Connect with us

Sports

Guard play will be key for Vanderbilt, Arkansas in SEC final

Syndication: The TennesseanVanderbilt guard Duke Miles (2) starts a fast break against Florida during their semifinal game of the 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, March 14, 2026.

NASHVILLE — No. 22 Vanderbilt will try to win its first Southeastern Conference tournament championship since 2012 when it meets 17th-ranked Arkansas on Sunday.

The Commodores (26-7), playing two miles from their campus, routed fourth-ranked Florida (the tournament’s top seed) by a 91-74 score on Saturday, snapping the Gators’ 12-game winning streak.

“Proud of the guys,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said afterward. “Not really much celebrating. It’s on to Sunday, and that’s what we started this tournament for, is to play for a trophy on Sunday, and that’s what we have a chance to do tomorrow.”

Vanderbilt enters on a four-game winning streak, none of those wins coming on its campus.

Arkansas (25-8) has also won four straight, surviving in a 93-90 overtime win over Ole Miss to get here.

It’ll be the third game in three days for both teams, and Arkansas coach John Calipari was particularly perturbed about tournament scheduling on Friday evening.

After beating Oklahoma in a game that ended around 11:30 p.m. Central on Friday, Calipari lamented a Sunday tip-off that comes less than 19 hours after Arkansas finished off the Rebels.

Vanderbilt knows something about overcoming difficult circumstances lately.

The Commodores struggle against teams with size and rebounding, but in their last three games have knocked off the nation’s top offensive rebounding team in Tennessee (twice) and then clocked the Gators, who rank second.

Vanderbilt was beaten on the glass by Tennessee by counts of 40-31 and 46-34, and then 38-23 by Florida.

But neither team could come close to matching Vanderbilt’s guard play of Tyler Tanner (19.2 ppg, 5.2 apg, 2.4 spg) and Duke Miles (16.5 ppg, 4.2 apg, 2.6 spg).

The two have been a wrecking crew most of the season through their quickness and play-making ability. Tanner was a first-team All-SEC pick and Miles scored 30 in the win Friday over Tennessee.

Arkansas also has elite guards, led by SEC Player of the Year Darius Acuff Jr. (22.7 ppg, 6.5 apg) and Meleek Thomas (15.6 ppg). Acuff scored 24 and dished out seven assists on Saturday and Thomas added 29 and five.

Thomas played all 45 minutes on Saturday, just as he did in an 88-84 win over Missouri when Acuff was out with injury.

“There is no one that would say to Meleek anything that would believe him to believe he’s not as good as good as any player in the country,” Calipari said after Saturday. “He has otherworldly — otherworldly, now — confidence. Like, he could run for president one day. … I’ve gotta let him do some crazy stuff. I get on him but he’ll look at me like, ‘You’re nuts. You don’t have any idea how good I am.’ And I love that.”

The Razorbacks handed Vanderbilt its most lopsided loss of the season with a 93-68 walloping in Fayetteville on Jan. 20.

Arkansas is best in the country at avoiding turnovers (12.2%), per KenPom.

The 6-foot-3 Acuff and 6-5 Thomas also have the height advantage, respectively, on Tanner (6-0) and Miles (6-2), who had just 11 and five points, respectively, in the first game.

–Chris Lee, Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sports

Lakers top Nuggets in OT Luka Doncic's last-second shot

NBA: Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles LakersMar 14, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) controls the ball while under pressure from Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun (0) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images

Luka Doncic hit a baseline jumper with 0.5 seconds left, and the host Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Denver Nuggets 127-125 in overtime on Saturday night.

Doncic finished with 30 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his 11th triple-double of the season. With its fifth straight win, Los Angeles clinched the season series against Denver.

Austin Reaves had 32 points, including a bucket in the final seconds of the fourth to send it to overtime. Marcus Smart added 21 points and LeBron James scored 17 for the Lakers.

Smart’s fifth 3-pointer of the night gave Los Angeles a 125-123 lead with 30 seconds left in overtime. Nikola Jokic tied it with 15.1 seconds left but Doncic’s 17-foot fadeaway won it for the hosts.

Jokic had 24 points, 16 rebounds and 14 assists for his 27th triple-double of the season and fifth in his last six games. Aaron Gordon finished with 27 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. contributed 20, Cam Johnson scored 18 and Bruce Brown and Christian Braun had 12 apiece for the Nuggets.

Both teams struggled to hit shots in the overtime before Deandre Ayton’s floater gave the Lakers a 122-120 lead. Gordon hit Denver’s first field goal, a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left, to make it 123-122, setting up the final moments.

Hardaway’s 3-pointer to open the fourth gave the Nuggets a 90-87 lead, their first since the opening minutes of the game, and then went ahead 106-98 with 5:13 left.

