Jaylen Brown Hits Free Throws to Win State Title as UCLA Watches
Jaylen Brown hit two foul shots with
Jaylen Brown hit two foul shots with
St. John’s may have lost on the court on Saturday, but they got a win in the recruiting column.
Sammy Barnes-Thompkins, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Phoenix (AZ) Sunnyslope and Planet Athlete National Prep, committed to the Red Storm, according to his AAU coach, Kenny Mullins.
“Big congrats to my boy @Iheart_samson55 and his commitment to St John’s university!!!” he Tweeted.
He is rated the No. 100 shooting guard nationally and No. 3 in Arizona by 247Sports composite rankings. Iowa State and Cal were among the other schools involved.
By CHRIS RUSSELL
LEXINGTON, Ky.— Having gone through their first 30 games of the regular season without a loss, Kentucky entered Saturday just one victory away from its first unbeaten regular season.
The No. 1 Wildcats completed their final regular-season assignment, running away to a 67-50 victory over the Florida Gators in Rupp Arena to improve to 31-0.
“It’s a great story for college athletics. Their [draft] stock personally has risen,” said Kentucky head man John Calipari. “Everybody benefits from this. I’m really proud of them.”
While Kentucky has many stars, it has been the play of freshman Karl-Anthony Towns that has NBA scouts drooling as of late. The big man from Piscataway, N.J., scored 13 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, blocked 6 shots, one shy of his career-high, and dished 3 assists.
Towns, who is projected as the No. 2 pick by DraftExpress.com, has averaged 14 points per game in the last six contests. The big man does have an advantage defensively and shoots a higher free-throw percentage than Jahlil Okafor, who is currently projected No. 1.
“We all know how good [Towns] is, but I’m on him because I want him to be the best,” Calipari said. “I don’t want him to be just a good big guy, I want him to be the best.”
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PHILADELPHIA — Villanova will head into the postseason as red-hot as any team in the nation not named Kentucky.
After a close first half, the No. 4 Wildcats destroyed visiting St. John’s, 105-68, at Wells Fargo Center for their 12th straight win. Villanova’s last loss came Jan. 19 at Georgetown.
After taking a 40-38 halftime lead, Villanova outscored St. John’s 65-30 in the second half. The Wildcats committed just three turnovers in the game, none in the second half.
“Villanova played lights out,” Johnnies coach Steve Lavin said. “There’s a reason they’re 29-2 and a have a No. 1 seed all but locked up.”
Daniel Ochefu went for 21 points and 9 rebounds, JayVaughn Pinkston had 18 and 6 and Dylan Ennis scored 17 points. Darren Hilliard added 14 points and Josh Hart had 13.
“I think we’re playing as well as anybody in the country, I really do,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “I think we can beat anybody in the country, and I think we can get beat by a lot of teams.”
One day after the NCAA handed out heavy penalties to the Syracuse basketball program for lack of institutional control, head coach Jim Boeheim skipped the post game press conference following his team’s 71-57 loss at N.C. State and had assistant coach Mike Hopkins meet the media instead.
The game was the last of the season for Syracuse, which self-imposed a postseason ban and finishes the season 18-13, 9-9 in the ACC.
According to Syracuse.com, Hopkins said Boeheim didn’t address the media so he didn’t have to say “no comment” over and over.
“This is my first [press conference]. Am I doing OK?” Hopkins said.
In his comments, Hopkins, who has been dubbed the head coach-in-waiting at Syracuse, reportedly didn’t answer any questions about the NCAA investigation.
Asked how Boeheim is handling the infractions, Hopkins said: “[Boeheim] is a legend. What he’s done, I don’t think anybody will be able to do ever again. He’s a special guy. It’s going to be hard, I can tell you that. He’s a legend. A superhero.”
Here’s the final Big East Tournament bracket.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11
FIRST ROUND
7 p.m. — No. 9 Marquette vs. No. 8 Seton Hall
9:30 p.m. – No. 10 Creighton vs. No. 7 DePaul
THURSDAY, MARCH 12
QUARTERFINALS
Thon Maker and Thomas Bryant both attended Indiana’s 74-72 loss to Michigan State on Saturday.
Give the assist to Indiana assistant Chuck Martin for recruiting both studs and getting them on campus for Indiana’s
“Enjoyed my visit Today at #IU,” the 7-foot Maker from Orangeville Prep in Ontario Tweeted.
“Great visit with Coach [Tom] Crean and Coach Martin. #IU visit was a lot of fun. Tough loss but they fought back and had a chance.”
Maker, who said he is “pushing toward” reclassing to 2015 from 2016, plans on taking more visits down the road.
