Ole Miss women get pair of double-doubles and roll to 83-65 March Madness win over Ball State
WACO, Texas (AP) — Starr Jacobs had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Kennedy Todd-Williams added 14 points with 11 boards and No. 5 seed Mississippi rolled to an 83-65 victory over 12th-seeded Ball State in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Friday night.
Madison Scott scored 15 points as the Rebels (21-10) had a much better time on Baylor's home court three years after South Dakota won a tournament game for the first time by beating Ole Miss in Waco.
The Rebels will face fourth-seeded Baylor, a 73-60 winner over Grand Canyon, in the second round Sunday.
Ally Becki scored 19 points for the Cardinals (27-8), who were making their second NCAA appearance 16 years after the first. Ball State was the 12th seed back then, too, knocking off Tennessee before losing to Iowa State.
Ball State, the Mid-American Conference Tournament champion, didn't give itself much of a chance for another upset, shooting 31% before halftime while falling behind 37-23. The deficit reached 20-plus early in the second half and stayed there until the fourth quarter.
Ole Miss thought a fourth consecutive NCAA trip under coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin would lead to hosting the early rounds of the tournament.
Instead, the Rebels had to settle for their highest seed since 1994, also at No. 5, then went out and proved they probably deserved to be on their home court.
At least they can say they're making better memories in Texas.
Ole Miss led by a point when Scott hit a jumper to start a 12-0 run bridging the first and second quarters. Ball State got no closer than nine points after that.
Jacobs and Todd-Williams led a dominant rebounding effort. Ole Miss had a 52-32 edge, including 18-6 on offensive boards for a 22-6 margin in second-chance points.
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29 minutes ago
- USA Today
Nine second-year NFL players who need to step up after rough rookie seasons
Nine second-year NFL players who need to step up after rough rookie seasons Show Caption Hide Caption Ashton Jeanty talks all things Las Vegas Raiders and his hopes in the NFL Ashton Jeanty spoke with USA TODAY Sports about his upcoming rookie season with the Raiders and his partnership with Sharpie. Sports Seriously Editor's note: This story is a part of a series by USA TODAY Sports called Project: June. We will publish at least one NFL-themed story every day throughout the month because fans know the league truly never sleeps. An NFL player's rookie season can set a course for his professional career, but Year 2 is hardly too late to blaze a new path. Even with the likes of Jayden Daniels and Brock Bowers flourish almost immediately, instantaneous success can be difficult to come by in the NFL for first-year players. Many of the most accomplished draft picks spend their inaugural campaigns getting up to speed with their playbooks and adjusting to a higher level of competition, leaving them ill-equipped to showcase their full skill set. But a horde of the 2024 NFL Draft class is now learning how vital the first full offseason as part of a team can be, as there's ample time to adjust after slipping up or receiving limited opportunities. Here are nine second-year players who need to step up this fall after rough rookie seasons: Caleb Williams, QB, Chicago Bears What's left to say about one of the most tumultuous starts in some time for a historically hyped passer? With Ben Johnson coming aboard as head coach and play caller and the interior offensive line reconstructed with proven veterans, the No. 1 pick looked poised to leave last season fully behind him. But details released from the forthcoming book by ESPN's Seth Wickersham, who reported Williams and his father sought to find a way to avoid the Bears, served as a reminder just how hard it will be for both the quarterback and the organization to shake the past. The controversy hasn't killed the good vibes of a Bears offseason that was nothing short of transformative. With Johnson calling the shots, Williams will have someone who not only can drill down on the finer points of quarterback play and schematic concerns but also a figure who wants to turn the attack loose. That mentality should jell well with that of the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner, whose preternatural sense for igniting big plays was often canceled out by the wider ineptitude of the league's last-ranked offense. Questions remain about how Williams will embrace playing on schedule and within structure given how rhythmic Johnson's prolific offenses for the Detroit Lions were. But after taking a league-worst 68 sacks last season, Williams should be eager to minimize punishment in the early going by taking advantage of quick hits and boosting his league-low checkdown rate of 7.1%, according to Pro Football Focus. And with massive improvements in protection as well as the expected strides that the rejuvenated receiving corps should make, support shouldn't be a pressing question anymore. Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Arizona Cardinals By any measure, a rookie season that entailed 885 receiving yards and eight touchdown catches can hardly be considered a failure. But Harrison has been dealing with outsized expectations his entire life, and in a year that was shaped by the breakout performances of fellow first-year receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr., the son of Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison didn't clear the sky-high bar that accompanied him into the NFL as the No. 4 pick. After Harrison had a stunningly quiet introduction into the NFL with one catch on three targets, Kyler Murray frequently seemed to force the issue with his new standout pass catcher. The result: Harrison hauled in just 62 of his 116 targets, with the off-kilter chemistry between Murray and the Ohio State product requiring further work. Noticeably bulked up this offseason, Harrison might already be better positioned to handle the contested catch scenarios that became all too routine in 2024. But fostering a better connection with Murray would go a long way toward unlocking all the possibilities that Harrison's superlative route-running can open up for the offense. Static usage also weighed down Harrison's impact, and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing should be under pressure to be more creative in his deployment of the receiver so as to spark more opportunities in space. Darius Robinson, DE, Cardinals When Robinson was selected with the No. 27 overall pick, it was widely understood that the 6-5, 285-pounder would take time to translate his considerable physical tools into consistent production. But after a strong start in training camp, he suffered a calf injury in August that would sideline him for all but the last six games of the season. With his mother dying in October, Robinson later called it "the hardest year of my life." A busy Cardinals offseason brought a robust investment in the defense, with Josh Sweat, Dalvin Tomlinson, Calais Campbell and first-rounder Walter Nolen III all coming aboard to boost Jonathan Gannon's pass rush. But Robinson's forcefulness should remain a vital asset for the front given that the defense ranked 28th in ESPN's pass rush win rate metric and was middling against the run. The arrival of Campbell could prove to be a particular boon to Robinson's development. The six-time Pro Bowler learned how to get the most out of his massive frame (6-8, 307 pounds), and his tutelage should help Robinson develop a better pass rush plan and more comfort using counters. Tyler Guyton, OT, Dallas Cowboys A rough transition to the professional level seemed inevitable for Guyton, a 6-8, 322-pound former H-back who offered an enticing package of athleticism but lacked the refinement to engender much trust as a rookie as he flipped from right tackle to the left side. The No. 29 overall pick started 11 games for the Cowboys and proved to be a weak link for the line, committing 18 penalties while struggling mightily against in both pass protection and run blocking. "I'm not going to make any excuses," Guyton said last week. "I just didn't play as good as I needed to last year. I'm coming with a different attitude this year to become last week a better player." His commitment has drawn the attention of Dallas' new coaching staff, with head coach Brian Schottenheimer saying Guyton has had a "terrific" offseason so far. Offensive coordinator Klayton Adams, who helped the Cardinals build a punishing identity up front despite underwhelming overall talent, should be a major asset for a player behind the curve on positional knowhow. Crafty edge rushers still could pose a problem – and there are plenty waiting on the Cowboys' schedule – but the arrow is decidedly pointed in the right direction for Guyton's trajectory heading into training camp. Xavier Legette, WR, Carolina Panthers In the lead-up to his year's draft, Dave Canales repeatedly backed Legette despite the No. 32 overall pick having his rookie season largely defined by his seven drops, including one that doomed the Panthers' push for a December upset of the Philadelphia Eagles. Then, Carolina took wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan with the No. 8 overall pick in April. Within a year, a player who once looked central to Bryce Young's development