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Miami vows to keep finding ways to win, faces hot-shooting Cal

Syndication: The Greenville NewsClemson Tigers guard Dillon Hunter (2) defends Miami Hurricanes guard Tre Donaldson (3) Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, during the NCAA men’s basketball game at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, South Carolina.

Miami is one of the surprises of the season in the Atlantic Coast Conference as it gets set to host Cal on Saturday afternoon in Coral Gables, Fla.

The Hurricanes (17-4, 6-2 ACC) have engineered a complete turnaround from last season’s disaster that saw them finish 7-24 with just three conference wins.

First-year head coach Jai Lucas brought in an entirely new roster, and it has paid dividends.

Malik Reneau leads the team with 19.7 points per game. Point guard Tre Donaldson averages 16.1 points and a team-high 6.2 assists. And five-star freshman Shelton Henderson is mature beyond his years, averaging 14.2 points and 4.6 rebounds.

The Hurricanes, after a recent two-game losing streak, have bounced back with a pair of nine-points wins over Syracuse and Stanford.

“We’re a new team — first-year coach and no returners,” Donaldson said. “We’re going to have ups and downs like everybody else.

“But can we stay together and find ways to win? I feel like we’re going to continue (to improve) as we get closer to March, when it really counts.”

Meanwhile, Cal (15-6, 3-5) has lost four of its past six games. That includes a 63-61 loss at Florida State on Wednesday.

Still, the Golden Bears — in Year 3 under coach Mark Madsen — have already eclipsed last season’s win total of 14.

It’s been a full decade since Cal made the NCAA Tournament, and the task has gotten tougher with the move to the ACC.

This season’s squad is led in scoring by Dai Dai Ames (16.8). Lee Dort tops the squad in total rebounds (7.7) and offensive boards (2.0). And Justin Pippen leads in assists (4.1) and steals (1.9).

Pippen, the son of NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, is shooting 36.8% on 3-pointers. Pippen, who had a game-high 19 points against Florida State, played last season for Michigan and was a seldom-used reserve.

“I made the wrong choice (signing with Michigan),” Pippen said. “But now I’ve made the right one.”

Cal ranks fourth among ACC teams with 36.5% shooting from the arc, bolstered by Ames (41.1%), John Camden (40.3) and Chris Bell (33.7).

–Field Level Media

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Heat rally in 4th quarter to take down Rockets

NBA: Houston Rockets at Miami HeatFeb 28, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) argues with Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the first quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Bam Adebayo posted a double-double, and Andrew Wiggins ignited a fourth-quarter rally after returning from an in-game injury to lead the Miami Heat to a 115-105 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Saturday.

Adebayo paired 24 points with 11 rebounds to help the Heat snap a two-game skid. Pelle Larsson (20 points) and Tyler Herro (18) contributed to the balanced scoring attack for the Heat, who also received double-digit efforts from Jaime Jaquez Jr. (14 points) and Kel’el Ware (13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds) off the bench. The Heat shot 50% overall from the floor.

But it was Wiggins, who took an elbow to the jaw from Rockets center Alperen Sengun and needed stitches in his cheek to close the gash, who led a critical fourth-quarter surge. He assisted on a Ware alley-oop and a Larsson 3 to put the Heat ahead 100-92 before his transition dunk resulted in a three-point play and a 111-103 lead with 2:24 remaining.

Wiggins finished with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

Kevin Durant scored a game-high 32 points and added eight assists for the Rockets. Amen Thompson (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Tari Eason (10 points, 11 boards) added double-doubles, while Reed Sheppard chipped in 14 points and five assists for Houston.

The Rockets turned an early run, capped by a Sheppard 3, into a 14-4 lead, only for the Heat to respond with an 8-0 rally. Adebayo hit a 3-pointer to give Miami a 27-26 lead, and the Heat carried a 32-28 advantage into the second quarter after hitting 6 of 13 from beyond the arc in the first.

Miami extended its lead to double digits on a Ware tip-in, and led 41-28 before the Rockets scored their first basket of the second quarter with an Aaron Holiday 3-pointer at the 7:07 mark. That ended a 19-2 run by the Heat and sparked another Houston rally, featuring Sheppard and Durant combining to hit three 3-pointers and tie the game at 48.

The Rockets led 52-51 at the intermission after Miami missed 7 of 8 3-pointers in the second.

