Michigan coach Dusty May spoke with reporters following the Wolverines' 91-79 win over Texas A&M in the second round of the 2025 NCAA men's basketball March Madness tournament.
Rick Pitino on RJ Luis Jr benching: ‘I’m not gonna knock one of my players’
The St. John's head coach addressed why the Big East player of the year did not play for the final five minutes of Saturday's loss to Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Michigan marches past Texas A&M to Sweet 16
Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz and former Big 12 player of the year Marcus Morris Sr. react to the Wolverines’ 91-79 win over the Aggles to advance to the regional semifinal for the sixth time since 2017.
Nets' valiant fourth-quarter comeback attempt denied in 108-103 loss to Pacers
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Pascal Siakam scored eight of his 26 points over the final 3 1/2 minutes Saturday and Myles Turner made five three-pointers and finished with 22 points to help the Indiana Pacers hold off the charging Brooklyn Nets, 108-103.
Indiana swept its two home games against Brooklyn this week. The Pacers have won four straight and six of seven.
Turner also had eight rebounds and three blocks after his sister left the court on a stretcher during pregame warmups. All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton returned from an injured back that kept him out of Indiana’s previous three games and recorded his 10th straight double-double with 16 points and 12 assists to go with eight rebounds.
Trendon Watford scored a season-high 26 points to lead the Nets, who have lost three straight and 13 of 15. Cam Johnson added 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
The Pacers closed the third quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 90-70 lead, but allowed Brooklyn to open the fourth quarter on a 13-0 run. Then after giving up a dunk, the Nets scored eight straight to get within 92-91 with 4:30 to play.
But Siakam’s late scoring flurry helped seal the win.
Takeaways
Nets: It has been a tough season for Brooklyn and losing twice at Indiana only added to the woes as the Nets continued their late season fade.
Pacers: Indiana entered with a one-game lead over Milwaukee for the No. 4 seed and three games behind New York for the No. 3 seed. They’re trying to earn their first home-court series since 2013-14 — aside from the 2019-20 playoffs that were played in Florida.
Key moment
Brooklyn made only three baskets over the final 4 1/2 minutes after closing it to 92-91.
Key stats
Indiana had 32 assists on 40 baskets and a 21-8 advantage in fast-break points.
Up next
The Nets open a three-game homestand Monday against Dallas. Indiana hosts Minnesota on Monday.
Tom Izzo and Richard Pitino will put their mutual admiration on hold for March Madness meeting
Even though their teams haven't faced each other in four years, the admiration between Michigan State's Tom Izzo and New Mexico's Richard Pitino hasn't diminished. The Golden Gophers had a 3-9 record against the Spartans under Pitino, who was at Minnesota from 2013 to 2021.
St. John’s coach Rick Pitino defends sitting RJ Luis late in Arkansas loss
Rick Pitino explained RJ Luis' absence late in St. John's loss to Arkansas after he didn't play the final five minutes of the second-round game:
Valančiūnas doing ‘spectacular' job at filling Kings' Sabonis void
Valančiūnas doing ‘spectacular' job at filling Kings' Sabonis void originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SACRAMENTO – The Kings acquired Jonas Valančiūnas nearly seven weeks ago to provide some protection and back-up for center Domantas Sabonis, a job that the 32-year-old Lithuanian handled fairly well during his first six weeks in Sacramento.
With Sabonis unable to play for at least the next week due to a severely sprained right ankle, Valančiūnas has had to shoulder more of the work load on both ends of the court.
While his role with the team has changed Valančiūnas sees no reason to change anything.
“It’s still basketball. You gotta take the ball and put it in the basket,” Valančiūnas said. “Yeah, you have more responsibilities as a starter, but one thing, no matter what, starting or come off the bench, you want to win the game. Whatever your contribution is, you got to put it on.”
The Kings weren’t successful in chasing that goal down against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday at Golden 1 Center, losing 114-108 in a game that had ramifications to their NBA playoff hopes.
With 12 games remaining in the 2024-25 NBA regular season, the Kings are trying to hold onto the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference. Saturday’s loss trimmed Sacramento’s lead to 1 1/2 games over the Phoenix Suns, who are in the final spot for the NBA play-in tournament.
It’ll be anything but an easy stroll to the finish for interim coach Doug Christie’s squad. Sacramento has games next week against the defending champion Boston Celtics and the Oklahoma City Thunder, who current reside atop the West standings.
Sabonis is almost certain to sit that game out, and it’s possible, if not probable, that starting point guard Malik Monk might miss that game, too.
Valančiūnas will be there and said it doesn’t matter who suits up for the Kings.
