ATLANTA (AP) — Dai Dai Ames scored 18 points and Lee Dort scored 16 points and California beat Georgia Tech 79-65 on Wednesday night for the Bears' fourth win in the last five games.

John Camden added 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Chris Bell scored 10 for Cal. The Bears overcame 21% shooting (5 of 24) from 3-point range with the help of a 57.5% (23 of 40) inside the arc.

Kowacie Reeves Jr. scored 19 points on the strength of 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc, Akai Fleming scored 16 points and Jaeden Mustaf 10 for the Yellow Jackets (11-19, 2-15 Atlantic Coast Conference). Lamar Washington distributed 10 assists with just a single turnover and had three steals for Georgia Tech.

Cal outscored the Yellow Jackets 20-7 between 15:40 remaining in the game to 8:46 left and led 62-48. Georgia Tech led 36-32 at halftime.

The last time the Bears (21-9, 9-8) posted a 20-win regular season was 2015-16, when the Bears won 22 games before postseason play. That was also the last time the Bears earned an NCAA Tournament berth in a season which Cal finished 23-6 overall.

Up Next

California: Ends the regular season at Wake Forest on Saturday.

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets concludes the regular season at Clemson on Saturday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Well, they may lose as bad as tanking teams, but at least they can still beat tanking teams.

The Sixers escaped with a 106-102 win over the Utah Jazz Wednesday night.

They are now 34-28, still a game up on the Orlando Magic for the sixth seed but tied in the loss column.

Despite some rough plays down the stretch, Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 25 points and six assists shooting 8-of-22 from the floor. Jabari Walker, hustling his ass off, put up 20 for the second straight night finishing with 22 points shooting 7-of-12 from the field along with 10 rebounds. Keyonte George led all scorers with 30.

The Sixers were without Joel Embiid (oblique strain), Paul George (suspension), VJ Edgecombe (lumbar contusion) and Kelly Oubre Jr. who missed his second straight game with an illness.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

• Maxey made his first shot of the game, knocking down a three off the catch, but that didn’t exactly set the tone for the Sixers’ offense. Plenty of isos resulted in just one and-1 for Dominick Barlow, a play he banged up his shoulder on. Trendon Watford threw up an ugly shot that missed the rim on top of a bad turnover trying to get a skip pass to the corner.
• A sign of how ugly this one was Utah’s starting center Kyle Filipowski had to sit with three fouls less than six minutes into the game. While neither offense looked good, the Sixers’ bigs found ways to be productive. Both Watford and Barlow did a good job using their length to protect the rim, Watford picking up two blocks in the first. Barlow was also making good reads playing out of the high post against Utah’s zone.
• Justin Edwards being one of the first subs to check in wasn’t surprising given the injury report, but Tyrese Martin being the other was. Martin missed his only shot attempt of the quarter and threw a bad cross-court pass that turned into a pick-6. Edwards though hit his first corner three and found Walker for another. The Sixers had turned things around to shoot 40% from the field and from three, but Cody Williams sinking a three of his own at the buzzer cut their lead to seven.

Second Quarter

• It was good to see Walker build off his 20-point performance in garbage time. It’s easy to notice when he has the hot hand from three, but the hustle plays he makes for this team are desperately needed at the moment. Plays like hanging on island and forcing a stop against the smaller Isaiah Collier, or drawing a foul trying to grab an offensive rebound.
• Both offenses stalled again after the Walker heater. Quentin Grimes didn’t exactly snap into a rhythm right away, but the layups he was able to cobble together, mostly in transition, were enough to briefly extend the Sixers’ lead. He clearly felt more and more comfortable with each one, taking advantage of an open drive to throw one down over Oscar Tshiebwe.

• Upon returning to the game Maxey capped off a solid individual half. The opponent is what it is but he did a good job of navigating longer, taller defenders while also drawing contact. His last two attempts from deep were no good though as the Sixers as a team couldn’t close the half well. That was in part due to more struggles from Andre Drummond, who was surrendering rebounds to Mo Bamba and Ace Bailey on one end and getting called for illegal screens on the other. After George split a pair at the line the Sixers went into the break up by five.

