Sports
No. 9 Texas Tech stumbles into matchup with West Virginia
Feb 15, 2025; Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders guard Christian Anderson (4) trapped during the second half against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images Texas Tech will look to make an energized return to the court when it faces West Virginia on Saturday afternoon in Big 12 play at Lubbock, Texas.
The No. 9 Red Raiders were plagued by an empty tank in the final minutes of a 69-66 road loss to TCU on Tuesday. Texas Tech’s scoring output was 16 points below its season average.
Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland pointed at himself for why his squad sputtered after taking a four-point lead with less than seven minutes to play.
“I got to do a better job — played too many guys too many minutes,” McCasland said. “Felt like those guys had the understanding of what it took to win this game, but we ran out of gas and weren’t able to finish it.”
Texas Tech (20-6, 11-4 Big 12) has split its past four games after winning the previous seven.
Making the game against the Mountaineers (16-10, 7-8) even more pivotal is that the Red Raiders play No. 5 Houston, the Big 12 leader, on Monday.
Big man JT Toppin will look to bounce back after having just 14 points against TCU. He scored 32 points in a win against Oklahoma State on Feb. 15 and a career-best 41 the prior game in a double-overtime victory against Arizona State.
Toppin has put together four consecutive double-doubles. He averaged 20 shots over the first three of those games before going 5 of 9 against TCU.
“They just double-teamed him all game long and got the ball out of his hands,” McCasland said. “… You just swing the basketball to a few guys and you make those and it makes it where you can’t do that very often, and we’ve been successful with that. But yeah, they were physical and pushing his touches out.”
Toppin leads the Red Raiders in scoring (17.1 points per game) and rebounding (9.2 per game). Darrion Williams averages 15.2 points and 4.0 assists, and Chance McMillian is scoring 15.1 points per game and has knocked down a team-leading 64 3-pointers.
West Virginia is coming off a much-needed 62-59 home win over Cincinnati on Wednesday. The Mountaineers lost six of their previous eight games.
However, it was nervous time down the stretch against the Bearcats after Javon Small made two free throws to give West Virginia a 62-53 lead with 34 seconds left.
Cincinnati’s Dan Skillings Jr. drilled a 3-pointer with 7.9 seconds left, got the ball again on a bad pass by West Virginia’s Amani Hansberry and knocked down another trey with four seconds to play.
After a timeout, the Mountaineers’ Joseph Yesufu turned the ball over and the Bearcats had the ball under their own basket. The inbounds pass went to a wide-open Tyler Betsey, but his tying 3-point attempt bounced off the front rim with less than two seconds remaining.
“Sometimes when you haven’t had a lot of success recently, some of that doubt can creep in, and some of that doubt crept in on that last shot when it was in the air,” Mountaineers coach Darian DeVries said.
Hansberry had 17 points and a career-best 13 rebounds and Small added 16 points while laboring through 36 minutes.
“My ankle hurt a little bit, but it happens in basketball and injuries happen,” Small said. “Sometimes you have to just play through them. I just happened to play through mine.”
Small leads the Mountaineers in scoring (18.5 ppg), assists (5.5 per game), 3-pointers (62) and steals (45).
This the lone regular-season matchup between the teams this season. They met once last season, with Texas Tech notching an 81-70 road victory.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dodgers jump ahead early, hold off Mets to win fourth straight
Jul 25, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing (68) talks to starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (18) after the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Kyle Tucker homered for a second straight game and Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed just a run over six innings Saturday for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won their fourth straight game by beating the host New York Mets 4-3.
The Dodgers outfielder, who on Friday went deep for the first time since June 27, led off the third with a 392-foot shot off Nolan McLean (7-7) that hit the right field foul pole.
Andy Pages (1-for-4) drove in two, and Freddie Freeman had three singles in four at-bats for the Dodgers.
Bo Bichette went 2-for-5, and Tyrone Taylor hit a pinch-hit, two-run double for the Mets.
Yamamoto (11-6) could not match his last start, a complete-game victory last Sunday against the New York Yankees. Still, he was able to secure his eighth win in his last 10 starts. The right-hander struck out five against five hits and three walks.
The Dodgers staked Yamamoto to a three-run lead in the third thanks to Tucker’s power and some errant Mets defensive play. First baseman Brett Baty threw wild after fielding a Shohei Ohtani chopper. Rather than starting a possible inning-ending double play, it gave the Dodgers runners at the corners.
Pages grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice, and then went to third on a Freeman single and scored on a passed ball by catcher Francisco Alvarez.
