Sports
Kentucky to test new winning formula against No. 18 Vanderbilt
Jan 24, 2026; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) makes a lay up during the second half against the Mississippi Rebels at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images Kentucky looks to extend a five-game league winning streak when it travels to No. 18 Vanderbilt on Tuesday night in Nashville.
The banged-up Wildcats (14-6, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) scored a 72-63 home win over Ole Miss on Saturday despite playing without key players in starting point guard Jaland Lowe and forwards Kam Williams and Jayden Quaintance. Otega Oweh, a senior guard who has averaged 19.7 points in league games and 16.1 for 20 games overall, scored 23 in the win.
Coach Mark Pope, who gave double-digit minutes to nine players, lauded his team for its toughness and unselfishness.
“What we have right now is we have guys making winning plays,” Pope said. “So, we have guys that are falling in love with making the dirty, non-scoring, massively important winning plays of the game. We have guys stepping up and doing that all over the place, and it’s why we’ve had so much success in all these close games, and it’s because guys are falling in love with it.”
Vanderbilt (17-3, 4-3) snapped a three-game losing streak with an 88-56 win at Mississippi State on Saturday. The Commodores played without one of their top three guards in Frankie Collins, but Tyler Tanner (24 points, five assists) and Duke Miles (17 points, seven steals) more than picked up the slack.
Vanderbilt had been awful defensively in that three-game skid, allowing 80 points to Texas, 98 to Florida and 93 to Arkansas in a 25-point loss. Coach Mark Byington, who called the Jan. 20 performance against Arkansas “embarrassing,” was thrilled with how the team held MSU’s Josh Hubbard — then the SEC’s leading scorer — to seven points on Saturday to drop his average to 21 per game.
“Our activity was great,” Byington said. “Our defense was really locked in today, and (Mississippi State has) some talented offensive players. The SEC’s leading scorer in the league, he’s tough to guard. Our guys’ approach to the game was really good.”
Kentucky’s Lowe (season-ending shoulder injury) and Williams (broken foot) are out, and Quaintance (knee) likely won’t be available for Wednesday’s game. But Vanderbilt’s Collins, who averaged 7.8 points, 20.9 minutes and 2.4 steals over nine games, might play after missing the last nine games with a meniscus injury.
Collins, Tanner (17.4 ppg, 2.4 spg) and Miles (16.6 ppg, 2.8 spg) are disruptive defenders who can get the Commodores easy buckets in transition off turnovers.
That presents a challenge for Kentucky and point guard Denzel Aberdeen, who’s turned it over just seven times compared to 16 assists over the five-game winning streak.
The Wildcats weren’t a good defensive team earlier in the year, but they have gotten there thanks to slowing tempo (18.4 seconds per defensive possession for the 341st slowest nationally, per KenPom) and a 16.6% defensive turnover rate in league games.
Vanderbilt is elite at protecting the ball (11.0% turnover rate in SEC games) but has struggled against bigger teams. That makes Kentucky’s 7-foot Malachi Moreno, 6-11 Andrija Jelavic and 6-10 Brandon Garrison, who combined to play more than 58 minutes vs. Ole Miss, players to watch.
Should Kentucky slow the pace to a half-court game, Vanderbilt’s Tyler Nickel (14.7 ppg, 46.3% on 3s) is a player to watch along with Tanner (40.2%).
The Wildcats aren’t a good outside-shooting team, but Oweh (33.3% on 3-pointers), Collin Chandler (40.4%) and Aberdeen (36.8%) have had some success from distance.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Angels salvage series finale vs. Tigers to snap 4-game skid
Jul 19, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels pitcher Ryan Johnson (32) pitches during the second inning against the Detroit Tigers at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images Rookie Ryan Johnson allowed one run on two hits over five innings and Oswald Peraza went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored as the Los Angeles Angels salvaged the final game of a three-game series with the Detroit Tigers with a 3-2 victory on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.
Nolan Schanuel had three hits, and Vaughn Grissom had two hits, including a double and a run scored, helping Los Angeles snap a four-game losing streak.
Johnson (2-4) walked three and struck out five. Ryan Zeferjahn picked up the save.
Kevin McGonigle and Riley Greene each hit home runs for Detroit, which suffered just its fourth loss in the last 15 games.
Drew Anderson (3-4) suffered the loss, allowing one run on one hit and three walks in 1 1/3 innings. Anderson took over for starter Casey Mize, who left with one out in the fourth after throwing out Jo Adell on a 109 mph comebacker that hit him on the edge of his glove and left wrist.
Detroit jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when McGonigle led off with his ninth home run, a 402-foot drive to left-center. It was the third leadoff homer of the season for McGonigle.
Los Angeles tied it at 1 in the second when Grisson led off with a double down the left field line, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Josh Lowe and scored one out later on an infield single by Peraza.
