Mikel Arteta is certain Arsenal will use the pain of their EFL Cup final defeat to Manchester City as fuel, as they fight for silverware on three other fronts this season. Two headers from Nico O’Reilly, which came within the space of four second-half minutes, ensured City lifted the first major domestic trophy of the […]

The post Arteta pledges to use EFL Cup heartache as motivation as Arsenal chase more trophies appeared first on Soccer News.

The post Arteta pledges to use EFL Cup heartache as motivation as Arsenal chase more trophies appeared first on Soccer News.

NEW YORK (AP) — Florida Panthers forward A.J. Greer has been suspended three games for shoving Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary into the boards from behind.

The NHL announced the punishment on Sunday.

The play occurred 11:11 into the third period of Florida's 4-1 loss at Calgary on Friday night. The 29-year-old Greer was assessed a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct.

Greer has a career-high 13 goals and 24 points in 68 games this season. He will miss games against Seattle, Minnesota and the New York Islanders, and he forfeits $13,281.24 in salary that goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

No. 6 seed Tennessee is head back to the Sweet 16 for the fourth year in a row following a 79-72 win over No. 3 Virginia in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

But do the Cavaliers have a legitimate gripe about a late call that didn't go their way?

March Madness scores: A buzzer-beater, highlights, more Round 2 updates

With 27 seconds left, and the Volunteers leading 73-71, Virginia missed a short shot, and in the scrum for the rebound the ball was spiked by Tennessee's Nate Ament and bounced off some bodies before going out of bounds.

The officials gave the ball to Tennessee, which drew a coach's challenge from UVA coach Ryan Odom after replays seemed to suggest the ball was spiked off Vols guard Bishop Boswell's head and then out of bounds without a Virginia player touching it. UVA's Dallin Hall was close to the ball, but pulled his hands away and didn't seem to make contact with the ball, as it didn't change directions.

However, the refs stuck with the original call and gave Tennessee the ball. UT's Ja'Kobi Gillespie would add free throws, and down two possessions, the arithmetic changed and the game was ultimately affected.

Did the refs make right call in Tennessee-Virginia game? Take a look and decide for yourself:

After a challenge by UVA, the call remains Tennessee ball. pic.twitter.com/zPquRrmxrt

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 23, 2026

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Controversial late call in Tennessee-Virginia game helps Vols reach Sweet 16

Just so you know, Phillies fans, your annual running-it-back beef doesn’t apply this season. Maybe that was the case in 2024 or 2025. But not now.

The lineup has two new faces – rookie center fielder Justin Crawford and veteran right fielder Adolis Garcia. The rotation will unveil the most-hyped Phillies prospect in a generation – Andrew Painter. And the bullpen will roll out a slew of new arms, along with a closer, Jhoan Duran, whose Durantula show wasn’t in Philadelphia a year ago.

Sure, it’s not a total roster makeover, but this team doesn’t require one and has enough new blood to give an infusion of freshness to behold on Thursday’s Opening Day.

What needs to go right?

Philly’s strength is once again its starting rotation. Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo – two dominant lefties – wield some of the most wicked stuff in the league. Veteran Aaron Nola may just bounce back from his dreadful 2025 season after looking ace-like pitching for Italy in the World Baseball Classic.

Then, by mid-April – fingers crossed – Zack Wheeler should return from thoracic outlet syndrome, which ended his 2025 season prematurely with a blood clot in his throwing arm.

Wheeler is reportedly ahead of schedule in his TOS recovery, and according to all reports, looks superb with his bullpen sessions. Once he returns – and if he’s anything close to what he was – the rotation could be the best in baseball, and if that’s the case, look for the Phillies to jaunt into another postseason.

One more thing that needs go right: Phillies superstar Bryce Harper shuts up team president Dave Dombrowski, who caused a big offseason drama by wondering out loud about Harper’s declining eliteness in 2025 to room full of media.

If Harper is the elite Harper in 2026, the Phillies will not only head into the playoffs but head into postseason with swagger.

What could go wrong?

This is obvious. The two names mentioned above – Wheeler and Harper – are no longer the stars they once were. And to be honest, both are question marks. Wheeler is 35 and coming off a surgery that has ended careers, and Harper is 33, whose violent swing abuses his body.

Another potential disaster could be the outfield. Crawford will get his shot to own CF, but if he’s hitting .200 on June 1 and misreading fly balls, there are no backup options on a team that has meager outfield depth.

Also, there’s a reason why the Texas Rangers let Garcia just walk away. Garcia has hit a two-season skid with no proof that he can return to his 2023 form that led Texas to a World Series title. For Garcia, it’s all hope at this point and hope has no value in Philadelphia. See Max Kepler and Whit Merrifield about that.

So what will the Phillies do if both Crawford and Garcia flop? Uh, trade for Harrison Bader?

What to expect?

This is a team chock full of veterans. Really good veterans. And if they stay mostly healthy, expect another 90-plus win season and another playoff run, proving they never really needed Bo Bichette. But are the Phils doomed for another early postseason exit? That question can wait a few months. It’s time for Opening Day.

In one of the final games of the first week of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, some sparks flew — and, by the looks of it, a balled-up fist.

With about nine minutes remaining in the first half of No. 9 seed Iowa’s game against No. 1 seed and reigning national champion Florida, Hawkeyes forward Alvaro Folgueiras collected a rebound off an Alex Condon miss, but Condon reached in, leading to a tie-up.

Shortly after a referee blew the whistle, signaling a held ball and the end of the play, Condon continued to pull at the ball and dragged Folgueiras to the court.

REQUIRED READING: March Madness? More like March Blandness in as NCAA Tournament has too much chalk

After the play, Iowa and Florida players rushed to the scene, with the two sides eventually separated. A replay on the TBS broadcast showed Folgueiras balling up his fist and throwing it in Condon’s direction, though it appeared that it was Folgueiras’ forearm, not his fist, that made contact with Condon’s chest, with the motion of his arm going in the direction of the tie ball.

Tensions are high in Tampa.

Iowa & Florida had to be separated after this play. pic.twitter.com/KVgBT9Bs3M

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 22, 2026

The TBS announcers working the game initially speculated that Folgueiras, a Robert Morris transfer in his first season at Iowa, might receive a flagrant-2 foul and an automatic ejection, but upon video review, referees determined that it was a double technical foul.

Florida coach Todd Golden was incensed at the call, arguing with the officials after it was made. Following the altercation between Folgueiras and Condon, Golden was also seen shouting in the direction of the Iowa bench and first-year Hawkeyes coach Ben McCollum.

Florida head coach Todd Golden just unleashed on the Iowa bench and Ben McCollum was not having it pic.twitter.com/UymMOz6mds

— Sean Bock (@SBock247) March 22, 2026

"I don't know, they were just going for the ball, and then everybody got all sensitive," McCollum said to TBS in a sideline interview at the next timeout. "Their people got sensitive. It's like, you're trying to play ball. It's whatever. We'll compete. We'll fight. We'll see what happens."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iowa's Alvaro Folgueiras, Florida's Alex Condon get in tussle in March Madness game

Antoine Griezmann (35) is set to travel to the United States to finalise his upcoming move to Orlando City SC, according to reports from The Athletic.

Under contract with Atlético Madrid until June 2027, the French international – who has 137 caps (44 goals) – will join the MLS next summer to sign for the Lions until the end of the 2027–28 season. A one-year extension option has also been included in the deal.

Eager to secure Griezmann’s services as early as this winter, Orlando ultimately came up against the 2018 champion’s determination to see out the season with the Colchoneros, who are still in the Champions League and have reached the Copa del Rey final.

Having made 43 appearances for Diego Simeone since the start of the 2025–26 term, the Mâcon-born player has found the net 13 times and provided six assists across all competitions.

As Atlético’s all-time leading goalscorer, the Rojiblanco number 7 is now set to bring the most significant chapter of his career to a close – a career that has also seen him play for Real Sociedad and FC Barcelona.

GFFN | Léo Aschi

It’s the penultimate night in Peoria, er, Glendale.

Bryan Woo will get the ball in the Mariners’ next to last game of Spring Training. The next time we see him, it’ll count for real. Catching Woo today is newly appointed backup catcher Mitch Garver. The rest of the Mariners lineup is not quite what they’ll send out on Opening Day lineup, but still a group of players who will feature throughout the season.

Also expected to pitch today: Andrés Muñoz, Jhonathan Díaz, Jose Ferrer, Casey Legumina, and Cooper Criswell.

First Pitch: 6:05 pm PDT

TV: None

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, MLB.com

Mere hours after Atletico de Madrid's 3-2 derby defeat against rivals Real Madrid, star man Antoine Griezmann is set to get on a plane and head to the United States.

According to a shock update from The Athletic later on Sunday evening, the French World Cup winner was "authorized" by his LaLiga club to complete a move to Major League Soccer. 

Girezmann is set to sign a deal through 2027-28 with Orlando City, including an option to extend. The Florida side is the neighbouring rival of Inter Miami, led by Lionel Messi.

The move arrives after lengthy negotiations between the player and the club. Additional details revealed Griezmann will wear No. 7 for Orlando.

He is set to be the latest European star to make the switch to the USA, following Messi, Thomas Müller to Vancouver Whitecaps, and Son Heung-min to LAFC. Back in 2015, Orlando City also signed a celebrity player of their own in Kaka.

The Frenchman will therefore depart LaLiga as one of the all-time greats. He currently holds the title of Atleti's top goal scorer, with over 200 goals for the club.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow worried some fans with his physical showing in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic. 

But it wasn’t just Burrow being Burrow: It was almost by design, too. 

During the media circus around the event, Burrow didn’t pull any punches when talking about his desire to hit the Olympics someday. 

“I’ve always wanted to play in the Olympics,” Burrow said, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I’ve never necessarily played an Olympic sport before, so when this got announced, I was pretty excited about it.”

Burrow continued: “The opportunity to win a gold medal [is] something that I’ve thought about - a moment like that - for a long time, since I was a kid. I think it would be something very special,” Burrow said.

In 2028, flag football will be an Olympic sport for the first time during the games in Los Angeles. 

Despite Burrow’s quotes here, it remains unclear whether NFL players will actually compete for and make the U.S. Olympic team. 

The fact NFL players got whipped by actual flag football players in a big way doesn’t help that outlook very much. In the pursuit of gold, the team will want the best flag football players, so NFL players with different skill sets might be left behind in the race to make the roster while they focus on their own particular sport. 

Roger Goodell has said in the past that USA Football will handle the selection process of the 10-man roster and years sit between now and that happening. 

This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals' Joe Burrow shares surprising Olympics take for 2028

Winning two out of three conference series to start the Big 12 season is a big deal. Winning a rivalry series as one of them is even bigger. The No. 13 Arizona Wildcats (23-8, 6-3) did that on a brutally hot Sunday afternoon as they took down the No. 20 Arizona State Sun Devils* (23-9, 3-6) by the score of 6-4 to win the series 2-1.

“The goal is win the series every weekend,” said Arizona senior Jalen Adams. “Obviously want to sweep whatever, but winning that series is really big, and we want to do that every weekend.”

Catcher Sydney Stewart came up big in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run home run. It was one of very few strikes Stewart saw in the weekend’s three games. She was walked six times to go along with her four hits. This one was a no-doubter to the south end of Candrea’s Corner, and it wasn’t even a hitter’s pitch.

“Even though the pitch was elevated, I knew I could get my hands to it,” Stewart said.

Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe was just impressed that it came at the end of a weekend when ASU tried to avoid Stewart.

“It takes a special person to get walked all weekend and then be ready for her moment,” Lowe said.

Unlike Friday night, there were no real surprises in the Wildcats’ starting lineup for the rubber game, but that didn’t mean there weren’t surprises during the game. Once again, they didn’t work out quite as planned.

Adams started for the second straight game. Emma Kavanagh was the starting designated player. Everything else was the same as on Friday.

Adams threw 7.0 innings, but there was a surprise in the sixth inning. Adams left the game for two at-bats. At that point, Adams had given up just three hits and was throwing a shutout. She had also hit two batters and walked one, allowing six baserunners in 5.1 innings.

Still, Adams wasn’t surprised when she was lifted. It was something pitching coach Christian Conrad had discussed with her ahead of time.

“That was just part of Christians plan,” Adams said. “We talk about all the possibilities before games. And I fully trust in his plan, trust in all the other pitchers on the staff. So we were just going with the game plan.”

Adams gave way to freshman Rylie Holder with two on and one out in the top of the sixth. Both inherited runners scored without another out being recorded.

The runs were charged to Adams, who was immediately brought back in with a worse situation than she the one she left. Now, she had runners on the corners with one out and her team’s lead had been cut in half.

It might not have worked out, but Lowe said the plan was built with an eye to weather conditions. She noted that ASU also removed and re-inserted its starter during the game.

“It’s 100 degrees outside, and we wanted to get Jalen a little relief too, just like they did Kenzie Brown,” Lowe said. “But, at the same time, we knew Rylie could roll a double play and she’s gonna come into those games all the time, and I trust her to come into those games all the time. So it was the right decision. We didn’t execute.”

Lowe’s confidence in Holder and the rest of the team comes down to their perseverance.

“Rylie was phenomenal yesterday,” Lowe said. “I mean, I watched her get better yesterday. I watched her work through tough moments, breathe through pressure, and we talked a lot about the tough stuff. We’re going to have to go right through. We’re not going around it. So I saw her in bases loaded situations, lots of runners on, and absolutely executing our game plan.”

Because she left during the inning, Adams wasn’t given any warm-up pitches when she returned to the circle in the top of the sixth. The first batter she faced had a controversial at-bat.

Pinch hitter Ryan Brown came in for ASU. She got into a 1-2 count then hit a ball far to centerfield over the outstretched glove of Regan Shockey. During the live play, it looked like it bounced off the top of the wall and back onto the field. That was how it was ruled by the officials, as well, making it a 2-RBI double that tied the game 4-4 with one out.

The question was whether the ball hit the batter’s eye behind the centerfield wall. ASU’s coaches and ESPN+ color commentator (and former Wildcat pitcher) Kenzie Fowler Quinn thought it did, but Sun Devil head coach Megan Bartlett didn’t challenge the call for an extended time period. The rule book gives her 30 seconds to challenge. Well after that time, she asked the home plate umpire for a challenge but was told it was too late. The call stood.

ASU staff members were under the impression that the call should be automatically reviewed by the officiating crew beginning in the sixth inning, but the NCAA’s explanation of the challenge rule doesn’t indicate that. When the review rule was passed in 2021, it allowed (but did not require) the crew chief to initiate a review beginning in the sixth inning. A head coach could challenge at any point in the game.

The video review rules were changed in 2024. One of the changes allowed any official to initiate a review at any point in the game. Once again, there’s no indication that the officials are required to do so; they are allowed to do so when it is not “properly covered.” The coach can use a challenge at any point in the game but must do it within the 30-second time limit after the play in question.

In the end, Stewart’s 2-run home run in the bottom of the inning made the lost run a moot point. The 2-run shot would have given Arizona a 1-run advantage even if the ASU call had been overturned in the top of the inning.

ASU tried to get something going again in the top of the seventh. Kaylee Pond had a leadoff double and got to third with one out on a flyout. The next two batters went down easily with popups. Game and series over.

Arizona’s head coach was impressed by her team’s ability to find different ways to win when the usual way wasn’t working. Sereniti Trice came into the weekend hitting .523 even after facing the phenomenal pitching staff at Texas Tech. She was 1 for 11 in three games against ASU. Shockey was great on Sunday, but she was 2 for 8 in Friday and Saturday’s games.

“Jenna Sniffen swung the bat,” Lowe said. “I thought Kez [Lucas] had a great weekend. Grace [Jenkins] had a great weekend, In a weekend, honestly, where you don’t see Biddy and Regan get on as much, we stepped up, and that hasn’t happened quite yet. So that feels really good that it doesn’t matter if it’s my turn or somebody else’s.”

Adams ended with the win to improve to 13-4 on the season. She gave up two earned runs on five hits, two walks, and two hit batters. She struck out two. She dropped her ERA back down to 3.22 after seeing it climb over the previous two days.

Holder gave up two earned runs on two hits without recording an out.

Six of Arizona’s nine starting hitters got at least one hit. Seven reached base at least once. The four through seven hitters all had at least one RBI with Stewart’s three leading the way.

Both leadoff hitter Shockey and cleanup hitter Stewart reached base safely every time they stepped into the batter’s box. Shockey was 3 for 3 with a walk. Stewart was 2 for 2 with two walks.

Meika Lauppe took the loss for the Sun Devils despite giving up just one of the six Arizona runs. She threw 1.1 inning and surrendered the one earned run on two hits and one walk.

Kenzie Brown started the game and re-entered later. She gave up four runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks in 4.0 IP. She struck out four.

Former Wildcat Aissa Silva also made an appearance for the Sun Devils. She allowed one earned run on two hits and two walks in 0.2 IP.

Arizona will have its fourth straight game against an in-state opponent when GCU comes to town on Tuesday. The Lopes were the last unbeaten team in Division I this season. They finally lost a game to No. 23 Oklahoma State on Tuesday, Mar. 17. They are now 33-1 overall and 6-0 in the Mountain West.

“They’re fantastic, and they’ve been good for a while, and they’re always a competitive game for us,” Lowe said. “They pitch well, they execute offensively well. So it’s going to be really important to take a day off, get rest on our bodies, but then be ready.”

*This website uses the NFCA poll as the official softball poll. Arizona State was ranked in two polls this week, including the NFCA. It was not ranked by USA Softball.

South Mountain High School’s (Ariz.) football program has gone five straight years finishing either .500 or below and are looking to change their fortunes around. On Sunday afternoon, the school announced the hiring of their next head coach they hope can shake things up for the Jaguars.

According to a press release, South Mountain announced the appointment of former Corona Del Sol assistant head coach Larry Davis as the program’s next lead man. With the Aztecs, Davis also coached the defensive line along with his assistant head coaching duties.

“I’m honored to announce that I have been named the new Head Football Coach at South Mountain High School. It’s a privilege to lead and serve the Jaguars program and be part of such a strong community. I’m ready to get to work. Special thank you to the South Mountain Administration and PHX Union School District with trusting me with this opportunity,” Davis said via his social media post.

Davis will have a tall task ahead of him as South Mountain has only had five winning seasons since 2006, with only one finishing in the double digits back in 2007 when the Jaguars went 10-3.

“Coach Davis understands our community and shares our commitment to building a strong football program centered on discipline, academic accountability, and character,” South Mountain said in the press release regarding Davis’ hiring. “We are excited to welcome him back to lead Jaguar Football.”

South Mountain is coming off a 1-9 campaign and finished the 2025 season as the No. 156th ranked team, according to the final Arizona 2025 High School Football Massey Rankings.

How to Follow Arizona High School Football

For Arizona high school football fans looking to keep up with scores around the Grand Canyon State, staying updated on the action is now easier than ever with the Rivals High School Scoreboard. This comprehensive resource provides real-time updates and final scores from across the state, ensuring you never miss a moment of the Friday night frenzy. From nail-biting finishes to dominant performances, the Rivals High School Scoreboard is your one-stop destination for tracking all the Arizona high school football excitement across the state.

Chandler (Ariz.) Basha defensive lineman Anitoni Tahi headed out to Wisconsin this weekend.

With the Badgers set to host him for an official visit in the spring, Tahi wanted to get out to Madison before the visit to see what Luke Fickell and his program had to offer.

He was able to take in a spring practice while there.

“Man, it was good,” said Tahi. “The facility is nice and I really like how coach (EJ) Whitlow coaches. He brings the juice for sure.”

Tahi enjoyed being in Madison.

“Madison is a beautiful place,” said Tahi. “It is a college town for sure.”

Watching Fickell up close was also a highlight.

“Coach Fickell is a good coach,” said Tahi. “He also brings the juice.”

Watching the practice and meeting with the defensive line was also a good experience for him.

“Practice was good,” said Tahi. “I love how the defensive line trains. The meeting was good, I love how they set the standard.”

Tahi next heads to Minnesota on April 5 and Kansas State on April 18 for an unofficial and his official visit slate starts with a visit to Minnesota on May 28 with Kansas State a week later on June 5, Wisconsin the following week on June 11 and rounds out with Iowa State on June 19.

He is also planning to take an official visit to Arizona State, working on nailing down the date for that one.

Four, that’s right, four days to go until the games start meaning to mean! Until then, we’ll have to sate ourselves with whatever kind of scrap of news this is.

Uh, alright? Nothing wrong with a little catching depth, I suppose? Korey Lee doesn’t have any options remaining and has had a productive spring, so he’s been a lock to make the roster the moment Kyle Teel pulled up limping in the World Baseball Classic. The whole “$1.2 million” thing there, though, indicates that McGuire has a real possibility of making the roster, if it’s not already foregone. This, to me, is strange, because while I’m interested to see whether Lee’s offseason hitting work has paid off, he doesn’t need to be in the lineup almost every day like both Teel and Edgar Quero do. That would make a third catcher on the roster redundant, so I’m curious to see what it all means.

Anyhow, not a ton interesting about the lineup the Sox are running out against Seattle tonight, but the battle between Tristan Peters, Everson Pereira, and Derek Hill rages on for what may now be two open outfield spots, with Brooks Baldwin out of the picture for the opener on Thursday. It’ll also be the last time Camelback Ranch sees White Sox game action until 2027, as they’ll be on the road for their final outing of the spring season tomorrow.

Sean Burke takes the ball for one final tune-up start before they really start to count, hoping to end with a flourish to offset what to this point has been a somewhat wobbly spring. He did look solid his last time out, nearly making it through five innings against Texas last Monday while surrendering just a single run. He’s on pace to get the nod for game two of the regular season against Milwaukee, on Saturday.

Opposite Burke, Sox hitters will get a look at Seattle’s burgeoning ace in Bryan Woo, who surely wants to come into the regular season hot after injuries kept him out of the 2025 postseason rotation despite a Cy Young-caliber campaign. Outside of Woo, most of Seattle’s big names are getting the night off, as Cal Raleigh dons the tools of ignorance by his lonesome without any of Julio Rodríguez, Randy Arozarena or Josh Naylor buffering him in the lineup.

This one is scheduled to tip off at 8:05 p.m. CT, and for the first time this year, I’ll actually be able to watch a game I’m recapping, as the CHSN TV crew will be on the call like usual. Hallelujah!

Utah State vs Arizona box score: Full stats from 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament game originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The No. 9 Utah State Aggies battle the first-seeded Arizona Wildcats in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Virginia defeated Wright State 82-73 that same day.  After winning the Big 12 Tournament, the Wildcats took down LIU in the first round by a score of 92-58.

Utah State claimed the Mountain West Tournament and then defeated No. 8 seed Villanova by 10 points in the first round. Utah State owns the 3-1 edge in the all-time matchups between the programs. If they win, this would be Utah State's first Sweet 16 appearance since 1970.

Here is a look at the box score from Saturday's second round West Region game in San Diego.

Utah State vs Arizona March Madness box score

Utah State stats

Arizona stats

More college basketball news:

• Hubert Davis buyout, contract details as UNC Tar Heels coach
• Seven championship worthy teams in 2026 NCAA men’s basketball bracket
• John Calipari says college athletics is broken — Here’s his plan to fix it
• Fact check: AJ Dybantsa was paid $7 million-plus at BYU
• Where Arkansas Darius Acuff Jr. ranks among John Calipari's best NBA guards

Freiburg striker Igor Matanovic didn’t necessarily wish to strike a hard blow against his former club St. Pauli on Sunday evening. Matanovic’s brace actually ended up leading to an extremely frustrating loss for his hometown side, who are currently fighting relegation. The Hamburg native refrained from celebrating either goal in the 1-2 away Bundesliga victory.

