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🏀 Good morning to all, but especially to …
THE NO. 22 TEXAS A&M AGGIES
There’s a first time for everything, and No. 22 Texas A&M badly needed a first like this. The Aggies snapped a four-game losing streak with a wire-to-wire 83-72 win over No. 1 Auburn, the first win over a top-ranked team in program history.
- The Aggies honored eight players on Senior Night, and those seniors combined for 70 of the Aggies’ 83 points, with guards Zhuric Phelps (19 points) and Wade Taylor IV (15) leading the way. Fellow senior Andersson Garcia had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
- Texas A&M collected 24 offensive rebounds, tied for the second-most by any team in a game against No. 1. The Aggies out-rebounded the Tigers 41-24 overall and had a 29-11 edge in second-chance points.
- Potential player of the year Johni Broome had just eight points. The good news for Auburn is Bracketology expert Jerry Palm says it remains his No. 1 overall seed.
Speaking of Bracketology, our Cameron Salerno says it was a wild night for several bubble teams.
- Arkansas won at Vanderbilt, 90-77, and Baylor won at TCU, 61-58. Both the Razorbacks and the Bears entered their games in the “Last Four In.”
- Ohio State got a 116-114 double-overtime win over Nebraska. Both teams were in the “First Four Out.”
- Texas, in the “Next Four Out,” threw away a late lead before surviving in overtime, 87-82, at No. 25 Mississippi State.
Oh yeah, and just for fun, No. 23 BYU beat No. 10 Iowa State, 88-85, in double overtime. March!
😁 Honorable mentions
😞 And not such a good morning for …
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KYRIE IRVING, THE DALLAS MAVERICKS AND DALLAS MAVERICKS FANS
Kyrie Irving‘s season is over. So, too, for all intents and purposes, is the Mavericks‘ as a disheartening year turned disastrous. Tests revealed Irving tore his ACL in Monday’s loss to the Kings; he had left with what was initially ruled a knee sprain.
This is as bad as it gets. Irving was carrying the injury-plagued team for several weeks, especially in the wake of the Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis trade after Davis got hurt in his Dallas debut. Davis was reportedly nearing a return.
Now, it’s all for naught; talks about Davis not returning at all this season reportedly began after the Irving news, and Jasmyn Wimbish says Dallas has no other options but to tank.
If you wanted to try justify the Dončić-Davis trade, you could say the Irving-Davis pairing plus a formidable frontcourt made Dallas more balanced and better defensively. It was clearly a win-now move (though the Mavericks had just made the Finals, but, again, I’m trying here).
I’ll never say an injury is karma. It’s not like Irving made the trade, after all. But Brad Botkin — while admitting he hates to speak this way — says this is the basketball gods punishing Dallas for its awful trade.
Next season, Irving will be 33 and coming off a torn ACL that will force him to miss the start of the campaign. Davis will be 32. It’s an absolutely devastating situation for the Mavericks in the short and long term, James Herbert writes.
- Herbert: “The worst part, though, is that Dallas’ immediate future didn’t have to be such a big deal. Before the Dončić trade, a season-ending injury to Irving would have been a big blow to its title chances, but, given that the team appeared to be a few months away from signing one of the league’s three best players to a long-term extension as he approached his prime years, only a temporary setback. … The Davis-Irving era has gotten off to an inauspicious start, and it was never built to last.”
Finally, the race for 10th in the West just got more interesting.
😔 Not so honorable mentions
🏈 Saquon Barkley, Eagles agree to largest running back contract ever
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Join a contender? Check. Win Offensive Player of the Year? Check. Win the Super Bowl? Check. Reset the running back market? Check. Saquon Barkley‘s remarkable run continued yesterday, as he signed a two-year, $41.2 million extension.
Now that that’s done, here’s the Eagles’s offseason to-do list.
Elsewhere around the league …
⚽ UEFA Champions League results, predictions: Real Madrid tops Atletico Madrid
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We knew the Madrid Derby, UEFA Champions League edition, had potential to be awesome. It did not disappoint. Like so often, Real Madrid was victorious, nabbing a 2-1 home win over Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their round of 16 matchup.
All three goals were absolute bangers: Rodrygo smashing one in in the fourth minute, only for Julián Álvarez to curl in a stunner in the 32nd before Brahim Díaz won it with a wonderful solo effort in the 52nd.
Elsewhere …
Here are the scenarios for next week’s second legs of these matchups.
As for today’s first legs, it’s another loaded slate:
- Feyenoord vs. Inter | 12:45 p.m. on CBS Sports Network, Paramount+ | Preview
- Bayern Munich vs. Bayer Leverkusen | 3 p.m. on Paramount+ | Preview
- Benfica vs. Barcelona | 3 p.m. on Paramount+ | Preview
- PSG vs. Liverpool | 3 p.m. on Paramount+ | Preview
That 3 p.m. tripleheader is *chef’s kiss.* Here are our expert picks, best bets and more.
📺 What we’re watching Wednesday
🏀 No. 13 Maryland at No. 17 Michigan (M), 6:30 p.m. on BTN
🏀 No. 5 Florida at No. 7 Alabama (M), 7 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 Heat at Cavaliers, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Capitals at Rangers, 7:30 p.m. on TNT/truTV
🏀 No. 20 Marquette at UConn (M), 8:30 p.m. on FS1
🏀 No. 4 Tennessee at Ole Miss (M), 9 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 Thunder at Grizzlies, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Maple Leafs at Golden Knights, 10 p.m. on TNT/truTV
