INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA filed a complaint in federal court Friday seeking an emergency restraining order to stop online sportsbook DraftKings from using registered trademarks associated with the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments.
The complaint for trademark infringement was filed in the Southern District of Indiana and requests that DraftKings stop using terms including “March Madness,” “Final Four,” “Elite Eight” and “Sweet Sixteen" or variations of them in sports betting products, promotional campaigns or marketing.
A message seeking comment was sent after business hours to DraftKings' general media relations address.
The NCAA said in the complaint its trademarks are used to identify, brand, advertise and distinguish the tournaments across broadcast media, digital platforms, merchandise, sponsorships and licensed commercial activities.
“On the eve of the Tournaments, DraftKings deliberately adopted and prominently began using the NCAA’s iconic NCAA Basketball Marks, including confusingly similar variations thereof, to trade on — and usurp — the immense goodwill, recognition, and consumer trust embodied in those Marks at the precise moment of peak public attention,” the complaint said.
Screenshots of DraftKings wagering platforms were included in exhibits attached to the complaint.
“DraftKings’s unlawful use quickly proliferated across its consumer-facing websites and mobile applications, embedding the marks and logos into betting menus, promotional graphics, and marketing publications, to deliberately exacerbate consumer confusion and reinforce a false association with or sponsorship by the NCAA in order to continuously capitalize on the goodwill of the NCAA,” the complaint said.
The NCAA said it avoids any appearance of affiliation with gambling companies and has declined sportsbook sponsorships, banned sports betting by athletes and staff and publicly opposed prop bets and micro-bets. The NCAA noted it has launched initiatives to prevent harassment and improper influence in college sports and preserve the integrity of its competitions.
"Every day that DraftKings continues to use these marks, millions of sports fans — and, critically, college students and young adults who are particularly susceptible to gambling harm — are exposed to the false suggestion that the Association has authorized or endorsed DraftKings’ gambling platform,” the NCAA said in a statement.
ATLANTA (AP) — Virginia junior Claire Curzan repeated as champion in the 100-yard backstroke on Friday and the Cavaliers remained in first place heading into the final day of the women’s swimming and diving championships.
Curzan won the race with the second-fastest time ever at 48.24, trailing only Gretchen Walsh (48.10). She was 1.38 seconds faster than Bella Sims and Maggie Wanezek, who tied for second.
Curzan also joined freshman Sara Curtis, Aimee Canny and Anna Moesch to dominate the 400 medley relay, winning by 3.13 seconds over Tennessee.
The Cavaliers also secured two second-place finishes to lead the team standings with 437.5 points, followed by Texas with 272 and Stanford 242.5.
Stanford's Lucy Bell also defended her title in the 200 breaststroke with a program-record 2:02.38. Then Bell's teammate Torri Huske earned a second individual title at the NCAAs with a time of 20.66 in the 50 freestyle.
California freshman Claire Weinstein led wire-to-wire in the 500 freestyle.
South Carolina diver Sophie Verzyl won the three-meter competition.
The meet wraps up on Saturday with the 200 IM, 100 free, 200 fly, 200 back and 400 free relay.
No. 9 seed Utah State pulled off an upset against No. 8 Villanova in a 86-76 win during the first round of the Men's NCAA Tournament at Viejas Arena in San Diego, California, on March 20.
It was a back-and-forth battle throughout, everything that you love about March Madness.
Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun must have said something during the pregame pep talk inside the Aggies' locker room that resonated with his players as they jumped out to a 22-13 lead.
What needs to be studied is Calhoun's playbook, let alone coaching.
"This guy is an offensive genius," CBS commentator and former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy said of Calhoun.
Once Villanova settled into the game, they went on a run of their own, eventually taking their first lead of the game, 33-31, with 5:10 to go in the first half. They kept a two-point lead going into the halftime break, largely thanks to 7-of-14 shooting from deep, while the Aggies only connected on one attempt in eight tries. They ended the game with 14 threes on 47% shooting, while Utah State shot 13% for the game.
Villanova built a 10-point lead early in the second half but Utah State didn't fade or shy away from the task.
The fight of the Aggies' throughout the game is what really turned heads. They remained calm, leaned on each other and went on a 14-4 run to climb their way back to tie the game at 54 with 14:05 remaining.