Igor Matanovic’s St. Pauli journey

Matanovic journey the Kiezkicker youth academy in 2010 when he was just seven-years-of-age. Like most German footballing academy products, he worked as a ball boy in the stadium on matchdays. The now seven-times-capped Croatian international broke through to the St. Pauli first team during the 2020/21 2. Bundesliga campaign. 

Eintracht Frankfurt took notice of Matonovic’s talent and scooped him up on a €1.8m transfer in the summer of 2021. In order to further his development, however, the RheinMainAdler deemed it prudent to loan him back to the Hamburg outfit on an extended two-year-loan. Matanovic still only scored three goals for St. Pauli in two seasons. 

Matanovic’s rise

Matanovic finally broke through in the 2. Bundesliga during a 2023/24 loan stint with Karlsruher SC. He showed some top flight potential with Dino Toppmöller’s SGE last year during the 2024/25 campaign, but still only scored two goals in 25 appearances across all competitions for Frankfurt.

Eintracht still remained convinced of his abilities and hedged their bets via a buyback clause upon his Freiburg sale. Now that Matanovic has kept up the strong scoring form he began to cultivate at the beginning of the calendar year, that clause might well be exercised.

Matanovic has raised his estimated market value by €3m up to €10m over the last three months. 

Matanovic’s words for his ex-club

“It was a special game for me,” Matanovic told DAZN after the match. “I really enjoyed being able to play here for 13 years. I was here in the stands as a little boy and worked as a ball boy. I absolutely loved being able to play here today. When I came out onto the field earlier, before it all even started, the fans gave me a really warm welcome. I really appreciate that

“I’m nevertheless wearing the Freiburg crest on my chest today and have to give everything for this club,” Matanovic continued. “That’s what I did today. We [Freiburg] accomplished a lot as a team. We wanted to carry on the momentum from Thursday and didn’t fully accomplish that. My [first goal] also had a lot to do with blind luck. I was lucky the ball bounced that way.“

Freiburg’s Julian Schuster praises Matanovic

“The lad came to us from Eintracht and decided specifically for us,” SCF head coach Julian Schuster added of the 22-year-old at the post match press conference. “It took some time for him to meet our requirements understood our demands in detail. He’s meet those perfectly now. He’s made great strides with his work against the ball in the last six months.

“His quality in the tight spaces with the ball and ability to keep the ball circulating [is also worth noting],” Schuster continued. “And let’s not forget the danger he brings in front of goal. He helps us out immensely with his instinct for scoring and that’s translating to goal scoring form now.“

Schuster also sympathetic to St. Pauli

“We’re pleased to have won against a team that has delivered good performances in recent weeks,” Schuster – who joined the post-match press conference late – also noted in his opening statement. “They have quality and we’re lucky to have comeback against them.

“I also said this last year and will say it again this year,” Schuster continued. “I hope that I’ll have the privilege of playing an away match here again next year.I just find this stadium, this club, these fans, and this team wonderful and great.

“I’m convinced that St. Pauli can do it [avoid relegation],” Schuster concluded. “Alex, I wish you and your team a great deal of strength and energy. I hope that, together, you can all manage to get it done and be a part of the Bundesliga next year.“

GGFN | Peter Weis

Syracuse's Kiyan Anthony transfer decision likely impacted by Gerry McNamara hiring originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

It was always going to be tough for Kiyan Anthony to make a huge impact in his first season at Syracuse.

In the modern era of college basketball, that would often point to a transfer. Would Carmelo's son leave the Orange after a single year, though?

Nothing is a given, and it won't be until Kiyan makes his intentions clear.

But there's one thing that could have a massive impact on this: The Orange are hiring a new head coach, and it looks like it'll be Gerry McNamara.

The SU legend G-Mac is an exciting hire for long-time program loyalists, to be sure. And it's got a distinct connection to Kiyan.

The Syracuse freshman basketball class of 2002-03 included Carmelo. It also included Gerry.

MORE: Master P's son is taking part in March Madness

Together, they led the Orange to the only national title in program history.

McNamara was a hero on that championship stage, hitting six first-half 3-pointers against Kansas.

Anthony was named the Most Outstanding Player that March.

'Melo went one-and-done from there, while McNamara stuck around and turned himself into one of the best players in program history.

But more than two decades later, they remain linked for that greatest of all accomplishments with Syracuse basketball.

Now, Carmelo's son Kiyan has a choice to make. And one of his options is to stick around and play with his dad's college peer. That has to matter.

More March Madness news:

• Bryce James has a quiet role in March Madness
• Caleb Wilson shares honest feelings about staying at UNC
• How to tell the Boozer twins apart
• Darryn Peterson deals with cramps, commitment concerns
• NBA Draft scouting report on Florida's 7-foot-9 center
• Syracuse, Gerry McNamara, a near upset and a head coaching gig

For 15 years, Bill Self was college basketball’s most inevitable figure.

The Big 12 couldn’t beat him. The NCAA and even the FBI couldn’t take him down. Maybe he left a couple national championships on the table, but he got two — and every year when March Madness began, Kansas was usually one of the teams to beat. 

It’s an all-time run. Is it over? 

After Kansas was eliminated Sunday by St. John’s in the NCAA tournament second round, Self said “I haven’t decided” when asked if he will coach in 2026-27, citing health issues that have plagued him going back to 2023 when he was forced to miss the Big 12 and NCAA tournament after needing a stent to treat a blocked artery. 

“I’ll get back and get with family and visit and see what’s going on,” he said. “I love what I do. I need to be able to do it where I’m feeling good and healthy to do it fairly well, so I’ll get back home and it’ll all be discussed.”

Sean M. Haffey via Getty Images

Sunday marked the fourth straight year for Kansas losing in the first or second round. Over the last three seasons, Self has gone 33-23 in a conference he dominated for more than a decade. 

Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season

Around the Big 12, there has been speculation among coaches and administrators all season that this might be Self’s final year given both the declining results in the NIL era and the health problems. Self had to miss a game at Colorado in January after being treated for dehydration and atrial fibrillation, a condition that causes an irregular heart rate. 

Self, 63, has taken Kansas to four Final Fours — although one of them, 2018, was stripped from the record books due to playing an ineligible player, Silvio De Sousa, after a former Adidas executive admitted in court that he paid $20,000 to De Sousa’s family to attend Kansas. 

Self escaped that case, which was part of the FBI’s inquiry into college basketball, with minimal punishments despite the program being charged with five Level 1 NCAA violations stemming from its ties to Adidas. 

“It’s certainly a year that didn’t seem like anything about it was very smooth,” Self said. “I’m probably looking at [my career] now more in [two]-year increments so I’ve tried to focus on this season and get us to a second weekend which we failed. So I’ll go back and break it down and see where that leads.”

Tennessee played a nearly flawless first half Sunday to take control of its second-round NCAA tournament game against 3 seed Virginia.

It then survived a late flurry from the Cavaliers for a 79-72 win that was aided by a late officiating break in its favor.

With the win, the 6th-seeded Volunteers advance to the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight season. There, they’ll face an uphill climb to advance to the program’s first Final Four and the second in head coach Rick Barnes’ 39-year career as an NCAA head coach.

Tennessee committed just one turnover and hit 5 of 11 3s while building its first-half advantage. It then committed multiple miscues down the stretch including a pair of turnovers on inbounds plays in the final minutes to allow Virginia back in the game.

Thijs De Ridder hit a 3 to give Virginia a 3 a 71-70 lead, its first of the second half. But Tennessee maintained its composure to retake the lead and caught a late break when officials upheld an out of bounds called in the final minute that favored the Volunteers.

Was this really out on Virginia?

After a Virginia miss, the ball appeared to go out of bounds off the head of Tennessee’s Bishop Boswell. But officials determined on the floor that Virginia’s Dallin Hall touched the ball before it went out of bounds.

Replay appeared to show that Hall didn’t touch the ball, and it was out of bounds on Tennessee. But the video evidence wasn’t conclusive, and the call on the floor stood. Tennessee retained possession with a 73-71 lead and 27 seconds remaining on the clock.

Virginia didn’t lead again. The loss ends Virginia’s season short of the Sweet 16 as a 3 seed.

Tennessee advances with its Final Four hopes intact as a distinct underdog in the Midwest Region. Up nest is a Sweet 16 matchup against 2 seed Iowa State, which raced by 7 seed Kentucky earlier Sunday despite playing without injured All-American Joshua Jefferson.

Jefferson rolled his ankle in Iowa State’s first-round win over Tennessee State and watched Sunday’s game in street clothes and with a walking boot on his left foot. His status at this point for a game next week is uncertain.

Either way, Tennessee will face a difficult matchup after an impressive opening 2 rounds of NCAA tournament play. Whomever advances out of that Sweet 16 game will face a potential Elite Eight matchup against No. 1 seed Michigan. The Wolverines will take on the winner of Sunday’s night cap between Alabama and Texas Tech in the Sweet 16.

Tennessee has developed into a consistent winner under Barnes, who’s in his 11th season as head coach in Knoxville. But like their head coach, the Volunteers continue to seek their breakthrough to jump to the next tier in the college ranks.

Tennessee has never advanced to a Final Four. And Barnes has made the Final Four just once in his 39 years of coaching George Mason, Providence, Clemson, Texas and now, Tennessee. Barnes led Texas to the 2003 Final Four, where it lost to eventual champion Syracuse and Carmelo in the national semifinal.

This story will be updated.

The drought is over. For the first time in 27 years, St. John’s is headed to the Sweet 16.

Dylan Darling delivered a dramatic, buzzer-beating lay-up to give fifth-seeded St. John’s a 67-65 win over fourth-seeded Kansas in San Diego on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas had rallied back from a 14-point second-half deficit, with a pair of Darryn Peterson free throws tying the score with 14 seconds left.

That set up Darling’s instant-classic moment.

The red-hot Red Storm will next face Duke, the top overall seed in this year’s tournament, on Friday in Washington, D.C.

Facing his former team, St. John’s star Zuby Ejiofor scored 18 points with nine rebounds. Bryce Hopkins added 18 points and shot 6 of 9 on 3-pointers.

The Kansas freshman phenom Peterson — a strong contender to be the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA draft – led all scorers with 21.

St. John’s forced 16 turnovers and shot 11 of 35 on 3-pointers.

It was St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino’s first career win over Kansas’ Bill Self in the Hall of Famers’ second-ever meeting.

St. John’s entered Sunday shooting just 33.3% on 3-pointers and averaging 21.0 attempts from deep per game. But the Johnnies made the 3-point arc a clear priority Sunday in an effort to combat Kansas’ size, led by the towering tandem of 6-9 Flory Bidunga and 6-11 Bryson Tiller.

“We probably haven’t faced anything like them since Kentucky [on Dec. 20], as far as the length, size, [and] size of the backcourt,” Pitino said ahead of the game. They’re certainly very well-coached. They’re certainly extremely talented, and it’ll be interesting to see how we combat their size.”

The 3-point approach served St. John’s well early, as the Johnnies started the game 4 of 9 from behind the arc. An Ian Jackson triple capped an 11-0 run and gave St. John’s an early 14-6 advantage.

The St. John’s defense was similarly stellar to start.

After Peterson drilled a pair of 3-pointers within the game’s first two minutes, Kansas missed 10 consecutive shots, repeatedly struggling with the Red Storm’s pressure.

Even inbounding the ball was a challenge for Kansas as it committed five turnovers in the first eight minutes.

St. John’s continued to live and die with the 3, and a nearly six-minute scoreless drought allowed Kansas to tie the game, 16-16. But the Johnnies finished the half strong, as Ruben Prey and Joson Sanon made back-to-back 3-pointers in the closing minutes.

All told, St. John’s shot 7-of-23 (30.4%) on 3-pointers in the first half, after which it led, 34-26. The 23 attempts were the most in a half by St. John’s in Pitino’s three years there.

St. John’s continued to shoot in the second half, and back-to-back 3-pointers by Jackson and Bryce Hopkins put the Red Storm up, 47-37, with 13:49 remaining.

That lead would grow to 56-42 with 8:08 to go.

But Kansas responded with a furious 19-6 run, during which Peterson delivered a 3-point play and a Bidunga scored on a tip-in that cut the Jayhawks’ deficit to 62-61 with 1:58 to go.

Hopkins answered on the other end, nailing a clutch 3-pointer to put St. John’s back up by four.

Kansas’ Tre White made it a 65-63 game with a lay-up, and after Ejiofor missed a 3-pointer, the Jayhawks had a chance to tie the game or take the lead with less than 30 seconds to go.

Peterson drew a foul on Oziyah Sellers and made both free throws to tie the game with 14.1 seconds left.

Ejiofor spent his freshman season at Kansas as a little-used reserve, but he transferred to St. John’s in 2023 after the Jayhawks landed star center Hunter Dickinson through the portal.

This is the deepest run by St. John’s since 1999, when it advanced to the Elite Eight. That team was led by Bootsy Thornton and Ron Artest.

____

Breaking news: Toluca’s striker has been called up to the Portugal national team.

With Leão and Rodrigo Mora out, the coach has called up Paulinho.

The Diablos’ striker will face Mexico next Saturday, March 20, at the opening of the Estadio Azteca.

One of the best strikers in Liga MX will have his chance to try to make the final Portugal squad for the 2026 World Cup.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.

Mar. 22—GRAND FORKS — It's official, UND is headed to Sioux Falls for the NCAA men's hockey regional.

The Fighting Hawks will take on Hockey East tournament champion Merrimack at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2) in Denny Sanford Premier Center.

Providence will play Quinnipiac at 4 p.m. in the other regional semifinal.

The regional championship is scheduled for Saturday. The time is yet to be determined.

Jason Ross and Kevin Weekes will call the Sioux Falls Regional on ESPN.

"Regardless of the opponent, (it's) excitement," UND associate head coach Matt Smaby said. "We've been not just waiting for this time, but working for this time all year. There's always a little bit of uncertainty as to who you're playing and how that's going to shake out.

"On our side, we're really excited for the opportunity. Merrimack has been playing great. We knew there was going to be a challenge some way, somehow, regardless of who we were playing. It's nice to be able to narrow the focus now."

The Fighting Hawks (27-9-1) are the region's No. 1 seed and the NCAA tournament's No. 2 overall seed.

Merrimack (21-15-2), the region's No. 4 seed, reached the NCAA tournament by going on a run in the Hockey East playoffs. The Warriors beat Hockey East's regular-season champion, Providence, in the quarterfinals. Then, they beat UMass 2-0 and UConn 2-1 this weekend in T.D. Garden.

Merrimack goaltender Max Lundgren stopped 49 of 50 in Saturday night's final against UConn and was named the tournament MVP.

Lundgren stopped 107 of 110 shots (.973 save percentage) in the Hockey East quarterfinals, semifinals and championship. He has played every minute in net this season for Merrimack, posting a .920 save percentage.

"Oftentimes, when you see a goalie playing well, there's usually a team in front of him that's not giving up a ton," Smaby said. "Those two things run together. I think, for us, we've always been at our best focusing on what we can control. That will be extremely important for our group heading into the game Thursday."

Merrimack is led offensively by a dynamic group of forwards — Hockey East rookie of the year finalists Parker Lalonde (37 points) and Justin Gill (35), Calgary Flames draft pick Trevor Hoskin (35) and sophomores Caelan Fitzpatrick (29) and Nick Pierre (25), who played high school hockey at Hill-Murray in the Twin Cities.

Merrimack's power play is converting at 30% since mid-December.

"We know we're going to get tested defensively," Smaby said. "We've been preparing for that all year. You've seen our games, throughout the course of the season, things have really started to tighten up. Now, it becomes real. The goalie has been playing great. Their team has been playing really well, so we've got to find a way to be great at what we want to do."

UND and Merrimack have only played two games in program history — an October 2009 series in Ralph Engelstad Arena. UND won 5-2 and 3-2.

The matchup will pit two players against their former teams.

UND forward Tyler Young transferred from Merrimack to UND this summer. Young spent three seasons at Merrimack.

Merrimack forward Michael Emerson spent a semester at UND in the fall of 2023. He left school to return to junior hockey, then committed to Merrimack. Emerson played six games for the Fighting Hawks.

"We've always been at our best focusing on ourselves and not worrying so much about what's coming at us," Smaby said. "That way, you're able to control the things you can control, which I think will be important in those big moments."

This will be UND's first driving trip to a regional since 2021, when the Fighting Hawks played in the Fargo Regional. That year, attendance was restricted due to the pandemic.

UND's last two regional games were in Maryland Heights, Mo., and Albany, N.Y., in 2024 and 2022. The Fighting Hawks lost both of those games by a goal.

"I think being close to home is nice, knowing our fans travel well throughout the course of the year and knowing that we're going to have a lot of green in the stands," Smaby said. "I think that's always a boost for us. We've been great on the road all year long. This is a road game. But we know whenever and wherever we're going, we're going to have the backing of our fans, which is a really exciting thing."

JOHANNESBURG — Dean Burmester was wondering what a lot of South Africans were wondering at some point this week. He was down near the first green, talking to Jon Rahm, gazing back up the hill at the grandstand they had just teed off from. 

“Small taste of the Ryder Cup,” he said to Rahm. “That’s about as good as it will ever get for me. Pretty special.” 

The point was not the comparison, nor the fact that Rahm added some context about crowd size. Burmester didn’t even know the TV mics were capturing the convo. The point was more that Burmester was dreaming a bit. Levitating mentally. He will never play a Ryder Cup and he knows it. At this rate, he won’t play a Presidents Cup either. But was LIV Golf’s visit to his home country a little bit like the Ryder Cup for the home team? Yeah, it was a little bit like that. 

Burmester was equal parts mascot and player this week, flagging approach shots as often as he thumped his chest, danced for the delirious crowd and twirled on tee boxes, his arms extended wide like Maximus Meridius in “Gladiator.”

It was a full week of that from the 36-year-old journeyman, mainly because the LIV template for massive international events worked again, just like it has in Australia the last few years. More than 100,000 tickets were sold, here in the major, global metro of Johannesburg, and they had a single patriotic squad to cheer for. 

“I’ve got a bit of a tan from taking my hat off all the time,” Burmester said in the moments after it finished. “It’s just something — I wanted to do well for the fans and honored to show my appreciation wherever I went. It’s amazing to have that kind of support, and they’re shouting down the fairways and on the greens and stuff like that, and I just wanted to say thank you. That’s basically what I wanted to do. The more noise they could make, the better.”

And noise they made. 

Does South Africa party harder than Australia? LIV Golf wanted to test that theory. Its events mimic festivals more than anything else these days. At least the ones that can guarantee attendance records. The template is obvious: bring as many people in for golf, musical acts or sunshine and beer — whichever they want most — spread ‘em out, pump ‘em up with the Beastie Boys and sic ‘em on the traditionally quiet norms of the game. It’s gonna feel different. It’s gonna cost a ton of money. It’s gonna stand out if golf is good, too. Was this the first time Burmester found thousands upon thousands of fans walking with his group? Maybe! And maybe not. He’s been around the block. But we know how he felt about this.

“Greatest week of my life,” he said. And that was after his team settled for second place. His teammate Branden Grace missed a birdie putt that would have pushed the Southern Guards into a playoff for the team competition. Considering the rain-soaked course and the liquified nature of the crowd, it’s maybe better it didn’t happen.

The boisterous Minister of Sports, Art and Culture, Gayton McKenzie spent the morning stoking the fire, shouting into cameras about how his team was going to win Sunday, and they were living up to it early. What was once a nine-stroke lead slowly dissipated over the round and eventually collapsed when the South African boys added just a single birdie over their last 16 collective holes. Louis Oosthuizen finished with a bogey on a par-5. The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, was on hand to thank them for their service, but in the end he was doing a smiley TV hit alongside Bryson DeChambeau, who vanquished their team dreams in regulation, and then vanquished Jon Rahm in a playoff. 

When asked how Sunday night would go for LIV’s South African players, who had been promised the biggest party in the country if they won, Louis Oosthuizen said he was headed for bed. They were all tired. There’s your difference between winning and losing.

“I’m ready for a brandy and Coke,” Burmester said, during what had to be his 30th interview of the week. The impromptu press conference was held on the 1st tee box, with countrymen surrounding them from above one final time.

“Each of us got to tee off on this 1st tee here, and each of us walked off saying exactly the same thing: we couldn’t feel anything. It was the greatest thing I’ve ever felt on the golf course. I’m just proud to be South African; that’s it.”

The post ‘Greatest week of my life': 1 way LIV South Africa will be remembered appeared first on Golf.

The high noon heat brought out the hitting for both Arizona and Texas Tech on Sunday, as there was no shortage of hits and runs. The Wildcats nearly had a miraculous come back from down five in the 9th but went on to lose 12-10.

It was the Red Raiders’ 6-run 7th inning that ultimately won the series. Arizona (8-15, 2-4 Big 12) will have to wait until next week to try and earn its first Big 12 series win.

“We just keep taking a step forward, like last night, and then a couple steps back,” coach Chip Hale said, referring to Saturday’s 14-6 win over Tech.

Luc Fladda started his day strong with back to back strikeouts but only played through three innings. He finished with four strikeouts but five earned runs. Three pitchers came in after Fladda before Matthew Martinez finished out the day.

Nate Novitske got the day started with a double down the left field line. Tony Lira then went the distance to center field to give Arizona the early 2-0 lead. However, Texas Tech responded and put up five runs in the second inning to take a 5-2 lead.

Caleb Danzeisen doubled down the left field line, similar to Novitske. Lira singled to center field after it was dropped and a throwing error from Texas Tech allowed Danzeisen to go to third and Lira to second.

Maddox Mihalakis singled to bring in both runners and brought Arizona within one. A pop up and single later, Jackson Forbes’ sac bunt brought in Mihalakis to tie the game at five a piece.

Texas Tech found a way to reclaim the lead but Forbes homered to the Terry Francona hitting center and knotted the game at sixes. Novitske then wanted to match Forbes with an identical home run. Novitske’s home run also went to right field and went off of the hitting center to give Arizona the lead.

Texas Tech found a way to tie the game yet again, and from there on it only got worse for Arizona. The air was taken out of Hi Corbett by five more runs.

Late in the bottom of the 9th, Forbes gave Arizona a bit of life when he doubled down the right field line to bring in two runs. After loading the bases, one last run came in on a hit by pitch but ultimately the deficit was too much for Arizona to come back from.

“It’s a good sign, especially for a young team trying to overcome all the mistakes that we made, but again, we need to clean it up,” said Hale on his team’s near comeback.

Novitske led the Wildcats in hits with four and Forbes led in RBIs with four. Fladda and Martinez both had game highs of four strikeouts.

“I think the lineup is starting to take shape, we just got to stay healthy,” said Hale on the outlook for his team moving forward. “(Gavin) Triezenberg got hurt today and dislocated his shoulder. We’ll see how long he’s going to be out, but hopefully Cash Brennan will be back next week.”

Arizona hosts GCU on Tuesday before going to UCF. The Lopes beat the Wildcats 7-5 at Hi Corbett Field earlier this month.

UCLA vs. UConn box score: Full stats from 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament game originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Two of the powerhouse basketball schools meet in a No. 7 vs. No. 2 matchup on Sunday night. For the UCLA Bruins and the UConn Huskies, a trip to the Sweet 16 will be the prize handed out in the NCAA Tournament East Region in Philadelphia. 

UConn comes into the game after going 30-5 on the season. Dan Hurley's team beat Furman 82-71 on Friday. On the other hand, UCLA is 24-11 and advanced with a win over UCF in the first round 75-71. Ironically, these two have never met in non-conference play outside of the tourney. This will be the second-ever meeting between the schools. UCLA won the 1995 Elite Eight matchup 102-96 in Oakland, Calif. 

