UCLA announced that the freshman trio of LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley will be suspended indefinitely after they returned home from China on Tuesday night.
The trio created an international incident last week when they were arrested for shoplifting in high-end Chinese retail stores in Hangzhou as the Bruins were there preparing for the Pac-12 China Game against Georgia Tech. After being released on bail following the arrest, the three players remained in Hangzhou while UCLA traveled to Shanghai to open its regular season. The team later returned home to the United States without the three players.
According to a report the Washington Post, President Donald Trump personally asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help resolve the case of the three UCLA players during his two-day trip to Beijing last week.
Ball, Hill and Riley all read prepared statements during a press conference at UCLA on Wednesday, thanking the school, UCLA coaching staff, the Pac-12, Chinese officials and President Donald Trump and the United States government for helping them get home. The three players did not take questions from reporters.
“I take full responsibility for the mistake I have made of shoplifting,” Riley said in his statement. “I know this goes beyond me letting my school down — I’ve let the entire country down.”
“To President Trump and the entire United States government, thank you for taking the time to intervene.”
UCLA head coach Steve Alford elaborated on the suspensions by stating that all three players will not be involved in any team activities and will not travel with the team as they will continue to work their way back into the program. UCLA athletics director Dan Guerrero also clarified that the school will continue its investigation into the matter.
CHICAGO — Trevon Duval was easily the biggest question mark among Duke’s five-star freshmen entering the 2017-18 season.
Could Duval effectively run an offense? Would Duval’s lack of a consistent jumper hurt a Blue Devil team that badly needed floor spacing? Was Duval’s style of play too wild for Coach K?
Duval passed his first real test with flying colors against Michigan State on Tuesday night as he was all over the floor, getting in passing lanes and soaring for above-the-rim finishes.
It was only a small part of an eye-opening performance for Duval at the Champions Classic as his 17 points, 10 assists, six steals and three rebounds were a huge part of No. 1 Duke’s 88-81 win over the No. 2 Spartans. Playing 37 minutes, and only turning the ball over three times, Duval was the steady presence with the ball that the Blue Devils needed in an early-season game of this magnitude.
In a game featuring the top two teams in the country, Duval was the second best player on the floor. And for a program that has struggled to find a consistent option at point guard the past few seasons, Duval looked like the floor leader that the Blue Devils have sorely lacked.
While much of the national recognition was justifiably geared towards teammate Grayson Allen’s red-hot shooting and Marvin Bagley III’s poked right eye, Duval was a menace on both ends of the floor. Whether it was playing in constant attack mode with the ball in his hands on offense or deflecting a high number of passes at the top of Duke’s surprisingly active 2-3 zone on defense, Duval’s imprint was all over Tuesday’s game.
“It was crazy. It was exciting; really exciting,” Duval said to NBCSports.com. “I was a little bit nervous. But after I started to get rolling a little bit it was just regular basketball.
“I usually get butterflies before every game but I got a little bit more butterflies before this game. But it was more of an anxious type of butterfly. I was ready to go and ready to play and ready to win.”
The metamorphosis of Duval emerging into a potential two-way force is a vital part of Duke’s national championship aspirations. Already the No. 1 team in the nation with a potential ceiling that is unrivaled in college basketball this season, the Blue Devils needed Duval to step up in a big way against Michigan State with Bagley only playing 10 minutes and fellow freshman Gary Trent Jr. struggling with a 3-for-14 shooting night.
It was expected that a player known from his high school mixtapes as “Tricky Tre” could make things happen off the dribble on the offensive end. Duval’s constant activity on defense is something that surprised a lot of people.
“I don’t really know what people really said [about me in the preseason] but I think I play defense a lot better [than people think],” Duval said. “Now that I’m in college I feel as though I gotta cut the head off the opposing team. And that’s the point guard. So, whenever I do that, it makes it harder for the other team to run their stuff.”
