The Associated Press national player of the week in college football for Week 12 of the season:
Devon Dampier, New Mexico
Dampier ran for three touchdowns, including the game-winner with 23 seconds left, and threw for another score in the Lobos’ 38-35 home win over then-No. 19 Washington State.
Dampier finished with 193 yards rushing and 174 yards passing as the Lobos beat a ranked team for the first time in 27 games since 2003.
Dampier, who had 143 of his rushing yards in the second half, went 33 yards to begin the Lobos’ comeback from a 28-14 halftime deficit. His 1-yard run for the go-ahead score ended an 11-play, 75-yard drive.
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Dampier’s performance helped the Lobos improve to 5-6, their most wins since 2016.
Runner-up
South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers’ 15-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left gave the Gamecocks a 34-30 win over Missouri and punctuated a day when he threw for career highs of 353 yards and five TDs.
Sellers has 10 TD passes against just one interception over the last five games, and he became the first South Carolina quarterback to throw for five TDs in a game since Jake Bentley did it against Clemson in 2018.
Honorable mention
Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson caught a career-high 12 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-14 win at Kansas State. It was the most receiving yards by an ASU player since 2015. … Stanford WR Emmett Mosley caught 13 passes for 168 yards in a 38-35 win over Louisville. Mosley’s TD catches of 4 and 25 yards tied the game before the Cardinal won on Emmet Kenney’s 52-yard field goal as time expired. … Clemson DE T.J. Parker recorded a career-high and school-record-tying four of the Tigers’ eight sacks in a 24-20 win over Pittsburgh. … Clemson QB Cade Klubnik threw for 288 yards and two TDs, and his 50-yard touchdown run with 1:16 left gave the Tigers the go-ahead score. … Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty rushed for 159 yards and three touchdowns and broke the program’s single-season rushing record in a 42-21 win at San Jose State. Jeanty has 1,893 rushing yards for the season.
Six stats
— Kansas’ 17-13 win at BYU gave the Jayhawks back-to-back victories over ranked opponents in consecutive weeks for the first time. KU beat Iowa State the week before.
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— Georgia has won eight straight over Tennessee, all by double digits. It’s the longest winning streak for the Bulldogs in a series dating to 1899.
— Tulane won 21 American Athletic Conference games in its first eight years in the league; it has 22 wins in AAC play the last three seasons.
— Memphis’ Seth Henigan threw for four touchdowns against UAB to become the only active FBS player with four seasons with at least 20 TD passes at the same school.
— Illinois’s 38-16 victory over Michigan State gave the Illini a sixth home win for the first time since 2001.
— Nebraska is 0-8 in two years under Matt Rhule in games where a win would have made the Cornhuskers bowl-eligible. The Huskers haven’t been to a bowl since 2016, the longest drought in the Power Four.
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AP voters: Aaron Beard, Pat Graham, Gary B. Graves, Stephen Hawkins, Pete Iacobelli, Mark Long, John Marshall, Eric Olson, John Zenor.
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Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of stories exploring the impact of Donald Trump’s second term as president on New Mexico.
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President-elect Donald Trump gestures at a November campaign rally at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Associated Press file photo
Marcela Díaz remembers when the federal Department of Homeland Security conducted I-9 audits, a means of identifying undocumented workers employed by local businesses, during former president Donald Trump’s first term in office.
NEW YORK — With the outcome already decided in the waning seconds, St. John’s students couldn’t resist.
“Who’s your daddy? Who’s your daddy?” came the chant in a crowd of 12,310 at Madison Square Garden.
Father was best in this family affair.
Rick Pitino defeated his son again Sunday in their latest coaching clash, as No. 22 St. John’s (4-0) passed its first real test this season by topping New Mexico 85-71 behind 21 points and 11 rebounds from RJ Luis Jr.
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Richard Pitino, coach of the Lobos (3-1), didn’t seem to mind the catcalls too much.
A huge New York Yankees fan, he immediately recalled the origin of that derisive chorus, directed by Bronx Bombers backers years ago at Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martínez.
“Other than that, I laughed it off. I didn’t think much of it,” said Richard Pitino, who attended a World Series game at Yankee Stadium with his dad last month. “This is what our obnoxious New York fans do, and I’m part of it.”
Rick Pitino wasn’t thrilled, though.
“I don’t get upset at the crowd,” he said. “I just wish they would stop saying that.”
Rick Pitino, in his second season at St. John’s, improved to 3-1 in coaching matchups against his son. The previous two wins came when the 72-year-old Hall of Famer was at Louisville.
Richard Pitino beat his father’s Iona team two years ago at The Pit. That’s one of only two victories by sons in 22 coaching matchups vs. their dads in Division I history.
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“OK, he’s my son so I’m going to brag on him: He is a great young coach. Great young coach. His offensive mind is brilliant. He puts you in situations that really hurt you defensively,” Rick Pitino said.
“He’s got a great team this year. He does it with all new players, different players. He’s one of the bright young offensive minds in the game today. So, he’s a lot different than me. He handles losing much better than me.”
Other separators are easier to see.
