COLOMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Meechie Johnson scored 21 points and racked up a career-high nine assists, and Kobe Knox added 17 points for South Carolina in a 97-89 win over Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon, snapping a seven-game losing streak.
Elijah Strong put up 16 points for the Gamecocks (12-15, 3-11 Southeastern Conference) and Mike Sharavjamts added 15. Eli Ellis had 11 off the bench to help South Carolina score a season-high 97 points.
South Carolina jumped ahead with an 8-0 run in the first half that included two points from Johnson and three from Knox, and headed into halftime up 46-39. The Gamecocks took their biggest lead of the game — 89-76 — off a 6-0 run with 2:17 to play.
Mississippi State (13-14, 5-9) was led by Quincy Ballard with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Jaden Epps scored 13 in the first half before leaving the game with an injury, and didn't return. SEC leading scorer Josh Hubbard finished with 13, after only putting up two in the first half. Ja'Borri McGhee had 12 and Sergei Macura 10.
The Gamecocks shot 85% from the free throw line (23 of 27).
Up next
Mississippi State: Visits No. 25 Alabama on Wednesday.
The Montreal Canadiens had played 57 games before the NHL entered its Olympic break, leaving them with 25 games left in the regular season. 13 of the remaining 25 games will be played at home, where the Habs have a 16-11-1 record, a plus-three goal differential, an 18.9 % success rate on the power play and an 81% success rate on the penalty kill. Meanwhile, they have a 16-6-7 record away from the Bell Centre with a plus-11 goal differential, and their power-play efficiency is 28.1%, while their penalty kill is only 73.5%.
Of course, with so little time left before the end of the season, it will be a hectic schedule, including three four-game weeks, with four back-to-backs. 11 of the 25 games will be against teams that are currently in playoff position, and 14 games will be against teams that are currently on the outside looking in. That’s not necessarily good news, as some of these teams will be fighting with desperation to get in, but on the flip side, there may be a few that have already given up.
The Canadiens are currently in second place in the Atlantic Division, six points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have been on fire of late, winning their last five games and posting an 8-1-1 record in their last 10. Jon Cooper’s men seem to be on their way to a Division Championship, and Martin St-Louis and co. will face them twice before the end of the season, that’s no easy task.
Montreal will also have to lock horns with the Carolina Hurricanes twice before the end of the season. Rod Brind’Amour’s team is currently first in the Metropolitan Division, has won its last three games, and has an 8-0-2 record in its last 10 games, and it hasn’t lost in regulation since January 13.
Just like last season, the Columbus Blue Jackets are fighting for their survival, and they were on a big roll before the break. They’ve won their last seven games and are 9-0-1 in their last 10. They sit four points out of the playoffs as we speak, but they do have a game in hand on the Boston Bruins. Will they remain hot long enough? In any case, that’s another team Montreal will have to face twice before the end of the regular season.
There’s one team that they’ll need to face three times, though: Patrick Roy’s New York Islanders. The Isles are currently in third place in the Metropolitan Division and have won their last two games. They’ll visit the Canadiens on February 26th when Montreal returns to action, and it will be crucial for the Habs to pick up where they left off.
The Habs have done very well so far this season, but the road ahead is a challenging one, and they’ll need to be even better if they want to book their playoff spot well in advance of the end of the season.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit two homers in his spring debut as he prepares for the World Baseball Classic next month.
The three-time Most Valuable Player hit a pair of two-run shots, one in the third inning and another in the fourth against the Detroit Tigers. He finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs.
The 33-year-old has won the MVP in three of the past four seasons, including last year when he hit .331 with 53 homers and 114 RBIs.
“We've got the WBC coming up, which I'm excited about, and an exciting Yankees season,” Judge said after his performance. “We've got a lot of unfinished business from last season, especially the way it ended for us. I'm just trying to put myself in the best position to help this team win a lot of ballgames.”
Judge will be part of what looks like a loaded Team USA lineup in the WBC. The position player group also includes Bryce Harper, Gunnar Henderson, Bobby Witt Jr., Cal Raleigh and Kyle Schwarber.
