MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Avery Howell had a career-high 34 points and 14 rebounds — the 6-foot sophomore’s sixth double-double this season — and Sayvia Sellers scored 23 points to help No. 24 Washington beat Wisconsin 91-86 in overtime on Sunday.

Howell scored eight points in OT, including two of her career-high tying six 3-pointers. Elle Ladine finished with 16 points for Washington (18-6, 8-5 Big Ten). The Huskies had lost back-to-back games for just the second time this season.

Destiny Howell hit five 3-pointers and finished with 28 points for the Badgers. Gift Uchenna had 24 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Laci Steele added 10 points and Ronnie Porter tied her season high with 10 assists to go with eight points and six steals.

Destiny Howell made a 3-pointer and, after Brynn McGaughy hit two free throws on the other end, was fouled as she hit another and the and-1 free throw gave the Badgers a one-point lead with 1:09 to play. Avery Howell answered with a putback off a miss by McGaughy that made it 87-86 with 43 seconds left.

Wisconsin (13-11, 5-8), which has lost four straight, went 0 for 3 from the field — all 3-point shots by Destiny Howell — from there.

The Badgers closed the third quarter with an 11-0 run and scored eight — all by Uchenna — of the first 11 in the fourth to take a six-point lead with 6:09 left in regulation. The Huskies scored nine — five by Sellers and four by Howell — of the next 12 to make it 71-all with 3:40 remaining.

Up next

Washington: Plays Wednesday at No. 10 Iowa.

Wisconsin: Visits Illinois on Wednesday.

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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Bennett Stirtz scored a career-high 36 points and Iowa upped its winning streak to six games by handing Northwestern a seventh straight loss with a 76-70 victory over the Wildcats on Sunday.

Stirtz made made 12 of 20 shots and all eight of his free throws for the Hawkeyes (18-5, 8-4 Big Ten Conference). The senior guard hit 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Tavion Banks added 13 points and seven rebounds.

Nick Martinelli scored 21 on 6-for-19 shooting for the Wildcats (10-14, 2-11). Jake West sank four 3-pointers and scored 18. Tre Singleton had 10 points before fouling out.

West buried a 3-pointer to give Northwestern an 18-13 lead with 8:31 remaining in the first half. The Wildcats played with the lead until a three-point play by Stirtz tied it 30-all with 2:13 left. Stirtz added two free throw, Kael Combs hit a jumper and Banks scored the final five points in a 12-5 run to give Iowa a 39-35 advantage at halftime.

Combs had the first basket of the second half and Stirtz followed with a 3-pointer to push the lead to nine. Stirtz added another 3-pointer and the Hawkeyes took their first double-digit lead at 54-40 with 13 minutes left.

West answered with a 3-pointer to spark a 13-2 run and Northwestern pulled within 56-53 four minutes later. Stirtz hit a 3-pointer to keep Iowa in front and the Hawkeyes maintained a two-possession lead until West hit another 3 to cut it to 70-67 with two minutes left. Stirtz drove for a layup and Banks added two free throws to wrap it up.

Up next

Iowa: At Maryland on Wednesday.

Northwestern: Hosts No. 2 Michigan on Wednesday.

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Damian Lillard isn’t expected to play this season while recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon. 

But he’ll return to a familiar spot at next week’s NBA All-Star festivities. The Portland Trail Blazers guard has been invited to participate in the 3-point contest. He’ll do so alongside Devin Booker (Suns), Kon Knueppel (Hornets), Tyrese Maxey (76ers), Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers), Jamal Murray (Nuggets), Bobby Portis Jr. (Bucks) and Norman Powell (Heat). 

The NBA announced the competitors on Sunday. The 3-point contest will take place next Saturday at the Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers. 

Lillard, a nine-time All-Star, has won the 3-point contest twice. He’ll seek to tie the record of three 3-point contests wins held by Larry Bird and Craig Hodges, who combined to win six of the first seven 3-point contests. 

Lillard ruptured his left Achilles tendon last postseason while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. During the offseason, he signed a three-year contract to return to the Trail Blazers with whom he played his first 11 NBA seasons, making seven All-Star teams.

Lillard, 35, is planning to sit the entire 2025-26 season to recover from his injury and return to the Portland lineup next season. He’s feeling well enough to compete next week and provided an update on his recovery to the “Road Trippin’ Show” last week.