Both teams continued to trade blows until Utah State pulled away in the end starting on the defensive end which turned into easy fastbreak points, and offensively, they were polished. The Aggies ended the game on a 15-3 run.
"Defense. Coach came in at halftime [and said] we're in a good spot, down two," said senior guard MJ Collins Jr. who had 20 points. "We weren't making threes, so we knew we had to rely on our defense. And it kind of carried us over in the second half. That's what we're known for, getting our offense based off our defense. You know, we switched up a couple coverages late in the game, and it kind of messed them up. They were kind of stagnant, and we executed off of it."
Calhoun showcases coaching 'masterclass'
CBS Sports analyst Jamal Mashburn, who played 11 NBA seasons out of University of Kentucky, had high praise for Calhoun and what he's done with the Utah State program.
"Just a masterful job of what he's been able to do," Mashburn said. "Teach these kids how to play that way, and also put them in a position to be aggressive and not be afraid to make mistakes."
Even TNT Sports host Adam Lefkoe had to admire Calhoun's coaching prowess.
"Many of you have not seen Utah State. But we sat here and went, 'Coaches around the country need to steal their plays.' Hopefully they don't steal their players," Lefkoe said. "Utah State's offense was phenomenal. ... Let's look at the highlights because almost every play you see is a masterclass from coach Calhoun."
Held in high regard is Calhoun, who's in his second season as the head men's basketball coach at Utah State. He's the 22nd head coach in the Aggies' men's basketball program history.
"I really want to tip our cap to Villanova," Calhoun told reporters after the game. "I thought that was just a tremendous basketball game. They're very, very well coached. I thought Kevin [Willard] did a great job of, you know, really changing up the defenses, man, zone. They made an incredible amount of threes, and they put a ton of pressure on the paint."
He added: "Kevin is a tremendous coach, but our guys in the last seven, eight minutes, I thought we really buckled down. Our execution offensively was tremendous, our screening, getting to the next action. And I thought what won the game was our 'will to' and our 'want to' this team has been very connected throughout the year, and in March, you have to be connected."
Utah State was led by junior guard Mason Falslev with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Fellow senior guard Drake Allen filled the stat sheet with 11 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals. Freshman forward Adlan Elamin, who climbed the rafters a few times for soaring dunks, added 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Villanova was led by sophomore guard Bryce Lindsay with 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting, including 6-of-11 from beyond the three-point stripe. Senior forward Duke Brennan and junior guard Tyler Perkins each had 15. Sophomore guard Malachi Palmer added 11 for the Wildcats.
Utah State finding their 'swagger'
Calhoun has his team playing with a chip on their shoulder and so far it's served them well.
"We did not like our seed. We were not too fond of being a 9-seed," Calhoun said. "We won 28 games. We won the [Mountain West] regular season title, we won the tournament title. So when this team has an edge, and they play, you know, with a little bit of swagger and a little bit of toughness and resilience, we can cause a lot of problems."
"You know, this defense was originated from from Ralph Willard, Kevin's father, and it's hard to play against," Calhoun said. "So I think, as MJ said, we didn't want to overreact to the threes, but we felt like the game would loosen up eventually. And you saw MJ made some big steals, Mason, Adlan, Drake, their activity, KT's [Karson Templin] activity, defensively, I thought was the difference."
Up next for the Aggies are another pack of Wildcats, No. 1-seeded Arizona in the NCAA men's basketball tournament Round of 32.
LAAX, Switzerland (AP) — Eileen Gu added another halfpipe title to her resume Friday, taking the first Snow League season championship by capturing gold in the circuit's last contest.
The victory came nearly four weeks after the 22-year-old capped off the Milan Cortina Olympics with a gold medal on the halfpipe, adding to a pair of silver medals she had won earlier in slopestyle and big air. Over two Games, Gu has captured a medal in all six events she's entered — the only freeskier to do that in the sport's history.
“I take a lot of meaning in being the first to do things,” Gu said after becoming the first champion crowned in Shaun White's new league that features halfpipe riding in skiing and snowboarding. “To be a part of this league means so much to me. ... I believe so much in the vision and the direction that it’s pushing the sport.”
