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With the 2020 NBA Draft just two weeks away, our Matt Babcock updated his mock draft and provided his thoughts on each player. Some of the risers include Kira Lewis Jr. (Alabama) and Zeke Nnaji (Arizona), while some of the fallers include Aleksej Pokusevski (Olympiacos) and Leandro Bolmaro (FC Barcelona):
1. Minnesota Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards, SG, Georgia
At 6'5" and a strong 225 pounds, Anthony Edwards has perhaps the most upside in this year's draft. Edwards' raw talent was on full display at the Maui Invitational in November when he scored 33 points in one half versus Michigan State. Although he has significant room for growth in regards to his overall maturity as a player, his uncanny ability to hit tough shots from all over the court gives him the potential to be a special player.
2. Golden State Warriors: James Wiseman, C, Memphis
Although James Wiseman is 7'1" and 240 pounds with an impressive 7'6" wingspan, he should not be considered a throwback, big-bodied center (which is somewhat of a dying breed). Instead, Wiseman is extremely athletic for a player his size. He also has an underrated skill level, and he can be a major contributor for a team right off the bat. That&rsquo;s why he is the first big man off the board.
3. Charlotte Hornets: Onyeka Okongwu, C/PF, USC
Commonly referred to as the "Big O," Onyeka Okongwu had a terrific freshman campaign for the USC Trojans, averaging 16.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. He's an undersized center that can serve as a defensive anchor for a team. He's also a legitimate scoring threat who's capable of displaying fancy footwork and a soft touch with both hands around the rim. He's extremely strong and explosive, which allows him to be an effective rim protector and powerful finisher. Comparisons to the Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo have been drawn regularly for good reason.
4. Chicago Bulls: LaMelo Ball, PG, Illawarra Hawks
The youngest brother of the Ball family, LaMelo comes to the NBA with lofty expectations. At 6'7", Ball has terrific size for a point guard. He has the ball on a string and a knack to make spectacular plays. Despite concerns of immaturity, Ball's talent is undeniable -- look for him to be the first point guard taken in the 2020 NBA Draft.
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5. Cleveland Cavaliers: Obi Toppin, PF/C, Dayton
After not receiving an invite to the NBA Draft Combine following his freshman season, Obi Toppin returned to Dayton for his sophomore year and he put on a show from start to finish, subsequently being named the National College Player of the Year. At 6'9", Toppin is a high-flyer who throws down jaw-dropping dunks reminiscent of former NBA star Amar'e Stoudemire. He's also a capable outside shooter, as he shot a stellar 39% from three-point range. Already 22 years old, Toppin is probably the most NBA-ready player in the draft and could be considered an early favorite to win Rookie of the Year.
6. Atlanta Hawks: Deni Avdija, SF/PF, Maccabi Tel Aviv
A product of the famed Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv, Deni Avdija has already gained valuable professional experience in the Euroleague (the best league in the world outside of the NBA). At 6'9", Avdija is extremely versatile as a hybrid forward and he's also a capable ballhandler and playmaker who is deceptively athletic. In a draft with significant international talent, Avdija is certainly the cream of the crop.
7. Detroit Pistons: Kira Lewis Jr., PG, Alabama
After entering his freshman season at Alabama as the second-youngest Division-I player in the country (at 17 years old), he returned for his sophomore season and did not disappoint. Perhaps the fastest player in the draft, Lewis Jr. averaged 18.5 points and 5.2 assists per game this past season for the Crimson Tide. Comparisons have been drawn to former NBA player Darren Collison.
8. New York Knicks: Isaac Okoro, SF, Auburn
Perhaps the best overall athlete in the entire NBA draft, Isaac Okoro steps into the NBA from Auburn with a reputation of being an exceptional defender that's capable of defending multiple positions effectively. Although he possesses a relatively simple game on the offensive end, he does have a good feel for how to play. If he is able to improve his outside shooting, watch out; Okoro could end up being a big-time player.
9. Washington Wizards: Devin Vassell, SG/SF, Florida State
Devin Vassell is a long wing that is capable of playing the shooting guard or small forward positions, effectively. On the offensive end, he reminds me of Jeremy Lamb of the Indiana Pacers. He's a capable shooter from outside, has a good mid-range game, and can finish around the rim as well.&nbsp; On the defensive end, he uses his length and instincts to be a high level defender. Overall, Vassell is a solid, well-rounded player, that does not make many mistakes. He would be easy to plug into just about any team's roster.
10. Phoenix Suns: Killian Hayes, PG/SG, Ratiopharm Ulm
After playing in France for years, Killian Hayes decided to move to Germany this last year to play for Ratiopharm Ulm - a decision that certainly paid off, as Hayes took a major step in his development, progressing as a playmaker and scorer. With good size for a point guard at 6'5", whichever team lands the left-handed Hayes should be able to pencil him in as their point guard of the future. If he's able to continue to develop his outside shooting, the future could be extremely bright for Hayes.
11. San Antonio Spurs: Patrick Williams, PF/SF, Florida State
Patrick Williams had somewhat of an up-and-down freshman year for the Florida State Seminoles, but the hybrid forward oozes talent and upside. He's a capable shooter from outside, a strong finisher at the rim and a versatile defender. Williams fits the modern style of basketball, as he's able to stretch the floor and defend multiple positions. It remains to be seen if he will be able to contribute at a high level early on in his NBA career, but if he develops properly, he could be one of the better players in this year's draft in a few years.
12. Sacramento Kings: Aaron Nesmith, SF/SG, Vanderbilt
Aaron Nesmith is likely the best shooter in this year's draft. Prior to a season-ending foot injury in January, Nesmith dazzled with his shooting performances, averaging 23 points per game while shooting 52.2% from three-point range in 14 games for the Vanderbilt Commodores. He's from the same high school as NBA All-Star Khris Middleton in Charleston, South Carolina.
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13. New Orleans Pelicans: Tyrese Haliburton, PG/SG, Iowa State
After averaging 15.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game for the Iowa State Cyclones this past season, Tyrese Haliburton will look to contribute right away in the NBA. At 6'5", Haliburton is capable of playing on or off the ball effectively. He has an extremely high basketball IQ and simply does not make many mistakes. Although he shoots the ball with extremely unorthodox mechanics, he knocks them down from deep at a high rate, shooting 41.9% from three-point range last year. He certainly needs to get stronger, as he is only a thin 175 pounds. But he should be a solid NBA player, at the very least.
14. Boston Celtics: Isaiah Stewart II, C/PF, Washington
At 6'9" and 250 pounds of muscle with a 7'4" wingspan, Isaiah Stewart II is a physical specimen and a brute. He would (and could) run through a brick wall, if needed. In his lone season at Washington, he averaged 17.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. Despite being utilized purely as a low-post scorer this past season, he has shown signs of having the potential to shoot the ball well from outside - a much desired attribute in today's NBA. One example: He shot 77.4% from the free-throw line.
15. Orlando Magic: RJ Hampton, SG/PG, New Zealand Breakers
After skipping college to play for the New Zealand Breakers, R.J. Hampton enters this year's draft as one of the players with the most upside. Although not a finished product, Hampton has the burst and athleticism that's seen in many star players. If he is able to develop his point guard skills, outside shooting and overall feel for the game, he could end up being a steal for whichever team selects him.
16. Portland Trail Blazers: Saddiq Bey, SF/PF, Villanova
Jay Wright's list of Villanova alumni who have had productive NBA careers continues to grow and Saddiq Bey seems to be the next in line. He's a 6'8" forward that is well-rounded, dependable and, most importantly, a high-level shooter, which was on display during his sophomore season when he scored 16.1 points per game while shooting 45.1% from three-point range. He also defended the opposing team's best player on a regular basis.
17. Minnesota Timberwolves: Zeke Nnaji, PF/C, Arizona
In his lone season for the Arizona Wildcats, Zeke Nnaji posted an impressive 16.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, earning First Team All-Pac-12 and Freshman of the Year honors. At the Combine, Nnaji measured in at 6'10" without shoes and 247.8 pounds, with a 7'2" wingspan and a 38" max vertical. Nnaji <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-draft-prospect-zeke-nnaji-arizona-wildcats-q-and-a-pac-12-basketball?fbclid=IwAR3LerQY7oOuFEQ0ZLYNmkus_sSxCYphs2l0TzJqc69ymtcZmrdWKZDpOPo">recently spoke with BasketballNews.com</a> about his game, his regimented lifestyle, why teams should pick him, his off-court interests and more.
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18. Dallas Mavericks: Precious Achiuwa, PF/C, Memphis
Initially, Precious Achiuwa was expected to play the majority of his minutes at power forward alongside big man James Wiseman. However, when Wiseman left the team, Achiuwa took over the big man duties and delivered. The chiseled Achiuwa averaged 15.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.1 steals per game, earning him AAC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors.
19.&nbsp;Brooklyn Nets: Jaden McDaniels, SF, Washington
Possessing terrific length for a wing at 6'9", Jaden McDaniels' versatility and playmaking abilities on both ends of the court are extremely intriguing. If he is able to get stronger and mature properly, he could be well-worth the risk, as his upside is nearly as high as any other player in the draft.
20. Miami Heat: Malachi Flynn, PG, San Diego State
After transferring from Washington State to San Diego State, point guard Malachi Flynn led the Aztecs to a spectacular 30-2 record. After averaging 17.6 points, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game, Flynn was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, as well as Defensive Player of the Year. Flynn <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-2020-draft-malachi-flynn-san-diego-state-aztecs-matt-babcock-analysis-interview-chris-paul">recently spoke with BasketballNews.com</a> about his game, his collegiate career, his goals, the NBA players whom he&rsquo;s modeled his game after and more.
21. Philadelphia 76ers: Cole Anthony, PG/SG, North Carolina
The son of former NBA player Greg Anthony, Cole entered North Carolina for his freshman season with lofty expectations after being touted as one of the top players in his high-school class. Despite an up-and-down season, Anthony is an aggressive and dynamic scorer, which he displayed by averaging 18.5 points per game in 22 contests for the Tar Heels.&nbsp;
22. Denver Nuggets: Jalen Smith, PF/C, Maryland
At 6'10" with a 7'2" wingspan, Jalen "Stix" Smith does two things very well: he blocks shots and shoots the ball from outside -- certainly a unique combination, which has NBA teams intrigued. After returning to Maryland for his sophomore season, he averaged 15.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks while shooting 36.8% from three-point range.
23. Utah Jazz: Elijah Hughes, SF/SG, Syracuse
An unheralded recruit out of high school and a subsequent East Carolina transfer, Elijah Hughes emerged as a star player for the Syracuse Orange during his junior season. Possessing solid size for a wing and the ability to make shots from all over the court as well as put the ball on the floor, Hughes should make a smooth transition to the NBA.
24. Milwaukee Bucks: Cassius Stanley, SG/SF, Duke
After playing as a combo guard in high school, Cassius Stanley was asked by Coach K to fill a more limited role during his freshman season at Duke, utilizing his electric athleticism in transition and focusing on spreading the floor as a spot-up shooter. His combination of elite athleticism and the ability to make shots off catch-and-shoot opportunities make him an intriguing option as a role player in the NBA (at the very least). If he develops when it comes to creating off the dribble, his value could increase dramatically.
25.&nbsp;Oklahoma City Thunder: Aleksej Pokusevski, PF/C, Olympiacos
Having displayed an incredibly high skill level this past season with the junior team of Greek powerhouse Olympiacos, Aleksej Pokusevski has caused quite a stir among NBA scouts. Standing 7-feet tall and a frail 200 pounds, "Poku" is the youngest prospect in this year's draft (and younger than many high-school seniors) at just 18 years old. He is certainly a player who falls into the category of "high-risk, high-reward," which is why he's somewhat of a polarizing prospect in terms of his draft value.
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26. Boston Celtics: Tyrese Maxey, SG/PG, Kentucky
A top-10 RSCI prospect, Tyrese Maxey was Kentucky's second-leading scorer with 14.0 points per game. At 6'3" and 200 pounds, he has a well-developed frame, although he's a bit undersized for a shooting guard. Still, he was solid at getting to the rim. He struggled from three-point range (relative to expectations) at 29 percent.
27. New York Knicks: Tyrell Terry, PG, Stanford
After being ranked 88th in his high-school class, Tyrell Terry surprised everyone by posting an impressive freshman campaign at Stanford and subsequently declaring for the NBA draft. Considered to be one of the best shooters in this year's draft, Terry converted 41% from three-point range this past season. His high skill level and ability to shoot the ball has generated quite a buzz among scouts; however, due to his thin frame and lack of physicality, some concerns and questions have been raised as well.
28. Los Angeles Lakers: Josh Green, SG/SF, Arizona
A top recruit coming out of high school, Green is a plus athlete and defensive stopper with good size for a wing. In his freshman year at Arizona, he averaged 12.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
29. Toronto Raptors: Vernon Carey Jr., C, Duke
Although a bit of a throwback as a big-bodied center at 6'10" and 270 pounds, Vernon Carey Jr. had an effective freshman season for the Duke Blue Devils, as he averaged 17.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. Some questions have been raised about his inconsistent motor. However, his talent remains intriguing.
30. Boston Celtics: Leandro Bolmaro, SG/PG, FC Barcelona
After logging legitimate Euroleague and ACB minutes this past season with FC Barcelona in Spain, the 6'7" Argentinian guard has slowly but surely moved up draft boards. Although it is unlikely that he will be coming to the NBA right away due to him extending his contract with his current club, Bolmaro could still get consideration from teams selecting in the first round.
Matt Babcock is the owner and founder of <a href="babcockhoops.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Babcock Hoops</a>, which features in-depth scouting reports, prospect interviews and more. He is also a contributor for BasketballNews.com. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/news/authors/matt-babcock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out more of his 2020 NBA Draft coverage here</a>.
Also, tune in to BasketballNews.com's Virtual Watch Party on the night of the 2020 NBA Draft (Nov. 18). Our live-stream will feature top analysts, NBA players and more special guests!

