Sports
No. 17 St. John's bests Xavier in OT as Rick Pitino sweeps son
Feb 9, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Xavier Musketeers head coach Richard Pitino is greeted by St. John’s Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Zuby Ejiofor scored six points in overtime for No. 17 St. John’s, which fended off an upset bid by Xavier to earn an 87-82 win in Big East action Monday night in New York.
The win was the 904th on-court victory for St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino, who snapped a tie with Roy Williams for third-place all-time. It was the second milestone victory for Rick Pitino over Xavier — coached by his son Richard — in 16 days. The Red Storm beat the Musketeers 88-83 on Jan. 24 for Rick Pitino’s 900th win.
The NCAA recognizes Rick Pitino with 781 wins after he was stripped of 123 victories due to violations at Louisville.
Ejiofor finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists for St. John’s (19-5, 12-1 Big East), which has won 10 straight — the third 10-game winning streak in the last two seasons under Rick Pitino.
Bryce Hopkins had 19 points, nine rebounds and two key overtime steals for the Red Storm. Dylan Darling had 16 points off the bench while starter Oziyah Sellers added 11 points.
St. John’s won despite shooting just 23.1% (3-of-13) from 3-point land and 68.3% (28-of-41) from the free-throw line.
Tre Carroll had 21 points and eight rebounds but missed a potential game-winning shot at the regulation buzzer for Xavier (12-12, 4-9 Big East), which has lost five of six.
Filip Borovicanin (12 points, 10 rebounds) posted a double-double. Jovan Milicevic had 13 points, Malik Messina-Moore had 11 and reserve Anthony Robinson added 10.
The Musketeers shot just 29.4% (5-of-17) from 3-point land and 52.9% (9-of-17) from the free-throw line.
Neither team had a lead of larger than five nor a run of longer than seven straight points during a back-and-forth contest that featured 15 ties and 15 lead changes.
Ejiofor and Borovicanin swapped baskets to open the extra session before Hopkins intercepted Isaiah Walker’s pass into the paint to set up the two free throws by Ejiofor that put St. John’s up for good at 82-80.
Borovicanin missed a layup and Hopkins split a pair of free throws before stealing the ball from Carroll to lead to two more free throws by Ejiofor with 2:07 left. Robinson’s jumper with 56 seconds left pulled Xavier within 85-82, but the teams traded empty trips before Sellers iced the win with a breakaway dunk with seven seconds remaining.
–Field Level Media
Sports
D-backs LHP Andrew Saalfrank (shoulder) out for season
Sep 26, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Andrew Saalfrank (27) throws a pitch during the seventh inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images Arizona Diamondbacks left-handed reliever Andrew Saalfrank will miss the entire 2026 season after undergoing shoulder surgery on Monday.
The team confirmed the news after it was reported by MLB.com, with Saalfrank posting about the surgery with an accompanying picture on Instagram.
Saalfrank had a 1.24 ERA over 28 relief appearances (29 innings) for the Diamondbacks last season.
In parts of three major league seasons with Arizona, the 28-year-old is 2-1 with a 1.79 ERA over 40 relief appearances (40 1/3 innings).
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 5 Iowa State in search of finishing kick vs. TCU
Iowa State Cyclones center Dishon Jackson (1) looks for drive to the basket around TCU Horned Frogs Guard Brendan Wenzel (0) and center Malick Diallo (32) during the second half in the Big-12 men’s basketball at Hilton Coliseum on Feb 8, 2025 in Ames, Iowa. Opportunity awaits TCU when it hosts No. 5 Iowa State in a Big 12 Conference contest on Tuesday at Fort Worth, Texas.
TCU (14-9, 4-6 Big 12) picked up an 84-82 home win over Kansas State on Saturday behind a career-high 26 points from Xavier Edmonds. The Horned Frogs overcame a five-point deficit in the final minute. The junior made 9 of 10 field-goal attempts, shot 7 of 10 from the free throw line and pulled down 10 rebounds. He has posted a double-double in five straight games.
Without a weekday game last week, the Horned Frogs picked up some rest and had enough in the tank to rally from an 18-point deficit for the victory. But the wait was long after consecutive defeats.
“That was terrible, Micah (Robinson) and I talked about that,” Edmonds said about the weekday bye. “We said we have a long week of break. We have to make sure we take care of business and feel good going into the break, or it would feel like a month off. It felt like it was about two months.”
Iowa State (21-1, 8-2) built a sizable second-half lead and shook off determined Baylor 72-69 on Saturday. The Cyclones struggled to close the door on the Bears, who ripped off the final 11 points of the game before time expired.
Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey had his usual stat-sheet stuffing performance. He scored 14 points, pulled down nine rebounds, handed out three assists and had two steals. Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger noted that the veteran point guard sets a high standard for the entire team.
When Lipsey turned up his defensive effort on the perimeter in the second half, Baylor went from shooting 42.9% from 3-point range to just 29.4% after the break.
“Tamin just lays it on the line,” Otzelberger said. “It felt like there were two of him out there on some possessions against Baylor. The plays that he is making, the steals that he is getting, the rebounds he is chasing down … there’s a physicality about how he does everything. He lays it all on the line and he’s done that for the program for four years. His 33 minutes (against Baylor) might be like 50 minutes for someone else because of how hard he plays.”
Because they have a resume littered with dubious losses, most recently an 87-61 blowout loss at Colorado on Feb. 1, TCU coach Jamie Dixon said the Horned Frogs have to make the most of their chance to pick off a top-ranked opponent when they face the Cyclones.
The Horned Frogs are No. 53 in the NCAA NET and 3-6 in Quad 1 games.
“We have to get ready for Iowa State,” Dixon said. “We know we are on the bubble. A loss against Kansas State would have killed us. We are still there. We have to do some things to get better, play better and I know we can.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Reports: Pacers F Johnny Furphy out for season with torn ACL
Feb 8, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Indiana Pacers guard Johnny Furphy (12) reacts after injuring himself during the second half against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images Indiana Pacers forward Johnny Furphy is expected to miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL, multiple outlets reported Monday.
Furphy injured his right knee on an awkward landing following a dunk in the third quarter of Sunday’s 122-104 loss to the host Toronto Raptors. He was helped off the court before he went to the locker room in a wheelchair.
The native Australian reportedly underwent MRI testing Monday which revealed the extent of his injury. The typical timeline for recovery from a torn ACL is 6-12 months, meaning Furphy’s absence could extend into next season.
In his second year in the league after being drafted by the Pacers in the second round in 2024, Furphy started 21 of his 35 regular-season appearances.
He averaged 5.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 18.4 minutes per game this season after he averaged 2.1 points per game last season in 50 games off the bench.
–Field Level Media
D-backs LHP Andrew Saalfrank (shoulder) out for season
No. 5 Iowa State in search of finishing kick vs. TCU
