a high-level isolation scorer.
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Contriving buckets out of thin air is a rare and critical commodity in the NBA. Fitting that criteria is Dinwiddie, who also sat near the top of the league in pick-and-roll possessions two seasons ago. Over 48% of his offense came via pick-and-rolls and he was in the 61st percentile. (His 667 pNr possessions slated fifth overall behind Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, Lillard and Doncic).
Factor passes into the equation and his 1,286 possessions were fourth, good for the 62nd percentile at 0.974 PPP.
Using high ball-screens against a drop-coverage big is his forte. He loves side pick-and-rolls, and is particularly dangerous when rejecting the screen to scoot downhill with a head of steam. His footwork gifts him the shiftiness to shimmy around or perplex rim protectors and find space to finish. He&rsquo;s entirely comfortable embracing physicality, ramming into the chest of big men to score. The change of pace and quickness remain boons. He craftily primes screens with his handle, body angles and dexterity.
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Commandeering such substantial workloads and conserving relatively efficient numbers is a skill in itself. The volume signifies a malleable approach to creation that prevents defenses from keying in one certain tendency and eliminating it to curtail functionality in those actions. Pick-and-roll initiation is typically central to offense, as is individual creation. Dinwiddie offers both to many teams lacking those traits in a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/2021-nba-free-agency-ranking-kawhi-leonard-chris-paul-and-the-top-10-offseason-players-on-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">free-agent class</a> short on star talent.
All of this works because he&rsquo;s one of the NBA&rsquo;s best downhill guards. According to Cleaning the Glass, his 38% rim frequency ranked in the 74th percentile, and he shot 60% around the basket (59th percentile). Not only is Dinwiddie manufacturing a ton of quality looks, but he&rsquo;s also converting at an above-average rate. It&rsquo;s one thing to create those shots; it&rsquo;s immensely more valuable to be equipped to score effectively there.
Part of what makes him such a multifaceted downhill threat in ball screens and isolation is his capacity for drawing fouls. Among 35 players to average at least 20 points per game in 2019-20, his .437 free-throw rate ranked eighth behind Joel Embiid, Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zion Williamson, Anthony Davis, Doncic and Young.&nbsp;
He seeks out and anticipates contact. An overzealous/poorly-timed stunt or brazen hand-check will be seen by the officials. Any misplaced limb is a death knell for defenders. He is unafraid to charge directly toward a big man, absorb the hit and draw a pair of foul shots. Sometimes, his tricks end poorly and the upshot is an errant heave toward the rim. But largely, he parades to the charity stripe with ploys emblematic of Young and Harden&rsquo;s chicanery.
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As a passer, he touts live-dribble faculty and marvelous placement on lobs, and probes in the paint for drop-off feeds. He can seamlessly rifle skip passes in pick-and-rolls, guide big men into space on alley-oops and instantly transition from dribble to pass. His advantage creation is amplified because he preserves those advantages, occupying defenders cognizant of his speed and pace manipulation.&nbsp;
Among the top-30 players in total assists in 2019-20, just Westbrook (93%) and Harden (92.4%) had a higher percentage of their assists resulting in threes or shots at the rim than Dinwiddie (92.1%), according to PBPStats. The dude catalyzes highly valuable shots for others, and does so through advanced means.
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There are, however, bouts of overly audacious lobs. In general, his decision-making can drift too much toward being premeditated. He&rsquo;ll zone in on a certain read, whether it&rsquo;s deciding between passing and shooting or different passing options, and not deviate from it when needed. Traps are prone to flustering him.&nbsp;
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The premeditated tendencies, in conjunction with his poor off-the-bounce shooting, is the foremost factor standing between him and top-tier initiator status. He shot just 29.2% on pull-ups in 2019-20 and 33.7% the year prior. His willingness often skews too confidently or timidly. Defenders sag off to mitigate driving lanes.&nbsp;
As Dinwiddie hits the free-agent market, his struggles to scale into a larger off-ball role really blur things. Despite the passing, driving and self-creation intersection, he&rsquo;s not good enough to spearhead elite offense because of the shaky jumper. That wouldn&rsquo;t be much of an issue for his future employer if he was comfortable in a secondary role.&nbsp;
Theoretically, a 6-foot-5 guard with viable off-ball shooting, versatile passing, foul-drawing guile and burst should function well in a complementary spot. Dinwiddie, though, prefers to dictate the action on his terms. He&rsquo;s methodical when the ball swings his way and gun shy on spot-up chances, even though he&rsquo;s drilled a reasonable 37% of his catch-and-shoot triples (176-for-476) since 2017-18. That mark should be lucrative enough to provoke consistent close-outs and open lanes to the paint. Flashes of him puncturing a titled defense as a driver exist.
