Peacocks

The NBA has officially revealed the starters for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game, with the league&rsquo;s brightest stars earning recognition ahead of the midseason showcase scheduled for Feb. 15 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. The starters were announced during MLK Day&rsquo;s national NBA broadcast on NBC and Peacock.
This year&rsquo;s All-Star Game debuts a new U.S. vs. World format, featuring a three-team round-robin tournament with two U.S. teams and one international team, each playing four 12-minute games before a championship finale.
The Eastern Conference starters are as follows:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks &ndash; 10th All-Star start</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics &ndash; 5th start</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks &ndash; 3rd start</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons &ndash; 2nd start</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers &ndash; 2nd start</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;Meanwhile, the Western Conference starters comprise of:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors &ndash; 12th All-Star appearance</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers &ndash; 6th start</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder &ndash; 4th start</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets &ndash; 8th start</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs &ndash; 2nd start</li>
</ul>
Among the notable storylines for this year&rsquo;s all-star game include:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">LeBron James&rsquo; Starter Streak Ends: For the first time since 2004, LeBron James will not be named an All-Star starter, ending a historic 21-year streak due in part to injury and missed time this season. He missed the first 14 games of this year due to a sciatica injury.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Voting Structure: Starters were selected based on a combined vote &ndash; 50% fans, 25% media, 25% NBA players &ndash; with reserves to be named by head coaches later.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">USA vs. World Format: With starters now set, the league will assign players to the USA and World teams in the coming weeks as part of the revamped All-Star competition designed to spotlight global talent alongside American stars.</li>
</ul>

The NBA has officially revealed the starters for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game.

NBA officially announces 2026 All-Star Game starters

The NBA is once again shaking up its All-Star Game format &ndash; this time with a bold international twist.&nbsp;
According to ESPN&rsquo;s Shams Charania, the 2026 edition will feature a three-team, round-robin tournament comprising two U.S. teams and one World team. Each squad will have eight players, totaling to the usual 24-man all-star teams.
Games will follow a &ldquo;Ryder Cup&ndash;style&rdquo; structure, with 12-minute quarters, and the team with the best record across the matchups will take home the honor.
The proposal was presented by the league and NBPA to the NBA&rsquo;s Competition Committee, where it received a largely positive reception from stakeholders, including governors, executives, and players, according to Charania.
The 2026 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for February 15, 2026, at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California &ndash; home of the Los Angeles Clippers.&nbsp;
The game will switch from primetime to a Sunday afternoon slot, aligning with NBC&rsquo;s Winter Olympics coverage on NBC (and streaming via Peacock), as part of the NBA's new media partnership&nbsp;
ANALYSIS: With this new format, this injects global rivalry and stakes as it taps into national pride and global competition, potentially sparking higher player engagement and viewer interest.
The NBA is also seemingly seeking redemption after the 2025 All-Star format &ndash; a four-team, target-score tournament &ndash; was deeply criticized and led to a 13% drop in TV ratings.
This new format is also leveraging Olympic timing and coverage as February of 2026 coincides with the Winter Olympics. NBC aims to cross-promote basketball and Olympic content, potentially boosting viewership across both events.
Finally, this move might be aiming to capitalize on the NBA&rsquo;s international superstars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Victor Wembanyama, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as the world squad promises serious star power.

The NBA is once again shaking up its All-Star Game format – this time with a bold international twist.

NBA 2026 All-Star Game reimagined as USA vs. World with three-team, round-robin format

The NBA has unveiled the complete 2025-26 regular-season schedule for all 30 teams.
This schedule marks a full 82-game slate &ndash; though two games per team will remain TBD and depend on the outcomes of the upcoming NBA Cup.
A landmark 11-year media rights overhaul introduces NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video into the mix alongside ESPN/ABC, replacing Turner Sports' TNT coverage. This reshuffles the national broadcast schedule:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">ABC: Saturdays and Sunday afternoons</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">ESPN: Wednesdays and Fridays</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">NBC &amp; Peacock: Sundays and Tuesdays (NBC returns to NBA for first time in 24 years)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Prime Video: Multiple slots, including Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays</li>
</ul>
Highlight Matchups &amp; Calendar Showcase
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Opening Night (Oct 21): Thunder vs. Rockets (Durant returns home) and Lakers vs. Warriors (LeBron vs. Curry trailer), both airing on NBC.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Thanksgiving Week: Kevin Durant debuts in Phoenix (Nov 24); Anthony Davis faces the Lakers (Nov 28).</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Key Rivalries:</li>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Celtics vs. Trail Blazers (Jrue Holiday's return and Lillard&rsquo;s homecoming) on Jan 26</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Lakers in Cleveland on Jan 28&mdash;likely LeBron&rsquo;s final Hometown game.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Christmas Day: A five-game slate with eight Western Conference teams among the ten participants.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Rivalry &amp; Rookie Spotlights: Flagg&rsquo;s debut vs. Wembanyama in opening week; You&rsquo;ll also see showdowns like Ja Morant vs. Zion Williamson and a potential MLK Day Finals preview of Thunder vs. Cavaliers.</li>
</ul>
This scheduling is showing that the NBA is subtly balancing star-driven programming with strategic spacing &ndash; eight out of ten Christmas Day teams come from the West due to key Eastern injuries and reduced star movement.&nbsp;
The teams are assigned 80 initial games, with the final two per team hinge on NBA Cup performance, weaving the in-season tournament into the broader schedule narrative.
This schedule launch marks a seismic shift in the NBA's presentation, distribution, and storytelling. With a newly-balanced media ecosystem, major returns (e.g., NBC), and a league structure built to showcase stars and rivalries, the 2025-26 season is set to redefine how basketball is broadcast &ndash; and how fans experience the game.
&nbsp;

The NBA has unveiled the complete 2025-26 regular-season schedule for all 30 teams.

NBA releases full schedule for 2025-2026 season

The NBA has released its most anticipated schedule matchups in a post by ESPN&rsquo;s Shams Charania, featuring the Opening Night and Christmas Day games for the 2025&ndash;26 season, delivering marquee showdowns and setting the tone for a star-studded campaign.
Opening Night (October 21)
Opening Night on October 21 will be broadcast nationally on NBC and Peacock, spotlighting two blockbuster matchups:
&minus; Houston Rockets @ Oklahoma City Thunder: A thrilling homecoming for former Thunder star Kevin Durant as he returns with Houston to face the reigning champions. &minus; Golden State Warriors @ Los Angeles Lakers: A high-voltage matchup featuring Stephen Curry and LeBron James, with LeBron entering his record-breaking 23rd NBA season.
Christmas Day (December 25)
The holiday slate promises five consecutive nationally televised games, packed with compelling narratives and rivalries, to air on ABC, ESPN, and streaming platforms. The schedule includes:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Cleveland Cavaliers @ New York Knicks &mdash; A high-stakes Eastern Conference preview at Madison Square Garden.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">San Antonio Spurs @ Oklahoma City Thunder &mdash; Featuring the defending NBA champions, the Thunder, against rising superstar Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Lakers &mdash; A renewed Durant-versus-LeBron showdown packed with star power.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Mavericks @ Golden State Warriors &mdash; A fresh chapter as rookie Cooper Flagg faces off against Stephen Curry&rsquo;s Warriors.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Minnesota Timberwolves @ Denver Nuggets &mdash; Closes out the day with a Western Conference clash featuring Anthony Edwards and Nikola Jokic.</li>
</ol>
Opening Night passages build excitement around new dynamics and rivalry renewals &ndash; especially Durant&rsquo;s return to OKC and the enduring Lakers-Warriors, James-Curry rivalry. Christmas Day continues the NBA&rsquo;s tradition of elite storytelling, blending dynasties and rising stars on a festive stage, as NBC&rsquo;s expanded footprint &ndash; including its Opening Day coverage &ndash; marks a significant shift in broadcast strategy, signaling the league&rsquo;s evolving media landscape.
These scheduling highlights promise an electrifying launch and a festive climax to the NBA's regular season, setting up what could be a memorable year of hoops.

The NBA has released its most anticipated schedule matchups in a post by ESPN’s Shams Charania.

NBA unveils 2025-26 Opening Night & Christmas Day matchups

Purdue&rsquo;s Zach Edey decided it was the right call to go back to school instead of staying in the NBA draft. His predecessor as national player of the year, Kentucky&rsquo;s Oscar Tshiebwe, is sticking with his pro pursuit.
And Connecticut&rsquo;s reign as NCAA champion will begin with multiple starters having left for the NBA draft and one returning after flirting with doing the same.
The 7-foot-4 Edey and UConn guard Tristen Newton were among the notable names to announce that they were withdrawing from the draft Wednesday, the NCAA&rsquo;s deadline for players who declared as early entrants to pull out and retain their college eligibility.
Edey&rsquo;s decision came Wednesday night, in social media posts from both&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/zach_edey/status/1664075497490227202?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the center</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/boilerball/status/1664076605637947392?s=12&amp;t=srroTo7kpdGXnm7-atvQSA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Boilermakers program</a>&nbsp;that earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-player-of-year-edey-97210ca64c44cd64ca0120406dcc969a">behind Edey, The Associated Press men&rsquo;s national player of the year</a>.
But Tshiebwe&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs7A_lVv4CC/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced late in the afternoon that he would remain in the draft</a>&nbsp;after a college career that included&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-st-peters-peacocks-mens-basketball-sports-oscar-tshiebwe-johnny-davis-7174341881f37ac8750f8f9119a6fce8">being named the AP national player of the year in 2022</a>.
For the current champions, Newton (10.1 points, 4.7 assists, 4.5 rebounds)&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/D1Tristen/status/1663887976647237632?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">is returning</a>&nbsp;after being one of four Huskies to declare for the draft after a run&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/final-four-uconn-san-diego-state-1de224560610defcbc4eb9c40cbb588a">to UConn&rsquo;s fifth national championship in early April</a>. He scored a game-high 19 points to go with 10 rebounds in the victory over San Diego State in the title game.
The others were&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ncaa-championship-uconn-san-diego-state-782bd15323bda90f2b664653cae99e6e">Final Four Most Outstanding Player Adama Sanogo</a>, wing Jordan Hawkins and versatile guard Andre Jackson Jr. Sanogo (17.8 points) and Hawkins (16.3) have made it clear they have closed the door on their college careers, while team spokesman Phil Chardis said Wednesday night that Jackson (6.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists) would remain in the draft.
The Huskies have 247sports&rsquo; No. 3-ranked recruiting class for next year to restock the roster, led by McDonald&rsquo;s All-American point guard Stephon Castle.
The NBA&rsquo;s withdrawal deadline is June 12, but is moot when it comes to college players returning to school due to the NCAA&rsquo;s earlier timeline to retain playing eligibility.
STAYING IN SCHOOL
TREY ALEXANDER:&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/TrickyTrey23/status/1664070367982280707?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Creighton gets back</a> a 6-4 guard who averaged 13.6 points and shot 41% from 3-point range in his first full season as a starter.
ADEM BONA: The 6-foot-10 forward and Pac-12 freshman of the year&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/UCLAMBB/status/1663947898332286976?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">is returning to UCLA</a>&nbsp;after starting 32 games as a rookie and averaging 7.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks &mdash; with coach Mick Cronin praising his toughness for &ldquo;competing through multiple injuries for as long as he could&rdquo; in a statement Wednesday.
EDEY: He averaged 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.5 assists while shooting 60.7% from the field. His presence alone helps Purdue be a factor in the Big Ten race.
JOSIAH-JORDAN JAMES: The 6-6 guard went through the NBA G League Combine and had workouts with multiple teams&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://utsports.com/news/2023/5/31/mens-basketball-james-set-to-rejoin-vols-for-fifth-year.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">before opting to return</a>&nbsp;to Tennessee for a fifth season alongside teammate Santiago Vescovi.
JUDAH MINTZ: The 6-3 freshman averaged 16.3 points and 4.6 assists&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://cuse.com/news/2023/5/31/mens-basketball-hes-back" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">for Syracuse</a>, ranking third among Division I freshmen in scoring behind only Alabama&rsquo;s Brandon Miller and Lamar&rsquo;s Nate Calmese.
OWLS&rsquo; RETURNEES: Florida Atlantic got good news after its surprise Final Four run with the return leading scorers Johnell Davis (13.8) and Alijah Martin (13.4).&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/37768605/johnell-davis-alijah-martin-withdraw-nba-draft-return-florida-atlantic" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ESPN first reported</a>&nbsp;their decisions, while Martin later&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/martin_alijah/status/1664007891882328066" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">posted a social media statement</a>.
TERRENCE SHANNON JR.: Illinois got a big boost with Shannon&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/Sn1per_T/status/1664063397468438530?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announcing his return Wednesday night in a social media post</a>. The 6-6 guard is returning for a fifth college season after averaging 17.2 points.
SPARTANS&rsquo; RETURNEES:&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/MSU_Basketball/status/1663931468761169926" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michigan State announced</a>&nbsp;that guards Jaden Akins and A.J. Hoggard have withdrawn from the NBA draft. Standout guard Tyson Walker had previously withdrawn in April, setting up Tom Izzo to have five of his top scorers back.
GOING PRO
KOBE BROWN: Missouri&rsquo;s 6-8 swingman&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/TheKobe24Brown/status/1664041800917729281" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">opted against returning for a fifth college season</a>&nbsp;after being an&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/all-sec-team-brandon-miller-tshiebwe-taylor-aa366b637e7352bacaab5e7cd4e5dd9e">AP first-team all-Southeastern Conference pick</a>&nbsp;averaging 15.8 points last season.
JAYLEN CLARK: The third-year UCLA guard averaged 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds while leading the Pac-12 with 2.6 steals en route to being named Naismith national defensive player of the year. Cronin called him a winner with strong intangibles who made UCLA &ldquo;a better program because he chose to be a Bruin.&rdquo;
BRICE SENSABAUGH: The Ohio State freshman averaged 16.3 points and 5.4 rebounds in 31 games before missing his final two in the Big Ten Tournament due to a knee injury. He&rsquo;s a potential first-round prospect.
TSHIEBWE: The 6-9, 260-pound forward is a tough interior presence who led the country in rebounds for two straight seasons (15.1 in 2022, 13.7 in 2023) while racking up 48 double-doubles. But he faces an uncertain next stop and is projected at best as a second-round prospect.

