Sports
No. 16 North Carolina deals with injuries, faces NC State
Feb 7, 2026; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis with guard Kyan Evans (0) in the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images No. 16 North Carolina will try to win its second straight game without freshman phenom Caleb Wilson when it travels to Raleigh to face rival North Carolina State on Tuesday night.
Wilson — who leads the Tar Heels (20-5, 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) in scoring and rebounding with 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game — is out indefinitely after suffering a fracture in his left hand against Miami last week. The Tar Heels are hopeful Wilson will return before March Madness begins, but they’ll have to play without him for the foreseeable future.
On Saturday, UNC was able to get a 79-65 win at home over Pitt without Wilson and his co-anchor in the post, Henri Veesaar. The latter missed the game against the Panthers — his first absence of the season — with what the team called a lower extremity issue and an illness. Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis said Monday that Veesaar “continues to feel better and get better” and was expected to practice.
In the absence of Wilson and Veesaar, Jarin Stevenson and Seth Trimble led UNC against Pitt by scoring 19 points apiece. Davis has been particularly impressed with the way that Stevenson has stepped up. The junior forward is averaging 11.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and one assist per game over his last six outings.
“I think he’s been in a better rhythm, more comfortable, more confident on the offensive end,” Davis said of Stevenson. “I just love when he’s aggressive in practice, in games. He takes good shots, he makes the right plays and he’s just a really good player. When he’s aggressive, he definitely takes our team to a different level.”
While the Tar Heels were able to comfortably defeat Pitt without the help of Wilson and Veesaar, the Panthers are not going to make the NCAA Tournament and rank 110th in KenPom. Their next opponent is much tougher.
NC State (18-8, 9-4) is 31st in KenPom and is projected to be a No. 7 seed in March Madness in ESPN’s latest bracketology update.
The Wolfpack are licking their wounds, though. Will Wade’s team lost back-to-back games for just the second time this season, falling at Louisville and then at home to Miami last week. In its one-point loss to the Hurricanes, the Wolfpack gave up 20 offensive rebounds and were outscored in the paint 56-32.
Matt Able’s game-winning 3-point attempt missed the mark at the buzzer.
“Our fans deserve better than what we’ve been giving them,” Wade said Monday. “North Carolina is a great team. Coach Davis has done a tremendous job with the team this year. They’re huge. I mean, that’s the biggest challenge. We’re not the biggest bunch. And they’re massive on the front line, which has been a major issue for us this season.”
North Carolina is fourth in the ACC and 48th nationally in rebounds per game with 38.8.
With 7.1 boards per game, NC State’s leading rebounder this season is Ven-Allen Lubin, who spent last season playing for the Tar Heels before transferring to join Wade’s squad last offseason. The 6-foot-9 senior forward averages 13.7 points per game this season and also leads the ACC in field goal percentage with a 68.4% clip.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Prince Owusu leads CF Montreal over NYCFC
Apr 18, 2026; Montreal, Province of Quebec, CAN; CF Montreal forward Prince Owusu (9) celebrates with teammates including defenseman Dawid Bugaj (27) and midfielder Noah Streit (23) after scoring a goal against the Red Bull New York during the first half at Saputo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images Prince Owusu scored a first-half goal on Saturday afternoon to help lead CF Montreal to a 1-0 victory over New York City FC.
Thomas Gillier made a pair of saves for Montreal (3-6-0, nine points), who won their second straight game since firing head coach Marco Donadel and hiring interim Philippe Eullaffroy on April 12. Montreal posted five shots on target to New York City’s two.
NYC FC (3-4-3, 12 points) saw their winless streak extended to six straight in MLS competition. Goalkeeper Matt Freese made four saves for the visitors, who lost despite owning possession for 64 percent of the match.
Trailing by a goal, New York City had second-half opportunities to even the score, as Maxi Moralez and Arnau Farnos’ shots missed in the 47th and 56th minutes, respectively.
NYC FC’s Tayvon Gray was sent off in the 78th minute after receiving his second yellow card.
Montreal had early chances, but Freese made three saves in the game’s first 10 minutes. Montreal broke through in the 18th minute, though, as Owusu scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season.
Matty Longstaff sent in an entry from the left of the box, before Owusu tapped in the game’s only goal past Freese.
NYC FC mustered just one shot on goal in the opening half, while Montreal tallied four before halftime.
The Eastern Conference foes will meet again on October 31 at New York.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Magic withstand Pistons’ rally to gain 2-1 series lead
Apr 22, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley looks on in the second half against the Detroit Pistons during game two of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane scored 25 points apiece as the Orlando Magic withstood a fourth-quarter rally to beat the visiting Detroit Pistons 113-105 on Saturday in Game 3 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Detroit trailed 96-79 with 8:34 remaining before Cade Cunningham’s 3-pointer capped a 25-8 run and tied the game at 104 with 3:15 left.