With the 2020 NBA Draft just two weeks away, Matt Babcock shares his updated mock draft. Find out who's rising and who's falling!

Matt Babcock's updated 2020 NBA mock draft (11/3): Who's rising?

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; It wasn&rsquo;t so much that social media was criticizing his son. That happens sometimes &mdash; especially after a loss like THAT.
But when a post came up suggesting Terrance Williams II, a junior forward for Michigan, be left for dead in a ditch, his dad decided enough was enough. Terrance Williams Sr.&rsquo;s profanity-laced response to all the haters was, in many ways, an expected byproduct of social media vitriol that bubbled up after the Wolverines blew an eight-point lead in a one-point loss to Vanderbilt earlier this month &mdash; not in the NCAA Tournament but in the NIT.
&ldquo;You actually root for them when they&rsquo;re good,&rdquo; Williams Sr. said of the Michigan fans in an interview with The Associated Press two days after the season-ending loss. &ldquo;But then they make a mistake, and a game doesn&rsquo;t go your way and you turn to hate. That&rsquo;s unacceptable.&rdquo;
The episode was just one of countless examples of the toxic minefield that athletes, coaches, friends and family face all too often on social media, all of it amplified for college basketball players when the calendar flips to March and the madness begins.
College administrators and coaches alike have warned for several years that students and athletes are facing increasing mental-health challenges exacerbated by the pandemic. And never have there been more outside voices that not only scrutinize every move players make on the court, but impact their emotional well-being away from it.
&ldquo;The feedback right now, it can be so harsh and it&rsquo;s so immediate, and I think that&rsquo;s the hardest part,&rdquo; said Melissa Streno, a Denver-based mental health consultant for high-level athletes. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the immediacy of the feedback from people they don&rsquo;t even know. And it can be so impactful on their identity and how they see themselves as a player on the court.&rdquo;
Turning off social media is one option, but it&rsquo;s not really practical, not with the way society interacts in the 21st century. And many athletes use social media to open the door to cash. It comes with a toll.
A survey conducted by the NCAA in the fall of 2021 found spikes among athletes who experienced mental exhaustion, anxiety and depression compared with a similar survey two years earlier &mdash; before the pandemic, and also before name-image-likeness deals became an everyday reality of college sports. The survey also found that despite a growing recognition of mental health as something to be addressed, fewer than half the respondents felt comfortable seeking support from a counselor on campus.
Even so, those counselors have been busy; a growing number of questions they field from the players involve how to manage social media.
&ldquo;For some of them, social media brings pressure to put out information, to create content, build their brand and that can cause anxiety,&rdquo; said Charron Sumler, a former college basketball player who is now an athletic counselor at Ohio State. &ldquo;On the flip side, there&rsquo;s the input where they&rsquo;re receiving messages. And with phones in the locker room, sometimes they&rsquo;re receiving that negative feedback and content before they&rsquo;ve even had a chance to debrief with their coaches or with themselves.&rdquo;
Just this month, Virginia&rsquo;s Kihei Clark started trending for the wrong reasons when his ill-advised pass at the end of a first-round March Madness game against Furman allowed the Paladins to make the game-winning 3-pointer that sent the Cavaliers home.
After the game, Clark sat in the locker room and patiently answered every question. Predictably, social media was destroying him before the final buzzer even sounded.&nbsp;
Among those who knew the feeling was Matthew Fisher-Davis. He was the Vanderbilt guard who, thinking the Commodores were trailing, fouled a Northwestern player in the waning seconds of a first-round game in 2017. In fact, Vanderbilt was ahead by one; Northwestern made both free throws after the foul and won by a point.
Before the next season, Fisher-Davis released a slickly produced video showing him working out, the main theme of which was: &ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s got something to say.&rdquo;
&ldquo;It gets to the point where, the stuff coming from outside the locker room doesn&rsquo;t make anything easier,&rdquo; Fisher-Davis told the AP in an interview this month.
Stanford&rsquo;s Haley Jones was named most outstanding player at the women&rsquo;s Final Four after helping the Cardinal win the national title in 2021. Two weeks ago, when Stanford made an early exit from this year&rsquo;s March Madness, Jones&rsquo; performance &mdash; and her prospects for the upcoming WNBA draft &mdash; were being dissected, sometimes cruelly, on social media.
&ldquo;Right after every game. I know what I did well, and I know what I didn&rsquo;t do well,&rdquo; said Jones, who is part of a program called Game 4 Good that focuses on mental wellness for athletes. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t need to go and listen to thousands of people who don&rsquo;t know me tell me these same things, and probably say it in a lot meaner way.&rdquo;
On rare occasions, players get ripped for doing something good.
In an episode that illustrates the parallel explosive growth of both social media and online sports wagering, TCU&rsquo;s Damion Baugh was the object of scorn in the second round this month when he launched a shot at the buzzer from near the halfcourt logo in a game that had already been sealed by Gonzaga.
Baugh&rsquo;s 3 went in. It trimmed TCU&rsquo;s final deficit to three, which allowed the Horned Frogs to cover the 4.5-point spread. That shot did nothing to change the brackets, but it did flip millions of dollars across the country and Baugh was roundly ripped on Twitter.
Baugh barked back: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t get how y&rsquo;all mad because I played until the last buzzer.&rdquo;
Former Ohio State guard E.J. Liddell also felt compelled to defend himself after he missed a late free throw that was key to an upset loss to Oral Roberts two years ago.
&ldquo;Honestly, what did I do to deserve this? I&rsquo;m human,&rdquo; he said in a post in which he posted screenshots of some of the insults directed at him, including a death threat.
Even one of social media&rsquo;s biggest stars, Oregon&rsquo;s Sedona Prince, who became famous after her video outlining the disparity between men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s weight rooms at the 2021 NCAA Tournaments went viral, had to take a brief break last year from TikTok.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not any different because I&rsquo;m on TikTok. I&rsquo;m still a person,&rdquo; Prince said in a tearful video since taken down, while acknowledging her mental health had been declining.
Streno, the mental health consultant, said social media can exacerbate depression and anxiety.
During a three-month stretch last spring, at least five college athletes died by suicide. Among the reasons given by friends and family were the constant pressure of performing at a high level, the pressure to maintain a certain weight or physique, the fear of being perceived as weak because of injuries and the limited social opportunities because of the demands of a sports schedule.
Given the amount of daily interaction athletes have with friends and family on social media apps, Streno said it&rsquo;s more realistic to coach players on how to deal with feedback than simply advising them to shut down everything.
&ldquo;If it were as simple as &lsquo;don&rsquo;t look at your phone,&rsquo; then this wouldn&rsquo;t be an issue,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But there&rsquo;s such a quick, immediate, &lsquo;Oh, this must mean this about me. I&rsquo;m not good enough, or I&rsquo;m not living up to this level.&rsquo; And then your mind can kind of start going down into this spiral.&rdquo;
Williams, the father of the Michigan forward, said his son does a good job of shutting out social media during the season. After the events of this month, the dad planned on going dark for a while, too.
&ldquo;People said he didn&rsquo;t play well, and I get that,&rdquo; Williams said. &ldquo;But when you say my son, who I&rsquo;ve raised and who I love tremendously, that you wish him to be dead in a ditch, that&rsquo;s when I&rsquo;ve got to turn the switch.&rdquo;

There is a toxic minefield that athletes, coaches, friends and family face all too often on social media when the calendar flips to March.

