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Not playing Arch Manning more was missed opportunity for Texas, Steve Sarkisian

There’s no holding back now. No pretense or protection.

“I hope it’s not a no-brainer for him to come back to school,” Sarkisian said. 

And with those comments to the Touchdown Club of Houston, the offseason of hype has begun for the quarterback who has thrown all of 95 career passes. 

That’s not some throwaway line from Sarkisian. It’s a unique window into what could one day be considered a monumentally poor decision by one of the game’s best coaches.

By not playing Manning more in 2024, and eventually putting him in position to play at a high level late in the season in games that mattered, did Sarkisian cost a uber-talented Texas team the chance to win a national title?

Because if Manning plays so well this fall that he leaves for the NFL after one season as a starter, what does that say about Sarkisian’s decision to start (and play) Quinn Ewers in 2024?

COACHES RANKINGS: SEC  | Big Ten | Big 12 | ACC

LOOKING AHEAD: Big Ten leads too-early Top 25 after spring

If Manning is talented enough to play at a high level in 2025 and earn a pre-NFL Draft grade that warrants him leaving early, he should’ve been playing in 2024, too. If not starting.

Especially for a team that had a program-record 12 players drafted last week. For a program that has strung together three straight top five recruiting classes, and is as talented as any Texas team in decades.

Instead, Manning started two gimme games in 2024 when Ewers was hurt. He threw passes in all of six games for a team talented enough to win the national title. 

A team that, at the end of the season, couldn’t move the ball on Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinals, scored a lousy 14 points and lost by two touchdowns. The obvious question is what could’ve or would’ve been different had Manning played against Ohio State?

Could Texas have done more in 2024?

Like it or not, this is the backdrop to the 2025 season, the most anticipated one at Texas in 20 years. In 2004, Texas beat Michigan to win the Rose Bowl, and a young phenom quarterback had just begun to grow into the hype. 

A year later and with expectations at an all-time high, Vince Young had a monster season in his second year as the Texas starting quarterback, and the Longhorns went undefeated and won it all — by beating then-unbeatable Southern California in the BCS national championship game. 

Texas coach Mack Brown was criticized during Young’s early career, when he was redshirted as a freshman in 2002 and played behind Chance Mock for half of 2003. Texas fans saw it as missing out on 1 1/2 years of Young as the starter. 

Manning redshirted in 2023, and outside of starts against Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State in 2024, was a situational substitute. Think about this: Manning threw six passes against non-Mississippi State SEC competition. 

He didn’t attempt a pass in the SEC championship game, and two playoff games. And that’s your Heisman Trophy favorite heading into the 2025 season. 

This is the quarterback who forced Ewers’ hand to leave early for the NFL. Ewers wasn’t going to play anywhere but Texas, and it was clear Texas was moving on to Manning. 

Ewers was selected in the seventh round of last week’s NFL Draft. 

A day later at the Touchdown Club of Houston event, Sarkisian asked for patience with his new quarterback. 

“Arch is a great player, but I hope for everybody here that we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves,” Sarkisian said. “Let this guy go play this year. Let’s let him have fun in finally getting his opportunity as the starting quarterback.”

But should he have had that opportunity a year earlier? And much like Young, what would he have done with it — and how far would Texas has gone with him? 

Sarkisian said during spring practice that he believes Manning will play well in 2025, and that the offense has the pieces to be highly productive. He says he doesn’t expect a drop-off from last season. 

If Sarkisian is talking about a no-brainer decision for Manning to leave early for the NFL, it’s more than just avoiding a drop-off. It’s playing at a high level and leading Texas beyond where the season ended the last two years. 

“Here’s what I hope,” Sarkisian told the Touchdown Club. “I hope he’s got a really hard decision to make on about January 21st. That means we played a long time. That means he’s probably had a really good season. And that means he’s probably trying to figure out, ‘Do I want one more year in the burnt orange, or is it time to go to the NFL?’”

