Sports
Top 25 roundup: Themus Fulks leads UCF to upset of No. 19 BYU
Feb 24, 2026; Provo, Utah, USA; UCF Knights guard Themus Fulks (1) shoots the ball while being defended by BYU Cougars forward Kennard Davis Jr. (30) during the second half at Marriott Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Baker-Imagn Images Themus Fulks scored 24 points and handed out 11 assists to lead hot-shooting UCF to a 97-84 upset win over No. 19 BYU on Tuesday in Provo, Utah.
Jordan Burks also rang up 24 points, Jamichael Stillwell contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds and George Beale Jr. pitched in 10 points for UCF (20-7, 9-6 Big 12), which won its third straight game.
UCF never trailed in the game and led by as much as 36 points. The Knights shot 56.3% from the floor and 58.3% (14 of 24) from 3-point distance.
AJ Dybantsa led BYU (20-8, 8-7) with 29 points and eight rebounds. Robert Wright III tallied 20 points and seven assists, and Aleksej Kostic pitched in 14 points as the Cougars lost for the sixth time in nine games.
No. 1 Duke 100, Notre Dame 56
Cameron Boozer piled up 24 points and 13 rebounds as the Blue Devils ran away from the Fighting Irish in South Bend, Ind.
Boozer collected his 16th double-double of the season and added two assists and three steals for the Blue Devils (26-2, 14-1 ACC). Darren Harris scored a career-best 16 off the bench.
Brady Koehler and Cole Certa netted 14 points apiece to pace Notre Dame (12-16, 3-12), which has lost 12 of its past 14 games. Coach Micah Shrewsberry injured his Achilles at some point near the end of the first half, and he wore a black walking boot on his left foot in the second half.
No. 2 Arizona 87, Baylor 80
Jaden Bradley scored 25 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists as the Wildcats rallied for a victory over the Bears in Waco, Texas.
Brayden Burries added 24 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Wildcats (26-2, 13-2 Big 12), who overcame a seven-point halftime deficit, sealing the victory in the final minutes. They swept a two-game road trip to Texas after knocking off then-No. 2 Houston on Saturday.
The Bears (14-14, 4-11) have dropped five of their last six. Cameron Carr produced a game-high 26 points, Isaac Williams IV finished with 16 points and Tounde Yessoufou had 12.
No. 3 Michigan 77, Minnesota 67
Elliot Cadeau scored 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting as the Wolverines pulled away for a win over the Golden Gophers in Ann Arbor, Mich.
L.J. Cason added 14 points for Michigan (26-2, 16-1 Big Ten), which clinched at least a share of the conference’s regular-season title. It marked the program’s first share of a regular-season conference title since 2021.
Cade Tyson scored 20 points to lead Minnesota (13-15, 6-11). The injury-riddled Golden Gophers played with only six players, and Michigan’s bench outscored Minnesota’s bench 35-0.
No. 4 Iowa State 75, Utah 59
Joshua Jefferson recorded 21 points and six rebounds, record-setter Milan Momcilovic added 14 points and the Cyclones cruised to a victory over the Utes in Salt Lake City.
Jamarion Batemon added 13 points for Iowa State (24-4, 11-4 Big 12), which has won three of its past four games. Momcilovic made four 3-pointers to raise his season total to 104, passing Dedric Willoughby (102 in 1996-97) for the single-season school mark.
Terrence Brown scored 18 points and Don McHenry added 14 for Utah (10-18, 2-13), who lost for the 14th time in 16 games. Keanu Dawes added 10 points and 12 rebounds.
No. 11 Virginia 90, NC State 61
Thijs De Ridder scored 19 points and the Cavaliers completed a season sweep of the Wolfpack with a wire-to-wire win in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers (25-3, 13-2 ACC) won their ninth straight game. They stayed one game behind No. 1 Duke in the ACC heading into Saturday’s showdown in Durham, N.C. Sam Lewis added 16 points, Jacari White scored 15, Malik Thomas had 12 and Chance Mallory chipped in 11.
The Wolfpack (19-9, 10-5) shot a season-worst 29.4% (20 of 68) from the field. They shot 36.0% in a 76-61 home loss to the Cavaliers on Jan. 3. Paul McNeil Jr. led NC State with 22 points, Darrion Williams added 14 and Ven-Allen Lubin had 11.
