Category: Basketball

The 2026 NCAA Tournament brackets are set.

That means college basketball fans all around the country are ready to set their brackets. Part of the fun of March Madness is correctly guessing the brackets for bragging rights over friends in bracket challenges.

To achieve the highest possible score, picking the Final Four and the national champion is usually a must. However, brackets are busted in the very first round of the tournament when an unknown team pulls off a major upset in rounds one or two.

March Madness first round full schedule: NCAA Tournament dates, TV info

Printable bracket: Fill out for predictions, picks in NCAA Tournament

These bracket busters live on in infamy with major wins, as everyone remembers "dunk city" and Florida Gulf Coast, or No. 16 seeds UMBC and Fairleigh Dickinson pulling off upsets of No. 1 seeds Virginia and Purdue, respectively.

Who can pull off some major upsets in the 2026 NCAA Tournament to bust a bunch of brackets? Here's a look at some potential bracket busters: 

Saint Louis (28-5)

Another team that can light up the scoreboard, Saint Louis averages 87.2 points per game, good for seventh in the nation. The Billikens are also tied for ninth in the nation in 3-pointers per game made.

The analytics back up the Billikens, too. They ranked just outside the top 50 in offensive rating (119.5) and 41st in defensive rating (101.2). Saint Louis will need to return to its roots for its 24-1 start; however, after finishing the season with four losses in its final eight games.

Saint Louis is a real threat, but will need to beat No. 8 Georgia in the first round and then No. 1 Michigan in the second round to make a lot of noise.

South Florida (24-8)

With its 70-55 win over Wichita State in the American Conference tournament championship game, the Bulls enter the NCAA Tournament on an 11-game winning streak. Going back further, they went 17-3 in the final 20 games after starting at 8-6 on Jan. 4.

The Bulls' last loss was a 79-78 loss to Temple. In fact, all three of its recent losses have been by one possession, with two going to overtime. On Dec. 17, they even hung around with Alabama, losing 104-93 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

As an 11-seed, the matchup against No. 6 Louisville, followed by No. 3 Michigan State, will not be easy by any means. But the Bulls certainly have a shot to make noise with the draws.

High Point (30-4)

High Point has a NET ranking of 92, which would quickly dispel them as a potential bracket buster in the eyes of many who trust analytics. And while the analytics don't lie, in a one-game tournament, they can also be disregarded if a team catches fire.

The Panthers offense is explosive enough to get on a bender and threaten any higher seed it faces. They are fourth in the country with 90 points per game. The 49.1 shooting percentage from the field is tied for 20th.

Senior Terry Anderson leads the team with 16 points per game, but the Panthers have eight guys who average at least five points per game and six who average eight or more.

The Panthers will open the tournament against Wisconsin, which could be a high-scoring game, but a chance for High Point. A second-round matchup against No. 4 Arkansas gets a little tougher.

Miami Ohio (31-1)

Rated one spot below High Point, Miami (Ohio) could enter the NCAA Tournament with a lot to prove. Yes, the RedHawks' strength of schedule is nothing to write home about. But they beat the teams that were put in front of them. There is nothing more you can ask of the players.

With 90.7 points per game, Miami was second in the nation in points per game, trailing only Alabama, while 52.4% shooting from the field leads the nation. KenPom's 116.8 offensive rating ranks 70th in the country.

Obviously, Miami will need to beat SMU first in the play-in game, but a matchup against a Tennessee team that lost four of its last six games gives the RedHawks a real shot at a potential upset. A matchup against Virginia in round two could also be winnable.

VCU (27-7)

How about the original bracket buster as a potential 2026 bracket buster? In the final USA TODAY Coaches Poll, the Rams received five votes from coaches. Yet, they earned an 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Do the coaches know something the NCAA did not? Well, VCU has a net rating of 45 with a top-50 offensive net rating. Like USF, the Rams are playing their best basketball now. They started the season at 6-4 following a loss to New Mexico.

However, VCU closed the season with a 21-3 record over the final 24 games and won 16 of its last 17 games. A matchup against No. 6 North Carolina in the first round, before a potential matchup against No. 3 Illinois, sets up the Rams as well as an 11-seed can be set up.

Troy (22-11)

Of the six teams on this list, Troy feels like it would be the biggest Cinderella this year if it were able to pull off a deep run.