A different March Madness: Online hate for the athletes

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Knocking No. 1 seed Houston out of the NCAA Tournament made Jim Larra&ntilde;aga feel like dancing.
Much to his players&rsquo; delight, the 73-year-old Miami coach busted moves straight out of the disco era in the locker room Friday night to celebrate an 89-75 Sweet 16 victory that left the tournament without a No. 1 seed among its final eight teams for the first time since seeding began in 1979.
Larra&ntilde;aga is known to dance in the locker room after his biggest wins, and this one in the Big Dance surely qualified.
&ldquo;We were all hyped up,&rdquo; Jordan Miller said. &ldquo;We love when Coach L dances. That&rsquo;s probably the best celebration we could look forward to.&rdquo;
Nijel Pack and Miami (28-7) hit shots from near and far against the stingiest defense in the country as the Hurricanes became only the fifth team this season to score at least 70 points against Houston (33-4).
&ldquo;We just wanted it really bad,&rdquo; Miller said. &ldquo;We came into this game as the underdogs. We had a lead throughout the whole game. I wouldn&rsquo;t say a comfortable lead, but a lead, and we just didn&rsquo;t want to let up.&rdquo;
The fifth-seeded Hurricanes made their second straight Elite Eight and will play second-seeded Texas in the Midwest Region final. Larra&ntilde;aga is seeking his first Final Four with Miami and second overall &mdash; he took George Mason there as an 11 seed in 2006.
About 30 minutes before Houston&rsquo;s loss, top overall seed Alabama fell to San Diego State in Louisville, Kentucky. Fellow No. 1 seeds Purdue and Kansas lost during the tournament&rsquo;s first weekend.
The Cougars simply couldn&rsquo;t stop a multifaceted Miami offense led by Pack&rsquo;s 3-point shooting. He had season highs of seven 3-pointers on 10 attempts and 26 points.
Isaiah Wong&rsquo;s mid-range game helped get the &rsquo;Canes out to a fast start, and he finished with 20 points. Miller hurt the Cougars with his penetration and had 13 points, and Norchad Omier was his usual rugged self under the basket while recording his 16th double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
&ldquo;We emphasized moving the ball and finding the open man, and the guys did such a fantastic job from start to finish,&rdquo; Larra&ntilde;aga said. &ldquo;We only ended up with six turnovers. So that&rsquo;s the name of the game. And we tied them in rebounding. A great performance by our guys.&rdquo;
It was Pack who hit big shot after big shot, some from near the logo. He was comfortable inside T-Mobile Arena, where he played five games during his two seasons at nearby Kansas State.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a blessing to be back in this arena for sure,&rdquo; Pack said. &ldquo;My teammates found me early and kept me going. They instilled confidence in me from the jump ball. They kept feeding me and telling me to shoot the ball, and I shot it with a lot of confidence, and they were able to go in.&rdquo;
Houston was in the Sweet 16 for a fourth straight time, had won 15 of its last 16 games and had the season-long goal of playing in next week&rsquo;s Final Four in its home city.
&ldquo;Unfortunately, one off-night and you go home in this tournament,&rdquo; Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said. &ldquo;We just never could get a foothold. We kept climbing, and we&rsquo;d get ahead of them, and then we just couldn&rsquo;t put stops together.&rdquo;
Miami used a 16-5 run spanning the halves to go up by double digits, with Omier&rsquo;s three-point play and Miller&rsquo;s short bank-in with the left hand making it 47-36 and prompting Sampson to call timeout less than two minutes into the second half.
Houston battled back to make it a two-point game, but then Pack made three 3s and Miller and Wooga Poplar hit one each to fuel a 16-2 run that put the Canes ahead 70-53. The lead grew to as much as 17 points, and Houston never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Walker led the Cougars with 16 points. Jamal Shead added 15 and All-American Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark had 14 apiece for the Cougars, who shot just 37% overall and 29% from distance.
&ldquo;It was an amazing run,&rdquo; Sasser said. &ldquo;Came up short, but the time that we got to spend throughout these months, I couldn&rsquo;t have asked for nothing better.&rdquo;
Houston &mdash; which came into the game as a 7.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook &mdash; found itself behind at half for the second straight game after the Hurricanes played their sharpest half of the tournament.
Miami turned the ball over just once the first 20 minutes, converted Miami&rsquo;s six turnovers into 15 points and shot 6 of 14 from distance against the second-best 3-point defense in the country.
Pack made four of them, and all were timely. His first three gave Miami leads and his fourth broke a 31-all tie.
&ldquo;The Pack kid, some of the shots he made were shots you hope he takes,&rdquo; Sampson said. &ldquo;The problem was he made them. Some of those were Howitzers.&rdquo;
Oh, about that dance Larra&ntilde;aga did. He said it was to the Commodores&rsquo; 1985 song &ldquo;Nightshift.&rdquo;
Miller gave his coach&rsquo;s moves a grade of A.
&ldquo;Not an A-plus &mdash; it was a little stiff,&rdquo; Miller said. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s still very mobile for his age.&rdquo;
BIG DAY FOR THE U
The Hurricanes reached the regional final just a few hours after Miami&rsquo;s ninth-seeded women&rsquo;s team hung on to beat Villanova and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time. Miami and UConn are the only schools with teams remaining in both tournaments.

Jim Larrañaga is seeking his first Final Four with Miami and second overall — he took George Mason there as an 11 seed in 2006.

Miami beats No. 1 seed Houston; all four top NCAA seeds out

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Jahvon Quinerly scored 24 points, Brandon Miller made the clinching free throws with six seconds left and No. 2 Alabama rallied from a 17-point deficit before beating archrival Auburn 90-85 in overtime Wednesday night.
The Crimson Tide (26-4, 16-1 Southeastern Conference) clinched outright their second regular-season SEC title in three years but continued to live on the edge over a troubling eight days that included courtroom revelations in a capital murder trial.
Miller rebounded teammate Jaden Bradley&rsquo;s missed dunk and drew a foul, making both free throws. Noah Clowney had blocked K.D. Johnson&rsquo;s layup attempt on the other end.
The Tigers (19-11, 9-8), who had three key players foul out, couldn&rsquo;t close it out after leading almost the entire way in regulation. They were up 17 with under 11 minutes left.
Alabama won its fourth straight but the past three have gone down to the wire since courtroom revelations tied freshmen Miller and Bradley to the scene of a murder. Neither has been charged or accused of a crime, but then-teammate Darius Miles and another man are facing capital murder charges.
Police said Miles texted Miller asking him to bring the gun.
NO. 22 TCU 75, NO. 9 TEXAS 73
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) &mdash; Damion Baugh scored a career-high 24 points, Emanuel Miller had 20 and TCU denied Texas a chance to play for a share of the Big 12 title in its upcoming regular-season finale.
Baugh scored on a breakaway layup off the opening tip and the Horned Frogs (20-10, 9-8 Big 12) never trailed. It was the second loss in a row and third in five games for the Longhorns (22-8, 11-6), who haven&rsquo;t won a regular-season conference crown since 2008.
Texas hosts third-ranked Kansas (25-5, 13-4) on Saturday. The Jayhawks had already clinched at least a piece of the Big 12 title Tuesday night, and now know they won&rsquo;t have to share it.
Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 16 points for the Longhorns, and Tyrese Hunter had 15.
NO. 10 GONZAGA 104, CHICAGO STATE 65
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 17 points in what&rsquo;s expected to be his final home game at Gonzaga, and the Bulldogs trounced Chicago State in a postseason tune-up.
Timme made his 99th start at Gonzaga. The senior forward ranks second on the school&rsquo;s career scoring list, 21 points behind Frank Burgess (1958-61).
The 6-foot-10 Timme has played four seasons at Gonzaga but could return for a fifth because of extra eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has not announced any definitive plans.
Fellow senior Rasir Bolton added 15 points for the Zags (26-5), who won their seventh straight game. Malachi Smith scored 14.
Jahsean Corbett led Chicago State (11-19) with 22 points and seven rebounds.
Gonzaga added the game to avoid going more than a week without playing before the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.
NO. 11 KANSAS STATE 85, OKLAHOMA 69
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Desi Sills flirted with a triple-double in his Bramlage Coliseum farewell and Kansas State held on to beat Oklahoma.
Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell also had big senior send-offs for the Wildcats. Sills finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Johnson had 16 points and Nowell added 11 points and 10 assists to help Kansas State (23-7, 11-6 Big 12) snap a three-game skid against the Sooners.
Nae&rsquo;Qwan Tomlin scored 19 points for Kansas State, which led by 20 early in the second half before the Sooners (14-16, 4-13) made a late run. Milos Uzan had 20 points to lead Oklahoma.
NO. 14 UCONN 88, DEPAUL 59
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Adama Sanogo scored 26 points to lead five UConn players in double figures and the Huskies closed out their home schedule in emphatic style with an easy win over skidding DePaul.
Andre Jackson filled up the stat sheet for Connecticut (23-7, 12-7 Big East) with 11 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Tristen Newton added 12 points for the Huskies, who have won four straight and seven of eight.
Nick Ongenda tied a career high with 17 points for DePaul (9-21, 3-16), which has lost 11 in a row.
UConn put the game away early, opening on a 29-2 run.
NO. 19 XAVIER 94, NO. 20 PROVIDENCE 89
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Souley Boum scored a season-high 33 points and Colby Jones added a career-best 29 to help Xavier beat Providence and clinch the No. 2 seed in the Big East Tournament.
Ed Croswell had 17 points with 13 rebounds, and Bryce Hopkins also scored 17 for Providence, which cut a 22-point first-half deficit to two in the second half.
It was the Friars&rsquo; first loss at home in 16 games this season.
With one game remaining, Xavier (22-8, 14-5 Big East) has a one-game lead over Providence (21-9, 13-6) and controls the tiebreaker, having swept their two regular-season matchups.
OHIO STATE 73, NO. 21 MARYLAND 62
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Felix Okpara had 12 points and 12 rebounds to help Ohio State finish its home schedule with a win over Maryland.
Justice Sueing had 16 points to lead six Buckeyes in double figures. Ohio State (13-17, 5-14 Big Ten) jumped ahead early with a 12-0 run and didn&rsquo;t give up the lead the rest of the way.
Julian Reese had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Terrapins (20-10, 11-8).
VANDERBILT 68, NO. 23 KENTUCKY 66
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Jordan Wright hit a go-ahead fall-away jumper in the lane with 2.6 seconds remaining to finish with 23 points, and Vanderbilt topped Kentucky for its first win at Rupp Arena since January 2007.
The surging Commodores (17-13, 10-7 Southeastern Conference) earned their seventh win in eight games and are 7-3 since losing to Kentucky 69-53 last month in Nashville.
Wright&rsquo;s drive tied the game with 42 seconds left, and Tyrin Lawrence grabbed Antonio Reeves&rsquo; missed jumper with 20 seconds to go.
Reeves&rsquo; 3-point attempt missed the rim altogether as time expired. Kentucky had won its previous four and re-entered the rankings on Monday for the first time in seven weeks.
Oscar Tshiebwe had 21 points and 20 rebounds for the Wildcats (20-10, 11-6).
NOTRE DAME 88, NO. 25 PITTSBURGH 81
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Marcus Hammond and Cormac Ryan each scored 20 points as Notre Dame beat Pittsburgh to win longtime coach Mike Brey&rsquo;s final home game.
Nate Laszewski and Trey Wertz each added 14 points for the Fighting Irish (11-19, 3-16 Atlantic Coast Conference), who snapped a seven-game losing streak.
Brey, stepping down at season&rsquo;s end, received warm ovations from the crowd before and after the game. He improved to 315-76 at Purcell Pavilion over 23 years as Notre Dame coach.
Jamarius Burton, Nelly Cummings and Nike Sibande all scored 19 points for Pittsburgh. Blake Hinson added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Panthers (21-9, 14-5), who lost for only the second time in 10 games. They were playing their first game since moving into the AP Top 25 for the first time in seven years.

A recap of Wednesday's top-25 action in men's college hoops includes the Crimson Tide winning the regular-season SEC title.

