Bell scores 20 and Cal bests Stanford 72-66 for regular-season sweep
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Chris Bell poured in 20 points to lead Cal past Stanford 72-66 on Saturday.
Bell was 5-of-11 shooting and 7 of 7 at the free-throw line to go with seven rebounds and two steals for the Golden Bears (19-8, 7-7 Atlantic Coast Conference). John Camden notched 18 points and eight rebounds, while Dai Dai Ames had 17 points and seven rebounds.
The win makes it a regular-season sweep for the first time since 2009-10 for the Golden Bears, who are coached by Stanford alum Mark Madsen. Before this season, the Golden Bears had lost five in a row to Stanford.
Ebuka Okorie continued a stellar freshman season for the Cardinal (16-11, 5-9), scoring 17 points and tallying 13 rebounds for the first double-double, and double-digit rebounding performance of his career. He'd never secured more than seven rebounds in a game prior to Saturday. Okorie entered the game averaging 22.5 points per game, the sixth-best average in the country.
Stanford's Aidan Cammann scored 19 points, along with six rebounds and two blocks, but was 11 of 19 at the free-throw line. Benny Gealer scored 15 points, and AJ Rohosy had 10 to go with six rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
The Cardinal mounted a 7-0 run inside the final 1:14, using a turnover from Justin Pippen and a foul from Ames to set up three free throws for Gealer. A turnover from Ames set up a layup for Cammann to make it 71-66 with 29 seconds to go.
A free throw from Camden with 24 seconds and missed 3-pointers from Gealer and Okorie sealed the result.
Cal built a 39-25 halftime lead after a 12-1 run with five points from Bell.
Up next
Stanford will host Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
Cal will host SMU on Wednesday.
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Cavaliers acquire 6-foot-3 former Pacers star, two-time All-Star via G-League trade
Cavaliers acquire 6-foot-3 former Pacers star, two-time All-Star via G-League trade originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t the only ones to make a splash this season via a trade (they shipped Darius Garland to the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden).
The Cavaliers’ G-League affiliate, the Canton Charge, recently acquired a 6-foot-3 former Indiana Pacers guard and two-time All-Star via a G-League trade.
According to the G-League’s official website, Victor Oladipo is now a member of the Charge. Not too long ago, Oladipo was an established stud who had no issue going toe-to-toe with future Hall of Fame forward LeBron James.
After spending three seasons with the Orlando Magic and one with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Oladipo joined the Pacers via a summer trade and immediately elevated his play.
The former lottery pick averaged 23.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.4 steals per game with Indiana in Year 1, nearly guiding the franchise to a first-round series win against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
While Oladipo was still a high-level contributor after the 2017-18 season, injuries ultimately derailed his NBA career. After leaving the Pacers in 2021, the Indiana product competed with the Houston Rockets and Miami Heat before finding himself out of NBA work.
Although Oladipo, who’s contributing 16.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per game for his career, is a shell of his former self, he could eventually play his way into another standard NBA contract.
More NBA: Lakers acquire 6-foot-11 ex-Heat center via G-League trade
UConn men’s basketball conquers Villanova in Philly, 73-63
The No. 5 UConn Huskies entered a packed Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday night and caught a battle early but left with a big win, 73-63, to improve to 25-3 and 15-2 in the Big East. The Huskies responded nicely to their home loss at Creighton and snapped a six-game Wildcats’ winning streak that started after their last game against UConn.
Alex Karaban led the way with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Tarris Reed added 10 points and 6 boards and Braylon Mullins chipped in with 10 points despite fouling out.
UConn held Davis Brennan, averaging a double-double this season, to just 7 points and 3 rebounds, with his first points coming in garbage time in the 2nd half. Huge credit to Reed and Eric Reibe for locking up Villanova’s leader all night. They also held star point guard Acaden Lewis, who had 11 points in the first half, scoreless in the second.
The Huskies were revealed to be a 2 seed by the NCAA selection committee on Saturday afternoon, and maybe they took that personally. They routed Villanova in the second half, leading by as much as 21 points before a garbage-time run made the final score closer.
The first five minutes of the contest were an offensive barrage on both sides. UConn made six of its first seven shots. Silas Demary got going early, burying his first triple. Tyler Perkins got off to a white-hot start for Villanova, scoring their first eight points.
The Huskies gained momentum midway through the first half, led by their defense. Jayden Ross picked up a block and Malachi Smith finished on the other end. Two possessions later, Jaylin Stewart picked Devin Askew’s pocket, and Solo Ball slammed it home to put UConn up 5, forcing Kevin Willard to call a timeout.
The Wildcats responded rather quickly, and the fans were starting to get rowdy. UConn turned the ball over five times in six minutes, and Villanova capitalized on it, scoring 10 points off Husky turnovers. An and-one from Matt Hodge put them back in the lead.
As the Wildcats were on offense, the student section let Dan Hurley know what they thought about him. The “F— Dan Hurley!” chants are usual when UConn is on the road in the Big East.
Dan Hurley called a timeout with four and a half minutes to go in the first half, and from there on ou UConn turned up their defense and were able to hold onto the ball. Demary hit a big mid-range jumper, and Braylon Mullins got on the board from downtown.
UConn went into the halftime locker room with a 34-32 lead despite shooting 58% from the field.
“[It’s] just the turnovers, most of which are unforced, or else we’d be up double figures,” Hurley said at halftime.
UConn looked like a different team when the second half began, going on a 10-2 run, with Mullins and Ball leading the charge with a three, and Tarris Reed a beast down low. Reed got anywhere he wanted once he was fed the ball in the low post.
The Huskies held Villanova to just four points in the first five and a half minutes, and they made their first field goal with 14:35 to play.