Purdue’s Zach Edey decided it was the right call to go back to school instead of staying in the NBA draft.

Purdue’s Edey returning to school; Kentucky’s Tshiebwe stays in NBA draft

Add Fairleigh Dickinson to the list of giant-killing New Jersey schools in March Madness.
The 16th-seeded Knights pulled off a mammoth upset Friday night, upsetting&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/no-16-fairleigh-dickinson-stuns-no-1-seed-purdue-in-march-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">top-seeded Purdue 63-58</a>&nbsp;in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Undersized FDU played big against the Boilermakers and became only the second No. 16 seed to topple a No. 1 seed.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ncaa-tournament-umbc-no-1-seeds-march-madness-df6c353dc4ff76ec99278efd69a8b454" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maryland-Baltimore County was the first,</a>&nbsp;knocking off Virginia in 2018.
FDU&rsquo;s win blew up&nbsp;most of the remaining brackets.&nbsp;Just who are these guys?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Entering today, only .065% of March Madness brackets remained perfect. Now, after No. 16 FDU&rsquo;s upset victory over No. 1 Purdue, there are ZERO perfect brackets remaining in ESPN&rsquo;s bracket challenge. There were more than 20 million entries, but they&rsquo;re all busted by Day 2. 😅
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1636902393366433793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2023</a></blockquote>

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

WHERE IS FDU?
The school has&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.fdu.edu/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">two campuses in New Jersey</a>: Teaneck and Florham. The school&rsquo;s website list a total enrollment of 11,400 students, though U.S. News &amp; World Report lists the number as 7,860 as of fall 2021. The Teaneck campus is close to New York City; the Florham campus is on a former country estate of socialites Florence Vanderbilt and Hamilton Twombly. FDU has owned the campus since 1958. FDU also has campuses in Wroxton, England, and Vancouver, British Columbia.
WHAT&rsquo;S FDU KNOWN FOR?
Founded in 1942, notable alumni include billionaire and NFL Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf; Peggy Noonan, journalist and speechwriter to former President Ronald Reagan; former college basketball coach and ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg; and U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Delaware Democrat.
WHO ARE THE FDU STARS?
Demetre Robinson (16.6 points per game), Grant Singleton (14.3), Ansley Almonor (14.1) and Joe Munden Jr. (10.6). Sean Moore, the Knights&rsquo; leading scorer in the Purdue game with 19 points, came in averaging 6.7.
HOW DID THE KNIGHTS GET HERE?
FSU&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/fairleigh-dickinson-merrimack-664ffd8a126a62c7dec293f536924ac1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost in the Northeast Conference Tournament final to Merrimack by a single point</a>&nbsp;but got the automatic bid to the NCAA tourney because Merrimack wasn&rsquo;t eligible as it transitions to Division I.&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/fairleigh-dickinson-texas-southern-ncaa-446ebf664cbbba7960caeaf2f52fe6d4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FDU routed Texas Southern in the First Four play-in round</a>&nbsp;to earn a date against Purdue.
DID YOU KNOW?
The FDU win is just the latest in eye-catching victories by New Jersey schools.
A year ago, Saint Peter&rsquo;s toppled No. 2 seed Kentucky in overtime to bust a bunch of brackets and then&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-purdue-boilermakers-mens-basketball-st-peters-peacocks-mens-basketball-sports-college-basketball-20b5611db138644c0ff32550749e11a9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">became the first 15-seed to reach the Elite Eight</a>&nbsp;by beating ... Purdue. FDU&rsquo;s shocker also came just one day after No. 15 seed Princeton ousted No. 2 seed Arizona, 59-55.

Here's everything you need to know about No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson after they pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history.

March Madness: Where and what is Fairleigh Dickinson?

While almost everyone in March Madness wants to be this year&rsquo;s version of reigning national champion Kansas, almost anyone playing over the next three weeks would also love to be this year&rsquo;s version of Doug Edert.
If that name doesn&rsquo;t ring a bell, maybe Edert&rsquo;s wispy mustache will. Edert was the reserve guard from Saint Peter&rsquo;s who turned into a social media sensation after scoring 20 points in a first-round upset over Kentucky last March.
By the time he and the Peacocks made history by becoming the first 15 seed to advance to the Elite Eight, Edert&rsquo;s mustache had its own Twitter handle and Edert himself had deals hawking chicken wings and a few other products.
All of this was spurred by the confluence of social media&rsquo;s ever-growing imprint on society (and sports) combined with the new and loosely regulated world of NIL, the name, imagine and likeness deals that allow college athletes to cash in on paid endorsements.
Edert&rsquo;s success story is one of several examples of the ways social media has turbocharged March Madness, that one-of-a-kind American sporting event that had communal elements built in &mdash; think, the bracket and the office pool &mdash; long before the internet even existed.
The key for someone like Edert &mdash; and there will almost certainly be another &ldquo;someone like Edert&rdquo; once the shots start flying &mdash; was to move quickly.
&ldquo;My main focus was basketball, and obviously, I&rsquo;m trying to do whatever I can to help my team win games,&rdquo; Edert told The Associated Press. &ldquo;But at the same time, I&rsquo;m trying to capitalize on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.&rdquo;
Some things &mdash; namely, the emerging love affair with his jump shot, to say nothing of his &rsquo;70s-style &rsquo;stache &mdash; took on a life of their own, the way things often do on TikTok, Instagram and the other social media platforms that help drive the tournament&rsquo;s popularity. Others &mdash; namely, the hot wings deal and a few more sponsorships &mdash; came because he struck quickly at the urging of his friends and parents, who were watching this unheralded guard from a tiny school blow up in real time.
&ldquo;Nobody was pressuring me, saying, &lsquo;You&rsquo;ve gotta do this, or you&rsquo;ve gotta do that,&rsquo;&rdquo; Edert said. &ldquo;They were just behind me, and they were offering to help in any way they could.&rdquo;
Edert would not divulge the amount he has made from his sponsorships, which included a deal shooting celebrity video messages and another promoting a website that offers adult recreational sports leagues.
But, he said, it gave him a &ldquo;nice little start, for whatever happens after college.&rdquo; Certainly, it gave him more than someone like him might have gotten only a couple years ago. And it was not something anyone saw coming for a guard from a 3,400-student school in Jersey City, New Jersey.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s always that chance that a star player, or an underrated player from a team that goes far, will capture the hearts of America, and where will they capture it? On social media,&rdquo; said Jeffrey Weiner, senior vice president for NIL marketing at GSE Worldwide. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be on TV, and then they&rsquo;ll go look for that person on social media. People are watching these games with their phones in their hands.&rdquo;
Edert said he rarely posted on social media, and had a following of about 1,500 on Instagram in early March of last year.
&ldquo;And after the Kentucky game, I look at my phone and it&rsquo;s 6,000 followers and it&rsquo;s going up,&rdquo; he said. It is now 149,000, barely a blip by hoop-star standards, but a 1,000 times more than he had a year ago.
Perhaps the single most impactful social media post to emerge in the NIL era came from the TikTok account of Oregon&rsquo;s Sedona Prince.
Her takedown of the NCAA for the sparse weight room facilities at the 2021 women&rsquo;s tournament shined a spotlight on the disparities between men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s college sports. That video currently has been viewed more than 12.3 million times.
In the month between February 2021 and the time Prince posted a month later, the hashtag &ldquo;NCAA&rdquo; spiked from 7 million to 490 million views on TikTok. The hashtag &ldquo;March Madness&rdquo; has gone from 957 million views in 2021 to 1.4 billion views this year on TikTok &mdash; and that 2023 figure was calculated before a single basket had been made in the actual tournament.
Prince&rsquo;s TikTok following now numbers 2.8 million. With the explosion in popularity came a deal with an energy drink that includes equity and cash in exchange for creating content on social media. Her current feed also includes sponsored content with Buick and Crocs, which means she now has a bank account to go with her unexpected fame.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve tried to optimize my NIL opportunities.,&rdquo; Prince said in an interview last year with Yahoo Finance. &ldquo;I take what I do off the court, which is TikTok and certain brand deals, but turn them into something I can use for the rest of my life., money that I can retire with, put my kids through college with.&rdquo;
The NIL platform Opendorse estimated that companies spent $917 million on college athlete deals in the first year they were approved. Most of those earnings were made via social media.
These days, many arrangements come on the front end through so-called collectives that are tied to schools, often sealed during the recruiting process. Edert, however, was making no such money when he signed to play for Shaheen Holloway at Saint Peter&rsquo;s.
&ldquo;At the beginning of the year, when they explained to students that you can start your own business or have your own brand, I&rsquo;m thinking, &lsquo;This doesn&rsquo;t really apply to me,&rsquo;&rdquo; Edert said of the preseason athletic department presentations he sat through.
Now, it does, and Edert&rsquo;s star turn at March Madness last year also played a roundabout role in his second run through the recruiting process. When Holloway left Saint Peter&rsquo;s for a job at his alma mater, Seton Hall, several Peacocks, including Edert, used social media to let the world know they were entering the transfer portal.
&ldquo;I announced early in the morning, and by 7:30 or 8, my phone started blowing up,&rdquo; Edert said.
Most of those calls and messages were from coaches at Edert&rsquo;s new school, Bryant University, where they knew a lot more about the guard out of Nutley, New Jersey than they might have the year before. Those coaches weren&rsquo;t the only ones.
&ldquo;Even yesterday, I was signing autographs and taking some pictures with kids in middle school and high school,&rdquo; Edert said. &ldquo;They said &rsquo;We love you, Doug.&rdquo; And I felt great. I&rsquo;m just doing what I love to do. There&rsquo;s a lot of love and support from a lot of people, and it really means a lot.&rdquo;

Doug Edert’s success story is one of several examples of the ways social media has turbocharged March Madness.