No. 2 Alabama rallies from 17 down to top rival Auburn in OT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Tyrin Lawrence knocked down a 3-pointer from the right corner at the buzzer as the Vanderbilt Commodores snapped an 11-game skid against its in-state rival by upsetting sixth-ranked Tennessee 66-65 on Wednesday night.
Students rushed the court and joined the Commodores (12-12, 5-6) in celebrating easily the biggest win in coach Jerry Stackhouse&rsquo;s fourth season.
Tennessee (19-5, 8-2) had a chance to finish off the win after Olivier Nkamhoua knocked down a 15-foot jumper with 50 seconds left for a 65-63 lead. Liam Robbins missed a turnaround jumper with 27 seconds for Vanderbilt, and Zakai Zeigler grabbed the rebound.
Lawrence finished with a team-high 19 points. Robbins added 14 and nine rebounds, and Jordan Wright had 12.
Santiago Vescovi and Tyreke Key each had 14 to lead Tennessee. Nkamhoua and Julian Phillips added 10 apiece.
NO. 2 HOUSTON 80, TULSA 42
HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Marcus Sasser scored 25 points and had five 3-pointers, Emanuel Sharp added 13 points and Houston earned its fifth straight win.
Sasser scored 19 points on 8 of 13 shooting in the first half as the Cougars (23-2, 11-1 American Athletic Conference) built a 46-18 halftime lead. The senior guard had the first 12 points in a 24-2 run that gave Houston a 31-12 lead with six minutes remaining in the first half.
Tim Dalger scored 13 points, and Sam Griffin added 11 points for Tulsa (5-18, 1-11).
NO. 3 ALABAMA 97, FLORIDA 69
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Miller scored 24 points and made 4 of 8 3-pointers to lead No. 3 Alabama over Florida.
The Crimson Tide (21-3, 11-0 Southeastern Conference) raced to a 29-point halftime lead against the Gators (13-11, 6-5), who had knocked off then-No. 2 Tennessee a week earlier.
Miller added nine rebounds and three assists for the Tide. Mark Sears made 4 of 6 3s and scored 19 for Alabama, which buried 15 shots from long range. Jahvon Quinerly had 11 points.
Colin Castleton led Florida with 29 points and 10 rebounds. He accounted for 13 of his team&rsquo;s 23 in the first half and made 11 of 14 free throws. Riley Kugel added 15 points and Will Richard scored 11.
WEST VIRGINIA 76, NO. 11 IOWA STATE 71
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) &mdash; Kedrian Johnson tied a career high with 22 points, and West Virginia held off Iowa State.
Emmitt Mathews added a season-high 20 points for the Mountaineers (15-9, 4-7 Big 12), who have won five of seven to get their season moving in the right direction after they dropped five in a row during one stretch.
Jaren Holmes led the Cyclones (16-7, 7-4) with 18 points. Freshman Tamin Lipsey had a season-high 16 points and Caleb Grill added 13.
NO. 14 BAYLOR 82, OKLAHOMA 72
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Keyonte George had 23 points, Adam Flagler scored 20 and big man Johnathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua made a couple of key 3-pointers as Baylor held on to beat Oklahoma.
Langston Love added 19 points for Baylor (18-6, 7-4 Big 12), which has won eight of nine overall since losing its first three league games.
The Sooners (12-12, 2-9) lost their sixth consecutive conference game, the last three since a still-hard-to-explain 93-69 win over then-No. 2 Alabama in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Grant Sherfield had 15 points, including four 3-pointers, for the Sooners, and Milos Uzan added 11 points. Otega Oweh and Joe Bamisile both scored 10.
NO. 20 PROVIDENCE 74, GEORGETOWN 62
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Bryce Hopkins scored 17 points and Providence won for the fourth time in five games.
Devin Carter and Ed Croswell had 12 points apiece as the Friars (18-6, 10-3 Big East). Noah Locke added 11 points, shooting 3 of 5 from 3-point range.
Bradley Ezewiro paced last-place Georgetown (6-19, 1-13) with 19 points and Primo Spears added 18. Brandon Murray scored 16 as the Hoyas dropped their fourth straight.
NO. 23 CREIGHTON 75, SETON HALL 62
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) &mdash; Baylor Scheierman had 19 points and nine rebounds, Ryan Nembhard added 15 on 6-of-7 shooting and dished out four assists, and Creighton fended off a feisty Seton Hall.
Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 13 points and Arthur Kaluma had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Bluejays (16-8, 10-3 Big East).
Seton Hall (15-10, 8-6) opened up the second half with an Al-Amir Dawes 3-pointer to take the lead before Kalkbrenner quickly tied things up at 42. Tyrese Samuel drilled a 3-pointer in the corner to give Seton Hall a 49-43 lead &ndash; its largest of the game &ndash; with 16:49 left.
Dawes had 19 points, Samuel had 11 points and Kadary Richmond added 10 points for Seton Hall.
NO. 25 SAN DIEGO STATE 63, UTAH STATE 61
LOGAN, Utah (AP) &mdash; Matt Bradley scored 18 points and San Diego State held on to beat Utah State.
Bradley made his first seven shots and went 7 of 9 from the field overall to help keep the Aztecs (19-5, 10-2 Mountain West Conference) atop the conference standings. Jaedon LeDee had 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Micah Parrish added 12 points for San Diego State. The Aztecs&rsquo; top three scorers grabbed a combined 22 rebounds.
Steven Ashworth had 18 points, six assists and five rebounds for Utah State (19-6, 8-4). Taylor Funk added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Aggies, who lost at home for just the second time this season.&nbsp;

A recap of Wednesday night's action in men's college hoops includes two top-15 upsets, most notably the Commodores downing the Vols.

Vanderbilt’s late three-pointer stuns No. 6 Tennessee 66-65

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Sean Pedulla scored 22 points and Virginia Tech beat No. 6 Virginia 74-68 on Saturday, snapping the Cavaliers&rsquo; seven-game winning streak.
Pedulla made 6 of 13 from the floor as the Hokies (14-10, 4-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) posted their biggest win of the season. He added 8 of 9 from the free-throw line. Justin Mutts added 17 points.
Virginia Tech never trailed and shot 50% from the floor for the fourth straight game.
&ldquo;There was no pouting (after the Miami loss). Just back to practice the next day,&rdquo; Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said of his team, which lost 92-83 to No. 23 Miami on Tuesday. &ldquo;Yeah, we&rsquo;ve got Virginia coming in. Yes, in-state and all of that stuff. We&rsquo;ve got another opportunity to play another really good opponent. We&rsquo;ve got a chance to play Virginia Tech basketball and fight and compete and adhere to the things that are important to us &mdash; and we did that by and large on both ends of the floor.&rdquo;
Jayden Gardner&rsquo;s 20 points led Virginia (17-4, 9-3), which saw its usually stingy defense struggle. Kihei Clark finished with 17 points for the Cavaliers, while Reece Beekman had 15. Armaan Franklin, who had scored in double figures in 10 straight games, had six.
The Cavaliers tied the game at 38 on Gardner&rsquo;s basket with 15:09 remaining, but the Hokies outscored Virginia 17-7 over the next seven minutes and never looked back.
Mutts hit 7 of 11 from the floor and added eight assists and four rebounds. Grant Basile had 14 points and Hunter Cattoor scored all 10 of his points in the second half for the Hokies.
&ldquo;The heart was there, but to win in this setting against a team that&rsquo;s playing good basketball, and Tech is, and they&rsquo;ve got the players, you&rsquo;ve got to be hard and smart,&rdquo; Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t just be all hard. We were (hard and smart) for stretches, and they made us make some adjustments that helped a little bit, but they made the big shots.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Virginia: The Cavaliers suffered a rare poor outing on the defensive end, and it cost them. They led the ACC in scoring defense (60.2 ppg) going in, but allowed the Hokies to score 74 points and shoot 50.9% (27 of 53) from the floor. The Hokies became just the third team this season to shoot better than 50% against Virginia and scored 40 points in the paint.
&ldquo;They run a lot of action, whether it&rsquo;s dribble handoffs, fakes, they keep you on your toes, and it takes an incredible, and I think disciplined (effort) to keep them in front and keep them out of the paint,&rdquo; Bennett said.
Virginia Tech: After losing eight of their previous 10 games, the Hokies needed a big win to help their thin NCAA Tournament resum&eacute;. Registering 19 assists and turning the ball over just eight times were keys.
&ldquo;Obviously, we keep up with stuff throughout the year, like &lsquo;Oh, this would be a huge win on our resum&eacute;,&rsquo;&rdquo; Pedulla said. &ldquo;We do think about (the NCAA Tournament), and we obviously want to get there again. We know our team&rsquo;s capable of it. We&rsquo;re focused on it and we&rsquo;re just trying to stack those wins on top of each other. I think this win definitely helps us.&rdquo;
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Cavaliers were one-point underdogs going into the game, so they shouldn&rsquo;t drop more than a few spots in Monday&rsquo;s poll.
UP NEXT
Virginia: Hosts N.C. State on Tuesday.
Virginia Tech: Takes on Boston College in Blacksburg on Wednesday.

The Hokies never trailed and shot 50% from the floor for the fourth straight game.

Virginia Tech snaps No. 6 Virginia's winning streak with 74-68 win

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Freshman Brandon Miller scored 30 points as fourth-ranked Alabama beat Vanderbilt 78-66 Tuesday night for their seventh straight victory two days after a teammate was charged with capital murder.
Reserve junior forward Darius Miles was charged Sunday, a day after Alabama already had announced he would miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury. Coach Nate Oats said Monday that the Tide was going through a &ldquo;kind of grieving process.&rdquo;
The Crimson Tide (16-2, 6-0 SEC) rebounded well against a team that beat them in the conference tournament last March. All six SEC wins have come by double digits, though Vandy threatened late with a 13-2 run.
Jordan Wright missed a 3 with 36 seconds to go with Vandy down 70-62. The Crimson Tide finished off the win at the free throw line knocking down all eight attempts, and Miller had six of those.
Jaden Bradley and Noah Gurley each added 12 points as eight Alabama players scored. Gurley capped the win with a dunk in the final seconds.
Vanderbilt (9-9, 2-3) now has lost three of its last four &mdash; all against ranked opponents. The Commodores now are 3-15 against Top 25 teams overall in coach Jerry Stackhouse&rsquo;s fourth season.
Tyrin Lawrence led Vanderbilt with 20 points, Wright added 15 and Ezra Manjon had 11.&nbsp;
Alabama opened the game scoring the first six points and went up 13-3 on a free throw by Noah Gurley. Vanderbilt answered back and took its lone lead at 22-21 on a 3-pointer by Malik Dia. Then the Crimson Tide took control, finishing the half on a 15-4 run for a 36-26 lead at the half.
The Tide just kept scoring. Miller capped a 32-8 run with a 3-pointer with 12:44 remaining for Alabama&rsquo;s biggest lead at 53-30. Vanderbilt couldn&rsquo;t have been much colder, missing 10 of its first 11 shots for the half. Wright&rsquo;s 3 with 12:28 to go was the Commodores&rsquo; second made bucket of the second half.
BIG PICTURE
Alabama showed off its speed and shooting to remain undefeated in league play. This is just the Tide&rsquo;s second 6-0 start in the SEC under Oats in his fourth season. Alabama had not opened SEC play undefeated this far into league play since a 5-0 start in the 1986-87 season.
Vanderbilt wasn&rsquo;t helped by not having fifth-year forward Liam Robbins out with an injured ankle. He had 18 points in last weekend&rsquo;s win over then-No. 15 Arkansas. Robbins will miss four to six weeks. The 7-footer ranks fifth nationally blocking an average of 2.94 shots per game and was eighth with 50 total blocks. He saved a pair of victories blocking potential game-winners at the buzzer against Temple and Pittsburgh and is a big reason the Commodores rank 19th averaging 5.3 blocked shots a game.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Crimson Tide positioned themselves to potentially gain more votes winning their first game since Miles&rsquo; arrest.
UP NEXT
Alabama continues a two-game road swing Saturday at Missouri.
Vanderbilt visits Georgia on Saturday.&nbsp;

Freshman Brandon Miller scored 30 points as fourth-ranked Alabama beat Vanderbilt 78-66 Tuesday night for their seventh straight victory.

