Category: NCAA Basketball

Third-ranked UConn will be without Tarris Reed Jr., its top scorer and rebounder, against No. 4 Arizona on Wednesday night. Reed is dealing with an ankle injury and is considered to be game-to-game, UConn said in a release. The 6-foot-11 senior from St. Louis had 21 points and eight rebounds Saturday in a win over No. 7 BYU in the Hall of Fame Series at TD Garden in Boston.

It's a matchup of two ranked teams that played in the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament.

The recent trend in college basketball has been to build rosters through the transfer portal, adding experienced players who already know the college game and can have an immediate impact. The movement has been upended this season with a deep, uber-talented class of freshmen who are having massive impacts on programs across the country. “It’s an anomaly, in the sense that every year there’s a handful of freshmen that make an impact and oftentimes those are the one-and-done guys,” ESPN college basketball analyst and former coach Fran Fraschilla said.

The Wildcats and Bulldogs will meet in the nightcap on the opening day of the NABC Hall of Fame Classic Tournament in Kansas City, Missouri.

The second meeting between the Cornhuskers and the Lobos opens the NABC tournament.

Michigan State basketball stepped out on the national stage thanks to breakthroughs by Kur Teng and Jesse McCulloch in Tuesday's win over Kentucky.

Michigan State basketball stepped out on the national stage thanks to breakthroughs by Kur Teng and Jesse McCulloch in Tuesday's win over Kentucky.

The Jayhawks (3-2) were still without their best player, freshman Darryn Peterson, the nation’s top recruit and potentially the top pick in next year’s NBA draft, because of a lingering hamstring injury.

The Spartans shot 11 of 22 from beyond the arc at Madison Square Garden after making just 13 of their first 60 3-point attempts in their first three games, good for 21.7% and fourth-worst out of 361 Division I programs.

Kur Teng hit three of Michigan State’s season-high 11 3-pointers on the way to scoring a career-best 15 points, and the 17th-ranked Spartans beat No. 12 Kentucky 83-66 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden in the opener of the annual Champions Classic. Michigan State (4-0) made half of its 3-point attempts after entering the game shooting 21.7% from long range — fourth-worst out of 361 Division I programs — with just 14 total through its first three games. The Spartans outrebounded Kentucky 42-28 and never led by fewer than 10 after Teng’s baseline fadeaway jumper deep in the corner with 2 seconds remaining in the first half.

Eric Dailey Jr. had 15 points and 12 rebounds, Xavier Booker scored 12 and No. 19 UCLA rode a new-look starting lineup to a 79-48 victory over Sacramento State on Tuesday night. Trent Perry, Jamar Brown, Steven Jamerson II and Brandon Williams all started for the Bruins (4-1) after making just two starts between them in the first four games of the season. Booker, Tyler Bilodeau, Donovan Dent and Skyy Clark all began the game on the bench.

UCLA begins game with four regular starters on the bench and the Bruins go on to rout an overmatched Sacramento State.

Michigan State looked dominant in its win over Kentucky, while Duke was able to outlast Kansas with Darryn Peterson sidelined due to injury.

A lingering hamstring injury caused Darryn Peterson to miss a third consecutive game for Kansas, and coach Bill Self is not sure when the nation’s top recruit and potentially the top pick in next year’s NBA draft might be ready to play again. Peterson has not played since getting hurt during a pregame shootaround on Nov. 11. Self said the team feels good about how it is handling Peterson and doesn't expect the absence to be “long at all.”

Cameron Boozer and Isaiah Evans lead the way for No. 4 Duke in its defeat of No. 23 Kansas at the Champions Classic.