Social media madness gives opportunities to Edert and others

If the latest spasm of conference realignment in college sports was supposed to spell doom for the Big 12 or Pac-12 &mdash; or for any other conference, for that matter &mdash; somebody forgot to tell the basketball coaches.
In college hoops, where virtually all success is measured by how a team, or conference, fares in March Madness, the 2022-23 campaign about to tip off looks a lot like business as usual.
With football-driven realignment joining the rapidly expanding transfer portal and the players&rsquo; newfound and meagerly regulated ability to make money off their celebrity, the postseason NCAA tournaments, men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s, are, more than ever, the glue that holds the increasingly fractured fabric of college sports together.
&ldquo;At the end of the day, you play for the tournament,&rdquo; Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said recently in summing up the bottom line of any college basketball season. &ldquo;If you can&rsquo;t play in the tournament, then you&rsquo;re not good.&rdquo;
In football, even after the announcement that the postseason will expand to 12 teams by 2026, a conference title has and will always be the most direct route to one of the few coveted spots in the playoff.
In basketball, whether a team wins a conference regular-season title, a conference tournament title or no conference title at all has little bearing on what the final verdict will be. Of the past 10 national champions, only three won their conference tournament. Hardly anybody, for instance, thinks of St. Peter&rsquo;s as the MAAC champion but anyone following the sport knows the Peacocks made it to the Elite Eight last year.
The same is true whether a team hails from the West Coast Conference (where Gonzaga is a major power every year) or the Big 12 or Pac-12, which appeared to be among the so-called &ldquo;losers&rdquo; in the most recent shuffling of teams to new conferences.
Last summer, Texas and Oklahoma announced they would be leaving the Big 12 to join the SEC. This summer, UCLA and Southern California said they were leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten.
Shortly after the Big Ten expansion was announced, the conference cut a seven-year media rights deal worth more than $7 billion. The SEC will make about $7 billion over the next 10 years. Over the weekend, the Big 12 agreed to a six-year contract extension for its media rights worth more than $2 billion through 2030-31.
Though there will only be room for one or two teams from each conference, the expanded football playoff could be worth more than $2 billion in media rights for 11 games. That would be about double what the basketball rights are worth in annual terms (and not distributed to as many conferences or programs).
It explains the reason for the moves, but does not necessarily portend the end of the Big 12 or Pac-12.
A lot of that is thanks to March Madness. Letting small guys go against the behemoths in a 68-team bracket each season remains an ingeniously simple idea &mdash; one that has left the bottom line in basketball, at least on the court, largely the same despite steady changes to the business model.
&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t need football to have a good basketball program,&rdquo; Baylor coach Scott Drew said. &ldquo;It does help financially. It does help in recruiting, because people want to have a good football program to go watch and support. But you can do it without, as well. That&rsquo;s been proven.&rdquo;
In fact, the Big 12 heads into the 2022-23 season as the top-ranked basketball conference in the nation, on the strength of the last two national champions (Kansas and Baylor), a stacked team at Texas (still in the league for now), a strong TCU team and perennial contenders such as Kansas State and West Virginia. As of last week, for what it&rsquo;s worth, the conference had three football teams ranked in the AP Top 25.
And coming soon to the Big 12, after the latest round of realignment is complete, are Cincinnati and Houston &mdash; a pair of brand names in basketball; the Cougars were in the Final Four two seasons ago.
The Pac-12 does not have the same depth, but even after it loses the two SoCal teams, it will still have a perennial powerhouse in Arizona, a 21st century Goliath in Oregon and at least one program enjoying a mini-renaissance in Colorado; neither Arizona nor Colorado have been powerhouses in football for decades.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t lose any sleep over what conference we&rsquo;re going to be in, or what could happen,&rdquo; said CU coach Tad Boyle. &ldquo;Because the University of Colorado is a great academic institution. We&rsquo;ve got a great brand name.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s a brand name that has shown up in the bracket in five of the last 10 tournaments &mdash; hardly the stuff of North Carolina or Duke, but enough to keep it relevant, even in an era in which the football program has struggled to 13 victories over the past 3 1/2 seasons.
Which is still 13 more victories than Gonzaga has because Gonzaga does not play football.
The Zags open yet another season as a favorite to make the Final Four. A few years ago, with the football-playing Mountain West Conference perennially knocking on the door, Gonzaga cut a deal with the WCC: It would stay in the hoops-only league if, instead of splitting things evenly, the conference would give the Zags a bigger share of its NCAA tournament proceeds based on how they performed in March.
&ldquo;We just felt that the more you advance, the bigger the amount should become,&rdquo; then-athletic director Mike Roth said, &ldquo;because at that point, it&rsquo;s not about the conference, it&rsquo;s the school that&rsquo;s earning it.&rdquo;
Unlike football, where Alabama, Georgia and LSU are intrinsically linked to the SEC and all the advantages that conference offers on the gridiron, when people think &ldquo;Duke, or &ldquo;Kansas&rdquo; or &ldquo;Gonzaga&rdquo; they don&rsquo;t think as much about a conference.
Unlike football, where wins in the Auburn-Alabama, Ohio State-Michigan, Texas-Oklahoma or UCLA-USC games can define a season for a program, regardless of the postseason, there is hardly ever such meaning attached to a regular-season meeting in basketball outside of Tobacco Road.
Nobody articulates it better than Boeheim, a 47-year coaching veteran whose program moved from the Big East to the ACC in 2013. Since then, the Orange have been to five tournaments, three Sweet 16s and one Final Four. Not once did they get a piece of either the regular-season or conference-tournament titles.
So, while Boeheim, like every college coach, was busy getting ready for his team&rsquo;s opener in November, it&rsquo;s not where the real focus of his season will be.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take the Sweet 16 if we finish&rdquo; sixth in the ACC, he said. &ldquo;Would I like to do better in the regular season? Sure. But I&rsquo;ll take that every year. We&rsquo;ve been very good in the tournament.&rdquo;
___
AP Sports Writers Ralph Russo and Pat Graham contributed to this report.&nbsp;

Postseason NCAA tournaments are now, more than ever, the glue that holds the increasingly fractured fabric of college sports together.

March Madness a bedrock in ever-changing college landscape

Once upon a time, not too long ago actually, a college athlete transferring from school to school was an anomaly, mostly due to the fact that said player would have to sit out a year before joining a new team, with a penalty put in place to deter it from happening. Those days are over now, as a new system has been put in place that has resulted in over 1,000 names currently being in the NCAA transfer portal.&nbsp;
This has created much discussion and debate as to whether or not this is in fact a good system to have for college basketball.
There can be many determining factors for student-athletes having the desire to leave a university. &nbsp;For instance, they could be being mistreated by a coach, something that happens far more often than many are aware of. Maybe their families simply believe their son or daughter&rsquo;s talents would be better utilized elsewhere, or maybe they are homesick and want to go to a college closer to home due to that familial support for their mental well being. Or, if their coach leaves for greener pastures, it's because their commitment, comfortability and connection was with that coach who will no longer be there.&nbsp;
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Another rising phenomenon is a player at a smaller school who had a successful season or a big tournament run having the opportunity to transfer to a bigger school. Case in point, St. Peter&rsquo;s Doug Edert. His school had an amazing March Madness run, had the entire country rooting for the Peacocks as underdogs and made it to the Elite Eight (the first No. 15 seed to do so).
Edert's coach, Shaheen Holloway, left St. Peters soon thereafter to take a job with his alma mater Seton Hall. So why shouldn&rsquo;t Edert be able to leave to go to a bigger school with a bigger opportunity and platform? (Edert settled on Bryant University, by the way.)
This has been a very controversial topic from the moment it was implemented. Some hold the position that players should have the freedom to easily transfer schools in order to find the best fit for them (just like coaches do). Others believe that athletes should be required to &ldquo;honor their commitment&rdquo; to the school and retain the negative consequences of the past (i.e., sitting out a year or losing a year of eligibility) in order to deter this from becoming the widespread situation that it currently has become.
I sat down with two assistant coaches at Louisville, former Duke assistant Nolan Smith and former Maryland interim head coach Danny Manning, to hear their thoughts on this particular topic.
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Etan Thomas: What are your overall thoughts on the transfer portal?&nbsp;
Nolan Smith: "My initial thoughts were that, 'If a coach can leave a kid after they&rsquo;ve recruited that kid and promised him and his family that he will be their coach for the duration of his college experience, why shouldn&rsquo;t the players be able to?' But now, obviously you&rsquo;re seeing kids at different colleges and universities, and they&rsquo;re not sticking around for a long time, and you&rsquo;re wondering, 'Why isn&rsquo;t this kid staying?' So, a few things here: Kids, together with their parents, need to start making better decisions about the schools they&rsquo;re choosing. We&rsquo;re dealing with a lot of transfers here now, and we&rsquo;re seeing that a lot of kids are coming in beaten down mentally and emotionally. So if that&rsquo;s leading to the transfer, I have no issue with a player removing himself or herself from an unhealthy situation.
"But, I will also say, they need to do a better job of doing their homework first. Don&rsquo;t rush decisions. If you ask the questions that need to be asked and really do your homework on a lot of these coaches, you will know which coaches you need to stay away from no matter how much they wine and dine you while they&rsquo;re recruiting you."
Etan: I definitely agree with that. Some of these coaches present a false image of themselves and their program during recruiting, and the kid gets there and they see they were lied to. But like you said, that&rsquo;s where you have to do your homework. Ask around, research, ask the non-starters on the team how the coach treats them, ask former players... like, really research.
Smith: "Exactly, you have to do your research before. But also let me say this: Sometimes, parents and players don&rsquo;t have patience. They want everything to happen immediately and it doesn&rsquo;t always work like that. You know, sometimes there is a process. Some players come in with a preconceived notion that they should be one-and-done, or two-and-done, and things don&rsquo;t always work out according to your plan. Sometimes you gotta be patient and your time will come."
Etan: Did y&rsquo;all have a lot of transfers at Duke while you were there? I&rsquo;m trying to remember, because we had a lot at Syracuse. And all for different reasons, but a lot of turnover happening all over.
Smith: "We brought in a couple. We lost two kids who were playing a good amount of minutes their freshman year. It worked out for one of them; the other is basically playing the same amount of minutes he was playing with us and same position. But yeah, we were losing guys just like every other program &mdash; two to three a year I would say."
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Etan: Do you think it&rsquo;s getting almost like AAU where guys just leave situations regularly? And do you think that&rsquo;s good for the game as a whole?&nbsp;
Smith: "It&rsquo;s definitely becoming a fad. You see starters transferring. Or you factor in NIL deals (name, image and likeness) and a kid may be in a mid-major [school] averaging 20, and he could stay there and the next year maybe average 25 and improve every aspect of his game, but he can [also] transfer to a bigger market &mdash; an ACC or Big 10 school &mdash; and has the opportunity to get a bigger NIL deal in a bigger market, and I understand that as well. Not everyone will be turning pro, so capitalizing on their earning potential is their ceiling, so you have to factor that in as well."
Etan: That&rsquo;s a great point. Does it make it difficult to build your program when there is so much turnover?
Smith: "It&rsquo;s extremely difficult. Okay, so at Duke, we were planning on recruiting four [prospects], but then you have to factor in the two transfers, so now you&rsquo;re recruiting six. So you have to either go out and get a grad transfer or [use] the portal, so now you&rsquo;re bringing in six new guys to the team, so that&rsquo;s in essence starting over. I think lot of teams are going straight [to the] transfer portal. We saw in the tournament against Arkansas and Texas Tech, [we] we&rsquo;re playing some old veteran grad-transfer led teams. They were really good and really old. But I&rsquo;m sure there was a lot of team-building things they had to do with a whole new team."
Etan: Do you think that hurts the overall college game, or do you think that helps it?&nbsp;
Smith: "I think overall I would say yes [it hurts it] because teams are rebuilding every year; it&rsquo;s essentially AAU. And as a fan of the game, you&rsquo;re not getting to know the players and see them grow and really root for them because you&rsquo;re gonna have a whole new group of players the next season. Now, let me be clear, I am an advocate for athletes and them having the freedom and flexibility to move as they do choose. But, there are some aspects from a coaching standpoint and from a fan standpoint that does make it problematic."
Etan: I definitely understand that, and at the same time like you opened up with, it allows players not to feel trapped, so to speak, when they&rsquo;re with coaches who aren&rsquo;t who the players thought they were when they recruited them.
Smith: "Definitely, 100%. With all the problems and issues and concerns, it always comes back down to that. If these head coaches are not treating these young men and young women right, they need to have the freedom to leave. So much goes on that people have no idea about, of coaches abusing their power, literally tormenting players both mentally and emotionally, or playing mind games with them, holding their scholarship over their head or playing time over their head. So now, they can&rsquo;t do that because a player has the option to leave without penalty or repercussion, and they can no longer have that power over them so at the end of the day, it always comes back down to that."
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Etan Thomas: Do you think the transfer portal is getting out of hand? There are over 1,000 players currently in it.
Danny Manning: "Regardless of what anyone thinks about the transfer portal, the fact is it&rsquo;s here. And we have to now navigate with this being the new reality. It&rsquo;s a part of college sports, and it&rsquo;s going to be here whether people complain about it or not. I&rsquo;m a fan of the portal; there are a lot of things that do go into it. Of course, you have to do your research and see why a guy is transferring; you definitely don&rsquo;t want to recruit any problem players, but sometimes, things just simply didn&rsquo;t work out in their previous situation and they are looking for a better fit, a better opportunity. And there is something to be said about having the ability from a coaching standpoint to bring in a player who has some college experience who can help out your team immediately. I do think there are more people in the portal than there are scholarships available, but that&rsquo;s a whole 'nother issue."
Etan: Yes, that definitely is a problem. How does the portal help or hurt the recruiting process?&nbsp;
Manning: "Well, again from a coach's perspective, it helps. Let me give you an example. Back in the day, the recruiting process could drag on and on, but now with the portal, it widens the pool so it would be in the player&rsquo;s best interest not to drag his process out because that position has a higher potential of being filled. Of course, the top high school athletes may be in a different situation, but for the majority of the high school players, they can&rsquo;t let it drag out and enjoy the recruiting process and waste a lot of coaches' time when they aren&rsquo;t really interested in that particular school. So now, the pressure is turned up quite a bit on that player making his decision because the pool has widened with the addition of the transfer portal."
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Etan: So from the standpoint of you recruiting other players, you like it. But what about from the standpoint of you retaining your players and your roster? It seems like a lot of guys leaving are rotation players, starters even. Has that become problematic?&nbsp;
Manning: "Yes, that&rsquo;s definitely problematic, but that&rsquo;s part of what we&rsquo;re dealing with in this new reality of the transfer portal. There are players who are in pretty good roles and pretty good situations who feel that they want to be in better roles and better situations. And they have a right to exhaust those avenues. The days of putting together a college team with the mindset of when we were in school &mdash; of bringing in this high school player and this young player is going to develop and get better over time &mdash; that&rsquo;s almost out the window. We&rsquo;re putting together teams now like a professional organization on a year-to-year basis."
Etan: And you don&rsquo;t see it going backwards? Initially, I thought it was more that the NCAA decided to allow players the freedom to transfer without having to sit out because of COVID &mdash; at least that&rsquo;s what I thought. But you keep referring to it as the &ldquo;new reality&rdquo; or &ldquo;new normal.&rdquo; So you think it&rsquo;s here to stay?&nbsp;
Manning: "I do. I don&rsquo;t think they can backtrack at this point once they&rsquo;ve given it to them. They opened Pandora&rsquo;s box now, so that&rsquo;s why I keep referring to it as the new reality because college basketball as we once knew it &mdash; where a player transferring was an aberration &mdash; is no more. It&rsquo;s going to be the norm moving forward."
Etan: In your opinion, does the transfer portal make it harder for high school players due to the fact that, like you said in your beginning statement, colleges now have the opportunity to recruit an experienced player now? Does the portal hurt high school players?&nbsp;
Manning: "Definitely. For that reason alone. You&rsquo;re a college coach and sometimes you want someone who has already been through the rigors of college, who understands the academic piece and understands navigating all of the other responsibilities that you have to handle as a college athlete. A lot of times, it takes freshman a while to adjust to that process. They&rsquo;re away from home, they get homesick, freshman blues, but just overall adjusting to life on your own and handling your business. So the level of maturity is typically already there with a transfer player because they&rsquo;ve already been through it
"My advice to a high school kid who is being recruited and they feel like a college is a good fit for them, my advice to them is jump on your offer and claim it right away &mdash; because that portal changes the game. I know with social media high school players like to post and tweet that they received an offer from this school and that school and let the process drag out. Well, with the transfer portal, you&rsquo;re going to see high school players lose offers they once had, and a coach is going to call them and say that scholarship is no longer available because we decided to sign a player from the transfer portal because you were dragging your feet to make a decision. High school players need to understand that this is a business, and they need to treat it as such, and with the transfer portal, they&rsquo;re actually at a disadvantage, and that&rsquo;s just the reality of this new norm.
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Louisville assistant coaches Danny Manning and Nolan Smith share their thoughts on the polarizing NCAA transfer portal.

