Sports
No. 13 Purdue in close pursuit of No. 14 Michigan St. in standings
Wisconsin Badgers forward Nolan Winter (31) defends the shot of Purdue Boilermakers forward Trey Kaufman-Renn (4) Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, during the NCAA men’s basketball game at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. Wisconsin Badgers won 94-84. Any hope that No. 13 Purdue has of winning the Big Ten regular-season title hinges on its visit to East Lansing, Mich.
Following two consecutive losses, the third-place Boilermakers can’t afford to lose any more ground. They’re trying to catch Michigan and Michigan State, which hosts them on Tuesday night.
Purdue dropped a 75-73 road decision to the Wolverines on Feb. 11, then fell at home to Wisconsin 94-84 on Saturday. Purdue dropped six spots Monday in the AP Top 25 poll, one place ahead of Michigan State at No. 14.
As the latter score would suggest, Boilermakers coach Matt Painter is mainly concerned about shoring up his team’s defense for its showdown against the Spartans. Wisconsin shot 61.5 percent from the field and committed just three turnovers.
“Their ability to break us down off the dribble and take us, I thought was really hard for us,” Painter said. “We had to do a better job guarding the basketball, and we just didn’t. And when you’re living in help (defense), now you’re really — if you don’t get them bottled up, that ball’s going to move quick. When you’re dealing with one of the best shooting teams in the country, they’re going to make you pay and they made us pay.”
The Boilermakers (19-7, 11-4 Big Ten) wasted a 30-point performance from forward Trey Kaufman-Renn, who leads them in scoring (19.4 points per game) and rebounding (6.3). They had won 11 of their previous 12 games before the two-game slide.
“You just move to the next game, whether you win or you lose,” Painter said. “Obviously, you want to take care of your home court and we didn’t do that (Saturday). We’ve had a couple losses at home now. You have to regroup, you’ve got to be better. A lot of times, what it gets to is just being better at what you do.”
The Spartans will have to deal with Purdue’s veteran guard duo of Braden Smith (16.0 ppg, 8.8 apg) and Fletcher Loyer (13.9 ppg, 45.3 percent on 3-pointers).
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo surpassed Bob Knight as the Big Ten’s all-time record holder for conference wins in the Spartans’ 79-65 road victory over Illinois on Saturday. Izzo’s 354th conference victory was the product of a spirited rally after his club trailed by 16 points in the first half.
“It’s a very special moment,” guard Jase Richardson said. “He’s worked really hard for this over the past 30 years, and it’s kind of been just like this huge thing for him. We wanted to get him that record. So to be able to do it on hostile territory against a really tough team, it’s incredible.”
Now, the Spartans (20-5, 11-3) can focus on holding off the Boilermakers and catching their archrival Michigan for first place in the standings.
Michigan State relies on a balanced attack — nine different players have led the club in single-game scoring this season. It was Jaxon Kohler’s turn to step forward on Saturday as he powered the Spartans’ comeback with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
“Jaxon had one of those career nights,” Izzo said. “He hit a couple of 3s, and it opened things up for us a little bit when we were struggling and down. And then we went to him in the second half, and I thought he responded.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Twins roll up big lead, hold on to beat Athletics
Jul 26, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins right fielder Kody Clemens (2) slides into third base for a run scoring triple as Athletics third baseman Tommy White (47) looks to catch the ball. White would be unable to gather the ball and Clemens would score on the play during the first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images Ryan Jeffers went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, and the Minnesota Twins held on for an 11-8 win over the Athletics on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Ryan Kreidler finished 3-for-4 with three doubles and an RBI for Minnesota, which won the rubber match of the three-game series. Kody Clemens went 3-for-5 with two triples and an RBI.
Nick Kurtz hit a three-run home run to lead the Athletics. Jeff McNeil was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Twins left-hander Connor Prielipp (3-5) held the Athletics to one run on two hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out five.
Athletics left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-10) gave up five runs (four earned) on four hits in 1 1/3 innings.
Minnesota started the scoring with three runs in the first.
Royce Lewis drove in the first run on a fielder’s choice groundout. Clemens delivered in the next at-bat with a triple to right-center field, and he trotted home to score after Athletics shortstop Alika Williams fired an errant cutoff throw toward third that bounced out of play.
The Twins doubled their lead to 6-0 with three more runs in the second.
Minnesota loaded the bases for two outs for Jeffers, and the Twins made it 4-0 before he made contact. Athletics right-hander Luis Morales committed a bases-loaded walk to allow Alex Jackson to score from third.
Moments later, Jeffers ripped a two-run single to right.
Another miscue by the Athletics allowed the Twins to push their lead to 7-0 in the fourth. Catcher Jonah Heim committed a throwing error that allowed Ryan Kreidler to score.
The Athletics got on the scoreboard in the sixth. Kurtz belted a three-run, 412-foot shot to center for his 21st homer of the season.
Minnesota made it 8-3 on a sacrifice fly by Austin Martin in the sixth.
The Athletics cut the deficit to 8-6 with three runs in the seventh. Donovan Walton drew a bases-loaded walk, McNeil notched an RBI groundout and Carlos Cortes hit a sacrifice fly.
The Twins responded with a run in the bottom of the seventh to make it 9-6. Clemens tripled off the right-field wall, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Luke Keaschall.
