MILWAUKEE — Jaren Jackson had 36 points, Luke Kennard added 19 and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks 137-114 on Friday night to wrap up the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference for the second consecutive season.
Memphis entered the game with a two-game lead over Sacramento for second place in the West, but the Kings owned the tiebreaker. Denver took the No. 1 seed in the West on Wednesday night.
After trailing by one point at the half, Memphis took command with a 24-7 run to start the third. The Grizzlies led by 24 in the quarter and held the Bucks at bay throughout the remainder of the game.
Lindell Wigginton had 25 points and Jae Crowder a season-high 24 to lead Milwaukee. Wigginton had a total of eight points in limited action this season prior to Friday’s output. He also had 11 assists.
The Bucks, who clinched the NBA’s best record and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with a victory over Chicago on Wednesday, sat six players, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez.
Antetokounmpo, who also sat out Wednesday, was listed on the injury report with a sore right knee. Holiday and Lopez rested, while Middleton was held out with a right knee issue.
Grayson Allen and Pat Connaughton also sat out with ankle injuries.
The Bucks’ makeshift lineup got off to a hot start and led by nine in the first quarter before the Grizzlies pulled ahead and led 36-31 after the period.
After the Grizzlies charged to an 11-point lead in the second, the Bucks rallied to take a 72-71 lead at the half, paced by 18 points from Crowder, who made all seven of his shots from the field, including four from 3-point range. Milwaukee shot 15 of 30 from deep over the first two quarters, which allowed them to hold the lead despite Memphis shooting 65% overall in half.
TIP-INS
Grizzlies: Kennard, who came in averaging 9.1 points per game, had 11 in the first quarter. … Jackson had 22 first-half points. … Outscored the Bucks 62-34 in the paint. … Finished 16-24 on the road.
Bucks: Antetokounmpo was honored in a pregame ceremony for his accomplishments this season, including becoming the franchise leader in points, assists and games played. He was joined on the court by Middleton, former Bucks star Paul Pressey and one-time general manager John Hammond, who selected Antetokounmpo with the 15th pick in the 2013 draft.
UP NEXT
Grizzlies: At Oklahoma City on Sunday.
Bucks: At Toronto on Sunday.
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NEW ORLEANS — While Herbert Jones makes his living as the Pelicans’ top defender, he can also punish opponents who underestimate his shot.
Jones highlighted a career-high, 35-point performance with five 3-pointers, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 19-point deficit to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 138-131 in overtime Wednesday night and clinch a play-in spot.
“I show up every day and put in a ton of work on my jump shot,” said Jones, who repeatedly found himself unguarded by the Grizzlies when he received the ball near the 3-point arc. “I just kind of felt disrespected. I just stayed aggressive and the shots fell.”
Jones’ fast-break dunk capped a decisive 10-0 run to open the extra period. The surge started with a pair of 3s by Trey Murphy III, who hit seven 3s in the game and finished with 30 points.
The Pelicans combined to hit 21 3s. CJ McCollum hit six from deep and finished with 31 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans, while Brandon Ingram overcame a slow start and hit a slew of clutch shots to wind up with 24 points and 13 rebounds.
The victory guarantees the Pelicans (41-39) at least a top-nine finish in the Western Conference, good enough to get into the play-in. The question is what seeding they’ll have after their final two games. They could get into the top six — and bypass the play-in — if they win twice more and get some help in the form of losses by the Clippers or Warriors.
“It’s incredible to have the opportunity two years in a row to play in the postseason,” second-year Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “We’re continuing to build. So, for us, this a big step.”
Jaren Jackson Jr. had 40 points, nine rebounds and four blocks for Memphis, which led for most of regulation despite resting Ja Morant (left hip), Luke Kennard (right ankle) and Xavier Tillman (right ankle).
Despite those absences, Memphis surged in front by 19 late in the second quarter when Brooks hit a 10-foot turnaround fade to make it 69-50.
The Grizzlies led for most of regulation and were up 101-89 in the fourth quarter when the Pelicans stunningly turned the game on its head with a 22-6 run during which they made seven 3s — four by Murphy. That put New Orleans in front 111-107 and had the crowd roaring and out of their seats as Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins called timeout.
Ingram, who scored 10 in the last 3:39 of regulation, hit a 16-foot, pull-up jumper in the face of tight defense from Dillon Brooks to make it 123-118 with 14.3 seconds left, and Trey Murphy III made it 124-118 when he hit one of two free throws with 11 seconds to go.
Memphis then remarkably forced overtime with a 6-0 run in the last five seconds, starting with Brooks’ corner 3 as he was fouled by Jones.
Brooks missed the free throw, apparently on purpose in hopes of his team getting a rebound, but New Orleans got it and called timeout, only to turn the ball over on an offensive foul during and inbound.
New Orleans then fouled Desmond Bane on the dribble with 2.6 seconds left, and he hit one free throw before purposely missing the second. Jaren Jackson rebounded and was fouled as he tried to put the ball back up with 0.4 on the clock. Jackson hit two free throws to tie it at 124.
But the Pelicans’ resolve seemed undiminished by their collapse in the final seconds regulation.
“We just understood that we came too far in this game to just let it go to waste,” Murphy said. “It’s one of those wins that builds character. We had lot of adversity, fought back, had more adversity and fought back again.”
TIP-INS
Grizzlies: Brooks finished with 25 points, while Bane had 24. Tyus Jones had 13 points, 12 assists and four steals. … Outscored the Pelicans 70-34 in the paint and outrebounded New Orleans 49-44.
Pelicans: Had three players with 30 points in a game for the first time in franchise history. … The 19-point comeback was their largest this season. … Need one more victory in their last two games to finish with a winning regular season record for the first time since 2017-18, when they went 48-34. … Shot 50% (44 of 88), including 21 of 39 (53.8%) from 3.
UP NEXT
Grizzlies: At Milwaukee on Friday night.
Pelicans: Host New York on Friday night.
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Desmond Bane scored 30 points and keyed a fourth-quarter rally, Ja Morant added 23 points and nine assists and the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers 119-109 on Tuesday night.
Luke Kennard added 20 for Memphis, converting 6 of 10 3-pointers.
Skylar Mays, who signed a 10-day contract with Portland last weekend, led the Trail Blazers with 24 points and seven assists. Shaedon Sharpe added 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Jabari Walker finished with 16 points.
