Sports
No. 25 St. John's stretches win streak to 7 with thumping of Butler
Jan 28, 2026; New York, New York, USA; St. John’s Red Storm guard Oziyah Sellers (4) grabs a rebound in the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Ian Jackson scored 18 points as No. 25 St. John’s extended its winning streak to seven games with a wire-to-wire 92-70 rout of visiting Butler on Wednesday night in New York.
After honoring Rick Pitino for becoming the fourth coach with 900 career wins, the Red Storm (16-5, 9-1 Big East) notched their fourth double-digit victory of the streak by starting aggressively in their first game as a ranked team since Dec. 20 before heating up from 3-point range.
Zuby Ejiofor totaled 15 points, six rebounds, five assists and had three of the Red Storm’s eight blocks. The senior forward ended the game one point shy of 1,000 points since transferring to St. John’s following one season at Kansas.
Dillon Mitchell collected 14 points and 13 boards as the Red Storm outrebounded Butler 41-31. Reserve Joson Sanon contributed 13 points as St. John’s topped 90 points for the 10th time this season.
St. John’s shot 56.3%, scored its first 20 points in the paint and totaled 46 inside overall by hitting 12 of 18 layups and all six dunk attempts. The Red Storm also finished 9-of-20 from behind the arc after missing their first seven attempts.
Michael Ajayi led Butler (13-8, 4-6) with 19 points and 11 rebounds, but Finley Bizjack was held to 11 points. Jaime Kaiser Jr. and Evan Haywood scored 12 apiece as the Bulldogs lost their eighth straight contest to the Red Storm, including a pair of Big East tournament games.
After the earlier troubles, St. John’s hit five straight triples in the final 4:11 to turn a five-point lead into a 43-29 advantage by halftime.
Butler cut the lead to 47-38 on a floater by Bizjack with 16:49 left and St. John’s gradually took over. Ejiofor hit a difficult mid-range hook shot and finished a 3-point play for a 56-43 lead with 13:31 left and Sanon hit an open 3 to up the lead to 63-45.
The Red Storm finished it off while Ejiofor sat after picking up his third foul as Sanon hit another open 3 to hike the lead to 71-50 with 8:27 left and Bryce Hopkins drove unimpeded for a 75-53 edge just under a minute later. Jackson hit a 3 for an 86-61 lead with 3:36 remaining in the game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mark DeRosa Needs To Take More Accountability for Team USA
Mar 18, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; USA manager Mark DeRosa (4) returns to the dugout after a pitching change during the fifth inning against Venezuela at LoanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Team USA was dealt a massive upset loss to Italy in the World Baseball Classic, falling 8-6. The US battled back, with Gunner Henderson and Aaron Judge having at-bats in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game, but ultimately fell short in what will be one of the greatest upsets in WBC history.
The US was -1100 entering the matchup, and it seemed like a night to give a few guys some rest. Well, that would have been the case if Team USA hadn’t needed a win to move on to the quarterfinals. Manager Mark DeRosa completely mismanaged the team, benching multiple key starters to get Paul Goldschmidt and Ernie Clement some ABs.
Somehow, nobody had told DeRosa that the US could be eliminated with a loss, and now they have to wait for the results of Mexico and Italy to learn their fates. Mistakes happen; at this level, they shouldn’t, but they do. However, the biggest issue in this entire debacle is that DeRosa was never looking to take any accountability for this disaster.
DeRosa was on MLB Network’s ‘Hot Stove’ the morning before the Italy matchup, and he openly said he was resting guys because they had their ticket punched to the quarterfinals. That mistake alone should get you fired, but he didn’t say that by accident; he had no idea that they could be eliminated with a loss!
DeRosa had Clayton Kershaw warming up in the 8th inning, then mysteriously sat him back down to get Mason Miller into the game for the top of the 9th. Somebody must’ve told him that this game was still a must-win, and he wasn’t going to waste some innings with a mostly retired Kershaw.
In the post-game, he has to take way more accountability in that situation. He messed up; he didn’t just bungle his words. DeRosa needed to step on the stand after that game and, honestly, say he didn’t know the rules of the pool calculations, and that mistake was on him.
I’m not sure how anyone can take DeRosa seriously at this point. Anytime he’s criticizing a managerial decision on MLB TV, you’ll only be thinking about how he made one of the dumbest managerial moves you’ve ever seen in the sport. Also, if he was ever thinking of actually managing an MLB team, you can kiss that goodbye.
Honestly, it’s somewhat insane that the US Baseball Federation hasn’t fired him yet. This still shouldn’t all be on DeRosa. Even if you were playing with your C team, you shouldn’t be having any issues getting past Italy. Well, when you look at Italy’s roster, it’s essentially the USA’s C team, since it’s full of guys who aren’t even dual citizens.
Well, it’s a waiting game now to see if Team USA advances. If Italy wins, Team USA advances, or if Mexico wins and scores five or more runs, the Americans also still advance. No matter what happens, I don’t think we will be seeing DeRosa in the dugouts past this WBC.
Sports
Darryn Peterson, Kansas gear up for sizzling TCU in Big 12 tourney
Kansas Jayhawks guard Darryn Peterson (22) shoots the ball against Kansas State Wildcats guard David Castillo (10) during the Sunflower Showdown game in Lawrence, Kansas, on Saturday, March 7, 2026. No. 14 Kansas is rested and ready to use this week’s Big 12 tournament as a tune-up of sorts for the NCAA Tournament.
That won’t be easy when the third-seeded Jayhawks face perhaps the hottest team in the conference, No. 6 seed TCU, in the nightcap of the Big 12 quarterfinals on Thursday in Kansas City, Mo.
