Sports
Coaches in elite company clash when Kansas faces St. John's
Mar 19, 2026; San Diego, CA, USA; Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self speaks at a press conference ahead of the first round of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Viejas Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images SAN DIEGO — Only three active head coaches in Division I college basketball have won multiple national championships. Two of them meet for a berth in the Sweet 16 when Bill Self’s No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks face Rick Pitino’s No. 5 St. John’s Red Storm on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament East Region.
Self, winner of the 2008 and 2022 national championships at Kansas, praised Pitino’s continued success over multiple eras. Pitino is 30 years removed from winning his first title with Kentucky in 1996 and won another at Louisville in 2013, although the latter has been officially vacated by the NCAA.
“To me, the coaches (who) are so impressive are (those who) coached without a 3-point line, then became efficient with the 3-point line. Coached without a shot clock, then became one of the best with the shot clock – always evolving with the game,” Self said. “And (Pitino) has done that as well as anybody maybe ever.”
Pitino began his full-time head-coaching career in 1978 at Boston University, seven years before the introduction of the shot clock and eight before the 3-point line was introduced across college basketball.
His longevity puts Pitino in the unique position to guide his fourth different program, along with Providence, Kentucky and Louisville, to the Sweet 16. It would be the first such appearance since 1999 for St. John’s (29-6).
The Red Storm advanced to the second round with a 79-53 rout of No. 12 Northern Iowa on Friday, St. John’s seventh straight win overall and fourth in a row by 10-plus points.
The veteran trio of Oziyah Sellers, Bryce Hopkins and Kansas transfer Zuby Ejiofor have paced St. John’s, combining to average 40.5 of St. John’s 81.6 points per game. Ejiofor, the Big East Conference Player of the Year, posted a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double in Friday’s win.
Kansas (24-10), meanwhile, weathered a furious second-half comeback on Friday to advance past No. 13 Cal Baptist behind standout freshman Darryn Peterson’s 28 points.
The Jayhawks led by as many as 26 points before Cal Baptist cut the deficit to six points with 1:20 left in the 68-60 Kansas win.
Pitino offered effusive praise of Peterson, a potential No. 1 overall pick in this summer’s NBA draft. The 6-foot-6 guard is averaging 20.1 points per game despite battling a variety of injury issues throughout the season.
“He’s got great size,” Pitino said of Peterson. “He’s got a beautiful-looking jump shot. …He’s going to be a great NBA player because he has an NBA game.”
Peterson’s presence on the Kansas roster reflects one of the many positives Pitino touted when analyzing his counterpart in Self. Pitino called the Kansas coach a “great evaluator of talent” on top of being a multidimensional tactician.
“He’s a great offensive coach and he’s a great defensive coach,” Pitino said. “He’s such a well-rounded guy. His teams do everything well.”
The Jayhawks come into the second round with a balanced resume but with especially impressive defensive credentials. They have held opponents to 44.5% shooting on 2-point field-goal attempts and only 30.5% from beyond the arc, both top 25 nationally.
Big men Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller both rank in the top 150 nationally in block percentage, per KenPom.com.
They will clash with a stout St. John’s frontcourt led by Ejiofor, whose 16.3 points per game come on 55% shooting from the floor.
–Kyle Kensing, Field Level Media
Sports
Flyers take down Sharks as road win streak hits 8
Mar 21, 2026; San Jose, California, USA; Philadelphia Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov (39) reacts to a goal scored by center Christian Dvorak (not pictured) against San Jose Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (33) during the third period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images Christian Dvorak scored a power-play goal early in the third period, helping the Philadelphia Flyers extend their season-high road winning streak to seven games with a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Philadelphia’s road winning streak is tied for the second-longest in franchise history (1985-86, 2017-18 seasons), one shy of the eight-game run from 1982-83.
Owen Tippett scored in the second period and defenseman Travis Sanheim and Noah Cates each found the empty net 36 seconds apart in the third.
Dan Vladar made 24 saves for the Flyers (34-23-12, 80 points), who completed a sweep of their three-game California road trip and improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games overall. Philadelphia also finished off a season sweep of San Jose after posting a 4-1 home victory on Dec. 9.
Macklin Celebrini notched an assist on defenseman Dmitry Orlov’s power-play goal, boosting the former’s career total to 99. Celebrini (19 years, 281 days) is one assist shy of becoming the second-youngest player in NHL history to reach that milestone behind only Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (19 years, 134 days on Dec. 19, 2006).
Alex Nedeljkovic turned aside 24 shots for the Sharks (32-30-6, 70 points), who have lost four in a row and seven of their last nine (2-5-2).
Philadelphia fourth-liner Garnet Hathaway unloaded on Celebrini, prompting San Jose defenseman Mario Ferraro to come to his teammate’s defense and earn a roughing penalty to boot. The Flyers made the Sharks pay, as Dvorak one-timed Travis Konecny’s cross-slot feed past Nedeljkovic for a 2-1 lead at 1:47 of the third period.
Tippett reeled in a diagonal pass from Trevor Zegras, maneuvered around San Jose defenseman Nick Leddy and wired a shot past Nedeljkovic to open the scoring 2:26 into the second period. The goal was Tippett’s 24th of the season and fifth in his last eight games.