“Every game matters for us big time,” he said. “Yeah we got a tough schedule, but that’s no excuse. We got to man up and do it. There’s no other way.”
Valančiūnas has been manning up just fine as far as Christie is concerned.
Before Sabonis sustained a cut over his left eye and rolled his right ankle against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, Valančiūnas was averaging 11 points and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 54.6 percent.
In the three games since then, his number have risen slightly. He had 18 points and seven rebounds against the Bucks while logging 27 minutes, his most in more than two weeks.
“Jonas has been spectacular for us,” Christie said. “He adds a physical presence, his size, protection at the rim. We try to keep him in coverage and not play him outside of the things that we know that he’s comfortable in doing. He has just been a consummate teammate and professional. ‘Whatever you need coach, two minutes, four minutes, whatever it is.’
“For a coach, you can’t ask for anything more.”
All because Valančiūnas has maintained the same focus that he has had all season when coming off the bench.
“I’m just playing the game,” he said. “I’m not trying to do something special, not trying to take over the world. I’m just doing my stuff, setting good screens, rolling, fighting for the rebounds, playing defense. All my life I did that stuff and I’m going to keep doing it.”
Duke let Jeremy Roach go. Now Baylor guard can help exact March Madness revenge.
Jeremy Roach is a role player off the bench as a fifth-year senior with Baylor after four years and a Final Four trip with Duke.
VIDEO: Calipari, players postgame – Arkansas 75, St. John’s 66
Video of Arkansas' John Calipari, Johnell Davis, Karter Knox, Billy Richmond after the Razorbacks' win over St. John's.
Duke notes: Connections run deep between Bears and Blue Devils
Duke facing Baylor in Sunday’s second-round game of the NCAA tournament means a matchup against Jeremy Roach. The lone scholarship player who played for the Blue Devils in Mike Krzyzewski’s final game as coach and remained for the start of Jon Scheyer’s tenure, Roach was a two-year captain before transferring out last spring.
Arkansas stifles St. John’s to make Sweet 16
Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz and basketball analyst Isis ‘Ice’ Young react to the Razorbacks’ 75-66 win over the Red Storm in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
St. John’s incredible season ends with 75-66 loss to Arkansas in second round of NCAA Tournament
John Calipari is heading to the Sweet 16 for the 16th time, guiding the Arkansas Razorbacks past nemesis Rick Pitino and second-seeded St. John’s 75-66 on Saturday to bring his fourth school to the NCAA Tournament’s second week.
Report: McNeese’s Will Wade signs a 6-year deal to become NC State coach
Wade’s second NCAA Tournament run in as many seasons with the Cowboys ended Saturday with a second-round loss to Purdue.
Troubling trends threaten Warriors' pursuit of West's No. 6 seed
Troubling trends threaten Warriors' pursuit of West's No. 6 seed originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
In climbing up the Western Conference standings after the arrival of Jimmy Butler III, the Warriors generated enough positive energy to believe in Draymond Green’s audacious NBA All-Star break declaration that a championship was three months away.
And now, after one middling week, the Warriors have a loose grip on sixth place in the Western Conference and look nothing like a team capable of making a deep playoff run, much less winning the NBA Finals.
So much of what they had repaired with the addition of Butler came apart this week, which was punctuated Saturday night in Atlanta, where the Warriors fell behind early and were thoroughly outplayed in a 124-115 loss to a Hawks team missing two starters.
“Yeah, 40 points in the first quarter,” coach Steve Kerr told reporters at State Farm Arena. “We were swimming upstream the rest of the way. I love the way the guys fought after that, but it was a layup line in the first quarter. Transition defense was awful.
“Give them credit. They were ready. They came out smoking hot, but at halftime, they had 23 assists or three turnovers. We didn’t impact the game defensively until it was far too late.”
The Warriors (41-30) were without Stephen Curry, but that doesn’t explain their languid start, or their porous defense.
“It’s a bad loss,” Green said. “It’s a terrible loss. When you’re in the position we’re in, we’ve we got a chance to compete for something. Eleven games left, with everything to play for, you shouldn’t have a loss like this. There’s too much on the line. You’ve got to win the games you’re supposed to win.
“Obviously, Steph is out. It’s still a game we should win. Terrible loss.”
After winning several games in recent weeks that they concede they probably would have lost earlier this season – pre-Jimmy – the Warriors lost two such games this week and flirted with dropping a third.
Losing to the Denver Nuggets, without Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray, on Monday at Chase Center was a sign of caution. Needing all 48 minutes to beat the lottery-bound Toronto Raptors on Thursday at Chase was a wake-up call.