Gu, who was born in the United States but competes under the flag of her mother's homeland, China, earned $75,000 for the victory — $50,000 for winning the contest and another $25,000 for capturing the season crown. Fifteen of Gu's 20 World Cup titles have come on the halfpipe.
Luke Harrold of New Zealand took home $75,000 for winning both the event and the season title on the men's side.
The snowboarders will close the league's first season Saturday, with Olympic gold medalist Yuto Totsuka trying to wrap up the title; he holds a slim lead in the standings over Olympic bronze medalist Ryusei Yamada.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (AP) — Ohio State scored four goals in the final 10 minutes of the first period, and the No. 1 overall seed Buckeyes beat fifth-seeded Northeastern 5-0 on Friday in the first of two semifinals Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena.
Ohio State (36-4-0), which set the program's single-season wins record with 36, advanced to its fifth straight national title game to improve to 14-4 in the NCAA Tournament and 7-4 in the Frozen Four.
Northeastern (29-9-1) was making its fourth Frozen Four appearance in program history and first since 2023 when Ohio State defeated the Huskies 3-0. The Huskies dropped to 5-7-0 in the NCAA Tournament.
Five different players scored for the Buckeyes and 10 players recorded a point.
Joy Dunne, a Patty Kazmaier top-10 finalist, scored on a rebound 10 minutes into the game for her 27th goal of the season. Then Kaia Malachino and Sanni Vanhanen scored a minute apart for a 3-0 lead.
Emma Peschel beat the first-period buzzer with a slap shot to make it 4-0 and Sara Swiderski sent a shot from the blue line that deflected into the goal in the third.
Hailey MacLeod recorded her fifth shutout this season with 15 saves — five coming in the first 10 minutes. She ended a breakaway chance five minutes in and finished the frame with eight saves.
Northeastern goaltender Lisa Jönsson made 37 saves.
Up next
The Buckeyes will face the winner of the second semifinal between No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 3 Penn State.
PHILADELPHIA, PA — If there is one thing about March Madness that is consistent on a yearly basis, it is the rallying love from men's college basketball fans for the mid-major programs that are included in the 68-team field.
But it isn't necessarily love from the high-level programs when it comes to non-conference scheduling. It's something that fourth-year Miami (Ohio) head coach Travis Steele said needs to change from an analytical standpoint.
"A lot of it's analytically driven. There needs to be adjustments made," Steele said after Miami (Ohio) fell to 6-seed Tennessee on Friday at Xfinity Mobile Arena in the first round of the Midwest Region. "... I don't know when's the last time that they made an adjustment to it or if they have. But fans want to see those games. Our fans do. Their fans do. They want to see brands. It stinks."
RedHawks senior guard Peter Suder agrees with his coach on why high-major programs won't schedule mid-majors.
"I wouldn't say they're afraid. It's a numbers thing, an analytical thing," said Suder, who scored a team-high 27 points on Friday against the Volunteers. "We would like to play them. It's a great opportunity for the mid-majors to go out there and prove they're just as good. It's more of an analytical thing.
Steele and Studer's comments come less than 24 hours after High Point coach Flynn Clayman spoke on the matter after his team knocked off 5-seed Wisconsin in Portland on Thursday. Clayman's emotion in his postgame interview came a few days after Miami (Ohio)'s metrics were once questioned ahead of Selection Sunday because the RedHawks did not have a single Quad 1 win until their First Four win over SMU.
"It looks pretty obvious to me that high-majors need to play mid-majors during the season," Clayman said. "Because they said we ain't played nobody? We played somebody now."
The conversation of Miami (Ohio)'s resume and metrics started well before Selection Sunday for the RedHawks, who are now No. 91 on KenPom and No. 86 on Bart Torvik, two analytical websites, after Friday's win. The RedHawks entered the day as a Quad 2 game for Tennessee, with their No. 64 ranking in the NCAA's NET system.
"Most of the scheduling's done on the phone, and it's frustrating," Steele said.
Steele said he knew back in June of last year that his team would be "in trouble" with its non-conference schedule.