Louisville's Danny Manning, Nolan Smith discuss NCAA transfer portal

Every year, there are a few individuals who thrive during the NCAA Tournament and ultimately help their stock. This year, one of those March Madness success stories happens to be a coach: Shaheen Holloway.
The 45-year-old head coach led the Saint Peter's Peacocks to the Elite Eight, which marked the first time in NCAA history that a 15-seed advanced that deep in the tournament. After becoming a household name in recent weeks, Holloway has inked a six-year deal with Seton Hall to become their next head coach.&nbsp;
From 1996 to 2000, Holloway played for Seton Hall and he still holds the school record for career assists (681). He was inducted into the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. From 2010 to 2018, he was an assistant coach with the Pirates, and now he returns to run the team.
"Life has a way of coming full circle," Holloway said. "This is certainly a full circle moment for my family and I. Seton Hall is near and dear to my heart; it's where I became a man, where I met the love of my life, where I spent countless hours honing my crafts as a basketball player and a basketball coach. To say that I'm excited to get started as the head men's basketball coach at Seton Hall University would be an understatement. Thank you to President Nyre and Bryan Felt for this opportunity. It is a dream come true. Pirates fans, I look forward to seeing you all in the community, on campus and at the Prudential Center."
Holloway was named the 2020 MAAC Coach of the Year, and he led the Peacocks to the 2022 MAAC Tournament title and three straight campaigns with 10-plus victories in conference play (and three consecutive top-three finishes in the MAAC). Under Holloway's tutelage, Saint Peter's produced five All-MAAC selections, the NCAA Division I leader in blocked shots, the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, and 10 student-athletes that were named to the MAAC All-Academic Team.
"I am incredibly excited to welcome Shaheen Holloway and his family home to Seton Hall," said Bryan Felt, the school's athletic director. "Shaheen is a winner in every sense of the word, and he is not only an incredible coach, but also an incredible educator of young men. He works tirelessly to put his student-athletes in a position to succeed, and he makes them believe that they can achieve anything with hard work and determination. That is evidenced by his historic NCAA Tournament run this month. Shaheen made an unforgettable impact here at Seton Hall first as a student-athlete and then again as an assistant coach, and now we're ready to watch him take over our men's basketball program as head coach and lead our Pirates to further greatness. Welcome home, Coach Holloway!"
Holloway and Saint Peter's became this year's Cinderella story when they defeated 2-seeded Kentucky in the first round, 7-seeded Murray State in the second round and then 3-seeded Purdue in the Sweet 16. Saint Peter's is a very small school with <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/putting-saint-peters-shocker-over-kentucky-in-historical-context" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a relatively miniscule budget</a>. so it was shocking to see them eliminating elite programs.
Holloway is a finalist for the Hugh Durham Coach of the Year award, Ben Jobe Coach of the Year award and Skip Prosser Man of the Year award.

After becoming a household name due to Saint Peter's tournament run, Shaheen Holloway accepted the head-coach job at Seton Hall.

Seton Hall hires Shaheen Holloway after Saint Peter's historic run

For the first time in history, we will have a Duke vs. North Carolina meeting in the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels defeated Saint Peter&rsquo;s in the Elite Eight behind a dominant performance from Armando Bacot, who posted 20 points and 22 rebounds.
The Tar Heels (No. 8 seed) were red hot the second half of the season, winning huge games including Coach K&rsquo;s final home game at Duke, and the team also defeated No. 1 seed Baylor in the round of 32. Armando Bacot leads them in scoring with 16.4 points per game, while Caleb Love has had a great tournament and continues to make a case for himself in the 2022 NBA draft.
The Peacocks (No. 15 Seed) are the first 15 seed to ever make it to the Elite Eight, as well as the first MAAC Conference team to do so. Shaheen Holloway and co. are 22-11 on the season and are led by Daryl Banks III, who averaged 11.5 points per game. KC Ndefo scored 10.5 points per game and is a three-time winner of MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Award.
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Carolina got started early in this one, jumping out to a 7-0 lead which was the largest deficit Saint Peter&rsquo;s had faced in the tournament. Hassane Drame connected on a corner three which got the Peacocks on the board at 9-3. The size of Bacot and Brady Manek proved to be a lot to handle in the first half, as the Tar Heels took a 38-19 lead into the break.&nbsp;
Caleb Love led all players with 12 points at the half, while Drame led the Peacocks in scoring with 5. Manek connected on two triples in the first period and scored 10 points, and Bacot posted 8 points and a whopping 15 rebounds.&nbsp;
By the 13:30 mark in the second half, North Carolina held a 51-26 lead thanks to another Manek triple. Love would add a huge transition dunk to make it 61-38, and that would all but do it. Manek ended with 19 points and 8 rebounds, while the Tar Heel starters scored all but 2 of the team&rsquo;s points on the night. Fousseyni Drame led Saint Peter&rsquo;s in scoring with 12 points off the bench.
Though the Tar Heels brought it to an end, this historic run by Shaheen Holloway and Saint Peter&rsquo;s will be remembered forever. What an incredible, incredible season.&nbsp;
The Final Four is set for New Orleans, Louisiana, where North Carolina will meet Duke on Friday night. Get your popcorn ready.
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The Tar Heels defeated Saint Peter’s in the Elite Eight behind a dominant Armando Bacot performance. It'll be Duke vs. UNC next.

North Carolina defeats Saint Peter’s 69-49, heads to the Final Four

The Elite Eight is set! After two more days of madness, nail-biters, and upsets, eight programs will meet this weekend to earn trips to the Final Four. Here's the breakdown of Thursday and Friday's results:
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Saint Peter&rsquo;s def. Purdue 67-64, will face North Carolina Happy National Peacock Day! Shaheen Holloway and the Saint Peter's Peacocks have stunned another powerhouse, defeating the No. 3 seed Purdue Boilermakers 67-64 to advance to the Elite Eight. They have now beaten Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue en route to becoming the very first No. 15 seed to make the Elite Eight in NCAA Tournament history. Daryl Banks III led them in scoring with 14 points, while Doug Edert provided 10 huge ones off the bench.
Arkansas def. Gonzaga 74-68, will face Duke In a fast-paced game for most of the night, JD Notae, Jaylin Williams and Trey Wade knocked off the No. 1 overall seed. Williams said after the game, "We've been disrespected the whole year, so it's just another thing for us.&rdquo; Notae led the way with 21 points on 9 of 29 shooting from the floor, while Drew Timme posted 25 points in (potentially) his final game for the Zags. This one had the internet buzzing - what a win for Eric Musselman and co.&nbsp;
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Duke def. Texas Tech 78-73, will face Arkansas This game was a heavyweight fight from start to finish. Texas Tech held a four-point lead at the half, but Paolo Banchero took over down the stretch, finishing with 22 points in the win. Jeremy Roach also played a huge role in this one with 15 points and 5 assists. Coach K and his Blue Devils survive and advance to a meeting with Arkansas. Must-see television ahead.&nbsp;
Houston def. Arizona 72-60, will face Villanova Kelvin Sampson is having, arguably, the best coaching season in America. He and the Cougars led wire-to-wire in this one to defeat the Wildcats, whom many had as their championship pick. Jamal Shead led the way with 21 points while Kyler Edwards posted 19. Another &lsquo;Culture Win&rsquo; for the Cougars as they will meet Collin Gillespie and Villanova in the Elite Eight.&nbsp;
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Villanova def. Michigan 63-55, will face Houston The Wildcats took the lead with 3:42 to go in the first half and never looked back. They remained in control the rest of the way behind 22 points from Jermaine Samuels and 15 from Justin Moore. This ends the Wolverines' run, which has been nothing short of impressive. Villanova will now meet Houston in the Elite Eight in a matchup of two of the most disciplined, well-coached teams in the country.
Kansas def. Providence 66-61, will face Miami (FL) The Jayhawks advance to their first Elite Eight since 2017 behind Remy Martin&rsquo;s 23 points, a season-high for him. They only got 19 combined points from Ochai Agbaji, Christian Braun and David McCormack, but were able to hold on down the stretch. The Jayhawks are the only No. 1 seed remaining in the NCAA Tournament, and they are currently the betting favorites to win it all.&nbsp;
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North Carolina def. UCLA 73-66, will face Saint Peter&rsquo;s UCLA led 64-61 with 2:08 to play, but Caleb Love had other plans. He would catch fire from deep and hit two huge shots with just under a minute to play, giving his team the 67-64 lead. Armando Bacot would add a putback with 0:15 to play to make it a five-point game. That would be enough to hold off the Bruins. Love led the way with 30 points in an incredible performance, propelling the Tar Heels into a meeting with Cinderella, the Peacocks from Saint Peter&rsquo;s.&nbsp;
Miami (FL) def. Iowa State 70-56, will face Kansas The Hurricanes have advanced to the first Elite Eight in their program's history. Senior guard Kameron McGusty led all players with 27 points in this one, something he&rsquo;s accustomed to. A Sam Waardenburg three and Jordan Miller alley-oop extended Miami's the lead to 13 points with under 2:00 to play, which sealed the deal. Jim Larranaga and co. will play the final No. 1 seed in the field, Kansas, for a spot in the Final Four.
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Eight programs will meet this weekend to decide the Final Four. Here's Derek Murray breaking down how everyone got where they are.

