Kansas big man Flory Bidunga had 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks, and the No. 11 Jayhawks recorded their seventh straight win by upending Utah 71-59 on Saturday afternoon in Lawrence, Kan.

Bidunga made 7 of 8 field goals and 3 of 4 from the line, while Trey White notched 16 points and six boards for the Jayhawks (18-5, 8-2 Big 12).

Darryn Peterson scored 14 points, and Melvin Council Jr. had 11 points, six assists and five rebounds as Kansas was 28 of 56 (50%) from the field.

With the victory, the Jayhawks remained in a tie for third place in the conference with No. 7 Iowa State, a 72-69 winner over Baylor.

In losing it fifth consecutive contest, Utah (9-14, 1-9) received a strong performance from Keanu Dawes, who posted a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Terrence Brown had 16 points and four steals, and Don McHenry scored 12 with five boards as the visitors hit 40% (22 of 55) from the floor.

During the first four minutes, Dawes sank a pair of three-pointers and scored eight points as Utah led 12-8 on 5 of 7 shooting from the floor, while the home side missed 4 of 7 tries.

Kansas went back ahead for the second time on a 10-2 run highlighted by an alley-oop dunk tossed up by Council and slammed down by Bidunga at 13:05. The Utes aided the run by missing eight consecutive shots.

After being fouled on a long ball, McHenry canned all three free throws to make it 28-23 at 5:37, and Seydou Traore made three of four freebies to bring the deficit to 30-28.

Despite committing seven turnovers and seeing Utah coming up with six steals, Kansas used an 8-3 run to lead 38-31 at the break behind Council’s nine points and four assists.

Utah opened the second half on a 5-0 run to put it at 38-36 and force a timeout by Kansas coach Bill Self, and an alley-oop slam by White and Council’s floating jumper at 10:17 gave the home side its first double-digit lead at 54-44.

Peterson’s steal and breakaway slam for a three-point play at 8:26 lifted it to 59-44, a margin Utah could never reduce to single digits.

–Field Level Media

MILAN, Italy — After quitting figure skating shortly after making her Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Games as a 16-year-old, Alysa Liu has returned to winter sports’ biggest stage with a message to deliver.

“I know who I am as a person now. I have ideas and concepts that I want to share with the world,” Liu said at the Milan Cortina Games after finishing second in the women’s singles short program portion of the team event on Friday.

“I hope that I’m able to inspire you to do what you want to do, be who you want to be, and go for it. Like, don’t let anybody stop you, and it’s good to be different,” she said sporting a blonde fringe on her dark hair.

Liu began bleaching a band of her hair in 2023, adding a stripe in each of the following two years, creating a two-tone look that some U.S. media have described as resembling a raccoon tail.

The reigning women’s world champion said the stripes are inspired by the rings of a tree, symbolising personal growth.

The California-born skater announced she was retiring in April 2022, saying she wanted to move on with her life after achieving her goals in skating.

At the time, Liu had twice won the U.S. Championships, finished sixth overall in Beijing and won bronze at the world championships weeks before the announcement.

Liu said the current Olympic experience was completely different.

“To be on the big stage and in front of so many people you have to be an adult. It’s so hard on a kid,” she said.

“Last time I was kind of like, let’s get this over with. But now I want to be here and I don’t want this to end. I will be sad when the Olympics are over.”

Following the controversy surrounding 15-year-old Russian Kamila Valieva, whose failed drugs test came to light during the Beijing Games, the International Skating Union (ISU) voted to raise the minimum age for competitors in senior events from 15 to 17 to protect skaters’ “physical and mental health, and emotional well-being”.

Liu resumed her career in 2024 and won gold at the 2025 World Championships in Boston.

“I don’t think (my performance) stands out more than the others. I just think: if I’m someone’s cup of tea, they’ll drink it. So hopefully I reach those people.”

–Reuters, special to Field Level Media

Ishan Sharma led a balanced offense with 15 points as No. 19 Saint Louis pulled away from La Salle 82-58 Saturday afternoon.

Quentin Jones and Amari McCottry scored 13 points and Dion Brown added 12 as the Billikens (23-1, 11-0 Atlantic 10) won their 17th straight game.

Rob Dockery scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Explorers (7-17, 3-8), who lost their fourth straight game.

Saint Louis shot 10-for-20 from 3-point range during the second half while outscoring La Salle 51-31.

The Explorers forced three early turnovers and pushed out to their 6-1 lead, with Dockery scoring four early points. The Billikens responded with an 11-2 run fueled by two baskets by Brown inside and Sharma’s 3-pointer coming off the bench.

After Saint Louis moved out to a 19-13 lead with Paul Otieno scoring twice inside, La Salle dug in at the defensive end of the court by switching up the aggressive zones.

The Explorers tied the game 19-19, 21-21, 23-23 and 25-25 while extending possessions with offensive rebounds.

The Billikens finally broke through with 3-point jumpers by Jones and Sharma on consecutive possessions, but Dockery scored inside to cut La Salle’s halftime deficit to 31-27.

Edwin Daniel cut the lead to 34-31 early in the second half with his second consecutive inside basket for La Salle.

The Billikens finally got rolling with a 7-0 surge, triggered by Trey Green’s 3-point jumper, to move ahead 41-31.

After making just three 3-point shots in the first half, Saint Louis made four in the first 7:30 of the second half while extending its lead to 52-40.

The Explorers battled back, cutting their deficit to 54-48 on Dockery’s layup with 8:26 left to play. But the Billikens answered with two 3-point jumpers by Sharma and one by Brady Dunlap in a 55-second span to build a 63-48 margin.

From there, the Explorers never got closer.

–Field Level Media