Here is a look at the box score from Sunday's second round East Region in Philadelphia. 

UCLA vs. UConn March Madness box score

UCLA stats 

UConn stats 

More college basketball news:

• Hubert Davis buyout, contract details as UNC Tar Heels coach
• Seven championship worthy teams in 2026 NCAA men’s basketball bracket
• John Calipari says college athletics is broken — Here’s his plan to fix it
• Fact check: AJ Dybantsa was paid $7 million-plus at BYU
• Where Arkansas Darius Acuff Jr. ranks among John Calipari's best NBA guards

Understandably, tensions are high in Tampa, Fla.

Iowa is vying for its first Sweet 16 berth since 1999. The Florida Gators are fighting for back-to-back national championships.

So, when Iowa junior forward Alvaro Folgueiras and Florida junior forward Alex Condon got tied up in the opening half, tempers boiled over quickly.

Just past the first half's midway point with Iowa leading 19-13, Folgueiras and Condon went tumbling to the floor as they fought for the basketball. Condon appeared to pull Folgueiras down to the floor with him. Folgueiras retaliated by closing his fist and nearly punching the basketball.

Tensions are high in Tampa.

Iowa & Florida had to be separated after this play. pic.twitter.com/KVgBT9Bs3M

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 22, 2026

After review, a double technical foul was assessed to Folgueiras and Condon.

But, it also brought quite the in-game interview moment with Iowa head men's basketball coach Ben McCollum.

Asked by sideline reporter AJ Ross what he said to his team to settle them down after tempers flared and after the review, McCollum let it rip.

That’s my basketball coach. pic.twitter.com/aWnvOf2wDG

— Cody Hills (@ByCodyHills) March 22, 2026

"Yeah, I don't know. I mean, they were just going for the ball and then everybody got all sensitive. Their people got sensitive, and it's like, we're just trying to play ball. But, that's whatever. We'll compete. We'll fight. We'll see what happens," McCollum said.

At the time of publication, Iowa led Florida at halftime, 33-31, with a berth in the Sweet 16 on the line.

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Josh on X: @JoshOnHawks

This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa basketball’s Alvaro Folgueiras part of double-technical foul vs. Florida

Iowa vs. Florida box score: Full stats from 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament game originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The 2026 NCAA Tournament never disappoints. The matchup with No. 1 seed Florida and No. 9 Iowa in the South Region will be interesting to watch. 

Florida dominated in its March Madness opener, putting up the second-worst blowout in tournament history with 114-55 win over16-seed Prairie View A&M. On the other end, Iowa had to fend off No. 8 Clemson for a 67-61 victory. Only one defending champion has advanced past the second round over the last eight NCAA Tournaments. Could this mean a Hawkeye upset on deck ? 

Here is a look at the box score from Sunday's second round South Region game in Tampa. 

Iowa vs. Florida March Madness box score

Iowa stats 

Florida stats 

More college basketball news:

• Hubert Davis buyout, contract details as UNC Tar Heels coach
• Seven championship worthy teams in 2026 NCAA men’s basketball bracket
• John Calipari says college athletics is broken — Here’s his plan to fix it
• Fact check: AJ Dybantsa was paid $7 million-plus at BYU
• Where Arkansas Darius Acuff Jr. ranks among John Calipari's best NBA guards

Providence's Bryan Hodgson hiring points to 16.4 PPG transfer move originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Providence Friars have hired Bryan Hodgson as their new men's basketball coach.

Hodgson comes aboard from South Florida, and it's a big deal just considered in a vacuum. But in modern college basketball, the former USF head coach very well might not be coming alone.

If you try to read between the lines, it's very possible to see someone who might follow Hodgson to Providence.

South Florida's leading scorer in 2025-26 was junior guard Wes Enis. He put in 16.4 points per game.

With eligibility remaining, it would make a lot of sense for Enis to follow Hodgson to Providence.

MORE: Master P's son is taking part in March Madness

Nothing has been signaled yet by Enis, but it's certainly something for Friars fans to keep an eye on.

Enis is originally from Ohio, where he attended Miami East High School.

The 6-foot-2 lefty started his college career at Division II Lincoln Memorial for two seasons before joining USF this year.

After that move up the ladder worked out, another move for Enis could certainly be in the cards.

USF's next two best players, Joseph Pinion and Izaiyah Nelson, were both seniors. It's not clear that either would have eligibility left.

But Enis certainly does. He's played just three seasons of college basketball so far.

If he's fond of his relationship with Hodgson, he could follow the path to Providence.

More March Madness news:

• Bryce James has a quiet role in March Madness
• Caleb Wilson shares honest feelings about staying at UNC
• How to tell the Boozer twins apart
• Darryn Peterson deals with cramps, commitment concerns
• NBA Draft scouting report on Florida's 7-foot-9 center
• Syracuse, Gerry McNamara, a near upset and a head coaching gig

St. John’s is going to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 thanks to the newest ‘Darling’ of March Madness.

After squandering a 14-point lead with eight minutes to go, the Red Storm knocked off Kansas 67-65 on a lay-up from guard Dylan Darling, who hadn’t scored a point all game and had his previous four shot attempts all come from three-point range.

The backstory to this final possession is one not often seen in men’s college basketball. With 13 seconds left, Kansas phenom Darryn Peterson sunk two free throws to give the Jayhawks their first tie since it was 6-6 early in the first half. Kansas had only been charged with two personal fouls up to this point, so head coach Bill Self instructed his team to use their remaining four fouls to give. Every foul occurred in the back court and took the clock all the way down to 3.9 seconds. Once the fouling was done, Darling received the final inbound pass, took it straight at Elmarko Jackson and the lefty used his weaker hand to score the first buzzer-beating dagger of this year’s tournament.

In the post-game press conference, Rick Pitino told reporters that it was “the funniest thing he’s ever been involved with” when Darling told him to run a play for himself… even though Pitino hadn’t noticed his scoreless performance.

Darling was just seven for his last 37 shots from the floor stretching back to the Big East tournament. He still called his own number and it paid off brilliantly. In fact, this is the first time an NCAA Tournament winner with zeroes on the clock has ever been scored by someone without a made field goal.

Pitino is back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since coaching Louisville in 2015, although if we want to be technical about it, his most recent non-vacated appearance was in 2009. Kansas has been bounced before the second weekend for a fourth consecutive year and will be left ruing their 16 turnovers and generally sloppy performance.

St. John’s will fly from San Diego to Washington DC for a highly anticipated showdown with the No. 1 overall seeded Duke Blue Devils.

Steelers fans will hate 2026 prediction under Mike McCarthy originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been good enough to make the playoffs over the past decade, but not good enough to actually do something once they got there.

With Mike Tomlin out and Mike McCarthy in, some fans have dreaded that move, with the thought of another so-so season very much alive. Will Aaron Rodgers return? Who knows, and if he does, this mediocre cycle likely starts again.

And if Steelers fans don't like that, then they won't like Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport's realistic expectations for Pittsburgh in 2026.

It is right where you think -- the middle of nowhere with a 10-7 record.

"McCarthy inherits a team that won 10 games to become the AFC North champions in 2025. They haven't had a losing season in over two decades," Davenport wrote. "The Steelers are the model of stability. 

"Aaron Rodgers or not, the Steelers don't have a quarterback that makes them a legitimate Super Bowl contender—and there's no clear path to that guy in the short-term. The more things change, the more they stay the same."

More:Analyst offers horror prediction for Browns fans under Todd Monken

Steelers expectations nightmare fuel

I can't speak for Steelers fans, but looking at this from a wider lens, going 10-7 and being average again isn't something I would like.

Either bottom out completely and rebuild, or go chase a Super Bowl. 

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like Pittsburgh is going for either option. Instead, option three is to be good enough to make the playoffs, but not good enough to win.

And in turn, you never get that top draft pick that can change your franchise's trajectory.

Davenport is right. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

More NFL news:

• Did Steelers make QB mistake in free agency?
• Buccaneers' 2026 prospects revealed after Mike Evans' free agency decision
• Analyst reveals incredible Ravens expectations for Jesse Minter
• 3-time All-Pro WR makes stunning Vikings plea
• Analyst delivers brutal QB reality for Steelers in 2026
• ESPN reveals Jets' $48 million mistakes still haunting them
• Analyst reveals high expectations for 49ers after free agency spree 

Vinicius Junior reinforced his great form with Real Madrid by scoring twice in the Madrid derby this Sunday (22).

And he reached an important milestone.

He is the ONLY player with more than 15 goals/assists since the 2021/2022 season in La Liga matches. 

See the detailed numbers below:

2025/2026 - 11 goals and six assists in 27 matches

2024/2025 - 11 goals and ten assists in 30 matches

2023/2024 - 15 goals and six assists in 26 matches

2022/2023 - Ten goals and ten assists in 33 matches

2021/2022 - 17 goals and ten assists in 35 matches

He’s ON FIRE 🔥

Vini has scored ten goals in his last 11 matches.

Six of them were in La Liga.

And four in the Champions League. He made all the difference in the qualification against Benfica and Manchester City.

His season totals are 17 goals and nine assists.

He has the chance to surpass his career-best season for goals scored.

He scored 24 in 2023/2024. 

He has always scored at least 17 times for Real in a season since 2021/2022. 

Will he repeat these great performances at the World Cup?

Share your opinion in the comments! 

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

Offense was great, defense was strong, and goaltending was fantastic. It was the perfect storm.

The Carolina Hurricanes were on their game Sunday afternoon as they handed the Pittsburgh Penguins a shocking 5-1 loss. Carolina played a complete game and capitalized on Pittsburgh’s shortcomings in what appeared to be an off-game for the home team.

Going into the 3:00 PM game, the Penguins sat atop the league standings in the penalty kill with a sharp 84.2 success rate, but the Hurricanes’ power play (ranked 12th leaguewide) managed to crack through not just once, but three times in less than 40 minutes.

Carolina’s first three goals were all extremely similar in where they came from and how they reached the net. The first came from Sebastian Aho just 47 seconds into the game after Nikolaj Ehlers drew a tripping penalty on Ryan Graves.

A long-distance wrist shot just between the faceoff circles and blue line, through a screen provided by Jordan Staal.

The next, in the second period, also came on the man advantage. Once again, at the same distance through another screen, Ehlers sent a slapshot buzzing into the back of the net.

Then, just near the halfway point of the game, Jalen Chatfield smacked a slapshot through another yet another screen from the same distance to get the Hurricanes up by three.

Afterwards, the pattern ended as Ehlers sent an incredible pass through the legs of Parker Wotherspoon into the slot and onto the tape of Seth Jarvis for another power play goal. It was Jarvis’ first after a five-game drought.

In the third period, the Penguins finally got a goal on the board thanks to Egor Chinakhov, but the Hurricanes’ defense – and defense through offensive pressure – helped Frederik Andersen to hold them to a single goal allowed throughout the contest.

After a few attempts gone awry, including a stopped blast towards the empty net by Andersen, Mark Jankowski got the empty net goal to make things 5-1.

Hurricanes Succeed in Key Areas in Final Game With Penguins of Regular Season

Throughout the game, one of the Hurricanes’ greatest advantages was their effective use of screens on Stuart Skinner. When it comes to those screens, it’s hard to expect any goalie to stop what cannot be seen. They can’t use the force (even if they seem as though they can sometimes).

Their defense was something else, as they held the Penguins shotless through nearly 12 minutes straight at the opening of the game.

Special teams were one of the biggest things for Carolina, which went two-for-two on the penalty kill and three-for-five on the power play. It also didn’t hurt that calls actually went their way for once.

And last, but certainly not least, Andersen played exceptionally well – something he has greatly improved on since returning from the Olympics. Despite the Penguins’ late start to generate offense, they still managed to put 19 shots on net. On top of that, 15 of those were high-danger scoring chances – five more than the Hurricanes produced.

It was a great game for the Hurricanes, who rocketed to the sole lead of the Eastern Conference.

(Psst! This game was with another team covered by the National Hockey Now Network – sneak behind enemy lines yet again and check out Vince Comunale’s recap from the Penguins’ perspective!)

Related Headlines

• Hurricanes Game 70: Lines, Notes, Goalies, and How to Watch vs. Penguins
• Hurricanes Carve Unusual Path to Victory Over Maple Leafs
• Hurricanes Game 69: Lines, Notes, Goalies, and How to Watch vs. Leafs

Danny Silva met the media Saturday after his win over Kurtis Campbell at UFC Fight Night 270.

Silva (11-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) took out Campbell (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) quickly into the second round with a TKO to open up the main card at The O2 in London.

Silva said he put pressure on himself to bounce back from his loss to recent featherweight headliner Kevin Vallejos this past August, but pulled off the upset in hostile territory in part, he said, with inspiration from his coach Cub Swanson.

"I put a little more pressure on myself, but it's been my dream to come to London and fight," Silva told the UFC after his win. "Cub fought here against Dustin Poirier and I want to continue this legacy with such a great friend of mine, and just try to carry it on with our team."

Although Silva was a sizable underdog in the fight, he was left short of a life-changing $100,000 post-fight bonus and instead had to settle for a $25,000 finish bonus while a bigger check went to a 9-1 betting favorite, instead.

Silva said he'll fight anyone – but he'll be chasing redemption from the loss to Vallejos until he gets another crack at him.

"We just saw what he did to a lot of good fighters, and he wasn't able to do that to me," Silva said. "I thought it was a very controversial fight. I know a lot of people – at least my biased fans – saw that I had done enough. But I'm going to be chasing him until we fight again, and hopefully he's in the top 10 or top five. But I'm willing to go through anybody."

Check out Silva's post-fight interview in the video below.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: After UFC London, Danny Silva willing to chase Vallejos redemption

If there’s anything that encapsulates the current state of Vancouver’s hockey scene, it’s the city’s performance in their back-to-back Saturday quadruple-headers. Two weeks in a row, on both March 14 and March 21, all of Vancouver and BC’s representatives in the NHL, PWHL, AHL, and WHL took part in their own respective games. 

They did not win a single game during this stretch. 

Yeah. Not a great statline. 

Things weren’t completely negative during these two jam-packed hockey days, however. The March 14 quadruple-header actually started with the Vancouver Goldeneyes impressing and playing well despite dropping their game by a score of 3–2 in overtime. The Goldeneyes more than doubled their opponent, the Ottawa Charge’s, shot totals, lobbing 36 on Gwyneth Philips. This was the second game in which Vancouver played like a team that deserved to win. 

Next up on the dockett were three different 7:00 pm games — the Vancouver Giants against the Victoria Royals, the Vancouver Canucks against the Seattle Kraken, and the Abbotsford Canucks against the Henderson Silver Knights. Unlike the Goldeneyes, none of these three teams were able to push their games to overtime. Both the Giants and the Canucks lost their respective games by a score of 5–2. 

To the Giants’ credit, they managed to keep the game tied up until the third period, with Brett Olson and Braydon Riggall scoring the two goals for Vancouver. They managed to put 31 shots on Royals goaltender Jake Pilon, while Giants netminder Kelton Pyne made 32 stops on 36 shots faced. 

The Canucks, on the other hand, had a much harder time putting together a winning effort on the 14th. Two goals from Kraken forwards Jared McCann and Bobby McMann put Vancouver down 2–1 by the end of the first period. From there, it was all Seattle, with only Evander Kane and Marco Rossi scoring for the Canucks. 

BC’s final game of the day took place at the Rogers Forum, where Abbotsford lost by a score of 4–1 to the Silver Knights. Arshdeep Bains scored the lone goal for the AHL Canucks, while Jiří Patera stopped 19 of 22 shots against. Abbotsfod also welcomed two new faces into their lineup, as Bennett Schimek and Jayden Grubbe played in their first games for the team. 

A week later, Vancouver repeated the same record. Once again, it was the Goldeneyes who kicked things off for Vancouver, dropping their afternoon game against the two-time defending Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost by a score of 3–1. While the Goldeneyes came out with more energy, it was Minnesota who ultimately scored first and didn’t look back from there. Mannon McMahon got the Goldeneyes’ lone goal in the third period. 

The Canucks were up next on the 21st, losing 3–1 to the St. Louis Blues during Saturday’s afternoon matchup. This particular effort wasn’t very inspiring from Vancouver, who put together a total of 15 shots through three periods. While St. Louis didn’t have a particularly consistent game either, the Canucks were evidently much worse. 

At 6:00 pm, Abbotsford took on the San Jose Barracuda, though this was the lone game of the eight that took place away from BC. Chase Stillman got things off to a good start for Abbotsford, though San Jose scored four unanswered to ultimately win their game by a score of 4–1. The third period of this game was filled with a crop of penalties as well, as four players were given game misconducts at the 16-minute mark. 

The Giants were the final team to play tonight, as well as the only team to nab at least a point in their effort, as they dropped their game by a score of 4–3 in overtime against the Kamloops Blazers. Tonight was also the Giants’ last game of the 2025–26 season, during which team awards were handed out to players such as Ryan Lin, who was named Team MVP, the player’s choice award, and the Giants’ leading scorer. 

While Vancouver will not have another quadruple-header for the remainder of the season, both the Canucks and the Goldeneyes will play on the same day one more time — April 14. The Goldeneyes will take on the Boston Fleet, while the Canucks will face the Los Angeles Kings in their final home game of the 2025–26 season. Both games will start at 7:00 pm PT. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

Latest From THN’s Vancouver Canucks Site: 

2 Canucks Prospects Qualify For 2026 NCAA DI Men's Ice Hockey Championship

Canucks Set New Franchise Record For Losses On Home-Ice

Canucks Activate Defenceman Pierre-Olivier Joseph Off Injured Reserve

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

With so many world-class players finding form right now, you would be forgiven for overlooking how well Xander Schauffele is playing ahead of major championship season.

It really felt as though the 2025 season was one to largely forget for Schauffele. An injury early in the year halted all of his momentum. He missed out on making the Tour Championship for the first time in his career.

A win at the Baycurrent Classic was a step in the right direction. However, he missed the cut on his first start of 2026 at the Farmers Insurance Open.

With that, it would be easy to look past Schauffele for the majors when the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm, and Bryson DeChambeau have all won this year.

Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, is not playing badly at all.

But there are just a few signs that suggest that Schauffele is well-placed to win at least one major.

Xander Schauffele is edging closer to getting back to his best in 2026

Schauffele was arguably the PGA Tour‘s most well-rounded player when he won two majors in the 2024 season.

He was inside the top 12 for every single strokes gained category, except around the greens. He was second from tee to green, and 12th for putting.

Admittedly, he is still some way off that level this season. However, he is 15th from tee to green, 21st for approach, and 33rd off the tee.

While he began the week of the Valspar Championship in 53rd on tour for putting, he gained more than two shots on the field on the greens on Sunday at Innisbrook as he set the clubhouse lead early on.

In fact, it is now the fifth tournament in a row in which he has gained strokes on the field off the tee, approaching the green, and putting, according to Data Golf.

The eerie similarity between Xander Schauffele’s recent results and those from the same events in 2024

It is difficult to not get your hopes up about Schauffele when you compare his recent results to how he performed in the weeks leading into The Masters in 2024.

In 2024, Schauffele finished tied for fourth at the Genesis Invitational, tied for 25th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, tied for second at The Players Championship, and tied for fifth at the Valspar Championship.

In 2026, Schauffele finished tied for seventh at the Genesis Invitational, tied for 24th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, tied for third at The Players Championship, and spent the majority of Sunday around the top five at the Valspar.

Schauffele went on to not finish outside the top eight in the four majors in 2024, winning both the PGA Championship and The Open.

Meanwhile, five of his eight top fives in majors have come in The Masters and the US Open, the two he is yet to win.

And even in 2025, when Schauffele was nowhere near his best, he still registered two top 10s and did not finish outside the top 30 in the majors.

It does appear that so many elite players are finding form at exactly the right time. Schauffele has to be considered part of that conversation now, particularly as he already knows what it takes to win the game’s biggest prizes.

Bleacher Reports puts Donovan Mitchell in rarified air with the NBA's all-time greats originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

While Donovan Mitchell's time with the Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers hasn't netted the All-NBA guard a lot of success in the postseason, it's hard to deny that his career has been anything but exceptional. The former 13th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft has been one of the best all-around players in the NBA for nearly a decade, especially on the offensive end. 

Coming into the league as a rookie, Mitchell has scored at least 20 points per season for his career in each and every season so far. He's currently averaging 28.0 points for the 2025-2026 season and has a career average of 25.0 points per game. He's been named to seven All-Star teams, two All-NBA teams, and has been a Top 6 in the Most Valuable Player of the Year voting twice. 

He's been one of the best players in the league since he arrived. Yet,according to Bleacher Report, he's been more than just one of the best players of his generation. 

More: The Cleveland Cavaliers prove just how dangerous they are with fourth-quarter comeback

In a recent write-up, Bleacher Report's writer Andy Bailey named Mitchell as one of the 15 best pure scorers in NBA history. Bailey placed Mitchell at 14th, on a list that includes Kevin Durant, Michael Jordan, Steph Curry, George Garvin, and others. The whole list is a bit shocking, as names like Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, and Luka Doncic are on the list, but guys like Allen Iverson, Dirk Nowitzki, and Carmelo Anthony aren't. Heck, even a universally agreed-upon great scorer like Pete Maravich didn't make the list. 

In fact, the list of 15 contains 10 current NBA players. Such a move makes you think that this may be a list of recency bias. After all, Bailey came up with his own weighted evaluation for the list. The list looks at specific efficiency averages, which seem fine on paper, but those numbers don't hold up in a vacuum. No real weight was given to the extreme change in rules for the NBA's defenses from generation to generation. This makes it hard for a guy like Maravich to make the list, as defenses were allowed to do more to prevent scoring in the 1970s, not to mention the lack of a three-point line during a majority of his career. 

He's not as successful as a guy like Steph Curry because he didn't have the same rules. 

Too many rules have changed from the 1970s to the 2020s for a fair, blind, mathematically driven list to be properly conceived from pure stats. Because the change of defensive rules is essentially ignored, it's impossible to say with any certainty if Mitchell is, in fact, a Top 15 pure scorer all-time. 

He's a true talent regardless, but a Top 15 scorer? It's impossible to say by the metrics we're given. 

Still, Mitchell has been incredible in his career. Making it even more impressive is that his success largely came out of nowhere. No one really expected the 13th overall pick to become one of, if not the best player in his draft class, but here we are, saying he's become just that. The Bleacher Report Top 15 may not carry a lot of weight, but his career is without a doubt impressive regardless.  

More NBA news: 

• LeBron James ties Boston Celtics legend for astonishing NBA record
• Kevin Durant thinks LeBron James has a lot of gas left in the tank
• Eastern Conference wide open for Celtics, Knicks after latest Pistons injury news
• Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks at odds regarding his status for rest of season
• Warriors' Steve Kerr becomes fourth-fastest to 600 wins in NBA history

Olivia Miles bet on herself and TCU is seeing the payoff in March originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

As TCU Horned Frogs women’s basketball prepares for a second round matchup with Washington Huskies women’s basketball, the numbers tell part of the story.

The rest starts with Olivia Miles.

Miles enters the night averaging 19.4 points and 6.6 assists per game, but the real shift in her game is harder to quantify. It shows up in rhythm, in confidence, and in the way TCU plays when everything is connected.

“I think that’s what I was most proud of,” Miles said. “Everyone being bought in and everyone being confident.”

That belief did not just happen. It came from a decision that once drew skepticism across the sport.

She chose not to go to the WNBA.

More: Kelvin Sampson explains why Houston doesn’t change

“To me, no. To the outside world, yes,” Miles said. “To leave what I left on the table seemed stupid…but I knew deep in my heart I needed one more year to be ready.”

