The lottery has mainly had the reverse effect, keeping too many teams in the cellar for too long.

This week, a few winter sports seasons came to an end with national championships in indoor track and field, as well as basketball, while spring sports, including baseball, softball, tennis, and golf competed against elite opponents in spring break matchups.

On Feb. 24, at both the Senior Day and Women’s History Day basketball games, Washington University’s first official student National Anthem performer, first-year Logan Srinivasan, will take the stage to showcase his third performance of the National Anthem. Part of a new initiative to boost school spirit, the WashU Athletics Marketing and Multimedia team hopes Srinivasan is the first of many students to get involved. 

As they defended their home court down the stretch, the Bears pulled out a 72-61 win, a result that will likely go a long way towards locking up their at-large bid in the NCAA DIII tournament. The Bears extended their win streak to three on Feb. 18, topping Brandeis University 56-53 to bring their UAA record to 7-6.

The Bears have become used to comebacks in their tight UAA season, but as the clock wound down, they were unable to pull out a win this time. Carnegie Mellon held on for a 79–73 victory. Two days later, on Feb. 4, the Bears’ struggles were compounded by a 74–59 loss to No. 10 Case Western Reserve University.

As the Bears have learned in their first three UAA matchups — the one-point loss at Chicago on Jan. 6, four-point victory over Emory on Jan. 12, and one-point overtime win over Rochester on Jan. 14 — every single game in the UAA is likely going to come down to the wire, and eking out wins like their first two certainly will not be an easy task.

In a weekend that saw No. 17 Washington University men’s basketball defeat Fontbonne University 96-75 and Principia College 90-56, the Bears’ roster depth shined. Players outside of the starting five contributed a combined 95 points off of the bench across the two games played on Dec. 16 and Dec. 17.

Washington University’s Residential Life posted signs on the South 40 basketball and volleyball courts officially closing them to everyone except University students, staff, and faculty. 

Over the past few weeks, Team USA competed in the FIBA Basketball World Cup, placing fourth after losing their final two matches. The disappointing finish marks the second tournament in a row where the United States has failed to reach the title game. With their recent struggles at the international level, it begs the question as to where American basketball stands on the world stage?

May is the best time of year for an NBA fan, with the playoffs entering full swing. It seems as if nearly every night, a number of the game’s biggest stars are decking it out on the National stage. Here are four takeaways from all of the NBA.