Portland held the lead with nine minutes left, but Bane connected on a trio of 3-pointers over a four-minute stretch midway through the fourth. That was part of a 22-2 Memphis run to put away the feisty Trail Blazers.
“We tied it up, and we went on a nice run,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said of the fourth quarter when Memphis outscored Portland 23-14. “Des (Bane) helped spark that.”
As it has in recent games, Portland played without key pieces, such as leading scorers Damian Lillard (32.2 points a game), Anfernee Simons (21.1 points) and Jerami Grant (20.5 points), along with top rebounder Jusuf Nurkic (9.1 boards per game).
That left a number of reserves to carry the Trail Blazers, who are out of the playoff hunt. But Portland coach Chauncey Billups praised his team for their fortitude in a hostile environment.
Justin Minaya, the 24-year-old son of former New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya, was signed to a 10-day contract and made his NBA debut. He scored eight points, had four rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes. Minaya had played 27 games for Mexico City in the NBA G League.
Memphis not only won its 50th game of the year, but finished the season 35-6 at home, clinching the best home slate in the league.
“I thought we definitely played hard,” said Walker, who was 6 of 11 from the field, including a trio of 3-pointers. “We were in it the whole game, and that speaks volumes to all the guys, how competitive we are and how much heart we have.”
The Trail Blazers chipped away at a 19-point Memphis lead in the first half when the Grizzlies became lackadaisical with the ball. That, and a much more focused Portland defense, led to Memphis holding a slim 66-62 lead at the break.
“We just went to old habits,” Morant said of the lackluster play in the game’s middle stages. “Just no energy. That was pretty much it. We weren’t taking them lightly at all. We’d seen what they’ve done the last couple of games.”
At the start of the third quarter, Portland’s intensity continued, and the Trail Blazers not only pulled even, but took the lead. They were still tied until Bane and the Grizzlies pulled away with the late burst.
“For us to be able to stay together and come back and get a win was big-time,” Morant said.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Portland was one of the few visiting teams to defeat the Grizzlies this season, winning 122-112 on Feb. 1. … Portland already had eight players listed as “out” with the early injury reports. By the time Billups got to the podium for his pregame comments, three more previously listed as questionable were not available. That left nine Trail Blazers in uniform. … Jeenathan Williams, the rookie out of Buffalo signed by Portland on Saturday, started his first game and finished with four points.
Grizzlies: F Dillon Brooks took the night off with right hip soreness. Kennard started in Brooks’ spot. … The win snapped a four-game losing streak to Portland at FedExForum.
KENNARD ACCURACY
Kennard started the game hitting all four of his 3-pointers before finishing 6 of 10 from outside the arc. He has made better than 50% of his 3-pointers since joining the Grizzlies in a trade deadline deal in February. Morant told Kennard to keep shooting when he is on that kind of streak. “Whatever shot he likes, we love,” Morant said.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Play Thursday at San Antonio against the Spurs.
Grizzlies: Play the Pelicans in New Orleans on Wednesday.
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The Cinderellas certainly had their moments in this March Madness. Morethanafew, actually.
In the end, it was a familiar face that won the NCAA Tournament.
UConn — a No. 4 seed — beat No. 5 seed San Diego State 76-59 on Monday night in Houston for its fifth title in the past 24 years. The Huskies and coach Dan Hurley cruised through the tournament in impressive fashion, winning all six games by at least 10 points.
The Aztecs of the Mountain West Conference didn’t go quietly, cutting UConn’s lead to six points late in the second half before the Huskies used one more run to put the game away. It was San Diego State’s first trip to the title game.
Before Monday night, college basketball fans enjoyed three weeks of great moments. Here are a few that stood out:
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON SHOCKER
Little-known Fairleigh Dickinson — a private, commuter school in Teaneck, New Jersey — provided an early stunner, becoming just the second No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed with its 63-58 win over Purdue.
Only in the NCAA field due to a technicality, FDU, which went 4-22 last season, won a First Four game in Dayton before the win over the Boilermakers. FDU lost the Northeast Conference tournament title game 67-66, but still received the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA bracket because champion Merrimack remains ineligible for postseason play after moving up from Division II to Division I.
PRINCETON, TOO
Smart kids made it all the way to the Sweet 16 when Ivy League champion Princeton — a No. 15 seed — won not just one, but two games in the tournament to advance to the second weekend.
The Tigers used a late-game run to earn their first NCAA Tournament win in 25 years, beating No. 2 seed Arizona 59-55 before a dominant 78-63 win over No. 7 Missouri.
TOP SEEDS BITE DUST
Purdue’s loss to Fairleigh Dickinson was just the opening salvo in a tough tournament for No. 1 seeds.
The men’s tournament did not have a No. 1 seed in the Elite Eight for the first time since seeding began in 1979.
Kansas bowed out in the second round, with Arkansas taking down the reigning national champion Jayhawks. Alabama, the bracket’s No. 1 overall seed, succumbed in the Sweet 16 to San Diego State.
Later in the Sweet 16, Miami capped the No. 1 carnage with a dominant 89-75 win over Houston.
BUTLER’S BUZZER-BEATER
San Diego State’s Lamont Butler hit a buzzer-beating jumper that will live a long time in college basketball lore, sending the Aztecs to their first national championship game with a 72-71 win over fellow mid-major Florida Atlantic in the Final Four.
The clock ticking down, Butler dribbled to the baseline, found that cut off and circled back. He stepped back to create a little room and hit a jumper that sent the Aztecs racing out onto the floor and had San Diego Padres fans going wild at Petco Park.
THAT WAS COOL
Kansas State’s Markquis Nowell broke the NCAA Tournament record for assists in a game with 19, including one late in the game that was among the most creative in postseason history.
Nowell found Keyontae Johnson for a reverse alley-oop with 52 seconds left in OT to give the Wildcats the lead for good over Michigan State in the Sweet 16. Nowell appeared to be arguing with coach Jerome Tang right before the pass, catching the Spartans flat-footed in one of the most important moments of the game.
GREAT GAMES
There were a lot of great games in this year’s tournament. Among the best: Gonzaga’s 79-76 thriller over UCLA in the Sweet 16.
Julian Strawther hit a 3-pointer with 7.2 seconds left to answer a 3-pointer by UCLA’s Amari Bailey, lifting Gonzaga to the wild win over the Bruins. The Bruins stormed back from an eight-point deficit in the final 1:05 and took a 76-75 lead on Bailey’s 3-pointer with 12.2 seconds left before Strawther’s shot.
