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Nebraska looks to diversify offense against Minnesota

NCAA Basketball: Michigan at NebraskaFeb 24, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Brice Williams (3) dunks the ball during the first half against the Michigan Wolverines at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

The four words you don’t want to hear when it’s late in the season and you’re on the NCAA tournament bubble: Still work to do.

That’s the case for Nebraska as it prepares to host Big Ten Conference foe Minnesota on Saturday in Lincoln, Neb.

The Cornhuskers (17-11, 7-10 Big Ten) missed a big chance to burnish their tournament resume Monday night, falling 49-46 to No. 15 Michigan. It marked just the third time in the last 11 years that a Big Ten game was won with less than 50 points.

Nebraska got nothing offensively from anyone other than Brice Williams, who pumped in a game-high 26 points and is averaging 19.6 ppg. The Cornhuskers made just 16 of 62 attempts from the field, including 6 of 28 from the field.

Take Williams and reserve Sam Hoiberg, who made his only 2 attempts, out of the mix and the rest of the team connected on just 5 of 39.

“We don’t have a ton of shooting on this team,” admitted Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg. “We have to stay in games and give ourselves a chance with our defense. That’s been our identity when we’ve played well.”

While the Cornhuskers shoot for their first back-to-back NCAA tournament berths in more than 30 years, the Golden Gophers (14-14, 6-11) are just trying to reach the conference tournament. That quest took a step backwards on Tuesday night with a 75-63 home loss to Northwestern.

It was their fourth straight home loss, dropping them into a four-way tie for 13th with USC, Iowa and Northwestern. The bottom three teams in the 18-team league will be left out of the conference tournament.

“We’re stuck,” said Minnesota coach Ben Johnson. “We’ve got to fight through being stuck. We are just really mentally stuck right now. Can’t pinpoint what it is when we’re not on the road.”

The Gophers lost despite getting 26 points from fifth-year senior Dawson Garcia, who’s averaging 19.6 points and 7.6 rebounds.

This will be the only meeting of the season between the teams.

–Field Level Media

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Benny Gealer shoots lights out in Stanford's runaway win over SMU

NCAA Basketball: Southern Methodist at StanfordFeb 28, 2026; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal head coach Kyle Smith gestures during the first half against the Southern Methodist University Mustangs at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Benny Gealer posted a career-high 30 points and went 7-for-11 from beyond the arc as Stanford dominated visiting SMU 95-75 on Saturday.

Gealer added four rebounds and a career-high six steals for the Cardinal (18-11, 7-9 Atlantic Coast Conference), who finish their regular season next week on the road and went 12-6 at home.

Ebuka Okorie added 22 points and six assists, and Aidan Cammann contributed 15 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Stanford went 14-for-27 from outside the arc and made 90.6% of its free throws.

Boopie Miller posted 26 points and five assists for the Mustangs (19-10, 8-8), who finished their California road trip with an 0-2 record after a 73-69 loss to Cal on Wednesday.

Jaron Pierre Jr. added 21 points and six rebounds. SMU shot 47.4% from the field and 38.9% from beyond the arc, while allowing 17 points off of the team’s nine turnovers.

Okorie posted seven points, including a shot from beyond the arc, to give Stanford an early 12-7 lead with 16:03 remaining in the first half.

Gealer made his first three perimeter shots to increase Stanford’s lead to 20-12 with 12:55 remaining. Miller’s layup ended an SMU scoring drought to make it 20-18 with 8:04 left in the half.

The Cardinal failed to tally any points for over five minutes, but then went on a 12-2 run to go up 32-20 on a Ryan Agarwal three-pointer with 2:55 left in the half. The Cardinal held off a push by the Mustangs to take a 34-27 lead into halftime.

Stanford opened the second half on an 11-4 run to take a 45-31 lead with 17:34 remaining on another three from Agarwal.

SMU went on a 12-4 run to cut into the deficit and make it 53-47 at the 11:24 mark, but Stanford responded to increase the lead to 60-47 with 10 minutes to play.

That started a 19-4 surge for the Cardinal which effectively put the game away. They took their largest lead of the day, 72-51, with 7:50 left.

SMU attempted to climb back into things but failed to cut the deficit to less than 15 points. Stanford led by as many as 23 points in the final minute.

–Field Level Media

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Women's Top 25 roundup: No. 8 Michigan rolls past No. 14 Maryland

Syndication: Lansing State JournalMichigan’s head coach Kim Barnes Arico calls out to the team during the first quarter in the game against Michigan State on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.

Olivia Olson scored 28 points with eight rebounds and Syla Swords added 17 points as No. 8 Michigan closed out its regular-season schedule with an 87-69 victory over No. 14 Maryland at Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Wolverines (24-5, 15-3 Big Ten) moved into sole possession of second place in the Big Ten Conference standings, a half of a game ahead of No. 9 Iowa, which concludes its season on Sunday at Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes beat Michigan in the lone regular-season meeting.

Mila Holloway had 12 points and six assists for Michigan, which won its second consecutive game after losing to Iowa last Sunday. The Wolverines went 3-1 to close out the regular season, all in games against ranked teams.

Oluchi Okananwa scored 19 points and Yarden Garzon added 14 for the Terrapins (23-7, 11-7), who allowed Michigan to score at least 20 points in every quarter and never recovered from a 46-31 deficit at halftime.

No. 25 Princeton 62, Harvard 49

The visiting Tigers didn’t let an early deficit prevent them from surging past the Crimson in Cambridge, Mass., for their fourth consecutive victory and sixth in their last seven games.

Fadima Tall scored a game-high of 18 points with nine rebounds for Princeton (23-3, 11-2 Ivy League). Skye Belker added 13 points, Ashley Chea had 12 and Olivia Hutcherson blocked three shots. The Tigers shot 24 of 51 (47%) from the field and scored 18 points off their opponent’s 15 turnovers.

Harvard, which led 13-11 after the opening quarter, lost for just the second time in its last nine games. The Crimson, which made just 17 of 57 field-goal attempts (29.8%), including 7 of 27 from long range, was led by Karlee White with 10 points and Olivia Jones with nine boards.

–Field Level Media

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Labaron Philon Jr., No. 17 Alabama edge No. 22 Tennessee

NCAA Basketball: Alabama at TennesseeFeb 28, 2026; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide guard Labaron Philon (0) shoots the ball against Tennessee Volunteers center Felix Okpara (34) during the second half at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Labaron Philon Jr. gave Alabama its lone lead of the contest by sinking a jumper with 22.8 seconds remaining as the No. 17 Crimson Tide recovered from a 13-point, second-half deficit to post a 71-69 victory over No. 22 Tennessee on Saturday night in Southeastern Conference play at Knoxville, Tenn.

Philon scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half as Alabama (22-7, 12-4 SEC) extended its winning streak to eight games. Latrell Wrightsell Jr. scored 14 of his team-high 25 points in the second half for the Crimson Tide.

Aden Holloway added 12 points as Alabama halted a five-game slide against Tennessee.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie had 26 points, seven assists and matched his own school record of eight steals for the Volunteers (20-9, 10-6), who lost their second straight game. J.P. Estrella added 12 points and Jaylen Carey contributed 10 points and nine rebounds.

Tennessee’s Nate Ament was limited to two points in 11 minutes after injuring his right leg in the first half. Ament scored 29 points when the Volunteers defeated the Crimson Tide last month.

With the score tied at 69, Philon drove in and eluded the bigger Estrella and made a 10-foot turnaround jumper in the lane to give Alabama its first lead.

Gillespie attempted to tie the game with a driving shot, but it bounced off the rim with about three seconds left. Players from both teams swatted at the ball and it eventually went toward the baseline as the clock expired.

Alabama shot 44.6% from the field, including 10 of 27 from 3-point range.

The Volunteers made 38.5% of their attempts and were 4 of 18 from behind the arc.

Tennessee used an 11-2 run in the second half to push their lead to 55-42. Estrella’s layup capped the burst as Tennessee took a game-high 13-point lead with 12:16 remaining.

Alabama scored 19 of the next 27 points and used Philon’s three-point play and Wrightsell’s trey to pull within 63-61 with 4:35 left.

A short time later, Philon’s personal 6-0 burst allowed the Crimson Tide to knot the score at 67 with 2:32 to play.

Estrella’s baseline jumper put Tennessee back ahead with 2:06 left. Holloway tied it with a jumper with 1:11 remaining.

Gillespie scored 15 first-half points to help Tennessee take a 40-28 lead into the break. Wrightsell had 11 in the half for the Crimson Tide.

Tennessee was leading 20-16 with 7:42 left in the half when Ament went down, injured during a scramble for a ball. He returned at the outset of the second half before leaving again with 17:53 to play.

–Field Level Media

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