Sports
SMU, Cal on precipice of 20-win seasons amid ACC seeding battle
Feb 7, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; SMU Mustangs center Samet Yigitoglu (24) and Pittsburgh Panthers forward Cameron Corhen (2) take the opening tip-off during the first half at Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images SMU and Cal have more than just 20-win seasons in mind when they attempt to improve their NCAA Tournament credentials at the other’s expense in an Atlantic Coast Conference head-to-head Wednesday night in Berkeley, Calif.
Both teams will take the court with 19-8 overall records, the Mustangs (8-6 ACC) seeking their third consecutive 20-win campaign, while the Golden Bears (7-7 ACC) attempt to reach the milestone for the first time since 2016-17.
SMU has a one-game lead in its duel with Cal for ACC tournament positioning, with the top nine teams earning a first-round bye. The Mustangs have won four of five to move into eighth place; the Golden Bears have used four wins in their last six games to climb into a tie for ninth.
The game matches two teams on a nice offensive roll with SMU having tallied 95 and 94 points in its last two games — home wins over Louisville and Boston College — while Cal has scored 86 or more four times in its last six contests.
The matchup could turn into a duel of big men, especially if Cal gets starting center Lee Dort back from a seven-game absence with what the Golden Bears have labeled a “lower-body injury.”
The 6-foot-10 Dort has been far and away Cal’s leading rebounder this season at 7.7 per game to go with 8.3 points. Despite the long absence, he also leads the team in total blocks with 19.
When optimistically discussing Dort’s potential return with reporters earlier this week, Cal coach Mark Madsen labeled the senior’s role in the Golden Bears’ interior “huge.”
“He scores it on the low block, he’s a rim protector, he gets every rebound,” Madsen said.
Dort’s availability could be critical against an SMU team that dominated Boston College inside on Saturday to the tune of a 46-20 scoring advantage in the paint. Samet Yigitoglu, who stands 7-2, and 6-10 Jaden Toombs combined for 28 points and 11 rebounds in 44 minutes against the Golden Eagles.
“We dominate in the paint every game, so we’ve just got to keep dominating,” Yigitoglu said after Saturday’s win. “Nobody can stop us in the paint, especially when I’m playing with Toombs. If I miss a shot, I know that he will go get it. If he missed the shot, I know that I’ll go get it.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Women's Top 25 roundup: No. 8 Michigan downs No. 13 Ohio State in OT
Ohio State Buckeyes guard Chance Gray (2) drives past Michigan Wolverines guard Syla Swords (12) during the NCAA women’s basketball game at the Jerome Schottenstein Center on Feb. 25, 2026. Olivia Olson scored a career-high 31 points and hit the game-winning jumper as No. 8 Michigan edged No. 13 Ohio State 88-86 in overtime in a Big Ten classic in Columbus, Ohio.
Olson also had nine rebounds while Syla Swords added 22 points for the Wolverines (23-5, 14-3 Big Ten), who moved ahead of Iowa for second place in the conference behind UCLA.
Swords’ 3-pointer with 10 seconds left in regulation seemed to decide it, but a foul by Brooke Daniels with no time left saved the Buckeyes. Jaloni Cambridge (22 points) sank three straight free throws to force the extra session.
Ohio State (23-6, 12-5) then forged an eight-point lead with 1:40 left in overtime before the Wolverines came all the way back. Macy Brown scored eight straight for Michigan, including two triples, to tie it 86-all with 15 seconds remaining and set up Olson’s game-winner.
No. 11 TCU 83, Cincinnati 70
Marta Suarez exploded for a career-best 32 points and added nine rebounds and four steals as the Big 12-leading Horned Frogs controlled the host Bearcats.
With her team trailing 29-23 at half, Suarez went to work, scoring 15 in the third quarter and 11 in the fourth as TCU (26-4, 14-3) outscored Cincinnati 60-41 over that stretch. Donovyn Hunter added 16, Olivia Miles had 15 and Kennedy Basham grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Mya Perry scored 27 points and Caliyah DeVillasee added 20 for Cincinnati (11-18, 6-11).
No. 14 Maryland 79, Northwestern 57
Oluchi Okananwa scored 25 points and the Terrapins never trailed in a comfortable Big Ten win over the Wildcats in College Park, Md.
Maryland (23-6, 11-6) forced 21 turnovers, turning those into 24 points in a game played primarily in the paint. The Terrapins outscored their opponent 54-38 down low.
Northwestern (8-20, 2-15) had a lone double-digit scorer, Grace Sullivan, who had 23. Maryland countered with Okananwa, Yarden Garzon (11), Addi Mack (10) and Kyndal Walker (10).
No. 17 West Virginia 74, UCF 62
A dominant 31-9 third quarter propelled the Mountaineers past the Knights in Orlando, Fla.