NANTZ’S FINALE
Announcing legend Jim Nantz has called his last NCAA Tournament game.
The 63-year-old called his 354th and final tournament game on Monday night when UConn beat San Diego State for the title.
Here’s his call of Saturday’s buzzer-beating shot by SDSU’s Butler in the semifinals. Nantz estimates he’s had 20-something such last-second winners over his years in the tournament.
“It’s Butler. With 2 seconds. He’s gotta put it up. Aaand. He wins it! He wins it! With the jumper!” Then, 5 seconds of silence, followed by, “A San Diego State miracle!”
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AP National Writer Eddie Pells, AP Basketball Writers Aaron Beard and John Marshall, and AP Sports Writers Tom Withers and Tom Canavan contributed to this story.
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Houston — After six games and 240 minutes of pure dominance that ran through March, then part of April, it finally became clear there was only one thing that could stop the UConn Huskies.
The final buzzer.
The team from Storrs, Connecticut, topped off one of the most impressive March Madness runs in history Monday night, clamping down early then breaking things open late to bring home its fifth national title with a 76-59 victory over San Diego State.
“We knew we were the best team in the tournament going in, and we just had to play to our level,” said Dan Hurley, who joined Jim Calhoun and Kevin Ollie as the third coach to lead UConn to a title.
CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, a college basketball expert, didn’t hold back in praising the Huskies, saying, “You have to talk about them as one of the most dominant teams that we have seen in the last couple of decades.”
“You have to talk about them as one of the most dominant teams that we have seen in the last couple of decades.”@JonRothstein was blown away by the Huskies performance in this Tournament. pic.twitter.com/1ibomVdQIW
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) April 4, 2023
UConn’s lanky star forward, Adama Sanogo, won Most Outstanding Player honors, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the final. Tristen Newton also had a double-double with 19 points and 10 boards.
The Huskies (31-8) became the fifth team since the bracket expanded in 1985 to win all six NCAA Tournament games by double-digits on the way to a championship. They won those six games by an average of an even 20 points, only a fraction less than what North Carolina did in sweeping to the title in 2009.
Head coach Dan Hurley of the University of Connecticut Huskies celebrates with his team after they defeated the San Diego State Aztecs 76-59 in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament National Championship game at NRG Stadium on April 03, 2023 in Houston.
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UConn built a 16-point lead late in the first half, only to see the Aztecs (32-7) trim it to five with 5:19 left. But Jordan Hawkins (16 points), – whose cousin, Angel Reese, won MOP honors the night before to help LSU take the women’s title – answered with a 3 to trigger a 9-0 run.
“It’s absolutely amazing that we both get this opportunity,” Hawkins said. “The family reunion is going to be crazy.”
Keshad Johnson scored 14 points for San Diego State, which came up one win shy in this, its first trip to the Final Four. Darrion Trammell and Lamont Butler, he of buzzer-beater fame in the semifinal against Florida Atlantic, had 13 apiece.
San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher was an assistant with Michigan back in the Fab Five days when the Wolverines lost in the final two years in a row. One of the Fab Five, current Wolverines coach Juwan Howard, was there to console his former coach.
“We had to be at our best. We weren’t at our best,” Dutcher said. “A lot had to do with UConn.”
UConn, the favorite and best-seeded team at No. 4 for this Final Four full of underdogs, set the stage for this win over an 11:07 stretch in the first half during which the Aztecs didn’t make a basket. Unable to shoot over or go around this tall, long UConn team, they missed 14 straight shots from the floor.
They went from leading by four to trailing by 11 and when they weren’t getting shots blocked (Alex Karaban had three and Sanogo had one) or altered on the inside, they were coming up short – a telltale sign of a team that was out of hops after that 72-71 buzzer-beater win two nights earlier.
UConn fan Bill Murray, whose son is an assistant for the Huskies, was one of the few celebrities on hand to watch them make it five for five in title games. This one marked the last that Jim Nantz would call after 37 years behind the mic.
“The one thing I learned through all of this is, everybody has a dream and everybody has a story to tell. Just try to find that story. Be kind,” Nantz said as part of his final sign-off from the Final Four.
“Thank you for being my friend”
Jim Nantz with some amazing words as he wraps up his final National Title Game ❤️ pic.twitter.com/NtxPkxzcAp
He’s had a lot of UConn stories to tell over the years, though this certainly wasn’t the most dramatic.
Even with that brief bout of uncertainty midway through the second half, UConn never truly let the fifth-seeded Aztecs, who overcame a 14-point deficit in the semifinal, start thinking about any more last-second dramatics.
This was a team built strictly for 2023 – replenished by Hurley, who went to the transfer portal to find more outside shooting after back-to-back first-round exits in the tournament. Despite the rebuild, UConn was in the “others receiving votes” category in Week 1 of the AP poll.
“We weren’t ranked going into the year, so we had the chip on our shoulder,” Hurley said. “We knew the level that we could play at, even through those dark times.”
Despite the new-age roster building, there was something decidedly old-school about the way the Huskies took care of business in the early going.
They didn’t even think much about 3-point shooting at the start – didn’t make one until more than 13 minutes into the game – instead skip passing into Sanogo on the post and wearing down SDSU while building the early lead two points at a time.
The Aztecs were too good a team to cave, and an over-pursuing defense is what triggered the late run to within five. But a team built on defense finished the game only shooting 32% from the floor.
“We cut it to five. I think there were people in the stands that thought, ‘Hey, they’re capable of doing it again,’ and we were,” Dutcher said. “But we ran into too good of a team.”
And Sanogo – make that Adama – adds himself to others on a first-name basis up on that campus – UConn legends like Kemba (Walker), Rip (Hamilton) and Emeka (Okafor). Sanogo averaged 19.7 points and 9.8 rebounds over UConn’s six-game cruise through the tournament.
Once the confetti stopped falling, Sanogo recalled a preseason visit the team received from Okafor.
“After he watched our practice, he was like, ‘I see that I can count on you guys, you guys are a special team,’” Sanogo said.
After UConn put on a March Madness clinic, everyone else can see that now, too.
The University of Connecticut won its fifth men’s basketball national title with a 76-59 victory over San Diego State University on Monday night at NRG Stadium in Houston.