“It’s going great,” Lillard said, per NBC Sports. “I think it’s just one of those injuries where you’ve got to take your time — you know, it takes what it takes. The first couple of weeks to maybe two or three months is kind of frustrating because you’re so limited. 

“But with patience, giving yourself grace, and doing the things necessary to continue progressing, you get to a point where you start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Lillard previously won the 3-point contest in 2018 and is the only competitor other than Booker with a win. 

Week two of these daily questions gets under way, with the (vague) theme this week being rosters, expectations and reality checks. Arizona enters 2026 coming off a sub-.500 season, and signed just one of MLB Trade RumorsTop 50 Free Agents. And that was Merrill Kelly, who was here for most of the season anyway. They did add significant veteran presence, in the shapes of Nolan Arenado and Carlos Santana, and made some smaller moves intended to address the bullpen, a significant problem last year. But was it enough? Or is this simply lip service, effectively re-arranging the dugout chairs on a mediocre baseball team?

Is Arizona actually trying to contend, or are they just pretending?

Obviously, it’s rare for any team to come out and admit they don’t have a chance. Though nobody would blame the Colorado Rockies front-office for throwing their hands in the air and ‘fessing up. But given the team only missed out on the playoffs by three games last year, despite some major injuries, it’s not as if the Diamondbacks need to be rebuilt from the ground up. However, there is also massive uncertainty regarding the 2027 season, so perhaps it makes sense to make no big movies until a new CBA is agreed. Tell us what you think lies behind the team’s mindset, as we head into spring training…

Won’t be in the comments immediately, since as mentioned yesterday, we’re off to the RenFair, where wifi has yet to be invented. 🙂 But I’ll check back when we return from the Middle Ages!

Usually, I run just one sleuthing photo a day on the weekends during the offseason but I came across this one recently and it was too good to pass up. So let’s do a bit of baseball sleuthing as we wait for today’s Super Bowl to begin.

Here we have brothers Joe and Phil Niekro posing at Wrigley Field. The scoreboard is visible, just barely, and only the NL side.

Joe Niekro pitched for the Cubs in 1967 and 1968, and for a few weeks in 1969 before he was traded to the Padres. So that does narrow things down, a bit. The Joe Niekro trade happened before the Braves visited Wrigley Field in 1969, so that year is eliminated.

That would still leave 18 possible dates, as the Braves played nine games at Wrigley in both 1967 and 1968.

I didn’t have to look at a single box score to figure this out, though I did have to check league schedules. Here’s how this one went.

First, the style of road uniform Phil Niekro is wearing wasn’t worn by the Braves before 1968. So that eliminates 1967.

Now, we can’t see much of the board but here’s a portion that we can see, enlarged:

It’s blurry and pixellated but that doesn’t matter. If you are familiar with the Wrigley Field board and how games are designated, it’s 100 percent clear that the white squares in the games above and below the Cubs score line (and that one was in the middle in the 1960s) read NO GAME.

Thus, the Cubs and Braves were the only NL game being played on the day this photo was taken.

So, as I said, I didn’t have to look at a single box score to figure this one out, just the daily schedules. The only day that year that the Cubs and Braves played at Wrigley and were the only NL game was Thursday, April 25, 1968.

In those days, photographers didn’t cover every single game as they do now, and especially not on a chilly April weekday afternoon at Wrigley Field. The reason this photo was taken is very likely the fact that the brothers had pitched against each other in the series opener, Tuesday, April 23. It was the first time the Niekros had faced each other at Wrigley; it had happened once previously in Atlanta, July 4, 1967.

Joe was the winner that day, allowing four runs in eight innings. The Cubs scored five off Phil in three innings and won 10-4. The reason this photo had to wait until Thursday the 25th was that the Wednesday, April 24 game had been postponed because it was 39 degrees and snowing that day in Chicago.

The Cubs won the April 25 game 5-2. Fergie Jenkins threw a complete game and Ron Santo homered twice in front of just 4,399 on another chilly day, with a temperature around 50.

The Joe Niekro trade was one of the worst in Cubs history. Joe had thrown a complete-game shutout in his first 1969 start against the Expos, but then posted a 6.97 ERA in his next three starts, not getting out of the fifth inning in any of them. In a fit of pique, Leo Durocher wanted him traded and GM John Holland obliged him.

Yes, the Cubs got Dick Selma in the deal, and Selma was competent for the Cubs, not to mention fun with his bullpen antics. Selma was traded (with Oscar Gamble) to the Phillies after 1969 for Johnny Callison, another bad trade. Callison didn’t do much for the Cubs and Selma had an outstanding year for Philly in 1970 as a multi-inning reliever, posting 22 saves and 5.2 bWAR in 73 games and 134.1 innings.

