A big-time performance — or a key injury — can be the difference for teams eyeing a spot in March Madness.
With the final weeks of the NCAA hoops regular season upon us, it’s now crunch time.
Final Four hopefuls, potential Cinderella squads, and bubble teams are gearing up for a sprint to the finish.
Keeping track of notable injuries, news and happenings across men’s and women’s college basketball.
Mar. 2
Tennessee freshman Nate Ament to miss next game
Tennessee freshman Nate Ament won’t play Tuesday at South Carolina because of a leg injury that knocked him out of the 23rd-ranked Volunteers’ loss to Alabama on Saturday. Ament’s right knee bent awkwardly after he became tangled in a scrum of players in the first half.
Tennessee officials said Monday the timetable for Ament’s return is uncertain.
Ament, a 6-foot-10 forward, is averaging 17.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He leads Tennessee in rebounding and is the Vols’ second-leading scorer.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
Update on Iowa forward Hannah Stuelke
Following No. 9 Iowa’s win over Wisconsin on Sunday, Hawkeyes coach Jan Jensen expressed hope that senior forward Hannah Stuelke would be able to return from the arm injury that kept her out against the Badgers in time for the Big Ten tournament. Iowa, a 2-seed, gets a bye to the quarterfinals and will not play until Friday, granting Stuelke additional time to recover from the injury suffered, against Illinois on Feb. 26.
Per USA Today, Stuelke was unable to practice prior to the game against Wisconsin, as well, and that the goal is just to get her healthy. “If that could be by game time on Friday, I’m gonna be grateful for that instead of stressed out about what may or may not happen.”
While Stuelke returned to the lineup against Illinois, Jensen assumed that it was going to feel worst the next day after the adrenaline wore off, saying, “I had a feeling that it was gonna be one of those things that when you wake up, if excitement’s down, it’s gonna be swollen.”
Stuelke is averaging a career-best 13.9 points per game, with along 8.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists, putting her as the second-leading scorer and top rebounder on the Hawkeyes. Iowa already lost senior guard Taylor McCabe (8.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists in 27.1 minutes) for the season with an ACL tear.
Michigan considers options at point
No. 3 Michigan lost the best backup point guard in college basketball, according to coach Dusty May, when L.J. Cason tore a knee ligament as the team clinched an outright Big Ten title with a win at No. 10 Illinois.
The Wolverines will certainly miss the smooth-shooting sophomore, who averaged 8.4 points and more than one 3-pointer per game, but May said the injury will give guards an opportunity to play larger roles.
Starting point guard Elliot Cadeau plays about 25 minutes a game, a number that may increase if he can avoid foul trouble. “This will force Elliot to be much more solid with his defense and decision-making,” May said. “He doesn’t have that insurance anymore.
Cason was injured on Saturday night in a 14-point win over the Fighting Illini on Friday night, and the team announced the next day that he needed season-ending surgery. He scored in double digits five times in February, including a career-high 18 points against Northwestern, and had at least seven points in every game last month.
Freshman Trey McKenney, sixth-year player Nimari Burnett and senior Roddy Gayle each average about 20 minutes a game — and all of them will have a chance to be on the court more without Cason.
Rutgers fires women’s basketball coach
Rutgers fired women’s basketball coach Coquese Washington on Monday after the Scarlet Knights ended the season with 11 straight losses and failed to win 10 games for the second time in three years.
Washington was 42-84 overall and 11-61 in Big Ten play over four seasons. The Knights were 9-20 this season, and their 1-17 Big Ten record was the worst in program history in conference play.
“Rutgers women’s basketball has a proud and storied history of success and there is no reason why our program cannot return to its place among the nation’s elite,” athletic director Keli Zinn said. “We have invested in women’s basketball in many ways, we compete in the best athletic conference in the country, and we are supported by passionate fans and loyal donors. I am confident we will find the right coach who can elevate this program to where it belongs. I want to thank Coquese for her service to Rutgers and wish her the best.”
A national search for a new women’s basketball head coach will begin immediately, Zinn said.
Washington succeeded C. Vivian Stringer, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame member who retired in 2022. Stringer coached 27 years at Rutgers, won 535 games and led the Knights to 17 NCAA Tournaments, including 10 in a row from 2003-12. The Knights reached the Final Four in 2000 and the national championship game in 2007. Rutgers’ last NCAA appearance was in 2021.
Washington had been Penn State’s coach from 2007-19 and was associate head coach at Oklahoma for one year and at Notre Dame for two before taking over at Rutgers. Penn State won three straight Big Ten regular-season titles from 2012-14 and made the Sweet 16 in 2012 and 2014.
Mar. 1
USC, Chad Baker-Mazara part ways
The USC men’s basketball team announced that guard Chad Baker-Mazara is no longer a member of the program on Sunday. Baker-Mazara sustained an injury during the Trojans’ loss to Nebraska on Saturday. It was USC’s fifth consecutive loss as it continues to fall off the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Meanwhile, Baker-Mazara dealt with multiple injuries this season. He sustained a knee injury in a Feb. 3 game against Indiana, which kept him out three games. He returned for USC’s games against Oregon and UCLA, before ultimately, getting re-injured against Nebraska and parting ways with the team. That said, there’s no specific reason — injury or otherwise — that’s been released as the cause of his departure.