now appeared to be shunted to the side. Canales, however, isn't taking that view point even with McMillan aboard. "I think, you know, with T-Mac coming into the room, again, it's just options," Canales said in May, according to the Panthers' site. "It opens things up, and it creates a little bit of balance where the field doesn't tilt one way or the other. So you have two guys who can make it happen outside, and that's a good thing." The connection between Young – who was benched in Week 2 but resumed his starting spot after filling in for an injured Andy Dalton later in the season – and Legette was clearly off throughout the 2024 campaign, with the receiver hauling in just 49 of his team-leading 84 targets. Legette didn't play a leading role in the blossoming of the downfield passing attack later in the year, as the pass catcher never had more than 60 yards in a game after Week 3. Meanwhile, undrafted free agent Jalen Coker cleared that bar four times for the Panthers last fall. Between the arrival of McMillan and the emergence of Coker, Legette looks unlikely to operate as the true No. 1 receiver some might have hoped he would become, with a downtick in his targe share likely in order his season. But the 6-3, 227-pounder remains an imposing matchup as a vertical threat, and a more robust receiving corps should allow Young to attack defenses in a more complete manner after plenty of challenges to start his career. Ultimately, the Year 2 outcome might hinge on whether his back-to-basics offseason work on catching with his hands rather than his body helps Legette secure the big plays that fell through his fingertips last season. Ja'Lynn Polk, WR, New England Patriots The arrival of a new coaching staff after can often spell trouble for young players coming off a disappointing season, with the new regime typically not placing much weight on previous investments of draft capital. While the hiring of Mike Vrabel could produce a necessary reset, Polk should be on alert as he tries to prove himself after a woeful professional debut. The No. 37 pick in last year's draft posted just 12 receptions for 87 yards on 33 targets in 2024. Adding to the sting: The Patriots could have grabbed Ladd McConkey, who led the Los Angeles Chargers with 1,149 last season, but instead traded back three spots and nabbed Polk. With New England adding Stefon Diggs and third-rounder Kyle Williams to the receiving corps, it hardly seems as though the team is content to bide its time for a player who still has so far to go to provide a meaningful boost to Drake Maye. Maybe the hire of Josh McDaniels and a more streamlined offense will point Polk toward greater contributions this fall. With Maye gaining more confidence and the unit better equipped to attack downfield, the 6-1, 205-pound receiver might have more opportunities to leverage his skills operating in contested-catch scenarios. But given his first impression – and how the team responded – a turnaround is far from a guarantee. Adonai Mitchell, WR, Indianapolis Colts Freeing himself from coverage has never been a problem for Mitchell. The 6-2, 205-pound target routinely snapped off quick changes of direction to shake cornerbacks or merely raced past them, with his 91 open score in ESPN's receiver metrics tying him for ninth in the league with Tyreek Hill and Zay Flowers. Capitalizing on those opportunities was another matter entirely. The second-round pick from Texas brought in just 23 of his 55 targets for 312 yards. Much of that could be traced back to Anthony Richardson, who completed just 47.7% of his passes last year and repeatedly overthrow Mitchell when the receiver was in prime position deep downfield. But some of the on-field problems that prompted his surprising tumble to Day 2 of the draft – including inconsistent precision and urgency – flared up once again. "(He's) just young," Colts general manager Chris Ballard said after the season. "... Like any young player, there's going to be a maturation process with him. And he has some definitely really strong moments, but we need more consistent moments from him." For Mitchell, however, any path toward reaching those moments isn't very clear at this point. While the Colts primarily used Mitchell as a deep threat, Alec Pierce averaged a league-best 22.3 yards per reception in 2024 in that capacity and could be a candidate for an extension. Indianapolis also returns two other receivers who eclipsed 800 receiving yards last season in Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs, and the offense will also be breaking in first-round tight end Tyler Warren. Unless an injury opens up an avenue for more playing time, a successful season might simply constitute sharpening his skills and earning