Duke’s 2-3 zone has been an interesting subplot at the start of the regular season as head coach Mike Krzyzewski hasn’t relied this much on that type of defensive look in recent years. Duval’s 6-foot-9 wingspan and activity in passing lanes could mean that the Blue Devils rely more on the zone than previously believed. The 2-3 zone definitely helps Duke’s lack of consistent depth off the bench. Duval’s pressure also turned a potentially passive look into a turnover-producing force. Michigan State had serious trouble working the ball into the middle of Duke’s 2-3 zone as Duval applied a lot of ball pressure.
“2-3 is something that we really didn’t play in the first couple games. But in practice, we really go through it so we can run it against certain teams,” Duval said. “We’re really comfortable with it and we know we have really long arms throughout the whole team. So I feel as though we’re comfortable playing that 2-3.”
For as good as Duval was at the Champions Classic, his jumper is still very much a work-in-progress. Finishing 7-for-20 from the field, and going 0-for-4 from three-point range, Duval has to knock down some looks outside of the paint if he wants to keep opposing defenses honest as the season progresses. But also credit Duval with understanding that Allen had the hot hand and that he could play off of the senior’s dominant performance. Still one of the toughest covers in college hoops off of ball-screen scenarios, Duval found a comfort level attacking the basket with downhill drives once Bagley was out and Allen started to get rolling.
“I tried to find Grayson and Gary and the big guys. Try to get them involved, try to get them going. Definitely Grayson when he started to get hot. Tried to find him as much as possible,” Duval said.
“As soon as Grayson started to get hot I had to tell everybody, ‘Find Grayson, he’s gonna knock it down no matter what.’ Once he gets like that, he’s unstoppable.”
It’ll be interesting to see how Duval’s aggressiveness hunting his own offense changes once Bagley returns to the lineup. It didn’t seem like Duval was fully comfortable in the Duke offense until Bagley went down midway through the first half and Duke had to make adjustments. Bagley is going to command a lot of touches on offense and Duval is still developing a chemistry with the Blue Devils’ late-summer addition.
But Tuesday also gave us a glimpse of what Duval can bring on both ends of the floor when he’s confident and rolling. Duke’s ceiling remains completely terrifying if Duval can continue to play like this. In a star-studded Champions Classic that was filled with freshmen talent, Duval was arguably the best among his classmates when it came to making winning plays.
CHICAGO — The second game of the Champions Classic wasn’t quite as “artistic” (using Bill Self’s words for the first game) as Duke’s statement win over Michigan State but the clash between college basketball bluebloods still showed us a few things about two intriguing top-ten teams.
1. Kansas needs more help for Devonte’ Graham when it comes to creating offense
One of the major issues for Kansas on Tuesday night was creating effective offense in the half court. Last season the Jayhawks could rely on Frank Mason, Devonte’ Graham, and to a lesser extent Josh Jackson, to create offense. This current Kansas group is lacking players who can create their own shot in the half court.
The numbers that Kansas put up on the offensive end on Tuesday indicated the struggle. The Jayhawks finished shooting 35 percent (24-for-68) from the floor while their three-point percentage (28 percent on 8-for-28) was even worse.
The length, athleticism and depth of Kentucky’s defense wearing down a team that effectively played only six players definitely had something to do with it. But Kansas looked like they really needed some help for Graham out there. There are only so many times that the preseason All-American floor general can run pick-and-roll with Udoka Azubuike. Especially since Azubuike seemed to be at his best when he could seal and score on post touches.
Malik Newman (4-for-14 shooting for 12 points) struggled to score over length at the rim as he was often trying to do too much on the offensive end. Newman is still a potentially lethal three-point shooter, if he gets hot, but he doesn’t look like a shot creator for himself or others in the half court at this current juncture. Newman really struggled scoring over length at the rim against Kentucky.
Svi Mykhailiuk (17 points) hit some momentum-shifting shots from the perimeter, but he also had an average night on the offensive end creating for himself as catch-and-shoot jumpers remain his most consistent mode of offense. Lagerald Vick might actually be the second best shot-creator for the Jayhawks at the moment. That’s not really saying much. Vick also struggled to a 4-for-13 night from the field.