Kreidler and Jeffers drove in one run apiece in the eighth to give the Twins an 11-6 lead.
McNeil and Cortes each drove in a run in the ninth to finish the scoring for the Athletics.
-Field Level Media
Sports
Reds push across three runs in 10th to knock off Cardinals
Jul 26, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Cincinnati Reds right fielder Noelvi Marte (4) is tagged out by St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26) in the second inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images The Cincinnati Reds scored three times in the top of the 10th inning to take a 5-3 win against the host St. Louis Cardinals in the rubber match of a three-game set on Sunday.
Andrew Abbott allowed two runs on three hits and fanned four in six innings for the Reds. Brock Burke (4-4) retired all four batters he faced in the eighth and ninth and Julian Garcia picked up his first career save.
Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Leahy struck out a career-high nine batters while holding Cincinnati to two runs on six hits in six innings.
With Tyler Stephenson on as the automatic runner, a wild pitch from Matt Svanson (2-3) moved him to third and Sal Stewart singled to drive him home to give the Reds a 3-2 edge.
Elly De La Cruz singled, and he and Stewart advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt from Edwin Arroyo.
Svanson was then replaced by Justin Bruihl, who intentionally walked Eugenio Suarez to fill the bases, and Nathaniel Lowe singled, scoring Stewart and De La Cruz for a 5-2 advantage.
St. Louis narrowed it to 5-3 on an Alec Burleson single that drove in automatic runner JJ Wetherholt.
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Burleson opened the frame with a double, and Masyn Winn singled up the middle to give the hosts runners on the corners with nobody out. Burleson then came around to score on Jose Fermin’s sacrifice fly.
De La Cruz pulled the Reds even in the top of the third, belting a slider 410 feet into the seats in left-center field to make it 1-1, his 18th home run of the season.
Ivan Herrera put St. Louis in front 2-1 in the bottom half when he launched a sweeper to the same spot as De La Cruz.
After the Cardinals and Reds each failed to capitalize on a pair of baserunners in their respective half of the fourth, Ke’Bryan Hayes tied it 2-2 in the top of the fifth on a solo shot over the wall in left field.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Virtus.pro claim top PUBG prize at Esports World Cup
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. Virtus.pro ran away with the PUBG: Battlegrounds title at the Esports World Cup, landing the $660,000 first prize on Sunday in Paris.
Virtus.pro also secured 1,000 Esports World Club points, vaulting them into second in the overall standings at 1,950 behind only Natus Vincere’s 2,250. NaVi placed third in PUBG: Battlegrounds to gain 500 points and maintain their lead.
Virtus.pro concluded the Grand Finals stage with 159 total points, a comfortable 33 points ahead of The Vicious in second place. NaVi ended with 124.
Twenty-four teams began the PUBG tournament competing for shares of a $2.025 million prize pool.
The group stage lasted from Tuesday to Thursday and saw the teams divided into three groups of eight for a round robin. The top 16 teams overall moved on to the Grand Finals and the remaining eight were eliminated.
In the Grand Finals, teams played six matches per day from Friday to Sunday. Winning a match garnered a team the maximum 10 placement points, the second-place team received six, third place received five and so on down to the seventh and eighth teams receiving one point apiece. One point was also awarded for every kill.
Virtus.pro finished second in Games 1 and 2 and dominated Game 4, winning top spot and adding 14 points off kills. They repeated that in Game 6 before Friday was through, prevailing with 15 kills in their column.
An otherwise quiet Saturday for Virtus.pro ended with a bang as they won Game 12 (eight kills). At that point, they had a healthy advantage with 126 total points. That allowed them to cruise to victory on Sunday, collecting a third-place finish in Game 13 and second in Game 15 along the way.
Croatia’s Nino “NIXZYEE” Mikec of Virtus.pro won MVP honors, which came with a $25,000 bonus.
Prize money was distributed at the end of both the group stage and the Grand Finals.
PUBG: Battlegrounds at Esports World Cup 2026 standings (prize pool, EWC club points)
1. Virtus.pro — $660,000, 1,000 points
2. The Vicious — $305,000, 750
3. Natus Vincere — $213,000, 500
4. Team Falcons — $145,000, 300
5. Team Vitality — $106,000, 200
6. Geekay Esports — $78,000, 150
7. Gen.G Esports — $57,000, 100
8. Twisted Minds — $57,000, 50
9. Made in Thailand — $52,000, no points
10. T1 — $46,000, no points
11. 17 Gaming — $37,500, no points
12. FULL SENSE — $28,500, no points
13. Team Liquid — $31,500, no points
14. AGAL International — $26,000, no points
15. GAM Esports — $29,500, no points
16. Shadow Esports — $20,000, no points
17. JD Gaming — $17,000, no points
18. SOOPers — $16,000, no points
19. R8 Esports — $15,000, no points
20. Sharper Esports — $14,000, no points
21. Team Nemesis — $13,000, no points
22. TYLOO — $12,000, no points
23. Petrichor Road — $11,000, no points
24. Four Angry Men — $10,000, no points
–Field Level Media
Twins roll up big lead, hold on to beat Athletics
Reds push across three runs in 10th to knock off Cardinals