more trust. Kingsley Suamataia, G, Kansas City Chiefs There are few jobs within the NFL more difficult for a 21-year-old rookie to take on than serving as Patrick Mahomes' blindside protector. Nevertheless, Suamataia was pushed into the spot just months after being taken as a second-round draft pick out of BYU. Things unraveled almost immediately, with the Chiefs pulling the rookie lineman late in a Week 2 contest against the Cincinnati Bengals in which he surrendered two sacks and was flagged twice for holding the league's eventual sack king in Trey Hendrickson. But his resurfacing with a start at offensive guard in the regular-season finale might have been the shift necessary to get his pro career back on track. 'We moved him there for that second Denver game, so I mentioned that was one of the positives – the only positive that came out of that game – but I thought he did a nice job there, so we're moving him in there," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said in late May. "Listen, (defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) runs a million different looks, so this is the best thing for him, to get in there and have a bunch of things thrown at him, and he's doing a nice job so far.' With Kansas City having traded Joe Thuney to the Bears, Suamataia now has a chance to seize the starting left guard spot if he can beat out Mike Caliendo, who took over when Thuney kicked out to left tackle late in the season. Working on the interior might help accentuate Suamataia's strengths and leave him less vulnerable in obvious passing situations, as his tendency to overset to compensate for recovery shortcomings created abundant issues when dealing with edge rushers. Jermaine Burton, WR, Cincinnati Bengals Third-rounders typically don't need to worry about their standing after just one year, even in the most trying circumstances. But while the Bengals didn't cut ties with Burton despite the receiver's disappointing rookie year culminating with him being left at home for the regular-season finale, it's clear massive changes are needed for a course correction. 'Nobody should be happy with it,' Burton said last week when asked about the benching. 'I was very disappointed, but it's something that I moved on from, and grew from, and can't wait, looking forward, really looking forward to this year.' With Andrei Iosivas having solidified his standing as the No. 3 receiver behind Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins while Mike Gesicki returns at tight end, any substantial offensive contributions are likely out of reach for Burton in the near future. What matters now is not just getting in coaches' good graces but staying there. While a spot as a backup should be secure given the Bengals' inaction in bringing in any outside competition this offseason, Burton is one of the few players who might stand to benefit from establishing a pattern of overall reliability rather than the flash plays he's already shown himself capable of. All the NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY's 4th and Monday newsletter.
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Arizona Wildcats head to College World Series after Super Regional comeback
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Baseball mitts and navy caps were strewn about the infield at Boshamer Stadium. Players jumped for joy and embraced one another. The Arizona Wildcats had pulled off a miracle. And now they're headed to Omaha. Advertisement With its season on the brink of expiration, Arizona rallied past No. 5 national seed North Carolina in highly improbable fashion Sunday. Down by two runs in the eighth inning, the Wildcats dug deep and defeated the Tar Heels 4-3 in the third and deciding game of their Super Regional series. Arizona's Casey Hintz shows off the championship trophy after the Wildcats defeated North Carolina in Game 3 of their NCAA Super Regional series on Sunday, June 8, 2025, at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. Arizona will be making its 19th appearance in the College World Series, its first since 2021 and its first under UA alum Chip Hale, who won the CWS as a player in 1986. The Wildcats will be seeking their fifth national championship. They will open CWS play Friday or Saturday against Coastal Carolina, which defeated Arizona in the CWS final in 2016. Junior shortstop Mason White — a Salpointe Catholic High School graduate whose father and grandfather played for the UA — delivered the winning hit in the top of the eighth, lining a two-RBI single to center field with the bases loaded and one out. Advertisement After the game, White — a lifelong UA fan — barely could comprehend what had just transpired. 'This is just unbelievable,' White said. 