"We didn't finish our schedule until mid-October. We played two weeks later, which is ridiculous, especially in today's college landscape," Steele said. "It sounds crazy to me, but again, I get why they don't want to play because you want to stay away from Quad 2 or Quad 3 games. It does nothing for you.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 18: Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates after making a three pointer during the fourth quarter of the game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on March 18, 2026 in Houston, Texas. 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. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Luka Dončić is the NBA’s leading scorer, so him putting up points for the Lakers isn’t typically a tale worth telling.
But he really outdid himself on Thursday night against the Heat. He was originally listed as questionable to play in the contest due to right hip soreness.
Considering that the game against the Heat was the second leg of a back-to-back, no one would’ve blinked an eye if Luka took the game off to get his body right.
However, Luka pushed through and didn’t just suit up for the Lakers, he was the star of the show.
Dončić scored a whopping 60 points, extending LA’s win streak to eight and scoring more on the Miami Heat than any player ever has.
After the game, Lakers head coach JJ Redick praised his superstar’s efforts.
“It was a superhero performance,” Redick said. “I thought him really keeping us afloat early was really important. And then all the groups there in the second quarter really did a nice job. The group that started, obviously, the second half that got us the lead was great. But he just made big shots, he made tough shots, made a lot of right reads. When he gets it going like that, some of it is you just kind of let him go.
“His teammates felt that. They saw that. We look for some advantages in some places. The Horns Chin Clear that we ran for the off-ball three was just a big time screen from [Ayton], a big time pass from LeBron and a big time shot from Luka. I thought that was one of the bigger buckets he had. But then had the crazy stepback three in front of their bench. I mean, you just go down the list. The shotmaking was unreal tonight.”
The way Luka got his 60 was incredible. Only 15 of his points came from the free throw line and many of his shots were difficult.
According to the NBA’s tracking data, most of his shot attempts came after multiple dribbles. He took 10 shots with 3-6 dribbles and converted 70% of them. And he went 5-10 on the shots where he took seven or more dribbles.
And the player Luka scored the most against? That would be Heat All-NBA defender Bam Adebayo. Dončić scored 22 points over him, going 7-9 from the field.
At this point in his relatively young career, nothing Luka does should shock anyone.
But he raised his level to another stratosphere in this game. He is the first Laker to score 60 since Kobe Bryant did it in the last game of his career. Luka is leading the league in 40-plus games at 13 and, due to him hitting nine threes against Miami, he is now the franchise leader in 3-pointers made in a season at 232, surpassing the record set by D’Angelo Russell.
He may have been a superhero on Thursday, but the Wonder Boy always has the ability to make an ordinary game into an extraordinary one.
It’s what makes him a generational talent and why the future in LA looks brighter by the day.
Forward Tyler Bilodeau was ruled out just before the Bruins’ first-round matchup against the No. 10 seed UCF Knights. He was listed as questionable on the NCAA injury report prior to East region contest on Saturday, March 20.
Bilodeau sprained his right knee during UCLA's win over Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament earlier this month.
Bilodeau absence is a blow to the No. 7 seed Bruins. The senior forward is UCLA’s leading scorer, averaging 17.6 points per game. He was selected third-team All-Big Ten this year.
Without Bilodeau, the Bruins will rely on guards Donovan Dent, Trent Perry, Skyy Clark and Eric Dailey Jr. to carry most of the scoring load. All four guards average more than 10 points per game this season.
Bilodeau, a 6-foot-9 senior, played his first two collegiate seasons at Oregon State before transferring to UCLA in 2024.
UCLA is hoping for a deeper run in this year’s NCAA Tournament. The Bruins won their first-round matchup last season against Utah State but were bounced out in the second round by Tennessee.
UCLA is 23-11 this season and finished sixth in the Big Ten.
For a few grueling seconds, Mark Pope’s soul left his body, with the Kentucky men’s basketball coach’s sullen facial expression saying it all.
Then, with a flick of the wrist, his star player banked it right back into place.
In one of the more eventful and chaotic four-second sequences in NCAA tournament history, Pope’s Wildcats team gave up a go-ahead 3-pointer to Santa Clara with 2.4 seconds remaining only to immediately respond with a 3 of its own, with Otega Oweh firing it off the glass from just past midcourt as time expired to send the game into overtime and ultimately deliver Kentucky an 89-84 victory in a first-round matchup on Friday, March 20 in St. Louis.