Third Quarter

• Maxey’s floater to open the second half didn’t fool anyone — this was still the third quarter Sixers. Utah responded with a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the night. He had been fairly bottled up in the first half but George started to spring loose moving off the ball and converted on his open looks.
• Stops continued to come at a premium for the Sixers, but at least they found consistent offense for a couple possessions with Watford successfully backing down Filipowski. The backcourt got oddly passive during this stretch — Maxey went over five minutes in between shot attempts.
• After the first half he had, it was pretty insane that Walker wasn’t out there to start the second. He immediately grabbed a putback basket when he did finally check back in, a rare sign of energy. It’s surprising how rigid Nick Nurse has been here given his reputation in Toronto. On top of not riding the hot hand in Walker, Tyrese Martin checked back in at the same point he did in the first half despite a rough first shift. Martin at least had a better go of it this time, getting to the basket once for a layup and hitting Drummond with a dump off. Another lob to Bamba though kept the Jazz in front by one entering the fourth.

Fourth Quarter

• The decision to go back to Martin did age well despite this blog’s criticisms. He nailed two more threes to start the fourth, but those were the only points the Sixers were able to muster up in the brief minutes Maxey sat.
• A rotation decision that was even more questionable and did not pay off was sending Kyle Lowry out for his second half shift as well. This team just has too many limited offensive players at the moment to play a guard that hardly looks at the basket.
• Perhaps the Sixers were so surprised the Jazz put George back in the game they went into some sort of shock. Why else would they help off of him when he’s one pass away while he’s as scorching hot as he was? In all seriousness, it’s fine if the Sixers lost a game here and there due to their play style, but their style doesn’t make a ton of sense and they’ve lost more games than that because of it. Leaving NBA players open to shoot is and has not been a viable strategy in some time.
• A challenge that swung possession back to the Sixers after another George three was exactly what they needed, and somehow they took advantage of the momentum. Maxey tried to turn the pace and kept going to the basket quickly. He actually missed more often than not but putbacks from Grimes and Adem Bona helped tie the game. After working their way to tie it back up, Maxey lost the ball and Collier quickly took it the other way to put the Jazz back up by two.
• Grimes was able to knife his way through Utah’s zone and tie the game back up again with a layup. They finally caught a break on the other end with George missing a rushed three. Grimes drove again on the following possession and drew a foul, converting both to put the Sixers up with 16 seconds remaining. The ensuing Jazz possession ended with an open kickout to Filipowski but it missed. Fittingly it was Walker who secured the rebound and nail two free throws to ice the game.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (AP) — John Mobley Jr. scored 28 points and Bruce Thornton added 18 in Ohio State's 94-62 win over Penn State on Wednesday night.

Three other Buckeye scorers were in double digits— Devin Royal and Amare Bynum both finished with 14 and Christoph Tilly with 10.

Ohio State (19-11, 11-8 Big Ten) never trailed, scoring the first points of the game and extending their lead with a 13-0 run in the first half to double digits. The Buckeyes shot 62% (18 of 29) in the first half and took a 45-21 lead heading into halftime. They finished the game shooting 67% from the field (34 of 51) and 70% from 3-point range (16 of 23).

Penn State (12-18, 3-16) was led in scoring by Freddie Dilione V and Ivan Juric, with 15 each. Dominick Stewart added 11.

Up next

Ohio State: Hosts Indiana for the final game of the regular season on Saturday.

Penn State: Visits Rutgers for the final game of the regular season on Sunday.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

The Boston Celtics hosted the Charlotte Hornets for their first meeting of the season on Wednesday night at TD Garden. Boston was flat-footed to start the game, and they struggled all night to keep pace with the young Hornets. It was a tough shooting night for the home team throughout; they hit just 10 three-pointers compared to the Hornets 19. The C’s dropped their 21st game of the season to a good young Charlotte team, 118-89.

Jaylen Brown missed the Milwaukee Bucks game due to illness, and center Neemias Queta was rested, but both returned to action against the Hornets. The pair were joined in the starting lineup by Sam Hauser, Derrick White, and Baylor Scheierman. The Hornets came into the game on the second night of a back-to-back with Brandon Miller, LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Miles Bridges, and Moussa Diabate.