'It's almost like a dream. I just can't believe it.' White was Hale's first recruit when he took over the program in July 2021. Hale has guided his alma mater to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Leading the Wildcats to the College World Series for the first time conjured a range of emotions for the 60-year-old coach — empathy for North Carolina, relief for himself and joy for Arizona's players and supporters. 'I'm just so happy for these kids,' Hale said. 'I'm happy ... for these families. They have grinded so hard, spent so much money coming here and raising these kids, putting them in travel baseball and high school baseball. Advertisement 'And now they get a payoff to go to Omaha. We're going to go there, put our best foot forward and try to win our fifth national championship.' It didn't look promising for the longest time Sunday. Arizona got a badly needed quality start from freshman right-hander Smith Bailey, but the Wildcats couldn't solve his counterpart, freshman righty Ryan Lynch. Lynch pounded the zone with a mid-90s fastball and a sharp slider, landing first-pitch strikes against 19 of the 26 batters he faced. After compiling 10 runs Saturday and 26 hits in the first two games of the series, the Wildcats managed just one run on two hits against Lynch entering the eighth inning. Sophomore Andrew Cain — another Tucson-area product, via Ironwood Ridge High — had one of those two hits. He led off the eighth with a single. Advertisement Then came one of two critical North Carolina errors. Tommy Splaine hit a grounder to second base that had all the makings of a 4-6-3 double play. But UNC's Jackson Van De Brake — whose three-run homer off Bailey in the third inning had given the Tar Heels a 3-1 lead — booted the ball. Cain and Splaine were safe. 'The way this game was going, we just needed a crack,' White said. 'Chip said it before it happened. 'They gave us a crack. That's what this team was looking for. It happened, and we took advantage of it.' Lynch's velocity was diminishing by that point, so UNC coach Scott Forbes summoned another freshman right-hander, Walker McDuffie, to face No. 9 hitter Easton Breyfogle. Advertisement Hale called for a sacrifice bunt. Breyfogle dropped the ball down the third base line. UNC's Gavin Gallaher charged it and fired to first base. The ball, Breyfogle and hulking first baseman Hunter Stokely arrived at the bag at the same time. Breyfogle collided with Stokely's left arm. The ball bounded past the first baseman. Cain scored, Splaine advanced to third and Breyfogle — who was safe — lay injured on the ground. Breyfogle had to leave the game after experiencing concussion-like symptoms. TJ Adams pinch-ran for him. Brendan Summerhill walked to load the bases. Aaron Walton then popped out, setting the stage for White. Advertisement UNC brought in senior righty Aidan Haugh. The Tar Heels shifted their infield to the right side. White swatted the third pitch he saw through the vacated shortstop hole, scoring Splaine and Adams. 'I was just trying to put the ball in play — specifically in the air just to get the guy in, tie the game,' White said. 'They'd been shifting me the whole weekend. So I knew: Just stay middle of the field, and it'll find a hole.' Suddenly ahead 4-3, Arizona turned to junior right-hander Casey Hintz for the bottom of the eighth. Hintz had allowed a go-ahead home run Saturday, and he got himself into trouble Sunday by issuing a pair of walks. But Hintz induced an inning-ending groundout to send the game to the ninth. Closer Tony Pluta had thrown a season-high 52 pitches Saturday but was willing to go again with a trip to Omaha on the line. He retired the side 1-2-3, ending the game by striking out No. 9 hitter Carter French with a changeup. Advertisement Pluta set the UA record with his 14th save of the season. Arizona improved to 38-0 when leading after the eighth inning. After the final out was recorded, Pluta looked skyward. He flung his glove to the grass. The celebration was on. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Wildcats head to College World Series, downs North Carolina
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Pacers vs. Thunder NBA Finals: Yep, this is the OKC team that is trying to put a bow on a historic season
