Sports
Suns pile on points, woeful Jazz in cruising to victory
Mar 28, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green (4) celebrates a shot against the Utah Jazz in the first half at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Jalen Green scored 31 points and made five 3-pointers, Devin Booker added 26 points and the host Phoenix Suns tied their season scoring high in a 134-109 blowout of the tanking Utah Jazz on Saturday.
Grayson Allen scored 19 points and Oso Ighodaro had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Suns (41-33), who had lost six of seven.
Green was 13 of 22 from the field, 5 of 11 from 3-point range, and had six rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes. Booker had eight assists.
Kyle Filipowski had 26 points and nine rebounds, Brice Sensabaugh scored 26 points and Svi Mykhailiuk scored all of his 14 points in the second half for the Jazz (21-54), who have lost five in a row and 17 of 20.
The Suns opened a 37-17 lead late in the first quarter and were never seriously threatened. They led 73-45 at the break, their largest halftime lead of the season, and were up by as many as 34.
Phoenix is 3 1/2 games behind Houston (44-29) for sixth place in the Western Conference. The top six teams avoid the play-in round, which features the seventh through 10th finishers.
Allen had four 3-pointers and the Suns went 17 of 53 from distance. They shot 50.0% from the field (52 of 104) and attempted more threes than twos (51).
The Suns have won 12 of the last 13 in the series, their only loss coming when Lauri Markkanen scored 51 points in the Jazz’s 138-134 overtime win Oct. 27.
Utah rookie Ace Bailey, who had averaged 23.7 points in his last six games, had 13 points, all in the second half.
Suns rookie center Khaman Maluach had 12 points and nine rebounds, one board short of his first double-double.
Green made three of the Suns’ eight 3-pointers in the first quarter and Allen and Royce O’Neale had two apiece. Rasheer Fleming’s three made it 37-17 with 1:28 left in the period, which ended 39-21 and set the tone.
The Suns played without starters Dillon Brooks (hand) and Mark Williams (foot). Isaiah Collier (hamstring) and leading scorers Keyonte George (hamstring) and Markkanen (hip) were unavailable for Utah.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Grizzlies snap 5-game skid, edge Bulls on late FTs
Mar 28, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Memphis Grizzlies forward Cedric Coward (23) drives to the basket as Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) defends during the first quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images Cedric Coward scored 24 points, including two free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining, to lead the host Memphis Grizzlies to a 125-124 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night to snap a five-game losing streak.
Coward’s game-winning free throws nearly were erased when his inbounds pass with 4.0 seconds left following two Josh Giddey free throws was stolen by Tre Jones, who fed Collin Sexton for a layup. The shot by Sexton came after the final buzzer.
Tyler Burton added 18 points for the Grizzlies (25-49) and Jahmai Mashack scored 17. Rayan Rupert and DeJon Jarreau finished with 14 points each.
Matas Buzelis led the Bulls (29-45) with 29 points and 10 rebounds followed by 26 points from Sexton. Giddey posted his 13th triple-double (18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists) this season and Jones contributed 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Giddey’s performance followed a dismal showing Wednesday versus Oklahoma City where he was 1-of-11 shooting, including 0-for-8 from long range.
The Bulls lost their third straight game and have dropped five of their last six.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper, who scored a career-high 31 points for Memphis in Friday’s loss to the Rockets, was held to 12 points.
The Bulls won the first matchup, 132-106, two weeks ago in Chicago, but Saturday’s game was close throughout.
The game was tied seven times in the fourth quarter, the last coming at 120-all following a layup by Jones with 32.8 seconds to go.
Walter Clayton Jr. gave the Grizzlies a 123-120 advantage with 15.8 seconds left on a 3-pointer, then Giddey answered with a driving dunk with 7.9 seconds to go to trim the margin to one.
Memphis trailed by four early in the third quarter, but recovered behind Rupert. He scored 12 points in the quarter and his 3-pointer with 5:45 to go in the third put the Grizzlies ahead 81-71. Memphis led 98-88 entering the fourth as Coward connected on a floater in the lane at the buzzer.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Arizona erupts after halftime, knocks off Purdue to return to Final Four
Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat (10), Purdue Boilermakers center Oscar Cluff (45) and Arizona Wildcats center Motiejus Krivas (13) battle for control of the ball during a NCAA Tournament game Saturday, March 28, 2026 at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. SAN JOSE, Calif. — Koa Peat scored 20 points and fellow freshman Ivan Kharchenkov added 18 as top-seeded Arizona beat No. 2 Purdue 79-64 in the West Region finals on Saturday night, earning their first trip to the Final Four since 2001.