Villanova was able to gain some momentum when Reed checked out. After a timeout, the bench unit of Smith, Ross, Stewart, Mullins, and Reibe was able to throw the knockout punch. They went up 15 from a pair of Stewart threes, and a sweet coast-to-coast finish by Smith sucked the life out of the building.
The defense in the second half was night and day compared to the first half. Whatever Hurley said in the locker room at the half clearly worked. The team finished with 8 blocks, 3 coming from Reed. Reed has been a monster all season, and he’s getting hot at the right time.
UConn was able to handle Villanova for the remainder of the game; the Wildcats scored a handful of garbage-time points to make the score look a bit respectable.
UConn is back in action on Wednesday night against No. 22 St. John’s. This is arguably the game of the year for the Huskies. A win would give UConn sole possession of first place in the Big East. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on Peacock.
Fargo Shanley beats Fargo North to advance to first state tournament as stand-alone co-op since 1989
Feb. 21—GRAND FORKS — For the first time in more than 35 years, the North Dakota state boys hockey tournament will see the Fargo Shanley sweaters.
In its first season as a stand-alone co-op in more than 15 years, Fargo Shanley earned a trip to the state tournament for the first time since 1989 with a 2-1 win over Fargo North on Saturday afternoon in an East Region tournament state qualifier at Purpur Arena.
"I know there are a lot of Shanley alums that love to see the Shanley shield and have a lot of pride in it," Shanley coach Mark Olsonawski said. "But one thing I just said to the boys in (the locker room) is without our partnerships with Oak Grove, Park Christian and Capstone in the future ... we wouldn't have a Shanley Deacons hockey program."
Shanley previously competed with Fargo South as Fargo South-Shanley. Fargo South now partners in a co-op with Fargo North.
The Deacons reached state by shedding any bad memories from the region semifinals, an 11-1 loss to No. 1 Grand Forks Central.
"One thing our coach says all the time if we have a bad game is to flush it," said Shanley goalie Jack Furstenau, who finished with 16 saves. "It's in the past. So that's exactly what we did."
After a scoreless first period, the Deacons took a 2-0 lead on a pair of second-period goals. Aaron Meyer scored at 2:05 of the middle period, followed by Noah Oksendahl at 14:30.
Meyer scored his eighth goal of the season and has now scored a goal in four consecutive games.
"We came into the season and a lot of teams looked down on us because we were new," Meyer said. "No one thought we'd do well. This is huge. It really shows how far we've come this season."
North was held off the scoresheet through a five-minute major called on the Deacons to start the third period.
"We know we have a good PK," Meyer said of the penalty kill. "We know we can shut it down. We knew if we kill this off, we win it."
But the Spartans set up a tight finish after Jack Bartsch scored with 3:10 remaining to cut the lead to 2-1.
Furstenau made his toughest save with 10 seconds to go with the Spartans pressing with an extra attacker.
"He didn't get tested a lot but some of those chances were Grade A, and he came up big," Olsonawski said.
North goalie Dominic Crocker finished with 25 saves.
Michigan basketball just falls short vs Duke in battle of 1-seeds
WASHINGTON – On a day in which the path for Michigan basketball to the No. 1 overall seed in the 2026 NCAA tournament seemed clearer than ever, the No. 1 Wolverines received a reminder that the tourney will be anything but a walk in the park.
A back-and-forth battle at Capital One Arena on Saturday, Feb. 21, finished with No. 3 Duke prevailing, 68-63, as Michigan made just six of 24 3-point tries in snapping an 11-game win streak.
Earlier in the day, the NCAA tourney selection committee released its top 16 projected seeds for March Madness; Michigan was slotted in as the top squad – placed in the Midwest region, with a regional in Chicago – and Duke was No. 2. Those rankings looked prescient as the Wolverines and Blue Devils were virtually even for much of Saturday night.
Yaxel Lendeborg finished with 21 points and seven rebounds, while star guard Elliot Cadeau struggled with his shot en route to eight points. Cadeau also sat during the first half with an apparent left arm injury, and Aday Mara was limited early due to foul trouble.
Ones to watch
The first half showed how small a margin exists between the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the nation – per the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll – in the battle for the top overall seed in next month’s NCAA Tournament; Duke went into the break up by two, thanks to a 6-0 run, but the teams went back and forth for most of the half, trading the lead 13 times (with five ties). Still, Michigan led for 10:29, to 4:32 for Duke, thanks to its scorching work inside the arc – 11-for-14.
That made up for a rough time outside the arc, as the Wolverines hit just three of 13 3-point tries over the first two minutes. Two of those makes (on four tries) belonged to Lendeborg, who accounted for nearly half of U-M’s first-half offense, at 16 points. L.J. Cason (seven points) and Morez Johnson Jr. (six) supplied most of the rest, as Aday Mara played just six minutes while struggling with foul trouble.
Even with the individual struggles, Michigan might have taken a lead into the second half if not for a familiar foe: turnovers. The Wolverines had just one more giveaway than the Blue Devils, but Duke turned the six U-M giveaways into nine points, while Michigan had just two points off five takeaways.
What’s next for Michigan basketball
The Wolverines (25-2, 15-1 Big Ten) return to conference play at home against Minnesota (13-14, 6-10) on Tuesday (8:30 p.m., Big Ten Network). The Golden Gophers have won three of four Big Ten games, including a rout of Rutgers on Saturday afternoon when Cade Tyson hit seven of nine 3-pont tries en route to 27 points. Minnesota is just 3-10 at Crisler Center dating back to February 2019, but one of those wins was the Gophers’ most recent visit, a 73-71 squeaker on Jan. 4, 2024 in U-M’s final season under coach Juwan Howard.
This story will be updated.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball falls to Duke in battle of NCAA 1-seeds