OKLAHOMA CITY — After blowing a fourth-quarter lead in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder spent every waking hour since Thursday night hearing about it. About how they galaxy-brained themselves with their starting lineup switch. About how blinking first and going away from playing two-big lineups cost them not just a game, but home-court advantage. About the myriad tactical adjustments they desperately needed to make to stem the tide of the rampaging, team-of-destiny Indiana Pacers. About everything. Advertisement So Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault got in the lab, pored over the film and came up with the most brilliant adjustment that any coach can make: Hey, everyone: play better. 'I think we were just a little bit better in a lot of different areas — of execution, of pace, organization, decision-making in the paint, aggressiveness at the basket, gathering the ball,' Daigneault said Sunday, after Oklahoma City returned serve in a dominant 123-107 win to level the 2025 NBA Finals at one game apiece. 'We just were a tick forward in all those areas … I thought everyone played better individually, and I thought we played better collectively.' Masterful gambit, Coach. Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was tough to stop in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) The Thunder did on Sunday what they've done after losses all season: punch back. Hard. They're now 17-2 after a defeat this season, including 5-0 in the playoffs, with those five wins coming by an average of 19.6 points — right in line with their 20.5-point average margin of victory following a regular-season L. Advertisement 'I think tonight was a better representation of how we play,' said Thunder reserve Alex Caruso, who scored 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting in 27 characteristically hyperactive minutes off the bench. It was, in virtually every capacity. After combining for 23 points on 28 shots in Game 1, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren combined for 34 on 25 in Game 2. Holmgren also provided strong rim protection and held his own on multiple possessions when switched out onto the perimeter, while Williams drew praise from Daigneault for an attacking approach that saw him draw seven fouls and dish five assists. 'He didn't get off to a great start in his first stint, but he really settled into the game,' Daigneault said of Williams. 'He's huge for us. All the things he brings to the game — defensively, size, versatility, physicality, offensive, on-ball, off-ball … that floor is really high. We really need him every single night.' Advertisement The uptick from Williams and Holmgren was emblematic of the overall bounce-back for Oklahoma City, which scored a scorching 128.1 points per 100 possessions against an overwhelmed Pacers defense. After going just 28-for-68 (41.2%) inside the 3-point arc in Game 1, Oklahoma City shot 26-for-46 (56.5%) on 2-pointers in Game 2, a dramatic improvement finishing on the interior. After notching a season-low 13 assists in Game 1, the Thunder nearly doubled their dimes, dishing 25 against 13 turnovers. They got to the line more often: 20-for-24 in Game 1, 29-for-33 in Game 2. They created and made more 3-pointers: 11-for-30 in Game 1, 14-for-36 in Game 2. After decisively losing the rebounding battle in Game 1 — though, as both Daigneault and Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle noted, that was partly a function of there being fewer defensive rebounds for OKC to get, considering how often they turned Indiana over in the first half — the Thunder earned a 43-35 edge on the glass. After giving up 12 buckets at the rim in Game 1, they allowed just five in Game 2, doing a better job of forcing the Pacers into contested midrange looks. While they allowed 40 3-point attempts, those looks more often felt harried and off-rhythm, launched over crisp and hellacious Thunder closeouts. Advertisement They smothered Tyrese Haliburton, holding him to just five points on seven shots with four assists against three turnovers through three quarters. They better matched the physicality of Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner, Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith, refusing to concede space and clean shots to the Pacers' other starters, short-circuiting Indiana's offensive ecosystem in the process. 'I thought the guys did a really good job of keeping the foot on the gas, especially defensively,' Daigneault said after Oklahoma City held Indiana to just 104.4 points per 100 possessions — a worst-in-the-league-caliber offensive performance — through the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter, when Carlisle waved the white flag and pulled his starters. 'I thought we really amped it up on that end of the floor.' The Thunder rolled on the offensive end, too, with the NBA's Most Valuable Player continuing his assault on both the Pacers defense and the record books. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 34 points in Game 2, giving him a total of 72 in the series — a new high-water mark for any player in his first two career NBA Finals games, surpassing the 71 that Allen Iverson poured in back in 2001. But unlike in Game 1, where the Pacers were able to (somewhat) limit the MVP's damage to tough self-created buckets, Gilgeous-Alexander needed just 21 field-goal attempts to crack 30 on Sunday — and also added eight assists to six different teammates, breaking down the defense and drawing help before kicking it out to create 22 more Thunder points through his passing. Advertisement 'The way I see it, I have no choice,' Gilgeous-Alexander said of relying on his teammates. 'No one-man show achieves what I'm trying to achieve with this game. All the stats and the numbers, they're fun. I don't play in space as much as I do without having them out there. I don't get open as much as I do without having the screeners out there … those guys are the reason why we're as good of a team as we are. I just add to it.' The Thunder are hard enough to beat when Gilgeous-Alexander's going off by himself. But when he's got help — to the tune of four other Thunderers scoring 15 or more points, the first time five teammates have done that in a Finals game since the Raptors did it against the Warriors in 2019 — they're damn near impossible to deal with. Caruso drilled four 3-pointers off the bench. Aaron Wiggins, relegated to just nine minutes in Game 1, came out firing in the second quarter, scoring eight points in eight minutes as part of a trademark 19-2 Thunder run that turned a two-possession game into a 23-point boatrace. (Indiana promptly ripped off 10 points, if only to remind Oklahoma City that, as Jalen Williams said before Game 1, 'They're never too far behind, and we've always got to keep that in the back of our mind.') Advertisement 'I think we just kind of found a rhythm on both ends of the court,' said Wiggins, who finished with 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting, including a 5-for-8 mark from long range, in 21 minutes. 'We were able to get stops, get out in transition, hit a couple shots. Once we kind of got going, you could kind of just feel the energy playing a factor in that.' And, crucially, that energy never really waned. When the Pacers started drawing fouls early in the third quarter, getting into the bonus early and giving themselves a chance to march to the free-throw line to get their offense unstuck, the Thunder remained poised, took care of the ball and continued to generate good looks for themselves, scoring 34 points on just 23 possessions in the frame to keep them at bay. When Indiana had a shot to cut the deficit to 16 in the closing seconds of the third — an opportunity to maybe grab a sliver of momentum, some steady footing from which to mount one last furious charge — Cason Wallace swatted the hell out of it: The Thunder never eased up. Not when they once again started small, with Wallace in place of Isaiah Hartenstein. Not when Hartenstein checked in for Holmgren midway through the first quarter — or when Holmgren checked back in for Luguentz Dort with 3:51 to go in the first, as Daigneault went double-big against Indiana's reserve frontcourt of Obi Toppin and Thomas Bryant, kicking off a 9-0 Thunder run to end the quarter. Not when they turned to Wiggins and rock-solid small-ball 4 (and sometimes 5) Kenrich Williams to better match Indiana's size on the perimeter. ('I don't know if there was any lineup that they used that wasn't impactful for them,' Carlisle said.) Advertisement Not when the Pacers made a couple of runs to cut the deficit to 13 — the moments where things got wobbly in Game 1. The Thunder never wobbled on Sunday. They stood tall, firm, sovereign. The 68-win juggernaut we watched all season showed up in Game 2, giving the Pacers plenty to think about as they board the plane to head back home. 'Another bad first half,' Carlisle said. 'Obviously, it was a big problem, and we just played poorly. A little bit better in the second half, but you can't be a team that's reactive and expect to be successful or have consistency. So we're going to have to be a lot better on Wednesday.' Advertisement As will Oklahoma City. Daigneault said that the Thunder try to use the early games of a series 'to learn what our options are, and what our trade-offs are, and … just get a little bit more information.' 'Now we have it,' he said. 'We'll apply that as we move forward in the series.' Gilgeous-Alexander highlighted one specific thing they learned the hard way in Game 1 and applied in Game 2 — and, in the process, looked a hell of a lot more like the Thunder team that dominated the league this season. 'You can't just throw the first punch,' he said. 'You've got to try to throw all the punches, all night. Yeah, that's what we did: We threw enough punches tonight to go get a W.'
