Sports
No. 16 North Carolina, Syracuse clash after humbling losses
Feb 17, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Jaydon Young (4) lays the ball up for a basket against the NC State Wolfpack during the second half at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images North Carolina and Syracuse both look to rebound from their most lopsided losses of the season Saturday when the 16th-ranked Tar Heels visit the Orange.
The Tar Heels (20-6, 8-5 ACC) fell to North Carolina State 82-58 on Tuesday while playing without star freshman Caleb Wilson (fractured hand) and Henri Veesaar (lower-body injury). Without its top two scorers and rebounders, North Carolina shot just 31.7% from the floor and a woeful 5-of-33 from 3-point range.
Defensively, North Carolina allowed its intrastate rival to shoot 45% from 3-point range while forcing just four turnovers.
“I just felt like our competitive fight wasn’t there, especially from a defensive standpoint,” Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis said. “They didn’t feel us defensively. They didn’t feel our presence at all.”
Wilson, who averages 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds, was a vocal presence on the bench and in the locker room. His status for the remainder of the season remains in doubt, however.
“(Wilson) was really not happy about the way we played,” said forward Jarin Stevenson, who joined Zayden High with a team-best 13 points. “He felt like we could’ve done a lot better.”
On that same note, Syracuse (15-12, 6-8) certainly could have done better in its most recent contest — a 101-64 drubbing at No. 3 Duke on Monday.
Offense was the issue in the first half, as the Orange managed just 24 points, and then their defense got ugly, as they allowed 61 points after intermission.
“We kind of just lost our focus, I think, by not making the shots that we generated in the first half,” said forward Tyler Betsey, who shot 1-of-5 from 3-point range, bringing him to 3-of-14 over the last three games. “I think we got all the shots that we wanted, but they really just didn’t fall.”
William Kyle III had 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting to pace the Orange. Nate Kingz chipped in 10 points, but Donnie Freeman and JJ Starling combined for 18 points — 11 below their combined average.
Syracuse is 1-5 against ranked opponents this season.
“They were active. They pushed us out. That’s why they’re one of the better defensive teams,” Orange coach Adrian Autry said. “Their length, their physicality is tough. They really spread out and they can cover the court. You don’t really have a lot of time when you do get open. They do a good job of closing off and rotating.”
North Carolina defeated Syracuse 87-77 in Chapel Hill on Feb. 2 in the first meeting between the teams. Wilson led the way with 22 points and nine rebounds, while Veesaar chipped in 17 points and 11 boards.
The Tar Heels led by 32 midway through the second half before the Orange got within six in the final minute.
“We just lost focus, and really all I can say is we should have just kept focused,” Wilson said that night.
The Tar Heels have won five of the last six meetings between the teams.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Will we see Mikaela Shiffrin at 2030 Games? 'I don't know'
Feb 18, 2026; Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy; Gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States celebrates during the medal ceremony for the women’s slalom during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-Imagn Images CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Mikaela Shiffrin has more records to break, more wins to celebrate and surely more medals to drape around her neck.
But the most successful Alpine skier in World Cup history, and one of the greatest of all time, struggled on Thursday to see far beyond the Milan Cortina Olympics when asked about her sporting future.
“I don’t know if I have an answer for that,” the American told Reuters.
“I’m so in it right now. There’s actually so much left of this season. It’s a big goal for me to be competing for this overall title. And there’s potentially four to six races left in the season for me.
“There’s so many things to look forward to.
“I feel that there’s some kind of transition in my career coming closer, but I don’t know what that looks like and I don’t know how to say it.”
MOST GOLDS BY A U.S. ALPINE SKIER
The 30-year-old now has the most Olympic gold medals ever won by a U.S. skier, along with a record 108 World Cup wins.
Wednesday’s slalom title was her third Olympic gold since the first in 2014 and she now has a total of four Olympic medals.
At world championships, Shiffrin has 15 medals, eight of them gold.
The American, who is engaged to Norwegian skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, is also heading for her sixth overall World Cup crystal globe, having already secured the smaller slalom one for a record ninth time.
“Every day I go out for training and I love it,” she said. “I love skiing and I love training and I love practicing.
“So I don’t know how it looks for the next four years. Four years feels like a really long time, but also it goes by so fast. So I could tell you something now and then we’d be four years from now, like, ‘Oh. Oopsie.'”
Shiffrin spoke emotionally on Wednesday about the struggle of competing without the presence of her father, who died in 2020, the silent connection she felt after crossing the finish line and a new reality.
“I have wanted to and I have really been angry and resentful of people who talk about feeling their loved one with them after passing,” she said on Thursday.
“And I’ve wanted to talk to my dad so many times and I’ve tried talking to him and he doesn’t respond. And that makes me mad.
“In this race, maybe it was the first time where I thought that I can just talk to him and he doesn’t have to respond. And maybe that was a key thing to accept — the reality that I can win a medal and he’s not here to see it.”
–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media
Sports
Without biggest star, Bucks look to keep rolling against Pelicans
Feb 6, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) warms up before game against the Indiana Pacers at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images The Milwaukee Bucks are attempting to limit the noise surrounding the health and cloudy future of their superstar by taking care of matters on the court.