The Angels capitalized on Anderson’s wildness to take a 2-1 lead in the fifth. Zach Neto and Mike Trout opened the inning with back-to-back walks and Schanuel then singled to load the bases. Jorge Soler then drove in Neto with a groundout to short.
Los Angeles increased its lead to 3-1 in the sixth inning when Peraza led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a single by Neto.
Greene led off the ninth with his 14th home run to make it 3-2, his 10th homer since June 1, but Zeferjahn bounced back to retire the next three batters for his third save.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tempo without suspended coach Sandy Brondello vs. rested Aces
Jun 25, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello greets guard Marina Mabrey (3) as she comes off the floor during a time out against the Los Angeles Sparks in the first half at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images The Toronto Tempo will be without their head coach as they try to snap out of a funk Monday at home against the Las Vegas Aces.
Sandy Brondello will serve a one-game suspension without pay for what the league deemed was an inappropriate comment she made about Atlanta star Angel Reese during Friday’s game. Associate head coach Olaf Lange will handle head-coaching duties against the Aces.
Brondello apologized on social media and Reese accepted the apology for the incident, which stemmed from Brondello calling Reese a “protected species” after a foul call. Brondello admitted the remark had an unintended racial connotation, which differs from how the term is used in her native Australia.
Toronto (10-15) has had trouble on the court as well, losing six of the last seven games and falling 2 1/2 games behind the playoff hunt. On Friday, the Tempo fell 111-92 at home to Atlanta after trailing by just a point at halftime.
“I think we were still in the locker room at the start of the third (quarter),” Brondello said. “We were just not very locked in and very intentional.
“They got some easy baskets, and then we lose our focus a little bit, so that’s the disappointing part.”
Marina Mabrey scored 26 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, while reserve Nyara Sabally added 16 points. Sabally sustained a minor rib injury in the process and was limited to just 21 minutes. She was ruled out Sunday for Monday’s contest.
Meanwhile, the Aces (17-7) have had plenty of time to dwell on their polarizing last two performances.
After beating Phoenix 106-58 on July 11, the Aces experienced an 82-point swing, losing 109-75 to Indiana the following day. They shot 50.6% and tallied five players in double-figure scoring against the Mercury, only to tumble to 39.1% and just two double-digit scorers at home against the Fever.
Las Vegas was paced by A’ja Wilson’s 20 points and 12 rebounds in the loss to Indiana. Fellow All-Star Jackie Young added 15 points, but that was about all of the good news for the Aces, now two games off the pace for the WNBA lead behind Minnesota and second-place Golden State. The Aces have dropped two of their last four games and are 5-3 since their 12-4 start.
“I thought we were lousy from the jump,” said Aces coach Becky Hammon after the loss. “A lot of it is effort and maybe we just didn’t have the juice today.”
The Aces had played three games in four days, and Hammon conceded, “Every team has a rough patch in the schedule where it’s just difficult.” A seven-day stretch with no games could help make that challenge a bit easier for the Aces.
–Field Level Media
Sports
President Trump aids Gianni Infantino at World Cup trophy ceremony
July 19, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.; U.S. President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the trophy presentation after the match. Mandatory Credit: Mark J Rebilas-Imagn Images EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — U.S. President Donald Trump helped FIFA President Gianni Infantino hand out awards following Spain’s 1-0 victory over Argentina at the World Cup final Sunday.
But this time, Infantino successfully kept Trump just outside the mob of La Roja players as they lifted the FIFA World Cup Trophy in celebration of their nation’s second title.
About 25 minutes after the match, Infantino, Trump and other officials emerged from the tunnel in the southeast corner of New York New Jersey Stadium and climbed the on-field stage constructed for the occasion.
Trump, who had watched the match in a luxury box with Infantino and other officials, was met with boos from the stands, but those ceased when the medal ceremony began.
Standing directly next to Infantino, Trump assisted in handing medals first to the second-place Argentine side and then to the Spanish winners.
As Spain’s squad then prepared to hoist the trophy, Trump remained on stage, but Infantino eventually jogged in his direction and beckoned him toward the stairs on the right side of the platform.
It was in contrast to last year’s final at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, when Trump remained in a mob of celebrating Chelsea players following their 3-0 triumph over Paris Saint-Germain.
The final was the only World Cup match attended by Trump, who had been more visible last fall in the buildup to the tournament, including when he was awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize by Infantino at the World Cup draw last December.
That was in stark contrast to Infantino, who attended multiple matches per day during the early stages of the 104-game tournament contested by a 48-team field.
Spain won the tournament after Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute to ensure his team’s dominant performance was rewarded. It was a similar triumph to their first in a World Cup final, a 1-0 win in extra time against the Netherlands in 2010 decided by Andres Iniesta’s 116th-minute winner.
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
