COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Zach Clemence scored 21 points on seven 3-pointers to lead Texas A&M to a 92-69 victory over South Carolina on Saturday.
Rylan Griffen added 16 points for Texas A&M (16-4, 6-1 Southeastern Conference), which entered tied with Florida atop the SEC standings and has won nine of its last 10 games.
Pop Isaacs and Rashaun Agee each chipped in with 11 points for the Aggies.
The Aggies finished the first half on a 19-4 run to take a 46-25 lead at the break. Clemence scored 12 points and Ruben Dominguez scored all nine of his on 3s for the Aggies. Meechie Johnson scored 13 first-half points to pace the Gamecocks.
Ali Dibba's jumper with 12:30 left in the second half gave the Aggies their largest lead, 70-38.
Johnson scored 26 points on 7-of-12 shooting and made all 10 of his free-throw attempts to lead South Carolina (11-9, 2-5), which has lost four of its last five. Kobe Knox added 18 points and Myles Stute had 11.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The NBA game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors was postponed on Saturday afternoon following another fatal shooting by a federal officer in Minneapolis.
The game was rescheduled for Sunday afternoon. The Timberwolves and Warriors are also scheduled to play on Monday night.
The league announced the decision was made to “prioritize the safety and security of the Minneapolis community" after 37-year-old Alex Pretti was killed in a confrontation with officers on a street in a commercial district less than two miles from Target Center, the downtown arena where the Timberwolves play. With the crowd of protesters growing around the shooting site on Saturday, the Minnesota National Guard was assisting local police to try to keep the peace.
The Minnesota Twins were holding their annual winter fan festival at Target Field, across the street from Target Center, and ended the event an hour early for the "expedited departure" of all guests.
Thousands of people marched through downtown on Friday with the air temperature well below zero in protest of the presence and tactics of the federal force that swelled to about 3,000 officers in the Twin Cities area this month as part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
Two weeks ago, 37-year-old Renee Good was fatally shot in her car as she drove away from a group of officers following a confrontation. The Timberwolves held a moment of silence for Good before their game the following night.
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This story has been corrected to omit “ICE” from the headline. Pretti was shot by an officer from Border Patrol, not U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On Saturday, federal agents shot and killed a 37-year-old man in Minneapolis during widespread, ongoing protests of the increased presence of ICE and border patrol agents in the city. This is the second person federal agents shot and killed in Minneapolis in less than three weeks.
In the wake of this second killing, the NBA announced plans to postpone Saturday's Golden State Warriors at Minnesota Timberwolves game.
"The decision was made to prioritize the safety and security of the Minneapolis community," the league said in a statement announcing the change.
The game has been rescheduled for Sunday, Jan. 25, at 4:30 p.m. CT at the Target Center. That turns this into a back-to-back between the two teams, who are now scheduled to play on Sunday and Monday.
The Buffalo Sabres signing of winger Josh Doan is the first major move made by Jarmo Kekalainen with the club he inherited from deposed GM Kevyn Adams, signing the young winger to a to a seven-year, $48.65 million contract ($6.95 million AAV). The Sabres before their Saturday afternoon matinee against the New York Islanders, were the hottest team in the NHL, with a 17-3-1 record in the last 21 games.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his recent 32 Thoughts podcast theorizes that since the Sabres have had nothing but success since Kekalainen took over last month, that he would be hesitant to tinker with the club’s roster for fear of messing up their mojo, but Buffalo faces a deadline when it comes to winger Alex Tuch, who is a pending unrestricted free agent this summer.
The Sabres signing Josh Doan could have ramifications on the future of Alex Tuch
Friedman indicated that the fact that Doan, forward Zach Benson, and defenseman Michael Kesselring were to be restricted free agents at the end of this season, as well as the dead money on Jeff Skinner’s buyout increasing to $6.44 million next season were factors in negotiations with Tuch, with who the Sabres reportedly were not willing to go over $10 million per season on a new contract, but believes that the Sabres could push the Benson and Kesselring contract talks to the summer and get Tuch signed to a long-term extension.
There have been no indications that Tuch’s camp is willing to come off their ask of more than $10 million on an eight-year deal, similar to the contract signed by LA forward Adrian Kempe earlier this season, which would put the Sabres in the dilemma of keeping the 29-year-old winger as an own-rental and risk losing him for nothing on July 1. That would be counter to what Kekalainen said at his opening press conference in December, where he said he would not make any moves just to snap the club’s 14-year playoff drought, but now that doing that is a reality, it may change the organization’s calculations.
Scotland will replace Bangladesh at next month’s T20 World Cup, cricket’s governing body confirmed on Saturday, after Bangladesh effectively pulled out of the tournament due to a row over playing matches in India.