Celebrini worked along the left-wing boards before advancing the puck to William Eklund, who skated in from the left circle. Eklund alertly delivered a centering feed to an unmarked Orlov, who made no mistake from the slot to forge a 1-1 tie with 6:48 remaining in the second period.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Fire earns road win as Union stays in Eastern Conference basement
Mar 21, 2026; Chester, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Union forward Bruno Damiani (9) is tripped up by Chicago Fire defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi (4) while going for the ball during the first half at Subaru Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Jonathan Bamba scored his second goal early in the second half and the visiting Chicago Fire earned a 2-1 victory on Saturday against struggling Philadelphia Union.
Hugo Cuypers added his fourth goal late in the first half for the Fire (2-2-1, 7 points) who earned their first away victory of the season after leading the Eastern Conference with nine in 2025.
Chris Brady made three saves as Chicago avenged its elimination by Philadelphia in last year’s first-round playoff series and snapped a four-match winless run against the Union in all competitions.
Milan Iloski scored his first goal for Philadelphia just before halftime. But the Union (0-5-0, 0 points) extended the worst start for a reigning Supporters’ Shield holder, less than 72 hours after their elimination from the CONCACAF Champions Cup with a 1-1 draw at Mexico City’s Club America and a 2-1 aggregate defeat.
Bamba put Chicago in front in the 58th minute.
From near midfield, Cuypers spotted Robin Lod down the right. Lod eventually dribbled into the right edge of the penalty area on his right foot, before cutting back onto his left to cross.
With Cuyper in the center of the box, the cross sailed beyond just him, where Bamba connected with an excellent side-footed volley to beat Andre Blake inside the left post.
Philadelphia pressured for an equalizer, but Chicago came closest to scoring the game’s fourth goal. Maren Haile-Selassie missed narrowly wide on the break in the 63rd minute, then Lod rattled the crossbar from a similar attack in the 82nd.
Both teams scored during the more than seven minutes of first-half stoppage time.
First, it was Chicago through Cuypers.
Lod’s initial pass was deflected out wide, where Andrew Gutman reached it on the left flank.
Gutman drove forward and curled in an outswinging, left-footed cross. Cuypers ran between Philadelphia’s center backs to meet it with a powerful header past Blake from six yards out.
Philadelphia leveled from a long throw-in four minutes later. Alejandro Bedoya flicked on Frankie Westfield’s throw from the right, then Iloski won the second ball as he somehow generated enough power to loop his header over Brady and under the crossbar from near the penalty spot.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mason Jones takes decision in bloody win over Axel Sola at UFC London
Mar 20, 2026; London, UNITED KINGDOM; Axel Sola of France and Mason Jones of Wales at weigh-ins for UFC Fight Night at O2 Arena. Mandatory Credit: Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images Fireworks erupted early between lightweights Mason Jones and previously unbeaten Axel Sola in the fight of the night at UFC London on Saturday.
Jones, a winner by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28), improved to 18-2 and both fighters left the octagon bloodied.
Jones was knocked down with a spinning elbow in the first round and absorbed multiple direct blows. He had a cut above his right eye and under his nose when his hand was raised, but Sola (11-1-1) had at least three cuts and was covered in blood at the final bell.
“I just like fighting people. Axel wanted to fight. I took it to him,” Jones said. “I opened him up. There was fear in his eyes at the end of the first round. There was fear in his eyes in the end.”
In a featherweight match, Nathaniel Wood (11-3) got his fourth consecutive win and dealt Losene Keita his first loss in a split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28). Keita was 5-0 in the past three years and now has a 16-2 record overall in mixed martial arts.
Michael Page (25-3), who questioned whether he’d upset UFC officials because of the low-level spot on the card and his relatively anonymous opponent, defeated Sam Patterson (14-3-1) via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) in a welterweight match. “MVP” had more to say post-fight about a bout that drew plenty of pro fighting critics on social media for a lack of action.
“It’s getting more and more difficult when nobody really wants to engage. Everyone’s on the back foot,” Page said. “He knew how to frustrate me by not wanting to engage. It’s more difficult to fight somebody that doesn’t want to fight than fight someone difficult that wants to fight.”
Light heavyweight Iwo Baraniewski (8-0) struck Austen Lane, a former NFL defensive lineman, with a quick left hook and then landed repeated right hands to win in just 28 seconds. Lane (13-8) was dazed and rocked back before ever throwing a punch or kick as the referee stopped the fight with Lane planted on his back taking cover.
Baraniewski, a graduate from the Contender Series, could be in line for a marquee opponent in his next bout. He’s been buzzworthy since the December action-packed duel with Ibo Aslan at UFC 323.
Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady (16-4) scored his first UFC win with a 30-27 unanimous decision over Shem Rock (12-3-1). Al-Selwady dropped Rock with an overhand right in the first round, but he rebounded off the mat quickly with an attempt to lock up Al-Selwady. Rock kept moving toward Al-Selwady and made contact after the ball, narrowly ducking a haymaker in retaliation before being led to his corner.
–Field Level Media
Wordle today: Answer, hints for March 22, 2026
Flyers take down Sharks as road win streak hits 8
