Sports
No. 22 St. John's brings versatile offense into clash at DePaul
Jan 28, 2026; New York, New York, USA; St. John’s Red Storm forward Sadiku Ibine Ayo (2) drives past Butler Bulldogs guard Jamie Kaiser Jr. (7) in the second half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images To punctuate Tuesday’s visit by No. 22 St. John’s, DePaul has pulled out all the stops.
New York playground legend Rod Strickland, a two-time All-American at DePaul before embarking on a 17-year NBA career, will have his jersey retired at halftime in Chicago.
Also, the legendary Red Panda will perform before the game.
There’s just one thing DePaul forgot: to enter this Big East clash with a head of steam.
The Blue Demons (12-10, 4-7) built an 18-point lead with 13 minutes to go Saturday at Xavier before giving it all away. They dropped a 68-66 decision after the Musketeers made a 12-foot baseline jumper at the buzzer.
That didn’t leave DePaul much time to rebuild its confidence before St. John’s (16-5, 9-1) arrives on a seven-game winning streak.
But the Blue Demons do have something to buoy them: They have won their last four Big East home games. They haven’t done that since the 2006-07 season, and they haven’t won five straight conference home games since 2004-05 as a member of Conference USA.
“This is a really difficult stretch for us,” DePaul coach Chris Holtmann said before the Xavier loss. “Our focus just has to be on what can we do to play better?”
One Blue Demon who likely can’t play much better is CJ Gunn. He drilled four 3-pointers in the second half at Xavier — including a game-tying 25-footer with 9.1 seconds left — and finished with a team-high 19 points.
In Big East action, Gunn leads DePaul with 14.8 points per game and 23-of-64 shooting (35.9%) from 3-point range. Layden Blocker (12.3 ppg, 3.6 apg) and super-sub Brandon Maclin (10.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg) also average double figures in league play.
While DePaul enters Tuesday’s game riding a nice winning streak at home, St. John’s hasn’t lost a true road game since Feb. 12, 2025. The Red Storm’s Big East road winning streak sits at eight games and began with last year’s 82-58 win on Feb. 19 at DePaul.
During their current seven-game overall winning streak, six different players have led the Red Storm in scoring: Zuby Ejiofor, Lefteris Liotopoulos, Oziyah Sellers, Bryce Hopkins (twice), Dillon Mitchell and Ian Jackson.
While Ejiofor (15.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 3.3 apg, 2.0 bpg, 1.2 spg) has lived up to his billing as one of the most versatile players in the nation, Mitchell has made a big leap in recent weeks.
In the Red Storm’s last four games, Mitchell has averaged 14.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.0 steals while shooting 60.5% from the floor.
This run features three of his four double-doubles this season, which includes his 14-point, 13-rebound, four-assist, three-block outburst on Wednesday, when St. John’s bounced Butler 92-70 to gain coach Rick Pitino’s 901st career win.
“I’m having so much fun watching Dillon Mitchell play,” Pitino said. “I don’t think I’ve said that too many times in my 52 years — of having fun watching a person play. Whether it’s him coming down as a point forward and attacking the basket, or making a great pass, or throwing it to Zuby and him cutting to get open, he really knows how to play.
“It’s not like having another point guard on the floor. It’s like having another coach on the floor, which is great.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Luke Kennard's last-second shot beats Magic; Lakers' win streak at 9
Mar 21, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luke Kennard (10) reacts after hitting a game winning basket at the buzzer against the Orlando Magic in the fourth quarter at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Luke Kennard drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining on Saturday to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to a 105-104 victory over the host Orlando Magic.
Trailing by two with 2.6 seconds left, Marcus Smart inbounded a pass to a wide-open Kennard, with the Lakers’ sharpshooter hitting his third 3-pointer of the game and clinching the team’s ninth straight win.
Los Angeles (46-25) was led by Luka Doncic’s 33 points and eight assists, while Austin Reaves had 26 points and Kennard had 13. LeBron James scored 12 points and passed Robert Parish for most games played in NBA history with 1,612.
Orlando (38-32) was paced by Paolo Banchero’s 16 points and Jalen Suggs’ 14. Wendell Carter Jr. and Jevon Carter added 13 apiece for the Magic, who lost their fourth straight.
Trailing by four in the third quarter, Los Angeles’ 12-0 run was capped with James’ layup to give the visitors a 78-70 edge.
From there, Orlando finished the third on a 17-4 run, holding the Lakers to just one made field goal across the final six minutes of the quarter.
After falling behind by seven to start the fourth, Los Angeles went on a 10-2 run — which included Reaves’ six points — to take a 92-91 advantage with 6:31 left.
James’ layup cut the Lakers’ deficit to a point at the 2:02 mark, before Banchero’s basket gave Orlando a 100-97 lead. Doncic and Carter then traded jumpers on the team’s subsequent possessions.