That also means Sarkisian made a mistake playing Ewers. Or at least not playing Manning more in 2024. 

There’s your no-brainer.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

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Jalen Brunson game-winner gives Knicks series victory over Pistons

For the New York Knicks, there were no third quarter issues; the problems, this time, came in the fourth.

In the end, however, the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year closed out the series.

All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson laced a 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left in the game to cap an 11-1 run that pushed the Knicks past the Pistons, 116-113. And with that, New York won its first-round playoff series Thursday night in six games, setting up a showdown in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics.

Brunson was masterful in the fourth quarter, scoring eight of the team’s final 11 points. He finished with 40 points on 15-of-33 shooting, adding seven assists and four rebounds.

The Knicks had entered the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead, but sloppy play, turnovers and cold shooting allowed Detroit to claw back into the game, eventually taking a seven-point lead with 2:35 to play.

The Pistons missed their last four field goal attempts and committed a pair of turnovers in the final minutes, opening the door for New York’s furious run to win the game.

One of those turnovers came on the penultimate play of the game, when Detroit schemed up an out-of-bounds play that would’ve set up an open 3 for Malik Beasley that would’ve tied the game. The ball, however, glanced off Beasley’s hands and landed out of bounds.

The Knicks would inbound the ball on the following play, quickly eating away the final 0.4 seconds of the game.

Knicks vs. Pistons highlights

Final: Knicks 116, Pistons 113

Watch Jalen Brunson game-winner

End of third quarter: Knicks 96, Pistons 85

To get over their third quarter ineptitude, the Knicks deployed savvy, veteran play.

New York entered Thursday having been outscored in every third quarter this series and by a combined margin of -33, or 6.6 points conceded per third quarter.

On Thursday night, however, the Knicks outscored Detroit by 13 in the period to carry an 11-point lead into the fourth, 96-85.

The Knicks went at the young Pistons, using their overeager defense against them. Early in the third, New York baited Detroit into committing fouls, and the Knicks were already in the bonus before the 8-minute mark had expired.

That led to Detroit playing rather tentative defense, allowing the Knicks to cut and get easier buckets down low.

The Knicks also got hot from beyond the arc, nailing 4-of-7 3s in the period, while Detroit failed to make any of its seven tries from deep.

That means the Pistons, facing elimination, will have 12 minutes to erase the deficit and save its season.

Halftime: Pistons 61, Knicks 59

The Pistons settled in during the second quarter and played in a far better offensive rhythm, outscoring the Knicks by 16 in the period.

More importantly for Detroit, a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from guard Malik Beasley pushed the Pistons into the lead at halftime, 61-59.

Detroit was sparked by the shooting of Beasley, who nailed 6-of-11 shots in the first half, with all of his conversions coming from beyond the arc. Beasley led all Pistons players at the half with 18 points, while Cade Cunningham added 11 points, five assists and four rebounds.

As hot as the Pistons were in the period, it was a very different story for the Knicks, who cooled off. New York converted just 7-of-19 attempts (36.8%) and committed five turnovers in the second quarter, compared to Detroit’s 60.9% shooting in the period.

Jalen Brunson scored just five points in the period, but he leads all players with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Center Karl-Anthony Towns has had a bit of a quiet night so far, with just seven points on 3-of-6 shooting.

End of first quarter: Knicks 37, Pistons 23

The New York Knicks, compared to the way they ended Game 5 Tuesday night, did a few things differently in the first quarter Thursday: they limited turnovers, committing just a single one; they pushed the pace in transition; and point guard Jalen Brunson took over.

Brunson recorded 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and added four assists to lead New York to a 37-23 advantage after one.

The Knicks were hot overall, nailing 15-of-25 shots (60%) and took advantage of three early Detroit turnovers. Cade Cunningham did score nine points, but the Pistons struggled to get back on defense in transition, leading to easy New York buckets.

In the period, the Pistons shot just 8-of-21 (38.1%) from the field, including just 2-of-10 from beyond the arc.