The WBC's pool play round runs from March 5-11 at four sites in Tokyo, Houston, Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The championship game will be on March 17 in Miami.
SAN ANTONIO, TX - FEBRUARY 19: Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns is introduced before the game against the San Antonio Spurs on February 19, 2026 at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photos by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Devin Booker is out for the rest of the month, the Phoenix Suns announced on Saturday. Booker suffered a right hip strain early on against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday and did not return in the team’s 121-94 loss.
Already having missed 12 games this year, if Booker misses six more, he will be ineligible to make All-NBA. With the earliest he could return being March 3rd, he can only miss one more game the rest of the season to stay eligible.
Additionally, the Suns announced that recent signing Haywood Highsmith is still recovering from the right knee surgery he had this past offseason, and will be re-evaluated in 14-21 days. He hasn’t played all year. Phoenix signed him last week during the All-Star break.
Suns have five wins without Devin Booker this season.
They’re gonna need to find some more without him, because Book is out at least a week
Phoenix is 5-7 on the year when Booker doesn’t play. Leading the team in points, assists and shots per game, the team is going to need to find someone or multiple people to pick up the playmaking load in his absence, especially in their Thursday show down against the Los Angeles Lakers, which could prove to be a huge game in the final Western Conference standings.
Feb 20, 2026; North Port FL, USA; A photographer takes photos of Atlanta Braves right fielder Mike Yastrzemski (18) during media day at CoolToday Park. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
If first impressions are any indication, then the Atlanta Braves and their fanbase should be pretty happy with what Mike Yastrzemski may have in store for the upcoming season. One of the newest signings for the Braves made his presence felt almost immediately in the Grapefruit League opener. He kept that up and had a pretty good day at the plate as the Braves cruised to a win over the Rays.
When I say that Yaz made his presence felt immediately, I mean it — he hit second for the Braves in this one and he took the first pitch he saw from Rays pitcher T.J. Nichols and crushed it deep to center field to put the Braves ahead early on in this one. Nichols left one right in Yaz’s wheelhouse and he made no mistake with it in order to crack his first homer (of spring training) with the Braves.
Yastrzemski wasn’t done there, either. He hit a hard single off of Kodi Whitley in the third inning and then he capped off his day by coaxing a walk out of Joe Rock. Once he reached base, Kevin Kilpatrick replaced him at first place and that was the end of his day. Sure, it was the very first day of spring training but I’d say that reaching base three times with one of those being a homer and playing some solid defense in the field on top of that makes for a lovely start to spring training. Here’s to seeing plenty more where that came from from here on out and especially in the regular season as well.
Mike Yastrzemski wasn’t the only player who hit the ground running. Journeyman outfielder Ben Gamel also made his presence felt in this one, as he hit a homer of his own to lead off the second inning. Gamel golfed one that was low and in the zone from Andrew Wantz and sent it flying way out for a dinger that extended Atlanta’s quick start in this one.
Gamel wasn’t finished as he went on to tack on two more RBI via a looping double to left-center. Mike Yastrzemski scored on the play as well, so those two players really were all over the place (in a good way) in this one. The Braves led 5-0 after three innings in this one — Mike Yastrzemski and Ben Gamel were responsible for four of the runs scored (two each) and four of the RBI (three for Gamel and one for Yaz) as well. Again, talk about hitting the ground running!
On the other side of things, Atlanta’s pitching staff did their part in order to make sure that the Rays stayed quiet for the vast majority of this contest. Carlos Carrasco got things going with three strikeouts and three hits allowed over two innings of work. Carrasco won’t win any velocity contests any time soon as he topped out at around 91-mph on the radar gun during Saturday’s action but it was still nice to see him retire the side in both innings with little-to-no issues.
Dylan Dodd picked up the baton in the third inning and pitched a scoreless frame while only giving up a hit and striking out a batter. Dodd’s velocity was certainly up, as his sinker was regularly hitting 96-mph on the gun in this one. That’s definitely encouraging if he can keep that up going forward since he was sitting at 94-mph with his sinker last season.