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Assessing his value through the prism of a new team -- the Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards or New Orleans Pelicans, for example -- each franchise rosters a (super)star better qualified to be the No. 1 offensively. Dinwiddie in a condensed role is useful, but brings diminishing returns. An upgrade in offensive talent compared to the 2019-20 Nets could spur a retooled style from him. It&rsquo;d likely be necessary to maximize his opportunities.&nbsp;
The one team presenting a clear fit without a well-established, superior perimeter creator is the New York Knicks, a logical marriage for both sides. While the Knicks could stand to sign more shooting, what they truly require is a perimeter advantage creator who is better than Derrick Rose. Dinwiddie would be that.&nbsp;
Dinwiddie would help relieve Julius Randle&rsquo;s cumbersome usage by increasing the first-time All-Star's pick-and-pop or short-roll reps, while turning the latter's mid-post isolations into a feature rather than a staple. His slashing would empower RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to serve as practical second-side handlers against compromised defenses. He and Mitchell Robinson would harmonize in pick-and-rolls.&nbsp;
On the other end, New York should house much of the infrastructure to insulate Dinwiddie. He is not an abjectly terrible defender, but he is also not good, existing somewhere between those broad endpoints. Inactivity defines his imprint, and he has a habit of floating for long stretches. That is not necessarily bad on its own, but his impact is felt mostly through negative occurrences &mdash; though not abundantly.&nbsp;
Dinwiddie struggles around screens. Ball-handlers achieve dribble penetration against him because he&rsquo;s a bit weak, passive and slow laterally at the point of attack. When he plays with physicality, he can pose issues for creators and deny or top-lock assignments off the ball; those instances are irregular though.&nbsp;
He&rsquo;s also behind the curve with off-ball positioning and rotations. He will make many of the necessary decisions &mdash; a closeout, splitting the difference between weak-side shooters, stunt-and-recovers &mdash; but the execution might fall short. That dichotomy produces inconsistent outcomes. At other times, he&rsquo;s just harmful as an off-ball defender, losing sight of his assignments.
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Brooklyn&rsquo;s personnel tasked Dinwiddie with guarding an array of offensive stars. He&rsquo;s not a bottom-rung defender. Periods of physicality, while anomalous, transpire on and off the ball. A context conducive to off-ball deployment &mdash; shadowing guys with his size and physicality to neutralize screens or pinning him to the least threatening creator &mdash; would mitigate his shortcomings.&nbsp;
The Knicks could probably provide that and enable him to remain the principal perimeter handler. They would vastly benefit from his offensive services and he would benefit from their defensive core. The pairing is sensible.
Dinwiddie is very good. Few free agents are better. Through pick-and-roll or isolation play, he checks many important boxes offensively: rim pressure, diverse passing and fashioning of easy scores.&nbsp;
Gauging a player is closely tied to discerning their strengths and weaknesses, recognizing the value of each and ranking them. Dinwiddie&rsquo;s most prevalent strengths &mdash; advantage creation and capitalization &mdash; are vital for team-building. His most prevalent weaknesses &mdash; offensive scalability and on-ball defense &mdash; are well down the list of damning issues.&nbsp;
Soon, a team will sign him. That team will almost assuredly improve offensively because of his addition and be quite satisfied. The gems of this free agency class are scarce, but Spencer Dinwiddie is one of them.&nbsp;

Jackson Frank breaks down the isolation and pick-and-roll savviness of Spencer Dinwiddie and why NBA teams should go after him.