That year became something more. It became a reset.

“I found my joy back, my love for the game,” Miles said. “I found a sisterhood and a family that I’ll have forever.”

That joy shows up in how TCU plays together.

“When we are clicking on all cylinders and our chemistry is flowing like it did yesterday, we’re really hard to stop,” she said. “Even if somebody wasn’t having a good shooting night, someone else is there to pick up the slack.”

More: Jamie Dixon reacts to TCU’s season ending loss to Duke

That balance has defined the Horned Frogs during their surge.

It is not just Miles producing. It is the full group, moving with confidence and purpose, something that head coach Mark Campbell pointed to as the goal this time of year.

“In March, you want to be playing your best basketball,” Campbell said. “This group is doing that.”

Across from them is a Washington team led by Sayvia Sellers, who averages 18.0 points per game and anchors a backcourt capable of controlling stretches. Players like Avery Howell add presence on the glass, and the Huskies’ movement forces discipline on the defensive end.

TCU knows the challenge. But the focus has stayed internal.

“I think, ultimately, it doesn’t matter what team you are playing,” teammate Donovyn Hunter said. “If we are focused and locked in…our team is able to put together a game worth of good defense.”

More: Florida’s 7-foot-9 giant Olivier Rioux eyes Olympic glory after national championship

For Miles, the mindset is just as simple.

“We just love hooping together,” she said. “We are excited to be out there and home one last time.”

That emotion carries weight. This is her final game at Schollmaier Arena. A one year stop that turned into something lasting.

“My only goal coming here was to leave it better than I found it,” Miles said. “And I think I have done it.”

The risk, at least publicly, was always about waiting. Financially. Professionally. Timing.

But for Miles, it was never about outside perception.

“I didn’t quite think I was ready enough to be a pro at that moment,” she said. “But now I feel ready.”

Now, that readiness is showing up at the exact moment it matters most.

And if TCU continues to play with the same joy, balance, and confidence she helped restore, Miles’ decision will be remembered for more than just patience.

More college basketball news:

• Why McNeese State’s viral manager is back 
• Aggies’ coach Bucky McMillan knew what he was facing in Houston
• Texas Tech players detail how they answered every Akron push
• From foster care to March Madness

Will Tyler Bilodeau play against UConn? Latest on UCLA star who missed game vs. UCF with injury originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The UCLA Bruins have won an NCAA Tournament game. But the length of their tournament run may depend on the health of one player.

Star forward Tyler Bilodeau did not play in the Bruins' tournament-opener, a win over UCF, which did not prove consequential. Coming into that game, Bilodeau's status was up in the air — but he was eventually ruled out, extending an absence that began in the Big Ten Tournament.

Bilodeau's next chance to return came on Sunday night against No. 2 UConn. He was listed as questionable for the game. 

Here's the latest on Bilodeau's health and if he will be on the floor against the Huskies in round 2. 

MARCH MADNESS HQ:Live NCAA bracket | TV schedule | Latest news and more

Will Tyler Bilodeau play against UConn?

Bilodeau will not play for UCLA against UConn, per Ben Bolch. He participated in the team shootaround but was ultimately ruled not to have progressed enough to play. 

UCLA head coach Mick Cronin said he expected to have Tyler Bilodeau back for Sunday’s game against UConn. It remains to be seen how Bilodeau will respond to participating in the shootaround, but it seems that if UCLA can beat UConn, he could be available in the Sweet Sixteen next weekend.

Tyler Bilodeau injury updates

Bilodeau came into Friday's first-round NCAA Tournament matchup against UCF with a questionable status. However, as the game approached, he was ruled out. The forward, who has been dealing with a knee injury, reportedly experienced some soreness that led to the team holding him out for the contest.

Per 247Sports' Connor Morrissette, there were initial plans for Bilodeau to play vs. UCF, but he was then ruled out. 

Tyler Bilodeau has experienced some soreness and is being held out, per UCLA.

— Ben Bolch (@calpostbbolch) March 20, 2026

Prior to the NCAA Tournament, reports indicated that Bilodeau would be ready for March Madness. Per Jon Rothstein, UCLA head coach Mick Cronin said the team would "100% have Tyler Bilodeau available" and Bilodeau could have played in more Big Ten Tournament games, but the team was being cautious.

Mick Cronin tells me that UCLA will 100% have Tyler Bilodeau available for the Bruins' first NCAA Tournament game next week.

Cronin on Bilodeau: "He could play today, but we are holding him out." https://t.co/ZwdKk2fRR1

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 14, 2026

As it turned out, that wasn't the case. Bilodeau sat as the Bruins claimed a close win over UCF.

Cronin said postgame that Bilodeau had practiced on Thursday, but when he had knee stiffness Friday, the coaching staff decided to keep him sidelined, and they would re-assess where he was at on Saturday.

Mick Cronin said Tyler Bilodeau had a good practice yesterday but woke up with his knee stiff today and coach decided to keep him out. He said "we'll see how he is tomorrow."

— Bruin Report Online (@BruinReport) March 21, 2026

On Sunday, ahead of the UConn matchup, ESPN's Pete Thamel said Bilodeau would be a game-time decision.

Latest on the injury front from @CollegeGameDay, including Silas Demary’s chances to return for UConn tonight. pic.twitter.com/YwLV2doH1q

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 22, 2026

Bilodeau participated in the team shootaround pregame which looked like a good sign. Still, ahead of tip-off he was ruled out for the game.  

Tyler Bilodeau will not play for UCLA after participating in shootaround.

— Ben Bolch (@calpostbbolch) March 23, 2026

SN AWARDS: All-America team | Player of the Year | Coach of the Year

What happened to Tyler Bilodeau?

Earlier in March, Bilodeau sprained his right knee during UCLA's win over Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament. After that game, Cronin said Bilodeau would undergo further testing, but the forward was reportedly "moving around relatively well" in the locker room.

Since then, he has been out, despite some back-and-forth reporting regarding his status entering the NCAA Tournament and whether or not he would play.

He has been seek walking fine and warming up with the team during his absence.

Tyler Bilodeau shooting with his team. pic.twitter.com/QlS8v8gmYO

— Ben Bolch (@calpostbbolch) March 19, 2026

How many games has Tyler Bilodeau missed?

Bilodeau hasn't played since Friday, March 13, when he exited with the knee sprain vs. Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament. 

UCLA has played two games without him, going 1-1. The first game was a 73-66 loss to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament, ending the Bruins' run. However, UCLA then opened the NCAA Tournament with a 75-71 win over UCF despite Bilodeau's absence.

The senior forward's next opportunity to return to the floor will be in the Sweet Sixteen if UCLA is able to get past UConn in the Round of 32 without Bilodeau. 

MORE MARCH MADNESS NEWS:

• SN's 2026 NBA Mock Draft
• 10 best NBA prospects in March Madness
• Ranking the college basketball's loaded freshmen class
• Meet the Cinderella stars who could bust brackets

Tyler Bilodeau season stats

• Games: 31
• MPG: 30.2
• PPG: 17.6
• RPG: 5.6
• APG: 1.1
• BPG: 0.4
• SPG: 0.5
• FG%: 51.8%
• FT%: 87.3%
• 3PT%: 46.4%

Bilodeau has been an effective lead scorer for UCLA all season, his second with the Bruins after transferring from Oregon State in 2024.

Over 31 games, Bilodeau has put up a team-high 17.6 points per game, including a 46.4% mark from 3-point range. He was an All-Big Ten third-team selection.

Will Tyler Bilodeau play in the second round?

Bilodeau's has been ruled out for UCLA's second round game against UConn. 

He was questionable heading into Round 1, but was ruled out closer to game time after previously being considered likely to play against UCF. And this same timeline occurred with the second round. Bilodeau did participate in the shootaround pregame, but was still ruled out. 

HISTORY OF UPSETS BY SEED:
16 vs. 1 | 15 vs. 2 | 14 vs. 3 | 13 vs. 4 | 12 vs. 5

The Buffalo Sabres are currently at the top of the Atlantic Division standings with a 44-20-6 record and 96 points. Mattias Samuelsson has certainly been a notable reason for the Sabres' success this season, as he has been having an excellent campaign.

After a few tough seasons, Samuelsson has put together the best season of his NHL career in 2025-26. The 6-foot-4 blueliner has set new career highs with 12 goals, 27 assists, and 39 points in 67 games. He also has a team-best plus-35 rating so far this season. 

When noting that Samuelsson was the subject of criticism at times, it is great to see him respond by having such a strong 2025-26 season. He has once again cemented himself as a very important part of the Sabres' blueline and has undoubtedly helped Buffalo take a major step forward this season because of it.

It will now be interesting to see how Samuelsson finishes off this season, but it is hard not to be impressed with his strong play. 

The G League's OKC Blue made the most of their two-day stay with a 125-115 win over the Memphis Hustle on Sunday. The road victory improved their record to 12-21 in the regular season.

From the jump, the Blue put up buckets. It didn't take long for them to set the high-paced team. They had a 37-25 lead after the first quarter. OKC duplicated that number in the second frame with 37 points. It entered halftime with a 74-60 lead over the Hustle.

Pretty good spot to be at. Even when you consider how high-speed G League games can get. The Blue stiff-armed the Hustle on the scoreboard out of the break. They led by as many as 21 points in the second half. They put up 28 points in the third frame.

By then, the Blue had a 102-85 lead. The fourth quarter was a pretty skippable watch. They were ahead by double-digit points for the remainder of the game. OKC scored just 23 points, but its cushion made up for the difference.

The Blue shot 59% from the field and went 12-of-26 (46.2%) from 3. They shot 10-of-13 on free throws. They had 33 assists on 50 baskets. Eight Blue players scored double-digit points.

Meanwhile, the Hustle shot 48% from the field and went 16-of-37 (43.2%) from 3. They shot 12-of-17 on free throws. They had 18 assists on 39 baskets. Six Hustle players scored double-digit points.

Here are some notable individual performances from both sides:

• Nikola Topic: 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, 1-of-2 from 3, 3-of-3 on free throws, nine assists, four rebounds, four steals
• Buddy Boeheim: 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, 6-of-11 from 3, four rebounds, two assists
• Payton Sandfort: 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting, 2-of-4 from 3, seven rebounds, four assists
• Zhaire Smith: 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting, 0-of-2 from 3, six rebounds, five assists
• Orlando Robinson: 28 points on 7-of-16 shooting, 2-of-5 from 3, 7-of-9 on free throws, eight rebounds, three assists
• Paul Watson: 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting, 4-of-10 from 3, five rebounds, three assists
• Eric Dixon: 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting, 2-of-4 from 3, 3-of-5 on free throws, two assists
• Colby Jones: 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, 2-of-5 from 3, four rebounds, two assists

The full highlights of the Blue's 10-point win over the Memphis Grizzlies' G League affiliate can be watched below:

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Recap: OKC Blue salvage trip with 125-115 win over Memphis Hustle

America’s favorite pastime is back in full swing, with many of the nation’s top teams taking center stage as winter gives way to spring. Among the highlights during these warmer months is high school baseball, where standout programs from across the country are gearing up to hit the diamond. These talented squads are ready to lace up their cleats, grab their gloves, and swing their bats for another exciting season.

The fifth set of rankings remains unchanged with California’s St. John Bosco Braves as the country’s top team as they are in a tight race for the top spot in the latest set of rankings as undefeated Venice continues to be right on their trail. Which new teams made their way this week into in our fifth Rivals High School Top 25 baseball rankings?

We dive into the best high school baseball programs around the nation and give you our take on which teams stay in the conversation as of Mar. 22.

1. St. John Bosco Braves (Calif.) (7-0)

St. John Bosco (Calif.) has started their 2026 high school baseball season with impressive wins so far over La Serna and Gahr, solidifying their spot as the nation’s No. 1 team for a fourth consecutive week. The Braves (7-0) are loaded with returning talent from the 30-4 team from last season, including on the pitcher’s mound. Returning with the most experience of all the hurlers is senior Gavin Cervantes, who went 8-0 with 44 strikeouts in 2025. Another up and coming arm to watch for is sophomore Brayden Krakowski, who went 5-0 with 31 strikeouts last spring. St. John Bosco swept a 3-game home series against JSerra Catholic last week.

2. Venice Indians (Fla.) (16-0)

The undefeated Venice Indians (16-0) have a case for the top spot in the country as they have moved up another spot as they picked up another impressive win, this time a 6-3 decision over nationally ranked Tampa Jesuit. Venice has shut out two previously undefeated teams in neighboring foe Sarasota and Clearwater Calvary Christian. What has really separated Venice apart from everyone else in the country is the play of their pitching staff as they have only allowed 21 runs through 16 games and scoring 123. This week the Indians look to defend their National High School Invitational title they won a year ago this week against some of the country’s.

3. Corona Panthers (Calif.) (7-0)

Remaining inside of the Top 5 off this week’s rankings are the Corona Panthers as they have rushed out to a strong 7-0 start, though they did not register playing in a game last week. Junior outfielder/first baseman Danny DeLaTorre has impressed via his play at the plate early on this season for Corona, belting two home runs and scoring eight runs. The Panthers swept a 3-game series over King and face off against Santiago this week.

4. Orange Lutheran Lancers (Calif.) (3-1)

Rounding out the latest Top 5 of the Rivals High School Baseball Rankings for the second straight week are the Orange Lutheran Lancers (3-1), which dropped their first game of the season recently to No. 14 ranked Basic (Nev.). The Lancers went 23-7 last season, but with the talent the team possesses at the plate, it’s hard to not have this group in the conversation of the nation’s best. Player to watch for the Lancers on the mound is senior pitcher Gary Morse, who is already committed to the University of Tennessee. Morse led the Orange Lutheran pitching staff in 2025 with a 8-2 record and a 0.94 ERA. The Lancers next week will take on top-ranked St. John Bosco in a full 3-game series.

5. Jesuit Tigers (Fla.) (13-3)

Already off to a 13-3 start to the Florida high school baseball season, the Jesuit Tigers look to be the favorites to win it all in the FHSAA’s Class 4A classification. The Tigers have already shown why they’re one of the country’s best programs once again, with the only losses to IMG Academy, Venice and Tampa Catholic. Leading the way for Jesuit this spring is the bat of infielder/outfielder Christian Sheffield (Florida A&M commitment), the son of former MLB star Gary Sheffield. Junior Griffin Boesen has impressed at the plate for the Tigers, batting .408, hitting five home runs and driving in 18 runs.

Rivals High School Baseball Rankings Nos. 11-25

6. IMG AcademyAscenders (Fla.) (13-2)
7. Grapevine Mustangs (TX) (18-3)
8. The Stony Brook School Bears (NY) (8-0)
9. Calallen Wildcats (TX) (19-2)
10. Bishop Gorman Gaels (Nev.) (7-2)

11. South Walton Seahawks (Fla.) (14-3)
12. Buford Wolves (Ga.) (14-2)
13. Etowah Eagles (Ga.) (16-3)
14. Doral Academy Firebirds (Fla.) (15-2)
15. St. Laurence Vikings (IL) (2-0)

16. North Paulding Wolfpack (Ga.) (15-3)
17. Farragut Admirals (Tenn.) (9-2)
18. Calvary Christian Warriors (Fla.) (15-1)
19. Delbarton Green Wave (NJ) (3-0)
20. Berkeley PrepBuccaneers (Fla.) (15-4)

21. Barbe Buccaneers (La.) (23-1)
22. Gloucester CatholicRams (NJ) (2-0)
23. Waxahachie Indians (TX) (20-1)
24. Temecula Valley Golden Bears (Calif.) (6-2)
25. Marjory Stoneman Douglas Eagles (Fla.) (14-4)

Facing a series finale against the No. 1 UCLA Bruins, Maryland baseball needed to keep the bats quiet if it hoped to cause a surprise.

But UCLA had run through two Maryland pitchers, who threw a combined total of 68 pitches and allowed seven runs, by the middle of the fourth inning.

Maryland ultimately fell 14-4 in the series finale at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Sunday in Los Angeles, California. This marked the Terps’ second series sweep of the season. 

In the bottom of the fourth inning, freshman left-handed pitcher Austin Weiss took the mound for his collegiate debut against the top-ranked team in the country. Weiss was ranked the No. 82 player and No. 8 left-handed pitcher in his class by Perfect Game — he tossed the first scoreless UCLA inning of the game.

Maryland’s lead-off hitter Brayden Martin was walked in the first inning and later claimed his 10th stolen base of the season after the Terps hadn’t attempted to steal a base in the series’ opening two games. Brayden Martin was followed by Ryan Costello and David Mendez, both of whom popped out only a couple feet from the wall.

Meanwhile, the Bruins entered the first inning with their bats on fire.

With runners on first and third, Roman Martin stepped to the plate and blasted the ball to the right field wall for a two-run triple. Payton Brennan grounded out to second base with only one out, sending a runner home and giving UCLA a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

UCLA scored another three runs in the following inning after a walk and two runners being hit by a pitch loaded the bases. Dean West singled to right field to bring in another run, causing Maryland to replace starter Jake Yeager with Logan Hastings.

Although Roch Cholowsky flew out to shallow right field, his out was immediately followed by a two-run single by Mulivai Levu. The Bruins had another three-run inning that ended after Roman Martin grounded into a double play.

The Terps were able to hold the Bruins to only one third-inning run, but were still trailing by seven.

In the top of the fourth, on the first pitch of his second at-bat of the game, redshirt freshman Ryan Costello launched a 401-foot home run over the right field wall. After missing Saturday’s game, Costello proved his worth by scoring Maryland’s first run of the game and recording his 10th home run of the season.

Although Costello’s home run was followed by three other Terps flying out, Weiss dominated the mound, stopping the Bruins from extending their lead any further in the fourth.

Sophomore Jackson Sirois started his first game since March 6 and made sure to make his mark. The sophomore singled to left field in the top of the fifth inning, bringing in another run for Maryland — his fifth RBI of the season. 

Right-handed pitcher Jayson Torres took over for Weiss in the second half of the frame. After allowing two runners on base, Cholowsky singled through left field. The runner on second, Cashel Dugger, attempted to make his way home. Left fielder Jordan Crosland fielded the ball and launched it to catcher Rylen Stockton.

Stockton tagged Dugger’s helmet as he slid into the bag on the slide and was initially called safe. After Maryland challenged the call, Dugger was ruled out, marking a second scoreless inning for UCLA. 

The Bruins notched four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it an 11-2 game after Ryan Bailey took over the mound for Torres.

The Terps scored another run in the next inning after UCLA placed Zach Strickland on the mound. Crosland blasted his sixth home run of the season over the left field wall to make it an 11-3 game.

Redshirt junior James Gladden took over for Bailey in the bottom of the seventh and pitched the remainder of the game. 

Maryland was able to notch another run in the eighth but the Bruins offense found the insurance runs they needed.

UCLA’s third three-run inning in the bottom of the eighth enacted the run-rule as the Terps were down by 10. The rule was also enacted during Game 1 on Friday in the seventh inning when the Bruins defeated Maryland 12-2. 

Three things to know

1. Four-game losing streak. Maryland held a five game winning streak during the end of February into early March. However, the Terps are currently facing a four-game losing streak following the series loss against UCLA and their game last Tuesday against Richmond. Maryland has won one out of its past eight games and will be facing another ranked team — No. 9 Virginia — this Tuesday.

2. Multiple hitters. Maryland recorded nine hits against UCLA on Sunday through eight different hitters. Although the Terps outhit the Bruins yesterday, 13-10, they only trailed by two hits on Sunday. 

3. Six pitchers. On Saturday, the Terps only went through three pitchers to contain the Bruins. Six pitchers were used on Sunday — four only pitched one inning, throwing a combined total of five strikeouts and allowing nine walks.

The 2026 NFL Draft is approaching quickly, and several prospects are boosting their stock. The NFL Combine, Senior Bowl, and Pro Days have given teams extended looks at draft hopefuls.

These events have also raised some concerns. Teams have uncovered medical, character, and other issues through their due diligence.

MORE: NFL, Tisch family learn New York Giants current valuation

While many players still have time to address these concerns, others may not have that flexibility. Here are three prospects to watch as their stock takes a hit and leaves evaluators with questions.

Jordyn Tyson

Medical evaluations have shaken Tyson’s stock slightly. Like many of his peers, he has undeniable, overflowing talent.

However, reports indicate Tyson has dealt with a nagging hamstring injury, and it may be a growing concern as the draft approaches.

MORE: 3x All-Pro WR teases partnership with Kyler Murray, Justin Jefferson on Vikings

Tyson skipped drills at the NFL Combine, likely won’t participate in Pro Day workouts, and now faces injury-related questions. He looks like a first-round pick, but will teams select him in the back half of the first round instead of his original top-10 projection?

Caleb Downs

Like Tyson, Downs carries medical concerns. Teams once viewed him as a unanimous top-five pick, but perceptions have shifted since the NFL Combine.

Reports flagged Downs with an ACL concern during the combine, though evaluators continue to debate its severity.

Still, knee injuries can derail careers. Downs remains an elite talent and a surefire first-round pick, but will this new information cause teams to hesitate early in the first round?

MORE: UTSA college football kicker raises 2026 NFL Draft stock with insane Pro Day

It remains unclear whether he will participate in Pro Day drills after skipping combine workouts.

Caleb Banks

Banks may be the biggest mystery in this draft. His talent level could make him the top defensive lineman in the class.

However, a lingering foot injury clouds his outlook. Banks reportedly injured his foot at the end of the 2024 season, re-injured it during 2025 camp, and broke it again before the combine—clear red flags for teams.

For context, Larry Ogunjobi dealt with a foot injury in 2022 that took two years to fully heal. Banks showed toughness by participating in combine activities despite the injury, but will teams drop him on their boards because of it?

— Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories on The Big Lead —

MARCH MADNESS: March Madness TV schedule, NCAA Tournament games on today

NFL: Giants’ Cam Skattebo apologizes amid CTE comment backlash

NFL DRAFT: New Mel Kiper NFL mock draft shows major impact of free agency

MLB: Dodgers announce Shohei Ohtani’s spring training pitching debut

ENTERTAINMENT: Fans react to Chappel Roan, Jorginho daughter controversy

VIRAL: Pat McAfee mocks NFL stars after awful Fanatics Flag Football Classic display

No. 4 Minnesota beat No. 5 Ole Miss on Sunday after a thrilling comeback, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in more than 20 years. Amaya Battle’s buzzer-beating jumper secured the stunning victory, but it didn’t help that the Rebels were playing with their best player, Cotie McMahon on the bench after she fouled out with four minutes left in the game.

McMahon’s fifth and final foul of the game was on offense, as the senior was called for a charge. It was the second offensive foul for McMahon, who picked up her second foul just three minutes into the game on another call that seemed a little soft.

Postgame, when asked about the fouls and the refereeing, Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin was clear on her opinion, if slightly hesitant of getting on the wrong side of an NCAA fine.

“I got to see how to answer that without getting in any trouble,” McPhee-McCuin said to start off, before continuing: “From my point of view, the last call was incorrect. We watched it 1,500 times. One of the things I do understand is that officials are human and environments create them to officiate in a particular type of way. I don't think that's why we lost the game. I just know that Cotie is leading scorer, newcomer of the year, all of the things, and she plays 20 minutes.

“And it's disappointing. These fans deserved more than that. The game deserves more than that, and I just think a officiating as a whole really needs to be looked at. I really do. I'm not just talking about this game. Something has to be done. It has to be better.”

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2026 MLB season]

McPhee-McCuin added that she hasn’t seen other star players go through the same situation as McMahon in a high stakes game, mentioning Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark as examples. (She also choose not to name current star players, joking that someone will accuse her of “tampering.”)

