Sports
Eileen Gu retains halfpipe crown, sets Olympics freestyle medal record
Gold medallist Eileen Gu of China celebrates on the podium during the women’s freeski halfpipe victory ceremony at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday. LIVIGNO, Italy — China’s Eileen Gu successfully defended her women’s halfpipe crown at the Winter Games on Sunday with a high-flying run that made her the most decorated Olympic freestyle skier of all time with six medals.
Gu’s compatriot Li Fanghui won silver and the bronze went to Zoe Atkin of Great Britain.
After a disappointing opening round, Gu nailed her second and third runs to top the standings with a score of 94.75 and add a gold to the silver medals she had won in Livigno in big air and slopestyle.
She put on a stunning show in the sun-splashed Italian Alps, soaring four meters above the 7.2-meter halfpipe and executing flawless flips and spins.
The 22-year-old, who won two golds and a silver on home snow at the Beijing Olympics four years ago, moved out of a tie with Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury at the top of the all-time freeski Olympic medal table.
“I’m so tired but I’m so happy,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been giving 110 percent of myself every single day. It’s like a marathon distance but a sprint pace because I can’t slack any day.”
Gu was the only woman to compete in the three freestyle skiing disciplines of big air, slopestyle and halfpipe.
Doing all three meant she had to miss some of the halfpipe training at the Olympics and said it was a gamble to commit to so many events.
“I took a big risk in trusting myself and I’m glad that I did,” Gu said.
After her medal ceremony, in which Gu put a shiny gold bow on her high ponytail to match the gold hardware hanging from her neck, she learned her grandmother had passed away.
Gu broke into tears at a post-event press conference in Livigno as she described how her grandmother, Feng Guozhen, had inspired her.
“A lot of people just cruise through life, but she was a steamship,” Gu said. “This woman commanded life and she grabbed it by the reins and she made it into what she wanted it to be.”
The American-born Gu chose to represent her mother’s and grandmother’s homeland of China at the Olympics.
Li nailed her second run to move into second place and improved her score to 93.00 on her third attempt with only Atkin left to go.
Great Britain’s world champion Atkin, like Gu born in the U.S. but representing the country of one of her parents, put down her best run of the day to round out the final but only managed a 92.50 and had to settle for bronze.
The final was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday but was postponed because of heavy snowfall in Livigno.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
Sports
AJ Dybantsa's near-triple-double lifts No. 23 BYU past No. 6 Iowa State
Feb 21, 2026; Provo, Utah, USA; BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) dunks during the first half against the Iowa State Cyclones at Marriott Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Baker-Imagn Images AJ Dybantsa recorded 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to lead No. 23 BYU to a riveting 79-69 upset over No. 6 Iowa State on Saturday night in Big 12 play at Provo, Utah.
Kennard Davis Jr. scored 17 points for the Cougars (20-7, 8-6 Big 12), who improved to 11-2 at home. Mihailo Boskovic added a career-best 13 points for BYU.
Tamin Lipsey scored 19 points and Jamarion Batemon added 14 off the bench for Iowa State (23-4, 10-4), which was coming off consecutive Top-10 wins over then-No. 9 Kansas and No. 2 Houston.
Joshua Jefferson added 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Cyclones.
It was BYU’s second game since losing standout Richie Saunders to a season-ending ACL tear.
The Cougars shot 50% from the field, including 7 of 25 (28%) from 3-point range. BYU held a resounding 39-28 advantage on the boards.
The Cyclones connected on 42.6% of their attempts and a third of their shots from behind the arc (8 of 24) while leading for less than 4 1/2 minutes.
Lipsey drained a 3-pointer to pull the Cyclones within 57-54 with 7:21 left in the game.
BYU responded with a 10-1 burst. Dybantsa had six points during the run, including two free throws to make it 67-55 with 4:08 remaining.
Davis buried a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 70-57 lead with 3:33 remaining.
Iowa State scored the next six points to creep within seven before Boskovic nailed a corner trey to give BYU a 73-63 advantage with 1:30 left.
With the score 75-65, Lipsey drove for a basket with 1:01 left but Davis made two free throws with 45 seconds left to push the lead back to 10.
Keba Keita slammed home a thunderous dunk with 32 seconds left to punctuate the upset.
Dybantsa scored 14 first-half points as BYU led 39-30 at the break. Jefferson had seven points in the half for the Cyclones.
Iowa State led 25-24 after a trey by Jefferson with 6:34 left in the half.
BYU responded with 13 straight points, with Dybantsa scoring six of those points to open a 37-25 lead with 54 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Top 25 roundup: No. 3 Duke knocks off No. 1 Michigan in D.C.