While Oweh played the role of hero on a day in which he scored a career-high 35 points, it was Pope’s range of emotions to the waning seconds of regulation that stood as some of the enduring images from the Wildcats’ thrilling triumph.
After Allen Graves buried a 3 for Santa Clara to break a 70-70 tie in the 7-versus-10 matchup, Pope looked out at the court stoically after intently providing defensive instructions to his players only seconds earlier. He remained that way as Oweh’s shot went up and raised his arms in joy after it passed through the net and calmly said “Let’s go” to his players as they passed by him.
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 20, 2026
Kentucky went on to outscore Santa Clara 16-11 in the extra period to move on to face No. 2 seed Iowa State in the second round of the tournament on Sunday.
Any fear and disappointment Pope might have felt after Graves’ shot would have been understandable.
Though Pope, a team captain on Kentucky’s 1996 national championship team, was greeted with excitement when he was hired by his alma mater in 2024, his second squad at the school fell well short of the massive expectations that greeted it. The Wildcats went 21-13 in the regular season and finished ninth in the SEC, despite having a roster worth a reported $22 million. That roster, though, was built in part around a big man coming off a significant injury from the previous season who only appeared in only four games this season (Jayden Quaintance) and a point guard whose poor shooting made him a curious fit for Pope’s 3-heavy offense (Jaland Lowe, who, for good measure, was also severely limited by injuries this season).
Pope guided the Wildcats to a Sweet 16 in his first season in 2024-25 and improved to 46-25 at Kentucky with the win Friday.
March Madness has just about everything, from future NBA stars to unlikely heroes. But sometimes, it can also uncover heartfelt moments, even in the midst of a blowout.
That's what happened during No. 16 seed LIU's 92-58 loss to No. 1 Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 20. The game was virtually over by halftime, but it still provided the Sharks with lifelong memories – especially one player in particular.
Sophomore guard Eddie Munyak, a 6-foot-1 walk-on guard, entered for LIU in the final moments of its loss to one of the national championship favorites and had his one shining moment. He waved for the ball multiple times while the Sharks were down 80-53, and when he finally received the pass, he fired from 3-point range and banked the shot off the backboard through the net for his first career points.
It was only Munyak's second appearance in a game this season, last seeing the floor for two minutes against Le Moyne on Jan. 29. He was expectedly hype after sinking the shot, putting his arms out as he ran back on defense in jubilation.
"HE'LL REMEMBER THAT FOR A LIFETIME."
LIU Sophomore Eddie Munyak is playing in his 2nd game this season for the Sharks.
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 20, 2026
"He'll remember that for a lifetime," play-by-play commentator Kevin Harlan said on the broadcast. "This is the beauty of this tournament."
Despite Munyak's 3-pointer having no impact on the game's conclusion, his LIU teammates erupted on the bench after he hit his first-career shot. Sometimes it means more than just wins and losses, especially as the Sharks have never won an NCAA Tournament game.
The teams that make deep NCAA Tournament runs in 2026 will be riddled with future professional players. Munyak won't be one of them, but he certainly made a memory that'll last a lifetime against Arizona.
Purdue guard Braden Smith is the all-time leader in assists, breaking Bobby Hurley's record in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Queens on Friday, March 20. The senior from Indiana got the record on a dish to Trey Kaufman-Renn in the first half.
Smith now has 1,077 assists in his four year career with the Boilermakers. Purdue fans at the game gave Smith a standing ovation for the achievement.
One of the most prolific passers in the sport, Smith entered his senior year within striking distance of reaching Hurley's record from his time at Duke from 1990-93, and has continue to find buckets for teammates. He entered the day averaging nine assists per game, second-most in the country.
Hurley previously told USA TODAY Sports he has "always admired" how Smith plays. He was surprised his record stood for more than 30 years, and while he said he couldn't dictate who was worthy of breaking it, Hurley believed Smith was the right player to become the new leader.
"To have someone that would take it down, (Smith) would be the type of person that I would really respect having the record," Hurley said.
Smith collected the record after a sensational run in the Big Ten tournament that was capped off with the conference title.
