O’Neal on father’s path
Shareef O’Neal is following his Hall of Fame father’s path and will transfer to LSU, he told Sports Illustrated.
“Real big footsteps,” he said in explaining his decision to play at the same school where Shaquille O’Neal was a two-time AllAmerican. “But I’m ready for it. Great program. Louisiana is a different scene. I’ve been in L.A. most of my life, but I’m ready for it.”
O’Neal played in 13 games for UCLA this season before recently announcing that he would be transferring out of the program. O’Neal, the No. 32 recruit in the ESPN 100 for the 2018 class, was averaging 2.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 10.2 minutes.
The 6-foot-9 O’Neal sat out his first season at UCLA after being diagnosed with a right anomalous coronary artery and having open-heart surgery to correct the issue. He was cleared to return to the court last March.
Villanova
Collin Gillespie scored a season-high 29 points to lead No. 15 Villanova to a 7656 victory over Philadelphia rival Temple. Jermaine Samuels added 13 points and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had 10 for Villanova (19-6), which won its seventh straight game over Temple while finishing 4-0 in the Big 5. Quinton Rose scored 22 points and Nate Pierre-Louis had 16 for Temple (13-12). Temple and Villanova have been the standard bearers of the Philadelphia Big 5, the yearly city round-robin series that also includes La Salle, Penn and Saint Joseph’s.
Connecticut
Forward Akok Akok suffered an Achilles injury less than a minute into the Huskies’ 64-61 victory against Memphis. He will have an MRI Monday. Coach Dan Hurley was emotional discussing the injury after the game, saying it didn’t look good but the school would know more about Akok’s injury Monday. The 6-foot-9 freshman, who leads the
American Athletic Conference in blocked shots, could not put any weight on the leg as he was helped off the court and returned to the bench wearing a medical boot.
Stanford
Even 40-foot desperation shots take practice.
“We practice that play a million times in practice but I would say there was a little pressure,’’ junior Kiana Williams said after her amazing buzzer-beater allowed No. 8 Stanford to slip past Colorado, 69-66.
Williams hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 12 seconds left, then stole the ball from Mya Hollingshed and sank a 40-footer at the buzzer. Williams, whose 29 points and seven 3-pointers were both career highs, looked as stunned as the Buffaloes as her teammates swarmed her and celebrated in a pile.