Sports
Flyers gain ground on Red Wings as Owen Tippett gets hat trick
Mar 28, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Philadelphia Flyers left wing Alex Bump (20) skates with the puck defended by Detroit Red Wings defenseman Justin Faulk (72) in the first period at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images Owen Tippett notched his third career hat trick and fourth career four-point night as the Philadelphia Flyers survived a late scare to beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 to match their franchise record with eight straight road wins.
Noah Cates and Sean Couturier also scored for the Flyers (35-24-12, 82 points), and Jamie Drysdale and Travis Konecny posted two assists each.
Dan Vladar stopped 30 shots to go to 4-1-1 in his last six starts.
Mason Appleton, Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond scored for Detroit (39-25-8, 86 points), all within a span of 2:31 late in the third period as the Red Wings tried to dig out of a 4-0 hole. Moritz Seider assisted on two of them.
John Gibson made 17 saves on 21 shots for the Red Wings. Cam Talbot relieved Gibson and saved all four shots he faced.
Detroit had a chance to vault into the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot with a win. Instead, the Red Wings stayed tied with the Ottawa Senators, both a point back of the Columbus Blue Jackets, as the Flyers moved within four points with a game in hand.
The Flyers jumped ahead on their first shot of the game at 15:53. Tippett scored on a breakaway as Trevor Zegras found his teammate behind the Red Wings’ defense.
Tippett got his second goal with 7:32 to go in the middle frame. Denver Barkey dropped the puck back to the winger, open in the high slot.
Cates made it 3-0 on a rare power-play goal for Philadelphia with 3:52 remaining in the second. The Flyers entered Saturday with the league’s worst power play (14.5%) and only scored once in their last 27 chances.
Tippett got his third goal and chased Gibson on another power-play goal with 12:41 left in regulation.
The Flyers scored two power-play goals for just the sixth time this season.
It appeared Philadelphia had the game wrapped up, but Appleton ended Vladar’s shutout hopes with 6:17 left in the game. DeBrincat followed with his 37th at 4:50.
Talbot was pulled 14 seconds later, and Raymond cut the Flyers’ advantage to one with 3:46 remaining.
Couturier, though, ended any thought of Detroit positing its second four-goal comeback of the season with his empty-netter, assisted by Tippett, with 2:04 to go.
The 1982-83 Flyers also won eight straight road games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lakers star Luka Doncic suspended 1 game after 16th technical foul
Mar 27, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) drives against Brooklyn Nets forward Ziaire Williams (1) during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images The NBA suspended Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic for one game without pay on Saturday for receiving his 16th technical foul this season, and he will miss Monday’s game against the visiting Washington Wizards.
Doncic, the league’s leading scorer, was assessed a technical along with Brooklyn forward Ziaire Williams when they jostled each other with 5:12 remaining in the third quarter of the host Lakers’ 116-99 victory on Friday.
An offensive foul was called seconds earlier on Doncic, and a video review showed him pushing Williams, with the Nets player retaliating by swiping at Doncic’s face.
The 16th technical triggered an automatic suspension, which will cost Doncic 1/174th of his annual salary, about $264,000, per ESPN. League rules stipulate that following the 16th technical, for every two additional technicals, the player will be suspended another game without pay.
The Lakers had successfully appealed Doncic’s most-recent technical for a yelling match with Orlando Magic center Goga Bitadze on March 21. The league rescinded the technicals.
Doncic, 27, is averaging 33.7 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds for the Lakers (48-26), who are in third place in the Western Conference with eight games remaining in the regular season.
A six-time All-Star guard, Doncic has been selected All-NBA first team five times and was the 2018-19 NBA Rookie of the Year.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Marta Suarez scores 33 as TCU upends Virginia in Sweet 16
Mar 28, 2026; Sacramento, CA, USA; Texas Christian University Horned Frogs guard Olivia Miles (5) and forward Marta Suárez (7) embrace after a called foul during the second quarter of the game against the Virginia Cavaliers in the Sweet Sixteen game of the Sacramento Regional 4 of the women’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images Marta Suarez scored a career-high 33 points, Olivia Miles added 28 points in a near triple-double and third-seeded TCU ended Virginia’s magical NCAA Tournament run with a 79-69 victory in the Sweet 16 in Sacramento on Saturday.
Miles had 10 rebounds and eight assists and Suarez had 10 rebounds as the Horned Frogs (32-5) overcame a one-point halftime deficit by scoring the first 11 points of the third quarter to take control.
The Horned Frogs will make their second straight Elite Eight appearance when they meet top-seeded South Carolina on Monday.
Suarez had 13 points in the third quarter, when Miles had six assists and four rebounds as the Frogs pushed their lead to 15. The 10th-seeded Cavaliers did not get closer than eight until the final 31 seconds.
Miles’ two free throws with 26.1 seconds left for a 77-69 lead clinched it. She is one of four Division I players with at least 600 points, 250 rebounds and 100 assists.
Paris Clark had 20 points and Kymora Johnson had 18 for the Cavaliers (22-12), the lowest seed to reach the Sweet 16 since 2022.
Clara Silva had eight points and eight rebounds for TCU, which had a 38-29 edge on the boards and limited Virginia to 41% shooting.
Virginia led by seven late in the first quarter. TCU took a 35-33 lead with 1:09 left in the first half, when Suarez made a free throw after Romi Levy was called for a Flagrant 1 foul for pulling Miles down as she drove to the basket.
Clark’s three-point play gave the Cavaliers a 36-35 lead at halftime.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Troy appoints NC State assistant Adam Howard as new coach
Nov 13, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Fred Hoiberg and assistant coach Adam Howard watch play during the first half against the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images North Carolina State assistant Adam Howard is the new head coach at Troy, the school announced Saturday night.
Howard replaces Scott Cross, who left after the NCAA Tournament to become head coach at Georgia Tech. Cross finished his seven-year tenure with five straight 20-win campaigns.
Troy went 22-12 this season and reached the NCAA tourney for the second straight season. The Trojans, seeded 13th, were routed 76-47 by Nebraska in the first round of this year’s tournament.
Howard will look to continue the success. He had a two-season stint as an assistant with Troy (2016-18) earlier in his career with the Trojans qualifying for the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
Last season was Howard’s lone campaign at NC State, which went 20-14 and reached the NCAA Tournament before losing to the Texas in the First Four. Wolfpack coach Will Wade departed for LSU after the season.
Howard’s other stops as an assistant coach include Southern Miss (2012-14), Tennessee (2014), South Alabama (2018-22) and Nebraska (2022-25).
Howard resigned at Tennessee in November 2014, citing personal reasons, during a time when he and then-Volunteers coach Donnie Tyndall were being investigated by the NCAA for recruiting violations at Southern Miss, where Tyndall was previously the head coach.
–Field Level Media
Lakers star Luka Doncic suspended 1 game after 16th technical foul
Marta Suarez scores 33 as TCU upends Virginia in Sweet 16
