Four straight state championships at Christopher Columbus High School. Three consecutive Nike EYBL Peach Jam titles on the 15U, 16U and 17U circuits. Two gold medals — one at the 2023 FIBA Americas U16 Championship and another at the 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup. Both players are McDonald’s All-Americans and national champions. Cameron’s a two-time Gatorade National Player of the Year. Cayden’s the 2025 Chipotle Nationals All-Tournament MVP. And they’re both headed to Duke this fall to helm yet another stacked recruiting class. 

The post Behind the Brotherhood: Cameron and Cayden Boozer Break Down Their College Commitment and Bringing Their Winning Ways to Duke  appeared first on SLAM.

The night started rough for Florida. Houston’s bruising defense swallowed their early offensive rhythm, and Clayton, the Gators’ human torch all season long, was completely bottled up. Scoreless at the break. This is, simply, not a recipe for success.

Florida was trailing at halftime.

Then the dam nearly broke. Houston’s three-point edge swelled to 12 right out of the break. And for the briefest of moments, it felt like the Gators might unravel. Instead, they rose, just as they had all season whenever their backs were against the wall. When the margin for error vanished and the moment demanded greatness, it was Florida that delivered. On both ends.

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They locked in defensively, forced contested shots and willed their way to stops. They made shots—not many, but enough. Clayton, dormant through 20 minutes, caught a bit of fire—scoring 11 in the second half, hitting tough jumpers, finishing through contact and controlling the tempo like the seasoned vet he is. And with every deflection, rebound and dive on the floor, Florida chipped away at Houston’s lead, eventually tookthe lead and ultimately secured the victory with a gut-wrenching, last second stop as time expired. Florida wins, 65-63.

Anybody who’s even vaguely familiar with team sports knows the old adage: offense wins games; defense wins championships. And yes kids, that still rings true, even in the Stephen Curry era. But when it comes to college basketball, if you want any chance at cutting down the nets, you better have at least one killer in the backcourt. As it turns out, Florida had the best guard in the country this year: Walter Clayton Jr.

“We did what we did all year: We stayed the course,” head coach Todd Golden said after the game. “We have the best backcourt in America. I think we have the best frontcourt in America. And like we’ve done all year, we made plays when we needed them the most. We guarded our butts off down the stretch, made every 50-50 winning play.”

“It’s a feeling I can’t even explain, man,” Walter Clayton Jr. said in the aftermath, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player still visibly awed by what he and his team had just accomplished.

Collective confidence was Florida’s identity all year. Unlike the 2010s, when Final Fours were often bloated with McDonald’s All-Americans and one-and-done prospects, today’s most competitive teams veer to the older end of the spectrum. This Florida squad was a blend of high-IQ veterans, under-recruited gems and a fearless leader in Clayton Jr., whose journey from three-star recruit, to two-year mid-major standout at Iona, to March Madness and Florida Gators icon is a testament to both patience and purpose.

It’s hard to overstate Clayton Jr.’s rise. In a tournament teeming with NBA prospects, it was Clayton Jr. who emerged as the best player on the floor game after game. His March was the stuff of legend: 134 total points over six games (22.3 per game). He had a flair for the moment, stamped with Curry-esque shots, fearless drives to the cup and a control of pace that can’t be coached. He was cold when the pressure got hot.

“[Clayton’s] put together the greatest individual campaign in the history of Florida basketball, and it’s a campaign for the record books,” Jonathan Safir, Florida’s director of basketball strategy and analytics, told ESPN.

That’s not hyperbole. Florida’s basketball lineage is deep—NBA All-Stars like Bradley Beal, NBA champs like Al Horford and Mike Miller, defensive savants like Joakim Noah, and playground legends like Jason Williams all wore the orange and blue. But none of them authored a tournament run quite like this. None of them carried a team the way Clayton Jr. did.

His accolades from this year alone: NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player, NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team, NCAA West Regional Most Outstanding Player, NCAA West Regional All-Tournament Team, Consensus 1st-Team All-America—and more.

Walter Clayton Jr. very likely played his way into the first round of the 2025 NBA draft. Once considered a fringe prospect with questions about his size and position fit, Clayton Jr. used March to silence every doubt. Scouts marveled at his poise, his ability to shoot from NBA range and his knack for scoring in isolation against elite defenders. More importantly, he’s shown he can carry a team on the biggest stage. Most mock drafts now slot Clayton Jr. as a mid-to-late first-round pick.

And yet, ask him, and he’ll still deflect credit.

“I’m just thankful to even be in this position,” Clayton Jr. said on Good Morning America a few days after the game, humbly, as if he hadn’t just put the program on his back and walked them to immortality.

Florida was a squad that was battle-tested, learned how to win, stayed together, and never wavered. They played connected. Trusted each other. Believed in the guy next to them—whether he was a transfer from a mid-major or a homegrown Gainesville talent.

And while Clayton was inarguably the face of this team, he’d be the first to let you know this championship run was an all-around effort. “[M]an, we got multiple guys on this team that can go…You never know who’s night it’s gonna be. And we showed that as a team, he said.”

“I do think what separates us and has separated us all season long is our team talent, how our guys have played together and for each other all year,” Golden said in his postgame presser. “Because of that, we can call each other national champions for the rest of our lives.”

Meanwhile, Golden’s coaching job deserves its own chapter. In an era when young coaches are often chewed up by the pressure cooker that is the Big Dance, Golden looked unfazed. His ability to blend egos, manage rotations, and make late-game adjustments was exemplary. (This is a great time to note that Golden coached them to a 36-4 record—surviving the SEC gauntlet, from which a record 14 teams made the NCAA Tournament this year.)

At just 39, Golden’s name is now etched into Florida’s lore forever. He joins coaching royalty as the youngest man to win the NCAA Tournament since Jim Valvano guided NC State to a Cinderella title in 1983. Golden curated a roster that was, frankly, a masterclass in portal-era roster construction. Golden is the face of a new generation of coaches—sharp with the analytics, relatable to his players, and completely locked in on culture. He got this group to buy in from Day 1. And now they’re champions for the third time in program history, and the first time since 2007.

It’s hard to imagine a more perfect tournament run—because perfection, in March, doesn’t look like blowouts. It looks like resilience. It looks like Florida.

Florida wasn’t the biggest, or the flashiest, or the preseason favorites. They didn’t have the highest-ranked recruiting class. But they had the best player, and they had the best team when it mattered most.

The post Walter Clayton Jr. PUT ON FOR FLORIDA by leading the Gators to a National Title | SLAMU Cover Story appeared first on SLAM.

With the Gator logo draped on a championship banner between the team, head coach Todd Golden, his players and the crowd began doing their signature Gator Chomp celebration as they hoisted the trophy.

From that point on, a message was sent to the entire nation.

Florida basketball is back.

Down by as many as 12 points in the second half, Florida rallied to defeat the Houston Cougars 65-63, winning the program’s third NCAA Championship and first since 2007.

Will Richard led the Gators with 18 points and eight rebounds. Alex Condon followed suit with 12 points and Walter Clayton Jr. capped off his legendary tournament run with 11 points and seven assists.

L.J. Cryer led Houston with 19 points and four triples. No other Cougar finished with double-digit scoring numbers. Mylik Wilson added nine points off the bench and J’Wan Roberts finished his collegiate career with eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

Both teams battled in the opening frame, causing three lead changes and five ties.

The Cougars threatened to pull away late in the first half after Wilson made a triple to give Houston a 29-21 lead with five minutes to play in the opening half.

However, Florida responded by closing out the final minutes on a 7-2 run led by a Condon steal and layup and two triples from Richard.

Florida’s run cut their deficit to three, leaving Houston up 31-28 lead into the half. Clayton struggled in the first half, closing out the opening frame with zero points after missing four attempts from beyond the arc.

In the second half, Houston’s came out of the half hot. Cryer hit a triple on the opening possession of the half, starting off an 11-2 Houston run that gave the Cougars a 42-30 lead. Houston’s defense suffocated Florida over this run, forcing three Gator turnovers that resulted in eight Cougar points.

However, Florida began to chip away. Clayton stole the ball from Milos Uzan and drew a foul, scoring his first points of the game from the free throw line. The Gators played tough defense, drawing fouls and contesting jumpers, even when Roberts snagged offensive rebounds to extend possessions.

On the offensive end, Florida scored eight consecutive points from a Denzel Aberdeen layup, Alijah Martin triple and a Thomas Haugh and-one. After their 8-0 run, the Gators cut the double-digit deficit to three points.

Houston maintained their slim lead over the next five minutes. The Gators continued to score, but could not break through to capture the lead. Finally, they forced a tie with just over three minutes to play.

Clayton, who had an off-shooting night while being guarded by Emanuel Sharp, showed up when his team needed him the most. With crunch-time approaching, Clayton curled around a screen and pulled up from the right wing, burying a triple to tie the game at 60 apiece.

Cryer quickly responded with a follow-up tip after a missed layup, but Richard drew a foul and calmly sank two free throws to keep Florida equal. After Joseph Tugler split a pair of free throws, Florida’s defense stepped up.

Up one, Cryer drove in hard to the paint, but had his shot rejected from Haugh. Condon pushed the ball down the court, where Alijah Martin eventually drew a foul on Tugler on a fast-break layup attempt.

Martin sank both of his free throws to give the Gators a 64-63 lead.

On Houston’s ensuing possession, Sharp held the ball at the top of the wing. He used a Roberts screen to drive hard right, but was stripped by Richard as he approached the paint. The ball ricocheted off Sharp’s hands, forcing another Houston turnover.

After the Cougars intentionally fouled Aberdeen, he split his free throws, leaving Houston a chance to tie with a two, or a chance to win with a triple.

On their final possession, Houston began to bleed the clock. As seconds clicked off the clock, Sharp darted out to the top of the key and received the pass from Cryer. He pulled up from deep, but Clayton contested hard, forcing Sharp to spike the ball at the ground. Sharp, unable to touch the ball due to a travel, tried to box out players for a teammate to receive the ball. Condon hustled and dove for the ball, securing possession and effectively bleeding out the final seconds on the clock.

Houston was unable to put a shot on the rim for their final three possessions of the game.

As Kelvin Sampson blankly looked onward, the Gator bench cleared to begin the celebration, with Clayton jumping into the arms of Micah Handlogten. Clayton would be named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, and rightfully so.

Both teams were inefficient on the offensive end—a product of their elite defenses. Florida shot 39.6% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc, slight increases from Houston’s 34.8% from the field and 24% from beyond the arc.

Florida’s ability to get to the free throw line proved to be one of the difference-makers in the game, as the 19 Cougar fouls turned into 17 Gator points off free throws.

With the win, Florida earned their third NCAA Championship in program history, with Golden becoming the youngest coach to win a title since Jim Valvano in 1983.

In a full circle moment, the team Valvano beat to win that iconic 1983 title—the Houston Cougars.

But for now, Florida will enjoy their one shining moment and look to try to go back-to-back next year, just like they did in 2006 and 2007.

The post Florida Rallies to Win Third National Title appeared first on SLAM.

Whether it be drills of fighting for offensive rebounds or players diving for loose balls, Kelvin Sampson’s squad has mastered the fundamentals and little details.

So when the Cougars were down nine with just over two minutes to play, they seemed unfazed and continued chipping away at the seemingly insurmountable 64-55 Duke lead.

It started with Emanuel Sharp gathering a full head of steam and blowing past SLAM cover star Cooper Flagg for an easy layup, cutting the deficit to seven. Then after a Joseph Tugler steal, Sharp drew a foul in the paint from Maliq Brown before calmly sinking both shots from the line.

After Flagg and Sharp responded with two free throws each, Tugler reached in at the ball on the ensuing inbound, resulting in a technical free throw for Duke. Kon Knueppel stepped up to the line and calmly sank the technical free throw with over a minute to play. Knueppel’s free throw would be the last points Duke would score for the remainder of the game.

As Duke ran clock, Knueppel drove in the paint for a layup, but was met by Tugler, who launched the ball off the backboard.

Houston hurried down the floor and found Sharp, who pulled up from deep to cut the lead to three.

The Cougars then switched to a full-court man-to-man press on the inbound. Sion James tried to find Flagg, but his errant pass was tipped and stolen by Mylik Wilson. Wilson retreated to the three-point line but missed long, leading to a Tugler putback dunk that sent the Cougar bench into a frenzy. Tugler’s dunk cut the deficit to a single point.

When Houston intentionally fouled Tyrese Proctor for a one-and-one, Proctor’s first free-throw hit back iron, leading to a controversial over-the-back call on Flagg, who fought with J’Wan Roberts for the rebound.

With Houston in the bonus, Roberts calmly sank both of his free throws to give the Cougars a 68-67 lead.

Roberts then got it done on the defensive end, putting a tough contest on Flagg’s go-ahead turnaround jumper with seconds remaining on the clock.

After two free throws made the contest a three-point game, Duke’s last gasp effort sailed over the basketball to seal their fate.

With Houston’s last effort comeback, the Cougars made their first National Championship game since 1984.

L.J. Cryer led the Cougars with 26 points, while Sharp finished with 16 points. Roberts posted a double-double, finishing with 11 points and 12 boards.

Flagg led the Blue Devils with 27 points and seven rebounds, while Knueppel finished with 16 points. No other Duke player finished the game in double-digit scoring.

Duke controlled the majority of the game, capturing the lead at the 14-minute mark in the first half after Flagg made a triple to give Duke an 8-6 lead. The Blue Devils built on that lead throughout the half and entered halftime with a six-point advantage.

Duke continued to pile on points but was unable to pull away from the Cougars. After a Proctor free throw gave Duke a 14-point lead with eight minutes to play, Cryer responded with a triple, free throw and a jumper to cut the lead to single digits.

Houston added two more layups from Roberts and Tugler to bring the deficit to four points. However, Proctor responded with two free throws and Flagg drilled a triple from the right wing to give Duke a 64-55 lead with three minutes to play.

Houston then embarked on their 15-3 run to close out the game and complete the comeback victory.

Duke’s inexperience in close games and dealing with the Cougars’ full-court pressure proved costly, as missed opportunities and turnovers led to the Blue Devils scoring only three points in the final three minutes of the game.

Houston shot efficiently from beyond the arc, draining 10 triples at a 45.5% clip, while Duke only made seven. However, the Blue Devils were more efficient from the field, shooting 39.6% compared to Houston’s 37.7%.

With the win, Houston will play the Florida Gators for a chance to win the program’s first National Championship in history, having previously lost back-to-back title games in 1983 and 1984.

The post Houston Completes Last-Second Comeback to Clinch Championship Game Berth appeared first on SLAM.

“He’s on a Kemba Walker type run. I mean, that’s it,” Greenberg said on Get Up!

Walker immortalized his collegiate career with an elite postseason run in 2011. After UConn finished ninth in the Big East, the Huskies rattled off five wins in five days to win the Big East Tournament, including when Walker hit his iconic ankle-breaking buzzer beater against Pittsburgh in the quarterfinal game.

In the NCAA Tournament, Walker continued his scoring tear, opening the tournament with a 18-point, 12-assist double-double in a rout against Bucknell. He then followed it up with back-to-back 30-point performances against Cincinnati and San Diego State before dropping 20 against Arizona to advance to the Final Four.

Then against a Kentucky team boasting six NBA players, Walker scored 18 points before grinding past Butler in the National Championship game.

But after Saturday afternoon, Walter Clayton Jr.’s run may be in a league of his own.

Having previously carried Florida to victories against UConn and Texas Tech, Clayton saved his best for the Final Four.

Clayton dropped 34 points to defeat the Auburn Tigers 79-73, bringing the Gators to their first National Championship game since 2007.

Alijah Martin finished with 17 points while Thomas Haugh added 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Chad Baker-Mazara led the Tigers with 18 points and four steals. Johni Broome added 15 points and seven rebounds, while Denver Jones finished with 10 points.

After a tightly-contested first-half that saw nine lead changes, the Tigers pulled away in the final minutes of the opening frame.

After Clayton made a layup with under four minutes to play in the half, Auburn closed out the half on a 13-9 run to take an eight-point advantage into the half.

SLAM cover star Tahaad Pettiford—who recently declared for the NBA Draft—made three free throws, while Broome added two post shots to pad the Auburn lead. A Miles Kelly triple gave Auburn a nine-point lead, its biggest advantage of the half.

Into the second half, Florida came out the gates hot. The Gators took the lead after going on a 13-3 run behind an and-one from Will Richard and two triples from Clayton and Martin.

After both teams traded blows and underwent seven lead changes,. Clayton took over in the final four minutes.

Up one, Clayton took a handoff from Haugh and buried a triple from the left wing to give Florida a four-point lead. He then split two defenders for an easy layup before spinning past Jones en route to a tough and-one.

With time running out, Clayton threw an inbound pass to Haugh, who threw up a hook shot after being fouled from behind by Broome. The ball caromed around on the rim before falling for a dagger and-one.

After Haugh missed the free throw, Baker-Mazara responded with a triple to cut the deficit to five with 32 seconds remaining. Florida converted on enough free throws to keep a two-possession lead and eventually closed the game out.

Fittingly, Clayton sunk the final two free throws to ice the game.

Timely shooting from beyond the arc was the difference-maker for the Gators, who shot 38.1% from beyond the arc and an efficient 47.2% from the floor. Auburn made seven triples, but at a lower 28% clip.

Clayton is almost a shoo-in for the Most Outstanding Player award. Clayton is averaging 24.6 points per game and is shooting 48.7% from beyond the arc for the tournament. He has put up back-to-back 30-point games and has scored in double-figures in all five rounds.

All he needs now is a ring to place his NCAA Tournament run in the same realm as Kemba Walker’s 2011 masterclass.

Clayton and Florida will now have the chance to do so after advancing to their first National Championship game since 2007 against the Houston Cougars.

The post Walter Clayton Jr.’s 34 points propels Florida into the title game appeared first on SLAM.

Sometimes the thought, Do I have it in me to keep doing this? would cross his mind, especially at the end of the season. The weight of his position, as a coach and basketball mastermind in charge of orchestrating a championship-winning roster, and all it takes to make that happen, would dawn on him.

“I don’t know that I think of it in terms of who’s coming after me or what am I leaving behind, but I think some of the things that we’re going to leave behind are probably undoable in the future,” Auriemma said over the phone back then. “I don’t think anybody can sit here and say, OK, pick out a coach that you think is going to win 11 national championships that’s coaching today. You’d be hard-pressed. Pick a team that won 111 in a row. Pick one that won 90 in a row, three times…Name a program that’s going to go to 14 straight Final Fours. Things that we’ve done legacy-wise are going to be undoable now.”

His words foreshadow the brilliance we’ve seen from the Huskies, which was on full display in this year’s NCAA tournament. After persevering through injuries and losses, UConn has powered their way past opponents—Arkansas State, SD State, Oklahoma, USC, UCLA and, finally, South Carolina—to make to the podium for the first time since 2016. Along the way, they made history: the 34-point dub in the semi-finals against UCLA is now the largest win over a No. 1 seed in women’s Final Four, ever. Then, on the same day Auriemma was celebrating 40 years at the helm, the Huskies defeated the reigning champs, South Carolina to win their 12th National Title, making UConn the winningest program in all of college basketball history.

“The legacy that’s going to be left here by those people that have worked here and played here, some things—we’re going to be in the record books for eternity,” he added.

As much credit Auriemma gets, he’ll be the first to not make it about him, and in the rematch of the 2022 National Championship game, the Huskies executed their game plan perfectly. The Gamecocks were no match for UConn’s “Big Three” of Paige Bueckers, Final Four MVP Azzi Fudd and freshman phenom Sarah Strong; a poised Bueckers had 17 points, while Fudd and Strong both dominanted with 24-points each, plus Strong’s 15 rebounds.

The rest of the roster, which includes KK Arnold and Kaitlyn Chen, hustled and dazzled on plays, from volleyball-esque passes to finishes at the rim and tough-nosed boxouts, that made the difference when it counted most. The Huskies won, 82-59 by controlling tempo of the entire game.

As Huskies fans will tell it, it was really the Power of Friendship that fueled their epic run.

And in their final game together with Bueckers in a UConn uniform, Auriemma had just one message for her as they embraced each other on the court for the last time. It’s a message he’s likely said to her and many of the players he’s coached over the years before. “I love you,” Auriemma told PB as they both emotionally embraced each other on a confetti-covered court.

Legacy solidified.

The post UConn’s Reign Continues as the Huskies Win their 12th National Title appeared first on SLAM.

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South Carolina Vs Maryland 

Maryland gave South Carolina a run for their money in their Sweet 16 matchup last Friday. 

South Carolina came out on top 71-67. While Maryland had a consistent offensive showing, it was the Gamecocks who were struggling to find the same level of consistency early on. Finding their groove more in the second half, SC outscored the Terps 12-7 in the final three minutes of the game to secure the win. MiLaysia Fulwiley led with 23 points and Chloe Kitts posted yet another double-double with 15 points and 11 boards. 

South Carolina will go on to play Duke in the Elite 8. This will be the second matchup between these two teams this season, the first having gone in South Carolina’s favor 81-70 back in December of 2024. The matchup will be one of the hottest games of the tournament as the game will inch the winner one step closer to the National Championship. 

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North Carolina Vs Duke

ACC rivals Duke and North Carolina went head-to-head to clinch the next Elite 8 spot. Both teams looked to go two out of three and advance to the next round after both taking a game from each other in the regular season. The Tar Heels started off with the offensive edge, leading 13-9 in the first quarter before Duke responded with an offensive outburst, scoring 19 and holding the Tar Heels to just seven. Coming out of the third, North Carolina had a bit more gas, but it wasn’t enough to outlast the Blue Devils who took the game 47-38. The Duke bench was the biggest surprise to come out of this game, scoring 26 points of the 47 they put up. 

Duke advances to play the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Elite 8 on Sunday. 

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Texas vs Tennessee

The Texas Longhorns faced off against the Tennessee Vols in an SEC rematch that saw Texas runaway in the fourth quarter, punching their ticket to the Elite 8. After Texas squeezed out a win 80-76 back in January, the game was one of the biggest postseason matchups for both squads. Tied up through three quarters, Texas dominated in the fourth, outscoring the Vols 17-9 on the way to the finish line. Though it was a game up until the halfway mark of the fourth quarter with a couple ties early on, the Longhorns did not take their foot off the gas, winning 67-59. Texas was led by Madison Booker who had 17 points, and was accompanied by Jordan Lee and Taylor Jones who chipped in 13 and 12 each. 

The Longhorns look to extend their season against TCU Monday in the Elite 8 matchup, with Texas having taken their last two matchups in both January and February of last year. But with TCU’s new squad this game could go either way, and is shaping to be one of the best games all March. 

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Notre Dame vs TCU

Hailey Van Lith has been the talk of the tournament when it comes to TCU and the squads matchup against Notre Dame was so different. TCU took the game 71-62 but the game was back and forth up until the fourth, where TCU doubled Notre Dame’s 10 to take the win. HVL put up 26 in the victory against Notre Dame, 12 of which came in the fourth where she out scored the Fighting Irish 12-10 alone. Sedona Prince also had a big game, putting up 21 points, but the defensive stats of six boards and six blocks is what gave TCU the edge. Madison Conner also chipped in 13, which had TCU’s big three going for 60 combined. TCU advanced to the program’s first Elite 8. 

The Horned Frogs will play Texas this season for the first time in the 8, hoping to keep dancing. The teams have a bit of tension building, considering Texas was TCU’s conference rival in the Big-12 and Sedona Prince spent a year at Texas back during the 18-19 season. The game is gonna be interesting to say the least so get the popcorn ready. 

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UConn vs Oklahoma 

Paige. Bueckers. 

The talk of the town had been Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies. After feeling like they’re finally at their best after some years of injuries, the Huskies have been dominating the tournament. Paige Bueckers had a career night against the Oklahoma Sooners, to turn the game from a tight back and forth, to an 82-59 blowout single handedly. Going 6-8 from deep, a 19-point fourth quarter, and shooting just under 60% from the field, Paige was unstoppable. 

The Huskies have all the tools needed to win the National Championship, but they have to get through USC in the Elite 8 to get there. The two will face off in a rematch of last year’s Final Four, without JuJu Watkins, who’s sidelined with an ACL tear.

The post Top Seeds and Star Players Show Out in Women’s Sweet 16 appeared first on SLAM.

Here’s how every top-seed secured their spot in San Antonio for a chance to play in the National Championship.

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No. 1 Florida defeated No. 3 Texas Tech

Just a week ago, Walter Clayton Jr. shot Florida into the Sweet 16 after helping the Gators defeat the two-time defending National Champion UConn Huskies.

Clayton drilled a three-pointer over Alex Karaban with under three minutes to play in the second half to give Florida a 62-61 lead. The Iona transfer then faked a drive and shot a fadeaway triple over Hassan Diarra to bury a dagger that extended Florida’ lead to six. The Gators won 77-75.

On Saturday, Clayton found March Magic again.

With the Gators down 10 with just over five minutes remaining in the second half, Clayton drilled a three from the corner after a shooter’s bounce cut the lead to seven. He then drove hard right past Christian Anderson to muscle in a layup and dished out back-to-back assists to Thomas Haugh for two threes.

On the ensuing possession, Clayton wrapped around a screen and matched up with Darrion Williams. He put the moves on the forward, snatching back and creating space en route to burying a game-tying triple from the left wing.

He saved his best for last. Clayton caught a pass inside the paint and immediately dribbled out to the three-point line. Texas Tech was slow to pick up on the most dangerous shooter on the floor. As two defenders rotated over, it was too late. Clayton pulled up and cashed in a shot over two defenders that gave Florida a 78-77 lead they never looked back on.

Clayton finished the game with 30 points to help lead the Gators to an 84-79 victory over Texas Tech to secure their first Final Four bid since 2014. Haugh added 20 points off the bench with four threes and Alijah Martin scored 10 points.

Williams led the Red Raiders with 23 points while JT Toppin posted a double-double, finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Chance McMillian, who hadn’t played in a game since the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal, posted 14 points in his return to action.

Both teams battled early, with Florida taking a 40-37 advantage into the half after a back-and-forth frame that saw four lead changes.

In the second half, Texas Tech hung close with the Gators before building their 10-point lead with just over five minutes to play. Behind Clayton and Haugh, the Gators rattled off a 17-6 run to take the lead on Clayton’s triple. Once Texas Tech began intentionally fouling, Clayton, Martin and Will Richard calmly sank their free throws to keep the game out of reach.

The Red Raiders went cold over this period, failing to convert on two one-and-one opportunities and missing three shots from beyond the arc.

Fouls burned Texas Tech, as 18 personal fouls turned into 27 free throw attempts for the Gators, in which they converted 25. The Red Raiders struggled from the line, shooting 53.8% on 13 attempts.

They will now play a familiar foe—SEC rival Auburn in the Final Four with a trip to the National Championship game on the line.

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No. 1 Duke defeated No. 2 Alabama

Duke defeated Alabama 85-65 to advance to their 18th Final Four in program history.

Kon Knueppel led the Blue Devils with 21 points while Tyrese Proctor continued his dominant tournament, finishing with 17 points on an efficient 7-10 shooting night. SLAM cover star Cooper Flagg scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds while his frontcourt partner Khaman Maluach finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Freshman star Labaron Philon led the Crimson Tide with 16 points. Chris Youngblood and Grant Nelson both finished with 10 points. Despite boasting the top scoring offense in the country, Alabama only had three players crack double-digit scoring numbers. Mark Sears, the Tide’s leading scorer, could not replicate his 34-point clinic against BYU, as he finished with six points on an inefficient 2-12 shooting night.

Duke dominated the entire game, never giving up the lead. They held the nation’s top offense to 65 points, 25 points less than Alabama’s average of 90.7 points per game. The Crimson Tide struggled to find efficiency, as the team shot 35.4% from the field and only made eight triples, a stark contrast from the 25 they sank in the Sweet 16.