Banchero then hit two free throws to push the Magic’s lead to five with 50 seconds remaining.
After Reaves’ layup, the Lakers forced an Orlando miss on the other end. Reaves then missed a game-tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. Deandre Ayton got the offensive rebound and was fouled, splitting the free throws to leave the Lakers’ deficit at two.
Suggs then threw the ball away for an Orlando turnover with 4.1 seconds left, leading to Kennard’s game-winner.
After setting the new record, James’ fast-break dunk helped Los Angeles grab an early 6-0 lead.
Doncic’s fadeaway jumper gave the Lakers their first double-digit lead at 30-20. The margin grew to 14 on Reaves’ dunk, before Orlando finished the opening quarter on a 7-0 run to cut its deficit in half.
The run continued into the second quarter as the Magic answered Reaves’ floater with a 13-0 run, stamped with Tristan da Silva’s floater to put Orlando ahead by six.
After Suggs’ stepback trey, Reaves beat the first-half buzzer with a mid-range jumper, trimming the Lakers’ halftime deficit to 65-62.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Senators continue playoff push with resilient win over Maple Leafs
Mar 21, 2026; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators defenseman Jordan Spence (10) lines up a shot past Toronto Maple Leafs center Bo Groulx (29) in the first period at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-IMAGN Images The Ottawa Senators did themselves a world of good in the playoff picture, withstanding a late push to top the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on Saturday night.
Defensemen Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence led the way for the Senators (36-24-9, 81 points) with two assists each. Linus Ullmark turned away 12 of 14 shots for Ottawa, which has won four of its last five.
Rookie Easton Cowan tallied a goal and an assist for the floundering Maple Leafs (29-29-13, 71 points). Toronto goaltender Joseph Woll finished with 38 saves when he was forced to man the posts for the second night in a row after Anthony Stolarz was hit in the throat by a puck during pregame warmups.
Tim Stutzle opened the scoring late in the first period on the man advantage, walking the puck into the right faceoff circle and sniping it under the arm of Woll. It was his first power-play marker since the return from the Olympic break.
Claude Giroux extended Ottawa’s lead at 9:09 of the second period, pouncing on Kleven’s low shot from the point to flip the puck up and over the pad of Woll. The goal snapped the 38-year-old’s 13-game scoring slump.
Deadline acquisition Warren Foegele made it 3-0 when he pounced on an ill-advised pass by Toronto in its defensive zone. Foegele’s soft shot deflected off Simon Benoit and into the net for his fourth tally in eight games with the Senators.
John Tavares responded with one of the Leafs’ few creative sequences on the night, trading puck possession with linemate Cowan and beating Ullmark blocker side for his 25th goal of the season.
The Senators outshot the Leafs 19-5 in a dominant middle-frame showing. Toronto has now been outshot in eight consecutive games.
The Leafs made it interesting early in the third. Cowan scored 4:52 into the period when he scored on a rebound of a Benoit shot.
But Michael Amadio quickly quashed any hope of a comeback with a goal less than five minutes later. Ridly Greig extended Ottawa’s lead back to three with 6:49 left, putting the game to rest.
The Senators sustained another injury to their defense when Dennis Gilbert left the game after taking a hard hit from Oliver Ekman-Larsson late in the third.
The Leafs were without defenseman Morgan Rielly, who aggravated a lower-body injury Friday against Carolina.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Achol Akot stars as Oklahoma State beats Princeton (Sacramento 2)
Mar 21, 2026; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys forward Achol Akot (11) defends Princeton Tigers guard Fadima Tall (5) in the second half at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Achol Akot poured in a season-high 28 points on 12-for-15 shooting and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds as eighth-seeded Oklahoma State rolled past ninth-seeded Princeton, 82-68, at Los Angeles.
Oklahoma State (24-9) will face the California Baptist-UCLA winner in Monday’s second round after shooting 52.5% from the field in the opening round.
Jaydn Wooten came off the bench for 18 points, Micah Gray posted 16 points and Haleigh Timmer added 10 points for the Cowgirls, who led 48-33 at halftime.
Madison St. Rose had 17 points and Ashley Chea and Skye Belker both had 14 points for ninth-seeded Princeton (26-4). Olivia Hutcherson added 10 points, but the Tigers didn’t have enough strength in the lane to contend with the Cowgirls.
Princeton got within 61-53 by the end of the third quarter and Belker’s 3-pointer supplied the first points of the fourth quarter. Wooten responded with two baskets to ignite a 9-0 run that helped Oklahoma State take its edge to 72-58.
A 35-26 rebounding edge for Oklahoma State included 11 offensive boards.
Akot entered the game averaging less than 12 points per game.
–Field Level Media