The Trojans are the first team to win back-to-back Sun Belt tournament titles since Georgia State did so in 2018 and 2019.

The way the bracket shakes up is the biggest reason to believe in the Trojan. Nebraska is officially on upset alert with a matchup against Troy. With McNeese, a potentially tough matchup for No. 5 Vanderbilt, a double-digit second-round matchup is completely on the table.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NCAA Tournament upset picks, March Madness bracket busters, Cinderellas

For the teams that aren’t one of the 68 teams to make the 2026 NCAA Tournament, Selection Sunday was the start of March sadness.

Every year, teams spend all season trying to prove they belong in the bracket. Despite some hiccups along the way, they do achieve things that are worthy of being included in the field. However, there aren’t spots for everyone, and the selection committee decides to go a different route, believing there were too many bad marks in the resume to put them in.

Printable bracket: Fill out for predictions, picks in NCAA Tournament

No matter if the tournament expands or not, there’s always going to be teams that felt like they were wrongfully left out. While the at-large candidates weren’t necessarily as strong as previous years, these ones have a case for being upset with their omission.

Think you can beat our experts? Join USA TODAY’s Bracket Challenge today!

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Oklahoma

The late surge by the Sooners was all for naught, finishing as the first team out of the field despite being one of the hottest bubble teams in the conversation. 

Oklahoma looked dead in the water when it was 13-14, but it flipped a switch with six straight wins before falling just short in the SEC tournament quarterfinals to Arkansas. What really helped was two of those wins were Quad 1 victories to boost it toward a modest 4-10 record, and despite 15 losses on the season, none of them were Quad 3 or 4 defeats, not something every bubble team can say.

The Sooners were able to show they were a completely different team to end the season, picking up momentum at the right time. They surely would’ve been a competitive team, but the selection committee valued the whole resume even though some teams that got in struggled at the end of their campaigns.

San Diego State

The Aztecs were a few minutes away from clinching the Mountain West’s automatic bid. It turns out that was the only way they were going to get in the tournament.

There may not be anything major jumping from San Diego State’s resume, it did finish second in the conference and did own a victory over champion Utah State. If you merge the Quad 1 and 2 records, it’s 9-10, a good enough mark for an at-large candidate. There was a Quad 3 loss very early in the season and the team showed it had grown exponentially since then. What’s unfortunate is the loss to Utah State in the tournament final pushed the Aztecs down two spots in the NET ranking at No. 47, below a New Mexico team it beat twice. They were also the first team right below the cutline of the WAB.

It wasn’t a good year for the Mountain West in its final season of its current group. It will only send one team to the tournament for the first time since 2017, even though the conference runner-up proved it should have been in.

New Mexico

It’s a feeling of “what if” for New Mexico, a team that picked up notable results but maybe a few plays may have decided its fate, missing the tournament for the first time since 2023.

While the Lobos had a 2-7 Quad 1 record, they beat tournament teams in VCU and Santa Clara in the nonconference slate, helping contribute to an overall 8-8 Quad 1 and 2 mark that is fairly decent. However, some of those defeats were close ones. Three of the losses to Utah State and San Diego State were by four points or loss, showing New Mexico could compete with tournament teams.

However, the committee didn’t value New Mexico’s competitiveness. The two Quad 3 losses also loomed large and maybe were too much to overlook. The Lobos are a great case of how one game can completely alter a team’s course, no matter how good it looked.

Belmont

It’s gotten tougher for mid-majors to earn at-large spots in the field, and there’s always going to be a team that didn’t get enough love in the conversation. This year, that belongs to Belmont, which had a dominant campaign as the Missouri Valley Conference champion but didn’t get the automatic bid.

The 26 wins the Bruins collected were among the most for a team that didn’t make the tournament, second to Stephen F. Austin’s 28. However, Belmont is significantly higher than the Lumberjacks in the NET rankings at No. 63. Tulsa also had 26 wins and is higher in the NET (52), but the Bruins had a Quad 1 victory while the Golden Hurricane didn’t. 

Belmont was set on being a dangerous team in the bracket, but its early exit in the conference tournament doomed its chances immediately. It’s the unfortunate reality of being a mid-major.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NCAA Tournament snubs: These teams were left off 2026 bracket

FREIBURG, Germany (AP) — Union Berlin’s stand-in goalkeeper Matheo Raab made a last-minute diving save with his injured right hand on his top-division debut to ensure his team held on for a 1-0 win at Freiburg in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Union had already used all its substitutions when Raab injured his hand in a collision with Freiburg's Bruno Ogbus while diving to punch away a high ball in added time.

