When Miami (Ohio) in 1999 became one of the original underdogs of what has annually become the greatest weekend in sports.
When there was controversy then, too, about MAC regular-season champion Miami receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after losing in the MAC tournament championship.
The same potential argument unfolding with this year’s Miami team — with one caveat.
The RedHawks of yesteryear hopped on Szczerbiak’s back and beat No. 7 seed Washington and No. 2 seed Utah in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, before eventually losing a week later in the Sweet 16.
But here’s the key, and the connection to 2026: that Miami team beat No.7-ranked (and eventual No. 4 seed) Tennessee in the regular season. Also won at Notre Dame.
This Miami team has beaten no one of significance, leaving the tournament selection committee with a difficult question to answer should Miami lose in the MAC tournament.
Is Miami one of the 68 best teams in college basketball?
While you stare at Miami’s spotless record, and the rare air it produces, let me offer a few more numbers to digest.
Miami’s nonconference schedule rank by the KenPom rating service is 361. And I don’t want to burst any bubbles here, but there are 365 Division I teams.
Miami played 15 Quad 4 games, the lowest level of the quad games formula. The RedHawks didn’t play a single Quad 1 game.
Miami played — I swear I’m not making this up — three teams called Trinity Christian, Indiana East and Milligan. No to be confused with, you know, mulligan.
All three are NAIA schools, and because no one wanted to play Miami and its upperclass-laden team — that’s the excuse, for what it’s worth — the RedHawks decided to troll the Appalachian Athletic Conference for leftovers.
Let’s be honest, the Top 25 high school teams would roll the Appalachian Athletic Conference.
Miami, which plays UMass on Thursday morning in the MAC quarterfinals, has won seven one-possession conference games. The MAC, according to the NET rating, is the 17th-ranked Division I conference.
Once you get past the first seven conferences, you’ve reached the one-bid leagues. The MAC currently is looking up at the Big Sky, Big West and Coastal Athletic, to name a few.
So this comes down to perfection vs. the path to perfection.
How many of the 365 Division I teams could pull off the same 31 straight wins if they played Miami’s schedule? More than you think. Don’t get pulled into the argument that an unbeaten season has to mean something.
It doesn’t.
Especially if it was built by feasting on the worst of the worst of college basketball. Miami’s overall schedule rank according to KenPom is 231.
Two hundred thirty one.
This isn’t necessarily an argument for Auburn or Indiana or Stanford or Cincinnati or any other Power conference team getting hosed. It’s more about the New Mexico, San Diego State and Santa Claras of the world teetering on the edge of the bubble.
They’re potentially out if they don't win their conference tournaments, and Miami is in because it was lallygagging through a ridiculously soft schedule designed for success. But because the RedHawks have managed to keep the core of a solid team on campus, a team full of game experience, we should genuflect and never question a team with an unbeaten record.
Why, you ask? Well, do you know how hard it is to go unbeaten?
Not that difficult when you’re playing the 231st-ranked schedule.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
Magic City has become a popular destination for athletes and celebrities. Photograph: Prince Williams/WireImage
Manufactured outrage will have to serve as the theme for what had been the most hotly anticipated game of the season.
For those who may have missed it: last month the Atlanta Hawks announced plans for a 16 March promotional event called Magic City Night. The name wasn’t just a nod to that evening’s opponent, the Orlando Magic; it was meant to honor the civic institution in the shadow of the Hawks’ arena – Magic City, America’s most famous strip club.
The program for Magic City Night was straightforward: a live podcast featuring Magic City founder Michael Barney and Hawks owner Jami Gertz (who co-produced a recent Starz docuseries on the club), a halftime performance from homegrown Grammy-winning rapper TI, Magic City-themed hoodies at the merch stands and unfettered access to the club’s signature dish: lemon pepper wings. What it would notably not contain was any actual exotic dancers or adult entertainment.
The Hawks, near the bottom in NBA attendance again this year, reportedly sold 2,000 tickets in the first 24 hours of the announcement. Magic City Monday promised to be a good time, a real happening, a scene approaching the standard fare at NBA games in New York and Los Angeles. “Somebody said Atlanta teams don’t care about winning or losing as long as it feels like you were at the club,” one fan quipped on social media, capturing the mix of pride and ironic detachment that defines the local fanbase. But then, inevitably, the outsiders started rolling in to spoil the party.
A week after the reveal, San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet published a 300-word letter urging the Hawks to scrap the promotion, citing concern over the league’s complicity in “the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society”. He was swiftly swiftly backed by five-time All-Star Al Horford, who spent the first nine of his 19 pro seasons with the Hawks. Kornet’s treatise touched off a raging debate in a sports media ecosystem that has little experience wrestling with the ethics of sex work or confronting the league’s long-overlooked culture of sexualized spectacle – and that was all the backlash Adam Silver needed to hear.
