By R.L. Bynum
St. John’s and Michigan are the top seeds in league tournaments this week, but Elliot Cadeau had an up-and-down week, while Ian Jackson’s slump continued. Ven-Allen Lubin produced one good game for struggling N.C. State, while Cade Tyson had two big games.
Meanwhile, some women’s conference tournaments have already been completed, with Teonni Key having three good games for No. 17 Kentucky.
The No. 3 Wolverines (29–2, 19–1 Big Ten) won twice to finish the best regular season in program history. In Thursday’s 71–68 win at Iowa, Cadeau collected 11 points and nine assists.
But Cadeau only had two points and two assists in Sunday’s 90–80 home win over No. 8 Michigan State, his seventh game this season with five or fewer points and seventh with two assists or fewer.
In the six-day, 18-team Big Ten Tournament, No. 1-seed Michigan plays at noon Friday against either No. 8 Ohio State, No. 9 Iowa, No. 16 Oregon or No. 17 Maryland. The latter two meet in Tuesday’s first round.
Cade Tyson’s Minnesota team (15–16, 8–12) is the No. 11 seed and meets No. 14-seed Rutgers in the second round of the Big Ten tournament at 9 p.m. Wednesday. Tyson scored 21 points and three 3-pointers in Wednesday’s 77–47 loss at Indiana. He scored 15 points in Saturday’s 67–66 home win over Northwestern, playing the entire game for the seventh time this season.
Puff Johnson didn’t play in either Ohio State game last week because of a foot injury. The Buckeyes (20–11, 12–8) are the No. 8 seed in the Big Ten tournament and face No. 9-seed Iowa at noon Thursday.
Jackson had three fouls in three scoreless minutes in the 72–65 Friday win for the No. 18 Red Storm (25–6, 18–2 Big East) at Seton Hall. It was his eighth time failing to score in double digits in the last nine games, with three or fewer points in four of those games.
No. 1-seed St. John’s opens Big East tournament play at noon Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 8 Butler and No. 9 Providence.
Ven Allen-Lubin scored six points in 12 minutes, both season lows, while battling foul trouble in Monday’s 94–64 home loss to No. 1 Duke. He rebounded with a team-high 17 points and 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season in his senior-day game, an 86–84 Saturday loss to Stanford.
N.C. State (19–12, 10–8 ACC) hasn’t won since beating North Carolina, and takes a four-game losing streak into the ACC tournament. The Wolfpack is the No. 7 seed, and plays in the second round at noon Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday’s Pittsburgh-Stanford first-round game.
Key was consistent in three SEC tournament games for No. 17 Kentucky (23–10), and now awaits Selection Sunday to see where the Wildcats start the NCAA tournament.
The senior forward had 12 points in Wednesday’s 94–64 win over Arkansas, then 14 points and 12 rebounds in Thursday’s 76–61 win over Georgia for her sixth double-double of the season. In the Wildcats’ 87–64 quarterfinals loss to No. 3 South Carolina, she collected 13 points and eight rebounds.
Tyler Nickel continued to see his scoring output dip as No. 24 Vanderbilt (24–7, 11–7 SEC) won its final two regular-season games, making only 2 of 9 3-point attempts but pulling down five rebounds in each game. He’s scored in single digits in three of the last five games after doing so in only five of his first 26.
Nickel had nine points in Tuesday’s 89–86 overtime win at Ole Miss and seven points in Saturday’s 86–82 victory at Tennessee.
Jalen Washington, who has come off the bench in the last three games after starting the previous eight, scored seven points in both games last week. He had three rebounds before fouling out against Ole Miss and had eight rebounds against Tennessee.
Elsewhere among former UNC players:
— Trayanna Crisp had three points and two assists as Mississippi State (18–13) lost 86–68 on Wednesday in the first round of the SEC tournament to Florida.
— RyLee Grays combined for 21 minutes, five points and two steals as Tulsa (19–11, 11–7 American) split its final two regular-season games, winning 53–41 at UTSA on Wednesday and losing 76–61 at home Saturday against East Carolina. The Golden Hurricane opens play in the American Conference tournament at 1 p.m. Thursday.
— Will Shaver had two points and two blocks as Samford (18–14) lost 86–61 Saturday to Furman in the first round of the Southern Conference tournament.
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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