No. 16 Texas Tech 80, Cincinnati 68
Christian Anderson crafted an outstanding all-around game, tallying 31 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as the Red Raiders ended the Big 12’s longest active winning streak by overcoming the Bearcats in Lubbock, Texas.
The point guard set a personal Big 12 career high by making 11 of 19 shots, including 3 of 8 from deep, as the Red Raiders (21-7, 11-4) moved to 2-0 without star forward J.T. Toppin. LeJaun Watts notched 13 points and five boards, while Donovan Atwell had 12 points, all on 4 of 9 long-range shooting.
Coming off a 16-point win at then-No. 8 Kansas on Saturday, the Bearcats (15-13, 7-8) arrived in Texas with momentum but wasted a hot start to lose for the first time in five games. Moustapha Thiam totaled 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Jalen Celestine had 15 points.
No. 21 Miami (Ohio) 74, Eastern Michigan 64
Brant Byers scored 16 points to help lead the RedHawks to a win at the Eagles in a Mid-American Conference contest.
Miami (28-0, 15-0 MAC) kept its perfect season alive, although it was held to less than 80 points for only the sixth time this season. Antwone Woolfolk scored 14 points, Peter Suder had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Almar Atlason added 12 points for Miami.
Greg Lawson scored a game-high 29 points for Eastern Michigan (10-19, 4-12), which has lost 10 of its last 11 games.
Missouri 73, No. 22 Tennessee 69
T.O. Barrett scored a career-high 28 points as the Tigers bolstered their NCAA Tournament case by beating the Volunteers in Columbia, Mo.
Mark Mitchell added 23 points as the Tigers (19-9, 9-6 Southeastern Conference) won for the fifth time in seven games and won for the second in three straight games against ranked opponents.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie led the Volunteers (20-8, 10-5) with 19 points. Tennessee, which had a four-game winning streak snapped, outrebounded the Tigers 42-30, but turned the ball over 15 times and allowed Missouri to shoot 61.5% in the second half.
Dayton 77, No. 23 Saint Louis 62
Amael L’Etang scored a career-high 26 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, sparking the Flyers to a home upset win over the Billikens.
Javon Bennett added 17 points and Jordan Derkack put up 14 points for Dayton (19-9, 10-5 Atlantic 10), which won its fourth straight game.
Kellen Thames led Saint Louis (25-3, 13-2) with a career-high 24 points. Dion Brown contributed 15 points and Robbie Avila chipped in 10 points for the Billikens, who have lost two of three games after an 18-game winning streak.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Knicks and Nuggets Blow Big Leads: What Went Wrong in Game 2?
Roughly 5,000 feet of elevation separate Denver and New York City.
Still, gravity works the same regardless of where one stands. Just ask the NBA teams in both towns.
“You get too high, and you get, I don’t want to say cocky, but feeling yourself,” Nuggets guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said.
That sensation went south on either side of the country Monday night.
After squandering sizable leads that would have cemented commanding 2-0 advantages in their respective first-round playoff series, the Nuggets and Knicks now find themselves bracing for a fight.
Should their opponents ultimately have their number, Denver and New York will look back with disdain on 19 and 14. Those were the Game 2 cushions the teams coughed up as the No. 3 seeds in the Eastern and Western Conference.
“It’s a game we should’ve won,” Knicks guard Josh Hart said. “In the playoffs, we can’t give away games.”
Be that as it may, the Knicks did just that against the Atlanta Hawks. They controlled the outcome for much of the night and took a 12-point edge into the fourth quarter after leading by as many as 14.
Then New York shot 5-for-22 from the floor in the final 12 minutes compared to 10-for-15 for Atlanta. Fighting through vulgar chants from the Madison Square Garden faithful, Hawks star CJ McCullom scored six straight points down the stretch during one key sequence on the way to a game-high 32.
“In that fourth quarter, you could tell [the Hawks] were playing with a level of desperation,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “There were four 50-50 balls, and they got three of the four. We always use that stat to gauge the level of aggression in a game. In that fourth quarter, their aggression stepped up.”
New York’s melted at the same time. How many late possessions saw the Knicks pass or hold the ball around the perimeter before settling for subpar looks from 3-point range? The Knicks went 3-for-11 from deep as part of their flop.
Denver led the Minnesota Timberwolves by 19 points early in the second quarter before crumbling. The Nuggets still were ahead by three points to start the fourth quarter but a combined 2-for-12 shooting effort from pillars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray in the final 12 minutes took a toll.
