CHICAGO (AP) — Braden Smith had 16 assists to climb into second on the NCAA career list, and No. 18 Purdue outmuscled Northwestern for an 81-68 victory on Thursday that moved the Boilermakers into the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

Trey Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff each scored 19 points for Purdue (24-8), and Cluff also grabbed 10 rebounds. The Boilermakers outrebounded the Wildcats 35-23 and enjoyed a 38-18 advantage in points in the paint.

Smith is up to 1,045 assists in 142 career games, passing Ed Cota (1,030) and Chris Corchiani (1,038) with another smooth performance for the Boilermakers. Bobby Hurley is No. 1 with 1,076 assists in 140 games for Duke from 1989-93.

Next up for Purdue is No. 11 Nebraska on Friday. The second-seeded Cornhuskers had a bye through the first three rounds.

Nick Martinelli had 25 points for Northwestern (15-19), which advanced with wins over Penn State and Indiana on the first two days of the tournament. Jayden Reid finished with 19 points and nine assists.

Northwestern played without Arrinten Page, a 6-foot-11 forward who missed his fourth consecutive game because of an illness. And the Wildcats definitely missed the junior’s size and physicality as the Boilermakers dominated inside.

Purdue went on a 15-3 run to open a 38-15 lead with 5:47 left in the first half. Kaufman-Renn started the decisive stretch with a jumper in the paint, and Omer Mayer capped the surge with a fast-break layup off a Northwestern turnover.

Another Kaufman-Renn basket helped Purdue to a 45-21 advantage at the break. The Boilermakers outscored the Wildcats 22-6 in the paint in the first half.

It was a much better start for Purdue than the one it had in the regular-season meeting between the schools. Purdue trailed 34-25 at halftime before rallying for a 70-66 victory at Northwestern on March 4.

Up next

Purdue topped Nebraska 80-77 in overtime in their only meeting of the season on Feb. 10. Kaufman-Renn grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds in the victory, helping the Boilermakers to a 54-37 advantage on the glass.

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The Kansas City Royals went 0-for-2 yesterday in split-squad action and will regroup against the San Diego Padres. The two teams face off in Peoria Sports Complex down in Arizona, with left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic taking the mound.

Things have been rough for the boys in blue since the World Baseball Classic began. With players like Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino gone, the Royals are 1-8 in nine Cactus League games.

Tonight’s Royals Lineup

Tonight’s Padres Lineup

Jake Eisenberg is calling tonight’s game on the Royals Radio Network. Fans can watch the Padres feed of tonight’s game on MLB Network and Royals.TV.

Tonight’s probable pitchers are Bubic, Steven Cruz, Lucas Erceg, Nick Mears, Eli Morgan, and Hector Neris.

Happy 312 Day, Sox fans! Prior to tonight’s game, the team shared photos from the Los White Sox mural at Midway Airport, which spans 13,600 square feet.

The White Sox look to bounce back after two straight losses in a rare late-night Spring Training matchup. It might be a tough hill to climb, though, as the Giants have had a successful spring, with a 15-3 record.

Edgar Quero will be behind the plate tonight, and with Kyle Teel sidelined by a recent World Baseball Classic injury, we’ll likely be seeing plenty of him. Ryan Borucki will start the contest after pitching four innings so far this spring. He’s done fairly well, only giving up two hits and a walk, while striking out six as a relief arm.

Trevor McDonald will take the mound for San Francisco. The righthander has pitched a total of seven innings so far and has a similar line to Borucki’s, with two hits, one walk, and seven strikeouts.

Unless you live in the Bay Area, you won’t be able to watch or listen to tonight’s matchup. The game starts at 8:05 p.m. CT.

Grant Holmes went into this evening’s spring training start against the Pittsburgh Pirates having not given up a single run across two starts and three appearances. He’s now up to three starts and four appearances without giving up a run so far through spring training and his fourth appearance here in camp was probably the best one of them all so far.

Holmes ended up going five innings in this one against a lineup that very likely won’t look too much different from the one that the Pirates will be rolling out there in a couple of weeks for Opening Day. Holmes struck out Spencer Horowitz to start this one and then followed that up by walking Ryan O’Hearn. That was as good as it got for the Pirates against Holmes as he completely dominated Pittsburgh from this point forward. Holmes got former Braves DH Marcell Ozuna to fly out to end the inning after racking up his second strikeout of the frame and that was the start of a very productive outing for him.

