Sports
Timberwolves, buoyed by newcomer Ayo Dosunmu, battle Blazers
Feb 9, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) and guard Ayo Dosunmu (13) celebrate against the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images For the first time in a week, the Minnesota Timberwolves will arrive at a game in a good mood.
Minnesota will go for back-to-back wins when it tips off against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night in Minneapolis. It is the last game for the Timberwolves before the NBA All-Star break and the second-to-last game for Portland before the long layoff.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch hopes to see his players continue to perform well after they sprinted to a 138-116 win over the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Monday night. Minnesota scored 81 points in the first half, including 41 points in the first quarter.
The lopsided victory snapped a two-game skid for the Timberwolves after players such as Rudy Gobert questioned the team’s effort level and called on coaches to bench starters if necessary.
As far as Finch is concerned, the bad week is over and the team is moving forward.
“Sometimes it feels like you’re really far away from where you want to be, but you’re actually not,” Finch said. “You’ve just got to remind yourself.”
The arrival of Ayo Dosunmu has helped to shake the Timberwolves out of their recent funk. Dosunmu provided a jolt of energy off the bench on Monday, making 9 of 13 shots from the field, and he likely will figure prominently in the rotation going forward.
Minnesota acquired Dosunmu from the Chicago Bulls before the trade deadline to add depth on the bench and help push the pace.
“That’s one of my strengths, and I think that’s something that can take this team to another level on both ends of the court …,” Dosunmu said. “We have so many great talents on offense that can score in so many different ways, so adding a different way to the offense is just going to make it harder to guard.”
Meanwhile, Portland enters the matchup on a three-game winning streak after knocking off the Memphis Grizzlies in back-to-back games and then cruising to a 135-118 win over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.
Toumani Camara will look to stay hot after erupting for career-high 30 points on 10-for-12 shooting in the win against Philadelphia. He made a career-best eight 3-pointer (on 10 attempts) and notched three steals.
Camara credited his teammates for playing a role in his sharpshooting from long distance.
“It felt great,” Camara said. “A lot of great looks, too. A lot of open shots. My teammates found good ways to find me. It felt pretty big (Monday), for sure.”
Deni Avdija in particular helps the rest of the Trail Blazers, Camara said of the player who leads the team in scoring (25.5 points per game) and assists (6.7 per game).
“He’s an All-Star for a reason,” Camara said. “He shrinks the floor a lot. A lot of people just worry about his drives and how aggressive he can be, so it opens up a lot of things for other players. And then he’s very unselfish, and he’s really looking to pass the ball a lot.”
This is the second of four meetings between the teams this season. Minnesota won the season opener for both teams 118-114 on Oct. 22 in Portland thanks to a 41-point performance by Anthony Edwards.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 13 Purdue dominates boards, keeps No. 7 Nebraska reeling
Feb 10, 2026; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) gets a rebound against Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Berke Buyuktuncel (9) during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images Braden Smith finished two rebounds shy of a triple-double as No. 13 Purdue overcame blowing two big leads to beat No. 7 Nebraska 80-77 in overtime in a Big Ten Conference game Tuesday night in Lincoln, Neb.
The Boilermakers (20-4, 10-3) moved into a tie for third in the Big Ten by picking up their second road win over a Top 10 team. Purdue won at then-No. 9 Alabama in November.
Smith had 13 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists while Fletcher Loyer scored 18. Oscar Cluff had 12 points and 14 rebounds, his basket with 5.2 seconds left giving Purdue the lead for good at 78-77. Cluff missed the chance for a three-point play, however, but after Nebraska forced a turnover, Purdue’s Gicarri Harris stole the ball and was fouled. He hit both free throws to seal the win.
Trey Kaufman-Renn had 19 rebounds as Purdue was plus-17 on the boards with 21 offensive rebounds. The visitors hit 13 3-pointers on 46 attempts (28.3%) and were just 11 of 20 from the line, missing several late in regulation and OT.
Nebraska (21-3, 10-3) lost for the third time in four games after a school-record 24-game win streak dating to last season. The Cornhuskers got 18 points from Rienk Mast, who tied the game on a layup with 12.8 seconds in regulation but missed the and-one that would have given Nebraska the lead.
Purdue led 40-24 at halftime and increased the margin to 22 just over a minute into the second half. Nebraska went on a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to nine with 10:32 remaining, then back-to-back 3-pointers by Mast and Sam Hoiberg got the Cornhuskers within 54-49 with 7:14 to go.
A 10-0 Purdue run extended the edge to 14 with 2:45 left only to see Nebraska end regulation on a 15-1 spurt.
