Basketball – NBA: This week in the NBA before the All-Star Game. Then the All-Star Game.
Basketball – NCAAM: Lots of upsets this week as things heat up before March Madness and conference championships
Football – NFL: Shooting at the KC parade.
Golf: Matsuyama wins Genesis and there was some other drama. Sun Day Red brand.
Olympic Sports: World Aquatics results. Bol sets WR. Pacquiao denied age limit.
Basketball – NBA:
- This week in the NBA: The Cavs came into the week with a 9 game win streak and it ended on day 1. The 76ers hung on to beat them by 2. Spurs star Wemby got his 2nd triple-double which led to their win over the Raptors 122-99. That’s their 11th win of the season. The Knicks lost to the Rockets by 2 off of a late foul setting up Houston free throws. The team has since filed a protest as the foul was incorrectly called. On Tuesday, Jayson Tatum put up 31 points in the 1H in their game against the Nets. Overall, he would add 10 more points to end the game at 41. Good thing too because they needed that to win 118-110. They would beat them again the next night by 50! Also scoring 41 was Timberwolves Anthony Edwards to lead his team to victory over the Trail Blazers. The Kings De’Aaron Fox scored the final 10 points of the entire game to get his team the W over the Nuggets by 4. Then there were only 3 games on Thursday before the All-Star break. The Grizzlies upset the Bucks. The Warriors/Jazz was a great high scoring game with GS winning 140-137 and the Timberwolves rolled the Trail Blazers by 37.
- The All-Star game was on Sunday, the East vs West. The East put up 50+ in every quarter to dominate the West 211-186. Timberwolves C KAT (Karl-Anthony Towns) was the leading scorer with 50 points from the bench. But the East had 3 players over 30 points each.
Basketball – NCAAM:
- NCAAM: Texas Tech put the beat down on #6 Kansas in both halves. The Red Raiders outscored the Jayhawks by 9 and then 20 to win by 29! What a way to start the week. Tuesday had a big ranked game in the Big 12 newly ranked #25 Oklahoma vs #12 Baylor. Baylor crushed the Sooners by 17. Looks like OU wont be ranked for long.
- #7 UNC was tied with Syracuse at 42 apiece. But after half, the Orange came back to upset the Tar Heels by 7. That is Syracuse’s first Top 10 win since 2019. Pitt has won 4 games in a row including win over #21 UVA at home. Poor #23 Indiana State is ranked for the first time since the 70s but first game after that happens, they lose to Illinois State who is 12-14 overall for the season. They would then lose again on Saturday to Southern Illinois. Wednesday had a SEC ranked game and it was a big one!
- #11 South Carolina vs #13 Auburn and it was set up to be a great game but it was not. Auburn put up 50+ in both halves to annihilate the Gamecocks by 40!! Thursday had no upsets, Friday had no ranked games in action. Saturday had a lot of games in action. 19 ranked teams to be exact including a Big East showdown between #4 Marquette and #1 UConn. Even though the matchup looked even in the Top 5, it was not even on the court. The Huskies routed Marquette 81-53. UConn still only has 1 loss on the season.
- The other ranked matchup in the Big 12 #6 Kansas and #25 Oklahoma was a better game. The Sooners were up by 5 at half but the Jayhawks came back strong in the 2H to win by 10. That’s a big win for Kansas on the road which has been a problem for them all season. #13 Auburn had beaten 2 straight ranked teams and had another opportunity to do it again against #22 Kentucky. But the Wildcats messed that all up, outscoring Auburn by 10 at half and ending 11 up. That ends Auburns 16 game win streak at home. LSU had a big 2H to upset #11 South Carolina by 1. Oklahoma State put up 49 points in the 1H and even though #19 BYU did it in the 2H, the Cowpokes still won by 10. #20 Wisconsin ended up in OT with Iowa. And the Hawkeyes got a layup with 1.3 seconds to beat the Badgers. That was all on Saturday. Sunday only had 2 games in action and both ended in upset! #2 Purdue fell to Ohio State by 4. That’s only the 3rd loss for the Boiler Makers all season. then South Florida was up BIG against #24 FAU but the Owls scored 55 in the 2H. that wasn’t enough and still fell 4 short. USF is now 12-1 in the American and 19-5 overall.
- Caitlin Clark broke the NCAAW bball all-time scoring record and now has the overall D1 in her sights. She broke the women’s one on Thursday against Michigan, coming into the game only needing 8 points to break Washington’s Kelsey Plum’s 3527. Clark not only beat it by shooting a logo-3 but also put up 49 points that night. That is her 4th game in her career over 45 points.
