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March Madness Is Here, and It's Already Delivering Everything We Love About This Time of Year
It does not matter how many times you have been through it. When March comes, basketball changes. The stakes shift. The desperation is visible. Programs that spent four months building something play their final game with zero warning, and the ones still standing get to keep going. That is the deal.
This week delivered exactly what conference tournament week is supposed to deliver: a half-court heave that ended a season, a 12-win team ending a dynasty's grip on a regular-season title, first-time dancers from places nobody expected, coaches getting ejected in the final seconds, and the clock ticking toward Selection Sunday with bubble teams hanging on by a thread.
Here is everything that happened and why it matters.
The Half-Court Heave That Started It All
The moment that announced this year's March arrived in a Patriot League quarterfinal between Lehigh and Holy Cross, two programs that finished at the bottom of their conference standings all season. What happened next had nothing to do with records.
Holy Cross led 64-58 with 2:43 left when Tyler Boston hit two free throws, and things looked settled. But Lehigh scored the next six points to tie it, then took a two-point lead back and forth before Nasir Whitlock tied it again with a layup. Out of a timeout with 11 seconds left, Boston turned the ball over, giving Lehigh the ball with the length of the court to cover. Whitlock launched from half-court. It went in. Lehigh 69, Holy Cross 66. Season over.
That is the shot that opened conference tournament week for 2026. A program with nothing to lose, a kid at half court, a buzzer. That sequence plays out somewhere every year in March, and it never gets old.
A 12-Win Team Just Wrecked UConn's Night
The biggest story of the final weekend of the regular season did not come from a ranked matchup. It came from Milwaukee, where a Marquette team with 12 wins entered their home finale against the No. 4 team in the country.
Marquette's Ben Gold prevented UConn's Silas Demary Jr. from hitting a game-tying basket with 2 seconds remaining as the Golden Eagles upset the Huskies 68-62. Nigel James Jr. led Marquette with 19 points. UConn shot just 35.6% from the field and went 3-for-24 from three, an impossibly cold shooting night. The no-call on the final play angered UConn coach Danny Hurley enough to get him ejected, and Chase Ross iced the game with four free throws in the final second.
The loss handed St. John's the Big East regular-season title outright. UConn finished 27-4 and entered the Big East tournament as the No. 2 seed.
The optics here are everything. A team that went 7-13 in conference play sent the defending national champions into their tournament with a head coach ejected, a cold-shooting loss, and questions about seeding. That is exactly the kind of moment that makes March what it is.
History Being Made at the Mid-Major Level
Conference tournament week is where programs that spend most of the year flying under the radar get to write their most important chapters. Two of them did exactly that this week.
Tennessee State, coached by former Duke star Nolan Smith, defeated Morehead State 93-67 in the Ohio Valley Conference championship to punch their first NCAA Tournament ticket since 1994. That is 32 years. Three decades of players who put in work and did not get that moment. The team that finally made it did so behind leading scorer Aaron Nkrumah averaging 17.6 points per game, and they did it under a coach whose name carries its own weight in college basketball.
Queens University clinched their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in their first year of eligibility, becoming only the fifth school since 1972 to achieve this feat after winning the ASUN championship. Their first year on the court at the Division I level and they are going to the Big Dance. That kind of thing does not happen, and then it does.
Northern Iowa also punched their ticket to the tournament for the first time since 2016, winning the Missouri Valley Conference title. The last time UNI went to the tournament, they stunned Texas on a half-court shot by Paul Jesperson. The kind of team that shows up with a chip and no fear.
The Bubble Is a Mess and That Is Perfect
Right now, with Selection Sunday set for March 15 on CBS, there is a group of teams that have spent the last week living and dying with every game result across the country.
Virginia Tech has been trying to talk its way into the bracket, keeping hope alive with wins over Wake Forest and Boston College while needing the ACC Tournament to complete the argument. George Mason shocked No. 25 Saint Louis in the regular-season finale, staying relevant. Wisconsin outlasted No. 15 Purdue 97-93 in a game that swung between both sides all night. Oklahoma beat Texas in overtime to keep their own tournament case breathing.
Indiana, which matters to this audience specifically, ended a four-game losing streak with the 77-47 blowout of Minnesota on Senior Night and is holding onto a bubble spot heading into the Big Ten Tournament. One more quality win could seal it.
Every result shifts something. Every loss potentially ends a season that took eight months to build. That is the weight that conference tournament week carries, and this year's version has been delivering from the jump.
What Comes Next
The major conference tournaments tip off this week and run through next weekend, with the bracket reveal on March 15 capping the run-up to the actual tournament. The ACC starts Tuesday in Charlotte. The Big Ten closes on March 15 in Indianapolis. The Big East, SEC, Big 12, and every mid-major conference in between will have their own moments before the field is set.