Jan 24, 2026; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer (right) talks to forward Isaiah Evans (3) during the second half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images Cameron Boozer scored 18 points and No. 3 Duke held on to beat No. 1 Michigan 68-63 in a much-anticipated nonconference showdown Saturday night in Washington, D.C.
Isaiah Evans racked up 14 points, Caleb Foster provided 12 points and Patrick Ngongba II turned in 11 points for Duke (25-2). Boozer grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, part of the Blue Devils 13-rebound advantage on the boards (41-28), and also distributed a game-high seven assists.
Yaxel Lendeborg posted 16 of his 21 points in the first half for Michigan (25-2), which had an 11-game win streak snapped. Morez Johnson Jr. finished with 13 points and Aday Mara notched 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting through foul trouble, but the Wolverines ended at 40% from the field, including 6-for-25 from 3-point range (24%).
Earlier in the day, the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s bracket preview listed Michigan and Duke, respectively, as the top two overall seeds. Attendance was announced at 20,537, making it the largest turnout for a neutral-site game this season.
No. 4 Arizona 73, No. 2 Houston 66
Reserve Anthony Dell’Orso matched his season high of 22 points to lead the Wildcats, handing the Cougars their first home loss of the season and second since they joined the Big 12 in 2023-24.
Arizona (25-2, 12-2 Big 12) took sole possession of the conference lead with the win over Houston (23-4, 11-3), which has lost two straight after a six-game winning streak.
Jaden Bradley had 17 points and four assists for the Wildcats, while Ivan Kharchenkov added 16 points and nine rebounds. Kingston Flemings led Houston with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
No. 5 UConn 73, Villanova 63
Alex Karaban scored eight of his 12 points in the second half as the Huskies posted a win over the Wildcats in Philadelphia.
All five starters scored between nine and 12 points for the Huskies (25-3, 15-2 Big East), who bounced back nicely from a 91-84 loss to Creighton. Tarris Reed Jr. was 5-of-5 from the field for 11 points, while Braylon Mullins pitched in 10 points.
Tyler Perkins scored 15 points to pace the Wildcats (21-6, 12-4), who had won six straight games since losing to UConn last month. Matt Hodge chipped in with 13 points for the Wildcats, while Acaden Lewis scored 11 points — all in the first half.
No. 23 BYU 79, No. 6 Iowa State 69
AJ Dybantsa recorded 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Cougars to an upset of the Cyclones in Provo, Utah.
Kennard Davis Jr. scored 17 points for the Cougars (20-7, 8-6 Big 12), who improved to 11-2 at home. Mihailo Boskovic added a career-best 13 points for BYU.
Tamin Lipsey scored 19 points and Jamarion Batemon added 14 off the bench for Iowa State (23-4, 10-4), which was coming off consecutive Top-10 wins over then-No. 9 Kansas and No. 2 Houston.
Cincinnati 84, No. 8 Kansas 68
Moustapha Thiam collected 28 points and eight rebounds to lead the Bearcats over the Jayhawks in a Big 12 Conference showdown in Lawrence, Kan.
Baba Miller contributed 18 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and Jalen Celestine added 14 points and eight boards for Cincinnati (15-12, 7-7 Big 12).
Flory Bidunga led Kansas (20-7, 10-4) with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds but couldn’t prevent the Jayhawks from taking their most lopsided loss to an unranked team in Bill Self’s 23-year coaching tenure.
No. 9 Nebraska 87, Penn State 64
Pryce Sandfort scored a career-high 33 points and the Cornhuskers got back on track with a win over the Nittany Lions in Big Ten play in Lincoln, Neb.
Sandfort was 11-of-17 from the field, making a career-best 8 of 14 threes to add to the school record for 3s in a season with 98. Braden Frager had 15 points and Sam Hoiberg added 11 points and a career-high 10 assists for the Cornhuskers (23-4, 12-4 Big Ten), who earlier Saturday were projected as a No. 3 seed by the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
The Nittany Lions (11-17, 2-15) got 13 points apiece from Kayden Mingo and Ivan Juric, with Juric adding 10 rebounds. The Nittany Lions shot 42.1% but made only 4 of 20 3-pointers, taking their ninth double-digit loss in conference play.
UCLA 95, No. 10 Illinois 94 (OT)
Donovan Dent drove the length of court for the game-winning layup with no time remaining to give the Bruins an electric overtime victory over the Illini in Los Angeles.