He entered conference championship week with 1,029 assists, in fourth place of the leaderboard and 47 assists away from Hurley's record. There was uncertainty if he would be able to beat the record by the time his career was over, but he was dishing it out at an incredible rate in Chicago to set himself up to break the record in the first round of March Madness.
The guard went into March Madness needing just two assists to set the new record.
It was nearly foretold by Purdue coach Matt Painter, who told USA TODAY Sports in January the record would "come because you get to the championship game of the Big Ten tournament, you get to the Final Four." Turns out, he didn't need March Madness to do it.
Smith told USA TODAY Sports ahead of the tournament he was "ready to just get it over with" so he could put all of the attention toward winning Purdue's first national championship. Now with that in hand, the decorated guard can go for the two goals he had for his senior season.
"That's one of the reasons I came back, was to win and to get the record," he said. "Obviously, wanted to do it at a place that I've been for the three years prior. For me, just to be around a great bunch of guys and obviously great coaching staff, and do it with them, I think it makes it more special."
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MARCH 08: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors and Cade Cunningham #2 of the Detroit Pistons hug after the game on March 8, 2025 at Chase Center in San Francisco, 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 Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Golden State Warriors are in desperate need of a win tonight, when they visit the Detroit Pistons in the fourth stop on their six-game road trip. It certainly won’t be easy, as the Pistons boast an Eastern Conference-best 50-19 record. It is made easier by the fact that Detroit will be without their superstar point guard … but then again, so will the Warriors.
Here’s the full injury report for both teams for the 4:30 p.m. PT game.
Warriors
Out — Steph Curry (right patellofemoral pain syndrome)
The Warriors keep expressing optimism that we’ll see Curry before the season ends, but we’re running out of time. This is his 20th consecutive absence, and there are only 12 regular season games on the schedule after leaving the motor city.
Out — Jimmy Butler III (right ACL surgery)
Butler, on the other hand, has no chance of returning this year, but we all knew that. Hopefully his rehab and recovery are going well following January’s ACL tear.
Out — Moses Moody (right wrist sprain)
Moody’s injury initially didn’t appear serious, but it has really lingered. This will be his ninth straight game on the sidelines, which is a big bummer given how well he was playing before sustaining the injury.
Out — Al Horford (right soleus strain)
This isn’t the usual case of Horford resting because the Warriors have a back-to-back (they visit Jonathan Kuminga and the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night). No, Horford is straight up injured, and his status for the rest of the season is in doubt.
Out — Quinten Post (right foot injury management)
Thank goodness that Kristaps Porziņģis is healthy, since the Dubs are without their other two centers. Given that this is just an injury management day for Post, I would assume that he’ll be on the court on Saturday.
Out — Seth Curry (left adductor strain)
Still just four games played this year for the younger Curry brother. What a bummer of a year for him.
Available — LJ Cryer (left hamstring injury management)
After being sidelined for two games, Cryer returns. He’ll certainly see action tonight, given the number of names that aren’t available.
Join our March Madness conversation!
Drop in SB Nation’s March Madness open thread during Friday’s games where we’ll be talking about all the wild upsets, buzzer beaters, and Cinderella runs!
SB Nation’s cast of characters will be enjoying the game together, so join Chris Dobbertean, Mike Rutherford, Ricky O’Donnell, Mark Schofield, James Dator, and others for 12 hours of basketball chaos!
Pistons
Out — Cade Cunningham (left lung pneumothorax)
Cunningham was putting together quite an MVP campaign before suffering a collapsed lung. Thankfully that’s not quite as scary or serious as it sounds, and it’s still expected that the young superstar point guard will be ready to rejoin the Pistons before the playoffs.
Out — Isaiah Stewart (left calf strain)
Beef Stew is having a typical solid year, averaging 10.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. He’s a menace in the paint, so his absence is a blessing for a Warriors team that is missing Horford and Post.
Out — Marcus Sasser (right hip soreness)
Sasser has struggled with injuries this season, including missing Detroit’s first 23 games. Now he’s back on the sideline after playing nine consecutive games.
Out — Bobi Klintman (G League assignment)
A second-round pick a year ago, Klintman remains very raw. He’s appeared in just 19 games over his two NBA seasons.
