Sports
Atlantic Division lead on line when Lightning, Sabres meet
Feb 27, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson (72) shoots the puck as Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad (5) defends during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images The Buffalo Sabres went all-in at the trade deadline on Friday to toughen up for the postseason, and they kept winning in the process.
Owners of an NHL-high streak of six wins, they added to their roster then beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Saturday night to open a five-game homestand.
The Sabres will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night in the third meeting between the Atlantic Division foes, who each have 82 points atop the standings though the visitors have two games in hand. They split the two previous games and will close the season series on April 6 in Buffalo.
The franchise welcomed four players via trade on Friday, but only center Sam Carrick made his Buffalo debut. Logan Stanley, Luke Schenn and Tanner Pearson – all acquired from the Winnipeg Jets — were scratched.
Carrick, acquired from the New York Rangers, centered the fourth line between Zach Benson and Beck Malenstyn as the Sabres moved to 12-2-1 in the past 15 contests with Saturday’s win.
Josh Doan was credited with the game-winning goal with his 19th tally to put the Sabres ahead 3-1 early in the third period, but he pointed to Carrick’s late defensive play and two faceoffs as being key.
“The last 30 or 40 seconds was really good,” Doan said after Nashville made it a one-goal match with 3:52 left. “Obviously, (Sam) winning a faceoff there at the end is huge for us. That’s what he’s unbelievable at and part of the reason he’s such a good hockey player.”
Tage Thompson continued his torrid pace on the offensive end.
Stretching his point streak to a career-high 10 games with a goal, the Team USA gold medalist (team highs with 34 goals, 66 points) became the third Buffalo player in 15 years to reach that length.
Jack Eichel (17 games and nine games) and Sam Reinhart (11) also did it.
The Lightning inserted their own snarl into the lineup with Friday’s addition of Corey Perry, whom they acquired from the Los Angeles Kings for a second-round pick. It is the second career stop with the Lightning for the veteran.
“He has this ability to bring guys into the fight,” Lightning GM Julien BriseBois said. “He knows when and how to raise the temperature on the ice.”
Perry, 40, also knows about finding the net, which he showed in his Tampa Bay debut — a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Playing on a grinding line mostly with Scott Sabourin and Conor Geekie, Perry later found himself in a forward group with Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli in an explosive first period, netting his first goal with the Lightning on a pass from Hagel.
The tally was one of four in the first period that put the Lightning ahead 4-1.
The assist was the 200th of Hagel’s career, but Perry drew the attention afterward.
“It’s exciting to be back and be a part of this team,” Perry said following the Lightning’s 5-2 win. “It is like coming home, especially when you know a lot of guys in that room.”
In his fourth consecutive start, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 stops to improve his record to 29-10-3.
However, the 2019 Vezina winner has made four starts in eight days and could turn the net over to Jonas Johansson in Buffalo.
The backup netminder has made just five appearances (three starts) in 22 games since the turn of the new year and is well rested.
Nikita Kucherov posted four assists to reach 100 points for the sixth time.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Malik Reneau, Miami fend off No. 24 Louisville in ACC quarterfinals
Mar 12, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Miami (FL) Hurricanes forward Malik Reneau (5) goes to the basket against Louisville Cardinals forward Vangelis Zougris (53) uring the first half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images CHARLOTTE — Malik Reneau poured in 24 points and made key plays in the second half as Miami knocked off No. 24 Louisville 78-73 in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals Thursday afternoon.
Tru Washington came off the Miami bench for 17 points and Tre Donaldson provided 14 points and six assists for the third-seeded Hurricanes, who avenged a loss from the weekend as the teams met for the second time in six days.
Miami (25-7) will face second-seeded and No. 10 Virginia, an 81-74 winner earlier against North Carolina State, in Friday night’s first semifinal.
Ryan Conwell scored 22 points for sixth-seeded Louisville (23-10), but his 1-for-10 mark on 3-pointers contributed to the team’s 25% accuracy (6-for-24) from beyond the arc. J’Vonne Hadley racked up 19 points and reserve Khani Rooths had 11 points, but the Cardinals couldn’t repeat their success from a day earlier against SMU.
This latest tournament result reversed Louisville’s 92-89 road victory in Saturday’s regular-season finale. That outcome knocked Miami out of the Top 25.
On Thursday, Louisville pulled within 69-68 before Reneau scored in the lane with a minute to play. Washington’s steal on the inbounds play and two ensuing free throws gave the Hurricanes four points in a matter of one second of game time.
Reneau later sank two free throws to help the Hurricanes seal the outcome. Washington finished one point shy of his season high.
Louisville was hurt by 13 turnovers compared to eight for Miami.
The Cardinals shot 56.0% in the first half, but led only 38-37 at the break.
Back-to-back baskets from Washington pushed Miami to a 53-44 edge with less than 14 minutes remaining. Conwell had seven points during Louisville’s 10-2 spurt that drew the Cardinals to within 63-62.
Louisville has held out injured freshman standout Mikel Brown Jr. for four games this month in hopes he’ll be healed enough to participate in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals went 3-1 in those games.
