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Seahawks chase 10th win in finale against stingy Rams

NFL: Los Angeles Rams at Seattle SeahawksNov 3, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Los Angeles Rams linebacker Jared Verse (8) sacks Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) during the second quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Not surprisingly, the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams will take different approaches into Sunday’s regular-season finale in Inglewood, Calif.

The Rams (10-6), who already have clinched the NFC West title, plan to start backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to rest 16-year veteran Matthew Stafford for the postseason. Coach Sean McVay announced that move Wednesday, though he said the Rams haven’t decided which additional starters will get a break.

For the Seahawks (9-7), who even with a win Sunday would lose the tiebreaker against the Rams, first-year coach Mike Macdonald said it will be business as usual.

Macdonald deflected questions about why the Seahawks fell short of the playoffs at his weekly news conference.

“Right now is not the time to diagnose all that type of stuff,” he said. “Right now is the time to, let’s go to work this week, let’s make the best of this opportunity. We’ve got one more opportunity to keep taking the field as a team. Put our best foot forward, get to 10 wins. Let’s focus on that. And then once the season’s over, which is going to happen earlier than we want, we’ll digest all that stuff and make the proper conclusions and all that type of thing.”

Macdonald said he had no plans to rest any veteran players.

“We are going to go play to win the game,” he said.

After finishing 9-8 each of the past two seasons, the Seahawks would like to get to 10 wins.

“There’s a standard here of what we’re trying to establish and show off our football character of what type of team we are, what type of people we are, and how we’re going to play,” Macdonald said.

Second-year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba needs five catches to surpass Tyler Lockett’s franchise record of 100 receptions set in 2020 and defensive lineman Leonard Williams needs one sack to become the first Seahawk with double-digits since Frank Clark in 2018. Quarterback Geno Smith can still earn three $2 million escalators in his contract with 10 wins, 4,282 passing yards (he’s 185 away) and a completion percentage better than the 2022 season’s 69.75 (he’s at 70.23 percent).

The Rams would get the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs with a victory or could drop to No. 4 with a loss.

After a 1-4 start, they have won nine of 11 games to claim the division title. They did so with a 13-9 victory against Arizona last Saturday that was clinched by Ahkello Witherspoon’s last-minute interception.

“We didn’t do a whole lot great, to be honest with you,” said Stafford, who passed for 189 yards. “Didn’t run it great. Didn’t throw it great. But found a way to get a win and get enough points.”

The Rams have scored more than 21 points just once during their five-game winning streak. But the defense, under first-year coordinator Chris Shula, has held its past three opponents to fewer than 10 points, the first time the franchise has accomplished that feat since 1975.

“I want to make more plays to make sure they don’t have to do as much as they did (against Arizona), but I’m proud of them,” Stafford said of the Rams’ defense. “It’s awesome to watch where they were in training camp to where they are now. Shula is doing a hell of a job. We all knew he would. Those guys are playing hard for him.”

The Rams had just one player miss practice to start the week, offensive lineman Rob Havenstein (shoulder). The Seahawks were a bit more banged up Wednesday with offensive tackle Abraham Lucas (abdomen/knee), tight end Brady Russell (foot) and cornerback Josh Jobe (knee) sitting out.

–Field Level Media

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Baylor edges UCF on last-second free throw

NCAA Basketball: Baylor at Central FloridaFeb 28, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; UCF Knights guard Riley Kugel (2) shoots against Baylor Bears guard Cameron Carr (43) during the first half at Addition Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images

Obi Agbim made a free throw with one second left Saturday night, lifting visiting Baylor to an 87-86 Big 12 Conference win over UCF in Orlando.

The Bears (15-14, 5-11 Big 12) led the entire second half until the Knights’ Jamichael Stillwell’s layup tied it at 84 with 1:08 left. After Agbim’s layup put Baylor up, UCF’s Devan Cambridge sank two foul shots with 25 seconds remaining to tie it again. UCF gave a foul with three seconds left, followed by each team using their final timeout to plot strategy.

Out of timeouts, Baylor fed Agbim for a 3-pointer and he was fouled by Riley Kugel. Agbim missed the first, made the second and missed the third but it was rebounded by teammate Cameron Carr, allowing the Bears to run out the clock.

Carr scored 26 points for Baylor, going 10 of 10 at the foul line. Dan Skillings Jr. came off the bench to add 15 points, while Isaac Williams chipped in 14 and Agbim finished with 12 to go along with seven assists.

Kugel scored 26 points to pace the Knights (20-8, 9-7), while Jordan Burks added 12 and Stillwell hit for 11. Themus Fulks managed only eight points, six under his average, but dished out a game-high 10 assists.

While UCF entered the game off a convincing win at No. 19 BYU on Tuesday night that likely sealed its at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, Baylor came in knowing it would need to win its last three regular-season games and then do damage in the Big 12 tourney to have a chance.