Playing without two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks will bid for their sixth win in seven games on Friday when they return from the All-Star break to face the host New Orleans Pelicans.
Sidelined since Jan. 23, Antetokounmpo was expected to miss four-to-six weeks with a strained right calf. It will be exactly four weeks on Friday.
“I’m healthy today, I just got to check the boxes,” Antetokounmpo said on NBA Today earlier in the week. “I gotta play 1-on-1, 3-on-3, 5-on-5. The moment I do that, that can be the next game.”
The Bucks lost their first three games without Antetokounmpo before picking up mostly positive results over their last six games, including a 141-137 overtime decision versus New Orleans on Feb. 4 in Milwaukee
Ryan Rollins erupted for 27 points and AJ Green had 20 in that game to help the Bucks overcome a sizzling display by the Pelicans’ Trey Murphy III, who highlighted his career-high 44-point performance with a franchise-best 12 3-pointers.
Milwaukee spread the wealth in its last game before the break, with seven players scoring in double digits in a 110-93 victory over the host Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 12.
Ousmane Dieng recorded his first career double-double after collecting a season-high 19 points and 11 rebounds against his former team in the Thunder. Green had 17 points and Bobby Portis added 15 to go along with 12 boards for the Bucks.
“We’re playing for Milwaukee,” Portis told Sirius XM NBA Radio. “I’m playing for Milwaukee. I take pride in being a Buck. I love the city of Milwaukee. They call me the mayor of Milwaukee.”
The Pelicans rebounded from their overtime loss to the Bucks by winning two of their final three games before the All-Star break.
Murphy scored 19 points in New Orleans’ 123-111 home loss to the Miami Heat on Feb. 11 before exiting the contest with soreness in his right shoulder. Murphy, who averages a team-best 22.1 points and 1.5 steals per game, is expected to return to the court for Friday’s game.
Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen have fared well during their rookie seasons, with the former averaging 13.2 points while the latter is contributing 12.2 points to go along with team-best averages in rebounds (7.2) and assists (4.1).
Queen, however, got the last laugh in the NBA Rising Stars competition as he helped Team Vince defeat Fears’ Team Melo in the title game.
Both players are ready to take the experience of playing in that spotlight into the second half of the Pelicans’ season.
“We’re gonna come back a lot more confident,” Fears said on the Pelicans podcast. “We’re gonna be around (our teammates). We’re just gonna continue to keep working and it’s going to open our eyes for sure.”
Said Queen: “I’m excited to come back. We’ve got three home games. Win those three and get back on the right track.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
FIFA president: All 104 World Cup matches will be 'sold out'
[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Dec 5, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; FIFA President Gianni Infantino arrives on the red carpet ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Draw at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Mandatory Credit: Brian Snyder-Reuters via Imagn Images FIFA president Gianni Infantino said all 104 matches of the 2026 World Cup will be “sold out” despite tickets available for the tournament running from June 11 to July 19.
“The demand is there. Every match is sold out,” Infantino told CNBC in an interview Wednesday from U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla.
Infantino said there had been 508 million ticket requests in four weeks from more than 200 countries for about seven million available tickets.
“(We’ve) never see anything like that — incredible,” he said.
The 48-team World Cup is taking place across 16 host cities in the United States, Mexico and Canada, with MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., as the site of the World Cup final.
The head of the sport’s governing body said that tournament locations contribute to what soccer supporters’ associations have complained are exorbitant ticket prices.
“I think it is because it’s in America, Canada and Mexico,” he said. “Everybody wants to be part of something special.”
Also affecting prices are resale websites, which take the official ticket that has a fixed price and use “dynamic pricing” leading to the cost to fluctuate.
“You are able as well to resell your tickets on official platforms, secondary markets, so the prices as well will go up,” Infantino said. “That’s part of the market we are in.”
A report in the Straits Times said that a Category 3 seat — the highest section in the stadium — for Mexico’s match against South Africa in the tournament opener on June 11 in Mexico City was listed at $5,324 in the secondary market. The original price was $895.
The same seat category for the World Cup final on July 19, originally priced at $3,450, was advertised for $143,750 on Feb. 11, per the report.
In December, FIFA designated “supporter entry tier” tickets with a $60 price to be allocated to the national federations whose teams are playing. Those federations are expected to make those tickets available “to loyal fans who are closely connected to their national teams,” FIFA said in a press release.
The last time the U.S. served as a World Cup host in 1994, tickets ranged from $25 to $475. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, prices ranged from $70 to $1,600 after the matches were announced.
Infantino in his comments this week estimated that the 2026 World Cup will raise $11 billion in revenue for FIFA, with “every dollar” to be reinvested in the sport in the 211 member countries.
He said the economic impact for the United States would be around $30 billion “in terms of tourism, catering, security investments and so on.” Infantino also estimated the tournament will attract 20 million to 30 million tourists and create 185,000 full-time jobs.
–Field Level Media
Will we see Mikaela Shiffrin at 2030 Games? 'I don't know'
Without biggest star, Bucks look to keep rolling against Pelicans
