Sports
Top 25 roundup: No. 10 Kentucky topples No. 6 Florida
Jan 4, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Koby Brea (4) shoots a three-point shot during the second half against the Florida Gators at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images Koby Brea came off the bench to tally 23 points and seven 3-pointers, both career highs, as No. 10 Kentucky opened Southeastern Conference play by outlasting No. 6 Florida 106-100 on Saturday in Lexington, Ky.
The fifth-year guard was one of six to score in double figures for the Wildcats (12-2, 1-0 SEC), who shot 48.3 percent (14-for-29) from the 3-point line and 57.8 percent overall. Lamont Butler added 19 points and a career-high eight assists and Otega Oweh finished with 16 points for Kentucky.
Walter Clayton Jr. tied a career high with 33 points to lead the Gators (13-1, 0-1), who also got 26 from Alijah Martin. Saturday marked just the fourth time Florida lost a game despite scoring at least 100 points.
The Gators scored seven straight points to cut their deficit to 89-87 with 4:16 left, with Clayton scoring five of his 23 second-half points during the flurry. Butler followed with the next five points for the Wildcats and Florida never got back within four the rest of the way.
No. 1 Tennessee 76, No. 23 Arkansas 52
Chaz Lanier scored 29 points as the Volunteers equaled the best start in program history with an easy victory over the Razorbacks in the SEC opener for both teams at Knoxville, Tenn.
Zakai Zeigler recorded 12 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals for Tennessee (14-0, 1-0 SEC), which also opened with 14 straight wins in 1922-23. Igor Milicic Jr. had 13 points along with a career-best 18 rebounds for the Volunteers, who held a commanding 51-29 rebounding advantage that included a 24-9 edge in offensive boards.
D.J. Wagner scored 17 points as Arkansas (11-3, 0-1) had a six-game winning streak halted. Boogie Fland added 12 points and three steals for the Razorbacks, who shot just 37.7 percent from the field and went 6-of-29 from behind the arc.
No. 2 Auburn 84, Missouri 68
Johni Broome scored 24 points and blocked four shots as Auburn began SEC play with a convincing home victory over Missouri.
Chad Baker-Mazara and Chaney Johnson each scored 13 points for Auburn (13-1, 1-0 SEC), which opened the second half with a 12-1 run to take a 57-34 lead. Bruce Pearl earned his 213th coaching victory at Auburn, tying him with Joel Eaves for the all-time lead at the school.
Marques Warrick led Missouri (11-3, 0-1) with 19 points. Marcus Allen had nine points and five rebounds as Missouri coach Dennis Gates rotated 14 players through the game, with 11 of them scoring.
No. 3 Iowa State 74, No. 25 Baylor 55
Keshon Gilbert scored 16 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished five assists as the Cyclones pulled away from the Bears in a Big 12 Conference showdown in Ames, Iowa.
Milan Momcilovic added 15 points for Iowa State (12-1, 2-0 Big 12), which won its ninth in a row and improved to 8-0 at home. Curtis Jones finished with 14 points on 6-for-13 shooting in the wire-to-wire victory.
Jeremy Roach scored 16 points to lead Baylor (9-4, 1-1), whose four-game winning streak ended. Josh Ojianwuna scored 13 and Robert Wright III had 10 despite missing 13 of 17 shots. Ojianwuna also supplied 10 rebounds and three steals, and Norchad Omier added nine points and 10 rebounds.
No. 4 Duke 89, SMU 62
Freshman Cooper Flagg pumped in 24 points as the Blue Devils defeated the Mustangs without their coach at Dallas.
Kon Knueppel and Tyrese Proctor both posted 14 points for Duke (12-2, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). Flagg also had 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Coach Jon Scheyer missed the game because of illness, with associate head coach Chris Carrawell filling in.
Boopie Miller, who played against Duke twice last year when he was with Wake Forest, led SMU (11-3, 2-1) with 21 points. Matt Cross had 11 points and Samet Yigitoglu added 10 points and 13 rebounds, but the Mustangs shot just 34.3 percent from the field.
