Sports
After blowout loss, NC State knows it must 'move forward' vs. Miami
Feb 9, 2026; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; NC State Wolfpack head coach Will Wade calls out instructions during the first half against the Louisville Cardinals at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated N.C. State 118-77. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images North Carolina State, which is 5-1 after a loss this season, is hoping to rebound Saturday afternoon when it hosts Atlantic Coast Conference rival Miami in Raleigh, N.C.
The Wolfpack (18-7, 9-3 ACC) have won six of their last seven games but are coming off a 118-77 loss at No. 24 Louisville.
Head coach Will Wade said it was “hard to find silver linings” in a 41-point defeat.
“They whipped us every way possible,” Wade added. “We got torched. We got hammered.
“But we have to move forward.”
In the wake of that loss, Wade is surely focused on NC State’s defense, which ranks 14th in the ACC (74.3 points per game). The Wolfpack are also 12th in rebounding margin.
Offensively, NC State ranks third in the league (85.3 ppg), and Quadir Copeland, who averages 13.9 points, leads the ACC with assists 6.9 per game.
Darrion Williams leads NC State in scoring at 14.4 per game, and Paul McNeil and Ven-Allen Lubin are two more players to watch. They both average 13.6 points, and McNeil ranks second in the league in 3-pointers and first in percentage (43.0), while Lubin ranks first in field-goal percentage (68.0).
Meanwhile, Miami (19-5, 8-3) is coming off an impressive 75-66 home win over No. 11 North Carolina.
Miami has won two straight games and four of five. The Hurricanes lead the ACC in field-goal percentage (50.9) and rank fourth in scoring offense (83.8) and fifth in scoring defense (69.8).
The Hurricanes’ problem is that they sit 14th in 3-point shooting and 16th in 3-point defense. Additionally, Miami lacks depth, although guard Tru Washington might return Saturday after missing three games for personal reasons.
Malik Reneau (19.8 ppg) is tied for fourth in the conference in scoring, Ernest Udeh Jr. is second in rebounds (9.6) and Tre Donaldson is tied for third in assists (6.1).
First-year head coach Jai Lucas said the Hurricanes — who are 5-1 on the road — are wary of NC State, which is 10-3 at home.
“They are coming off a big loss,” Lucas said. “They’re going to be breaking fire.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
After snapping 9-game skid, Oklahoma hosts reeling Georgia
Feb 11, 2026; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mike White reacts on the bench against the Florida Gators during the first half at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images Georgia coach Mike White is counting on his team playing better from the jump Saturday than the Bulldogs did in their most recent game when they travel to Norman, Okla., to take on Oklahoma.
“We’ll do our best as a staff to figure out how we can get off to a better start and if that means playing the five guys that are going to bring the most energy – who look like they’ve got energy at the pregame meal – I don’t know,” White said. “But you’ve got to sprint up and down the court in this league to have success.”
The Bulldogs are coming off a 20-point home loss to Florida on Wednesday where they didn’t score until nearly six minutes into the game. Since their 16-3 start, they’ve lost four of their last five games.
There was one major bright spot in the Florida loss for Georgia. Freshman Kareem Stagg scored nine points in 16 minutes after scoring just six points in his first 10 SEC games.
“He grew up a little bit,” White said. “That happens with freshmen, and if you can string together two or three of those in a row (that’d be positive). There’s always a step or two backwards as these guys go through their process, but certainly he took a step forward.”
The Bulldogs (17-7, 5-6 Southeastern Conference) were without leading scorer Jeremiah Wilkinson in the loss to Florida. Wilkinson is dealing with a shoulder injury.
White said after that game there wasn’t a timetable for Wilkinson’s return.
The Sooners (12-12, 2-9) haven’t played since last Saturday’s 92-91 win at then-No. 15 Vanderbilt that snapped their nine-game losing streak.
“Obviously you wish they were playing on the road tonight in Alaska and flying home,” White quipped. ” … I’ve seen them just a few times live. Talented and versatile and fast and playing at home. We’ll have to play really well.”
The Sooners led by 21 points with less than five minutes left against Vanderbilt but the game still came down to the wire.
During their extended losing streak, Oklahoma dropped several games despite holding double-digit leads.
