SI:AM | Another Night of College Hoops Upsets

Plus, the best fits for two top NFL free agents.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. The only sports story I really want to talk about right now is MLB’s see-through pants, but let’s get into some college basketball news instead.

In today’s SI:AM:

⛹️‍♀️ Meet JuJu Watkins

⚾ Yankees owner doesn’t mince words

🏀 ​​NBA second-half preview

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March starts in one week

With March Madness at the doorstep, start paying closer attention to the teams that could make some noise in the NCAA tournament. To that end, let’s run down a handful of notable upsets from last night’s action.

No. 14 Indiana Hoosiers 86, No. 4 Iowa Hawkeyes 69 (women)

The Hooisers handed Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes just their fourth loss of the season. Clark had a terrible night shooting the ball, making just eight of her 26 shot attempts, her second-worst shooting percentage in a game this season. Clark was 3-of-16 from three and also turned the ball over five times. She won’t have to play in hostile environments like Assembly Hall come tournament time, though.

The game shouldn’t change how anybody feels about this Iowa team. Obviously, the Hawkeyes are in trouble when Clark has an off night. But it should open some eyes to how good Indiana is. The Hoosiers are now 22–4. All four losses came on the road, three of them against teams currently ranked in the top four in the country (Ohio State, Stanford and Iowa). The Hoosiers have experience—four of their five starters are seniors—and rank 10th in the nation in offensive efficiency. Pick them to go deep in your bracket.

No. 21 Washington State Cougars 77, No. 4 Arizona Wildcats 74 (men)

The Cougars went on the road last night and beat the Wildcats to take over first place in the Pac-12. Trailing 74–71 with less than 30 seconds to play, Wazzu’s Jaylen Wells hit a three-pointer to tie the game and was fouled after the shot. He hit the ensuing free throw to take the lead and the Cougars won. Wells, a junior transfer from Division II Sonoma State, finished with a season-best 27 points.

Washington State is ranked in the AP poll for the first time since 2008. That’s before Klay Thompson arrived on campus. It’s been a down year for the Pac-12 (only four teams have fewer than 10 losses), but the Cougars have proven they deserve to be taken seriously by beating Arizona twice.

North Carolina Tar Heels 80, No. 6 NC State Wolfpack 70 (women)

The ACC might be the deepest women’s conference in the country this season. (It’s up there with the Big 12 and Pac-12.) The Tar Heels have struggled in conference play, at one point losing four in a row, but picked up a big win at home last night in knocking off the Wolfpack. North Carolina was never in danger of missing out on the tournament, but the win will help its seeding and was important to pick up before a very challenging road game against No. 8 Virginia Tech on Sunday.

Duke Blue Devils 58, No. 17 Syracuse Orange 45 (women)

The Tar Heels’ win wasn’t the only big upset in ACC women’s action, as Duke knocked off Syracuse on the Orange’s home court.

Similar to Iowa, Syracuse relies heavily on star guard Dyaisha Fair, who ranks 11th nationally with 21.8 points per game. The fifth-year senior is currently sixth on the NCAA’s career scoring list and is second to Clark in three-pointers made this season. Fair struggled last night, going 7-for-25 from the field, and her teammates didn’t pick up the slack. The Orange made just 25% of their shots and only three players scored more than two points.

Tarleton State Texans 77, Grand Canyon Lopes 74 (men)

Every year, there’s a mid-major team that breezes through its conference and enters the NCAA tournament with a gaudy win total. This season, that’s Grand Canyon, which entered last night’s game at 24–2, the fewest losses of any men’s team in the country. But Tarleton State spoiled the party, handing the Lopes their second conference loss of the season.

The Texans are no pushover, either. They’ve now won seven in a row and established themselves alongside GCU in a tier above the rest of the WAC. The top two teams in the conference will receive a bye to the WAC tournament semifinals, so a rematch could be looming.

The best of Sports Illustrated

John W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated; Illustration by Laura Angle/Sports Illustrated

• Emma Baccellieri profiled JuJu Watkins, the star USC freshman who is reviving a once-great Trojans women’s basketball program.
• Stephanie Apstein was at Yankees camp yesterday, where owner Hal Steinbrenner said last season was a “failure on every level.”
• Matt Verderame has a list of the best fits for two of the top wide receivers on the free agent market this offseason, Mike Evans and Tee Higgins.
• The reported expansion of the College Football Playoff to 14 teams will only enrich the sport’s biggest conferences, Pat Forde writes.
• Here are the five NBA story lines Rohan Nadkarni is paying attention to as the second half of the season gets underway.
• Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart was suspended for punching Suns center Drew Eubanks.
• Albert Pujols will manage a team in the Dominican winter league next season.

The top five...

… things I saw yesterday:

5. LSU baseball player Hayden Travinski’s bat that looks like a pencil.

4. The Padres’ comically packed dugout during their spring training game.

3. Stephen Curry’s no-look, mid-air, behind-the-back assist.

2. This outrageously creative layup by Kyrie Irving.

1. NHL referee Garrett Rank’s announcement after a replay review: “You’re not going to like it, but the call on the ice was correct. No goal.”

SIQ

New England Patriots coach Jerod Mayo, who turns 38 today, is one of two members of the Patriots’ 2008 draft class who went on to become an NFL head coach. Who is the other one?

• Mike Vrabel
• Kevin O’Connell
• Kliff Kingsbury
• DeMeco Ryans

Yesterday’s SIQ: John Reid, known as the “Father of American Golf,” founded the United States’ oldest golf club when he demonstrated the sport for a few friends on Feb. 22, 1888, on a cow pasture in what state?

• Florida
• Massachusetts
• New York
• South Carolina

Answer: New York. February is, of course, a great time for golf in the Northeast. Sheesh!

While golf and the related Dutch game of kolf had been played in North America for over 100 years, it was Reid who is credited with formally introducing the game to the U.S., beginning with a demonstration on a three-hole course on a cow pasture in Yonkers.

The demonstration was a success, and Reid’s friends decided to take up the game. They continued playing golf on the cow pasture, using an old apple tree as an unofficial clubhouse to hang their coats. Reid, who had moved to New York from Scotland, named their club the Saint Andrew’s Golf Club, after the famous club in his home country. It still exists today, although not on the original site of the cow pasture. It moved to nearby Hastings-on-Hudson in 1897.