They looked every bit like the nation's best defensive team, keeping the Wolverines off the offensive glass and out of transition. And while the Blue Devils don't look as explosive on the offensive end as some of the other top teams, they sandwiched that Michigan win with two games against Syracuse and Notre Dame in which they scored 201 total points.
Last season, Haugh was a key reserve for the Florida team that cut down the nets in San Antonio. This season, he is a bona fide All-America candidate and first-round NBA draft prospect who could lead the Gators to their second back-to-back national title reign in program history. His scoring average has increased from 9.8 to 16.9 points while maintaining a similar impact on the glass with 6.0 rebounds per game.
Raptors sophomore point guard Jamal Shead recorded a new career-high 13 assists against the Los Angeles Clippers tonight. Shead's playmaking has been outstanding this season, and due to being placed in the starting lineup due to all the injuries Toronto faced, he was given able to have the opportunity to reach this career high. Shead is posting averages of 7 points per game, and 5.5 assists per game.
The Washington Wizards have an abundance of young talent on the roster, but as of late, one talent in specifc has began to turn heads. Reigning No. 6 overall pick Tre Johnson began the season rather slowly after adjusting to the NBA game, but over the last few weeks, the explosive guard has seen his confidence grow. With head coach Brian Keefe making it a priority to maximize Johnson's skillset on offense, the rookie has began to finally find his rthym.
With at least 41 games in the books for every NBA team, let's take stock of what we've learned from the first half of a 2025-26 campaign already full of surprise contenders, historic performances and plenty of twists and turns. ( And one trade!) A pair of young teams -- the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder and the resurgent Detroit Pistons -- raced out to massive leads in both conferences.
Before this season tipped off, it would have seemed equally unlikely that this late-January edition of Power Rankings would feature Nebraska in the top five or Miami (Ohio) at all. And yet, that's where things stand after two of the three remaining unbeatens survived another week without a loss. Looking purely at efficiency-based metrics, which tend to be more predictive than résumé-based metrics, neither team fits the bill on paper.
The Golden State Warriors are now at the center of that shift. Jimmy Butler III' s season-ending torn ACL comes just as Golden State had found momentum, winning 12 of its last 16 games and posting its best on-court plus-minus with Butler as the connective piece. His absence removes more than just scoring, stripping the team of structure, late-game decision-making and defensive stability.