Sports
Bench strength helps No. 24 Louisville get past Notre Dame
Louisville Cardinals forward Sananda Fru (13) blocks the shot of Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Sir Mohammed (13) in the first half at the KFC Yum! Center Wednesday night Feb. 4, 2026 The evening didn’t start well for Louisville, but a late first-half run and solid bench play led the No. 24 Cardinals to a 76-65 home win over Notre Dame on Wednesday.
Louisville (16-6, 6-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) fell behind 10-2 to open the game and saw starting guard J’Vonne Hadley exit due to an apparent aggravation of a back injury after playing just three minutes.
Louisville led 30-28 with two minutes to go in the first half but an 8-0 run over the next minute opened up a margin the Cardinals wouldn’t relinquish. A dunk from Sananda Fru, a layup from Adrian Wooley and then a 3-pointer and a free throw from Isaac McKneely gave Louisville a 38-28 edge with 1:01 before halftime.
Notre Dame pulled within three points on a couple occasions early in the second half, the last coming at 45-42 on a Carson Towt layup with 15:33 to play.
The Irish were still within five points at the eight-minute mark, but a late Louisville run finished the matter.
McKneely led the Cardinals’ attack with 13 points, including 4-for-8 3-point shooting. Fru added 12 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. Ryan Conwell also scored 12 points but shot just 4-for-14. Khani Rooths produced a second consecutive double-double off the bench with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Louisville’s bench tallied 33 points in all. Kasean Pryor notched 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting and grabbed five rebounds in the most playing time he’d seen since before Christmas (15 minutes).
Notre Dame (11-12, 2-8) lost for the eighth time in nine games. The Fighting Irish’s season has been a struggle since the loss of Markus Burton to injury in early December.
Cole Certa paced the Fighting Irish with 18 points, going 5-for-14 from 3-point range. Brady Koehler tallied 11 points and four steals. Jalen Haralson added eight points, seven rebounds and five assists.
The Irish shot just 38.7% for the game (24-for-62) and connected on just 6 of 14 free throw attempts (42.9%).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Team Canada snowboard medalist Mark McMorris airlifted after training crash
(File photo) Mark McMorris of Canada in the men’s snowboarding big air finals during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at Big Air Shougang. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-Imagn Images LIVIGNO, Italy — Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris was airlifted to medical attention Wednesday following a crash during a nighttime training run as the three-time bronze medalist prepared for his fourth Winter Games.
McMorris was completing practice runs ahead of the men’s big air competition, which begins Thursday in Livigno. Team Canada issued a brief statement but didn’t provide details on the incident or McMorris’ medical condition. He was removed from the mountainside on a stretcher.
“Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Snowboard staff are attending to him,” Team Canada said. “We will provide more information as it becomes available.”
McMorris, 32, won bronze medals in slopestyle at Sochi 2014, Pyeongchang 2018 and Beijing 2022.
He has battled through injuries throughout his career. In a 2017 crash, his injuries were considered life-threatening. He broke his jaw and left arm, ruptured his spleen, suffered a pelvic fracture, rib fractures and a collapsed lung.
Just Tuesday, McMorris said he was healthy and ready to compete.
“My body’s responding well to lots of riding, and I’m having fun,” McMorris said.
–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media
Sports
Shane Wright pots 2 goals as Kraken defeat host Kings
Feb 4, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Seattle Kraken center Shane Wright (51) reacts after scoring a goal against Los Angeles Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper (35) during the first period at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images Shane Wright scored two goals for the visiting Seattle Kraken in a 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.
Adam Larsson and Vince Dunn also scored, Chandler Stephenson and Frederick Gaudreau had two assists each and Joey Daccord made 25 saves for the Kraken, who were coming off a 4-2 loss at the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday that ended a four-game winning streak.
Andrei Kuzmenko scored two goals on his 30th birthday, Kevin Fiala had two assists and Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves for the Kings, who have lost three of four.
Seattle surrendered the first goal for the second straight night when Kuzmenko was given room on a power play to bring the puck from above the right circle to just below the dot before sliding a wrist shot between Kuemper’s pads for a 1-0 lead at 7:42 of the first.
Kings defenseman Jacob Moverare tried to rim the puck behind his net, but it was intercepted by Ryan Winterton. He passed out front to Wright, who pulled the puck to his backhand before lifting it into the net to tie it 1-1 at 9:16.
The Kraken scored 58 seconds later off another pass from below the goal line to add to their lead. Stephenson fed Larsson cutting down the middle, and he scored with a one-timer from the right hash marks for a 2-1 lead at 10:14.
The Kraken were back on the power play when Dunn sped through three Kings in the Los Angeles zone and scored with a backhand between Kuemper’s pads to make it 3-1 at 15:21 of the first period.
Kuzmenko scored the lone goal of the second period on a one-timer from the right hash marks while on a power play to cut it to 3-2 at 10:27.
Wright scored the Kraken’s second power-play goal of the game at 5:50 of the third to stretch the lead to 4-2.
The possibility of a Los Angeles comeback was derailed when Kings forward Adrian Kempe was called for a double-minor high-sticking penalty with 4:21 left.
The Kraken are off on their three-week Olympic break, while the Kings play at the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday in their final game before the break.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cam Spencer's clutch hoops push Grizzlies past Kings
Feb 4, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard/forward Ty Jerome (2) drives against Sacramento Kings forward/center Domantas Sabonis (11) during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images Ty Jerome put up a game-high 28 points, Cam Spencer hit two key late 3-pointers, and the Memphis Grizzlies held off the host Sacramento Kings for a 129-125 victory Wednesday night.
The defeat spoiled the Kings debut of De’Andre Hunter, who was making his Sacramento debut after being acquired from the Cleveland Cavaliers last week. Thrust immediately into the starting lineup, Hunter had nine points in 26 minutes, making just three of his 11 shots.
In a tightly contested affair in which neither team led by more than eight points, the Grizzlies broke the game’s final tie when Jaylen Wells buried a 3-pointer for a 117-114 advantage with 4:21 remaining.
Memphis never trailed again, getting three hoops — including a pair of 3-pointers — from Spencer and one interior basket apiece from Javon Small and GG Jackson, all when a miss would have given the Kings a chance to tie or take the lead.
The third of Spencer’s baskets, a 28-footer with 18.1 seconds left, countered a DeMar DeRozan 3-pointer 17 seconds earlier and turned a one-point game into a 129-125 Grizzlies lead.
Filling in for Ja Morant, Jerome shot 10-for-14 from the floor. He also found time for a game-high seven assists.
Jerome hit three of his four 3-point attempts and Wells went 6-for-9 from deep, helping the Grizzlies outshoot the hosts 43.9% to 30.6% from beyond the arc. Memphis outscored Sacramento 54-33 from deep.
Spencer finished with 20 points, while Wells had 18, Jackson 16, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 15 and Santi Aldama 12 for Memphis, which won its second straight after dropping six in a row.
Jackson grabbed seven rebounds, sharing team-high honors with Cedric Coward, who also collected a team-high six assists.
Domantas Sabonis paced Sacramento with 24 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, including seven offensive boards.
DeRozan checked in with 20 points, Nique Clifford 14, Russell Westbrook and Malik Monk 13 apiece, Zach LaVine 11 and Devin Carter 10 for the Kings, who dropped their 10th straight.
DeRozan, Clifford, Westbrook and Carter had five assists apiece.
–Field Level Media