March Madness: Sweet 16 recap, looking ahead to the Elite Eight

Happy National Peacock Day!
Shaheen Holloway and the Saint Peter's Peacocks have stunned another powerhouse, defeating the No. 3-seeded Purdue Boilermakers 67-64 to advance to the Elite Eight. They have now beaten Kentucky, Murray State, and Purdue en route to becoming the very first No. 15 seed to make the Elite Eight in NCAA Tournament history.&nbsp;
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SAINT PETER'S HAS DONE IT! 😱😱😱 Peacocks keep dancing to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Elite8?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Elite8</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarchMadness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarchMadness</a> <a href="https://t.co/2hRQE8Efa6">pic.twitter.com/2hRQE8Efa6</a>
&mdash; NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1507529438820552711?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2022</a></blockquote>

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It was another true, team victory, as the Peacocks played well-balanced on offense and disciplined on the defensive end. Daryl Banks III led them in scoring with 14 points, while Doug Edert provided 10 huge ones off the bench.&nbsp;
Purdue held a 56-52 lead with 5:17 to play, but St. Peter's was able to claw back and tie it at 57. The end of regulation was marked with numerous clutch free throws being knocked down by Edert, Hassan Drame and Matthew Lee, doing what they needed to do to come out victorious.
Purdue's Jaden Ivey had an opportunity to tie the game with a three at the buzzer but if fell just short. On one end, jubilation. On the other, pain.&nbsp;
St. Peter's will await the winner of UCLA vs. North Carolina, as they the Peacocks will once again get a shot at a national, Blueblood program.
What a wild ride.
Madness.
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Saint Peter's defeated Purdue in the Sweet 16 to become the first No. 15 seed to get to the Elite Eight.

Saint Peter’s defeats Purdue 67-64, continues Cinderella run

The Sweet 16 field is official!
The final eight tickets to the Sweet 16 were punched yesterday, wrapping up the round of 32. Here's a recap of Sunday's action.
Iowa State defeats Wisconsin 54-49, will face Miami The 11th-seeded Cyclones pulled off another upset, defeating Johnny Davis and Wisconsin. Iowa State took the lead with 16:16 to play and were in control the rest of the way. Gabe Kalscheur had an incredible game, scoring 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting. After a couple years of real struggles, head coach TJ Otzelberger, Tyrese Hunter and Co. continue their phenomenal season and advance to the Sweet 16.
Duke defeats Michigan State 85-76, will face Texas Tech The final score here does not reflect the course of the game. Potential No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero led all players with 19 points in a strong outing, as Gabe Brown led the Spartans with 18. Sparty led by two with 2:50 to play, but Trevor Keels and Jeremy Roach hit some massive shots down the stretch. Coach K and the Blue Devils advance to the Sweet 16, where they have a date with the Red Raiders.&nbsp;
Miami defeats Auburn 79-61, will face Iowa State Miami led wire to wire in a game that, quite frankly, wasn&rsquo;t close. The starters carried the load in this one as they scored 75 of the team's 79 points. Isaiah Wong scored 21 points and Kam McGusty had 20 for the Canes as they outscored Auburn 46-29 in the second half. This was an incredible statement win for the Canes; they will meet Iowa State in the Sweet 16 for a shot at the Elite Eight.&nbsp;
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Purdue defeats Texas 81-71, will face Saint Peter&rsquo;s Purdue held a 14-point lead in the first half, but the Longhorns battled back and took a 44-42 lead of their own in the second. The Boilermakers would slam the door shut late in the contest, led by Trevion Williams' 22 points. Jaden Ivey also posted 18 points in the win. They move on to the Sweet 16 where they'll take on the red-hot Peacocks.&nbsp;
Houston defeats Illinois 68-53, will face Arizona This one was tied at 40-40 with 11:26 to play, but Houston would put on a clinic for the remainder of the game. Taze Moore scored 21 points to lead the charge as the Cougars played tremendous team basketball, especially in the second half. Head coach Kelvin Sampson mentioned &ldquo;Culture Play&rdquo; while alluding to the nature of the win, a method they&rsquo;ll no doubt need to win again in the Sweet 16.
Villanova defeats Ohio State 71-61, will face Michigan Villanova appeared in total control early in the second half, but the Buckeyes stormed back. After Ohio State had cut the lead to two points, the Wildcats hit some big threes and clutch free-throws, and they were able to hold on. Collin Gillespie led the way with 20 points, while Caleb Daniels provided 11 big points off the bench. Villanova now has a big matchup with the Michigan Wolverines in the Sweet 16.
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Texas Tech defeats Notre Dame 59-53, will face Duke This one went down to the wire as the teams traded leads for much of the second half. Kevin McCullar knocked down a pair of free throws with 40 seconds to play, extending his team's lead to 57-52, and they would hold on from there. The Red Raiders added a transition dunk just moments later and the celebration began. Kevin Obanor led all with scorers 15 points to go with 15 rebounds. Duke awaits, in a highly anticipated matchup.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
WOWOWOWOWOW This end to regulation was WILD 🤯<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarchMadness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarchMadness</a> <a href="https://t.co/4gihUvpVCq">pic.twitter.com/4gihUvpVCq</a>
&mdash; NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1505760901063852032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Arizona defeats TCU 85-80 in OT, will face Houston This one was wild. After a huge Bennedict Mathurin three, they headed to overtime where Mike Miles Jr. and Mathurin traded buckets. The Cats would hang on to win 85-80, thanks to 30 points from Mathurin and 28 from Christian Koloko. They will look to continue their potential championship journey in a huge matchup with Houston. This will be must-see action.
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Derek Murray takes us through the final games of the round of 32, and looks ahead to the matchups that await in the Sweet 16.

March Madness Recap: Sweet 16 is set

March Madness is in full effect!
The first eight tickets to the Sweet Sixteen were punched Saturday in the round of 32. Let's breakdown all of the day&rsquo;s action.
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North Carolina def. Baylor 93-86, will face UCLA What a wild, wild game. Carolina had a 25-point lead halfway through the second half &mdash; then Brady Manek was ejected. The tide turned and Baylor roared back, cutting the deficit and eventually forcing overtime. The Tar Heels were able to hold on during a wacky overtime period, and secured the win behind 30 points from RJ Davis. Before his questionable ejection, Manek was having a huge game with 26 points on 4 of 8 shooting from behind the arc. It was a gutsy, hard-fought win by the Tar Heels. They survive and advance.
Saint Peter&rsquo;s def. Murray State 70-60, will face Texas/Purdue Saint Peter&rsquo;s held a five-point lead at the break and extended it to 13 just a few minutes later. The Cinderella of the 2022 Tournament so far struck again, knocking down clutch free throws and clinging onto the lead down the stretch for the 70-60 victory. KC Ndefo played well, providing 17 points, 10 rebounds and 6 blocks. The MAAC Conference Tournament champions head to the Sweet 16 where they will meet the winner of Texas vs. Purdue.
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Michigan def. Tennessee 76-68, will face Ohio State/Villanova Michigan stunned the No. 3 seed Volunteers in this one, behind Hunter Dickinson&rsquo;s huge game. He posted 27 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists in the win. Tennessee had a six-point lead with 8:30 to play, but Eli Brooks had other plans. After narrowly making the tourney, the Wolverines weren&rsquo;t given much chance to advance very far, but here they are. They're headed to their fifth straight Sweet 16, after this huge win for Juwan Howard and company.&nbsp;
Gonzaga def. Memphis 82-78, will face Arkansas In a tremendous game for NBA draft fans, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Duren and Emoni Bates got to face off. Memphis led by 10 points at halftime, winning the physical battle early &mdash; but Drew Timme started the second half on a mission with multiple buckets, as the Tigers got in foul trouble. This was an absolute battle from start to finish, as Gonzaga was able to pull away in the last few minutes with tough defense and clutch free throws. They survive and advance, securing a meeting with the Razorbacks.&nbsp;
UCLA def. Saint Mary&rsquo;s 72-56, will face North Carolina UCLA led by only 1 point with 15:00 to play in the second half, but would put on a clinic for the remainder of the contest. The team's offensive attack was balanced, as four starters scored over 14 points, led by Tyger Campbell&rsquo;s 16 and 4 assists. The Bruins now look ahead to the Sweet 16 where they will face the red hot Tar Heels. That one should be must-see television.&nbsp;
Kansas def. Creighton 79-72, will face Providence The Jayhawks led by one point at the break &mdash; the game was tight nearly the entire way. In the final three minutes, they were able to pull away with tough defense, big-time shot-making and a breakaway bucket from Ochai Agbaji with just 0:55 to play. Remy Martin led the team in scoring with 20 points off the bench, while Agbaji and Christian Braun both played well. This will be Kansas&rsquo; 24th all-time appearance in the Sweet Sixteen.
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Providence def. Richmond 79-51, will face Kansas The Friars have been one of the tournament&rsquo;s most dominant teams. They handled business again here, led by Noah Horchler&rsquo;s 16 points and 14 rebounds, while shooting 4 of 6 from deep. Jared Bynum also provided 10 big points off the bench. Ed Cooley and co. continue to play incredible basketball, and now they get to face the No. 1 seed in the region, Kansas.&nbsp;
Arkansas def. New Mexico State 53-48, will face Gonzaga This was a low-scoring affair, obviously. The game was tied at 30-30 with less than 11:00 left to go, but Arkansas took the lead with 7:54 to play and eventually advanced. The Aggies cut the deficit down to two points with 0:10 remaining, but the Hogs were able to hold on after converting important free throws down the stretch. JD Notae led them in scoring with 18 points, adding 8 steals, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
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Derek Murray takes us through Saturday's March Madness action, and looks ahead as the Sweet 16 field takes shape.

March Madness Saturday recap: Who's still dancing?