Always a sharp dresser, Rick Pitino paced the sideline Sunday in a charcoal gray suit and snappy red tie. A few feet away, Richard wore a long-sleeve New Mexico mini-zip with track pants and sneakers.
Right after the final horn, they met for a quick embrace and headed to the handshake line following New Mexico’s first game at Madison Square Garden since the 1990 National Invitation Tournament.
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“So much fun to be a part of,” said 42-year-old Richard Pitino, an assistant coach under his father at Louisville. “Although we didn’t win, I’m very, very grateful that my dad agreed to do it, and I’m grateful that my players were able to experience something like this.”
But he doesn’t expect pops to bring St. John’s out to Albuquerque to play at The Pit anytime soon.
“He would never do it, but I would love for him to do it,” Richard Pitino said.
“If I go back to Iona in a few years, I’ll go back to The Pit,” Rick Pitino said, drawing chuckles.
Rick Pitino said his daughter, Jacqueline, and another son, Ryan, would sit behind the St. John’s bench and stay neutral. But his wife, Joanne, made no secret about her plans to sit behind the New Mexico bench with her sister and best friend and root hard for Richard.
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“‘You’re my blood. He’s not,’” Rick Pitino recounted his wife telling Richard. “So, it shows you how much she loves me and how much she loves Richard.”
Nelly Junior Joseph, who played for Rick Pitino at Iona before transferring to New Mexico, had 16 points in the loss.
The game marked the NYC Hoops for Heroes Classic benefiting the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a very meaningful organization to the Pitino family. Rick Pitino’s brother-in-law and closest friend, Billy Minardi, was killed in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
“I think the way The Garden got behind the game, I thought it was unbelievable for me, and my son will remember this forever,” Rick Pitino said.
St. John’s is 3-0 on the year with three 20-plus point wins.
Of course, the Johnnies haven’t played anybody, overwhelming Fordham, Quinnipiac and Wagner.
New Mexico will be Rick Pitino and Co.’s toughest test yet.
The Lobos have already posted a KenPom top-25 win after beating UCLA last Friday in Las Vegas.
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Donovan Dent and Nelly Junior Joseph are a formidable inside-out duo.
These are two similar squads, and I think the Lobos have a fighting chance of keeping it close for 40 minutes.
New Mexico vs. St. John’s odds
Team
Spread
Moneyline
Total
New Mexico
+8.5 (-108)
+290
Over 161.5 (-114)
St. John’s
-8.5 (-112)
-375
Under 161.5 (-106)
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
New Mexico vs. St. John’s prediction
(12 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1)
Both squads run up-tempo, transition-reliant offenses centered around their backcourts. The Lobos and Johnnies will put the ball in their guards’ hands and let them run the open court for 40 minutes.
Both squads have talented frontcourt pieces but limited frontcourt depth. They are also limited in the shooting and spacing departments, often creating in the mid-range.
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These are two above-average transition defenses, so while I expect plenty of transition attempts, both might find trouble scoring efficiently.
But there are a few matchup wrinkles that favor the Lobos.
In theory, Coach Pitino’s matchup zone defense should neutralize ball-screen actions.
But in practice, the Johnnies’ ball-screen coverage has been more than sketchy. They ranked 332nd nationally in pick-and-roll PPP allowed last season (.88) and allowed opponents to run the set at a well-above-average rate.
That doesn’t bode well for this matchup, given the Lobos run almost exclusively ball-screen sets with Dent, Junior Joseph and Mustapha Amzil in the half-court.
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Additionally, I’m impressed with New Mexico’s rim pressure in the early season. The Lobos are averaging 28 at-the-rim field-goal attempts per game (98th percentile). That will undoubtedly result in higher-efficiency shots than St. John’s mid-range-reliant attack.
The Johnnies ranked 325th nationally in Rim-and-3 rate last season, and their most significant offseason addition is former Seton Hall guard Kadary Richmond, a talented two-way player who spends too much time pedaling in the middle of the floor.
St. John’s guard Kadary Richmond (1) looks to pass around Wagner guard Javier Ezquerra during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in New York. AP
I’m also uncertain how the Red Storm’s offense will look without Joel Soriano.
Sunday will be their first true test without their former star center.
He grabbed a million offensive rebounds last year, masking a shooting-deficient roster by creating consistent second-chance offense.
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This year’s roster doesn’t have an adequate replacement, especially if they keep playing the 6-foot-7 RJ Luis at the four.
That gets to a more overarching point about roster continuity.
Teams with more returning production tend to outperform teams with less in the early season — fully formed teams perform better than the transfer-laden ones in November and December.
Betting on College Basketball?
New Mexico ranks 66th nationally in minutes continuity (49%), while St. John’s ranks 263rd (22%).
The Johnnies are relying on four transfers for significant possession minutes.
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New Mexico vs. St. John’s pick
The Lobos and Johnnies play very similar schemes, making me think the two will play a closely-contested game.
But I’m willing to back New Mexico’s returning players and ball-screen offense against St. John’s transfers and sketchy ball-screen coverage defense.
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