“In that moment I only felt pain,” Raab told broadcaster DAZN. “We couldn’t make any more changes and I wanted to somehow play out those last few minutes. There’s nothing you can do but grit your teeth, somehow get the glove back on and get this thing done.”

Raab used the same hand for an acrobatic diving save to keep out Niklas Beste's curling shot and ensure Union took the win. Jeong Woo-yeong had put the Berlin team in the lead with a low shot earlier in added time.

An injury to regular starter Frederik Ronnow meant Raab was playing in the Bundesliga for the first time since arriving at Union in July. He said he powered through with adrenaline. “I waited so long for this and didn't want it taken away.”

Union rose two places to ninth, one place behind Freiburg.

Also Sunday, Deniz Undav scored for the fifth Bundesliga game in a row as a goalkeeping blunder handed Stuttgart a 1-0 win over Leipzig to strengthen its push to qualify for the Champions League.

Leipzig goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt was under no real pressure in the 56th minute when he passed the ball straight to Stuttgart's Chris Führich, who played in Undav to score his 16th league goal of the season, more than any other player in the league except Bayern Munich's Harry Kane.

Stuttgart was fortunate to hold on in added time when Willi Orban was unmarked for a header which beat goalkeeper Alexander Nübel but bounced back off the post before being cleared.

Stuttgart tightened its hold on a Champions League qualifying spot in fourth, opening up a three-point gap to Leipzig in fifth. Stuttgart hasn't lost in five league games.

Mainz edged away from the relegation fight and up to 13th with a 2-0 win at Werder Bremen. Mainz scored early in each half with Paul Nebel's diving header and Lee Jae-song's close-range finish from a low cross. Bremen is 15th.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

TORONTO (AP) — Brandon Ingram had a game-high 34 points and the Toronto Raptors defeated the Detroit Pistons 119-108 on Sunday.

RJ Barrett added 27 points and six rebounds for Toronto, which has won back-to-back games.

The win helped the Raptors hang on to sixth in the Eastern Conference.

Jakob Poeltl and Scottie Barnes each had a double-double. Poeltl finished with 21 points and a season-high 18 rebounds while Barnes added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto.

Cade Cunningham had 33 points and nine assists as the first-place Pistons had their three-game win streak snapped.

Jalen Duren had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds while Tobias Harris scored 21 points for Detroit.

Detroit shot 64.9 percent in the first half, but cooled in the third quarter, going only 26.9 percent.

The win was one of Toronto’s best defensive efforts of the season as the Raptors overcame poor three-point shooting.

Ingram made a long 3-pointer with 2:30 left in the third to give the Raptors a 12-point lead and capped a 9-2 run.

Up next

Detroit: at Washington on Tuesday.

Toronto: at Chicago on Wednesday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Haydn Fleury scored his first goal in more than two years and added an assist, Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele each had their 31st goal and the Winnipeg Jets edged the St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Sunday.

Eric Comrie made 29 saves in his career-high 21st start of the season and first since Feb. 25 to give him a personal-best 11 wins. The victory also extended the backup’s winning streak to five games, the longest for a Jets goaltender this season. Starter Connor Hellebuyck had a four-game run in October.

Fleury gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 2:31 of the first period, scoring his first goal in his 64th game since signing with the Jets as a free agent in July 2024. Fleury last scored on Dec. 19, 2023, while with Tampa Bay. The assist was also the first of the season for Fleury, who has played in 25 games this season. He had seven assists last season in 39 games for Winnipeg.

Dalibor Dvorsky and Dylan Holloway scored for the Blues, who lost in regulation for the first time in March (6-1-1), snapping their seven-game points streak. Jordan Binnington stopped 13 shots.

Connor, who celebrated his 33rd birthday, scored on a delayed penalty when he beat Binnington through the five-hole with 8:07 remaining to put the Jets up 3-1.

Holloway’s 14th goal made it 3-2 with 51 seconds remaining.

Up next

Blues: At the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.

Jets: Host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 31 points and pulled down 14 rebounds, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Indiana Pacers 134-123 on Sunday.

