Sports
No. 13 Purdue dominates boards, keeps No. 7 Nebraska reeling
Feb 10, 2026; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) gets a rebound against Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Berke Buyuktuncel (9) during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images Braden Smith finished two rebounds shy of a triple-double as No. 13 Purdue overcame blowing two big leads to beat No. 7 Nebraska 80-77 in overtime in a Big Ten Conference game Tuesday night in Lincoln, Neb.
The Boilermakers (20-4, 10-3) moved into a tie for third in the Big Ten by picking up their second road win over a Top 10 team. Purdue won at then-No. 9 Alabama in November.
Smith had 13 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists while Fletcher Loyer scored 18. Oscar Cluff had 12 points and 14 rebounds, his basket with 5.2 seconds left giving Purdue the lead for good at 78-77. Cluff missed the chance for a three-point play, however, but after Nebraska forced a turnover, Purdue’s Gicarri Harris stole the ball and was fouled. He hit both free throws to seal the win.
Trey Kaufman-Renn had 19 rebounds as Purdue was plus-17 on the boards with 21 offensive rebounds. The visitors hit 13 3-pointers on 46 attempts (28.3%) and were just 11 of 20 from the line, missing several late in regulation and OT.
Nebraska (21-3, 10-3) lost for the third time in four games after a school-record 24-game win streak dating to last season. The Cornhuskers got 18 points from Rienk Mast, who tied the game on a layup with 12.8 seconds in regulation but missed the and-one that would have given Nebraska the lead.
Purdue led 40-24 at halftime and increased the margin to 22 just over a minute into the second half. Nebraska went on a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to nine with 10:32 remaining, then back-to-back 3-pointers by Mast and Sam Hoiberg got the Cornhuskers within 54-49 with 7:14 to go.
A 10-0 Purdue run extended the edge to 14 with 2:45 left only to see Nebraska end regulation on a 15-1 spurt.
Purdue began the game on a 14-1 run, with Loyer and Smith each nailing a pair of 3-pointers. Nebraska missed its first five shots but then started hitting 3-pointers, getting within 21-14.
A 9-0 run put the Boilermakers up 36-19 with six minutes left in the first half.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 20 Clemson focused on 'daily work,' won't look past Virginia Tech
Feb 4, 2026; Stanford, California, USA; Clemson Tigers guard Ace Buckner (21) smiles after making a free-throw against the Stanford Cardinal during the second half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images No. 20 Clemson is tied atop the Atlantic Coast Conference standings with No. 4 Duke ahead of their showdown this weekend, but first the Tigers have to get by visiting Virginia Tech on Wednesday night.
The story for Clemson (20-4, 10-1 ACC) has been defense. The Tigers are allowing just 64.1 points per game, 11th in the nation, and have won four in a row. The Tigers’ only ACC loss came to North Carolina State in overtime.
Clemson is coming off a West Coast swing where it knocked off Stanford by two last Wednesday and dominated Cal 77-55 on Saturday. Tigers coach Brad Brownell was asked after the win over the Golden Bears if his team has peaked.
“I don’t think we talk about it,” Brownell replied. “We talk about daily work, daily improvements and focusing on what we can control and our players, but we’re also trying to enjoy the experience. It’s a long, hard season. We want our guys to be energized. We know there is a long way to go in league play.”
Clemson put on a defensive master class, holding the Bears without a field goal for almost 13 minutes in the first half and building a 19-point halftime lead. Brownell called it one of his team’s best performances of the season.
“We don’t have a bunch of guys who are big-time scorers. We have guys that are good players and guys who have bought into their roles,” Brownell said. “There are guys on our team who could play more minutes, but they sacrifice that in order for us to play the best way we think to play, which is playing a lot of guys. It’s something we have been talking about and working on since June. I think we have grown as a team.”
Clemson has a balanced scoring attack with three players averaging in double figures: RJ Godfrey (11.9), Jestin Porter (10.5) and Carter Welling (10.1).
Clemson redshirt freshman Ace Buckner, the son of former Clemson star Greg Buckner, is coming off two strong performances off the bench for the Tigers with 11 points against Stanford and 13 against Cal.
“We’re not surprised,” Brownell said of Buckner. “He’s an extremely hard worker, he’s extremely competitive. He’s had big games on both ends of the floor. I think his maturity level is probably higher than most guys his age. It’s no surprise to our staff.”
Virginia Tech (16-8, 5-6) has lost three of its last four and struggled against NC State in an 82-73 road loss Saturday.
Amani Hansberry leads the Hokies at 15.2 points per game. Neoklis Avdalas, a freshman from Greece, is averaging 12.6 points.
Avdalas had 14 points against NC State and, according to veteran coach Mike Young, was a bright spot in the defeat.
“He was great, he looked a little more like himself. He was (2-for-3) from three, he struggled early,” Young said of a player shooting 29.1% from beyond the arc this year. “If we can get him going along with (Tobi) Lawal, he had 15 rebounds, 17 points. Those are good numbers. We had some positive things we can build on.”
Clemson has won four of the last five meetings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
ESPN takes over MLB.tv; in-market streaming available to 20 teams
Aug 24, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; The major league baseball logo is seen on signage near the player’s entrance to the field at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum before the game between the Oakland Athletics and the Milwaukee Brewers. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images ESPN officially took control of Major League Baseball’s out-of-market streaming service, MLB.tv, on Tuesday in a key component of the two sides’ reworked media rights deal.
