Xavier Booker scored 15 points to lead four players in double figures and No. UCLA pulled away in the second half to beat Pepperdine 74-63 on Friday night. Booker made 5 of 8 from the field, 4 of 4 from the free-throw line and had five blocks.
Xavier Booker showcases his game-changing skills in No. 12 UCLA’s win over Pepperdine
No. 25 UNC was down at half to No. 19 Kansas. A dominant 2nd half changed everything
Kylan Boswell scores 31, No. 17 Illinois beats Florida Gulf Coast 113-70 in another blowout win
Tarris Reed scores 20, grab’s 12 rebounds to lead No. 4 UConn past UMass Lowell 110-47
Smith leads balanced attack as No. 1 Purdue defeats stubborn Oakland 87-77
Nick Martinelli scores 20, extends point streak in Northwestern’s 76-52 win over Boston University
Braden Smith leads Purdue basketball to a win over Oakland with 20 points
AP) — Tarris Reed Jr. had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Silas Demary Jr. added 16 points and seven assists to lead UConn to a win over UMass Lowell. Seven Huskies scored in double figures as UConn scored its most points in a game since a 2022 win against Long Island University. Malachi Smith and Solo Ball added 14 each for UConn, (2-0) which won its 19th consecutive game in Hartford.
JT Toppin debuts with 31 points, and 14 rebounds as No. 10 Texas Tech beats Sam Houston
Preseason AP All-America forward JT Toppin scored 31 points and had 14 rebounds in his season debut to lead five players in double figures for No. 10 Texas Tech as the Red Raiders beat Sam Houston 98-77 on Friday night. It was Toppin's 20th double-double in 34 games for the Red Raiders since transferring from New Mexico after his freshman season.
Maryland’s Myles Rice throws shoe in attempt to get a steal vs Georgetown
Nets unable to keep up in second half of 125-107 loss to Pistons
NEW YORK (AP) — Cade Cunningham had 34 points and 10 assists, Jalen Duren added 30 points and 11 rebounds and the Detroit Pistons beat the Brooklyn Nets 125-107 on Friday night in an NBA Cup group opener.
Cunningham was 13 for 18 from the field and made all six of his free throws to help lead Detroit to its fifth straight victory and a 7-2 record. The All-Star point guard has averaged 29.8 points and 11.2 assists while shooting 54 percent from the field during the streak.
Ausar Thompson had 14 points, and Caris Levert added 10 for the Pistons. They have won their last four meetings against Brooklyn.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 28 points for Brooklyn, and Noah Clowney added 19 as the Nets fell to 1-8. They were without Cam Thomas because of a strained left hamstring. He will be reevaluated in three to four weeks.
Detroit fell behind by 10 points in the first quarter and led by five at halftime before Cunningham took over in the third with 14 points as the Pistons had a 34-19 edge in the period.
Cunningham led a 7-0 run with five points to extend the lead to 72-57 with 9:05 left in the period as the Nets called a timeout. He then ignited another 7-0 run with a basket and a free throw before Duren’s dunk capped the spurt to make it 82-65 with 4:04 remaining in the quarter.
Up next
Pistons: At Philadelphia on Sunday night.
Nets: At New York on Sunday night.
Moreno’s double-double powers No. 9 Kentucky to 107-59 rout of Valparaiso
Malachi Moreno scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds to lead No. 9 Kentucky to a 107-59 win over Valparaiso on Friday night. The freshman forward led six Wildcats in double figures as Otega Oweh had 15 and Mouhamed Dioubate and Collin Chandler had 14 points each. Brandon Garrison and Denzel Aberdeen scored 12 points each for Kentucky.
Wilson, Veesaar, Trimble power No. 25 North Carolina’s 2nd-half push to beat No. 19 Kansas 87-74
Freshman Caleb Wilson had 24 points, big man Henri Veesaar added 20 and No. 25 North Carolina dominated the second half to pull away from No. 19 Kansas 87-74 in Friday night's battle of college basketball bluebloods. Senior Seth Trimble added 13 of his 17 after halftime, proving to be a catalyst for the Tar Heels (2-0) in taking control of the second-half tempo as UNC roared out of the break.
Lakers continue to rely on team building, strong bond during fast start
JJ Redick was already preaching one type of Japanese philosophy, harping to his team about the concept of “kaizen” to improve each day. Off the court, the head coach found inspiration in another Japanese phrase.
Lakers players and coaches have used PechaKucha presentations to facilitate team bonding this season. The slideshows, which come from the Japanese word for chitchat, could be a secret to the team’s hot start as the Lakers (7-2) have won five consecutive games entering a five-game road that starts Saturday in Atlanta at 5 p.m. PST against the Hawks.
The Lakers have pieced together one of the NBA’s most efficient offenses despite injuries keeping LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic in and out of the lineup, relying on a strong team bond that’s developed quickly through an even faster form of communication.
