Top seed Houston sinks Purdue with last-second layup
Mar 28, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Fletcher Loyer (2) reacts against the Houston Cougars in the first half during a Midwest Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images INDIANAPOLIS — At a quarter ’til 1 a.m. local time, Houston guard Milos Uzan dropped in a game-winning layup and the Cougars grabbed the final Elite Eight spot in a 62-60 thriller over Purdue in the late-night Midwest Region semifinal that began Friday.
With the game tied at 60, top-seeded Houston began its final possession with 2.8 seconds left and the ball out of bounds to the right of the basket it was attacking. Uzan inbounded the ball to Joseph Tugler in the lane and stepped in to catch a pass from Tugler and lay it in with the clock reading 0.9.
Purdue’s subsequent inbounds pass was caught by Braden Smith moving from left to right on the Boilermakers’ side of halfcourt, but a final heave fell short.
Uzan had 22 points and six assists for the Cougars (33-4), and Emanuel Sharp scored 17 points. Houston will play second-seeded Tennessee on Sunday afternoon in the Midwest Region final, the Cougars’ first appearance in the Elite Eight since 2022.
Houston leading scorer LJ Cryer was 1 of 11 from the field when he popped to the right off of a flare screen to connect on his first 3-pointer of the game for a 60-55 lead with 3:34 to go.
Purdue called its last timeout with 2:32 remaining, and Smith found Trey Kaufman-Renn on a high pick-and-roll for his 14th assist of the game to whittle the deficit to 60-57.
In the last minute, Kaufman-Renn gave Purdue an extra possession with an offensive rebound of Smith’s missed 3-point attempt, and Smith, the Big Ten Player of the Year, made the most of it.
He would get a 15th assist to keep the Boilermakers in position to win and advance to a regional final against Tennessee for the second consecutive season.
Smith dribbled the ball at edge of the March Madness logo as the clock ticked under 40 seconds and attacked across the top of the key, into the lane before finding Heide for another chance from the corner directly across the floor from Purdue’s bench. Hedie atoned with a game-tying trey to even the game at 60-all.
The Boilermakers stacked defensive stops and fought back to make it a two-point game with under four minutes to play after falling behind by double figures.
Heide drained his second 3-pointer of the game, an NBA range shot beyond the top of the key, and Kaufman-Renn put in two free throws with 4:17 left to erase most of Houston’s largest lead of the game.
Uzan found the gas pedal with foul trouble factoring into head coach Matt Painter’s Purdue lineup combinations. He canned his career-best fifth 3-pointer of the night to hike the Houston lead to 53-46, then made the lead 10 with his sixth make in nine attempts.
Smith played all 40 minutes for the third consecutive NCAA Tournament game and had seven points and Kaufman-Renn had 14 points and five rebounds. Purdue’s Fletcher Loyer had 16 points after scoring 12 of the Boilermakers first 16.
Coming off of a 30-point game against Gonzaga in the second round, Cryer was held scoreless in the first half and missed all six of his shots.
Purdue led 31-29 at halftime, having held Houston to 9-of-30 shooting (30 percent).
–Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media
Sports
Cloud9 remains unbeaten in Week 3 opener of LCS Spring
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. Cloud9 improved to 3-0 and Sentinels earned their first win to kick off Week 3 of the regular season of the LCS Spring event on Saturday.
Cloud9, one of just two unbeaten teams left, swept Disguised 2-0 as Sentinels came away with a 2-1 win over FlyQuest.
Eight teams will compete in best-of-three matches in the round-robin regular season before advancing to the playoffs of the League of Legends event, which will be contested in best-of-five matches in a double-elimination format. The top two teams will qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational.
Cloud9 didn’t face much interference in its third straight victory, winning both games in 25 minutes over Disguised, which fell to 1-2. Robert “Blaber” Huang and Denmark’s Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen led the victory with very similar kill-death-assist ratios of 12-1-18 and 12-2-18, respectively.
Sentinels won the opener vs. FlyQuest in 30 minutes, lost the second game in 31 minutes and won the deciding third matchup in 39 minutes. Cho “Rahel” Min-seong of South Korea led the victory with a 20-4-13 K-D-A ratio.
Week 3 concludes Sunday with LYON facing Shopify Rebellion and Dignitas versus Team Liquid.
Regular season standings (Win-loss total, map differential)
1. Cloud9, 3-0, 6-2
2. Team Liquid, 2-0, 4-1
3. LYON, 1-1, 3-3
4. Shopify Rebellion, 1-1, 2-2
5. FlyQuest, 1-2, 4-4
6. Sentinels, 1-2, 4-5
7. Disguised, 1-2, 2-5
8. Dignitas, 0-2, 1-4
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees out to continue success vs. lefties, sweep Royals
Apr 18, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice (22) and center fielder Cody Bellinger (35) celebrate after defeating the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images The New York Yankees struggled in most of their encounters against left-handed pitching until Saturday. Then they dominated Kansas City southpaw Noah Cameron and rolled to their most lopsided victory of the season.
After their best showing at the plate, the Yankees seek a three-game sweep Sunday afternoon when they host the Royals.
The Yankees will face another left-hander in Cole Ragans (0-3, 3.78 ERA) after going 7-for-20 with three homers off Cameron. New York raised its batting average against left-handed pitchers 19 points to .179 after Saturday’s 13-4 win.