Duke took a 46-37 lead into halftime and rattled off a 20-7 run in the final eight minutes of the game to punch their ticket to San Antonio.

The Blue Devils will now play the Houston Cougars on Saturday in what will shape out to be a defensive slugfest between two of the top-ranked scoring defenses in the nation.

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No. 1 Houston defeated No. 2 Tennessee

Houston routed Tennessee 69-50 to advance to their second Final Four under head coach Kelvin Sampson.

L.J. Cryer led the Cougars with 17 points and seven boards while Emanuel Sharp added 16 points and four triples. Projected first-round draft pick Joseph Tugler finished with six points and nine rebounds.

Chaz Lanier and Jordan Gainey both led the Vols with 17 points each. Lanier struggled with efficiency, shooting 4-18 from the field and 2-12 from beyond the arc. Coming off the bench, Gainey shot 6-12 from the field and made 40% of his attempts from beyond the arc. No other Tennessee player scored more than five points in the game.

Houston dominated the first half, holding the Tennessee offense to 15 points. The Cougars quickly built a double-digit lead only nine minutes into the first half after a balanced attack led by Cryer, Milos Uzan and Sharp.

The Vols didn’t break 10 points on offense until there were just over three minutes left in the opening frame. Houston rode their defensive momentum into taking a 34-15 lead into the half.

The Vols regained their offensive identity in the second half, as they scored 35 points from triples and drawing fouls to get to the free-throw line. But after cutting the Cougars’ lead to 10 points with just over five minutes to play, Houston rained threes to pull away late.

Sharp, Mylik Wilson and Cryer each buried five triples on consecutive possessions to build an 18-point lead and close out the game.

Houston’s defense held the Vols to 28.8% shooting from the floor and 17.2% from beyond the arc, a stark contrast to their 50.9% shooting night against Kentucky in the Sweet 16.

The Cougars will now look to lock down Duke in the Final Four for a chance at advancing to the program’s first National Championship appearance since 1984.

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No. 1 Auburn defeated No. 2 Michigan State

An injury wasn’t going to stop the SEC Player of the Year from showing out in the biggest game of his career.

After attempting to block a reverse layup by Frankie Fidler, Broome landed awkwardly, clutching his left knee and right elbow.

Shaking his head, Broome was greeted on his walk to the locker room by a standing ovation from the Auburn faithful. Minutes later, Broome got an even bigger ovation.

Broome came out of the locker room and immediately checked into the game. He set a screen for Miles Kelly and immediately buried a three to give Auburn a 12-point lead with under five to play, sending a roar from the Auburn crowd throughout the arena.

Broome’s double-double helped lift Auburn to a 70-64 victory over Michigan State, sending the Tigers to their second Final Four in program history.

Broome led the Tigers with 25 points and 14 rebounds, while fellow SLAM cover co-star Tahaad Pettiford added 10 points off the bench.

Jaxon Kohler led Michigan State with a double-double, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Jaden Akins added 15 points and Jase Richardson scored 11 points on an inefficient 4-13 shooting night.

Auburn threatened to pull away early, opening the game on a 23-8 run. The Spartans responded with triples from Kohler and Fidler, cutting the deficit to single digits before the Tigers took a nine-point lead into the half.

Michigan State battled in the second half, cutting the lead to five three minutes into the final frame. However, that would be the closest they would get. A Chad Baker-Mazara triple and Dylan Cardwell layup pushed the deficit back to double-digits, and the Spartans failed to catch up for the remainder of the game.

Despite outscoring Auburn 40-37 in the second half, the first-half woes proved too large to overcome for Michigan State.

The Spartans shot an inefficient 34.4% from the field and 30.4% from beyond the arc. Auburn shot 42.6% from the floor and 28% from beyond the arc. Despite winning by six, the Tigers struggled from the free-throw line, converting 11 shots in 20 attempts.

The Tigers will now face Florida in the Final Four for a chance to advance to the program’s first-ever National Championship game.

The post Top Seeds Dominate in the Elite 8 to reach the Final Four appeared first on SLAM.

After averaging an impressive 23.4 points and 7.5 boards this season, the 6-3 center has announced that she’s returning to Iowa State for her junior season. The SLAMU cover star made it official with her own Instagram post, which poked fun at any speculation that she’d be taking her talents elsewhere.

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A post shared by Audi Crooks | Iowa State #55 (@audicrooks55)

Crooks is one of the most dominant bigs in college basketball and has been capturing the world’s attention with her style of play in the paint, which she’s perfected since arriving in Ames.

 “I chose Iowa State because it made me feel cared for as a person, not just for what I do on a basketball court,” Crooks told us for the digital cover of SLAMU (which is now her profile pic on IG, we see you AC!).

During the recruiting process, head coach Bill Fennelly and his coaching staff made Crooks feel comfortable and welcome from the very beginning, a sentiment that hasn’t changed since she’s suited up in the red and gold. “He’s going to be tough on you,” Crooks said of Fennelly. “But at the end of the day, you know that he loves you and that he supports you.”

With Crooks at the center, and teammates like forward Addy Brown—who will also be returning—the Cyclones will look to make a major comeback after losing in the first-round of this year’s NCAA tournament. Crooks, meanwhile, has emphasized that she’s ready to improve her leadership and be more consistent on the floor. Here’s what Cyclones’ fans can expect:

“I think a part of my game that I like to elevate is not necessarily going to show up on the stat board,” she says. “I’d like to be a better communicator. I’d like to be a better leader and just more consistent overall, whether that be in the paint, at the mid-range, setting screens, whatever it is, even on the defensive end,” Crooks said.

Cyclone fans, your fav is back. Celebrate Audi’s return with our Iowa State Collection

The post Audi Crooks is Returning to Iowa State: ‘Let’s Run it Back’ appeared first on SLAM.

Those are the words South Carolina PG Ta-hina Paopao said to Chloe Kitts, according to The Athletics’ Cameron Teague Robinson, shortly after the team left the huddle in the fourth. All game long, the Gamecocks had held their own against the Blue Devils, and on the last offensive possession, head coach Dawn Staley had a vision: give her 6-2 forward the rock.

Simple as that.

As they all walked back on to the floor, Kitts asked her PG to take the reins, and that’s when Paopao reminded Kitts who she is. The 6-2 forward is the latest post player prodigy that’s emerged into a star under Dawn Staley, and after getting fouled, she had the chance to extend the Gamecocks lead and take them to the Final Four…

This is just a glimpse of went down on Sunday night against the Gamecocks and the Blue Devils in a must-see TV Elite Eight matchup. As we gear up for the rest of the tourney, here’s a look back at how South Carolina sealed the deal and are powering their way to the Final Four.

The No.1 Gamecocks have been tested time and time again throughout the Big Dance, most recently against Maryland, but have yet to falter. Their matchup against the Blue Devils was their biggest challenge yet, though you wouldn’t have known from the first quarter. 

SC meant business in the first: SC forward Sania Feagin, who had six points and one block, battled it out in the post against Duke forward Toby Fournier (7 points and a block).

The Gamecock’s offense had a solid showing, putting up 16 but their defense is what really gave them the boost, holding Duke to just 10.

SC’s offense kept at it up until about the halfway mark of the second quarter, when Duke started to chip away at the 11 point lead, going on an 8-1 run to close out the second. 

What looked like the start of a runaway for the Gamecocks turned into a game very quickly as the Devils cut SC’s lead to just four points going into the second half. 

It was Reigan Richardson’s three that gave them Duke their first lead of the game. The Blue Devils turned up their intensity, too, with a big-time block from Fournier.

Though Duke was in control for the majority of the third, South Carolina was never far behind. Finishing the last couple minutes going bucket for bucket, it was Ashlon Jackson’s step back three that gave them a 42-38 lead going into the fourth. 

The back and forth between Fouriner and Feagin continued as Fouriner got free off a pick and roll and finished through contact to tie it back up at 46 to which Feagan responded with a fadeaway jumper to put SC back on top. South Carolina had outscored Duke, 12-4, at that point in the fourth. 

The last two minutes both teams traded some tough buckets and though South Carolina maintained a lead, Duke was never down by more than four points. With a minute to go, Duke’s Oluchi Okananwa drove baseline for a much needed two making it a two point game. 

South Carolina came down with 55.3 seconds on the clock looking to run the clock and make a play, but was unable to secure a bucket. The shot went up and everyone on the floor boxed out. The next possession could make or break either season. 

The ball got knocked out of bounds with 30 seconds left and Duke head coach Kara Lawson decided to challenge in hopes of overturning the call and giving her team the extra possession. After review, the ball remained South Carolina’s. 

Looking for options to take the ball out underneath, Ashlon Jackson drew an offensive foul on Bree Hall, giving the possession up to Duke before the ball was even in bounds. 

The Blue Devils ran through a couple different sets before the SC defense was too much to handle, leaving Ashlon Jackson to force a triple that was no good. A foul was called against Duke on the box out with just 6.4 on the clock, South Carolina ball. 

SC’s Head coach Dawn Staley called a timeout to advance the ball to their sideline while Duke thought Hall was going to be shooting. With all the Blue Devils lined up for free throws, Sc was able to inbound easily, with Duke scrambling to foul. 

It was SC’s Chloe Kitts that was sent to the line with the opportunity to get the game out of striking distance. She buried both FTs, securing a four point lead and punching South Carolina’s ticket to the Final Four. 

“It feels amazing because I feel like I worked so hard, and my process is different,” she said per The Athletic. “I’m just so thankful to be in that position at the end of the game to go to the Final Four,” Kitts said.

You couldn’t have asked for a better ending for the Gamecocks. Kitts led her squad with 14 points and four rebounds, earning Birmingham Regional MVP.

South Carolina is headed to their fifth straight Final Four and will face the winner of TCU and Texas.

The post Full Recap: Chloe Kitts is CLUTCH as South Carolina Powers Past Duke in the Elite Eight appeared first on SLAM.

Here’s everything you need to know before tickets to San Antonio get punched later today.

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No. 2 Michigan State defeated No. 6 Ole Miss

With five minutes to go in a one-point game, Coen Carr raised the State Farm Arena roof.

After Ole Miss grabbed a defensive rebound and tried to hustle down the court, Jeremy Fears Jr. stole Sean Pedulla’s outlet pass, likely saving a transition bucket on the other end of the court.

Fears leapt in the air, intercepted the pass, and quickly threw it to Carr. Carr took two dribbles and a step inside the free-throw line before taking flight, cocking back a vicious left-handed tomahawk slam that sent the arena into a frenzy.

The Spartans rode the momentum from Carr’s dunk to close out a tightly contested 73-70 game over the Rebels, punching their ticket to the Elite 8.

Freshman phenom Jase Richardson led the Spartans with 20 points on an efficient 6-8 shooting night. In Carr’s first start of the season, he finished with 15 points. Jaden Akins, the team’s leading scorer, finished with 13 points.

Pedulla led the Rebels with 24 points. Matthew Murrell added 13 points and Malik Dia finished with 11 points.

The Rebels, despite being two-possession underdogs, hung close with the Spartans for the majority of the game. They built a 10-point lead with four minutes remaining in the first half, but squandered the opportunity to ride the momentum into the half after the Spartans rattled off a 12-4 run to enter halftime down two.

In the second half, both teams battled, forcing eight ties throughout the final frame. After Carr’s electric dunk, the Spartans took the lead after Akins drained tough running jumper.

Michigan State later sealed the game after converting six consecutive free throws after the Rebels started intentionally fouling, maintaining a slim two-possession lead.

With the win, Tom Izzo added an 11th Elite 8 trip to his legendary resume, and will look to reach his ninth Final Four when the Spartans face the top-seeded Auburn Tigers.

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No. 2 Tennessee defeated No. 3 Kentucky

Tennessee routed Kentucky 78-65 to reach their second-consecutive Elite 8.

SLAM cover star Zakai Zeigler led the Vols with a double-double, finishing with 18 points and 10 assists. Fellow cover star Chaz Lanier followed suit with 17 points and Jordan Gainey added 16 points off the bench.

Lamont Butler led the Wildcats with 18 points on an efficient 7-10 shooting night. Amari Williams added 14 points and Otega Oweh finished with 13 points.

The Vols dominated early, outscoring Kentucky 43-28 in the first half and holding the lead for nearly the entire game. Felix Okpara’s layup at the 17:22 mark in the first half gave Tennessee a 4-3 lead that they never looked back on. Kentucky was only out in front for 32 seconds in the game.

Tennessee posted an efficient scoring night, shooting 50.9% from the floor, but struggling from deep. They only cashed in five of their 19 attempts from beyond the arc. However, physical play in the paint drew fouls, creating 20 free throw attempts—which they converted 15 of.

Kentucky shot 49% from the field and 40% from deep but were unable to dig themselves out of the first-half hole.

The Vols will now face the top-seeded Houston Cougars to try and reach their first Final Four in program history.

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No. 1 Auburn defeated No. 5 Michigan

With Michigan holding a nine-point lead in the second half, Auburn went to their spark plug off the bench for instant offense.

SLAM cover star Tahaad Pettiford delivered.

Pettiford immediately cashed a deep triple to cut the deficit to six. He then drove hard into the paint and threw a bullet pass to Denver Jones as he was falling out of bounds. Jones buried the corner three to cut the lead to three.

After Johni Broome made a tough post shot off glass, Auburn had a chance to take the lead. Broome went up for a layup and missed, fighting for the offensive board amidst a sea of players.

The ball found its way into Pettiford’s hands, where he blew past Rubin Jones and swished a go-ahead stepback jumper.

The freshman continued his second-half tear, blowing past Vladislav Goldin for an easy layup and hitting an and-one fadeaway to cap off a 28-6 Auburn run.

Pettiford’s 20 points off the bench helped spark a comeback 78-65 Auburn victory over Michigan, earning the Tigers their third-ever trip to the Elite 8.

Broome posted a double-double, leading the Tigers with 22 points and 16 rebounds. Jones added 20 points and four triples. The Tigers dominated despite Miles Kelly and Chad Baker-Mazara combining for only 11 points.

Danny Wolf led Michigan with 20 points, while Goldin finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. Nimari Burnett scored 10 points and grabbed seven boards. Tre Donaldson struggled against his former team, finishing with five points and four turnovers.

Both teams were inefficient from the field, shooting under 40% and under 30% from beyond the arc.

Both teams kept the game close in the first half, with Auburn gaining a one-point advantage at the half after Broome tipped-in his own miss.

After Michigan opened the second half on a 19-9 run, Auburn quickly responded with their own scoring run to pull away late.

Auburn will now face Michigan State with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

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No. 1 Houston defeated No. 4 Purdue

With three seconds remaining in a tied game, Kelvin Sampson drew up the perfect play.

For the entire game, Purdue had left a free defender to help guard the open man on inbound plays, leaving the inbounder open.

So when Braden Smith left Milos Uzan to help defend L.J. Cryer, Uzan quickly inbounded the ball to Joseph Tugler just inside the free-throw line.

Tugler threw a pass right back to a cutting Uzan, where he finished a layup at the rim to give Houston a 62-60 in the final second.

Ballgame.

Uzan’s game-winner helped lead the Cougars to a 62-60 victory, reaching their third Elite 8 under Sampson.

Uzan led the Cougars with 22 points and drained a season-high six triples. Emanuel Sharp followed suit with 17 points. Cryer, Houston’s leading scorer, finished with five points on an inefficient 2-13 shooting night.

Fletcher Loyer led Purdue with 16 points. Trey Kaufman-Renn added 14 points and Smith dished out 15 assists.

Both teams battled in the first half, with Purdue entering halftime with a two-point advantage after Smith made two free throws with zeroes on the clock.

Houston quickly opened the final frame with an 11-1 run, opening up an eight-point lead early. However, Purdue battled, keeping the lead within single digits for the remainder of the half.

Down three with under a minute remaining, Smith missed a triple with the shot. Kaufman-Renn secured the offensive board to extend the possession, which later turned into a game-tying triple from Camden Heide in the corner.

On the ensuing possession, Uzan missed a turnaround jumper. However, with a sea of players fighting for the rebound, the ball fell out of bounds off of Purdue, later setting up the game-winning play.

Houston will now play Tennessee for a chance to advance to their second Final Four under Sampson.

The post Men’s Sweet 16 Closes Out With Four-Game Friday Slate appeared first on SLAM.

With no timeouts, the Crimson Tide raced down the court as precious seconds ticked off the overtime clock.

Diana Collins dribbled into two Maryland defenders before Sarah Ashlee Barker rotated to the top of the key. With one second left, Collins tossed the rock to Barker, who launched a deep-trey for the tie.

Saylor Poffenbarger quickly raised her hands to contest the shot but closed out too hard, crashing into Barker.

With the center spotlight on her and a nervous energy surrounding the XFINITY Center, Barker calmly walked up to the free throw line.

She followed her routine and sank the first free throw. Then the second. As the home court cheered, Barker swished the third to tie the game at 96 apiece, triumphantly waving her fists as her teammates celebrated sending the game to double overtime.

Unfortunately, Alabama ran out of steam, falling in the second overtime period to Maryland 111-108.

Despite the loss, Barker’s performance was one for the ages, as the graduate student shattered a program and SEC record for points in an NCAA Tournament game, finishing with 45 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Barker’s final collegiate game was a testament to her status within the program as a legend. She graduates from Tuscaloosa as the program’s all-time player efficiency rating leader and box/plus minus, establishing herself as the ultimate two-way guard.

After transferring from Georgia, Barker wraps up her Alabama career averaging 13.9 points, nearly six boards and two steals across three seasons in Tuscaloosa. That doesn’t include a deadly shot from beyond the arc, knocking down triples at a near 35% clip.

With the clutch gene, Barker has always been in the spotlight.

Alongside leading the No. 21 team in the nation, Barker also energized audiences with pre-game vlogs that highlighted the travel, practice and preparation before every tournament game.

But now, Barker may be vlogging for games at the professional level.

Before the NCAA Tournament, Barker had been present on WNBA mock drafts as a potential late first-round pick. However, a 45-point explosion on the biggest stage on an efficient 17-25 from the field is a stat line that will catch the scouts’ attention.

With the WNBA Draft only two weeks away, Barker may have played herself into a higher draft position.

With the hypotheticals aside, Barker summed up what all basketball enthusiasts thought about regarding Alabama’s game.

“If you’re a fan of women’s basketball, I think that every single person could say that was one of the best games they’ve ever watched,” she said.

The post HER MOMENT: Sarah Ashlee Barker Delivers the Most Clutch Performance Ever Against Maryland appeared first on SLAM.

The 2025 NCAA Tournament has been electric so far, and as we gear up for the final stages of March Madness, we’ll be tuning in to every men’s and women’s matchup and giving you the rundown while you simultaneously check your bracket.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

From recaps to player spotlights, here’s all things women’s college hoops.

LSU

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Led by Flau’jae Johnson, Aneesah Morrow and Mikaylah Williams, the LSU women’s basketball are focused and fired up.

READ STORY

ISU

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As one of the most dominant centers in college basketball, Iowa State’s Audi Crooks is commanding the world’s attention.

READ STORY

SC

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MiLaysia Fulwiley, Chloe Kitts and Joyce Edwards tell us exactly how they plan on running it back in the tournament this season.

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UCONN

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Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd’s bond led them to UConn and now they’ll look to bring a title back to Storrs during their final run together.

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ND

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Notre Dame’s superstar guards Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles are finally playing a season together. The Irish are electrifying this season.

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USC

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Prayers for Juju. As her squad rallies during the tournament and supports her amidst a devastating injury, here’s a look back at her cover.

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MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

The stage is set. Here’s all things men’s college hoops.

UA

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Led by Caleb Love, Jaden Bradley, Trey Townsend, Motiejus Krivas, Carter Bryant and KJ Lewis, the ‘Cats are locked in.

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ISU

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The Cyclones have arrived and are on the radar thanks to Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert, the best backcourt in the country.

READ STORY

AU

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The road to March has been running through The Plains all season. Auburn is ready to answer the call…

READ STORY

SJU

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Rick Pitino and St. John’s talk getting the program back to prominence and creating a new culture in Queens.

READ STORY

DUKE

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Throwback to when Cooper Flagg announced on our cover that he was headed to the Blue Devils. All season long, Coop has been living up the hype this year…

READ STORY

The post SURVIVE AND ADVANCE: Everything you need to know during the 2025 NCAA Tournament appeared first on SLAM.

Here’s everything you need to know to be caught up on the madness before the final eight teams are all set.

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No. 2 Alabama defeats No. 6 BYU

Nate Oats’ Crimson Tide had boasted the top-ranked scoring offense all season long, averaging around 91.4 points per game.

In the first two rounds, they weren’t able to surpass that mark.

They survived a first-round scare against No. 15 seed Robert Morris, failing to pull away despite shooting 58.3% from the field. They then grinded out a tough win against No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s, the fifth-best scoring defense in the nation. Alabama scored 90 points and 80 points in those games.

But against BYU in the Sweet 16, Nate Oats’ fast-paced, high-scoring shooting offense finally came to life.

Alabama trounced BYU 113-88, setting an NCAA Tournament single-game record with 25 three-pointers and punching their second straight ticket to the Elite 8.

Mark Sears led the Crimson Tide with 34 points and eight assists. The senior guard was unconscious from the floor, draining 10 triples on an efficient 11-18 shooting night. Aden Holloway added 23 points and six threes off the bench while Chris Youngblood drained five shots from beyond the arc to finish with 19 points.

Richie Saunders led the Cougars with 25 points, six boards and four steals. Egor Demin followed suit with 15 points, but struggled from beyond the arc, only cashing in one of his eight attempts.

BYU could not keep up with Alabama’s high-powered offense. The Crimson Tide shot 53% from the field, 49% from beyond the arc and made 18 free throws.

BYU kept the first half deficit within single digits for the first 15 minutes before Alabama pulled away. The Crimson Tide outscored the Cougars 51-40 in the first half and 62-48 in the final frame to close out the game.

Alabama will now face off against Cooper Flagg and Duke for a trip to San Antonio.

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No. 1 Florida defeated No. 4 Maryland

Florida defeated Maryland 87-71 to advance punch their ticket to the Elite 8.

Will Richard led the Gators with 15 points. Alijah Martin and Walter Clayton added 14 and 13 points, and Thomas Haugh and Denzel Aberdeen both logged double-digit scoring numbers off the bench.

Fresh off his buzzer-beater, Maryland freshman phenom Derik Queen finished with 27 points and five boards. Queen also shot a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line. Ja’Kobi Gillespie finished with 17 points and Julian Reese and Rodney Rice each finished with 12 points.

Both teams kept things close in the first half, as Florida entered halftime clinging onto a two-point lead. But in the second half, the Gators started to run away with the game. Five minutes into the final frame, Florida went on a 15-6 run to grab an 11-point lead and never looked back.

Despite Queen’s scoring efforts, including showing off his range for a triple, the Terrapins could not recover. Back-to-back dagger triples from Richard and Aberdeen extended the Gator lead before a barrage of fast-break layups from Haugh and Alex Condon sealed it.

The Gators now play Texas Tech in the Elite 8 with a Final Four berth on the line.

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No. 1 Duke defeated No. 4 Arizona

Cooper Flagg had his March Moment.

The consensus number-one overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft silenced any critics who argued against that label.

Flagg put the team on his back, dropping 30 points, dishing out seven assists and grabbing six rebounds in Duke’s 100-93 victory over Arizona.

Flagg showed it all on the floor. He showcased his elite playmaking ability when he found Khaman Maluach for two alley oops and his ability to shoot on and off the dribble. But Flagg’s range was on full display, especially when he pulled up from 30-feet out to drain a triple at the first-half buzzer.

Fellow freshman Kon Knueppel finished with 20 points while Sion James added 16 points. Maluach finished with 13.

Caleb Love gave another signature March performance, finishing with a team-leading 35 points on an 11-21 shooting night. Jaden Bradley scored 15 points and Henri Veesaar contributed 13 off the bench.

The Blue Devils were proficient on offense, shooting 60% from the field and 57.9% from beyond the arc while making 11 triples. They also converted 23 of their attempts from the free-throw line.

Arizona kept things close, entering halftime facing a six-point deficit. However, the Blue Devils opened up a double-digit lead early into the second half and never looked back.

Duke will now play Alabama in the Elite 8.

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No. 3 Texas Tech defeats No. 10 Arkansas

With seconds left in a tied game, Darrion Williams got the matchup he wanted.

When Arkansas’ Karter Knox switched onto the junior forward, he went to work. Williams backed down the freshman before hitting a drop-step to create separation. His shot banked off the glass and slowly caromed on the rim before falling in.

The Red Raiders then clamped up D.J. Wagner’s game-tying attempt to advance to the Elite 8, securing an 85-83 overtime victory.

Williams finished with 20 points, while Christian Anderson led Texas Tech with 22 points. JT Toppin, the team’s leading scorer, added 20 points and nine rebounds.

Johnell Davis led the Razorbacks with 30 points, including going a perfect 11-11 from the free-throw line. Knox added 20 points and Wagner finished with 13 points.

Arkansas came out the gates hot. They immediately built and 11-point lead 10 minutes into the half and held Texas Tech’s 28th-ranked scoring offense to under double-digits during that time frame.

The Red Raiders gained some momentum back after Williams nailed a triple at the end of the first-half to cut their halftime deficit to seven. However, the single-digit deficit was short-lived.

Arkansas built a 16-point lead with 12 minutes to play after Davis made a three. The Red Raiders quickly bounced back, posting a 20-10 run over eight minutes to cut the lead to six points with just over two minutes to play.

After Anderson made back-to-back triples to cut the lead to three, Tech had a chance to tie. Anderson passed up the shot and found Williams, who drained a three from the right wing to send the game to overtime.

Both teams battled in overtime, posting three lead changes and five ties before Williams hit the game winner.

Tech’s 16-point comeback victory marked the second largest comeback ever in the Sweet 16, and the program’s first Elite 8 appearance since the 2018-19 season, when they lost in the National Championship.

The Red Raiders play Florida with a trip to San Antonio on the line.

The post Everything You Missed From the First Half of the Men’s Sweet 16 appeared first on SLAM.

The USC superstar tore her ACL against Mississippi State and will miss the remainder of the season, the team confirmed. The injury occurred in the first quarter of the Trojans’ NCAA tournament matchup to secure a spot to the Sweet 16.

Watkins, who was already playing through tweaks to both her left wrist and ankle from their win over UNC Greensboro, was driving to the basket in transition when her knee appeared to buckle. She immediately fell to the ground and held her right knee, grimacing in pain.

The crowd at the Galen Center went silent.

As her teammates powered through, winning 96-59 en-route to the Sweet 16, it was later revealed that Juju was wheeled out of the arena and rushed to a nearby medical facility to receive an MRI. USC has also confirmed that Watkins will undergo surgery. 

Since the devastating news became official, the entire basketball community has offered their support to one of the games’ brightest young stars. Watkins is a generational talent, SLAM cover star and an inspiration to young girls everywhere.

Wishing you a speedy recovery, No. 12. USC will play Kansas State on Saturday in the Sweet 16. 

The post ‘Sending Juju Love’: Juju Watkins Suffers Season Ending ACL Injury appeared first on SLAM.

No. 2 Duke vs. No. 10 Oregon

Starting at noon, No. 2 Duke beat No. 10 Oregon, 59-53 game to start off the second round. 

Oregon started strong taking the jump and opening the game with a three. The Ducks took control and never trailed, maintaining control throughout the first half. 

Deja Kelly led the Ducks with nine of her 20 coming in the first half to help hold the Ducks’ offense steady. 

Defense was big for the Ducks, holding the Blue Devils to 1-6 shooting and forcing three turnovers in the first half. 

Not to mention Ashlon Jackson was scoreless in the first half, and the Blue Devils were without their leading scorer Toby Fournier who was out with an illness. 

Going into the half the Ducks were up five, the score being 28-23 but Duke came out swinging, led by Jackson who scored all 20 of her points in the second half. Jackson posted 11 straight out of the half to give the Blue Devils their first lead of the game, which they never lost. 

