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No. 4 Michigan State never expected a losing record at any point this season. But the Spartans are 0-1 as they prepare for a visit from Southern Indiana on Thursday. A stunner in the season opener on Monday sent head coach Tom Izzo into a somber march, feeling from a 79-76 loss in overtime to a James Madison team that was picked to win the Sun Belt Conference this year and had the look of

One of the more intriguing matchups of the young season will take place Wednesday when the Philadelphia 76ers host a longtime rival, the Boston Celtics. The Sixers have won five straight since an opening night one-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Philadelphia crushed the Washington Wizards 146-128 on Monday as reigning Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid led the way with 48 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Guard Tyrese Maxey added 22 points and a

Unlike their next opponent, the Indiana Pacers are on an offensive roll heading into Wednesday night’s game in Indianapolis against the Utah Jazz. In their past three games, they’ve scored at least 121 points, including a 50-point quarter against the Hornets and a 152-point outburst against the Spurs. Indiana’s most recent performance also gave Pacers coach Rick Carlisle his 900th career victory, including 245 wins in two different stints as the bench boss in Indianapolis.

There might be some experimentation going on for the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets. They begin a home-and-home set Wednesday night in Charlotte, with both in need of some alterations in results. Neither team has exactly soared in the early going, with the Hornets at 2-4 and the Wizards at 1-5. The Hornets wasted LaMelo Ball’s triple-double in Sunday night’s 124-118 loss at Dallas. With 30 points, the point guard registered just the second regular-season

South Carolina looks to continue its domination over Vanderbilt on Saturday when the Southeastern Conference teams meet in Columbia, S.C. The visiting Commodores (2-8, 0-6 SEC) hope to stop two losing streaks: the 14-game drought against the Gamecocks (3-6, 1-5) in their annual rivalry, and this season’s current eight-game skid, the latest of which came last Saturday in a 31-15 loss to Auburn. South Carolina snapped a four-game skid with a 38-28 home win over

Two reeling teams with fading bowl hopes square off Saturday when Cal hosts Washington State in Berkeley in the last home game of the season for the Golden Bears. After starting 4-0 and ranked No. 13 in the AP Top 25 poll, Washington State (4-5, 1-5 Pac-12) has lost five consecutive games following last week’s 10-7 defeat to Stanford at Pullman, Wash. Cal (3-6, 1-5) suffered its fourth straight loss — all against ranked teams

Nebraska may be headed in the right direction, but last weekend’s loss still got coach Matt Rhule fired up. Either Nebraska or visiting Maryland will achieve bowl eligibility when they face off Saturday in Big Ten action in Lincoln, Neb. The Cornhuskers (5-4, 3-3) had won three straight before a 20-17 loss at Michigan State. While claiming his program isn’t made up of “excuse-makers,” Rhule bemoaned officiating in his team’s close losses to Minnesota and

Iowa knows a thing or two about peaking at the right time. The Hawkeyes have won 15 of their past 16 games in the month of November and will look to improve on that impressive record Saturday when they face Rutgers in Big Ten Conference action in Iowa City, Iowa. After falling 12-10 to Minnesota in its final game of October, Iowa (7-2, 4-2) flipped a switch with the arrival of the new month to

Wisconsin will try to regain its offensive stride against visiting Northwestern on Saturday as the Badgers look to remain in contention in the Big Ten West. The Badgers (5-4, 3-3) will return to Madison after a 20-14 setback last Saturday at Indiana, their third loss in four games. Northwestern (4-5, 2-4) lost to Iowa 10-7 at Wrigley Field the same day on a field goal with 14 seconds left. Wisconsin is tied with Nebraska and

Boston College will aim for its first six-game winning streak since 2007 when the Eagles host Virginia Tech in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup Saturday at Chestnut Hill, Mass. The Eagles (6-3, 3-2) return home looking to build on last Friday’s 17-10 win at Syracuse, an outcome that secured their bowl eligibility for the third time under fourth-year coach Jeff Hafley. “I’d be crazy to think that our guys aren’t paying attention to what’s going