Sports
West Virginia tries to stay connected, meets free-falling K-State
Jan 21, 2026; Tempe, Arizona, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Honor Huff (3) against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Desert Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images West Virginia coach Ross Hodge is happy with the way his team has settled into the brutal grind of the Big 12.
The Mountaineers (13-7, 4-3) road-tripped through Arizona last week and earned their first win away from home by defeating Arizona State, 75-63, on Wednesday. The back half of the trip didn’t go as well as No. 1 Arizona administered an 88-53 beating on Saturday.
Nonetheless, as West Virginia prepares to face Kansas State (10-10, 1-6) in Morgantown, W. Va., Hodge appreciated how the Mountaineers handled themselves at Arizona — even though they were down 20 at halftime as the Wildcats never let up.
“We stayed connected despite the outcome of the game, which is what I challenge them to do,” Hodge said. “You have a great win on the road Wednesday against Arizona State and you’re celebrating and you love each other. Then you come in here and you get your tail whipped. You have to be able to do both the same and I think our guys did that for the most part and they competed for the most part.”
Honor Huff leads the Mountaineers with 16.3 points per game. Jasper Floyd (6.9 points, 3.0 assists, 1.9 steals per game) is known for his facilitating and defense.
Three other Mountaineers average at least 10 points in their balanced attack: Treysen Eaglestaff (10.6), Brenen Lorient (10.5, team-high 26 blocks) and Chance Moore (10.2).
Kansas State continued to struggle in an 86-62 home loss to Kansas Saturday — the Wildcats’ sixth loss in seven games.
Coach Jerome Tang has been feeling the pressure as they fall into a deeper hole. Tang led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight in his first season in 2022-23 and went 40-9 at home in his first three seasons.
The loss to Kansas, however, dropped Tang to 29-34 in Big 12 play.
“You never want to see anybody celebrate on your court,” Tang told the Wichita Eagle. “It sucks to see them do it. It really, really sucks to see them do it. I haven’t experienced that before, and it is not a good feeling. Not at all.”
PJ Haggerty continues to lead the Wildcats with 23.4 points and 4.5 assists per game. He entered Monday’s play ranked fifth nationally in scoring.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 17 St. John's bests Xavier in OT as Rick Pitino sweeps son
Feb 9, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Xavier Musketeers head coach Richard Pitino is greeted by St. John’s Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Zuby Ejiofor scored six points in overtime for No. 17 St. John’s, which fended off an upset bid by Xavier to earn an 87-82 win in Big East action Monday night in New York.
The win was the 904th on-court victory for St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino, who snapped a tie with Roy Williams for third-place all-time. It was the second milestone victory for Rick Pitino over Xavier — coached by his son Richard — in 16 days. The Red Storm beat the Musketeers 88-83 on Jan. 24 for Rick Pitino’s 900th win.
The NCAA recognizes Rick Pitino with 781 wins after he was stripped of 123 victories due to violations at Louisville.
Ejiofor finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists for St. John’s (19-5, 12-1 Big East), which has won 10 straight — the third 10-game winning streak in the last two seasons under Rick Pitino.
Bryce Hopkins had 19 points, nine rebounds and two key overtime steals for the Red Storm. Dylan Darling had 16 points off the bench while starter Oziyah Sellers added 11 points.
St. John’s won despite shooting just 23.1% (3-of-13) from 3-point land and 68.3% (28-of-41) from the free-throw line.
Tre Carroll had 21 points and eight rebounds but missed a potential game-winning shot at the regulation buzzer for Xavier (12-12, 4-9 Big East), which has lost five of six.
Filip Borovicanin (12 points, 10 rebounds) posted a double-double. Jovan Milicevic had 13 points, Malik Messina-Moore had 11 and reserve Anthony Robinson added 10.
The Musketeers shot just 29.4% (5-of-17) from 3-point land and 52.9% (9-of-17) from the free-throw line.
Neither team had a lead of larger than five nor a run of longer than seven straight points during a back-and-forth contest that featured 15 ties and 15 lead changes.
Ejiofor and Borovicanin swapped baskets to open the extra session before Hopkins intercepted Isaiah Walker’s pass into the paint to set up the two free throws by Ejiofor that put St. John’s up for good at 82-80.
Borovicanin missed a layup and Hopkins split a pair of free throws before stealing the ball from Carroll to lead to two more free throws by Ejiofor with 2:07 left. Robinson’s jumper with 56 seconds left pulled Xavier within 85-82, but the teams traded empty trips before Sellers iced the win with a breakaway dunk with seven seconds remaining.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Brawl between Pistons, Hornets results in four ejections
Feb 3, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) battles for position on a foul shot with Denver Nuggets center Jonas Valanciunas (17) in the third quarter at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images A brawl between the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets happened midway through the third quarter Monday night in Charlotte, resulting in four ejections and a lengthy delay.
With 7:09 to play in the quarter, a confrontation broke out between Detroit’s Jalen Duren and Charlotte’s Moussa Diabate.
Diabate fouled Duren in the lane and Duren turned and squared up with Diabate. When that scrap wound down, another broke out near midcourt.
That involved Charlotte’s Miles Bridges coming off the bench and tangling with Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart.
Diabate, Bridges, Duren and Stewart were all ejected. By the end of the fighting, the mayhem spread across most of the court.
Duren had scored 15 points in 20 minutes for the Pistons.
Detroit led 70-62 at the time.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mikel Brown Jr. matches single-game records as No. 24 Louisville crushes NC State
Feb 9, 2026; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Mikel Brown Jr. (0) reacts after making a shot against the NC State Wolfpack during the first half at KFC Yum! Center. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. tied the Louisville single-game scoring mark with 45 points and tied another single-game record with 10 3-pointers to lead the No. 24 Cardinals to a 118-77 win over visiting North Carolina State on Monday night.
Louisville (18-6, 8-4) never trailed as Brown produced 21 points with five 3-pointers to stake the Cardinals to a 56-36 halftime lead before topping that total with five more 3-pointers in the second half.
He finished 14 of 23 from the field, 10 of 16 on 3-point attempts and 7-for-7 at the line while adding nine rebounds, three steals and two assists in 34 minutes. Ryan Conwell added 31 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Cardinals while going 5-for-6 from 3-point range.
When Brown hit his final 3-pointer with 2:09 to play — a swish from nearly 30 feet away — he tied Wes Unseld’s single-game record set against Georgetown (Ky.) College on Dec. 1, 1967. Brown’s 10 3-pointers tied the school record set by Reyne Smith last season against SMU.
Louisville coach Pat Kelsey then called timeout to remove Brown from the game.
Louisville opened the game on a 7-0 run. NC State pulled within 25-20 on a Quadir Copeland dunk with 10:58 left in the first half.
Louisville then answered with a 10-2 run and NC State never pulled within single digits after that run which included 3-pointers from Ryan Conwell and Brown.
Louisville racked up its sixth 100-plus scoring effort on the year. No Cardinal other than Brown and Conwell reached double figures, but Louisville shot 60% overall (39-for-65) and 60% from 3-point range (18-for-30).
NC State (18-7, 9-3) saw the end of a six-game winning streak as the Wolfpack allowed more than 85 points for just the second time this season. The Wolfpack were led by Ven-Allen Lubin’s 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Tre Holloman added 19 points and Copeland tallied 10.
The Wolfpack shot just 4-for-22 (18.2%) from 3-point range and were outrebounded 42-28.
–Field Level Media
No. 17 St. John's bests Xavier in OT as Rick Pitino sweeps son
Brawl between Pistons, Hornets results in four ejections