The Ducks were held to 12 points in comparison to Duke’s 22 in the third quarter, having gone zero for four coming out of the half.

Closing the fourth quarter Jackson, Reigan Richardson and Delaney Thomas finished in double digits with 20, 13 and 12 points respectively. 

The Blue Devils continue dancing after their win and were the first team to solidify a Sweet 16 spot on the women’s side. They will play rivals North Carolina on the 28th on ESPN.

No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 6 Michigan

Just an hour later, Notre Dame dominated Michigan to make their fourth-straight Sweet 16 appearance to a sold out Purcell Pavilion.

The No. 3 Irish built a 20-point lead in the first quarter, outscoring the Wolverines 32-12 and maintained control for the rest of the game. 

Three players chipped in eight points in the first quarter, being Hannah Hidalgo, Liatu King and Sonia Citron to create the separation that Michigan couldn’t come back from. 

The offense of the Irish was too much for Michigan to handle, with the three players named above finishing in double digits. SLAM cover star Hidalgo put up her second 20 point game in the tournament, notching 21 points with three assists while teammate Liatu King had a historic game. King finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds being just the sixth Notre Dame player to have 15 or more boards in an NCAA Tournament game. 

Perfect from the floor, she also became the second player in program history to go 7-7 or better while dancing. 

Michigan’s Olivia Olson had herself a game as well, putting up 20 points on the other side of the ball but was not enough to keep it within striking distance. 

Notre Dame will play TCU, who they lost to during the regular season on March 29th. Get the popcorn ready because this will be a rematch for the ages. 

No. 4 Kentucky vs. No. 5 Kansas State

Kansas State survived by the (no exaggeration) skin on their teeth in arguably the most entertaining game on the women’s side of things so far. K-State held off Kentucky in an overtime win by just one point to advance to the Sweet 16. 

The four-five game had everyone watching on their toes, with the game being a back and forth battle from start to finish. 

There were 21 lead changes over the course of the game with seven in the fourth quarter and four in overtime. Neither team was able to pull away with a margin bigger than the opening seven points that Kentucky had before K-State got on the board. 

Kentucky outscored K-State 20-15 in the first, with K-State’s Serena Sundell scoring 11 of the 15, anchoring the offense. 

Both teams traded buckets back and forth throughout the third and fourth quarters, scoring 26 a piece in the second half, tied at 69 forcing an overtime. 

In OT, Kentucky found themselves up three at 77-74  with under two minutes to play. 

K- State’s Temira Poindexter, who started off cold, sank the first of her two overtime triples, her seventh in the game overall to tie the game at 77’s with just 1:30 to go. 

KU’s Georgia Amoore, who had played lights out, hit a jumper just after to put them back on top by two at 79-77. 

K-State brought the ball down and was shocked to see Poindexter open in the corner for, you guessed it, another three. Her eighth and final triple put the Wildcats up one at 80-79. 

In the final minute K-State had one opportunity to score, to which Kentucky’s Clara Strack had her first and only block of the night, securing the ball with about 25 seconds left, giving KU an opportunity to score.   

KU had three second chance opportunities after securing three offensive rebounds on two misses from Amoore who finished with 18 points. 

After securing a jump ball with just four seconds left, KU had a sideline out of bounds play which set up Amoore for a point blank layup, which she missed. 

K-State’s defense held KU to zero for four in the last minute of the game, leading to the four seed upset. 

For the first time since 2002, Kansas State University will advance to the Sweet 16. 

No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 9 Indiana

Indiana gave No. 1 South Carolina a run for their money in their rematch of last year’s Sweet 16. South Carolina ended up winning 64-53 but didn’t start to run away until the second half. 

Indiana was executing well on both the offensive and defensive ends, with good ball movement, key players knocking down shots and forcing 12 South Carolina turnovers by the end of the game. 

The first half for the Gamecocks was rough to say the least after going 10-29 from the floor. In the first quarter, they were held to just nine points and were down by as many as eight after a 14-2 Hoosier run in the second before their offense picked up a bit, leaving them trailing by just one at the half. 

The Gamecocks came out in the third quarter looking more like themselves, with relentless defense that sparked their offensive run, outscoring Indiana 26-14 in the quarter. 

Senior Chloe Kitts arrived at the party after sitting early with foul trouble, posting a 10 point, 11 board double-double, all 10 coming in the second half. 

Sania Feagin and Bree Hall finished in double digits as well with 10 and 11 each while Te-Hina Paopao had a showing on both the offensive and defensive end, with nine points and four of the seven Gamecock blocks. 

Coach Dawn Staley emphasized the grit her team showed in the win. “It wasn’t pretty, at this time it doesn’t have to be. You just gotta score more points than the other team and work the kinks out as we advance into the tournament,” she said.

The Gamecocks will advance to their 11th straight Sweet 16 to face Maryland on March 28th. 

No. 5 Ole Miss defeated No. 4 Baylor

Another four vs five seed battle took place where No. 25 Ole Miss took on No. 14 Baylor in another gripping upset with the Rebels on top 69-63. Having lost to South Dakota in the first round in Waco, Texas just three years ago it was the second visit for the Rebels that led them to securing a Sweet 16 position in this year’s tournament. 

From the jump Ole Miss had the slightest edge on Baylor, having been in the lead for over 25 minutes of the game. But very rarely did we see any instances where it was more than a two or three possession game. 

There were only four lead changes all game but 12 ties showing how often the two were going bucket for bucket, especially late in the fourth. 

The pendulum of momentum was going from side to side all the way up to the last minute of the game where the Rebels finally started to pull away. 

Tied at 61’s with 1:04 left to play,  Madison Scott’s midrange silencer to give them a two point lead at 63-61 with 40 seconds left. 

Looking to come up with a steal, the Bears start to press but come up with fouls, sending KK Deans to the line for two, widening the margin from two, to four with the lead feeling somewhat solidified. 

With the pendulum slowly leaning in favor of the Rebels going up 65-61, Jada Walker took a fighting drive. Hoisting up two of her 15 points to cut the lead back to two at 65-63, with 20 seconds left on the clock, it’s a one possession game. 

The Bears stay up pressing, once again looking for a steal but begin to foul to stop the clock, sending Deans to the line three times, who sinks them all going six for six to close out the game. 

“It was fitting.. My final year after losing here in the first round.. I wanted to come and lead my team to victory, I wanted to come and it be a different story this time,” Scott said during the postgame press conference. 

The Rebels secured their second sweet 16 appearance in just three seasons under coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. They’ll meet No. 1 UCLA on the 28th in Spokane.

The post Sweet 16 Tickets Punched in Jam-Packed Women’s Round of 32 appeared first on SLAM.

Just like that, all the pieces came crashing down. 

Latson was ruled out with an injury and missed both the ACC and NCAA tournaments. FSU eventually lost to Georgia in the first round. 

“That really just changed my perspective on a lot of things, like, the game can be gone in an instant,” Latson, who is currently leading the country in scoring as a junior, says on the phone in March. In just a few days, the Seminoles will play George Mason in the first round of the NCAA tournament. “Basketball isn’t the end all be all for me, I have to have a backup plan. I have to be somebody outside of basketball.”

During the time she was out, she missed the competitiveness of being on the court the most. The rush of a big game and the chance to experience it on the biggest stage like the NCAA tournament. “That’s something that I’ll never take for granted again,” she says. 

Latson’s first game back to the court happened to be at USA tryouts over the summer, which proved to be even more of a mental challenge. Thoughts of, Will I be the same? and How’s my body going to react to this? raced through her mind. 

What she needed was an escape. It was last year that Latson, who bounced back for her sophomore season and matched her scoring average, found herself picking up LEGOs as a hobby again. Growing up in Miami, she always loved to play with them, but her parents weren’t able to afford the sets, so eventually she stopped. 

Now that she’s able to cop her own, it’s a different story. Lately, Latson has been creating entire LEGO masterpieces; she’s currently building a Marvel box, which features the iconic logo and characters popping out from the sides, as well as a radio that’s 906 pieces. She tries to find time when she can and works on them either before or after practice, with a majority of her building getting done on her off days. 

“I have to be dialed in when I’m building these LEGOs,” she says. “And it just takes me to another place. The creativity part of it is just beautiful to see that you can do something from scratch.”

She’s channeling her artistic side—which also includes journaling and wanting to learn to play the piano—in her game, too. On the court this season, Latson moves with grace and precision. Her shot is a work of art in itself. Perfect release. Perfect arc. A perfect swish through the basket every time she launches from three. 

This offseason, Latson worked with her trainer in Atlanta on refining every little detail of her approach when it came to shooting. She watched film on the greats, too, from Stephen Curry to Kyrie Irving, and studied how they placed their feet and shot the rock consistently the same way every single time. 

All that work is evident across the stat sheet this season; Latson is currently averaging a career-high 24.9 ppg, as well as 4.7 apg. Her name is being mentioned in the National Player of the Year conversation, too, which has always been a goal of hers. 

“Coach Brooke [Wyckoff], we had a conversation before the season started about my goals for myself and things like that. Obviously, I wanted to be nominated for National Player of the Year this year, [and I] knew that I needed to improve on my passing. That was something that was really important to me.” 

As the team’s captain, leader and the orchestrator of the offense, what helps her stay grounded throughout the ups and downs of the season is the advice Wyckoff has given. “She always tells me to just stack days and take things day by day,” Latson says. 

That’s another thing she’s building toward, too. As Latson continues to become a household name at Florida State ahead of her senior year, she has her sights set on turning her game into a real-life masterpiece, too. When asked what exactly that looks like, she breaks it down for us like it’s a new LEGO set she’s just discovered. We can only imagine what the final outcome will be. 

“[I want] to just continue to build off what I did this season [and] to be consistent. I always pride myself on that,” Latson says. “And [also] improving in areas like turnovers, that’s something that I want to limit as much as possible. I want to average more assists. I want to get more rebounds, and just to continue to grow my leadership.” 

Action photos via Getty Images and LEGO photos courtesy of KLUTCH SPORTS.

The post BUILT FOR THIS: Ta’Niya Latson’s Ascension into Stardom at Florida State and as the NCAA’s Leading Scorer appeared first on SLAM.

Down one with just under four seconds left, the Terrapins went to their freshman phenom center and projected NBA Draft pick. Queen caught the inbounds pass near the top of the key, turned the jets on and drove left on Colorado State guard Ethan Morton.

Morton stood his ground, pushing Queen out of the paint. Queen took two steps and faded away, hovering as he let go a shot from the left block just over Morton’s outstretched arm.

His shot banked off the top of the backboard and fell through.

Game.

The Maryland bench and his teammates mobbed him as Colorado State players put their hands over their heads, stunned at what had just transpired.

Queen’s buzzer-beater had prevented Colorado State’s upset bid, elevating the Terrapins to a 72-71 victory and punching their ticket to the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

The “Crab Five” showed out, each posting double-digit scoring efforts. Queen led the team with 17 points. Julian Reese posted a double-double, finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Rodney Rice scored 16 points, and Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Selton Miguel contributed 11 points each.

Maryland’s bench only had two points the entire game.

“That was my first game-winner. When Coach drew up the play, my teammates trusted me, he trusted me. I was a little nervous, but I knew I was due for one,” Queen said.

Nique Clifford led the Rams with 21 points. Jalen Lake followed suit with 13 points and Kyan Evans, fresh off a six-triple performance against Memphis, finished with 10 points.

The Rams picked up right where they left off, quickly building a 12-point lead halfway through the first half. After Lake hit a three-pointer to give the Rams a 12-8 lead, they rattled off a 12-4 run to take a 24-12 lead. However, the Terps continued to battle.

Maryland scored 10 consecutive points off two triples by Rice and Miguel and jumpers by Queen and Reese to cut the lead back to single-digits.

Both teams continued to trade buckets till the very end of the half, with Clifford splitting a pair of defenders for a tough lefty layup before the buzzer sounded. Clifford’s layup gave the Rams a seven-point lead heading into halftime.

Maryland quickly built momentum, erasing the halftime deficit after Rice hit an and-one jumper to give the Terps a 49-47 lead.

Both teams continued to battle throughout, logging nine lead changes throughout the second half, with three coming in the last thirty seconds of the game.

With 23 seconds left in a tied game, Miguel fired a three-pointer that was off. Reese skied for a clutch offensive rebound and was fouled by Rashaan Mbemba. He calmly sank two pressure free throws to give Maryland a two-point lead.

On the ensuing possession, Clifford began posting up Miguel before rifling a bullet pass to the wing to Lake. Lake fired a deep three and buried it, sending the Rams bench into a frenzy.

But on the final possession, Queen called game.

The win finally marked a buzzer-beater going the right away from Maryland, who were plagued by devastating losses all season.

On Jan. 16, Nick Martinelli hit a fadeway dagger from the right block to give the Northwestern Wildcats a buzzer-beating 76-74 overtime victory. On Feb. 6, they choked a 17-point lead to the Ohio State Buckeyes after Bruce Thornton banked in a contested three with the shot clock winding down. Later that month, they lost on a half-court heave from Michigan State’s Tre Holloman.

Then, most recently, they let Michigan’s Tre Donaldson go coast-to-coast for a tough layup at the buzzer in the Big Ten semifinal game.

Finally, one shot did go their way when it mattered most.

“Give Colorado State a lot of credit, they’re an excellent basketball team,” head coach Kevin Willard said. “I feel bad that they had to go that way, but I really felt like maybe we were due eventually for one of those to go for us.

That buzzer-beater now sends Maryland to the Sweet 16 to face off against the top-seeded Florida Gators on Thursday.

The post Maryland Survives Upset-Bid From Colorado State on Derik Queen Buzzer-Beater appeared first on SLAM.

They lost in a heartbreaker to conference opponent NC State, who went on a Cinderella run to the Final Four. Proctor struggled in the 76-64 defeat, shooting 0-9 from the field and finished with a zero in the box score.

But in this year’s tournament, Proctor put it all behind him.

He posted a 19-point, five assist night against Mount St. Mary’s in the opening round, but saved his best for the next round.

Against a talented team of draft prospects and veteran players, including Cooper Flagg’s former high school point guard Rob Wright and former Duke guard Jeremy Roach, the Australian junior was unconscious on Sunday afternoon.

Proctor scored a team-high 25 points on 9-10 shooting from the field and drained seven triples to lead the top-seeded Blue Devils to an 89-66 rout over the Baylor Bears, earning a trip to the Sweet 16.

Freshman phenom Cooper Flagg—who graced the cover of SLAM—finished with a near triple-double, posting 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Experts and fans alike can finally agree that it’s safe to say the ankle injury isn’t bothering him anymore.

Kon Knueppel rounded out Duke’s double-digit scorers, dropping 12 points on an efficient 4-5 from the field.

Projected lottery pick VJ Edgecombe led the Bears with 16 points, while Norchad Omier’s consecutive double-double streak of 10 games finally came to a close. The Miami transfer finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Langston Love and Wright each finished with 11 points and Roach contributed seven points off the bench against his former team.

The game was tightly contested for the majority of the first half. Neither team could pull away from one another, keeping any lead to within single digits. However, the wheels fell off for Baylor towards the end of the opening frame.

With Duke clinging to a 35-30 lead with three minutes left in the first half, the Blue Devils went on a 12-0 run to enter halftime up 17.

Flagg scored a layup, dunk and drained a three, Sion James and Patrick Ngongba made free throws and Caleb Foster hit a jumper to crush any momentum Baylor had.

“When we stick to our defense, stick to our habits, we’re a really hard team to score on. Once we started getting loose balls and rebounds, we could push in transition and play our offense,” Proctor said.

Baylor could never recover from the momentum shift. Duke outscored the Bears 42-36 in the second half, and maintained a double-digit lead for the entire 20 minutes of play.

The Blue Devils dominated on the offensive end, shooting 64.4% from the field and 54.5% from deep. They also converted 19 free throws at an 82.6% clip. On the defensive end, they held the Bears to 36.8% shooting from the field and 32% from deep. They played physical on-ball defense, contesting without fouling, only allowing 10 free throw attempts for Baylor. Only two Baylor players—Omier and Edgecombe—shot above 50% from the field for the game.

“To win by this margin, I think speaks to the level of killer instinct that our guys have, the competitiveness and the connectivity,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said. “Sweet 16 sounds great, we know it’s a quick turnaround, but we’re going to enjoy this one tonight and then get back to it.”

Duke will now face off against a familiar foe donning a different jersey. The Blue Devils will take on Caleb Love and the Arizona Wildcats in the Sweet 16 on Thursday.

The post Duke trounces Baylor 89-66 to advance to the Sweet 16 appeared first on SLAM.

The two legendary coaches both were compared to each other all throughout their career paths, ranging from rebuilding programs into championship contenders in the Northeast, to playing under the bright lights of Rupp Arena with the Kentucky Wildcats.

They’ve met each other nearly 30 times in their illustrious careers, with Calipari holding a 17-12 advantage, including a Final Four victory in 2012 over Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals.

But given the circumstances, this one has to be up there.

Nobody gave the Razorbacks a chance against the red-hot Red Storm. The team had lost leading scorer Adou Thiero with a knee injury and started out their regular season poorly, opening SEC play with an 0-5 record. They suffered devastating close losses to their ranked counterparts, and even gave last-place South Carolina their second SEC win of the year in a 19-point romp.

St. John’s, on the other hand, entered this game with the complete opposite trajectory. Pitino’s squad rattled off 30 wins in the regular season, tied for the most ever in a regular season. They had scoring threats all across their lineup, with RJ Luis Jr. being named Big East Player of the Year.

Billed in as 7.5 point underdogs, Calipari’s Razorbacks pulled off the shock of the tournament, knocking off the St. John’s 75-66, ending the Red Storm’s dream season.

Freshman Billy Richmond led the Razorbacks with a career-high 16 points and nine rebounds while coming off the bench. Freshman Karter Knox finished with 15 points and four blocks, and Johnell Davis added 13 points.

Zuby Ejiofor led the Red Storm with a double-double, posting 23 points and 12 rebounds. Deivon Smith added 13 points off the bench.

Luis, the team’s leading scorer, was held to only nine points on a poor 3-17 shooting night, leading to him being benched for the last minutes of the game.

St. John’s shooting woes were on full display. With the main criticism being a lack of an efficient three-point shooter entering the tournament, the Johnnies silenced all critics by draining 14 triples at a 37.8% clip en route to a 30-point blowout of the Omaha Mavericks in the first round.

Saturday afternoon could not have been more different.

The Red Storm shot a dismal 9.1% from beyond the arc, only hitting two of their 22 attempts from beyond the arc. They didn’t fare better from the floor, making 28% of their shots from the field.

The Razorbacks defense held Kadary Richmond and Luis to a combined 14 points on 5-24 shooting. Their relentless burst and drives to the paint racked up Richmond’s foul count, with the graduate student eventually fouling out after only 16 minutes of game time.

“They were the better team. They outplayed us and they deserve to move on, and we don’t,” Pitino said.

Arkansas didn’t fare much better. The Razorbacks shot 10.5% from beyond the arc, nailing only two triples. However, they found better efficiency in the field, primarily the paint, shooting 42.9%.

The Razorbacks got off an efficient start, building a lead early and attacking St. John’s in the paint to draw fouls or finish layups at the rim.

St. John’s struggled to score with efficiency despite extending possessions with 28 offensive rebounds. The paint presence of Knox and Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo forced difficult putback looks and created numerous possessions of Red Storm players firing multiple layups at the rim that never fell.

“There are some games we played this year where the other team said ‘that was a physical team,'” Calipari said. “I told them it reminded me of that. I know St. John’s is physical, but we’re physical too.”

Arkansas took a three-point lead into the half after freshman Boogie Fland made a layup with seconds remaining in the opening frame. In his return from a thumb injury, Fland finished with six points and four rebounds.

The Razorbacks took that momentum in the second half, building a double-digit lead after rattling off a 14-6 run capped off by an Aidoo and-one.

St. John’s played catchup for the remainder of the half, eventually cutting the lead to four with just over four minutes to play.

After Billy Richmond sank a mid-range jumper to bring Arkansas’ lead back to four off a flare, Fland stole the ball, leading to a D.J. Wagner layup to extend the lead to six.

St. John’s entered panic mode, firing contested threes that caromed off the rim. Despite grabbing two offensive rebounds in a single possession, the Red Storm failed to gain ground on the lead, as Aaron Scott missed two free throws that would have cut the lead to four.

Scott, Smith and Luis, St. John’s three-leading sharpshooters, combined to go 1-11 from beyond the arc. Scott struggled mightly from the field, shooting 1-10 and mustering seven points off one triple and free throws.

As the team continued to rain missed threes, Knox and Davis made their free throws once St. John’s began intentionally fouling to close out the game.

When Billy Richmond was fouled with four seconds left, both teams could feel the result. The Arkansas bench and players ran to their side of the court, leaping as they raised their hands.

Pitino had already made his way to half court to shake hands with his nemesis before the final buzzer sounded.

With the win, Calipari advanced to his 16th Sweet 16 and became the second coach in Division I history to take four different schools to the Sweet 16. Calipari took a UMass team with Marcus Camby to the Final Four, a Derrick Rose-led Memphis squad to the National Championship and countless Kentucky teams to deep runs in the tournament.

He can now add the Razorbacks’ team-effort in his debut season.

“We had a long up-and-down season, so we just all came together, put our egos to the side and just became one heartbeat like (Coach Calipari) said and just play a fearless 40 (minutes),” Billy Richmond said.

Arkansas will now play Texas Tech and JT Toppin in the Sweet 16.

The post Arkansas Shocks St. John’s to Advance to the Sweet 16 appeared first on SLAM.

Here’s everything you need to know to be caught up on the madness so far heading into the round of 32.

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No. 9 Baylor defeated No. Mississippi State

Baylor defeated Mississippi State in a 75-72 game that came down to the wire.

Freshman facilitator Rob Wright led the Bears with 19 points, while Langston Love added 15. Miami transfer Norchad Omier posted a double-double, dropping 12 points and grabbing 10 boards.

However, off all the Bears, the nation was introduced to VJ Edgecombe, a projected lottery pick in the NBA Draft. On the NBA’s mock draft, experts project Edgecombe to be drafted third overall.

On the biggest stage of his career, Edgecombe showed the flashes of his potential, dropping 14 points and grabbing five boards. The freshman guard showcased his explosiveness, slicing into the paint to draw fouls—good for six free throws—and his sharpshooting ability with a team-leading two triples.

Josh Hubbard led Mississippi State with a game-high 26 points. Claudell Harris Jr. added 13 points and Riley Kugel contributed 11 points off the bench.

The game was evenly matched, coming down to the wire. After Edgecombe calmly sank two free throws to give Baylor a three-point lead, Harris had the chance to tie the game with seconds remaining, but came up short.

The Bulldogs outshot the Bears, making 50% of their shots from the field, but were doomed by turnovers. Baylor played handsy defense, logging 10 steals in the game. Mississippi State’s 14 turnovers turned into 15 points for Baylor, the difference in the game.

Baylor will now play Duke in the round of 32, a revenge game for Bears point guard Jeremy Roach and a reunion of between high school teammates Wright and phenom Cooper Flagg.

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No. 2 Alabama defeated No. 15 Robert Morris

Grant Nelson was the X-Factor in Alabama’s win over the No. 1 seeded North Carolina Tar Heels in last year’s NCAA Tournament.

He made fought for a tough and-one layup that gave Alabama the lead with 39 seconds to play. He then sank two free throws to ice the game for the Crimson Tide.

This year, Nelson came to the rescue again.

Nursing a leg injury, Nelson came off the bench and immediately provided a spark. He threw down a ferocious alley-oop to put Alabama out in front with under 10 minutes left in the second half, and played stellar defense. In Nelson’s seven minutes of game time, the NDSU transfer finished with five points, three rebounds and a steal.

That spark propelled Alabama to avoiding a first-round upset against Robert Morris, defeating the Colonials 90-81.

Mark Sears finished with a double-double to lead the Crimson Tide, dropping 22 points and dishing out 10 assists. Clifford Omoruyi scored a season-high 17 points and Mouhamed Dioubate an 18 point, 10 rebound double-double off the bench.

Alabama’s star freshman guard Labaron Philon finished with his lowest scoring output of the season, sinking only one free throw while dishing out eight assists.

Amarion Dickerson led the Colonials with 25 points and Alvaro Folgueiras posted a 15 point, 10 rebound double-double.

Alabama’s top-ranked scoring offense lived up to the hype, shooting 58.6% from the field. However, the Crimson Tide struggled from beyond the arc, shooting only 28.6% from beyond the arc.

Robert Morris kept up with Alabama’s high offensive pace, taking a four-point deficit into halftime, and eventually gaining the lead with seven minutes to play.

However, Nelson’s contributions kicked off a 24-16 run, which allowed Alabama to close out the game.

Alabama will play Saint Mary’s in the round of 32.

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No. 3 Iowa State defeated No. 14 Lipscomb

Iowa State routed Lipscomb 82-55.

Despite losing star guard Keshon Gilbert for the tournament, the Cyclone offense dominated.

Milan Momcilovic led Iowa State with 20 points while Curtis Jones, the team’s leading-scorer, finished with 17 points off the bench. Joshua Jefferson nearly posted a triple-double, finishing with 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Jacob Ognacevic, the ASUN Player of the Year, finished with a team-leading 18 points. Gyasi Powell followed suit with 11 points. Ognacevic and Powell were the only two double-digit scorers for the Bison.

Iowa State ran away with the game from the start. After Lipscomb took a 16-15 lead halfway into the first half, Iowa State recaptured the lead and never looked back.

The Cyclones outscored the Bison 40-24 in the first half, and later 42-31 in the second half.

The Cyclones will now play Ole Miss in the round of 32.

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No. 12 Colorado State upsets No. 5 Memphis

Despite the lower seeding, the Colorado State Rams were favored over the Memphis Tigers in their first round matchup.

Riding the momentum from their Mountain West Tournament run, the Rams played up to that expectation.

Colorado State put on a three-point shooting clinic to pull off the upset against Memphis, 78-70.

Kyan Evans led the Rams with 23 points. He was deadly from beyond the arc, cashing six triples. Nique Clifford, the team’s leading scorer, finished with a near-triple double, logging 14 points, eight boards and six assists.

Dain Dainja led the Tigers with a double-double, scoring 22 points and grabbing 12 boards. Wooden Award candidate PJ Haggerty and Colby Rogers each followed suit with 18 points.

The game was a back-and-forth affair, with numerous lead changes in the first half. Memphis entered halftime with a five-point lead, but quickly saw the Rams tie the game up five minutes into the second half, going on a 17-12 run.

After Clifford drilled a jumper to give the Rams a 50-48 lead, Colorado State never looked back.

Memphis was doomed by their inefficient shooting from beyond the arc. The Tigers shot 26.1% from deep and only converted on 70% of their free-throw attempts. The Tigers also struggled with foul trouble, logging 20 personal fouls that turned into 19 Ram free-throws.

Colorado State continued their three-point barrage, nailing 11 triples total. This was the third consecutive game in which the Rams have made 10 or more three-pointers.

The Rams will now play Maryland in the round of 32.

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No. 1 Duke defeated No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s

The overall storyline for the Duke Blue Devils heading into the first round was the health of freshman phenom Cooper Flagg.

Flagg’s performance all but erased that narrative.

The potential top overall pick in the NBA Draft immediately took off, converting an and-one and scoring in the paint. To cap it off, Flagg caught an alley-oop from Patrick Ngongba and threw down a thunderous slam to send the crowd into a frenzy.

No problem with the ankle there.

Flagg finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks to help lead the Blue Devils to a 93-49 rout over Mount St. Mary’s.

Tyrese Proctor led the Blue Devils with 19 points and freshman center Khaman Maluach went a perfect 5-5 from the field, finishing with 11 points.

Arlandus Keyes led the Mountaineers with 15 points off the bench. Keyes was the only Mountaineer to post double-digit scoring numbers.

