Sports
Toronto FC chasing critical points against visiting Crew
Sep 14, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto FC midfielder Jonathan Osorio (21) acknowledges the crowd at the end of the second half against Austin FC at BMO Field. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images Toronto FC look to continue their push for their first playoff appearance since 2020 when they host the Columbus Crew on Wednesday.
A 2-1 victory over Austin FC last Saturday has Toronto (11-15-3, 36 points) thinking big even though the Crew (14-5-8, 50 points) have their own aspirations.
Toronto sits in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, which would put the Reds in the play-in match against D.C. United for the final spot in Round One. Toronto is two points back of Charlotte FC and four behind Orlando City SC and New York City FC for fifth.
With four wins in the past six matches, Toronto coach John Herdman is confident heading into the midweek match against the defending MLS Cup champions.
“We’ve got to embrace the challenge,” he said. “It’s an exciting opportunity to have Columbus at home. Not many people give you much chance against that team, the quality they have.”
Toronto will go for the win without defender Shane O’Neill because of a yellow-card accumulation suspension.
The Crew know overtaking Inter Miami for the Supporters’ Shield is unlikely with a 12-point deficit and seven matches left, but making up the two points needed to pass second-place FC Cincinnati is a possibility considering Columbus has played one fewer match.
That’s why the scoreless draw at Cincinnati last Saturday was such a disappointment.
Still, the Crew clinched a playoff spot. While it was a foregone conclusion, head coach Wilfried Nancy was pleased, nonetheless.
“We cannot take everything for granted because it’s been a long season, this is not done and the players are real competitors,” he said. “They deserve it. … Now we’re going to be able to go all in and to push a little bit more.”
Crew midfielder Alexandru Matan agreed.
“Being there is the first step,” he said. “Now the sky is the limit. We’re going to go like we went last season with the same amount of belief. Hopefully, we’re going to go win it again.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Heat rally in 4th quarter to take down Rockets
Feb 28, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) argues with Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the first quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Bam Adebayo posted a double-double, and Andrew Wiggins ignited a fourth-quarter rally after returning from an in-game injury to lead the Miami Heat to a 115-105 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Adebayo paired 24 points with 11 rebounds to help the Heat snap a two-game skid. Pelle Larsson (20 points) and Tyler Herro (18) contributed to the balanced scoring attack for the Heat, who also received double-digit efforts from Jaime Jaquez Jr. (14 points) and Kel’el Ware (13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds) off the bench. The Heat shot 50% overall from the floor.
But it was Wiggins, who took an elbow to the jaw from Rockets center Alperen Sengun and needed stitches in his cheek to close the gash, who led a critical fourth-quarter surge. He assisted on a Ware alley-oop and a Larsson 3 to put the Heat ahead 100-92 before his transition dunk resulted in a three-point play and a 111-103 lead with 2:24 remaining.
Wiggins finished with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Kevin Durant scored a game-high 32 points and added eight assists for the Rockets. Amen Thompson (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Tari Eason (10 points, 11 boards) added double-doubles, while Reed Sheppard chipped in 14 points and five assists for Houston.
The Rockets turned an early run, capped by a Sheppard 3, into a 14-4 lead, only for the Heat to respond with an 8-0 rally. Adebayo hit a 3-pointer to give Miami a 27-26 lead, and the Heat carried a 32-28 advantage into the second quarter after hitting 6 of 13 from beyond the arc in the first.
Miami extended its lead to double digits on a Ware tip-in, and led 41-28 before the Rockets scored their first basket of the second quarter with an Aaron Holiday 3-pointer at the 7:07 mark. That ended a 19-2 run by the Heat and sparked another Houston rally, featuring Sheppard and Durant combining to hit three 3-pointers and tie the game at 48.
The Rockets led 52-51 at the intermission after Miami missed 7 of 8 3-pointers in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braeden Carrington explodes for 32 points as Wisconsin routs Washington
Feb 28, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Braeden Carrington (0) shoots a three point shot over Washington Huskies guard Zoom Diallo (5) during the second half at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images Braeden Carrington came off the bench Saturday to score a career-high 32 points and Wisconsin knocked down 17 3-pointers to earn a 90-73 Big Ten Conference road win over Washington in Seattle.
