Sports
No. 7 Michigan State's focus on Rutgers, not No. 3 Michigan
Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr., left, slaps hands with Coen Carr, right, after Carr’s dunk against Northwestern during the second half on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. Tuesday might be the ultimate trap game for No. 7 Michigan State.
Winners of six in a row, Michigan State (18-2, 8-1) heads into a Big Ten contest against Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J., knowing that a showdown with archrival and No. 3 Michigan is looming at home on Friday.
So before the Spartans worry about Michigan, they want to make sure they are fully focused on Rutgers, especially with the schedule about to get harder with upcoming games against Michigan, at Minnesota, against No. 9 Illinois and at Wisconsin.
“It gets tougher now,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “We’re going to play a lot of the top three teams, four teams. We’re going to play them. We’ve still got a lot, a lot of basketball left. But it’s good to go into Rutgers, go on the road again, feeling good. I don’t feel cocky.
“I think our players, with the maturity of those four guys (Jeremy Fears, Coen Carr, Jaxon Kohler, Carson Cooper) and the age of the coach, I think we’re all a little more mature than I was years ago. So I’m approaching it in a sound way and hopefully it will continue to grow.”
All four of those players have a scoring average in double digits. Fears leads in scoring (13.4) and assists (8.9) per game.
Michigan State enters Tuesday tied with Michigan and Illinois for second in the Big Ten, a game behind league-leading Nebraska.
“I personally like being the hunted because that means you’re somebody,” Izzo said. “You should be, if you’re at Michigan State, always hunted. But we’ve got a kind of funny team. It’s not one that is as imposing as some that I’ve had, which is almost more rewarding in a lot of ways and I think our fans kind of appreciate who we are.”
The next challenge for Michigan State is a Rutgers team (9-11, 2-7) that has had a rough go of it in Big Ten play.
Rutgers has lost three in a row, the latest being an 82-59 home defeat to Indiana on Friday.
“It doesn’t get any easier with Michigan State coming to town,” Scarlet Knights head coach Steve Pikiell said.
The biggest challenge for Rutgers might be rebounding. Michigan State holds a 13.3 rebounding margin, while Rutgers has a rebounding margin of -0.6. Rutgers also has been a poor defensive team, allowing 74.5 points per game.
“Those have been our Achilles heels all year,” Pikiell said. “I know we have 10 new guys, but we’ve shown signs of improvement. (Thursday’s bad practice) set the tone for (Friday), and we can’t let that happen again. This is the toughest league in the country. You get knocked down, but you have to get back up, and these guys will.”
Tariq Francis leads the Scarlet Knights with a 15.9 scoring average.
This will be the teams’ first of two meetings this season. The rematch will be held in East Lansing on March 5.
Michigan State won the only meeting last season 81-74 at Madison Square Garden. The Spartans have won three of the last four matchups, but have lost to Rutgers the last two times they’ve played in Piscataway.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Angels salvage series finale vs. Tigers to snap 4-game skid
Jul 19, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels pitcher Ryan Johnson (32) pitches during the second inning against the Detroit Tigers at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images Rookie Ryan Johnson allowed one run on two hits over five innings and Oswald Peraza went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored as the Los Angeles Angels salvaged the final game of a three-game series with the Detroit Tigers with a 3-2 victory on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.
Nolan Schanuel had three hits, and Vaughn Grissom had two hits, including a double and a run scored, helping Los Angeles snap a four-game losing streak.
Johnson (2-4) walked three and struck out five. Ryan Zeferjahn picked up the save.
Kevin McGonigle and Riley Greene each hit home runs for Detroit, which suffered just its fourth loss in the last 15 games.
Drew Anderson (3-4) suffered the loss, allowing one run on one hit and three walks in 1 1/3 innings. Anderson took over for starter Casey Mize, who left with one out in the fourth after throwing out Jo Adell on a 109 mph comebacker that hit him on the edge of his glove and left wrist.
Detroit jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when McGonigle led off with his ninth home run, a 402-foot drive to left-center. It was the third leadoff homer of the season for McGonigle.
Los Angeles tied it at 1 in the second when Grisson led off with a double down the left field line, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Josh Lowe and scored one out later on an infield single by Peraza.
The Angels capitalized on Anderson’s wildness to take a 2-1 lead in the fifth. Zach Neto and Mike Trout opened the inning with back-to-back walks and Schanuel then singled to load the bases. Jorge Soler then drove in Neto with a groundout to short.
Los Angeles increased its lead to 3-1 in the sixth inning when Peraza led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a single by Neto.