Falling to the sub-mediocre Hawks (34-36) missing two starters, commences the sounds of wailing sirens, blaring alarms and the skidding of brakes on Golden State’s post-Jimmy momentum.
“We didn’t come out ready to play,” Green said. “We came out like we were just going to win the game, and we got diced up defensively in the first quarter. From that point on, you’re fighting an uphill battle. Everybody’s comfortable, and they took it to us.
“We’ve got to be better, and that starts with me. We were terrible defensively. This is the NBA. Once guys get into a rhythm, it’s hard. They got into a rhythm, had it rolling. It’s tough to stop that so we’ve got to come out ready to play.”
Green had a forgettable performance largely because he is as essential to Golden State’s defense as Curry to its offense. Atlanta shot 65.4 percent in the first quarter, 60 percent for the half and outscored the Warriors 60-44 in the paint.
One place not to look is toward Butler. He scored a team-high 25 points, recorded a team-high eight assists and finished plus-11 (also a team-best) in 38 minutes. The only other Warriors with a positive plus/minus was Gary Payton II, who was plus-6 while scoring 11 points in 17 minutes.
The Warriors were minus-15 in bench scoring, were dramatically outshot (57 percent to 46.4) for the second consecutive game, outrebounded (46-38) for the third time in four games and out-assisted (37-28) for the third time in four games.
Any recovery must begin with defense.
“I didn’t feel good about it tonight,” Kerr said. “But we were the second-ranked defense in the league since we traded for Jimmy. So overall, the defense has been really good. We’re right at the top of the league and deflections for some turnovers. “But didn’t happen tonight. So, the biggest thing is, we got to respond, bounce back.”
This loss derails the Warriors, at least temporarily. The first step to getting back on track, with or without Curry, comes Tuesday in Miami. If the first quarter looks anything like it did on Saturday, they could find themselves in the Play-In Tournament box.
What we learned as Kings' second-half collapse brings loss vs. Bucks
What we learned as Kings' second-half collapse brings loss vs. Bucks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SACRAMENTO – Keon Ellis scored 20 points in place of injured starting point guard Malik Monk, but the Kings unraveled at the end and came up short against the Milwaukee Bucks, losing 114-108 on Saturday at Golden 1 Center.
DeMar DeRozan led the Kings with 22 points. Zach LaVine added 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists while Keegan Murray had 13 points and nine rebounds.
The Kings fell back to .500 at 35-35 following their second consecutive loss and sixth in eight games.
Sacramento once again played without center Domantas Sabonis, who is nursing a sprained right ankle he suffered earlier in the week. Monk was a late scratch due to illness.
The Kings seemed to handle playing without the two fairly well in the first half but couldn’t sustain the momentum. Milwaukee outscored Sacramento 28-19 over the final 12 minutes.
Here are the takeaways from Saturday’s game:
JV Has Varsity Night
Jonas Valančiūnas has given the Kings quality minutes off the bench since his arrival about a month ago, and he maintained that level while starting in place of Sabonis against the Bucks.
Jonas finds LaVine for the jam 💥 pic.twitter.com/L1tndWJCcG
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) March 23, 2025
The 6-foot-11 center wasn’t flashy or spectacular, but he was effective. Despite the Bucks consistently attacking the paint, Valančiūnas kept Milwaukee from totally dominating in the middle.
He finished the night with 18 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes.
Keon Making Things Happen
Whether he’s in his usual role coming off the bench or making an occasional start like he did in place of Monk, Ellis brings an infectious energy to the court every time he’s out there.
Making his second start in the last three games, Ellis displayed the type of skills that have made him a fan favorite in Sacramento. If he wasn’t helping effectively on defense against Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ellis was racing down the court to keep the Kings’ offense flowing.
He got a breakaway dunk after a DeRozan steal in the second quarter, then later snagged a defensive board and fed it to LaVine, resulting in a four-point play.
Steal ➡️ Slam 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/uGcpd7M2Sk
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) March 23, 2025
It’s the ninth time in 16 starts this season that Ellis has scored in double figures.
Shut Giannis Down
Although Antetokounmpo is enjoying another spectacular season, the Kings showed no fear in trying to stop him.
Antetokounmpo, who dropped 33 on Sacramento when the two teams squared off in January, didn’t break double figures until the second half in the rematch. He shot just 12 of 20 and was minus-six.
Murray had the bulk of work defending Antetokounmpo and did a solid job despite a three-inch, 45-pound difference between the two. Not surprising since Murray has been one of the Kings’ most reliable defenders all season.