Pistons vs. Knicks Game 6 schedule

Game 6  of the NBA playoff series between the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons is set to tipoff at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 1.

How to watch Pistons vs Knicks: Time, TV, streaming info

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV: TNT
Stream: Fubo
Location: Little Caesars Arena (Detroit)

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

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Ex-Pelosi aide accuses Hakeem Jeffries of ‘squandering’ anti-Trump opportunities in stunning rebuke

A former top advisor to ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is not meeting the moment in the current Trump era.

‘Trump is just giving us all this incredible red meat. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s like the biggest gift any party has been given by the opposition, and we’re just squandering it, to a degree,’ former Pelosi advisor Ashley Etienne told Politico’s Deep Dive podcast. 

Etienne helped Pelosi oversee Democrats’ messaging during President Donald Trump’s first impeachment. She also previously worked for former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.

She said Jeffries was ‘doing well’ in many areas and said she had ‘a tremendous amount of respect’ for the New York Democrat but signaled that he was missing opportunities on anti-Trump messaging.

‘He gave a speech this morning. I don’t have any talking points in my phone about what he said. And I’m going to be doing TV and this interview all day. That’s a failure,’ Etienne said.

‘How do you get to discipline if you’re not telling people what the hell you want them to say? At least emphatically, at least tonally.’

Jeffries’ allies pushed back against that characterization, pointing out that intraparty friction was taking attention away from Trump’s low poll numbers and Republicans’ policies.

‘Donald Trump’s approval ratings are plummeting, and he’s bringing House Republicans down with him. Extreme MAGA Republicans have been forced to delay their plans to advance Trump’s centerpiece legislative priority due to intense backlash against their scheme to enact the largest cuts in history to Medicaid and food assistance. Let’s keep the main thing, the main thing,’ Jeffries spokesperson Christiana Stephenson told Fox News Digital.

Just Friday morning, Jeffries released a statement hammering House Republicans for having to delay part of their legislative work to advance Trump’s agenda.

But Etienne’s comments are a notable rebuke from a former senior Democratic leadership aide to one of the party’s most powerful current officials, which comes after months of Democrats being plagued by infighting over messaging woes.

Etienne noted that Democrats had scored several wins on the messaging front, like having ‘successfully demonized Elon Musk’ and Sen. Cory Booker’s recent record-breaking filibuster speech.

But she singled out liberals’ protests during Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress as an ’embarrassing’ setback for the party and Jeffries.

‘If you look at the headlines post-the speech, even during the speech, it was more about Democrats and Democrats protesting rather than what Trump was actually saying. And in those kind of moments, you don’t want to become the story. You want Trump to be the story,’ Etienne said.

‘And I also thought it was a problem for Mr. Jeffries. I mean, it really says a lot about how people value his leadership. He asked for no protest. And what did they do? They protest 50 different ways.’

Both Pelosi and Jeffries’ offices told Politico that the latter often seeks the former’s input, and Jeffries’ spokesperson pushed back on Politico’s reporting that House Democratic leaders were seeking to move past Pelosi and that Jeffries was not doing enough to help Democratic groups with messaging. 

One of those groups, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), pushed back on the assertion they were not hearing enough from Jeffries.

PCCC sent out a press release that read, ‘Today, in a POLITICO article we are not interested in dwelling on, a former Pelosi staffer attacked Hakeem Jeffries. PCCC co-founder Adam Green said, ‘We hear more from Jeffries than we ever heard from Pelosi.’’

Meanwhile, a House Democratic aide told Fox News Digital that Jeffries held ‘multiple calls’ previewing his earlier speech on Trump’s first 100 days in office, as well as talking points ’emphasizing the Leader’s message that President Trump’s first 100 days have been a disaster for the American people.’

Stephenson, Jeffries’ spokesperson, also posted on X of Politico’s report, ‘Can anyone tell me how grandstanding like this is anything other than a gift to Republicans?’