Greene led off the ninth with his 14th home run to make it 3-2, his 10th homer since June 1, but Zeferjahn bounced back to retire the next three batters for his third save.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tempo without suspended coach Sandy Brondello vs. rested Aces
Jun 25, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello greets guard Marina Mabrey (3) as she comes off the floor during a time out against the Los Angeles Sparks in the first half at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images The Toronto Tempo will be without their head coach as they try to snap out of a funk Monday at home against the Las Vegas Aces.
Sandy Brondello will serve a one-game suspension without pay for what the league deemed was an inappropriate comment she made about Atlanta star Angel Reese during Friday’s game. Associate head coach Olaf Lange will handle head-coaching duties against the Aces.
Brondello apologized on social media and Reese accepted the apology for the incident, which stemmed from Brondello calling Reese a “protected species” after a foul call. Brondello admitted the remark had an unintended racial connotation, which differs from how the term is used in her native Australia.
Toronto (10-15) has had trouble on the court as well, losing six of the last seven games and falling 2 1/2 games behind the playoff hunt. On Friday, the Tempo fell 111-92 at home to Atlanta after trailing by just a point at halftime.
“I think we were still in the locker room at the start of the third (quarter),” Brondello said. “We were just not very locked in and very intentional.
“They got some easy baskets, and then we lose our focus a little bit, so that’s the disappointing part.”
Marina Mabrey scored 26 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, while reserve Nyara Sabally added 16 points. Sabally sustained a minor rib injury in the process and was limited to just 21 minutes. She was ruled out Sunday for Monday’s contest.
Meanwhile, the Aces (17-7) have had plenty of time to dwell on their polarizing last two performances.
After beating Phoenix 106-58 on July 11, the Aces experienced an 82-point swing, losing 109-75 to Indiana the following day. They shot 50.6% and tallied five players in double-figure scoring against the Mercury, only to tumble to 39.1% and just two double-digit scorers at home against the Fever.
Las Vegas was paced by A’ja Wilson’s 20 points and 12 rebounds in the loss to Indiana. Fellow All-Star Jackie Young added 15 points, but that was about all of the good news for the Aces, now two games off the pace for the WNBA lead behind Minnesota and second-place Golden State. The Aces have dropped two of their last four games and are 5-3 since their 12-4 start.
“I thought we were lousy from the jump,” said Aces coach Becky Hammon after the loss. “A lot of it is effort and maybe we just didn’t have the juice today.”
The Aces had played three games in four days, and Hammon conceded, “Every team has a rough patch in the schedule where it’s just difficult.” A seven-day stretch with no games could help make that challenge a bit easier for the Aces.
–Field Level Media
Sports
President Trump aids Gianni Infantino at World Cup trophy ceremony
July 19, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.; U.S. President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the trophy presentation after the match. Mandatory Credit: Mark J Rebilas-Imagn Images EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — U.S. President Donald Trump helped FIFA President Gianni Infantino hand out awards following Spain’s 1-0 victory over Argentina at the World Cup final Sunday.
But this time, Infantino successfully kept Trump just outside the mob of La Roja players as they lifted the FIFA World Cup Trophy in celebration of their nation’s second title.
About 25 minutes after the match, Infantino, Trump and other officials emerged from the tunnel in the southeast corner of New York New Jersey Stadium and climbed the on-field stage constructed for the occasion.
Trump, who had watched the match in a luxury box with Infantino and other officials, was met with boos from the stands, but those ceased when the medal ceremony began.
Standing directly next to Infantino, Trump assisted in handing medals first to the second-place Argentine side and then to the Spanish winners.
As Spain’s squad then prepared to hoist the trophy, Trump remained on stage, but Infantino eventually jogged in his direction and beckoned him toward the stairs on the right side of the platform.
It was in contrast to last year’s final at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, when Trump remained in a mob of celebrating Chelsea players following their 3-0 triumph over Paris Saint-Germain.
The final was the only World Cup match attended by Trump, who had been more visible last fall in the buildup to the tournament, including when he was awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize by Infantino at the World Cup draw last December.
That was in stark contrast to Infantino, who attended multiple matches per day during the early stages of the 104-game tournament contested by a 48-team field.
Spain won the tournament after Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute to ensure his team’s dominant performance was rewarded. It was a similar triumph to their first in a World Cup final, a 1-0 win in extra time against the Netherlands in 2010 decided by Andres Iniesta’s 116th-minute winner.
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
Angels salvage series finale vs. Tigers to snap 4-game skid
Tempo without suspended coach Sandy Brondello vs. rested Aces