Nick Boyd added 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Badgers (20-9, 12-6 Big Ten), while Nolan Winter chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds. Wisconsin canned 44.7 % of its 38 3-point attempts, with Carrington going 9 of 15.
Freshman Hannes Steinbach led the Huskies (14-15, 6-12) with 22 points and 11 rebounds, his 18th double-double of the season and the most by a Big Ten player since Jared Sullinger of Ohio State collected the same total 29 years ago. Zoom Diallo scored 21 points.
Washington made 46% from the field but simply couldn’t mute the Badgers’ potent perimeter game. Bouncing back from an 85-71 upset loss Wednesday night at Oregon, Wisconsin earned a 39-35 edge on the boards and committed only six turnovers.
The final margin flattered the Huskies a bit. The Badgers led by as many as 28 points in the second half and cleared the bench by the time Washington scored the final seven points to make the margin more respectable.
Wisconsin set an early tone by stepping up its defense from the loss at Oregon. It held the Huskies without a field goal for a 6:04 stretch of the first half and opened up a 17-4 lead with 13:28 left when Carrington converted a 3-pointer.
Steinbach made two foul shots with 6:51 left to pull Washington within 22-14 but the Badgers pulled away when Carrington hit a 3-pointer and fed Winter for a layup and a 27-14 cushion.
With Boyd canning a short jumper from the baseline, Wisconsin went into halftime with a 36-21 advantage. The Huskies made only 7 of 28 field goals in the first 20 minutes and were outrebounded 25-17.
Boyd led the charge with 14 points in the half, sinking 7 of 14 shots from the field.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Commanding stretch gets No. 2 Arizona past No. 14 Kansas 84-61
Feb 28, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat (10) dunks the ball during the first half of the game against the Kansas Jayhawks at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images Jaden Bradley scored six of his 10 points in a 16-0 scoring run as No. 2 Arizona took charge to deliver an 84-61 victory over No. 14 Kansas on Saturday at Tucson, Ariz.
The Wildcats (27-2, 14-2 Big 12) avenged their loss at Kansas on Feb. 9, which was their first of the season after a program-record 23-0 start. The victory also clinched at least a tie for the regular-season Big 12 title for Arizona.
Brayden Burries led Arizona with 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Koa Peat, who missed the Wildcats’ last three games with a lower-leg muscle strain, had 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Motiejus Krivas finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Arizona and Ivan Kharchenkov had 11 points and six rebounds. The Wildcats outrebounded Kansas 48-26 and outscored the Jayhawks 30-20 in the paint and 16-8 in second-chance points.
Darryn Peterson, out with flu-like symptoms when Kansas beat Arizona in the previous meeting, finished with 24 points for the Jayhawks (21-8, 11-5). Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. each had 13 points for the Jayhawks.
After Arizona took a 47-35 lead with 14:45 remaining, Kansas went on a 12-2 run. Council, who made a 3-pointer early in the run, culminated it with a jumper to cut the Jayhawks’ deficit to 49-47 with 12:07 remaining.
Arizona responded with a commanding 16-0 run to go ahead 65-47 with 8:52 left. Kansas missed seven consecutive shots from the field in the stretch after making five straight.
The Wildcats’ string of seven straight made field goals pushed the lead to 76-56 with 4:42 left.
Arizona went on a 21-2 run to build a 21-5 lead with 13:35 left in the half. During that run, Kansas missed nine consecutive shots from the field.
Arizona scored six unanswered points to take its biggest lead of the first half, 37-19, with 3:52 remaining until halftime. The Wildcats failed to make a shot from the field thereafter in the half, missing five attempts, and Kansas closed with a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 39-28.
Flory Bidunga, who had 23 points and 10 rebounds in the previous matchup with Arizona, did not score and had two rebounds in the first half. He finished with two points and four rebounds.
Arizona outscored Kansas by 20 points at the free-throw line. The Wildcats were 30 of 34 at the line while Kansas was 10 of 11.
–Field Level Media
Moon phase today: What the Moon will look like on March 1
Heat rally in 4th quarter to take down Rockets