“I was in the locker room thinking about other star players on teams. I've just never seen them fouled out in a March Madness game. I just haven't. Paige, Caitlin,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I just haven't seen the best players get fouled out.”

For what it’s worth, McPhee-McCuin is correct that neither Clark or Bueckers fouled out of a NCAA tournament game, but both came close: Clark picked up four fouls in the 2023 final against LSU, while Bueckers ended three March Madness games (the 2021 Final Four, 2022 Sweet Sixteen and 2025 Elite Eight) with four fouls.

McMahon, who transferred from Ohio State for her senior year, fouled out two other times this season, and picked up 75 personal fouls over the course of the season. But that physicality is something that McPhee-McCuin has heavily praised: In a press conference on Saturday, McPhee-McCuin said that McMahon’s presence, especially in a physical conference like the SEC, is what will lead to her success in the WNBA.

“The SEC is the baby WNBA and in the WNBA you're playing with grown women, and so there is a component that if you're not physical enough you won't be able to succeed,” McPhee-McCuin said. “That's why Cotie is going to be a first round pick, because she's physically fit for the next level. So I'm fine when people talk about the physicality of the league because that's what it is. We have a bunch of high level athletes that are preparing themselves to play at the next level.”

Pirates' WBC pitcher leaves contract to seek spot with new team originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Pittsburgh Pirates may end up a pitcher short after the roster moves shake out this week.

The guy in question is Joe La Sora, who spent much of the month at the World Baseball Classic with the surprise Team Italy.

The scoop, according to Ari Alexander, is that La Sorsa has an upward mobility clause.

That means, because La Sorsa has been informed he won't be making the Opening Day roster of the Pirates, he's activating that clause..

The upward mobility clause offers him to the 29 other teams in MLB since he isn't going to be on the Pirates' roster.

MORE: Big Papi's son has a special moment for the Red Sox

If another team wants La Sorsa, Pittsburgh has to either give him a roster spot themself or trade him to the team that will.

If nobody else wants him, La Sorsa can be sent down to the minor leagues.

La Sorsa is 27 years old, a southpaw who pitched 2.2 innings with Italy at the WBC.

He has thrown 57 career MLB innings between the Rays, Nationals and Reds, with mediocre numbers, including a 5.21 ERA.

Last season, La Sorsa was mostly at Triple-A and had a 2.59 ERA.

It's not yet clear which, if any, team might go after La Sorsa in this scenario.

But it's a piece of his contract with the Pirates that could allow him to leave Pittsburgh if someone else wants him.

It could work out quite nicely for La Sorsa, but it could also mean that the Pirates lose a lefty before the season starts.

More MLB news:

• The contract reason Pirates are keeping Konnor Griffin in the minor leagues
• Juan Soto might lead MLB in a brand new stat
• Chase DeLauter's time has arrived for the Cleveland Guardians
• The Mariners' Colt Emerson plan is taking shape
• Do the Red Sox have a Garrett Crochet problem?
• Braves make big roster decision with 20-year old pitching phenom

Calm Sea gives everyday users clear financial planning and retirement tools. You can model accumulation and retirement phases, project cashflows, and test scenarios for inflation, interest, growth, expenses, and contributions. With a simple visual and hands-on approach, you can use charts to see and drill down into assets, zoom out for the big picture, and spot opportunities. The quick onboarding lets you start projecting investment returns and goals, set drawdown strategies, and see how small changes today shape long-term outcomes.

View startup

Polymarket Trends tracks the biggest and most influential traders on Polymarket in real time. The Whale Tracker ranks wallets by an Influence Score that blends capital, profitability, consistency, activity, and longevity, refreshing every five minutes from the Polymarket CLOB API. Explore leaderboards, recent large trades, and wallet profiles with volumes, win rates, and market impact to follow smart money and gauge market sentiment.

View startup

Read full article: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/us-passengers-experience-travel-disruptions-in-texas-as-airports-of-dallas-and-houston-face-over-a-dozen-flight-cancellations-and-hundreds-of-delays-by-psa-airlines-southwest-spirit-and-several-other/

Original Source: Travel And Tour World
Unauthorized copying or republishing is prohibited.

Read full article: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/travel-turmoil-at-john-f-kennedy-international-airport-as-delta-american-airlines-jetblue-and-other-carriers-face-14-cancellations-and-hundreds-of-delays-impacting-flights-to-and-from-the-united-s/

Original Source: Travel And Tour World
Unauthorized copying or republishing is prohibited.

Read full article: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/us-travelers-safety-advisory-sparks-global-alert-as-tourists-urged-to-stay-vigilant-in-crowded-destinations-and-high-risk-travel-zones-worldwide/

Original Source: Travel And Tour World
Unauthorized copying or republishing is prohibited.

Read full article: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/dubais-hospitality-boom-luxury-rooms-lead-growth-as-hotel-inventory-hits-158700/

Original Source: Travel And Tour World
Unauthorized copying or republishing is prohibited.

Read full article: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/hundreds-of-passengers-stranded-in-newark-new-jersey-usa-as-newark-liberty-international-airport-delays-168-and-cancels-10-flights-disrupting-airlines-like-united-airlines-delta-american-airlines/

Original Source: Travel And Tour World
Unauthorized copying or republishing is prohibited.

Read full article: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/new-wine-and-books-by-the-sea-algarve-resort-combines-luxury-culture-and-gastronomy-for-an-unforgettable-stay/

Original Source: Travel And Tour World
Unauthorized copying or republishing is prohibited.

Read full article: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/latest-dominica-travel-news-red-rocks-on-the-north-coast-now-drawing-adventurers-to-experience-raw-beauty-and-stunning-natural-landscapes-in-2026/

Original Source: Travel And Tour World
Unauthorized copying or republishing is prohibited.

Read full article: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/gulf-air-overcomes-bahrain-airspace-closure-with-new-flights-to-paris-and-manila/

Original Source: Travel And Tour World
Unauthorized copying or republishing is prohibited.

Read full article: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/butter-tart-festival-2026-puts-canada-on-the-culinary-tourism-map-with-midlands-sweetest-celebration/

Original Source: Travel And Tour World
Unauthorized copying or republishing is prohibited.

Read full article: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/usa-travel-update-2026-flight-cancellations-delays-and-airport-chaos-disrupt-spring-travel-plans-for-thousands-across-major-us-hubs/

Original Source: Travel And Tour World
Unauthorized copying or republishing is prohibited.

Google is testing AI headline rewrites in Search using similar language to the earlier Discover test that became a feature.

The post Google Tested AI Headlines In Discover. Now It’s Testing Them In Search appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

Back in November 2025, Google introduced the ability to share files with Apple devices via Quick Share on the Pixel 10 series. Four months later, the newly announced Galaxy S26 lineup now supports the feature as well. At the time, Google had confirmed that AirDrop and Quick Share interoperability would roll out to older Pixel devices and other Android phones. The feature arrived on the Pixel 9 series last month, and is now expanding to the Galaxy S26 lineup. In a press release, Samsung confirmed that AirDrop support via Quick Share is available on the Galaxy S26, Galaxy...

Cristiano Ronaldo‘s long-awaited return to North America had been one of the most anticipated storylines surrounding Portugal‘s March tour as soon as the friendlies against Mexico and the USMNT were announced ahead of the 2026 World Cup. With the veteran striker ultimately left off coach Roberto Martínez’s squad list due to injury, star teammate Bruno Fernandes has expressed his regret over the absence.

Last Friday, Martínez released his Portugal squad for the March international window and opted to leave Ronaldo out, citing the hamstring injury the Al Nassr forward is still recovering from. The news disappointed a significant number of fans who had been eagerly anticipating the chance to see the Portuguese icon in action, particularly in Mexico.

Speaking to TNT Sports Mexico after Manchester United’s game against Bournemouth, Fernandes was asked about the upcoming trip and expressed genuine enthusiasm for the experience at the Estadio Azteca: “We are very excited to play in such a legendary stadium. For us, it’s going to be a great trip to also get to know the country, the climate, and where we might eventually play later on in the World Cup.“

Portugal is scheduled to play two World Cup group stage matches at NRG Stadium in Houston and one at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, meaning their only potential appearance in Mexico would come later in the tournament. “At first, we aren’t going to play there—we’ll see later on—but that’s fine. It is also important to play against a team that is growing and has very good players,” Fernandes added.

The United captain then reflected on the significance of Ronaldo’s absence and what it means for those hoping to see him in person: “For us, I obviously know that the people wanted to see Cristiano because he is the main figure of our national team, and of football as well. I feel very sorry that they won’t be able to see him up close, but it will still be a very good match between two great national teams.“

Reports have already emerged suggesting that Ronaldo’s absence from the Mexico friendly could have a tangible financial impact on Portugal FA’s earnings from the tour. While the game remains a valuable test for both the Seleção and El Tri, the absence of the Al Nassr star from the lineup will undoubtedly factor into the decisions of many fans weighing whether to attend.

Who will be Portugal’s captain?

Over the past 15 years, Cristiano Ronaldo has worn the armband virtually every time he has taken the field for Portugal, leaving little opportunity for anyone else to lead the side. That does not mean, however, that Martínez is short of options in his absence.

In the last two years, Ronaldo has missed just five of Portugal’s 26 matches, either through rest or, most recently, suspension. During those absences, the captaincy has rotated among several players, passing through Pepe, now retired, Rúben Dias, João Cancelo and most recently Bernardo Silva, who has worn the armband on two occasions, making him the only player to do so more than once aside from Ronaldo during that period.

Notably, Bruno Fernandes, despite being club captain at Manchester United, has yet to captain the national side. With both Bernardo Silva and Rúben Dias absent from the squad for the upcoming friendlies, Fernandes could finally get his opportunity to lead Portugal out for the first time.

Pep Guardiola has long been regarded as one of the finest coaches of the modern era, not only for the revolutionary tactics he has deployed across multiple countries, but for the remarkable haul of silverware he has accumulated along the way. With Manchester City‘s Carabao Cup victory over Arsenal, Guardiola now sits second on the all-time list of most decorated managers with 40 trophies.

Manchester City headed into Sunday’s final having been knocked out of the Champions League Round of 16 by Real Madrid, in need of a trophy to salvage something from the campaign. Guardiola delivered, with a disciplined and well-organized City side neutralizing an Arsenal team that struggled throughout to build from the back and create meaningful chances.

Nico O’Riley proved to be the match-winner in the second half, scoring a brace in the 60th and 64th minutes to clinch the 2025-26 Carabao Cup. The victory over his former pupil Mikel Arteta extended Guardiola’s personal trophy count to 40, ending what had been a barren previous campaign without silverware.

“Nobody – even myself – would (bet) £1 today for a victory. Arsenal were on an incredible run and we could not win against Nottingham Forest at home or West Ham away. We lost 5-1 aggregate against Real Madrid despite the fact we were 65 minutes 10 against 11. So few people, really few people, but the players proved it again – the older players and especially the new ones,” he admitted in the post-match press conference.

Pep Guardiola’s trophy cabinet

Guardiola began his managerial career with Barcelona B before being promoted to the first team in 2008, launching a career defined by sustained success, first at the Camp Nou, then at Bayern Munich, and now at Manchester City. His full trophy breakdown is as follows:

Guardiola’s 14 trophies at Barcelona (2008-2012)

• 3 La Liga titles (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11)
• 2 Copa del Rey (2008-09, 2011-12)
• 3 Spanish Super Cups (2009, 2010, 2011)
• 2 Champions League titles (2008-09, 2010-11)
• 2 UEFA Super Cups (2009, 2011)
• 2 Club World Cups (2009, 2011)

Guardiola’s 7 trophies at Bayern Munich (2013-2016)

• 3 Bundesliga titles (2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16)
• 2 German Cups (DFB-Pokal) (2013-14, 2015-16)
• 1 UEFA Super Cup (2013)
• 1 Club World Cup (2013)

Guardiola’s 19 trophies at Manchester City (2016-2026)

• 6 Premier League titles (2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24)
• 5 League Cups (Carabao Cup) (2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2025-26)
• 3 Community Shields (2018, 2019, 2024)
• 2 FA Cups (2019, 2023)
• 1 Champions League title (2022-23)
• 1 UEFA Super Cup (2023)
• 1 Club World Cup (2023)

Who is the most decorated coach in soccer history?

Guardiola’s standing at each of his three clubs is a testament to his consistent excellence, holding the record as the most decorated manager in the histories of both Barcelona and Manchester City, while his three years at Bayern still placed him second on the club’s all-time list behind Ottmar Hitzfeld (11). But he still has ground to make up before reaching the summit of the overall rankings.

That distinction belongs to Sir Alex Ferguson, whose 39-year managerial career spanning from 1974 to 2013 produced a staggering 49 trophies. Ferguson claimed 11 during his time in Scotland with St. Mirren and Aberdeen before moving to Manchester United, where he spent 27 years and added 38 more titles across domestic and European competition.

has hailed the “explosive hand speed and power” of Luis Reynaldo Nunez, a Dominican featherweight who he sees becoming a world champion. The 26-year-old returned to action earlier this month, engineering a first-round finish after claiming a more significant points victory over Hector Andres Sosa in December. Despite the limited nature of his opponent, Jhan […]

The post Roberto Duran backs ‘explosive’ rising star to become world champion appeared first on Boxing News.

and ’s rivalry remains unsettled after years of back and forth. In May, Benavidez seeks a legacy-defining win up at cruiserweight against , and now Canelo’s trainer has revealed his prediction for the bout. Benavidez was in hot pursuit of Canelo for a number of years, possessing the WBC Interim super-middleweight title but still unable […]

The post Canelo trainer Eddy Reynoso delivers David Benavidez vs Gilberto Ramirez verdict appeared first on Boxing News.

Bu gün futbol üzrə İspaniya çempionatında (La Liqa) 2025/2026-cı illər mövsümünün 29-cu turunun növbəti oyunları keçirilib.

Arena.az xəbər verir ki, sonuncu oyun günündə 4 qarşılaşma baş tutub.

Yeddi qolun qeydə alındığı “Selta” – “Alaves” matçında qonaqlar çətin qələbəyə seviniblər. Lider “Barselona” doğma medyanda “Rayo Valyekano”ya, “Atletik” “Betis”ə qalib gəlib. “Real” isə Madrid derbisində “Atletiko”nu üstələyib.

Beləliklə, cari mövsümün geridə qalmış 29 turundan sonra 73 xal toplamış “Barselona” vahid liderdir. “Real” 69 xalla ikinci, “Vilyarreal” 58 xalla üçüncü pillədə qərarlaşıb. “Atletik” 57, “Betis” 44, “Selta” 41 xal toplayıblar.

İspaniya, La Liqa
29-cu tur
20 mart

Vilyarreal – Real Sosyedad 3:1
Qollar: Moreno, 7. Mikautadze, 15. Pepe, 23 – Suçiç, 47.

21 mart

Elçe – Malyorka 2:1
Qollar: Mir, 62. Tete, 71 – Torre, 58.

Espanyol – Xetafe 1:2
Qollar: Fernandes, 68 – Duarte, 45+3. Arambarri, 45+7.

Levante – Real Ovyedo 4:2
Qollar: Espi, 4; 25. Losada, 52. Romero, 90+3 – Kaira, 44. Vinas, 45+3-pen.

Osasuna – Jirona 1:0
Qol: Budimir, 70.

Sevilya – Valensiya 0:2
Qollar: Duro, 38. Ramazani, 45+5.

22 mart

Barselona – Rayo Valyekano 1:0
Qol: Arauxo, 24.

Selta – Alaves 3:4
Qollar: Yutqla, 19; 37. H.Alvares, 27 – T.Martines, 45+3; 74. A.Peres, 50. Rebbax, 78.

Atletik – Betis 2:1
Qollar: Vivian, 25. Sanset, 45 – Fornals, 75.

Real – Atletiko 3:2
Qollar: Vinisius, 52-pen; 72. Valverde, 55 – Lukman, 33. Molina, 66.

The platform’s new tool within the image gallery will allow users to generate moving displays that show up as videos.

Videos that include a person talking or that feature a highly visible person in the first three seconds have better retention, according to new data from Emplifi.

The new system could replace thumbnails and provide viewers with more context before they click on recommended clips.

A federal jury in California has ordered the X owner to pay as much as $2.6 billion after ruling that he intentionally manipulated the platform’s share price.

A joint statement from Google, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok asked lawmakers to create a better framework or extend the current one.

İspaniya La Liqasında XXIX turun oyunları keçirilir.

Futbolpress.az xəbər verir ki, turun mərkəzi görüşü Madriddə baş tutub.

“Real” burda əzəli rəqibi “Atletiko”nu qəbul edib. 5 qolun vurulduğu matç meydan sahiblərinin qələbəsiylə başa çatıb.

“Real”ın qollarını Vinisius Junior (2) və Federiko Valverde vurub. “Atletiko”da isə Ademola Lukman və Nahuel Molina fərqlənib.

“Real” 29 turdan sonra 69 xalla ikinci sıradadır. “Atletiko” isə 57 xalla 4-cüdür.

İngiltərə Liqa Kubokunun qalibi məlum olub.

Futbolpress.az xəbər verir ki, həlledici görüşdə “Mançester Siti” və “Arsenal” üz-üzə gəlib. Görüş “şəhərlilər”in qələbəsiylə başa çatıb – 2:0.

Qolları Niko Orayli vurub.

“Mançester Siti” tarixində 9-cu dəfə Liqa Kubokunu qazanıb.

Inter’s 1-1 draw against Fiorentina leaves Milan six points behind the Nerazzurri with eight games to play, but it’s all left to play for in Serie A, from the race for a Champions League spot to the fight for survival.

Serie A Round 30 came to a close on Sunday night with Inter’s 1-1 draw against Fiorentina.

Milan and Napoli had beaten Torino and Cagliari earlier this weekend, so both sides have earned two points over the table leaders.

Inter are now winless in their last three league matches, and their advantage over second-placed Milan has been reduced to six points, while Napoli sit third, seven points below the Nerazzurri.

Como sit fourth in the standings following a commanding 5-0 win over Pisa. Juventus and Roma are level on 54 points, three below Cesc Fabregas’ side.

The race for survival also remains wide open with Lecce and Cremonese level on 27 points, Fiorentina sitting 16th with 29, and Cagliari in 15th with 30.

Updated Serie A table after Round 30

Francesco Pio Esposito has ‘regrets’ despite scoring in Inter’s 1-1 draw with Fiorentina and sends a message to fans ahead of Italy’s World Cup play-off.

• Read Football Italia Ad-Free and get access to Exclusive News – Free Trial – Click Here

It was a chaotic and thrilling encounter at the Stadio Artemio Franchi this evening, getting off to the most remarkable start when Esposito scored within 40 seconds with a free header on Nicolò Barella’s cross.

Both teams had goals disallowed for offside before Cher Ndour was ready to turn in the rebound from a Yann Sommer save on Albert Gudmundsson.

Pio Esposito flourishing for Inter

“I do leave here with regrets, especially over the last opportunity,” Esposito told DAZN Italia, referring to the stoppage-time David De Gea save on his turn.

“De Gea did well to anticipate my movement, perhaps I could’ve done more, but that’s just how it went.”

There aren’t many centre-forwards with Esposito’s characteristics who are Italian, especially now Atalanta’s Gianluca Scamacca is injured.

“I think that getting into the box and getting my head to the ball is my main strength, so I am always happy when the team provides me with great crosses, like the one from Barella.”

This result means Milan are now within six points of leaders Inter, while Napoli are only seven points behind the Nerazzurri with eight rounds to go.

Meanwhile, Fiorentina are in 16^th place, but only two points clear of both Lecce and Cremonese in the drop zone.

Esposito is now going to make the very short trip, circa 2km from the Stadio Artemio Franchi, to the Coverciano training camp to join up with Gennaro Gattuso’s Italy squad.

Does he have a message for the fans ahead of the decisive 2026 World Cup play-off against Northern Ireland?

“I urge everyone to put club loyalty aside and unite for the good of Italy. The Nazionale play on Thursday, and that is the most important thing.”

If Italy win that game, they will go on to face either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina in the play-off final.

Aleksandar Kolarov insists criticism of Inter’s 1-1 draw with Fiorentina is unwarranted. ‘We are not in our best period, but we are six points clear, we must’ve done something good.’

• Read Football Italia Ad-Free and get access to Exclusive News – Free Trial – Click Here

The Nerazzurri had got off to the perfect start at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, as Francesco Pio Esposito opened the scoring within 40 seconds.

However, Cher Ndour was ready to tap in the rebound from Yann Sommer’s save on Albert Gudmundsson, giving Fiorentina a 1-1 result.

Kolarov stands up for stuttering Inter

Cristian Chivu was forced to watch from the stands due to a touchline ban, so his assistant manager Kolarov stood in on the bench and in the media room.

“We knew three points were fundamental, but Fiorentina deserve credit too for their performance,” the Inter assistant told DAZN Italia.

“It wasn’t our best game and we are not in our best period of the season, but we are still six points clear at the top of the table, so it is all in our hands.”

This is becoming a real issue, as Inter have fumbled 12 Serie A points from leading situations this season, more than any other club.

“We are lacking some determination and perhaps sharpness too, as fatigue is accumulated over the many games. It is not our best spell of the season, we are used to seeing Inter dominate matches, but we are still six points clear and it is up to us to kill off the title race,” added Kolarov.

“I want to point out that when it comes to Inter, people act as if we should take everything for granted. You can draw away from home against a strong Fiorentina side, they have been on good form recently, so I see a point here as relatively positive.

“If we are six points clear, it must mean we have done some good things over the course of the season. I understand criticism, but Inter are still the leaders.”

Inter are now without a win in four competitive games, scraping only two points from their last three Serie A matches.

It means Milan have closed the gap on the leaders to just six points, while Napoli are only seven behind, making it a potential three-horse race going into the last eight rounds.

After the break for international duty, Inter will be up against Roma and Como, two huge fixtures, but Milan going head-to-head with Napoli in Week 31 could also benefit them.

It is perhaps no coincidence that the difficulties started when Lautaro Martinez suffered his injury, so are the strikers doing the same job that their captain did?

“The forwards are fundamental for our style of play, we need them to hold up the ball, but I don’t just want to talk about the strikers. We also need better quality building out from the back, and to give the forwards the right service.”

The Italy camp is only 2km from the Stadio Franchi, so Inter and Fiorentina’s Azzurri players will go straight from here to join up with the Nazionale ahead of the World Cup play-offs.

“I think the players are on their way now, they are all healthy apart from Bastoni, but everyone else is at the disposal of coach Gattuso. I wish them all the best,” concluded Kolarov.

Paolo Vanoli thanked his ‘exceptional’ Fiorentina side after holding leaders Inter to a 1-1 draw. ‘Motivation and desire made the difference’ after a stressful week.

• Read Football Italia Ad-Free and get access to Exclusive News – Free Trial – Click Here

This has been a remarkable week for the Viola, who beat Cremonese 4-1 on Monday to break clear of the relegation zone, then won 2-1 in Poland against Rakow on Thursday to reach the Conference League quarter-finals.

They had it all to do here tonight, going behind within 40 seconds to a Francesco Pio Esposito free header, but Cher Ndour was ready to meet the rebound from Yann Sommer’s save on Albert Gudmundsson to hold leaders Inter 1-1.

Vanoli proud of Fiorentina fightback

“I congratulated my lads, because it was the fifth game in 14 days, above all the third in a week. They were exceptional, so was my whole staff, because the fact we ended the game in crescendo shows how well we’re working,” Vanoli told DAZN Italia.

“Conceding the goal that early destabilised us, but we got back on track. We often struggled in the fifth game in a row, but this time the motivation and desire made the difference.”