It will certainly help the Kansas offense to get Arizona State transfer guard Sam Cunliffe at the semester break. Freshman forward Billy Preston is also a noted offensive threat, but Kansas has a long way to go if they’re going to be an effective offensive team. Let’s just keep it simple: Graham needs more help.
2. Kentucky freshman Kevin Knox looks like the real deal
We’ve grown to expect Kentucky freshmen to immediately contribute and become key players since John Calipari has masterfully worked the one-and-done recruiting landscape over the last decade.
There were also some serious questions as to whether freshman wing Kevin Knox, rated by some services as the best Kentucky freshman, could be an effective and potential go-to guy for the Wildcats. The 6-foot-7 Knox answered many of the those questions with his stellar play on Tuesday night. Knox buried three first-half three-pointers as he finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting.
Consistent perimeter shooting was always a major question mark for Knox throughout his high school career. But a hot hand early for Kentucky was a pleasant surprise. Looking like he was ready to play in a huge spotlight game while other Kentucky freshmen struggled, Knox carried the Kentucky offense at times despite not getting nearly enough shot attempts until late in the game.
When Kentucky found themselves down by two points with 33 seconds left, they put the ball in Knox’s hands, letting him go to work as his tough runner along the baseline rimmed out. Even though Knox missed a tough and contested look, just the fact that he looked comfortable the ball in his hands in a critical spot is an important development for a young Kentucky team that needs a takeover guy.
While Knox’s perimeter shooting could ebb-and-flow at times this season, he certainly seems ready to play during big moments. The development of Knox as a potential go-to bucket-getter this season will be fascinating to watch.
3. Udoka Azubuike needs more post touches for a struggling Kansas offense
Kansas was completely overmatched on the interior in terms of sheer bodies on Tuesday night. That didn’t prevent sophomore big man Udoka Azubuike from having a very solid night for the Jayhawks.
Facing four or five different Kentucky big men, many of them former McDonald’s All-Americans, Azubuike finished with 13 points and eight rebounds on 5-for-5 shooting, severely outplaying his Wildcat counterparts.
Looking slimmer and more mobile than last season, the power-based Azubuike is still at his best when he can manhandle lesser opponents in the paint. Besides for the interior buckets, Azubuike was also effective as a screener while doing a great job of walling up on the defensive end without getting into severe foul trouble. This game would have been very ugly if Azubuike got in foul trouble. Thankfully, Azubuike did an admirable job of defending without fouling as the Jayhawks didn’t have a lot of size without Preston in the lineup.
For as good as Azubuike was, one of the big problems for Kansas was getting him enough effective opportunities to make plays in the post. It seemed like only Devonte’ Graham was doing a good job of working the ball inside for post touches as the other players on the floor for Kansas often hunted their own offense while basically ignoring their lone post target.
Azubuike is never going to be a major scorer commanding double teams based on his post skill. But his power post game is a major asset for a Kansas team that needs all the easy buckets they can get at this point in the season. If Kansas is struggling on offense like they did tonight, they need to get Azubuike more touches to put pressure on opposing defenses.
4. Kentucky’s depth will still create issues and keep them in games
Kansas wasn’t the only team to struggle on the offensive end on Tuesday.
Kentucky’s offense looked just as ugly as they shot 41 percent (23-for-55) from the field and 23 percent (3-for-13) from three-point range. Point-guard play was also an issue for Kentucky as they turned the ball over 18 times — including six alone from freshman Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Despite all of the offensive issues and only one player on the roster, Kevin Knox, making a three-pointer, Kentucky still found themselves with a chance to tie or take the lead with under 30 seconds left against a top-five opponent.
It’s a testament to how Kentucky can still wear opponents down by throwing body-after-body at them in all facets of the game. The Wildcats were able to stay in this game in the second half by hitting the offensive glass hard and scoring whenever they could in transition.
Even with freshman big men Nick Richards and P.J. Washington combining for only one field goal and 11 combined rebounds in 37 total minutes, Kentucky was able to throw talented depth like Sacha Killeya-Jones and Wenyen Gabriel on the floor to give another look.
