Sports
Wisconsin wary of high-scoring High Point in classic 5-12 matchup
Wisconsin and 12th-seeded High Point are capable of producing one of the highest-scoring games in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round when the Badgers navigate the ever-risky 5-12 matchup in West Region action in Portland.
High Point (30-4), the Big South’s regular-season and tournament champion, averages 90.0 points per game. That’s third in the Division I ranks. The Panthers’ 14-game winning streak is the nation’s longest active run entering the NCAA Tournament.
Wisconsin (24-10) can score, too. The Badgers average 83.0 points per game, which shares 35th in the nation and ranks as the school’s highest-scoring squad since 1970-71.
Speaking of history: In three of the last four NCAA Tournaments, two No. 5 seeds have lost in the first round. But Wisconsin coach Greg Gard has a simple theory about seeds: Forget about them.
“Erase the numbers, that’s what I always say,” Gard said. “I don’t care. When we were a 1, when we were a 2, it wasn’t any less nervous knowing that these teams that are in this are very good.”
Wisconsin has five first-round losses to a No. 12 seed, most recently to James Madison in 2024, 72-61. Each of the past three trips into the NCAA Tournament when the Badgers were the No. 5 seed, they were one-and-done.
For Gard, the life raft to the second round will be his guards. Always considered essential in the NCAA Tournament, that’s a strength for both teams.
Badgers senior guard Nick Boyd, a second-team all-Big Ten pick averages 20.6 points and 4.2 assists. Junior John Blackwell, a third-team selection, averages 19.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Both put up superhuman efforts to win Big Ten games last week. When Wisconsin upset Illinois in the quarterfinals on Friday, Boyd dropped a career-high 38 and Blackwell scored 31 to become the school’s first 30-point duo since 1968.
Moreover, Boyd adds valuable NCAA Tournament experience. He started 37 games and averaged 8.9 points for Florida Atlantic in 2022-23, when the Owls reached the Final Four.
“In terms of scoring, in terms of all the rule changes, guard play has become more accentuated,” Gard said. “The pace of play universally is up. I think obviously we have really good ones.”
Wisconsin could welcome back forward Nolan Winter (13.3 ppg, 8.6 rpg) and sophomore guard Jack Janicki available after injuries kept them on the sideline during the Big Ten tournament.
Panthers guard Rob Martin averages 15.3 points and 3.7 assists as High Point also has a pair of mobile wings — Terry Anderson (16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds) and Cam’Ron Fletcher (12.7 points, 6.9 rebounds) — atop its eight-man rotation. Fletcher is a former Top 75 recruit who began his career six years ago at Kentucky.
Wisconsin has made 400 3-pointers this season, trailing only Alabama (405), and average 11.8 per game to rank fourth in Division I. Six players average at least one make per game. Blackwell (2.8) and reserve guard Braeden Carrington (2.1) lead the barrage, but Wisconsin fires relentlessly and from every direction. Reserve forward Austin Rapp drilled six threes in a 68-65 loss to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament semifinals — including five on consecutive second-half possessions down the stretch.
The Badgers seemed to coalesce after a 91-88 victory over then-undefeated Michigan in Ann Arbor on Jan. 10, when Blackwell and Boyd combined for 49 points.
They are 14-5 since scoring signature wins over South No. 3 seed Illinois and knocking off West No. 2 seed Purdue and East No. 3 seed Michigan State.
“We’ve been on an ascension from mid-January,” Gard said. “How they’ve bonded, how their toughness has grown, how their connectivity has grown.”
The Panthers also took off in mid-January. They have not lost since a 92-75 loss to Winthrop on Jan. 14, and they avenged that with a 91-76 victory in the Big South tournament final over second-seeded Winthrop.
“The ’12’ matchup does upset people a lot, and we know that happens historically in the tournament,” said Flynn Crayman, High Point’s 37-year-old, first-year coach. “We’ve had 34 games straight of being the favorite, and now I think our group is ready to go out and shoot our shot.”
No. 12 seeds Colorado State and McNeese won their first-round games in 2025. Since 1985, No. 12 seeds have won 35.6 percent of the time against No. 5 seeds according to the NCAA Tournament media guide.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Andrew Vaughn's homer powers Brewers over Cardinals
May 6, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Milwaukee Brewers designated hitter Andrew Vaughn (28) reacts as he runs the bases after hitting a three run home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Andrew Vaughn hit a three-run homer for the Milwaukee Brewers, who had five pitchers team up to limit the host St. Louis Cardinals to just four hits in a 6-2 victory on Wednesday afternoon.
