Keldon Johnson scored 25 points and Victor Wembanyama added 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead the host San Antonio Spurs to a 116-106 win over the short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday in a battle between the top two teams in the Western Conference.

The win was the second straight for the Spurs as they captured the season series against Oklahoma City 4-1 — although Wednesday’s victory should come with an asterisk.

The conference-leading Thunder had just eight available players. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (abdominal strain), Chet Holmgren (back spasms), Isaiah Hartenstein (eye corneal abrasion) and Luguentz Dort (patellofemoral joint inflammation) all stayed back in Oklahoma City as did Jalen Williams (hamstring strain) and Alex Caruso (adductor injury management), with the latter two players missing their ninth and eighth consecutive game, respectively.

Even undermanned Oklahoma City made the Spurs work for the win. San Antonio led by 15 points at halftime but by only 95-88 after Kenrich Williams’ 3-pointer 35 seconds into the fourth quarter. The Thunder pulled to within four points on Kenrich Williams’ layup with 4:03 left before Stephon Castle answered for San Antonio with back-to-back baskets to give the hosts some separation and they held on from there.

De’Aaron Fox had 15 points and 10 assists for the Spurs while Castle hit for 14 points, Carter Bryant scored 11 and Luke Kornet grabbed 15 boards.

Kenrich Williams led Oklahoma City with 25 points, with Jaylin Williams adding 24 points and 12 rebounds, Aaron Wiggins scoring 20, Brooks Barnhizer hitting for 14 and Cason Wallace finishing with 13 points.

San Antonio built a 39-26 lead after one quarter behind 12 points off the bench from Johnson.

The Spurs stoked their lead to as many as 22 points after a Julian Champagnie layup at the 8:40 mark of the second quarter before Oklahoma City worked to shoot itself back into the game. The Thunder poured in five 3-pointers over the next four-plus minutes to pull within 58-48. San Antonio led 73-58 at the break.

Wiggins led all scorers with 16 points before halftime while Kenrich Williams and Jaylin Williams added 10 each for Oklahoma City.

Johnson’s 13 points paced the Spurs, with Wembanyama and Bryant hitting for 11 points apiece in the first half.

–Field Level Media

Trinidad Chambliss was already prepared for more bad news from the NCAA. On Wednesday, that news became official.

Ole Miss confirmed its star quarterback lost his appeal to the NCAA for sixth year of eligibility, meaning Chambliss’ next step will be in Mississippi state court.

The NCAA on Jan. 9 initially denied Chambliss’ request for a waiver to receive a medical redshirt after he argued that persistent respiratory issues prevented him from playing in 2022 when he was a redshirt freshman at Division II Ferris State.

His performance as an Ole Miss senior transfer in 2025 helped spark the 13-2 Rebels’ run to the College Football Playoff, which ended with a 31-27 semifinal loss to Miami in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8.

Part of the NCAA’s ruling in denying the appeal included the finding that adequate medical evidence from a treating physician wasn’t provided in the waiver request.

After the initial denial of the waiver, Chambliss’ attorneys filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, requesting an injunction that would allow Chambliss to play in 2026. Denial of the appeal was widely expected.

Ole Miss issued a statement after news of the ruling was made public Wednesday, stating in part, “The NCAA Athletics Eligibility Subcommittee’s decision to deny Trinidad’s appeal is indefensible in light of the undisputed facts. … he did not dress for a single game (in 2022) while suffering from severe, incapacitating medical conditions. Those conditions were fully and contemporaneously documented by his treating physician, yet this waiver request was still denied when it should have been approved at the NCAA staff level.”

The lawsuit filed on Chambliss’ behalf stated, “In Trinidad’s case, the NCAA failed in its mission to foster his well-being and development as a student-athlete. The mechanisms (i.e., waiver rules) for granting Trinidad an additional year of eligibility — so that he has the opportunity to compete in four years of college football — are available and within the NCAA’s control.

“Despite the duty of good faith and fair dealing it owes Trinidad, the NCAA insists on considering the evidence in Trinidad’s case in an isolated, rather than comprehensive, manner; interpreting its rules to impose requirements not contained therein; taking unreasonable if not irrational positions; and acting in an arbitrary and capricious manner in its decision-making and ruling.”

According to reports, Chambliss’ initial hearing for the injunction is expected to take place in Feb. 12 in Chancery Court of Lafayette County in Mississippi.

The Grand Rapids, Mich., product finished eighth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy. He intended to return to Ole Miss next season had his waiver been approved, with ESPN reporting that his NIL deal with incentives to be worth more than $6 million.

If he ultimately does not get the sixth year, Chambliss would enter the NFL draft.

He threw for 3,937 yards (third in the nation) on 66.1% passing last season, with 22 touchdown tosses and three interceptions.

–Field Level Media

Joel Foxwell tied his career-high with 27 points as host Portland upset No. 6 Gonzaga 87-80 on Wednesday night, handing the Bulldogs their first West Coast Conference loss of the season.

James O’Donnell added 16 points off the bench, Cameron Williams scored 14 points despite battling foul trouble, Jermaine Ballisager Webb added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Garrett Nuckolls scored 11 for the Pilots (11-14, 4-8 WCC), who snapped a string of 20 straight losses in the series. Portland last beat Gonzaga on Jan. 9, 2014.

Graham Ike led Gonzaga (22-2, 10-1) with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Mario Saint-Supery added 12 points and Davis Fogle scored 10.

Foxwell, a freshman guard from Australia, might have bested his career high if not for leg cramps that limited him over the final five minutes. Still, he shot 11 of 18 from the field — including 3 of 8 from 3-point range — dished out a game-high eight assists and grabbed four rebounds.

The Pilots shot 59.3% from the field (32 of 54), while limiting Gonzaga to 40.0% (26 of 65). Portland had a 32-27 rebounding edge and outscored the Bulldogs 40-26 in the paint.

Trailing by six, the Bulldogs came out strong after the intermission, with Adam Miller making a 3-pointer and Ike a jumper in the paint to make it 39-38 within the half’s first minute.

But the Pilots stemmed the momentum when Ballisager Webb made a 3-pointer just before a late-closing Ike ran into him. The four-point play pushed Portland’s lead back to five and Gonzaga never got closer than three the rest of the way.

The Pilots stretched the lead to 77-62 with 4:42 left before a late Gonzaga run.

The Pilots took a 39-33 halftime lead as Foxwell scored 13 in the opening 20 minutes.

Portland scored the game’s first four points and, after Gonzaga’s Braeden Smith made a 3-pointer, went on a 7-0 run — capped by Foxwell’s 3-pointer — to make it 11-3 before Ike had even touched the ball on the offensive end.

Back-to-back jumpers by Foxwell gave the Pilots their largest lead of the half at 15-5 just before the media timeout, at which point Gonzaga coach Mark Few brought in four substitutions to pair with Ike.

An 8-0 run capped by Saint-Supery’s 3-pointer from in front of the Portland bench gave the Bulldogs their first lead at 28-26 with 6:55 left in the half.

The Pilots regained the lead on a jumper by Foxwell and later held Gonzaga scoreless for the final 2:53 to take the lead into the intermission.

–Field Level Media