It was a seven-point Denver lead when Doncic hit a 3-pointer and drained three free throws with 1:57 left to tie it at 109. Gordon hit a corner 3-pointer, Reaves made a driving layup and Smart had a steal and layup to give the Lakers a 113-112 lead with 47 seconds left.

Hardaway hit a corner 3-pointer to put the Nuggets back in front, and Gordon split a pair of free throws to make it 116-113. It was 118-115 when Reaves was fouled with 5.6 seconds left. He made the first, intentionally missed the second, got the rebound and scored to send it to overtime.

–Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading

Sports

Lasse Johnsen's debut goal helps Kansas City earn 1st win at Galaxy

MLS: Sporting Kansas City at LA GalaxyMar 14, 2026; Carson, California, USA; Sporting Kansas City defender Jayden Reid (99) handles the ball while LA Galaxy midfielder Marco Reus (18) defends during the first half at Dignity Health Sports Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-Imagn Images

Dejan Joveljic scored a goal against his former team and Lasse Johnsen also scored in his MLS debut as Sporting Kansas City earned a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy for their first win of the season Saturday at Carson, Calif.

John Pulskamp made four saves as Sporting KC (1-2-1, 4 points) doubled its goal total on the season after they were shut out twice over the first three weeks. It was the first victory with Sporting KC for new head coach Raphael Wicky.

Marco Reus scored a late goal and Novak Micovic had two saves for the Galaxy (1-2-1, 4 points), who lost their second consecutive MLS match after starting the season with a draw and a win.

Los Angeles played without midfielder Gabriel Pec, who was given a red card in last Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids. Pec scored three goals in a CONCACAF Champions Cup match Wednesday.

Joveljic, who scored 34 goals with the Galaxy from 2021-24, delivered his third of the season just before halftime when he moved into the penalty area, made his way around a Los Angeles defender and scored with his right foot past Micovic.

Johnsen, who was acquired in February from Malmo FF in Sweden, had his debut delayed by visa issues but made the wait worthwhile when he scored in the 74th minute. His score came off a touch pass from Joveljic.

Johnsen’s goal proved pivotal when the Galaxy finally got on the scoreboard in the 82nd minute after an offensive flurry when Pulskamp made a diving save and saw two subsequent shots hit off the right post before Reus was finally able to deliver his first of the season on a header.

Los Angeles forward Joao Klauss was replaced by a substitute in the 63rd minute and held without a goal for the first time in four regular-season games with his new club. Klauss was acquired from St. Louis City FC in a January transfer.

–Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading

Sports

Stijn Spierings lifts RSL with late goal in debut

MLS: Austin FC at Real Salt LakeMar 14, 2026; Sandy, Utah, USA; Real Salt Lake forward Morgan Guilavogui (9) reacts to a missed shot on goal during the first half against the Austin FC at America First Field. Mandatory Credit: Peter Creveling-Imagn Images

Stijn Spierings scored on a swerving, long-range effort in the 88th minute — just six minutes after entering his MLS debut — and Real Salt Lake rallied to a 2-1 victory over visiting Austin FC on Saturday night in Sandy, Utah.

The 30-year-old Dutchman, signed in late January from Denmark’s Brondby IF, is the first player above age 23 to score for Salt Lake (3-1-0, 9 points) this season and the only one in Saturday’s victory, RSL’s third straight.

The Claret-and-Cobalt’s earlier tally was an own goal, created by pressure from Noel Caliskan down the left flank about midway through the first half.

Jon Bell scored early for Austin (1-2-1, 4 points), which lost its third straight match in Salt Lake and fifth out of six since the Verde joined MLS in 2021.

Brad Stuver made seven saves in an exceptional performance, but could not keep Spierings’ effort from knuckling into the bottom-left corner.

Diego Luna, RSL’s 2025 leading scorer and an American World Cup hopeful, made his season debut off the bench in the 70th minute after missing the first three games with a knee injury.

Luna nearly broke the tie in the 87th minute on a strong RSL attack down the left, his effort blocked off the line by defender Brendan Hines-Ike.

But Spierings sprung to life a minute later, taking a throughball from center back Justen Glad in stride, turning his hips and immediately firing toward the target from beyond the penalty area before sighting the goal.

Bell put Austin in front at 18 minutes from a set piece. Facundo Torres provided the in-swinging ball on a free kick from the left flank about 12 yards beyond the penalty area.

Bell rose above Sergi Solans near the far post and powered a header back across the goal, bouncing off the turf before it nestled inside the left post.

The advantage lasted only six minutes before Caliskan’s pressure resulted in an equalizer.

After playing a give-and-go with Juan Manuel Sanabria down the left, Caliskan drove in a menacing left-footed cross.

Defender Oleksandr Svatok tried to volley it clear of the area while retreating toward his line. Instead, he hammered it past Stuver into his own net from close range.

–Field Level Media

source

Continue Reading