If Washington is going to make a run and reach the NCAA Tournament bubble, now is the time.

Of the Huskies’ seven remaining Big Ten Conference games, five are against teams they are either tied with or below them in the standings.

That stretch starts Wednesday night when the Huskies (12-12 overall, 4-9 Big Ten) play host to Penn State (10-14, 1-12) in Seattle.

Washington also has matchups against Minnesota (4-9 in conference), Maryland (2-10), Rutgers (2-11) and Oregon (1-12) remaining, with games against Wisconsin (8-4) and USC (7-6) the only opponents above them in the standings.

The Huskies nearly posted a big road victory Saturday before falling to UCLA 77-73.

“I’m proud of our guys’ effort, but at the end of the day it’s not good enough,” Washington coach Danny Sprinkle said. “It’s just not. We have to break through.”

Sprinkle lamented his team’s 13 turnovers compared to just seven by UCLA and 12-of-18 shooting from the free-throw line. The Huskies’ turnovers led to 20 points for the Bruins.

“You can’t do it against good teams. Not (against) any Big Ten team on the road,” Sprinkle said.

Wesley Yates III scored a team-high 21 points for the Huskies and Hannes Steinbach added 13 points and seven rebounds. Quimari Peterson came off the bench and scored 12, making three 3-pointers, and had seven assists.

The Nittany Lions beat Minnesota 77-75 on Feb. 1 for their first conference victory of the season. After a lopsided loss to at Michigan, they dropped a 77-75 decision to visiting USC on Sunday after leading by 12 points in the second half.

Freddie Dilione V led Penn State with 23 points against the Trojans.

“We had stretches of playing winning basketball (Sunday),” Penn State coach Mike Rhoades said. “We didn’t have enough of it. Our margin of error is thin.”

Like Sprinkle, Rhoades pointed to turnovers and free throws. The Nittany Lions gave the ball away 17 times — nearly twice their average of 9.8 — and went 9 of 15 at the line.

“You’ve got to make your free throws, especially the guys that are getting fouled the most, and we got to take care of the basketball,” Rhoades said. “That really hurt.”

–Field Level Media

A visit to Pebble Beach last year helped set up Rory McIlroy for one of the biggest moments of his golf career.

McIlroy earned a two-shot victory at the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, kickstarting a stellar run that saw him win the Players Championship before completing the career Grand Slam by capturing the Green Jacket at the Masters.

The 36-year-old Northern Ireland native is back on the Monterey Peninsula this week to defend his Pebble Beach championship.

“Obviously last year was a great way to start the 2025 season,” McIlroy said. “Historically I haven’t played Pebble Beach that well. I’ve played OK, but nothing spectacular.

“I think winning on a golf course that I hadn’t won on before, hadn’t really contended on before, I feel like it gave me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the season.”

He added of his triumphant performance at Pebble Beach Golf Links that he was pleased with “how in control I was with my ball flight, especially in tough conditions last year on the Saturday. There was a lot of things that I worked on in the offseason that I brought with me into here. Yeah, it was a massive confidence boost and obviously then went on to play well in that early part of the season, won at The Players and then obviously into the Masters.

“Yeah, it was a perfect way to start the year here last year. Hoping for something similar this.”

An aggressive approach and clutch work on the greens were key to prevailing at Pebble Beach, McIlroy believes.

“I hit driver a lot, giving myself short irons in,” he said of his 2025 strategy. “I think last year as well, it was probably the best putting performance I’ve ever had on poa greens. I usually come to the West Coast and I struggle a little bit on the poa, and last year I didn’t. I holed a lot of putts and that was a big difference.”

McIlroy finished last season and started this season well, too. After the PGA Tour playoffs concluded, he captured the Irish Open, tied for third in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and finished second at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

After tying for 14th at the Australian Open to end 2025, he tied for third and tied for 33rd in two Middle Eastern events to kick off 2026.

“Game feels in good shape,” McIlroy said. “I had two weeks in Dubai to sort of shake the rust off. Played OK, wasn’t anything spectacular. But I’ve had two nice weeks at home and done some practice. … I feel pretty good coming in here.”

–Field Level Media

Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun combined for 48 points as the Houston Rockets turned a rally to start the fourth quarter into a 102-95 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.

Durant scored 26 points and hit three 3-pointers while Sengun tallied 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Amen Thompson added 16 points and six rebounds for the Rockets, and his transition dunk with 11:20 remaining gave the Rockets their first double-digit lead at 83-72.

Kawhi Leonard totaled 24 points and eight rebounds for his 32nd consecutive 20-point game, while John Collins had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Clippers. Leonard and Collins were the lone double-digit scorers for the Clippers, who emptied their bench down 15 with 5:28 left.

Reed Sheppard scored 16 points off the bench for Houston. His running layup pushed the Rockets to an 89-74 lead with 9:15 to play, and his two fourth-quarter 3s kept the Clippers at bay. The Rockets did not allow a field goal in the final period until Bennedict Mathurin scored through a foul at the 7:45 mark, with his subsequent free throw cutting the deficit to 89-77.

The Rockets finished 14 of 28 from behind the arc, helping offset 18 turnovers the Clippers converted into 17 points. Jabari Smith Jr. (13 points, 10 rebounds) added a double-double for the Rockets, who have won seven of their last 10.

The Clippers’ early prowess in the paint allowed them to overcome a quiet start from Leonard, who scored two points in the opening period. The Clippers trailed 27-26 entering the second after scoring 16 paint points in the first and converting four Houston turnovers into five points.

After Sengun and Smith scored in the paint to lift the Rockets to a 35-31 lead, the Clippers responded with consecutive 3-pointers from Brook Lopez and Derrick Jones Jr. They ignited a seesaw stretch that continued through the remainder of the half, with the teams combining for seven lead changes and six ties in the second quarter alone.

Behind a combined 24 points from Collins and Leonard, the Clippers led 52-51 at the break.

–Field Level Media