On Monday, Silver said he was canceling Magic City Night in response to “significant concerns from fans, partners and employees.” In a follow-up statement, the Hawks said they reluctantly respected the decision, canceling everything except the wings and TI’s halftime set. (Fret not: the wings are still on.) In the end, Silver’s decision showed a willful misunderstanding of the Black culture that his league mined for lucre and clout. And for local fans who had marked the date since the team announced Magic City Monday, it’s more than a massive upset. It’s yet another reminder of Martin Luther King’s “Two Americas”, with Atlanta still residing in the one that seems inconceivable from the outside.
Of course, there are very real issues around how women are sexualized in US society. And, in another town, a strip club is the blight on the landscape where supposed men of virtue go to indulge deeply suppressed appetites for vice. In Atlanta, however, it’s the town square, a place for work powwows, first dates, an on-ramp to Black entrepreneurship. Magic City is the bellwether name-checked from Jermaine Dupri to the Migos, a full-service cultural pit stop.
A former telecom professional, Barney set out to create a classier, more professional environment that would appeal to customers – male and female – and the dancers to boot. Relatively quickly, Magic City grew from a one-dancer venue launched in a defunct print shop to the hotspot where Atlanta’s business and entertainment heavyweights rubbed shoulders with hustlers and drug dealers – everyone meeting as equals. Stacey Abrams pulled up (on video, but nevertheless) during her 2022 gubernatorial campaign, reflecting the club’s role as a community nexus where even politics intersects.
TI, Lil Jon and Future are just a few of the local artists who got their start at Magic City – which is why the Hawks can so easily book acts to provide entertainment that would headline world tours at other NBA arenas. Early visits from Atlanta sports legends like Deion Sanders and Dominique Wilkins helped cement Magic City’s reputation as a must-visit destination for professional athletes. Famously, in 2020, Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams lobbied for a brief exemption from the NBA’s Covid bubble in Orlando to attend a funeral in Atlanta – but stopped at Magic City on the way, resulting in a 10-day quarantine that cost him two games. Williams said it was his love for the club’s lemon pepper wings that led him to violate NBA rules. Ever since, he’s been known by a single handle: Lemon Pepper Lou.
Magic City elevated adult entertainment, turning it into something the masses could consume without shame or even blinking. Pole dancing never becomes staples of suburban momcore without Magic City’s Black dancers turning strip teases into feats of athleticism and acrobatic wonder with bodies that defied traditional beauty standards. That there were actually people who feared the prospect of the nation’s children seeing strippers rappel from the State Farm rafters, or otherwise “perform” during Magic City Night – which, again, was never on the cards – is laughable. Clearly, these haters have never watched an NBA game.
And we should remember that the NBA already revels in sex nearly as much as it does basketball. Over the past five decades, cheerleading has graduated from Laker Girls to play stoppages filled with twerking and other moves cribbed from the strip club. The All-Star Game has long been a major driver of the local sex economy, not least the corners where exploitation and trafficking risks loom, even as the spectacle rakes in millions. Those persistent rumors about players “flying out” Instagram models for casual hookups? Fans giggle and shrug, then move on to the highlights. Jokes about Zion Williamson’s alleged dalliances with adult-film stars and OnlyFans creators are a staple of NBA fans’ social media. If Kornet and his puritanical lot were truly serious about the league’s “risks” of perverting young minds, they could start with this list.
Never mind the league cozying up to the gambling industry even as the feds arrest high-profile players and coaches over allegations of manipulating games, or glossing over the Clippers’ reported attempts to subvert the salary cap. The NBA can’t even get its players to show up to work every night. Stars like Steph Curry and Kevin Durant have gone from leading the league’s progressive activism to quietly cashing in on military-linked companies while staying silent on conflicts in the Middle East. Karl Malone, who impregnated a 13-year-old while he was in college, remains a venerated figure. But bring a G-rated version of the strip club to a Hawks game? No, the league can’t have that. Imagine how that would look.
For decades, the NBA prided itself on the consistency of its principles; the league would no more tolerate a referee who fixed games than a player who forgot to tuck in his shirt. But those days are gone. Now the record shows it: on the one hand, the NBA is happy to sell fans sex and Black culture. On the other, when the Hawks dared to celebrate the mutually transformative relationship between strip club culture and Atlanta, Silver put his foot down – and promptly tripped over it, proving once again that the league’s priorities are utterly and spectacularly upside down. In its own way, his gaffe is a fitting tribute to a pole dance that never would’ve happened, yet came to represent what the league clearly dreads most: fun.
