UCLA coach Mick Cronin explained the rigorous challenges his team is facing this unprecedented college basketball season.,“The only time (the team) is together is on the bus, that’s when they’re enjoying being a college basketball player,” Cronin said Tuesday.,Center Jalen Hill, who’s been away from the team for weeks, will not be with UCLA (14-5, 10-3) against Arizona, as well as versus Arizona State on Saturday.,More challenges for players include: no off-court team activity, no in-person meetings with academic counselors or tutors, no social life on campus, and no hanging out with Cronin, either.,Following Thursday’s matchup with Arizona, UCLA will have just four games left before the Pac-12 tournament begins March 10.

San Clemente High football assistant coach Joe Wood, who was the head coach at Aliso Niguel when it won a CIF championship, died Friday night.,He was Aliso Niguel’s first varsity football head coach.,Wood coached Aliso Niguel from the 1993 season through the 2005 season.,His replacement after the ’05 season was Jeff Veeder, who was an Aliso assistant coach.,Kurt Westling was on the ’96 championship team coaching staff at Aliso Niguel and would later become the school’s third head coach in 2010.

It was USC’s strongest suit in 2019-20, when the Trojans were ninth nationally in opponent field-goal percentage.,In 2020-21, USC is sixth nationally in opponent field-goal percentage while shaving 2.8 points per game off their opponent scoring average and ranking seventh in the country in blocked shots.,USC can one night shoot a respectable 34.6% from 3-point range on 26 attempts – see last weekend’s win over UCLA – and the next game not make a 3-pointer until late in the second half.,Despite the inconsistency, USC is fourth in the Pac-12 in scoring and in a virtual tie with Stanford and Colorado for the highest field-goal percentage in the conference.,From game to game, USC knows the scoring is going to come from at least freshman center Evan Mobley and graduate transfer guard Tahj Eaddy, the two Trojans averaging double-digit points.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jordan Sanders had a season-high 24 points, Endyia Rogers scored nine of her 16 points in overtime, and Southern California beat No. 25 Washington State 81-77.,The Trojans have won seven in a row against Washington State and three straight overall.,Washington State, which played the program’s first game as a team ranked in the Top 25, had its four-game win streak snapped.,Charlisse Leger-Walker, who finished with 26 points, hit a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 69-68 lead with 2:45 to play but Rogers answered with a 3 and USC led the rest of the way.,Sanders and Angel Jackson, who finished with 12 points, each made a pair of free throws in the final 10 seconds to seal it.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Isaiah Mobley scored a career-high 18 points, Evan Mobley added 17 points and Southern California routed Washington 95-68 on Thursday night.,The Trojans, who are 10-2 overall and  4-1 in the Pac-12, won their fifth in a row overall, and their fourth straight league game for the first time since 2018.,The Huskies fell to 1-10 overall and 0-6 in league play.,They were led by Erik Stevenson with 16 points.,Jamal Bey added 11 points in the team’s seventh straight loss overall.

MADISON, Wis., Jan. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Locast, America’s only nonprofit, free, local broadcast TV digital translator streaming service, has launched more than 30 local TV channels via the internet – for free – to more than 650,000 residents living in the Madison, Wisconsin, TV market starting today.,For Madison’s tens of thousands of college students – many of them already cord-cutters and cord-nevers – Locast can provide a meaningful link to local broadcast news, emergency information, weather, sports, and entertainment.,A recent six-month disruption of several Madison broadcast channels caused by a broadcast tower antenna replacement underscores the importance of providing an alternative, internet-delivered local channel service like Locast.,As a nonprofit, Locast performs a critical public service by increasing access to local broadcast channels – on the go, over the internet, on any device – to help consumers avoid being cut off from local broadcasts.,Locast delivers more than 30 local TV channels in the Madison designated market area (DMA), including WISC-TV CBS News 3, WMTV NBC 15, WKOW ABC Ch.

Meyer isn’t just a former college football coach — he’s one of the most accomplished in history.,In his final season with the Buckeyes, Meyer was suspended for three games after mishandling domestic abuse allegations involving former assistant coach Zach Smith.,The go-to sentiment is Meyer won’t be able to handle the week-to-week failure in the NFL knowing his worst season as a head coach in college was an 8-5 with Florida in 2010.,NFL MOCK DRAFT 2021: Projecting where Alabama, Ohio State players will land in first round

Meyer also is a hyper-competitive motivator who had success with college rosters flush with NFL talent.,The Ohio State NFL pipeline helped Meyer develop relationships with NFL coaches, and he undoubtedly spent the last two years learning from other coaches. read more

Throw up some 3’s in heaven, Alex.

The community is mourning the loss of 19-year-old Alex Sherrill who passed Tuesday Jan. 12 from injuries sustained in a tragic car accident Friday afternoon in the 4300 block of Jefferies Boulevard.,The Sherrills’ story continued in late May as Alex’s mother, Susan Sherrill, was able to make both her and his dreams come true.,Susan Sherrill was determined to stand for Alex’s graduation.,Sadly, tragedy struck the Sherrill household in December when Alex’s father, Anthony, died suddenly, leaving the family heartbroken.,Without doubt, the Sherrill family has suffered much across the past several years with Susan’s accident, the death of Anthony and now the loss of Alex. A GoFundMe (All for Alex Sherrill) has been established to support the cost of Alex’s medical expenses while in ICU and to help cover the cost of his funeral. read more

Alabama quarterback Mac Jones didn't hold back in the aftermath of the Crimson Tide's 52-24 dismantling of Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.,They had won 16 in a row dating back to the 2019 season, and then the bottom fell out in consecutive losses by a total of 41 points to Clemson in the ACC championship game and Alabama in the CFP semifinal.,That loss likely kept the Sooners from making their fifth College Football Playoff appearance in the past six years, but they finished the season on an eight-game winning streak, including a 55-20 rout of Florida in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.,The Wildcats played Ohio State tough in the Big Ten championship game before losing 22-10 and then put an impressive bow on the season with a 35-19 win over Auburn in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl.,They beat Georgia and played Alabama down to the final minutes in the SEC championship game, but had trouble stopping teams on defense all season and lost their last three games, including a 55-20 setback to Oklahoma in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.