Sports
No. 4 Alabama seeks to stay hot with Georgia nigh
Jan 29, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide guard Chris Youngblood (8) reacts after defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Wesley Hale-Imagn Images On a four-game winning streak and two weeks away from playing host to a showdown of top teams in the nation, No. 4 Alabama receives a visit from Georgia on Saturday at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Since a surprising 74-64 home loss to Ole Miss on Jan. 14, Alabama has fine-tuned the best offense in Division I by averaging 93.3 points during its four-game streak. That outburst has increased its national-best scoring average to 90.2 points.
The Crimson Tide (18-3, 7-1 SEC) continue to build momentum toward a must-see SEC duel with No. 1 Auburn on Feb. 15.
Alabama has topped the 100-point mark in two of the last four victories and enters Saturday’s game off an 88-84 victory at No. 14 Mississippi State on Wednesday. Chris Youngblood scored 23 points while making a career-best seven 3-pointers and Mark Sears added 17 points with nine assists.
“I thought a lot of guys made a lot of big plays and (Sears) had a great bounce-back game,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said of his point guard, who went 0 of 5 from the floor and was scoreless in a victory over LSU last Saturday. “A lot of big plays and a huge road win over a really good team.”
Alabama didn’t take the lead for good against Mississippi State until Grant Nelson made a 3-pointer for an 83-80 edge with 2:30 remaining.
“That was quite the game if you like big shot-making,” Oates said.
Sears leads the Crimson Tide with 18.0 points and 5.0 assists per game. Nelson scores 12.7 points while adding a team-best 8.3 rebounds.
Alabama owns five wins over teams ranked among the top 15 and seven victories over Top 25 teams overall.
A win over Georgia (15-6, 3-5) would not add to the Crimson Tide’s total, but the Bulldogs put a four-game losing streak to rest with a 71-60 home victory over South Carolina on Tuesday. Asa Newell scored 17 points with 10 rebounds, while graduate transfer Dakota Leffew added 14 points in his first start for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs shot 51.0 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent (7 of 15) from 3-point range.
“We made some good decisions, simple plays, pitch ahead, and shot it with confidence,” said Leffew, who was 2 of 4 from 3-point range. “That’s what you’ve got to do in this league. Make or miss. Miss three in a row, shoot it again. If you’ve got an A shot, you can’t worry about whether it’s going to go in or not. SEC shooters just let it fly.”
Georgia was ranked No. 23 when its losing streak began, with three of the losses coming against No. 6 Tennessee, No. 1 Auburn and No. 5 Florida. Now comes another test against a team inside the top 10.
“We’ve been here before,” Leffew said. “We’ll be excited about the opportunity to see how well we can play against one of the best teams in the country.”
Alabama has defeated Georgia six of the past seven times the programs have met. The Bulldogs haven’t won a road game in the series since February 2017 and have 99 all-time losses against the Crimson Tide.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Phillies place closer Jhoan Duran (oblique) on injured list
Mar 28, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Jhoan Duran (59) throws a pitch against the Texas Rangers in the tenth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images The Philadelphia Phillies placed closer Jhoan Duran on the 15-day injured list Saturday with a left oblique strain.
In a series of moves, right-hander Seth Johnson and utilityman Felix Reyes were recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, while utilityman Otto Kemp was optioned and minor league outfielder Pedro Leon was released.
Duran’s move to the IL was retroactive to Wednesday. The 28-year-old right-hander is 1-1 with a 1.35 ERA and five saves in seven appearances for the Phillies this season. Over five major league seasons with the Minnesota Twins and Phillies, he has a 2.41 ERA and 95 saves in 253 appearances.
Johnson, 27, made one appearance with the Phillies earlier this season and has a combined 9.72 ERA in 12 appearances (one start) for Philadelphia over three seasons.
Reyes, 25, is set to make his major league debut after he batted .272 with 48 home runs and 247 RBIs over six seasons (374 games) in the Phillies’ system. Kemp, 26, was 2-for-20 in 10 games for Philadelphia this season.
Leon, 27, was batting .283 in 12 games at Lehigh Valley. He has seven games of major league experience with the Houston Astros in 2024.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Late goal helps Toronto FC salvage tie, point vs. Austin FC
Apr 18, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Austin FC defender Jon Bell (15) passes the ball against Toronto FC defender Richie Laryea (22) during the first half at BMO Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images Kobe Franklin delivered the game-tying goal in the 88th minute and host Toronto FC pulled off a 3-3 draw with Austin FC on Saturday afternoon in just the third-ever match between the sides.