Additionally, the league made in-market streaming subscriptions available Tuesday for 20 of its 30 clubs via the MLB App.
In November, MLB finalized a short-term agreement for national media rights after ESPN opted out of its hefty package for “Sunday Night Baseball” and other baseball properties last summer. The new agreement introduced NBCUniversal and Netflix, but also struck a new agreement with ESPN which, among other things, gave the company rights to sell and distribute MLB.tv.
MLB.tv will be available for $149.99 for the season for those who don’t have ESPN Unlimited, the company’s new direct-to-consumer service, or $134.99 for ESPN Unlimited subscribers. For those who already had MLB.tv before the new agreements went into effect, their subscription will auto-renew at the previous price and ESPN Unlimited isn’t required.
Meanwhile, the precipitous decline of RSNs (regional sports networks) in recent years, most notably the upcoming closure of the company formerly known as Diamond Sports Group, left many clubs around the league without a long-term home for their in-market TV carriage.
Major League Baseball confirmed Tuesday it will produce local broadcasts for 14 clubs in 2026. Another six clubs still have an RSN with which MLB has formed distribution deals. The total will reach 21 in the near future, as MLB said Detroit Tigers games will have an in-market streaming subscription “available at a later date.”
Arizona Diamondbacks — Dbacks.TV
Athletics — Athletics.TV
Baltimore Orioles — MASN+
Cincinnati Reds — Reds.TV
Cleveland Guardians — CleGuardians.TV
Colorado Rockies — Rockies.TV
Kansas City Royals — Royals.TV
Los Angeles Angels — Angels.TV
Los Angeles Dodgers — SNLA+
Miami Marlins — Marlins.TV
Milwaukee Brewers — Brewers.TV
Minnesota Twins — Twins.TV
New York Mets — SNY
Philadelphia Phillies — Phillies.TV
St. Louis Cardinals — Cardinals.TV
San Diego Padres — Padres.TV
San Francisco Giants — Giants.TV
Seattle Mariners — Mariners.TV
Tampa Bay Rays — Rays.TV
Washington Nationals — Nationals.TV
–Field Level Media
Sports
All-Star break timely for feisty Hornets, revamped Hawks
Feb 7, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel (7) dribbles against the Atlanta Hawks in the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images The Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets might be in need of some time off, and they’ll get just that after they meet Wednesday night in Charlotte.
It will be the final game for both teams prior to the eight-day All-Star break, but there’s plenty to digest before tip-off.
The Hornets had a nine-game winning streak end in Monday’s fight-marred loss to the visiting Detroit Pistons. Two players from each team were ejected, including Moussa Diabate and Miles Bridges from the Hornets.
“I think overall our guys responded to every run that they went on,” said Charlotte coach Charles Lee, who was later ejected for arguing a call from a different situation. “I just love everything they brought from a competitive spirit.”
Now the Hornets likely will have to deal with roster availability issues if suspensions are levied as a result of the fight. Bridges provided a team-high 26 points in the 126-119 win on Saturday night at Atlanta.
The Hawks have lost their last two games — to the Hornets and then 138-116 at the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night. A bit of a new-look roster is offering challenges for Atlanta.
“We’re not used to those lineups yet,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “We’re still trying to figure out some of those guys and those combinations.”
Lee said the Hornets, who have gone more than a month without back-to-back losses, responded well in standing up to the Detroit’s physicality.
Charlotte split two games with Atlanta earlier in the season, with the home teams winning each time on Nov. 23 and Dec. 18. Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel led his side in scoring in both games. Diabate has been the team’s top rebounder in all three meetings with Atlanta.
Lost in the aftermath from Monday night, Knueppel became the first rookie this season to reach 1,000 points, doing so in his 53rd game. In the last 25 years, only three players have done so in fewer games.
Knueppel’s role Monday night included trying to restrain Diabate during the fracas.
“I just tried to de-escalate (him) because I knew he wouldn’t hurt me,” he said.
Suddenly, the stakes seem higher for Charlotte.
“We’re going to have to play through some physicality some games,” Hornets swingman Brandon Miller said.
Atlanta has given up more than 130 points four times since the beginning of January, continuing a trend of troubling defensive performances. The Hawks surrendered 81 points in the first half to the Timberwolves.
“I just thought they got clean open looks,” Snyder said. “They shot the ball well, but we didn’t make them uncomfortable enough. … A lot of the shots, they were contested, but they just had too much space.”
A zone defense worked better in the second half. Some of the earlier defensive woes negated opportunities for transition offense, further hampering the Hawks, Snyder said.
Atlanta’s CJ McCollum had 38 points in the Minnesota game, marking the veteran guard’s highest total in 15 games since he was acquired from the Washington Wizards. His previous high with the Hawks was 26 points.
McCollum had 12 points in 28 minutes in last week’s matchup with Charlotte.
Among the newcomers in the mix is Gabe Vincent, who made his debut with the Hawks on Monday after a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers. He had two points, four assists, three steals and one rebound in 19 minutes.
“Gabe, in particular, gave us some very good minutes,” Snyder said.
–Field Level Media
No. 20 Clemson focused on 'daily work,' won't look past Virginia Tech
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