By R.L. Bynum
It was a week full of ups and downs for former UNC players, highlighted by big games for Cade Tyson and Jalen Washington, but it also included a season-low game for Tyler Nickel, Elliot Cadeau’s fourth straight loss to Duke and an injury to Ian Jackson.
Tyson bounced back in a big way after tying his season-low with 12 points in Minnesota’s 61–44 Tuesday win at Oregon by scoring 27 points, seven 3-pointers and 10 rebounds for his third career double-double (second this season) in Saturday’s 80–61 home victory over Rutgers for the Gophers (13–14, 6–10 Big Ten).
It was the ninth game with at least three 3-pointers for Tyson, who is shooting 40.9% from 3-point range, one short of his season-high of eight in a Jan. 14 win against Texas Southern.
No. 19 Vanderbilt (21–6, 8–6 SEC) lost both games last week, falling 81–80 Wednesday at Missouri and 69–65 Saturday at home against Tennessee, with Washington and Nickel having very different performances.
While Nickel scored a season-low three points on 1 of 8 shooting against the Vols, Washington had a block party. The senior center, starting his seventh consecutive game, blocked a career-high six shots, scored eight points and tied his career-high with 10 rebounds.
In the loss to Missouri, Nickel had 11 points, three 3-pointers, five rebounds and three assists, while Washington contributed six points and four rebounds.
Cadeau’s trouble with Duke continued in an epic game in Washington on Saturday night. He dished out six assists against one turnover, but had eight points on 1 of 8 shooting. That one was a big late 3-pointer that wasn’t enough in a 68–65 loss to No. 3 Duke, which figures to supplant the Wolverines (25–2) as the No. 1 team on Monday.
In Cadeau’s four-game losing streak against the Blue Devils, his lone double-figure scoring game was 15 points in UNC’s 74–71 loss in last season’s ACC tournament. Cadeau fell to 2–4 against the Blue Devils, winning his first two matchups when Carolina swept Duke in the 2023–24 season. He scored seven points in both of those games.
Cadeau scored a team-high 17 points with three 3-pointers and seven in Tuesday’s 86–56 home blowout of UCLA.
No. 17 St. John’s (25–5, 15–1 Big East) rolled to its 13th consecutive victory without sophomore Ian Jackson. Jackson missed the Red Storm’s 81–52 home win Saturday over Creighton with a sprained right ankle suffered in the 76–70 Wednesday win over Marquette. In that game, Jackson had eight points, three rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes.
Ven-Allen Lubin collected 12 points and six rebounds against his former team as N.C. State (18–8, 9–4 ACC) blew out No. 16 UNC 82–58 on Tuesday. He leads the ACC in field-goal percentage at 68.9%.
In other action in the last week:
— Teonni Key had 10 points and eight rebounds in No. 16 Kentucky’s 81–79 Sunday loss at No. 5 Vanderbilt.
— Trayanna Crisp combined for 18 points as Mississippi State (18–10, 5–9 SEC) beat Arkansas 76–66 on Monday but lost 71–56 to Florida on Thursday and 92–52 to No. 4 Texas on Sunday.
— RyLee Grays had two points and two assists on Friday as Tulsa (17–9, 9–5 American) beat UAB 59–55.
— Puff Johnson combined for six points as Ohio State (17–10, 9–7 Big Ten) split two games, beating No. 24 Wisconsin 86–69 on Tuesday and losing 66–60 Sunday at No. 15 Michigan State. Johnson started Sunday, scoring two points in 19 minutes.
— Will Shaver was scoreless in Samford’s 78–75 Thursday loss at The Citadel and had four points and four rebounds in Saturday’s 89–86 loss to Mercer.