Meanwhile, Niekro went on to pitch 19 more seasons for the Tigers, Astros, Braves, Yankees and Twins. He was a teammate of his brother’s in Atlanta in 1973 and 1974, finished in the top three of Cy Young voting in 1979 and 1980 and got a World Series ring with the Twins in 1987. He had 221 career wins and was one of the better starters of his time.

Just another little slice of Cubs history.

All eyes are on Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum as the team quickly approaches the All-Star break. Tatum has reportedly been participating in controlled 5-on-5 scrimmages with coaches, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Tatum is still recovering from rupturing his Achilles tendon last May during a playoff series with the New York Knicks. Tatum still has several benchmarks to clear from his recovery and there remains no timetable for his return, ESPN reported. NBA insider Chris Haynes reported on Jan. 29 that Tatum is considering sitting out for the entire 2025-2026 season.

Charania reported that Tatum wants to come back as close to 100 percent as possible. Last season, Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists.

Part of Tatum’s reluctance to return has been how well the Celtics have played without him. The Celtics are second in the East at 34-18 and currently on a five-game winning streak.

[Get more Celtics news: Boston team feed]

“That’s something I contemplate every day,” Tatum said on the Pivot Podcast. “More so about the team, if or when I do come back this season, they would’ve played 50 some-odd games without me. So they have an identity this year or things that they felt have clicked for them, and it’s been successful, right, third or second team in the East up to this point. So there is a thought in my head that’s like, how does that work or hows does that look with me integrating myself off an injury and 50-60 games into a season? There could obviously be some challenges and it is a thought, like damn? Do I come back or should I wait? It’s something that I honestly, recently in the last two weeks or so, just kind of contemplate every single day.”

Jaylen Brown is also in the midst of a career season. He is averaging 29.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists. Brown was recently selected for his fifth All-Star Game. 

Derrick White and Payton Pritchard have also increased their scoring numbers, with both guards scoring over 17 points per game. The team also acquired big man Nikola Vučević in a trade with the Chicago Bulls.

As we conclude our Northwestern baseball 2026 position previews, it’s time to take a look at a relatively experienced outfield group featuring two returning starters and a couple of interesting newcomers. What can the Wildcats’ outfielders offer in 2026?

Jackson Freeman, Junior, RF

After a big first-year season featuring 11 home runs and an OPS of .866, Freeman took a step back statistically in 2025, improving his batting average from .247 to .255 but dropping his OPS to .780 thanks to just six home runs in 52 games. However, fans shouldn’t be fooled by this perceived lack of progress — Freeman is a bona fide star who will be one of the Wildcats’ biggest assets in 2026.

Over the summer, Freeman took his talents to the Cape Cod League to play against the best summer baseball competition in the country. He more than held his own, hitting .259 in a league that is far less hitter-friendly than the Big Ten (for context, the worst team ERA out of 10 Cape squads was 4.92, a mark that would’ve been sixth-best in a 17-team B1G). In addition to his hitting prowess, Freeman showed off his capabilities in both right and center field, starting 38 games for the Chatham Anglers and committing just one error compared to five outfield assists.

Entering 2026, Freeman is expected to slot back into his role as the primary right fielder for the ‘Cats. Finding increased power will still need to be a focus, but in terms of efficiency, the California native projects to take a major step up this year.

Jack Lausch, Senior, CF

Welcome back, quarterback.

Lausch returns to the ‘Cats for his second season of baseball since abandoning his pursuits of being NU’s starting QB. A highly-touted baseball recruit coming out of high school, the Chicago native struggled to readjust at the plate early in 2025. However, he bounced back nicely toward the end of the year, finishing with a solid .268 batting average.

In 2026, Lausch should return to his role as the everyday center fielder for the ‘Cats. With a year of collegiate baseball under his belt, fans should expect Lausch to be a reliable player who can hit in the heart of the order if necessary.

Logan de Groot, Sophomore, LF

With the departure of Preston Knott, the ‘Cats have a big hole in left field, and de Groot is one of several options who could seek to fill it. The California native transferred to NU after a season with UCLA, during which he started four games as a designated hitter and batted .267 across 15 at-bats.

