Sports
Nikita Kucherov posts 700th career assist as Lightning top Maple Leafs
Feb 25, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) handles the puck against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images Nikita Kucherov scored and recorded his 700th career assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning resumed the regular season with a 4-2 victory over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.
The right wing fed Gage Goncalves, who later assisted on Kucherov’s tally, for a second-period goal to become the 64th player to reach the milestone and the third Russian-born one to do it, joining Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.
Kucherov, whose point streak moved to an NHL-best 11 games, reached 30 goals for the ninth time in his career.
Brayden Point netted two goals and had a helper, and Charle-Edouard D’Astous returned with two assists.
Improving to 17-0-1 in his past 18 outings, Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots as Tampa Bay won its sixth straight game and is 20-1-1 in the past 22 matches.
Coach Jon Cooper was not with the team following the death of his father, Robert, earlier this week and will also miss Thursday’s match at the Carolina Hurricanes.
John Tavares and Matthew Knies tallied for the Leafs, and William Nylander had two helpers.
After missing over two months with an upper-body injury and finally making three starts before the Olympic break, goaltender Anthony Stolarz stopped 32 shots.
In their second meeting this season and first game of a back-to-back set for both, Kucherov and Point both appeared to score in the first period, but Toronto successfully challenged for offside to take both markers down.
Vasilevskiy’s denial of Nylander’s deke and backhand-forehand effort with under three minutes left kept the opening period scoreless and the visitors holding an 8-4 edge in shots.
In a faster paced second, Point took a pass from D’Astous then waited out Stolarz, who was hindered by his defenseman Simon Benoit, and buried a sharp-angle shot at 7:07.
Goncalves then doubled the lead by securing a pass from Kucherov and netting a goal 51 seconds later.
Vasilevskiy made another fine stop on Nylander with about eight minutes left, stuffing his backhanded breakaway attempt.
Kucherov hit the net at 2:59 of the third, and Tavares broke the shutout bid at 16:19 on the power play.
Point scored 11 seconds later as Kucherov and Goncalves registered a second assist apiece, but Knies cut it to a two-goal deficit at 17:13.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Acaden Lewis leads the charge to help Villanova surge past Butler
Feb 25, 2026; Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA; Villanova Wildcats guard Acaden Lewis (55) drives for a shot against Butler Bulldogs forward Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor (4) during the first half at William B. Finneran Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Acaden Lewis recorded 20 points and Devin Askew scored all 16 of his points in the second half as Villanova topped visiting Butler 82-73 on Wednesday.
Bryce Lindsay contributed 19 points to help Villanova (22-6, 13-4 Big East) bounce back from a 10-point loss to No. 5 UConn over the weekend. The Wildcats, who still have not lost back-to-back games this season, also received 11 points and three steals from Tyler Perkins.
Michael Ajayi registered 17 points and nine rebounds, and Yohan Traore chipped in with 15 points for Butler (15-14, 6-12), which had won its previous two games. The Bulldogs have lost five straight matchups with the Wildcats, including both this season.
Butler trailed by 14 points at intermission before halving its deficit with a quick 7-0 run to begin the second half. Villanova rebuilt a double-digit advantage, but the Bulldogs eventually got within 55-54 with nine minutes left.
Shortly thereafter, the Wildcats used an 8-0 push to turn a 59-57 lead into a 10-point cushion. Askew accounted for all the offense during that surge with two 3-pointers, bookended around a driving layup.
Finley Bizjack’s layup with 2:27 left brought the visitors within 71-65. However, Askew drained a 3-pointer on the other end to halt the Bulldogs’ momentum.
Villanova led 27-24 late in the first half before closing the session on a 15-4 run over the final 3 1/2 minutes.
Lewis began the key push with a jumper before Perkins made one of his own. After a turnover by Butler, Lewis scored another bucket to make it 33-24.
Traore responded with a putback, but the Wildcats countered with six straight points — all by Lindsay. The sophomore guard converted a three-point play to give the hosts their first double-digit lead before knocking down a 3-pointer on the next trip to make it 39-26.
Perkins’ 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer sent the Wildcats into the locker room with a 14-point cushion.
Lewis led all scorers with 14 points in the first half.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 6 UConn dismantles No. 15 St. John's in battle of Big East's best
Feb 25, 2026; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies forward Tarris Reed Jr. (5) drives the ball to the basket against the St. John’s Red Storm in the first half at PeoplesBank Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images Tarris Reed Jr. totaled 20 points and 11 rebounds as No. 6 UConn used a pair of big runs in both halves and rolled to a dominating 72-40 win over 15th-ranked St. John’s Wednesday night Hartford, Conn. in a possible preview of the Big East tournament championship game.