The top four seeds seem to be locked up, but the bubble is as unstable as ever. It seems like no one wants to grab a spot in both hands. It should make for a nervy few days.
When does 2026 NCAA Tournament start? March Madness schedule
The 2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament will take place over the next three weeks, which will end with the Final Four and the national championship game in Indianapolis.
Here’s a rundown of the schedule for the 2026 NCAA Tournament:
SALT LAKE CITY — There was no sugarcoating an ugly first-half performance from the Knicks in the locker room, and the harsh words during the break helped spur a comeback in Wednesday’s 134-117 victory over the Jazz.
“It was our halftime speech, in terms of how we came at each other, where we tried to hold each other accountable,” Clarkson said. “And then just came out here and wanted to win.”
What was the message?
“Get our s–t together,” said Clarkson, adding that the discussion was started by the coaches before the players took over.
The Knicks responded by picking up the defense and, more important, being careful with the ball on offense. Coach Mike Brown broke down the tale of two halves.
“We committed eight turnovers for 14 points [in the first half] and a lot of them were unforced,” the coach said. “A lot of those turnovers led to easy baskets in transition for Utah. They had 27 fast-break points in that first half, the way we calculate it.
“We cleaned both those areas at halftime. We had just four turnovers in the second half, giving up four points off those turnovers, and then we gave up just five fast-break points in the second half. And that was the difference in the game. We gave ourselves an opportunity to shoot the basketball. And when we did, it obviously went in.”
Jordan Clarkson, who scored 27 points off the bench, goes up for a layup as Oscar Tshiebwe defends during the Knicks’ 134-117 win overt the Jazz in Salt Lake City on March 11, 2026. AP
The Knicks outscored the Jazz 78-52 in the second half. And that happened after a fire was lit under the players at halftime.
“It helped us win,” Brunson said.
Barring a shocking NBA Finals matchup, there will be no Stephen Curry at MSG this season.
The Golden State guard, who has missed the past 15 games with a bone bruise in his right knee, will be re-evaluated in 10 days, the team announced Wednesday.
That means the game at MSG on March 15 is off the table.
Curry, 37, has 10 straight wins at MSG, including last year during his 28-point performance.
He scored 54 points at the Garden in 2013.
Josh Hart was ruled out of Wednesday’s game with knee soreness.
He was replaced in the lineup by Landry Shamet, although the starters struggled as a unit in Utah.
Verstappen predicted his Red Bull probably couldn’t go any higher than fifth place this weekend in the Chinese Grand Prix — even if he starts much closer to the front in Sunday's race in Shanghai — because of the big gap between Mercedes and Ferrari and all the other teams.
“Honestly, it’s such a jungle out there at the moment," Verstappen said Thursday at the driver news conferences in Shanghai. “I mean, I would hope that it gets a bit closer ... but it’s clear that at the moment we cannot fight with those cars.”
It's not the first time Verstappen has taken a swipe at the sport's new regulations, which he thinks are anti-fun, anti-racing and could potentially be dangerous.
F1’s new cars are complex, with unprecedented changes across the chassis and power unit, which now feature an almost 50:50 output split between the turbo 1.6-liter V6 engine and electrical energy harvested from the brakes — one that requires a new, often counterintuitive driving style.
One of Verstappen's concerns is starting the race with empty batteries in the hybrid cars. Franco Colapinto only very narrowly avoided Liam Lawson at the start of the Australian Grand Prix, with the Racing Bulls car was slow off the line with minimal battery power — many drivers started with depleted batteries among the teething issues with the new rules.
“There are a few simple solutions, but they need to be allowed by the FIA, with the battery related stuff, because, yeah, starting with the 0% battery — not a lot of fun and also quite dangerous,” Verstappen said. "You can see, I mean, we almost had a massive shunt in Melbourne in the start.
“This is something that I think can be easily fixed.”
As for speculation he may quit if reforms aren't made quickly, Verstappen said: “I don’t want to leave, but I also hope, of course, that it gets better.
“I’ve had discussions with F1 and FIA and, I think, we are working toward something, hopefully, and, hopefully that will improve everything," he said, without elaborating on what the changes might be. “I hope already for next year we can already make a decent improvement.”
A 24-hour switch
In the meantime, in the search of more “fun,” he has confirmed this week he'll be driving his first 24-hour sportscar race at the historic Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in May. F1 hasn’t used it since 1976, when then-reigning champion Niki Lauda suffered severe burns in a crash.
