Sports
No. 22 St. John's uses decisive second-half run to put away DePaul
Feb 3, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA: St. John’s Red Storm forward Bryce Hopkins (23) drives to the basket against the DePaul Blue Demons during the first half at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images No. 22 St. John’s reeled off 12 straight points early in the second half to trigger a 68-56 Big East win over DePaul on Tuesday night in Chicago.
Zuby Ejiofor produced 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists to pace the Red Storm (17-5, 10-1), who won their eighth in a row to set up a first-place showdown with No. 3 UConn (22-1, 12-0) on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Bryce Hopkins notched 15 points and Oziyah Sellers added 13.
Layden Blocker posted 13 points for the Blue Demons (12-11, 4-8), who were trying to extend their home winning streak in league play to five games for the first time since March 2005. DePaul shot 34.6% from the field and committed 11 of its 15 turnovers in the second half.
The first half was a masterclass in physical and relentless man-to-man defense as the Red Storm and Blue Demons took umbrage at every shot, pass, dribble and cut.
St. John’s missed 12 of its first 14 shots and DePaul wasn’t much better as they combined for seven ties and six lead changes in the first half. Neither team led by more than one possession until the Blue Demons forged a 28-24 lead on Kaleb Banks’ free throw with 1:45 left in the half.
St. John’s responded with Sellers’ 3-point pullup and Hopkins’ layup to take a 29-28 lead into the break. The Blue Demons shot 33.3% from the field while the Red Storm hit just 30%.
The Red Storm cranked up their pressure another notch early in the second half. After CJ Gunn banked a stepback jumper from just beyond the free-throw line to give DePaul a 35-34 edge with 17:34 to go, the Blue Demons were held scoreless for the next 6:45.
While DePaul was busy committing four turnovers and missing seven consecutive shots, St. John’s went on a 12-0 spree. Ejiofor started it with a putback and two free throws before Sellers flew in for a tip-in and swished a 3-pointer. Ian Jackson closed the run with an open 3-pointer to give St. John’s a 46-35 lead with 11:10 to go.
As the Red Storm seized control, tempers boiled over and five technicals were handed out in less than two minutes. Sellers and DePaul’s Brandon Maclin picked up technicals at the 12:16 mark when Sellers didn’t appreciate Maclin trying to rip the ball out of his hands while calling a timeout, DePaul coach Chris Holtmann received a technical for questioning a foul call at 10:32 while Blocker and Hopkins got T’d up three seconds later for barking at each other after Hopkins fouled Blocker battling for a loose ball.
DePaul got as close as 56-50 when Blocker’s transition layup closed a 6-0 run with 3:35 to go, but St. John’s scored the next six to restore order.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 3 UConn enjoys balanced attack in easy win over Xavier
Feb 3, 2026; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies forward Tarris Reed Jr. (5) reacts with guard Silas Demary Jr. (2) as they take on the Xavier Musketeers in the first half at PeoplesBank Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images Silas Demary Jr. collected 17 points and eight assists to help No. 3 UConn coast to its 18th straight win with a 92-60 victory over Xavier on Tuesday in Hartford, Conn.
Tarris Reed Jr. made all seven of his shot attempts from the floor to join Eric Reibe with 14 points. Reed, who also had eight rebounds, is 19-for-20 from the field in his last three games.
Braylon Mullins scored 10 of UConn’s first 12 points of the game and finished with 13 points for the Huskies (22-1, 12-0 Big East), who rode the fast start to a season sweep of the Musketeers. UConn cruised to a 90-67 victory over Xavier on New Year’s Eve.
Jayden Ross scored 11 points and Alex Karaban followed up his team-high 19 points in the previous encounter with the Musketeers with nine points, six rebounds and six assists on Tuesday.
UConn’s Solo Ball finished with nine points, hours after he was named to the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award Midseason Watch List.
The Huskies shot 56.7% from the floor. They also owned the interior, as they held a 41-24 edge in rebounds (including 12-8 on the offensive end) and enjoyed a 46-20 edge in points in the paint.
Xavier’s All Wright scored 14 points and Roddie Anderson III and Malik Messina-Moore each added 10.
Tre Carroll, who entered the game scoring a Big East-best 18.3 points per game, was limited to just nine with four turnovers.
The Musketeers (12-11, 4-8) lost for the fourth time in their last five games.