Senior guard Tristen Newton led UConn (31-8) with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Final Four Most Outstanding Player Adama Sanogo, a junior forward, chipped in with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
“We weren’t ranked going into the year so we had the chip on our shoulder,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley told game broadcaster CBS. “We knew the level that we could play at, even through those dark times,”he added, referencing the team’s six losses in eight games during the regular season.
He said going into the tournament his group had confidence garnered during the season.
“And when you have the type of leaders like Andre Jackson (game-high six assists Monday) and Adama Sanogo, they kept this team together, got us back on track and we knew we were the best team in the tournament going in and we just had to play to our level,” he added.
San Diego State (32-7) was topped by Keshad Johnson who had 14 points.
UConn trailed very early but San Diego State was undone by an 11-minute, eight-second stretch in which they scored just five free throws and missed 12 consecutive shots from the field. The Huskies went from down 10-6 to up 36-24 at halftime.
The Aztecs made a run midway through the second half and narrowed the deficit to five at 60-55 with 5:19 to play but the Huskies scored the next nine to take a comfortable lead into the final two minutes.
“We battled. Battled back to five in the second half, but gave them too much separation,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. “We had to be at our best. We weren’t at our best. A lot had to do with UConn.”
Senior guard Adam Seiko told reporters they gave themselves a chance with their second half comeback but UConn “just made a little bit more plays” at the end.
“They have a lot of weapons. They were pretty good,” said Matt Bradley, also a senior guard. “To beat them, we had to make shots. I shot poorly. And you had to have a really good game to beat those dudes on the offensive end.”
UConn won each of its six tournament games by at least 10 points, with its closest game being a 13-point win over the University of Miami in the national semifinals.
“I just want to thank my teammates, my coaches who believed in me. If it were not for them I would not be here right now,” Sanogo told CBS.
Jordan Hawkins, who scored 16 points for UConn, talked about winning the crown one day after his cousin, Angel Reese of Louisiana State University, won the women’s title.
“I mean it’s absolutely amazing that we both get this opportunity and I mean the family reunion is going to be great so that’s all I know,” he said.
UConn enters rarefied air as only the sixth team to win five NCAA men’s basketball championships, joining UCLA (11), Kentucky (eight), North Carolina (six), Duke (five) and Indiana (five). All of UConn’s titles have come since 1999 with the most recent before Monday occurring in 2014.
UConn’s women’s teams have won 11 basketball national titles.
HOUSTON — Adama Sanogo stood on the sideline watching his UConn teammates dribble out the final seconds that secured the program’s fifth NCAA championship. He looked eager, ready to sprint in at the first chance.
When the horn sounded, reserve Andrew Hurley used both hands to spike the basketball near midcourt and start the celebration — only to see Sanogo run straight in and secure it.
“I need that ball. That’s a ball I want to save for my kids, my grandkids,” Sanogo said. “I need that ball.”
It was fitting for the first souvenir to go to the big man who had been the rugged interior presence all season for the Huskies.
Sanogo finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds in Monday night’s 76-59 win against San Diego State in the national title game. The 6-foot-9, 245-pound big man from Mali was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four after tallying his fourth double-double in six tournament games, making him the centerpiece of the Huskies’ dominant run to title No. 5 — just as he had been all season, really.
After coming into the game averaging team-highs of 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds, he was efficient, going 5 for 9 from the field and 7 for 8 from the foul line. He was active, with five of his rebounds coming on the offensive glass. And it all came from a player who has spent recent weeks managing a strict fast from dawn until sunset to observe Ramadan as a Muslim.
His biggest offensive rebound came after UConn’s once-comfortable lead had shrunk, the pressure rising. Tristen Newton drove into the paint and launched a floater that bounced off the back of the rim, only for Sanogo to jostle a San Diego State rebounder for position and bat the ball with his right hand off the backboard and straight through the net for a 58-50 lead with 7:12 left.
It was part of a night when the Huskies squandered most of a 16-point first-half lead, but kept coming up with key plays — a stop here, a basket there — after the Aztecs kept repeatedly pushing back and ultimately getting as close as five with 5 1/2 minutes left.
Ultimately, UConn reestablished its comfortable margin down the stretch, allowing coach Dan Hurley to sub out his top-of-lineup guys to enjoy the finish from the bench. That included Sanogo checking out with 30.2 seconds left and walking straight to Hurley, who was already locked in a hug with Alex Karaban.
It didn’t matter. The big man wrapped his arms around both Hurley and Karaban to turn it into a group hug to share the moment.
Well, except for making sure to snatch that ball once the horn sounded.
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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at https://twitter.com/aaronbeardap
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HOUSTON—Capping off a wild tournament defined by surprising underdog victories, the NCAA awarded the national championship title Monday to Duke University in the final upset of March Madness. “After 40 minutes of riveting basketball between San Diego State and the University of Connecticut in a tourney where it often seemed like anyone’s game, it is my privilege to award the championship trophy to head coach Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils,” NCAA president Charlie Baker said as Duke players and fans stormed the court to celebrate while the defeated Aztecs and Huskies squads headed back to their locker rooms in disappointment. “We’ve had a March Madness for the ages, marked by traditional powerhouse schools losing shocking upsets to schools few people have heard of. But it should surprise no one that the balance of power has been restored, and Duke just picked up its sixth national championship. Let the history books show that the Blue Devils won a thrilling, hard-fought game over Kentucky after beating Kansas in the Final Four round, with lesser-known teams like San Diego State, Florida Atlantic University, and Creighton serving as fun little footnotes.” Following the game, the NCAA unveiled restrictions that would prevent all but the 10 most popular teams nationally from recruiting new players for next season.
Kim Mulkey returned home to Louisiana wanting to bring LSU its first basketball championship. The Hall of Fame coach did just that in only her second year at the school.
Her Tigers used a record offensive performance to beat Caitlin Clark and Iowa 102-85 on Sunday and win the first basketball title, men’s or women’s, in school history.
“I turn around and look at the Final Four banners (in the home arena), nowhere did it say national champion,” Mulkey said. “That’s what I came home to do.”
The victory made Mulkey the first women’s coach to win national titles at two different schools. She won three at Baylor before leaving for LSU two years ago.
“Coaches coach a lifetime and this is the fourth time I’ve been blessed,” Mulkey said. “Never in the history of LSU basketball, men or women, has (anybody) ever played for a championship.”
