Sports
Stefan Vaaks sinks eight 3s as Providence rallies to vanquish Butler
Mar 11, 2026; New York, NY, USA; Providence Friars guard Stefan Vaaks (7) drives to the basket against Butler Bulldogs guard Jamie Kaiser Jr. (7) during the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images NEW YORK — Stefan Vaaks scored a career-best 28 points and hit a career-high eight 3-pointers as ninth-seed Providence overcame a 16-point deficit in the first half for a 91-81 victory over eighth-seeded Butler Wednesday in the opening round of the Big East tournament.
Vaaks kept the Friars afloat before their rally and finished 8-of-13 from behind the arc. He joined Marquette’s Matt Carlino (2015) as the only players to sink eight 3s in a Big East tournament game.
Vaaks hit his sixth 3 for a 71-61 lead with 8:27 left, then made his seventh for an 82-75 lead at the 2:50 mark about a minute after Butler’s Jamie Kaiser Jr. hit a triple to make it a two-point game.
The freshman made it eight when he drained a triple from the top of the key to make it 87-78 with 96 seconds left to essentially secure the win.
Ryan Mela added a career-high 23 on 10-of-14 shooting and Jaylin Sellers contributed 19 of his 23 in the second half after shooting 2-of-10 in the opening 20 minutes. Mela added nine rebounds and five assists, both team highs.
The Friars (15-17) will face top-seeded St. John’s in the quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon.
Michael Ajyai led Butler (16-16) with 21 points and 11 rebounds but played the final 10-plus minutes with four fouls. Finley Bizjack struggled most of the game, scoring 17 on 5-of-15 shooting.
Providence shot 52.3% after missing eight of its first nine shots. The Friars made 14 of 27 from 3 and outscored Butler 80-54 in the final 29-plus minutes.
It was the second time this season Providence erased a double-digit deficit at Madison Square Garden. On Jan. 3, the Friars charged back from a 13-point deficit in the second half and recorded a 77-71 victory over St. John’s.
Butler ripped off 15 straight for a 15-2 lead on a jumper in the lane by Ajayi with 15:19 left. Butler took a 25-9 lead when Bizjack sank a 3 with 10:55 left to cap an 8-0 run.
Providence countered Butler’s fast start with a 13-2 spurt and Vaaks sank 3s on consecutive possessions to cut the deficit to 31-27 with 5:13 remaining. Mela’s three-point play forged a 38-38 tie with 99 seconds left, and Butler settled for a 42-40 lead by halftime.
Vaaks hit a 3 for 54-52 lead with 14:26 left, and Sellers hit a 3 40 seconds later to force Butler to use a timeout. Sellers capped Providence’s 12-0 run with a layup for a 61-52 lead with 12:25 left. He connected on a 3 for a 68-58 lead nearly a minute later.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
Sports
Iowa rides Cooper Koch, 21-0 run to move past Maryland
Mar 11, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Darius Adams (1) defends Iowa Hawkeyes guard Isaia Howard (23) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images Iowa exploded past Maryland in the second half, capitalizing on turnovers and the tandem of Bennett Stirtz and Cooper Koch to advance to the third round of the Big Ten tournament on Wednesday afternoon in Chicago.
Koch wasn’t bothered by a bloody nose, as the freshman forward scored team-best and career-high 19 points, and Stirtz added 17 after a quiet first half. Stirtz also had eight assists and six rebounds.
Koch cashed his fifth 3 of the game in transition to put ninth-seeded Iowa up 59-47 with under seven minutes remaining.
Iowa (21-11) ended a three-game losing streak. The Hawkeyes are first on the court again Thursday with a noon ET against eighth-seeded Ohio State (20-11) at United Center. Iowa defeated the Buckeyes 74-57 on Feb. 25.
Maryland (12-21) had 16 turnovers and missed 14 of its 21 3-point tries.
Isaiah Watts had four 3s and finished with 12 points and Darius Adams scored a team-high 14 for the 17th-seeded Terrapins. Surging scorer Andre Mills was 1 of 13 from the field for Maryland, which trailed by double digits most of the second half.
Iowa took control with a 21-0 run and had Maryland coach Buzz Williams shaking his head with a second timeout in 80 seconds when Stirtz found Koch on the right wing for a 3 — his third of the second half — and buried the Terrapins in a 50-34 hole.
