Sports
No. 20 Purdue eyes first road win at Minnesota
Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) smiles Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, during the NCAA men’s basketball game against the Toledo Rockets at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue Boilermakers won 83-64. No. 20 Purdue is about to dive into Big Ten Conference play for the rest of the regular season. Is it ready?
According to Purdue coach Matt Painter, the answer is a definite maybe.
“We are if we win our next game,” Painter said. “A lot of times, coaches talk about it, but they’re talking in theory. We haven’t won a road game. I like where we are if we win our next game.”
Purdue (9-4, 1-1 Big Ten) will get its next test when it visits Minnesota (8-5, 0-2) on Thursday night in Minneapolis. The Boilermakers are coming off an 83-64 win over Toledo on Sunday, which followed a pair of losses against then-No. 17 Texas A&M and No. 2 Auburn.
Painter wants to see more progress from his players when they tip off against Minnesota.
“We have to get some people on our team — really, collectively, everybody on our team — to do a better job and be more physical,” Painter said. “We have too many people with their feet nailed to the ground. You’ve got to hit somebody, then go get the basketball. Just be around the ball.
“We’re having some fundamental breakdowns. I didn’t think our defense was bad, but if you don’t get more possessions than your opponent, you’re not giving yourself a good chance,” he added. “It’s a physical league. Things aren’t called the same on the road, as we all know. Those are questions we have to answer, not that I have to answer.”
Minnesota will go for its third win in a row after knocking off Fairleigh Dickinson and Morgan State at home during the past week and a half. The Golden Gophers lost by double digits in each of their first two conference games against Michigan State and Indiana.
Golden Gophers forward Parker Fox said he and his teammates would need a full effort to knock off a team such as Purdue. Fox is averaging 7.2 points and 2.5 rebounds on the season.
“It’s going to take everybody,” Fox said. “We’re not a team who has five guys who are going to play 40 minutes. … We’re going to really rely on strength in numbers.”
Purdue is top-heavy with three players leading the way. Trey Kaufman-Renn leads the team with 18.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Braden Smith is next with 14.5 points and a team-high 8.6 assists per game, and Fletcher Loyer rounds out the top three with 13.6 points per contest.
The next three scorers — Daniel Jacobsen with 6.5 points per game, Myles Colvin with 6.3 and Camden Heide with 6.0 — all average less than half of Purdue’s top three scorers.
Minnesota is led by Dawson Garcia, who averages 19.1 points and 7.4 rebounds. Mike Mitchell Jr. is next with 13.3 points per game, and Lu’Cye Patterson (9.7 points per game) and Fox (7.2) round out the top four scorers.
The Golden Gophers are 8-2 at home this season. Purdue is 0-2 on the road.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dodgers put 1B Freddie Freeman on paternity list, call up OF Ryan Ward
Apr 8, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) hits a single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the sixth inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images The Los Angeles Dodgers placed first baseman Freddie Freeman on the paternity list Sunday and called up outfielder Ryan Ward to the major leagues for the first time after seven minor league seasons.
Freeman, 36, is batting .296 with three home runs and 14 RBIs over 20 games this season. He had two hits in each of the last three games and four times in the past five games to raise his early batting average nearly 40 points.
Ward, 28, was drafted in the eighth round by the Dodgers in 2019 and is in his fourth season at Triple-A Oklahoma City. He won the Pacific Coast League MVP last season when he hit 36 home runs with 122 RBIs in 143 games.
Ward finally gets his first call to the major leagues after 154 home runs, 530 RBIs and a .266 batting average over 696 games in the Dodgers’ system, including 420 games at Triple-A.
“You talk about performance and he’s performed as well as, if not better than, anyone,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about Ward in spring training, according to the Orange County Register. “So for him to not get a shot, I’m sure he’s frustrated and understandably so. But the message for him is to keep putting up numbers and knock the door down and hopefully the opportunity comes for him sometime this year.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Transfer portal roundup: Kentucky adds Furman transfer Alex Wilkins
Mar 20, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Furman Paladins guard Alex Wilkins (10) dribbles the ball against the UConn Huskies in the second half during a first round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Former Furman guard Alex Wilkins has transferred to Kentucky.
His move was one of the biggest on a busy transfer portal weekend.
Wilkins excelled in his freshman season with the Paladins, averaging 17.8 points, 4.7 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 35 games (all starts).
Listed at 6-foot-5, Wilkins showed his skills to a national audience in Furman’s lone game of the NCAA Tournament. He made four 3-pointers and scored 21 points in the Paladins’ 82-71 loss to eventual national championship runner-up UConn in the first round.
–Ex-Belmont forward Drew Scharnowski announced his transfer to Duke.
In his recently completed sophomore season at Belmont, the 6-9 Scharnowski averaged 10.7 points. 6.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists over 21.9 minutes per game. He shot 68.1% in 30 games (24 starts).
He takes the roster spot of forward Nikolas Khamenia, who transferred to UConn on Saturday.
–Florida State gained the commitment of 6-11 forward Sebastian Rancik, who heads to Tallahassee after two seasons at Colorado.
A native of Slovakia, he attended high school in Southern California, where he was ranked as a four-star prospect in the 2024 class.
In 29 games (26 starts) with the Buffaloes as a sophomore, he averaged 12.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Astros place OF Joey Loperfido (quad) on injured list
Apr 11, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Houston Astros left fielder Joey Loperfido (10) is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after scoring a run during the second inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images The Houston Astros placed outfielder Joey Loperfido on the injured list with a right quad strain on Sunday and recalled right-hander Jayden Murray from Triple-A Sugar Land.
Loperfido, 26, was batting .259 with six RBIs in 20 games this season. He started at least one game in all three outfield positions.
Traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2024 and then re-acquired via trade in February, Loperfido is a career .249 major league hitter with eight home runs and 45 RBIs in 142 games over three seasons.
Murray, 29, had one appearance earlier this season and has a 2.63 ERA in 10 games over the past two seasons for the Astros. His addition increases Houston’s staff to 13 pitchers.
Also on Sunday, the Astros traded minor league right-hander Wilmy Sanchez to the New York Yankees for infielder Braden Shewmake, a former first-round draft pick of the Atlanta Braves in 2019.
In 31 major league games for the Braves and Chicago White Sox, Shewmake, 28, is batting .118 with a home run and four RBIs.
–Field Level Media
Dodgers put 1B Freddie Freeman on paternity list, call up OF Ryan Ward
Transfer portal roundup: Kentucky adds Furman transfer Alex Wilkins