Duke ran away with this game from the beginning, building a 26-point halftime lead before closing out the game in the second half. The Blue Devils shot 50% from the field and splashed 14 triples in the game.

Duke will now play Baylor and fellow projected lottery pick VJ Edgecombe in the round of 32.

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No. 7 Saint Mary’s defeated No. 10 Vanderbilt

Randy Bennett wasn’t going to led his Gaels be a first-round exit again.

After falling in a shock upset to Grand Canyon last year, the Gaels appeared to be on upset watch again. Playing a tough Vanderbilt team appearing in their first NCAA Tournament since 2017, the Commodores started out hot, jumping out to a 12-point lead.

However, the Gaels dug deep, relying on their elite defense to get the job done.

In a gritty comeback win, Saint Mary’s erased a 12-point deficit to secure a comeback 59-56 victory over Vanderbilt.

Jordan Ross led the Gaels with 15 points, while Augustas Marciulionis added 14 points and eight rebounds. Mitchell Saxen and Luke Barrett both recorded double-doubles, with Saxen posting 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Barrett posting 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Jason Edwards led the Commodores with 18 points. He was the only Vanderbilt player to finish the game in double-digit scoring.

Vanderbilt jumped out to an early lead, and carried a seven-point 29-22 lead into the half. They immediately opened the second frame with a 10-5 run, building up a 12-point lead.

However, the Gaels heated up. They responded with a 16-4 run off of a pair of Ross triples and Saxen layups. At the seven minute mark in the second half, Marciulionis hit a three to give the Gaels a lead they wouldn’t look back on.

With 30 seconds left, Saxen had a chance to the ice the game with two free throws, but split the pair, giving Vanderbilt a chance to tie the game with a three.

With the clock running down, Devin McGlockton pulled up from the corner, but saw his game-tying attempt clank off the rim.

Despite an inefficient shooting night, the Gaels knocked down seven triples, which helped them erase the deficit and pull off the comeback victory.

Saint Mary’s will now play Alabama in the round of 32.

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No. 6 Ole Miss defeated No. 11 North Carolina

With momentum favoring North Carolina with a minute to play, the Rebels turned to their go-to man.

Sean Pedulla, who had recently hit a dagger three to send Arkansas packing in the SEC Tournament, took a handoff from Jaemyn Brakefield. He faked dribbling to the corner and spotted up a three.

He cashed it, just like he had done a week prior. As Pedulla emphatically threw down the three logo to the Ole Miss bench, his dagger three elevated the Rebels’ lead to five with under a minute to play.

With the team closing out the game, the Rebels secured their first tournament win since 2015 by defeating North Carolina 71-64.

Pedulla’s 20 points led the Rebels, while Dre Davis added 15 points and eight rebounds. Brakefield also contributed 12 points off the bench.

RJ Davis scored 15 points to lead the Tar Heels in his final collegiate game. Ven-Allen Lubin added 14 points, but later fouled out in the game.

The Tar Heels were dominated for most of the game, failing to ever capture the lead. Ole Miss opened the game up hot, posting a double-digit lead and carrying an 18-point lead into the half.

However, the Tar Heels battled back. Down 13 points with eight minutes to play, the Tar Heels went on a 14-3 run to cut the lead to two points, capped off by a Davis and-one that sent Kevin Harlan and the crowd into a frenzy.

Pedulla’s three silenced the crowd, and helped the Rebels close out the game.

The Rebels were the more efficient team, shooting 44.4% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. North Carolina struggled to find efficiency, as they only made five triples in 24 attempts.

Ole Miss will now play Iowa State in the round of 32.

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No. 4 Maryland defeated No. 13 Grand Canyon

Maryland routed Grand Canyon 81-49 to advance the “Crab Five” to the round of 32.

Julian Reese led the Terps with 18 points, while freshman phenom Derik Queen posted a dominant 12 point, 15 rebound double-double. Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 16 points and Selton Miguel scored 13.

Tyon Grant-Foster led the Lopes with 23 points. He was the only Grand Canyon player to score more than six points in the game.

Maryland dominated for the entire game. The Terps shot 50.8% from the field and rained down seven triples at a 43.8% clip on the Grand Canyon defense.

The defense held Grand Canyon to 28.6% shooting from the field and 21.7% from beyond the arc.

Grand Canyon grabbed an early five-point lead in the first half. However, a Gillespie jumper eight minutes into the opening frame gave Maryland a lead they would never look back on.

The Terps took a 14-point lead into the half and then outscored the Lopes 39-21 in the final frame to close out the game.

Maryland will take on Colorado State in the round of 32.

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No. 1 Florida defeated No. 16 Norfolk State

Florida routed Norfolk State 95-69 to earn their first tournament win since the 2021.

Walter Clayton Jr. led the Gators with 23 points on an efficient 6-11 shooting night and Alijah Martin added 17 points. Alex Condon dropped 12 points and added two steals and two blocks, and Thomas Haugh contributed 13 points off the bench.

Christian Ings led the Spartans with 16 points and Jaylani Darden added 15 points and six boards. Chris Fields Jr. contributed 14 points off the bench on an efficient 7-12 night.

Florida dominated the entire game. Their defense held the Spartans to 14.3% shooting from beyond the arc and forced 12 turnovers.

On offense, the Gators shot 48.3% from the field and knocked down 10 triples. They drove hard into the paint, drawing 24 Spartan fouls. Those fouls turned into 33 free-throw attempts, of which the Gators converted 27.

Norfolk State trailed the entire game.

The Gators will now play the two-time defending National Champion UConn Huskies in the round of 32.

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No. 3 Kentucky defeated No. 14 Troy

Kentucky routed Troy 76-57 to kick off the Mark Pope era in the NCAA Tournament

Otega Oweh nearly put up a triple-double, scoring a team-high 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Elite sharpshooter Koby Brea, Andrew Carr and Brandon Garrison each contributed 13 points.

Myles Rigsby scored 17 points to lead the Trojans and Tayton Conerway added 12 points. Rigsby and Conerway were the only two Trojans to finish with double-digit scoring numbers. Sophomore forward Thomas Dowd, the team’s third-leading scorer, was held scoreless. However, Dowd did contribute on the glass, grabbing 11 rebounds.

Kentucky dominated throughout, taking an eight-point lead into the half before outscoring the Trojans 41-30 in the final frame to close out the game.

The Wildcats’ offense clicked, shooting 47.5% from the field and 38.5% from beyond the arc. Kentucky knocked down 10 threes, with Brea knocking down a team-high three triples.

Kentucky’s defense held Troy to 8-32 shooting from beyond the arc and 34.9% from the field.

The Wildcats will now play Illinois in the round of 32.

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No. 10 New Mexico defeated No. 7 Marquette

New Mexico defeated Marquette 75-66.

The Lobos’ two-headed monster of Donovan Dent and Nelly Junior Joseph excelled on the big stage, combining for 40 points. Tru Washington added 12 points and CJ Noland contributed 11 points off the bench.

David Joplin led the Golden Eagles with 28 points, while Kam Jones added 15 points in what was likely his final collegiate game.

The game was a back-and-forth affair, with New Mexico holding a slim three-point lead at the half. However, the Lobos pulled away in the second half. After being deadlocked at 53, the Lobos rattled off a 17-8 run, building a nine-point advantage with a little over a minute to play.

Marquette was unable to catch up and surrendered another devastating loss.

Poor shooting doomed the Golden Eagles, who converted on 40.7% of their shots from the field and 36.7% of their threes. However, despite winning the turnover margin 13-12, Marquette failed to capitalize on the opportunities. New Mexico scored 21 points off of the Marquette turnovers, which became the difference-maker in the game.

The Lobos will now play Michigan State in the round of 32.

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No. 4 Arizona defeated No. 13 Akron

Arizona routed Akron 93-65.

Jaden Bradley scored 19 points to lead the Wildcats while Oakland transfer Trey Townsend added 16 points and eight rebounds. Caleb Love scored 10 points, while Carter Bryant and KJ Lewis contributed a combined 22 points off the bench.

Tavari Johnson and Nate Johnson both scored 13 points to lead the Zips. Shammah Scott contributed 11 points off the bench.

Arizona dominated the entire game, as the Zips failed to take the lead at any point in the game.

The Wildcats put on a clinic, draining 12 three-pointers at a 48% clip and shooting 56.5% from the field. They held the Zips in check, holding them to 33.3% shooting from the field and only allowing seven three-pointers.

Arizona took a 10-point lead into the half and later outscored Akron 52-34 in the final frame to close out the game.

Arizona will now play their former Pac-12 rival Oregon in the round of 32.

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No. 8 UConn defeated No. 9 Oklahoma

Projected lottery pick Jeremiah Fears went out with a bang. In likely his last collegiate game, the freshman guard showcased his whole bag.

He started early with an explosive drive to the basket that immediately drew free throws and followed it up with another tough lefty layup.

He then continued his scoring tear, draining a triple and hitting a highlight reel 360 layup that left Jaylin Stewart in the dust.

Fears finished the game with a game-high 20 points, adding five boards, four assists and two steals as well. A true one man show.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Dan Hurley’s veteran UConn squad took down the Sooners 67-59 in a back-and-forth affair.

Solo Ball led the Huskies with 14 points and Alex Karaban added 13 points. Tarris Reed Jr. lived up to his Big East Sixth Man of the Year Award by contributing 12 points off the bench.

Jalon Moore finished with 13 points and seven rebounds for Oklahoma. No other Sooner posted double-digit scoring numbers.

The Sooners fell behind early and struggled to gain any momentum. UConn outscored the Sooners 32-26 in the first half, and matched every bucket the Sooners made.

In the second half, Oklahoma battled back, taking the lead off of a Mohamed Wague tip-shot. However, it lasted 17 seconds. UConn quickly took the lead back on a Ball pull-up jumper and never looked back.

Oklahoma brought the lead down to four points with two minutes to play, but the Huskies defense only allowed a single Sooner point in that final frame.

The Sooners struggled with efficient shooting from beyond the arc, knocking down only 17.6% of their threes. UConn didn’t fare much better, shooting 24% from deep, but were far more efficient from the rest of the field.

UConn will now play Florida in the round of 32.

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No. 6 Illinois defeated No. 11 Xavier

Illinois defeated Xavier 86-73.

Will Riley led the Fighting Illini with 22 points on an efficient 8-12 night. He also knocked down three triples. Tomislav Ivisic recorded a double-double, posting 20 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman phenom Kasparas Jakucionis finished with a 16 point, 10 assist double-double.

Dailyn Swain led the Musketeers with 27 points, while Dayvion McKnight and Ryan Conwell both added 12 points. Zach Freemantle, Xavier’s leading scorer, struggled. Freemantle was held to five points on 2-9 shooting.

The game was tight for the majority of the first half, with Illinois taking a five-point lead into halftime.

However, after building up a double-digit lead in the second half, Xavier began to regain momentum, slicing the deficit to eight points.

The Musketeers looked to continue their momentum after Jakucionis missed a three. However, Kylan Boswell soared for the offensive board who quickly swung a pass out to Riley, who promptly drilled a dagger three.

Illinois later closed out the game to advance to the round of 32 to face Kentucky.

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No. 2 Michigan State defeated No. 15 Bryant

Michigan State survived an early scare against upset-minded Bryant, defeating the Bulldogs 87-62.

Coen Carr led the Spartans with 18 points. However, his nine rebound performance put on a show. Carr grabbed four offensive rebounds and threw down thunderous dunks, showcasing his incredible vertical. Carr continuously attacked the paint, finishing tough layups and drawing fouls on an efficient 7-10 night.

Alongside Carr, Tre Holloman contributed 14 points off the bench, and Jase Richardson finished with 15.

Rafael Pinzon led the Bulldogs with 21 points and Earl Timberlake added 14 points. Barry Evans, the team’s third-leading scorer, only managed seven points on a tough 3-7 shooting night.

The Bulldogs kept the game close early, entering halftime in a five-point hole. However, the Spartans quickly built a double-digit lead behind a pair of Richardson triples and never looked back. They used an 18-9 run to build a 19-point lead, and closed out the game comfortably.

The Spartans, who had struggled with three-point shooting in the regular season, proved the doubters wrong. They drained 10 triples at a 38.5% clip and shot 44.3% from the field. Their defense tightened up, only allowing Bryant to sink five three-pointers, well below their average of around eight per game.

With the win, Michigan State now plays New Mexico in the round of 32.

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No. 5 Oregon defeated No. 12 Liberty

In the last game of the first round, Oregon routed Liberty 81-52.

Jackson Shelstad led the Ducks with 17 points, while Keeshawn Barthelemy added 10 more. Center Nate Bittle finished with a double-double, logging 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Zach Cleveland led Liberty with 10 points. He was the only Flame to post double-digit scoring numbers in the game.

Oregon dominated in every category, shooting 54.4% from the field and 47.6% from beyond the arc. Their defense held a fast-paced Liberty offense to 32.8% shooting from the field and 21.6% from beyond the arc. Oregon also forced 12 turnovers, which turned into 17 Oregon points.

Oregon led the entire game, opening up the first half on an 18-2 run. Liberty was unable to cut the lead down to single-digits at any point afterwards.

The Ducks carried a 44-20 halftime lead, and later outscored the Flames 37-32 in the second half to secure the win.

Oregon will now play former Pac-12 rival Arizona in the round of 32.

The post Everything You Missed From Friday’s March Madness Slate appeared first on SLAM.

Here’s everything you need to know to be caught up on the madness so far heading into Friday’s slate of games.

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No. 9 Creighton defeated No. 8 Louisville 89-75

As a light drizzle passed over Lexington, a downpour of threes pelted Rupp Arena.

Everything the Creighton Bluejays put up in their opening round clash with the Louisville Cardinals seemed to fall through.

After the game was deadlocked at 15, the Bluejays began firing from deep. With snipers at nearly every offensive position, Creighton immediately built a double-digit lead solely on three-pointers from Steven Ashworth, Jamiya Neal and Jackson McAndrew.

When halftime rolled around, the Cardinals found themselves in a 15-point hole. Creighton had drained nine first-half triples.

The energy carried over into the second half. On Creighton’s first possession, Kalkbrenner faked a screen for Neal. Neal pitched it back to the reigning Big East Defensive Player of the Year.

Kalkbrenner stepped into a three and drilled it, summing up how the game went for the Bluejays—they simply couldn’t miss.

Neal led Creighton with a double-double, recording 29 points on 11-16 shooting and grabbing 12 rebounds. Neal finished four assists shy of a triple-double. Ashworth added 22 points, and Kalkbrenner, one of the premier shot-blockers in college hoops, tallied four blocks and 14 points.

Chucky Hepburn led the Cardinals with 22 points, while Terrence Edwards Jr. added 21. Creighton’s defense held Reyne Smith, one of the premier sharpshooters in the nation, to five points on one-made three.

Despite the disappointing end, Louisville looks to have a bright future under head coach Pat Kelsey, who orchestrated a 19-win turnaround in his first season with the program.

Creighton will move on to face off against No. 1 Auburn, the top overall seed in the tournament.

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No. 4 Purdue defeated No. 13 High Point

On Selection Sunday, High Point was a popular pick to pull off a shock upset against last year’s runners-up. For most of the game, that seemed like a possibility.

Both teams battled for the first 18 minutes of the half, until the Boilermakers shifted the momentum.

Up 31-25, Camden Heide missed a three-pointer. The ball caromed off the rim, and Myles Colvin crashed the glass hard, throwing down a ferocious jam that sent the bench into a frenzy.

Colvin then stole the ball from High Point’s Terry Anderson and sprinted towards the basket. His layup barely missed.

But Heide, with shades of his electric slam in last year’s National Championship, threw down a two-handed putback jam.

Back-to-back slams.

Purdue rode the energy to a 10-point halftime lead.

Purdue took that momentum into the second half. They tightened up on offense, matching High Point’s high-powered offense by outscoring the Panthers 38-36 in the second half to secure the dub.

Trey Kaufman-Renn finished with a team-leading 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Big Ten Player of the Year Braden Smith finished with 20 points, and Heide recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.

D’Maurian Williams led the Panthers with 12 points and Trae Benham added 11 points. Williams and Benham were the only two High Point players to score double-digit points.

The Boilermakers dominated the glass, grabbing 19 offensive rebounds and 45 total, outrebounding High Point by 21.

The Panthers outshot the Boilermakers from deep 10-5, but recorded 20 personal fouls. Those fouls turned into 22 free throws for Purdue, of which they converted 14, the difference in the game.

Purdue will now play the upset-minded McNeese State Cowboys and their manager Amir Khan in the round of 32.

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No. 3 Wisconsin defeated No. 14 Montana

The Wisconsin Badgers defeated the Montana Grizzlies 85-66.

John Blackwell led the Badgers will 19 points. Steven Crowl added 18 and John Tonje, the team’s leading scorer, finished with 15 points.

The Badgers had five players crack double-digit scoring, with Nolan Winter adding 10 points and six boards, while Xavier Amos dropped 11 off the bench.

Te’Jon Sawyer and Kai Johnson finished with 15 points each to lead the Grizzlies.

The Badgers were efficient on the offensive end, shooting 55.4% from the field and 80% from the free throw line on 20 attempts.

While Montana kept the game close, cutting the lead to four in the second half, the Badgers pulled away, outscoring the Grizzlies 45-34 in the final frame.

Wisconsin will now play BYU in the round of 32.

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No. 1 Houston defeated No. 16 SIU Edwardsville

Houston defeated SIU Edwardsville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in a 78-40 rout.

Oklahoma transfer Milos Uzan led Houston with 16 points, while L.J. Cryer added 15 points on four three-pointers.

The Cougars had four double-digit scorers, with Ja’Vier Francis and Terrance Arceneaux adding 13 and 10 points respectively off the bench.

Brian Taylor II and Ray’Sean Taylor led SIU Edwardsville with 10 points each.

Houston dominated, grabbing an early lead three minutes into the game and never looking back. The Cougars led by 40 points in the second half at one point, their largest of the game.

Houston’s defense held the Cougars to 30.6% shooting from the field, and 2-24 from beyond the arc. The Cougars’ offensive output of 40 points was their fewest points scored in a game all season.

Taylor II and Taylor were the only SIU Edwardsville players to crack double-digit scoring.

Houston will look to lock up Gonzaga’s second-ranked scoring offense on Saturday in the round of 32.

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No. 1 Auburn defeated No. 16 Alabama State

The Auburn Tigers defeated the Alabama State Hornets 83-63.

Miles Kelly led the Tigers with 23 points, his second-highest scoring night of the season. National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome finished with a double-double, dropping 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Freshman phenom Tahaad Pettiford added 16 points and five assists and boards.

Amarr Knox, who scored the game-winning layup in the Hornets’ First Four game, led the team with 18 points. TJ Madlock followed suit with 11 points. Knox and Madlock were the only two Hornets players who finished with double-digit points.

The Tigers struggled to pull away early, with the Hornets erasing a double-digit deficit into a one-possession game with a little over a minute to play in the first half.

However, Auburn outscored the Hornets 42-32 in the second half to close out the game.

Auburn’s defense stepped up, holding the Hornets to 37.1% shooting from the field and 24% from deep.

They will try to carry that defensive over to a red-hot Creighton team who shot the Louisville Cardinals out of Rupp Arena,

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No. 12 McNeese upset No. 5 Clemson

Amir Khan’s aura could be felt throughout the Amica Mutual Pavilion walls.

The McNeese State basketball manager was everywhere, from signs in the crowd to socks on the cheerleaders.

When Khan led the walkout, equipped with his customized speaker draped around his neck and surrounded by his teammates singing, the makings of an upset were set.

The Cowboys took the energy to the court, jumping out to a massive lead early, and holding on to secure a 69-67 upset victory over the Clemson Tigers.

Brandon Murray led the Cowboys with 21 points off the bench, and Quadir Copeland added 16 more. Christian Shumate recorded a double-double, finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Jaeden Zackery led the Tigers with 24 points, and Chase Hunter finished with 21 in the final game of his collegiate career. Ian Schieffelin and Viktor Lakhin, Clemson’s second and fourth leading scorers, finished with a combined seven points.

The Cowboys clamped up early, holding the Tigers to 13 points in the first half alone, while scoring 31. The Tigers only made five field goals in the first half.

In the second half, McNeese appeared to have control of the game. The Cowboys maintained a double-digit for most of the half, logging a 17-point advantage with just over four minutes to play.

However, the veteran Tigers weren’t going to go down without a fight. The Tigers drained five triples in the final two minutes of the game, miraculously cutting the previous 24-point McNeese lead into a one possession game with under a minute to go.

However, Garcia made one of his two free throws to ice the game with a four point lead.

Despite the dominant beginning, the Cowboys shot inefficiently from deep and from the free-throw line. They went 4-19 from beyond the arc and 11-22 from the free-throw line.

Clemson didn’t fare better, shooting 36.8% from the field and 30% from beyond the arc on 30 attempted triples. However, they were efficient from the free-throw line, knocking down 16 of their 19 attempted shots.

Despite the dramatic comeback, the hole they dug themselves in the first half doomed them.

With the win, Wade earned his first NCAA Tournament win since the 2020-21 season, when he coached the LSU Tigers. The victory marked the first tournament win in McNeese’s program history.

The Cowboys move on to play last year’s runners-up, the Purdue Boilermakers in the round of 32.

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No. 6 BYU defeated No. 11 VCU

For the third straight time, the BYU Cougars earned a No. 6 seed in the Big Dance. For the past two years, they fell to a No. 11 seed.

In the 2020-21 season, a scrappy UCLA team led by Johnny Juzang and Jaime Jaquez rolled past them. Then last year, the A-10 Champion Duquesne Dukes pulled off a shocking upset.

However, the third time was the charm.

With program legend Jimmer Fredette in attendance, BYU silenced any critics who labeled them on “upset alert” by defeating the VCU Rams 80-71.

Richie Saunders led the Cougars with 16 points and Egor Demin added 15 points. Fousseyni Traore added 13 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

Zeb Jackson led the Rams with 23 points off the bench. Jack Clark, Max Shulga and Joe Bamisile each added 12 points of their own.

The Rams outshot the Cougars in the game, draining 15 triples to BYU’s seven. However, VCU doomed themselves by getting into foul trouble. The Rams committed 23 personal fouls, which turned into 19 points for the Cougars at the charity stripe, the difference in the game.

BYU took an 11 point lead into the half. The Rams were unable to recover, having only led for the first two minutes of the game.

The victory marked first-year head coach Kevin Young’s first ever tournament win in his career.

The Cougars will now take on Wisconsin in the round of 32.

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No. 8 Gonzaga defeated No. 9 Georgia

On Selection Sunday, experts and analytics believed Gonzaga was better than their seeding showed. On Thursday, they played like it.

The Zags rolled through Georgia’s defense, routing the Bulldogs 89-68.

Khalif Battle led Gonzaga with 24 points on 9-13 shooting, while Nolan Hickman and Braden Huff each added 18 points. Gonzaga’s leading scorer Graham Ike finished with 13 points.

Georgia freshman Asa Newell led the Bulldogs with 20 points. Silas Demary Jr. also added 15 points and a team-leading four assists. In what could be Newell’s final collegiate game, the potential NBA lottery pick went out with a bang.

Newell showed finesse and his bag against veteran Gonzaga defenders Ike and Huff, shooting 60% from the field and 8-10 from the free-throw line. Newell added eight boards to his statline. The NBA’s mock draft has him currently going 12th overall, but his stock can still rise.

The Zags dominated early, jumping out to a double-digit lead off of a 13-0 run. Georgia entered halftime in a 21-point hole and never recovered.

Gonzaga’s second-ranked scoring offense showed out. The team shot 60% from beyond the arc and 55% from the field. The team made 12 triples, with four of those coming from Battle, who earned approval from the boss.

With the victory, Zags coach Mark Few earned his 44th tournament win and 16th-consecutive opening round victory.

Gonzaga will now square off against No. 1 Houston, in what is shaping up to be a battle of two premier college basketball programs and coaches.

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No. 2 Tennessee defeated No. 15 Wofford

The Tennessee Volunteers defeated the Wofford Terriers 77-62.

Chaz Lanier led the Volunteers with 29 points and Zakai Zeigler recorded a double-double, dropping 12 points and dishing out 12 dimes.

Lanier’s scoring ability was on full display, draining six three-pointers and making tough fadeaway jumpers off the dribble. Lanier’s 29 points were the most the North Florida transfer scored since Tennessee’s Feb. 22 win against Texas A&M.

Jackson Sivills led the Terriers with 15 points and Corey Tripp added 14 points. The Terriers finished the game with four double-digit scorers.

Wofford outshot the Vols from deep, draining 11 triples to Tennessee’s 10. However, turnovers and 20 fouls held them back. Tennessee earned 22 free throw attempts from those fouls, which turned in 15 points.

The Vols now move on to play UCLA in the round of 32.

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No. 10 Arkansas defeated No. 7 Kansas

In the battle of premier coaches, John Calipari emerged on top.

In what was billed as a battle between Bill Self and Calipari, Calipari’s Razorbacks defeated Self’s Kansas Jayhawks 79-72.

Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo led the Razorbacks with 22 points. Trevon Brazile posted a double-double, dropping 11 points and recording 12 rebounds. FAU transfer Johnell Davis added 18 points and Kentucky transfer D.J. Wagner finished with 14 points.

Zeke Mayo led the Jayhawks with 18 points, while AJ Storr contributed 15 points off the bench. Star center Hunter Dickinson finished out his collegiate career with 11 points and nine rebounds, and KJ Adams Jr., who injured his achilles in the game, dropped 13.

Kansas outshot the Razorbacks from beyond the arc and the three-point line, draining eight triples and 14 free throws. Arkansas struggled with three-point efficiency, only making 25% of their attempts from beyond the arc.

Despite the higher efficiency, Kansas turned the ball over 16 times, which proved to be the difference-maker in the game.

Calipari will now face off against a former rival, Rick Pitino and the St. John’s Red Storm.

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No. 4 Texas A&M defeated No. 13 Yale

On Selection Sunday, this game was deja vu.

Last year, the Yale Bulldogs won the Ivy League title and squared off with the Auburn Tigers, a solid SEC squad. Behind John Poulakidas and Danny Wolf, the team battled and upset the Tigers 78-76.

This year, Yale, led by Poulakidas was billed to play Texas A&M. Same seeding. Same conference opponent.

The only difference—the result.

Texas A&M took care of business, defeating Yale 80-71.

Pharrel Payne led the Aggies with an efficient double-double, dropping 25 points on 10-12 shooting and grabbing 10 boards. Payne’s 25 points were a career high for the junior forward. Star guard Wade Taylor IV finished with 16 points, and Jace Carter added 10 more.

Poulakidas, the kryptonite of Auburn in last year’s tournament, finished with 23 points. Nick Townsend added 15 more, and Isaac Celiscar contributed 12 off the bench.

A Yale victory was the most picked No. 13 upset in the country, but a tough Aggie defense prevented that from happening. The Aggies held Yale to only 38.1% shooting from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs also struggled from the free-throw line, shooting 64.3% from the charity stripe in 14 attempts.

Bez Mbeng, Yale’s third-leading scorer, was held to only two points on the night. Mbeng finished with nine assists and eight boards, but could not find the bottom of the net.

Texas A&M will now move on to play the Michigan Wolverines in the round of 32.

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No. 11 Drake upset No. 6 Missouri

Experts and fans new Bennett Stirtz was a bucket.

The Division II star joined Drake, along with his head coach, Ben McCollum from Northwest Missouri State.

He had always been a bucket, but could never seem to find the national spotlight.

Maybe a few people noticed when he dropped 22 points in an overtime win against power-conference opponent Kansas State, when he went coast-to-coast before draining a deep go-ahead three of a snatch-back.

Maybe it was when he dropped 30 points on Southern Illinois on only 11 field goals.

However, in his tournament debut, Stirtz put everyone notice.

