College Basketball

Butler (18-15, 9-11 Big East) Coach Thad Matta’s squad took a major step forward in the second season of his second tenure at his alma mater, but the next step may be much trickier. Yes, the Bulldogs have their two of their top three scorers back from last season. And, yes, the Bulldogs have more continuity without a completely rebuilt …

UConn (37-3, 18-2 Big East) Despite losing three starters to the NBA, UConn won a second straight national title last season. The third-ranked Huskies are looking to become the first team since John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins in the early 1970s to win three in a row at the highest level of men’s basketball. Alex Karaban is the only returning starter, …

DURHAM — Bobby Hurley never wanted to come back to Cameron Indoor Stadium. A two-time national champion with Duke basketball and the NCAA’s all-time assists leader, Hurley never needed closure with the Blue Devils. With head coach Mike Krzyzewski, along with teammates Christian Laettner and Grant Hill, Hurley helped build Duke’s basketball empire. Standing on Coach K Court as the …

DURHAM, N.C. — No one can speak more about the competitive nature of Bobby Hurley than his former coach Mike Krzyzewski. The legendary Duke coach had Hurley for four years, during which time the Blue Devils went to three Final Fours and won back-to-back national championships in 1991 and 1992. Whether it was a game or just a practice, Hurley …

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball coach Mike Woodson repeatedly said he’s “anxious” to see how his new-look roster performs in Sunday’s charity exhibition against Tennessee. Woodson spoke via Zoom with reporters Friday to preview the matchup. The teams have jointly agreed to donate all proceeds from the game to support the John McLendon Foundation. The Vols approached No. 18 Indiana after the NCAA passed a …

Kansas State vs. Kansas: Staff Predictions for Saturday’s Week 9 Game (Photo by © Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK) On Saturday, Kansas State will welcome their cross-state rivals, Kansas, for another edition of the Sunflower Showdown. Outside of the apparent fact that this game means more than any on K-State’s schedule, the Wildcats are looking to continue their …

No. 16 Kansas State vs. Kansas: How to Watch, Odds, Gameday Information Kansas State returns home for the first time in a month, hosting Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown. The Jayhawks haven’t had the season they’ve wanted so far, while K-State has won three straight games. It should be an electric atmosphere inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Here is all …

Kansas basketball took a road trip to face Arkansas for an exhibition game, and the Jayhawks returned home Friday night with an 85-69 loss. It was clear head coach Bill Self’s squad missed having graduate center Hunter Dickinson, junior guard Rylan Griffen and graduate guard Shakeel Moore, with all three out due to injury. Kansas led for less than 30 …

Oct. 25—UNM Lobo senior forward Mustapha Amzil hopes the beginning of this season is nothing like what it was a year ago at this time. A versatile 6-foot-9 forward who came to UNM known as an outside shooting threat, Amzil started an agonizingly bad 1-for-21 from 3-point range over the Lobos’ first 10 games — the audible gasps from Pit …

For the second straight year Purdue will head on the road for an exhibition game to raise money, and for head coach Matt Painter to help prepare his team in a hostile environment. Purdue lost an overtime game at Arkansas last season. Now it stares down a top-15 Creighton team returning one of the nation’s best big men, Ryan Kalkbrenner, …

Top 2025 recruit AJ Dybantsa joins the crowd as Auburn Tigers take on Mississippi State Bulldogs at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, March 2, 2024. Auburn Tigers defeated Mississippi State Bulldogs 78-63. As the 2024-25 college basketball season approaches, numerous teams are searching for ways to make their mark in the early going. That includes Auburn and head …

Tennessee’s Darlinstone Dubar (8) is defended by Tennessee’s Felix Okpara (34) and Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler (5) during a men’s basketball practice in Thompson-Boling Arena in Food City Center, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images No. 12 Tennessee will open its 2024-25 basketball season against Gardner-Webb on Nov. 4 (7 p.m. EST). Tennessee won …

The start of the new college basketball season is just about here, and the Penn State Nittany Lions are looking to surprise many this year. The second season under head coach Mike Rhoades unofficially got underway Friday night with a charity exhibition game against Lafayette on the campus of Lebanon Valley College, Rhoades’ alma mater. Penn State came out on …

