The news from Wednesday was as uplifting as you can get. Hatch nailed the first 3-pointer he took, and the Los Angeles Times notes that Hatch’s teammates rushed the floor to celebrate the moment. It came with one unfortunate thing, though.

"It was the best technical foul I've ever been a part of," Loyola coach Jamal Adams told the Los Angeles Times.

So if this doesn’t give you goosebumps, I don’t know what will.

Hatch took to Twitter after the game, simply saying, "As I said after the game, my three was pretty cool, but, more importantly, we're now 14-0."

Eight years earlier, he survived being in another plane crash, one in which he lost his mother, brother and sister as a result.

The fact that Hatch is still alive is a miracle. And so is his return to basketball.


PASTNER DEFENDS PLAYERS


You can tell Memphis' Josh Pastner he’s a terrible coach, or he looks like a pre-teen, or that Kansas City barbecue is better than the kind you get all around the Mid-South.

You do not tell him he is coaching thugs.

That’s what he heard when he was walking off the floor Thursday night following a 73-67 victory over No. 12 Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center, and he said he engaged those shouting fans by calling back that No. 24 Memphis had a perfect Academic Progress Rate (APR).

When he was walking toward his press conference, he encountered another person wearing a Louisville golf shirt who said the Tigers were classless, and Pastner responded with a raised voice, shouting that no one should call his players classless. (There was no profanity. He does not do profanity).

The Memphis players did celebrate a bit more obviously than usual on court, this being one of the biggest regular-season victories under Pastner. it lasted briefly. A couple bystanders near the tunnel where the Tigers exited the court said one player knocked over a cheerleader’s megaphone that was resting to the side of the court.

“I think the Louisville fans are tremendous,” Pastner said after making it to the podium. “They’re like Memphis fans; they love their team. The only thing I ever get sensitive on is if anyone says our guys are low-class or anything in that manner. We have a perfect APR score, we graduated 10 guys last year, and our guys have done a great job in the Memphis community. Say I’m the worst coach in the world, say I can’t coach zone, I’m the worst coach, I look like I’m 13, I should be fired, I’m the worst this or I’m the worst that — but the thing that gets to me is our kids. Because we have done a great job. That has been a point of emphasis.”


WILBEKIN'S STATUS UNCLEAR


Florida point guard Scottie Wilbekin led the Gators with 17 points in a 74-58 win over South Carolina, but he also rolled the same ankle he did a month ago in the game’s waning minutes, leaving his status for the Gators’ game Saturday at Arkansas as questionable.


Wilbekin needed help getting off the court, and his condition was to be re-evaluated Thursday.


Coach Billy Donovan characterized Wilbekin’s drive to the basket on the play he was injured as “out of control.”


If Wilbekin is forced to miss any time, freshman Kasey Hill would figure to be forced into more minutes. But he’ll have to play much better than he has of late, as he’s had just one more assist (12) than turnovers in his last five contests. Three of Florida’s next four games are on the road, and the Gators would be best positioned for wins with the senior Wilbekin running the offense.

Wilbekin missed only a week the first time he injured his ankle, and senior forward Patric Young told The Alligator that Wilbekin told him he'd be fine. Time will tell.


VANDY LOSES MCCLELLAN


Vanderbilt will be without leading scorer Eric McClellan the rest of the season after the point guard was suspended for the spring semester for violating academic policy.

The school announced McClellan is expected to be reinstated this summer.

McClellan had been averaging a team-high 14.3 points for Vanderbilt, but the sophomore guard did not travel with the Commodores to Alabama for a 68-63 loss on Tuesday night. The guard, who transferred to Vanderbilt from Tulsa, had started the first 12 games for Vanderbilt.

The guard apologized to his family, coaches, teammates and Vanderbilt in a statement issued through the university.

Coach Kevin Stallings now has just seven scholarship players left. He lost four players during the offseason with last season's leading scorer Kedren Johnson suspended from the university for a year. Stallings also lost center Josh Henderson after eight games to a knee injury.

Vanderbilt hosts No. 14 Kentucky on Saturday.


DUNK YA VERY MUCH


Nevada’s Deonte Burton is great at being second vs. UNLV.

First, his dunk from last night, an alley-oop where he reached back to 1968 to retrieve, then threw down with a modicum of force, rose to being SportsCenter’s No. 2 highlight.

And then, against the Runnin’ Rebels a year ago, he threw down another dunk that again was the ESPN show’s second-best highlight of the night.

The difference between the dunks: the 2014 version came in a Wolf Pack victory, while the 2013 vintage came in a loss. But neither is a second-rate dunk.

Meanwhile, Duquesne’s Ovie Soko hails from London. Yeah, England. But he played high school basketball in Virginia and began his college career at UAB before opting to transfer in the wake of Mike Davis' firing in 2012.

So while Soko has had plenty of time to enjoy American culture, let's give him a hearty “Cheerio!” for the off-the-backboard dunk he threw down Wednesday vs. Fordham. The assist went to Derrick Colter.

The two connected on another off-the-backboard rim-rattler a month ago vs. UMBC. Scroll to the 46-second mark to see it.

Averaging 18.9 points per game this season, Soko has easily been Duquesne's best player, and a reason why the Dukes will not finish at the bottom of the Atlantic 10, as had been predicted by a panel of A-10 coaches and media members.

Contributors: Roger Kuznia, Mike DeCourcy and The Associated Press