Diabate had the game’s first points on a loud dunk; Ball cut through the key and had an easy layup as the Celtics were slow to get into the game. Boston missed their first eight shots as they started the game down by 8. White’s floater three and a half minutes into the game was the C’s first score.

Brown laced a three-pointer for his fifth point of the game. White followed up with a triple of his own as the Celtics got the Hornet lead back to 5 points, 13-18, midway through the first quarter. Hugo Gonzalez entered the game and had an immediate corner crash hustle rebound. Payton Pritchard and Nikola Vucevic were also the first C’s into the game for Boston.

Gonzalez had a terrific defensive start to the game; in one sequence, he draped himself over Coby White and contested his shot, forcing a miss. The rookie then came back to the other end and skied into a forest of taller bodies to retrieve an offensive rebound.

Boston had a rough shooting start to the game, posting just 30% from the field through the first 12 minutes. On the flipside, Charlotte went 60% from the field over the same time frame. Charlotte led by 12 points as they were clearly the more aggressive team throughout the first quarter, 23-35 Hornets. Charlotte had 12 points in the paint in the opening quarter, and Boston posted 5 turnovers as the home team was completely outplayed.

Knueppel hit a catch-and-shoot triple off a Ball dish to start the second quarter. As Boston fell further behind, Joe Mazzulla wasting no time calling a timeout. Baylor Scheierman finally got the C’s on the board for the second quarter, but Celtics fans were deflated at the effort on display to start the game.

Queta was locked out of sorts early in the first quarter, as trainers were filmed looking at his knee while he was on the bench. The big man returned and had a great effort block on Ball’s shot attempt in the key. JB burst into action with a strong one-handed power dunk over Diabate. Scheierman laced a triple in front of the Hornets bench, so Charles Lee immediately calling a timeout as Boston had a sliver of momentum for the first time in the game, 32-49.

White reentered the game and nailed a pair of buckets; he had 17 points in the first half, but Boston was still down big as Miller, Kneuppel, Ball, and White were in attack mode all half, working the angles expertly on offense. Charlotte was super-hot shooting the ball all half; they had 12 threes compared to Boston’s 7. The visitors went up by 21 points at the halftime break, 43-64. Vucevic, Hauser, and Pritchard were scoreless for Boston, combining for 0-13 from the field.

White was super aggressive to start the third quarter; he put the team on his back, scoring 10 of the team’s first 13 points of the third quarter. Boston had the Charlotte lead back to 14 points with eight minutes to go in the third. Miller calmly sunk a mid-range jumper as the Hornets answered back. Scheierman got into the lane with rookie Knueppel on his hip and drilled a jumper over his outstretched frame.

Coby White was immense for the Hornets as they weathered the Boston runs; he hit his second three of the game, a deep, tough shot in rhythm, stretching the Hornet lead back to 18 points. That quickly went back out to 24 points as Boston floundered.

Boston went on a late 8-0 run in the third quarter, but Knueppel drilled his fifth triple of the night to go back up 67-85. Brown was frustrated late in the quarter and was whistled for a tech after driving and getting contact on the arm. It was a frustrating game after three quarters, Hornets up 68-91, Boston shooting it poorly with 35 percent from the field.

The fourth quarter was more of the same; Charlotte was in complete control all night. Boston had no answers defensively; the Hornets deftly carved the C’s up, and Brown and White went to the bench with 5 minutes to go in the game.

White was the only Celtic who really came to play all evening; he had 29 points, 3 triples, and was perfect 8-8 from the line. Brown had 20 points (36% FG), 11 boards, and 7 assists in a frustrating performance; no other Celtic player even reached double figures.

Boston next hosts the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. Cooper Flagg has missed the Mavs’ last 8 games with a foot injury.

Long Island had a very tall task before them Wednesday morning in Greensboro, as they had to match up with the G League’s best team, the Swarm, which is having as successful season as their parent, the Charlotte Hornets. Long Island entered this game winning three of their last five games, whereas Greensboro had won their last eight games. On the backs of Drake Powell and Malachi Smith, who combined for 51 points, Long Island snapped Greensboro’s winning streak, coming out with the win, 116-111.