The games that matter most over the next seven days are the ones where a team on the edge wins when it has to. One buzzer-beater can save a season. One cold shooting night in the wrong arena can end one that looked certain.
Nasir Whitlock already reminded everyone of that from half-court.
March Madness is not coming. It is here.
Selection Sunday is March 15 at 6 p.m. ET on CBS. The 2026 NCAA Tournament tips off March 17. Follow BallerTube for continued coverage throughout the postseason.
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Jacksonville Takes Center Stage: Your Complete Guide to the 2026 FHSAA Basketball State Championships at UNF
For the first time since Gerald Ford was in the White House, Jacksonville is hosting the Florida High School Basketball State Championships. The FHSAA reached a three-year agreement with the University of North Florida and the Jacksonville Sports Foundation to move the tournament from its longtime home in Lakeland to CSI Companies Court at UNF Arena, a modern 5,100-seat facility that has been upgraded with a new playing surface, sound system, and hospitality suite since its 2022 renovation.
The move brings one of the premiere high school sporting events in the state to Northeast Florida for the first time in nearly 50 years. And the talent on display is worth every bit of the wait.
The tournament runs in three separate weeks. The Rural classification champions were crowned February 24 and 27. Classes 1A and 2A play March 5 through 7. Classes 3A through 7A conclude the event from March 9 through 14.
Here is your full breakdown by classification, both boys and girls, along with the favorites, the storylines, and the players you need to know.
Class 1A
BOYS
Sagemont Prep (Weston) enters with five overall state titles in program history and is a perennial contender at the 1A level. They face Impact Christian (27-4) in one semifinal, with Victory Christian (Lakeland) in the other bracket. Sagemont Prep and Victory Christian were finalists last year, and a potential rematch in the championship is a real possibility.
GIRLS
The girls 1A bracket features a rematch of last year's state championship game as Grandview Prep (Boca Raton, 24-4) takes on North Florida Educational Institute (Jacksonville, 16-14), who are still searching for their program's first ever state title. Grandview is chasing their fourth championship overall. NFEI would have home crowd energy playing just minutes from their school.
Favorite: Grandview Prep girls, Sagemont Prep boys.
Class 2A
BOYS
Jacksonville Providence entered as the top-ranked team in the class and is playing some of their best basketball of the season. No team scored forty points against the Stallions during the regional round. Providence faces Northside Christian (Clearwater) in the semis. On the other side, Santa Fe Catholic (Lakeland) squares off against Miami Country Day, which carries size inside with 6-foot-8 senior Kaleb Corbitt.
GIRLS
Miami Country Day is chasing their 11th overall state championship, which would be their fourth in a row. All of their titles have come since 2014. The Spartans enter as the clear favorite on the girls side.
Favorite: Providence boys, Miami Country Day girls.
Class 3A
BOYS
This is the classification everyone in the state is talking about (Fort Lauderdale) is not only the top-ranked team in 3A but the No. 2 program in the entire nation according to the MaxPreps Top 25. The Eagles are loaded with talent, headlined by 6-foot-1 junior guard Cayden Daughtry, who analysts have called possibly the best individual player in the entire state playoffs regardless of classification.
Calvary's semifinal opponent is NSU University School, a surprise entry that has played solid competition all season but has yet to face anything close to what the Eagles will bring. The other semifinal has The Villages Charter taking on Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville, 28-1), which had one of the best records in the state and is making their second Final Four appearance in three years.
GIRLS
The girls bracket features Bolles (Jacksonville, 25-4) against Lake Highland Prep (24-6) in one semifinal, with Somerset Academy Canyons and Carroll School of the Sacred Heart in the other. Bolles brings a home-state advantage with the tournament in Jacksonville and is one of the most consistent programs in Northeast Florida.
Favorite: Calvary Christian boys (heavy). Bolles girls.
Key Players to Watch:
- Cayden Daughtry, Calvary Christian (Fort Lauderdale) -- Junior guard, top national prospect
- Andrew Jackson's roster features multiple D1-caliber prospects who helped them go 28-1
Class 4A
BOYS
Lake Highland Prep (Orlando) brings a 28-1 record and a 24-game win streak. They entered the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the state. Their path to the championship goes through a loaded bracket that could include Villages Charter Buffalo, who feature LSU signee Herly Brutus, a 6-foot-5 four-star forward. The Villages also carries five-star junior point guard Aaron Britt and four-star junior Jomar Bernard.
GIRLS
Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville, 26-4) is in the 4A girls bracket alongside Plantation American Heritage, Bishop Moore, and Booker. Bishop Kenny has another chance to bring a title home to Jacksonville.