Questionable Available — Jalen Duren (right ankle soreness)
The first-time All-Star this year was listed as questionable, but was just announced as good to go. That’s bad news for the Warriors, and means the Dubs are going to need some serious defense and rebounding from Porziņģis and Draymond Green.
Questionable Out — Kevin Huerter (right shoulder contusion)
Similarly, Huerter was listed as questionable, but was ruled out shortly before tip.
For the better part of the past month, the most hyper-analyzed and breathlessly discussed team in men’s college basketball wasn’t in Lexington, Kentucky or Lawrence, Kansas or on North Carolina’s famed Tobacco Road.
It was a mid-sized state school in southwest Ohio that wasn’t even picked in the preseason to win its own (typically) one-bid conference and had gone nearly 20 years without an NCAA Tournament appearance.
When the 2025-26 season tipped off back in early November, few people outside of Oxford, Ohio could have imagined Miami (Ohio) would become one of the defining teams and storylines nationally by the time March Madness rolled around, yet there the RedHawks were, winning game after game and doing what only some of the most iconic squads in the sport’s modern history had been able to pull off.
That inspired run ended Friday, March 20, with Miami suffering just its second loss of the season, a 78-56 blowout at the hands of Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Philadelphia.
What happened across an ill-fated 40 minutes, though, did nothing to diminish the five months that preceded it.
The RedHawks became just the fifth Division I team since 1980 to start a season 30-0, joining the star-studded likes of 1990-91 UNLV and 2014-15 Kentucky. The fact those historical peers had significantly more next-level talent only added to Miami’s charm. A roster made up largely of once-overlooked recruits came together to play one of the more beautiful forms of basketball of any team in the country, an offensively explosive outfit that played at a frenetic pace, spread opponents out and knocked down shots at a dizzying rate.
In an age when mid- and low-major programs largely exist as feeder systems for college basketball’s biggest and richest schools, the RedHawks were a heat-warming anachronism, a group of players who came into the program, developed, improved and, perhaps most impressively, stayed. Of the 15 players who logged at least one minute for Miami this season, 12 began their careers at the school. Five of the top six scorers from a 25-win team the previous season came back, almost certainly spurning more lucrative opportunities elsewhere. And it was all coming under the direction of a coach in Travis Steele who, after stumbling as a head coach at the power-conference level, has made the most of a second chance.
At some point, an inspiring story became something decidedly more polarizing.
As the RedHawks inched closer to an unblemished regular season, debates began over their NCAA Tournament hopes. Their poorly rated nonconference schedule and subpar predictive metrics were nitpicked. Their series of tight wins drew skepticism. If they lost even just once and didn’t earn the Mid-American Conference’s automatic bid to the Big Dance, did they deserve a spot in the 68-team bracket? To some extraordinarily outspoken individuals, the answer was a firm “no.”
Despite Bruce Pearl’s best and most nakedly shameless efforts, and even after a loss to UMass in the MAC quarterfinals, Miami heard its name called on Selection Sunday, earning one of the final at-large spots and a trip to the First Four in Dayton that may as well have been a challenge from the NCAA tournament selection committee — if you really belong in this event, you’ll have the chance to prove it.
And, surely enough, they did.
Steele’s men of steel drained 16 3-pointers and knocked down 39% of their shots from beyond the arc to beat a high-scoring SMU team by double digits and pick up the program’s first NCAA tournament win since a Wally Szczerbiak-led run to the Sweet 16 in 1999.
“I think we do belong here,” Peter Suder, the team’s leading scorer, said Thursday heading into the first-round game. “I think we showed that last night especially, but just don't count us out.”
Two days later, they ran into a wall, taking on a bigger, more physical and more talented Tennessee squad that was as bad of a matchup on the court as it was on paper, outrebounding Miami by a 42-25 margin, limiting its effectiveness from 3 and holding it to a season-low 56 points.
For all but one team, the college basketball season ends in disappointment, but for some, success isn’t wholly defined by national championship or Final Four banners. For months, as Miami’s resume was relentlessly dissected, the RedHawks (and results of Freedom of Information Act requests) insisted that teams from the sport’s major conferences were unwilling to schedule them. They weren’t alone in that struggle. High Point, as coach Flynn Clayman made sure to note after his team upset No. 5 seed Wisconsin on Thursday, faced similar issues.