The feisty and flamboyantly dressed Mulkey, who wore a sparkly, golden, tiger-striped outfit, now has the third-most national titles behind Geno Auriemma’s 11 and Pat Summitt’s eight. Mulkey has never lost in a championship game.
“My tears are tears of joy,” she said. “I’m so happy for everybody back home in Louisiana.”
Head coach Kim Mulkey of the LSU Lady Tigers holds the championship trophy after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 during the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game at American Airlines Center on April 02, 2023 in Dallas, Texas.
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Clark, The Associated Press national player of the year, couldn’t lead the Hawkeyes to their first national title despite one of the greatest individual performances in NCAA Tournament history. The junior finished with 30 points. She scored 40 in the semifinals to knock out unbeaten South Carolina one game after she had the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA history in the Elite Eight.
The dazzling guard set the NCAA record for points in a tournament, passing the 177 that Sheryl Swoopes scored in 1993 en route to leading Texas Tech to the title. Clark ended her tournament with 191.
The 102 points broke the previous high for a championship game, surpassing the 97 that Texas scored against Southern California in 1986.
“So much for preaching defense and rebounding,” Mulkey said, laughing.
Taking in the game was first lady Jill Biden, who sat in a suite above the court with tennis great Billie Jean King.
Mulkey said she hadn’t met the first lady yet but told the AP that if the team was invited to the White House, she’d go.
Jasmine Carson scored 22 points, Alexis Morris added 21 and Angel Reese had 15 points and 10 rebounds for LSU (34-2).
Jasmine Carson #2 and Angel Reese #10 of the Louisiana State Tigers celebrate a three-point goal against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament National Championship at American Airlines Center on April 2, 2023 in Dallas, Texas.
Ben Solomon/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
“It’s no one-man show around here. When I go down, the next man is up,” said Reese, who was honored as the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. “Every single time, every time I go out or Alexis goes out, everybody always comes to step up.”
Trailing by 21 points early in the third quarter, Iowa started hitting from the outside to go on a 15-2 run, hitting four 3-pointers and converting a 3-point play to get within 65-57.
The Hawkeyes (31-7) trailed 73-64 with 1:03 left in the third quarter when Clark was called for a technical foul. She swatted the ball away on the floor after a foul call against a teammate. That counted as a personal foul for her, her fourth of the game.
“I thought they called it very, very tight,” Clark said. “Hit with a technical foul for throwing the ball under the basket — sometimes that’s how things go.”
Clark played the entire fourth quarter with four fouls but couldn’t get the Hawkeyes much closer.
“They really played well, they were ready to go. They did a great job. I’m just so proud of my team,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “This is brutal, it’s really tough to walk out of that locker room today and not be able to coach Monika (Czinano) and McKenna (Warnock) again. I’m very thankful for the season we had and don’t want to take anything away from that.”
After Katari Poole hit a 3-pointer in front of the LSU bench, Mulkey started weeping.
“With about 1:30 to go, I couldn’t hold it. I got very emotional,” Mulkey said. “That’s not like me, but I knew we would hold on and win this game. I don’t what it was, but I lost it. Very emotional and tears of joy. Don’t know if it’s the mere fact that we’re doing it in my second year back home or that I am back home.”
A few seconds later after another LSU basket, Reese taunted Clark by putting her hand in front of her face with a “you can’t see me” gesture and then pointed to her ring finger.
As the final seconds ticked off, Mulkey and Reese hugged, setting off a wild celebration by the Tigers.
The game was tight for the first 15 minutes before Carson got hot from the outside. She made all six of her shots in the second quarter, including four 3-pointers. After one of them, she threw her hands in the air, which Mulkey mimicked on the sidelines.
For good measure, the graduate student banked in a shot just before the halftime buzzer to give the Tigers a 59-42 lead at the break. It was the most points ever in the first half of a championship game, breaking the record held by Tennessee since 1998.
LSU shot 58% from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including going nine for 12 from behind the arc. The Tigers finished the game shooting 54% from the field, including making 11 of 17 3-pointers.
Clark had 16 points and five assists before picking up her third foul with 3:56 to go in the half, which didn’t go over well with the sellout crowd of more than 19,000 fans.
Before Sunday, Carson had gone scoreless in five of her seven postseason games in her career. She had 11 points in this NCAA Tournament before the finale.
“I would definitely say this is the game of my life because I won a national championship on the biggest stage possible in college,” Carson said. “When I woke up I just wanted to win — do anything my team needed in this game, whether it was defense, rebounding, supporting them. I scored tonight and that’s what pushed us and got us momentum.”
Fourth seed UConn advanced to the NCAA men’s basketball championship game following a 72-59 win over No. 5 Miami in the Final Four on Saturday.
It will be the first NCAA national championship game for the UConn Huskies since 2014.
The Huskies got off to a quick start Saturday, going up 9-0 within the first five minutes of the game. The Miami Hurricanes tried to come crawling back into the game but ultimately the shots did not fall for the team. Up 10 points, UConn forward Alex Karaban knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Huskies a 37-24 lead heading into the half.
UConn’s strong start continued in the second half, extending the lead to 20 points before the Hurricanes’ shots started to fall. Miami cut the lead down to 10 points again before the Huskies regained momentum.
Huskies star center Adama Sanogo, who has been observing Ramadan and said earlier he would be eating oranges and coconut water before tip-off, was his dominant self. He finished with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Jordan Hawkins, who was questionable to play with a non-Covid illness, added 13 points.
UConn head coach Dan Hurley gave all the credit to his coaching staff and players for the team’s success.
“I’m just happy I was able to attract the right type of people to put me in this position,” Hurley told the CBS broadcast. “The coaching staff, these amazing players and I appreciate obviously the University of Connecticut. They took a chance on a guy that was a high school coach not too long ago. What a blessing and incredibly grateful. … We’ve been striving for five for a while.”
Earlier Saturday, No. 5 San Diego State stunned No. 9 Florida Atlantic at the last second to win 72-71 and advance to its first NCAA title game. Trailing 71-70 with less than two seconds left in the game, Aztecs guard Lamont Butler hit a pull-up jumper at the buzzer to propel the school to the national championship game.
The Huskies now look to win the program’s fifth national championship when they face off with San Diego State on Monday evening at NRG Stadium in Houston.