Hayden Harris got the ball for the fourth inning and while he did run into a situation with two men on and nobody out, Harris did a great job of escaping the jam by getting an infield fly and two strikeouts to nip Tampa Bay’s scoring threat right in the bud.
Offseason signing James Karinchak took on pitching duties in the fifth inning and tallied two strikeouts of his own with just one hit allowed in order to keep the ball rolling for the Braves and keep the Rays off of the scoreboard. In fact, the Rays did not score until the sixth inning when Logan Davidson homered off of Elieser Hernández and the Braves didn’t give up a walk until Austin Pope handed out the first free pass of the day all the way into the eighth inning. Atlanta’s pitchers racked up 12 strikeouts in this one. Suffice to say, this was a very solid performance from the pitching staff in this one.
It was a very solid performance all-around for the Braves as they got their Grapefruit League campagin started off on a winning note. The excitement should bleed into Sunday’s outing as Chris Sale has been confirmed as the starter for the home opener at CoolToday Park against the Twins. For now, Mike Yastrzemski and Ben Gamel should both feel pretty satisfied with their efforts today as they make the short trip back to Braves camp in North Port from the Rays facility in Port Charlotte.
SCOTTSDALE, AZ - MARCH 10: A general view of the video board during an ABS, or automatic ball-strike, challenge review during the game between the San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on Monday, March 10, 2025 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Well, the D-backs are already off to a better spring start than they were in 2025. Last year, they lost their first three games, conceding a total of 32 runs in the process. So it was nice to see them put together a well-pitched game right out of the gate. On the other hand, opening with a victory makes it a little harder to remember that spring training numbers are totally meaningless! We’ll see if the Diamondbacks can run their unbeaten streak to a mighty two games this afternoon!
[Wrestling commentator voice] WHAT IS JORDAN LAWLAR DOING IN CENTER FIELD?!?!? After yesterday saw a fairly convincing facsimile of Arizona’s Opening Day line-up, this afternoon is… not so much. In fact, absent any injuries, Lawlar might be the only one who’ll be trotting out onto the field in Los Angeles next month. Still, we should probably get used to this, because it’s not long before the World Baseball Classic will be sucking away seven of the 40-man Arizona roster from Salt River Fields, and we should get used to seeing replacements for the next few weeks.
Also, Mitch Bratt makes his first appearance in a Diamondback jersey. He was one of the players received by Arizona from Texas, in exchange for Merrill Kelly’s holiday in Arlington, and will hopefully become a useful piece in the D-backs rotation. Perhaps not this year – Kohl Drake is the more advanced prospect we got off the Rangers – but fingers crossed for down the line. After him, we can expect to get some or all of the following pitchers: RHP Alfred Morillo, RHP Hayden Durke, LHP Spencer Giesting and LHP Yu-Min Lin. I don’t believe today’s game has any TV coverage, but it’ll be on the radio through ESPN 620 AM.
Feb 17, 2026; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Kumar Rocker during media day at Surprise Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images | Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images
The Texas Rangers hitch a ride east for their first road game of the spring where they will take on the Chicago Cubs from Mesa, AZ. It’s days like today where we discover people such as Jonah Bride, Cooper Johnson, and Tyler Wade both exist and are employed by the Rangers.
Right-handed rotation hopeful Kumar Rocker will make the start for Texas opposite LHP Matthew Boyd for Chicago. According to Kennedi Landry, expect to see Cal Quantrill, Patrick Murphy, Luis Curvelo, and Carter Baumler also pitch for Texas in today’s game.
Today’s Lineups
RANGERS
CUBS
Sam Haggerty – 2B
Matt Shaw – RF
Ezequiel Duran – SS
Pete Crow-Armstrong – CF
Danny Jansen – C
Carson Kelly – C
Justin Foscue – 1B
Jonathon Long – 1B
Jonah Bride – 3B
Justin Dean – LF
Mark Canha – LF
James Triantos – 2B
Cooper Johnson – DH
Pedro Ramirez – 3B
Tyler Wade – CF
Jefferson Rojas – SS
Aaron Zavala – RF
BJ Murray – DH
Kumar Rocker – RHP
Matthew Boyd – LHP
You can listen to the game via 105.3 The Fan, watch the Chicago feed via MLB.TV, or follow along on Gameday. First pitch from Sloan Park is scheduled for 2:05 pm CT.