Franklin was in the penalty area when Malik Henry ripped a shot off the right post and scored off the rebound to beat Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver low to the right side and even the match.
The draw allowed Toronto FC (3-2-3, 12 points) to extend a six-match unbeaten streak, while outscoring opponents 11-8 during the 3-0-3 run.
After conceding the late goal, Austin FC (1-3-4, 7 points) remained winless since March 1 with an 0-3-3 record during the run.
Jon Bell scored Austin FC’s opening goal in the 29th minute while turning onto his left foot in traffic and beating Toronto keeper Luka Gavran. The score came off a feed from Guilherme Brio.
Myrto Uzuni tried to double the Austin FC lead with a shot in the 34th minute before Gavran made the save. Toronto FC’s Josh Sargent and Daniel Salloi responded with low-percentage shots that Stuver turned away.
Salloi tied the score 1-1 in the 52nd minute, running to the far post to volley home a pass from Sargent that deflected off an Austin defender and directly to the right knee of the Toronto striker.
Gallagher’s shot eight minutes later forced Gavron into a key save and kept the game tied. Richie Laryea’s goal in the 67th minute gave Toronto a 2-1 lead.
Austin FC tied the score 2-2 on a nifty Facundo Torres goal in the 75th minute off assists from Robert Taylor and Uzuni. Christian Ramírez gave Austin FC a 3-2 lead when he booted home a deflected shot by Torres in the 82nd minute.
That set stage for Franklin, who beat an Austin defender to Henry’s shot off the right post to produce the draw and earn Toronto FC a point in the standings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Fresh off play-in win, Suns take on top-seeded Thunder
Apr 17, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green (4) celebrates after a slam dunk against the Golden State Warriors during the first half in the play-in rounds of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images The Phoenix Suns come into their first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder with some momentum after knocking off the Golden State Warriors in the play-in finale Friday to earn the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
The Thunder haven’t played in a week heading into Sunday’s Game 1 of the series in Oklahoma City.
After letting a big lead slip away in the play-in opener against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Suns bounced back with a 111-96 home win over the Warriors.
Jalen Green was one of the biggest factors in Phoenix advancing, with 36 points in Friday’s victory.
“They’re going to come in, play hard, play their game, but I think if we bring the same energy that we brought (Friday night) and getting stops, playing defense, getting out and running, we can use that to our advantage,” Green said, looking forward to facing Oklahoma City. “It should be a good series.”
The Thunder are looking to become the first team since Golden State in 2017-18 to repeat as champions.
“It’s an opportunity,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think just going through last year and realizing that’s so far down the line. So many things are going to happen before we get to the Finals clinching game. … So many things have to go our way that aren’t in our control and so many things we have to control that are hard to control at this level for a long period of time for us to have that opportunity.”
Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren said there’s value in having the experience, but that his team can’t take any team lightly.
“You have to try to carry over the experiences that you learn from, but you can’t carry over the result, because the result means absolutely nothing,” Holmgren said. “If you’re sitting here in the playoffs saying, ‘Oh, we won last year,’ that’s not going to win you a playoff series or a game or get a stop on a possession.”
The series features two of the best defenses in the league.
The Thunder had the NBA’s best defensive rating, allowing just 106.5 points per 100 possessions during the regular season while the Suns were ninth at 112.9.
In Friday’s win, Phoenix scored 30 points off Golden State turnovers to help fuel the win, while Oklahoma City led the league with 22.0 points per game off turnovers during the season. The Thunder also limited opponents to just 14.7 points per game off turnovers, second-best in the NBA.
The Thunder won three of the five regular-season matchups between the teams, with Phoenix being one of just three teams to hand Oklahoma City multiple losses this season.
The teams closed the regular season against each other, though that game — a 32-point Suns win — will bear little resemblance to Sunday’s matchup.
With their playoff/play-in positions set, both teams sat most of their starters, with the Thunder’s only regular starter to play being Luguentz Dort.
Phoenix was without Grayson Allen (hamstring) and Mark Williams (foot soreness) for Friday’s win.
–Field Level Media
Phillies place closer Jhoan Duran (oblique) on injured list
Late goal helps Toronto FC salvage tie, point vs. Austin FC
