2026 Castrol Rising Stars Game
The 2023-2024 UConn Huskies Men’s Basketball National Championship team will be well represented in the 2026 Castrol Rising Stars Game on February 13th in Los Angeles, California. Stephon Castle, Donovan Clingan, Cam Spencer and Tristen Newton, four of the five starters from the 75-60 National Championship victory over the Purdue Boilermakers, will participate in a mini-tournament, which includes three teams and features the top NBA rookies and sophomores against a G-League squad.
Castle and Clingan will be teammates on Team Melo. Meanwhile, Spencer will play for Team T-Mac and Newton will be on Team Austin. It is the second time Castle has been selected for Rising Stars game. It is the first time for Clingan, Spencer and Newton.
The game will be played inside the Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers and tip-off is slated for 9pm ET on NBC/Peacock.
Donovan Clingan
On Tuesday night, the Bristol native set a Portland Trail Blazers franchise record by grabbing 13 offensive rebounds in the Blazers 115-111 loss at the Washington Wizards. Clingan scored 14 points and grabbed a total of 20 rebounds to pick up his 17th double-double of the season including his fourth over the last six games. DC leads the NBA in total offensive rebounds (202). Rudy Gobert is the next closest with 167.
Tristen Newton (G-League)
It looked dicey for a bit, but Tristen Newton has extended his 30+ point streak to four games. Newton came out firing, scoring 20 points in the first half. However, it was not until 3:54 left in the 4th quarter when Newton scored his next basket. He scored 10 points in just under four minutes, finishing it off with a fast break layup to keep the streak alive.
Stephon Castle
After scoring just five points on Sunday, Steph had a great bounce back game on Wednesday night in the San Antoinio Spurs 111-109 road victory at the Houston Rockets. Castle scored 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting with five rebounds and six assists.
In about a 90-second span in the 4th quarter, Castle had his way against Kevin Durant on both sides of the ball in the two clips below:
Andre Drummond
On Tuesday morning, Keith Pompey, of The Philadelphia Inquirer, reported the Philadelphia 76ers are “open to trading Andre Drummond.” Drummond is in his third overall season with the 76ers, averaging 7.0 points, 8.9 rebounds per game in 36 games, while connecting on a surprising career-high 17 three-pointers at a 36.2% clip. Philadelphia has already traded Drummond once before, back ahead of the 2022 NBA trade deadline. The 76ers sent Drummond to the Brooklyn Nets along with Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and two future first-round picks in exchange for James Harden and Pual Millsap.
On Monday night, Drumond did start and play 18 minutes in the 76ers 130-93 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. The former Husky scored four points on 2-of-3 shooting with seven rebounds, one assist, two blocks in one steal. However, he did not play the very next night during the 76ers 139-122 win over the Milwaukee Bucks due to a “coach’s decisions.” Drummond has played in just six of the last 14 76ers games.
Cam Spencer
Spencer has had a tough time shooting the ball over his last two games, averaging just 4.5 points per game on 2-of-13 shooting from the field (15.4%) and 0-of-9 from behind the arc. However, he is still finding ways to contribute on the offensive side, dishing out 9.5 assists in those two games, including 13 against the Houston Rockets on Monday.
The Grizzlies are on a four-game losing streak and sit three and half games out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Liam McNeeley (G-League/NBA)
For the third time this season, the Hornets recalled McNeeley from the Greensboro Swarm of the G-League this past Tuesday. In the five G-League games since his last stint with the Hornets, the 2025 first-round pick averaged 21.6 points per game on 34-of-67 from the field (50.7%), including 9-of-28 from three (32.1%) and 22-of-25 (88.0%) with 6.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game in five games. In his last game with the Swarm, he scored a G-League career-high 28 points.
On Wednesday night, he returned to the NBA floor in a Hornets 112-97 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. He played the final six minutes and did not score.
James Bouknight (G-League)
Bouknight scored a season-low 10 points this past Tuesday in the Mexico City Capitanes (No NBA affialte) 113-104 loss to the Iowa Wolves (Minnesota Timberwolves G-League affiliate). After scoring 25+ points in three straight games, Bouknight is averaging 11.7 points per game over his last three contests.
Andre Jackson Jr.
Jackson Jr. was scoreless in 2 minutes on Tuesday night in the Milwaukee Bucks 139-122 loss at the Philadelphia 76ers. With Giannis Antetokounmpo on the trade block, Andre is worth monitoring as a possible piece in a Giannis-centered trade package. Jackson Jr. has one year remaining on his rookie contract, a club option valued at approximately $2.4 million.
Tyler Polley (G-League)
On Tuesday night, Polley recorded two points on 1-of-3 shooting along with two rebounds, two assists and one block in the College Park Skyhawks (Atlanta Hawks G-League affiliate) 121-107 loss to the South Bay Lakers (Los Angeles Lakers G-League affiliate).
Samson Johnson (G-League)
The Noblesville Boom (Indiana Pacers G-League affiliate) did not play this past Monday-Wednesday. Samson and the Boom will return to action on Friday against the Birmingham Squadron (New Orleans Pelicans G-League affiliate).
Tyrese Martin
Martin did not play in the Brooklyn Nets 106-102 loss at the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night due to left knee soreness. It is unclear how severe or how long Martin will be sidelined.
Jordan Hawkins
Hawkins did not play in the New Orleans Pelicans 104-95 road loss at the Oklahoma City Thunder due to a “coach’s decision.” Hawkins has missed the last four Pelicans games, all because of a “coach’s decision.” The 2023 National Champion is averaging a lot of career-lows in his third season in New Orleans, including points per game (4.3), three-point shooting (30.1%) and minutes per game (14.1).
Tage Thompson
Thompson scored his 28th goal of the season in his 500th career game on Tuesday night in the Buffalo Sabres 7-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Thomspon is tied for sixth in the NHL in goals scored and the Sabres have won four games in a row.
Follow HuskyPros/X for all the latest updates on your favorite Huskies in the Pros!