Lamont Butler hit a jump shot at the buzzer, sending San Diego State to its first national championship game with a 72-71 win over fellow mid-major Florida Atlantic in the Final Four on Saturday night.
The Aztecs (32-6) appeared to be in trouble as the free-flowing Owls (35-4) picked them apart while building a 14-point second-half lead.
San Diego State got back in it, as it always does, with defense.
The Aztecs shut down FAU and pulled within one when Jaedon LeDee hit a short jumper with 36 seconds left. After FAU’s Johnell Davis missed a contested layup, the Aztecs didn’t call timeout and got the ball to Butler.
The clock ticking down, Butler dribbled to the baseline, found that cut off and circled back. He stepped back to create a little room and hit a jumper that sent the Aztecs racing out onto the floor — and into Monday’s championship game against UConn or Miami.
“The plan was just to get downhill,” Butler said after the game. “They cut me off a little bit. I looked up and there was two seconds left, so I got to a shot that I’m comfortable with, and I hit it. I’m happy.”
The Aztecs had one timeout left when they got the ball on that final possession, but head coach Brian Dutcher said he had “ran out of plays, so I decided not to take a timeout.”
San Diego State’s 14-point second-half comeback was the third-largest in Final Four history, according to CBS Sports.
Lamont Butler, No. 5, of the San Diego State Aztecs celebrates with teammates after winning the game against the Florida Atlantic Owls during the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four at NRG Stadium on April 1, 2023, in Houston, Texas.
Tyler Schank/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
San Diego State’s defense has played a key role in its run to the final. It clamped down on four straight opponents to open the NCAA Tournament.
The Aztecs had no answer for the swaggy Owls in the first half, allowing them to hit 5 of 11 from 3-point range to build a 40-33 halftime lead.
FAU stretched the lead to 14 midway through the second half.
Then the Aztecs got gritty.
Contesting nearly every shot and pass while pulling down a string of offensive rebounds, San Diego State rallied into a tie at 65. Matt Bradley led the offense in the second half and finished with 21 points after struggling with his shot in the previous three games.
Alijah Martin kept FAU in it, scoring 19 of his 26 points in the second half, seeming to have an answer for every Aztecs move.
The National Basketball Association will no longer test or penalize its players for marijuana use under its new and pending seven-year collective bargaining agreement, according to news reports.
The tentative deal was reached between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) on Saturday for the 2023-24 season, according to a statement released by NBPA.
“Specific details will be made available once a term sheet is finalized,” the NBPA said in the statement.
If the contract is ratified by the players and team governors, marijuana would be removed from the NBA’s drug testing program, effectively continuing its suspension on marijuana testing for this season.
“Since day one, the goal of the NBPA in this negotiation was to protect our players, enrich their lives on and off the court, and establish a framework that recognizes our players as true partners with the governors in both the NBA and the business world at large!” NBPA executive director Tamika Tremaglio said in a tweet in response to the pending agreement.
According to Fox Sports, drug testing is a part of the collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the NBA…
The National Basketball Association will no longer test or penalize its players for marijuana use under its new and pending seven-year collective bargaining agreement, according to news reports.
The tentative deal was reached between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) on Saturday for the 2023-24 season, according to a statement released by NBPA.
“Specific details will be made available once a term sheet is finalized,” the NBPA said in the statement.
If the contract is ratified by the players and team governors, marijuana would be removed from the NBA’s drug testing program, effectively continuing its suspension on marijuana testing for this season.
“Since day one, the goal of the NBPA in this negotiation was to protect our players, enrich their lives on and off the court, and establish a framework that recognizes our players as true partners with the governors in both the NBA and the business world at large!” NBPA executive director Tamika Tremaglio said in a tweet in response to the pending agreement.
Since day one, the goal of the NBPA in this negotiation was to protect our players, enrich their lives on and off the court, and establish a framework that recognizes our players as true partners with the governors in both the NBA and the business world at large! https://t.co/cZsXJgHw9R
According to Fox Sports, drug testing is a part of the collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the NBA and NBPA. Through the drug testing program, players are each subjected to no more than four random drug tests throughout the season and two random tests during the off-season. Marijuana is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Prohibited List for all sports.
The NBA stopped randomly testing players for marijuana at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The suspension was extended for the 2021-22 season, and a spokesperson said the NBA would be shifting its focus to randomly testing for “performance-enhancing products and drugs of abuse.”
Athletes’ use of cannabis is widely controversial in the sports industry. Some argue that cannabis improves athletic performance, while others point to the pain-relief and other medical benefits of cannabis and note that it does not operate similarly to performance enhancing drugs.
Former NBA player Al Harrington told GQ that 85% of NBA players smoke or “use some type of cannabis.” In recent years, several athletes in the NBA and in other leagues have opened up about their use of marijuana and even openly expressed support for the legalization of marijuana.
Meanwhile, other sports leagues, including the National Football League and the Ultimate Fighting Championship, have eased up on restrictions to marijuana use and testing protocols.
MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Davis scored 17 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter and had 17 rebounds to lift the Los Angeles Lakers past Minnesota 123-111 to leapfrog the Timberwolves on Friday night in the crowded Western Conference playoff race.
LeBron James added 18 points and 10 rebounds and D’Angelo Russell had 12 points and 10 assists against his former team as the Lakers (39-38) won for the fifth time in six games to move into seventh place. They’re even with New Orleans, owning the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Pelicans.
Mike Conley had 25 points on 7-for-11 shooting with seven assists before fouling out, and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 points for the Timberwolves (39-39), who tumbled into ninth place. They entered the evening one game behind Golden State and the cut to avoid the play-in tournament, with the Warriors tipping off later at home against San Antonio.
Davis scored 12 straight points for the Lakers over a 3:52 span late in the fourth quarter to seal the steely comeback from a deficit that hit 13 points shortly after halftime. He made five baskets in a row with Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert on the bench.
The Lakers took charge earlier with a 24-2 spurt over a 6:49 stretch of the third quarter with their defense on lockdown mode. Conley’s turn to rest on the bench during that run was ill-timed. Davis rolled his left ankle around the start of the Lakers surge, a breath-holding sequence that only seemed to energize the visitors.
The Wolves, whose bench was shortened without center Naz Reid and his broken wrist, went 2 for 14 from 3-point range in the third quarter and were outscored 35-18 in a discouraging stretch for a fired-up crowd that included local sports superstars Justin Jefferson and Kirill Kaprizov in floor seats.
