Reserves Guide No. 7 Duke Past Virginia Tech in Enthralling Match

Jeremy Roach and Ryan Young combined for 26 points off the bench to lead No. 7 Duke past Virginia Tech 77-67 on Monday in Blacksburg, Va.

Roach scored 16 points and Young tied his season high with 10 for the Blue Devils (16-4, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who outscored the Hokies 26-4 in bench points.Kyle Filipowski supplied 14 points, Tyrese Proctor added 12 points and Jared McCain paired nine points with 10 rebounds in Duke’s first win at Blacksburg since Dec. 6, 2019.

MJ Collins led Virginia Tech (13-8, 5-5) with 17 points and made half of the Hokies’ six 3-pointers. Hunter Cattoor tallied 15 and made his 300th career 3-pointer, while Sean Pedulla and Lynn Kidd each chipped in 12 points. The Blue Devils scored from inside and out to pull away after Cattoor’s 3-pointer trimmed Duke’s lead to 45-42 with 14:07 remaining.

Roach and Proctor combined for three triples while Young and Mark Mitchell produced in the paint over a four-minute stretch that grew the Blue Devils’ advantage to 61-51 with 9:56 to play.

Virginia Tech pulled no closer than seven after Pedulla’s layup closed the gap to 63-56 with just under eight minutes remaining.Collins appeared to injure his left leg after his dunk closed the scoring with 23 seconds to play. The guard eventually walked off the court under his own power.Duke finished 9 of 17 (52.9 percent) from 3-point range compared to the Hokies’ 6-of-22 mark (27.3 percent) and outrebounded Virginia Tech 38-20.

Roach and Caleb Foster each scored eight points throughout a free-flowing first half that ended with the Blue Devils ahead 35-29.All five Virginia Tech starters scored before the first media timeout at 12:38, at which point Duke led 14-13 thanks to two 3-pointers from Foster.

The Blue Devils continued to hum as the pace slowed and widened their lead to 21-13 on Young’s layup that capped a 12-0 run.Duke took its largest lead of the half at 32-21 on Mitchell’s dunk before the Hokies rallied behind Collins, who bookended an 8-0 run with a pair of treys that pulled Virginia Tech to within 32-29 in the half’s final minute.

Collins, who entered Monday averaging 5.7 points per game, led all first-half scorers with 13 points.Roach’s last-second 3-pointer left the Blue Devils ahead by six at halftime.

  1. College Sports News

    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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