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
Sports
Felix Auger-Aliassime defends title, sets Canadian record
Jan 19, 2026; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in action against Nuno Borges of Portugal in the first round of the men’s singles at the Australian Open at John Cain Arena in Melbourne Park. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime successfully defended his Open Occitanie championship on Sunday with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over Adrian Mannarino in Montpellier, France.
Auger-Aliassime, 25, recorded 13 aces and won 87% of his first-serve points to dispatch the Frenchman in 1 hour, 35 minutes. The ninth career ATP title for Auger-Aliassime is one more than Milos Raonic for the most tour-level titles by a Canadian in the Open Era.
A strong service game was nothing new for Auger-Aliassime, who delivered 20 aces while posting a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 victory over French qualifier Titouan Droguet on Saturday.
Auger-Aliassime will elevate one spot to No. 6 in the ATP rankings on Monday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Alijah Arenas converts winning basket as USC beats Penn State
Feb 8, 2026; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions guard Dominick Stewart (7) dribbles the ball around the outside of Southern California Trojans guard Alijah Arenas (0) during the first half at Bryce Jordan Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images Alijah Arenas scored 24 points, including a spinning layup in traffic with 0.7 seconds remaining, as Southern California overcame a 12-point second-half deficit and rallied for a 77-75 victory over Penn State in Big Ten Conference play at University Park, Pa.
Kam Woods scored 13 points with nine assists and Ezra Ausar also had 13 points as USC (18-6, 7-6 Big Ten) extended its winning streak to three games. It is the first time the Trojans have won three consecutive games in Big Ten play since joining the conference last season.
It was USC’s third conference victory this season when rallying from a deficit of at least 10 points. The Trojans, who were playing without leading scorer Chad Baker-Mazara (knee), also overcame double-digit deficits to defeat Oregon and Wisconsin.
Freddie Dilione V scored 23 points and Josh Reed added 17 for Penn State (10-14, 1-12), who have dropped consecutive games after their first Big Ten victory Feb. 1 against Minnesota. Ivan Juric scored 13 points after missing the previous two games.
Penn State took its first double-digit lead at 48-38 with 18:09 remaining on a jumper from Dilione. A dunk from Dilione less than a minute later put the Nittany Lions up 50-38.
Penn State still led 53-42 with 15:56 left when USC began to close the gap with a 9-0 run that cut the deficit to 53-51 with 12:55 remaining. USC jumped on top 56-55 on a three-point play from Woods with 10:56 left.
Arenas, who scored the Trojans’ last eight points, was playing his sixth college game after starting the season for USC with a knee injury. He combined to score 30 points over his first four games before a breakout 29-point game against Indiana in a home victory Tuesday.
Penn State took a 40-36 lead at halftime by shooting 53.1% from the floor and getting 13 points from Dilione. Arenas and Ausar each had nine points in the first half for USC, which made half of its 32 shot attempts.
–Field Level Media
Sports
HEROIC, Team Liquid advance 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
HEROIC and Team Liquid each recorded a sweep on Sunday to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals of the BLAST Slam VI event.
HEROIC posted a 2-0 win over Tundra Esports in their play-in match, courtesy of 56- and 40-minute victories on red. HEROIC will compete again in Friday’s quarterfinals against Team Yandex.
Team Liquid notched a 2-0 win over GamerLegion in their play-in match on Sunday, courtesy of a 27-minute victory on red and 37-minute triumph on green. Liquid will be back in action on Friday against Team Falcons in the other quarterfinal.
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 teams that win Friday’s quarterfinals advance to Saturday’s semifinals. Natus Vincere gets the winner of Team Yandex-HEROIC while OG faces the Team Falcons-Team Liquid victor. The grand final will be held 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, Tundra Esports, GamerLegion
11-12. $10,000 (plus $2,500) — REKONIX, MOUZ
–Field Level Media
Felix Auger-Aliassime defends title, sets Canadian record
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