Favorite: Lake Highland boys. Bishop Kenny girls as a hometown contender.
Key D1 Signees:
- Herly Brutus (Villages Charter) -- Signed with LSU
- UCF signee Donovan Williams (Oak Ridge) -- averaging 17.2 points per game
Class 5A
BOYS
Fleming Island (22-8) out of Jacksonville represents the host region in the 5A boys bracket, facing Tampa Jesuit (24-6) in their semifinal. Fleming Island is the local favorite and one of the most well-supported programs in Clay County.
GIRLS
Booker T. Washington (Pensacola, 22-3) is back in the Final Four for the first time since 2001, ending a 25-year drought after five straight regional final losses in previous seasons. Their opponent is Gateway (Kissimmee, 26-3), which has been one of the most consistent programs in Central Florida all season. This semifinal matchup is one of the most compelling games of the entire tournament.
Favorite: Gateway girls based on record and depth. Fleming Island boys have the crowd behind them.
Class 6A
BOYS
Evans (22-7) and Lake Howell (25-5), two Orlando-area programs that won different regions, are matched up against each other in the boys 6A semifinals, guaranteeing Central Florida at least one spot in the championship game. On the other side, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, 26-4) is a returning state champion looking to defend their title. Aquinas is ranked nationally and is the clear frontrunner to come out of their side of the bracket.
GIRLS
St. Thomas Aquinas (20-8) faces George Steinbrenner (23-6) in one girls 6A semifinal, with Bartram Trail (Jacksonville, 16-9) taking on Bayside (22-8) in the other. Bartram Trail at 16-9 is the surprise team of the field, having peaked at the right time.
Favorite: St. Thomas Aquinas boys and girls.
Key Player:
- St. Thomas Aquinas has been a pipeline program with multiple D1 prospects on both the boys and girls rosters
Class 7A
BOYS
Miami Columbus is chasing their fifth consecutive 7A state championship, which would tie the all-time Florida record for consecutive titles in the largest classification. That kind of dynasty does not happen by accident. The Explorers are the most accomplished program in the field regardless of classification.
Columbus (24-6) faces Lake Mary (23-7) in their semifinal, while Oak Ridge (20-9) takes on Sarasota (24-6) on the other side.
GIRLS
The 7A girls bracket features Winter Haven (19-6) vs. Ocoee (24-5) and Doral Academy (20-8) vs. Centennial (23-6). Ocoee has been one of the more dangerous programs in Central Florida girls basketball and enters as a legitimate title threat.
Favorite: Columbus boys. Ocoee girls as the team with the best resume.
The Bigger Picture
What makes this year's tournament different is not just the new location. It is the era of player we are watching.
Villages Charter enters with six major college prospects on their roster alone. Calvary Christian's Cayden Daughtry is already drawing eyes from programs across the country. Programs like Columbus, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Lake Highland have long been pipelines for Division I talent, and that tradition is alive and well in 2026.
For parents, coaches, and recruiters, this tournament is one of the best three-week stretches to evaluate talent in the entire country. The concentration of D1 prospects competing at a single site, in a legitimate arena environment, under pressure, is exactly the kind of exposure that changes recruiting trajectories.
Jacksonville has waited 50 years for this. Based on the matchups, it was worth every one of them.
All 3A through 7A championship games take place March 9 through 14 at CSI Companies Court at UNF Arena. Tickets are available via GoFan. General admission is $15 in advance and $18 day-of.
Follow BallerTube for continued coverage of the 2026 FHSAA Basketball State Championships.
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Before the NBA: Lamar Wilkerson Bought His Mom a Cadillac on Senior Night and It Says Everything
The final buzzer sounded. Indiana 77, Minnesota 47. Senior Night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall was over, and the tears were starting to flow in Bloomington.
But Lamar Wilkerson was not done.
While his teammates and coaches processed the emotion of the night, Wilkerson quietly led his mother, Kizzy, to the parking garage. Waiting for her, bow on the hood, was a brand new Cadillac Escalade. Paid for with NIL dollars he earned by being one of the most electric scorers in college basketball this season.
Kizzy's reaction said everything words cannot.
"I did it out of love, man," Wilkerson said after the moment went viral. "I did it out of love."
From a Dirt Road to Assembly Hall
That sentence carries a lot of weight when you know where Lamar Wilkerson came from.
He grew up in Ashdown, Arkansas, a small town in the southwest corner of the state where the population hovers just above four thousand people. He spent six years of his childhood living in a trailer. He learned to play basketball on a dirt road. Nothing about his path pointed toward the bright lights of a Big Ten arena.