With momentum favoring Missouri, Stirtz caught the ball with time winding down on the shot clock. He dribbled to the top of the key and pulled up a running-three pointer off of one leg.

He drained it, giving Drake an 11 point lead with just under nine minutes to play, sending the INTRUST Bank Arena crowd into a frenzy.

Stirtz’s 21 points on 8-11 shooting helped propel the Drake Bulldogs to an upset victory over the Missouri Tigers, their first NCAA Tournament win since the 2020-21 season.

Alongside Stirtz, Tavion Banks added 15 points and nine boards. Stirtz and Banks were the only two Bulldogs to finish in double-digit scoring.

Caleb Grill led the Tigers with 14 points and Tamar Bates added 10 points. Mark Mitchell, Missouri’s leading scorer, was held in-check with eight points and eight rebounds.

Drake’s slow pace of play proved to be the difference-maker in the game, as the Bulldogs found efficiency all over the court. Drake shot 54.3% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc, nailing five triples. They shared the ball, with seven different players recording assists and were able to outrebound the Tigers 31-26.

However, despite a 10-point victory, the Bulldogs left opportunities at the free-throw line slip away. Drake shot 12-24 from the free-throw line. Despite the inefficiencies, they still grinded out a victory.

Missouri struggled from the field, only making 15 field goals for the entire game. They shot 33.3% from the field and 4-16 from deep. Grill, the Tigers’ primary sharpshooter only shot 1-7 from beyond the arc and struggled to get going offensively.

Most of Missouri’s points came from the free-throw line, which they converted 23 of 26 total opportunities.

After being down for nearly the entire game, Missouri erased a double-digit lead in the second half, cutting it down to a three-point game. That was the closest the Tigers would get.

Drake, despite missing many of their free-throws while in the bonus, played lockdown defense to only allow six points in the final four minutes of the second half, outscoring the Tigers 13-6 in that frame.

The Bulldogs will now face off against another high-powered offense in Texas Tech in the round of 32.

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No. 7 UCLA defeated No. 10 Utah State

UCLA defeated Utah State 72-47.

Skyy Clark and Eric Dailey Jr. led the Bruins with 14 points each. Adey Mara contributed 10 points off the bench and added five blocks.

Mason Falslev led the Aggies with a double-double, dropping 17 points and grabbing 10 boards. Deyton Albury added 12 points. No other Aggie player scored more than four points.

It was a Mick Cronin special: a dominant defensive performance.

The Bruins held the Aggies to 30% shooting from the field and 12.9% from deep. They forced 11 turnovers and never relinquished the lead after taking a 10-8 lead five minutes into the first half.

UCLA’s experience proved to be the difference-maker. The veteran squad took efficient shots, shooting 48.1% from the field and 41.7% from deep, draining 10 triples. They also went perfect from the free-throw line.

UCLA will look to build off of this performance when they take on another elite defensive team in Tennessee in the round of 32.

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No. 2 St. John’s defeated No. 15 Omaha

Rick Pitino and St. John’s are back in March.

On the heels of a dream season that has seen the Johnnies capture a Big East regular season and conference title, the team made the Big Dance for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

Their seeding as a No. 2 seed—hasn’t been seen since the 1999-00 season, where they were upset by an upstart Gonzaga team led by Richie Frahm.

However, with New York City on their back, the Johnnies took care of business, dominating Omaha 83-53.

Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. led the Johnnies with 22 points, while Simeon Wilcher added 13. Kadary Richmond and Zuby Ejiofor, other members of the team’s Big Three, added 10 points each.

JJ White led the Mavericks with 15 points, while Marquel Sutton added 11. Sutton and White were the only two Omaha players to finish in double-digit scoring.

However, the story of the game was not St. John’s defense, but rather their shooting.

The Red Storm silenced all critics who were worrisome about their inefficient three-point shooting, knocking down 14 triples at a 37.8% clip.

Luis and Wilcher knocked down five and three triples respectively, while sharpshooters Aaron Scott and Deivon Smith drilled two each.

Combined with a lockdown defense that held the Mavericks to 25.7% shooting from the field and 5-36 from beyond the arc, the Johnnies appear to be peaking at the perfect time in March.

Pitino will now clash with a familiar foe, John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks in the round of 32.

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No. 5 Michigan defeated No. 12 UC San Diego

Down two with two minutes to play against a scrappy mid-major with an upset in mind, Tre Donaldson found himself in a similar spot.

Last year, the junior guard was playing for the Auburn Tigers, who landed the No. 4 seed in last year’s tournament. The Tigers squared off against a Yale team led by John Poulakidas and Danny Wolf—Donaldson’s current teammate with Michigan.

At the free throw line down two with seconds left, Donaldson missed his first attempt. He intentionally missed the second, and after a blocked layup and missed triple, the rest was history. A 78-76 Yale upset.

But in his first tournament game with Michigan, he wasn’t going to let history repeat itself.

In crunch time, Donaldson caught a pass and took one dribble to the wing, pulling up from deep. He held the follow-through, stepping back—almost as if he knew it was going in.

His shot was money, putting the Wolverines up 66-65, a lead they would not relinquish.

After a multiple tough defensive possessions, Vladislav Goldin made two clutch free throws, giving Michigan a three-point lead.

After Tyler McGhie’s game-tying shot caromed off the rim, the Wolverines escaped with a 68-65 victory.

Goldin led the Wolverines with 14 points, while Donaldson added 12, including his go-ahead trey. Roddy Gayle Jr. added 11 points off the bench. Wolf, Michigan’s point-forward, finished with nine points and 11 rebounds.

McGhie led the Tritons with 25 points, while Nordin Kapic and Hayden Gray added 15 and 10 points respectively. Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, the team’s leading scorer, fouled out after playing only 25 minutes. He finished with seven points, his lowest scoring output since Nov. 21.

Despite losing their leading scorer, the Tritons fought throughout the game. Michigan threatened to run away early, opening the game on a 10-0 run. Facing a 14-point halftime deficit, the Tritons battled, cutting the lead to three only four minutes into the second half.

A McGhie jumper gave the Tritons their first lead of the game with just over two minutes to play. However, on the ensuing possession, Donaldson’s clutch three snagged the advantage back for the Wolverines.

The Wolverines will now face No. 4 Texas A&M Saturday.

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No. 3 Texas Tech defeated No. 14 UNC Wilmington

In a tightly contested affair, the Texas Tech Red Raiders defeated the UNC Wilmington Seahawks 82-72.

Kerwin Walton led the Red Raiders with a career-high 27 points, making eight triples. All of Walton’s 19 shot attempts came from beyond the arc. The team’s leading scorer JT Toppin posted a double-double, dropping 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Elijah Hawkins also posted a double-double, dropping 14 points and dishing out 10 assists.

Nolan Hodge led the Seahawks with 18 points off the bench. Donovan Newby, the team’s senior leading scorer, was held in check, finishing with eight points.

The Seahawks gave the Red Raiders a fight when nobody expected them to. Entering the game as 15.5 point underdogs, the Seahawks matched Texas Tech’s high-powered offense, closing out the first half only down four points following a Hodge triple.

Both teams traded buckets in the second half, with the Red Raiders outscoring the Seahawks 44-38 in the final frame.

While UNC Wilmington shot more efficiently than Texas Tech, the Red Raiders’ barrage of three-pointers proved to be the difference-maker in the game. Texas Tech shot 28.3% from beyond the arc, but nailed 13 triples throughout the game, compared to UNC Wilmington’s seven.

Texas Tech will now move on to play Drake in the round of 32.

The post Everything You Missed From Thursday’s March Madness Slate appeared first on SLAM.

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South Region:

No. 1 Auburn vs. Winner between No. 16 St. Francis (PA) vs. No. 16 Alabama State

No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 15 Bryant

No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 14 Lipscomb

No. 4 Texas A&M vs. No. 13 Yale

No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 12 UC San Diego

No. 6 Ole Miss vs. Winner between No. 11 San Diego State vs. No. 11 North Carolina

No. 7 Marquette vs. No. 10 New Mexico

No. 8 Louisville vs. No. 9 Creighton

Top Seed

The Auburn Tigers are the top overall seed in the tournament. Coming off a historic season led by Wooden Award candidate Johni Broome and star freshman Tahaad Pettiford—who recently met with SLAM—the Tigers posted a 28-5 record, tied for the third-best in program history. Broome is averaging a double-double at 18.9 ppg and 10.6 rpg, while Pettiford averages 11 ppg off the bench. The team also consists of lockdown defender Denver Jones and scoring threats Chad Baker-Mazara and Miles Kelly, all of whom are scoring in double-digit figures. Their offensive depth makes them poised for a deep run in March.

Key Matchups

The Michigan-UC San Diego matchup will be a chess match. Michigan is led by a star group of transfers in Danny Wolf, Vlad Goldin and Tre Donaldson and are fresh off winning the Big Ten Tournament. The Wolverines run a unique offense, with Wolf acting as a point forward who can pass and get buckets when needed. The Wolverines’ size will make it difficult on the Tritons, who are one of the hottest teams in the country. The team went 30-4 and is an elite sharpshooting team led by seniors Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Tyler McGhie and Hayden Gray. The Tritons boast the sixth-ranked defense in the nation and a top-50 offense. Expect a gritty, physical matchup between two teams who have seen program revivals.

The Marquette-New Mexico matchup will feature a battle between two of the best guards in the nation. Marquette is led by senior Kam Jones, who has established himself as one of the best scorers in the nation, averaging 19.3 ppg and landing on the Wooden Award Watchlist. However, he will be tasked with guarding Donovan Dent, the star guard of their opponent, the No. 10 seed New Mexico Lobos. Dent is a certified bucket-getter, averaging 20.6 ppg and knocking down 3’s at a 41.5% clip en route to a Mountain West Player of the Year award. Expect a battle between two of the most talented guards in the country.

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West Region:

No. 1 Florida vs. No. 16 Norfolk State

No. 2 St. John’s vs. No. 15 Omaha

No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 14 UNC Wilmington

No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Grand Canyon

No. 5 Memphis vs. No. 12 Colorado State

No. 6 Missouri vs. No. 11 Drake

No. 7 Kansas vs. No. 10 Arkansas

No. 8 UConn vs. No. 9 Oklahoma

Top Seed

The Florida Gators are the No. 1 seed in the region. Led by an elite backcourt of Alijah Martin, Will Richard and Walter Clayton Jr., the Gators won their first SEC conference tournament since 2014. The Gators posted a 30-4 record in the SEC and are one of the favorites to win the National Championship. With their backcourt, all averaging over 13 ppg and a threat down-low in Alex Condon, who is averaging 11.2 ppg and nearly eight boards, Florida’s explosive offense and lights-out shooting are built for March.

Key Matchups

Kansas-Arkansas will feature a clash between legendary coaches Bill Self and John Calipari. Kansas, the No. 1 ranked team in the preseason has had a tumultuous season, finishing with a 21-12 record. Star center Hunter Dickinson is the team’s leading scorer, averaging a double-double with 17 ppg and 10 boards. Transfer Zeke Mayo has also contributed on the offensive end, averaging 14.5 ppg. In his first season, Calipari led the Razorbacks to a 20-13 record. The Razorbacks are led by junior forward Adou Thiero and freshman guard Boogie Fland, who is expected to return from injury for the game. Thiero and Fland average 15.6 and 15.1 ppg respectively. Although both teams haven’t seen the rapid success they were expected to, expect both brilliant basketball minds to put forth an exciting game.

The battle between the two-time defending champion UConn Huskies and Oklahoma Sooners will feature two of the best freshmen in the country. Oklahoma is led by freshman guard Jeremiah Fears, who is averaging 17 ppg. Fears has established himself as a mid-range assassin equipped with a strong driving ability. His offensive production has found himself as a potential lottery pick in NBA mock drafts. UConn’s star freshman is forward Liam McNeeley, who is averaging 14.5 ppg. McNeeley is a three-level scorer who can score in the paint and from beyond the arc, knocking down 33.3% of his 3’s. McNeeley is another projected lottery pick in NBA mock drafts. Expect the two draft prospects to put on an offensive show in this one.

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East Region:

No. 1 Duke vs. Winner of No. 16 American vs. No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s

No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 15 Robert Morris

No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 14 Montana

No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 13 Akron

No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 12 Liberty

No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 VCU

No. 7 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 10 Vanderbilt

No. 8 Mississippi State vs. No. 9 Baylor

Top Seed

The No. 1 seed in this region is the Duke Blue Devils, who finished with a 31-3 record and an ACC regular season and conference title. The team is led by star freshmen Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel. Flagg has become one of the key players on the Wooden Award Watchlist, averaging nearly 19 ppg, 7.5 rebounds and four assists a game. Knueppel has been an elite sharpshooter for the squad, averaging 14.4 ppg on 39.2% shooting from beyond the arc. Duke also has scoring threats from all positions, including Tyrese Proctor, Sion James, Isaiah Evans and lockdown defender Khaman Maluach. However, the story for this team is the status of Flagg, who suffered an ankle injury in the ACC Tournament. Coach Jon Scheyer said he expects to have Flagg return for the first round, but nothing has been made official yet.

Key Matchup

The matchup between Saint Mary’s and Vanderbilt is an intriguing one. Both teams present opposite strong suits, with Saint Mary’s excelling on the defensive end and Vanderbilt containing an explosive offense. The Gaels are a veteran team led by seniors Augustas Marciulionis and Mitchell Saxen, who are averaging double-digit points. The Gaels play at a slow pace and hold teams to 60.7 ppg, the fifth best in the nation. They square off against a Vanderbilt squad led by All-SEC guard Jason Edwards, who is averaging 17 ppg. The Commodores are dancing for the first time since the 2016-17 season. They have a balanced offense with Edwards, sharpshooter Tyler Nickel and double-double machine Devin McGlockton. Expect a close battle between these two squads.

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Midwest Region

No. 1 Houston vs. No. 16 SIUE

No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Wofford

No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 14 Troy

No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 13 High Point

No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 12 McNeese

No. 6 Illinois vs. Winner between No. 11 Texas vs. No. 11 Xavier

No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 Utah State

No. 8 Gonzaga vs. No. 9 Georgia

Top Seed

The Houston Cougars are the top seed in this region, earning a No. 1 seed for the third consecutive year. The Cougars posted a 30-4 record en route to a Big 12 regular season and tournament title. They retain the majority of last year’s roster, being led by guards L.J. Cryer and Emanuel Sharp, who average 15.2 and 12.6 ppg respectively. The Cougs also added Oklahoma transfer Milos Uzan, who has filled Jamal Shead’s void, averaging 11.5 ppg and facilitating the offense. However, Houston’s strong suit is interior defense led by J’Wan Roberts, Joseph Tugler and Ja’Vier Francis. Tugler averages 2.1 blocks a game and has found his way up draft boards on mock drafts. The Cougars have the second-best defense in the nation, allowing 58.5 ppg and are poised for another deep run in March.

Key Matchups

The Midwest region boasts an intriguing matchup between Gonzaga and Georgia. The Zags are in their 26th consecutive Big Dance and boast the nation’s second-best offense. They are led by Wooden Award Watchlist guard Ryan Nembhard, the nation’s assist leader and forward Graham Ike, who averages 17.1 ppg. Georgia is in the tournament for the first time since the 2014-15 season. The team’s star is freshman forward Asa Newell, who is averaging 15.3 ppg and nearly seven boards a game. Newell was named to the All-SEC Freshman team and is a projected lottery pick. Expect a battle between the two forwards down low.

The matchup between Clemson and McNeese State is also a barnburner. The Clemson Tigers possess a dangerous veteran lineup led by guard Chase Hunter and forward Ian Schieffelin. The Tigers were the only team to take down Duke in conference play and posted a 27-6 record. However, their mid-major opponent is no pushover. Will Wade has McNeese back in the Big Dance after posting a 27-6 record. They are led by guards Javohn Garcia and Sincere Parker, who average 12 ppg. However, their biggest weapon is their manager, Amir Khan, who orchestrates the toughest walkout with the team before every tip-off. Expect a close battle between two balanced teams.

The post Everything You Need to Know From the Men’s Selection Sunday appeared first on SLAM.

With a little over three seconds left in the game and needing to go the entire length of the court for a bucket, Alabama State coach Tony Madlock drew up the perfect play.

With shades of Christian Laettner and Grant Hill in ’92, Hornets guard Micah Simpson threw a hail-mary pass into a sea of players. The ball deflected, tipped in the air and caromed off multiple players—right into the hands of Amarr Knox.

Knox then put up a layup to put the Hornets ahead by two with one second left, sending the bench into a frenzy as they stormed the court to celebrate.

The perfect deflections led to the Hornets winning their first-ever game in the NCAA Tournament, defeating St. Francis 70-68 in a back-and-forth affair.

Knox’s game-winner capped off his team-leading 16-point night. He shot 8-15 and added two steals.

Guards CJ Hines and TJ Madlock also finished with double-digit points, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively. Madlock grabbed seven boards and dished out two assists.

Red Flash freshman Juan Cranford led the game with 18 points and eight boards. He was a sniper from deep, nailing 5-7 shots from beyond the arc.
Valentino Pinedo and the team’s regular season leading scorer, Riley Parker finished with 17 and 12 points respectively.

The Red Flash had a more efficient scoring night, shooting 50% from the field and 45.5% from deep. They also had 10 more free throw attempts than the Hornets, going 10-14 from the charity stripe.

However, sloppy turnovers and errant passes doomed the team, who combined for 15 turnovers in the game. The turnovers limited scoring possessions and created 26 points for the Hornets.

St. Francis led the entire second half until a Hines three gave the Hornets a 62-60 lead with less than five minutes to play.

The Hornets will now travel to Lexington, Kentucky, to take on the tournament’s top overall seed—the Auburn Tigers.

The post Alabama State wins first-ever NCAA Tournament game on miracle layup by Amarr Knox appeared first on SLAM.

“I feel like people kind of forget that it’s normal to lose, you can’t win them all,” MiLaysia Fulwiley said to us in February. “I mean I wish we could, but it’s been a year. It’s coming. It’s been years, like, we just keep winning so easily. These losses ain’t gonna do nothing but prepare us more for when it matters the most.” 

Prior to winning the SEC Championship, we sat down with MiLaysia Fulwiley, Chloe Kitts and Joyce Edwards to talk about this season, their preparation, the meaning of legacy and so much more. Because really, who better to speak on where this team is at right now? And if the Gamecocks can win another national championship and go back-to-back, they’ll be the ones to say I told you so…

WSLAM: From the first time y’all got to play on the court together, what kind of growth have you seen from then to now? 

Joyce Edwards: It’s just surreal, kind of full circle. You play these girls in high school—you think you’ll never really see them again. They’re gonna go their ways [and] you’re gonna go your way. But the fact that we’re all on the same team, and we’re literally three McDonald’s All-Americans—we’re so tough. Like Lay said, I just feel bad for our opponents because it’s crazy to think about.

MiLaysia Fulwiley: Definitely. Everything she said.

WSLAM: When did you realize this team was ready for this season? When did it all click? 

Chloe Kitts: I feel like we knew right away. Some workouts this year were really good. Everyone was hooping. We were like, Dang, we’re gelling really good. Because last year, we didn’t really see that, but it ended up working out good for us. But this year, from the beginning, from the get-go, everyone was ready, everyone was excited. You can see everyone’s main focus is winning. You can just see it.

MF: I agree, because last year, some workouts was pretty bad. We had a lot of hard days, and I
feel like this year, it was completely opposite. We came in knowing what we wanted to do and what we wanted to execute. I feel like we did that every practice, and that helped us grow into who we are now. We’re still trying to find us as a team, as a whole. So I also feel like our freshmen played a big role in that. They came in ready to hoop. Joyce Edwards, Maddy McDaniel, they came in ready to dominate, ready to fill in. And Joyce did a great job with just being confident in herself and remembering who she is as a player. Because coming into college, that can be the hardest part about it, and having a freshman that plays like a senior is really good for us. That really gels us together, helps us be confident and believe who we are.

JE: For me, I wasn’t really here last summer. I came late from [Team] USA, but this is by far the best team I ever played on, so I can’t say if I knew we [were] ready for that, because I didn’t know what we were getting ready for exactly; I never experienced it before. I just knew that everybody on the floor had a huge impact on what we did in practice, and we were all talented. So I knew that anybody who’s going to face this is gonna have a hard time beating us—that was really my mindset.

WSLAM: What does South Carolina mean to each of you?

MF: To me, it means a lot. I came from South Carolina, born and raised in South Carolina.
Growing up here, it means a lot to me, but not only me, with my family and my friends, putting
a jersey on for any college level, it means a lot. So just saying that I can be able to represent my hometown, my home state, it means a lot to me, and I love it. I appreciate [Coach] Dawn [Staley]
and the University of South Carolina for giving me the opportunity to play here.

CK: For me, growing up, South Carolina is your dream school. I’m from Seattle, and everybody’s like, That’s a dream school, South Carolina. I mean, South Carolina, and UConn, but it was just different, and it just means a lot. Coming here and playing in front of 18,000 fans, and you go into the grocery store and people ask for pictures, you’re walking down the street and people are like, Can I get your autograph? I mean, that’s really cool. A lot of people don’t get to experience that in college, so I appreciate that a lot. And of course, winning. I mean, South Carolina, we’re winners over here, and we get held to a higher standard. 

JE: South Carolina is really just home. You know, I feel like my basketball career really took off in South Carolina, just from high school to college, being able to do what I wanted to without any limitations. And having the support of people from South Carolina being there—my family being there for me—to grow up in South Carolina and play basketball here. Like they said, playing for Dawn Staley, who’s the embodiment of head coaches in women’s basketball. South Carolina is this school [that] every female basketball player wants to come to because we’re just winners, our culture. Being in South Carolina, it’s like being a part of a big family, not even just in university, but outside as well.

WSLAM: What do you all think is the “it” factor that makes this place what it is?

JE: Us people, literally us three, the whole team. It’s the people that make South Carolina, South Carolina. We want the best for each other. We literally love each other, we support each other and everything. I feel like that’s the it factor, because you can have statues anywhere, you can have championships anywhere, but it’s really all about the people. 

CK: I also feel like a lot of us come from different backgrounds. Everybody’s kind of different. We all are one big family, and we all want to learn about each other, their culture and everything like that.

WSLAM: What’s one word to describe this team at the beginning of the season, one word to describe the team right now and one where you hope to be at the end of the season?

JE: I want to say anxious, but not in a bad way, like, we were just itching to play, wanting to show the world what we could do. We just wanted to play, like, just anxious. We just wanted to play. 

MF: Determined. Everybody is so determined.

JE: That’s perfect. We had our setbacks in the season, but the way that we come out of them
is crazy.

CK: It’s just the early season. I think at the end of the season, hopefully we can say winners.

MF: Champs. 

CK: It’s exactly what we want.

MF: I also feel like people kind of forget that it’s normal to lose, you can’t win them all. I mean, I wish we could, but it’s been a year. It’s coming. It’s been years, like, we just keep winning so easily. I feel like these losses ain’t gonna do nothing but prepare us more for when it matters the most. 

JE: The way that we come out of losses, it’s really insane. We go on, we just destroy everybody else in our path. 

CK: I mean, we’d rather lose now than later on. People try and play their best game against us, people scout [us] forever just to play against us because they want to beat us so bad. I mean, it’s
OK to lose. We’re not going to lose when it matters, and that’s all that matters.

WSLAM: This team carries a lot with them: the pressure of everyone watching, people rooting for you, people rooting against you. How do you keep your composure through the season?

CK: You have to realize that you go through highs and lows. Everyone goes through highs and lows. You might have a good stretch of games, you might have a horrible stretch of games. You just have to find a healthy balance and know that everything’s gonna be OK. That’s for me, especially because you can’t get too high with the highs [and] too low with the lows. Just try your hardest to stay consistent. 

MF: I agree. When you’re playing basketball, it’s a mental thing, and if your mental is not there, then your game, your play, isn’t going to be there. I feel like it’s very important for all of us to keep our mental together. Just always remember that the main goal is winning a national championship, and you win some, you lose some, but we just all need to be locked in on that one goal. And I feel like that’s what keeps us together and keeps us able to get through the pressure.

JE: I feel like we’re composed because we have to be. I mean, you get uncomposed after the season, after you win the end goal. But the end goal is still the end goal, and you haven’t reached that yet. So there’s no need to be happy or sad because you haven’t reached that yet. You have to be composed, because every team in the SEC is there trying to kill you every single time. You don’t have time to get high with the highs or get low [with the] lows, because at the end of the day, nobody’s gonna care about your emotions or how you’re feeling. You have to stay composed to get to the end goal. And if you’re not, then you’re not gonna succeed.

WSLAM: Can you talk about legacy and what it means to you individually, for each other and for the future of this program?

MF: I feel like we’re doing a great job of creating legacy. Last year was a historical year. I don’t think no team in South Carolina history has ever went undefeated and won a national championship. Things like that would be how we create our legacy. Every single person who’s on that team last year has now created a legacy just because of that. So doing things like that, just being great people, not only on the court but off the court, too, helps create legacy. It’s not all about what you do on the court or what we do as a team. 

CK: What you do in the community…

MF: We did a whole lot of community things, giving back, donations and stuff, and I felt like that helped play a big role in the legacy that we created not only last year, but this whole past decade.

JE: We understand legacy is important because it inspires the next generation of little girls who want to play basketball. So we uphold ourselves to a certain standard on and off the court that we have to be consistent with. And that’s what we do. So every day we go out there, we work hard on the court. We donate, like they said. We do charities and stuff, because we want to uphold that legacy, to inspire the next generation.

WSLAM: Playing for a national championship, the path to back-to-back, what does it mean to you? How do you prepare for the big stage, and how do you make sure the whole team knows what’s about to happen?

CK: We have to all be on the same page, like we kind of just talked about before. We’re gonna go through highs and lows, and that means wins and losses. But we’re gonna win when it matters and try and get through this hump, and we’re gonna come out as strong as we can.

MF: Yeah, and I feel us as a team, we do a great job with understanding—everything she just said—and actually understanding, not just hearing it. And the freshmen, they seem to catch on very quickly, and they understand that assignment, from what I see. They know that we really want it and how much it will mean to us if we have it. It’s all up to us now. 

JE: We prepared for the national championship game in the beginning of the season. So the preparation isn’t necessarily any different than it was for the first week of the season. It’s all about being consistent, all about having that same mindset and that same goal, and all about all of us being determined.

WSLAM: In 10 years, when you look back at your cover, at everything you all have been able to accomplish at South Carolina, what do you hope to see?

CK: I hope I reached my goals, everything I wanted to do since I was younger, since I was at SLAM in high school. And hopefully I can look back then in New York, when I played [at] Rucker Park in the SLAM Summer Classic, and hopefully I can see in 10 years how far it came.

MF: Hopefully I can be proud of my younger self and basically tell my younger self that I did everything that I work hard for.

JE: Yeah, hopefully, it seems I’m still playing—I’ll be 29— I probably wouldn’t look back that early, but let’s say I retired, something happened. I don’t know if I look back, I want to know that I’ve reached my potential. Looking back at all the things I did when I was younger, I want to look at myself and not be disappointed in what I did when I was older. That makes sense, because I was younger, I was ambitious, I worked hard. I got the goals that I wanted. I got the goals that I wanted to get to. So to me, I just hope that I don’t disappoint myself.

Get ready for March with exclusive South Carolina women’s hoops merch.

Portraits by Diwang Valdez.

The post MiLaysia Fulwiley, Chloe Kitts, Joyce Edwards and the South Carolina Gamecocks are DEFYING THE DOUBTERS | SLAMU 8 Digital Cover   appeared first on SLAM.

Here’s a look back at our SLAMU digital covers we’ve dropped so far this season to keep you in the loop ahead of the tournament:

With Selection Sunday around the corner, it’s the time of the year when the phrases “Quad 1” and “Quality Losses” are thrown around more than ever. As the field of 64 becomes clearer, countless experts scan team resumes, trying to deduce which programs deserve at-large bids into the Big Dance.