This result means that Fiorentina are now in 16^th place, but only two points clear of both Lecce and Cremonese, so the battle to avoid joining doomed Verona and Pisa could go down to the wire.

“I’ve always said this team has to play football in order to save itself,” continued Vanoli.

“Changing objective to fighting relegation is tough to handle, especially in such a demanding environment as Florence. We’ve built up over time, now we have another very important game coming up against Verona.

“We are improving in our shape, I feel we can do better down the left flank with Gudmundsson, but where we have really done well now is to get shots and crosses from the edge of the area. I felt today where we really impressed was out of possession, not allowing those passes to reach the strikers.”

Fiorentina also have a Conference League quarter-final to prepare for against Crystal Palace, so it is going to be a busy end to the season, not to mention how many players are going off on international duty now.

“I wished Kean all the best, as he will represent Italy in these two very important matches. After 60 minutes on Thursday, he played almost the full 90 today, so his form is improving. I really liked him chasing the ball today, he put in the effort.”

Nicolò Fagioli and Francesco Pio Esposito are the highest-rated players in Fiorentina’s 1-1 draw against Inter at the Stadio Franchi.

Fiorentina 1-1 Inter – player ratings

Fiorentina: De Gea 6.5; Dodo 6.5, Pongracic 6, Ranieri 5, Gosens 5.5; Fagioli 7 (90′ Fabbian N/A); Parisi 6 (68′ Harrison 6), Brescianini 6, Ndour 6.5, Gudmundsson 6 (90′ Comuzzo N/A); Kean 5 (85′ Piccoli N/A). Coach: Vanoli 6.5.

Best Fiorentina player: Fagioli 7 – He always had clear ideas with the ball at his feet. His passing accuracy (per Sofascore) was above 90%. Not all his teammates were as quick or sharp, but every time Fagioli had the ball, the Tuscans felt in a safe place. 

Lowest Fiorentina ratings: Kean and Ranieri 5 –  Kean is supposed to be the added value in attack for Fiorentina, yet he even struggled to find the right position on the field tonight. He spent most of the second half wide on the left flank and missed the best chance for the Viola in the first half. Ranieri was caught out by Pio Esposito early on, with Inter’s most dangerous chances consistently coming down his flank.

Fiorentina coach: Vanoli 6.5 – The start was shocking, with a goal conceded after less than one minute, and Inter could even have scored more. However, the Tuscans reacted and had a few chances to score, especially with Kean, before the break. Solid performance in the second half and a deserved draw scored by Ndour.

Inter: Sommer 5.5; Bisseck 6.5, Akanji 6, Carlos Augusto 5.5 (46′ Acerbi 5.5); Dumfries 6 (85′ Luis Henrique N/A), Barella 6 (83′ Sucic), Calhanoglu 6 (68′ Frattesi 5.5), Zielinski 6, Dimarco 5.5; Thuram 5 (68′ Bonny 5.5), Esposito 7. Coach: Kolarov 5.5 (Chivu banned).

Best Inter player: Pio Esposito 7 – The 20-year-old made an immediate impact, opening the scoring inside the first minute and delivering far more throughout the match. He used his strength effectively to hold the ball and showed sharp awareness in his touches, helping drive the Nerazzurri’s attacks. Positive signs for the Italy national team as well. Based on his and Kean’s performances tonight, there’s no doubt about who should start for Italy in the play-off.

Lowest Inter rating: Thuram 5 – The Frenchman has now gone eight consecutive games across all competitions without scoring a goal. The difference with Pio Esposito was evident tonight. The Italian moved all over the final third; Thuram was quite static and never really dangerous. Another disappointing night.

Inter coach: Kolarov (Chivu banned) 5.5 – Another draw and another sloppy performance, aside from the opening 20 minutes. The Nerazzurri are not sharp enough to be consistent throughout the game, and tonight they lost control of the midfield when Calhanoglu was inevitably replaced (the Turkish star was returning from an injury). Now Milan are once again six points below the Nerazzurri.

For the second year in a row, Wisconsin has defeated Ohio State to with the NCAA women’s hockey championship. After an overtime win over No. 3 seed Penn State in the semifinals, the No. 2-seeded Badgers bested the No. 1 Buckeyes with a third-period game winner from senior forward Claire Enright.

It didn’t take long for Wisconsin to pull ahead: Just over a minute into the game, Kelly Gorbatenko got a deflection off a shot from Adéla Šapovalivová. Laney Potter then scored six minutes later to bring the Badgers to an early 2-0 lead.

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2026 MLB season]

But in the third period, Ohio State came alive, scoring two goals within two minutes to tie things up. Kassidy Carmichael struck first for the Buckeyes with a tip, before Jocelyn Amos continued the comeback with a goal off the face-off minutes later.

The Badgers didn’t give in, though: With just over six minutes left in regulation, Enright slid the puck past Ohio State goalie Hailey MacLeod to hit the game-winner and secure the championship.

Wisconsin’s win is not entirely surprising given their highly talented roster. Four members of the Badgers squad traveled to Milan as part of Team USA’s gold medal-winning Olympic roster: defenders Caroline Harvey and Laila Edwards, forward Kirsten Simms and goaltender Ava McNaughton. Harvey and Edwards both played incredibly well at the games, scoring two goals each and pitching in seven and six assists, respectively. (Both players are seniors, and are expected to be early picks in the PWHL draft this summer.)

Sunday was just the latest high-stakes meeting between the two women’s hockey powerhouses. Wisconsin and Ohio State have faced off in the Frozen Four final for the past four straight years; the Buckeyes took home the trophy in 2024, but conceded to the Badgers in the other three years.

The Mets lost their final spring training game 4-3, holding the lead from the fourth inning until the Marlins scored two runs in the ninth to win the game.

• David Peterson threw 76 pitches over five innings, giving up one run on five hits and a walk, while striking out four.
• Luke Weaver got just one out, giving up a run without giving up a hit, but instead walking three batters.
• Zach Peek and Ben Simon both had scoreless outings, going 0.2 innings and 1.0 inning respectively. SImon also struck out two batters and walked one.
• Parker Carlson picked up the blown save and the loss, giving up the tying and go-ahead run in the ninth, but overall he went 1.2 innings and struck out three.
• Bo Bichette went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk, driving in a run and scoring a run as well.
• Brett Baty went 1-for-3 with an RBI, and Jorge Polanco collected an RBI of his own on a sacrifice fly.
• Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto each collected a hit as well, and both came around to score.

The Mets don’t play again until Thursday, when they’re back in Citi Field and taking on Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates on Opening Day. It’s a 1:15 PM ET start, and will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock, so you’ll have to wait a little longer to hear Gary, Keith, and Ron’s dulcet tones.

Real Madrid secured an important 3-2 victory over Atletico Madrid on Sunday, as they kept themselves in the La Liga title race. They had to do it the hard way, as they came from behind to win, while they also had Fede Valverde sent off in the latter stages at the Bernabeu.

Valverde was shown a straight red card for a foul on Alex Baena, whom he has history with. As per Diario AS, Real Madrid head coach Alvaro Arbeloa disagreed with the decision, although he did credit referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero for how he handled the situation.

“We showed character and mental strength. We had to suffer with one less player. I have a different view of the red card, but I thank José Luis (Munuera Montero) for coming to explain to me why he sent him off. We were able to take the three points, which is what we wanted.

“He told me that it was excessive force and I don’t consider it as such. There is no intent to hurt or injure the opponent. It’s my view, different from his. But he came to explain it and I appreciate it. Sometimes it’s appreciated, even if it doesn’t change anything. The red card made everything more difficult and we had to suffer a lot. Every victory is a turning point. Now comes a fight for the league. Objective accomplished.”

Arbeloa heaps praise on Vinicius Junior

Arbeloa was delighted with Real Madrid matchwinner Vinicius Junior, who was the standout performer at the Bernabeu.

“He had another great game. It was another demonstration of talent, of courage, of not being afraid, of failing and trying again. As I always say, it’s tremendous luck to have him. For his involvement, his talent, his desire to pull the team. I don’t know if it’s the best moment of his career, but he won’t be far off.”

Arbeloa explains Carvajal inclusion

Arbeloa was asked to explain his decision to start Dani Carvajal at right-back over Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has been impressive in recent matches.

“Every game he brought out the best eleven and I think Carvajal had very good minutes, he was very much on top of Lookman. Happy with him and with how Trent has come out. Happy to have so many variants. And that everyone contributes as they have done today.”

Arbeloa explain next steps with Bellingham

Jude Bellingham came off the bench against Atleti to make his first appearance in almost two months. Arbeloa spoke on how he intends to re-integrate the Englishman back into the line-up over the coming weeks.

“We will see in the next matches. He arrives after a long time out and I would love for that progression, despite what is coming, to be little by little, like Mbappé. I’ll have to find his place, surround him with players with whom I have a good feeling. Bellingham’s problem is that he’s very good at doing a lot of things. When you’re so good at so many things you have to choose.”

Today the Colorado Rockies wrapped up their spring training games by defeating The Athletics 6-5. See game highlights here.

First, here are manager Warren Schaeffer’s postgame thoughts:

Starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen discussed his day:

And, finally, Edouard Julien discussed being named to the Rockies Opening Day roster:

The Rockies finish spring training games with a 14-14 record. For the next two days, they will welcome the Detroit Tigers to Salt River Fields.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

A Utah teen recently found herself at the center of a historic moment for U.S. girls and women’s hockey.

For the first time in history, USA Hockey saw 100,000 girls register to play hockey in a season, and the honor of being No. 100,000 belongs to 13-year-old Joanna Gilligan of Millcreek, Utah.

On March 6, USA Hockey’s vice president of girls hockey, Kristen Sagaert, celebrated Gilligan — who will play in the Utah Mammoth’s new all-girls league — at the Utah Mammoth Ice Center with a special locker room tour and a visit from a hockey legend.

“Honestly, it was crazy. I had no idea that I would ever get the chance to do something like this, to be the 100,000th girl to register for USA Hockey,” she told the Deseret News.

Gilligan was inspired by her father, Brandon Gilligan, who has been playing hockey since he was 12, to try the sport. She recently finished her first season as one of three girls on a boys team at Salt Lake City Sports Complex.

“When she said, ‘I want to play hockey,’ I was all for it. I have three kids, and she’s the only one that showed any interest so far,” Brandon Gilligan said.

Now, hockey is something he can share with his daughter. Between the father-daughter duo’s games and practices, they’re “at the rink more days than we’re not at the rink it seems like lately,” Brandon Gilligan said.

When Joanna Gilligan, her three friends and family showed up to the Utah Mammoth Ice Center for their locker room tour, they were surprised by Hilary Knight, who just captained the U.S. women’s hockey team to gold at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.

Knight brought her medal and signed a USA Hockey jersey for Gilligan.

“It was amazing. She was so kind,” Gilligan said. “She’s such an inspiration for all girls hockey (players), being a gold medalist in the Olympics, but it was crazy being able to actually meet her in person.”

Knight plays professionally for the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Seattle Torrent but trains in Salt Lake City in the summer. Knight has been involved in previous Mammoth clinics in Utah.

Sagaert said meetings like the one between Knight and Joanna Gilligan make hockey “a more realistic and attainable goal for little girls around the country.”

“Our Olympians are our best advocates of the game,” Sagaert said. “They live it. Those gold medals are earned by a lot of time and effort, but they also are the best spokespeople. And I love seeing our younger athletes be inspired when they get to meet them in person.”

Growing girls hockey in Utah and across the U.S.

If Sagaert could describe the state of girls and women’s hockey in the U.S. in only one word, it would be “empowering,” she said.

“Because the future of our game is already playing and I’m really excited to see what the future does next.”

Joanna Gilligan is part of that future and an example of the growth of girls and women’s hockey in Utah and across the U.S.

Utah has the highest year-over-year growth in the United States for girls and women playing hockey with 30%, which accounts for 6.2% of USA Hockey’s total female growth, Sagaert told the Deseret News.

“It’s a testament to the infrastructure within Utah, the addition of the Utah Mammoth in town, the work that the volunteers from USA Hockey in that area are putting in, but also I know that the Utah Mammoth has done a lot to encourage growth and access in the community,” she said.

Kristen Bowness, the Mammoth’s youth program director, wants the program to emulate Junior Jazz and its 90,000 kids.

“Right now our mission is basically to introduce as many people as possible to the game while still supporting people who are already playing,” she said.

Bowness is attempting to do that through the Mammoth’s street hockey initiative with Hockey 101s, clinics, leagues and even PE class takeovers at schools, where they take over classes for the day and leave behind a full set of equipment and a two-week curriculum for PE teachers to use.

The hope is that the kids will “catch the bug” at school and then join street hockey leagues.

The Mammoth are also trying to grow ice hockey through the eight-week “Learn to Play” program, which provides gear for only $250, and its “Continue to Play” program.

The Mammoth Ice Center also offers a rookie league from 6U to 19U, which will include a girls division and an adult league, as well as hockey clinics.

“Everyone should have that opportunity,” Bowness said. “And no matter your gender, your skill level, your age, your ability level — we’ll have some sled hockey programming as well — everyone should just have that opportunity to play.”

The largest area of female growth in both Utah and the U.S. is adult women over the age of 20 with a 29% increase across the U.S., and 100 new adult females playing in Utah since March 2025, a 30% increase, according to Sagaert.

But the age groups with the highest percentage increase over the last year in Utah are the 10U (72%) and the 8U (44%).

Growing up, Bowness wasn’t allowed to play hockey, she said, so providing equal hockey opportunities for girls is personal.

“I want girls to have the exact same opportunities as the boys, and it shouldn’t be a big deal,” Bowness said. “It should just be normal that girls are playing hockey the same way that boys are playing hockey.”

Joanna Gilligan is part of that future Sagaert mentioned, and the 13-year-old thinks more girls should give hockey a chance because “we need more representation in girls hockey,” she said.

“It was a great experience for me, and I think that everybody in the community is so kind and everybody’s all supportive of each other, especially this being my first year, and I joined a team where everybody was still learning and I think it was great and everybody helped each other kind of learn how to play.”

It’s not necessarily atypical, but it’s important to call out that the Minnesota Vikings have watched as one-fifth of their 2025 starters have departed via retirement and free agency.

Minnesota’s offseason turnover hit the starting lineup a bit hard.

The main faces on the coaching staff will remain the same, but from a starter personnel viewpoint, get ready to see a revised Vikings club in September.

Familiar Vikings Starters Have Moved On

In alphabetical order, these are the starters who left.

Jonathan Allen (DT)
Where He Went: Cincinnati Bengals

Allen lasted one year in Minnesota after signing a three-year, $51 million contract last offseason during former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s big spending spree. He played decently, basically at a replacement level, making the large financial commitment no longer worth a second look.

Minnesota released him right away during free agency, and he quickly landed in Cincinnati, where his new contract will alleviate most of the Vikings’ 2027 salary cap burden pertaining to his contract.

Allen was a swing-and-a-miss for the Vikings, at least per expectations.

C.J. Ham (FB)
Where He Went: His House. Retirement.

Ham came up during the Mike Zimmer era and stood the test of time. Providing support as an outstanding blocker, special teamer, and sometimes-playmaker, Vikings fans adored Ham and are sad to see him go. He was one of the locker room guys in Minnesota, a team captain through and through.

The longtime purple fullback said this week during a retirement ceremony, “There’s nothing like game day at The Bank. From the beginning, I felt all the love. Just a fellow Minnesota kid living his dream of wearing the purple and gold someday. I know that resonated with many Minnesota fans, so I felt as if I was doing it for me and my family, I was also doing it for you.”

Ham called it quits alongside former teammate Adam Thielen at the ceremony, and head coach Kevin O’Connel mentioned about the duo: “Their impacts clearly on and off the field have left a tremendous impact, not only on myself as the head coach of this team, all of our players, but also your families and what you guys were able to establish in the community here in the Twin Cities and beyond.”

“I know I, today, get the opportunity to not only speak for our team and our organization, but Minnesota Vikings fans everywhere, just saying, Thank you for your impact that you guys both had.”

Hopefully, Ham returns to the game as a coach down the road.

Javon Hargrave (DT)
Where He Went: Green Bay Packers

You can basically scroll up, read the paragraphs about Allen, rinse, and repeat.

The Vikings added Hargrave last offseason for $30 million over two years, and like Allen, the relationship was not parleyed into a second season. Minnesota dropped Hargrave, and a couple of days later, he did the unthinkable, signing with the Packers.

Minnesota will see him twice next year.

Ryan Kelly (C)
Where He Went: His House. Retirement.

Kelly had a bittersweet time in Minnesota, signed with Allen and Hargrave as part of 2025 free agency. When Kelly was on the field in 2025, he was fantastic, very much living up to his four-time Pro Bowl reputation.

But concussions ruined everything, as Kelly sustained three in one season alone. He even wore a Guardian cap down the stretch of 2025. It didn’t change anything.

Kelly retired from the NFL, and now Minnesota needs a center, either promoting Blake Brandel or Michael Jurgens, signing a free agent like Ethan Pocic, or drafting a rookie next month.

Jalen Nailor (WR)
Where He Went: Las Vegas Raiders

Nailor jelled instantly with Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy, but it wasn’t enough to secure a second contract beyond his rookie deal. The Raiders pounced earlier this month, granting Nailor a deal worth $35 million over the next three years.

The Vikings need a WR3 to replace Nailor, unless 2025 rookie Tai Felton, from Maryland, is ready for the offense’s bright lights. Nailor, on the other hand, will fill a WR1 or WR2 role in Las Vegas, presumably with rookie passer Fernando Mendoza when the Raiders make the draft pick official next month.

The Waiting Game: Harrison Smith

Smith played flag football with his peers on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, he has made no concrete decision on his future, whether to retire or return for Year No. 15. It’s a waiting game. One would think that if Smith planned to retire, he would’ve done so by now. The sipidity of “Will he or won’t he?” regarding Smith continues.

While no one would be shocked by a Smith retirement tweet, the clues hint at a return.

Northern Ireland defender Brodie Spencer said being underdogs against Italy "suits us" for Thursday's World Cup play-off semi-final in Bergamo.

The winner of the semi-final will be rewarded with another game on the road against either Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina and the victor of that play-off will clinch a spot in Group B of the tournament.

Michael O'Neill's side are aiming to qualify for their first World Cup in 40 years, while Italy are trying to not miss out on their third consecutive finals.

"Yeah 100%," Spencer replied when asked if the underdog title suited Northern Ireland.

"Coming up through the age groups of Northern Ireland, we've always been seen as the underdogs and I think we thrive with that underdog title.

"It suits us, you know, being the underdogs and a team sort of downplaying us. Then to be able to go out there and put in a good performance against big teams and then you can start to see the teams start to respect us a bit more."

If Italy fail to make this World Cup, they will become the first former winners to not qualify for three tournaments in a row.

The Oxford United defender added that the home side "have more to worry about" in Bergamo.

"I think Italy will have more to worry about than us," Spencer continued.

"We're going into this game as the underdogs, so we'll obviously bring the game to them and it's down to us to perform on the night.

"As a team on the night [we can] put a lot of pressure on them, frustrate them and anything can happen as it's a one-off game."

Spencer has made 19 senior appearances for Northern Ireland but missed the final fixtures of their qualifying campaign through injury.

Now, the 21-year-old is eager to help the side make history and keep the dream of qualifying for their first World Cup since 1986 alive.

"My family, my uncles and my cousins say about back in the day when Northern Ireland were in the World Cup, I think it was 40 odd years ago," he added.

"Just saying like how important it could be if we do and be able to qualify and how much that would mean to, not only the team, but the whole country.

"It would mean so much to everyone and obviously it'll be very good."

• Belief, youth and defence - will NI cause Italy upset?
• Why is Northern Ireland's World Cup play-off in Bergamo?
• How to follow Italy v Northern Ireland across BBC Sport NI

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Syracuse University is working to finalize a deal with Gerry McNamara to become the next men’s basketball head coach.

Thamel said that Syracuse athletic director Bryan Blair spoke to McNamara multiple times over the last week, including both virtually and in person, according to his sources.

Gerry McNamara is currently the head coach for Siena men’s basketball where he has been for the last two seasons. McNamara helped guide the Saints to the MAAC Championship this past season, nearly upsetting top-seed Duke in the NCAA Tournament. 

Before becoming a head coach, Gerry was an assistant coach at Syracuse from 2011 to 2024.  In his 15 seasons at Syracuse, McNamara helped guide Syracuse to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, highlighted by trips to the Final Four in both 2013 and 2016.

As a player at SU, GMac was a two-time first-team All-Big East selection.  He scored 18 points in the National Championship game against Kansas in 2003.  He helped the Orange to the back-to-back Big East tournament titles in 2005 & 2006. McNamara’s 2,099 points rank 4^th all-time in Syracuse men’s basketball history.  

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR.

Redemption? Nah.

Rebound? Most certainly.

One week after a bogey on the final hole cost him a chance to win the Players Championship, Matt Fitzpatrick birdied the 72nd hole on Sunday to capture the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla.

Fitzpatrick converted from 14 feet for his first birdie in 12 rounds on the par-4 18th hole at the Copperhead Course to break a tie with David Lipsky and secure his third career PGA Tour title and first win since the 2023 RBC Heritage. The 31-year-old Englishman didn’t have a bogey in closing with a three-under 68 and 11-under 273 total to keep Lipsky winless in 145 career tour starts.

A Los Angeles native, Lipsky, 37, settled for his second career runner-up finish and his seventh top-five finish after shooting a final-round 70.

“I think the big thing was I felt like I was playing well,” said Fitzpatrick, who came into the week ranked 15th in the world. “Obviously wanted to continue that, and I felt like I had confidence it in myself to do so. Then obviously to sort of do that over four round was special this week.”

Sungjae Im, who led after each of the first three rounds and began the final day two strokes ahead of Lipsky and 45-year-old Brandt Snedeker, bogeyed five of his first 10 holes to fall out of contention. He ended up T-4 at eight-under 276 after a 74. Snedeker, seeking his 10th career title and first win since the 2018 Wyndham Championship, was in the hunt and tied for the lead with Fitzpatrick, Lipsky and England’s Jordan Smith until he three-putted for double bogey at the short par-4 12th hole. He followed with a bogey at 13 on the way to a 76, which left him in a tie for 18th place at 280.

Smith fired a 66 and ended up third at 275. Joining Im at 276 were Marco Penge, another Englishman, who had a 71, and Xander Schauffele, who tied Emiliano Grillo for low round of the day with a 65.

Fitzpatrick began the day three behind Im but quickly joined a battle atop the leaderboard when Im faltered. Winner of the 2022 U.S. Open, Fitzpatrick was unable to separate himself but fortunate that his main challengers also were stuck in neutral. He finally created daylight when he drilled home a 30-foot birdie putt at the par-3 15th hole. Just as he had the previous week at the Players at TPC Sawgrass, he arrived on the 16th tee at Innisbrook with a one-stroke lead.

It disappeared within minutes, however, when Lipsky joined him at 10 under par with a seven-footer for birdie.

Fitzpatrick, who collected $1.638 million, set up the game winner when he drove perfectly and then found the green right of the pin with a wedge from 118 yards. When the ball rolled in, he shouted and delivered a low fist pump. The win was secured when Lipsky’s 32-foot tying attempt from the fringe died seven inches short of the hole.

“Amazing. Amazing. Particularly, I felt frustrated all day that I had not made anything. Obviously to make something there on 15, and hole the long one there on 18 to in the end to secure the win was an amazing feeling,” said Fitzpatrick, who played his final 36 holes without a bogey and suffered only four bogeys all week—three of which came in the second round.