GOODYEAR, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 19: Joey Cantillo #54 of the Cleveland Guardians poses for a portrait during photo day at Goodyear Ballpark on February 19, 2026 in Goodyear, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker will miss at least one week because of a right hip strain that happened against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday.
The team made the announcement on Saturday before the team's game against the Orlando Magic.
Booker is averaging 24.7 points, 6.1 assists and 3.9 rebounds over 44 games this season. The 29-year-old recently missed seven straight games with a sprained right ankle.
The Suns also said that recently signed guard Haywood Highsmith is continuing to recover from right knee surgery last offseason. The team said Highsmith is making “good progress” and will be evaluated in 2 to 3 weeks.
The Suns have been one of the NBA's surprise teams this season with a 32-24 record, but injuries have taken a toll and they've lost four of their past five games.
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Robert McCray V matched his season-high with 29 points, including Florida State's final 10, and the streaking Seminoles defeated Clemson 70-65 on Saturday.
Florida State held the lead for 11 minutes in the first half despite nine lead changes. Ace Buckner nailed three 3-pointers in the final four minutes, and two of them were during an 8-0 run that helped Clemson take a 36-33 halftime lead.
The lead continued back and forth in the second half until the Seminoles' 7-0 run gave them a 48-42 lead with 13 1/2 minutes remaining. Florida State went ahead by eight before Clemson rallied again, taking a 56-55 lead with eight minutes left.
There were five more lead changes, the last when McRay hit a 3-pointer for a 66-65 lead. The Tigers did not score thereafter, missing their last six shots, five of them from 3-point range. McRay closed it out with a layup and a couple of free throws.
In all, there were 22 lead changes and the game was tied five times.
Lajae Jones scored 13 points for the Seminoles (14-13, 7-7 ACC), who have won seven of their last nine games.
Buckner scored 15 points, Dillon Hunter 13 and RJ Godfrey 12 for Clemson (20-8, 10-5), which has lost four in a row since a 10-1 start to the conference season.
TEMPE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 24: Three Shohei Ohtani fans pose for a photo during a spring training exhibition between the Los Angeles Angels and the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Peoria Sports Complex on February 24, 2024 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) | Getty Images
For the Dodgers, the Cactus League gets underway today, on the road in Tempe.
Spanish league leader Real Madrid was stunned by Osasuna in a 2-1 loss on Saturday.
Raul Garcia's 90th-minute winner means Barcelona can overtake Madrid at the top of the standings by beating Levante on Sunday.
Madrid is two points clear of second-place Barca, having played a game more.
Vinicius Junior looked to have at least salvaged a point for Alvaro Arbeloa's team with his goal in the 73rd, which leveled the game after Ante Budimir's first-half penalty had given Osasuna the lead.
Madrid fans were likely expecting it to be a launchpad to take all three points - but Garcia's goal from close range provided a twist in the race for the title.
A wild finish in six-goal thriller in Sociedad
Real Sociedad drew 3-3 with last-place Real Oviedo after a wild finish at Estadio Municipal de Anoeta.
Oviedo took control of the match with two quick goals after halftime from Federico Vinas, who scored with headers in the 50th and 52nd minutes.
Orri Oskarsson started the fightback for Sociedad with a powerful header in the 64th and Duje Caleta-Car headed in another to level in the 87th.
Oskarsson scored his second of the match with a clinical finish to give the home side the lead in the 90th — but the drama wasn't done.
In the second minute of added time Eric Bailly leveled the game again to rescue a point for Oviedo.
Even then there was still time for Goncalo Guedes to hit the post in 99th.
Fifth-place Real Betis could lose ground in the race for Champions League qualification after a 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano.
Isi Palazon's goal in the 42nd cancelled out Cedric Bakambu's opener for Betis.
John Fogerty can play center field, but can Luisangel Acuña? | Getty Images
The undefeated (OK, 1-0, if you insist) Chicago White Sox get home turf at Camelback this afternoon to face the also undefeated (but just 0-0) Sacramento/Las Vegas/You Name It A’s, as they follow the usual early Cactus League procedure of having no starters back from yesterday’s game.