Killeya-Jones, who spent most of his freshman season stuck on the bench, was particularly solid for Kentucky as his length and perimeter shooting helped the Wildcats. Finishing with eight points and nine rebounds, while blocking three shots, Killeya-Jones looked like another intriguing development for Kentucky to come out of this game.
It’s part of what makes Kentucky so dangerous. It’s a collective group with a lot of promise and potential that is still figuring everything out, and yet, they’re still staying close against a top-five team like Kansas. Like many Calipari one-and-done operations, we probably won’t understand Kentucky’s identity or personnel until the calendar rolls over into the new year.
CHICAGO – No. 1 Duke knocked off No. 2 Michigan State behind a 37-point explosion from Grayson Allen on Tuesday night.
They won despite losing Marvin Bagley III to an eye injury midway through the first half.
Those two things are facts. Here are five things we learned in the process:
1. DUKE’S ZONE LOOKS LIKE IT HAS SOME STAYING POWER
Duke surprised a lot of people when they came out in a 2-3 zone to start Tuesday night’s game. Mike Krzyzewski has been a proponent of an extended, half-court man-to-man that it is weird to see the Blue Devils doing anything other than denying passing lanes, extending out to half court and daring an opponent’s ball-handlers to try and beat them one-on-one.
But that’s not what we got in the United Center on Tuesday night, and it worked.
“I thought they were just playing 2-3 against lower-major teams and when they played higher-major teams they’d go back to man,” Miles Bridges said. “They were deflecting almost every pass. I guess I had five turnovers, Cash had four turnovers, Josh had five turnovers. We couldn’t even get the ball moving like we wanted to.”
Duke didn’t necessarily come into this game thinking that they were going to play only zone, but it was hard to get out of it once they saw how effective it could be. Michigan State had just 14 points with seven minutes left in the first half. They were down 38-34 at the break, and of those 34 points, 13 came in transition and nine came on three straight possessions in a one minute span where the Spartans buried a three. For the most part, that zone took away everything that Michigan State wanted to do.
And it makes sense when you think about it.
Duke has as much size, length and athleticism along their front line as they’ve had in years, and the combination of Trevon Duval and Grayson Allen at the top of the zone causes havoc. It’s the method that Jim Boeheim has used so successfully over the last 40 years.
“We were worried about fouls,” Krzyzewski said. “In man, they were deeper than us and would wear us down. The nervousness of the game, we might get some dumb fouls.”
And they did.
But in the end the zone ended up being enough.
2. TREVON DUVAL IS A HELL OF A PLAYER
Entering the season, Duval was the biggest question mark on this Duke roster. We knew Grayson Allen had an all-american season under his belt. We know that Gary Trent was a scorer. We knew that Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter would be able to anchor the front line.
What we were unsure of was whether or not Duval was the answer to Duke’s woes at the point guard spot.
He sure looked that way on Tuesday night, finishing with 17 points, 10 assists, six steals and three boards while sparking Duke’s transition game and finding a way to create offense when the Blue Devils needed a bucket.
He’s still not a shooter – 7-for-20 from the floor, 0-for-4 from three, 3-for-7 from the line … that’s not good – and that certainly is a concern for the kind of NBA prospect he can be in the long-term. And to be frank, Duval was at his best after Bagley was out of the game, when he didn’t have to worry about running offense through the most talented player on the Duke roster.
But that’s neither here nor there.
Duke just beat the No. 2 team in the country without Bagley, and Duval was the second-best player on the floor in the game. That means something.
3. MICHIGAN STATE HAS THEMSLEVES A PLAYER IN JAREN JACKSON
Miles Bridges did everything he could to bring Michigan State back in this game, and Nick Ward was a bastion of productivity, as he always is.