Antetokounmpo also had eight assists while Bobby Portis scored 29 points and added 10 rebounds. Ryan Rollins shot 8 for 12, including 3 for 5 from beyond the 3-point line, to finish with 20 points, seven assists and three steals.

Aaron Nesmith led the Pacers with 32 points. Indiana also got 16 points and two blocks from Jay Huff.

The Bucks trailed 65-62 at halftime but turned a six-point fourth-quarter lead into an 18-point advantage with a 15-3 run to make it 119-101 with 8:45 left in the quarter.

The Pacers turned the ball over 18 times, nine more times than the Bucks.

Up next

The Bucks will host the Cavaliers on Tuesday.

The Pacers travel to meet the Knicks on Tuesday.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost one they’d probably like to have back. The Dallas Mavericks beat them 130-120. Let’s go over today’s winners and losers.

WINNER – Max Strus

I planned on giving Max Strus a winner today, regardless of the outcome. Playing in your first game since May of last year is a moral victory all on its own. That’s something to be proud of.

And then Strus hit his first three three-point attempts and set Rocket Arena on fire.

“The expectation is that he’s as close to his identity as possible,” said Kenny Atkinson before the game. “That means how hard he plays, his enthusiasm, kind of the intangibles. Those are the expectations.”

Strus blew away any expectations you might have had for him in his debut. Simply clearing the final hurdle and returning after nearly half a year of recovery would have already been enough. But Strus has taught us not to underestimate him. He always finds a way to overdeliver.

“Under promise, overdeliver,” said Aktinson. “I remember last year, he was out, I wasn’t expecting a lot, and we got way, way more than I thought.”

Today was a lightning-quick reminder of how valuable Strus is to this team. It’s not just his ability to become a human flamethrower from downtown, but also to ignite the crowd and elevate everyone else around him. He’s the ultimate teammate and someone who is impossibly easy to root for.

Welcome back, Max.

LOSER – Defensive Focus

Defensive identity is something the Cavaliers have repeatedly mentioned throughout the season. They want to be known for their defense first, offense second. But as of late, any semblance of a defensive identity they had has been slipping away.

Before their previous beatdown over the Mavericks on Friday, the Cavs had fallen to 16th in defensive rating over the last two weeks. They showed a strong effort on Friday, but reverted to some of their worst tendencies on Sunday afternoon.

How about stopping the ball before it gets to the paint? Or maybe paying attention to the play when your man doesn’t have the ball? Help defense is important. But overhelping doesn’t actually help anyone. Failing to rotate and recover is as certain a death blow as there is in sports.

The Mavericks looked comfortable all day long. That’s not a good sign for your defense. Dallas drove to the paint and sprayed the ball out for quality three-point shots throughout the game. It’s no wonder they finished the game shooting 50% from downtown.

Sure, you can say the Cavs miss Jarrett Allen. He’d patch up some of their issues in the paint. But the complete and total inability to stop penetration isn’t being solved by the bigs. And containing three-point attempts isn’t their primary job, either.

In short, Cleveland’s backcourt has some serious soul-searching to do before the playoffs begin.

Pencils down.

The regular season and conference championships for the 2025-26 men's college basketball season are now complete. With that, the 2026 men's NCAA Tournament is mere hours away from having its 68-team field revealed on Selection Sunday.

REQUIRED READING: March Madness bracketology live: Latest NCAA Tournament bracket updates

While some teams helped their cause with a big week — including Arkansas winning the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2000 — championship week was a likely formality for the top four teams in last week's poll. Each is likely headed for a No. 1 seed in March Madness.

Duke, of course, won the ACC Tournament and is likely cemented as the No. 1 overall seed. Despite a quarterfinal loss for No. 4 Florida, the defending champion Gators have a strong claim for the No. 1 seed with UConn losing in the Big East Conference tournament title game.

Here’s a look at the latest Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 for March 15:

USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

1. Duke (26)
2. Arizona (5)
3. Michigan
4. Florida
5. Houston
6. Iowa State
7. Connecticut
8. Virginia
9. St. John's
10. Gonzaga
11. Michigan State
12. Illinois
13. Purdue
14. Nebraska
15. Arkansas
16. Vanderbilt
17. Kansas
18. Alabama
19. Texas Tech
20. Wisconsin
21. North Carolina
22. Saint Mary's
23. Miami
24. Louisville
25. Tennessee

Others receiving votes: Miami (Ohio) 36; UCLA 25; Utah State 19; Brigham Young 14; Saint Louis 7; Villanova 6; Virginia Commonwealth 5; Akron 1; Ohio State 1; South Florida 1.