Baker-Mazara was a fifth-year senior, so this could mean the end of his college basketball career. His journey included multiple different spots. He was a freshman at Duquense. He played his sophomore season at San Diego State, where he also parted ways with the team because he failed to meet academic requirements. He then spent a season at the junior college level before playing two seasons at Auburn, where he went to the Final Four. Given an extra year of eligibility because that freshman year at Duquense was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Baker-Mazara opted to come to Southern California. Now his season, and potentially career, comes to an abrupt end.
Feb. 27
Tarleton State coach Billy Gillispie won’t return
Gillispie, who has been away from the bench for more than a month because of medical issues, won’t return next season, the school announced Friday. Glenn Cyprien was named acting head coach on Jan. 30, about two weeks after Gillispie stepped away. The 66-year-old Gillispie said earlier this month that he was dealing with heart and blood-pressure issues that have plagued him for years. The former Kentucky coach had a kidney transplant in 2018.
Feb. 18
Toppin was doing his usual work in the paint Tuesday night, pouring in buckets and grabbing rebounds against Arizona State in a tough road environment. Then, late in the second half, the junior forward drove to the basket before going down in a heap, holding his right leg. Toppin stayed down for a few minutes before needing assistance to gingerly limp off the court. The school announced on Feb. 18 that Toppin suffered a torn ACL, ending his season.
Toppin finished with 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four blocks, and the Red Raiders were obviously shaken when he left the floor. He sat on the bench for a brief period before going back to the locker room.
Texas Tech was trailing 61-56 at the time of the injury and fell behind 67-56 over the next few minutes. The Red Raiders regrouped and pulled to 70-67 in the final seconds, but Christian Anderson turned the ball over, costing them a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer.
Lavin is out as the Toreros’ head coach after three-plus seasons, per multiple reports. In four combined seasons, San Diego went 46-79 under Lavin, including 11-17 this season. He had previous head-coaching stints at UCLA and St. John’s.
Feb. 17
Arizona announced that star forward Peat has a muscle strain in his lower leg. Peat will miss the Wildcats’ next two games against BYU on Feb. 18 and Houston on Feb. 21. Peat injured himself during the Wildcats’ loss to Texas Tech on Valentine’s Day. The freshman is averaging 13.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
Feb. 16
Huff will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 regular-season because of a left knee injury sustained in practice on Jan. 14. He was given an original timeline of 4-to-8 weeks, which meant there was a chance he’d return before the end of the regular season. However, on Feb. 16, Bulldogs coach Mark Few said that his return will likely be at least eight weeks, meaning he won’t return until after the West Coast Conference Tournament concludes.
Feb. 15
K-State fired Tang on Sunday “for cause,” per the athletic department, citing Tang’s “public comments and conduct, in addition to the program’s overall direction.”
Moreso, athletic director Gene Taylor filed this statement as a reason to fire Tang for cause:
“There’s language in his contract that addresses certain things that can potentially bring embarrassment,” Taylor said. “Basically, his comments about the student-athletes and the negative reaction to those comments from a lot of sources, both nationally and locally, is where I thought we needed to make the decision.”
After K-State’s 91-62 loss to Cincinnati on Feb. 11, Tang said his players “do not deserve to wear this uniform.”
“There will be very few of them in it next year,” Tang added. “I’m embarrassed for the university, and I’m embarrassed for our fans, our student section. It is just ridiculous. We’ve got practice at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, and we will get this thing right. I have no answer and no words. … Right now, I’m like pissed.”
Tang defended those comments in a statement. “I am deeply disappointed with the university’s decision and strongly disagree with the characterization of my termination,” he wrote. “I have always acted with integrity and faithfully fulfilled my responsibilities as head coach.”
Tang coached at K-State for the better part of four seasons. He led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight in 2023, his first season. Following that year, Kansas State rewarded him with a seven-year contract extension, starting with a $3.6 million base salary, including a $100,000 increase each year, and an $18.7 million buyout. The Wildcats were 10-15 overall at the time of Tang’s for-cause firing.
Feb. 14
BYU forward Richie Saunders sustains season-ending injury
Saunders sustained a torn ACL during the Cougars’ win against Colorado on Valentine’s Day. The injury effectively ends the senior’s college basketball career. He has played all four seasons at BYU and leads the team with 64 made 3-point shots this season. The Cougars had dropped four of their past five games previous to a 90-86 overtime victory against Colorado. They had also lost senior guard Dawson Baker to a season-ending ACL injury earlier this season. Saunders’ injury is another obstacle contributing to BYU’s dwindling national championship chances.
The UNC forward sustained a fractured left hand during the team’s loss to Miami (Fla.) on Feb. 10. The freshman star leads UNC in scoring (19.8 points per game) and rebounding (9.4 per game). He had 23 points in the team’s win against Duke on Feb. 7. Wilson’s timeline to return is unclear, but there’s optimism he’ll be back before the ACC Tournament.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
