No. 25 Auburn Tops Penn For Sixth Straight Win

Auburn 86, Oklahoma 68

Johni Broome recorded 24 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocked shots to help No. 25 Auburn notch an 88-68 nonconference victory over visiting Penn on Tuesday night.

Chad Baker-Mazara added 16 points as the Tigers (11-2) won their sixth consecutive game. Auburn has won those games by an average of 24 points.

Denver Jones scored 12 points and K.D. Johnson had 11 for the Tigers in the wire-to-wire triumph.

Sam Brown scored 20 points and Tyler Perkins added 13 points and eight rebounds for Penn (8-7). The Quakers were without leading scorer Clark Slajchert, who injured an ankle in their 81-42 loss to No. 3 Houston on Saturday and is out for the “foreseeable future,” according to the school.

Auburn made 49.2 percent of its shots and was 12-of-35 from 3-point range. The Quakers hit 41 percent of their attempts and made 10 of 28 from behind the arc.

Penn trailed by 19 at halftime but quickly made up ground in the second half. The Quakers scored 16 of the first 22 points to pull within 57-48 on Niklas Polonowski’s 3-pointer with 14:37 left in the contest.

A short time later, Auburn resumed control with a 10-0 burst. Broome made three baskets during the run as the lead reached 70-49 with 10:37 remaining in the game.

Baker-Mazara scored four points in 20 seconds as the Tigers increased their lead to a game-high 76-52 with 8:34 left.

Penn scored the next eight points before Auburn answered with an 8-2 run. Broome connected on a 3-pointer with 3:34 left to make it 84-62 and the Tigers closed it out.

Broome and Jones each scored 12 first-half points as Auburn led 51-32 at the break. Perkins had 12 in the half for the Quakers.

Broome scored eight points in the first 2 1/2 minutes as the Tigers jumped out to an 11-2 lead.

Jaylin Williams later knocked down a 3-pointer to cap an 11-0 burst as Auburn took a 24-9 lead with 12:12 left in the half.

The Tigers made 10 of 19 3-pointers and led by as many as 20 during the half.

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    WCC to Add Grand Canyon and Seattle in 2025

    WCC adding Seattle U and Grand Canyon University

    WCC adding Seattle U and Grand Canyon University

    Seattle and Grand Canyon will be leaving the Western Athletic Conference and moving to the West Coast Conference starting July 2025.

    The nine current members of the conference are private universities with a religious affiliation. Seattle is a Jesuit institution, while Grand Canyon, situated in Phoenix, is a Christian college.

    Grand Canyon’s basketball achievements were a significant factor in attracting WCC commissioner Stu Jackson. The team has participated in the last two NCAA Tournaments and three of the previous four under the leadership of coach Bryce Drew.

    As the 12th-seeded Antelopes defeated fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s before losing to Alabama in the tournament this season.

    Saint Mary’s is currently a member of the West Coast Conference.

    The WCC, while also integrating Oregon State and Washington State this autumn (excluding football), will expand from 11 to 13 members by the 2025-26 season.

    The future beyond 2026 looks uncertain, with Oregon State and Washington State appearing unlikely to continue with the WCC.

    The former Pac-12 schools are under a two-year contract, expiring on June 30, 2026. Sources from CBS Sports suggest that the odds of the two Pacific Northwest institutions staying are slim, with a move to the Mountain West or a new conference formation being more probable.

    Following the departures of Sam Houston and New Mexico State last year, Seattle and Grand Canyon’s exit from the WAC will reduce the conference’s membership to just eight by July 2025.

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  2. College Sports News

    Ex-Cal State Fullerton G Max Jones Commits to Kansas State

    Kansas State adds athletic wing in left-handed shooter Max Jones

    Kansas State adds athletic wing in left-handed shooter Max Jones

    Former guard of Cal State Fullerton Max Jones has made a decision to join Kansas State for his upcoming collegiate season, according to reports.

    Notable alternatives that Jones purportedly pondered were New Mexico, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Florida Atlantic, and Loyola Chicago.

    During the previous season with the Titans, Jones maintained an average of 15.3 points and 3.0 rebounds across 24 games, in which he started 21. He secured the second-highest scoring position within the team, alongside being the second in 3-pointers with 42 baskets and 41 steals.

    In the season prior, Jones held an average of 12.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 32 games, amassing 34 three-pointers and 30 steals.

    Before making his way to Cal State Fullerton post the 2021-22 season, Jones spent two years at Division II Tampa, where he managed to achieve an average of 21.9 points across 21 games during his sophomore year with the Spartans.

    In the recent offseason, Kansas State acquired Dug McDaniel, a former player from Michigan recognized as one of the premier point guards available in this year’s transfer portal.

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  3. College Sports News

    Stanford Names Basketball Court in Honor of Tara VanDerveer

    View From The Top with Tara VanDerveer, Former Coach of Stanford Women’s Basketball

    View From The Top with Tara VanDerveer, Former Coach of Stanford Women’s Basketball

    Tara VanDerveer’s legacy at Stanford will now be visibly acknowledged, with the school revealing on Thursday that the basketball arena’s floor will bear the name of the esteemed Hall of Fame coach.

    At the age of 70, VanDerveer stepped down following her 38th season at the helm of the Cardinal.

    She steered Stanford to 14 Final Fours and secured three national championships (1990, 1992, 2021). VanDerveer embarked on her coaching journey at Idaho (1978-80) and later coached at Ohio State (1980-85).

    In January, she surpassed Mike Krzyzewski to clinch the title of the most successful college basketball coach in history, across both men’s and women’s teams. VanDerveer concluded with a remarkable 1,216-271 record, boasting a 1,064-220 tally with the Cardinal.

    Alongside the unveiling of the Tara VanDerveer Court at Maples Pavilion this November, Stanford also established an endowed position in women’s basketball for an assistant coach in VanDerveer’s honor.

    VanDerveer said in a statement, “This endowment will go a long way to strengthening the future of Stanford women’s basketball. I have many wonderful memories of leading the women’s basketball program at Maples Pavilion.”

    “It’s an honor, and a little surreal, to know that my name will be linked to both in these ways, and I look forward to celebrating with all our fans this fall.”

    Last month, Stanford appointed Kate Paye, one of VanDerveer’s longtime assistant coaches who played for the Cardinal from 1991-95 and began coaching under VanDerveer in 2007, as the new head coach.

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