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Bill Self: No. 23 Kansas was 'awful' in blowout loss to BYU

NCAA Basketball: Kansas at UtahFeb 15, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Kansas Jayhawks center Hunter Dickinson (1) recovers a rebound against the Utah Utes during the second half at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images

Richie Saunders scored a game-high 22 points and BYU led for all but 26 seconds of a 91-57 Big 12 Conference blowout of No. 23 Kansas on Tuesday in Provo, Utah.

The margin of defeat matched the largest for Kansas in 22 years under coach Bill Self, who said, “I thought we were awful, and I thought (the Cougars) were great. They made everything they looked at and then any mistake that we made they made us pay.”

Trevin Knell added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Cougars (18-8, 9-6 Big 12), who bombarded the Jayhawks with 14 3-pointers in 36 attempts and shot 51.5 percent from the field. Mawot Mag tallied 13 points, going 3 of 4 from 3-point range, while Keba Keita contributed 10 points and nine rebounds. Dallin Hall chipped in 10 points and eight assists.

Hunter Dickinson scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for Kansas, while reserve David Coit added 11 points, but it wasn’t close to being enough. The Jayhawks made only 36.5 percent of their shots, including 9 of 32 3-point attempts, and were thumped 43-33 on the boards.

Hoping to regroup after taking a 74-67 upset loss Saturday night at Utah, Kansas (17-9, 8-7) instead was outclassed in every aspect of the game. The Jayhawks turned the ball over 15 times, 14 of them via steals, and forced just 10 turnovers. They allowed 20 fastbreak points.

BYU opened up a 20-point halftime lead and simply kept adding on against a helpless opponent. The margin reached 30 at the 14:06 mark of the second half via a 3-pointer by Egor Demin and climbed to 38 in the final 2 1/2 minutes.

The pregame storylines concerned BYU’s need for a signature win to help its NCAA Tournament chances and the Jayhawks’ desire to simply play sharper basketball. It didn’t take long to see which side would get what it wanted.

Knell splashed a 3-pointer to start the game and the Cougars led 8-0 before Kansas got on the board. The margin reached 10 at the 14:42 mark when Keita dunked off a lob pass from Knell.

The margin stayed in double figures for the game’s final 26:16, reaching 46-26 at the break as Knell drilled a corner 3-pointer with 1:18 left.

–Field Level Media

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CJ Abrams, Foster Griffin spark Nationals over D-backs

Jul 25, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams (5) hits a two RBI double against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the third inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn ImagesJul 25, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams (5) hits a two RBI double against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the third inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images

CJ Abrams had three hits including a home run, Foster Griffin pitched into the seventh inning and the Nationals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 on Saturday in Washington.

Abrams tied the game with a two-run double in the third and hit his 25th home run in the fifth, giving him a major-league-leading 79 RBIs. He also singled and stole his 17th base.

Griffin (12-2), a free agent at the end of the season, may have been making his final start for Washington with the trade deadline approaching. Griffin, who struck out two and walked one, allowed three runs on six hits after giving up one or zero earned runs in eight straight starts.

Clayton Beeter pitched 1-2-3 ninth for his ninth save.

Gabriel Moreno had a two-run single for Arizona, which had won four straight, and Tim Tawa had two hits and a run.

Rookie Mitch Bratt (0-1) gave up five runs on seven hits over five innings in his fourth start. He struck out three and walked five.

An error by second baseman Ketel Marte gave the Nationals runners on first and second with one out in the second, but Bratt retired Nasim Nunez and Keibert Ruiz.

The D-backs struck for two runs in the third. Ryan Waldschmidt led off with a single and Corbin Carroll was hit by a pitch. Geraldo Perdomo bunted the runners over and Moreno followed with a two-run single.

Washington answered with a four-run rally in the bottom half. Curtis Mead walked with one out and Andres Chaparro doubled him to third. Abrams lined a double to center and the game was tied. After Abrams was out trying to steal third, Dylan Crews walked. Jacob Young singled and Daylen Lile tripled into the right field corner and the Nationals led 4-2.

Abrams made it 5-2 when he homered to right-center leading off the fifth.

In the seventh, Tawa doubled with two outs and scored on a single by James McCann. Eddy Yean came on and retired pinch hitter Max Kepler to end the inning.

