Sports
Bucks pound Bulls team in transition after trades
Feb 3, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers talks with guard Ryan Rollins (13) and guard AJ Green (20) during a time out against the Chicago Bulls at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images Kyle Kuzma scored 31 and grabbed 10 boards to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a dominant 131-115 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.
Ryan Rollins added 21 along with 10 assists for Milwaukee, which snapped a five-game losing skid. AJ Green added 17 while Myles Turner, Pete Nance and Gary Trent Jr. each scored 15.
Matas Buzelis scored a team-high 22 points for Chicago, who fell for the fifth time in its last six games. Coby White recorded 21 points and 10 rebounds. Ayo Dosunmu and Patrick Williams each added 17 points.
Chicago was without many key pieces due to a flurry of trade activity. The Bulls reportedly parted ways on Tuesday with Nikola Vucevic, Kevin Huerter and the newly acquired Dario Saric. Josh Giddey (hamstring) also missed the game.
The Bucks came out firing as they shot 64% from both the floor and from beyond the arc (7-for-11). Kuzma scored 11 points in the opening frame.
Milwaukee didn’t slow down in the second as it continued to shoot over 60% from the floor. The Bucks also dominated points in the paint (26-14) as they took a 77-52 lead into halftime.
It was a season high for points in a single half for Milwaukee as Kuzma had 18 to lead all players while Turner and Rollins each had 13.
The third quarter was be a much different story. The Bulls came out of the halftime break motivated as they shrunk a 26-point deficit down to six.
Milwaukee punched back, responding with an 18-4 run at the end of the third into the start of the fourth to go back up by 17. The Bucks rode the momentum from there and did not relinquish a double-digit edge.
Milwaukee knocked down a season-high 23 3-pointers in making 60.5% from beyond the arc. Green, Rollins and Trent each had five shots from deep individually.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 4 Duke's dominant first half enough to skip past Boston College
Feb 3, 2026; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cameron Boozer (12) lays the ball up in front of Boston College Eagles guard Fred Payne (5) during the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images Cameron Boozer had a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds to power No. 4 Duke to its 10th straight victory, a 67-49 home win over Boston College on Tuesday night in Durham, N.C.
Boozer shot 9-of-17 from the floor and also tallied two assists and a season-best five steals for Duke (21-1, 10-0 ACC). Isaiah Evans added 12 points for the Blue Devils, while Patrick Ngongba also flirted with a double-double, totaling nine points and nine boards.
Fred Payne paced Boston College (9-13, 2-7) with 14 points in the seventh loss for the Eagles in their last nine games.
Duke led wire-to-wire and jumped out on a 13-0 run to open the game, powered by seven points from Boozer. The Blue Devils later put together a 13-5 run and went on to lead by as many as 18 points in the first half.
Before intermission, Boozer drove right and threw down a one-handed slam with ease over Boston College defender Jayden Hastings, giving Duke a 42-27 lead at the break.
After shooting 60.7% from the floor in the first half, though, the Blue Devils struggled to keep that offensive firepower consistent in the second, shooting just 31.8% from the floor. The 25 points that Duke scored in the second half were the fewest it has scored in a half all season.
Boston College never threatened to take the lead, as Duke was able to keep a comfortable double-digit advantage in the second half despite its shooting woes. The Blue Devils also had just two turnovers in the first half, but seven in the second. The early hole the Eagles dug themselves just proved to be too deep to overcome.
Duke is off to its best start to a season since the 2007-08 campaign, back when head coach Jon Scheyer was a sophomore guard playing for Mike Krzyzewski.
Next up for the Blue Devils is the rekindling of one of the top rivalries in all of college sports, as it travels down Tobacco Road on Saturday to face No. 14 North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 3 UConn enjoys balanced attack in easy win over Xavier
Feb 3, 2026; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies forward Tarris Reed Jr. (5) reacts with guard Silas Demary Jr. (2) as they take on the Xavier Musketeers in the first half at PeoplesBank Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images Silas Demary Jr. collected 17 points and eight assists to help No. 3 UConn coast to its 18th straight win with a 92-60 victory over Xavier on Tuesday in Hartford, Conn.
Tarris Reed Jr. made all seven of his shot attempts from the floor to join Eric Reibe with 14 points. Reed, who also had eight rebounds, is 19-for-20 from the field in his last three games.
Braylon Mullins scored 10 of UConn’s first 12 points of the game and finished with 13 points for the Huskies (22-1, 12-0 Big East), who rode the fast start to a season sweep of the Musketeers. UConn cruised to a 90-67 victory over Xavier on New Year’s Eve.
Jayden Ross scored 11 points and Alex Karaban followed up his team-high 19 points in the previous encounter with the Musketeers with nine points, six rebounds and six assists on Tuesday.
UConn’s Solo Ball finished with nine points, hours after he was named to the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award Midseason Watch List.
The Huskies shot 56.7% from the floor. They also owned the interior, as they held a 41-24 edge in rebounds (including 12-8 on the offensive end) and enjoyed a 46-20 edge in points in the paint.
Xavier’s All Wright scored 14 points and Roddie Anderson III and Malik Messina-Moore each added 10.
Tre Carroll, who entered the game scoring a Big East-best 18.3 points per game, was limited to just nine with four turnovers.
The Musketeers (12-11, 4-8) lost for the fourth time in their last five games.
Mullins started quickly with a 3-pointer, a three-point conversion and two dunks to stake UConn to a 12-2 lead. The teams split the next eight points before Demary drained a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions.
Mullins sank a wide-open 3-pointer to push the Huskies’ lead to 37-15, and the Huskies kept their foot on the gas to seize a 50-22 advantage at intermission. UConn held a 17-1 advantage in assists at that point.
The Huskies weren’t seriously threatened in the second half.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Reports: Cavs acquire James Harden from Clippers for Darius Garland
Jan 30, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images The Cavaliers and Clippers have finalized a trade that sends 11-time All-Star James Harden to Cleveland, with Darius Garland and a second-round pick going to Los Angeles, ESPN and The Athletic both reported Tuesday.
Harden, 36, was held out of the Clippers’ lineup the last two games for what the team labeled personal reasons.
The former NBA MVP and three-time scoring champ is averaging 25.4 points, 8.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds in 44 games this season, his 17th in the NBA.
Harden could block any trade because he’s technically under contract for just this season, which requires his approval for the swap. The second year of his two-year, $81.5 million deal is a player option, which isn’t fully guaranteed.
Garland, 26, has been sidelined since Jan. 14 with a Grade 1 right toe sprain.
The two-time All-Star is averaging 18.0 points and 6.9 assists over 26 games this season. He is in the third year of a five-year, $197.2 million contract.
The Cavaliers (30-21) are in contention in the Eastern Conference, one of four teams with either 30 or 31 wins behind first-place Detroit (36-12), which explains the desire to make a big move by acquiring Harden.
The Clippers, 23-26, remain in play-in contention in the West, currently in ninth place.
The NBA trade deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.
–Field Level Media
No. 4 Duke's dominant first half enough to skip past Boston College
No. 3 UConn enjoys balanced attack in easy win over Xavier
