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No. 25 St. John's looks to continue roll against Butler

NCAA Basketball: St. John at XavierJan 24, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; St. John’s Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino is mobbed by his team after defeating the Xavier Musketeers at the Cintas Center. The win is the 900th of Pitino’s career. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

Players doused Rick Pitino in water and wore T-shirts commemorating their coach reaching 900 wins on Saturday after St. John’s pulled off a second straight double-digit comeback.

The rally and milestone led to a return to the Top 25 poll. The 25th-ranked Red Storm seek a seventh straight win when they host Butler on Wednesday night in New York.

St. John’s (15-5, 8-1 Big East) is playing its first game as a ranked team since it held the No. 22 slot and took a 78-66 loss to Kentucky on Dec. 20. The Red Storm hit a low point on Jan. 3 when they squandered a 13-point lead and shot 28.2% in their 77-71 home loss to Providence.

The streak began with an 84-70 win at Butler on Jan. 6. Blowouts over Creighton and Marquette followed before a seven-point win at Villanova. On Jan. 20, the Red Storm erased a 15-point deficit to earn a physical 65-60 home win over Seton Hall, but their latest win was played more at their pace.

Pitino became the fourth Division I coach with 900 career wins and is three behind Roy Williams after St. John’s overcame a 16-point deficit for an 88-83 win over Xavier, coached by his son Richard.

The Red Storm ended the game on a 33-13 run.

“I’ve said this all along to you guys all year long, how enjoyable they are,” Pitino said. “But tonight was the icing on the cake, because a lot of teams would break, down 12, down 10, and they never broke, they just stayed with it.”

While Dylan Darling did not lead St. John’s in scoring, the reserve guard scored all 11 of his points with three 3-pointers and a layup when the Red Storm went from trailing by five to holding a two-point lead.

Bryce Hopkins led the Red Storm with 18 points while Dillon Mitchell continued his production since entering the starting lineup with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Ian Jackson finished with 16 and Zuby Ejiofor notched 13 and 11 boards for his first double-double of the winning streak and fourth overall.

Including two games in the Big East tournament, Butler (13-7, 4-5) has lost seven straight to the Red Storm since Feb. 7, 2023.

The Bulldogs were outscored 42-28 in the second half of the previous meeting and followed it up with an 89-75 setback at Xavier on Jan. 14 that gave them a four-game losing streak and prompted a players-only meeting.

Since then, Butler is on a three-game winning streak after earning an 87-76 home win over Marquette on Friday night.

Finley Bizjack has led the Bulldogs in scoring in each game during the hot streak and in five of the past six games. He scored 28 against Marquette as the Bulldogs improved to 8-1 when he gets at least 20.

“We just got tired of losing,” Bizjack said. “We’re too good of a team. We’re all too talented. We all like each other way too much to be going through a stretch like that. It’s uncharacteristic for us, so getting back to what we do and being ourselves is super important.”

Michael Ajayi had 14 points and nine boards in the first meeting with St. John’s and has at least eight rebounds in every game this season to become the Big East’s top rebounder (11.5).

–Field Level Media

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Wild D Jonas Brodin out for Game 1, F Joel Eriksson Ek also ailing

NHL: Minnesota Wild at Chicago BlackhawksApr 7, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Tyler Johnson (90) moves the puck away from Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin (25) and center Joel Eriksson Ek (14) during the second period at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin didn’t travel with the team to Denver and will miss Sunday night’s playoff series opener against the Colorado Avalanche.

Forward Joel Eriksson Ek is listed as questionable to play in Game 1 of the Western Conference second-round series.

Brodin, 32, sustained a lower-body injury during Game 5 of Minnesota’s first-round series against the Dallas Stars. He was hurt while blocking a shot by Dallas’ Mikko Rantanen during the second period.

Brodin missed the clinching Game 6 victory on Thursday. He had one assist in the series.

In the regular season, Brodin had four goals and 18 points in 62 games.

Eriksson Ek was hurt in Game 6 when his right leg smacked into the wall. He didn’t practice on Saturday.

Minnesota coach John Hynes was debating what to do about Ek’s spot with his status unclear.

“I’m kind of going through that a little bit right now,” Hynes said. “So, now you kind of go down that decision-making process of what would we do if he’s not ready.”

Ek, 29, had three goals and five points in the Dallas series. In the regular season, he had 19 goals and 51 points in 70 games.

–Field Level Media

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Cameron Young holds six-shot lead after three rounds in Miami

PGA: Cadillac Championship - Third RoundMay 2, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Cameron Young makes his par putt on the 18th hole during the third round of the Cadillac Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Romance-Imagn Images

Cameron Young shot 2-under-par 70 on Saturday to remain in control through three rounds of Cadillac Championship at Miami.