When the Brooklyn Nets assigned Powell to Long Island earlier in the week, they did so with hopes of getting him minutes and time with the Long Island head coach, Mfon Udofia. Powell oozes potential, as Fernandez has said. but he was also in need of a stint in the G League to get him back on track. Following his 13-point performance on Sunday, Powell got all of that and then some on Thursday, as he finished with 21 points.

Powell had an electric shooting performance, hitting just over 56%, connecting on nine of his 16 tries. He also continued to improve his long ball shot, shooting three of five for 60%. Powell scored the first eight points of the game for Long Island, and that was only the beginning of it…

Powell’s impressive day didn’t stop in the score column. He also hauled in three rebounds, two of which were offensively, which was second on the team, and tallied two assists. He also had one block.

Alongside Powell’s 21 points, Malachi Smith picked up 30 points of his own. Smith flirted with his career-high on Sunday, just failed to match his 31-point career-high from earlier in the season. Still, the 6’4” 26-year-old couldn’t unhappy with this performance. Smith connected on nine of his 13 tries for 69%. He also shot the ball 75% from deep and 100% from the foul line on six tries.

To go along with his big shooting day, Smith also had six rebounds and six assists. Smith continues to show why he may be considered one of Long Island’s best all-around players. Not only does he shine as a scorer, but he also has shown his ability to be a playmaker, hauling in many rebounds and finding his teammates for great looks. Smith is everything you’d hope a point guard would be…. other than consistency in holding on to the ball. He had only one turnover Wednesday. Two days ago, he had seven.

Once again, Long Island had all three of the Brooklyn two-way players available which also marked the deadline for two-way contracts to be signed. It looks like there will be no changes for Brooklyn in terms of their three two-ways, as they will now more than likely finish the season with Chaney Johnson, EJ Liddell, and Tyson Etienne occupying those spots…

Johnson continues to be playing his best basketball of the season as of late, as he once again made a massive impact off the bench. Johnson had 17 points, connecting on eight of his 11 tries, including one-for-three from deep. Johnson once again proved to be a multi-faceted big man, hauling in seven rebounds, which was second on the team, and tallying four assists, which was also second on the team. The 23-year-old 6’8” forward also had two steals.

Liddell once again got the start on Thursday and showed exactly why that is. Liddell finished with 17 points, tied for third on the team. Liddell shot the ball a fair amount, connecting on seven of his 17 tries. However, he didn’t have his best game from deep as he only connected on one of his seven shots. Liddell also had nine rebounds, which led the team, and one assist.

The third two-way player on hand, Etienne, was lights out when it mattered the most. He connected on four of his nine shots, including going three-for-eight from deep. He finished with 11 points, three rebounds, three assists, and one steal. It was an uncharacteristically quiet game for Etienne, but don’t let the stats fool you; he absolutely hit his shots when he needed to.

The Nets are now 17-11, fourth in the East, with six games left. G League Playoffs begin March 31.

Next Up

The Long Island Nets (17-11) return to the court on Friday night, March 6th, for a rematch with Terrell Brown Jr. and the NBA G League’s best team, the 19-7 Greensboro Swarm. The game tips off at 6:30 p.m. EST and can be watched on the NBA G League official website.

• Boxscore: Long Island Nets 116, Greensboro Swarm 111 – G League
• Game Highlights: Long Island Nets 116, Greensboro Swarm 111 (Video) – G League

The Knicks faced the Western Conference-leading Thunder on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in a matchup of two of the NBA's best. 

Here are the takeaways...

- The Knicks went cold offensively to start the fourth quarter, mustering just six points in the first 5:27 while falling into a 92-86 hole as the Thunder went on a 15-6 run to open the frame. 

New York also committed five fouls early in the fourth, putting them over the limit with over half of the frame remaining -- something that helped do them in. 

OG Anunoby's drive and stuff brought New York within 94-91 with about 4:30 remaining, but they got no closer the rest of the way. 

