Sports
Oklahoma stuns No. 15 Vanderbilt to end nine-game skid
Feb 7, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Oklahoma Sooners forward Mohamed Wague (5) blocks the shot of Vanderbilt Commodores forward Ak Okereke (10) during the first half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images Xzayvier Brown scored 20 points and Oklahoma led from start to finish and eventually held on for a 92-91 road win at No. 15 Vanderbilt in Southeastern Conference play at Nashville, Tenn., on Saturday afternoon.
The Sooners (12-12, 2-9 SEC) shot 53.4% from the floor and snapped a nine-game losing streak.
Brown canned a pair of free throws with 3.4 seconds left that turned out to be crucial when Tyler Tanner (37 points, nine assists) banked in a 3 at the buzzer for the Commodores.
The Sooners received 17 points from Nigel Pack and 14 from Tae Davis.
Vanderbilt (19-4, 6-4) got 18 points from Tyler Nickel and 13 from AK Okereke.
Vanderbilt shot 47.4% from the field.
Brown hit a lay-up off a Derrion Reid steal to put the lead over 20 (61-40) for the first time with 15:47 to play.
The Sooners milked the shot clock inside 10 seconds for much of the remainder of the game until it nearly backfired. They led 80-59 with 4:59 left until Tanner, who had 26 in the second half, led a furious comeback.
Oklahoma took a 48-34 halftime lead thanks to 58.6% to 38.5% edge in shooting as well as advantages in turnovers (8-6) edge in turnovers and rebounding (18-13).
Davis hit his first five shots and scored 14 points as part of the Sooners’ 24-8 lead in the game’s first 7:21. Oklahoma connected on 9 of its first 13 shots, four of them 3s.
Vanderbilt clawed within 33-27, but the Sooners put together a 9-2 run to go up 42-29 after Jones canned a corner 3, drew a third foul on Mike James and then hit the ensuing free throw.
Tanner played with his right (shooting) thumb taped in the second half. He was the only one of Vanderbilt’s point guards to play on Saturday as Duke Miles (16.6 ppg) and Frankie Collins (7.8) were both out again with injuries.
It was a Quad 3 loss for Vanderbilt, which hadn’t lost outside Quad 1 this season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Fletcher Loyer lifts No. 12 Purdue over Oregon
Feb 7, 2026; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter talks with guard Fletcher Loyer (2) during the first half against the Oregon Ducks at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images Fletcher Loyer scored 18 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 51 seconds left, as No. 12 Purdue edged visiting Oregon 68-64 on Saturday in West Lafayette, Ind.
Trey Kaufman-Renn contributed 12 points and eight rebounds for the Boilermakers (19-4, 9-3 Big Ten) in a game that saw the teams combine for 27 turnovers while shooting a collected 10-for-43 from long range. Braden Smith added 13 points.
Oregon center Nate Bittle shined in his return to the lineup to help keep the skidding Ducks afloat. Out for the past five games with an ankle injury, Bittle led all scorers with 23 points.
Takai Simpkins followed with 14 points but the Ducks (8-15, 1-11) struggled to build scoring depth behind the duo. Oregon lost its ninth straight game.
Bittle swished two free throws to give Oregon a 57-56 lead with 5:33 left to set up a tight finish. Kwame Evans Jr. grabbed seven rebounds for the Ducks, who went without a field goal over the last 4:38.
The Boilermakers missed their first five shots coming out of the break and shot just 35% from the floor in the second half.
Loyer went 3-for-4 from the line over the final 19 seconds to seal the result.
Purdue capitalized on an early edge in turnovers and points in the paint to seemingly seize control down the stretch of the first half.
Oscar Cluff hit a hook shot with 7:06 left before the break to give the Boilermakers a 27-18 advantage, but the Ducks regrouped to hold Purdue to just three more field goals ahead of halftime, including zero over the last 2:05.
While the Boilermakers took a 36-34 lead into the locker room, the Ducks had momentum behind a 6-0 run to end the half.
Bittle led all scorers with 14 first-half points. Smith followed with 11.
Kaufman-Renn and Smith both dished four assists. Smith reached the 200-assist mark for the season.