"I'll be honest, it wasn't an ideal putt that it felt like,” he added. "It was a nice right-to-lefter but me and my putting coach Phil [Kenyon] have been working on less acceleration in my stroke and it comes out more on the up hillers, so, I wouldn't say I was overly keen on it given my putting performance today but to get it done like that was special."

Undeterred after his one-stroke loss to Cameron Young at the Players, where he missed an eight-foot par putt that would have forced a playoff, Fitzpatrick fought through the mental challenge of playing in contention in consecutive weeks. Beyond his good form—particularly his iron game (he ranked first in strokes gained/tee to green, and second in approach)—that achievement sets him up well for the first major of the year in three weeks at the Masters.

“Yeah, I feel like it's obviously a great start to the season now, and particularly in two weeks, because the major season is just around the corner. Two weeks off, just to kind of prepare myself for that and then get better,” he said. “Yeah, this is great. Any win is fantastic. To me, just getting over the line is always difficult. It's so hard to win out here. Three wins now out here is something that, you know, I want obviously plenty more, and more and more big wins. So, yeah, to win this week is a big steppingstone for moving forward.”

It's another 1-1 result for Inter, who were held to a draw by Fiorentina. At the Franchi, on matchday 30 of Serie A, the Nerazzurri went ahead in just 40 seconds thanks to Esposito's powerful header off Barella's cross. Inter started the game fired up, and came close to doubling the lead several times. Fiorentina, however, stayed in the game, and created plenty of danger. It was an intense match in which the hosts found the equaliser in the 77th minute through Ndour. He was quick to convert the rebound after Sommer saved Gudmundsson's attempt. In the 95th minute Inter had one final chance: Esposito turned brilliantly in the box and forced an incredible save from De Gea, who preserved the 1-1.

FIORENTINA 1-1 INTER | MATCH SUMMARY

Goals: 1' Esposito (I), 77' Ndour (F)

FIORENTINA (4-1-4-1): 43 De Gea; 2 Dodô, 5 Pongračić, 6 Ranieri, 21 Gosens; 44 Fagioli (15 Comuzzo 91'); 65 Parisi (17 Harrison 69'), 4 Brescianini, 27 Ndour 10 Gudmundsson (80 Fabbian 91'); 20 Kean (91 Piccoli 86'). Subsitutes: 50 Leonardelli, 53 Christensen, 3 Rugani, 22 Fazzini, 60 Kouadio, 62 Balbo. Coach: Paolo Vanoli.

INTER (3-5-2): 1 Sommer; 31 Bisseck, 25 Akanji, 30 Carlos Augusto (15 Acerbi 46'); 2 Dumfries (11 Luis Henrique 86'), 23 Barella (8 Sucic 83'), 20 Calhanoglu (16 Frattesi 69'), 7 Zielinski, 32 Dimarco; 94 Esposito, 9 Thuram (14 Bonny 69'). Substitutes: 12 Di Gennaro, 13 J. Martinez, 6 De Vrij, 11 Luis Henrique, 17 Diouf, 36 Darmian, 47 Spinaccé, 49 Maye. Coach: Aleksandar Kolarov.

Yellow cards: Dimarco (I), Carlos Augusto (I), Brescianini (F), Ndour (F), Barella (I), Kean (F). Added time: 1', 4' Referee: Colombo. Assistants: Bahri, Dei Giudici. Fourth Official: Tremolada. VAR: Maresca. AVAR: Massa.

SUSPENDED Fiorentina: - Inter: Chivu (coach)

ONE BOOKING AWAY FROM SUSPENSION Fiorentina: Fagioli, Pongracic Inter: Carlos Augusto, Sucic

Michael Jordan's 23XI race car with Tyler Reddick driving had battery issues at Darlington on Sunday. A smart early pit stop and a quick change sent Reddick off and running in the "45." Before his opponents knew, Reddick was rolling. He drove by everyone to win the Goodyear 400 in South Carolina.

The victory was the fourth of the season for 23XI, a mark for the team in one season. What's stunning is it has happened in the first six races of the campaign. Reddick joins Dale Earnhardt (1987) and Bill Elliott (1992) as a driver to take four of the first six races in a Cup season.

Jordan was quick to praise his driver and the "45" team for everything it overcame in the race and complimented his driver, who had all sorts of issues with his cool suit. Reddick has a 95-point lead after "breaking" his two-race losing streak.

Brad Keselowski finished second. His "6" car's paint scheme paid tribute to the late Greg Biffle. Keselowski mentioned in his post-race interview that Biffle, who lost his life in a plane crash with six others in December, would appreciate the Darlington stripe he put on the right side of the car.

Up next is the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville (VA) on March 29, where Jordan and Reddick will look to grill the competition again.

Tyler Reddick wins for Michael Jordan at Darlington

"He did an unbelievable job."

That's some high praise from the bossman MJ. pic.twitter.com/6sNH19h3pU

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 22, 2026

Tyler Reddick and son grab checkered flag

Started 1st. Finished 1st. But it wasn't as simple as it sounds.

Tyler Reddick talks with @ReganSmith after his fourth victory of 2026. pic.twitter.com/UfYxNsiR65

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 22, 2026

Tyler Reddick wins at Darlington

Jordan congratulates Reddick

This article originally appeared on The List Wire: How many races has Tyler Reddick won? Adds Darlington to NASCAR resume

Valspar Championship, Florida

-11 M Fitzpatrick (Eng); -10 D Lipsky (US); -9 J Smith (Eng); -8 X Schauffele (US), SJ Im (Kor), M Penge (Eng); -7 SH Kim (Kor), S Jaeger (Ger), W Grillo (Arg), P Cantlay (US)

Selected others: -2 S Power (Ire),D Skinns (Eng), J Thomas (US); -1 M Wallace (Eng)

Full leaderboard

England's Matt Fitzpatrick bounced back from an agonising near miss at the Players Championship to win the Valspar Championship,

Fitzpatrick had led last week's Players by one shot on the 17th tee but a par-bogey finish cost him as American Cameron Young closed birdie-par to snatch victory.

But Fitzpatrick earned redemption on Sunday at Palm Harbor, Florida, sinking a 14ft-putt to birdie the 18th hole and beat American David Lipsky by one shot.

The 31-year-old carded a three-under-par 68 to finish on 11 under and had to wait for two groups to complete their rounds before his third PGA Tour win was confirmed.

"To come away with a win this week is really special, considering last week's performance as well," said Fitzpatrick, who last won on the tour in 2023.

"I'll be honest, it wasn't an ideal putt [on 18]. I wouldn't say I was overly keen on it considering my putting performance but to get it done was special."

Fitzpatrick, who won the DP World Tour Championship in November, says he will have a two-week break before preparing for next month's Masters.

"I'm obviously very confident in my game right now but what it takes to win a major is very different to what it takes to win on the PGA Tour," added the 2022 US Open champion.

"Particularly the Masters, there's extra pressure on the Masters, no matter who you are. It just has that standing above all the other events, as well as the majors.

"I'm coming away from this week delighted with where my game's at but there's stuff I want to improve."

Fellow Englishman Jordan Smith, 33, was third on nine under - his best finish on the PGA Tour.

Smith's compatriot Marco Penge, South Korea's Sungjae Imm who had led for three rounds, and Ameircan Xander Schauffele were all tied for fourth on eight under.

• Tearful DeChambeau wins consecutive LIV Golf titles
• Green lifts Australian WPGA for third win in a row

It’s late march, which means it’s “win and advance” season.

And that’s just what the Kansas State Wildcats did last Thursday, knocking off a tough Georgia Tech squad 69-65 to keep their season alive. The win means the Wildcats, now 19-17 on the season, have secured a winning final record.

For their efforts, the MittieCats will face of against 3-seed Cal in Bramlage tonight. Cal needed a late comeback to beat Santa Clara in their opening round game last Thursday night, but are 20-14 on the season and have size that could trouble the Wildcats.

This is the first ever meeting between the K-State and Cal women’s basketball teams, though Jeff Mittie has a 2-1 career record against the Golden Bears.

Yet again, this is a game that K-State should win. They have the tools and are really starting to show a maturity that this young team didn’t have earlier in the season.

We’ve got a 6:00pm CT tipoff from the Bramlage Colisuem, and you can catch the action on ESPN+ with Brian Smoller (play-by-play), Shaelyn Floyd (analyst), and Hannah Whetstone (sideline) on the call.

If you don’t have ESPN+, the game can be heard across portions of the 28-station K-State Sports Network with Matt Walters (play-by-play) and Kristin Waller (analyst) calling the action. The game will also be available online at K-Statesports.com and via the Varsity Network app. Live stats are also available at k-statesports.com, and social media updates (@KStateWBB) will also be a part of the coverage.

Go Cats!

América Mineiro’s 3-1 defeat to Goiás this Sunday (22), in the opening round of Série B, was marked by a mistaken decision from defender Emerson Santos.

A player who has previously played for Botafogo, Palmeiras, and Internacional, the Coelho defender committed a bizarre penalty when América was already losing at Serrinha. 

Blue screen?

Emerson Santos thought that Gustavo, Coelho’s number 1, wanted him to take the goal kick. 

And he put his hands on the ball when he was “called upon.” 

Marcelo de Lima Henrique didn’t hesitate to award the penalty. 

Which goalkeeper Tadeu converted (31’).

Anselmo Ramon, also from the penalty spot, had scored the first (9’). 

Filipe Machado left Esmeraldino a man down at 43 minutes.

Coelho dominated the second half. But only managed to score at 91’, with Mastriani.

A goal that came after Goiás had scored their third, with Gegê.

Another Brazilian escaped the worst...

An identical incident happened in an Arsenal vs Bayern match in the first leg of the 2023/2024 Champions League quarterfinals.

Gabriel Magalhães made the same decision as Emerson Santos, but the referee ignored the play.

The Gunners – who were losing 2-1 – managed to equalize, but were eliminated after losing the return leg 1-0.

Recall the incident below: 

Photo: Mourão Panda/América (Archive) 

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

Chiefs and Ravens predicted to battle for $90 million former All-Pro playmaker originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens have been mentioned as possible landing spots for a veteran free-agent receiver.

Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox links Kansas City and Baltimore to wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who has yet to find a new home after being cut by the Miami Dolphins in February.

"Hill is a seasoned vet and a borderline Hall of Famer who will command defensive attention if he's even close to 100 percent. Taking a swing on him would make sense for a team with playoff aspirations like the Kansas City Chiefs or Baltimore Ravens," Knox said.

The Chiefs and Ravens could use more talent at receiver for their franchise quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City and Lamar Jackson in Baltimore.

Though Hill played in just four games in 2025 due to a significant knee injury, the 32-year-old can still be an impact playmaker for a contender.

A reunion in Kansas City makes a ton of sense for Hill. He knows the offense well and has terrific chemistry with Mahomes.

Though head coach Andy Reid is skeptical about Hill coming back to the Chiefs, his asking price should be pretty low, given that he's still on the market, and the eight-time Pro Bowler would immediately step in as a potential starter on Eric Bieniemy's offense.

Baltimore could also sign Hill to serve as a dynamic weapon for Jackson, who lacks reliable pass-catchers outside of Zay Flowers and Mark Andrews. Hill would be an upgrade over Rashod Bateman at the other starting receiving spot for the Ravens.

Despite an injury-riddled 2025 campaign, Hill should come off the market soon. It could end up being with a contender, such as the Chiefs or Ravens.

More NFL News

• Steelers, Bears, Chiefs should inquire about trade after 49ers rumors
• Giants, Commanders, Packers could have interest in rumor about $110M DL
• Giants trade candidate predicted to land with Bengals via offseason deal
• Cardinals trade candidate predicted to go to Commanders in blockbuster deal
• Raiders trade candidate predicted to land with Cowboys in blockbuster deal

Analyst Shares High Praise For Bruins Amid Successful Season originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Boston Bruins have been one of the major surprises this season, and it’s earned them major praise from an NHL analyst.

Bruins analyst Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic believes the team has plenty to build on this season. Shinzawa also believes that even if Boston doesn’t make the playoffs, this will be a season the team can build on.

“Whatever happens, this season is a win for the Bruins considering how poorly things went in 2024-25,” Shinzawa wrote in an article published on Saturday. “Marco Sturm has been very good as a first-year coach. Don Sweeney made sound pickups in free agency. Jeremy Swayman came back to life. The Bruins are trending up.”

However, the goal for the Bruins is to make the playoffs. But, regardless of what happens, Shinzawa believes this is a successful season for Boston as Sturm appears to be a legit NHL head coach, and the moves Don Sweeney has made have paid off.

Boston is 39-23-8 and holding onto the top Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, and is tied in points with the Montreal Canadiens for third place in the Atlantic Division, but Montreal has played one less game.

The Bruins will return to the ice on Tuesday at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

More NHL: Bruins Show Off No Quit Mentality With Comeback Win Over Red Wings

Did Steelers make QB mistake in free agency? originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, somewhat questionably, appear to be sitting on their hands waiting to see what Aaron Rodgers will do in 2026.

And in doing so, they have wasted a chance for the franchise to get better.

Yes, Rodgers playing in 2026 gives the Steelers a good chance to win, but long-term? It doesn't do anything helpful for the franchise.

As such, for Sports Illustrated's Gilberto Manzano, in a neat piece where writers act as general managers, one move he would have made for Pittsburgh is going after Malik Willis

"If I were Steelers GM Omar Khan, I would have pursued quarterback Malik Willis and given him the three-year, $68 million contract that he got from the Dolphins," Manzano wrote. "Pittsburgh would have been a better fit with an offensive unit featuring DK Metcalf, Jaylen Warren and newcomers Michael Pittman Jr. and Rico Dowdle.

"Strangely, the Steelers are again waiting around for a middle-aged QB with not much upside at this point in his career."

More:Vikings poised to do something unusual at QB in 2026

Did Steelers miss QB chance in free agency?

Potentially, Willis would give Steelers fans more reason to hope, given his upside. However, if he crashes and burns in Miami, then fans will likely be glad the Steelers passed on him.

Still, Willis is an intriguing option and would give the Steelers' offense some juice in a way that Rodgers can't, given Willis' dual-threat ability. But Pittsburgh appears intent on waiting for Rodgers, a move not many are on board with.

Did the Steelers miss a chance at getting a young quarterback with big upside? Yes.

Will that prove to be a decision that haunts them? We won't have to wait too long to find out.

More NFL news:

• Vikings' J.J. McCarthy named biggest loser of free agency
• Buccaneers' 2026 prospects revealed after Mike Evans' free agency decision
• Analyst reveals brutal reality awaiting Dolphins' Malik Willis
• Analyst has Chargers in surprising position in power rankings
• Analyst delivers brutal QB reality for Steelers in 2026
• ESPN reveals Jets' $48 million mistakes still haunting them
• Analyst delivers brutal QB reality for Steelers in 2026

ST. LOUIS – On the same afternoon Iowa State overcame the loss of an All-American to stamp its ticket to the Sweet 16 with a 19-point win, Mark Pope lamented the injuries that in his view kept his Kentucky team from realizing its promise this winter.

“I think we were disappointed we never got to run with the roster that we thought we had,” Pope, Kentucky’s second-year coach, said Sunday, following the Wildcats’ 82-63 season-ending second round NCAA Tournament loss. “These guys did an amazing job adjusting.”

Given the juxtaposition, that argument — however fair — will probably fall on deaf ears close to home. Because what might be the most expensively assembled roster in college basketball is going to spend the business end of its postseason watching. And Pope’s bluegrass honeymoon is probably over.

Opinion: On Miami (Ohio) schedule, Matt Painter is right — and the right person to say it

Punishing the Wildcats purely because of their price tag is unfair. There’s nothing wrong with an expensive roster.

It isn’t cheating, and it isn’t unimaginative. In the modern landscape, it’s a choice. A way to win. As much a means to the ultimate end as playing zone defense.

But it comes with greater expectation. When your base invests so directly in your success, its demand for return on that investment is magnified. And if that demand is not met, sympathy tends to be in short supply.

Kentucky offers promise early

For a while, anyway, Sunday did not look like going quite that way. Kentucky (22-14) began the game well. Gave itself hope. Flashed the idea of what it might be, before reverting to form to confirm just what it was.

Early on, Iowa State (29-7) looked like a team without two-way star Joshua Jefferson (ankle), sluggish offensively and a little disoriented at the other end. Like a band trying to play the song after naming someone else lead guitar.

“I credit these guys, they really paced our offense and made sure early that we didn’t score too many points and we didn’t make too many shots,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said, tongue planted firmly in cheek.

Kentucky, meanwhile, appeared in the mood early to make the tough ones necessary to win. Denzel Aberdeen (20 points) led the way, Collin Campbell trailing behind him with two corner 3s.

But the Cyclones didn’t need Jefferson to sustain their pressure. Intensity underpins their identity. The erratic basketball forced out of the Wildcats — as has been the case far too often this season — is theirs.

“Iowa State was terrific,” Pope said. “They exert a ton of pressure. They’re very disruptive, and certainly they were very disruptive with us.”

Iowa State's intensity turned the game around

The further the game drifted away from Kentucky, the more ragged its performance became.

The early flow of turnovers did not stop — Kentucky finished with an eye-watering 20 for the game, the Wildcats’ 30.8% turnover rate basically double their season average. Just as damaging, as the game slipped away and a frustrating season wound down, there were aimless, unimaginative offensive possessions marked by a lack of ball movement and a perceptible loss of faith in the wider plan.

The tighter Iowa State squeezed, the more Kentucky came apart, first with sloppy offense and then with deconstructed defense. Otzelberger’s team shot 19 of 30 in the second half, averaging an even 1.5 points per possession after the break.

Where the Wildcats’ early punches seemed to harden undermanned Iowa State, the Cyclones’ response put Kentucky on its heels. Pope’s team never really got back on the front foot.

“We got a little disoriented the last eight or 10 minutes of the first half, and that’s what Iowa State does,” Pope said. “Their defense ratcheted up in the second half, and we had a tough time finding baskets, and more importantly, we had a tough time getting a stop.”

Otega Oweh finished with 18 points but did too much of his scoring once Iowa State led by double digits for his performance to really influence the game. Disparities in fouls and free throws told the story of which team was more aggressive. The sharper Iowa State became, the deeper that cut into whatever confidence and belief Kentucky had left.

Kentucky must find consistency, identity Iowa State enjoys

This was not entirely an indictment of the Wildcats. Iowa State served notice yet again that so long as Otzelberger walks their sideline — All-Americans be damned — the Cyclones are going to deliver these kinds of ruthless, relentless performances.

That’s what Kentucky expects, annually. And at least to a reasonable extent, it has the right to. At times, these Wildcats flirted with delivering something closer to it.

This was the team that swept Tennessee. That beat St. John’s and won at Arkansas. It was also the team that lost at home to Missouri, lost at Auburn and in the aggregate looked like its level would eventually even out roughly where it did.

The Wildcats were competent at many things but excellent at precious few. Per Bart Torvik, they were 9-12 against top-50 competition this season, with pedestrian adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency numbers. That’s about right for a 22-win team that doesn’t get out of the first weekend.

Time might prove Pope able to build the same sort of success in Lexington. But it’s possible to ask questions of why this season never really achieved lift-off, without that turning into a scathing and unanswerable indictment of his stewardship of his alma mater.

For example, whatever Iowa State’s concerns by comparison, Pope’s injury complaints aren’t entirely unfair.

Jayden Quaintance only appeared in four games this season. For Jaland Lowe, so good at Pitt in 2025, that number stopped at nine in 2026.

Lowe scored 13 points in Kentucky’s best win of the season, the 12-point victory over St. John’s in late December. But neither Lowe nor Quaintance has appeared in a game since Jan. 10.

“We didn’t get to play the way we planned to,” Pope said. “We didn’t get to play with the personnel we planned to. All of that changed, and I think our guys raised up and they made the very, very best of a complicated, difficult situation.”

Injuries won't change expectations in Lexington

It’s perfectly reasonable to accept the Kentucky team Pope built in his mind was never the one he got to put on the floor. That won’t change the proverbial indigestion resulting from a season that might have cost Kentucky as much as $22 million, just to end well short of the Final Four.

Tagging Pope with that reported number — one he did not accept but also did not necessarily refute Sunday afternoon — opts for lazy analysis when something sharper isn’t that hard to achieve. No amount of money could speed up Lowe’s recovery from a shoulder injury, but it also does not matter what costs what when the solutions to the problems that arise deliver little better than a team this limited.

Maybe Pope is right about his team’s alternate future. Maybe this roster, and by extension this season, would have been flawed anyway. Whatever the truth, none of it wins the argument with reality.

Kentucky fades into the offseason among college basketball’s big disappointments. And Pope, who provided such fresh air to the stale climate that preceded him in Lexington, enters that offseason fully informed about the weight of expectation on his job, and the price of failing to rise to meet it.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kentucky basketball spent big on its roster, but Mark Pope came up short

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Ty Pence had 23 points, Johnny Kinziger scored 19, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with two seconds left, and Illinois State rallied to beat top seed Wake Forest 78-75 on Sunday in the second round of the NIT.

Fourth-seeded Illinois State (22-12) heads to No. 2 seed Dayton for a campus-site quarterfinal. The last time the Redbirds won twice in a NIT appearance was in 1996.

Illinois State trailed 53-44 with 11:28 remaining before rallying to tie it on Landon Wolf's 3-pointer with 6:29 to go and then taking the lead on a Pence 3-pointer on its next possession.

There were four lead changes and five ties from there — the final tie came on Tre'Von Spillers layup with 28 seconds left to set the stage for Kinziger.

Pence made 8 of 11 shots with three 3-pointers and all four of his free throws. Kinziger buried 5 of 10 from beyond the arc and added five assists. Chase Walker scored 15.

Spillers made all 11 of his shots and scored 24 to pace the Demon Deacons (18-17), adding eight rebounds. Juke Harris totaled 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Harris finished with 750 points this season — the second highest total in program history. Len Chappell set the record with 932 points during the 1961-62 season. Chappell had 745 points his prior season. Dickie Hemric scored 746 in 1954-55.

Omaha Biliew added 11 points and six boards for Wake Forest, while Myles Colvin scored 10 off the bench.

Cooper Schwieger's dunk for Wake Forest in the final minute tied it 32-all at halftime.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketba spurtll: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

The NCAA women’s tournament continues with second-round action on Monday to determine the rest of the teams that will advance to the Sweet 16.

Three of the tournament’s No. 1 seeds take the court with UConn, South Carolina and UCLA each playing on their home floor. No. 2 seeds Iowa and Vanderbilt also play. Virginia, the lone No. 10 seed to advance to the second round, faces the Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Game schedule (All times Eastern)

Noon: No. 6 Alabama vs. No. 3 Louisville (ESPN)
2 p.m.: No. 10 Virginia vs. No. 2 Iowa (ESPN)
4 p.m.: No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 3 Ohio State (ESPN)
5 p.m.: No. 5 Kentucky vs. No. 4 West Virginia (ESPN)
6 p.m.: No. 9 Syracuse vs. No. 1 UConn (ESPN)
7 p.m.: No. 7 Illinois vs. No. 2 Vanderbilt (ESPN)
8 p.m.: No. 9 USC vs. No. 1 South Carolina (ESPN)
10 p.m.: No. 8 Oklahoma State vs. No. 1 UCLA (ESPN)

Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season

Must-see: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State

Any time two of the most prominent programs in college athletics face off, it’s worth noting. Both the Fighting Irish and Buckeyes faced rugged competition in their respective conferences and struggled against top teams. (Each team lost to UConn by more than 30 points.) This game also features a star matchup between Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and Ohio State’s Jaloni Cambridge.