Miller scores 30 points as No. 4 Alabama beats Vandy 78-66

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; The Vanderbilt Commodores leaned on their experience and trust in coach Jerry Stackhouse after an emotional end to a very chippy first half that led to an ejection of a teammate.
The result? A very big comeback.
Tyrin Lawrence scored 22 points as Vanderbilt rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half and beat No. 15 Arkansas 97-84 on Saturday to snap a two-game skid. The Commodores outscored Arkansas 63-42 after halftime.
&ldquo;In that second half, they did exactly what we&rsquo;ve been talking about,&rdquo; Stackhouse said. &ldquo;They led by example. No rah rah. Nothing but going out there and executing and being the veteran team that we are and playing like the veteran players that they did. I mean, it was on them. They they just competed.&rdquo;
Vanderbilt (9-8, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) trailed 50-40 before the 3s started falling, and Jordan Wright&rsquo;s 3 put Vandy ahead to stay up 59-56 with 12:40 left.
The Commodores kept scoring for a 33-9 run and a 73-59 lead with 7:43 left on a pair of free throws by Liam Robbins. The fifth-year forward scored all 14 of his points in the second half after playing only a minute in the first half with two fouls.
Arkansas (12-5, 1-4) lost its third straight and never got closer than seven down the stretch as the Commodores knocked down all 12 free throws in the final 1:57.
&ldquo;I just think we got a lot of guys still trying to figure out how to win on the road, how to win in conference,&rdquo; Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. &ldquo;I mean, I&rsquo;ve coached a lot of games and I can&rsquo;t remember a defensive team giving up 63 points in a half.&rdquo;
Wright finished with 17 points for Vanderbilt. The senior also helped limit Arkansas freshman Anthony Black to three of his 18 points in the second half.
&ldquo;We put him on the best guy all the time,&rdquo; Robbins said of Wright. &ldquo;We trust him with everything on defense when he&rsquo;s guarding their guy, they get flustered, they get out of sorts. And we&rsquo;re able to go out in transition run. It all starts with him. He&rsquo;s our leader. He&rsquo;s our catalyst and we won because of him.&rdquo;
Myles Stute had 15, and Trey Thomas added 13 in a chippy game that featured three reviews with a Flagrant 1 for Arkansas and Vanderbilt guard Ezra Manjon ejected before halftime.
Ricky Council IV led the Razorbacks with 24 points. Davonte Davis had 17 and Makhi Mitchell finished with 11.
BIG PICTURE
Arkansas is used to slow starts in league play starting 1-3 each of the past two years only to finish in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. But the Razorbacks needed this win badly. This is their third of four road games to start the SEC slate, and they finish with two of their final three on the road at Alabama and Tennessee.
Vanderbilt had come close, losing by three at then-No. 20 Missouri and by nine at No. 5 Tennessee on Wednesday night. The Commodores showed just how dangerous they can be when their 3-point shot falls. ... The Commodores beat Arkansas in back-to-back games for the first time since March 2013 after losing 11 of the previous 13 in this series.
The Commodores now are 1-2 against ranked teams this season. Stackhouse now is 3-16 against Top 25 teams in his fourth season, and this was Vanderbilt&rsquo;s first win over a Top 15 opponent since Feb. 4, 2016, against No. 8 Texas A&amp;M.
EJECTION AND TECHNICALS
Manjon was immediately ejected by official Doug Shows with 49.8 seconds left for pushing Black as he tried to step over Quentin Millora-Brown. A review upheld the Flagrant 2 for Manjon. Stackhouse drew a technical before tossing his clipboard and later said he didn&rsquo;t think Manjon deserved to be ejected.
Black hit his free throw for his three-point play, then Council hit four of six free throws off the Vandy technicals to pad a 42-34 halftime lead.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
This loss coming on the heels of back-to-back losses by double digits definitely will drop the Razorbacks.
UP NEXT
Arkansas: Visits Missouri on Wednesday night.
Vanderbilt: Hosts No. 4 Alabama on Tuesday night.

The Commodores outscored Arkansas 63-42 after halftime.

Vanderbilt rallies from 10 down, beats No. 15 Arkansas 97-84

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Vanderbilt has signed Jerry Stackhouse to an extension as he enters his fourth season as the Commodores&rsquo; head coach.
Athletic director Candice Lee announced the extension Tuesday, crediting how the program has gone in the right direction in Stackhouse&rsquo;s first three seasons. The Southeastern Conference&rsquo;s only private university did not announce any specifics of the extension.
&ldquo;Committing to and investing in him as the leader is an important part of building the championship caliber program that we all want and expect here at Vanderbilt,&rdquo; Lee said in a statement. &ldquo;I value the contributions Jerry and his program have made to our community and campus, and I am excited about our future.&rdquo;
The two-time NBA All-Star and 18-year NBA veteran took over a program in 2019 that had just gone went winless in the SEC. Stackhouse had been an assistant coach with the NBA&rsquo;s Memphis Grizzlies and spent two years coaching the Toronto Raptors&rsquo; G League team, winning the 2016 championship.
Now his Commodores posted a 19-17 record in his third season with a trip to the NIT quarterfinals. Stackhouse thanked the Board of Trust, Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, Lee, his staff, players, family and fans.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Stability and commitment are concepts in college athletics that are hard to come by these days,&rdquo; Stackhouse said. &ldquo;I feel very fortunate to be at Vanderbilt, where stability and commitment are part of our culture from Chancellor Diermeier to Dr. Lee on down.&rdquo;
Stackhouse has had three Vanderbilt players go to the NBA led by Aaron Nesmith, Saben Lee and most recently Scotty Pippen Jr., who led the SEC in scoring last season. His latest recruiting class for the upcoming season ranked 18th nationally by Rivals and 24th by 247Sports.&nbsp;

Vanderbilt has signed Jerry Stackhouse to an extension as he enters his fourth season as the Commodores’ head coach.

Vanderbilt extends men’s coach Jerry Stackhouse’s contract

CHICAGO &ndash; The National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) and Intersport announced details for the inaugural Legends of Basketball Showcase, a college basketball quadruple header set for Dec. 17 at the United Center in Chicago.
As part of the four-game set, Northern Iowa will face Towson and Tulane will take on George Mason, while Dayton matches up against Wyoming and NC State will battle Vanderbilt. In the afternoon session, Northern Iowa will face Towson at Noon CT and Tulane will take on George Mason at 2:30 p.m., while the evening session will feature Dayton matching up against Wyoming at 7 p.m. and NC State battling Vanderbilt at 9:30 p.m. Television designations will be announced in the coming weeks.
Tickets for the Legends of Basketball Showcase, a college basketball quadruple header set for Dec. 17 at the United Center in Chicago, will go on sale Wednesday at 11 a.m. CT. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.ticketmaster.com or by visiting the United Center box office. &nbsp; Tickets, which start at $29, will be sold by session, and one ticket will be good for both games of a session.&nbsp;
Founded in 1992, the NBRPA serves former professional basketball players in their transition into life after basketball. &nbsp;The NBRPA is the only alumni association of its kind supported directly by the NBA and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).
&ldquo;The NBRPA is thrilled to partner with Intersport to present the Legends of Basketball Showcase for the upcoming college basketball season,&rdquo; said Scott Rochelle, President &amp; CEO NBRPA. &ldquo;With NBRPA membership, including several executive board directors having deep ties to the participating college basketball programs, this event is a natural fit for us to bring to fruition. We look forward, to what promises to be an extraordinary day and night of top-notch college hoops entertainment.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Intersport is excited to partner with the NBRPA and help them extend their already well-established presence in the basketball community,&rdquo; said Mark Starsiak, vice president of basketball at Intersport, which will manage the event. &ldquo;As we continue to grow our robust portfolio of successful basketball events around the country, we are eager to create a major annual showcase event alongside another Chicago-based organization right here in our hometown.&rdquo;
The eight programs competing in the Legends of Basketball Showcase have produced a combined 204 NBA Draft selections, while several coaches participating in the event have connections to the NBRPA, and vice versa.
At the helm of Vanderbilt is 18-year NBA veteran Jerry Stackhouse, the former No. 3 overall draft pick and two-time All-Star who appeared in 970 games for eight teams. Wyoming assistant coach Shaun Vandiver is a former first-round pick (25th overall) by the Golden State Warriors in the 1991 NBA Draft. George Mason head coach Kim English was drafted in the 2nd Round (44th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons and Northern Iowa assistant coach Seth Tuttle played for the Miami Heat&rsquo;s Summer League team in 2015.
NBRPA Board Chairman Johnny Davis is a Dayton alum, leading the Flyers in scoring for three consecutive seasons (1973-76) before spending nearly four decades with the NBA as a player, front office executive, assistant and head coach. Additionally, two NBRPA Board Members are NC State alums. Thurl Bailey, who led the Wolfpack in both scoring and rebounding during the team&rsquo;s miracle 1983 NCAA Championship season before embarking on a 13-season NBA career, and Chucky Brown, who led NC State in scoring in 1988 (16.6 ppg) and rebounding in 1989 season (8.8 rpg).
It will be the first matchup between Northern Iowa and Towson and the third between Tulane and George Mason, with the teams splitting the prior two contests. Dayton and Wyoming have also met twice previously, with Dayton winning in December 2004 and Wyoming winning in January 2004. The contest between NC State and Vanderbilt will be the sixth all time, with the Commodores owning a 3-2 edge in the series. Each of the previous three matchups have been neutral site contests, with NC State winning the last matchup in 2018.

The inaugural Legends of Basketball Showcase will be a college basketball quadruple header set for Dec. 17 at the United Center.

