Freshman Aaliyah Chavez showed up and showed out for her coach, scoring 15 of her game-high 26 points in overtime to lead No. 16 Oklahoma to a 94-82 victory over No. 2 South Carolina at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma on Thursday.

It was the Sooners third-ever win against an AP top 2 opponent. The victory served as a national coming out party for Chavez, who shot 9-of-19 from the field and 5-of-10 from the 3-point line. After being limited to three points in the first half, Chavez went off in the second half and overtime.

Chavez may have shined down the stretch, but it was a team effort to hand the Gamecocks their first loss since Nov. 27. All five Oklahoma starters reached double-digit scoring: Payton Verhulst had 19 points, Raegan Beers 18 points and 14 rebounds, Zya Vann 11 points and Sahara Williams 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Oklahoma had an advantage on glass (54-39) and in the paint (50-40), which proved to be the difference in the game.

South Carolina went on a 10-2 run in the fourth quarter to take the lead, 75-73, with 41 seconds remaining in regulation. Beers was able to wrangle an offensive rebound and convert on the second-chance opportunity with a layup to tie it with 18 seconds left. South Carolina had the final possession, but Vann got a steal to force overtime.

Then, Chavez took over. Chavez scored or assisted in 17 of Oklahoma’s 19 points in the extra period, including four 3-pointers. The only shot she missed in overtime was a free throw attempt when the game was out of reach. The win ended Oklahoma’s three-game skid, with losses to Ole Miss, Kentucky and LSU. The ranked conference win should bolster Oklahoma’s standing and resume as the NCAA Tournament approaches.

Tessa Johnson had a team-high 19 points for South Carolina. Raven Johnson added 16 points and Joyce Edwards had 12.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.

Jonathan Kuminga was ruled out for the rest of the game between the Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks on Thursday due to ‘left knee soreness,’ the Warriors said.

The forward came up limping after he was pushed by a member of the Mavericks during a dunk attempt with 4:28 remaining in the second quarter. Kuminga was seen limping after the attempt and appeared to ask a young girl to move from her seat so he could sit down.

He was later seen on the broadcast walking back to the locker room with a member of the Warriors’ staff.

The Congolese player’s injury is not expected to be serious, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater, who reported that Kuminga did twist his ankle and suffered a minor knee hyperextension. Kuminga had 10 points, two assists and two steals in nine minutes of play.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr confirmed to reporters that Kuminga’s ankle and knee were both impacted and said Kuminga would be getting an MRI on Friday, Jan. 23.

‘We’ll see how bad it is. Such a shame, he was playing great. That definitely hurt us, not having him available for the second half,’ Kerr said, per The San Francisco Standard’s Danny Emerman.

The Mavericks dominated the Warriors down the stretch, outscoring them 39-26 in the fourth quarter, to win 123-115.

Kuminga was expected to see an increase in minutes within the Warriors’ rotation after Jimmy Butler was ruled out for the season after he suffered a torn ACL earlier this week.

The fifth-year pro made headlines after demanding a trade away from Golden State on Jan. 15. The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 5. He’d recently missed 13 games for the team.

He signed a two-year deal worth $48.5 million to remain with the Warriors in late September.

This story has been updated with new information.

AI-assisted summary
• Deion Sanders has been rebuilding his roster after a 3-9 season, securing 42 commitments from transfer players.
• Sanders confirmed his relationship with actress Karrueche Tran on the Season 2 debut of his talk show.
• Sanders uses his streaming talk show as a unique recruiting tool to connect with potential players and their families.

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders has kept a relatively low public profile since his third season in Boulder ended five consecutive losses and a 3-9 record. Unlike last January, after his team finished 9-4, he isn’t rumored to be in the mix to coach an NFL team and didn’t go on television talk shows to promote his reality TV series.

Sanders instead has been building his next roster behind the scenes but finally showed up on camera on Thursday Jan. 22 to share some news about his love life and give a summary of his recruiting efforts in Boulder. Sanders did this during the Season 2 debut of his streaming talk show “We Got Time Today,” co-hosted by Rocsi Diaz.

“This offseason has been treating me really well,” Sanders said. “We’re tearing it up in the (transfer) portal. We’re building something extraordinary, extra ordinary, extraordinary. And I’m feeling so darn good. Rocs, I hadn’t felt this good in quite some time. Like, really, like, like my hands, and I don’t even have a manicure like I usually do, because I got to go get it tomorrow, by the way. But I’m good. I got my hands in and on everything.”

Sanders recently received commitments from 42 incoming transfer players, offsetting more than 35 Colorado players who are transferring out, including star offensive lineman Jordan Seaton. Colorado’s transfer class ranks No. 22 nationally, according to 247Sports.  

Deion Sanders opens up about love life

Diaz later prodded Sanders, 58, about his relationship with actress and influencer Karrueche Tran, who has been at his side during his battle back from bladder cancer surgery last year. Sanders previously hasn’t commented much about it publicly after an announced breakup with longtime fiancée Tracey Edmonds in December 2023. Diaz traced Sanders’ new relationship with Tran to her appearance during Season 1 of their Tubi show in November 2024.

“Can we set the record straight?” Diaz asked Sanders. “I did not hook you two up. I had no parts in hooking y’all up. Everybody thinks that, you know, I had my hand in it. But she (Tran) did come to the show for my birthday. And you so slick. You brought her there for my birthday, but you secretly wanted to shoot your shot.”

“First of all, my shot don’t miss,” Sanders replied. “And I didn’t have to bring somebody there to shoot a shot at close range. My shot, you know, I’m pretty darn good.”

“Y’all look very cute together,” Diaz said. “I’m super happy for you guys.”

“You know what?” Sanders said. “Good woman, good person, has added so much to my life and my days and my moments. And I’m smiling.”

Deion Sanders recruiting through talk show?

Season 1 of the show debuted in November 2024, raising questions about how Sanders had time to host a weekly entertainment talk show in the middle of his team’s push to win a Big 12 Conference championship.

Diaz asked him about it then. Sanders responded it part of his recruiting strategy – to reach potential recruits and their families in ways that other coaches can’t.

“Well, this is like a form of recruiting for me, because a lot of the parents are … our viewers with Tubi,” Sanders said then.

Incidentally, the month of January is mostly a “contact” period on the college football recruiting calendar when head coaches can make in-person contact with potential recruits off-campus. Sanders doesn’t do that kind of off-campus recruiting, but his reach through shows like this connect with an audience in the larger culture. His guests on his Season 2 debut were comedian Loni Love and music producer Jermaine Dupri.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com