McLean went six innings, and only two of the four runs he allowed were earned. The Dodgers got seven hits and two walks off the righty, who struck out seven.
Pages added to the lead in the fifth with a single to right that scored Teoscar Hernandez, who led off the frame with a double.
The Mets, who have lost three straight, were 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 on base. They got two runners on base against Yamamoto three times but only capitalized once, when Bo Bichette’s two-out single got Baty home in the fifth.
Dodgers reliever Edgardo Hernandez hit Carson Benge and walked Luis Robert Jr. to start the eighth. He retired the next two before giving way to Tanner Scott. Taylor welcomed him with his two-bagger to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Brock Stewart threw a perfect ninth to record his third career save, the first for the 34-year-old right-hander since 2023.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Defenses rule as Minnesota United, Whitecaps play to scoreless draw
Jul 25, 2026; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota United FC midfielder Wil Trapp (20) and Vancouver Whitecaps FC midfielder Oliver Larraz (8) battle for the ball during the first half at Allianz Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images Minnesota United goalkeeper Drake Callender made five saves in a 0-0 draw with the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night at Saint Paul, Minn.
The performance was a big upgrade for the United, who were blown out by Vancouver earlier this season.
Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka stopped three shots, but the Whitecaps (10-3-3, 33 points) remained winless in two matches since returning to action this month.
Even though there was improvement, Minnesota (6-6-5, 23 points) had its winless streak grow to six matches (0-3-3).
United forward Mamadou Dieng compiled a match-high three shots on goal.
Despite a nice advantage in possession for the Whitecaps (60.3%), they weren’t crisp and that cost them repeatedly when they were attempting to push forward.
Each team produced two shots on goal in the scoreless first half. Later, there were rushes for both teams in the added time, but nothing that mounted to a breakthrough. Vancouver finished with 11 shots, five on target, to 10 and 3 for Minnesota.
The Whitecaps, who dropped Wednesday’s outing at Cincinnati by 4-3 following the layoff for the World Cup, have been shut out in two of their last four matches.
The Whitecaps drubbed visiting Minnesota 6-0 in March.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jonquel Jones leads Team Spoon to All-Star Game defeat of Team Coop
Jul 25, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Team Spoon forward Nneka Ogwumike (30) celebrates with center Jonquel Jones (35) in the first half during the 2026 WNBA All Star Game at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images Jonquel Jones had 22 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists and Olivia Miles added 11 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists to boost Team Spoon to a 129-122 victory against Team Coop on Saturday in the WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago.
Jones, a star with the New York Liberty, garnered MVP honors, helping outpace a 28-point effort from Kelsey Mitchell of Team Coop.
Allisha Gray (19 points), Caitlin Clark (17), A’ja Wilson (12), Courtney Williams (12), Nneka Ogwumike (11) and Kiki Iriafen (10) also scored in double figures for Team Spoon.
Marina Mabrey added 23 points for Team Coop. Gabby Williams chipped in 18 points, while Paige Bueckers and Dominique Malonga had 12 each. Malonga added 13 rebounds for a double-double while Breanna Stewart (six points) also had 13 boards.
A league All Star Game-record 19,783 fans attended the game at the United Center, home of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls.
That more than doubled the attendance when Chicago hosted the annual midseason showcase in 2022. A crowd of 9,572 looked on at Wintrust Arena, where the Chicago Sky play their home games.
With the WNBA saluting its 30th anniversary season, Hall of Famers Cynthia Cooper and Teresa Weatherspoon drafted the teams and served as general managers. They also were part of a rotating contingent that was “mic’d up” during an interactive broadcast on ABC.
Minnesota Lynx bench boss Cheryl Reeve coached Team Spoon while Becky Hammon, coach of the reigning league champion Las Vegas Aces, guided Team Coop.
Team Spoon rolled to an 81-64 advantage at the half behind 55.7% shooting compared to 42.6% for Team Coop. The teams combined for 24 makes from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes, with Mabrey (five) edging Clark (four) for the most treys before the break.
Mabrey, who entered the All-Star break as the league leader in made 3s with 82, led all scorers with 23 first-half points. Still, Malonga provided arguably the most memorable first-half basket with a dunk off a pass from Angel Reese with 6:24 to play in the second quarter.
It marked the first dunk in an All-Star Game since Sylvia Fowles in 2022.
Skylar Diggins remains the only player to record an All-Star triple-double, accomplishing the feat last season.
–Field Level Media
Dodgers jump ahead early, hold off Mets to win fourth straight
Defenses rule as Minnesota United, Whitecaps play to scoreless draw