He was not a high school recruit that schools were chasing. Nobody was putting him on a rankings list. After graduating from Ashdown High School, Wilkerson headed to Three Rivers College, a junior college in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, to prove he belonged at the next level. He averaged 16.7 points per game and shot over 40 percent from three, earning NJCAA All-America honorable mention recognition. That got him a Division I opportunity at Sam Houston State.
He did not arrive there as a star. He came off the bench his first year, averaging 7.4 points in 32 games. Patient. Working. Building.
By his junior season, Wilkerson had become one of the best guards in Conference USA, averaging 13.8 points and earning first-team all-conference honors. By his final year at Sam Houston, he was one of only 19 players in all of Division I to average 20 or more points per game. He shot 109 threes on 44.5 percent accuracy, a number that very few players at any level can match. He was one of just three players in the country to knock down at least 100 threes while shooting above 44 percent.
He entered the transfer portal that spring, and the entire country came calling.
“When she gave me life, she didn't have to love me, she didn't have to sacrifice her life to help me get to where I wanted to be.”
— Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) March 5, 2026
Lamar Wilkerson views buying a 2026 Cadillac Escalade for his mon as a “small token” for all she’s done for him.#iubb:https://t.co/3js7uJmLHF
The Kid Who Could Have Chased the Money
Here is where Wilkerson's story gets uncommon.
His first time in the portal, with schools offering serious money to pull him away from Sam Houston, he withdrew after less than two weeks. He went back. His Sam Houston coach, Chris Mudge, said Wilkerson was offered "a lot of money" by other programs. He passed on it because he was not finished with the people around him. He wanted to do something special for the university and for his teammates. He was not ready to leave his family behind for a check.
"He is valued and rooted in people," Mudge said.
That is a rare trait in modern college basketball. The portal era has reshaped everything, and there is nothing wrong with players seeking better opportunities and fair compensation. But Wilkerson's instinct was to look left and right before he looked up. That is who he is.
When he finally did enter the portal last spring, the decision came down to Indiana and Kentucky. The Wildcats wanted him badly. Coach Mark Pope made his pitch. But Kizzy stepped in during Wilkerson's visit to Lexington and told Pope that the Wilkersons are a praying family. They were not rushing anything.
Wilkerson chose Indiana. He chose to be part of building something, not just riding something that was already built.
"Hoosiers basketball is a big-time name," Wilkerson said at the time. "They haven't been where they wanted to be. I trust coach DeVries. And we could do this together. It's just gonna make my story better, his story better, and then Hoosier basketball will be back."
What He Did This Season
Indiana's first-year coach Darian DeVries leaned on Wilkerson immediately, and the sixth-year senior delivered. He became the Big Ten's second-leading scorer. He became only the second player in Indiana history to make 100 three-pointers in a single season, putting himself seven away from tying Steve Alford's all-time program record with games still to play. He averaged 21.3 points this season on 46 percent shooting and nearly 38 percent from deep.
On Senior Night, against a Minnesota defense that went zone to try to slow down the Hoosiers, Wilkerson went for 16 points on four made threes. He was second only to Sam Alexis, who put up a clinic of his own with 23 points. Indiana ended a four-game losing streak and kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive with the 30-point victory.
DeVries said Wilkerson surprised him in ways beyond the scoring.
"His ability, at this level, to be able to get into the interior of the defense, get to his midrange, get a little more of his post-ups," the coach said. "He's been great."
NEW: Indiana guard Lamar Wilkerson gifted his mom a Cadillac Escalade after Senior Night with his NIL earnings❤️
— On3 NIL (@On3NIL) March 5, 2026
(via @ByDanielFlick)https://t.co/XmDse3PTNC pic.twitter.com/zmiTj5DxOG
What NIL Looks Like When It Works Right
The Cadillac Escalade in that parking garage is not a symbol of excess. It is a symbol of what college athletics can be when the system works the way it should.
Lamar Wilkerson grew up with nothing handed to him. His mother, Kizzy, was part of every step of this journey, from the trailer in Ashdown to the JUCO gym in Missouri to the recruiting trips where she pulled coaches aside and told them her family moves on faith and not on impulse. She was in that building on Senior Night watching her son play one of his best games of the year on the biggest stage of his college career.
And after the final buzzer, before the NBA, before the next chapter, before any of that, he walked her to the parking garage and showed her the car with the bow on the hood.
That is what this generation of athletes can do now. The NIL era is not perfect. The portal has created chaos across the sport. But there are moments like this one that remind you what was always possible when young people are given a fair shot at building something with the talent they worked to develop.