Over the summer, de Groot received regular playing time in the West Coast League, hitting .236. The sophomore saw a lot of time in right field with the WCL’s Bellingham Bells, but he likely has the versatility to play in left if necessary. It is certainly possible that Wildcat coach Ben Greenspan will opt to start a returner in left to begin the season, but de Groot is certainly a viable choice as well.

Griffin Mills, Junior

Mills made two starts in 21 appearances with the ‘Cats last year, picking up six hits in 19 at-bats total. The New Jersey native does have the ability to play all over the outfield, and he made one start as a left fielder against UIC last April. His 2024 batting numbers (.129 average in 62 at-bats) are certainly a cause for concern, but Mills has certainly developed his swing since then, so he’ll likely have a chance to compete for some time in the outfield with the loss of Knott.

Zach Carlson, Sophomore

Carlson appeared in 15 games and made seven starts (all as a designated hitter) last season, hitting .276 across 29 at-bats. It was certainly encouraging to see the Utah native get some looks in meaningful competition as a freshman. If Carlson can continue to grow as a hitter, he could be another legitimate option to get some playing time in the outfield.

Marty Kaplan, Senior

A career .212 hitter, Kaplan has seen his playing time slowly decrease since his first-year season in 2023, although he did make two starts as a DH in 2025. As a senior, Kaplan has the advantage of having been around the Wildcat baseball program for a long time, and he does have 12 career starts under his belt. If he can take a leap at the plate, he may get some chances for action as either a DH or left fielder in 2026.

Masai Marshall, Sophomore

Marshall did not play in 2025, but he was ranked as the No. 12 outfielder in the state of New York coming out of high school. He projects mainly as a depth piece for the ‘Cats, but with a year of NU experience under his belt, he’ll likely get the chance to play in his first game at some point in 2026.

Dominic DeLoreto, First-Year

Also listed as a pitcher, DeLoreto hails from Florida and should be a solid development piece for the Wildcats this year. He may not see action in 2026, but his versatility could allow him to be a key player for NU at some point in the future.

It took three trips over the waiver wire through claims by three different teams for former top San Francisco Giants prospect Marco Luciano to finally find a home. He was designated multiple times for so many assignments, but the baseball gods finally took mercy on Luciano and let him pass through waivers and land with the New York Yankee’s Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders.

Luciano used the be the Giants’ top prospect and was considered one of the best prospects in all of baseball, playing in the 2021 Futures Game as a 19-year-old. But his hitting never showed the promise displayed as a 17-year-old playing rookie ball and perhaps most important, couldn’t field at shortstop, something that everyone but Farhan Zaidi had long since acknowledged before 2024, when Luciano got an ill-fated chance at the position — and his injuries didn’t help.

His SF Giants career consisted of 41 games and 126 plate appearances, where he slashed .217/.286/.304 with 45 strikeouts and 11 walks. That’s not enough hitting for a middle infielder, let alone the LF/1B/DH hybrid Luciano has become. The Giants let him go in December to provide a spare roster spot that would allow them to participate in the Rule V draft, meaning they effectively traded him for backup catcher Andrew Susac.

Out of options but still only 24 years old, Luciano remained intriguing for MLB teams. Just not for their big-league rosters. The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed Luciano Dec. 5, and he spent a few weeks on their roster before the Pirates made a one-for-three three-team trade, which meant they had to clear two spots on their 40-man roster. Operating on the principle of last-in, first-out, they ditched Luciano, who returned to the waiver wire.

Luciano spent three weeks in limbo after that, because the usual one-week limit for waiver claims doesn’t apply to the holiday season. The Baltimore Orioles claimed him Jan. 7, only to designate him for assignment him Jan. 15 in order to claim left-handed reliever Jose Suarez. One week later, the Yankees claimed Luciano. Five days after that, he got another DFA when the Yankees claimed reliever Don Hamel.

Essentially, all these teams wanted Luciano, as long as he didn’t have to be on the 40-man roster. It’s a brutal system for players who are out of options. Luciano had no idea where he was playing next season for two full months, while being a member of three different major-league teams on paper.

He lands with the Yankees, where he has a real opportunity thanks to the Yankees’ lefty-dominated lineup. They’ve got Paul Goldschmidt at first base/DH backing up lefty Ben Rice, but Goldschmidt is now 38 years old, though no less terrifying if he’s facing the Giants. If Luciano can hit outside the friendly Pacific Coast League, he’s a logical right-handed power options for the Yankees.

He’s probably content with simply leaving the waiver wire.