James has been rebuilding his stamina from the month-long absence to a torn tendon in his right foot, and the second time with this new starting lineup around him of Davis, Russell, Austin Reaves and Jarred Vanderbilt produced a second win to start this five-game road trip. The Lakers improved to 9-4 since losing at home to the Wolves on March 3. Davis had 38 points Wednesday in the win at Chicago.
HELLO, D-LO
Russell, who was sent to his original team in Los Angeles in a three-team trade with Utah on Feb. 8, was welcomed back to Target Center with a brief tribute video before the player intros. Russell played 173 games for the Timberwolves, the most among the four teams he’s been with.
“If you’re not here or you haven’t lived here or anything like that, then you’re not aware of how good of a city it is and a sports town, how committed fans are,” he told reporters at the morning shootaround.
WHISTLE STOP
Gobert ($25,000) and coach Chris Finch ($15,000) were fined by the NBA earlier in the day for criticizing the officiating Wednesday after their loss at Phoenix when the Suns had 27 free-throw attempts and the Wolves had 12. This time, they went to the line 19 times — making 16 — and the Lakers had 30 tries.
TIP-INS
Lakers: Vanderbilt had 12 points. … Another former Wolves player, Malik Beasley, had three first-quarter 3-pointers.
Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards had 11 points on just 4-for-16 shooting. … Gobert had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
UP NEXT
Lakers: At Houston on Sunday night.
Timberwolves: Host Portland on Sunday.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
University of Alabama men’s basketball star Brandon Miller has declared for the 2023 NBA Draft, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The 20-year-old freshman forward Miller is considered one of the top prospects in this year’s draft class. Miller averaged 18.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in 37 games played.
Miller said he thanks “God, my family, my fans and all the coaches at the University of Alabama,” in a statement to ESPN.
Miller helped lead the Crimson Tide to a 31-6 record and the top overall seed in the men’s NCAA tournament. Miller, playing through an injury, struggled in the tournament and Alabama would go on to lose in the Sweet 16 to San Diego State.
CNN has reached out to the Alabama athletic department for comment but did not immediately hear back.
The embattled star did not miss a game for the Crimson Tide this season, despite a fatal shooting near campus which the school said he is a “cooperative witness” in.
A law enforcement officer testified that another man had texted Miller to bring the man’s gun to the scene, where Jamea Jonae Harris was shot dead in January, according to CNN affiliate WBMA.
Two men have been charged with murder.
Miller has not been charged with any crime.
The Alabama athletic department said in February that Miller is “not considered a suspect … only a cooperative witness” in the murder case.
The 2023 NBA Draft is scheduled for June 22 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
MILWAUKEE — Jayson Tatum scored 40 points, Jaylen Brown added 30 and the Boston Celtics steamrolled the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks 140-99 on Thursday night.
The Celtics (53-24) shot 22 of 43 from 3-point range and moved within two games of the Bucks (55-22) in the Eastern Conference standings. The Celtics won the season series with the Bucks 2-1, which would give Boston the tiebreaker if both teams finish with the same record.
Boston’s performance in those three games with Milwaukee should give the Celtics plenty of confidence they could knock out the Bucks again if they meet in the postseason. The Celtics beat the Bucks in seven games in last season’s East semifinals.
The Celtics beat the Bucks 139-118 in Boston on Christmas Day and lost 131-125 in overtime on Feb. 14. The Celtics didn’t play Brown, Tatum, Marcus Smart or Al Horford in that overtime loss.
Milwaukee took a hit on the floor as well as in the standings. Bucks forward Khris Middleton left the game midway through the third quarter after taking an elbow to the face from Brown. The play resulted in a charging foul on Brown and caused Middleton to receive stitches on his upper lip.
Boston built a 114-74 lead through three periods, causing most of the starters for both teams to sit out the entire fourth quarter.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 24 points.
This matched the Bucks’ most lopsided loss of the season. They fell 142-101 at Memphis on Dec. 15.
The Bucks were playing one night after a 149-136 victory at Indiana in which they shot a season-high 62.4% from the floor with Jrue Holiday scoring 51 points and Antetokounmpo having 38 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists. This marked the first time an NBA team had one player score at least 50 points and another have a triple-double with at least 35 points in the same game.
Milwaukee found the going quite a bit tougher Thursday.
Antetokounmpo shot just 11 of 27, including 0 for 5 from 3-point range. Holiday started his night by sinking a 3-pointer, but went 1 of 7 the rest of the way and finished with just six points.
After the first 8½ minutes of the game featured nine lead changes and five ties, the Celtics seized control by going on a 29-9 over the last seven-plus minutes. Boston capped that spurt by scoring 13 straight points.
Boston didn’t let up the rest of the night.
Milwaukee’s Thanasis Antetokounmpo was ejected with 1:25 left for head-butting Boston’s Blake Griffin. The head-butting came after Griffin committed a flagrant-1 foul against Antetokounmpo.
TIP-INS
Celtics: Boston outscored Milwaukee 41-21 in the second period and matched its highest second-quarter point total of the season. … Payton Pritchard didn’t play due to left heel pain.
Bucks: Middleton and Joe Ingles returned to action after sitting out the Bucks’ victory at Indiana. Since Middleton and Ingles both returned from knee injuries earlier this season, the Bucks generally have avoided playing them on back-to-back nights. … Meyers Leonard missed a seventh straight game with a sore left calf.
UP NEXT
Celtics: Hosts the Utah Jazz on Friday. In their lone previous matchup this season, the Celtics lost 118-117 at Utah on March 18.
Bucks: Hosts the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. The Bucks are 1-2 against the 76ers this season, including a 133-130 home loss on March 4 that snapped Milwaukee’s 16-game winning streak. ___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jrue Holiday scored a career-high 51 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 38 points in a triple-double and the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks beat the Indiana Pacers 149-136 on Wednesday night.
“Obviously, I’m happy about it,” Holiday said. “It took me 14 years to get 50 points. It came in a game that we needed to win, so I couldn’t be happier.”
Antetokounmpo added 17 rebounds and 12 assists to help the Bucks improve to 55-21. The two-time NBA MVP was an assist shy of a triple-double at halftime with 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. He returned after sitting out Monday night in a victory at Detroit because of a sore knee.