Wilkerson put it plainly himself back when he was coming out of high school with nobody watching: "Nothing was ever handed to me. I went JUCO, out of JUCO I went D1 and now we're here. So I've never had anything handed to me. And early in my life, my parents, my mom, my sisters, my siblings, they all showed me what hard work and dedication was. So it stuck with me."
He carried that. Through a dirt road in Arkansas. Through a junior college in Missouri. Through four years at Sam Houston State. Through one final season wearing candy stripes in front of 17,000 people.
And then he gave it back to the woman who helped him carry it the whole time.
Lamar Wilkerson is eligible for the 2026 NBA Draft. Indiana travels to Ohio State for the regular season finale Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.
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Indiana's Tourney Hopes Hanging by a Thread After Inexcusable Loss to Northwestern
The numbers should not have been possible. Indiana, playing at home inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, led Northwestern by nine points at halftime. The Hoosiers were shooting 63 percent from the floor in the first half, had assisted on 14 of their 15 made baskets, and had the Big Ten's worst rebounding team on the ropes. Then the second half started, and everything that has plagued this program under first-year head coach Darian DeVries came flooding back.
Indiana fell to Northwestern 72-68 on Tuesday night, dropping to 17-11 on the season and 8-9 in Big Ten play. The loss was not just a bad result. It may be the moment that officially ended Indiana's first NCAA Tournament campaign since the 2022-23 season before it ever truly began.
The Drought That Told the Whole Story
Let's start with the statistic that defined this game, because it needs to be stated plainly and directly.
Indiana missed 11 consecutive field goal attempts spanning over nine minutes and 33 seconds of second-half game clock. Eleven straight missed shots. Nine minutes and thirty-three seconds without the ball going through the net from the floor. That is not a rough stretch. That is a program-level crisis playing out in real time on the biggest stage available.
Indiana was in the middle of a field goal drought that lasted 9:33 when Nick Martinelli struck with a go-ahead corner three-pointer with 2:59 remaining in the game. By the time Tayton Conerway finally ended the misery with a dunk, the game was essentially over. Northwestern had already seized control, and Martinelli had already delivered the knockout blows.
This was not a one-time occurrence. This is a pattern. The Hoosiers have squandered five second-half leads of nine or more points in the last two months. Two of those collapses resulted in losses that will likely define their season, including a blown 16-point lead against No. 10 Nebraska and now this disaster against a Northwestern team that entered the game with a 3-13 conference record and the Big Ten's worst rebounding margin.
Martinelli Did What Martinelli Does
To be fair about one piece of this game, Northwestern had a player who took over when it mattered. Nick Martinelli, the Big Ten's leading scorer, finished with 28 points and was held to just seven in the first half. The damage came entirely in the second half, where he erupted for 21 second-half points, one point off his season average, as Indiana went over nine minutes without a field goal and Northwestern inched closer to tying the game.
When Indiana desperately needed stops and buckets down the stretch, Martinelli scored nine consecutive Northwestern points to close the door. Northwestern got out to its biggest lead of the game, four at 65-61, and then Indiana's field goal drought ended with a Tayton Conerway lay-in. But it was too little, far too late.
A blown no-call on an attempted Tucker DeVries three-pointer with under five seconds left prevented the Hoosiers from having a chance to tie the game and Indiana lost at home 72-68. The missed call was infuriating, but Indiana had already left themselves in a position where a single blown whistle could end their season. That is on the coaching staff and the roster construction decisions that put them here.
Indiana is 25th in 3-point attempts/game but 341st in offensive rebounds/game.
— David Cobb (@DavidWCobb) February 25, 2026
Last night, IU had 1 second-chance point. ONE. Against Northwestern -- a bad rebounding team.
How do you get one second-chance point out of 18 misses from beyond the arc?https://t.co/yLHCSiDet3
The Conerway and Miles Problem: Talent Sitting While the Team Sinks
Here is where the real conversation needs to happen.
Tayton Conerway shot 6-for-6 from the field on Tuesday night. He finished with 14 points, three assists, a steal, and shot a perfect 100 percent from the floor including a three-pointer. He also ended the infamous 11-shot field goal drought with the game's biggest made basket. In the box score, every time Conerway touched the ball and had a look at the basket, the ball went in. Every single time.
His stats from Tuesday read like a cheat code: six field goal attempts, six makes, five of those shots coming inside the paint where he was unstoppable. And yet based on his assist count and foul trouble, it is clear his minutes were limited and tightly managed by a coaching staff that continues to go back to proven veterans regardless of how those veterans are performing in the moment.