But House Republicans’ elections arm was quick to pounce on the discord as well.

‘Hakeem Jeffries is the so-called leader of a team that doesn’t fear him, doesn’t follow him, and now, doesn’t even pretend to respect him,’ National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement. 

And Democratic strategist Julian Epstein, a former chief counsel of the House Judiciary Committee, criticized Jeffries’ leadership but said that Trump was not Democrats’ main problem.

‘He’s not a particularly effective speaker, gives no sense of direction or purpose, seems intent on not offending anyone, and has a leadership style that seems extremely passive,’ Epstein said.

‘The Democrats in the House just seem like a big blob that goes wherever gravity takes them, and right now gravity is taking them to the hard protest left. But no matter who the leader is, if the Democrats are selling a product that voters don’t like, it won’t matter.’

Pelosi’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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House Freedom Caucus embraces Trump budget proposal ‘paradigm shift’

The House Freedom Caucus described President Donald Trump’s budget proposal as ‘a paradigm shift,’ and members of the conservative group expressed support for the president’s plan.

‘This is how you break the Swamp. Passing MAGA Republican priorities in reconciliation with Republican votes — ending Democrats’s leverage against the President in appropriations to fund the Left’s wasteful, woke and weaponized bureaucracy. The FY26 budget is a paradigm shift,’ the Freedom Caucus declared in a post on X.

The president is seeking to decrease non-defense discretionary spending and boost funding for defense.

Trump ‘is proposing base non-defense discretionary budget authority (of) $163 billion, 22.6 percent below current-year spending, while still protecting funding for homeland security, veterans, seniors, law enforcement, and infrastructure,’ Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought indicated in a message to Senate Committee on Appropriations Chair Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

‘For Defense spending, the President proposes an increase of 13 percent to $1.01 trillion for FY 2026; for Homeland Security, the Budget commits a historic $175 billion investment to, at long last, fully secure our border. Under the proposal, a portion of these increases — at least $325 billion assumed in the budget resolution recently agreed to by the Congress — would be provided through reconciliation, to ensure that our military and other agencies repelling the invasion of our border have the resources needed to complete the mission,’ he explained.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, has expressed support for the president’s proposal.

‘This budget re-aligns federal spending to the priorities of the people: a secure nation, making America healthy again, a Justice Department combatting crime and not weaponized against the people, and common sense,’ the congressman declared in a statement.

‘Combined with our joint efforts to rescind other wasteful spending and deliver a reconciliation bill that will extend and expand the Trump tax cuts while reforming Medicaid and other programs to reduce deficits, we are poised to deliver prosperity, freedom, and strength to the American people,’ he said.

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., another member of the House Freedom Caucus, referred to Trump’s proposal as ‘a game-changing budget,’ in a post on X, asserting it ‘is exactly what Republicans were elected to deliver: securing the homeland, cutting the federal government, and crippling the deep state.’

Freedom Caucus member Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., described the president’s budget as ‘a bold step toward fiscal responsibility.’

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Top Senate Armed Services Republican says Trump OMB’s budget ‘shreds to the bone’ military capabilities

The Senate’s top Armed Services Republican eviscerated President Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shortly after the White House released details of its government funding proposal for fiscal year 2026. 

‘President Trump successfully campaigned on a Peace Through Strength agenda, but his advisers at the Office of Management and Budget were apparently not listening,’ Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said in a statement. 

‘The Big, Beautiful Reconciliation Bill was always meant to change fundamentally the direction of the Pentagon on programs like Golden Dome, border support, and unmanned capabilities – not to paper over OMB’s intent to shred to the bone our military capabilities and our support to service members.

House Armed Services Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers echoed Wicker’s complaints. 

‘I am very concerned the requested base budget for defense does not reflect a realistic path to building the military capability we need to achieve President Trump’s Peace Through Strength agenda,’ the Alabama Republican said in a statement.

‘I look forward to working with the President and the Senate to achieve real growth in the defense budget and put America on track to realize the President’s goal of investing five percent of GDP on defense for NATO countries.’