But the guy that made a name for himself on Tuesday night was Jaren Jackson, a five-star, 6-foot-11 freshman forward that has the talent to be a top ten pick whenever he decides to enter the NBA Draft. He finished with 19 points and seven boards, but more important was the fact that he went 3-for-5 from three and blocked three shots. Players that provide rim protection on end and floor-spacing on the other are, quite literally, the most valuable commodity in basketball when it comes to role players, and Jackson may be the best at that role in the country this year.
He’s the perfect four-man to play alongside Bridges and Ward, and while Michigan State is leaving Chicago with a loss, they should sleep well knowing that their front line made Bagley and Carter look normal.
4. JAVIN DELAURIER IS GOING TO PLAY A MAJOR ROLE FOR THE BLUE DEVILS
DeLaurier didn’t play much as a freshman and didn’t get much attention heading into this season. He may have been a top 50 prospect coming out of high school, but when you’re behind three five-star players on the depth chart a year after failing to crack the rotation, it’s hard to get too excited.
But DeLaurier proved who he can be on Tuesday night, finishing with four points, seven boards, four assists, three steals and two blocks. He’s not all that skilled, but he is long and athletic, and he plays hard. Those are things that are incredibly value to a team that has a plethora of scorers in their starting lineup, particularly when that team is going to be playing quite a bit of zone this year.
In fact, DeLaurier made arguably the biggest play of the game on Tuesday. With just over three minutes left, he grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked the ball out to Grayson Allen, who gathered an assist by swinging the ball to a wide-open Gary Trent. Trent buried a three that broke a 75-all tie and gave Duke a lead they would never relinquish.
DeLaurier isn’t ever going to be a star, but he’ll thrive in the role he’s asked to play.
5. MICHIGAN STATE’S BACK COURT IS STILL A QUESTION MARK
Cassius Winston had 11 assists on Tuesday night. He also had five turnovers, shot just 1-for-5 from the floor and finished with just three points. Josh Langford made some plays in transition, but he was 3-for-9 from the floor and missed some critical shots in the second half.
Those were the major question marks with this team heading into the season.
Could Winston protect the ball? Would he and Langford be able to provide a scoring punch in the back court? If they couldn’t, would there be someone off the bench that would be able to find a way to chip in?
On Tuesday night, the answer was … not really?
It came against the No. 1 team in the country, yes, and their performance was certainly far from bad, but it wasn’t enough for them to get a win over Duke. They need to be better.
CHICAGO — Kansas used a late three-pointer from Malik Newman and some clutch free-throw shooting to outlast Kentucky, 65-61, on Tuesday night in a disjointed second game of the Champions Classic.
With both teams struggling to score in the half court for much of the night, Newman’s trey with 2:10 left proved to be a critical bucket for the No. 3 Jayhawks (2-0) as the redshirt sophomore also knocked down two important free throws late in the game. Svi Mykhailiuk paced the Jayhawks with 17 points to lead an ugly offensive effort while big man Udoka Azubuike tallied 13 points and eight rebounds on 5-for-5 shooting. Newman finished with 12 points.
Preseason All-American Devonte’ Graham had a sluggish 3-for-14 shooting night for Kansas but he iced the game with two free throws with 7.1 seconds left as he finished with 11 points and five assists.
The No. 7 Wildcats (2-1) had a solid effort from freshman Kevin Knox as the five-star wing looked like he was ready to play in a high-pressure game. Knox finished with a game-high 20 points as his perimeter shooting and ability to create his own shot were a bright spot for Kentucky.
Freshman guard Hamidou Diallo was the only other double-figure scorer for Kentucky as he ended with 14 points. Kentucky’s interior struggled much of the night as freshmen P.J. Washington and Nick Richards provided little-to-no help on either end of the floor.
George Washington went into Tallahassee and lost to Florida State, 87-67, on Tuesday night, but it wasn’t totally a lost cause for the Colonials.
Or at least for Terry Nolan, Jr.
The 6-foot-2 freshman threw down a vicious one-handed dunk over the Seminoles’ 6-foot-9 forward Mfiondu Kabengele to at least leave with quite the memory.
Nolan had 18 points on 8 of 12 shooting on the night.
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