South Carolina guard Ta'Niya Latson drove into the paint in the third quarter. As she went up for the layup, she was met by USC guard Kennedy Smith, who rose up and swatted the ball so hard into the stands that it knocked the hat off a fan sitting a couple rows deep in the Crypto.com Arena crowd. That ended up being the highlight of the Trojans' second half.
Freshman Cam Ward had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Coen Carr scored 15 points and had seven rebounds and No. 22 Michigan State beat No. 14 Arkansas 69-66 on Saturday night in a matchup of Hall of Fame coaches. The Spartans (2-0) grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and converted them into 18 points, a staple of Tom Izzo's program for 31 seasons.
Behind another dominant performance from three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, the Denver Nuggets slammed the door on the Miami Heat Wednesday evening with a 122-112 win inside Ball Arena in Denver, Colo. Jokic tallied his fifth triple-double of the season, dropping an absurd 33-point, 15-rebound, 16-assist statline across 37 minutes, shooting 12-of-18 from the floor and 2-of-5 from 3-point range. Denver completely undressed Miami on the glass,
Boozer got the message -- and then proceeded to take over the game. After failing to score in the first half, Boozer rallied to finish with 15 points and 13 rebounds -- 10 of those after halftime -- as the sixth-ranked Blue Devils overcame a 33-32 halftime deficit to beat Texas 75-60 in the Dick Vitale Invitational at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
However, with a depleted Cavs squad, it became more a matter of handling Mobley and supporting pieces like De'Andre Hunter and Jaylon Tyson. While the Cavaliers' size might lead some to believe they would outclass Toronto, it was worth noting that the Cavs have been struggling with rebounding too, ranking in the bottom five league-wide ( averaging 40.7) alongside the Raptors (who are averaging 38.0).
Heat records fastest pace in six years: For most of the Jimmy Butler era - heck, for most of Erik Spoelstra's career outside of the Big 3 - the Miami Heat have been one of the league's slowest teams. That wasn't the case in their season opener. Miami played at the fastest pace it has in six years, according to NBA.com's tracking data, averaging 111.5 possessions per 48 minutes.