–Field Level Media

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Dylan Cease tosses dominant 1-hitter as Blue Jays blank Red Sox

Jul 25, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA;  Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease (84) pitches during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn ImagesJul 25, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease (84) pitches during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

Dylan Cease threw a one-hitter and George Springer hit a three-run home run as the visiting Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox 6-0 Saturday.

The teams will play the rubber match of the series on Sunday. Boston is 11-2 in its last 13 games against the American League East and has won 16 of its last 18.

Cease (7-5), who took a no-hitter into the ninth against the San Francisco Giants on July 8, only allowed four Red Sox hitters to reach base.

He was perfect until walking Caleb Durbin with two outs in the fifth and didn’t allow a hit through five innings.

The complete game was the first for Toronto this season and the 12th in the majors. Seven of the complete games have been shutouts.

It was Cease’s fourth career complete game and his fourth career shutout. The right-hander walked three and struck out 12 on a career-high 120 pitches.

Boston starter Sonny Gray (12-2) gave up five runs on 10 hits in five innings. The right-hander didn’t walk anyone and struck out three on 75 pitches.

The Blue Jays took control in the third when they used six straight hits to score five runs with two outs.

Nathan Lukes started the rally with a double into the left-field corner and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lined a single to left.

Kazuma Okamoto kept it going by singling off the glove of third baseman Durbin and Springer made the Red Sox pay by homering just over the Green Monster in left to make it 4-0.

Varsho continued the inning with a single to center and he scored when Ernie Clement doubled off the base of the left-field wall to go up 5-0.

Gray had been 10-0 since coming off the injured list in mid-May. This was his worst outing since giving up five earned runs in four innings in a 6-0 loss to Minnesota on April 14.

Cease, pitching on the second anniversary of his no-hitter for the Padres, didn’t give up a hit until Andruw Monasterio doubled to lead off the sixth.

Monasterio did not advance, however, as Cease induced Connor Wong to ground out, struck out Anthony Seigler and retired Ceddanne Rafaela with a pop out to shallow center.

–Field Level Media

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Jung Hoo Lee, Rafael Devers shine as Giants torch Angels

Jul 25, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants first baseman Rafael Devers (16) celebrates with second baseman Luis Arraez (1) after batting him in on a three run home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the fourth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn ImagesJul 25, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants first baseman Rafael Devers (16) celebrates with second baseman Luis Arraez (1) after batting him in on a three run home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the fourth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

Jung Hoo Lee lifted a three-run home run as part of a five-run third inning, Rafael Devers homered for the second consecutive day and the San Francisco Giants made it two straight over the visiting Los Angeles Angels with a 9-2 shellacking Saturday afternoon.

Robbie Ray (9-6) threw six shutout innings for the Giants, who followed up on a walk-off win by scoring nine runs in the rematch’s first four innings.

Lee’s homer, his sixth of the season, capped a lead-creating third that began with one-out hits by Luis Arraez and Heliot Ramos, followed by two-out RBI singles from Devers and Casey Schmitt.

Arraez also singled in the fourth, an RBI hit that plated Drew Gilbert, before Devers launched his 22nd homer, another three-run shot, that made it 9-0.

Angels starter Ryan Johnson (2-5) was pulled one out into the fourth, eventually charged with eight runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out four.

Ray retained the nine-run margin through his six innings, during which he allowed six hits and two walks. He struck out five.

In becoming the team’s first nine-game winner, the left-hander ran his career record against the Angels to 4-1, equalling his best career winning percentage against any opponent.

The Angels avoided a shutout in the seventh when Mike Trout, who had two earlier singles, grounded into a bases-loaded double play, scoring Jose Siri.

The visitors completed the scoring in the ninth when Vaughn Grissom drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk.

Backup catcher Tyler Heineman finished the game on the mound for the Angels, throwing a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth.

Devers, who had a fourth RBI taken away in Friday’s opener when what was originally scored as a two-run, ground-rule double was changed to a walk-off, RBI single, got his four RBIs a day later along with three hits and two runs scored. Arraez had two hits and scored twice for the Giants, while Lee added a double to his home run.

Siri and Logan O’Hoppe joined Trout with two hits each for the Angels, who dropped their third straight. The Angels were out-hit 11-9.

-Field Level Media

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