Kansas (22-9) ended the regular season with a 104-85 win over rival Kansas State on Saturday to snap a two-game losing streak. Still, the Jayhawks lost four of their final seven games after going over a month between losses with eight straight wins from Jan. 13 to Feb. 9.
TCU (22-10) won its sixth straight game — tied with top-seeded Arizona for the longest active Big 12 streak — in its tournament opener Wednesday with a 95-88 victory over Oklahoma State.
Both teams will be in the NCAA Tournament regardless of how this rematch plays out. However, Kansas is projected much higher (4 seed in ESPN’s latest update) than TCU (projected 9 seed) despite similar records.
The Jayhawks have high-level wins, including against then-No. 1 Arizona, then-No. 2 Iowa State and No. 5 Houston.
They’re also getting their most consistent availability of the season from star freshman guard Darryn Peterson.
Peterson, who averages a team-high 19.9 points per game, missed 11 regular-season games with a host of issues, including quad, hamstring and ankle injuries. He was spotted checking himself out of games and drew outside questions about if he was looking ahead to the NBA as a projected top-three pick in this year’s draft.
But he’s turned a corner health-wise, playing in each of Kansas’ final seven regular-season games. And he closed out with one of his best games, hitting 10 of 15 shots for 27 points — his most since Jan. 6 — in the Kansas State win.
“I’m feeling good,” Peterson said. “It’s perfect timing, if you ask me, going into the Big 12 tournament and NCAA. I’m feeling probably the best I’ve felt all year.”
“That’s the best he’s moved all year long, without a question,” Kansas coach Bill Self added.
The Horned Frogs, who were firmly on the bubble before ending the regular season with five straight wins, had to work for their win over Oklahoma State. They trailed by 10 with 13:48 left and by five with 6:32 left before ending the game on a 22-10 run.
A career-high 26 points from leading scorer David Punch (14.0 ppg) anchored TCU’s comeback bid. Punch made 9 of 14 shots, and was supplemented by Xavier Edmonds’ sixth double-double in the last eight games with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Horned Frogs, who rank 12th in the Big 12 in shooting percentage, shot 50.7% in the win. It’s just the third time they’ve made at least half their field-goal attempts against a conference opponent and the first time since Jan. 24 vs. Baylor.
TCU and Kansas met in early January in the second conference game for each team. The Jayhawks prevailed 104-100 in overtime over the visiting Horned Frogs behind a career-high 32 points from Peterson.
“We played hard, but we’re a lot better team than we were then,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said of the prior matchup. “I think that was a good — I wouldn’t say a good experience but a learning experience.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Kirill Kaprizov stepping up as Wild take aim at Flyers
Mar 10, 2026; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson (32) and left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) celebrate their teams win against the Utah Mammoth during the third period at Grand Casino Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Many teams in the NHL might need to choose between goal scoring from their top stars or from their depth players.
The Minnesota Wild have enjoyed both heading into their game on Thursdayt against the Philadelphia Flyers in Saint Paul, Minn.
“It’s nice that some of the guys that we’re expecting to score are continuing to do that and play well,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “But it also takes a little bit of the load off them when you have guys that can score and produce. It makes you a harder team to defend.”
The Flyers are vying for two wins in as many nights after knocking off the Washington Capitals 4-1 on Wednesday in Philadelphia. Owen Tippett notched a goal and an assist for the Flyers, and Travis Konecny, Trevor Zegras and defenseman Jamie Drysdale each scored one goal.
Philadelphia is 5-2-0 in its past seven games as it aims for a postseason run. The Flyers are seven points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
The Wild also have their hopes pinned on the playoffs and are in third place in the Central Division. Minnesota is 3-0-1 in its past four contests and has a 12-3-2 record in its past 17.
Kirill Kaprizov has led the way for Minnesota. He has 78 points (37 goals, 41 assists) in 65 games this season, and he leads the team with 16 goals on the power play.
Hynes said Kaprizov is playing as well as he has all season. He praised his star after the Wild’s 5-0 victory over the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday night, during which Kaprizov finished with a goal and an assist.
“Kirill, he was physical, playing with power,” Hynes said. “He’s such a skilled player, but when he plays a power game, when he’s tenacious like a dog with a bone, that’s when you really stand out. I think that goal (he scored against Utah) was indicative of that.”
On the opposite bench, Konecny leads Philadelphia in goals (24), assists (34) and points (58). Zegras is second on the team in all three categories (22, 31, 53).
The Flyers likely will start Dan Vladar in net one night after Samuel Ersson made the start against the Capitals. Vladar is 20-11-6 with a 2.52 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage this season, and he is 3-1-1 with a 2.63 GAA and an .896 save percentage in five career games against the Wild.
Vladar will try to bounce back from a rough performance Monday against the New York Rangers, who scored six goals against him on 24 shots.
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said he gave Vladar an extra day of rest Wednesday after his difficult performance earlier in the week.
“He might have been a little bit tired,” Tocchet said. “You know he’ll never admit it. We have to be cautious of that.”
Minnesota could counter with Filip Gustavsson or Jesper Wallstedt in net.
Gustavsson is 24-10-6 with a 2.46 GAA and a .913 save percentage this season, and he is 0-2-0 with a 6.09 GAA and a .709 save percentage against Philadelphia.
Wallstedt is 14-6-5 with a 2.81 GAA and a .911 save percentage this season, and he is 0-0-1 with a 1.92 GAA and a .905 save percentage in his lone start versus the Flyers.
-Field Level Media
Mark DeRosa Needs To Take More Accountability for Team USA
Darryn Peterson, Kansas gear up for sizzling TCU in Big 12 tourney