At 6:50 PM CT, federal law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted traffic stop in Minneapolis of an illegal alien from Venezuela who was released into the country by Joe Biden in 2022.
In an attempt to evade arrest, the subject fled the scene in his vehicle and crashed…
Protests emerged after an ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Federal authorities have said she was shot in self-defense, however city and state leaders and other supporters of Good have maintained that her killing was unjustified.
Other postponed NBA games
The NBA has recently seen other regular-season games around the league postponed.
A matchup between the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets was rescheduled to an earlier time to accommodate for catastrophic winter storms sweeping across the country.
A Chicago Bulls-Miami Heat regular-season game at United Center in Chicago was postponed on Jan. 8 because the court was unsafe for basketball activities due to moisture on the floor from a rainy day in Chicago.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Quadir Copeland scored 20 points and had nine assists, Ven-Allen Lubin had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and N.C. State beat Pittsburgh 81-72 on Saturday.
Paul McNeil Jr. added 15 points on five 3-pointers and along with Copeland and Lubin led a surge over the final eight minutes to send the Wolfpack (14-6, 5-2 ACC) to their fourth win in five games and seventh in their last nine. Tre Holloman added 10 points.
Roman Siulepa had 15 points and 13 rebounds, Cameron Corhen 10 points and 10 rebounds, Damarco Minor 13 points and Barry Dunning Jr. 12 for the Panthers (8-12, 1-6), who have lost five of their last six.
Trailing by four, Lubin scored to lead off a 12-0 run that Copeland and McNeil combined to finish for their first lead since the start of the half. ACC preseason player of the year Darrion Williams finished with only seven points but came off the bench with four fouls after the final media timeout to help maintain the cushion with four straight points.
Nojus Indrusaitis hit a 3 to cut the lead to seven with 35 seconds remaining but Lubin finished the scoring with an alley-opp dunk.
Copeland's drive at the end of the first half had N.C. State up 34-33.
N.C. State made 22 of 27 free throws to just 11 of 25 for Pitt and outscored the Panthers 22-3 off turnovers to offset a 52-31 disadvantage on the boards.
Up next
NC State is home against Syracuse on Tuesday.
Pittsburgh is home against Wake Forest on Tuesday.
Swimming with sharks is a dangerous form of aquatics.
Skating with the Sharks once was tons of fun for San Jose's visiting NHL teams.. That is, until this year with GM Mike Grier's sextet making a serious bid for a Pacific Division playoff berth.
The Rangers, who now have become "The Loser Team Of GM's Letters," completed their four-game Western tour at the Shark Tank with an anticipated loss; this time 3-1.
With absolutely nothing to play for now but pride – not in abundance on this New York team – the Beloved Blueshirts left for home after having to rely on third-string back-up goalie Spencer Martin to get them through this whole ugly mess.
"You can't blame Martin," says The Old Scout. "The Rangers didn't get goals for Igor Shesterkin nor Jonathan Quick; so why should they get red lights for Martin?"
Based on how the Rangers seem to have given up, it likely will get murkier when they host the Bruins on Monday at The World's Most Infamous Arena – that is, infamous for this disheveled home team.
Apart from savoring what's left of the season, certain New York players are left with personal challenges.
Last night, for example, in addition to trying to win a game, there was the matter of stopping Macklin Celebrini who led the Sharks in scoring last year and this term could possibly top the NHL scoring list.
But last night The Celebrini Gang – associates include Will Smith and William Eklund – played a speedy game with Celebrini supplying the difference with two first period goals.
By contrast, the Rangers' core scorers – Breadman Panarin, Vin Trocheck, Mika Zebanejad, J.T. Miller – are getting old by NHL standards and playing old.
Worse still, the kids who are supposed to be their "future" are producing the square-root-of Chai Nothing.
Although the injury report for tomorrow’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans isn’t due for a few more hours, Spurs wing Devin Vassell confirmed to the media at practice today that will return from his 13-game absence, albeit on a minutes restriction. Regardless, in his own words, he’s just happy to be back.
Devin Vassell told us after practice this morning he will return to action Sunday against New Orleans. He’s responding here to a question about whether he will be on a minutes restriction. pic.twitter.com/28JWNRMs9G
Vassell has missed the last 13 games with an adductor strain, which is a series muscles located in the inner thigh that connect to the groin and help stabilize the pelvis. It can be a very stubborn injury that can result in a rupture if not allowed to properly heal. He had been traveling with the team for the last couple of weeks and seen practicing, and this stretch of one game in five days (the have two days off both before and after Sunday’s game) felt like an ideal target date.