Most teams have impressive resumes but look equally similar to others in the field. 

But one team stands above the rest. The Auburn Tigers boast a ridiculous 15-3 record in Quad 1 games, the highest by a wide margin in Division I. To be the best, you have to beat the best. Day in and day out, the Tigers beat down quality opponents soundly in the toughest conference in college basketball, with the record to back it up.

War Eagle has taken flight—soaring high above the rest of the field. The media agrees. In the latest AP Poll, the Tigers were crowned the unanimous No. 1 team in the country, garnering all first-place votes.

The team posts TikTok dances after every win—with the season they’ve had—a lot. They go live on social media to stream their Fortnite games. The Tigers aren’t just the best team in the country, they’re also all best friends.

This season has been the year of the Tigers, a team led by a charismatic coach, a National Player of the Year contender and a deep rotation of elite role players who always seem to get the job done.

The star of the show is forward Johni Broome, a 6-10 double-double machine, who is in the running for the National Player of the Year award alongside Cooper Flagg.

A transfer from Morehead State, Broome has dominated the SEC since joining during the 2022-23 season. As a senior, Broome has been virtually unstoppable. The forward averages a team-leading 18 ppg, 10.7 rebounds per game and 2.4 blocks per game. Broome has been elite on both sides of the ball, providing lockdown interior defense in the paint and a matchup nightmare under the basket.

Watching Broome go to work is entertainment at its finest for basketball fans. He possesses good handles for a taller forward and a quick first step that turns into easy finishes in the paint. He can back defenders down in the post, giving interior defenders Hakeem-like footwork for points in the post, and even knock down threes.

But for Broome, some of his best moments come off the court. Broome is one of the many Tigers active on social media, posting content on his TikTok page, ranging from dances in the locker room to streaming video games with his teammates.

“We’re normal. Every day we come in, having fun. We’re just being us,” Broome said. “Everybody else sees us as a fun team to be, but we’re just acting how we normally act.”

The good vibes spread throughout the team, especially with star guard Tahaad Pettiford.

Pettiford has provided instant offense off the bench as a freshman, averaging 11.3 ppg, nearly three assists and a steal per game.

Don’t let the numbers fool you. The guard fills whatever role he needs to benefit the team. He can score at will, as seen by his 21-point performance in a 16-point shellacking of Kentucky at Rupp Arena. He also put on a shooting clinic against Texas A&M, knocking down six threes to cap off a 19-point night.

When he’s not getting buckets, he’s distributing the ball efficiently, recording six assists in a 30-point blowout against Ole Miss while coming off the bench.

Pettiford credits his veteran teammates for helping him find success as a first-year player.

“Growing up, to be honest, I always played with older people. So coming in, I kind of expected it to be the same to how it’s always been, just being around guys that are more experienced, played the game, played in the tough games,” Pettiford said. “Just having their energy behind me, knowing they had my back in the low times, I feel like that just gives me confidence.”

But for the team who consistently dominates on the road, as seen by their tradition of playing “Take Over Your Trap” by Bankroll Fresh, it’s always been a team effort.

Players like Chad Baker-Mazara, a senior guard/forward who scores at will, averaging 13.1 points per game. Guards Miles Kelly and Denver Jones provide elite depth in the backcourt. Seniors Chaney Johnson and Dylan Cardwell provide an extra layer of interior defense and scoring to complement the stars.

The Tigers have a bonafide star and elite supporting cast, with five players averaging double-digit scoring numbers. 

“I just feel like we have players that don’t get enough recognition,” Pettiford said. “If they didn’t come here, we might not be No. 1 because of what they do for us.”

With so many great moments throughout the season, it’s hard to pick a signature moment for the Tigers.

It could be lifting the trophy at the Maui Invitational after dismantling the No. 5 Iowa State Cyclones, No. 12 North Carolina Tar Heels and currently-ranked Memphis Tigers en route to the championship.

It could be grinding out a tough victory against the Big 12 regular season champion Houston Cougars in their second game. Or even beating Tennessee at their own game: a defensive 53-51 slugfest victory. 

Or even winning the basketball variant of the Iron Bowl—a 94-85 victory against No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, for added insult to injury.

All these moments add to a magical season that sees Auburn as the top dog in the country. They’re projected as the top overall seed in March Madness and essentially a lock for a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance. 

With the SEC regular season title under their belt, there’s no doubt Bruce Pearl is looking to add another title to cap off the greatest season in Tigers basketball history.

“This team’s been ready to play, I think because they got something to prove,” Pearl said. “This team’s got a chip on its shoulder. I don’t look at us as where we’re ranked right now in the country. I look at us as who we are, [a] collection of who we are.”

When you walk into St. John’s on-campus home, Carnesecca Arena, the hanging banners tell the story of a proud, storied program. 

Fifteen regular season titles. Three conference tournament championships. Two Final Four runs. A top-10 winningest program in Division I history.

That doesn’t include the certified ballers who once called Queens home.

Hall of Famer Chris Mullin, All-Stars Metta World Peace and Mark Jackson. The list goes on.

However, the past 24 years would be considered a “down year” for their standards.

Until now. College basketball is officially back in the Big Apple.

Under legendary head coach Rick Pitino and a tight-knit group of stud transfers and role players, the Johnnies did what many experts thought was unthinkable at the beginning of the year: winning the Big East title.

Pitino summed the team’s ideology the best in Vice’s Pitino: Red Storm Rising—a documentary about the Red Storm’s season. 

“There’s no individuals. All it is, is team,” Pitino said in a locker room speech.

That’s all St. John’s basketball is: a bunch of talented and selfless individuals who play with one goal in mind: doing whatever it takes to get the W.

Their talented trio of RJ Luis Jr, Zuby Ejiofor and Kadary Richmond headline the Red Storm roster.

Luis is the team’s leading scorer. A junior guard and midrange assassin, Luis can get buckets from all three levels while averaging 17.8 ppg this season. Luis also plays physical defense like the rest of his teammates, averaging 1.5 steals per game.

“I try to come out every night with the same energy, the same intensity and taking pride on defense,” Luis said.

The team’s big man down low is Ejiofor, a junior forward. Ejiofor has been a force down low, averaging 14 ppg and a team-leading eight boards per game.

“I play for my teammates. This is who I do it for—my teammates, my family, this whole community—that’s why I go hard every single day,” Ejiofor said.

The team’s motor is graduate guard Kadary Richmond, a New York native. Richmond was named a Preseason All-Big East First Team talent and has proved it his first year in Queens.

Richmond averages 12.8 ppg, nearly six boards, five assists and two steals a game.

Tack on sharpshooter Deivon Smith and scrappy guards Simeon Wilcher and Aaron Scott, and you’ve got a deep rotation that brings the energy on every possession.

The team has established a tough-minded defensive identity, playing scrappy and allowing no easy buckets. It’s been backed up by their team’s 9.3 steals per game and 5.6 blocks per game. 

But despite their talented depth, they’ve still been doubted all year.

In the Big East preseason poll, experts picked St. John’s to finish fifth in the conference. When they began rolling off conference wins, people still doubted if they could keep the momentum up. Experts still expected teams like Marquette, UConn and Creighton to rattle off wins and overtake them.

But the Red Storm kept winning, rattling off an 11-game conference winning streak. 

And it all boiled over in their Feb. 7 matchup with the two-time defending National Champion UConn Huskies on the road.

The same UConn program that at that point had recently gone on a 28-game home winning streak before having it snapped a week before Creighton. This year’s team wasn’t the same dominant team as last year, but still a talented group.

The Johnnies entered the game as 4.5-point underdogs and quickly found themselves down 14 in the first half. They clawed back, ending the first half on a 27-11 run.

As both teams traded blows, St. John’s found themselves up two with 12 seconds left in the game. With only three seconds on the shot clock, a quick hitter was the only option.

Luis sprinted behind an Ejiofor screen and slingshotted his way back to the ball, leaving UConn’s star forward Liam McNeeley in the dust.

Luis caught the inbounds pass, faded away and drained the shot. Cold-blooded dagger. St. John’s up two scores. A prototypical defensive possession forced McNeeley into a tough layup, where the Johnnies eventually iced the game from the free-throw line. 68-62 final.

If you didn’t believe in Pitino and the Red Storm then, you sure did after that win in a hostile environment.

Since that UConn win, the Johnnies have won five of their last six games, with three of those wins ending in double-digit shellackings.

Now, with a Big East regular season title under their belt, the Johnnies are a lock to go dancing in March in only Pitino’s second season at the helm.

Pitino credits the culture he’s helped build in Queens for the team’s success.

“Coaches don’t win games; players win games. We had confidence going in that we could recruit the players necessary to win and, also, history repeats itself,” Pitino said. “If you have the right culture, be it Kentucky, be it Louisville, be it Providence, you’re gonna turn it around. It’s not false confidence, it’s confidence you’ll bring in the right players to fill the culture you want to present.”

Heading into the regular season finale, the Johnnies rank as the No. 6 team in the AP Poll. However, with losses for Auburn and Tennessee—teams ahead of them in the poll—a win against Marquette on Saturday could potentially catapult the Red Storm into the top five for the first time since 1990.

The team currently projects as a No. 3 seed in the Big Dance. But anything is possible in March. With a win in the Big East Tournament and the cards falling in the right place, you could be looking at the first No. 1 seeded St. John’s tournament team since the famed ’84-’85 squad.

But aside from hypotheticals, all they care about is playing their game and racking up wins. “We got a nice, talented group. Very athletic. We just got some dogs, we just trying to win,” Luis said. “I feel like we’re waking up the city of New York, and we’re gonna keep on doing it.”

Last season, Tennessee enjoyed their most successful campaign of the Rick Barnes era. The Vols clawed their way to the Elite 8, grinding past powerful opponents like Creighton before falling at the hands of Purdue.

The team was led by first-round draft pick Dalton Knecht and his three-level scoring, double-double machine Jonas Aidoo, scrappy guard Zakei Zeigler, long-time veterans Josiah Jordan-James, Santiago Vescovi and Jahmai Mashack and rotational sparks Jordan Gainey and Tobe Awaka.

The team played like a well-oiled machine, securing a No. 2 seed in March Madness and an SEC regular season title.

However, a year later, the Vols look different. Knecht joined the Los Angeles Lakers. Jordan-James and Vescovi graduated. Aidoo transferred to conference rivals Arkansas. Awaka flew west to join the Arizona Wildcats.

Despite the departures, Tennessee is still as dominant as ever. In fact, they’re having an even better season.

For every home game, the orange and white stripes flash at the Thompson-Boling Arena to watch the No. 4 team in the country—a team that rebuilt itself through the transfer portal to dominate on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

This year’s Vols team is led by Zeigler, Gainey and North Florida transfer Chaz Lanier.

Zeigler is the program veteran. The Long Island native has spent all four seasons in Knoxville, where he established himself as a two-way leader.

Last season’s SEC Defensive Player of the Year leads the squad in assists per game with 7.4 and plays lockdown defense, averaging two steals a game.

When he needs to, Zeigler also gets buckets—to the tune of 13.5 per game.

Alongside Zeigler is Gainey, Tennessee’s spark off the bench. Despite being the third-leading scorer on the team, Gainey has retained his sixth-man role, appearing in every game this season but only starting one. The USC Upstate transfer is averaging 11 ppg with efficiency.

But the primary offensive threat has been Lanier. Tennessee struck gold again by landing another pure scorer from a mid-major.

Lanier averages 17.7 ppg in his first season in Knoxville against SEC competition. The team’s leading scorer is deadly from deep, knocking down 40.6% of his shots from beyond the arc while consistently locking up opponents, averaging close to a steal per game.

Lanier can get buckets in any fashion. He put on a shooting clinic in the team’s 77-69 victory against Texas A&M when he drilled eight threes in a 30-point performance.

Against Vanderbilt, Lanier put up 21 points while only making two threes. Whenever his team needs points, the Tennessee native can get a bucket at any level.

“I knew the opportunity was going to be special. And then on my official visit, when I came to Tennessee, all the guys were surrounding me in the locker room. We had a good little celebration. I just knew it was home,” Lanier said. “I knew that I’d be joining something that was bigger than me.” 

Combined with the depth of Felix Okpara, Mashack, Cade Phillips, and Darlinstone Dubar, the Vols have offensive threats at all positions in their lineup.

But, in recent years, Barnes’ teams have thrived on their defensive force.

Barnes’ Vols teams play tough regardless of the stakes. Practices are a battle between players. The team follows an “iron sharpens iron” mentality, improving through physicality to mold a tough-minded identity.

Zeigler said the constant, scrappy battles in practice have prepared them to face any opponent.

“I’m telling you, people don’t understand, we go at each other like we don’t know each other. Like, we be talking trash, we be talking crazy to each other,” Zeigler said. “But you know, just being that competitor, we understand that when we go against each other like that, when we go out on the court and play against somebody we don’t know, it’s gonna be like, ‘Oh this ain’t nothin.'”

That identity has run rampant.

The team ranks out as the seventh-best scoring defense in the country, only allowing 61.8 points per game. While seventh is impressive, it cannot be overlooked that this Vols team allows 61.8 points per game playing in arguably the toughest conference—the SEC—a conference projected to have more than half their members in the Big Dance.

Despite the high-powered offenses on their schedule, the Vols have only allowed 80 points once—an 85-81 victory against No. 15 Missouri.

“The standard for this team is definitely toughness,” Lanier said. “Knowing they’re in the foxhole with you and that you’ll do anything for your brother.”

They stood tough when it mattered most. In the team’s signature victory over No. 6 Alabama, the team held the nation’s top-scoring offense to 76 points, a figure well below the Crimson Tide’s average of 91.1 points per game.

But Barnes’ defense showed up in the critical moments of the game. Deadlocked at 76 with 10 seconds to play, Alabama had two chances to take the lead.

Freshman guard Labaron Philon drove into the paint, but Mashack stepped in to help, ripping at the ball to force a tie-up. Alabama retained possession, but a stingy Tennessee defense locked up all recipients of an inbound pass. The Vols forced a five-second violation, getting the ball back with 3.8 seconds on the clock, needing to go the distance for a game-winner.

Zeigler inbounded to Mashack, who sprinted up the court. He launched a 36-footer as the buzzer expired, crouching as he released the shot, almost as if to will the shot in.

It hit nothing but net. The arena went into a frenzy. Mashack was mobbed by his teammates, who immediately ran to the baseline to celebrate with fans.

The win showcased their defense on a national stage, while also giving the Vols their eighth victory against a ranked opponent.

Heading into their regular season finale, Tennessee remains in contention for a prized No. 1 seed in March Madness. They currently sit as the No. 4 team in the AP Poll and will look to solidify their tournament seeding with strong performances in the upcoming SEC Tournament.

While being a top team is nice, the Vols want their legacy to be remembered differently—as champions.

“Yeah, we want an SEC championship. We want an SEC tournament championship. But we’re going for the big trophy. We made history already with starting off the best in over 100 years, but we’re looking at something bigger than that,” Zeigler said.

For four years, T.J. Otzelberger has developed an established program in Ames, Iowa.

When Otzelberger joined the Cyclones in the 2021-22 season, he took over a program that had fallen into ruin. After successful campaigns in the 2010s that saw NBA players Georges Niang, Monte Morris and Tyrese Haliburton get buckets in Ames, the program had fallen into ruin—ending the 2020-21 season with a 2-22 record.

Otzelberger turned the program around, going dancing in all four seasons of his tenure. The team broke out last year, posting a 29-8 record and hoisting the Big 12 Conference Tournament trophy.

However, the run ended abruptly in the Sweet Sixteen with a double-digit loss to Illinois, a team led by elite scorer Terrance Shannon Jr.

This season, the Cyclones are still a powerhouse—but look even better than last year. Iowa State put itself on the map, achieving the highest AP Poll ranking in school history, reaching the No. 2 spot.

Led by program veterans and new transfers, the Cyclones’ dominant offense has improved, with the depth vaulting them into the conversation for National Title contenders.

The Cyclones are led by a battle-tested starting five of Keshon Gilbert, Tamin Lipsey, Milan Momcilovic and transfers Joshua Jefferson and Dishon Jackson. 

The depth includes ironmen Nate Heise and Brandton Chatfield and the team’s leading scorer Curtis Jones.

While the team boasts an offensive threat at all positions, with five players averaging double-digit points per game, the bulk of the offensive load is held by Jones and Gilbert.

Jones is the team’s leading scorer. A transfer from the University of Buffalo, the senior guard averages 16.7 ppg and boasts the ability to take over a game off the bench at any point.

Jones opened the season on a tear, scoring double-digit points in eight consecutive games following the team’s opener, including a 23-point performance against their in-state rivals in Iowa City.

The senior can score on all three levels, boasting an elite sharpshooting ability, knocking down 36.8% of his shots beyond the arc.

The efficient scoring has landed Jones on the Midseason Wooden Watchlist. But if you asked the senior, he probably wouldn’t pay too much attention to the accolades.

“Whatever comes with winning, we’ll take it. We’re not really in it for the recognition, but that’s what comes with it,” Jones said.

Alongside Jones in the backcourt is Gilbert, the other Cyclone on the Wooden Award Watch List.

Gilbert is the second leading scorer on the team. A transfer from UNLV, Gilbert immediately burst onto the scene in his first season in Ames, averaging 13.7 ppg and being named to the All-Big 12 team. 

From that year, he’s only gotten better. The senior now averages 13.8 ppg and 4.3 assists while playing scrappy defense to the tune of 1.8 steals per game.

Gilbert credits the tough-minded mentality and work ethic for his immediate success in Ames.

“I ain’t gonna lie, Iowa State isn’t for everybody—if you don’t really love basketball, you ain’t gonna like it. You ain’t gonna fit here, because basketball is all it is,” Gilbert said. “We work hard as hell, so we know everything’s gonna fall into place.”

While the individual accolades are fulfilling, Jones and Gilbert echo the same sentiment: winning above all.

And they have. The team has 22 wins on the season playing in a tough conference likely to send eight teams to the NCAA Tournament.

The Big 12 is competitive, with games usually tight-knit between conference opponents. In those situations, when the team needs a bucket—Jones and Gilbert are usually the numbers called upon.

Especially in the team’s 85-84 overtime victory against Texas Tech, Gilbert delivered a bucket in clutch time.

Down three in a hostile road environment, the Cyclones needed a bucket to keep the game within reach. After Texas Tech made a free throw to go up three, Gilbert caught in the inbound pass.

He sprinted down the court, putting the moves on his defender. Two quick crossovers drove Gilbert into the paint. Gilbert jabbed and pump-faked before quickly sinking a contested layup to bring the Cyclones within one. 

After Texas Tech split their free throws, Lipsey found Jefferson in the paint to send the game to overtime.

The Cyclones then went on to win in overtime after Jefferson sank two free throws with four seconds left in the extra frame.

The Cyclones’ ability to win close games puts them in great position for the Big Dance, where games seem to come down to the wire so often. They currently sit at No. 10 in the AP Poll and fifth in the Big 12. Experts  project them as a No. 3 seed in March Madness. 

While a No. 3 seed may seem disrespectful, the Cyclones don’t seem to care. Everyone who doubts them and the talents of their roster only feed into their motivation.

“That’s been a chip on our shoulder since before we got here. I don’t feel like me or [Jones] ever got the recognition we deserve,” Gilbert said. “But that’s just more motivation. That just puts more fuel in the tank, and adds more fuel to the fire. So, it is what it is.” — Luke Kaiser, SLAM Intern

Audi Crooks is showing out in her sophomore campaign at Iowa State and is the talk of the town. Named AP Player of the Week in week 17 after leading the team to two big wins over UCF and K State where averaged over 32 ppg with 9 boards shooting at least 75 percent from the field, Crooks is cooking. 

At 6-3, her physicality makes it that much easier to box out and get easy buckets in the paint, in addition to strong footwork and a reinforced midrange makes defenders desperate when looking for an answer. It’s not often you find teams who run their offense through their post but with Crooks dominance, coach Fennely and the Cyclones have their game plan set; feed 55. 

After an outstanding freshman season earning All-Big 12 honors, Crooks posted a dominant 40 point debut in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the teams first postseason since the 2020-2021 season. Looking to make it back to the tournament her emphasis is on what doesn’t show up on paper, “I’d like to be a better communicator.. A better leader and more consistent overall,” said Crooks. 

With days left of the regular season, we’ll see just how far Crooks and the Cyclones go. 

LSU is looking to win two of the last three NCAA titles and with a trio that averages just under 60 alone, they’re gonna be a force in the tournament. Yes you read right, 60. Flau’jae Johnson, Aneesah Morrow, and Mikaylah Williams are the trio LSU is hoping to take them back to gold this year and standing at 7th in the nation, that’s not a crazy thought. 

Knowing what they’re capable of, the Big 3 aim for a style of ball that works for each individual’s style, while in the parameters of the team’s culture. Staying within the top 10 since November individual growth is credited as the catalyst for their success, with all three taking more responsibility for the Tiger’s goals, and everything it’ll take to get there. 

“Anything less than the Final Four, I’m not gonna be happy about because I know what this team is capable of,” said Johnson in their SLAMU interview. Only two seasons removed from her 2023 season where she was awarded Freshman of the Year honors that came with the LSU championship, the standards are higher than ever with a hunger to match for Johnson. 

With another former Freshman of the Year in Mikaylah Williams, and the addition of Aneesah Morrow who earned herself First Team SEC honors last year, this could be the year for the Tigers. Repping their cities, and with Baton Rouge behind them, there’s no telling how far they’ll go. — Izabella Williams, SLAM Intern

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After an 18-point comeback win over No. 5 Iowa State and dropping both No. 12 UNC and Memphis by double digits, Auburn walked away trophy in hand and with a lei around head coach Bruce Pearl’s neck. That’s when National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome said, “Everybody was like, Yeah, we’re legit.”

SHOP THE AUBURN COLLECTION

Not just legit but purely dominant. So dominant that they’ve been the No. 1 team in the country for over two months straight. They’ve played the strongest strength of schedule in the country while serving up nonstop Ws in a conference that’s projected to send 13 teams to the Big Dance. After amassing the nation’s most Quad 1 wins (16), the Tigers sit at 27-3 with a season’s worth of tests and challenges etched into their résumé. 

They’ve got students pitching tents outside of Neville Arena five minutes after an away game. And the night before the Auburn faithful are let in, you can catch the guys handing out pizzas and sandwiches to their fellow students while Johni and Miles Kelly sneak in a few games of poker. 

Bruce Pearl hasn’t just returned Auburn to prominence, he’s built a spectacle in the SEC. The sheer amount of toilet paper cast across Toomer’s Square is more than enough evidence. And just moments after our early February shoot with the team’s star forward and eccentric freshman point guard, Jay Bilas walks into the practice gym looking to film one of his iconic 94-foot-long interviews with Johni. Twenty minutes later, the two are walking through the sea of tents in Pearlville. All eyes are rightfully centered on The Plains this season. 

Broome falls into more Top 10 rankings than MF Doom’s Madvillainy. No. 4 presides over the SEC with an iron fist and has 17 double-doubles on the season. No one has found an answer for his 18.1 points, 10.7 boards and 2.4 blocks a night. The freshman phenom standing to his side is putting on for a long lineage of New Jersey-bred ballers, unafraid of the moment, the challenge and the deep ball on broken-down plays. Alongside the brilliance of Chad Baker-Mazara, Miles Kelly, Denver Jones, Chaney Johnson, Dylan Cardwell and a cast of other contributors, each night is a confirmation that we’re looking at one of the best teams to ever step across campus. 

“We know the situation we’re in. We just try not to dwell on it, focus on it. We just take it day by day,” Tahaad says. 

For the past two seasons, two-time All-SEC selection Johni Broome has been doing just that. After transferring from Morehead State for his sophomore season, the 6-10 Florida native has been steamrolling the limitations placed upon him ever since he was in high school, now ranking top 10 in the nation in blocks, rebounds and double-doubles. 

“I always had that chip on my shoulder, that edge. Growing up, I just had the utmost confidence, because where I’m from you’ve got to have confidence or you’re gonna get eaten alive,” Johni said. “I just grew up and I took it wherever it went with me. I went to college, my mindset was to kill whatever was in front of me. And that just carries on today, because the person I’m playing probably had more exposure, had more offers than me. So each and every night I go in looking to dominate.”

He led the team in scoring in his first season. He became the program’s 18th All-American in his second. The 2024 SEC Tournament MVP catapulted the last few years of momentum into one of the best individual campaigns this collegiate season. Twenty-six and 16 boards at LSU. Against Ohio State: 21 and 20. And twenty-three and 19 against North Carolina. On top of collecting double-doubles like vinyls, he’s swatted away four or more shots in four games.

With one of the best players in the nation back for his senior season, Coach Pearl says it was all about empowering his returning players with a “less is more” approach. Instead of going out and collecting as many five-star recruits and transfers as possible, Coach Pearl asked for more from his guys.

Johni’s managing more minutes (nearly 29 a night) and starting alongside Dylan for the first time in their careers. And freshman Tahaad Pettiford’s dropping haymakers off the bench on a nightly basis. Instead of backfilling the departure of graduate senior Jaylin Williams, Chaney Johnson and Chad Baker-Mazara are finding—and delivering—even more opportunities to shine. The staff was selective when it came to the portal, too, offering the opportunity to win championships instead of promising playing time. SMU transfer Ja’Heim “Turtle” Hudson was more than game. So was Georgia Tech transfer Miles Kelly. “And the pieces fit really nicely together,” Coach Pearl said. 

The No. 1 team in the country for eight weeks straight knows that everyone is gunning for them. They’ll willingly walk into your trap and then take it over, shouts to the BankRoll Fresh song that’s blasted after every dub on the road. All the while, the goals remain the same; SEC Championship followed by confetti in March. 

“You can’t get complacent. You can’t get comfortable because each and every night they’re coming. We have a target on our backs,” Johni said. “Obviously everybody wants to beat the best. We know that, we’re aware of that, so we’re going to bring it every night. So you better bring it, too.”

That sense of confidence stems from each player’s belief in the guy next to them. As Johni and Tahaad acknowledge their ranking, they’re adamant that the contributions from the entire team are the reason Auburn’s enjoying the success they’ve had.

“I just feel like we have players that don’t get enough recognition,” Tahaad says. “We have players that without them, we wouldn’t be in the position that we are now. If they didn’t come here, we might not be No. 1 because of what they do for us. I just feel like their time is going to come, and when it comes, I feel like they’re going to be ready.” 

Guys like Denver Jones, one of the best defenders in all of college basketball whose name is beyond deserving of being in the Naismith All-Defensive team convo for locking up the opposing team’s best bucket-getter. Guys like Miles Kelly, the Tigers’ go-to sharpshooter who will pull out the team-wide “Call God” celly after draining a step-back three. Guys like Chad Baker-Mazara, the Dominican Republic native who’s posting 13.1 points and 1.2 steals a night and on the Julius Erving Mid-Season Award watch list. Guys like Chaney Johnson who’s scored in double digits for five straight games for the first time in the Auburn blue and orange. Guys like Ja’Heim Hudson, Chris Moore and true freshman Jahki Howard coming off the bench, injecting the right amount of energy whenever they check-in.

The roster is loaded with experience between the portal and returning players who experienced last year’s SEC Tournament Championship. But the squad isn’t built solely off seniority. As one of two true freshmen on the roster getting tick, Pettiford has quickly become one of the most impactful point guards in the nation.

The Jersey native torched Georgia in mid-January for his career-high, 24. He dropped a 21-piece in just his second game of the season, against No. 4 Houston no less. He’s fearless in every regard. Pull up the clips from his 20-point performance at Duke if you’re curious. Or his bombardment of last-second threes that routinely find the bottom of the net. 

“Growing up, to be honest, I always played with older people. So coming in, I kind of expected it to be the same to how it’s always been, just being around guys that are more experienced, played the game, played in the tough games. Just having their energy behind me, knowing they had my back in the low times, I feel like that just gives me confidence,” Tahaad said. “And without them, I feel like my season wouldn’t be going the same as it is now.”