Trailing, 103-100, and with the shot clock turned off, the Knicks had a chance to tie things as time expired. But Jalen Brunson and Anunoby both missed three-pointers that would've sent the game to overtime. 

The officiating that seemed to be one-sided in favor of the Thunder in the first half was also dubious in the fourth. On one questionable call, Karl-Anthony Towns -- who had 17 points and 17 rebounds -- fouled out with around three minutes remaining. Towns had recently been whistled for a foul that was only called upon review -- discovered by the officials on a challenge by OKC on an out-of-bounds call. 

- Despite losing Josh Hart (back) for the third quarter and being without Brunsonfor a chunk of it as well after he went to the locker room, the Knicks remained in the thick of things. After falling behind a game-high 15, New York drew to within three points with under four minutes remaining in the frame -- due in part to strong play by Landry Shamet and Mikal Bridges.

The Knicks evened things up with about three minutes remaining in the third, when Brunson's three-pointer took a circuitous route off before dropping through to make it 72-72. He nailed another three soon after to knot things up at 75-all. Bridges punctuated the third quarter, draining a corner three as time expired to put the Knicks up, 80-77. 

New York scored 40 points in the third after managing just 40 in the first two quarters combined. 

After a slow start offensively, Brunson was a catalyst in the frame, with 11 points and three assists as the Knicks mounted their comeback. 

- The Knicks trailed, 50-40, at halftime. New York shot just 36 percent from the field in the first half, with Oklahoma City shooting at a 46 percent clip. The Thunder shot 43 percent from three while the Knicks were ice cold, shooting just 25 percent. 

None of the Knicks scored in double figures in the first half, as Townsand Mohamed Diawara led the way with nine each. 

- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got into early foul trouble, being forced to the bench at the 7:36 mark of the first quarter after a blocking foul. But Chet Holmgren picked up the slack. He was a menace from behind the arc early on, pacing the Thunder early as he drilled four shots from long distance in the first eight minutes, putting the Knicks in a 20-10 hole. Holmgren led all players with 22 first-half points, including back-to-back threes in the final minute. 

- Brunsongot off to an extremely slow start scoring-wise, with his first bucket not coming until there were 30 seconds left in the first quarter. Brunson was held scoreless in the second quarter after sitting for the first five-plus minutes, though he did dish out seven assists in the first half. 

- Head coach Mike Brown got hit with a technical foul (his first of the season) with a few minutes left in the first quarter. He was hot after the previous Thunder possession, where SGA appeared to get away with a charge (and avoided his third foul) while running over Brunson -- who was set and not in the restricted area. 

In addition to the seemingly-blown call that benefited SGA and led Brown to blow his top, the Knicks were the recipients of several questionable whistles in the first half on either clear play-ons or ticky-tack calls, leaving the MSG crowd groaning. 

- The Knicks shook up their five-man group early, turning to a lineup of Brunson, Hart, Shamet, Diawara, and Ariel Hukporti midway through the first quarter with New York down seven. Diawara gave the Knicks an immediate spark, nailing his first two shots -- both from downtown. 

- New York was without center Mitchell Robinson, whose workload has been managed carefully this season -- he has yet to play both ends of a back-to-back. Robinson played 20 minutes during Tuesday night's win over the Raptors in Toronto, pulling down 10 rebounds and notching a pair of steals. 

Highlights

Mike Brown gets a technical foul after this no-call on a collision between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Brunson.

A charge would have been SGA's third foul of the first quarter pic.twitter.com/PkJAmXMBL2

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) March 5, 2026

THREE-AWARA.

Mo Diawara from downtown! 3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/TOzhnUu2P6

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) March 5, 2026

Jose Alvarado ➡️ Landry Shamet to cut the deficit to 6! pic.twitter.com/9hYae3SXNE

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) March 5, 2026

Jalen Brunson gets the bounce to tie the game! pic.twitter.com/2yreS9Hkbu

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) March 5, 2026

WHAT A SHOT BY JALEN BRUNSON! pic.twitter.com/T1TZx4t3cj

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) March 5, 2026

OG Anunoby steal and score 💪 pic.twitter.com/VUzn8rB0Yh

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) March 5, 2026

OG THROWS IT DOWN! pic.twitter.com/NY7ZQlGvwX

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) March 5, 2026

What's next

The Knicks travel to Denver to face the Nuggets on Friday at 9 p.m.