Jasai Miles is the more glaring example. In a game Indiana had to have, Miles finished with three points on one shot attempt. One attempt. In a game that Indiana needed contributions from everyone on the roster, Miles was barely given a chance to do anything. There was a stretch earlier this season where it was reported that Indiana was undefeated when Miles played 10 or more meaningful minutes. Whether that exact record has shifted slightly as the season moved forward does not change the underlying logic. The data pointed directly at what Miles brings when he is allowed to play with freedom. The coaching staff looked at that information and continued doing things their way.
This is the core frustration with watching Indiana basketball in 2026. The coaching staff has identified a rotation and committed to it through results that clearly suggest a change is needed.
Enright, Dorn, and the One-Dimensional Problem
Conor Enright is a legitimate player. He runs the offense with a certain level of efficiency, he dishes the ball, and he holds things together in ways that do not always show up in box scores. Against Northwestern he finished with five assists. That is real value. But Enright also shot 0-for-1 from the field and finished with zero points while also committing three turnovers. In a game where Indiana went over nine minutes without scoring from the floor, having a player on the floor who brings absolutely nothing as a scoring threat is a luxury Indiana cannot afford. Defense can key in on four players when it knows the fifth one will never pull the trigger, and that is exactly what happens every time Enright is on the floor in crunch situations.
Nick Dorn is a different case. Dorn has had games this season where he has gotten hot from three-point range and looked like a legitimate offensive weapon. Those games are real and they happened. The problem is that the coaching staff has ridden those moments far past their expiration date. Against Northwestern, Dorn shot 2-for-7 and every single one of his seven attempts was a three-pointer. He does not create off the dribble. He does not get to the free throw line. He does not make plays in transition or put pressure on a defense in any way beyond standing in the corner and waiting for a catch-and-shoot opportunity. When that shot is not falling, and it was not falling against Northwestern with a critical 28.6 percent clip, he offers the offense essentially nothing. Yet the coaching staff trusts him with significant minutes in games that define Indiana's season.
Tucker DeVries shot 3-for-11 Tuesday night including 2-for-7 from three. He finished with 11 points and has been the featured option alongside Lamar Wilkerson all season. DeVries has ability and has shown it at times. But when both he and Wilkerson go cold simultaneously in the second half, Indiana has no other creators on the floor who have been given the freedom to bail the offense out.
That is a coaching decision. Not a talent decision.
The Path Forward Is Nearly Impossible
Indiana now sits at 17-11 overall and 8-9 in Big Ten play heading into a brutal finish. The defeat likely puts a fatal nail in Indiana's postseason hopes as they now need to beat Michigan State, Minnesota, and win at Ohio State to feel remotely confident in a bid. Michigan State comes to Bloomington ranked 13th in the country. Ohio State is fighting for their own tournament positioning. None of those games are wins Indiana can take for granted.
Lamar Wilkerson, whose career-best streak of six consecutive 20-point games was snapped after he went 0-for-9 from the floor in the second half, knows what this loss means for Indiana's tournament chances. "This hurt our resume," Wilkerson said, staring blankly at the floor of the Assembly Hall press room.
The résumé has been damaged beyond what three wins and a deep conference tournament run can realistically repair. Indiana needed this game. They had Northwestern exactly where they wanted them at halftime. And then the same second-half collapse that has haunted this team all year happened again.
The talent is on this roster to compete. Conerway proved that with a perfect shooting night in limited time. Miles has proven it in flashes all season. But a coaching staff that continues to go back to the same one-dimensional pieces during its worst offensive stretches is making this harder than it has to be.
Indiana's NCAA Tournament window in 2026 may have officially closed at around the 9-minute mark of the second half on Tuesday night, right around the time shot number seven of eleven straight misses clanged off the rim and Nick Martinelli started walking the ball up the court with that look in his eyes.
The Hoosiers built a 13-point lead and gave it all back. They have now done that five times in two months. At some point, the story stops being about bad luck and starts being about decisions.
Follow BallerTube for continuing coverage of Indiana basketball and recruiting news throughout the country.
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Sagemont Prep Middle School Boys Stay Perfect, Move to 5-0 With 39-33 Win Over Potential Christian Academy
The Sagemont Prep Lions middle school boys basketball team passed their biggest test of the season on Friday, grinding out a hard-fought 39-33 victory over Potential Christian Academy to move to a perfect 5-0 on the year under head coach Steve.
It was not the prettiest win, but it did not need to be. Against a Potential Christian Academy squad that came ready to play and pushed the Lions from start to finish, Sagemont showed exactly what separates good teams from unbeaten ones: the ability to find a way when the game gets uncomfortable.
The Lions Were Tested and Responded
Potential Christian Academy brought the fight, keeping the game close throughout and making Sagemont earn every bucket down the stretch. At 39-33, the final margin was respectable, but it does not fully capture how physical and competitive this one was. This was the kind of game that builds character, the kind Coach Steve will be able to point back to when the season gets even tougher down the road.