AP Top 25

This section will be updated when the poll is released.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Men's college basketball rankings: Updated Coaches Poll, AP Top 25

CLEVELAND — On paper, this was supposed to be an easy matchup to work Max Strus back into the lineup. Things didn’t work out that way as the Cleveland Cavaliers came out with no effort on the defensive end, which allowed the tanking Dallas Mavericks to run away with a 130-120 victory.

The Mavs aren’t a good offensive team. They came into this game ranked 27th in offensive rating, but you wouldn’t have known that if you just watched this game.

As has been a theme recently, the Cavs had no resistance at the point of attack. Dallas’s ball handlers were able to get two feet into the paint at will, and the help defense wasn’t there early enough to make a meaningful difference. And in the rare instance the help was there to prevent the look at the rim, the rotations weren’t crisp enough on the back end, which resulted in easy catch-and-shoot threes for the Mavs.

The Mavs established a good offensive rhythm early. They put up 35 points on 58.3% shooting from the floor and 50% from three.

Max Strus’s return helped the Cavs stay in it early on. The Cavs were down 10 when he entered the game midway through the first, and he promptly hit three triples to make it just a four-point deficit after one.

The Cavs pulled closer to make it a one-point deficit at the break, but then completely let go of the rope in the third quarter.

The Cavaliers were bad defensively all evening, but were at their worst in the third quarter. They continually allowed free runs to the hoop, which opened up the outside shot. The Mavs went 12-18 from the field (66.7%) and 6-8 (75%) from three in a 40-point third quarter.

Dallas opened the fourth quarter with a 14-point advantage and was mostly able to keep the Cavs at arm’s length from there. Cleveland never got the deficit below nine in the fourth quarter as the defense simply didn’t do enough to give the offense a chance to get back into the game.

The poor defense overshadowed a sensational game for Strus. He played one of his best performances in a Cavalier uniform as he seemingly couldn’t miss from three, going 6-7 from beyond the arc. Strus highlighted how well-rounded an offensive player he is as he was impactful on the offensive glass and as a second-side playmaker.

Strus finished the afternoon with 24 points on 7-9 shooting with eight rebounds.

James Harden played his worst game in a Cavalier uniform. He struggled to take care of the ball, coughing it up six times. He wasn’t able to make up for it with his scoring as he provided just 13 points on 4-12 shooting with seven assists.

Donovan Mitchell had a good game on the stat sheet. He supplied 26 points and 11 assists on 10-24 shooting, but it hardly ever felt like he was really impacting the game the way we’ve come to expect.

Evan Mobley had 18 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists on 8-14 shooting in the loss.

Cooper Flagg led the Mavs with 27 points and 10 assists on 10-16 shooting. It was an outstanding game from someone expected to win the Rookie of the Year.

Naji Marshall (25 points) and P.J. Washington (20 points) helped lead Dallas’s potent offense on Sunday afternoon.

The Cavs will look to pick up the pieces as they travel to Wisconsin to take on the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night. Tip-off is at 8 PM.

With all the conference tournaments in the books, the voters in the USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll weighed in one last time before the nation turns its attention to March Madness.

Duke will enter the NCAA tournament as the top-ranked team, retaining the No. 1 spot it has held for the last three weeks after winning the ACC tournament short-handed. The Blue Devils received 26 of 31 first-place votes, but Big 12 champion Arizona nudged a bit closer. The Wildcats stay in the No. 2 spot overall with the remaining five No.-1 nods.

Michigan, still a likely top regional seed despite coming up short against Purdue in the Big Ten title game, holds at No. 3. Florida, likewise, stays put at No. 4 after falling in the SEC tournament semifinals. The Big 12 holds down the next two spots as Houston stays at No. 5 and Iowa State moves up a notch to No. 6 swapping spots with No. 7 Connecticut.

TOP 25: Complete USA TODAY Sports men's basketball poll

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ACC runner-up Virginia moves up three places to No. 8, Big East champ St. John’s Vaults four spots to No. 9, and West Coast champ Gonzaga climbs two positions to round out the top 10.