The game is the start of a three-game West Coast swing, in which New York will also play the Lakers and Clippers.

Following those three contests, the Knicks wrap up their five-game road trip with matchups against the Jazz and Pacers before returning to The Garden to face the Warriors on March 15. 

A lot could be said about the game the other day between the Utah Jazz and the Denver Nuggets: Jokic’s antics, the officiating, or the absolute battle we saw between Jamal Murray and Keyonte George. Something else entirely caught my eye, though. When I saw it at first I was beyond perplexed, but as I gave the situation time to breathe, I became less perplexed and more astonished.

Will Hardy, that beautiful genius that he his, throws Elijah Harkless into the game to guard the three time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. While at face value that decision could seem utterly insane, but let’s take it a step further and look at the Tale of the Tape:

Height

Harkless: 6’3” / Jokic: 6’11”

Weight

Harkless: 195 / Jokic: 284

Wingspan

Harkless: 6’7” / Jokic: 7’3”

NBA Games Logged

Harkless: 22 / Jokic: 791

Contract

Harkless: 2-Way / Jokic: A BIG one

By literally every single metric this should not have been a fair contest for our boy. I do understand the logic behind it; Jokic has struggled with being defended by smaller guards in the past so coaches could very easily try to gameplan for him that way. The smaller guards that he struggles against aren’t exactly scrubs, though. Alex Caruso, Jrue Holiday, and Lu Dort are All-Defensive caliber players. You can’t just throw anyone out there and expect them to slow Jokic down, but Hardy gave Elijah Harkless a shot. Did he deliver? You tell me.

After going undrafted in the 2023 NBA Draft he had to scratch and claw his way to the league. The growth was steady and game by game, minute by minute, it seemed like he was ready to take that next step. His first year (2023-2024) he averaged 11.6 PPG in 22 minutes for the Clippers G-League team. The next year he takes a HUGE jump to nearly 27 PPG in 31 minutes for the San Diego Clippers and our Salt Lake City Stars. Then this year he was poised to do the same and in just 5 regular season games for the Stars he averaged 25.8 PPG on 47/32/95 shooting splits in just 25 minutes. After finding his way in the G-League he proved that he had reached the zenith of his abilities that could be shown at that level.

According to Two-Way Talents (a great database to keep tabs on every 2-way contracted player in the NBA) Harkless is listed as a 5-Star prospect. Being a 5-Star anything is obviously very good but it is also a prime area to end up in No Man’s Land. For the longest time he was too good for the G-League (hasn’t played for the Stars in over 6 weeks) but not quite good enough to play for the Jazz on a consistent basis. That is, until the recent game against the Houston Rockets.

He didn’t score that game, and we did lose 125-105, but he picked up 2 steals and 4 assists in 14 minutes of play. The next game against the Pelicans he played 20 minutes, scored 11 points, 6 assists, and had a career high 4 steals. The next game, also against the Pelicans, he played 28 minutes, scored 14 points, picked up 5 assists, and 1 steal. That brings us to the game against the Nuggets, and while going 0/5 from the field isn’t ideal, continuing to show your playmaking chops (3 assists) and your defense is very encouraging.

When the team has a record of… well, let’s not talk about the record, actually. When your team is in the middle of a rebuilding phase I think that it’s vital to:

a) collect talent

b) give that talent reps

and c) see what roles that talent could fulfill in the future

Most championship level teams have guys who fall into certain categories and don’t stray too far from that categorization. Let’s take the Oklahoma City Thunder for example. The have their “guy” in SGA, a versatile wing in Jalen Williams, a defensive anchor in Chet Holmgren, a bruiser big in Isaiah Hartenstein, an older vet to help you win games in Alex Caruso, and then of course you have the defensive and three point role players to fill out the roster like Isaiah Joe, Lu Dort, Jaren McCain, and Cason Wallace.

Now let’s cross reference that with our team (assuming everyone is still on the roster next season).