“We’ve played really good basketball and we just haven’t been able to finish them off,” Sooners coach Porter Moser said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Team Peps completes comeback on Day 1 of OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. Team Peps, Team Falcons, T1 and Virtus.pro won their opening games and moved into the quarterfinals of the Overwatch Champions Series Pre-Season Bootcamp on Friday in Seoul.
Peps outlasted Disguised 3-2 in a match that included a rare draw in the fourth round. Falcons swept VARREL 3-0, Virtus.pro did the same to All Gamers and T1 defeated Dallas Fuel 3-1.
Twelve teams are participating in the $25,000 event that kicks off the 2026 Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS). Teams from North America, the EMEA region, China, Japan and elsewhere in Asia were invited.
The single-elimination bracket saw teams seeded by regional and 2025 World Finals performance. All matches are first-to-three until Sunday’s grand finals, which are first-to-four.
On Friday, Disguised jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Peps, winning 2-1 on Ilios Control and 1-0 on Shambali Monastery Escort.
After Peps clawed one back on Esperanca Push, 89.03m-52.84m, the teams tied 3-3 on Midtown Hybrid. They continued on to New Junk City Flashpoint, where Peps took the momentum with a 3-0 win before sealing the comeback 2-1 on Watchpoint: Gibraltar Escort.
Falcons did not allow VARREL to score a point on any map, blanking them 2-0 on Lijiang Tower Control, 3-0 on Shambali Monastery Escort and 3-0 on Midtown Hybrid.
It was the same story for Virtus.pro, which shut out All Gamers 2-0 on Ilios Control, 1-0 on Eichenwalde Hybrid and 1-0 on Shambali Monastery Escort.
T1 opened its match against Dallas Fuel with a 2-1 win on Lijiang Tower Control and a 2-0 triumph on Midtown Hybrid. Dallas extended the match by taking Havana Escort 3-2, but T1 finished it off with a 3-0 result on New Junk City Flashpoint.
The tournament continues Saturday with the four quarterfinal matches:
–Crazy Raccoon vs. Team Peps
–Weibo Gaming vs. Team Falcons
–Twisted Minds vs. T1
–Team Liquid vs. Virtus.pro
Overwatch Champions Series 2026 Pre-Season Bootcamp prize pool
1. $15,000
2. $5,000
3-4. $2,500
5-8. No money
9-12. No money — Disguised, VARREL, Dallas Fuel, All Gamers
–Field Level Media
Sports
Oregon tries to snap 10-game skid vs. Penn State as injuries linger
Feb 7, 2026; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dana Altman reacts to a call during the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images Oregon aims to break a 10-game losing streak Saturday afternoon in Eugene, Ore., when the Ducks host Penn State in a matchup of the two teams at the bottom of the Big Ten Conference.
Last-place Oregon (8-16, 1-12 Big Ten) has not been at full strength for much of the season — and it likely won’t be for the rest of the campaign, with star guard Jackson Shelstad’s season appearing to be over due to a hand injury.
Shelstad hurt his hand before the season, returned in the second game and re-injured it just before the start of Big Ten play. He’s unlikely to come back before the season ends.
The Ducks nearly pulled off a big upset last weekend against then-No. 12 Purdue, but Oregon lost 68-64 to the Boilermakers. Most recently, Oregon was defeated 92-74 at Indiana on Monday.
Head coach Dana Altman stressed that the Ducks have yet to play a conference game where Shelstad, center Nate Bittle and forward Kwame Evans Jr., the team’s most experienced players and key scorers, have all been on the court together.
“So, you know, it hasn’t been good,” Altman said earlier this week. “We knew we had to have those three guys on the floor all the time for experience.”
Penn State (11-14, 2-12) is coming off a 63-60 win at Washington on Wednesday night, the Nittany Lions’ first Big Ten road win of the season. Their three leading scorers are Freddie Dilione IV (14.6 points per game), Kayden Mingo (13.4) and Josh Reed (10.7).
Mingo is the highest-ranked recruit in program history. The freshman from Farmingdale, N.Y., has scored in double figures in 16 of his 22 games this season.
Mingo rallied from a couple of poor shooting performances to score 13 points at Washington, making 6 of 11 shots.
“He’s a competitive dude. He takes this very personal, that’s what you love about him,” Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades said. “We’ve got to have his back, too. We’ve got to help him as well.”
–Field Level Media
Wordle today: Answer, hints for February 14, 2026
After snapping 9-game skid, Oklahoma hosts reeling Georgia