The Trump OMB’s ‘skinny budget,’ released on Friday, proposes cuts to non-defense funding by $163 billion but increases defense funding from $893 billion to $1.01 trillion – a 13% increase. That includes $892.6 billion in discretionary spending, but will be supplemented by $119.3 billion in mandatory spending that is expected to be passed in the upcoming reconciliation bill. 

Senior officials told Fox News the Trump administration needed to get creative to get a $1 trillion-plus budget over the finish line: Republican majorities have historically been forced to offer one-to-one increases in non-defense spending to secure increases in defense spending. 

However, by keeping discretionary defense spending at $892.6 billion, the same level as fiscal year 2025, the budget that would be presented to Democrats would essentially reflect an unchanged defense discretionary budget with a smaller non-defense discretionary budget of about $557 billion – a 22.6% decrease.

The White House and congressional Republicans would then pursue the reset of the defense spending through the budget reconciliation process that is linked to the tax cut package.

But Wicker isn’t satisfied. 

‘OMB is not requesting a trillion-dollar budget. It is requesting a budget of $892.6 billion, which is a cut in real terms. This budget would decrease President Trump’s military options and his negotiating leverage,’ he said. 

‘I have said for months that reconciliation defense spending does not replace the need for real growth in the military’s base budget.’

OMB Director Russ Vought said in a post on X: ‘The President wants to increase defense spending to $1 trillion, a 13% increase to keep our country secure. This budget provides that level while ensuring that only Republican-votes are needed by using reconciliation to secure those increases without Democrats insisting on increasing wasteful government.’

To account for spending decreases across government, all departments were asked to provide recommended budget cuts except for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Transportation, which were excluded to protect veterans’ services as well as NASA and space exploration programs.

Congress will have to hammer out its own budget plan – which could take months – with the White House’s framework as a suggestion. 

Both Wicker and Rogers have long aimed to grow U.S. defense spending to 5% of the GDP, up from around 3.5 percent. 

The Mississippi senator suggested he would ignore the OMB guidelines and work to achieve ‘real growth’ within the defense budget. 

Fox Business’ Edward Lawrence and Eric Revell contributed to this report.

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A US judge partially blocked Trump’s election integrity order from taking force. Is that legal?

Last month, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., blocked key parts of President Donald Trump’s executive order on election integrity – a move that underscores how deeply divided the country remains over what ‘election integrity’ really means..

Though the executive order Trump signed was titled, ‘Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,’ the Democratic National Party (DNC), which led a group of plaintiffs in challenging the order in federal court, argued that it was an attempt to encroach on elections and disenfranchise voters. 

In the end, both sides won out – sort of, and at least for now.  Here’s what to know about the case in question:

Why did the judge block a portion of the order?

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ultimately left in place three key parts of Trump’s executive order, including a provision requiring states not to count mail-in ballots received after Election Day, in a partial victory for the Trump administration. 

But she sided with Democratic plaintiffs in blocking, for now, both a new proof-of-citizenship requirement for federal voter registration forms and a provision directing election officials to verify the citizenship of would-be voters.

Does she have the authority to do so? 

Unequivocally, yes. That’s exactly the problem modern presidents face when trying to make lasting policy changes through executive orders – a tactic increasingly favored by both Democrats and Republicans.

It’s a risky way to govern for two reasons. The first is that these orders can just as easily be overturned by the next commander-in-chief (as has been on display under the last four administrations). 

They also risk being halted in federal courts, where U.S. judges are explicitly tasked with serving as a check on the president, and are free to pause or halt such orders from taking force, should they determine they are outside the scope of the executive branch’s authorities. 

That also doesn’t mean that district courts need to have the final say on the matter.

Kollar-Kotelly stressed last month that voter registration laws and the ability to regulate elections are set by Congress and by individual states, not the executive branch.