Vaughn, reinstated from the injured list Monday after breaking the hamate bone in his left hand on Opening Day, capped a four-run first with his first homer of the season, which he hit off Andre Pallante 403 feet to left-center field.
Pallante (3-3) got the first two Brewers batters out to start the game, but he allowed Brice Turang to reach on a single and hit William Contreras. Jake Bauers singled home Turang before he and Contreras scored on Vaughn’s blast, which came on a full count.
Milwaukee scored all its runs with two outs. Joey Ortiz scored on a Pallante wild pitch in the fifth, and Jackson Chourio’s ninth-inning double to right off Matt Svanson scored Sal Frelick.
The Brewers pounded out 11 hits to split the two-game series with the Cardinals. Bauers went 2-for-3 with a walk. Vaughn added a single as part of a 2-for-4 day, while Chourio and Frelick both enjoyed 2-for-5 games.
Brandon Sproat threw four shutout innings and allowed just a hit while striking out five. However, three walks and a hit batsman kept the 25-year-old right-hander, who entered Wednesday having allowed 20 earned runs in 26 2/3 innings, from being able to claim his first career major league victory.
Aaron Ashby (6-0) allowed just a walk in two innings of relief to get the victory. DL Hall pitched a perfect fifth inning with a strikeout for the Brewers.
Pallante went six innings, gave up eight hits and two walks and struck out three.
The Cardinals’ only hit through seven innings was Ivan Herrera’s first-inning double. Alec Burleson put the hosts on the board with an eighth-inning single off Trevor Megill that scored Victor Scott II to end the shutout.
Cardinals left fielder Nathan Church exited after three innings due to a left leg contusion he suffered when Sproat hit him in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tigers place 2B Gleyber Torres (oblique) on 10-day IL
Detroit Tigers second baseman Gleyber Torres (25) bats a single against Texas Rangers during the first inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Saturday, May 2, 2026. The Detroit Tigers placed three-time All-Star second baseman Gleyber Torres on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a left oblique strain.
Torres, 29, had progressed in recent days but continued to feel pain while swinging. He was unable to serve as a pinch hitter, leading the Tigers to put him on the IL, retroactive to Monday.
“It’s a mild left oblique strain that continues to nag him,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “Obviously, Gleyber has been getting treatment and getting looked at by doctors — and it continues to be stagnant. Hopefully, this will resolve itself within a short time period, but nowadays, I don’t know.”
In his ninth MLB season, Torres is hitting .259 with two home runs, 11 RBIs and a .716 OPS in 32 games.
“I was getting better and better, but I still feel it a little bit in that area,” Torres said. “At this point, we don’t want to push it. It’s not a really big strain, so hopefully, I can get back (on a rehab assignment) in five days — not two weeks. Let’s see what’s going to happen in the next couple of days.”
Torres is a career .264 hitter with 156 homers, 526 RBIs and a .769 OPS in 1,065 games with the New York Yankees (2018-24) and Tigers.
Third baseman Jace Jung, 25, was recalled from Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding move. He has appeared in two games this season for Detroit, collecting one hit and one run in four at-bats.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tigers' Framber Valdez suspended for beaning Trevor Story
Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers, on May 5, 2026, in Detroit, Michigan, with players and coaches from the Tigers and Red Sox on the field after a hit-by-pitch from Tigers left-hander Framber Valdez. Detroit Tigers left-hander Framber Valdez received a six-game suspension and an undisclosed fine Wednesday for intentionally throwing at Boston Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story on Tuesday night.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch also received a fine and a one-game suspension, which he will serve in Wednesday night’s series finale against the visiting Red Sox. Bench coach George Lombard will fill in as manager.
Both benches emptied in the fourth inning after Story got plunked by a fastball from Valdez, earning the pitcher an ejection following the worst start of his career.
Valdez allowed a career-high 10 runs (seven earned) on nine hits, including three homers, in three-plus innings, taking the loss in the 10-3 setback.
Valdez, 32, is 2-2 with a 4.57 ERA through eight starts in his first season with Detroit, which signed him to a three-year, $115 million deal in February.
A two-time All-Star with Houston (2022, 2023), Valdez is 83-54 with a 3.41 ERA in 196 career games (174 starts) with the Astros (2018-25) and Tigers.
–Field Level Media
Andrew Vaughn's homer powers Brewers over Cardinals
Tigers place 2B Gleyber Torres (oblique) on 10-day IL
