Roundup: James Harden named NBA MVP finalist

James Harden is a finalist for NBA MVP, it was announced on TNT Wednesday night prior to Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals series between the Golden State Warriors and Harden’s Houston Rockets. He’ll be going up against LeBron James and Anthony Davis for the award.

Additionally, former Buff Spencer Dinwiddie was nominated for Most Improved Player alongside Victor Oladipo and Clint Capela. Dinwiddie was out of the NBA at the beginning of the 2016-17 season but has worked his way into a reliable option for the Brooklyn Nets.

West Virginia freshman All-American Lamonte McDougle is transferring to Washington State football, Theo Lawson reports. McDougle will sit out this fall but has three years of eligibility remaining.

Cal women’s golf coach Nancy McDaniel is a recipient of the WGCA Kim Moore Spirit Award, it was announced on Wednesday.

Katie Ledecky broke her own world record in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the 2018 TYR Pro Swim Series Wednesday in Indianapolis, finishing with a time of 15:20.48, five seconds better than her previous world record.

Oregon men’s golfer Norman Xiong won individual medalist honors at the Stockton Regional, beating out Stanford’s Brandon Wu by one stroke. Xiong and the Ducks are one of four Pac-12 teams (and Arizona’s George Cunningham) who are off to the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships.

Avert your eyes, Trojan supporters – UCLA won the Crosstown Cup for the second year in a row with a winning score of 115-75 (you get 10 points for winning each sport, and 100 points are needed to clinch the trophy).

Former Utah defensive tackle Lowell Lotulelei is retiring from playing football, Zack Kelberman of CBS Denver reports. Lotulelei was waived by the Denver Broncos on Monday and reportedly wants to get into coaching.

This is pretty sweet – USC football long-snapper Jake Olson drove a car for the first time, driving around Charlotte Motor Speedway with the help of racecar driver Todd Bodine (FOX Sports). Olson has been blind since he was 12.

Heading into a crucial series against rival Arizona State, Arizona baseball needs better pitching, writes Michael Lev. The Wildcats are on the NCAA Tournament bubble at 30-20 and 10-14 in Pac-12 play.

Here come the Beavs? Chris Johnson of Sports Illustrated believes that Oregon State football can get to six wins next season. The folks at SI were having a roundtable discussion about which team that won two or fewer games in 2017 could become bowl eligible in 2018 (it has happened each of the last 20 years).

Washington men’s rowing is No. 1 in the national polls for the fourth consecutive week in the men’s heavyweight eight (The Seattle Times).