The later tournament results produced only slight movement in the poll. Purdue makes the most significant leap after its run to the Big Ten final, a five-position gain to No. 13. SEC champ Arkansas moves up only a couple of places to No. 15. Tennessee sneaks back into the poll at No. 25, replacing no longer unbeaten Miami (Ohio).

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College basketball rankings: Duke leads poll ahead of March Madness

TORONTO (AP) — Raygan Kirk stopped 33 shots for her first PWHL shutout as the Toronto Sceptres beat the Seattle Torrent 2-0 on Sunday.

Blayre Turnbull scored four minutes in on a 2-on-1 rush and Sara Hjalmarsson added an empty-net goal with 7.8 seconds remaining.

Kirk was at her best in the second half of the second period when Seattle (5-1-2-11) hemmed the Sceptres (7-1-5-8) in their own end. She made nine saves during this stretch. It was the seventh time this season Kirk made 30 or more stops.

The Sceptres (3-0-2-0) have earned points in each of their five outings since the Olympic break.

The Torrent outshot Toronto 33-25. Seattle’s Hannah Murphy made 24 saves, 11 in the final 20 minutes.

Daryl Watts did not suit up for Toronto. The Canadian Olympian has been unable to shake a lingering flu bug since returning from the Winter Games three weeks ago.

United States captain Hilary Knight (knee) and Olympic teammate Hannah Bilka (upper-body) did not play.

The Sceptres increased their goal total to 41 in 21 games. Only the expansion Torrent (40 in 19 games) and Vancouver Goldeneyes (35 in 19) have scored fewer times.

Up next

Sceptres: Visit the Boston Fleet on Tuesday.

Torrent: Visit the Montreal Victoire on Thursday.

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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

The recap from the last game against the Golden State Warriors was titled “Ant’s 42 Stops the Skid.” Well, folks, the skid isn’t over. In fact, your Minnesota Timberwolves are driving on black ice while acting like they’re cruising down Rodeo Drive.

You can see where everything went wrong during this ill-fated matinee (like every other one this season), as Anthony Edwards missed from everywhere, including the free throw line, and Rudy Gobert was — and I say this with as much objectivity as possible — abysmally terrible. Four combined points for Gobert and the supposed third option, Jaden McDaniels, are not ever going to be enough to take down the defending champs.

It’s hard not to feel bad for Julius Randle, who has heard so much slander over the past few weeks, only to put up his best performance since the All-Star break in a lackluster game that fell apart in the second half.

Wolves lose to Thunder. Encouraging to see Randle get going, but Gobert and McDaniels both really struggled and the entire team couldn’t hold on to the ball.

— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) March 15, 2026

To that end, a game like today’s shows how hard it is for Minnesota to win when Edwards is not succeeding. While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander struggled to find his typical efficiency on his way to barely keeping his 20-point scoring streak alive, it was Jared McCain taking over the fourth quarter and Isaiah Joe hitting crucial threes down the stretch.

Games like today cause doubts about whether the Wolves can ever really overcome the hump. They have had near-ideal injury luck this whole season. Their opponents today were missing the number two option from a championship team last year. Both superstars were pedestrian, and the Wolves even had the edge in the Robin category.

Instead, it’s another loss in a stretch of many of them.

I can already hear the counterpoints: that you can’t really blame them for today, that OKC is formidable no matter who they have, that these Wolves have always been able to flip a switch. To those optimists, I ask how they will overcome the turnovers, miserable defensive effort, and self-inflicted wounds.

With all that being said, let’s get down to it.

This is going to go down as the Wolves' highest turnover game of the season.

That happening when keeping turnovers down against OKC is such a focus of the gameplan makes you question if this Wolves roster is capable of controlling the ball against them.

— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) March 15, 2026

A Micro-Luka

Let’s take a break from yelling at the Wolves to make fun of a team that Minnesota has history with, even if everyone from that past is gone.

How the *hell* did the Thunder get Jared McCain from the Sixers? For a mediocre first-round pick and a handful of seconds? In an era where live ball handlers and motion shooters have been *the* swing factor of multiple playoff series over the past few years?

I understand that the answer is largely financial. I understand that Josh Harris is cheap and that Daryl Morey has continuously ducked the tax. I understand that they just took VJ Edgecombe and have Tyrese Maxey in place as the franchise centerpiece.

But how did that end up here?