That game was lots of fun slaughtering the Cubs, with a number of batters getting big shots in. The most notable was Munetaka Murakami’s double, because that smash came off a pitch three mph faster than his supposed limit (albeit a grooved one, but we take what we can get), which is a good sign for the future.
The Sox lineup today contains a half-dozen returnees from 2025, with the key addition to watch being Luisangel Acuña, obtained in the trade of Luis Robert Jr. to the Mets. That’s because the plan is apparently to play Acuña in center, which both the Rangers and Mets decided he’s not much good at, despite his speed and excellent infield skills. Another player to watch is Jarred Kelenic in left, a free agent signee getting a chance to show yet again he really is the major-leaguer he was thought to be when the Mets drafted him in the first round in 2018.
They’ll be first facing righty Jack Perkins, who missed most of last season with a shoulder injury.
Starting the parade of pitchers for the Sox will be lefty Chris Murphy, picked up in a November trade with the Red Sox. Murphy ostensibly is under consideration for a back-end rotation spot even though he’s never started a major league game. The A’s aren’t putting any of their stars in the lineup against him.
First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. Central on what is for Arizona a downright nippy day with a high of just 70°. This one is on the tube with CHSN, as well as a ESPN 1000 radio broadcast.
Feb 20, 2026; Surprise, Arizona, USA; Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (13) doubles in the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Can I interest you in an embedded Bluesky post to set the mood?
The Royals are back in action this afternoon, hosting the San Diego Padres in Surprise. They’ll face off against MLB The Show stud but real-life underperformer Matt Waldron, the last known (to me, at least) knuckleballer in MLB. Here’s the lineup they’ll be using:
Kyle Isbel gets to bat fifth in today’s contest, likely to give him a third plate appearance before letting him head off to the golf courses. And don’t worry, that’s not the nearly-87-year-old Cookie Rojas (His birthday is March 6. Happy early birthday, Cookie!) but instead former White Sox infielder Josh Rojas getting the start at third as he tries to reclaim the success from his time with the Diamondbacks of three and four years ago. Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, and Salvador Perez are the only Royals to start a second game in a row. That’s fitting as they are the heart of both the lineup and the team in general.
Ryan Bergert will be taking the mound in a semi-competitive game for the first time since he exited a start against the Cleveland Guardians early in September with forearm tightness. He’s someone we’ll be watching closely to make sure he’s healthy heading into the season. He might not even make the opening day rotation, but he’s likely to be very important as the year goes on.
They announced who all would be pitching after him during yesterday’s broadcast, but like a rookie, I chose not to write it down, assuming I’d be able to find it easily somewhere today. Don’t worry, I’ll have that cleaned up by Opening Day. The Royals do have the following pitchers listed on their game roster for today, and I imagine most of them are going to get an opportunity to pitch:
Eli Morgan
Chandler Champlain
Jonathan Heasley
Mason Black
Christian Chamblerain
Ben Kudrna
Dennis Colleran Jr.
Andrew Pérez
Oscar Rayo
Of that batch, I’m most interested in Morgan and Black as they both seem to have outside shots at making the bullpen out of Spring Training. I had forgotten Heasley had returned on a minor league deal last August, and even if I had remembered, I wouldn’t have realized he was still in the organization this spring. Colleran is another guy to watch closely, even if he’s unlikely to make the Opening Day roster. He had a 1.83 ERA in A+ ball last year, though with a FIP over 4.00 and not nearly enough strikeouts.
The outfield situation should be interesting as well; the Royals have Tyler Gentry, Gavin Cross, Kameron Misner, and Carson Roccaforte on the game roster outside the starters, and all of those guys have something to prove to the team, though only Misner seems remotely likely to break camp with the big club.
Today’s game will only be broadcast in online audio, but it’s free through either the Royals’ site or the MLB App. In the past, during such broadcasts, they haven’t played commercials but have instead allowed us to soak in the sounds of the ballpark between innings. Hopefully, we’ll get to enjoy that again this year.