Cody Bellinger, who entered Saturday 3-for-17 off lefties, hit a pair of two-run homers and drove in five runs. Bellinger also is 10-for-28 (.357) over his past seven games.
Ben Rice homered for the third straight game for the first time in his career and is 5-for-16 (.313) off lefties after hitting .208 against southpaws last season. Rice will remain in the lineup Sunday along with Paul Goldschmidt while Giancarlo Stanton gets a scheduled day off ahead of Monday’s off-day before the start of a three-game series at Boston.
The Yankees scored their most runs all season after their previous five wins were decided in the final at-bat. Amed Rosario hit a two-run homer, drove in three runs and is hitting .293 off lefties since the start of last season.
“We’re a talented team that can win in many different ways,” Bellinger said. “Obviously these games are more ideal but I like where we’re at.”
Since their 6-5 win over the Yankees in Game 2 of the 2024 ALDS, the Royals are on a 10-game losing streak against New York. Kansas City has lost six straight and nine of 11.
The Royals were blanked until Carter Jensen hit a two-run homer in the seventh and also scored on a two-run double by Michael Massey in the ninth. Bobby Witt Jr. had one of Kansas City’s seven hits and is 5-for-20 on the road trip.
The Royals are coming off their most lopsided loss of the first 21 games after 10 of their previous 11 games were decided by two runs or fewer.
“It looks bad when you get your butt kicked like today, but every game this week has been a really close game,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said. “Guys are running hard, they’re playing hard, they’re preparing hard. It just hasn’t worked out.”
After getting seven sharp innings from Will Warren and not using any high-leverage relievers, the Yankees will send lefty Ryan Weathers (0-2, 4.29 ERA) to the mound.
Weathers, who struggled at times with his fastball command Tuesday in a 7-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, makes his first career start against Kansas City. Weathers is allowing a .268 average to opposing hitters and allowed three homers in a span of five pitches on fastballs to Mike Trout, Jo Adell and Jorge Soler.
Weathers also gave up a homer to Oswald Peraza on his changeup but wound up with 10 strikeouts in five-plus innings when he allowed five runs. He also became the first Yankee and 17th pitcher all-time to get at least 10 strikeouts and allow four homers.
In four starts, Ragans (0-3, 3.78) has received four runs from his offense and is coming off his best start this season. Ragans allowed one hit in six scoreless innings in a no-decision during Kansas City’s 2-1 loss at Detroit on Tuesday.
Ragans does not have a decision and a 2.57 ERA in a pair of appearances (one start) against the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
Sports
With bullpens taxed, Rays, Pirates hope starters can go deep
Apr 6, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Shane McClanahan (18) throws a pitch against the Chicago Cubs in the first inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images With exhausted bullpens following Saturday’s six-hour, 39-minute, 13-inning marathon game, the pressure is on the Rays’ Shane McClanahan and the Pirates’ Mitch Keller to deliver strong starts on Sunday afternoon in the finale of their three-game series in Pittsburgh.
The Rays used eight relievers and the Pirates used six relievers in a game officially of four hours and 12 minutes that was delayed an additional two hours and 27 minutes by inclement weather, and ended with an 8-7 win for Tampa Bay.
Now, McClanahan (1-1, 3.95 ERA), who last Tuesday picked up his first win since June 16, 2023, will try to make it eight wins in their past nine games for the Rays.
McClanahan gave up two earned runs (three overall) on two hits and four walks, and struck out four in five innings against the Chicago White Sox. The left-hander continued his solid return to the majors this season after missing the past two years following Tommy John surgery and recovery from a nerve issue.
For McClanahan, it was the end of a wait of 1,033 days between wins and a long period of resilience while dealing with his physical issues and the death of his father.
“It was probably the adrenaline dump and emotional release that I’ve had in my entire life,” McClanahan said. “Some days, you don’t think you’re ever going to get to this point again. Proud of who I’ve turned into and the work that I put in, and I know it’s going to get better.”
McClanahan, who is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two career starts against the Pirates, is still fine-tuning things on the mound as he has issued 11 walks and struck out 13 in 13 2/3 innings. But he’s been effective enough for the Rays to win two of his three starts so far. Another such outing would be huge for a Rays staff, which utilized all seven available relievers on Saturday. A roster move could be made to supplement a taxed bullpen.
For Pittsburgh, Keller (1-1, 2.86) was off to one of the best starts in the majors over his first three outings before struggling last Tuesday against the visiting Washington Nationals.
Keller gave up five runs on six hits, walked four and struck out three over four innings (90 pitches) in a game the Pirates lost 5-4.
Over his first three starts (18 innings), Keller had allowed only two runs.
It was the second time this season that Keller walked four batters in a game. But he overcame them by allowing only two runs in a 5-4 home win over the Baltimore Orioles on April 3 — his lone pitching victory of the season.
Keller is 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in two career starts against Tampa Bay.
“With Mitch, from the beginning, didn’t have the sharp command, but battled and grinded and got through four innings,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “You could tell from the beginning he wasn’t as sharp as he’s been.”
The Pirates recalled reliever Cam Sanders on Saturday and optioned Jose Urquidy to Triple-A Indianapolis. Mason Montgomery and closer Dennis Santana were the only relievers Pittsburgh did not use in Saturday’s game.
–Field Level Media
Cloud9 remains unbeaten in Week 3 opener of LCS Spring
Yankees out to continue success vs. lefties, sweep Royals