Dent had 14 points and a career-high 15 assists in helping the Bruins (18-9, 10-6 Big Ten) halt a two-game slide. Eric Dailey Jr. scored 20 points before fouling out for UCLA. Tyler Bilodeau scored 18 points, Trent Perry had 17 and Xavier Booker tallied 16 on 7-of-8 shooting off the bench for UCLA. Skyy Clark had 10 points.
Keaton Wagler had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Tomislav Ivisic scored 16 points for the Illini (22-6, 13-4), who lost for the third time in their past five games. Ben Humrichous had 15 on five 3-point baskets off the bench for Illinois. Kylan Boswell added 13 points and backup Zvonimir Ivisic had 11.
No. 11 Gonzaga 71, Pacific 62
Graham Ike scored 20 points to break a school record as the Bulldogs held off the pesky Tigers in Spokane, Wash.
Davis Fogle added 18 points off the bench, Emmanuel Innocenti scored 13 and reserve Tyon Grant-Foster had 10 for the Bulldogs (27-2, 15-1). Ike scored 20 or more points for a ninth consecutive game, eclipsing the mark of eight set by both Adam Morrison and Derek Raivio in 2006.
Justin Rochelin and Elias Ralph scored 12 points apiece for Pacific (17-13, 8-9). TJ Wainwright added 10 while Rochelin grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.
No. 12 Florida 94, Ole Miss 75
Alex Condon scored 24 points as the Gators won their seventh consecutive game by defeating the Rebels in Oxford, Miss.
Thomas Haugh added 20, and Xaivian Lee collected 11 points and 10 assists. Florida (21-6, 12-2 Southeastern Conference) won for the 12th time in 13 games, shooting 57.1% from the floor and holding a 39-24 rebounding edge.
Malik Dia scored 24 points and Ilias Kamardine added 14 to lead Ole Miss (11-16, 3-11), which lost its ninth consecutive game.
No. 13 Texas Tech 100, Kansas State 72
Donovan Atwell scored 21 of his game-high 26 points in the first half as the Red Raiders overcame a Tuesday loss and a season-ending injury to star forward JT Toppin to dust the Wildcats in Lubbock, Texas.
Christian Anderson added 21 points and nine assists for Texas Tech (20-7, 10-4 Big 12), while LeJuan Watts hit for 19 points. Luke Bamgboye contributed 12 as the Red Raiders shot 54.8% from the field, including 13-of-28 (46.4%) from 3-point range.
PJ Haggerty scored 17 points for the Wildcats (11-16, 2-12) and Nate Johnson added 15 but it wasn’t nearly enough to earn Kansas state a second straight win under interim coach Matthew Driscoll. He took over last Sunday after the university fired coach Jerome Tang for criticizing players after a recent loss to Cincinnati.
No. 14 Virginia 86, Miami 83
Chance Mallory made three free throws with 3.6 seconds left and the Cavaliers extended their winning streak to eight with a win over the Hurricanes in Charlottesville, Va.
Reserve Jacari White led six players in double figures with 17 points for Virginia (24-3, 12-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), which improved to 13-1 at home.
Sam Lewis had 15 points, De Ridder scored 14, Mallory and Johann Grunloh each tallied 12 and Malik Thomas had 10 points for Virginia. Tre Donaldson and Shelton Henderson led Miami (21-6, 10-4) with 18 points apiece.
No. 16 North Carolina 77, Syracuse 64
Henri Veesaar scored 19 points in his return to the lineup the Tar Heels notched a road win over the Orange.
North Carolina (21-6, 9-5 ACC) improved to 2-1 since star freshman Caleb Wilson fractured his hand. The team’s first two games without Wilson coincided with a two-game absence by Veesaar (lower-body injury and illness), but the center returned in this one to shoot 9 of 13 from the field to go with three blocks.
Syracuse (15-13, 6-9) had only two double-digit scorers — JJ Starling with 22 points and Tyler Betsey with 10.
No. 17 St. John’s 81, Creighton 52
Dylan Darling scored 17 points as the Red Storm extended their winning streak to 13 with a wire-to-wire victory over the Bluejays in New York.
St. John’s (22-5, 15-1 Big East) moved a game ahead of UConn for the conference lead. St. John’s is on its longest winning streak since 1985. The Red Storm also are also on a 13-game winning streak in conference games.
Bryce Hopkins notched a double-double for the second straight game by collecting 15 and 10 rebounds. Fedor Zugic led Creighton with nine points.
Tennessee 69, No. 19 Vanderbilt 65
The Volunteers, behind 17 points from Ja’Kobi Gillespie and 13 from Nate Ament, scored a road upset of the Commodores in SEC play before a sellout crowd in Nashville.
