Howard University's sports have been a punchline or worse my whole life, and since before I was even around, and that's a mighty long time. I learned too much about Howard's athletic awfulness when I covered D.C. sports for Washington City Paper beginning in the 1990s. My education started when I wrote about the school's 1996 basketball team, which was in the middle of the worst losing streak in the NCAA at the time.
Duke is the pre-tournament favorite for a second straight year and the 10th time overall, tying North Carolina for the most tournaments as the favorite since 1979, according to ESPN Research. The pre-tournament favorite has won eight of the last 20 tournaments.
A 6ft 3in ballast in the paint, Crooks belongs to a protected class of hooper, the velveteen giant post players who win with touch as much as brute force. In the early 2000s, Troy Jackson a 6ft 10in, 375lb streetball legend who played under the stage name Escalade lit up And1 Mixtape crowds with his buttery shoulder rolls and no-look passes.
The Bearcats had recovered from a disappointing start to the season by winning seven of nine games down the stretch to play themselves into NCAA tournament consideration. But in a must-win game against UCF in the Big 12 tournament on Wednesday, they blew an eight-point lead in the final two minutes of regulation and ultimately lost in overtime, 66-65.
While we appreciate the team's perspective and their desire to move forward, we have heard significant concerns from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners and employees.
Jordan Harrison scored 20 points, Sydney Shaw added 17 and No. 15 West Virginia avenged two regular-season losses to No. 10 TCU by beating the reigning Big 12 tournament champion 62-53 in the conference title game on Sunday. Harrison also had six rebounds and four assists while wreaking havoc on defense, and Kierra Wheeler contributed 10 points, helping the second-seeded Mountaineers (27-6) win their second Big 12 tourney title and first since the 2016-17 season.
It was the quickest six points I've ever witnessed in my life. Off the basket, Norwich took the ball out with two timeouts in the chamber. Smid smothered her matchup on the inbound pass, eventually coming up with a steal and a short bank shot to tie the game. Norwich took the ball out again -- and once again, Smid collected another steal.
Young played just 19 minutes in his Wizards debut, finishing with 12 points, six assists and two rebounds, while shooting 4-for-9 from field goal range and just 1-for-5 from beyond the arc. Despite not posting a premiere stat line in his first game in Washington, the playmaker's prescense on the court was undeniable.