Both states and Congress can pass laws so long as they do not ‘needlessly impose’ an undue burden on voters under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

But the executive branch, which does not share in these abilities to make and pass election-related laws, is not entitled to the same standard of legal review, according to the judge. 

‘Our Constitution entrusts Congress and the States – not the President – with the authority to regulate federal elections,’ Kollar-Kotelly said in her ruling.

Next steps

The Trump administration is, of course, free to appeal the decision to higher courts, should it choose to do so. 

‘President Trump will keep fighting for election integrity, despite Democrat objections that reveal their disdain for commonsense safeguards like verifying citizenship,’ White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in response to the ruling last month.

But its next steps remain unclear. To date, the administration has not appealed the matter, and officials have not said definitively whether they plan to do so.

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Trump’s interior chief to unleash Gulf drilling with major rule change

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Friday will update a Biden-era federal rule regarding energy development as a major cost-saving measure to private firms, one day after taking a visit to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility on the Gulf Coast.

A source familiar with the workings of the rule said it essentially will ‘massively deregulate’ a rule passed between the two Trump administrations and should further bolster Gulf Coast oil and gas production by providing lower startup costs for energy firms.

The rule outlines criteria that producers and grantholders must provide as financial assurance, with a 2024 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) estimate that $6.9 billion in new supplemental assurance would be required to protect against oil lessees’ default.

The Interior Department said that $6.9 billion added up to the $665 million in estimated additional insurance premiums for energy companies, which stifled how much they could spend to expand their operations and pursue what President Donald Trump has called ‘American energy dominance.’

Burgum told Fox News Digital that the rule revision will ‘enable our nation’s energy producers to redirect their capital toward future leasing, exploration, and production all while financially protecting the American taxpayer.

‘Cutting red tape will level the playing field and allow American companies to make investments that strengthen domestic energy security and benefit Gulf of America states and their communities,’ he said.

BOEM will continue to require lessees on the outer continental shelf to provide financial assurances, while the Trump administration writ large works toward more balanced regulations, the department said in an exclusive statement.

During Burgum’s visit to the Gulf, he met with energy workers at the LNG facility and discussed how the department under his leadership wants to better support the industry.

The Gulf of America currently produces approximately 1.8 million barrels of crude oil daily and 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. 

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Tuberville blames Democrats for NIL mess, meets with Trump and Saban

As the issue of name, image, and likeness makes its way to a possible conclusion and regulation in the world of college athletes, the United States government is getting involved as the courts continue to sort out the issue.

Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville and former Alabama coach Nick Saban met with President Donald Trump to discuss possible NIL reform measures before Trump was set to deliver the commencement address at the University of Alabama.

Before that meeting, Tuberville spent his time in a radio interview 100.9’s “The Game with Ryan Fowler on Wednesday playing the blame game, aimed explicitly at Democrats.

‘I think we can get it on the floor, the problem is getting it past a Democrat group that really wants nothing to do with making this country better. They don’t care about college sports or education, they worry about the power that they control in this country. It’s a hard way to go, but if anybody can get it done, it’s President Trump, and hopefully we can have some discussion to get on the right track toward helping the NIL and college sports,’ Tuberville said.

Tuberville also had an issue with the transfer portal, which has run rampant in the past few years, where athletes can essentially switch schools every year without penalty.

“Everybody would be on the same level. We’ve got to come up with some rules for the transfer portal, possibly a contract for players,” Tuberville said. “We do not want to turn into minor league sports. I talked to (Auburn men’s basketball coach) Bruce Pearl a few weeks ago, he says it’s a disaster, absolute disaster in basketball, and I’m sure it goes over into football and some of the other sports.”

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Fan who fell out of stands onto field at Pirates game identified

The fan who fell out of the right field stands and onto the warning track during the April 30 Pirates-Cubs game in Pittsburgh has been identified as Kavan Markwood.

A South Allegheny School District spokesperson told both the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and The Athletic that Markwood, a 2022 graduate of South Allegheny High School, was the fan who fell.