On Saturday, 15-seeded Saint Peter's defeated 7-seeded Murray State 70-60, becoming just the third 15-seed ever to advance to the Sweet Sixteen (joining Florida Gulf Coast in 2013 and Oral Roberts in 2021).
KC Ndefo led the way for the Peacocks, finishing with 17 points, 10 rebounds, 6 blocks and 3 assists (while shooting 5-of-10 from the field). Doug Edert, who came up big in the team's upset win over Kentucky, had another strong performance off the bench with 13 points (on 4-of-6 shooting from the field).
Murray State had four players score in double figures (led by Justice Hill's 19 points), but it wasn't enough to hold off this year's Cinderella team.
As our Bryan Fonseca <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/putting-saint-peters-shocker-over-kentucky-in-historical-context" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote yesterday</a>, what makes Saint Peter's run so incredible is that this is a school with under 2,500 students and their sports program's budget ($7.2 million) pales in comparison to the team's they are defeating (Kentucky's is $138 million).
Peacocks head coach Shaheen Holloway earned $270,000 this season after bonuses, which is 30x less than Wildcats head coach John Calipari (before&nbsp;his bonuses). The Peacocks have had just four players go on to play in the NBA (and they played a combined 126 games).
The Twitter account for Saint Peter's men's basketball team wasn't even verified until they beat Kentucky!
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WE DID IT EVERYBODY!!! ☑️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StrutUp?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StrutUp</a>🦚 | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarchMadness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarchMadness</a> <a href="https://t.co/rrrFIGznVg">pic.twitter.com/rrrFIGznVg</a>
&mdash; Saint Peter's Men's Basketball (@PeacocksMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeacocksMBB/status/1504831289664454657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Stories like this are why we love March Madness. We'll see if Saint Peter's can continue their improbable run when they face the winner of No. 3 Purdue vs. No. 6 Texas.

On Saturday, 15-seeded Saint Peter's beat 7-seeded Murray State, becoming just the third 15-seed ever to make the Sweet Sixteen

Saint Peter's becomes third 15-seed in history to make Sweet Sixteen

It was the upset that ruined the majority of March Madness brackets.
On Thursday night, 15-seeded Saint Peter&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/putting-saint-peters-shocker-over-kentucky-in-historical-context" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shocked the world</a> by slaying Goliath, the 2-seeded Kentucky Wildcats, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Many publications had Kentucky as 20-point favorites against the Peacocks, but as the Wildcats found out, seeds and favorites mean nothing once it&rsquo;s gametime.&nbsp;
Daryl Banks III led the way with 27 points, while Doug Edert poured in 20 off the bench to overcome a 30-point, 16-rebound explosion by Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe.
It&rsquo;s important to note that Kentucky had never lost to a team lower than an 11-seed in the history of the program. And they hadn't lost in the first round since 2008, when they were the No. 11 seed and were defeated 74-66 by 6-seeded Marquette.
In fact, the last time they lost in the first-round as a higher seed was back in 1987, when they came up short in a 8-seed vs. 9-seed game against Ohio State.&nbsp;
So yes, for Kentucky faithful, this upset was disastrous, cataclysmic, devastating, catastrophic and every other adjective fans have used since Thursday night.&nbsp;
I caught up with Derek Anderson &mdash; who helped lead Kentucky to a national championship in 1996 before becoming a lottery pick and 11-year NBA veteran &mdash; to get his thoughts on the upset.
Etan Thomas: "Okay, DA, the dust has settled a bit after the shocking loss. What was your reaction?"
Derek Anderson: "Well, as a fan, you&rsquo;re definitely disappointed. As a former player, you&rsquo;re hurt for various reasons &mdash; bragging rights being one of them. I had us going to the championship. But just watching the game, a lot of these young guys are just not being trained to make in-game adjustments and some of the decision-making was just frustrating. I mean, fans are upset, and they have good reason to be upset.
"As a former player, we would&rsquo;ve known to make certain adjustments because they were guarding [Sahvir] Wheeler differently. I don&rsquo;t know if you remember but with the San Antonio Spurs, when Avery Johnson couldn&rsquo;t shoot, they put him on the baseline. So when they were trying to match-up, they kept him down there, and that&rsquo;s where he hit his open shots. It was just frustrating. But the team played hard, no doubt about that. There was no quit in them. I love Oscar&rsquo;s work ethic. [Keion] Brooks did well. They gave it their all, so that wasn&rsquo;t the issue. But the adjustments just weren&rsquo;t there and that&rsquo;s unfortunate."
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Thomas: "In the postgame press conference, Coach Calipari pointed out that ya'll were up by six with three minutes to go. What do you think went wrong?"&nbsp;
Anderson: "Well, the team took a timeout and went zone. So they made the adjustment and to be quite honest, we didn&rsquo;t adjust. We were fortunate to send it to overtime. But if we would&rsquo;ve adjusted, had Oscar set some screens up and then hit the glass, had two guys up top and Oscar could&rsquo;ve filled the baseline and had Brooks or someone catch in that free-throw-line area and had those two guys crash and get in that lane, I think we would&rsquo;ve had a better chance. But we simply didn&rsquo;t adjust."
Thomas: "How impressed were you with Shaheen Holloway? I played against him for four years while he was at Seton Hall, and he used to always give us fits. He&rsquo;s been doing a phenomenal job coaching. I&rsquo;m happy for him."
Anderson: "I was super impressed. I&rsquo;m watching a lot of these young coaches do really well. He&rsquo;s a former player and he actually gets adjusting. He said, 'Hey, we gotta adjust. We can&rsquo;t guard Oscar one-on-one, so we gotta change it up.' And unfortunately, we didn&rsquo;t adjust to his adjustment. And that was the game. Shaheen did a great job. Even the body language; he never got down, so they never got down. His head was up, so their heads were up. He never panicked, so they never panicked. He did a tremendous job."
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Thomas: "I know a lot of people are upset about the loss and it's raw emotions, but a lot of Kentucky faithful are saying that there may need to be a coaching change with Calipari. What are your thoughts?"&nbsp;
Anderson: "Kentucky fans are passionate. They want to win. It&rsquo;s great that it&rsquo;s an amazing catapult to the NBA, but Kentucky fans want to see the team win, period. It was a tragic loss &mdash; the first time we have ever lost to a team that was the 15th seed. And that&rsquo;s absolutely no disrespect to Saint Peter&rsquo;s, because they&rsquo;re hoopers obviously, right? People get too caught up with rankings sometimes, but I think the raw emotions of the UK fans are more about winning than it is about the coach."
Thomas: "Okay, that&rsquo;s fair. But now that a little time has passed and the dust has settled a little, what does Derek Anderson say about whether there should be a coaching change?"
Anderson: "Well, I don&rsquo;t want to say anything negative about Calipari because it&rsquo;s still raw emotions; it hasn&rsquo;t even been 48 hours yet. But I will say: I wish he would&rsquo;ve made different adjustments, like we all do. I don&rsquo;t have any ill feelings towards him, I just wish we would&rsquo;ve made adjustments during the game."
Thomas: "So, what&rsquo;s next for Kentucky? I&rsquo;ve seen things written and comparisons to Virginia when they lost to a low seed and then came back and won the championship the next season. What are your thoughts about what to expect next year?"
Anderson: "I think TyTy is really built for the NBA. He's really good one-on-one in open space. I think Oscar has a great opportunity to pursue his dreams, help his Mom get here; he has other things he&rsquo;s thinking about to help his family and I don&rsquo;t blame him at all for that, and nobody else should either. So I think those two guys will probably leave, if anybody. I think the rest of the guys would benefit from coming back, staying, growing. I don&rsquo;t know how good we&rsquo;ll be; we just had a de-commit from one of the top players (Skyy Clark), so I&rsquo;m not sure.
"But we really need some leadership. I think we need to look into this transfer portal and get someone like Oscar who has been playing some basketball for a few years and can lead the team. Wheeler is a good player, just struggled with his shooting, but he did everything else really well. It all depends on who comes and then I can give you a better evaluation. But whoever we bring in, we have to be able to make adjustments during the game or it won&rsquo;t matter. Adjustments are what wins games."
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Kentucky alum Derek Anderson weighs in on the Wildcats' shocking loss to Saint Peter's, John Calipari's future and what's next for UK.

Derek Anderson on Kentucky's loss to Saint Peter's, Coach Cal's future

We made it through the first day of March Madness! Sixteen teams saw their dreams shatter while the other 16 teams advanced to the Round of 32. Let&rsquo;s see who remains&hellip;
UPSET ALERT&nbsp;
East Region: 15-seed Saint Peter&rsquo;s defeats 2-seed Kentucky 85-79 in overtime
Starting with the true bracket buster of day 1, the Saint Peter&rsquo;s Peacocks upset the Kentucky Wildcats. Oscar Tshiebwe gave everything he had (as expected) with a 30-point, 16-rebound performance, but Kentucky&rsquo;s perimeter players (TyTy Washington, Kellen Grady and Sahvir Wheeler) had trouble generating offense. The Peacocks shined behind Daryl Banks III&rsquo;s 27 points and Doug Edert&rsquo;s 20 points off the bench. The game remained tight the whole way through, staying within six points, and the game was tied at the end of regulation. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion pulled away with clutch plays and defensive stops that showed they weren&rsquo;t afraid of the highly decorated program. Saint Peter&rsquo;s will be taking on the 7-seed Murray State on Saturday. (For more on this upset, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/putting-saint-peters-shocker-over-kentucky-in-historical-context" target="_blank" rel="noopener">check out Bryan Fonseca's article</a>).
Midwest Region: 12-seed Richmond defeats 5-seed Iowa 67-63
The annual bracket experts are well aware that the 12-5 matchup is always on upset watch, but since Iowa had a strong run for a Big Ten Tournament championship and one of the top NBA Draft prospects in the tournament in Keegan Murray, they felt like the pick here. But Richmond reminded the country that they too won a conference tournament championship last week and the Atlantic 10 knows them very well. Senior guard Jacob Gilyard played all 40 minutes and gave the Spiders 24 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Junior forward Tyler Burton and senior forward Nathan Cayo added 18 points and 15 points, respectively. Iowa&rsquo;s projected lottery pick Murray finished the game with 21 points and 9 rebounds, but there was a lull in his offense in the second half that could&rsquo;ve been the difference-maker. Richmond will face 4-seed Providence in the second round.
South Region: 11-seed Michigan defeats 6-seed Colorado State 75-63
In a matchup that many thought had upset potential, the Wolverines came away as victors over the Rams after a slow start. Colorado State jumped on Michigan in the first half and led by as many as 15 points, but Michigan proved their Power 5 experience had tested them enough to overcome the deficit. Hunter Dickinson ended as the game&rsquo;s leading scorer with 21 points and added 5 rebounds and 4 blocks. Frankie Collins filled in at point guard for the injured Devante&rsquo; Jones and finished with a respectable 14 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Michigan finds 3-seed Tennessee waiting for them in the next round.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
West Region: 12-seed New Mexico State defeats 5-seed UConn 70-63
New Mexico State grabbed another win for the 12 seeds today as they knocked out UConn in the first round. This game was owned by Aggie guard Teddy Allen, who was locked in after starting the game 0-for-6 and finished with 37 points. New Mexico State as a team shot nearly 65% from three, which proved to be the difference-maker, with the Huskies only hitting 30% from deep. Allen looks to add another hot performance to his March Madness resum&eacute; on Saturday against Arkansas.
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GAMES OF THE DAY
West Region: 9-seed Memphis defeats 8-seed Boise State 64-53
The Memphis Tigers continued their strong play in the latter portion of the season and finished with a big win against Boise State. Memphis went into halftime with a 19-point lead, but a slow start by the Tigers led to the Broncos clawing themselves back into the game. DeAndre Williams ended the game with 14 points while projected NBA Draft lottery pick Jalen Duren had a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double. NBA executives and March Madness fans are getting the Duren-Chet Holmgren matchup they&rsquo;ve been clamoring for since Sunday night, as Memphis takes on Gonzaga this weekend. (This game also featured a surprise cameo from Emoni Bates, who finished with just 3 points in three minutes).
East Region: 7-seed Murray State defeats 10-seed San Francisco 92-87 in overtime
If you stayed up to watch one of the nightcap games of day 1, you probably watched Murray State and San Francisco battle it out. This game saw San Francisco guard Jamaree Bouyea score a career-high 36 points including some big shots to extend the game. However, it wasn&rsquo;t enough for the balanced attack of&nbsp; Murray State&rsquo;s KJ Williams, Trae Hannibal, Tevin Brown and Justice Hill with scoring totals of 18, 18, 17, and 15 (with Hannibal&rsquo;s 18 coming from the bench). The Racers' next test comes from the &ldquo;bracket busters&rdquo; themselves, the Saint Peter&rsquo;s Peacocks this weekend.
OTHER FIRST-ROUND RESULTS
Midwest Region
1-seed Kansas defeats 16-seed Texas Southern
4-seed Providence defeats 13-seed South Dakota State 66-57
9-seed Creighton defeats 8-seed San Diego State 72-69
East Region
1-seed Baylor defeats 16-seed Norfolk State 85-49
4-seed UCLA defeats 13-seed Akron 57- 53
South Region
3-seed Tennessee defeats 14-seed Longwood 88-56
West Region
1-seed Gonzaga defeats 16-seed Georgia State 93-72
4-seed Arkansas defeats 13-seed Vermont 75-71
East Region
8-seed North Carolina defeats 9-seed Marquette 95-63
5-seed Saint Mary&rsquo;s defeats 12-seed Indiana 82-53
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Sixteen teams saw their dreams shatter while 16 teams advanced to the Round of 32. Blake Hairston recaps day one of March Madness.