The Bears lit up the Knights for 56 first-half points, making 19 of 35 field goal attempts and going 8 of 15 from the 3-point line. Carr was instrumental in that effort, ringing up 20 points on just nine shot attempts. He was 4 of 6 on 3-pointers and made all six of his free throws.

UCF shot well for most of the half but went cold down the stretch. It was also outscored 10-2 in fastbreak points and went to the break trailing by 14.

–Field Level Media

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Luka Doncic has happy birthday as Lakers crush Warriors

NBA: Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State WarriorsFeb 28, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward/guard Luka Doncic (77) dribbles against Golden State Warriors guard Moses Moody (4) in the second period at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images

Luka Doncic celebrated his 27th birthday with 26 points, eight assists and six rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 129-101 rout of the Golden State Warriors on Saturday in San Francisco.

Los Angeles came into the Bay Area on a three-game losing skid but rebounded emphatically. The Lakers surrendered the game’s first two points, then went on to score the next 10 en route to a lead they never relinquished.

Doncic set the pace for the Los Angeles offense, shooting 9 of 17 from the field, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range. He knocked down consecutive triples to open the second half, then connected on another pair minutes later as part of a 16-9 surge.

Doncic scored 16 points in a third quarter that effectively snuffed any hope of a Golden State rally.

The Warriors showed signs of life in the second quarter when they trimmed what had been a 23-point deficit to 12 points on the strength of a 15-2 spurt. Gary Payton II scored six of his 12 points off the bench during the run.

Twelve was as close as Golden State came the rest of the night. The Los Angeles lead steadily ballooned throughout the second half behind five Lakers scoring at least 15 points.

LeBron James shot 4 of 6 from 3-point distance and 7 of 13 from the floor overall en route to 22 points. James also flirted with a triple-double, adding a game-high nine assists and seven rebounds.

Austin Reaves scored 18 points for Los Angeles and Luke Kennard came off the bench to connect on 4-of-7 3-point attempts on his way to 16 points. Jake LaRavia dropped in 15 points in reserve duty.

Golden State, meanwhile, had just one scorer with more than 12 points: Gui Santos, who finished with 14.

Moses Moody scored all 12 of his points on 4-of-10 3-point shooting. De’Anthony Melton added 10 points and Al Horford scored eight points off the bench.

–Field Level Media

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Ole Miss snaps losing skid at Auburn's expense

Syndication: The Montgomery AdvertiserOle Miss Rebels guard Ilias Kamardine (6) shoots a floater as Auburn Tigers take on Ole Miss Rebels at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala. on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.

Ole Miss snapped its longest losing streak since 2002-03 to crush Auburn’s seemingly slim March Madness dreams with a gutsy 85-79 Southeastern Conference road win Saturday night.

The Rebels (12-17, 4-12 SEC) had dropped their last 10 games but came alive with their second-best shooting day of the season, making 31 of 58 shots from the field (53.4%).

AJ Storr and Patton Pinkins led all scorers with 26 points apiece. Storr came off the bench for the Rebels shooting 9 for 15 from the field to go along with four assists. Pinkins made 8 of his 10 shots, including 4 for 5 from 3-point range, and Malik Dia finished with 10.

Keyshawn Hall helped lead the charge for Auburn (15-14, 6-10) with 21 points, including making 9 of his 10 free throw attempts. Tahaad Pettiford chipped in 24 points, Elyjah Freeman had 15 and Kevin Overton dropped 10.

Auburn built an early second half lead, but Ole Miss responded with a 22-4 run to blow open the game and take a 67-55 lead with 7:32 left.

The Tigers brought it close, but the Rebels never let go of the lead after that.

Ole Miss iced the game with a huge alley-oop, second-chance dunk by James Scott, who had a season-high four blocks, to stretch the lead to 78-71 with 1:11 left.

With the Help of Storr, Ole Miss’ bench dominated Auburn’s, outscoring the Tigers 28-4.

Both teams came out the gates hot with the Rebels making 7 of their first 8 shots and the Tigers making 6 of their first 8. Auburn fell behind by six early but used a 14-2 run that was capped by an acrobatic layup from Filip Jovic to pull ahead 31-25 with 4:46 left in the half.

The Rebels scored the last eight points of the half, including a layup and jumper from Storr, to take a 38-37 lead into the half.

Ole Miss was lights out in the first half making 16 of 27 shots (59.3%) and 5 of 11 from 3-point range. Dia, Storr and Pinkins each got into double digits in the first half with the latter two logging 10 points and the former with 11.

Auburn made 14 of 26 shots (53.8%) in the first half with Hall leading the way with 10 points.

This was Ole Miss’ first win over Auburn, breaking a 10-game head-to-head skid, since the Rebels pulled out an 86-84 overtime win Feb. 6, 2021.

–Field Level Media

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