PechaKucha presentations are traditionally 20 slides, each with a photo. The speaker has 20 seconds to explain each slide for a total presentation time of 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
The Lakers' version consists of five slides: where you’re from; favorite basketball memory; person, event or thing that has impacted your life; your non-basketball happy place; and dealer’s choice.
“A lot of times most of the interactions you'll have with your teammates is on the basketball court,” forward Jake LaRavia said. “So it's good to just kind of either learn some stuff about them outside of basketball, like hobbies and stuff like that, where they come from. And that just helps you kind of understand who the person is a little bit better."
Read more:Lakers takeaways: Luka Doncic's defense (yes, defense) helps hold off Spurs
Assistant coach Scott Brooks started his presentation with a photo of a walnut, symbolizing the walnut farm he worked on during the weekends to help his family make ends meet. LaRavia showed a photo of his driveway as the origin of his basketball journey. Doncic spoke about how his daughter Gabriela changed his life.
One coach and one player present, and then they each nominate the next coach or player to go. With about half of the players and coaches left, Redick said he’s already noticing the holdouts actively planning their presentations before their nominations.
“We're just constantly encouraging and empowering our guys to get connected,” Redick said. “I believe if you're connected off the floor, you're connected on the floor. You need buy-in to that. I'm not trying to take credit for my staff here. It's the guys on the team, they're bought into that.”
Doncic, for one, isn’t sold. He deadpanned that he doesn’t think the exercise helps.
Just the fact that Doncic made the joke meant it’s working.
Settled after last season’s jarring trade, the 26-year-old’s personality has started to emerge among his teammates. He is a sarcastic jokester who expresses love for his teammates by threading passes to them through pinhole-sized gaps in the defense and then trash talking them right soon after.
Doncic’s smiling antics, whether he’s trying to sit on Austin Reaves’ lap on the sideline or swishing halfcourt shots in a contest with Reaves, Maxi Kleber and staff members, show just how connected the superstar feels to the team.
“Honestly, the feeling is I'm enjoying, very much, playing with these guys,” Doncic said. “AR [Reaves] can’t play. We're still missing LeBron. So this team has a big potential. But everybody who steps on court, gives maximum, man, everybody. So it's very enjoyable to play.”
Reaves is present on the road trip but will miss a third consecutive game Saturday. The Lakers ruled him out after practice Friday as his right groin injury progressed to a strain after previously being categorized simply as soreness.
James did not make the trip to Atlanta. He progressed to on-court basketball activities this week after missing four weeks because of a sciatica on his right side. He was playing one-on-one with coaches, Redick said. A stint with the South Bay Lakers is on the table, but no decision has been made.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer hasn’t played a single minute for the Lakers yet. Reaves, averaging 31.1 points and 9.3 assists, has missed the last two wins, and Doncic has played in only half of the games. But the Lakers are still fifth in the NBA in offensive rating.
“It shows how professional we are,” guard Marcus Smart said of the team’s chemistry despite constantly changing personnel. “I think a lot of people, especially who aren't in the brotherhood, they forget that you build a relationship with guys, and then one guy or a couple guys, you get traded and you got to rebuild another one. You don’t understand how tough that is, how much of a toll that takes.”
Just as Smart spoke, Doncic appeared behind the group of reporters, clapping loudly. Then Doncic made sure to put on the record that he would beat Smart at a team-building competition that night. Both smiled as they walked away.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Brooklyn's Cam Thomas out at least 3-4 weeks with hamstring strain
As if things were not rough enough to start the season in Brooklyn...
Cam Thomas, the Nets' second leading scorer at 21.4 points per game, is out with a left hamstring strain and will be re-evaluated in 3-4 weeks, the team announced.
Brooklyn Nets Medical Update:
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) November 7, 2025
Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain. The injury occurred during the first quarter of Wednesday’s game at Indiana. Thomas will be reevaluated in approximately three to four weeks.
This has been an ongoing issue for Thomas: This is his fourth left hamstring strain since the start of last season (he only played 25 games last season because of it).
The big question for Thomas is whether this impacts his free agency next summer. Thomas is playing on a $6 million qualifying offer with Brooklyn this season, which will make him an unrestricted free agent next July 1. Thomas bet on himself, and was putting up 21.4 points a night and shooting 35.6% from beyond the arc this season (although his true shooting percentage of 54.6 is a little below the league average). There are certainly teams that could use his scoring, but his injury history could (will?) give teams pause, and that might cost Thomas money. It depends on how he plays when he returns, but teams will remember.
Brooklyn already had the 25th-ranked offense in the NBA and just lost one of its two most reliable shot creators for a month. With Thomas out, Brooklyn will be looking for more shot creation next to Michael Porter Jr. Look for Terance Mann, Tyrese Martin and Egor Demin to get more run and get their chance.