Football – NFL:
- There was a shooting at the Kansas City parade. Turns out it was not a terrorist act, it was a dispute between juvenile individuals. One person was killed with multiple injured. The woman who died was a radio host, Lisa Lopez-Galvan. Juvenile cases are largely kept out of the media so no other details were given. TSwift has donated $100k to the victim’s family.
Golf:
- It was a wild finish to the Genesis Open with as many as 5 players on the back 9 in the final round. JPN Hideki Matsuyama was 6 shots behind the leader going into the final round. But he shot the lowest closing round by a winner ever with a 9-under 62. Matsuyama beat the field by 3 shots over Will Zalatoris and Luke List. This is his 9th PGA Tour title but his first since Jan 2022.
- Tiger Woods withdrew during the 2nd round due to illness after everyone was so excited that he was playing.
- Jordan Spieth was DQ’d after he signed an incorrect scorecard during his second round. He signed a scorecard that had a par on hole 4 par 3 when he actually made a bogey.
- Tiger Woods has now partnered with TaylorMade Golf for a lifestyle brand called Sun Day Red.
Olympic Sports:
- World Aquatics ended yesterday. CHN ended with the most golds (23) and most medals (33). AUS took home the 2nd most with 24 (7Gs) and USA was 3rd with 23 (9Gs). This competition was swimming, water polo, diving, artistic swimming and open water swimming. USA Claire Curzan won her 4th gold along with CHN’s Pan Zhale. Curzan won the 200m back handily after taking the title in the 50m and 100m back and then the 4x100m mixed relay. She is the second female to sweep the backstroke events at worlds. Ledecky skipped worlds to prepare for the Olympics, which means she gave up her 800m free title.
- NED Femke Bol set the WR in the 400m indoor at their national championships with a time of 49.24, cutting her own record by 0.02.
- Boxer Manny Pacquiao wants to compete in the Paris Olympics but he is 5 years older than the entry limit at age 45. He retired in 2021. The IOC will not be changing their policy for him. The age limit was raised back in 2013 to 40 when it used to be 34, which would’ve let him compete in the Rio Olympic games but he chose not to.
Some quick highlights:
- Brittney Griner’s #42 is officially retired at her alma mater Baylor.
- UConn’s Paige Bueckers is returning for her senior season.
- Rangers won the Metlife Stadium Series in a crazy comeback over the Islanders.
What to watch this week
Baseball/Softball-NCAA:
- Fri 2/23
- Softball: #9 Stanford vs #23 Louisiana @ 11am on LHN
- Softball: #3 Texas vs #23 Louisiana @ 4pm on LHN
- Sat 2/24
- Softball: #3 Texas vs #9 Stanford @ 7pm on LHN
- Softball: #23 Louisiana vs #9 Stanford @ 9pm on LHN
- Sun 2/25
- Softball: #3 Texas vs #23 Louisiana @ 12:30pm on LHN
Basketball – NBA:
- Thurs 2/22
- Suns at Mavericks @ 6:30pm on TNT
- Lakers at Warriors @ 9pm on TNT
- Fri 2/23
- Cavaliers at 76ers @ 6:30pm on ESPN
- Bucks at Timberwolves @ 9pm on ESPN
- Sat 2/24
- Celtics at Knicks @ 7:30pm on ABC
- Sun 2/25
- Bucks at 76ers @ 12pm on ABC
- Lakers at Suns @ 2:30pm on ABC
- Nuggets at Warriors @ 6pm on ESPN
- Kings at Clippers @ 8:30pm on ESPN
Basketball – NCAAM:
- Mon 2/19
- 6. Iowa State at 2. Houston @ 8pm on ESPN
- Tues 2/20
- 5. Tennessee at Mizzou @ 6pm on SEC
- 1. UConn at 15. Creighton @ 7:30pm on FS1
- 11. Baylor at 25. BYU @ 8pm on ESPN
- 19. San Diego St at Utah St @ 8pm on CBSSN