Must-skip: USC vs. South Carolina

Fans of the Trojans and Gamecocks may argue over who is the real “SC” between Southern Cal and South Carolina. But No. 9 USC needed overtime to get past No. 8 Clemson while Dawn Staley’s No. 1 seed demolished No. 16 Southern by 69 points. Jazzy Davidson scored 31 for USC, but will have to contend with Joyce Edwards in this contest. Tessa Johnson and Ta’Niya Latson also figure to give the Trojans major problems on the Gamecocks’ home floor.

Most likely upset: Virginia vs. Iowa

As a No. 10 seed that had to win a First Four game to join the field of 64, Virginia might look like an unlikely upset winner. Especially against No. 2 Iowa on the Hawkeyes’ home court. Yet the Cavaliers have already pulled off one upset, defeating No. 7 Georgia in the first round.

Meanwhile, Iowa struggled early in its first-round matchup versus Fairleigh Dickinson before eventually finishing with a 10-point win. Virginia’s Kymora Johnson is coming off a 28-point performance in the win over Georgia, while the Cavaliers’ frontcourt combo of Sa’Myah Smith and Tabitha Amanze presents matchup problems for Iowa’s Ava Heiden and Hannah Stuelke.

Players to watch

Notre Dame G Hannah Hidalgo vs. Ohio State

Hidalgo appeared to be on her way to a quadruple-double against Fairfield before finishing with 23 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 8 steals. That was arguably the best performance of the NCAA women’s tournament thus far. She appears to be getting even better as the season progresses, ready to give the Buckeyes far more than they can handle defensively.

Vanderbilt G Mikayla Blakes vs. Illinois

Could it be possible this late in the season that many fans still don’t realize how good Vanderbilt is? The Commodores finished the regular season at 27-3 and ranked No. 6 in the AP poll before earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Blakes is a major reason for that success. She scored 30 points in Vanderbilt’s first-round win over High Point and has scored 30 or more in eight of her past 10 games.

After advancing through the first round, Utah State faces Arizona on Sunday in the 2026 NCAA Tournament with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.

MORE: 5 bold March Madness predictions for 2026 NCAA Tournament

How to Watch Utah State vs Arizona

• Date: Sunday, March 22, 2026
• Time: 7:50 PM ET
• TV Channel: CBS
• Live Stream: Fubo (try for free)

The NCAA Tournament continues on Sunday, as teams look to advance to the Sweet 16, setting the stage for another day of dramatic finishes. With eyes set on a national title, the tournament always promises the chaos and excitement that make March Madness one of the best events to follow in sports.

– Watch Utah State vs Arizona on Fubo –

In a West Region second-round battle, No. 1 Arizona comes off a 92–58 rout of Long Island, dominating from start to finish with efficient shooting and interior control, while No. 9 Utah State advanced with an 86–76 upset of Villanova, fueled by balanced scoring and clutch late-game execution.

Arizona’s elite offense and top-seed pedigree meet Utah State’s scrappy, momentum-driven play, creating a dynamic matchup where defensive stops, rebounding, and late-game composure will likely determine which team moves on to the Sweet 16.

Live stream Utah State vs Arizona with Fubo: Start your free trial now!

With Fubo, you can watch live television without cable on your phone, TV, or tablet. Fubo carries a wide array of sports and entertainment channels, including local sports packages and top national channels like ABC, FOX, CBS, ESPN, FS1, MTV, Comedy Central, and much more. The best part is you can try it out today for free.

Regional restrictions may apply. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.

— Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories on The Big Lead —

MARCH MADNESS: 5 bold March Madness predictions for 2026 NCAA Tournament

NFL DRAFT: New Mel Kiper NFL mock draft shows major impact of free agency

MLB: Dodgers announce Shohei Ohtani’s spring training pitching debut

NHL: Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl out for regular season with lower-body injury

ENTERTAINMENT: Is ‘Bachelorette’ still airing amid Taylor Frankie Paul domestic dispute allegations?

VIRAL: Livvy Dunne shares ‘Baywatch’ training with BTS swimsuit, set photos

Yann Bisseck has urged his Inter Milan teammates to bounce back from an underwhelming 1-1 draw against Fiorentina tonight.

Speaking to Inter TV via FCInterNews, the German defender confirmed Inter’s ambition to ‘finish what we started.’

AC Milan’s scrappy 3-2 win over Torino yesterday saw the Rossoneri close the gap on Inter to only five points.

Therefore, the Nerazzurri knew that only a victory in Florence would ease the pressure heading into the international break.

Despite missing Lautaro Martinez, Cristian Chivu’s side enjoyed a blistering start to the game.

Indeed, Francesco Pio Esposito broke the deadlock less than 50 seconds into the match, putting the visitors in the lead.

However, Inter produced a disjointed first-half performance, with Fiorentina squandering a couple of huge chances to level the score.

Seemingly content with a narrow advantage, the Nerazzurri started the second half in the same vein, letting their hosts dictate the play.

La Viola punished Inter for their sluggish approach in the 77th minute as Cher Ndour restored parity with a simple tap-in.

Yann Bisseck Tells Inter Milan to Recover from Fiorentina Draw

“We need to understand where we went wrong and try to fix it,” Bisseck said after the game. “We have to finish what we started.”

Meanwhile, the 25-year-old admitted that Inter’s recent form has not been up to their high Serie A standard.

“We’re facing some difficulties, but we absolutely must end the season on a strong note.”

However, the upcoming international break will give Cristian Chivu enough time to steer his faltering side back on track.

Unfortunately, Bisseck will not feature for Germany in their friendlies against Switzerland and Ghana.

Indeed, Julian Nagelsmann has left the former Aarhus center-back out of his squad despite Bisseck’s impressive form in the second half of the season.

Nevertheless, it could be a blessing in disguise, allowing Bisseck to focus on his club duties.

Tennessee vs Virginia box score: Full stats from 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament game originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers battle the third-seeded Virginia Cavaliers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee recently took out Cinderella with a 78-56 win over Miami (Ohio) in Friday's first-round matchup. Virginia defeated Wright State 82-73 that same day.

he Volunteers (23-11), tied for fourth in the SEC and fell in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals, have won two of their last three games. The Cavaliers (30-5), finished second in the ACC at 15-3 and lost in the conference tournament final, have won five of their last six games.

Here is a look at the box score from Saturday's second round Midwest Region game in Philadelphia.

Tennessee vs Virginia March Madness box score

Tennessee stats

Virginia stats

More college basketball news:

• Hubert Davis buyout, contract details as UNC Tar Heels coach
• Seven championship worthy teams in 2026 NCAA men’s basketball bracket
• John Calipari says college athletics is broken — Here’s his plan to fix it
• Fact check: AJ Dybantsa was paid $7 million-plus at BYU
• Where Arkansas Darius Acuff Jr. ranks among John Calipari's best NBA guards

Gone Fishin’ with Professor Saber

– byMario Crescibene

What a mess! I sat slumped at my desk with my head buried in my arms, lost under an avalanche of scribbled notes and wadded-up pieces of paper. Player names, spring training stats, roster projections — all of it scratched out, circled, crossed out, and scribbled over again. I lifted my head and sent a small cascade of crumpled wads tumbling to the floor. I pushed the remaining pile aside and tried, for what felt like the gazillionth time, to make sense of it all.

The Guardians had been cutting players left and right and it was getting hard to keep it straight. Every morning brought a new move:

Watson — gone.
Rodríguez — gone.
Halpin — gone.
Jones — outrighted to Columbus.

I stared at the stats. All the numbers were starting to swim. I just couldn’t see the signal through the noise.

I tapped my pencil on the desk. Think, Mario, think! Halpin had looked good out there. Watson too. And sure, Jones hadn’t exactly been setting the world on fire — but it was still just Spring Training. Big decisions were being made with just thirty-some at-bats. Was such a small sample size really enough to know anything? How could I know if the difference between these players was actually significant?

Significant.

The word hung in the air. I sat up straight. I knew exactly who I needed to see.

I grabbed my jacket and headed for Case Western. At the math department I found the familiar gray carpet, white walls, and fluorescent lights humming their monotonous hum. I knocked on Professor Saber’s door.

From inside came the familiar sing-song: “Come iiiii-in!”

I turned the handle — and…

To my great surprise the deep navy walls decorated with planets and shooting stars that I remembered from my last visit were gone. In their place was painted a sweeping ocean panorama — pale blue sky meeting open ocean, whitecaps catching the light, and out on the water, half a dozen boats casting large nets into the sea. I could swear I saw one of the boats actually move!

And there at the helm of her desk sat Professor Saber, decked out head to toe in a full Lake County Captains uniform — jersey, hat, and all — looking like she’d just sailed in from Lake Erie.

“Permission to come aboard, Captain?” I asked.

“Permission graaaanted!” she sang out, both arms raised in her signature greeting.

I shook my head, laughing, and dropped into the familiar beanbag chair, turquoise as the ocean. It made that satisfying whoosh sound as I settled in.

“So tell me, my seaward friend,” she said, getting up and absently coiling a large length of rope over her shoulder, “what brings you to my skiff today?”

“Well, Captain,” I said, settling deeper into the beanbag, “the Guardians have been making a lot of moves and I’ve been trying to figure out if they actually make sense based on the data. I’ve got all these spring training stats, but it’s hard to know if the numbers mean anything with such small sample sizes.”

I pulled out my notes — slightly crumpled — and spread them on my knee. “I’ve got batting averages, OBP, at-bats, the whole shebang. But I just can’t tell if the difference between these players is real, or if I’m just staring at noise.”

Professor Saber’s eyes lit up the way they always did. She heaved the coiled rope into the corner of her office and sat down at her desk, kicking her feet up on the desk: shoes… I was half expecting cleats.

“You want to know how confident you can be.”

She said the word like it meant something.

“Yeah…” I said, thinking it over. “I guess I want to know how much I can actually trust what I’m looking at with just thirty at-bats — that’s a tiny sample size. Is that really enough to know anything?”

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” she said, with a mischievous glint in her eye. She swung her feet off the desk, reached up, and grabbed a rope hanging from the ceiling — which I was only just noticing — and gave it one firm pull.

From somewhere above the whiteboard that hung on her wall, a giant eraser swung down connected to a wooden arm on a pulley system and skreeeee — squeaked across the entire board in one clean pass. It then swung back the other way — skreeeee — and vanished back into the ceiling.

Professor Saber was already uncapping a marker.

“Let’s start with batting average,” she said, writing across the fresh board in large, bold letters:

Batting Average = Hits / At-Bats

“Batting average is really just a proportion,” she continued, tapping the equation. “It’s our best estimate of the fraction of at-bats where a batter gets a hit. If we multiply it by 100, it becomes a percentage — a probability — but as a decimal, we call it a proportion. We take the number of hits, divide by the number of at-bats, and there’s our number.”

“Right,” I said. “But that number jumps all over the place when we have just a few at-bats early in the season.”

“Exactly right!” She exclaimed, and excitedly grabbed a green marker. “Let’s say a player steps up for his very first at-bat and gets a hit. He’s batting 1.000. He’s perfect!”

She wrote in green:
1 Hit / 1 AB = 1.000
And then added a big green arrow pointing up.

She continued, “Then he comes up again — and misses. Suddenly he’s batting .500.”

She wrote on the line below:
1 Hit / 2 AB = .500
And added a red arrow pointing down.

“Just one at-bat later and he’s dropped 500 points! He comes up a third time — misses again. Now he’s one for three, and he’s dropped down to .333. But if he gets another hit, he’s back to 2 hits out of 4 at-bats, and he’s batting .500 again. The number is moving wildly!”

“So the batting average is basically meaningless with small sample sizes,” I said.

“Not meaningless — just highly uncertain!” she corrected, wagging the marker. “But what happens as the season goes on and our hitter keeps getting at-bats?”

“The batting average… levels off?” I offered.

“It converges!” she said, spinning back to the board and writing the word in a dramatic swooping hand. “As a player gets more and more at-bats, the batting average starts to stabilize. It converges toward something that looks more and more like their true ability. So the more data we have, the more we can trust the statistic we are looking at. And the less data we have…”

She let the conclusion dangle in the air.

“The less we can trust it,” I finished.

“Very good! The less data we have, the less confident we are,” she echoed, nodding slowly. “So. You’ve got thirty-some at-bats per player. It’s still just Spring Training. How much can you really trust those batting averages?”

“That’s —” I tried to lean forward in the beanbag but I struggled and fell in 3 inches deeper, “— that’s exactly what I’m trying to figure out, Professor.”

Professor Saber had a full-body laugh at my beanbag battle before turning back to the board and writing in enormous letters:

CONFIDENCE INTERVALS

She underlined it twice for good measure.

“What’s a confidence interval?” I asked as I shifted in the beanbag finding a better position.

“I’m so glad you asked,” she said, already halfway around her desk. She crouched down, rummaged around underneath it for a moment, and then hauled out — with considerable effort — an enormous tangled fishing net, dumping it on the desktop with a dramatic thwump.

I stared at the massive net.

“Do you like fishing, Mario?” she asked pleasantly.

“I — what does —”

“Do you like fishing?” she insisted.

I looked at the net. I looked at the ocean painted across the walls. I looked at her Captains jersey. “Sure,” I said with a shrug. “Let’s go fishing, Professor.”

“Wonderful!” She spread the net wide across the desk with both hands. “Here’s the thing about a batting average, Mario. It’s just one number. A single estimate of a player’s ability. And that single number is our best guess at something we can never actually know — a player’s true batting average. The number they would hit if they played forever, in every condition, against every pitcher, across an infinite career. That true value is out there somewhere —” she gestured toward the ocean painted on the wall, “— swimming around in the ocean. And our job is to cast a wide enough net to catch it.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. “So a confidence interval is like the net?”

“The confidence interval is the net,” she said. “It’s a range of likely values for a player’s true batting average, based on the data we have. Instead of pointing at one number and saying that’s who this player is, we cast a net and get a range of values instead. And how wide that net is depends on two things: how much data we have, and how confident we want to be that the true value is somewhere inside it.”

“How confident we want to be,” I repeated. “Like a percentage?”

“Exactly like a percentage. Do we want to be 80% confident our net contains the true value? 95% confident? 99%?” She drew three horizontal lines on the board, each one wider than the last, labeling them 80%, 95%, 99%. “The more confident we want to be, the wider the net has to be to capture the true value.”

I squinted at the board, and then proclaimed loudly, “I want to be 100% certain!”

She laughed, delighted. “Wouldn’t that be something! But to be 100% certain we’ve captured the true value, we’d need a net so enormous it tells us absolutely nothing. I can be 100% confident that Petey Halpin will bat somewhere between .000 and 1.000 — but that doesn’t exactly help us, does it?”

“So there’s a tradeoff,” I said.

“There is always a tradeoff in statistics,” she emphasized.

“So how do we pick what confidence level to use?”

“Well,” she said, leaning forward with that mischievous glint in her eye, “let’s let the data speak for itself.”

She reached under her desk, flipped up a large ship wheel, and gave it a hefty spin. Behind her, a large computer screen dropped down from the ceiling.

“Fortunately,” she said, “with today’s statistical software we don’t have to do the calculations by hand.” She turned to me. “Do you mind giving me your data there, Mario?”

I leaned forward in the beanbag, with some difficulty, and handed over my notes. She smoothed them out and then fed them into a narrow slot on her desk.

The screen flickered to life, and a radar beam began sweeping in slow circles.

Bing.

Bing.

Bing bing bing —

Faster and faster until the screen flashed:

CATCH GATHERED

And the chart appeared.

I looked at the screen. There was clearly an order — Watson sitting on top, albeit with a wide interval, and Jones anchoring the bottom — but every single bar was enormous, stretching way out in both directions, overlapping with the players above and below like a pile of pickup sticks.

“So there’s clearly an order,” I said slowly, “but everything overlaps. I can’t really say anyone is definitively better or worse than anyone else.”

“Exactly right,” she said. “We can see who has the higher batting averages and who has the lower ones. And we can think of these intervals as comparing the floor and ceiling of each player — that’s useful on its own. But look at some of these ceilings, Mario.” She pointed at the top end of Martinez’s bar. “Are we seriously expecting Angel Martinez to hit .505 this season?”

“No,” I admitted. “That’s just him getting hot early with a small sample size. It’s not going to hold in the long run.”

“Right. And DeLauter at .561? Watson at .688?” She shook her head. “At 95% confidence the nets are too wide to tell us much of anything. We need narrower intervals if we’re going to see any real separation between players.”

I looked back at the three lines on the whiteboard — 80%, 95%, 99%, each one wider than the last. Something clicked. “So if we want to be more confident, we need a wider interval… which means if we want narrower intervals, we use a lower confidence level,” I said slowly, working it out as I went.

“I think someone is starting to get their sea legs!” she exclaimed.

I tried not to look too pleased with myself from inside the beanbag. But it was difficult.

“But before I show you what 80% looks like,” she said, holding up one finger, “I want to justify the choice. Because 80% might sound arbitrary.” She perched on the edge of her desk. “95% confidence intervals are the standard that you see most often. But sometimes we need to adjust our approach. Think about presidential election forecasters. If pollsters were to predict a race using 95% confidence intervals, every single race would look too close to call. So the best forecasters in the world — your Nate Silvers, your FiveThirtyEights — they use 80% confidence intervals. Not because it’s a special number, but because it’s the sweet spot between confidence and clarity. Tight enough to see a real pattern. Honest enough to acknowledge what we don’t know.”

“So we’re not being sloppy by dropping the confidence down to 80%,” I said. “We’re being practical.”

“Exactly,” she said, reaching over and giving the ship’s wheel another spin.

Behind her the screen flickered again as the radar swept the ocean, searching for a signal.

Bing.

Bing.

Bing bing bing —

CATCH GATHERED

The chart refreshed and the bars tightened. Professor Saber stepped aside so I could see.

And suddenly — there it was.

“Do you see it, Mario?” she asked breathlessly, leaning forward.

“I sure do!” I said. “Wait… what do I see?”

She laughed. “Look at the top three. Watson, DeLauter, Martinez — their intervals all sit above .250. Every single one of them.” She dragged her finger along the bottom of those three bars. “Now look at Jones at the bottom.”

I looked. His bar stopped at .232.

“His entire interval,” I said slowly, “falls below the intervals of those three players. There’s no overlap at all.”

“Which means?” the Professor edged me on.

“Which means Jones is significantly worse than Watson, DeLauter, and Martinez?”

“Congratulations,” she said, snapping to attention and giving me a crisp salute. “You’ve just been promoted to Lieutenant!”

I tried to sit up straight in the beanbag to accept the honor, but the beanbag had other ideas and I simply sank further in.

“We dropped our confidence to 80% to narrow our intervals,” she continued, “and now we have real separation. Jones doesn’t overlap with the top three players at all. That’s not a small difference. That is a statistically significant gap — and that,” she said, tapping the screen, “is why he’s on a bus to Columbus.“

“But batting average is just one net, Mario,” she continued. “It only tells us about hits. It says nothing about a player’s patience at the plate.” She grabbed the ship’s wheel firmly in both hands. “So let’s cast a second net and see what we get looking at on base percentage!”

She gave the wheel another spin.

Bing.

Bing.

Bing bing bing —

CATCH GATHERED

The results appeared for on base percentage — with Watson, DeLauter, and Martinez on top once again, and Jones all the way at the bottom.

“So the top three are the same,” I said, studying the new chart, “but now Halpin has jumped up to fourth.”

“And do we see any significant differences with OBP?” Professor Saber asked, gesturing at the screen.

I looked carefully. “Jones still falls completely below Watson and DeLauter — no overlap at all. But there’s a little overlap now between Jones and Martinez.”

“Which means what, Mario? Tie it all together.”

“Jones is significantly worse than Watson and DeLauter in OBP — but we can’t say he’s significantly different from Martinez.”

“Tied like a true sailor’s knot!” she exclaimed. “Now —” she pointed at the screen, “— what do you notice about the width of Watson’s interval compared to Jones’s?”

I studied the bars. “Jones’s interval is narrower. So… we’re more certain about where his true value is?”

“Exactly right,” she said. “Jones’s interval is narrower because he had more at-bats — more data gives us a tighter interval. Watson had fewer at-bats, so his interval is wider. We know less about him.” She tapped the screen. “But even with all that uncertainty, you can see exactly why they put Jones on that bus.”

I leaned back in the beanbag and looked at the chart for a long moment. “So when the front office sent him down, they weren’t just going on a gut feeling. The data actually backed it up — even with just thirty at-bats.”

“Even with just thirty at-bats,” she confirmed, pointing the marker at me like I’d just won a prize.

I chewed on that for a second. “Still,” I said, “this feels pretty simple. Is this really what major league front offices are doing to analyze players?”

“Something like it — but they’ve got a bigger boat,” she said, leaning forward. “Teams use a technique called multiple regression, which lets them factor in career statistics, injury history, age, ballpark effects, platoon splits — the works. More data means tighter intervals so their results are even narrower than ours. But the bones of the analysis are the same.”

“And even with our simple version,” I said, “we could still see a significant difference between Jones and the top three players.”

“A statistically significant difference,” Professor Saber said triumphantly.

Saluting, I said, “Aye aye, Captain,” and rolled myself out of the beanbag.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For a second straight year, the Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team is the national champion after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes 3-2 on Sunday.

It took the high-octane Badgers’ offense just 78 seconds to open the scoring, courtesy of a Kelly Gorbatenko deflection on Czech Olympian Adéla Šapovalivová’s shot. Six minutes later, junior defender Laney Potter scored to make it 2-0 on Wisconsin’s third shot of the game.

Ohio State, the top-ranked team in this year’s NCAA tournament, played well, often pinning the Badgers in their own zone in the first period and matching Wisconsin’s shot totals through the first two periods (23-23). But, Wisconsin starter Ava McNaughton — who won a gold medal as the No. 3 goalie for Team USA at the Olympics last month — was sharp, stopping all 23 shots she faced in the first 40 minutes.

But after Wisconsin failed to score on a fourth power-play opportunity in the third period, Ohio State came alive, scoring two goals in just over two minutes to tie the game, setting up another tense, one-goal finish between two powerhouse programs.

Last year, the Buckeyes were 18.9 seconds away from winning the national championship before the Badgers scored three unanswered goals — including a stunning penalty shot by Kirsten Simms — to complete a historic comeback.

“Hopefully, it’s a similar story with a different ending,” said Ohio State coach Nadine Muzerall on Saturday. “We’re excited. We’ve been planning all year since how this season ended last year. Is there a vendetta? Of course there is.”

Muzerall nearly got her wish. But it was Wisconsin forward Claire Enright, an unheralded senior on a roster dotted with superstars, who scored with just over six minutes remaining in regulation to win the Badgers their record ninth national championship.

McNaughton, who made 34 saves in the win, was named the women’s Frozen Four’s Most Outstanding Player.

Sunday night’s game was the fourth consecutive national championship between Ohio State and Wisconsin, which has become one of the premier rivalries in college hockey.

Since women’s hockey became an NCAA championship sport, only Wisconsin and Minnesota-Duluth and the University of Minnesota and Harvard have faced each other in consecutive finals. No two other teams — men’s or women’s — have ever done it four times.

“It may not happen again where two teams face each other four years in a row trying to hoist the trophy,” Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson said on Saturday.

The Badgers — a longtime dynasty program — have now won five of the last seven NCAA championships dating back to 2019.

This story will be updated.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

NHL, Women's Hockey, College Sports

2026 The Athletic Media Company

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Colorado Rockies reliever RJ Petit will miss this season after he had Tommy John surgery with an internal brace.

The operation was performed by Dr. Keith Meister on Friday in Dallas, according to MLB.com.

The Rockies selected the 6-foot-8 Petit with the first pick in last year’s Rule 5 draft.