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🐐 Good morning to everyone but especially …
CAITLIN CLARK AND THE NO. 6 IOWA HAWKEYES
Last year, Antoine Davis came up just short.
Sunday, Caitlin Clark flew past it with room to spare, and she did it in her team’s best win of the season. The Iowa superstar scored 35 points to surpass Pete Maravich‘s NCAA Division I scoring record as the No. 6 Hawkeyes beat No. 2 Ohio State, 93-83.
- In her final regular-season home game, Clark put on an absolute show. She entered the game 18 points shy of passing Maravich and got there with a free throw with under one second left in the first half.
- It didn’t come with the magnificence of the deep 3-pointer to break Kelsey Plum‘s NCAA D-I women’s record, but it capped a terrific first half for the hosts, who led by nine at the break and held firm.
- Clark has been busy recently: In addition to Plum’s and Maravich’s records, she also passed Lynette Woodard for most points in major-division women’s basketball; Woodard played before the NCAA sponsored women’s basketball. Clark also declared for the WNBA Draft last week — and no, she won’t lose money by going pro.
While the individual accolades are remarkable, the Hawkeyes winning was similarly impressive. The Hawkeyes lost by eight at Ohio State in January, and the Big Ten-champion Buckeyes had won 15 straight entering Sunday. But Clark and Hannah Stuelke (23 points) led the way — the perfect start to the best month in college basketball.
Iowa wasn’t the only top team with a big win over the weekend: No. 1 South Carolina finished off a 29-0 regular season with a 76-68 win over Tennessee. Isabel Gonzalez has the numbers behind perfection.
👍 Honorable mentions
🤕 And not such a good morning for …
JALEN BRUNSON AND THE NEW YORK KNICKS
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The Knicks are in wait-and-hope mode … again. Jalen Brunson left Sunday’s win over the Cavaliers just seconds into the game with a non-contact knee injury and did not return. X-rays came back negative, and Tom Thibodeau called it a “contusion” postgame.
When healthy, the Knicks have been one of the NBA’s best teams, and Brunson holding them together through injuries has been one of the NBA’s best stories. He entered Sunday averaging 27.7 points and was selected to his first All-Star Game last month. Perhaps most importantly he has missed just four games, helping New York survive an onslaught of injuries.
And that’s just the starters.
Even with the win, New York is 3-7 in its last 10 games and 36-25 overall. That’s fourth in the East but just 1.5 games ahead of the Heat in seventh and 2.5 ahead of the Pacers in eighth, so if the Knicks want to avoid the play-in, they’ll have to hope Brunson doesn’t miss much time.
In more NBA injury news, Russell Westbrook fractured his hand, as did Scottie Barnes.
👎 Not so honorable mentions
- Tyron Smith is not expected to return to the Cowboys.
- Oklahoma softball’s 71-game winning streak — the longest in NCAA D-I history — is over after a 7-5 loss to Louisiana.
🏀 No. 1 Houston survives; No. 3 UConn, No. 4 Tennessee thrive
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The first weekend of March was dramatic, illuminating and consequential — basically everything college basketball in March should be.
Let’s start with No. 1 Houston, which had a problem with Oklahoma. The Cougars led by as many as 15 points before the Sooners’ furious rally tied it up with 11 seconds left. Then Jamal Shead did what he does, grabbing a loose ball and nailing a fadeaway for an 87-85 win. The Cougars remained alone atop the Big 12 standings.
That wasn’t the most impressive road win, though: No. 4 Tennessee rolled into Tuscaloosa and topped No. 14 Alabama, 81-74, to take control of the SEC regular-season title race with a week to go. Both the Volunteers and the Crimson Tide entered Saturday 13-3 in conference play, and Tennessee took the lead thanks to a balanced effort, and the veteran Volunteers showed tremendous poise on the road. Alabama, on the other hand, made just nine of 37 3-pointers. Rick Barnes‘ squad moved up to the 1 seed line in Jerry Palm’s Bracketology.
Staying in the top five, No. 3 UConn thumped Seton Hall, 91-61, avenging a December loss to the Pirates. The Huskies earned an “A+” in Kyle Boone’s weekly grades following two blowout wins after a loss to Creighton and clinched a perfect home record (16-0) and their first outright Big East title since 1999.
Finally, No. 23 Gonzaga played its way off the bubble … in a good way. The Bulldogs topped No. 17 Saint Mary’s, 70-57, handing the Gaels their first conference loss of the season. Jerry moved Gonzaga up to a projected 8 seed, and Gary Parrish moved Mark Few‘s bunch to No. 23 in his Top 25 And 1.
🏈 NFL Combine: Xavier Worthy sets 40-yard dash record, plus winners and losers
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We always knew Xavier Worthy could run.
At the NFL Combine, we learned he could fly.
The former Texas wide receiver blazed to a 4.21-second 40-yard dash, the fastest in the event’s history, one one-hundredth of a second faster than John Ross‘ 2017 performance.
Though Worthy turned plenty of heads, all eyes were on the quarterbacks, even without Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels doing drills. The battle for QB4 is a close one, and J.J. McCarthy‘s had a solid week. He weighed 219 pounds — way up from the 202 he was listed at Michigan — and earned a “B+” for his on-field work from Josh Edwards.
- Edwards: “There were some outbreaking routes to the left that McCarthy sailed, but he was impressive otherwise. He got his footwork down and was ripping some balls over the middle. McCarthy registered the second-highest velocity on the day, and that showed on deep balls.”
Furthermore, McCarthy posted a 6.82 three-cone drill. For reference, that would have made him the fourth-fastest wide receiver to participate in the drill. While it’s not a popular drill, it showed McCarthy’s athleticism. He averaged 9.3 yards per scramble last year, higher than Williams (8.6) and nearly on par with Jalen Milroe (9.5). We’ve talked about McCarthy’s limited role at Michigan, but he absolutely has the physical upside and intangibles to end up QB4 … and potentially overall pick four, too. Kyle Stackpole looked at how the draft could play out if quarterbacks go first, second, third and fourth, which has never happened before but could be on the table.
Here’s more from Indianapolis:
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🏀 LeBron James reaches 40,000 career points. What’s next?
For the second consecutive season, LeBron James celebrated a major milestone in bittersweet fashion. After breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s NBA career scoring record in a loss to the Thunder last year, James became the only member of the 40,000-point club in a loss to the Nuggets.
James entered the night needing nine points to reach 40K, and he got there with a driving left-handed layup early in the second quarter. Overall, he finished with 26 points, and he’s now averaging 29.8 points per game since the All-Star break.
For the season, James is averaging 25.3 ppg. In a remarkable testament to his longevity, the next-highest scoring season by a player in his 21st season or later is a little bit of a drop off — try 7.4 by Vince Carter. As with every milestone, though, we’re always asking, “What’s next?” It’s especially pertinent for James, whose son Bronny may be close to fulfilling his own NBA aspirations.
So … how many more points will the all-time scoring leader add to his ledger? Sam Quinn has answers.
📺 What we’re watching Monday
🏀 No. 10 Duke at NC State (M), 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Clippers at Bucks, 8 p.m. on NBA TV
🏀 Texas at Baylor (M), 9 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Thunder at Lakers, 10:30 p.m. on NBA TV