March Madness: Recapping Day 1 of the 2022 NCAA Tournament

Deep down, everyone knew.
All of you knew once you finalized your picks: The half-ass research, the questions to your even less knowledgeable friends, the &ldquo;expert&rdquo; analysis &ndash; none of it was going to matter. Your bracket was going to be busted by the end of the night. You didn&rsquo;t know how, you didn&rsquo;t know by whom, but you had an idea that even on day one of the men&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament, your bracket would get cooked.
You probably just didn&rsquo;t know it would be by Saint ******* Peter&rsquo;s University &ndash; against Kentucky, at that &ndash; who won 85-79 in overtime, destroying the evening of bracket-builders, parlay-players and spread-bettors alike.
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PEACOCKS. WIN. <a href="https://t.co/Jf10r5zyb4">pic.twitter.com/Jf10r5zyb4</a>
&mdash; Saint Peter&rsquo;s Athletics (@SPUAthletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/SPUAthletics/status/1504634900875550723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
If you don&rsquo;t know, Saint Peter&rsquo;s is a private Jesuit school in the middle of Jersey City, New Jersey. And if you&rsquo;ve ever been to the campus, you'd be even more surprised by this upset. Depending on who you ask, Saint Peter&rsquo;s could have either <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanFieldABC/status/1504645256586973185" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2,300</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/GaryGrumbach/status/1504634530338160642" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2,600</a>, or <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanAGraham/status/1504634903484375043" target="_blank" rel="noopener">3,500</a> students; either way, we know the University of Kentucky likely has 10x that, if not more.
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How's that bracket looking??<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StrutUp?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StrutUp</a>🦚 <a href="https://t.co/c5JXAN2kzb">pic.twitter.com/c5JXAN2kzb</a>
&mdash; Saint Peter's Men's Basketball (@PeacocksMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeacocksMBB/status/1504664039338782721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
The gap actually has nothing on the wage disparity between each team&rsquo;s head coaches. John Calipari reportedly banks in $8.5 million annually from Kentucky, which doesn&rsquo;t included bonuses of any kind. Shaheen Holloway was hired as Saint Peter's head coach in 2018, and he reportedly made less than $270,000 (including bonuses) in 2019. That means Coach Cal is paid 30x more than Coach Holloway before his first bonus check.
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St. Peter's men's basketball coach Shaheen Holloway made $266,344 in 2019, including bonuses paid and value of benefits, per school's most recent federal tax dox. John Calipari's basic pay from UK for this season -- not including bonuses, benefits and perks -- is $8.5 million.
&mdash; Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) <a href="https://twitter.com/ByBerkowitz/status/1504647038163726362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
More on the financial side, <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/saint-peter-kentucky-win-marks-111130742.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Yahoo Sports report says</a>, &ldquo;In the 2019-20 school year, the most recent season unaffected by COVID-19, Kentucky outspent Saint Peter&rsquo;s $18.3 million to $1.6 million in men&rsquo;s basketball, per the U.S Department of Education. In terms of both expenditures ratio and raw difference between budgets, that is the biggest disparity since 2007, as far back as data is publicly available... Kentucky outspends Saint Peter&rsquo;s in basketball by a multiple of 11.7, just edging out the 11.5 ratio from CJ McCollum and Lehigh&rsquo;s win over Duke exactly 10 years ago.&rdquo;
Furthermore, Kentucky reportedly spent over $138 million for its sports teams in 2020. Saint Peter&rsquo;s? Only $7.2 million.
We&rsquo;ve watched the University of Kentucky become a factory for producing countless pros. And it's not just the high-level NBA stars we see thriving in the league today like Anthony Davis, Devin Booker, Bam Adebayo and Karl-Anthony Towns. On opening night of the 2021-22 NBA season, <a href="https://ukathletics.com/news/2021/10/19/mens-basketball-uk-mbb-leads-nation-with-27-players-on-nba-opening-day-rosters.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kentucky had 27 alums on rosters around the league</a>. In their history, they&rsquo;ve had <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/colleges.cgi?college=kentucky" target="_blank" rel="noopener">125 players appear in the NBA</a> &ndash; a number that's sure to increase following the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Draft</a>. The Wildcats have potential 2022 lottery picks in TyTy Washington and Shaedon Sharpe, and a possible late-first-rounder in Oscar Tshiebwe, among other expected NBA prospects.
Kentucky has the most wins, highest winning percentage, second-most national titles, most national-title-game appearances (tied with UCLA), most NCAA Tournament appearances, most <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2021-07-30/these-college-basketball-teams-and-conferences-have-most-nba-first-round-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first-round draft picks</a> and most NCAA tournament wins.&nbsp;
By the way, how many NBA players came from Saint Peter&rsquo;s program? <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/colleges.fcgi?college=stpeters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Four. Just four</a>.
Bill Smith played nine NBA games in 1962. Harry Laurie played nine games in 1971. Elnardo Webster played 24 games in 1972. And Rich Rinaldi played 84 games between 1972 and 1974. That&rsquo;s it. Even Keydren Clark &ndash; who was the <a href="https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/keydren-clark-1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NCAA's scoring leader in 2004 and 2005</a> while at Saint Peter&rsquo;s &ndash; didn&rsquo;t sniff the league after graduating in 2006.
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Four is also the number of NCAA Tournaments that MAAC Champion Saint Peter&rsquo;s has made in their history, with zero victories until last night. Their 85-79 win over Kentucky nuked all your hopes of a perfect bracket, and simultaneously reminded us why March is one of the best sports months on the calendar.
This only marked the ninth time in tournament history that a No. 15 seed knocked off a No. 2, and all of them have happened since 1991, including Oral Roberts taking down Ohio State &ndash; also in overtime &ndash; just last year. This one, because of the distinctions between the two institutions both in size, recruiting advantages, budgets and basketball history, could be the biggest upset we&rsquo;ve ever seen.
People love blue-blood programs, and in the case of Kentucky, love to hate them. But this is why people gather around TV screens this time of year, to see improbable stories like these unfold.
Others say they want the best facing the best with no upsets, and that&rsquo;s cool, but where&rsquo;s the enjoyment in that? If you only watch basketball for &ldquo;starzzzzz&rdquo; and &ldquo;hooperzzzzz,&rdquo; this probably doesn&rsquo;t excite you, but if this level of improbability can&rsquo;t resonate with you, why? That&rsquo;s strange. The fact is, in life, more people can and should be able to identify with the Saint Peter&rsquo;s element of this. Chances are, if you&rsquo;re reading this, you&rsquo;re closer to them than Kentucky, and that&rsquo;s OK. So don&rsquo;t be disappointed that Kentucky blew it. Embrace the uncanny underdog Peacocks from Jersey City, led by their badass head coach from New York City, who reminded you after the game, that it&rsquo;s just ball after all.
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Q: &ldquo;Did you ever get nervous.&rdquo; Shaheen Holloway after No. 15 Saint Peter&rsquo;s upset No. 2 Kentucky in OT &ldquo;For what? It&rsquo;s basketball.&rdquo; <a href="https://t.co/t0odjVyGWb">pic.twitter.com/t0odjVyGWb</a>
&mdash; George Balekji (@GeorgeBalekji) <a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgeBalekji/status/1504637225685987342?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2022</a></blockquote>

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No. 15 Saint Peter's managed to beat No. 2 Kentucky in overtime. Bryan Fonseca explains why it may be the biggest upset ever.

Putting Saint Peter’s shocker over Kentucky in historical context

Team USA still has not put together 40 solid minutes of basketball against a quality opponent. Maybe it will happen in the gold-medal game, or maybe not.
But the important thing is that the Americans will be in that game Sunday, on the final day of the Olympics, after defeating Australia 97-78 Thursday in the semifinal round.
Strange things happen in international basketball &mdash; things like the best American players in the world missing their first 10 three-point shots and falling into a huge hole. We have seen it time and again from this American team since training camp began in Las Vegas five weeks ago, and we have still not seen them dominate (with the exception of their games against overmatched opponents such as Iran and the Czech Republic).
Yet, here they are: One win away from accomplishing their goal, led by three-time Olympian Kevin Durant and facilitated most in this game by Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker among their cast of 10 first-time Olympians. Durant scored 23, Booker had 20 and Holiday finished with 11 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists.
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23 points for KD! 🔥🔥🔥 Watch: <a href="https://t.co/e0jf8FvTyx">https://t.co/e0jf8FvTyx</a> <a href="https://t.co/g0qSphty0K">pic.twitter.com/g0qSphty0K</a>
&mdash; Peacock (@peacockTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/peacockTV/status/1423153445771563008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2021</a></blockquote>

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This game flipped in the third quarter, when the Americans outscored the Boomers on a 32-10 rout to turn this into something resembling a runaway &mdash; even though that word does not quite fit because there were almost no fast-break opportunities.
This game was a grind and devoid of suspense throughout the fourth quarter after the Americans took control with a strong effort on both ends of the court. When their defense locked up an Australian team that came out confident but could not sustain it, this game turned drastically.&nbsp;
The Americans trailed by as much as 15 in the first half and made it a one-possession game by halftime.
&ldquo;Once we got it down to three at halftime, I thought we had the game in hand,&rdquo; Durant said.&nbsp;
That quote shows the confidence level this version of Team USA possesses. They have been slow starters in pretty much every game they have played, yet they keep coming back and persevering and making bad starts become irrelevant by the time all 40 minutes have been played.
&ldquo;Guarding,&rdquo; Booker said of what made the difference. &ldquo;We talked about that in the locker room. Once we started doing that and playing defense, the shots were going to come.&rdquo;
The Americans finished with 10 steals and a 44-29 rebounding advantage. (After they had consistently been beaten on the boards in earlier games, both in Tokyo and prior to the Olympics during training camp in Las Vegas, that was perhaps the most surprising stat of their Olympics to this point). And despite the 0-for-10 start from three-point range, they finished 9-for-28 with Booker going 3-for-5 from deep.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all or nothing,&rdquo; Booker said of where the Olympic team stands.
And he is correct.
Either they finish the job Sunday and come home with gold medals around their necks, or they join an inglorious group of past iterations known by the destination cities of where they did not win: Moscow; Seoul; Athens.
A victory Sunday would make it four straight gold medals for Team USA, which would end the talk that the United States has lost its edge in being the best basketball-playing nation on the planet. Long gone are the days when squads like the Dream Team would leave opponents in awe. Pretty much every good international team is loaded with NBA players (Slovenia, other than Luka Doncic, is an exception), and what these games come down to is being able to withstand whatever happens early and play out the entire 40 minutes.
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Australia led 44-31 late in the second period as Durant missed a three, but Bam Adebayo grabbed an offensive rebound and Booker made a three. Offensive rebounds on their next two possessions led to made buckets, and Australia did not have a made-field goal over the final 3:50 of the second quarter.
&ldquo;It was a tale of two halves for us,&rdquo; Booker said.&nbsp;
The Americans seem to be developing most of their chemistry on the defensive end, and their effort there completely deflated the Aussies after the Boomers opened the game with confidence and swagger. Team USA made everything except bringing the ball up court difficult for them, and once Australia fell behind early in the second half, shoulders slumped, the rest of the players' body language followed and it was over.
&ldquo;When we came here all of us knew what it would take to be a great defensive team,&rdquo; Durant said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a team that plays together. We&rsquo;re a team that flies around and communicates on the defensive end. We&rsquo;re a team that can&rsquo;t be stopped one-on-one if we drive into the lane.
&ldquo;If we keep those principles in line, we&rsquo;ll be straight. We&rsquo;re looking forward to seeing who we&rsquo;ll play,&rdquo; Durant said.
One left. Gold or silver.&nbsp;
Or as Booker put it, all or nothing.&nbsp;
When you are the Team USA men&rsquo;s basketball team, success is defined by only one color... and it is not silver.