Maryland held Stirtz, the Big Ten’s third-leading scorer at 20.2 points per game, to four points in the first half. He ignited Iowa with back-to-back 3s as part of a the run that staked the Hawkeyes to a 42-34 lead with 14 minutes to play.
Streaky Maryland trailed early but turned to a 2-3 zone defense and knocked down open shots as part of a 15-0 run to build a double-digit, first-half lead, 21-10. Iowa cut it to 26-25 in the final minute of the half with an 11-2 run of its own thanks to Maryland’s eight turnovers in 33 first-half possession.
Maryland started the Big Ten schedule with a 1-10 record. The Terrapins picked up momentum with a close loss to No. 9 Illinois in the regular-season finale and led wire to wire in Tuesday’s tournament victory over Oregon.
–Field Level Media
Sports
KC Current acquire F Penelope Hocking from Bay FC
Nov 2, 2025; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Bay FC forward Penelope Hocking (55) dribbles the ball during the first half against Racing Louisville FC at Lynn Family Stadium. Mandatory Credit: EM Dash-Imagn Images The Kansas City Current acquired forward Penelope Hocking from Bay FC on Wednesday.
The Current sent $350,000 in intra-league transfer funds to complete the deal for Hocking, 26.
“We are very excited to welcome Penelope to Kansas City,” general manager Ryan Dell said in a statement. “Penelope’s aptitude for scoring goals from anywhere on the field, combined with her ability to create chances for those around her, will only strengthen our attack. Above all, she is a great person and teammate who will positively impact our club on and off the pitch.”
Hocking recorded a team-high six goals and one assist in 18 regular-season matches (10 starts) last season with Bay FC. She scored seven goals with the Chicago Red Stars from 2023-24.
“I’m extremely excited to be joining the Kansas City Current,” Hocking, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft, said in the team’s news release. “This is a club with high expectations and high standards, and I’m excited to bring my energy, compete every day and help the team win trophies.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Quadir Copeland, NC State too strong for Pitt
Mar 11, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; NC State Wolfpack guard Quadir Copeland (11) reacts after scoring in the second half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images CHARLOTTE — Quadir Copeland collected 24 points and eight assists in North Carolina State’s 98-88 victory over Pitt in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament on Wednesday afternoon.
Ven-Allen Lubin racked up 18 points, Paul McNeil Jr. had 15, Tre Holloman notched 14 and Darrion Williams and Matt Able both scored 12 as the Wolfpack shot 60.8% from the field. NC State made 13 of 23 shots from 3-point range.
Seventh-seeded NC State (20-12), which won for only the second time in eight games, will meet No. 10-ranked and second-seeded Virginia in Thursday’s first quarterfinal.
Cameron Corhen poured in 27 points on 9-for-12 shooting for No. 15 seed Pitt (13-20), which had won four of its previous six games. Nojus Indrusaitis, who hit five 3-point shots, and Omari Witherspoon each scored 19 points and Barry Dunning Jr. added 11 points, but the Panthers’ 57.1% shooting wasn’t enough.
The Wolfpack scored 22 of the first 30 points of the second half to create a 73-58 lead on a Pitt team that pulled off an upset of Stanford a day earlier on a last-second shot off a rebound.
Pitt used an 11-3 run to close the gap and later trailed 78-72 with more than 10 minutes to play before Terrance Arceneaux’s 3-point shot resulted in his only basket of the game.
By the game’s eight-minute mark, NC State had five players with double-figure point totals and soon after Williams joined them by bagging his fourth 3-pointer on four attempts. Later, Copeland made a nifty move to the lane to score and expand on NC State’s 88-83 edge.
Both teams shot over 61% in the first half, which ended with NC State holding a 51-50 edge. The teams combined to make 16 of 25 shots from 3-point range prior to the break.
As a result of the shooting success, there were only three offensive rebounds in the opening half. NC State held a 16-7 scoring edge from the free-throw line.
Pitt made 12 of its first 18 shots from the field, including 8-for-12 on 3s, and led 34-25. But the Wolfpack got rolling, with McNeil’s three 3-pointers contributing to a surge of less than four minutes that produced a 10-0 run on the way to a 43-40 lead.
–Bob Sutton, Field Level Media
Iowa rides Cooper Koch, 21-0 run to move past Maryland
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