Nice one idiot pic.twitter.com/yikjUNbZdG

— Cooper (@CoopCarlson) March 15, 2026

McCain would’ve been the ultimate injury insurance policy for either of those guards. He would’ve been an ideal Sixth Man of the Year candidate for a bench that has been exceptionally weak over the past decade. He’s younger, better, and under longer team control than Quentin Grimes.

Instead, he is providing that for the title favorite and is quite literally everything the Thunder could’ve ever hoped for. With Lu Dort likely on his way out of town, Alex Caruso will probably be the next man up in the starting lineup. With that move on the horizon, McCain will become the face of this bench unit.

What a moment for him, though.

Few stories are more fun in the NBA than a comeback story. From late first-round pick to rookie of the year frontrunner to season-ending injury to slow return to midseason trade to key playmaker on the best team in basketball, all in two years.

It’s hard not to love basketball and the stories within it. It’s easier to hate those stories when they cause such a low point on what was otherwise a decent Sunday.

Bench Spark Gone Dark

Remember that week after the deadline, when it felt like the complaints of a lack of depth felt overblown? Where Ayo Dosumnu looked like exactly the boost this team needed? Where did Kyle Anderson come back to become the de facto backup point guard?

I remember that moment dearly. And, well, at least one of those things is still true. Ayo Dosumnu was great today. He looks to be every bit of the Nickeil Alexander-Walker replacement he was supposed to be.

The other two bits? Well, Naz Reid couldn’t get anything going, and the Slow Mo gimmick has been exposed as exactly that: a gimmick. The Wolves have never really had the identity of having a “bench mob,” but in a game like today’s, where two bench players won the game for OKC, the problem shone brighter than ever.

Outside of Ayo, the entire Wolves bench had 14 points across 61 total minutes on 17 shots. That’s not good, no matter how you look at it.

It’s also worth noting that Kyle Anderson has re-infected Chris Finch’s subconscious in the exact way everyone was expecting for Mike Conley. A huge story of the 2023 season was quietly how bad Anderson and Gobert paired after a year where they excelled alongside each other. Remember the punches thrown on the bench? Maybe there should be more of those in the locker room tonight.

Thought there was legitimacy in playing SloMo in a specialized role in the non-Gobert minutes, but didn’t think Finch would fall back into his bad SloMo habits so readily.

25 minutes with Gobert in 5 games (-24.9 net rating) before tonight’s disaster. Just not a good pairing.

— Jake Paynting (@JakePaynting) March 15, 2026

Final Thoughts

Part of all of us just want to call this the curse of the matinee and go on with our afternoons.

And you know what, I think that’s the right approach.

Today was bad, but then again, there have been so many worse moments that have ended with the two runs to the Western Conference Finals that I’m sure no one wants to hear about right now.

Maybe this is yet another era of wasted superstars in Minnesota. Maybe it’s the third or fourth of those, a reliving of the same nightmare all over again. Maybe it’s a stumble that can bear fruit down the line.

All I can promise you is that a random March game that ruined an unspecified weekend is not going to be the moment that decides that. There’s so much more to worry about when the games actually matter. Don’t waste your stress here.

Save it for when you need to bite your nails late in an April fourth quarter.

Have a nice day, Wolves fans.

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Up Next

The Timberwolves head back home for a much-needed homestand as they try to get their season back on track. The first of three straight games at Target Center begins on Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns. Tip-off is at 7:00 PM CT, with fans able to watch the game on FanDuel Sports Network.

Highlights

LAVAL, Quebec (AP) — Ella Huber scored 1:33 into overtime to give the Boston Fleet a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Montreal Victoire in a matchup of top teams on Sunday.

With the overtime win, Boston (9-5-2-3) remained in first place in the PWHL three points ahead of Montreal (9-4-1-5). The Fleet trailed by three goals at the start of the third period.

Loren Gabel scored her first of the season, and Megan Keller and Susanna Tapani added goals. Keller and Alina Muller also had two assists. Aerin Frankel made 27 saves.

Abby Roque had a goal and two assists for Montreal. Marie-Philip Poulin scored the opener for Montreal but left the game a few minutes later. Kati Tabin also scored for the Victoire. Ann-Renee Desbiens made 22 saves.

Poulin put Montreal ahead with 5:10 remaining in the first period, tipping Gosling’s shot on the game’s first power play. Two minutes later, Poulin seemed to reinjure her right knee and came off in the middle of the play.