The Volunteers (20-7, 10-4) shot 43.1% from the floor and outrebounded the smaller Commodores 39-30 in winning their fourth consecutive game and handing Vanderbilt its second straight loss. Ament’s contested, mid-range jumper with 54 seconds left gave Tennessee the lead for good, and Gillespie canned two free-throw attempts in the final 13.2 seconds.
Tyler Tanner led Vanderbilt with 16 points, and the Vols held Tyler Nickel — who entered the game averaging 14.7 points — to three.
No. 20 Arkansas 94, Missouri 86
Billy Richmond III scored 21 points, Darius Acuff Jr. added 20 and the Razorbacks overcame an early eight-point deficit for a victory over the Tigers in Fayetteville, Ark.
Reserve Malique Ewin had 16 points and eight rebounds while Meleek Thomas had 14 points and eight rebounds for Arkansas (20-7, 10-4 SEC).
Mark Mitchell scored 26 points, Trent Pierce had 22 and Shawn Phillips Jr. added 11 points for Missouri (18-9, 8-6), which had won four of five.
No. 21 Louisville 87, Georgia Tech 70
After a rough loss at SMU earlier this week, the Cardinals scorched the Yellow Jackets in a wire-to-wire home victory.
Mikel Brown Jr. scored 19 points, including three made 3-pointers, to lead Louisville(20-7, 9-5 ACC). J’Vonne Hadley had 17 points, Ryan Conwell scored 15 points and four assists and Isaac McKneely added 14.
Georgia Tech (11-17, 2-13) dropped its ninth straight. Baye Ndongo led the way for the Yellow Jackets with 17 points and a game-high seven rebounds.
No. 25 Alabama 90, LSU 83
Aden Holloway had 17 points and four assists while Aiden Sherrell posted his second straight double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Crimson Tide defeated the Tigers in Baton Rouge, La.
Amari Allen added 16 points and six rebounds for the Crimson Tide (20-7, 10-4 SEC), who won their sixth straight game. Latrell Wrightsell Jr. went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line and scored 14 points off the bench, while London Jemison contributed 12 points and six rebounds.
Marquel Sutton, who came in averaging 18 points in his last three outings, had 21 points for the second consecutive game to lead the Tigers (14-13, 2-12), who dropped their fifth straight to fall to 1-6 at home in SEC play.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Pitt snaps losing streak with win over Notre Dame
Feb 21, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard Barry Dunning Jr. (22) reacts after making a three point basket against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half at the Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Roman Siulepa scored a game-high 22 points and Nojus Indrusaitis finished with a career-high 17 points to lead Pitt to a 73-68 home win over Notre Dame, snapping a five-game losing streak.
Cameron Corhen chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds for the Panthers (10-17, 3-11 Atlantic Coast Conference), and Omar Witherspoon and Barry Dunning Jr. each scored eight. Damarco Minor scored just five points but sealed the game with two free throws with 7.6 seconds remaining.
Cole Certa led the Fighting Irish (12-15, 3-11) with 16 points, but struggled shooting, going just 6-for-18 from the floor and 2-for-12 from 3-point range. Ryder Frost and Logan Imes scored 12 points each.
Carson Towt finished with seven points and 13 rebounds, including eight offensive rebounds for Notre Dame. Brenden Shrewsberry finished with just six points on 2-for-15 shooting, including 2-for-13 from long distance.
After trailing for the majority of the game, Notre Dame took a 49-48 lead on a Towt dunk with 6:29 remaining in the game. After that, however, Pitt went on a 10-0 run which ultimately proved to be the difference.
Indrusaitis scored eight of the 10 Pitt points during that run, including back-to-back 3-pointers that gave the Panthers a 58-49 lead with four minutes remaining.
Frost ended the 10-0 run with his third of four 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 58-52. A late surge led by Certa helped the Fighting Irish cut the deficit to 71-68 with eight seconds remaining.
In the first half, both teams struggled to get anything going offensively. Notre Dame jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, but both teams navigated through multiple minutes-long scoring droughts. Pitt’s first points of the game came at the 15:55 mark of the first half.
The difference was that Pitt went 5-for-14 from long distance in the first half while Notre Dame was 2-for-18. For the game, the Panthers were 11-for-24 from 3-point range, while the Irish went 9-for-38.
With the win, Pitt and Notre Dame are tied in the ACC standings for one of the last spots in the conference tournament. Pittsburgh travels to Stanford on Wednesday, while Notre Dame hosts No. 3 Duke on Tuesday.
–Field Level Media