Purdue began the game on a 14-1 run, with Loyer and Smith each nailing a pair of 3-pointers. Nebraska missed its first five shots but then started hitting 3-pointers, getting within 21-14.
A 9-0 run put the Boilermakers up 36-19 with six minutes left in the first half.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 15 Virginia tops ice-cold Florida State for fifth straight win
Feb 10, 2026; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Sam Lewis (5) moves the ball away from Florida State Seminoles forward Alex Steen (25) during the first half at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images Jacari White racked up 19 points and hit five 3-pointers to help No. 15 Virginia rally for a 61-58 victory over Florida State Tuesday evening in Tallahassee, Fla.
White scored 16 of his points in the second half, adding four rebounds and two assists to his game totals. All of those second-half points came in the final 14:45, more than doubling up the rest of his team combined over that span.
Thijs De Ridder added nine points and a team-high nine boards while Sam Lewis also scored nine for Virginia (21-3, 10-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), which has won five straight games.
Lajae Jones and Robert McCray V carried Florida State (11-13, 4-7), combining for 41 of their points in a losing effort that saw the Seminoles’ three-game win streak snapped.
McCray did plenty of scoring and a little bit of everything else with 20 points, four rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals. Jones finished with game highs of 21 points and 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
Knotted at 45 with 11 minutes left, the Seminoles went on a 9-0 run capped off with a three-point play by McCray to take a 54-45 lead with 8:22 left.
From there, though, Florida State went ice cold and Virginia ended the game on a 16-4 run. The Cavaliers took their first lead since 15-12 on a dunk by White to make it 59-58 with 1:12 left.
The Seminoles missed their final 11 field-goal attempts, including a would-be game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds by McCray.
Florida State was held to 29% shooting (its second-lowest total of the season) and 18.2% from 3-point range (its worst mark this season).
The Cavaliers won on the road despite shooting not far above their own season low at 37.3% from the floor, including 10-of-33 (30.3%) from 3-point range.
Virginia jumped out to a 14-10 lead before encountering a 1-for-13 shooting stretch which saw the Seminoles pull ahead 26-19 with 6:53 left in the first half.
From there, though, the Cavaliers rallied with a half-ending 13-6 run to level the score at 32-all at the intermission.
Of the Seminoles’ first-half points, 27 of them came from Jones and McCray. Only four Florida State players scored over the opening 20 minutes.
Virginia, on the other hand, had no player score more than Lewis’ seven but got points from eight of its nine players who saw first-half action.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jason Pierre Jr. leads SMU past slumping Notre Dame
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 Jaron Pierre Jr. scored 22 points, all but four of them after halftime, as SMU defeated slumping Notre Dame 89-81 on Tuesday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game in Dallas.
SMU (17-7, 6-5 ACC) led by six points at halftime after an 18-point first half by Boopie Miller and 57.1% shooting from the floor. The Fighting Irish owned the first five minutes of the second half and swept to a brief lead before the Mustangs swung back with 14 straight points as part of a 19-2 run that netted it a 64-50 advantage with 10:46 to play.
Notre Dame (11-14, 2-10) responded, drawing to 76-70 after Logan Imes’ fast break layup with 4:42 left. But that’s as close as it would get as SMU added to the margin with a driving layup by Corey Washington and three free throws by Pierre and strolled to the finish line.
Miller finished with 20 points while Washington had 14 and Samet Yigitoglu racked up 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Mustangs, who have won two games in a row.
Notre Dame’s Jalen Haralson led all scorers with 23 points. Braeden Shrewsberry and Cole Certa had 16 each and Brady Koehler hit for 11 points for the Fighting Irish, who have dropped five straight games and are tied at the bottom of the ACC standings.
The Mustangs led by as many as 10 points early on before Notre Dame chipped away and a free throw by Shrewsberry with 3:01 left in the half tied the game at 34-34. SMU built the lead back to six points when Miller produced six straight points, the latter a 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining. The Mustangs finished the half with a 43-37 lead.
Miller’s 18 first-half points led all scorers. It included a 6-of-7 showing from the floor and making all four of his jumpers from beyond the arc. Haralson paced the Fighting Irish with 10 points at the break.
Notre Dame took the lead on Carson Towt’s layup with 15:54 to play and was up 48-45 after Shrewsberry made a 3-pointer 46 seconds later. SMU went on its run shortly after.
–Field Level Media
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for February 11, 2026
No. 13 Purdue dominates boards, keeps No. 7 Nebraska reeling