Mullins started quickly with a 3-pointer, a three-point conversion and two dunks to stake UConn to a 12-2 lead. The teams split the next eight points before Demary drained a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions.
Mullins sank a wide-open 3-pointer to push the Huskies’ lead to 37-15, and the Huskies kept their foot on the gas to seize a 50-22 advantage at intermission. UConn held a 17-1 advantage in assists at that point.
The Huskies weren’t seriously threatened in the second half.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Reports: Cavs acquire James Harden from Clippers for Darius Garland
Jan 30, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images The Cavaliers and Clippers have finalized a trade that sends 11-time All-Star James Harden to Cleveland, with Darius Garland and a second-round pick going to Los Angeles, ESPN and The Athletic both reported Tuesday.
Harden, 36, was held out of the Clippers’ lineup the last two games for what the team labeled personal reasons.
The former NBA MVP and three-time scoring champ is averaging 25.4 points, 8.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds in 44 games this season, his 17th in the NBA.
Harden could block any trade because he’s technically under contract for just this season, which requires his approval for the swap. The second year of his two-year, $81.5 million deal is a player option, which isn’t fully guaranteed.
Garland, 26, has been sidelined since Jan. 14 with a Grade 1 right toe sprain.
The two-time All-Star is averaging 18.0 points and 6.9 assists over 26 games this season. He is in the third year of a five-year, $197.2 million contract.
The Cavaliers (30-21) are in contention in the Eastern Conference, one of four teams with either 30 or 31 wins behind first-place Detroit (36-12), which explains the desire to make a big move by acquiring Harden.
The Clippers, 23-26, remain in play-in contention in the West, currently in ninth place.
The NBA trade deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Stars put 5-game win streak on line against struggling Blues
Jan 27, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) celebrates with left wing Jamie Benn (14) after the Stars defeated the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images The streaking Dallas Stars have won five straight games heading toward the Olympic break. The reeling St. Louis Blues have lost seven of eight.
The Central Division rivals are traveling in opposite directions ahead of their game on Wednesday night in Dallas.
“I think we want to take care of business before the long break,” said Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger, who has won his last five starts.
The Stars began their streak by defeating the visiting Blues 3-2 on Jan. 23, then again 4-3 in St. Louis four nights later.
Dallas won just three times during a 14-game span before starting their streak at the expense of St. Louis.
“I think you can see that we’ve had meetings here about we lost a bit of our edge and our physicality over the last (stretch),” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “We had it early and then when you get out to a good start and then after Christmas you think it’s going to come easy, but that’s not the way it works.
“We had to get that back and we’ve got it back … it makes a difference in our play.”
The Stars are coming off a 4-3 overtime victory over the visiting Winnipeg Jets on Monday night in a game decided by defenseman Thomas Harley’s goal.
“I think it’s great,” said Harley. “I think we’re earning our wins now, which is even better. That stretch we went through when we weren’t winning was tough. We didn’t deserve to win and now we’ve worked our way out of it, and we’re a better team now.”
Forward Matt Duchene has five goals and two assists in his last five games. Winger Jason Robertson had four goals and four assists in his last seven games.
The Blues are coming off a dispiriting 6-5 loss at Nashville on Monday night. They raced to a 5-1 lead, then buckled when the Predators began their comeback.
“Once (the Predators) scored their second goal, I didn’t feel the same amount of confidence with our players with the puck,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “We started turning pucks over that I thought we had time and space, and then it just started to snowball.
“Then after we regrouped in between periods, (the Predators) were rolling. They were feeling it, and we didn’t win enough battles to be able to gain lines and protect the lead that we had.”
On the positive side, the Blues have shown more life offensively while scoring 20 goals during their last five games. Jordan Kyrou (three goals, five assists in five games), Pavel Buchnevich (three goals, five assists in six games) and Jake Neighbours (two goals, three assists in five games) have been driving play.
But the Blues haven’t played well enough defensively to capitalize on that scoring uptick. Their collapse at Nashville represented a low point for their difficult season.
“Just learn from that as best as possible,” Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said. “It’s frustrating, obviously, to lose games, but you’ve got to learn from that and make sure that moving forward we take care of those games.”
–Field Level Media
No. 3 UConn enjoys balanced attack in easy win over Xavier
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