Adam “Budd” Clark tallied 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Jacob Dar had an enormous second half to lift fourth-seeded Seton Hall to a 72-61 victory over fifth-seeded Creighton in the Big East tournament quarterfinals on Thursday in New York.

Dar, a lightly used reserve averaging 2.4 points per game, did not play in the first half before exploding for a season-high 16 points and five rebounds in 15 second-half minutes. Dar shot 5 for 6 from the field with two of Seton Hall’s four 3-pointers.

The Pirates (21-11) kept their faint NCAA Tournament hopes alive but must face top-seeded St. John’s in Friday’s first semifinal game.

Creighton (15-17) finished below .500 for the first time since 2014-15 and will miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.

Josh Dix led all scorers with 22 points, Nik Graves had 15 points and five assists before fouling out and Austin Swartz added 10 points for the Bluejays, who were outshot 40.7% to 33.3%.

Seton Hall was down four with 14:02 left when Dar converted a three-point play. That started a 9-0 Pirates run, capped by Dar’s 3 from the left corner.

Dix stopped that run with a layup at 11:12, but the Pirates’ defense stymied the Bluejays, not allowing a field goal for the next 5:53. Dar willed his way to an offensive board and putback for a 54-47 lead inside seven minutes to go.

Creighton got to the line before Dix ended the field-goal drought with a triple, cutting it to 54-52. After Clark got himself a floater, Dar knocked down his second 3-pointer to restore the seven-point edge.

Seton Hall grew the lead to 66-56 when Dar threw down a baseline alley-oop dunk.

In a back-and-forth first half, Tajuan Simpkins and Mike Williams III hit 3-pointers to put Seton Hall up 15-10, only for Swartz and Graves to connect on treys for an 18-17 Creighton edge less than three minutes later.

Seton Hall responded with a 10-0 run, keeping the Bluejays off the scoreboard for the next 3:42 and holding them without a field goal for 5:21. Clark got two buckets for Seton Hall’s largest lead at 31-21 before it settled for a 33-26 halftime gap.

Creighton scored 10 of the first 12 points of the second half, moving back in front on Graves’ two free throws at the 17:37 mark. The lead grew to 42-38 some three minutes later on Fedor Zugic’s lay-in before Dar’s heroics.

–Field Level Media

The Atlanta Falcons signed former Indianapolis Colts defensive end Samson Ebukam on Thursday, his agent told ESPN.

Terms of the contract (both length and salary) were not reported. He was previously on a three-year, $27 million deal with Indianapolis.

Ebukam, 30, missed the entirety of the 2024 season with a torn Achilles and wasn’t as productive last season in his second season in Indianapolis. His two sacks were tied for a career low set during his rookie season in 2017.

However, his first season with the Colts was the best of his career as he amassed a career-high 9.5 sacks in 2023. He had 4.5-plus sacks in each of the last five seasons he played before 2025.

Over eight seasons, Ebukam has played in 127 regular-season games (79 starts) with 314 tackles, 35 sacks, 77 quarterback hits, 43 tackles for loss, 11 forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries, nine pass breakups and one interception.

He was a fourth-round pick by the Los Angeles Rams in 2017 out of Eastern Washington.

–Field Level Media

NFL free agency has been wild ever since the league’s legal tampering window opened on Monday.

Big-named free agents including Malik Willis and Trey Hendrickson switched teams, while others, like Indianapolis Colts superstar wide receiver Alec Pierce, decided to return.

Even after a flurry of moves, there are plenty of remaining free agents out there.

Let’s make some bold predictions about where the top remaining unsigned players will sign.

Aaron Rodgers, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers

This just makes all the sense in the world for both sides at this point. It felt like part of the reason why the Steelers even hired Mike McCarthy was to bring back the 42-year-old quarterback for yet another season.

Rodgers wasn’t the reason why the Steelers flamed out in the postseason. One more go around is probably Pittsburgh admitting that they’re stuck in neutral, but that might be their only move.

Kyler Murray, QB, Minnesota Vikings

This is our last “no duh” prediction before we get serious.

Are the Vikings really prepared to give up on J.J. McCarthy? That’s what signing Kyler Murray could potentially signal. Following his release from the Arizona Cardinals, Murray is reportedly also factoring in what his future will look like in 2027.

The Vikings would be silly to waste the stud receiving duo of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. This feels like it’ll get done.

Tyreek Hill, WR, Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens feel like the big villains of the 2026 offseason after pulling out of the Maxx Crosby trade. So why not lean into it?

The Kansas City Chiefs also make sense for Hill, but they haven’t been overly motivated to make that happen. The Ravens chose Lamar Jackson over John Harbaugh despite the quarterback showing signs of regression last year. Baltimore might as well try to push all your chips into the center of the table – or else that could be a costly decision.

Rasheed Walker, OL, Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry has done significant work to repair the team’s offensive line.
After restructuring Deshaun Watson’s deal, the Browns still have enough cap space to add Walker to their equation. This would give the Browns the ability to draft a No. 1 wide receiver with the No. 6 overall selection in the NFL Draft – which is their other big need offensively.

Stefon Diggs, WR, New England Patriots

How bizarre would this be?

The Patriots released Diggs before free agency but New England top executive Eliot Wolf “hasn’t shut the door” on reuniting with the veteran wideout.

New England added Romeo Doubs in free agency. But outside of that? They struck out on a few other of the top wide receivers in free agency and would still like to surround Drake Maye with talented pass catchers on his rookie deal.