She was replaced by Tabin, who scored on a one-timer past Frankel to extend Montreal’s lead. The goals came in a 2:10 span.

Roque gave Montreal a 3-0 lead with 3:02 left in the second period.

Gabel's goal got the Fleet got on the board 6:01 into the third. Keller made the game 3-2 with 2:34 remaining. With Frankel on the bench for the extra attacker. Boston tied the game with 14.8 seconds remaining when Tapani’s shot beat Desbiens.

Up next

Victoire: Host the Seattle Torrent on Thursday.

Fleet: Host the Toronto Sceptres on Tuesday.

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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

PARIS (AP) — Lyon's winless run in the French league was extended to a fourth straight game by 10-man Le Havre on Sunday.

Despite playing a man down from the 56th minute, the hosts were the better team in the 0-0 draw and Lyon now lags two points behind third-place Marseille in the Ligue 1 standings.

Stephan Zagadou received a straight red card after fouling Endrick. Le Havre, which moved 10 points away from the automatic relegation spots, hit the woodwork twice.

Marseille won 1-0 against struggler Auxerre on Friday. Second-place Lens lost 2-1 at Lorient on Saturday, missing the chance to move back to the top of the standings.

Paris Saint-Germain, which did not play this weekend, has a one-point lead at the top and a match in hand. Nantes agreed last month to postpone their scheduled game on Sunday in order to give PSG more time to prepare for the Champions League second leg against Chelsea. PSG is leading 5-2 from the last-16 first leg.

Fernandez-Pardo is scorer and provider

Lille beat Rennes 2-1 away and moved within five points of Marseille.

Matias Fernandez-Pardo scored the opener for Lille and then assisted Hákon Haraldsson early in the second half. Estéban Lepaul was on the scoresheet for Rennes, reducing the deficit from close range.

It was Rennes' first defeat since coach Franck Haise took charge last month.

Two groups of supporters of Rennes and Lille had clashed Saturday night on the eve of the match.

Radio France reported that police used tear gas and that one fan was injured. Between 100 and 150 people were involved in the fight.

Elsewhere, Mario Sauer scored the winner deep in added time as Toulouse heaped more misery on Metz.

Sauer's goal sealed Toulouse's 4-3 win and extended last-place Metz's winless run to a 14th match.

“It was a crazy game,” Sauer said. “We deserved it today, and this win was so important for us.”

Paris FC drew 0-0 at Strasbourg.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Defender Brayan Ceballos scored two goals in the first half to spark New England to a 6-1 romp over FC Cincinnati on Sunday in the Revolution's home opener.

Ceballos scored in the 25th minute to tie it after Gerardo Valenzuela scored six minutes earlier to give Cincinnati a 1-0 lead.

Dor Turgeman gave New England the lead in the 31st minute before Ceballos scored three minutes into stoppage time for a 3-1 advantage at the half. Ceballos had one goal in 29 appearances as a rookie last season. Turgeman has four goals and two assists in six career appearances dating to last season.

Alhassan Yusuf scored on a header in the 53rd minute for a three-goal lead. Cincinnati keeper Roman Celantano deflected but couldn't corral a shot by Carles Gil and Yusuf took advantage for his first goal this season and his third in 44 career appearances.

Valenzuela was tagged with a red card in the 69th minute, leaving Cincinnati a man down.

Griffin Yow scored in the 87th minute and Peyton Miller found the net two minutes later to complete the rout after the pair subbed into the match in the second half. Yow's first netter of the season is his fourth in 35 career matches. Miller also scored for the first time after two goals in 26 appearances last year.

Matt Turner saved seven shots in goal for the Revolution (1-2-0). Turner is back with the club after making 102 appearances from 2016-22.

Celantano finished with three saves for Cincinnati (1-3-0).

Cincinnati posted a pair of 1-0 victories over the Revolution last season.

It was the first victory for New England coach Marko Mitrović in his first season. The Revs were outscored 5-1 in a pair of road losses to begin the season.

Cincinnati had posted 2-1 and 1-0 victories in its last two trips to Gillette Stadium. The venue had freshly-laid grass in preparation for the FIFA World Cup. The Revs hadn't played on grass at home since they switched to turf in 2006.

Up next

New England: At St. Louis City on Saturday.

Cincinnati: Hosts CF Montreal on Sunday.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer