Sports
Nebraska chasing history in challenge from No. 13 seed Troy
Mar 8, 2026; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Pryce Sandfort (21) drives against Iowa Hawkeyes guard Tate Sage (24) during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images Maybe this is the year for No. 4 seed Nebraska.
Underdog Troy stands in the way of the Cornhuskers in a first-round NCAA Tournament game Thursday in Oklahoma City, where Pryce Sandfort and Nebraska are shooting for some history.
“It was kind of like a dream come true, but we still have a lot of work to do,” Sandfort said about the level of focus for the Cornhuskers.
Nebraska (26-6) has never won an NCAA Tournament game.
“It’s on steroids now,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said of the difference between regular season and NCAA Tournament games. “We know what’s at stake. Our guys have done a lot of really good things this year. A lot of those things happened because our guys had great focus. The importance of every possession this time of year. If you go out and execute, at the end of the day things take care of themselves.”
Troy (22-11) stands in the way, but this isn’t your typical No. 13 seed.
The Trojans won more than 20 games for the fifth season in a row and nearly took down Kentucky in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Hoiberg said first impressions from the film review session was the swagger Troy brings to the court.
“They take care of the ball. Do a really good job on the glass. They’ve got talent all over the floor. They’ve got experience all over the floor,” Hoiberg said.
Hoiberg said managing emotions and handling adversity are massive in a one-and-done context. They bowed out in their first Big Ten tournament game Friday in a 16-point loss to Purdue (74-58) that sent Nebraska to a five-day prep period for the NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska scored plenty of significant wins this season, beating Illinois, Michigan State and Wisconsin.
Among marquee opponents for Troy, the Trojans had a one-point loss on Southern California’s home court (107-106) and a 79-69 win over Mid-American Conference tournament champion Akron on their resume.
Troy coach Scott Cross, named Sun Belt Coach of the Year, had to replace four starters from the 2025 tournament team. Rather than turn the spigot in the NCAA transfer portal, Cross said the coaching staff made the decision to buy into developing the players they already knew were willing to pay the price to experience success.
It paid off, and the approach is still on display. When senior forward Theo Seng went down with a knee injury, Jerrell Bellamy — another senior — jumped into the starting spot for the past six games. He caught fire at the right time and averaged 18.5 points and three blocks in two Sun Belt tournament games. Seng is expected to play in some capacity on Thursday, but Cross won’t shorten his rotation.
“I look at them as 1A and 1B,” Cross said. “(Bellamy) had to step into a 30-minute role for us once Theo went down. He’s so hard to guard on the pick-and-roll and is as athletic as anybody in the country. And he’s really improved defensively for us. He’s a shot blocker; he’s a rim protector.”
The interior battle between Troy’s bigs and Nebraska’s Rienk Mast — a square-build, below-the-rim spoke in a 3-point reliant offense — sets up as intriguing theater. Mast can triple-pivot his way out of most interior defensive looks, but the seventh-year senior who transferred from Bradley is still chasing a tournament win in his 152nd career game.
Troy’s defensive pressure and energy to challenge the Cornhuskers’ array of perimeter shooters is another stirring subplot.
Junior forward Thomas Dowd, MVP of the Sun Belt tournament, and junior Victor Valdes felt the sting of last year’s tournament loss to Kentucky in Milwaukee. Both helped carry Troy down the stretch. It was all with a focus on putting the team back in the Big Dance.
“The first meeting we had, it was like, ‘All right, we’re going to go back dancing,'” Valdes said.
The winner of the Thursday matinee will match up against either No. 5 seed Vanderbilt or 12th-seeded McNeese State on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
–Field Level Media
Sports
Manchester City look to extend win streak, take on Everton
[Subscription Customers Only] Jun 30, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Manchester City forward Erling Haaland (9) celebrates scoring their second goal with midfielder Rodri (16) during a round of 16 match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lee Smith-Reuters via Imagn Images Manchester City will try to keep pace with Premier League front-runner Arsenal on Monday night when they pay a visit to an Everton side still on the fringes of the European picture.
City (21-5-7, 70 points) will begin the day six points back of Arsenal with two matches in hand after the Gunners dispatched Fulham 3-0 on Saturday. The Cityzens won’t be even on games played until May 13, when they make up a postponed match against Crystal Palace that was delayed because of City’s triumphant League Cup run.
As a result, there continues to be the appearance of a chase, although the teams would finish level on points if they win out.
Manager Pep Guardiola insists it shouldn’t matter.
“It’s normal, so it’s the calendar,” Guardiola said on Friday. “Sometimes you play first. Sometimes behind. It is what it is. So, nothing changes in these stages, and you know exactly what you have to do.”
City have won six in a row in all competitions, the last three by a single goal: A 2-1 home league win over the Gunners on April 19, a 1-0 league victory at Burnley three days later, and a 2-1 FA Cup semifinal triumph over Southampton on April 25.
Erling Haaland scored once in both league fixtures to bring his EPL-leading total to 24. In the FA Cup semifinal, Jeremy Doku and Nico Gonzalez scored inside the final 10 minutes to complete a late rally.
Everton (13-13-8, 47 points) finished Saturday in 11th place, but only four points out of seventh, which currently would earn a berth in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Should City win the FA Cup, it could be the top eight English league finishers who earn a spot in Europe.
And if Everton could return to continental competition for the first time since 2017-18, it would conclude a much-improved first season at their new Hill Dickson Stadium, after bringing the curtain down on historic Goodison Park last May.
“We still believe there could be something out there for us. And we’ll keep pushing,” manager David Moyes said. “Building Everton back up is a process which I think is going to take quite a bit of time, but I think the first year or so here, we’ve certainly put decent foundations down. And hopefully we can continue to build on it.”
The Toffees are looking to avoid a third consecutive league defeat for the first time this season after a 2-1 home loss to derby rivals Liverpool on April 19 and a 2-1 away defeat at West Ham last weekend.
Beto, one of two Everton players with eight goals, departed the former contest late with a head injury and missed the latter fixture working through the league’s concussion protocol. He should be available Monday night, Moyes said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees tee off on Orioles to win third straight in 4-game series
May 3, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a two run home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Jasson Dominguez scored the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning before hitting a two-run homer and an RBI double during a seven-run eighth as the New York Yankees pulled away for an 11-3 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
The Yankees won for the 13th time in 15 games and beat the Orioles for the 11th time in the past 12 meetings.
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer off Baltimore rookie Trey Gibson. Ben Rice hit his 12th home run of the season in the first and doubled ahead of Judge’s 13th homer in the third.
Rice exited after the Yankees batted in the third because of a bruised left hand. The Yankees announced X-rays were negative and the first baseman is day-to-day. Rice appeared to get injured fielding a low pickoff throw from Max Fried and was replaced by Paul Goldschmidt.
Dominguez started the tiebreaking rally with a double to left field against Grant Wolfram (1-1) and advanced to third on a groundout by Austin Wells. Ryan McMahon, facing a drawn-in infield, followed with a single that first baseman Coby Mayo couldn’t handle after diving to stop it.
Dominguez started New York’s big inning with a two-run drive into the right field seats off Andrew Kittredge for a 6-3 lead. After an RBI sacrifice fly by Trent Grisham, Goldschmidt ripped a two-run single after the Yankees executed a double steal.
Following a sacrifice fly by Jazz Chisholm Jr., Dominguez added a double to left field for an 11-3 lead.
The Orioles tied it twice before losing their fourth straight and for the 12th time in 18 games.
Blaze Alexander had an RBI single in the third before getting thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. After Judge’s 413-foot drive bounced into Baltimore’s bullpen in left field, Leody Taveras hit an RBI infield single and Tyler O’Neill scored on a double play grounder by Jeremiah Jackson in the fourth.
Fried allowed three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked three.
Fernando Cruz (3-0) got the final two outs of the sixth and the first out of the seventh. Brent Headrick ended the eighth by getting a double play grounder against Mayo.
Gibson allowed three runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings during his major league debut.
The four-game series concludes Monday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cam Smith drives in 2 in 10th, Astros edge Red Sox
May 3, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith (11) hits a two run RBI against the Boston Red Sox during the tenth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Cam Smith had three hits, including a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning, to help the visiting Houston Astros earn a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
Smith’s two-out single came against Zack Kelly (0-2) and drove in Braden Shewmake and Jose Altuve.
Boston had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the 10th, but Bryan Abreu got Ceddanne Rafaela to ground into a double play to end the game.
Jarren Duran hit a solo home run for the Red Sox, who stranded 13 runners and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Duran’s home run was his third of the season and his second of the series. He hit a three-run homer in Boston’s 3-1 victory Friday night.
Abreu (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one.
Willson Contreras collected three of Boston’s nine hits in the loss.
Christian Walker and Christian Vazquez each had two-hit games for the Astros, who won two games in the three-game set.
Boston starting pitcher Ranger Suarez was pulled after four scoreless innings because of hamstring tightness. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three. Suarez threw 70 pitches.
Duran’s home run off Houston reliever AJ Blubaugh opened the scoring in the fifth. Houston tied the game in the sixth, when Walker reached on an infield single, took third on Altuve’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brice Matthews.
The Red Sox had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. An error on Abreu allowed Contreras to reach second with two outs in the inning, but Roman Anthony grounded out to first to end the inning.
Houston had the bases loaded with no outs in the 10th, but Altuve grounded into a 6-2-5 double play. Following a walk to Matthews, Smith delivered his two-run single.
–Field Level Media
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