No. 5 Alabama 107, No. 12 Oklahoma 79
Mark Sears scored a game-high 22 points and dished out 10 assists as the Crimson Tide knocked Sooners from the ranks of the unbeaten in the SEC opener for both teams in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Labaron Philon scored 16 points, Grant Nelson added 12 points and 11 rebounds and Clifford Omoruyi and Aden Holloway each chipped in 10 points for Alabama (12-2, 1-0 SEC).
Jalon Moore led Oklahoma with 20 points, Jeremiah Fears added 16 points and Sam Godwin racked up 15 points. Kobe Elvis had 13 points and Duke Miles added 10 points for the Sooners (13-1, 0-1 SEC).
No. 13 Texas A&M 80, Texas 60
Zhuric Phelps scored 18 points and spurred a second-half surge that helped carry the host Aggies past the rival Longhorns in College Station, Texas.
Phelps tallied seven points during Texas A&M’s 15-2 run to start the second half that propelled the hosts ahead for good at 52-39. Pharrel Payne scored 15 points and Wade Taylor IV added 13 for the Aggies (12-2, 1-0 SEC), who ran their winning streak to eight games.
Tramon Mark led Texas (11-3, 0-1) with 14 points. Arthur Kaluma added 13, Jordan Pope had 12 and star freshman Tre Johnson netted 11 despite going 2-of-13 from the floor. The Longhorns made just 6 of 24 shots in the second half and had their four-game win streak end.
No. 14 Houston 86, BYU 55
Emanuel Sharp scored a game-high 18 points and Terrance Arceneaux added 15 points off the bench as Houston rolled past visiting BYU in its Big 12 home opener.
Sharp and Arceneaux combined for 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting in a runaway first half for Houston (10-3, 2-0 Big 12), which extended the nation’s longest active home winning streak to 30 games. L.J. Cryer and Milos Uzan teamed to deliver the knockout blows with back-to-back 3-pointers that extended a 17-point halftime cushion to 57-32 with 12:43 remaining.
Trevin Knell paced BYU (10-3, 1-1) with 12 points while Richie Saunders, fresh off a career-high 30 points against Arizona State, tallied just nine points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Nebraska 66, No. 15 UCLA 58
Brice Williams scored 16 points and Andrew Morgan added 12 as the Cornhuskers continued to get the best of ranked teams at home, this time knocking off the Bruins in Lincoln, Neb.
Rollie Worster scored 11 points and Juwan Gary added 10 as Nebraska (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten) won its 20th consecutive home game to tie a program record. Included in that run are last season’s victories over No. 1 Purdue and No. 6 Wisconsin.
Tyler Bilodeau scored 15 points and Lazar Stefanovic added 10 for UCLA (11-3, 2-1), which suffered its first conference loss as a Big Ten member. The Bruins were just 4 of 28 (14.3 percent) from 3-point range one game after earning a victory over Gonzaga.
Arizona 72, No. 16 Cincinnati 67
Jaden Bradley led the visiting Wildcats with 15 points as they withstood a furious second-half rally to topple the host Bearcats in Cincinnati.
Bradley’s layup with 43 seconds left gave Arizona a 66-64 lead. After Dan Skillings Jr. missed a corner 3-pointer for Cincinnati, Bradley was fouled and drilled two free throws to extend the Wildcats’ lead to 68-64 with 24 seconds remaining.
Freshman Carter Bryant scored a season-high 14 points and Caleb Love tallied 12 points and six rebounds for Arizona (8-5, 2-0 Big 12), which has won four straight games. Skillings scored 18 points and Dillon Mitchell had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Bearcats (10-3, 0-2).
No. 17 Mississippi State 85, South Carolina 50
Josh Hubbard scored 21 points as the Bulldogs smothered the visiting Gamecocks in SEC play in Starkville, Miss.