West Virginia (23-6, 13-4) shot 13 of 17 from the field in the third period, including a perfect 3 of 3 from 3-point range, in seizing a 56-36 advantage going into the fourth.
Gia Cooke led the Mountaineers with 19 points. Jordan Harrison added 16. UCF (10-18, 2-15) was paced by Khyala Ngodu’s 21 points and Kristol Ayson’s 12.
Kansas 68, No. 20 Texas Tech 59
S’Mya Nichols notched 19 points by going 15 of 17 at the free-throw line, and the Jayhawks upset the Lady Raiders in Lawrence, Kan.
The teams were tied with 3:29 to play, before Kansas (18-11, 8-9) outscored Texas Tech 12-3 down the stretch. Reserve Laia Conesa topped things off with the final five points on a 3-pointer and two made free throws.
Texas Tech (24-6, 11-6) was outscored 24-5 at the charity stripe. Sarengbe Sanogo was the team’s top scorer with 16 points.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Bucks narrowly defeat injury riddled Cavaliers
Feb 25, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Jericho Sims (00) dunks during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images Kevin Porter Jr. hit the game winner in the final seconds and scored 20 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 118-116 victory over the visiting, short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
Milwaukee won its second in a row and eighth in their last 10 contests. It was a balanced scoring attack with seven Bucks scoring in double figures, including 18 from Ryan Rollins and 17 from Kyle Kuzma.
Jarrett Allen was nearly the hero for Cleveland, who played without Donovan Mitchell (groin), James Harden (thumb) and Evan Mobley (calf). Allen scored 27 points and laid in a shot at the buzzer that would have tied the game, but it was ruled no good after replay.
It was a first half full of runs. Plus a lot of 3-point attempts.
The teams combined to put up 50 3-point attempts in the half, with Milwaukee shooting 39% to Cleveland’s 33%. Both teams had a run of at least seven unanswered, with Milwaukee at one point rattling off a 9-0 run to take the lead in the second.
Jarrett Allen had 16 at the break to lead all scorers while Schroeder added 15. AJ Green led the Bucks with 12.
Another run would begin the second half. Milwaukee quickly went on an 11-0 stretch to start off the third, capped by two Kuzma 3-pointers to put the Bucks up 73-63.
Cleveland responded with another run. A 10-0 stretch from the Cavaliers erased the Bucks largest lead of the game of 12. Cleveland went into the fourth the same way they did the second half, up by one, 94-93.
The game remained a nail-biter until the end, when Porter Jr. hit a fadeaway jumper with 20 seconds to go to put Milwaukee on top.
Milwaukee snapped Cleveland’s seven game win streak against them and will have a chance to even the season series the fourth and final time these teams face off on Mar. 17.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Nikita Kucherov posts 700th career assist as Lightning top Maple Leafs
Feb 25, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) handles the puck against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images Nikita Kucherov scored and recorded his 700th career assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning resumed the regular season with a 4-2 victory over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.
The right wing fed Gage Goncalves, who later assisted on Kucherov’s tally, for a second-period goal to become the 64th player to reach the milestone and the third Russian-born one to do it, joining Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.
Kucherov, whose point streak moved to an NHL-best 11 games, reached 30 goals for the ninth time in his career.
Brayden Point netted two goals and had a helper, and Charle-Edouard D’Astous returned with two assists.
Improving to 17-0-1 in his past 18 outings, Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots as Tampa Bay won its sixth straight game and is 20-1-1 in the past 22 matches.
Coach Jon Cooper was not with the team following the death of his father, Robert, earlier this week and will also miss Thursday’s match at the Carolina Hurricanes.
John Tavares and Matthew Knies tallied for the Leafs, and William Nylander had two helpers.
After missing over two months with an upper-body injury and finally making three starts before the Olympic break, goaltender Anthony Stolarz stopped 32 shots.
In their second meeting this season and first game of a back-to-back set for both, Kucherov and Point both appeared to score in the first period, but Toronto successfully challenged for offside to take both markers down.
Vasilevskiy’s denial of Nylander’s deke and backhand-forehand effort with under three minutes left kept the opening period scoreless and the visitors holding an 8-4 edge in shots.
In a faster paced second, Point took a pass from D’Astous then waited out Stolarz, who was hindered by his defenseman Simon Benoit, and buried a sharp-angle shot at 7:07.
Goncalves then doubled the lead by securing a pass from Kucherov and netting a goal 51 seconds later.
Vasilevskiy made another fine stop on Nylander with about eight minutes left, stuffing his backhanded breakaway attempt.
Kucherov hit the net at 2:59 of the third, and Tavares broke the shutout bid at 16:19 on the power play.
Point scored 11 seconds later as Kucherov and Goncalves registered a second assist apiece, but Knies cut it to a two-goal deficit at 17:13.
–Field Level Media
The public opposition to AI infrastructure is heating up
Women's Top 25 roundup: No. 8 Michigan downs No. 13 Ohio State in OT
