Sports
No. 13 Purdue keeps Iowa at bay, cruises to victory
Feb 14, 2026; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Gicarri Harris (24) goes to the basket as Iowa Hawkeyes forward Cooper Koch (8) defends during the first half at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images Four players scored in double figures and No. 13 Purdue clamped down on Iowa during a 78-57 Big Ten Conference win Saturday in Iowa City.
C.J. Cox led the balanced Boilermakers (21-4, 11-3) with 14 points, connecting on four of their 12 3-pointers. Reserve Gicarri Harris also scored 14, while Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn each added 12 points in Purdue’s fourth straight win.
Kaufman-Renn hauled in 12 rebounds, including 11 in the first half, while teammate Braden Smith dished out 12 assists to give him 980 for his career. Smith is 97 assists away from passing Bobby Hurley for the all-time NCAA record.
Bennett Stirtz scored a game-high 19 points for the Hawkeyes (18-7, 8-6), who fell to 0-5 against ranked opponents this season. Stirtz made 7 of 11 field goals but the rest of his teammates hit just 13 of 42.
Purdue owned an 11-point halftime lead and wasted little time expanding it. Loyer converted a three-point play and Smith hit a layup, forcing Iowa coach Ben McCollum to call a timeout just 1:48 into the second half with the Boilermakers up by 16.
Cox and Jack Benter combined to score 11 consecutive points for the Boilermakers, upping the advantage to an insurmountable 58-31 advantage after Benter’s layup with 12 minutes remaining. The margin never got closer than 16 for the game’s remainder.
Each team came into this one looking for a better performance after their midweek contests. Purdue blew a 22-point second-half lead Tuesday night at Nebraska before surviving in overtime, while Iowa saw its six-game winning streak end at Maryland, which was 2-10 in league play before pulling off a 77-70 upset.
Neither team found the range until Harris, a sophomore averaging only 5.0 ppg, gave the Boilermakers a lift. He made the first of three 3-pointers, dunked for a three-point play and canned another 3 to complete a five-point trip that began with a Daniel Jacobsen dunk.
Ahead 15-7 at that point, Purdue upped the advantage as high as 15 later in the half before settling for a 36-25 margin at the break.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Suns agree to deal with F Haywood Highsmith
Apr 28, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith (24) reaches for the basketball to prevent it from going out of bounds against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second quarter during game four for the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images The Phoenix Suns agreed to a multi-year deal with forward Haywood Highsmith, per ESPN.
Highsmith was an integral rotation player for the Miami Heat for four seasons (2021-25). During that span, he started 80 games. Overall, he averaged 5.5 points and 3.2 rebounds across 20.3 minutes per game, while shooting 37.5% from 3-point range with the Heat.
In August 2025, he tore his meniscus while working out. Soon after, he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets.
He did not play a game for the Nets. They waived him at the trade deadline.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Juke Harris' 25 points spark Wake Forest over Stanford
Feb 14, 2026; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Stanford Cardinal and Wake Forest Demon Deacons players scramble for the loose ball during the first half at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Juke Harris scored 25 points and hit key shots down the stretch as Wake Forest rallied past Stanford in a 68-63 victory in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Saturday.
Mekhi Mason came off the bench for 10 points for Wake Forest (13-12, 4-8 Atlantic Coast Conference), which won at home for the first time since Jan. 3.
Harris shot 6 of 15 from the field and 12 of 13 at the free-throw line, eclipsing the 20-point mark for the fourth consecutive game.
Ebuka Okorie scored 26 points for Stanford (16-10, 5-8), which was in position for its second road win in four days until the final minute. The Cardinal won at Boston College on Wednesday night.
Benny Gealer’s 11 points and Aidan Cammann’s 10 points and 11 rebounds helped Stanford, which was outscored 28-9 on free throws.
Wake Forest ended the game on a 17-5 run. Harris, who also led Wake Forest in rebounding with seven, scored the team’s final seven points.
The Demon Deacons overcame 4-of-17 shooting on 3-pointers by making 28 of 32 foul shots.
Wake Forest closed within 60-59 on two Omaha Biliew free throws with 2:30 left. The Demon Deacons were even at 61-all on Harris’ lay-in.
On the next possession, Harris drove into the lane for an off-balance shot, giving the Demon Deacons the lead at the 54-second mark.
Stanford’s Jeremy Dent-Smith missed an open jumper from inside the arc before Harris went 1 of 2 at the free-throw line. Okorie then forced a potential tying 3-pointer, with Harris rebounding and responding with two foul shots.
Stanford scored the final seven points of the first half for a 39-30 lead at the break.
Okorie and Gealer both finished with three 3-pointers. Stanford starters Donavin Young and Ryan Agarwal were both scoreless in 24 combined minutes.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Damian Lillard wins 3-point Contest for 3rd time, ties Larry Bird
Feb 14, 2026; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) celebrates with the trophy after winning the three point contest during the 2026 NBA All Star Saturday Night at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Damian Lillard has not played a minute on the court for the Portland Trail Blazers this season and yet still found a way to make an impact at All-Star Weekend.
Lillard defeated seven other long-distance shooting rivals in the 3-point Contest and won the event Saturday for a third time, tying the record previously held by Larry Bird and Craig Hodges. The 35-year-old has been out due to an Achilles injury.
Lillard scored 29 points in the final round to hold off Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, who had 27 in the final after posting a high score of 30 while advancing from the first round. Rookie Kon Knnueppel of the Charlotte Hornets also advanced to the final round but was eliminated with a score of 17.
While Lillard made his final 3-point shot to record his 29, Booker reached 27 by making his first two shots on the final rack of balls, then missed all three of his final shots, any one of which would have forced overtime in the competition.
In addition to Booker’s 30 in the first found, Knueppel and Lillard each scored 27 to move on. Failing to advance were the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell (24), the Miami Heat’s Norman Powell (23), the Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray (18), the Philadelphia 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey (17) and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Bobby Portis Jr. (15).
–Doug Padilla, Field Level Media