Hubbard made 7 of 13 shots and drilled five 3-pointers after shooting 31.4 percent (16-of-51) in his previous four games. Claudell Harris added 17 points and nine rebounds while Riley Kugel and Keshawn Murphy chipped in 12 points apiece as Mississippi State (13-1, 1-0 SEC) won its seventh straight game.
Zachary Davis scored 22 for South Carolina (10-4, 0-1), but leading scorer Collin Murray-Boyles was held to five points and committed six of the Gamecocks’ 14 turnovers. The visitors shot just 29.1 percent overall and were 2-of-19 from 3-point range as their seven-game win streak ended.
No. 19 Gonzaga 96, Loyola Marymount 68
Graham Ike recorded 27 points and nine rebounds and Khalif Battle added a season-high 26 points to lead the Bulldogs past the host Lions in West Coast Conference play at Los Angeles.
Ike made 12 of 16 field-goal attempts and Battle was 10-of-12, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Michael Ajayi added 15 points and Ryan Nembhard had 10 points, 11 assists and six rebounds for Gonzaga (12-4, 3-0 WCC).
Will Johnston scored 18 points and Jevon Porter added 17 points and eight rebounds for LMU (9-7, 1-3). The Lions have dropped 13 straight home games against the Zags and 33 of the past 35 overall between the schools.
No. 24 Ole Miss 63, Georgia 51
Jaemyn Brakefield and Matthew Murrell each scored 15 points to lift the Rebels over the Bulldogs in Oxford, Miss.
Dre Davis added nine points for Ole Miss (12-2, 1-0 SEC), which rebounded from its loss at Memphis on Dec. 28.
Asa Newell collected 13 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks and two steals for Georgia (12-2, 0-1), which saw its seven-game winning streak come to a halt. The Bulldogs shot just 29.3 percent (17-for-58) from the field and 11.1 percent from 3-point range.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Wild D Jonas Brodin out for Game 1, F Joel Eriksson Ek also ailing
Apr 7, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Tyler Johnson (90) moves the puck away from Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin (25) and center Joel Eriksson Ek (14) during the second period at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin didn’t travel with the team to Denver and will miss Sunday night’s playoff series opener against the Colorado Avalanche.
Forward Joel Eriksson Ek is listed as questionable to play in Game 1 of the Western Conference second-round series.
Brodin, 32, sustained a lower-body injury during Game 5 of Minnesota’s first-round series against the Dallas Stars. He was hurt while blocking a shot by Dallas’ Mikko Rantanen during the second period.
Brodin missed the clinching Game 6 victory on Thursday. He had one assist in the series.
In the regular season, Brodin had four goals and 18 points in 62 games.
Eriksson Ek was hurt in Game 6 when his right leg smacked into the wall. He didn’t practice on Saturday.
Minnesota coach John Hynes was debating what to do about Ek’s spot with his status unclear.
“I’m kind of going through that a little bit right now,” Hynes said. “So, now you kind of go down that decision-making process of what would we do if he’s not ready.”
Ek, 29, had three goals and five points in the Dallas series. In the regular season, he had 19 goals and 51 points in 70 games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cameron Young holds six-shot lead after three rounds in Miami
May 2, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Cameron Young makes his par putt on the 18th hole during the third round of the Cadillac Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Romance-Imagn Images Cameron Young shot 2-under-par 70 on Saturday to remain in control through three rounds of Cadillac Championship at Miami.
Young is up six strokes on a group of three golfers, including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, at windy Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster Course.
Young, who’s at 15-under 201, will be looking for his second victory of the season and the third of his career on the PGA Tour during Sunday’s final round.
Scheffler shot 69 to move to second place by the time he finished the round. He’s joined in that position by South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (69) and Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan (69).
Young began the round with a bogey on the par-5 first hole but played the next 11 in 3 under.
Scheffler’s round was defined by birdies on three of the four par-5 layouts.
Matt McCarty (69), Ben Griffin (68) and Canada’s Nick Taylor (72) are at 8 under and tied for fifth place. Taylor bogeyed the final hole.