Cunningham made one of two free throws to put top-seeded Detroit ahead by one with 2:52 left before Orlando closed on a 9-0 run to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
Game 4 is set for Monday in Orlando.
Banchero had 12 rebounds and nine assists for the eighth-seeded Magic, who improved to 7-1 in their last eight home postseason games, including play-in tournament games. Bane was 7-for-9 from 3-point range.
“That’s just him being himself,” Banchero said of Bane, who was 9-of-31 shooting in the series prior to Saturday. “He started slow in the first two games. We knew that wasn’t going to continue. He’s a killer; that’s just what he does. Glad to have him on our team.”
Franz Wagner added 17 points for Orlando. Jalen Suggs scored 15, and Wendell Carter Jr. had 14 points and 17 rebounds.
“We have a lot of respect for those guys over there,” Banchero said of the Pistons. “But we know how we stack up and we know what we have in our locker room. So we don’t fear them. We have a lot of respect for them. and we know we have to bring it on Monday.”
Cunningham scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter for the Pistons. Tobias Harris scored 23 points, Ausar Thompson had 17 and Duncan Robinson added 10.
The Pistons are now in a hole after being the top team in the East in the regular season.
“It’s one game at a time, that’s what playoff series are,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We come down here, we win on Monday and we take homecourt advantage back. Today’s game, we’ll learn from it but it’s over with. Our guys have been consistent all year. We’ve been able to move onto the next. I trust our guys that we’ll focus on it, we’ll learn from it, we’ll study it, we’ll get better at it and then Monday we’ll be ready to go.”
The teams were tied at 26 after the first quarter. Suggs was held scoreless before hitting a 3-pointer to put the Magic ahead 42-36 with 6:50 left in the second quarter.
Suggs had 12 points in the second quarter to help Orlando take a 61-54 at the half.
Thompson tallied 15 points to lead all scorers in the first half. Bane’s 14 points paced the Magic.
Bane made his first six 3-point attempts, including one with 8:32 left in the third quarter to give Orlando a 74-62 lead.
The Magic led 87-79 at the end of the third quarter and opened the fourth on a 7-0 run to move ahead 94-79 with 10:05 remaining.
Cunningham committed nine turnovers and was 8-for-23 shooting from the field and 3 of 10 from 3-point range for Detroit, which shot 34.4% (11 of 32) from beyond the arc.
Pistons All-Star Jalen Duren had just eight points in 27 minutes before fouling out. He is avearging just 9.0 points in the series, down from 19.5 in the regualr season.
“Just be there for him, encourage him and feed him the ball,” Thompson said of Duren. “Give him some space to work. I just want him to keep being aggressive. We’re good, we’re not worried about him.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Reds place slugger Eugenio Suarez (oblique) on 10-day IL
Apr 17, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Cincinnati Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez (28) hits a double in the fourth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images The Cincinnati Reds placed veteran designated hitter/third baseman Eugenio Suarez on the 10-day injured list Saturday due to a left oblique strain.
The move is retroactive to Thursday.
Cincinnati recalled outfielder JJ Bleday from Triple-A Louisville to fill the roster spot.
Reds manager Terry Francona doesn’t expect Suarez to be sidelined long.
“The hope is after possibly five or six days if symptoms are gone, we’ll get him imaged again,” Francona told reporters. “Then we’ll start to build him back up.”
Suarez was scratched from Friday’s lineup before a game against the Detroit Tigers about one hour before first pitch when he felt pain in his left side while swinging a bat. He underwent an MRI exam that detected the damage.
Suarez, 34, is batting .231 with three homers and 11 RBIs in 25 games. He signed a one-year, $15 million deal as a free agent in the offseason for his second tour of duty with Cincinnati. He also played for the Reds from 2015-21.
Suarez matched his career high of 49 homers last season while splitting time between the Arizona Diamondbacks (36 HRs) and the Seattle Mariners (13). He also hit 49 for the Reds in 2019.
Bleday, 28, was batting .341 with six homers and 19 RBIs in 24 games at Louisville. He nearly made the Cincinnati roster in spring training when he batted with .317 with four homers.
Bleday has 49 homers over four major league seasons with the Miami Marlins (2022) and Athletics (2023-25) but has just a .215 career average.
Cincinnati also recalled Jose Franco from Louisville and optioned fellow right-hander Kyle Nicolas to the same affiliate.
Franco, 25, had a 3.18 ERA in three appearances with the Reds earlier this season. Nicolas, 27, went 1-0 with an 8.59 ERA in seven appearances and walked 13 batters in just 7 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
Prince Owusu leads CF Montreal over NYCFC
Magic withstand Pistons’ rally to gain 2-1 series lead