Credit the Lions for not flinching.
Key Performers
Adrian Rodriguez & Maddox Clermont were problems all night. Their ability to create on offense and impose their will on the game set the tone early and gave Sagemont consistent threats that Potential Christian Academy could not fully contain. When the Lions needed a bucket, these young men found a way to get one.
Dominik Schuessler & Kannan Clayborne brought toughness and energy on both ends of the floor. Their contributions did not always show up in the highlight moments, but anyone watching closely could see how much they impacted the game. These are the types of players that make winning possible.
Dominic Diaz rounded out the Lions' core and continued to show why he is one of the key pieces of this unbeaten squad. His performance against a quality opponent reinforced that Sagemont's success is not a fluke. This is a team with multiple weapons and the depth to compete at a high level night after night.
Off the bench and throughout the rotation, Jalen Osceola and Daniel Sokolik made their presence felt as key contributors. Both players brought energy and gave Coach Steve options when the Lions needed fresh legs and a spark. Teams that go 5-0 do not do it with just three players and Osceola and Diaz are a big reason why this group stays dangerous from top to bottom.
The Bigger Picture at Sagemont Prep
What makes this 5-0 start even more impressive is the culture surrounding the entire Sagemont Prep basketball program right now. While the middle school boys are building something special, the varsity boys program is chasing history, currently pursuing what would be four consecutive state championships. That standard of excellence does not exist in a vacuum. It trickles down. It sets expectations. It tells every player in the building, from the youngest to the oldest, what it looks like to compete the right way every single day.
These middle school Lions are not just playing for wins. They are playing in the shadow of a program that knows what championships feel like, and they are rising to meet that standard. A 5-0 record against increasingly tough competition is a statement that the pipeline at Sagemont Prep is as strong as ever.
Coach Steve has his group focused, competing, and finding ways to win when it matters most. The schedule will keep getting harder. The tests will keep coming. But if Friday night against Potential Christian Academy proved anything, it is that this Sagemont Prep middle school squad is not backing down from anyone.
5-0. And just getting started.
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GOLDEN. GRITTY. UNSTOPPABLE.Team USA Defeats Canada 2-1 in Overtime to Capture Olympic Gold in Milan
MILAN, ITALY — With 58 minutes of frustration behind them, two minutes of ice time ahead of them, and an entire nation holding its breath, the United States Women's Hockey Team refused to go quietly. On Thursday night inside the stunning Santagiulia Arena, in what may be the greatest gold medal game in the history of the sport, Team USA pulled off a stunning comeback to defeat arch-rival Canada 2-1 in overtime and bring Olympic gold back to the red, white, and blue for the first time since 2018.
It was the kind of game that freezes time. The kind that reminds you why sport exists: why we watch, why we compete, why we teach our daughters to lace up their skates and get back on the ice when everything in them wants to quit. This wasn't just a gold medal. This was a statement.
How It Went Down: A Game for the Ages
For the first six games of these Winter Olympics, Team USA had been absolutely dominant, a freight train on skates that outscored its opponents 31-1 and went period after period without surrendering a single goal. They were being called the greatest women's hockey team the United States had ever produced. Then came Canada.
Canada, battered and bruised from a 5-0 group-stage demolition at the hands of these same Americans just nine days prior, walked into that gold medal game with a chip on their shoulder the size of Lake Ontario. Coach Troy Ryan had a plan: be physical, be disciplined, be frustrating. And for most of 60 minutes, it worked to perfection.
The Canadians clamped down on every American rush. They bottled up Caroline Harvey. They neutralized Hannah Bilka. They smothered Megan Keller, until they couldn't anymore. Kristin O'Neill gave Canada the lead after a picture-perfect feed set up a beautiful finish, and for the next 40 minutes, Ann-Renée Desbiens and Canada's defensive unit turned away everything the Americans threw at them. With two minutes left, the U.S. still trailed 1-0. The gold medal was slipping away.
Then Hilary Knight happened.
With the goalie pulled and Team USA in full desperation mode, 22-year-old phenom Laila Edwards launched a rocket toward the net. The 36-year-old captain, the living legend, the woman who has carried this program on her back through five Olympic Games, was exactly where she needed to be. Knight deflected it past Desbiens. Tie game. The arena erupted. The red-white-and-blue contingent in the stands became unhinged. You could feel it through the screen: that electric, primal surge of belief when something impossible suddenly becomes real.
Knight's goal was her 15th career Olympic goal, an all-time American record, breaking the tie she had held with Natalie Darwitz and Katie King. With time expiring in regulation. In a gold medal game. Against Canada. If you write that in a script, people call it too dramatic.