Windmills and no-look drop-offs to the post are complimented by 11.3 points, 2.9 assists and nearly a steal a night. He’ll skip up court into a pull-up three during the biggest game in SEC history, silencing the crowd with a smile. The 6-1 freshman lives for the road. The entirety of the team does. 

“We care about being No. 1 in the nation, but, like, we don’t really feel like that,” Johni said. “We’re normal. Every day we come in, having fun. We’re just being us. Everybody else sees us as a fun team to be, but we’re just acting how we normally act. I think we’re just embracing the moment with each other, and instead of feeling pressure to be No. 1, I think we’re just embracing the journey of being No. 1.”

If there’s anything more certain than Auburn’s locks on the No. 1 ranking, it’s their commitment to joy while doing it. And they often find it on the road, sitting at 7-0 in SEC play after defeating No. 2 Alabama inside Coleman Coliseum on February 15. 

Surrounded by hostilities and the Crimson Tide faithful, the inner state rivalry was turned to a 10 as the first-ever No. 1 vs No. 2 matchup to take place in the SEC. Through the 40-minute battle, the thousands in attendance did everything they could to disrupt Auburn’s chemistry. Instead, the Tigers tightened the screws on the brotherhood that they’d constructed, coming together for a 9-point win. As the final buzzer sounded, they reminded everyone why you don’t poke the bear, waving goodbye to the opposing fans and doing the Crimson Crane in unison right on the cursive A logo. Even a brown leather belt made an appearance in the locker room. 

“Knowing that when we get the chance to come to your spot, dominate and do what we do, I just feel like that just gives us more confidence, more energy that we need,” Tahaad said.

In practice, in the film room, on the court, off the court, that’s just who they are. At the end of the bench, after a blocked shot, following a top 10 win, “We’re like that all the time,” Johni says. They know they’re cold and they know everyone’s watching them enjoy the hell out of the journey, from Tik Toks to the end of the bench. They know they’re the favorites, and they know the Maui Invitational isn’t the only trophy they want resting in The Plains this season.

“I know this, we can be excited to play, and with the schedule that we still have, we’re gonna lose some games. I get that, but this team’s been ready to play, I think because they got something to prove,” Coach Pearl says. “This team’s got a chip on its shoulder. I don’t look at us as where we’re ranked right now in the country. I look at us as who we are, [a] collection of who we are.”

Portraits by Diwang Valdez

The post Johni Broome and Tahaad Pettiford on Auburn’s Dominant Run, Taking Over the SEC and What It Takes to Win it All appeared first on SLAM.

The Cyclones, up by 2 points, went crazy with excitement after the play, from the bench to head coach Bill Fennelly to sophomore guard Kelsey Joens and forward Addy Brown, who gave a smiling Crooks a celebratory chest bump.

Through the highs and lows of this season, Crooks has been the force propelling the Cyclones forward when they’ve needed it the most. The previous time Iowa State played K-State, in late January, Crooks had a double-double of 28 points and 11 boards in a down-to-the-wire OT thriller, with Iowa State coming out on top, 79-87. This time around, she finished with 36 and 10 in the 85-63 upset win.

“If we throw it in there, we know it’s going up and it’s going in,” sophomore forward Addy Brown told us earlier this season. “That’s a good thing to have inside, and we kind of play around her.”

Crooks has been dominating in the post since her high school days at Bishop Garrigan High School in Algona, IA, where she led her squad to back-to-back state titles and inked her name in the state record books. She broke the tournament record by dropping 49 points in the state championship game, doing so while ducking the haters who tried to call her a one-hit wonder, like she does her defenders. “The critics say sometimes that all I do is get baskets right under the basket,” she told The Gazette in 2023. “I mean this in the most humble way: It works.”

It’s at Iowa State that Crooks has perfected the art of posting up. The minute the Cyclones get possession of the ball on the offensive end, Audi is always right there, scheming under the basket and boxing out or dancing with her defenders. Sometimes she’ll take a few dribbles and then either push right past her opponent or go right under them for a smooth layup finish. 

What’s even scarier for everyone is that this season, Crooks has been challenging herself to knock down jumpers from the mid-range, too. After earning All-Big 12 honors as a freshman, she locked in on it during the offseason. “I took the time to appreciate what I did my first year, but also improve,” Crooks tells us. “[I] focused a lot [on] turning up [on] the defensive end of the floor, being a better defender, being a better shot blocker, and then also coming out of the paint a little bit [with my] mid-range game, trusting myself with the rock and trusting myself to be able to handle the ball.” 

It’s that trust—in herself and from her squad—that’s led Crooks to emerge into a college basketball star as just a sophomore. “I chose Iowa State because it made me feel cared for as a person, not just for what I do on a basketball court,” Crooks told us when asked about her decision to play for the Cyclones. During her recruiting process, Fennelly and his staff worked hard to make sure she felt that way, from dining at her favorite restaurant, Cinco De Mayo, a local Mexican spot in Algona, to sending her a picture of her future locker. They even defended her against the aforementioned critics, including on the night that Crooks led her high school squad to a state title. 

As a disgruntled fan questioned whether she could play at the next level in college, Fennelly remembers snapping back at them then. “We’re not recruiting somebody to sit on the bench,” he told them then per The Des Moines Register. 

That so-called fan, and really anyone who has doubted her ability to compete in college, couldn’t have been more wrong. As a freshman, Crooks played in every game, and by the fifth, became a starter. She then broke records, became the first Cyclone freshman ever to be named an All-American and captivated the world while leading the Cyclones to the NCAA tournament, where she had a monstrous 40-point performance in the first-round win against Maryland. Then Crooks held her own in the paint against future WNBA first-rounder Cameron Brink when Iowa State played Stanford in the second-round. Despite the loss, it was the first time the Cyclones had made it that far in the postseason since 2020-21. 

Now in her sophomore campaign, Crooks has upped her numbers across the stat sheet and is currently averaging a career-high 23 ppg on an even more efficient 60 percent from the field. Anytime she’s on the floor, you can see she plays with joy—and an ever-present smile—that her teammates feed off. It’s been the case from the moment she arrived, recalled senior guard Emily Ryan. 

“I just remember when she came on and [visited] the first time, just her personality stands out right away,” Ryan explained. “She’s a light, and she lights up every room she walks into.”

That energy has been needed, especially this year as the Cyclones have had to grind their way through a tough season. By the time this SLAMU digital cover appears on your feed, their record is 21-10. Expectations are high, especially coming from Fennelly, now in his 30th season coaching in Ames. “He’s going to be tough on you,” Crooks told us, adding: “But at the end of the day, you know that he loves you and that he supports you.”

While the Cyclones have yet to make it past the second round of the tournament, they’ve got all the pieces to make a run this March. Their top three scorers include Ryan, a poised and elite veteran leader who helps set up the offense, as well as Brown, who is averaging 15 points and 8 rebounds a game. They have plenty of other experienced bucket-getters, too, and just two freshmen on their entire roster. 

Audi is their anchor, though, and where she goes—or posts up—they all follow. As the Cyclones gear up for the BIG 12 conference tournament, they’ll all need to show up for every possession and every match up.

”She just dominates,” Ryan said of Crooks. “It’s what she does, and being able to have that enforcer in the paint is huge for us both on the floor. You know what to expect from her every day. She’s super consistent.” 

For No. 55, consistency is “key,” she says, not just right now at Iowa State or in the tournament, but throughout her playing career. When asked how she wants to elevate her game, Crooks elaborated: “I think a part of my game that I like to elevate is not necessarily going to show up on the stat board. I’d like to be a better communicator. I’d like to be a better leader and just more consistent overall, whether that be in the paint, at the mid-range, setting screens, whatever it is, even on the defensive end,” Crooks said. “After Iowa State, I would like to play professionally somewhere. We’ll see.” 

It’s with those words that a smile appears on her face yet again. Only time will tell whether she’ll be the one having the last laugh…

Portraits by Matthew Coughlin

The post Iowa State’s Audi Crooks is the CENTER OF ATTENTION | SLAMU 6 Digital Cover appeared first on SLAM.

“Coach P” is a title he wears with pride. For him, providing the next generation with opportunity, resources and more is bigger than his own namesake or individual success. He founded his own AAU team, the P. Miller Ballers, and has coached everyone from DeMar DeRozan to Jalen Suggs.

“To be able to coach and be the President of Operations at the University of New Orleans is an honor,” P tells us over the phone last week. “I grew up there, that’s my hometown, and to be able to help revitalize the program, I mean, that’s what it’s about with me. It’s about making sure these student athletes get the right education, make sure that they can move on in life and be successful, and we could bring winning basketball tradition back to the city of New Orleans.”

Now, Miller has his sights set on empowering the next generation of student-athletes at the University of New Orleans, where he’s just recently been named their new President of Basketball Operations.

“This is what I get up in the morning for. I love this,” P tells us over the phone last week. “I love being a coach, and I love educating and preparing the next generation, because lot of these kids [are] going through a lot of things. Being able to help this program build a real NIL [program] to make sure our kids don’t get into these things that kids are getting into, the negativities and [whatnot]. It’s a business now, so these kids could actually make money, take care of their families and the ones that’s gonna go to the pros, to be able to represent the whole Privateer Nation and be able to now take their skills to the next level. [Not everyone is] going to make it to the pros, but we can prepare everybody on this team to be successful in life.”

As their new president, Miller is on mission to change the culture at UNO and build a competitive, top-notch program from the ground up. The focus will be entirely dialed in on what their student-athletes need, from sports-performance resources to marketing, partnerships and, as mentioned before, an established NIL program.

“To be honest with you, it’s all about the culture,” he says. “Traditional coaching is done because these kids are getting paid. Coaches have to be involved in these kids lives. We want to be able to turn these kids into dogs and push it, but we also want to be able to show them love at the same time and let them know because a lot of these kids, some of them not going to have fathers in their life, so you going to have to be a father in their life to some. It’s about pushing them to be successful, and it ain’t just about X and O’s, even though we’re going to be able to to be experts at this, and being able to make sure we[‘re] watching film, we preparing for these games…

With our team, we’re an Under Armour (sponsored) team, [so] the first thing that I’m going to do is use my resources to go out and get Stephen Curry and UA to make this a premier team and to sponsor our university the right way.”

Having talked to Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders about what he’s doing on the football field as head coach of Colorado, P’s vision also includes empowering his players, many of whom are not just playing for UNO, but to better their families and loved ones.

“These kids need certain things now,” Miller continues. “They need good places to stay. They need a great environment for living arrangements. They need the right nutrition. We need the right strength and conditioning coaches to be prepared to be able to go on the court, but also at the same time, these are young men now, so they need to be able to get around; I’m reaching out to these car companies in our community, saying, ‘Look, let’s create these NIL deals so when these kids come here, they have the right tools and resources they need so they can focus on school and basketball…’ This is a business now for these inner city kids are taking care of their families through these sports and especially through basketball.”

Since the news dropped of his new gig, much of the media attention, and headlines, have been focused entirely P, but what he makes especially clear is that the program and players are the priority. And there’s no limit to what he has envisioned for the Privateers.

“I want people to know it’s bigger than me…It’s about having the right players, because the players [are] going to determine how good you do in the season. I feel like a lot of players are going to want to play for me, because it’s about them. It’s not about me.”

The post Inside Master P’s Vision as President of Basketball Ops at the University of New Orleans appeared first on SLAM.

The USC Trojans are set to play the UCLA Bruins on Saturday for a battle over the crown—and the Big 10 title— in Los Angeles.

The last time these two squads competed, the No. 4 Trojans took home the dub thanks to a dominate 38-point performance by Juju Watkins. The Watts-native has been leading a renaissance in women’s college basketball ever since her SLAM 248 cover dropped last year, but she isn’t competing for a national title alone: both senior guard McKenzie Forbes and junior Rayah Marshall are second and third in scoring, respectively. If the Trojans win tonight, they’ll be in a position to earn the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

On the other side of town is the No. 2 ranked Bruins, who until that matchup against USC not too long ago had been undefeated. Led by a double-double machine of Lauren Betts and a smooth, shifty guard in Kiki Rice, UCLA has been destroying opponents by upwards of 30-plus points. To defeat USC, they’ll need to remain poised and execute, especially in the paint and from the three-point line—back in February, their shooting woes gave them trouble against the Trojans.

We’ll see what happens next, but until then, get the popcorn ready…

The post The Battle for LA Continues With USC-UCLA Rematch appeared first on SLAM.

Blue and white Villanova jerseys flashed throughout the arena. A yellow mob of students emerged near the opposing bench, dressed in flashy banana costumes—a new superstition that debuted against St John’s. The bananas hyped the student section up while inflatable bananas flew across the crowd.

Amidst all the chaos, former Wildcat Kyle Lowry—who has seen rowdy crowds in the Wells Fargo Center before with the 76ers—was in attendance.

The Villanova community came alive in the team’s final regular season game at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Wildcats (16-12, 9-8 Big East) entered their final game in Philadelphia needing a win to bolster their tournament resume. Standing in their way was the No. 16 Marquette Golden Eagles (20-7, 11-5 Big East), a team who once ranked as high as No. 5 this season.

However, despite being underdogs at their second home court, the Wildcats took care of business in front of a boisterous crowd of 10,862—earning their fourth victory against a ranked opponent this year.

In a dominant performance, Villanova defeated No. 16 Marquette 81-66, snapping a two-game conference skid and maintaining ground for fifth place in the Big East conference.

Coming off two road losses against conference rivals Providence and UConn, the Wildcats seemed to erase the memories of their shortcomings and opened the game with a three-point barrage.

The Wildcats won the tip-off, leading to senior guard Wooga Poplar finding graduate forward Eric Dixon, who knocked down a three to put Villanova out front early.

Two possessions later, graduate guard Jhamir Brickus knocked down threes on back-to-back Villanova possessions. Dixon would later tack on another three on the ensuing offensive set.

The leading scorer in the nation finished with a team-leading 23 points.

With barely three minutes passing in the opening half, Villanova was perfect on four attempts from beyond the arc and held a 10-point 14-4 lead.

“We can do that—that’s something that this team has,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “We have high-level three-point shooters, guys that can really make shots.”

Marquette played catch-up from that point on.

The Golden Eagles struggled to find offensive efficiency early. Already in a double-digit hole, Marquette didn’t crack double-digit points until halfway through the opening frame.

Villanova’s pressured on-ball defense limited scoring opportunities for Marquette’s three leading scorers. The Wildcats held seniors Kam Jones, David Joplin and Stevie Mitchell to 12 combined points in the first half and 17 for the whole game.

While Marquette’s offensive core struggled, Villanova’s team remained scorching hot.

Brickus would add two more threes with style. He put the moves on Mitchell, hitting a nasty crossover stepback jumper, nearly breaking Mitchell’s ankles. It hit nothing but net.

He later drained another one from behind the arc, giving Villanova a 13-point halftime lead. Brickus finished the game with 21 points, his second-most on the season behind a 22-point performance against St. Joe’s on Nov. 12.

In the first half, Villanova went 12-15 from beyond the arc, seemingly unable to miss. The Big East’s No. 1 three-point shooting offense had rekindled their former identity.

“We did not do a good enough job having a level of hand pressure and activity and disruptivity to take those shots away,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said.

In the second half, both teams cooled off.

In the second half, Villanova shot 32% from the field, while Marquette shot 36.67 percent. The Wildcats’ lights-out three-point shooting faded away, as they converted on only three of their 11 attempts from behind the arc.

Both teams traded blows early, with Marquette opening the second half on an 8-5 run to cut the lead to 10. Junior guard Chase Ross opened the scoring with an and-one tip-in, followed by a Jones layup and three-pointer from junior forward Ben Gold.

With the lead cut down to the smallest it had since the 13-minute mark in the first half, sloppy mistakes halted any comeback attempt for the Golden Eagles.

Two fouls on back-to-back three-point attempts netted six points on free throws by senior guard Jordan Longino and freshman Jordann Dumont.

Dumont’s free throws capped off a perfect shooting night for the freshman, who had only scored 14 career points before Friday’s game. He finished with 15 points on 4-4 shooting from beyond the arc and a perfect 3-3 from the charity stripe after coming off the bench.

“Guys did a good job just finding me,” Dumont said. “I stayed ready for when my number was called.”

Similarly, Marquette found efficient production from their rotation as well.

Sophomore guard Zaide Lowery had a career night, scoring 25 points on 9-10 shooting and a perfect 5-5 from beyond the arc. Lowery kept the Golden Eagles within striking distance, scoring 16 points in the second half. However, their inconsistent first half proved far too large to overcome.

In addition to inconsistent shooting, Marquette, the team with the highest turnover margin in the Big East, failed to generate many turnovers. Forcing 15.37 turnovers on average, the Golden Eagles only forced seven Villanova turnovers, the same amount as themselves, mitigating any statistical advantage.

Combined with Villanova’s three-point barrage and poor scoring from their stars, Marquette never led or tied the score for the entire game following Dixon’s opening possession three.

“Tonight we were going to come in and try to play our hardest, try to defend and rebound the highest level no matter what,” Neptune said. “I thought either way we put ourselves in a great spot. We really held (Marquette) especially early defensively. I thought that was key.”

With the victory, Villanova adds another Quad 1 victory to their tournament resume before the Big East Tournament. The Wildcats will play Seton Hall on Feb. 26.

The Golden Eagles have now lost four of their last six games. They will look to turn this trend around on Feb. 25 when they host Providence.

Photography by Luke Kaiser.

The post Red-Hot Shooting Night Propels Villanova to Upset Against No. 16 Marquette appeared first on SLAM.

It all started in Baton Rouge. Flau’jae “Big 4” Johnson and Mikaylah “12” Williams are on campus at Louisiana State University for a visit when they enter the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (PMAC). They both look up into the rafters. The winning heritage and history of LSU can be felt throughout the arena, where legends like Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles, Joyce Walker and so many others set the foundation. 

“We’re gonna be here together, and we[’re] basically gonna take over,” Williams, who is a year younger than Johnson and from Boosier City, remembers them saying to each other at the time. Williams committed to the Tigers in June 2022, and by that August, Johnson unveiled her college decision, too. In her music video for “All Falls Down,” which featured Lil Boosie and Mikewillmadeit, Flau’jae announced that she too would be suiting up for the Tigers. 

The post Flau’jae Johnson, Aneesah Morrow and Mikaylah Williams on Expectations, Growth and What it’ll Take to Run it Back in the Tournament appeared first on SLAM.

Here’s everything you need to know. 

Undefeated sitting at 23-0, UCLA is having its best season in the history of the 51-year-old program. Led by a dominant center Lauren Betts and guard Kiki Rice, the team has been rolling looking to add a 24th consecutive win to the record. Betts in her second year with the Bruins after transferring from Stanford and is having an outstanding season while averaging just under 20 ppg with 9.7 boards. At 6 ‘7, she is a force in the paint, too. Rice in the backcourt is averaging 12 and 3, but has a presence on the court you cannot miss. 

After taking their first loss to Notre Dame back in November and a more recent second to an unranked Iowa, the Trojans are looking to prevail, on their home floor. SLAM cover star Juju Watkins is having a sensational season, alongside forward Kiki Iriafen. Watkins in her second year as a Trojan, averaging just under 24 ppg and 6.7 rpg with senior Iriafen at 18 ppg and 8.4 boards all eyes are on them. 

Both duo’s above have been named to the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year Midseason Team. Watkins as well as Betts have also been named to the John R. Wooden Award Late Midseason Top 20 Watch List. 

Given the crosstown rivalry, numbers, and accolades listed above between those four names, this game will be one of the most entertaining watches this season yet, setting the stage for the remainder of the season and the rematch to come in a couple weeks. Tip off is 6pm pt. 

Who you got?

The post Everything You Need to Know Ahead of UCLA vs USC appeared first on SLAM.

Barely 12 hours after an emotional win vs Marquette, the head coach and three best players on the No. 12-ranked St. John’s Red Storm strut into their classic on-campus venue, Carnesecca Arena, and suit up for, as some of the other St. John’s athletes walking around say excitedly, “a SLAM cover shoot!”

The wild disconnect in the whole scene and story of St. John’s basketball is that to some of the old heads on the scene (*writer most definitely included), the old coach (72-year-old Rick Pitino) and even the players (in this case, the uber-talented and tough trio of Zuby Ejiofor, RJ Luis and Kadary Richmond), St. John’s is supposed to be good. Top-15? Favorites to win the league regular season? To win the conference tournament on the program’s other home court, Madison Square Garden? Expecting a deep run in the NCAA Tournament? What’s the big deal? This is one of the 10 winningest programs in the history of men’s DI hoops. The home of legends like Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson and Malik Sealy. Being in the mix for the aforementioned achievements feels like it should be commonplace. 

And then you look at the banners on the far side of the court and the reality of things out here in Queens hits you in the face. The program’s last conference title was *squints* 2000! The last regular-season title was *shakes head in disbelief* 1992!! These players were literally not even alive for any of that.   

We don’t need to re-litigate what has gone wrong with the Johnnies over the past quarter century—especially since they had enough dope players, compelling coaches and high-profile Garden games to somehow seem more relevant than they were, anyway—and will instead focus on the positive of this campaign: a well-coached crew of tough ballers who could probably blow your doors off with an offensive output if they weren’t so busy putting the clamps on you on defense to make the offense feel almost unnecessary.

“I can’t wave my magic wand and suddenly shoot the ball like Steph Curry, so you have to go with what you have,” says the peripatetic Pitino, now in his second year with SJU and his ninth head coaching job. “We wear these shirts that say PHD, which stands for Passionate, Hungry and Driven to succeed. I’ve coached some great three-point shooting teams in my time, but if that’s not your forte, you go with the areas where you can win.”

The previous night’s battle with Marquette encapsulated the season in many ways. The Garden wasn’t quite sold out, but the 16,521 in the building made it sound more than packed. The Red Storm shot 3-16 from distance and 17-31 from the free-throw line. And still won by 6! The defense was fanatical, as evidenced in a viral clip of the Johnnies chasing Marquette all over the court so that the visitors could not even get a clean shot off, despite being down 7 with less than two minutes to play. After the game, Marquette coach Shaka Smart said SJU had played with “incredible violence,” and he meant it entirely as a compliment.

The offensive struggles were real, but as has typically been the case, the Red Storm got enough from Richmond (18 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists), Luis (17 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals while playing all 40 minutes) and Ejiofor (13 points, 13 rebounds) to grind out the win.

It’s a trio that merges pedigree, experience and skills with visibly great chemistry and, paired with a supporting cast we’ll get to in a minute, should be enough to freshen some of the banners. Ejiofor is a 6-9, 240-pound junior (“he could be a stretch-4, but he the 5 for us,” Luis says with a smile) who was heavily recruited out of the Dallas area in high school and spent one season at Kansas before transferring to St. John’s for Pitino’s first year. His two most defining characteristics are probably his motor and his smile, both of which are on display even in this interview setting. Asked what his job on the team is, Ejiofor says, “bringing the toughness to the group. One thing you could say about me is that I play with a high motor and a lot of passion. And I play for my teammates. This is who I do it for—my teammates, my family, this whole community—that’s why I go hard every single day…getting offensive rebounds, some nights it’s scoring, some nights it’s defending—every night, actually—is bringing the defense and doing whatever it takes to win.”

Richmond, a 6-6, 205-pound combo guard out of Brooklyn, is the most “famous” player on the team, especially in this part of the country. He was the Big Apple’s Public School Player of the Year at South Shore in 2019, then spent a year at Brewster Academy before starting his college career at Syracuse. Richmond transferred to Seton Hall and led the Pirates for three seasons, earning all sorts of Big East honors along the way. A graduate student with one year of eligibility left, he was the prize of the transfer portal and chose to stay close to home, wrapping up his college career in the city that made him. “Kooks,” as he’s known, is on the quiet side with reporters but is clearly the heartbeat of the team, especially on offense. “He’s a silent killer,” Luis says. “A facilitator. Makes plays for others.” Richmond is the de facto 1 on this team, but his size and versatility speak to an NBA future pretty much wherever a team might need him. He’s averaging 12.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.9 apg, 2 spg and 1 bpg playing a team-high 32.5 mpg and shooting 50 percent from the floor in the process. Get this guy on your fantasy team yesterday! 

“I try to be the best person I can be, on and off the court,” Richmond says calmly. “Getting the best shot available for us as a team. Moving the ball. Getting the other guys confidence. Be able to make plays. Score, pass it and just bring whatever I can to the game to get a win.”

Luis is a 6-7, 215-pound swingman out of Miami who spent one season at UMass before arriving in Queens in 2023 alongside Ejiofor, who is now his roommate. Luis is the team’s leading scorer at 17.4 ppg, defends to the tune of 1.5 spg and has taken the second-most threes on the team, though he’s about as confused as everyone else about why more aren’t going in. “I try to come out every night with the same energy, the same intensity and taking pride on defense,” he says. “I feel like we’re hitting every aspect of the game except for three-point shooting. The energy’s there, the hustle’s there, we’re playing defense as a whole, collectively. It’s really just trying to work on getting better shots for everyone on the team, and when we get the shots, knock it down.”

This big 3 is complemented primarily by guards Aaron Scott, Deivon Smith and Simeon Wilcher, with additional support from international big men Vince Iwuchukwu and Ruben Pray (one downer in a mostly charmed season was the season-ending injury suffered by sharp-shooting forward Brady Dunlap, who could have helped with the long-range shooting problem but is now just being counted on for more of his great sideline celebrations.) Having a team with talent and size does not always equal good results, though, especially when squads are built on a season-by-season basis. How did this particular group mesh so quickly?

Ejiofor explains: “Our focal point this year was getting to know each other a lot sooner than we did last year, cause we got off to a slow start last year. So our main thing was try and get to know each other off the court a little bit and then on the court as well…we went to the beach and did beach workouts together. We went to the field and did workouts there. We’ve gone out to eat as a group. Just getting to know each other a lot more and a lot sooner than we did last year.”

FWIW, the influx of transfers turning into key players, while a newish phenomenon at many programs who didn’t traffic much in transfers in the pre-portal days, is actually a nod to St. John’s past as well. For every Malik, Mark or Mully who balled out here for four years, there was a Walter Berry, Michael Porter, Bootsy Thornton or Marcus Hatten who quickly won the hearts of SJU fans after transferring in mid-career from JuCo programs.

Whatever the mix or the reason, it’s working just like Pitino confidently predicted it would when he was hired less than two short years ago. “When you’re 72 years of age and you’ve coached for 50 years and you’ve coached the Celtics, the Knicks, Kentucky, Louisville, Providence, I think your confidence is established from the players you coach,” Pitino explains. “Coaches don’t win games; players win games. We had confidence going in that we could recruit the players necessary to win and, also, history repeats itself. If you have the right culture, be it Kentucky, be it Louisville, be it Providence, you’re gonna turn it around. It’s not false confidence, it’s confidence you’ll bring in the right players to fill the culture you want to present.”

One interested and excited observer to all this is Jackson, a native New Yorker who is St. John’s all-time assist leader and played for Pitino with the Knicks when they both entered the League for the first time. “I love Coach Pitino!!” Jackson tells us over text. “Absolutely genius!! He calls me his Rookie of the Year. I call him My Coach.”

Luis offers a lovely summary of where things stand right now for his team. “We got a nice, talented group. Very athletic. We just got some dogs, we just trying to win,” he says. “I feel like we’re waking up the city of New York, and we’re gonna keep on doing it. Playing under Hall of Fame coach, Rick Pitino. It’s pretty sweet.”

Portraits by Royce Paris.

The post St. John’s Trio and Rick Pitino Talk Establishing Confidence, Building Through Transfer Portal and the Red Storm’s Resurgence appeared first on SLAM.

In a defensive back-and-forth game between the Creighton Blue Jays and Villanova Wildcats, the senior point guard redeemed himself.