The Boilermakers have claimed both meetings since the Ducks joined the Big Ten for the 2024-25 season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Falcons, Yandex advance to quarterfinals at BLAST Slam VI
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Team Falcons and Team Yandex each recorded a sweep on Saturday to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals of the BLAST Slam VI event.
Falcons posted a 2-0 win over Xtreme Gaming in their play-in game, courtesy of a 39-minute victory on red and 54-minute triumph on green. Team Falcons will compete again on Friday against the winner of Sunday’s clash between Team Liquid and GamerLegion.
Team Yandex notched a 2-0 win over Team Spirit in their play-in game on Saturday, courtesy of 38- and 52-minute victories on red. Yandex will be back in action on Friday against the winner of Sunday’s encounter between Tundra Esports and HEROIC.
BLAST Slam VI is a 12-team Dota 2 event that pays $300,000 to the winner and $1 million overall. The event opened with three days of group play — a round-robin, best-of-1 format in which each team played each other team once. The top two teams in the standings, Natus Vincere and OG, moved on to the semifinals of the playoffs.
The teams finishing third through eighth in the standings advanced to the play-in round — four best-of-3 matches in which the winners advance to the playoffs and the losers are eliminated. The teams finishing ninth through 12th in group play competed in the last-chance playoff, another best-of-3 format where the winners advanced to the play-in round and the losers went home.
The play-in matches will be contested Saturday and Sunday. The four winning teams will play in the quarterfinals on Feb. 13. The semifinals will be on Feb. 14 and the grand final on Feb. 15.
BLAST Slam VI prize pool
1. $300,000 (plus $100,000 in team earnings)
2. $150,000 (plus $50,000)
3-4. $60,000 (plus $29,000)
5-6. $35,000 (plus $15,000)
7-10. $22,500 (plus $6.250) — Team Spirit, Xtreme Gaming, TBD, TBD
11-12. $10,000 (plus $2,500) — REKONIX, MOUZ
–Field Level Media
Sports
UCF to chase season sweep against reeling Cincinnati
Jan 20, 2026; Ames, Iowa, USA; UCF Knights guard Riley Kugel (2) is defended by Iowa State Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey (3) during the second half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images After seeing a three-game win streak come to an end, UCF aims to get back on track and bolster its postseason resume by hitting the road to take on fading Cincinnati on Sunday in Big 12 Conference play.
The Knights (17-5, 6-4 Big 12) were shut down Wednesday night and unable to get their offense going in a road loss at No. 8 Houston.
Cincinnati (11-12, 3-7) dropped a 59-54 decision at home to West Virginia on Thursday in a game it led by 14 points with 16 minutes remaining.
Sunday’s game is a rematch of a Jan. 11 meeting in Orlando won by UCF 73-72.
UCF will have to solve its offensive deficiencies that were heightened against defensive-minded Houston. The Knights did not have a player score in double figures, shot 30.8% from the field, committed 11 turnovers and were outrebounded 40-29.
A lone bright spot came at the free throw line as UCF made 17 of 20 attempts.
“They’re a terrific team,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said of Houston. “They play at such a high level that you have to be prepared to match their intensity, match their physicality, and we were not able to do that.”
Riley Kugel led UCF with nine points and tops the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game. Themus Fulks — second on the team at 13.9 points — led a group of four players with eight points apiece.
UCF’s NCAA tournament resume remains strong at No. 42 in the NCAA NET ratings.
Cincinnati has a losing record for the first time since March 4, 2021, and for the first time in coach Wes Miller’s five seasons as coach.
The Bearcats have lost their last two games and four of five. Big man Moustapha Thiam missed Thursday’s game with an ankle injury, while Shon Abaev has missed the last three games, also with an ankle ailment.
Miller refused to use injuries or the schedule as an excuse following Thursday’s collapse against West Virginia, instead addressing the Cincinnati fan base for the home loss.
“I want to apologize to our fans and all the people who support Cincinnati basketball. It’s not OK,” Miller said. “I don’t want for one second for people to think that I think it’s OK. It’s not OK. In this program, there’s a higher standard. There’s no excuse. None of the circumstances matter. We have to close games out.”
–Field Level Media
Fletcher Loyer lifts No. 12 Purdue over Oregon
15 romantic Valentines Day gifts that go beyond tired clichés