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Elliot Cadeau, Michigan guard
6–1, 180 pounds | Junior | UNC 2023–25 (2 seasons)
Roster situation — Starter
Season statistics — 38 games, 38 starts, 10.2 points, 41.6 FG%, 37.7 3P%, 69.4 FT%, 2.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists
Team record: 35–3; Rank: No. 3
Friday: 90–77 win Midwest Regional Sweet 16 in Chicago vs. No. 18 Alabama — Started; 33:37, 17 points, 6–14 FG, 3–8 3FG, 2–5 FT, 5 rebounds, 2 fouls, 7 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 1 block, +15
Sunday: 95–62 win Midwest Regional final in Chicago vs. No. 23 Tennessee — Started; 34:20, 8 points, 3–7 FG, 1–2 3FG, 1–2 FT, 3 rebounds, 2 fouls, 10 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 steals, +30
Next game — 8:49 p.m. Saturday vs. No. 2 Arizona at Final Four in Indianapolis, TBS
Trayanna Crisp, Mississippi State guard
5–8 | Senior | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starter
Season statistics — 30 games, 30 starts, 8.7 points, 38.3 FG%, 37.1 3P%, 84.6 FT%, 2.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists
Team record: 18–13
Season ended with SEC tournament loss
RyLee Grays, Tulsa forward
6–4 | Junior | UNC 2023–24 (1 season)
Roster situation — One of four forwards competing for time
Season statistics — 30 games, 2.3 points, 43.6 FG%, 4–10 3FG, 69.7 FT%, 2.3 rebounds, 8 blocks, 12 steals
Team record: 19–12
Season ended with loss in American Conference tournament
Ian Jackson, St. John’s guard
6–5, 195 pounds | Sophomore | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starter, sharing time in a point-guard-by-committee mix
Season statistics — 36 games, 19 starts, 9.4 points, 40.9 FG%, 34.3 3P%, 90.0 FT%, 2.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists
Team record: 30–7; Rank: No. 13
Friday: 80–75 loss in East Regional Sweet 16 in Washington vs. No. 1 Duke — Didn’t start; 16 minutes, 5 points, 2–8 FG, 1–7 3FG, 2 rebounds, 2 fouls, 2 assists
Season ended with loss to Duke
Puff Johnson, Ohio State
6–8, 190 pounds | Graduate | UNC 2020–23 (3 seasons)
Roster situation — Reserve
Team record: 21–13
Season statistics — 9 games, 1 start, 2.3 points, 33.3 FG%, 3–7 3FG, 6–9 FT, 1.1 rebounds
Season ended with first-round NCAA tournament loss to TCU
Teonni Key, Kentucky forward
6–4 | RS senior | UNC 2022–24 (2 seasons)
Roster situation — Starting forward
Season statistics — 28 games, 28 starts, 11.4 points, 51.2 FG%, 2–15 3FG, 69.8 FT%, 7.5 rebounds, 1.2 blocks
Team record: 25–11; Rank: No. 17
Saturday: 76–54 loss in Fort Worth Regional 1 Sweet 16 vs. No. 3 Texas — Started; 31:31, 10 points, 2–8 FG, 0–1 3FG, 6–6 FT, 9 rebounds, 4 fouls, 2 assists, 2 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block, -17
Season ended with loss to Texas
Ven-Allen Lubin, N.C. State forward
6–9, 250 pounds | Senior | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starting center
Season statistics — 34 games, 34 starts, 13.6 points, ACC-leading 66.8 FG%, 27.3 3P%, 73.3 FT%, 7.1 rebounds
Team record: 20–14
Season ended with NCAA First Four loss to Texas
Tyler Nickel, Vanderbilt wing
6–7, 220 pounds | Senior | UNC 2022–23 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starting forward
Season statistics — 36 games, 36 starts, 13.5 points, 44.4 FG%, 40.0 3P%, 84.7 FT%, 3.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists
Team record: 27–9: Rank: No. 22
Season ended with loss to No. 4 Nebraska in the second round of the NCAA tournament
Paulina Paris, SMU guard
5–9 | Senior | UNC 2022–24 (2 seasons)
Season statistics — 20 games, 12 starts, 9.6 points, 39.9 FG%, 25.0 3P%, 69.7 FT%, 2.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists
Team record: 9–21, 2–16 ACC
Season ended with left foot injury in February
Will Shaver, Samford center
6–10, 265 pounds | RS junior | UNC 2022–23 (1 season)
Roster situation — Reserve minutes
Season statistics — 30 games, 2.6 points, 47.6 FG%, 33.3 3P%, 59.3 FT%, 2.6 rebounds, 17 blocks, 7 steals
Team record: 18–14
Season ended with loss in Southern Conference tournament
Cade Tyson, Minnesota wing
6–7, 180 pounds | Senior | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starter
Season statistics — 31 games, 32 starts, team-leading 19.6 points, 50.0 FG%, 42.2 3P%, 82.6 FT%, 5.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists
Team record: 15–17
Next game — 10:30 Wednesday at College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas vs. Baylor, FS1 (first game since March 11)
Jalen Washington, Vanderbilt center
6–9, 240 pounds | Senior | UNC 2022–25 (3 seasons)
Roster situation — Backup center
Season statistics — 36 games, 9 starts, 8.9 points, 56.3 FG%, 29.4 3P%, 74.1 FT%, 5.6 rebounds, 1.3 blocks
Team record: 27–9; Rank: No. 22
Season ended with loss to No. 4 Nebraska in the second round of the NCAA tournament
Photo via gophersports.com