Up one and looking to ice the game with 14 seconds left, Ashworth threw an errant pass to Wildcats point guard Wooga Poplar. Poplar raced down the court and threw a thunderous slam, sending the Wells Fargo Center into a frenzy. Villanova up one.

In response, Ashworth raced down the court and pulled up for a go-ahead three. It hit nothing but air. However, he got a second chance. Forward Jasen Green corralled the board and was awarded a timeout while falling out of bounds.

Shooters always shoot. Eight seconds left. While Villanova guarded the paint and center Ryan Kalkbrenner, Ashworth flared to the corner. He caught a pass and fired a corner-three. His high-arcing shot hit off the top corner of the backboard and sank in—a miracle shot. Blue Jays up two.

After a Villanova turnover, Creighton escaped with a two-point victory.

Ashworth’s miracle shot capped off a 13-point, seven assists and rebound performance in Creighton’s 62-60 victory against Villanova on Saturday afternoon.

“I knew that I’d have some space. But also, as soon as I caught it, trying to make sure that I had a good clean look it at it,” Ashworth said when talking about the final shot. “Back-pedalling to the corner with the pass coming from the basket isn’t the easiest type of shot. Obviously, I missed it a little left, but that’s why the backboard is there.”

Alongside Ashworth, Kalkbrenner and forward Jamiya Neal handled most of the scoring, posting 22 and 13 points, respectively.

The Wildcats struggled offensively, putting up inefficient scoring numbers. The No. 1 three-point scoring offense in the Big East shot only 3-17 from behind the arc and 39.7% from the field. Poplar’s 24 points led all Wildcats. Eric Dixon, the nation’s leading scorer, scored 17, his second-lowest output of the year.

The game was a defensive slugfest—neither team led by double-digit points. Villanova was effective on the defensive end, forcing 18 turnovers, including 13 total steals. Creighton only forced six.

The win locks Villanova in a four-way tie for fifth place with Providence, Xavier and Georgetown. In the upcoming Big East Tournament, the top-5 teams receive a first-round bye.

Creighton will travel to play Providence on Feb. 5. Villanova will play Georgetown at home on Feb. 4.

The post Creighton Grinds Past Villanova on Miracle Three by Steven Ashworth appeared first on SLAM.

This is Volunteer country. Where Uber drivers pull up proudly rocking their Tennessee orange and where stripes are always in season. Where high schoolers peek through the tempered glass of a closed-off gym trying to catch a glimpse of three of the best guards in the country. Where the Tennessee men’s basketball team has instilled a different type of energy throughout the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. That’s in part due to the dominant backcourt trio that led this year’s squad to tie the best start in program history, when it stormed out the gates to 14-0.

One member of that trio is leading the SEC in dimes with 7.6 a night. Another’s dropping 18.4 per game on anyone silly enough to drop back from the three-point line. And the third’s got a knack for silencing student sections and ending games with the flick of his wrist. Zakai Zeigler, Chaz Lanier and Jordan Gainey have got the Tennessee Volunteers sitting at No. 6 in the AP poll as they venture deeper into a stacked SEC conference lineup.

For the past two and a half months, they’ve been stitching their contributions to the cultural fabric of Tennessee hoops under the direction of legendary head coach Rick Barnes. The chemistry and connectivity that’s been witnessed through 19 games didn’t just click one day. The program’s star guards have been building toward this since the summer, featuring months and months of 1 on 1s. 

“Oh, me and JG, every single day in practice,” Zakai says. “I’m telling you, people don’t understand, we go at each other like we don’t know each other. Like, we be talking trash, we be talking crazy to each other. Start fouling, we’ll start doing stuff outside of basketball. But you know, just being that competitor, we understand that when we go against each other like that, when we go out on the court and play against somebody we don’t know, it’s gonna be like, Oh this ain’t nothin’.”

The runs are competitive. “Like very competitive,” Zakai says, while reflecting on the outcomes of their past intensity. The Vols are living by the mantra “iron sharpens iron.” The results are in the 17-2 record they’ve established and their respective moments of brilliance. Jordan’s game-winning layup on the road in Champaign. Chaz’s 29-piece against then-No. 23 Arkansas. Zakai’s 6 steals against Georgia. 

Alongside the commanding presence of both Igor Milicic Jr and Felix Okpara, with Jahmai Mashack, Darlinstone Dubar and Cade Phillips bolstering the rotation, the Vols are laser-focused on reaching the national championship. And to get there, the SEC’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year knows that his team’s energy starts with what he brings to the floor. For Zakai Zeigler, that’s baseline to baseline, surveying and attacking across all 94 feet of the hardwood.

“I feel like if I’m bringing that energy in the backcourt, picking up guys and slowing the ball down, it gives everyone else confidence on the defensive end and it just picks the energy up,” Zakai says. “I would say yeah, I put a little pressure on myself and expectations, but I wouldn’t even consider that as pressure. I would just say it’s something that I do every day and that I’m used to doing. I know if it’s going to help my teammates out, help my brothers out, then I’m gonna do it for sure.” 

The Long Island, NY, native has been orchestrating both sides of the ball for the Vols since the tail end of his sophomore campaign. Ever since then, it’s been a flurry of defensive masterclasses, perfectly timed passes and the necessary amount of heroics with the rock in his hands as the starting point guard. He can heat up instantly, like when he willed the Vols to a 4-point win over Texas after posting 6 points in the final minute of the game. He beats opponents to their spot with a single slide, picks their pockets and then flies past with ease before setting up a teammate for a wide-open look. 

Tennessee’s two-way stalwart is averaging 12.2 points. 7.6 assists and 2.1 steals a game. But the influence and leadership that exists through his play can’t be quantified, only felt.

“I would say Syracuse, that was a game where my energy was really high. I remember one point in time in the game, I told JG, Yo, I’m turnt up right now. I’m active right now. He remembers what I’m talking about,” Zakai says, while Jordan affirms. “Facts.” 

“Just moments like that I know I’m picked up or I’m turnt up whether I’m making a shot or not, it’s going to pick everybody else around me up,” Zakai adds.

Empowering his teammates extends to every aspect of the game, especially from the bench. Case in point, a mid-December slugfest against Illinois in enemy territory. Widely remembered in Knoxville as “the Jordan Gainey game.”

Chaz had put up 17 but fouled out with a little over three minutes remaining, while Zakai sat next to him after also fouling out. Nerves and stress didn’t exist, even with the score tied at 64 apiece with just 5.7 seconds left in the game. The two guards felt nothing but confidence as Jordan inbounded the ball and instantly received the rock back, going coast-to-coast in just four dribbles before laying it off the glass as time expired with a mob of Tennessee orange surrounding him on the baseline. Twenty-three on the night, 18 in the final 14 minutes. 

“Having moments of success like that, I look back at the first time I stepped foot on a college campus. My freshman year, I was at USC Upstate; just being able to see the journey that I’ve had and how I’ve come here. The path that I’ve gone through has helped me in moments like that,” Jordan says. 

The 6-4 former All-Big South First Team honoree spent the first two years of his collegiate career out in Valley Falls, SC, leading USC Upstate in points (15.1) and steals (1.9) as a sophomore. And for the past two seasons, he’s found a home in Knoxville as the sixth man off the bench playing starter minutes. The transfer portal’s been good to Tennessee. Like, real good. New means of buckets continue to be discovered, including the reliable scoring punch of fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier. 

After dominating the ASUN conference at North Florida last season, the former Tennessee Mr. Basketball finalist found his way back to his home state this past summer. The portal was chaotic, Chaz admits. But once the Vols got involved, the Nashville native knew the situation he was waiting for had arrived. 

“I knew the opportunity was going to be special. And then on my official visit, when I came to Tennessee, all the guys were surrounding me in the locker room. We had a good little celebration. I just knew it was home.” Chaz says. “I knew that I’d be joining something that was bigger than me.” 

We haven’t even hit the midway point of conference play and No. 2 has already cemented himself as one of the best scorers in the country. Less than an inch of space is needed for the 6-5 guard to have the confidence to launch it. Miami caught a clinic featuring 22 points strictly off jumpers. Baylor got scorched by seven of his threes. Fading one dribble pulls off the pick-and-roll are automatic. The averages: 18.4 points, 3.2 boards, 1.2 steals. Yup, he locks up too. 

“The standard for this team is definitely toughness,” Chaz says. “Knowing they’re in the foxhole with you and that you’ll do anything for your brother.”

The established feeling of a brotherhood is shared throughout the roster. It’s felt inside the gym of Farragut High School where Chaz, Jordan and Zakai pose for flicks and fall into bouts of laughter as they reminisce on their memories from the season. The scene is just a snapshot of a much larger picture that hangs 17 miles down the road. In between the soul food dinners, endless battles during practice and the countless 1s played afterward, they’ve laid the foundation for the team’s ultimate goal. Toughness and perseverance will light the way. 

“When the season’s closed, I want [us] to be remembered as a national champion and nothing less than that,” Zakai says. “Yeah, we want an SEC championship. We want an SEC tournament championship. But we’re going for the big trophy. We made history already with starting off the best in over 100 years, but we’re looking at something bigger than that.”

Portraits by Horizon Media Group.

The post Light the Way: Tennessee’s Star Guards Talk Building Confidence and Chemistry En Route to Matching Best Start in Program History appeared first on SLAM.

In the heartland of Ames, IA, a basketball symphony is reaching its crescendo. The Iowa State Cyclones, long overshadowed in the national spotlight, have emerged as a legitimate powerhouse, their sights set firmly on college basketball’s highest honor, a national championship. While every team in the country began the season with the dream of walking up the ladder and cutting down the nets in front of a sold out crowd in San Antonio on April 7, Iowa State is on a short list of programs with the means to actually do it. Orchestrated by head coach TJ Otzelberger, this year’s squad embodies a culture of resilience, camaraderie, toughness, discipline, authenticity and above all else, confidence. But to understand how this year’s Cyclones have gotten to within an arm’s reach of the pinnacle, you must first understand where they’ve been.

Last year’s Cyclones won the team’s most conference games since 2001, finished second in the Big 12 standings and capped it all off with a blowout win over the then-No.1 ranked Houston Cougars in the Big 12 Tournament Championship. Then came the NCAA Tournament. They’d make easy work of their first two opponents, before losing a nail-biter to Illinois in the Sweet Sixteen. Alas, it was back to the drawing board.

The scars of last season’s abrupt exit from the Tournament still linger. For many, such a setback could be the harbinger of decline, but not for Iowa State. Under Coach Otzelberger’s vigilant eye, the Cyclones turned disappointment into a silver lining. Every summer workout, every film session, was imbued with a singular purpose: the get back. And anybody who knows anything about college basketball knows this one thing: If you want to make a deep run with a chance to win it all, it starts with your guards. Luckily for Iowa State, they’re led by a pair of killers in Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert, who are proving to be one of the best backcourts in the nation.

Jones, a Minnesota native, is the epitome of what this Iowa State program represents. The 6-4 do-it-all swingman has a knack for putting the ball in the rim with his feathery touch and plays with a contagious joy and spirit that permeates the whole squad. He didn’t have a single offer coming out of high school and would end up starting his college career at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, IA. After one standout season, he’d take his talents to Buffalo University, where he’d play for two years, en route to becoming an All-MAC player, before ultimately transferring to Iowa State last year.

Jones’s backcourt partner, Gilbert, was similarly underrated coming out of high school, ranked as a 3-star recruit. He enjoyed modest success in two years at UNLV and would also enter the transfer portal after the ’23 season and become a Cyclone. The 6 -4 lead guard made his impact felt right away in his first season in Ames, leading the team in scoring on his way to earning a handful of honors: All-Big 12 Second Team, Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team and Big 12 Championship MVP. Simply put, he’s the engine that makes this team go.

Along with Jones and Gilbert, this year’s team had a couple of key pieces come back from last year’s Sweet Sixteen team—their All-Big 12 junior guard Tamin Lipsey, and their sophomore forward Milan Momcilovic, who earned a spot on the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team. This year’s roster also saw another talented transfer class into the fold: former All-Missouri Valley guard Nate Heise (Northern Iowa), Joshua Jefferson (St. Mary’s), Brandton Chatfield (Seattle) and Dishon Jackson (Charlotte).

We’re halfway through this season with conference play well underway, and Iowa State has been flat out excellent. And if you don’t believe me, just ask Baylor’s Hall of Fame coach Scott Drew, who recently called them “one of the best two teams in the country” after suffering a blowout loss at the hands of the Cyclones. 

The AP polls are slightly less generous; as we go to press today, the AP Top 25 polls have Iowa State ranked third. Yet, somehow, the Cyclones still seem to be flying under the radar.

“That’s been a chip on our shoulder since before we got here. I don’t feel like me or [Jones] ever got the recognition we deserve,” says Gilbert. “But that’s just more motivation. That just puts more fuel in the tank, and adds more fuel to the fire. So, it is what it is.”

“You get the recognition when you win,” says Jones. “Whatever comes with winning, we’ll take it. We’re not really in it for the recognition, but that’s what comes with it.”

If anyone’s surprised by how dominant they’ve been, you can bet it’s not anyone in their locker room. They expected this. 

“Coming into this season, we knew how good we could be. Me and Keshon were always talking about what we were going to do and what we felt like we could do,” says Jones. “The results are coming now, but it all started because of how last year ended. We got to it right away this year; we already knew what it was.”

And if you let them tell it, they’re only just beginning to scratch the surface of their potential. Nevermind them convincingly winning the majority of their games thus far by double digits. 

“We ain’t even really playing our best. I’d say we’re playing good, we’re playing solid, but we still have improvements to make. And that’s exciting, because we’ve still been winning handily. But we have room for improvement, even in that. And that’s what great teams do. They find where they can improve and not just be content with winning games. We won the last two by like 20, but we wanna make that 30,” says Jones.

It’s not farfetched to envision Iowa State pulling off a few 30-point victories before the season’s out. Well, a few more 30-point victories I should say. They had a handful of wins by at least that much from their early non-conference slate, which goes to show that these Cyclones aren’t playing with their food. They know what’s at stake, and they’ve embraced everything it takes to reach their ultimate goal of a natty. Not a single moment can be taken for granted when they’re trying to do something that’s never been done in program history. To wit: Gilbert and Jones say they can’t even think of a time that Coach Otzelberger has even mentioned a Big 12 Championship, let alone the national championship; he makes it a point to take it game by game, brick by brick. 

The star backcourt makes clear that they’re keeping “the main thing the main thing.” They embrace the notion that their personal goals will be much more easily attainable if they take care of winning first. 

Every team who’s ever climbed that ladder as the last team standing has at least one thing in common: they ran toward the work, not away from it. In that regard, the Iowa State program, helmed by Coach Otzelberger, is well on their way. And we know the old saying: Nothing worth having comes easy.

“I ain’t gonna lie, Iowa State isn’t for everybody—if you don’t really love basketball, you ain’t gonna like it. You ain’t gonna fit here, because basketball is all it is,” says Gilbert. “We work hard as hell, so we know everything’s gonna fall into place.”

Portraits by Matthew Coughlin.

The post Led by Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert, How Iowa State Ascended on to College Basketball’s Radar appeared first on SLAM.

The Kansas Jayhawks will face the Cincinnati Bearcats today, starting at 2 pm ET, and it’s the matchup everyone has been waiting for. The last time KU and Cincy faced off the Bearcats took home a 20-point dub against the Jayhawks in the conference tournament. But this season, the tables have slightly turned for the them in the Big 12, as they’re currently 0-3 in conference play and looking to bounce back from their losing streak.

Meanwhile, KU is currently 2-1 in the Big 12—good for fourth in the conference—and hold the No. 11 ranking in the country. This will be the first time the two programs will go head to head in Cincy since ’64.

If there’s one thing you need to know about both squads, it’s that they don’t play when it comes to defense, especially the Bearcats, who can snag offensive boards with ease.

“Our half-court, man-to-man defense has been the most reliable thing we’ve had going all year long,” said head coach Wes Miller after the loss to Baylor. “I even felt tonight that when we locked in on all five, we felt there would be a breakthrough. Give them credit—they got a handful of baskets in transition and our defense had a lack of effort to get back.”

They’ll need to bring that same energy and more against KU, as the Jayhawks’ defense is so elite, they’ve been locking down opponents. Add in the fact that they’ve also got the 24th most efficient offense according to KenPom, and you’re looking at a seriously dominant team that can show out on both ends of the floor.

“We were great defensively,” head coach Bill Self told the media after defeating Arizona State. “Who would have thought we shot the ball worse the second half from 2? We shot it worse from 3 and basically held them to 11, then they get the layup there at the right at the very end. But that was exceptional.”

It’s going to be a showdown. To get you hyped for the game, we’ve got an exclusive college collection for Kansas and Cincinnati gear. Lock in.

The post Kansas vs Cincinnati Game Preview: Defensive Showdown appeared first on SLAM.

It’s the Elite Eight rematch everyone will be tuning in to. The last time these teams went head to head, UConn defeated USC, 83-70, led by an epic double-double performance by PB, who was the Most Outstanding Player in the Portland 3 Regional. While the Huskies got the dub, USC’s Watkins also had a double-double of her own and has brought that same energy into this season with 30 and 40-point performances. Both SLAM cover stars are certified rockstars, too: PB has had her Huskies teammates rockin’ her Nike PEs recently while your favorite rappers have been pullin’ up to see Juju hoop since her high school days.

Don’t get it twisted though, the Huskies and Trojans aren’t just one-woman teams. They’ve got an entire squad of shooters and bucket-getters: UConn is equipped with SLAM co-cover star Azzi Fudd, sophomore Ashlynn Shade and freshman Sarah Strong, who is currently second on the team in scoring, to name a few. As for USC, transfer Kiki Iriafen is a true standout averaging close to 30 points per game, and with Kennedy Smith and Rayah Marshall are elite components of their core while averaging 25 points per game.

As for what will go down tomorrow, only time will tell. Until then, we’ve got you covered exclusive merch to cop as you cheer on your favs.

The post USC vs UCONN: The Elite Matchup the World Has Been Waiting For appeared first on SLAM.

That’s how many times Kentucky has played Gonzaga, ever, dating back to ’02, but only once have the Wildcats defeated the Bulldogs. Saturdays matchup at Climate Pledge Arena is a must-see game for college hoops fans: the No. 4 ranked Wildcats are looking to bounce back after suffering their first loss of the season to Clemson; meanwhile, the No. 7 ranked Bulldogs have momentum after having beat Davidson by 25-points back in November.

It’s also a battle of the Marks: Kentucky head coach Mark Pope, who is from Washington, revealed to UK Athletics that he knows the Zag’s head coach, Mark Few, “pretty well,”:

“I got to know coach pretty well. He’s been a great friend,” Pope said. “He’s one of the best people in the business. He’s really special. What he’s done in basketball is almost unfathomable. He puts together incredible teams every single year. He’s got a really distinctive style.”

But as for what goes down on the court, that’s another story. Despite the loss to the Tigers, Pope is “feeling good” about his squad after that game because he saw firsthand how they’re able to handle tough moments, even when things aren’t going their way. In many ways, they’ve stepped up to the plate even before the season began: with a new head coach and all eyes on them in this post-John Calipari era, Pope has been able to bring together a group of standouts that includes only one returner from last year, and mostly transfers (9), freshmen (3) and a walk-on.

The rebuild has been real, but don’t sleep, this new-look squad has serious game: as of writing this, the Wildcats are leading the nation in points (92.9) and are fourth in the AP Top 25. Their roster includes leading scorer Otega Oweh, who is averaging a career-high 16 points per game, as well as 1.3 assists and four rebounds, a smooth guard in graduate student Lamont Butler (3.9 apg) as well as Amari Williams holding it down on the boards with 10.9 per game.

“Seasons are hard and that’s why they’re great,” Pope said. “What really is special is when you answer, when you ring the bell. I think we have a locker room full of guys who can take on some adversity. Wins or losses, I think they go into the locker room the same way, hungry to get better. I think that bodes well for us throughout this season.”

They’ll need to keep that same energy against Gonzaga, who boasts a talented roster and the best dime-dropper in the country, Ryan Nembhard, who is averaging 10.8 assists per game. Are the odds in Kentucky’s favor?

Forget the parlays, we’ll see what goes down tonight. And if you’re part of BBN, do we have a treat for you just in time for the holidays.

The post KENTUCKY vs GONZAGA: Who You Got? appeared first on SLAM.

You won’t want to miss this matchup. To get you ready for all the anticipation, shop our exclusive college collections featuring Iowa State, South Carolina merch and so much more.

Here’s what you need to know about both teams ahead of the game:

Record: 5-1 | Team’s vibe:

Iowa State is off to a strong start this season. Led by sophomore center Audi Crooks, who has had a major impact this season and is averaging 21.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while forward Addy Brown contributes 16.2 points and 8.7 rebounds. In a close match-up, Iowa State defeated Drake University by just two points, with Crooks delivering a huge 33-point performance to secure the win. 

Head coach Bill Fennelly knows his team is up for a challenge. Expect the Cyclones to embrace this must-see matchup while proving what they can do against the reigning champs. As Coach Fennelly put it, “Anything you don’t do well is going to be exposed at a very high level, but if we can do it against them, we can do it against anyone.” 

Here’s a fun clip of just how well Fennelly know’s his squad:

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A post shared by Iowa State Women’s Basketball (@cyclonewbb)

Record: 5-1. | Team’s vibe:

Despite the fact that South Carolina is coming off of a tough loss against UCLA (which marks their first loss since 2023 and the end to their 43 game win streak), don’t sleep on the Gamecocks. They’re the reigning champs for a reason: with an electric roster and a visionary head coach, SC’s squad is led by fifth year senior Te-Hina Paopao, who has been stepping up in every aspect this season and is averaging 14.2 points and 3.3 assists per game. Adding to the dominating team, Chloe Kitts has been a rebounding machine for the team averaging a near double double of 9.2 rebounds per game with 11.6 points.

You can bet head coach Dawn Staley will be making strong adjustments to bounce back, stating, “We have to figure things out a little bit… this is what we usually do to other teams.” 

You already know the Gamecocks bring all the vibes on gameday:

@gamecockwbb Finally at Colonial Life Arena tonight!! #fyp #wbb #ncaawbb #secwbb #ncaawbball #southcarolinawbb #southcarolina #uofsc ♬ original sound – Gamecock Women’s Basketball

Photos via Getty Images.

The post Iowa State vs South Carolina: Get Ready for this Must-See Matchup appeared first on SLAM.

Out with some old, in with some new. This is the recurring challenge that many, dare I say most, programs face in today’s college basketball landscape. Case in point: this year’s Arizona Wildcats, a team that, despite its consensus top-10 preseason ranking, has still managed to fly under the radar. 

As is the case with every program of blue blood-esque caliber, Arizona entered this season with a single goal in mind: cutting down the nets at the Alamodome in San Antonio next April. But that’s a long way away from this November afternoon; the season just started and there’s a lot of basketball to be played between now and then. In order for Arizona to get where they haven’t been as a program since ‘01—the Final Four—and damn sure in order to accomplish what they haven’t since ‘97—a national championship—they know they have to stay rooted in the moment, committed to the work and focused on the journey, not the destination. 

In the transfer portal/social media/NIL era, staying focused on the task at hand is much easier said than done. But the culture they’ve been building under Coach Tommy Lloyd leaves little room for outside noise to infiltrate their solidarity. “We have a great group of guys who don’t worry about any of the off-the-court stuff,” says KJ Lewis, a sophomore guard who returned to Tuscon after testing the NBA Draft waters. “We’re such a tight team; all we wanna do is win.”

It’s one thing to express this team-first, win-by-any-means mentality; it’s another to actually embody it. But if you have any intentions of getting on Coach Lloyd’s court, you have no choice. 

It’s easy to forget this is only Coach Lloyd’s fourth season as a head coach. He’s accomplished more in his first three years than a lot of coaches will in an entire career: he’s amassed two Pac-12 Regular Season Championships, two Pac-12 Tournament Championships, two Sweet Sixteen appearances and has never earned lower than a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Talk about excellence. 

Arizona has always been one of the premier brands in college basketball, and Coach Lloyd is only raising the standards. “He wants us to be the best version of ourselves and he pushes us to be that each and every day,” says Caleb Love, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year. “And he’s never really satisfied, so I think that’s what helps us keep going and keep getting better.”

With the former National Coach of the Year at the helm, the Arizona faithful can rest assured that they’ll always, at least, have the recipe for success…and while merely having the recipe means nothing if you don’t have the right ingredients at your disposal, recruiting is another aspect of Coach Lloyd’s brilliance. If there was a book titled How to Recruit in the Transfer Portal Era for Dummies, Coach Lloyd would be the author and a photo of this year’s team would grace the cover. The coaching staff pieced together a well-balanced group of highly-touted freshmen, high-level transfers and core veteran returnees. On paper, their roster can compete with any in the nation. And though a talented roster is hardly enough in today’s age of college hoops, it’s surely a great starting point. In that regard, this Arizona squad is ahead of the curve. And with roster churn as high as it is across the sport due to transfer rules, a team’s ability to develop chemistry can prove to be as vital to a team’s success as their ability to knock down a jumper. These guys seem to be ahead of the curve in that regard, too. 

“I think the biggest thing is just playing for your brother,” says former McDonald’s All-American, freshman Carter Bryant. “We come in every day and work our tails off to reach the mountain top this year.” It’s always a good sign when your star freshman is looking to the pinnacle of the game.

COP SLAMU ARIZONA COVER TEES

When a player puts on that Arizona jersey, suddenly the name on the back of the jersey falls by the wayside in favor of the name across their chest. “We’re playing for something bigger than ourselves,” says Caleb. “The national championship is always the goal here; that’s the standard at Arizona. And we hold each other to that each and every day, whether it’s practice, workouts, games, etcetera.”

The fifth-year senior combo guard is the engine that makes this team go. Caleb entered college as a heralded five-star recruit with one-and-done expectations and has experienced the highest of highs and lowest of lows throughout his career, from the game-winner in the Final Four that ended Coach K’s career at Duke to navigating being the first preseason No. 1 ranked team in history to miss the NCAA Tournament. You name it, and he’s seen it. And through it all, one constant remains: “We have to keep the main thing, the main thing—which is putting wins in our win column” says Caleb. “Winning solves everything.”

Arizona knows a thing or two about winning. It’s a program with a rich history and storied tradition that spans decades. And the players are well aware. “The coaching staff does a good job of preaching who came before us and [talking] about the legacy,” says starting junior point guard Jaden Bradley. 

Jaden is a former five-star recruit who began his career at Alabama, where he was named to the SEC All-Freshman team before opting for a fresh start with Coach Lloyd in Tuscon for his sophomore campaign. After a steady and productive regular season last year, Jaden turned it up a notch when it mattered most. In their three NCAA Tournament games, he averaged nearly 13 points and four rebounds, while shooting 50 percent from three, adding two steals and two blocks per contest. Now, if your point guard is producing like this on both ends of the floor, your chances of success exponentially increase. As Jaden steps into a full-time starting role and prepares to “take on a new leadership role” with a year of experience in Coach Lloyd’s system under his belt, he plans to carry that momentum from the Tournament throughout this season. For Jaden, that doesn’t necessarily mean filling up the stat sheet.

“I just want to do whatever it takes to help my team get wins,” he says.

Wins in college basketball don’t come easy, let alone in the Big Dance. A lot has to go right to be the last team standing. Last year’s Wildcats came within an arm’s reach of a national championship, suffering a 5-point loss at the hands of Clemson in the Sweet Sixteen; this year’s team is (rightfully) confident they have what it takes to get over the hump. But what’s behind their confidence? It all goes back to an old team concept that they’ve seemed to embrace and buy into. 

“I think we have a lot of talented guys who understand that we’re playing for something bigger than ourselves,” says Trey Townsend, a fifth-year senior transfer from Oakland and the reigning Horizon League Player of the Year. “And on top of that, we have an elite coaching staff to guide us in that direction.”

Cover portrait by Arizona Athletics. Action photos via Getty Images.

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