Inaugural Legends of Basketball Showcase set for Dec. 17 in Chicago

March Madness is underway!
Across the country, teams are competing in conference tournaments and trying to punch their ticket for the NCAA Tournament. Selection Sunday is almost here, and then the tourney starts next Tuesday.
If you missed any of the Day 2 action, here's a recap of what went down on Thursday.
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Games of the Day
Indiana def. Michigan 74-69 &mdash; B1G Second Round
With 11:03 remaining, Michigan led 60-43 and appeared to be in complete control. The Hoosiers would go on a 20-2 run and took the life right out of the Wolverines, completing the comeback by winning 74-69. Trayce Jackson-Davis led all players with 24 points and 4 blocks in a stunner. Indiana faces No. 1 Illinois next.
Texas A&amp;M def. Florida 83-80 in OT &mdash; SEC Second Round
This one was wild. The Aggies dominated all afternoon and held a 9-point lead with 1:07 to play, but the Gators went on a 12-3 run of the next 50 seconds to tie it at 70-70, forcing the game into overtime. They stayed deadlocked at 78-78 with 1:10 left in overtime when Hassan Diarra hit a triple with one second on the clock to win 83-80. A huge win for a true Bubble Team in A&amp;M.
Arizona def. Stanford 84-80 &mdash; Pac-12 Quarterfinals
The largest lead either way today was 7 points &mdash; in a game where Stanford was given a whopping 5% chance of victory. The Cardinal took a 75-74 lead with just over three minutes to go, but the Wildcats had answers. Kerr Kriisa exiting with injury is important to monitor, but Christian Koloko led the team with 24 points as Arizona survives and advances.
Miami (FL) def. Boston College 71-69 in OT &mdash; ACC Quarterfinals
Kam McGusty led the Canes with 16 points in the nail-biter, as they avoided the upset in overtime. Only one basket was scored in the final 2:30 of the contest &mdash; a Jordan Miller layup that sealed the deal. A big save by Miami.&nbsp;
Villanova def. St. John&rsquo;s 66-65 &mdash; Big East Quarterfinals
The Red Storm let a 17-point second half lead slip away to end their season. Villanova was carried by its starting five, with only 7 points coming from the bench unit. Caleb Daniels led the way with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Justin Moore added 15 points of his own.&nbsp;
Toledo def. Central Michigan 72-71 &mdash; MAC Quarterfinals
In a game where the largest lead was 7 points for each team, Toledo held on for the 1-point win. Harrison Henderson scored with 20 seconds remaining to make it 71-70 Central Michigan, but a RayJ Dennis layup with 10 seconds left would seal the deal. Setric Milner Jr. led the way with 22 points for the Rockets. It's a big win for Toledo who currently projects a No. 13 seed.
Providence def. Butler 65-61 &mdash; Big East Quarterfinals
This one was back-and-forth from the tip, as the teams traded leads the entire contest. Tied at 55 with 3:06 remaining, Simas Lukosius hit a big pair of free throws for Butler to take the lead, but Al Durham hit a huge triple with 43 seconds to go for the Friars to take a 61-59 lead. Durham would follow with a dunk at the end of the game to seal the deal at 65-61. Despite the loss, it was a hard-fought game by the Bulldogs.&nbsp;
Wyoming def. UNLV 59-56 &mdash; Mountain West Quarterfinals
The Cowboys held a 9-point lead in the second half, but allowed the Rebels to fight their way back into it. Xavier DuSell hit a huge three with 30 seconds, and then, Brendan Wenzel iced the game with a pair of free throws. A great game from UNLV&rsquo;s Bryce Hamilton comes up just short.&nbsp;
Akron def. Buffalo 70-68 &mdash; MAC Quarterfinals
This was a fight from start to finish. Led by Ali Ali&rsquo;s 19-point effort and a pair of Greg Tribble free throws with four seconds remaining, the Zips survive and advance. They will face No. 1 seed Toledo on Friday afternoon in the MAC semis.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17868829_lg.jpg" alt="" width="552" height="367" />
The Upsets, the Madness
Oklahoma def. Baylor 72-67 &mdash; Big 12 Quarterfinals
The Sooners took the lead with 11:51 to play and never gave it back. With a balanced offensive attack of five players in double-digits, Oklahoma shocked the Bears. Jacob Groves led the way with 15 points, while Marvin Johnson provided 12 off the bench.&nbsp;
Vanderbilt def. Alabama 82-76 &mdash; SEC Second Round
Bama led by 10 points at the break but Scotty Pippen Jr. and Co. had other plans. Vandy roared back to take a 68-67 lead with 4:26 to play, and was able to hold the Crimson Tide off the rest of the way. Jordan Wright hit a pair of free throws late to ice the game, and the Commodores advance. Pippen Jr. ended with 26 points and 7 assists.
TCU def. Texas 65-60 &mdash; Big 12 Quarterfinals
The Horned Frogs had a win probability of 29.3% entering this one, and that&rsquo;s all they needed. After being down 40-20 in the first half, TCU did a complete 180 and outscored the Longhorns 45-20 the rest of the way. Mike Miles and Co. are setting themselves up well, and will take on the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12 semis.
Penn State def. Ohio State 71-68 &mdash; Big Ten Second Round
The Nittany Lions were given a 24.2% chance of winning today, and they did just that behind Sam Sessoms' 18 points off the bench. Jalen Pickett also had a huge game with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Penn State moves on to play No. 3 Purdue.&nbsp;
Grambling def. Southern 60-58 &mdash; SWAC Quarterfinals
Led by Tra&rsquo;Michael Moton&rsquo;s 12 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists, Grambling took the lead with 10 minutes left in the game and never gave it back. The Tigers will face Texas Southern next.&nbsp;
Tulsa def. Wichita State 73-67 &mdash; American First Round
The Golden Hurricane had four players with 10 or more points, including two with at least 20. After an 11-19 season, this was a nice win for Tulsa as it tries to make a late push in the conference. Tulsa will move on to face No. 2 SMU.&nbsp;
Portland State def. Southern Utah 77-65 &mdash; Big Sky Quarterfinals
The Vikings entered this game under .500 on the season, but put up 77 points on 51.9% shooting from the floor. They held Southern Utah to a lowly 36.8% from the floor and are able to advance.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17868177_lg.jpg" alt="" width="571" height="414" />
Standout Performers
Noah Fernandes (UMass): 29 points, 7 assists
Spencer Jones (Stanford): 28 points, 8 rebounds
Jimmy Boeheim (Syracuse): 28 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists
Keegan Murray (Iowa): 26 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Grant Sherfield (Nevada): 25 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds
Joel Murray (Long Beach State): 25 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds
Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana): 24 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks, 10-17 FG
Wendell Moore Jr. (Duke): 26 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
Nate Watson (Providence): 26 points, 7 rebounds, 9-14 FG
Scotty Pippen Jr. (Vanderbilt): 26 points, 7 assists
Tristen Newton (East Carolina): 26 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists
Jordan Walker (UAB): 26 points, 5 steals, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
EJ Liddell (Ohio State): 25 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks
Orlando Robinson (Fresno State):&nbsp;25 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists
Christian Koloko (Arizona): 24 points, 9 rebounds, 10-12 FG
Dillon Jones (Weber State): 23 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals
Julian Champagnie (St. John&rsquo;s): 23 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA): 23 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Prentiss Hubb (Notre Dame): 23 points, 5 assists
Zyon Pullin (UC Riverside):&nbsp;23 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds
Amadou Sow (UC Santa Barbara): 21 points, 16 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Bryce Hamilton (UNLV): 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists
Mahki Morris (Abilene Christian): 22 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds
Chuba Ohams (Fordham): 20 points, 16 rebounds, 2 steals
Darien Jackson (Tulsa): 20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Brady Manek (UNC): 21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists
Malique Jacobs (Kent State): 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists
Kowacie Reeves (Florida): 21 points, 6 rebounds
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17866936_lg.jpg" alt="" width="381" height="272" />
2022 NBA Draft: Prospect Watch&nbsp;
Keegan Murray (Iowa): 26 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Wendell Moore Jr. (Duke): 26 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
EJ Liddell (Ohio State): 25 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks
Orlando Robinson (Fresno State):&nbsp;25 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists
Christian Koloko (Arizona): 24 points, 9 rebounds, 10-12 FG
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA): 23 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Tari Eason (LSU): 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks
Justin Lewis (Marquette): 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
Ochai Agbaji (Kansas): 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals
Trevor Keels (Duke): 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Jabari Walker (Colorado): 18 points, 16 rebounds
Iverson Molinar (Miss. State): 19 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Julian Champagnie (St. John&rsquo;s): 23 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists
Collin Gillespie (Villanova): 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
David Roddy (Colorado State): 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
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March Madness is underway! If you missed any of the Day 2 action, here's a recap of what went down during Thursday's games.

March Madness: Conference tournament Thursday recap

March Madness is underway!
Across the country, teams are competing in conference tournaments and trying to punch their ticket for the NCAA Tournament. Selection Sunday is just three days away, and then the tourney starts next Tuesday.
If you missed any of the Day 1 action, here's a recap of what went down on Wednesday.
Tickets Punched
Colgate defeats Navy 74-58, Patriot League Championship
Jack Ferguson: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
Greg Summers: 18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals
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SEC
Missouri defeats Ole Miss 72-60, faces No. 5 LSU
Kobe Brown: 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists&nbsp;
Matthew Murrell: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists&nbsp;
Vanderbilt defeats Georgia 86-51, faces No. 6 Alabama
Scotty Pippen Jr.: 14 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals
Braelen Bridges: 15 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17862620_lg.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="468" />
Big Ten
Northwestern defeats Nebraska 71-69, faces No. 5 Iowa
Boo Buie: 16 points, 3 assists&nbsp;
Alonzo Verge Jr.: 21 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗖 𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗦 😼 This is March ‼️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoCats?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoCats</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/NU_Sports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NU_Sports</a> <a href="https://t.co/9dBLxaSHDW">pic.twitter.com/9dBLxaSHDW</a>
&mdash; Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) <a href="https://twitter.com/NUMensBball/status/1501729758111019012?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Penn State defeats Minnesota 60-51, faces No. 6 Ohio State
Jalen Pickett: 22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
Jamison Battle: 19 points, 6 rebounds
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ACC
Virginia Tech defeats Clemson in OT 76-75, faces No. 2 Notre Dame
Keve Aluma: 19 points, 10 rebounds
PJ Hall: 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗛!!!! <a href="https://t.co/hBrAMmBl4P">pic.twitter.com/hBrAMmBl4P</a>
&mdash; Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/HokiesMBB/status/1501744888651653122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Boston College upsets Wake Forest 82-77 in OT, faces No. 4 Miami (FL)&nbsp;
DeMarr Langford Jr.: 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Jake LaRavia: 21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks
Syracuse defeats Florida State 96-57, faces No. 1 Duke&nbsp;
Cole Swider: 28 points, 13 rebounds, 9-15 FG
Joseph Girard III: 16 points, 4 assists
Virginia defeats Louisville 51-50, faces No. 3 North Carolina
Jayden Gardner: 17 points, 4 rebounds, 7-12 FG
Maliik Williams: 11 opints, 13 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17862474_lg.jpg" alt="" width="701" height="467" />
Big 12
West Virginia defeats Kansas State 73-67, faces No. 1 Kansas
Sean McNeil: 21 points, 6 rebounds, 7-10 FG
Nijel Pack: 18 points, 6 rebounds
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Big East
Butler defeats Xavier 89-82, faces No. 1 Providence
Chuck Harris: 29 points, 2 assists
Simas Lukosius: 27 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 11-13 FT
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
DOWN GOES X‼️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ButlerWay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ButlerWay</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Team124?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Team124</a> <a href="https://t.co/CAHgoom1CY">pic.twitter.com/CAHgoom1CY</a>
&mdash; Butler Basketball (@ButlerMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/ButlerMBB/status/1501712938033463298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2022</a></blockquote>

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St. John&rsquo;s defeats DePaul 92-73, faces No. 2 Villanova
Julian Champagnie: 26 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
Javon Freeman-Liberty: 17 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists
Seton Hall defeats Georgetown, faces No 3. Connecticut
Jared Rhoden: 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Aminu Mohammed: 12 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17861107_lg.jpg" alt="" width="701" height="467" />
Pac 12
Stanford defeats Arizona State 71-70, faces No. 1 Arizona
Spencer Jones: 26 points, 6 rebounds, 6-12 (3PT)
DJ Horne: 21 points, 8-17 FG
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Heck of a comeback, <a href="https://twitter.com/StanfordMBB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StanfordMBB</a> 😳🤯 <a href="https://t.co/AqCzhETS30">pic.twitter.com/AqCzhETS30</a>
&mdash; Stanford Athletics (@GoStanford) <a href="https://twitter.com/GoStanford/status/1501697971083116544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Oregon defeats Oregon State 86-72, faces No. 4 Colorado
Jacob Young: 23 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds
Jarod Lucas: 22 points, 2 rebounds, 6-10 FG
Washington State defeats California 66-59, faces No. 2 UCLA
Efe Abogidi: 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals
Jordan Shepherd: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists
Washington defeats Utah 82-70, faces No. 3 Southern California
Terrrell Brown Jr.: 22 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds
Marco Anthoy: 18 points, 2 assists
&nbsp;
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March Madness is underway! If you missed any of the Day 1 action, here's a recap of what went down during Wednesday's games.