‘Everyone at South Allegheny would say he is a hardworking, highly resilient young man. He’s a fighter. He’s going to need that resiliency now. But he has it,’ Laura Thomson told the Tribune-Review. ‘He’s touched a lot of lives at South Allegheny. We’re a small community. He’s a household name here. Everyone knows him.

‘He has the prayers and the support of the South Allegheny community.’

‘Pittsburgh Police do not anticipate providing any additional updates to the public,’ it added.

Markwood was a standout football player at South Allegheny High School, which is located in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. He was on the rosters for the Walsh University football team in 2022 and Wheeling University football team in 2023. Both schools are Division II programs. His Wheeling bio says he appeared in five games for the Cardinals in 2023.

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Clippers-Nuggets takeaways: L.A. pushes the series to Game 7

LOS ANGELES — James Harden and Kawhi Leonard led the Los Angeles Clippers to a 111-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 6.

With the series now tied at 3, the first round series will conclude in Denver with the Oklahoma City Thunder awaiting the winner.

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue referenced a “temperature check” before the game during pregame media availability, considering the win-or-go-home situation.

Harden finished the night with 28 points, eight assists and six rebounds in 47 minutes of play.

It was a bounce-back performance for the 16-year veteran from his recent outings, having scored just 26 points combined in Games 4 and 5.

Lue called his players to take the temperature of his team during an off day following a loss in each of the two games in the series.

“He usually does that,” Leonard said about Lue’s phone calls. “Whether it’s winning streaks or losing streaks, just to see how we feel about the lineup and how we should be playing with the matchups. … He’s pretty good at that.”

Leonard produced a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds.

The Clippers built some early momentum in the first quarter, but the Nuggets finished the opening period with a 28-25 lead. L.A. managed to keep the game close in the second quarter before pulling away coming out of the locker room at halftime.

The Clippers lead the Nuggets 80-66 with 3:56 left in the third quarter, one of their largest leads of the night after Norman Powell drove in a layup off an assist from Nicolas Batum.

Powell provided a spark with 11 of his 24 points in the third. 

While Nuggets cut into the Clippers’ lead in the fourth quarter, Powell hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 110-101 with 1:40 left and put the game out of reach for the Nuggets.

The Clippers outscored the Nuggets 33-29 in the second quarter to take a 58-57 lead at halftime.

MVP finalist Nikola Jokic fell short of a triple-double on Thursday, finishing with 25 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Nuggets. Jamal Murray followed up his 43-point performance in Game 5 with 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

“We still had some mistakes tonight but I think our energy defensively and even offensively our aggressiveness was different,” Harden said. “It starts with me. We’ll watch some film and find something I can get better at and do it for one more game.”

Nuggets ready to match physicality

Nikola Jokic was seen gesturing toward the officials for the lack of fouls not called on the Clippers while he had the ball multiple times throughout the game.

While the Nuggets star may have spent time expressing himself during the game, Nuggets coach David Adelman spoke after the game and made it clear that his team is ready to match the play style in Game 7.

“Nikola gets fouled a lot,” Adelman said. “I’m not sure what was happening tonight, but for him to shoot two free throws with the amount of contact that was going on out there was absolutely crazy. 

“They put smalls on him. Those smalls were allowed to do whatever they want, so I’m really excited for Saturday that we’re going to be able to do the same thing with their best players, because if that’s the physicality we’re allowed to play with, we’ll react to it, and we will go there in Game 7.”

Jokic went just 1 of 2 from the free-throw line and turned the ball over four times.

Clippers stay healthy

The Clippers have managed to finish out the first six games of the series healthy but recent history hasn’t worked in the team’s favor. The team had lost in the first round in each of the last two years. 

Leonard has been limited in both of those years, playing in just two playoff games in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

“I’m enjoying every game. I’ve been on the sidelines the last couple of years in the playoffs,” Leonard said. “So I don’t take it for granted. I just try to cherish every moment and thank God that I’m able to play.”

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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