Chris Sheridan recaps the Americans' 97-78 victory over Australia as they await their opponent in the gold-medal game.

Team USA rallies vs. Australia to get to gold-medal game

Team USA handled Spain by overcoming a slow start and riding Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum. They are in the Olympic semifinals against Australia, and like the Spanish, it's another team the Americans have a history against.
Ironically, the Team USA's games are being called on NBC by Vince Carter, who was the designated villain 21 years ago when the American federation got its first taste of what defeat might look like when the Games were held in Sydney.&nbsp;
During a pre-Olympic stop in Melbourne for an exhibition game against the Boomers, the Aussie crowd was relentless in its heckling of Carter, the Durant of his time.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Carter is a wanker,&rdquo; fans chanted in unison, as Andrew Gaze and Shane Heal and Luc Longley put up quite a good fight before succumbing. The Americans eventually got a scare from Lithuania in the semifinals before winning the gold medal, and it was the first time a U.S. team with NBA players had ever been tested.
The latest version of Australians advanced by dismantling the remnants of what was once a powerhouse Argentina team, scoring the first 19 points of the fourth quarter in an 97-59 victory &mdash; the most lopsided of the four quarterfinals. It&rsquo;ll be Australia-USA at 12:15 a.m. ET Thursday, followed by France-Slovenia at 7 a.m. as the Olympics begin to wind down. France dispatched Italy by 9 and Slovenia, making its first men&rsquo;s basketball appearance, defeated Germany by 24 to make it to the Final Four.
Australia already <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/what-is-going-on-with-the-usa-mens-national-team-in-exhibition-play" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defeated the United States in a friendly played in Las Vegas</a>. A second glorified scrimmage between the teams was canceled because of COVID concerns, and the Americans have changed dramatically since those games were played last month prior to the conclusion of the NBA Finals.
Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker are now major pieces to the puzzle for Gregg Popovich, who was caught smiling on camera during the game against Spain after Tatum knocked a ball off the rim (goaltending in the NBA, but not under FIBA rules) during a fourth-quarter surge.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The further you move in the tournament, the more difficult it gets. That's pretty obvious,&rdquo; Popovich said.
&ldquo;The game is about buckets,&rdquo; said Durant, whose American team opened the third quarter by hitting five three-pointers and stifling Spain with zero field goals in that stretch. &ldquo;When you see the ball go in the rim, everybody&rsquo;s got more energy &mdash; coaches, players, trainers, everybody. We started making shots, made some threes and guys calmed down and made some stops.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
KD, SOARING DOWN THE LANE. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TokyoOlympics?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TokyoOlympics</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/TeamUSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TeamUSA</a> Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/usabasketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USABasketball</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/peacockTV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@peacockTV</a>: <a href="https://t.co/f0j91aoEXP">https://t.co/f0j91aoEXP</a> <a href="https://t.co/mOklwQh2XH">pic.twitter.com/mOklwQh2XH</a>
&mdash; #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCOlympics/status/1422419395058491392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Ricky Rubio scored 38 points for Spain, the 2019 FIBA World Cup champions and a team the U.S. has beaten in two of the past three Olympic gold-medal games. Sergio Rodriguez added 16 points, and Willy Hernangomez had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
&ldquo;I didn't expect anything less,&rdquo; Holiday said. &ldquo;Ever since he (Ricky) was, what, like 12, he&rsquo;s been doing this. So for him to come out here and just display the type of talent that he has is really cool to be a part of and to see.&rdquo;
Team USA rallied after trailing 39-29 in the second quarter. The difference was much better ball movement in the second half; they stopped settling for the quick-trigger three-point attempts that they were taking and missing so often in the first half, when they were 4-for-17 from long distance. Durant was the star with 29 points, but Tatum was the closer with 10 of his 13 points in the final frame.
&ldquo;I think the potential of this team is endless,&rdquo; said Draymond Green, who had four points and two assists. &ldquo;Unfortunately, we (only) got two games left. So, we need to make sure that we&rsquo;re continuing to get better each and every time we step on the floor, and I think that&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;ve done it.
&ldquo;I think we're holding up pretty good. And we're really not worried about [teams taking advantage in the paint], you know. If that&rsquo;s where teams want to go, that's fine. At the end of the day, we're going to battle. We battled. We battled and teams have tried that each game now. We let the first one (a loss to France in the opener) get away, but we&rsquo;ve answered that bell and we&rsquo;re going to continue to answer that bell.&rdquo;
The United States men's team is 8-0 against Australia in Olympic history, but this is the strongest team the Aussie federation has ever put together. They steamrolled Argentina with a 28-4 surge at the start of the fourth quarter last night. The Boomers were led by Patty Mills with 18 points, Matisse Thybulle with 12, Joe Ingles with 11 and Dante Exum with 9 points on 4-for-4 shooting. Exum had a plus-minus of +31 in just under 22 minutes, as Australia likely ended the international career of 41-year-old Luis Scola.
Argentina, Spain, Italy and Germany now must return home, while the four finalists are all worthy medal contenders.&nbsp;
But make no mistake about it: Australia-USA is the better of the two semifinal matchups. And whoever gets through will either have to face a stoked Luka Doncic or reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert in the gold-medal game Sunday.
This thing is far from over, and the Americans appear to be peaking. Will that be good enough to get them out of Saitama with gold medals around their necks? Stay tuned.
Perhaps the next game will actually make it onto live TV in the United States.

Chris Sheridan recaps the Americans' win over Spain and previews a matchup against the game Australian Boomers in the Olympic semis.

U.S. men's national team to face tough Australian club in Olympic semifinals

Team USA did what was expected of them in Saitama, Japan, on Wednesday, making a mockery of competitiveness by clobbering Iran 120-66 in their second game of the Tokyo Olympics.
Gregg Popovich&rsquo;s team of figuring-it-out-on-the-fly Olympians finally looked dominant.
&ldquo;The defense is the key, and obviously when the ball is going in, it gives everyone a lot of confidence,&rdquo; assistant coach Lloyd Pierce said.
He was absolutely correct, but judging the U.S. team off this particular mismatch makes about as much sense as judging them off of their first scrimmage, a loss to a Nigerian team that appears to have peaked in Las Vegas (since they are 0-2 in Japan).
This was one particularly easy thanks to Damian Lillard, who knocked down six three-pointers in a first half that ended with the Americans ahead 60-30. The onslaught continued in the third quarter, as the Americans exhibited a particularly acute defensive intensity. But again, this was a mismatch against the reigning FIBA-Asia champions, and not much of a test is expected in the final game of the group stage against the Czech Republic on Saturday.
Circle next Tuesday on your calendar, because that is when the knockout stage begins &ndash; when the competition gets tougher and the stakes are do-or-die. The winners in the quarterfinals advance. The losers are knocked out of the Olympics.
Team USA will finish second in Group A if France wins out, and though it is too early to accurately predict who the quarterfinal opponent will be, the four top seeds in the quarterfinals go to the three group winners along with the best second-place team (which is determined by point differential).
The Americans may or may not be that team, depending on the results of games still to be played. That &ldquo;top four&rdquo; comprises Group D, while the other two second-place finishers along with the two best third-place finishers will comprise Group E. The quarterfinals matchups are determined by a draw, and all that the Americans know is that they will not play France in the quarters.
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Thursday&rsquo;s game was about showing the right combination of energy, offensive prowess and defensive intensity, and the Americans received an &lsquo;A&rsquo; grade on all three. But their opponent was horribly overmatched except at center, where NBA veteran Hamed Haddadi (who now plays in China) scored Iran&rsquo;s first four points off of offensive rebounds &ndash; something that other opponents will try to emulate since Team USA has only two centers, Bam Adebayo and JaVale McGee, who are unlikely to be paired together on the court at the same time. This will matter if there are two Gasols on the court if they play Spain, or if they eventually play France in the semifinals or gold medal game and Vincent Collet trots out Rudy Gobert and Vincent Poirier again.
Nothing short of a gold medal will be acceptable for the Americans, who now must deal with nearly five full days of downtime before playing a meaningful game (assuming they handle the Czechs with ease). Typically at an Olympics, the players would take in other events and go out and mingle with the public, but fraternization outside of the Olympic bubble is a no-no in Japan, and checking out a random judo match or badminton game may not have quite the same appeal when surrounded by thousands of empty seats.
Remember, it&rsquo;s still early in this tournament. And FIBA basketball always brings surprises, most often when the stakes get a whole lot higher. Veteran USA Basketball officials know which referees have a history of making things tough on American teams, and that information will be passed down to the coaching staff and then to the players.
Back home, there is still a significant portion of the basketball-viewing public in America that expects these games to resemble the 1992 Dream-Team games, but to borrow a quote from Popovich that was first uttered 15 years ago but remains relevant today: &ldquo;Those people must have been living in a phone booth the past few years.&rdquo;
Still, social media lights up when Team USA falters, and social media is available in Japan. So if the Americans are struggling, they are going to know about it &ndash; maybe even more than they normally would because of the amount of downtime they are dealing with.
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So the trick now is to forget about the Iran game. It was a blowout, which is what it should have been. It was not much of a watch for Americans who streamed it online over the Peacock Network (since NBC again chose to broadcast different sports). Lillard finished with a team-high 21 points, Devin Booker had 16, Jayson Tatum scored 14 and Zach LaVine had 13. The U.S. had only six turnovers.
&ldquo;We came out with a lot more energy,&rdquo; Lillard said. &ldquo;We came out here and made it happen, and that&rsquo;s what we are going to have to do in these Olympics. We&rsquo;re here to dominate and be winners and represent our country the right way. My primary focus was to come out, be aggressive and be myself.&rdquo;
The fun stuff happens next week, which allows hoops fans to concentrate on the 2021 NBA Draft and all the accompanying deals that will be made between now and the wee hours of Friday morning. The Olympics will continue, but the basketball will take a back seat for several days.
It is on Popovich and the players to keep their focus on familiarizing themselves with each other, studying their possible opponents and keeping their sanity amid the isolation.
There&rsquo;s no chance they are done with the drama after experiencing so much of it already.

Team USA blew out Iran, 120-66, and Gregg Popovich’s squad of figuring-it-out-on-the-fly Olympians finally looked dominant.

After a dominant win over Iran, what's next for Team USA?

After dropping their first game of the Olympics against France, Team USA will try to rebound against Iran. Team USA is heavily favored (by more than 40 points), so this should be a nice bounce-back game for Iran.
Like Team USA, Iran (who is also in Group A) is also desperate for a win after losing their first game against to the Czech Republic.
WHEN IS IT: Wednesday, July 28 at 12:40 a.m. ET
HOW TO WATCH: The game can be streamed on Peacock or NBCOlympics.com
In Team USA's first contest, they allowed France to close the game on a 16-2 run and eventually lost 76-83. Another loss for the U.S. would almost certainly prevent them from medaling in these Olympics.
Iran fell to the Czech Republic in their opening game, 78-84. Behnam Yakhchali led the way for Iran, contributing 23 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds. Although Team USA clearly has more talent on their roster, Iran will look to follow in the footsteps of France and take down the favored Americans.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/why-united-states-men's-national-team-2020-tokyo-olympics-climb-is-inherently-uphill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">For more on Team USA's recent struggles, check out Dan Grunfeld's recent analysis.</a>

Team USA takes on Iran in Game 2 of the preliminary rounds Wednesday in Tokyo, both teams are desperate for a win.

Team USA squares off against Iran in Game 2 of preliminary rounds

Los Angeles Clippers music director Andrew Kinzel speaks with BasketballNews.com's Spencer Davies about being one of four DJs invited to the NBA Restart at ESPN's Wide World of Sports in Orlando.

Upper Iowa Peacocks