March Madness: Conference tournament Wednesday recap

Aaron Nesmith&rsquo;s rookie season didn&rsquo;t end the way he wanted.&nbsp;
Downed at the hands of the star-studded Brooklyn Nets in five games, the Boston Celtics were a first-round exit, leading to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-boston-celtics-unprecedented-front-office-overhaul-gives-brad-stevens-the-keys" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a number of organizational changes</a> this offseason. But nine days after the team was eliminated from contention, the 21-year-old made sure that his summer got off to an uplifting start &ndash; buying a new car for his mother, Erine.&nbsp;
He got the idea during the Celtics' game against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Jan. 25, while taking a quick walk on the sidelines.
&ldquo;It was when we had no fans, and there was a Kia on the floor,&rdquo; Nesmith told BasketballNews.com in a phone interview. &ldquo;I remember I checked out of the game, and I was walking to the designated area they had for us where we could take our masks off. And they had the white version of the Kia Sorrento there. I think that is a really nice car. It was the model that my mom likes.&rdquo;
Nesmith&rsquo;s mother had been driving the same vehicle for the past 15 years, so Aaron decided to buy her that same Kia Sorrento he laid eyes on, but in Crystal Beige. Setting up the surprise wasn&rsquo;t too difficult, especially since he was able to get his father, Bernie, in on the fun.
By the time Kia brought the car to the family&rsquo;s hometown of Charleston, SC, Aaron had it all planned out. After grabbing a bite to eat, he dropped her off at home, while he and his dad secretly went to the dealership to get a decorative bow. Bernie returned to the house early and told Erine that Aaron was going to meet them to go to dinner, and when Aaron pulled up, she went outside and saw that there was a brand new car in the driveway.
&ldquo;It was a dream come true,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;Growing up and wanting to play basketball, every kid also wants to do something special for their parents. Everything that my mom's done for me, she doesn't really get any gifts... It's really awesome. To see her smile puts a smile on my face.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
This is awesome. Celtics rookie Aaron Nesmith surprised his mom with a new car 🙏 <a href="https://twitter.com/aaronnesmith24?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@aaronnesmith24</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSCeltics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBCSCeltics</a><a href="https://t.co/5ZM7giLRyC">pic.twitter.com/5ZM7giLRyC</a>
&mdash; Dime (@DimeUPROXX) <a href="https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1403423583636910083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Nesmith felt indebted to her. An early-riser, Aaron woke up at 6 a.m. to work out when he was in high school, and this continued when he was going through the pre-draft process less than a year ago. Erine would always roll out of bed 45 minutes earlier, just so that he could eat a homemade breakfast instead of a bowl of cereal.
&ldquo;She's always on me about taking my vitamins and making sure I eat healthy,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;She's always on me to try to help me be the best person that I can be, and same goes for my brother (Eddie) with academics and what he wants to achieve, so I just wanted to be able to give back to the effort that she puts in for her boys.&rdquo;
The Nesmiths are a family that values higher education. Eddie just finished studying Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University, while Aaron majored in Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt, a program focusing on business and marketing. Growing up, however, Aaron had a passion for math.
&ldquo;It was always a direct answer &ndash; you either get it right or you get it wrong &ndash; so I always kinda liked math for that,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;There was no room for interpretation (laughs).&rdquo;
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The 2020-21 NBA season, on the other hand, was very open to interpretation &ndash; especially for a rookie class that was thrown into the fire instead of going through the usual months of preparation with a summer league and proper preseason. Nesmith joined a Celtics team that would go on to battle setback after setback.
&ldquo;When the season started, Coach Brad Stevens told us to be ready to hit curveballs. Because the way the season was set up, anything could happen,&rdquo; Nesmith said. "For my rookie class, we had to hit a couple curveballs before even making it to the NBA. The draft got pushed back twice, two separate days, we didn't have a normal pre-draft process... From the get-go with this NBA journey, it was pretty much hitting curveballs.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I was pretty much ready for anything that could be thrown at me. My team individually, we got hit pretty hard by COVID and had a almost a week stretch where we had only seven players available. So really, just waking up and expecting anything, [it was about] being ready for that... Whenever I work out early in the morning, it's so that when my name is called, I'm ready and I'm not caught off guard. [I was] just pretty much waiting for my name to be called.&rdquo;
Going into Year 2, Nesmith has had more curveballs hurled at him &ndash; initially in the form of former Celtics president Danny Ainge&rsquo;s dismissal and the subsequent promotion of his first-year head coach, Stevens, assuming Ainge&rsquo;s position.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I mean, I definitely didn't see it coming,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;But I think it was great for Brad Stevens and his journey going forward. He's a great basketball mind. I think the Boston Celtics are in great hands with him moving up into the position that he took.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I owe [Danny] a lot. He believed in me, and he picked me in last year's draft, so I'll be forever grateful for that. Even after the last game, he came to me and congratulated me on the season and the turnaround that I had from the beginning to the end. So I thank him for believing in me, even in the beginning where I had a rough start and he continued to believe in me, continued to give me advice even 'til when it started to turn around for me.&rdquo;
Stevens&rsquo; promotion meant a vacancy at head coach, and in turn led to the hiring of Brooklyn Nets associate head coach and longtime assistant Ime Udoka. Though the conversations have been brief, Nesmith has gotten to know him, and learned that Udoka lived in Charleston at one point of his life.
&ldquo;[He&rsquo;s a] players coach. He seems like he's a big development guy, really cares for his guys,&rdquo; Nesmith said of Udoka. &ldquo;He wants to win. He's out there coaching with Team USA because he loves developing guys and he loves being around high-level basketball players. So, I'm excited to get to work with him just 'cause you can see how much he loves the game.&rdquo;
In addition, since Kemba Walker was dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Nesmith will have some new teammates in Boston. Budding big man Moses Brown is coming to town along with veteran forward Al Horford, a Celtics fan favorite who will be back for his second stint with the franchise.
&ldquo;(Laughs) Mhm, that's what I've heard,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;I'm excited to meet him... I watched him growing up some, but the thing that I think will help me the most is just being able to watch how he conducts himself and the way that he approaches the game mentally more than anything. He's been in the NBA for so long. He seems like he's a really good leader, so I'm really excited to be able to work with him.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
This was another good game from Aaron Nesmith. He's figuring things out. He hit three triples, but this was my favorite play. Nesmith misses from deep in the corner. Then watch him bust back to make sure Zach LaVine doesn't get an easy layup. This is part of how he'll earn time. <a href="https://t.co/d7WSc3L7hH">pic.twitter.com/d7WSc3L7hH</a>
&mdash; Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1354084314963714050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Making up for lost time, Nesmith is excited to be playing for the Celtics in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in a few weeks. He sees it as an opportunity to keep his individual momentum from last year going, and a chance to expand on some of the work he&rsquo;s put in over this current offseason.
&ldquo;To be able to play five-on-five again, in a game setting, bringing out the competitive juices &ndash; I just love playing and winning,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;Even though it's not a ring ring, we still get a tournament and we still have to declare the winner at the end, so now that's the current objective: to win that.&rdquo;
When asked to evaluate his rookie year, Nesmith considered himself &ldquo;definitely happy.&rdquo; He is grateful that he had the opportunity to compete against Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and the high-level players the Celtics had, and credits all the veterans who were on the team for their advice and passing knowledge onto him.
&ldquo;I'm ready to do it again,&rdquo; an eager Nesmith said of his upcoming second season. &ldquo;The thing that sticks with me the most [from my rookie year] is just how much you have to give 110% every day, mentally and physically &ndash; 'cause everybody's really good at this game. Everybody works to perfect their craft, so how hard can you outwork the person next to you or in the room that you can't see?&nbsp;
&ldquo;So every day, you've got to go in and give it your all. Even on an off-night &ndash; we play so many games &ndash; you still have to get up just like everybody else does, tie your shoes just like everybody else does and go out there and play as hard as you can. Or else, you're not gonna win.&rdquo;
Nesmith quickly learned to expect the unexpected at the pro level, with &ldquo;the roller coaster of playing and not playing&rdquo; acting as his most difficult adjustment. On the court, his role with the Celtics was much different than it was with the Commodores, too.
A standout at Vanderbilt, Nesmith led the team in scoring (23.0 points per game) his sophomore year prior to a season-ending foot injury. He touched the ball a ton, and put it in the bucket with ease, notably with his scorching 52.2% clip from deep on over eight attempts per game. The &lsquo;Dores depended on him to be their primary team leader in many different facets.
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When he got to the pros, that was no longer the case. Coming off the bench in a much-reduced role than what he was used to in Nashville, Nesmith had to find other ways to make an impact for his new squad &ndash; going hard on the defensive end, diving for loose balls, making hustle plays &ndash; when the starters needed an extra push. &nbsp;And in those times where he was on the floor with Tatum and Brown, he picked up on their tendencies.
&ldquo;It definitely helps that they're on my side. I would rather be playing with them than against them,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;They were our best scorers last year, and you&rsquo;ve got to be able to play off of them and off the ball [and] learn where their spots are. If Jayson and Jaylen shoot a pretty good percentage in *this* area, if they have the ball, you probably don't want to shoot it [there]. For me, that's how I was able to get a lot of my offensive rebounds, based on where they were on the floor and if they had the ball, and whatever dribble combinations they were putting together.
&ldquo;Just doing whatever the team needs to win. Basketball's a team sport, so you have to put the team first. Playing in the NBA and playing with such a talented team, everything that I did at Vandy is not what I need to do here on the Boston Celtics. I have to be able to adapt and change my game in order to help my team win games.&rdquo;
Luckily for him and the Celtics, Nesmith has the instincts and a natural motor to help him do those things. At an early age, his father instilled an outwork-everybody attitude that Aaron still carries with him on the floor and in life.&nbsp;
Nesmith put those qualities to use in arguably his signature performance as a rook. In the midst of a four-loss-in-six-game stretch, Boston came out flat in front of its home fans on April 30 against the San Antonio Spurs. The C&rsquo;s trailed 77-48 at halftime, and even plummeted into a 32-point hole... but the guys in green did not fold. In fact, Nesmith was a catalyst to one of the most unlikely comebacks of the year (and the third-largest in league history).
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He scored all 16 of his points in the second half and overtime, knocking down clutch threes, ball-hawking for easy opportunities inside and helping Tatum&rsquo;s 60-point night come in a victory. Nesmith admits that the moment was a proud one for him. He legitimately affected the outcome of the game and played 30 minutes that night.
And the day before, in a win at Charlotte, Nesmith became the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-aaron-nesmith-is-first-boston-celtics-rookie-with-15-points-3-steals-and-blocks-since-paul-pierce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first Celtics rookie since Paul Pierce</a> to record 15 points, 3 steals and 3 blocks in a single game.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It was just part of the journey. That's not the last thing I want my name next to, either,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;So I'll chalk that up, put that up next to some of my other awards I've gotten and just keep moving forward, and try to get some more... an NBA championship, first and foremost. And then hopefully a couple years down the line also be able to make the All-Star game, and everything that comes with that as well.&rdquo;
Reflecting on his own pre-draft process happening so recently, Nesmith said it&rsquo;s crazy to think about the next class entering the league in just six days.
&ldquo;It really did fly by; I think about it all the time,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;I got to Boston on November 19, I left in early June after we lost to the Nets, and that's at least seven months. Those seven months flew by like they were two.&rdquo;
Falling to the Nets in the opening round of the postseason left a bad taste in Boston&rsquo;s mouth, but Nesmith believes that experience will prove to be a positive one heading into the 2021-22 campaign.
&ldquo;We learned a little bit more about resilience and having to really fight and win it on the defensive end, especially against a team like the Brooklyn Nets, who have so much offensive firepower,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;It's pretty tough to keep up with a team on that offensive level. But if we can buckle down on the defensive side and we can limit those options &ndash; we're also a very potent offensive team &ndash; that'll take care of itself. I think we learned that our identity going forward needs to be a defensive-minded team. Because even in years past, if you look at the Boston Celtics before I joined the team, they were pretty much a top-five, top-seven defense in the NBA, and it served them well in the postseason. So I think we got away from that a little bit last year, and going back to that next year will serve us greatly.&rdquo;
For Nesmith and the Celtics, the slate is now clean.
&ldquo;We got a new coach, new systems to learn, new guys to play with. And with the old guys, it's just fun being around them, fun competing with them every day,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;I'm excited to take what we learned from last year playing in the first round of the playoffs, taking that into next season and putting it to use throughout the regular season, and then making a deep postseason run as far as we can. For me, I'm excited to expand my role, get a more consistent role with my team,and be able to help my team win games any way I can.&rdquo;

Celtics wing Aaron Nesmith spoke to Spencer Davies about his rookie season, Boston's changes, gifting his mother a car and more.

