The Associated Press announced its national players of the week in men’s and women’s basketball for Week 16 of the season. On the men’s basketball side:

The 6-foot-3 freshman guard and high-end NBA prospect had an all-timer of a performance in a 117-115 double-overtime loss at then-No. 25 Alabama, scoring 49 points to set an Arkansas single-game freshman record as well as the No. 2 total in program history by any player.

Acuff made 16 of 27 shots, 6 of 10 3-pointers and 11 of 12 free throws to go with five rebounds and five assists. He also committed just one turnover while playing all 50 minutes. The 49 points were the No. 2 output in Division I all year and broke Todd Day’s 1992 program record for most points in a Southeastern Conference game, as well as standing as the most points by a John Calipari-coached player.

Acuff followed with 20 points, four rebounds and five assists in a win against Missouri.

Runner-up

AJ Dybantsa, No. 19 BYU. The 6-9 freshman swept the Big 12 player of the week and rookie of the week honors after two big outings against top-flight opponents. First he had 35 points and seven rebounds in a loss at then-No. 4 Arizona. Then he had a near triple-double with 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists with a block and a steal in a home win against then-No. 6 Iowa State. The nation’s scoring leader (24.9) made 23 of 45 shots (.511), 4 of 10 3-pointers (.400) and 14 of 17 free throws (.824) in the two games.

Honorable mention

Cameron Boozer, No. 1 Duke; Donovan Dent, UCLA.

Keep an eye on

Moustapha Thiam, Cincinnati. The 7-2 sophomore had a huge game in the Bearcats’ surprise 16-point win at then-No. 8 Kansas, scoring a career-high 28 points to go with eight rebounds and two assists. He went 11 for 17 from the field and had two 3-pointers while committing zero turnovers in 30 minutes. That win marked Cincinnati’s first on the road against a top-10 opponent since beating Louisville in January 1990. Thiam is averaging 19.3 points and 8.3 rebounds on 59% shooting in his last three games.

And for women’s basketball:

The sophomore center led No. 9 Iowa to wins over Nebraska, Purdue and Michigan last week, recording a double-double in each of the games. She had 24 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in a win over then-No. 6 Michigan. She shot 75% from the field in the three games while averaging 24 points and 11.3 rebounds.

Runner-up

Madina Okot, No. 3 South Carolina. The senior center averaged 16.5 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks while helping the Gamecocks to a pair of Top 25 wins over Alabama and Ole Miss. She also hit five 3-pointers, hitting all of her attempts from behind the arc. In the win over Alabama, Okot had a double-double by halftime with 13 points and 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes.

Honorable mention

Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame; Olivia Miles, No. 11 TCU; Sarah Strong, No. 1 UConn.

Keep an eye on

Rice redshirt junior guard Hailey Adams averaged 12 points, 16 rebounds and 2.5 blocks while shooting 60% from the field to help the Owls beat East Carolina and South Florida last week. The Owls have won 19 straight games and are one victory away from the top seed in the American Conference.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Iowa Legislature’s first “funnel” deadline is finished — and so are hundreds of proposed bills that failed to make the cut.

3 surprising bills that survived funnel — and 1 that didn’t

Republican bills placing new restrictions on local libraries, public assistance programs and local civil rights ordinances survived the self-imposed legislative deadline.

But a measure to ban all abortions and make it a crime for doctors to perform the procedure did not.

What the heck is ‘funnel,’ anyway?

Friday, Feb. 20, was the Iowa Legislature’s first funnel deadline, which requires most bills to pass a full committee in order to remain eligible for consideration this year.

Tax and spending bills are exempt, which gives lawmakers more time to find agreement on a trio of property tax cut proposals from House and Senate Republicans and Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Want to read more? Read it here

Want a more complete list of bills that lived and died? Read our complete roundup of education, health care, business, state government and law enforcement and courts legislation.

More: Libraries, SNAP, civil rights. Which Iowa bills beat funnel deadline?

Portions of this article appeared in the Des Moines Register’s politics newsletter. Don’t miss out. Sign up here.

Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at mjpayne@registermedia.com. Follow her on X at @marissajpayne.