The Guy: Keyonte George / our first round draft pick this year

Versatile wing: Ace Bailey (?), Brice Sensabaugh

Defensive anchor: Jaren Jackson Jr.

Bruiser Big: Walker Kessler

Older Vet: Lauri Markkanen

Role Players: Kyle Filipowski, Isaiah Collier, Cody Williams, and now potentially Elijah Harkless

Now, I am in no way saying that this team could replicate what the Thunder have done over the last couple of years. All I’m saying is that if we hope to replicate their success we need to start fulfilling roles with particular archetypes of players.

All of this is obviously predicated on if Elijah Harkless can keep this level of production up. We don’t have a huge sample size but I’d have to imagine that we’ll see pretty heavy rotational minutes from him for the remainder of the year. What we do have right now are some pretty impressive advanced stats to go off of. According to databallr we can already see that he’s a very active defender: he averages 21 shots contested per 100 possessions which is in the 80th percentile, 3.7 steals per 100 possessions which is in the 95th percentile, 8.1 deflections per 100 possessions which is in the 96th (!) percentile, and even more bonkers than that is that he has a 6.3% stop percentage (steals + offensive fouls drawn + blocked shots recovered by the defense) and a relative forced turnover amount (steals + offensive fouls drawn) of 4.1 per 100 possessions which is in the 99th and 100th percentile respectively.

Advanced stats are certainly not the be-all/end-all that a lot of people on NBA Twitter would have you believe. I think that they have their place, and that place is to give you a glimpse into what a player could be if given the opportunity. I, personally, am more concerned with the eye test and Elijah passes that test as well.

To borrow a phrase, he just has that dawg in him. Most guys in his situation do. People who don’t get drafted, have to play YEARS in the G-League, and also have to claw their way onto a losing team’s rotation aren’t guys who are just goofing off. They’re dedicated, they’re hungry, and they’re out to prove a point. His defensive tenacity is something that you can’t teach; it is very much something that has to be a part of your soul. I wouldn’t ever want to put these kinds of expectations on a player so young in their career, but these last couple of games have me believing in a very high ceiling for Harkless.

Do I think he’ll be a perineal All-Star? No. Do I think he’ll be a Defensive Player of the Year candidate? No. Do I think he could be one of the most effective defenders in the league, though? The limited game tape is kind of pointing me in that direction. If we’re choosing the believe in the future of this team (like we all should) then I think we should also believe in the future that Harkless could have for us. Every contending team needs a “willing to die on this floor” defender. Every contending team needs a guy who isn’t afraid to clamp up the best in the world. Every contending team needs a Jalen Suggs, a Jrue Holiday, an Alex Caruso, or a Lu Dort. I think there’s a chance that we very well may have found ours in Elijah Harkless.

Am I a prisoner of the moment? Did I actually underestimate Harkless and what he could be for this team? Or did I get it just right? Sound off in the comments and let me know what you think the ceiling and the floor could be for him and a player and the team as a whole next year.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Heloisa Carrera scored 16 points, including the go-ahead jumper late in the fourth quarter, and Arizona State held off Arizona 54-51 in a first-round matchup at the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday.

The Sun Devils, 2-0 against their in-state rival in the regular season and six games better in the Big 12 standings, never led by more than four points in the second half.

The 15th-seeded Wildcats took their last lead at 51-50 when Blessing Adebanjo nailed a jumper with 2:51 remaining. The No. 10-seed Sun Devils (23-9) scored on their next two possessions when first Carrera then Last-Tear Poa knocked down mid-range jumpers, giving Arizona State its 54-51 lead. Neither team scored again.

Daniah Trammell and Sumayah Sugapong each scored 12 points and Noelani Cornfield added 10 for the Wildcats (12-18).

Arizona State led 18-17 after one quarter and 29-28 at halftime.

There were three lead changes and three ties in the first five-plus minutes of the third quarter. Neither team scored in the next 2 1/2 minutes, then Arizona State went ahead 44-42 at the end of the quarter.

Up next

Arizona State faces No. 7-seed Iowa State on Thursday, with the winner moving on to play second-seeded West Virginia in the quarterfinals.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball.