Sports
No. 1 Duke hosts No. 11 Virginia in ACC main event
Feb 24, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cameron Boozer (12) drives as Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Cole Certa (5) defends during the second half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images The rate of showdowns for No. 1 Duke isn’t waning as the second-to-last weekend of the regular season arrives.
The Blue Devils will face No. 11 Virginia in a battle for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference on Saturday afternoon in Durham, N.C.
“Every conference win that you can get is a big one,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said.
If Duke (26-2, 14-1 ACC) wins, it clinches the top seed for the ACC tournament. Streaking Virginia (25-3, 13-2) can pull even in the standings with a win.
“I think the big key is how we continue to get better,” Scheyer said. “I think that’s a big thing for us. Just not staying the same. We call it winning the details. How can we win the details, win in the margins, where we’re better in two and a half weeks than we are right now?”
The tuneups for this matchup were impressive from both teams.
Duke went to Notre Dame and slammed the Fighting Irish 100-56 on Tuesday. At the same time, the Cavaliers stretched their winning streak to nine games by drilling visiting NC State 90-61.
“We’re just going to do what we always do, and that’s get ready for the next one,” Virginia coach Ryan Odom said. “We know the challenge that lies ahead there. The No. 1 team in the country, extremely well coached, extremely talented and together and tough.”
Duke received the No. 1 national ranking this week for the first time this season. That’s a nice tag, but there are more important goals at the moment for the Blue Devils.
“We’re playing for something bigger and we’ve got to keep growing,” freshman forward Cameron Boozer said. “Good win (Tuesday), big game Saturday. We’re taking steps in the right direction, for sure.”
Duke scored a season-high 54 first-half points in the Notre Dame game. Even with Duke reaching the 100-point mark in its last two ACC outings, Scheyer said the emphasis needs to be what the Blue Devils can do defensively.
“We have to continue to have that edge on the defensive end,” he said, “and then we have to continue to be able to work and fight for great shots against defenses that are going to make it hard for us.”
Boozer’s 22.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game are huge lifts for the Blue Devils. Virginia will try to clog the lane with 7-footers Johann Grunloh and Ugonna Onyenso, who combined for 12 blocked shots in Tuesday’s game.
The improvement angle is one that is embraced by Virginia’s players as well.
“I think we’re starting to get better at the right time, which is really important,” Cavaliers guard Dallin Hall said. “We just want to keep (improving) every day, stacking days.”
Virginia is more balanced offensively than Duke, with Thijs De Ridder averaging a team-high 16.0 points per game. He also gathers a team-best 6.3 rebounds.
Virginia is 8-1 on the road but hasn’t won in Durham since 2022. This will be Odom’s first clash with the Blue Devils since taking over the Cavaliers.
“We’re going to have to play our best to have a chance to win,” Odom said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tyler Reddick starts bid for 3rd straight NASCAR Cup win with pole run
Feb 22, 2026; Hampton, Georgia, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick rounds the track at EchoPark Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mady Mertens-Imagn Images AUSTIN, Texas — One of the few things that wasn’t startling about Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Circuit of the Americas was Tyler Reddick’s run for the pole position.
Negotiating the 2.4-mile road course in 97.760 seconds (88.380 mph) in the second qualifying group, Reddick claimed his third Busch Light Pole Award in six attempts at the track. He will lead the field to green in Sunday’s DuraMAX Grand Prix Powered by Reladyne (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Of course, there’s more at stake for Reddick than simply a victory at COTA. In winning at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta last Sunday, the driver of the No. 45 Toyota became the sixth Cup competitor to start a season with two consecutive wins. No driver has ever won three straight to open a season.
The 23XI Racing driver acknowledged that the pole position, the 12th of his career, is a positive first step toward that goal.
“It helps the chances, certainly,” said Reddick, whose series-best average finish of 4.6 at COTA includes a victory in 2023. “I think starting up front is huge.”
Michael McDowell led the first qualifying group of 19 drivers with a lap at 88.031 mph but fell to sixth soon after the second group took to the track. Ultimately, Ross Chastain posted the second-fastest lap at 88.256 mph (97.897 seconds) and will start on the front row beside Reddick.
The shocker was not that Chastain, the 2022 COTA winner, fashioned an excellent lap. What was surprising was that his two Trackhouse Racing teammates, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch — both vaunted road course racers — failed to crack the top 10 in qualifying.
Van Gisbergen was 13th fastest on his third lap. Zilisch could do no better than 25th. Van Gisbergen is seeking his sixth straight road course victory in the Cup Series, a mark that would tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for most consecutive road course wins.
Chase Briscoe (88.242 mph) will start third, followed by Ryan Blaney (88.179 mph) and Chase Elliott (88.161 mph). Elliott leads active drivers with seven road course victories.
Behind McDowell in sixth, AJ Allmendinger qualified seventh, followed by defending race winner Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs and William Byron.
“We’ll see how it gets going,” Reddick said. “Certainly, Ross, Shane, Ryan Blaney-there’s a number of good drivers who were really strong in practice today. We’ll try to understand what that all looks like and make our best decisions on the car and everything.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Warriors F Gui Santos signs multi-year extension
Feb 25, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos (15) passes the ball as Memphis Grizzlies guard Javon Small (10) defends during the third quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos signed a multi-year contract extension on Saturday.
Specific terms were not disclosed by the Warriors. However, ESPN reported it was a three-year, $15 million contract extension with a player option in 2028-29. Santos was in line to become a restricted free agent prior to this extension.
Santos, 23, is posting career-best averages in points (6.6), rebounds (3.2) and assists (1.7) in 48 games (13 starts) this season.
He is contributing 4.9 points, 3.0 boards and 1.4 assists in 127 career games (15 starts) since being selected by the Warriors in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Isaiah Evans, No. 1 Duke overwhelm No. 11 Virginia
Feb 28, 2026; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Isaiah Evans (3) grabs a pass as he moves around a pick center Patrick Ngongba II (21) as Virginia Cavaliers guard Sam Lewis (5) defends during the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images Isaiah Evans used a hot start on the way to 19 points and top-ranked Duke’s defense contained No. 11 Virginia for much of Saturday afternoon’s showdown in a 77-51 victory at Durham, N.C.
The Blue Devils, with two games remaining, secured at least a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship and locked up the top seed for the upcoming ACC tournament.
Cameron Boozer racked up most of his 18 points on free throws for Duke (27-2, 15-1 ACC), which built its lead to 28 points in the second half. Boozer also had a team-high nine rebounds, while Patrick Ngongba II added 11 points.
Thijs De Ridder had 16 points for Virginia (25-4, 13-3), which was bidding to pull even atop the ACC standings. Instead, the Cavaliers’ nine-game winning streak was halted as they were held to a season-low point total.
Virginia went 29.1% from the field, including 7-for-35 on 3s, so the Cavaliers’ 12-for-13 shooting at the foul line couldn’t save them. Virginia collected nine offensive rebounds despite its volume of missed shots.
Evans shot 5-for-9 on 3-pointers and was 7-for-11 overall from the floor, accounting for nearly half of Duke’s 12 baskets from 3-point range.
Boozer had 11 first-half points on 11-for-12 free-throw shooting, but didn’t make a field goal until a 3-pointer early in the second half. He ended up 3-for-9 from the field in 33 minutes in Duke’s second-to-last home game of the season.
Aside from De Ridder, Virginia’s starters shot a combined 4-for-22 from the field.
An 11-0 run in the second half stretched Duke’s advantage to 70-43.
Duke built an 18-9 lead across the first 11 minutes, with Evans providing 14 of those points. The Blue Devils carried a 41-26 lead into halftime.
Virginia shot 4-for-17 on first-half 3s, while going 4-for-8 on 2-point range attempts.
By game’s end, Boozer attempted 12 of Duke’s 14 free throws.
–Field Level Media
Tyler Reddick starts bid for 3rd straight NASCAR Cup win with pole run
Warriors F Gui Santos signs multi-year extension
