UNDATED (AP) — While most of the country breaks out the sweaters and fleece jackets to embrace fall, down in the South you can still find hints of summer on the football schedule. Several Power Five teams across the South including No. 1 Georgia will be playing glorified scrimmages this week while conference championships and playoff spots will be on the line elsewhere. There already are signs the eventual expansion of the College Football Playoff will encourage more aggressive scheduling. The cupcake games probably will never go away for good, but here’s hoping they can at least be limited to the first two months of the season.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Trayce Jackson-Davis scored 18 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked two shots as Indiana fended off a relentless charge by St. John’s 76-74 in the Gavitt Games, a series pitting the Big Ten against the Big East. The Red Storm were visiting Indiana’s Assembly Hall for the first time in 29 years and made it memorable, remorselessly whittling a 14-point first-half deficit down to a chance to win at the buzzer. Julian Champagnie scored 32 points for St. John’s, 22 in the second-half comeback, but his 3-pointer for the game didn’t fall and the Hoosiers Jordan Geronimo controlled the rebound as time expired.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gabe Brown scored 19 points, freshman Max Christie added 18 and Michigan State beat Butler 73-52 in the Gavitt Tipoff. Michigan State jumped out to a 22-8 lead behind nine points from Christie. A 10-0 run, opened and closed by Christie, early in the second half made it 44-28 and the Spartans led by double figures the rest of the way. Marcus Bingham Jr. chipped in with 10 points and six blocks for Michigan State. Ty Groce had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Chuck Harris added 13 points for Butler.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Taylor Mikesell and Rebeka Mikulasikova each scored 19 points, the 21st-ranked Ohio State women shot 57% from the floor and outpaced Bowling Green 94-63. Mikulasikova made eight of 13 shots whole Mikesell made four of the Buckeyes eight 3-point shots. Jacy Sheldon added 17 points and Kateri Poole 11 for Ohio State. Morgan Sharps came off the bench and got hot late scoring 14 of her 21 points for Bowling Green (1-2) in the final 10:42. Zoe Miller added 12 points.
UNDATED (AP) — The NCAA women’s basketball tournament is expanding to 68 teams beginning with the current season, giving it an equal number of participants as the men’s tournament as part of a concerted effort at gender parity. The men’s tournament expanded to 68 teams in 2011 with four first-round games traditionally played in Dayton, Ohio. The expansion of the women’s tournament was among the recommendations put forth in August after a comprehensive external gender equity review conducted by the law firm Kaplan Hecker & Fink. It was commissioned after backlash driven by social media of disparities in the men’s and women’s tournaments, including weight rooms and other facilities.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard and the school have agreed to a five-year extension totaling over $16.9 million that keeps him under contract through the 2025-26 season. The announcement was made by athletic director Warde Manuel on Tuesday night, a couple hours before the reigning Associated Press coach of the year led the fourth-ranked Wolverines against Seton Hall. Manuel hired Howard in May of 2019, giving the Miami Heat assistant and member of Michigan’s Fab Five a chance to be a head coach. Howard replaced John Beilein when he bolted to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers.