After being listed as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA’s first bracket reveal over the weekend, UConn (26-3, 16-2 Big East) moved a game ahead of St. John’s for the conference lead.
The Huskies won their 27th straight in Hartford, led by as many as 36 in the second half and earned their largest margin of victory over St. John’s, eclipsing a 29-point win in Feb. 1998.
Reed made 9 of 14 shots and contributed a dunk to the 18-0 run in the first half along with a layup in the 16-0 run in the second half. He finished two shy of his season high and posted his seventh double-double this season.
Alex Karaban added 14 by hitting a 3-pointer and converting a dunk during the first half run and a pair of baskets in the second half outburst.
Solo Ball contributed a 3 during the second half and finished with 11. Braylon Mullins scored all nine of his points by hitting 3 3-pointers in the two runs.
Silas DeMary Jr contributed seven points, eight rebounds and five of UConn’s 20 assists.
St. John’s (22-6, 15-2) saw a 13-game winning streak stopped and had a 11-game Big East road winning streak halted. The Red Storm played their worst game under coach Rick Pitino and were held under 45 points for the first time since scoring 40 at Notre Dame on March 5, 2013.
The Red Storm missed their final 24 shots, shot 2-of-28 (7.1%) in the second half and 19.6% overall. It was their lowest field goal percentage in any game since 1938-1939.
Joson Sanon (10 points) was the lone double-figure scorer for the Red Storm, who also shot 5-of-20 from 3. Bryce Hopkins shot 3-of-14 while Zuby Ejiofor was held to six points, including the Red Storm’s last basket with 17:28 left in the second half.
UConn took a 31-11 lead on a 3 by Mullins with 6:37 lead and led 41-26 at halftime as St. John’s missed 16 straight shots at one point in the opening 20 minutes.
UConn continued dominating and officially put things away by scoring 16 straight points for a 61-31 lead on Ball’s corner 3 with 10:10 left. The lead reached 33 on two free throws by DeMary with 5:11 left and a few minutes later, UConn pulled its starters.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Alex Condon, Boogie Fland carry No. 7 Florida past Texas
Feb 25, 2026; Austin, Texas, USA; Florida Gators forward Alex Condon (21) makes a lay up during the second half against the Texas Longhorns at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images Alex Condon poured in 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting and Boogie Fland added 22 points as No. 7 Florida pulled away late for an 84-71 win over Texas on Wednesday in a Southeastern Conference clash in Austin, Texas.
Texas was ahead by three points at halftime and by 64-61 with 7:27 to play after a 9-0 surge. The Gators responded, fashioning a 14-1 run capped by Fland’s 3-pointer with 4:16 remaining to jump to a 10-point advantage.
After the Longhorns closed to within 75-67, Xaivian Lee hit a 3-pointer, Fland canned a jumper and Isaiah Brown leaped over the Texas defense for a resounding dunk that stoked Florida’s lead to 82-67 with 2:33 remaining. From there, the Gators (22-6, 13-2 SEC) cruised to the finish line to win their eighth straight game and 13th in their past 14 contests.
Lee added 12 points and six assists for Florida, which tied a program record with its seventh consecutive conference road win. It was the Gators’ seventh double-digit victory during its current streak.
Dailyn Swain led Texas (17-11, 8-7 SEC) with 21 points. Tramon Mark added 15 points, Jordan Pope scored 14 and Matas Vokietaitis hit for 12 but the Longhorns went the final 7:27 without a field goal and dropped their second straight outing.
The game was tied at the 13:11 mark of the first half before the Longhorns scored eight straight points, with Mark’s dunk with 11:10 to play putting Texas up 20-12. Florida swung back, retaking the lead at 28-27 on an alley-oop dunk by Condon with 5:53 until halftime.
The Longhorns rebuilt their lead to 36-31 on a three-point play by Nic Codie with 3:33 to go. Fland rallied Florida into a tie at 36 with a jumper and then a 3-pointer on the break, the latter with 1:21 to play in the half.
Swain’s layup with 44 seconds left and a free throw by Vokietaitis allowed Texas to carry a 39-36 lead to the break.
Mark led all scorers before halftime with 13 points while Condon led the Gators with 11.
The Gators opened the second half with a 7-1 run that netted them a 43-40 lead that they eventually turned into a six-point advantage after a 3-pointer by Urban Klavzar with 9:53 to play. Texas responded with nine consecutive points to retake the lead at 64-61 with 7:27 left, setting the stage for the furious finish.
–Field Level Media
Acaden Lewis leads the charge to help Villanova surge past Butler
No. 6 UConn dismantles No. 15 St. John's in battle of Big East's best