–Bob Sutton, Field Level Media
Sports
Timberwolves look to reverse course against Warriors
Mar 11, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) moves the ball against Los Angeles Clippers guard Kris Dunn (8) during the first half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Two teams battling to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race meet when the Golden State Warriors face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday in San Francisco.
Minnesota has slipped to sixth place in the crowded West standings after dropping three consecutive games, while fading Golden State has fallen under .500 for the first time in nearly three months.
March began on a high note for Minnesota, which briefly moved into third place in the West following a five-game winning streak. Since then, the Timberwolves have lost three in a row by an average of 22 points.
Minnesota struggled on the defensive end in a 153-128 road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. Kawhi Leonard scored 45 points to lead the Clippers, who shot 63.4% from the field and 51.4% (19 of 37) from 3-point range.
“Obviously, it’s not acceptable,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “They didn’t have a single quarter under 35 points. Not an acceptable defensive performance at all.”
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota against the Clippers with 36 points, while Naz Reid added 18. Julius Randle was held to 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting. The loss came one night after the Timberwolves’ 120-106 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“We’ve got to regroup. We’ve got to play both sides of the floor,” Finch said. “(On Tuesday) it was our offense, and (Wednesday) it was our defense. So we’ve got to put a complete game together, come back together. We know we’re a good team. Feels like we’re a million miles away from where we were a week ago, but we’re not.”
Golden State is likewise looking for answers after losing three straight. The short-handed Warriors followed up Monday’s road loss to the Utah Jazz with a 130-124 overtime defeat to the visiting Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.
“Both very winnable games,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Had the lead late (Tuesday), obviously one we should’ve had. This is how the NBA is, especially when you’re beaten up. You’re not going to blow anybody out. Games are going to be tight. You’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish either of the last two nights.”
LJ Cryer, Gui Santos, Kristaps Porzingis and Pat Spencer each scored 17 points against the Bulls to lead Golden State, which played without Stephen Curry (knee), De’Anthony Melton (adductor), Moses Moody (wrist) and Quinten Post (foot).
Curry has missed the last 15 games and will be evaluated again on March 21. The Warriors are play-in tournament eligible while in ninth place in the West and have gone 5-10 during Curry’s absence.
“We’re at the point in the season where we’re fighting just to stay alive right now,” Spencer said. “The goal is to get into that seven/eight (play-in) game. I don’t think we’re going to put too much stress on each individual game. But we know how important every game is now down the stretch.”
With 17 games left in the regular season, Golden State will be leaning on young players such as guard Brandin Podziemski, who was limited to nine points on 3-of-8 shooting against Chicago.
The Warriors have lost two of three meetings against Minnesota this season, including a 108-83 road defeat on Jan. 26.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Strong start propels Arizona to easy UCF defeat in Big 12 tourney opener
Mar 12, 2026; Kansas City, MO, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Brayden Burries (5) shoots the ball over UCF Knights forward Jordan Burks (99) during the first half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images Brayden Burries scored 21 points and top-seeded Arizona never trailed while cruising to an 81-59 victory over eighth-seeded UCF on Thursday afternoon in Kansas City to reach the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament.
Tobe Awaka had 12 points and 12 rebounds in the quarterfinal matchup and Koa Peat also scored 12 points for the Wildcats (30-2). Ivan Kharchenkov added 10 points for Arizona.
Themus Fulks scored 14 points for the Knights (21-11), who are expected to receive an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. Jordan Burks and Chris Johnson added 10 points apiece for UCF.
Arizona will face fifth-seeded Iowa State in Friday night’s first semifinal.
UCF’s John Bol was helped off the court with an apparent chest injury with 11:07 remaining in the game, collapsing to the floor while touching his chest with a hand. He had six points and five rebounds.
Arizona shot 48.3% from the field, including 6 of 16 from 3-point range, while leading by as much as 27.
The Knights made 36.5% of their attempts and were just 3 of 21 from behind the arc.
UCF threatened to make it a game after cutting its 27-point first-half deficit to 54-42 on Johnson’s floater with 11:49 left in the game.
But Awaka converted a three-point play to get it back to 15. A short time later, Motiejus Krivas made two free throws to give the Wildcats a 61-44 advantage with 8:22 left in the contest.
The Knights made another attempt on baskets by Johnson and Burks to move within 13 with 7:24 to play.
The Wildcats pushed the lead back to 66-49 on a dunk by Peat with 5:31 left.
A trey by Fulks got UCF within 12 with 4:48 left before Burries went on a personal 7-0 burst to give Arizona a 73-54 lead with 3:32 to play.
Kharchenkov followed with a 3-point play to boost the lead to 22 with 2:53 left as the Wildcats closed it out.
Arizona exploded at the outset of the game with seven straight points and led 14-2 before the game was five minutes old.
Awaka scored consecutive baskets to make it 20-6 with 13:11 left in the half. Johnson scored next for UCF before the Wildcats ripped off 15 straight points.
Peat scored the last five of that run to give Arizona a 35-8 lead with 7:38 left in the half.
The Knights later scored 18 of the last 25 points in the half to trail 46-30 at the break.
–Field Level Media
Malik Reneau, Miami fend off No. 24 Louisville in ACC quarterfinals
Timberwolves look to reverse course against Warriors