“It’s one of the best races in the world, it’s one of the best tracks. I mean, honestly, in a GT car for me that’s like the perfect speed round there," Verstappen said. "I think if you go anything faster it can be a bit dangerous in places."
“I mean, I’ve been watching it, of course, for a long time. I know a lot of my friends, of course, that have been racing in it already. They say it’s one of the best things ever, and I like racing other cars as well.”
The 28-year Verstappen says he still has career ambitions.
“I don’t need to be only a Formula 1 driver, I can also do other things," he said. "I’ve done this for a while and I’ve achieved everything that I wanted to achieve, so that’s why I want to explore other things, and I don’t want to do them when I’m 40 years old. So now I think this is the perfect age to do it.”
The win streak lives on for the San Antonio Spurs, as they find themselves halfway to another double-digit tally. They’ve only lost one game between the months of February and March, as they’ve worked their way into a hot pursuit of the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, and the #1 seed in the Western Conference.
However, in order to achieve that goal (and further extend the streak), they’ll likely have to win their way through one of the toughest stretches of the season.
Starting with the Nuggets, the Spurs will then face the rapidly rising Charlotte Hornets, a Clippers team that was one quarter away from running them off of the court, and (after a breather against the Kings) match-ups against the Phoenix Suns (tanking Pacers) and Miami Heat.
Let’s get back to Denver, though, who just got finished laying waste to the #4 seed that is the badly-listing Houston Rockets, to the tune of 129-93.
How did they manage that, you might ask? Oh, by having 8 different Nuggets score 15+ points, that’s all.
With all the injuries they’ve endured to key players this season, it’s been easy to forget that the Nuggets are also an incredibly deep squad.
That the Nuggets were without Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon for weeks, and are still just a game out of the 3# seed is a testament to that depth, and how (not unlike the Spurs) they have been tested to the point of improvement and cohesion.
No longer does Jokic have to soak up all possible minutes at center after the addition of the still-reliable Jonas Valanciunas. No longer does the bench collapse in the absence of the Joker’s offensive impetus, ranking 7th in True Shooting Percentage and 5th in Field-Goal Percentage.
Denver’s front office has surrounded their big man with long-distance demons, to the tune of ranking 1st in the NBA in three-point percentage, at just shy of 40%.
The point being that when healthy the way they were Wednesday night, this Nuggets team might actually be the biggest roadblock for the Spurs come the postseason.
Pick an offensive stat. Just about any offensive stat, and I can guarantee the Nuggets are in the top 5 or top 10 of that category.
They’re great passers (9th in assists, 1st in assist%), great shooters (2nd in FG%, 5th in FT%), great at limiting mistakes (1st in assist-to-turnover ratio and 3rd best in limiting turnovers), and consequently, are great scorers (2nd in scoring).
Outside of injury, they do have two weaknesses, though.
One is rebounding, where they rank near the bottom third of the league (19th), and especially offensive rebounding (26th). Part of that is due to how many shots they sink, but in the event of a miss, the Spurs must keep the Nuggets from getting a second shot.
The other flaw is the defensive end. And by that, I mean, basically all of it.
The Nuggets are dead last in steals, 2nd to last in blocks, and rank 22nd in Defensive Rating. They’re about as bad as a team can be on defense and still be really good, and they do not create offensive opportunities on that end. And oddly, they’ve actually somehow been worse on that end (29th) over the last 5 games.
That could be very unfortunate timing for the Nuggets, just as the Spurs are on an offensive tear, ranking 1st in Offensive Rating, 1st in True Shooting, 1st in Effective Field Goal Percentage, 1st in three-point shooting (42%), and 3rd in scoring over that same five-game stretch.
There is, of course, a bit of a wrinkle, as it seems there must be.
Victor Wembanyama has found his way onto the injury report in questionable status, after a couple of games in which he flirted with 40 minutes and took more than a couple of shots to the face and body.
Speaking as someone who has thoroughly enjoyed and also assigned Wemby-Jokic match-ups a household priority since Wembanyama entered the league, that would be a bummer from the viewer/fan/basketball lover’s perspective. (Though, yes, I can certainly see the ‘long-term benefit’ *teenaged eye roll*)
However, I’m starting to find myself brimming with an almost idiotic degree of optimism, a dangerous thing for anyone who has to write about any team. You don’t have to write about humiliating losses. I almost certainly will.
But gosh-darn it, these kids have really been filling up my cup of joy! I think they can win this thing, with or without their fearless leader. They’re that good. They’re that tough. They’re that freaking cocky.
Here’s hoping Wemby’s healthy enough to play, and here’s hoping the Nuggets underestimate the kiddos if he’s not.
