Two things for you on this fine Thursday morning…1) If you didn’t watch the ASU-Texas game yesterday, this highlight vid is all you need! Start it from 10:50 and forward as necessary. This might have been the game of the year! 2) This 1 minute and 58 seconds may be the best single-game team passing performance I’ve seen from a team since the dynasty Spurs team! If you like basketball, give this vid a watch! We’ve got a great Stump for you today! Let’s do this thing!

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Today’s Trivia🧠

(answer at the bottom of the Stump)

On This Day…

🏀 On this day in 1943, University of Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team begins a 129 home game winning streak that extends all the way until 1955.

The Wildcats would win 3 NCAA titles during that time, 1948, 1949, and once again in 1951.

Today’s Stump Story…

🏀 Two Games in One Day

Sure, I could write the 5 millionth article about the College Football Playoff this morning. Or, I could write something about a guy you didn’t hear about, something different. As a good friend of mine once said: “When they zig, we zag".

Tyler Kolek was an absolute stud as a Marquette Golden Eagle, he haunted opposing Big East programs for years and was one of the best players in the country. Despite all of this, Kolek fell out of the first round and landed with the Trail Blazers with the 34th overall pick. He was later traded to the New York Knicks and has been spending his rookie season with them.

Yesterday, Kolek played in two different games, totaling 52 minutes across the day. He started his day in the G League with the Westchester Knicks in their 1 PM game. There, he dropped 36 points, 11 assists, and 5 rebounds in 40 total minutes. If you don’t think those are impressive numbers, you don’t really know ball. Sorry.

For most people, that would be considered a hard days work. A good days work. Not for Tyler Kolek. He was called up to the big leagues to play with the Knicks in their 7:30 game against the Utah Jazz after two of their players went down with injury.

His stats with the big ball club were not anything that will knock your socks off, but he played pivotal minutes. His 2 points, 1 rebounds, and 4 assists were pivotal in their win. While Kolek was on the floor, the Knicks were +11 points, they won the game by 16.

Kolek is passing every challenge the Knicks has given him so far this year in his quest to become a full time NBA player. He’s seen his playing time go up and down throughout the year, but consistent play time will be awarded if he continues to ball out like he has been.

Quick Hitters

🏈 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: Texas and Arizona State went to the absolute brink yesterday. It was an absolute classic between the two, as the Longhorns jumped out to an early lead, but the gritty Sun Devils fought all the way back to send the game to overtime. In the end, it was Quinn Ewers and the Longhorns who were able to pick off ASU and seal the deal in the second overtime. Cam Skattebo and ASU surely gave the nation a wonderful show, and proved that they belong at the top of the college football world. If you didn’t get a chance to watch this one, this highlight vid is absolutely worth the watch! (Start it at the 10:50 mark)

🏈 The Rose Bowl: The granddaddy of them all! And boy oh boy did the Buckeyes shine bright. In a rematch of the best regular season game of the 2024 campaign, Ohio State came out firing in their revenge game. Oregon struggled on defense to stop Jeremiah Smith, Will Howard, Treyveon Henderson, and a whole host of Buckeyes. Most importantly, Oregon could get nothing going on offense. If this Buckeyes team can stay hot, I’m not sure anyone can stop them. Ohio State 41, Oregon 21!

🏀 The Houston Rockets are officially the ‘out of nowhere’ team from the West this year. The Thunder, Kings, Jazz, and Grizzlies, have all had this year at some point these last 5 years. Nobody expects anything from them and they end up as a top-3 seed. With their 110-99 win over the Mavs, the Rockets improved to 22-11 and are the 3 Seed in the West right now! It’s a cast of absolute GLUE GUYS including Fred VanVleet, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith, and Jalen Green. A big test tomorrow when they host the Celtics!

Other News:

• 🏀 LeBron’s son, Bronny, commits to Arizona

• 🏈 Sugar Bowl postponed to Thursday amid New Orleans truck attack

• 🏈 Looks like Saquon will be sitting out Week 18

Top Performers:

• 🏈 Jeremiah Smith (OSU): 7 receptions, 187 yards, 2 TDs

• 🏈 Cam Skattebo (ASU): 30 carries, 143 yards, 2 TDs, 1 passing TD

• 🏀 Scottie Barnes (TOR): 33 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists

Stump Favorites

🏈 AND THE KICKER IS ICED! HE’S ICED!

🏀 Sheesh Joker! Video game mode!

🏀 An absolute passing CLINIC!

🏈 ASU got absolutely robbed of this Targeting call!

💯 Full Scoreboards: MLB, Soccer, PGA, NFL, WNBA, NCAAF, NHL

Today’s Slate

*All times are ET*

🏈 NCAAF: TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: Duke vs Ole Miss (7:30 PM on ESPN2)

🏀 NBA: Celtics @ T’Wolves (7:30 PM on TNT), 76ers @ Warriors (10:00 PM on TNT), full schedule

🏀 NCAAW: (5) Texas @ (9) Oklahoma (9:00 PM on ESPN2), full schedule

🏀 NCAAM: (21) Memphis @ FAU (7:00 PM on ESPN2), (20) Purdue @ Minnesota (8:00 PM on FS1), (22) Illinois @ (9) Oregon (10:00 PM on FS1), full schedule

🏒 NHL on ESPN+: Hurricanes @ Panthers (7:00 PM), Wild @ Capitals (7:00 PM), Flyers @ Golden Knights (10:00 PM), full schedule

⚽️ Soccer: Italian Supercoppa: Inter vs Atalanta (2:00 PM)

Trivia Answer:

D. Larry O’Brien Trophy! A politician by trade, O’Brien became the commissioner of the NBA in 1975. The trophy was first awarded in 1977 to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Can’t thank you enough for sticking to the end of this thing we call The Daily Stump. If you know anybody who might want this bit of daily sports news in their life, send them this link, it would go a long way. Appreciate the hell out of you all…

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