Sports
Georgetown hopes to continue turnaround vs. Creighton
Jan 31, 2026; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Georgetown Hoyas center Vince Iwuchukwu (3) celebrates after a play against the Butler Bulldogs during the first half at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images Surging Georgetown hosts Creighton on Wednesday night in Washington, looking to match its longest Big East regular-season winning streak in over a decade.
As recently as two weeks ago, the Hoyas (12-10, 4-7 Big East) were looking up at everyone else in the league standings after a seventh consecutive conference loss in what was beginning to look like a lost campaign in Year 3 under coach Ed Cooley.
Since then, Georgetown has flipped the script and rattled off three straight wins — at Providence, vs. DePaul and most recently at Butler — to join a crowded group of four schools tied for sixth place heading into this week’s Big East games.
Georgetown last won four straight Big East regular-season games in 2015. That was also the last time the Hoyas earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament under John Thompson III.
So what’s been the difference in the Hoyas’ midseason turnaround?
Cooley thinks the return of big man Vince Iwuchukwu, who missed 10 games due to a medical procedure, has changed his team for the good.
“Having Vince (Iwuchukwu) back in the lineup for a period of time has really helped us,” Cooley said.
The 7-foot-1 senior transfer from St. John’s is third on the team in scoring at 10.8 points per game behind guards KJ Lewis (14.9) and Malik Mack (13.9).
“I wasn’t coming here to score,” Iwuchukwu explained.
“I came here to play defense, protect the rim make sure that guys can play defense to the best of their abilities.”
Despite his intentions, Iwuchukwu has come on during this three-game run by averaging 14.7 points and has expanded his game by making 3 of 3 3-pointers. Iwuchukwu had missed his previous eight attempts in his collegiate career, including four this season.
In the first meeting on Jan. 13, Creighton (12-10, 6-5) outlasted Georgetown 86-83 in overtime behind Austin Swartz’s career-high 33 points.
Since then, the Bluejays have struggled by losing three of four while Swartz has scored a combined 44 points in that stretch after his outburst against the Hoyas that included eight 3-pointers.
With a NET ranking of 76 on Feb. 2, Creighton is in jeopardy of missing the NCAA Tournament after five straight bids that includes three trips into the second weekend.
“You just keep working. That’s all you can do,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said after then-No. 2 UConn trounced the Bluejays 85-58. “As I told them, you want the goal to be as a teammate, what can I do to make my teammates’ job easier? … We just need to take another step with that.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Argentina club looking to lure Lionel Messi home in 2027
Dec 6, 2025; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA; Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) looks on with the Philip F. Anschutz trophy after winning the 2025 MLS Cup against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Chase Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Argentina club Newell’s Old Boys is working on a plan to bring two-time MLS MVP Lionel Messi home next year.
A team executive confirmed that it’s trying to entice Messi to return to his boyhood club for the first half of 2027.
“It’s a project that goes beyond Newell’s. It involves the city of Rosario, the province, and Argentine football,” first vice president Juan Manuel Medina said, according to an ESPN story published Wednesday.
Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner as the world’s best player, signed an extension with defending MLS Cup champion Inter Miami in October that runs through the end of the 2028.
Messi, 38, played for Newell’s youth teams from 1995-2000 before moving to the FC Barcelona academy.
Inter Miami will open the 2026 MLS season on Feb. 21 at Los Angeles FC. Messi also is preparing to defend Argentina’s World Cup championship this summer in North America.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lindsey Vonn's coach, Stefon Diggs confident she can ski with ACL injury
[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 3, 2026; Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITALY; Lindsey Vonn attends a press conference at a press conference at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in preparation for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. Mandatory Credit: Leonhard Foeger/Reuters via Imagn Images Lindsey Vonn’s coach and New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs are confident that the American skiing great can compete at the Milano Cortina Olympics with a ruptured ACL in her left knee.
Vonn, 41, is set to try her luck in the women’s downhill race on Sunday
“I’m pretty confident that she can still pull off this dream,” Vonn’s head coach Chris Knight told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “I’ve got no doubts in my mind that this is going to be OK.”
Knight’s comments came one day after Vonn said that she’s not interested in discussing surgery at the moment.
“It’s not really on my radar screen right now. The Olympics are the only thing that I’m thinking about,” she said. “Every day my knee’s gotten better. And every day we’re discussing with a full medical team, doctors, physios, everyone, to make sure we’re doing everything to make sure I am making smart and safe decisions.”
Diggs knows a thing or two about a torn ACL. His lone season with the Houston Texans in 2024 was cut short by the same injury.
“Prayers to her. I hope the surgery does go well when she does have it,” Diggs said Wednesday of Vonn. “Anybody who has torn an ACL, it’s kind of a weird injury. You can run after about two weeks when the swelling goes down. … As long as she doesn’t have to (decelerate), she should be fine.”
Like Vonn, Diggs has a big day ahead on Sunday. Diggs and the Patriots will face the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, Calif.
As for Vonn, she must complete at least one official training run to take part in the Sunday downhill. Vonn is no stranger to the mountain. She collected 12 of her 84 World Cup victories there, the most of any skier.
Vonn earned gold (downhill) and bronze (Super-G) medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and a bronze medal in the downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
Vonn retired after the 2019 world championships due to injuries. She subsequently received a partial replacement of her right knee and launched a comeback late in 2024 with the Olympics in her sights.
She has won the downhill twice this winter and leads the World Cup standings in the discipline and was considered a favorite to win the gold medal in the event in Italy.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Washington Post shutters sports department
Sep 15, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos in attendance before the Kansas City Chiefs play against the Los Angeles Chargers at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images The Washington Post shuttered its venerable sports department on Wednesday, part of a larger layoff involving one-third of the newspaper’s staff.
“The Washington Post is taking a number of difficult but decisive actions today for our future, in what amounts to a significant restructuring across the company,” a Post spokesperson said in a statement. “These steps are designed to strengthen our footing and sharpen our focus on delivering the distinctive journalism that sets The Post apart and, most importantly, engages our customers.”
Executive editor Matt Murray announced the changes in a video conference with employees.
The move comes with Post reporters already on site covering Super Bowl LX and the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
“It’s like somebody taking a hammer to my heart,” Sally Jenkins, who wrote a Post sports column until she left the paper last summer, told The Ringer. “It’s not just broken. It’s broken into about 20 pieces, one for every single one of my close friends there.”
Some sports reporters are expected to move into other roles, but the exact number was not reported.
A skeleton crew will continue to produce what Murray described as features about sports as a “cultural and societal phenomenon.”
The Post has undergone repeated changes, downsizings and reinventions since Amazon chief Jeff Bezos purchased the paper in 2013.
In addition to cutting the sports pages, the Post is reducing its international footprint, making the Metro section more “nimble and focused” and eliminating the Books section.
–Field Level Media
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