Saturday’s 6-pack:
NBA teams whose bench has the worst net points per game:
—8.5- Utah Jazz
—8.3- Cleveland Cavaliers
—7.5- Washington Wizards
—7.3- Indiana Pacers
—6.9- Brooklyn Nets
—6.1- Phoenix Suns
Quote of the Day
“Things in the house, those things can be replaced, and if they can’t be replaced, what does it really matter? This is really what matters. Family, the closest ones, our dog also was safe, thank God. We’re just grateful. We’re grateful that everybody is safe and in a great place.”
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose house burned down this week
Saturday’s quiz
In the movie Moneyball, what actor played A’s manager Art Howe?
Friday’s quiz
Philip Rivers is the all-time leader in passing yards for NC State.
Thursday’s quiz
Before Shohei Ohtani, Albert Pujols was the last player intentionally walked with the bases empty in a World Series game.
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Kansas led 37-29 at halftime.
Tar Heels outscored them 58-37 in the second half.
North Carolina shot 66.7% inside the arc.
— Georgetown 70, Maryland 60
Georgetown led 11-0 right out of the gate.
Lot of fouls; Hoyas were 23-31 on foul line, Maryland 30-37.
Myles Rice scored 19 points in 27:00 off the bench for Maryland.
— Utah State 80, VCU 77
Utah State led by 18 with 11:28 left, hung on at the end.
VCU was only 16-28 on the foul line, in a 3-point loss.
Phil Martelli Jr is VCU’s 5th coach in 12 years; they’ve won at least 18 games every season of that stretch:
2010-15- Shaka Smart, 163-56
2015-17- Will Wade, 51-20
2017-2023- Mike Rhoades, 129-61
2023-25- Ryan Odom, 52-21
2025-26- Phil Martelli Jr, 1-1
It is good to be the basketball coach at a place that doesn’t have football.
— Kent State 110, Cornell 102
Cornell was 19-40 on the arc, 14-23 inside the arc.
Kent State was 18-38 on the arc, 17-27 inside the arc.
78 3-pointers taken, 60 2-point shots. Modern basketball.
— Tulane 38, Memphis 32
7-2 Green Wave led 35-17 at halftime.
QB Retzlaff passed for 332 yards, three TD’s.
Memphis split its last four games, after a 6-0 start.
— USC 38, Northwestern 17
WR Lemon caught 11 passes for 161 yards and a TD
Trojans outgained Northwestern, 482-280
USC ran a successful fake punt, using their 3rd-string QB to throw a pass; he was wearing the same jersey number as USC’s punter. Clever.
— Houston 30, Central Florida 27
Houston drove 62 yards, kicked game-winning FG with 2:31 left.
Cougars outgained UCF, 433-282.
UCF led 24-17 at halftime, scored only three points in second half.
— Famous birthdays, November 8th
Mary Hart, 75
Alfre Woodard, 73
Jeff Blauser, 60
Courtney-Thorne Smith, 58
Brevin Knight, 50
Yasmani Grandal, 38
Sam Bradford, 38
Giancarlo Stanton, 36
— Santa Clara 79, McNeese State 67
Soph G Gavalyugov scored 19 points in 22:00 off the bench.
Broncos out-rebounded McNeese, 47-28.
— George Mason 96, Winthrop 90
Patriots were 31-43 on foul line, Winthrop 25-29
Winthrop led by a hoop with 4:34 left in the game.
6-2 junior Mincy scored 29 points, only 2 assists; his job is to score points
— Missouri 89, SE Missouri State 84
Underdog Redhawks led 51-46 at halftime.
Game was 76-76 with 3:34 left to play.
Mizzou shot 66.7% inside the arc.
— Oregon 67, Rice 63
Visiting Owls led 32-27 at halftime.
Oregon was 26-38 on foul line, Rice 8-11.
Ducks are 2-0, also beating Hawaii 60-59
— Wilmington 71, Delaware 62
Ugly loss for the Blue Hens, losing to a D-2 team.
— Nuggets 129, Warriors 104- Over the last six years, Golden State is now 34-41 when Steph Curry doesn’t play.
— Las Vegas Raiders lost 10-7 in Denver Thursday; they had a punt blocked. Friday, they fired their special teams coach. When you’re 2-7, there will be scapegoats.
— Toronto Blue Jays came thisclose to winning the World Series, but manager John Schneider doesn’t have a long-term contract yet. Blue Jays exercised their 2026 option on Schneider, but bench coach Don Mattingly has left Toronto.
— Japanese star 3B Munetaka Murakami entered the posting system this week; his will be one of the most anticipated free agencies this winter.
Murakami leaves the Tokyo Yakult Swallows with 246 home runs over his eight seasons in Japan; he hit 56 homers in 2022.