“It’s hard to come up with the superlatives to describe them,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said of his top scorers. “They were phenomenal. Giannis set the tone with his aggressive attacking. Then Jrue for the whole game to have 51, that’s hard to do in an NBA game.”
Holiday had 18 points in the third quarter, when the Bucks scored a season-high 46 points to build a 12-point lead. He was 20 of 30 from the field with three 3-pointers and hit 8 of 10 free throws. His previous best was 40 points in an overtime victory over visiting Boston on Feb. 14.
“Together with Giannis with 38, those two guys were special, they put us on their backs,” Budenholzer said.
The 6-foot-5 Holiday scored 30 points in the paint.
“I felt like Giannis,” Holiday said with a smile. “No dunks though.”
Brook Lopez added 21 points for the Bucks.
Rookie Bennedict Mathurin led Indiana — playing without its top three scorers — with 29 points. Aaron Nesmith had 22 and Jordan Nwora 18. Jalen Smith fouled out early in the fourth with 17. Rookie Andrew Nembhard had 15 points and 15 rebounds.
“It starts with Giannis, one of the best players in the world,” said Nwora, acquired from the Bucks on Feb. 9. “It’s always tough playing a guy like him who is so different. You have to really lock into him. Then other guys get going, Jrue comes in and gets 51. It’s tough to beat them on a night like that.”
TIP-INS
Bucks: Forward Khris Middleton (knee) was inactive. He’s averaging 15.5 points. … Averaged 136.2 points in winning season series 3-1.
Pacers: Five inactives included All-Star point guard and leading scorer Tyrese Haliburton (ankle/elbow), center and second-leading scorer Myles Turner (back), and guard Buddy Hield (illness), the NBA’s 3-point leader.
SAN ANTONIO — Talen Horton-Tucker scored a career-high 41 points and the Utah Jazz defeated the Spurs 128-117 on Wednesday night in what could have been coach Gregg Popovich’s final home game in San Antonio.
Utah snapped a four-game skid to keep its fading playoff hopes alive in its first season under Will Hardy, who served five seasons under Popovich as an assistant coach.
“I’m probably not the right person to ask and, at this point, I’m not sure he’s the right person to ask either,” Hardy said about Popovich’s possible retirement.
Popovich has given no indication that he is retiring or even that he will return for his 28th season. The annual speculation has intensified, though, especially since the 74-year-old coach allowed his expected induction this summer into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame after years of refusing to even be nominated.
The Spurs have two home games remaining, but those will be played 73 miles away in Austin’s new Moody Center.
“It’s something that is real, but I try not to think about it too much,” Spurs point guard Tre Jones said. “I feel like he has time left, for sure, coaching. I don’t see him stopping anytime soon, but honestly, nobody really knows. Obviously, I hope he will be back coaching us next year.”
Popovich has overseen a young roster that has struggled with injuries, consistency, and defense — and that continued against Utah.
San Antonio (19-57) lost its fifth straight in its worst season since 1997, the year it drafted Tim Duncan with the No. 1 overall pick.
Rookie Malaki Branham led San Antonio with 21 points. Jones, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Devonte’ Graham each added 17.
The Jazz were without Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson and Rudy Gay, while the Spurs were without starters Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan and Devin Vassell.
“It’s pretty much been like that all year, so we’re kind of used to it,” Popovich said. “As long as they’re giving effort, they’re all learning. They’re making mistakes, but overall, that’s what we’re trying to do. No matter who’s out, no matter who’s not playing, other guys are happy to get minutes.
“So, trying to get to learn how to play is what this is all about.”
Horton-Tucker responded by shooting 15 for 25 from the field, including 6 for 11 on 3-pointers.
“Just trying to get out in transition and get easy buckets,” Horton-Tucker said. “Usually when we have Lauri or JC (Clarkson) playing, (I’m) hitting them early in transition, getting them baskets. But, also for me, getting downhill early in the clock is something I feel is hard to guard for certain teams.”
Kris Dunn added 17 points and Udoka Azubuike had 12 points, both off the bench for the Jazz.
Utah remains in 12th place in the Western Conference, a half-game behind Dallas for 11th and 1 1/2 games behind Oklahoma City for the final berth in the play-in tournament.
TIP-INS
Jazz: Former Spurs first-round pick Luka Samanic had nine points and nine rebounds in his first NBA game since May 12, 2021. Utah recently signed Samanic to a 10-day contract.
Spurs: Veterans Doug McDermott and Gorgui Dieng were both active but did not play as Popovich opted to give his younger players extended minutes.
MIC DROP
While Johnson and Sochan did not play, the team’s starting forwards addressed the crowd before the game during the Spurs’ Fan Appreciation Night.
After thanking Spurs fans for their support, Sochan said: “And any Utah fans here, you’re about to lose tonight. Go Spurs, go!”
The Spurs joked about Sochan’s bold words after the game.
“I don’t think we should ever do that again,” Jones said, laughing. “When he mentioned the other team, I was like ‘Oh, God. Where is this going?’”
UP NEXT
Jazz: At Boston on Friday.
Spurs: At Golden State on Friday.
—
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
A person with knowledge of the deal says Texas has reached an agreement with Rodney Terry to be the Longhorns’ full-time head basketball coach
ByJIM VERTUNO AP Sports Writer
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas has reached an agreement with Rodney Terry to be the Longhorns’ full-time head basketball coach, taking the interim tag off his title after he led the program to the Elite Eight following the midseason firing of Chris Beard, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.
Texas was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by Miami on Sunday, ending its longest postseason run since 2008. Terry and Texas officials reached the agreement Monday, according to a person with knowledge of the deal who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available.
Terry took over the Longhorns as acting head coach when Beard was first suspended on Dec. 12 after a felony domestic violence arrest. Terry was giving the title of interim head coach when Beard was fired Jan. 5.
Texas won the Big 12 Tournament championship and questions about Terry’s future with the program were amplified as the Longhorns kept winning in the postseason. Texas fans wondered what more he needed to prove and Longhorns players publicly advocated for him to get the job.
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte had praised Terry’s job handling the team in crisis and gave him a raise, though only through April. He’d also noted Terry inherited a veteran roster and strong staff of assistants built by Beard.
___
AP March Madness coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Sixty nights a year, basketball legend Charles Barkley is the go-to guy on TNT’s Inside the NBA. He shares with Jon Wertheim how he transitioned from playing on the court to analyzing the game.
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