Overtime arrived in 3-on-3 format, wide open ice, heart-attack hockey at its finest. The Americans, riding the wave of Knight's miracle, caught Canada in an ill-timed line change. Taylor Heise threaded a length-of-the-ice pass to Megan Keller, the same Keller who had been smothered all game, and Keller did what champions do. She juked a defender, she found the angle, and she slid the puck past Desbiens to send Team USA into Olympic history.
Final score: USA 2, Canada 1. Golden.
Megan Keller the golden goal
— Kevin Thang (@Skip2MyJays) February 19, 2026
USA women’s hockey run the table 7-0
& make it 8 straight wins over Canada
Canada was 2 minutes away from a dominant shutout win… instead heartbreak #olympics pic.twitter.com/Y2aoCTIx2t
What This Means for U.S. Women's Hockey
Let's be real: this gold medal isn't just a trophy. It's validation of a decade-long shift in the balance of power between these two programs and a declaration that U.S. women's hockey is in a golden era that shows no signs of slowing down.
Consider what this team has done in the last 12 months alone. In April 2025, they won the IIHF Women's World Championship over Canada in overtime. Tessa Janecke's golden goal after a feed from Taylor Heise in 3-on-3 OT will live forever in the highlight reel. Then, in the fall, they swept Canada 4-0 in the Rivalry Series, outscoring them 24-7 across four games including a jaw-dropping 10-4 blowout. Then a 5-0 dismantling in Olympic group play. And now this. The Americans have beaten Canada nine of the last ten times they've met. That's not a hot streak. That's a power shift.
For decades, Canada was the gold standard: five of seven Olympic golds before Milan, the home of hockey royalty like Marie-Philip Poulin, the woman whose name alone struck fear into American hearts. Poulin scored the game-winning goals in 2010, 2014, and 2022. She's that generational. But even Poulin's return from injury for the gold medal game wasn't enough to stop this version of Team USA.
What's driving this shift? The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) has changed the game. It's the most stable and financially successful professional women's hockey league in history, now with eight teams and expansion plans underway. Players are no longer forced to give up the sport after college or at their athletic peak. They can develop professionally, play meaningful games year-round, and continue sharpening the edge that turns good players into great ones. The proof is in this roster: a blend of young phenoms like Laila Edwards and seasoned veterans like Knight and Keller who have refined their games through professional competition.
This matters enormously for every young girl who has ever dreamed of playing at the highest level. When little girls see Hilary Knight, 36 years old, in her fifth Olympics, scoring the goal that saves the gold medal game, they understand something profound: there is a path. There is a professional league. There is a next level. The ceiling just got raised, again.
The Legend of Hilary Knight
We would be doing this editorial a disservice if we didn't stop and properly honor what Hilary Knight did on that ice in Milan. Five Olympic Games. Two gold medals. Fifteen career Olympic goals, the most in U.S. women's history. A key architect in the founding of the PWHL. And a final act so cinematic it belongs in a movie.
Her teammates said it best. Taylor Heise summed it up before the puck even dropped: "We are not here without her." And she was right. Knight didn't just score a goal on Thursday night. She scored a legacy. She scored a future. Every girl who straps on skates because of what she witnessed in Milan is part of Hilary Knight's legacy.
Knight's response when asked how she found herself in that position with two minutes left? Simple. Iconic. Pure competitor: "There was no way we were losing this game. That's all. Simple as that."
That mentality, that refusal to accept defeat, is exactly what we at BallerTube want every young athlete to carry into practice tomorrow. Into tryouts. Into the big game. Into the moments when everything feels like it's slipping away.
What Young Athletes and Families Should Take Away
At BallerTube, we cover recruiting, athletic development, and the stories that shape the next generation of competitors. And the story of this USA Women's Hockey team is one of the most instructive we've ever had the privilege of covering, not just because of the gold medal, but because of how they won it.
They won it when they were outplayed. They won it when the plan wasn't working. They won it when the clock was almost out. They won it with their best player making the most important play of her career at age 36, proof that preparation, consistency, and heart compound over time in ways that pure talent alone cannot. They won it because a 22-year-old rookie, Laila Edwards, wasn't afraid to let it rip in an Olympic gold medal game.
For parents raising young female athletes, in hockey, in basketball, in any sport, let this be the fuel. The professional infrastructure is growing. The visibility is growing. The opportunities are growing. Your daughter's path to the highest level of competition is more real today than it has ever been. What happened in Milan is proof.
And for the young athletes themselves: watch the replay. Watch Knight tip that puck. Watch Keller juke that defender. Watch the bench erupt. Then go to practice. Do the work. Trust the process. Believe you belong, because you do.
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