Aaron Nesmith is ready for whatever else the Celtics throw at him

Collin Sexton penned an article for The Players&rsquo; Tribune on Wednesday morning, imploring NBA fans across the country to <a href="https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/back-on-the-map-collin-sexton-nba-cleveland-cavaliers-basketball" target="_blank" rel="noopener">start paying attention to Cleveland Cavaliers basketball</a> again. After all, the wine-and-gold have 10 wins already, a mark they didn&rsquo;t reach until 32 games into the season one year ago.&nbsp;
While that may not seem like a huge step to some, it is concrete evidence that the organization is progressing upward. Sexton detailed as much in his piece, citing how different things feel today compared to when he first got into the league.
Make no mistake about it though, the Cavs still have a ways to go. Building trust is the foundation, and with it, comes the establishment of an identity. At their best, they are a gritty, defensive-minded bunch that annoys the hell out of you with deflections in passing lanes and scraps for loose balls.
Scoring has not been as easy to figure out, as the team&rsquo;s offense can go from fun and exciting (see the games vs. the Brooklyn Nets and the second half vs. the Detroit Pistons) to bogged down and disjointed (i.e. the last three games they&rsquo;ve played). You can just tell when there&rsquo;s a flow vs. when there&rsquo;s not. Part of it is the injuries that were sustained following a hot start to the season; another is distributing the proper amount of touches between the guards, wings and bigs, in addition to the shot selection as a whole.
But an under-discussed element in this conversation is how young players have to unlearn what they&rsquo;ve known has worked their entire careers and buy-in to the concept of a team on a consistent basis.&nbsp;
Take Cleveland&rsquo;s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves last Sunday as an example. The Wolves have had their fair share of struggles on the defensive end this season, yet the Cavs were only able to muster up 18 points -- seven of which were scored in the final 1:05 of the game off the minuscule three total assists they scrambled for in an attempt to make a miracle happen. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff&rsquo;s concern stemmed from the 19 turnovers his group committed; he referred to it as going for home-run plays instead of hitting singles. Reading between the lines, nine of those miscues were courtesy of Sexton and Darius Garland.&nbsp;
So yeah, the cleverly-named Sexland has a desire to knock the ball out of the park instead of settling for a base hit, if we&rsquo;re sticking with that analogy. Why wouldn&rsquo;t they? Hero ball is something they&rsquo;ve been accustomed to for much of their basketball lives.&nbsp;
Hell, Sexton&rsquo;s gone 3-on-5 before and almost won a game, and we all saw him single-handedly knock off the Brooklyn Nets in double overtime recently. The world hasn&rsquo;t seen much of him, but prior to his knee injury at Vanderbilt, Garland was a championship-winning superstar on the AAU circuit and at Brentwood Academy in Nashville before committing to the Commodores. It&rsquo;s not like he hasn&rsquo;t shown flashes of brilliance (Cleveland&rsquo;s West Coast road trip last season comes to mind).
These are players in their early 20s that are finally experiencing some continuity and proper guidance. However, just because that aspect and the environment is healthy doesn&rsquo;t mean they&rsquo;re just going to forget everything they&rsquo;ve done that&rsquo;s worked in the past and &ldquo;get it&rdquo; immediately. So if the old saying is &ldquo;becoming a team doesn&rsquo;t happen overnight,&rdquo; when does that happen?
&ldquo;It takes a certain amount of success, to be honest with you,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said Monday. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re having one of these roller-coaster experiences, it&rsquo;s hard to trust in [the team-building process] that it works, right? If you see it working at a consistent level, then it&rsquo;s easier to buy into what exactly it is that we&rsquo;re preaching and that teams may be preaching.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It also takes some consistency in leadership, as well. Certain players, if they have multiple coaches over multiple parts of their early career who are telling them multiple different things and they&rsquo;re running different systems, that can be even more difficult for young guys to adjust to and figure out what works and what to trust in. There&rsquo;s a lot of things that go into it. In the perfect world, in a consistent place, that third year or fourth year is normally the year where you see that bump from guys. But again, I think there&rsquo;s a lot that goes into creating a perfect world in our crazy NBA world.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Wanted to get J.B. Bickerstaff's take on how long it typically takes for young players to unlearn what's worked for them in the past &amp; begin to trust in the concept of team ball consistently, especially since they've seen it lead to success before. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cavs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cavs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/0dCHGJ2nL5">pic.twitter.com/0dCHGJ2nL5</a>
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1356395081712959490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Sexton and Garland are the base of Cleveland&rsquo;s rebuild. As the roster has undergone an overhaul during each of the last three seasons, it has led to two more players that the franchise envisions as part of the long-term core: Isaac Okoro and Jarrett Allen. The latter is making his presence felt as an impactful, spry big at both ends of the floor. (Seriously, just pay attention to Allen&rsquo;s instincts on the defensive end and how quick he makes screen reads on offense -- and look at his lone start next to Sexland).
In the midst of his fourth NBA season, the up-and-coming big man has a perspective that maybe the others don&rsquo;t.
&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s a mixture of experience and locking into the gameplan. As you play in the league more -- I&rsquo;m only 22, I&rsquo;m not a vet yet, I&rsquo;m in a weird position, I&rsquo;m a tweener -- as you get more experience, I feel you kinda understand the concepts more,&rdquo; Allen said of striving towards collectively playing as one consistently. &ldquo;For Darius and a lot of other people, it&rsquo;s only been one, two or three years in the league. I think as we get more experience playing against higher-level teams, against different defenses and [running] different sets on offense, then we&rsquo;re gonna bring it all together and we&rsquo;re gonna start rolling.&rdquo;
A 20-year-old rookie, Okoro is not quite as patient.
&ldquo;I feel like we should be measuring [consistency] now,&rdquo; Okoro said. &ldquo;I feel like we&rsquo;ve played with each other long enough, and I feel like we should start having things clicking and should just not be making the mistakes that we&rsquo;re making in these past games.
&ldquo;I have to let myself know that [it&rsquo;s a marathon, not a sprint] after every game. I&rsquo;m a sore loser. I&rsquo;m used to winning, so I&rsquo;m a sore loser. Every time we lose a game, I&rsquo;m always in my feelings. I always gotta remind myself. I mean, it&rsquo;s the NBA. There&rsquo;s 82/72 games, so there&rsquo;s always gonna be another game. You can&rsquo;t just let one game bring you down.&rdquo;
Garland, too, is &ldquo;annoyed&rdquo; when he has to look at the big picture. He&rsquo;s narrowed it down to one game at a time at least, and has been much better at taking care of the basketball and picking his spots since the loss at Minnesota. In fact, the second-year guard personally went to Bickerstaff that night and demanded better of himself and the team.&nbsp;
The Cavs responded on Monday with a bounceback win over the Wolves, a game that took a similar path in the fourth quarter with Minnesota coming back to trim Cleveland's lead. Except this time around, the wine-and-gold didn&rsquo;t revert to bad habits or isolations; they stuck to their principles and didn&rsquo;t falter.
&ldquo;Not to sound cliche, but that&rsquo;s passing the test for us,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said of his team&rsquo;s response Monday night. &ldquo;We talk about each game being a test because it&rsquo;s a different moment. And these scenarios with these same-team back-to-backs, especially in losses, present an opportunity for you to learn how to make an adjustment and do something different so that the outcome is different. Credit to our guys for passing the test.&rdquo;
&ldquo;As the season keeps going on -- it&rsquo;s a lot of games that&rsquo;s out there -- it&rsquo;s a different game plan every game with different teams. We just have to find that balance in just trying to switch over between game to game,&rdquo; Garland added. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m going through right now, trying to find that consistency -- different reads coming out of the ball screens, seeing how they&rsquo;re gonna defend the ball screens, seeing how they&rsquo;re defending Collin or Dre (Andre Drummond) or all our bigs. Just trying to find that balance in between either being aggressive and getting my teammates involved.&rdquo;
Sexton, on the other hand, is always a glass-half-full type of person. As his teammates groan over their (understandably) incessant desire to have things all together at this very moment, Cleveland&rsquo;s rising star is enjoying those games where the squad puts its true capabilities on display.
&ldquo;It feels amazing to know where we want to be and what we look like when we are clicking on all cylinders [and] when we&rsquo;re all playing together,&rdquo; Sexton said. &ldquo;I feel like it&rsquo;s fun. It&rsquo;s fun to be out there, no matter who&rsquo;s scoring, who&rsquo;s assisting, who&rsquo;s playing defense, who&rsquo;s locking up. When it&rsquo;s like that [on our down nights], we&rsquo;ve just gotta remember what it feels like to have fun. We can&rsquo;t just go into each game stressed out and thinking, &lsquo;Oh man, we&rsquo;ve gotta make sure we&rsquo;re doing everything right.&rsquo; At the end of the day, we&rsquo;re gonna make mistakes. Things happen, but it&rsquo;s pretty much how we adjust and how we figure out and bounce back from those mistakes.&rdquo;
The Cavs may need to go to that well often in the near future, especially following a 21-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at home. Next up on their schedule, there&rsquo;s a double-date with the Milwaukee Bucks in Cleveland before embarking on a grueling five-game West Coast swing featuring Western Conference playoff teams. It&rsquo;s going to be another test, as Bickerstaff said.
As Sexton put bluntly in his article, Cleveland basketball is back on the map. Sending a message over the next couple of weeks with a few more signature performances as a team could make people believe his claim.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the good thing. We&rsquo;re still learning and we&rsquo;re still trying to build on that [consistency]. We can&rsquo;t get satisfied with winning one game,&rdquo; Sexton said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve gotta put multiple [together], even go through a stretch where we win about five in a row. We have to put games together. We can&rsquo;t just go out and think one or two games, that&rsquo;s good for us.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to just be average. We want to be a really good team. When it&rsquo;s like that, we&rsquo;ve just gotta continue to come out and continue to try to be the underdog. We&rsquo;ve gotta be the ones that are going to get it at the end of the day. We can&rsquo;t be the ones that are taking the hits, we&rsquo;ve gotta be the ones giving the hit.&rdquo;

Spencer Davies looks at the highs and lows that are happening in Cleveland and how long it'll take the Cavs to find consistency.

Dropping old habits and building consistency are next steps of Cavs' evolution

The Boston Celtics have selected Aaron Nesmith with pick No. 14 in the NBA Draft.&nbsp;
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;Aaron Nesmith is likely the best shooter in this year's draft. Prior to a season-ending foot injury in January, Nesmith dazzled with his shooting performances, averaging 23 points per game while shooting 52.2% from three-point range in 14 games for the Vanderbilt Commodores. Hailing from the same high school as NBA all-star Khris Middleton, in Charleston, South Carolina.
&nbsp;

The Boston Celtics have taken Aaron Nesmith with the No. 14 overall pick.

Vanderbilt Commodores