Jordan Spieth took a significant dive, shooting 75 and falling to a tie for 12th at 5 under. He was hurt by two double-bogeys — first on the par-3 fourth hole when he didn’t get into putting position until his fourth stroke and then on the 18th when his approach shot went into the water and he was forced to take a penalty.
Australia’s Adam Scott had the day’s best score with a bogey-free 6-under 66, leaving him at 3 under.
–Field Level Media
Sports
RJ Barrett, Raptors clash with Cavaliers in unexpected Game 7
May 1, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett (9) reacts after scoring the winning basket against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the overtime period in game six of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images RJ Barrett kept the Toronto Raptors’ season alive with one of the most clutch shots in franchise history, but he isn’t ready to reminisce about the moment yet.
Not with a win-or-go-home Game 7 of their Eastern Conference first round series taking place Sunday night at the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“Forget everything that’s happened,” said Barrett, who is averaging a series-high 24.3 points per game. “Now, it’s one game to win it all.”
The fifth-seeded Raptors earned that opportunity when Barrett’s 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left in overtime bounced off the heel of the rim, high in the air and through the hoop to give them a 112-110 victory Friday.
As a result, upstart Toronto has pushed the team with the highest payroll in the NBA to the brink of a devastating end to a season that began with championship dreams.
“Glory to God, that was a fun one, right?” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “It was a heck of a fight. We just talked about how much fun this is and how much we loved the challenge.”
Fourth-seeded Cleveland got a clean look at the buzzer, but Evan Mobley’s 29-footer was off the mark, keeping both teams unbeaten at home in the series.
“If I continue to sulk about that (Barrett) shot, it’s over,” Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell said. “Unfortunately, but fortunately, half of the locker room has been through this before. It’s going to test us.
“Protect home court, that’s all you can do. We’ve got to protect home court.”
History is on Cleveland’s side as it has never lost a Game 7 at home, beating the Washington Bullets in 1976, Boston Celtics in 1992, Indiana Pacers in 2018 and Orlando Magic in 2024.
Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Max Strus, Dean Wade and Sam Merrill remain on the roster from the latter, which featured the Cavaliers and Magic winning every game in their respective arenas.
“We’re at home and the ball is in our court,” said Mobley, who is averaging 19.0 points and 8.8 rebounds while shooting 56.8 percent from the field. “We’ve just got to come together and get a win.
“Don’t get too involved in the magnitude of everything, just protect home court.”
Toronto has only played one Game 7 on the road, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001. Barrett was about to celebrate his first birthday at the time, while Scottie Barnes and breakout performer Ja’Kobe Walter hadn’t been born yet.
Barrett, Barnes and Walter combined to score 73 of the Raptors’ 112 points in Game 6.
“I’ve watched so many Game 7s, you see the intensity on the court,” said Walter, who averaged 22.0 points and made 10 3-pointers in the last two contests. “I’m so excited to be in this moment.”
Barnes has been the most consistent performer in the series, averaging 24.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 9.0 assists. In a surprising development, he and Barrett have outplayed Cleveland’s star backcourt of James Harden and Mitchell.
Mitchell is shooting just 43.7% on field goal attempts, including 35.3% on 3-point tries; he has only attempted 14 total free throws. He has only taken over in brief stretches of two games, marking a complete turnaround from his brilliant 2025 postseason.
Trade-deadline acquisition Harden has been plagued by careless passes and poor decision-making, averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 assists and 5.7 turnovers.
“I’m a little frustrated, but there’s nothing you can do about it,” Harden said. “We can’t dwell on it too long. Just go back home, play one game and win.”
Both squads took Saturday off but will hold shootarounds on Sunday morning.
Raptors small forward Brandon Ingram (right heel) missed Game 6 and will be evaluated after working out with the team. Point guard Immanuel Quickley (right hamstring) continues to undergo treatment but will sit out the entire series.
The Cavaliers have no injuries and, should they lose, no legitimate excuses.
“This is typical NBA basketball with a four and a five seed going at it,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Now, we’ve got to go out and get Game 7.”
–Field Level Media
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