Young is up six strokes on a group of three golfers, including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, at windy Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster Course.

Young, who’s at 15-under 201, will be looking for his second victory of the season and the third of his career on the PGA Tour during Sunday’s final round.

Scheffler shot 69 to move to second place by the time he finished the round. He’s joined in that position by South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (69) and Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan (69).

Young began the round with a bogey on the par-5 first hole but played the next 11 in 3 under.

Scheffler’s round was defined by birdies on three of the four par-5 layouts.

Matt McCarty (69), Ben Griffin (68) and Canada’s Nick Taylor (72) are at 8 under and tied for fifth place. Taylor bogeyed the final hole.

Jordan Spieth took a significant dive, shooting 75 and falling to a tie for 12th at 5 under. He was hurt by two double-bogeys — first on the par-3 fourth hole when he didn’t get into putting position until his fourth stroke and then on the 18th when his approach shot went into the water and he was forced to take a penalty.

Australia’s Adam Scott had the day’s best score with a bogey-free 6-under 66, leaving him at 3 under.

–Field Level Media

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RJ Barrett, Raptors clash with Cavaliers in unexpected Game 7

NBA: Playoffs-Cleveland Cavaliers at Toronto RaptorsMay 1, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett (9) reacts after scoring the winning basket against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the overtime period in game six of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

RJ Barrett kept the Toronto Raptors’ season alive with one of the most clutch shots in franchise history, but he isn’t ready to reminisce about the moment yet.

Not with a win-or-go-home Game 7 of their Eastern Conference first round series taking place Sunday night at the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“Forget everything that’s happened,” said Barrett, who is averaging a series-high 24.3 points per game. “Now, it’s one game to win it all.”

The fifth-seeded Raptors earned that opportunity when Barrett’s 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left in overtime bounced off the heel of the rim, high in the air and through the hoop to give them a 112-110 victory Friday.

As a result, upstart Toronto has pushed the team with the highest payroll in the NBA to the brink of a devastating end to a season that began with championship dreams.

“Glory to God, that was a fun one, right?” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. “It was a heck of a fight. We just talked about how much fun this is and how much we loved the challenge.”

Fourth-seeded Cleveland got a clean look at the buzzer, but Evan Mobley’s 29-footer was off the mark, keeping both teams unbeaten at home in the series.

“If I continue to sulk about that (Barrett) shot, it’s over,” Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell said. “Unfortunately, but fortunately, half of the locker room has been through this before. It’s going to test us.

“Protect home court, that’s all you can do. We’ve got to protect home court.”

History is on Cleveland’s side as it has never lost a Game 7 at home, beating the Washington Bullets in 1976, Boston Celtics in 1992, Indiana Pacers in 2018 and Orlando Magic in 2024.

Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Max Strus, Dean Wade and Sam Merrill remain on the roster from the latter, which featured the Cavaliers and Magic winning every game in their respective arenas.

“We’re at home and the ball is in our court,” said Mobley, who is averaging 19.0 points and 8.8 rebounds while shooting 56.8 percent from the field. “We’ve just got to come together and get a win.

“Don’t get too involved in the magnitude of everything, just protect home court.”

Toronto has only played one Game 7 on the road, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001. Barrett was about to celebrate his first birthday at the time, while Scottie Barnes and breakout performer Ja’Kobe Walter hadn’t been born yet.

Barrett, Barnes and Walter combined to score 73 of the Raptors’ 112 points in Game 6.

“I’ve watched so many Game 7s, you see the intensity on the court,” said Walter, who averaged 22.0 points and made 10 3-pointers in the last two contests. “I’m so excited to be in this moment.”

Barnes has been the most consistent performer in the series, averaging 24.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 9.0 assists. In a surprising development, he and Barrett have outplayed Cleveland’s star backcourt of James Harden and Mitchell.

Mitchell is shooting just 43.7% on field goal attempts, including 35.3% on 3-point tries; he has only attempted 14 total free throws. He has only taken over in brief stretches of two games, marking a complete turnaround from his brilliant 2025 postseason.

Trade-deadline acquisition Harden has been plagued by careless passes and poor decision-making, averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 assists and 5.7 turnovers.

“I’m a little frustrated, but there’s nothing you can do about it,” Harden said. “We can’t dwell on it too long. Just go back home, play one game and win.”

Both squads took Saturday off but will hold shootarounds on Sunday morning.

Raptors small forward Brandon Ingram (right heel) missed Game 6 and will be evaluated after working out with the team. Point guard Immanuel Quickley (right hamstring) continues to undergo treatment but will sit out the entire series.

The Cavaliers have no injuries and, should they lose, no legitimate excuses.

“This is typical NBA basketball with a four and a five seed going at it,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Now, we’ve got to go out and get Game 7.”

–Field Level Media

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