Go! Spurs! Go! (and please don’t make me regret this)
INGLEWOOD, CA - MARCH 11: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the LA Clippers drives to the basket during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 11, 2026 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
“Aspiration” is a funny word.
In one context, it’s the kind of corporate-sounding buzzword you might associate with some fake environmental company allegedly planting trees while secretly funneling money to star players to circumvent the NBA salary cap. But in medical terms, aspiration is something much less glamorous. It’s what happens when your saliva or vomit goes down the wrong pipe and ends up in your lungs instead of your stomach. It can lead to pneumonia. In severe cases, it can even be fatal.
And if you were watching the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night inside the Intuit Dome, it felt like a pretty fitting metaphor. Because for the second straight game in Los Angeles, the Wolves essentially choked and flatlined.
Coming off two games where they couldn’t defend anyone and couldn’t buy a shot, Minnesota desperately needed a reset to stabilize a team that suddenly looked nothing like the group that had climbed its way into the Western Conference’s third seed just a week earlier. Instead, they ran straight into Kawhi Leonard, who looked like the Terminator if the Terminator could also hit midrange jumpers with robotic precision.
By the time the smoke cleared, the Wolves had given up 153 points, suffered a third straight loss, and fallen all the way back to the sixth seed in the Western Conference. For those of you who happen to be gluttons for punishment, let’s walk through how this thing spiraled out of control.
First Quarter: Turnovers and Kawhi’s Heater
The game started in about the worst way imaginable. In the first three minutes, the Wolves turned the ball over five times. That stretch helped spark a 12–0 Clippers run, and before anyone had even settled into their seats the Wolves were staring at a 12–2 deficit.
A Jaden McDaniels dunk and an Anthony Edwards three-pointer helped steady things briefly, trimming the score to a more respectable 18–9 halfway through the quarter. But the early damage had already been done.
Then Kawhi Leonard decided to get involved. Actually, “get involved” is underselling it. Kawhi essentially launched his own personal scoring rampage. At one point he outscored the Wolves by himself, scoring 14 points to Minnesota’s 12, pushing the Clippers lead to 28–12.
By the time the first quarter ended, Kawhi had piled up 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting, and the Clippers were comfortably ahead 38–27. At that pace, Los Angeles was tracking toward a score in the 150s, which (spoiler alert), turned out to be exactly where they ended up.
The Wolves had survived the first quarter, but it already felt like they were chasing the game.
Second Quarter: Edwards Fights Back, But Turnovers Strike Again
For a brief moment in the second quarter, Minnesota looked like it might stabilize. The Wolves actually started generating some stops, something that had been painfully absent over the previous nine quarters of basketball. Edwards knocked down another three, bringing his personal total to 10 points, and suddenly the score was 45–43.
Momentum shift, right?
Not quite.
The Wolves hit the bonus just five minutes into the quarter, repeatedly sending the Clippers to the free-throw line. That parade to the stripe helped stretch the lead back to 51–43, forcing Chris Finch to call a timeout.
To Minnesota’s credit, they responded. A quick five-point burst from McDaniels cut the deficit to 60–57, and suddenly the game felt competitive again.
But then the Wolves remembered they were playing Kawhi Leonard and that turnovers were their favorite hobby of the night. Another sloppy stretch led to an 8–0 Clippers run, and by halftime Minnesota found itself trailing 74–65.
The halftime stat that told the whole story? 15 turnovers, which Los Angeles had turned into 21 points.
The game still had the feel of a star duel brewing. Kawhi had 28 points at halftime, while Edwards had already piled up 23 of his own, but Minnesota’s sloppiness kept preventing any sustained push.
Third Quarter: Hanging Around… Barely
Coming out of halftime, the Wolves at least avoided getting immediately blown off the floor. For a while the teams traded buckets, keeping the margin within reach.
Then Kawhi and company stepped on the gas again. Back-to-back threes from Kawhi Leonard and Darius Garland pushed the Clippers lead to 95–76, threatening to turn the game into a full-blown rout.
To their credit, the Wolves finally showed some fight. Minnesota answered with a 9–0 run, trimming the deficit to 95–85 and at least giving the appearance that a comeback might be brewing.
By the end of the third quarter, the Wolves were still technically within striking distance, trailing 109–98.
And the reason they were still breathing was simple: Anthony Edwards.
Ant had taken control offensively by attacking the rim, getting to the free throw line, and picking his spots from deep. While the rest of Minnesota’s offense sputtered, Edwards kept dragging them back into the game possession by possession. It felt like one more run might make things interesting.
But that hope lasted about two minutes.