“I feel like we had the game in hand, and then we just didn’t make our shots,” Murray said.
As with the Knicks and Hawks, the reversal of fortunes stemmed both from the hosts’ miscues and an outstanding effort from a visiting player, as Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards had 30 points.
“Great leadership, positive,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “He recognized he needed to get into attack mode and get downhill a little bit more. He did that.”
The Knicks and Nuggets no doubt sensed the need to amp up their own urgency as things started slipping away Monday.
That neither could act upon it didn’t signal the end for either New York or Denver, of course. But now there’s unnecessary added weight for the climb back to the top.
Sports
Pistons seek return to identity vs. Magic after Game 1 shocker
Apr 19, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) is defended by Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) in the second half during the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images After an exceptional regular season, this wasn’t the start to the NBA playoffs that the Detroit Pistons envisioned.
Reeling from a stunning Game 1 loss in which only two players reached double figures, the Eastern Conference’s top seed heads into Game 2 Wednesday against the visiting Orlando Magic facing early pressure to reset the best-of-seven series.
The eighth-seeded Magic controlled the opener from the start, never trailing and leaning on a balanced offensive attack. Paolo Banchero led the way with 23 points while Franz Wagner scored 11 of his 19 in the fourth quarter to help close out the 112-101 win.
For Detroit, the issue wasn’t just the loss — it was how it happened. The Pistons never established their defensive identity and struggled to find consistent offense beyond star guard Cade Cunningham, two areas that will be central entering Game 2.
“It starts, always, with us defensively,” said Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “When you go back and watch the film of that (game), we weren’t ourselves defensively. The telling tale is typically when we play them, they go to the free-throw line a ton.
“… We went 38 (times) but they went 19. So that means we weren’t playing our brand of basketball, being physical, being handsy, being aggressive. That kind of sets the tone for us.”
Offensively, the Pistons leaned on Cunningham, who scored 39 points, but got little other support — scoring their fewest points in nearly three months, since a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 29. Detroit will need more help from All-Star center Jalen Duren, who was held to just eight points and seven rebounds in Game 1.
“They came out ready from the jump,” Duren said. “We didn’t really meet their intensity. They’ve been playing with their backs against the walls the last few weeks, so they were already kind of already rolling. I think we just got to do a better job meeting that intensity.”
Duren said the Pistons remain confident despite the loss, which extended their home playoff losing streak to 11 games, the longest in NBA history.
“We know the type of team we are,” Duren said. “We feel like we’re the better team. We know that we’ve just got to make adjustments and come out smarter, come out playing harder.”
Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said he has talked to his team about not becoming too overconfident coming off Sunday’s win.
“It’s one game at a time,” Mosley said of his message to the team. “It’s the reality that, yeah, you did get the Game 1 win, but now you have to go and figure out how to get a Game 2 (win). There’s going to be, obviously, the positive talk about what you’ve done, and thinking there’s reasons to celebrate, but at the end of the day, it’s one game, and that’s the most important piece that we’ve talked about: just taking it one game at a time.”
Banchero said the team has received the message, and he believes the key for the Magic is to play defense like they did in the opener.
“I thought we were on a string, just communicating, talking out coverages,” Banchero said. “I think it’s just going to continue to take that, being aggressive, being the aggressors on defense and just not trying to give them much. Obviously they’re going to make shots, but just not trying to give them any free looks.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lynx star Napheesa Collier (ankle) targets June for on-court work
Mar 2, 2026; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Unrivaled Co-founder Napheesa Collier at Barclay’s Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images The Minnesota Lynx said Tuesday that star forward Napheesa Collier’s rehab from left ankle surgery is “progressing as expected,” and she could resume on-court activities in early June.
The team plans to release updates on Collier’s progress when available.
The timeline means Collier will miss, at minimum, the first month of the WNBA season, which begins May 10 for the Lynx.
Collier underwent surgery on her ankle on March 24 after sustaining a severe injury during the 2025 playoffs. Per reports at the time, she sustained a Grade 2 tear of three ligaments in the ankle and a muscle in her left shin on a collision during Game 3 of the playoff semifinal series vs. Phoenix.
Collier, 29, averaged a career-high 22.9 points and shot 40.3% from 3-point range to go with 7.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game last year. The back-to-back WNBA Most Valuable Player runner-up, Collier is a five-time All-Star and earned MVP honors in the 2024 Commissioner’s Cup final and the 2025 All-Star Game.
–Field Level Media
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