NBA teams whose bench has the worst net points per game:
—8.5- Utah Jazz
—8.3- Cleveland Cavaliers
—7.5- Washington Wizards
—7.3- Indiana Pacers
—6.9- Brooklyn Nets
—6.1- Phoenix Suns
Quote of the Day
“Things in the house, those things can be replaced, and if they can’t be replaced, what does it really matter? This is really what matters. Family, the closest ones, our dog also was safe, thank God. We’re just grateful. We’re grateful that everybody is safe and in a great place.”
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose house burned down this week
Saturday’s quiz
In the movie Moneyball, what actor played A’s manager Art Howe?
Friday’s quiz
Philip Rivers is the all-time leader in passing yards for NC State.
Thursday’s quiz
Before Shohei Ohtani, Albert Pujols was the last player intentionally walked with the bases empty in a World Series game.
************************************
Saturday’s Den: Wrapping up a busy Friday…….
— North Carolina 80, Kansas 77Kansas led 37-29 at halftime.
Tar Heels outscored them 58-37 in the second half.
North Carolina shot 66.7% inside the arc.
— Georgetown 70, Maryland 60
Georgetown led 11-0 right out of the gate.
Lot of fouls; Hoyas were 23-31 on foul line, Maryland 30-37.
Myles Rice scored 19 points in 27:00 off the bench for Maryland.
— Utah State 80, VCU 77
Utah State led by 18 with 11:28 left, hung on at the end.
VCU was only 16-28 on the foul line, in a 3-point loss.
Phil Martelli Jr is VCU’s 5th coach in 12 years; they’ve won at least 18 games every season of that stretch:
2010-15- Shaka Smart, 163-56
2015-17- Will Wade, 51-20
2017-2023- Mike Rhoades, 129-61
2023-25- Ryan Odom, 52-21
2025-26- Phil Martelli Jr, 1-1
It is good to be the basketball coach at a place that doesn’t have football.
— Kent State 110, Cornell 102
Cornell was 19-40 on the arc, 14-23 inside the arc.
Kent State was 18-38 on the arc, 17-27 inside the arc.
78 3-pointers taken, 60 2-point shots. Modern basketball.
— Tulane 38, Memphis 32
7-2 Green Wave led 35-17 at halftime.
QB Retzlaff passed for 332 yards, three TD’s.
Memphis split its last four games, after a 6-0 start.
— USC 38, Northwestern 17
WR Lemon caught 11 passes for 161 yards and a TD
Trojans outgained Northwestern, 482-280
USC ran a successful fake punt, using their 3rd-string QB to throw a pass; he was wearing the same jersey number as USC’s punter. Clever.
— Houston 30, Central Florida 27
Houston drove 62 yards, kicked game-winning FG with 2:31 left.
Cougars outgained UCF, 433-282.
UCF led 24-17 at halftime, scored only three points in second half.
— Famous birthdays, November 8th
Mary Hart, 75
Alfre Woodard, 73
Jeff Blauser, 60
Courtney-Thorne Smith, 58
Brevin Knight, 50
Yasmani Grandal, 38
Sam Bradford, 38
Giancarlo Stanton, 36
— Santa Clara 79, McNeese State 67
Soph G Gavalyugov scored 19 points in 22:00 off the bench.
Broncos out-rebounded McNeese, 47-28.
— George Mason 96, Winthrop 90
Patriots were 31-43 on foul line, Winthrop 25-29
Winthrop led by a hoop with 4:34 left in the game.
6-2 junior Mincy scored 29 points, only 2 assists; his job is to score points
— Missouri 89, SE Missouri State 84
Underdog Redhawks led 51-46 at halftime.
Game was 76-76 with 3:34 left to play.
Mizzou shot 66.7% inside the arc.
— Oregon 67, Rice 63
Visiting Owls led 32-27 at halftime.
Oregon was 26-38 on foul line, Rice 8-11.
Ducks are 2-0, also beating Hawaii 60-59
— Wilmington 71, Delaware 62
Ugly loss for the Blue Hens, losing to a D-2 team.
— Nuggets 129, Warriors 104- Over the last six years, Golden State is now 34-41 when Steph Curry doesn’t play.
— Las Vegas Raiders lost 10-7 in Denver Thursday; they had a punt blocked. Friday, they fired their special teams coach. When you’re 2-7, there will be scapegoats.
— Toronto Blue Jays came thisclose to winning the World Series, but manager John Schneider doesn’t have a long-term contract yet. Blue Jays exercised their 2026 option on Schneider, but bench coach Don Mattingly has left Toronto.
— Japanese star 3B Munetaka Murakami entered the posting system this week; his will be one of the most anticipated free agencies this winter.
Murakami leaves the Tokyo Yakult Swallows with 246 home runs over his eight seasons in Japan; he hit 56 homers in 2022.