In his absence, the Spurs have gone 8-5 while struggling with offense and overall consistency. (Isn’t it nice to be able to “complain” about a winning record again?) While Vassell may not be THE answer to bringing them back to their Christmas form, he is one of few Spurs who can dribble and create is own shot almost anywhere on the floor, making him an ideal release valve when a play breaks down. He has also been shooting a steady 38% from three this season, so even if he initially comes off the bench while on a minutes restriction, hopefully he can help the Spurs find more consistency there as well.
The injury report for tomorrow’s game is due at 5 PM, and the only other name to watch will be Luke Kornet, who missed Thursday’s game against the Jazz with the same “injury”, although Mitch Johnson said it was very short term and he didn’t expect him to miss much time. If he’s back and there’s no new injuries reported, this will be the healthiest the Spurs have been since December.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are playing their first game of the season against the Orlando Magic. They’ll see them again just a few days later in Cleveland. Let’s take a look at this initial matchup.
Where Each Team Stands
These two teams might be close in the standings, but they have been heading in opposite directions since late December.
Orlando has fallen to the bottom 10 in offense and defense during this stretch, with the seventh-worst net rating in the league. The Cavs, on the other hand, are 9th in offense, 10th in defense, and 11th in net rating since December 22nd. All stats are according to Cleaning the Glass, which removes garbage time.
That’s not to say this game will be easy. The Magic are still a quality team, and the Cavs aren’t exactly a powerhouse right now. But it’s worth knowing where each team stands entering this matchup. The Cavs have every opportunity to continue trending upwards if they take care of business against the struggling Magic.
Back to Back
The Cavs are playing in the second night of a back-to-back tonight. They are 4-3 this season when playing with no rest.
Of course, every NBA team has to deal with the same scheduling issues. But this is worth mentioning because Cleveland has struggled to show consistent effort throughout the season. This game is ripe with potential to be a stinker, considering the circumstances.
That’s no excuse if it happens. I’m only pointing out the situation. Let’s see if the Cavs can play with the appropriate energy and intensity tonight.
Evan Mobley’s Groove
Six of the last eight quarters have been lights out for Evan Mobley. He dominated Charlotte in the first half, then crushed the Kings for the entire game last night. His 27 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 blocks were a reminder of how talented Mobley is.
Can he keep it up?
The Cavs aren’t a title contender without this version of Mobley. He’s finding his groove for the first time this season, and another dominant performance would have us feeling pretty good.
While the main theme of the Tiger farm system is the group of top shelf prospects leading the way, the other big story in the system is a pretty disastrous run of pitcher injuries over the last two years. They’ve invested pretty heavily in prep pitching over the last three drafts, and right now they don’t necessarily have much to show for it. It’s going to be a major problem if the organization isn’t able to produce a whole lot of major league caliber pitching in a few years. Left-hander Ethan Schiefelbein got a big bonus as their competitive balance round B (72nd overall) pick in 2024, and like the other big prep signings in 2023 and 2024, he was barely on the mound at all in 2025.
The Tigers have always had a penchant for power right-handers, though that’s not unusual, so Schiefelbein was a fairly anomalous selection for the organization. An advanced high school lefty with four solid offerings and good control for his age, but without the high velocity fastball that often gets prep pitchers big bonuses, was a bet more on physical projection than anything else. His mechanics and stable, easy delivery spoke to a high likelihood of developing into a plus command guy in time.
At his best, the California native out of Corona High School looked like his just needed to grow into major league caliber stuff without requiring the huge development in command and pitch shapes that most pitchers, especially prep pitchers, need to make to reach the major leagues. His upside wasn’t necessarily on the level of harder throwing prep picks with similar big bonuses like Owen Hall and Paul Wilson, but for a prep pitcher Schiefelbein had a distinctly high floor as well. That was augmented by the fact that he only turned 18 in April of his draft year, whereas many prep players in the draft are already 19 or close to it on draft day.
Now 19 years old, Schiefelbein suffered the same fate as most of the Tigers’ young pitchers in 2025. After extended spring camp, he made three short appearances in the Complex League, looking little changed from draft day, and then missed the rest of the season with an injury that was reportedly a shoulder strain that didn’t require surgery, but did take the rest of the summer to rehab. In Schiefelbein’s case, this isn’t too concerning, at least compared to the other major injuries plaguing the Tigers’ pitching ranks. Rather than pushing him back on the mound at Single-A ball late in the year, the young left-hander just spent his time building up his body and trying to add overall strength before embarking on what will hopefully be a successful full season debut in 2026.