The Wildcats (36-2) won their 13th straight game by erasing a seven-point halftime deficit and ending a five-game skid in Elite Eight games. They had lost in the regional finals in 2003, 2005, 2011, 2014 and 2015.
Peat was 9 of 18 from the field, breaking Mike Bibby’s school record for most points in the Elite Eight by an Arizona freshman. Kharchenkov was 7 of 11 from the field and added eight rebounds, while Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries each scored 14.
Purdue (30-9) got 14 points and 10 rebounds from Oscar Cluff and 13 points and seven assists from Braden Smith, who scored 11 in the first half but was just 4 of 15 from the field for the game. The Boilermakers made 7 of 14 3-pointers in the first half but were just 1 of 8 after halftime.
The Boilermakers led 38-31 at halftime, outscoring Arizona 26-12 after being down seven early. The Wildcats scored seven straight to tie at 42, then took a 44-43 lead on two Jaden Bradley free throws with 14:34 remaining.
The Boilermakers went more than four and a half minutes without a field goal and Arizona extended to a 51-45 edge on an Anthony Dell’Orso 3-pointer with 12:09 to go. The Wildcats got the margin to 10 with 8:46 remaining, and Peat’s dunk made it 68-55 with 5:35 to go.
Purdue took a 10-9 lead with 15:44 left in the first half on a Smith 3, significant because it was the first time in the tournament that Arizona trailed. The Wildcats responded with a 10-2 run to build a 19-12 lead, and during that run, Trey Kaufman-Renn picked up his second foul.
A 3 by Gicarri Harris gave the Boilermakers back the lead, and later back-to-back 3s by Smith and CJ Cox put them up 33-27 with 2:33 left before halftime.
–Brian J. Pedersen, Field Level Media
Sports
Hyo Joo Kim sets 54-hole record in taking control of Ford Championship
Apr 25, 2025; The Woodlands, Texas, USA; Hyo Joo Kim Korea hits an shot onto the green at the 18th hole during the second round of The Chevron Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim took an emphatic step toward defending her title at the Ford Championship on Saturday, setting an LPGA 54-hole record to build a four-stroke lead in Chandler, Ariz.
Despite that hot start, Kim is focused on keeping her approach consistent on Sunday.
“This course, anyone is capable of scoring low, so I will continue to just focus on the same game plan that I did today,” Kim said.
If that focus nets similar results, Kim will be in historic territory. On Saturday, Kim matched her first-day, 11-under-par 61 to put her at 25 under for the tournament, a pace through 54 holes that is the best in LPGA history.
Her 25-under stretch broke the previous record held by four players by one stroke.
Her bogey-free round included birdies on four of her first seven holes before she exceeded that hot start with four straight holes under par on Nos. 10-13. That stretch included an eagle on the par-5 No. 12.
Kim finished her remarkable day at the Cattail Course at Whirlwind Golf Club with birdies on 16 and 17, giving her nine birdies and an eagle on the day.
“I play with my mind, just focusing on one shot at a time,” Kim said. “When I think about the shots, whether it’s striking a certain distance or how I play, I just focus on each at a time.”
Kim’s closest pursuer, unsurprisingly, is World No. 2 Nelly Korda, who led after two rounds and carded a 5-under 67 on Saturday to get to 21 under.
The pair have seen a lot of each other of late, playing in the same group over five straight rounds. Kim kept Korda at bay in last week’s Founders Cup to win by a single stroke in Menlo Park, Calif.
“Nelly is my favorite player,” Kim said. “It’s been great playing together. You know, it’s been great playing with her, competing with her and it’s just been fun overall.”
Korda’s day included five birdies and no bogeys.
“I’m never going to complain about a bogey-free round and 5-under, so it was a solid one,” Korda said.
Korda herself has a healthy lead over her closest competitors, as five golfers are tied at 16 under, five strokes behind Korda (and nine behind Kim). That group consists of England’s Mimi Rhodes (63 on Saturday), Japan’s Chizzy Iwai (67), South Korea’s Ina Yoon (67), Japan’s Minami Katsu (69) and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko (69).
–Field Level Media