Fourth Quarter: The Clippers Slam the Door
Whatever oxygen remained in the Wolves’ balloon disappeared immediately at the start of the fourth. The Clippers came out firing, stretching the lead to 120–100 in a matter of moments. Just like that, the faint comeback hopes vanished.
From there it turned into a full avalanche.
Los Angeles ripped off another 17–6 run, pushing the lead beyond 30 and effectively ending the competitive portion of the night. With roughly half the quarter still to play, Chris Finch emptied the bench, sending out Joe Ingles and the young reserves to finish out the inevitable.
By the final buzzer, the Clippers had hung 153 points on Minnesota in an absolute demolition.
The Final Numbers
The box score told a pretty straightforward story.
Kawhi Leonard: 45 points
Clippers points: 153
Wolves turnovers: 15 in the first half alone
Edwards fought hard and delivered a 36-point performance, but the rest of the Wolves never provided the support needed to make it matter. Meanwhile, Kawhi played one of those terrifyingly efficient superstar games where every shot seems automatic and every defensive mistake gets punished.
A Team That Suddenly Looks Lost
After the game, Chris Finch didn’t offer any grand explanations for what’s happening to his team. He simply noted that the Wolves currently feel like they’re “worlds apart from where they were a week ago.”
That’s probably the most honest assessment. Just days ago Minnesota looked like a team climbing toward the top of the Western Conference standings.
Now they look like a group stuck in quicksand.
The three-game skid has allowed Houston, Los Angeles, and Denver to leapfrog Minnesota in the standings. The Wolves now find themselves right back where they started, clinging to the sixth seed in the West.
What Comes Next
The road trip isn’t over. Next stop: Golden State on Friday, where Minnesota will try to snap the losing streak before things get even worse.
Because if the Wolves learned anything in Los Angeles this week, it’s that in the Western Conference standings, you don’t just slide down the ladder.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Isaiah Brickner had 23 points and 10 rebounds — his first double-double of the season — and Brody Rowbury scored 12 points to help seventh-seeded Idaho beat No. 4 seed Montana 77-66 on Wednesday night to win the Big Sky Conference Tournament and clinch a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nearly 40 years.
Idaho (21-14), which played its fourth game in five days, has won five in a row and won the Big Sky Conference Tournament for the first time since 1990. The Vandals snapped a nine-game losing streak against Montana and leads the series 113-99.
Kolton Mitchell added 11 points and Trevon Blassingame scored 10 for Idaho.
Under third-year coach Alex Pribble, the Vandals have their most victories since they also won 21 games in 2015-16.
Money Williams and Te’Jon Sawyer led the Grizzlies (18-16) with 19 points apiece and Brooklyn Hicks scored 11.
Williams scored a tournament-record 91 points, breaking the mark of 83 set by Montana's Anthony Johnson in 2010.
The Grizzlies beat No. 1 seed Portland State 75-72 and Idaho knocked off third-seeded Eastern Washington 81-68 in the semifinals.
Up next
Idaho: Looks to Selection Sunday.
Montana: Awaits a potential postseason invitation.
SEATTLE (AP) — Mikyla Grant-Mentis and Danielle Serdachny scored goals in the final six minutes of the third period, Alex Carpenter also had a goal, and the Seattle Torrent beat the Boston Fleet 3-2 on Wednesday night to snap a four-game losing streak.
Seattle (5-1-2-9) had lost back-to-back games following the Olympic break and went into the game last in the PWHL with 16 points.
Boston (9-4-2-3) — which had its six-game win streak come to an end — leads the league with 37 points.
Theresa Schafzahl and Susanna Tapani scored goals for the Fleet. Abbey Levy made her second start of the season, both against the Torrent, and had 35 saves. Levy had 27 saves as the Fleet beat Seattle 3-1 on Dec. 21.
Grant-Mentis scored a short-handed goal on a jailbreak to make it 2-2 with 5:13 left in the game and Serdachny’s one-timer off a pass from Natalie Snodgrass capped the scoring with 3:46 to go.
Alina Müller, on the left side, dropped a pass to Daniela Pejsova for a one-timer from just inside the blue line that was redirected by Schafahl over the stick-side shoulder of goaltender Corinne Schroeder to give the Fleet a 1-0 lead with 7 1/2 minutes left in the first period.
Carpenter, on the rush after a save by Schroeder, flicked a back-hand shot into the net with 5.6 seconds left in the first to make it 1-1.
Schroeder, who finished with 25 saves, parried a shot by Loren Gabel but couldn't control the puck and Tapani slammed home the rebound to make it 2-1 with 8 1/2 minutes left until the third period. The Torrent had 18 shots in the second period but went into the second intermission trailing by a goal.