–Field Level Media

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Braeden Carrington explodes for 32 points as Wisconsin routs Washington

NCAA Basketball: Wisconsin at WashingtonFeb 28, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Braeden Carrington (0) shoots a three point shot over Washington Huskies guard Zoom Diallo (5) during the second half at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Braeden Carrington came off the bench Saturday to score a career-high 32 points and Wisconsin knocked down 17 3-pointers to earn a 90-73 Big Ten Conference road win over Washington in Seattle.

Nick Boyd added 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Badgers (20-9, 12-6 Big Ten), while Nolan Winter chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds. Wisconsin canned 44.7 % of its 38 3-point attempts, with Carrington going 9 of 15.

Freshman Hannes Steinbach led the Huskies (14-15, 6-12) with 22 points and 11 rebounds, his 18th double-double of the season and the most by a Big Ten player since Jared Sullinger of Ohio State collected the same total 29 years ago. Zoom Diallo scored 21 points.

Washington made 46% from the field but simply couldn’t mute the Badgers’ potent perimeter game. Bouncing back from an 85-71 upset loss Wednesday night at Oregon, Wisconsin earned a 39-35 edge on the boards and committed only six turnovers.

The final margin flattered the Huskies a bit. The Badgers led by as many as 28 points in the second half and cleared the bench by the time Washington scored the final seven points to make the margin more respectable.

Wisconsin set an early tone by stepping up its defense from the loss at Oregon. It held the Huskies without a field goal for a 6:04 stretch of the first half and opened up a 17-4 lead with 13:28 left when Carrington converted a 3-pointer.

Steinbach made two foul shots with 6:51 left to pull Washington within 22-14 but the Badgers pulled away when Carrington hit a 3-pointer and fed Winter for a layup and a 27-14 cushion.

With Boyd canning a short jumper from the baseline, Wisconsin went into halftime with a 36-21 advantage. The Huskies made only 7 of 28 field goals in the first 20 minutes and were outrebounded 25-17.

Boyd led the charge with 14 points in the half, sinking 7 of 14 shots from the field.

–Field Level Media

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Commanding stretch gets No. 2 Arizona past No. 14 Kansas 84-61

NCAA Basketball: Kansas at ArizonaFeb 28, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat (10) dunks the ball during the first half of the game against the Kansas Jayhawks at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Jaden Bradley scored six of his 10 points in a 16-0 scoring run as No. 2 Arizona took charge to deliver an 84-61 victory over No. 14 Kansas on Saturday at Tucson, Ariz.

The Wildcats (27-2, 14-2 Big 12) avenged their loss at Kansas on Feb. 9, which was their first of the season after a program-record 23-0 start. The victory also clinched at least a tie for the regular-season Big 12 title for Arizona.

Brayden Burries led Arizona with 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Koa Peat, who missed the Wildcats’ last three games with a lower-leg muscle strain, had 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Motiejus Krivas finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Arizona and Ivan Kharchenkov had 11 points and six rebounds. The Wildcats outrebounded Kansas 48-26 and outscored the Jayhawks 30-20 in the paint and 16-8 in second-chance points.

Darryn Peterson, out with flu-like symptoms when Kansas beat Arizona in the previous meeting, finished with 24 points for the Jayhawks (21-8, 11-5). Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. each had 13 points for the Jayhawks.

After Arizona took a 47-35 lead with 14:45 remaining, Kansas went on a 12-2 run. Council, who made a 3-pointer early in the run, culminated it with a jumper to cut the Jayhawks’ deficit to 49-47 with 12:07 remaining.

Arizona responded with a commanding 16-0 run to go ahead 65-47 with 8:52 left. Kansas missed seven consecutive shots from the field in the stretch after making five straight.

The Wildcats’ string of seven straight made field goals pushed the lead to 76-56 with 4:42 left.

Arizona went on a 21-2 run to build a 21-5 lead with 13:35 left in the half. During that run, Kansas missed nine consecutive shots from the field.

Arizona scored six unanswered points to take its biggest lead of the first half, 37-19, with 3:52 remaining until halftime. The Wildcats failed to make a shot from the field thereafter in the half, missing five attempts, and Kansas closed with a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 39-28.

Flory Bidunga, who had 23 points and 10 rebounds in the previous matchup with Arizona, did not score and had two rebounds in the first half. He finished with two points and four rebounds.

Arizona outscored Kansas by 20 points at the free-throw line. The Wildcats were 30 of 34 at the line while Kansas was 10 of 11.

–Field Level Media

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