- TCU at 23. Texas Tech @ 8pm on ESPN2
- San Francisco at 18. Saint Mary’s @ 10pm on ESPN2
- Wed 2/21
- 12. Illinois at Penn St @ 5:30pm
- 8. Duke at Miami @ 6pm on ESPN
- 24. Florida at 13. Alabama @ 6pm on ESPN2
- 16. Dayton at George Mason @ 6pm on ESPN+
- DePaul at 7. Marquette @ 8pm on FS1
- 17. Kentucky at LSU @ 8pm on ESPN
- 22. Colorado St at New Mexico @ 9pm on CBSSN
- Thurs 2/22
- Rutgers at 3. Purdue @ 6pm on FS1
- 21. Washington St at 4. Arizona @ 10pm on FS1
- Sat 2/24
- 2. Houston at 11. Baylor @ 11am on CBS
- Vanderbilt at 24. Florida @ 12pm on SEC
- Washington at 4. Arizona @ 1pm on CBS
- West Virginia at 6. Iowa State @ 1pm on ESPN2
- 8. Duke at Wake Forest @ 1pm on ESPN
- 25. BYU at Kansas State @ 1pm on ESPN+
- Iowa at 12. Illinois @ 1:15pm
- 20. South Carolina at Ole Miss @ 2:30pm on SEC
- 10. UNC at UVA @ 3pm on ESPN
- 13. Alabama at 17. Kentucky @ 3pm on CBS
- 23. Texas Tech at UCF @ 3pm on ESPN+
- Texas at 9. Kansas @ 5pm on ESPN
- 14. Auburn at Georgia @ 5pm on SEC
- Villanova at 1. UConn @ 7pm on FOX
- Texas A&M at 5. Tennessee @ 7pm on ESPN
- 21. Washington St at Arizona St @ 7pm on ESPN2
- 22. Colorado St at UNLV @ 7pm on CBSSN
- San Diego at 18. Saint Mary’s @ 9pm on ESPNU
- 19. San Diego St at Fresno St @ 9pm on CBSSN
- Sun 2/25
- 15. Creighton at St. John’s @ 11am on CBS
- 3. Purdue at Michigan @ 1pm on CBS
- Xavier at 7. Marquette @ 4pm on FS1
Basketball – NCAAW: (only reporting ranked vs ranked)
- Mon 2/19
- 21. Creighton at 15. UConn @ 11am on FOX
- Wed 2/21
- 22. West Virginia at 10. Kansas St @ 6:30pm on ESPN+
- Thurs 2/22
- 4. Iowa at 14. Indiana @ 7pm on Peacock
- 18. Utah at 12. UCLA @ 8:30pm on ESPN
- Fri 2/23
- 11. Colorado at 7. USC @ 9pm on PAC12
- Sat 2/24
- 24. Baylor at 22. West Virginia @ 1pm on ESPN+
- Sun 2/25
- 18. Utah at 7. USC @ 2pm on PAC12
Golf:
- Thurs 2/22
- Mexico Open – Round 1 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
- Fri 2/23
- Mexico Open – Round 2 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
- Sat 2/24
- Mexico Open – Round 3
- @ 12pm on Golf Channel
- @ 2pm on NBC
- Mexico Open – Round 3
- Sun 2/25
- Mexico Open – Final Round
- @ 12pm on Golf Channel
- @ 2pm on NBC
- Mexico Open – Final Round
Hockey:
- Mon 2/19
- Maple Leafs at Blues @ 12pm on ESPN
- Red Wings at Kraken @ 2:30pm on ESPN
- Wed 2/21
- Flyers at Blackhawks @ 6:30pm on TNT
- Bruins at Oilers @ 9pm on TNT
- Thurs 2/22
- Capitals at Lightning @ 6pm on ESPN
- Predators at Kings @ 9:30pm on hulu
- Sat 2/24
- Blues at Red Wings @ 11am on ABC
- Rangers at Flyers @ 2pm on ABC
- Sun 2/25
- Lightning at Devils @ 12pm on TNT
- Flyers at Penguins @ 2:30pm on TNT
Olympic Sports:
- Fri 2/23
- Gymnastics: Mizzou vs Auburn @ 6pm on SEC
- Gymnastics: LSU vs Florida @ 6pm on ESPN
- Gymnastics: Kentucky vs Arkansas @ 7:30pm on SEC
- Sun 2/25
- Skiing: FIS World Cup @ 12pm on NBC
- Gymnastics: NC State vs Pitt @ 3pm on ACC
Soccer:
- Mon 2/19
- Premier League: Everton vs Crystal Palace @ 2pm on USA
- Tues 2/20
- Premier League: Manchester City vs Brentford @ 1:30pm on USA
- Wed 2/21
- CONCACAF: St. Louis City vs Houston Dynamo @ 4am on FS1
- Premier League: Liverpool vs Luton Town @ 1:30pm on USA
- Sat 2/24
- Premier League: Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest @ 9am on USA
- Premier League: Teams TBA @ 10:30am on NBC
- Sun 2/25
- Premier League: Wolves vs Sheffield U @ 7:30am on USA
- La Liga: Santos Laguna vs Mazatlan @ 6pm on FS1