Up next
Boston: Visits second-place Montreal (35 points) on Sunday.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 45 points and the Los Angeles Clippers routed the Minnesota Timberwolves 153-128 on Wednesday night, moving above .500 with their third straight victory and sixth in seven games.
Eighth in the Western Conference at 33-32 after opening 6-21, the Clippers had their highest points total of the season. They blew out Minnesota after beating New York on Monday night to open a five-game homestand.
Leonard was 15 of 20 from the the field, 6 of 9 on 3s and made 9 of 10 free throws. Los Angeles made 19 of 37 3s.
Bennedict Mathurin scored 22 points for Los Angeles. Clippers newcomer Darius Garland had 21, hitting five 3-pointers.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 36 points and Naz Reid had 18.
Minnesota dropped to sixth in the tight Western Conference, but only a half-game behind the third-place Lakers. The Timberwolves have lost three in a row after winning five straight. They lost to the Lakers on Tuesday night to open four-game trip.
Leonard scored 18 points in the first quarter to help Los Angeles take a 38-27 lead. He had 28 at the half, with the Clippers up 74-65, and went to the fourth with 39 and LA ahead 109-98. Los Angeles had a 44-30 edge in the fourth.
Up next
Timberwolves: At Golden State on Friday night.Clippers: Host Chicago on Friday night.___AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nijel Pack scored 24 points shooting 5 for 10 from 3-point range and Oklahoma beat South Carolina 86-74 in an opening-round game of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday.
The 11th-seeded Sooners (18-14) advance to play sixth-seeded Texas A&M on Thursday.
Derrion Reid scored 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting, Tae Davis 18 shooting 7 of 10 and Xzayvier Brown 14 shooting 6 of 7. Oklahoma shot 60% (30 of 50).
Kobe Knox scored 20 points, Mike Sharavjamts 19 and Meechie Johnson 14 for 14th-seeded South Carolina (13-19). The Gamecocks shot 41% (25 of 61).
South Carolina built a 29-19 in the game's first 10 minutes and the Gamecocks led 39-28 after Knox made a 3-pointer with 5:24 before halftime.
Down the stretch, the Sooners outscored South Carolina 14-3 to tie it at 42 at halftime. Oklahoma emerged from the break continuing its offensive spurt and outscored the Gamecocks 13-5 in the first five minutes of the second half and led 56-47.
Johnson's 3-pointer with 10:52 left brought the Gamecocks within 61-56 but they would never get closer.
Brown's 3 with 7:53 to go made it 70-60 and Oklahoma led by double digits for the remainder.
CHICAGO, IL - JANUARY 26: Rui Hachimura #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers guards Josh Giddey #3 of the Chicago Bulls during the second half on January 26, 2026 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
After an excellent victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers (40-25) look to make it four wins in a row as they host the Chicago Bulls (27-38) on Thursday.
With exactly a month to go until the playoffs, the Lakers are catching their stride at the right time. Not only are they on a much-needed three-game winning streak, but they’ve done it by beating two very good teams in a row. It’s also happening at the right time because the Western Conference seeding is tighter than ever.
Thankfully, the Lakers have this upcoming game against the Bulls to capitalize on before they face the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets. This season, the Bulls have won only 27 games and are entering this one losers of seven of their last 10. They know their playoff hopes are bleak because it’s also not like there’s a good chance that they make the play-in either. Their current injury report perfectly depicts that.
That said, this doesn’t mean it’ll be a giveaway game for the purple and gold. Over the years, Chicago has found a way to upset Los Angeles now and then. But given the state of these two teams right now, there’s really no excuse for the Lakers to lose this one.
The Bulls are one of those handful of teams that are weaker than the Lakers on both offense and defense. The easiest way the Lakers can beat them is to once again overwhelm them with their offense, as they did to the Bulls in January.
LeBron James remains questionable, but the luxury in this scenario is that he can take his time to recover because Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves have held things down. That should be the case again on Thursday and likely without Marcus Smart — who has been playing a ton of minutes as of late — expect Luka Kennard and Jake LaRavia to get more burn. It’ll be a great opportunity for the Lakers to continue building on their momentum and rhythm.
For as long as the Lakers play their usual game and approach this one with the same mindset as their last few, this should be another dub for them.
Let’s see if the Lakers can remain perfect in their current five-game home stand on Thursday.
Notes and Updates
For the Lakers’ injury report, LeBron (right hip contusion and left foot arthritis) and Maxi Kleber (lumbar back strain) are questionable.
