Kingston Flemings scored 18 points as No. 8 Houston cruised to a 79-55 home win over UCF in a Big 12 Conference tilt Wednesday.

Chris Cenac Jr. tallied a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Milos Uzan added 12 points for Houston (20-2, 8-1 Big 12), which won its third straight game.

Riley Kugel led UCF (14-5, 6-4) with nine points. Themus Fulks, John Bol, Jamicheal Stillwell and Jordan Burks all added eight points for UCF, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.

A Flemings layup initiated a 12-0, first-half Houston run that broke open a closely contested game. The Cougars’ lead swelled to 27-13 on a jumper from Cenac. Houston’s stifling defense held the Knights to just six points over the last 8:16 of the first half. Fulks snapped the rally with a jumper at the 2:37 mark.

UCF shot 28% in the first half (7 of 25) and only hit 1-of-6 3-point attempts. The Cougars shot 44% in the first half and didn’t make a three in the opening 20 minutes but held a 20-6 edge on points in the paint, had six steals and forced seven UCF turnovers while maintaining a 23-15 rebounding advantage.

The Cougars only had three turnovers and took a 33-19 halftime lead.

In the early going, Houston reeled off a 6-0 run and took a 15-8 lead on Uzan’s alley-oop pass to Kalifa Sakho for a dunk. The Knights answered with a three by Kugel and a Bol dunk as UCF closed within 15-13 at the 8:16 mark.

In the second half, Burks hit a three to cut the Cougars’ lead to 37-27, the closest the Knights would get the rest of the way. Houston was red-hot in the second half as the team shot 66% from the field (20 of 30) and took control of the game with a 12-4 scoring spree as Uzan’s jumper led to a 51-31 lead with 13:27 to play.

For the game, UCF inched up to 30% shooting from the field and 28% (6 of 21) from distance. The Cougars shot 54% for the game, which made up for them only connecting on 3 of their 19 3-point attempts.

–Field Level Media

The drive for an exceptional 2026 season is off to a rousing start for Scottie Scheffler, who began his year with a championship at the American Express a week ago Sunday in La Quinta, Calif.

That title was the 20th of Scheffler’s career, which earned him lifetime status on the PGA Tour. Nonetheless, the 29-year-old is wasting no time chasing No. 21 as the Phoenix Open tees off Thursday.

The Scottsdale, Ariz. event is famous for its crowd involvement, and Scheffler welcomes the big stage.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing this type of test,” he said. “I think this golf course plays really well when it comes tournament time. It plays firm and fast and you got to hit a lot of different shots and you got to be very precise with your ball, but then there is also a big crowd that comes with it as well.

“I think it’s always a lot of fun to play in front of a group this size. It can be a bit hectic out there sometimes, but it really is a lot of fun.”

Scheffler is certainly familiar with the setup as a two-time winner at this event (2022, 2023), though he’ll also be hoping to improve on last year’s respectable showing, a 9-under performance that left him in a tie for 25th.

The first of his Phoenix championships was the first of his PGA career.

“Yeah, it doesn’t feel all that long ago, but at the same time, it feels like quite a bit of time has passed since then,” Scheffler acknowledged. “Yeah, lots of good memories. It’s nice to come back to this tournament. This tournament is a lot of fun for me to play in and it’s fun to be able to play in front of this crowd.”

His competition will naturally be a bigger concern than the crowd or his history on the course, and Brooks Koepka is once again a part of that field, continuing his return from LIV Golf.

Scheffler expressed appreciation for having Koepka and Patrick Reed back on the Tour.

“Having those guys competing out here is great for the Tour, great for the fans, and great for our sponsors,” Scheffler said. “I think the last few years — there has just been a lot of the noise, and so I think getting those guys back is another step towards us just being able to play golf again. That’s what I’m looking forward to the most.”

Part of embracing the challenge of winning another championship, Scheffler explained, is leaning into the razor-thin margin between delight and disaster on the finishing holes.

A course like TPC Scottsdale demands excellence late and, for Scheffler, that’s all part of the fun.

“You have to play well at the end. I think this golf course is one of those — one of the best ones we see all year in terms of an exciting finish,” Scheffler said. “There is opportunity, but also a lot of danger. You look at even the second shot on 15. If you hit a really good shot there, you can get a really good look for eagle, but if you hit a poor shot you’re going to be in the water staring bogey in the face.

“So there is a lot of variety, and I think it’s a fantastic finish that provides a great amount of opportunity — but also can be pretty severe penalties as well.”

–Field Level Media

Aden Holloway scored 20 points to help Alabama outlast Texas A&M and come away with a thrilling 100-97 victory Wednesday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Holloway scored 16 of his points in the second half, making 9 of 12 free throws to overcome a 1-for-6 perimeter performance, and also had six rebounds and four assists for Alabama (15-7, 5-4 Southeastern Conference).

Labaron Philon Jr. added 17 points, Latrell Wrightsell chipped in 16 with four made 3-pointers, and Amari Allen and Houston Mallette tallied 12 points apiece to lead the Crimson Tide, who won despite being outshot from the floor (49.2% to 44.9%) and 3-point range (41.9% to 33.3%).

Rylan Griffen, whose career began at Alabama, scored 17 points with nine rebounds but missed a game-tying three at the buzzer for Texas A&M (17-5, 7-2), which had its four-game winning streak snapped.

Rashaun Agee contributed a game-high 21 points for the Aggies, and Marcus Hill added 18 on 8-of-13 shooting with six rebounds.

The battle of two of the three highest-scoring offenses in the SEC lived up to the slugfest hype. The teams combined for 29 made three-pointers and 12 turnovers, and the game saw 28 lead changes and 13 ties, with neither team ever holding a double-digit-point lead.

Trailing 77-71 with 8:44 left, the Crimson Tide went on a 19-6 run capped off by an 8-0 surge in 1:18 of game time to take a 90-83 lead with 4:29 left.

The Aggies bounced back immediately with a 10-2 run to reclaim the lead, 93-92, with two minutes left before Alabama’s final surge to take a 99-95 lead with 22 seconds left on Holloway’s layup.

A first half predominantly played within a one-score margin fittingly entered halftime tied at 46 after Wrightsell’s buzzer three.

That was also a fitting end to the half considering each finished the opening 20 minutes with nine made 3-pointers. Wrightsell led the Crimson Tide with three, while Griffen, Agee and Hill made two apiece for the Aggies.

Texas A&M was far more efficient from the floor (52.9%) than Alabama (38.9%) in the first half, but the Crimson Tide made up the difference by holding a 13-4 free-throw attempt advantage.

London Jemison led Alabama with 10 first-half points on 4-of-4 shooting, and Hill led the Aggies with 10 points.

–Field Level Media