All that schools like them asked for was a chance in a sport that increasingly seems like it’s stacked against them and designed to kill stories like theirs before they even get the chance to begin. But in the NCAA Tournament, when there’s no hiding behind a cautious scheduling philosophy, those chasms between the haves and have-nots have a beautiful way of disappearing.
While Miami came up well short against Tennessee, it showed that it earned the right to be there. And, as its coach sees it, its hard-earned place in the sport has staying power.
"My goal is to get this thing to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament," Steele said after Friday's loss. "We will be back. I'm very very confident on that"
PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Sungjae Im held onto the lead on a breezy Friday afternoon in the Valspar Championship, rallying on the back nine to edge ahead of David Lipsky in firm and fast conditions on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook.
After missing two straight cuts in his return from a wrist injury, Im shot a 2-under 69 to get to 9-under 133 — a stroke ahead of Lipsky. On Thursday morning, Im had two eagles in a 64 for a one-shot advantage over Brandt Snedeker.
“The important thing, well, the most important thing is that I can get my drives into the fairways,” the 27-year-old South Korean player said through a translator. “If I do that, then I will be able to give myself good chances. There’s just a lot of danger out there on the course.”
On Friday, Im had three bogeys and two birdies in a front-nine 37, then birdied the par-5 11th and par-4 12th. He broke a tie for the lead with a 7-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th.
“I want to really focus and be patient because I have a chance this weekend.” Im said. “This weekend, I think the winds are going to blow and the greens are going to get more firm.”
He has two PGA Tour victories, the 2020 Honda Classic and 2021 Shriners Children’s Open.
Lipsky had a 65, playing in the first group of the day off the first tee. Winless on PGA Tour, he birdied the first two holes and four of the the first six, added two more on 10 and 11 and parred the final seven.
“It was excellent. I did everything well,” Lipsky said. “Missed it in the right spots, holed the putts early on to get some momentum going. That finishing stretch is obviously tough, so able to save a couple pars down on 16 and 18 and really kept the round going.”
Chandler Blanchet and Doug Ghim were 7 under. Blanchet closed with a bogey for a 66. Ghim shot 67, making an eagle on the par-5 11th, then giving back the strokes with bogeys on 15 and 16.
“Obviously, I wish I would have finished a little bit better,” Ghim said. “Two bad holes doesn’t really necessarily kind of ruin a good day.”
Snedeker had a 72 to drop to 5 under. The 45-year-old U.S. Presidents Cup captain received a sponsor exemption.
“The good thing is it’s playing really tough and tricky this afternoon,” Snedeker said. “Try to take a positive from that. Hung in there when things weren’t going great.”
Jordan Smith (68) also was 5 under with Matt Fitzpatrick (69), Marco Penge (68) and Alex Smalley (69).
“I definitely hit it better yesterday and putted better today,” Spieth said. “So, just try to put them both together on the weekend.”
Fitzpatrick was second last week in The Players Championship.
Brooks Koepka was tied for 10th at 4 under after a 67 in his return to Innisbrook. He missed a 3-foot birdie putt on his final hole.
“Just keep doing what I’m doing,” Koepka said. “Playing well, like the way I’m striking it.”
Defending champion Viktor Hovland missed the cut with rounds of 70 and 75.
ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 16: Jock Landale #31 of the Atlanta Hawks three point basket against the Orlando Magic on March 16, 2026 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. 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 Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Atlanta Hawks (38-31) aim for a stunning twelve straight wins against the formidable Houston Rockets (41-27).
Starting lineup:
G CJ McCollum
G Nickeil Alexander-Walker
F Dyson Daniels
F Jalen Johnson
C Onyeka Okongwu
Please join in the comments below as you follow along.
Where, When, and How to Watch and Listen
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, TX
Start Time: 8:00 PM EDT
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Southeast (FDSNSE)
Radio: Sports Radio 92.9 the Game (WZGC-FM)
Streaming: ESPN+, FanDuel Sports Network app, Fubo (out of market), NBA League Pass (out of market), Youtube TV (NBA League Pass out of market)