Smart (right hip contusion) is doubtful while Jaxson Hayes (back soreness) is probable.
As for the Bulls, Zach Collins (right toe surgery), Noa Essengue (left shoulder surgery), Jaden Ivey (left patellofemoral pain syndrome) and Anferenee Simons (ulnar styloid francture) are out.
Guerschon Yabusele (left foot soreness), Patrick Williams (left ankle sprain), Colin Sexton (left fibular head contusion), Issac Okoro (patellofemoral pain syndrome) are questionable.
Matas Buzelis (right ankle sprain), Josh Giddey (right ankle sprain) and Jalen Smith (left calf strain) are probable.
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Defending champion Jack Draper beat five-time champ Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) Wednesday night in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.
The 24-year-old Draper, who is coming back after missing eight months due to an arm injury, advanced to the quarterfinal round and will face Daniil Medvedev, who beat Alex Michelsen 6-2, 6-4 in the round of 16 to advance.
Djokovic led 6-5 in the third set before Draper rallied and forced a tiebreaker.
“I still don’t feel like I’m playing anywhere near the way I want to play," Draper said. "I came out here and I won that match through determination.”
In addition to his win at Indian Wells last year, Draper won the Stuttgart Open and the Vienna Open, both in 2024.
The 38-year-old Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, won at Indian Wells in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016. Djokovic nearly won an 11th Australian Open title earlier this year, but lost to Carlos Alcaraz.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — RJ Godfrey had 11 points and eight rebounds and Clemson rode a red-hot first half to a 71-62 victory over Wake Forest on Wednesday night to reach the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
Fifth-seeded Clemson (23-9) launched 13 3-pointers in the first 12-plus minutes, making seven of them en route to a 29-18 lead. The Tigers finished the first half 9 for 18. Clemson's reserves did much of the damage, making 5 of 6 from deep, and the Tigers led 41-23 at halftime.
The only free throw attempts of the first half were two misses by Clemson's Nick Davidson with 5:42 remaining.
Clemson led 52-32 after 6 1/2 minutes of the second half before the Demon Deacons' Nate Calmese scored nine unanswered points on a 3-pointer, a three-point trip to the free-throw line, and another 3-pointer.
Clemson went back up by 16 with seven minutes remaining, but Wake Forest got within eight points while the Tigers were missing nine straight shots and Godfrey missed the front end of the 1-and-1 three times in a row. Ace Buckner ended the drought with a layup and the Tigers made six free throws in the final 64 seconds to finish it off.
Juke Harris led 13th-seeded Wake Forest (17-16) with 22 points. It was his 33rd consecutive game scoring in double digits, extending his school record. Calmese scored 20 points and Tre’Von Spillers had 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Ten players played at least 10 minutes for Clemson and they all scored at least three points although Godfrey was the only one to reach double figures.
Up next
Clemson will play fourth-seeded North Carolina in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — David Punch scored 26 points, Tanner Toolson made a couple of big baskets down the stretch, and sixth-seeded TCU rallied for a 95-88 victory over No. 14 seed Oklahoma State in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday night.
Toolson finished with 19 points, and Xavier Edmonds had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Horned Frogs (22-10), who have now won nine of their last 10 games heading into a quarterfinal matchup with third-seeded and No. 14 Kansas on Thursday night.
Anthony Roy had 25 points and nine boards for the Cowboys (19-14). Christian Coleman had 15 points and Kanye Clary had 14.
The Horned Frogs swept the regular-season series from Oklahoma State, though neither of them was easy. They won 68-65 on the road on Jan. 20, then won 95-92 at home on Feb. 14 as part of their red-hot finish heading into the postseason.
In other words, the Cowboys were out for some revenge.
Jaylen Curry scored 10 first-half points to help them take a 46-43 lead, then Roy and Coleman went to work. They combined for 17 points while Oklahoma State scored on nine consecutive possessions early in the second half, and Roy's deep 3-pointer from the wing gave them a 67-57 lead and forced TCU coach Jamie Dixon to call timeout with 13 1/2 minutes left in the game.
It seemed to settle the Horned Frogs right down.
They chipped away at their deficit over the next few minutes, finally pulling ahead on Clary's 3-pointer with 5:40 to go. And while the Cowboys managed to answer a couple of times down floor, the Horned Frogs eventually started to pull away.
Punch's bucket made it 89-86 with 2:50 left, and Toolson's 3-pointer moments later doubled a lead they would never give up.
Up next
The Horned Frogs lost to the Jayhawks 104-100 in overtime on Jan. 6 in Allen Fieldhouse.
The Cowboys are longshots to hear their name called on Selection Sunday.