The Colorado Buffaloes will play the Cincinnati Bearcats in a Big 12 matchup this weekend airing on ESPN. (Christopher Hook/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) It will be a pretty even matchup at Saturday’s Big 12 game between Cincinnati and Colorado, who each boast a 5-2 record going into Week 9 of the NCAAF. Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, who threw for …

Kenyon Sadiq and the Oregon Ducks will play Illinois this Saturday in a Big 10 matchup, here’s how to watch. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images) The no. 20 Illinois Fighting Illini (6-1; 3-1 Big Ten), who are coming off a major win against Michigan last weekend, will head west to Eugene, Oregon on Saturday for a game against the Oregon Ducks. It’s …

Preview: Arizona State at Duke (exhibition) Taking a look at the impact of Khaman Maluach’s surprisingly loud voice on defense; plus everything you need to know for the Blue Devils’ second and final preseason game Duke freshman center Khaman Maluach high-5s fans on his way into Countdown to Craziness. (Photo by Jaylynn Nash/USA Today Sports Images) Sometime over the summer, …

Boogie Fland shows off in first action as Razorback FAYETTEVILLE — The preseason exhibition between the No. 16 Arkansas Razorbacks and No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks may not have meant anything in the win-loss column, but fans got a heavy dose of freshman guard Boogie Fland, who was electric in an 85-69 win for the Razorbacks on Friday night at Bud …

Arkansas basketball opened the John Calipari era with an impressive 85-69 win over No. 1 Kansas in a preseason exhibition Friday night. The No. 16 Razorbacks controlled the game from start-to-finish, shooting 48.3% from the field as starting guards Boogie Fland and DJ Wagner led the offense in an efficient performance. The coaches agreed to a unique format for the …

Oct. 25—PALM DESERT, Calif. — Gonzaga’s Khalif Battle is thrilled to line up against somebody not sporting Zags practice gear, but the Arkansas transfer will still a familiar face on the opposing bench when GU faces USC in an exhibition contest Saturday. Battle had an eventful season with the Razorbacks last year under coach Eric Musselman. Battle was out, in, …

The Michigan basketball freshman point guard crossed over, stepped back and let it fly. It was a heat-check 3-pointer from LJ Cason and sure enough, it fell through the net, much like most everything else the 18-year-old threw up in the first half of his Crisler Center debut, a 96-92 exhibition victory for the Wolverines over Toledo. Cason made all …

Toledo put up a good fight against Michigan at Crisler Center in Friday night’s exhibition game, but Michigan’s fast-paced offense was too much for the Rockets to handle in the upset bid. The Wolverines escaped with a 96-92 victory, thus concluding exhibition play. Michigan’s offense was freezing cold to start the game. The Wolverines missed seven of their first eight …

Notebook: Replacing Beau Palmer, offensive line depth, Ty Bowman’s growth K-State offensive guard Andrew Leingang (Photo by Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images) On Saturday, Kansas State will suit up for another edition of one of college football’s longest-running rivalries. Since 1911, K-State and Kansas have played in the Sunflower Showdown, making it the fifth-longest continuous series in college football history. It’s …

Kansas basketball will get its first look at how its team is able to perform against another Friday, on the road during an exhibition game against Arkansas. The Jayhawks are coming into the season as the No. 1 team in the nation. The Razorbacks are coming into the season as the No. 16 team in the nation. Each ranking comes …

Oct. 25—The news on Thursday of ‘s two-year contact extension that will carry the Illinois women’s basketball coach through the 2029-30 season got me to thinking about five of the key moments from her tenure in Champaign. A tenure that includes 41 wins, an NCAA tournament appearance and WBIT championship. Here’s my list: It wasn’t the tournament the Illini expected …

DURHAM, N.C. — It was Nov. 4, 2010, the first time I visited Duke’s famed Cameron Indoor Stadium. Now, almost 14 years later, I’m back to cover the Arizona State men’s basketball exhibition Sunday in Durham, North Carolina, as Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley returns to the campus that placed him in the national consciousness. It was David vs. Goliath …