Point being, while 2023 second rounder Paul Wilson won’t likely be on the mound until late this season and will turn 22 years old next December, and the Tigers other top 2024 prep picks, Owen Hall and Zach Swanson most notably, aren’t going to throw a full season until they’re 21 in 2027, Schiefelbein is still on track to get on the mound and pitch his way through the Complex and Single-A levels this season as a 20-year-old. The Tigers will be hoping it plays out that way as their prep pitcher heavy strategy in the draft is looking pretty rough at the moment.
Schiefelbein is a pretty prototypical lefty with a balanced delivery throwing from a high three-quarters arm slot. He was well known to scouts as a high school senior after pitching for Team USA, and he was pretty much unhittable in his final year of school posting a 0.27 ERA with 83 strikeouts to just 11 walks over 52 innings of work. He used a twoseam fastball, slider, knuckle curveball, circle changeup mix as of the last time we saw him on a mound and showed the ability to locate all four pitches pretty effectively. His fastball typically sat 90-91 mph though he touched 94-95 mph on multiple occasions in high school.
He looks like more of a supinator than a guy who is going to turn over nasty, horizontally breaking sinkers and changeups, so I would guess the Tigers will have him moving more to the fourseamer and perhaps try and develop a cutter as he moves through pro ball. His curve was the best secondary pitch for him as a senior, and he has good though not crazy spin rates on the breaking stuff. The slider and changeup were more crude, but he wasn’t afraid to throw them in the zone, and already spotted them well for his age.
Unfortunately, there just isn’t much more to add to his scouting report yet. Guys like Hall, Wilson, and Swanson are expected to get back on the mound this year, but only Hall is on track to start his 2026 season on time. Schiefelbein will have the stage to himself to a degree early on, and while the Tigers won’t be pushing him beyond 100 innings this early in his career, he should be ready to throw a full season by now, assuming no further injury trouble emerges.
Prep pitchers take time. Even Jackson Jobe, widely regarded as one of the most advanced and talented prep pitchers of the past decade, struggled through most of his first two seasons and dealt with a host of minor injuries before suddenly breaking out in a big way two years out from his draft day. Schiefelbein is going to be a longer term project, so this season we’ll just be looking for more muscle on his slender 6’2” frame, and for him to stay healthy and start refining his craft. That would be very welcome progress in his age 20 season. The upside here is something like Cole Hamels as the absolute best case scenario, but the more realistic hope is that Schiefelbein stays healthy as he builds himself up over the next few seasons, and hits his likeliest positive outcome as a solid 3-4 level starting pitcher.
The Knicks (26*–18) take the court in Philly today, trying to avoid an 0-3 hole in their season series with the 76ers (24-19). New York comes in buoyed by Wednesday’s record-setting rout of Brooklyn, but the Sixers have already solved them twice, in fairly convincing fashion. Will New York’s wings finally neutralize Tyrese Maxey? Will their frontcourt stand up to Joel Embiid? Are our heroes truly back on track or was Wednesday’s annihilation of the Nets merely fool’s gold?
Find out at 3 p.m. EST on ABC. This is your game thread. This is Liberty Ballers. Please don’t post large photos, GIFs, or links to illegal streams in the thread. Be good ambassadors of humanity. And go Knicks!
* Should be one more, but the Cup final doesn’t count.
Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) leaves the field following the seventh inning of the Major League Baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians on September 24, 2025, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH.
Jose Ramirez isn’t leaving Cleveland any time soon.
The star third baseman signed a seven-year, $175 million extension to keep him with the Guardians through the 2032 season, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The deal includes $70 million in deferred compensation, per Passan.
Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) leaves the field following the seventh inning of the Major League Baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians on September 24, 2025, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
His new contract adds an additional four years and $106 million to the three years, $69 million he was already owed from the 2022 extension.
Ramirez, 33, has become an icon in Cleveland since debuting in 2013, and now appears set to play his entire career with the franchise.
The Dominican Republic product first joined the team all the way back in 2009 at 17.
After a slow-ish start to his big league career, Ramirez broke out during Cleveland’s American League pennant-winning 2016 season, hitting .312/.363/.462 with 11 home runs and 22 stolen bases while receiving a few down-ballot MVP votes.
In 13 seasons, Ramirez has made seven All-Star teams and won six Silver Slugger awards.
He’s finished in the top five in the AL MVP voting five times.
Last season, Ramirez showed no signs of slowing down, slashing .283/.360/.503 with 30 long balls and a career-high 44 stolen bags.
With 15 more home runs and 13 more swipes, Ramirez will become the ninth player in MLB history to reach 300 homers and 300 stolen bases.
While they haven’t gotten over the World Series hump, the Guardians have enjoyed one of the best stretches in franchise history since Ramirez’s debut, making the playoffs in eight out of 13 seasons.