All six pitches from Grant Holmes were put on display on this one — that includes the sinker that Holmes has apparently been working on throughout the offseason and during camp as well. As you can tell by the fact that Holmes didn’t give up a single hit and only had to deal with one baserunner throughout the time that he was on the mound on Thursday evening, each of those six pitches were working like a charm for him in this one.

The Pirates were unable to do much of anything about what Grant Holmes was delivering from the mound tonight and the swings-and-misses were further proof of that. They were also proof that his slider was the key to befuddling Pittsburgh’s batters in this one — of the nine strikeouts that Holmes racked up during this game, eight of them came from a slider. This was one of those outings that made me think “Dude, save some of that for the regular season!” Spring training or not, this was a fantastic performance from Grant Holmes and if he can bring that with him to the regular season then there will be a lot of happy campers here watching Holmes pitch.

As far as the Braves go, that was basically the sparkling highlight of the night. The Pirates started Bubba Chandler (the No. 2 pitching prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline) in this one and he absolutely lived up to the lofty status that he’s already achieved during his time on the farm. Chandler got his evening started by getting Michael Harris II to ground out on a 99-mph fastball that was inside and that basically set the tone for what came next. As good as Grant Holmes was in this one, Bubba Chandler wasn’t too far behind.

Chandler also went five innings in this one and struck out eight batters while only giving up one hit and one walk. Fortunately for the Braves, the one hit that he gave up ended up being a long ball. Former Twins prospect Jair Camargo has been having a very quiet spring training for the Braves so far and he was down 0-2 to Chandler in this AB before he got a hold of a slider and sent it flying onto the party deck out there in left field for a solo shot that put the Braves on the board and in the lead.

Fast forward to the sixth inning and we got to see a truly rare sight: A Michael Harris II walk. The free pass at the expense of Pirates pitcher Evan Sisk ended up being the start of something, as Money Mike stole second base and then eventually made it home on an RBI single from Kyle Farmer. Farmer’s single continues to bolster his care for making a roster spot while Michael Harris II’s fourth walk of spring training so far ended up paying off in dividends a little bit down the road.

The Braves led 2-0 at that point but ended up losing 5-2 after the Pirates ended up plating five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning due to a mixture of a rough outing from Blayne Enlow and a pair of backbreaking errors that allowed Pittsburgh to flip the game upside down. As a result, the Pirates were able to knock the Braves off of their lofty perch in the prestigious Grapefruit League as Atlanta fell to 12-5 with a couple of ties to their name.

With that being said, the most important takeaway here is that Grant Holmes appears to be champing at the bit to get out there for the regular season. He looked excellent on the mound today and has been locked in all spring. Sure, it may be spring training but he’s certainly looking the part when it comes to regular season readiness. We’ll see you tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 p.m. ET when the Braves welcome the Yankees to North Port.

After dropping below .500 in yesterday’s game, the Brewers are looking to get back to even tonight against the Guardians. This is their second meeting this spring, with the first a 9-6 loss on February 21.

DL Hall gets the start this evening for the Brewers. It’s his fourth appearance this spring, but only his first start for the Brewers. So far this spring, he has pitched six innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and four walks with four strikeouts. His last appearance came against the Brewers as he pitched with Great Britain in their exhibition. Hall allowed a run, a hit, two walks, and two strikeouts in three innings.

Three other Brewers are scheduled to pitch tonight. Easton McGee is making his fourth appearance of the spring. He’s pitched 4 1/3 innings this spring and not allowed a run, along with two hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. Jacob Waguespack has also not allowed a run this spring in 5 1/3 innings. He’s also allowed one hit and one walk and struck out four. Drew Rom is over from minor league camp after being reassigned on March 8. He’s allowed a run in 3 1/3 innings, with two hits, four walks, and six strikeouts. Peter Strzelecki is also over from minor league camp and has allowed two runs in four innings, with two hits and four strikeouts.

With the Brewers on the road, many of the bench players and minor league players are getting starts tonight. Garrett Mitchell is leading off with Brandon Lockridge batting second as the designated hitter. Christian Yelich is batting third with Gary Sánchez catching and batting fourth. Jett Williams is playing third and batting fifth, with Mike Boeve at first and batting sixth. Cooper Pratt, Jacob Hurtubise, and Eddys Leonard round out the lineup.

In recent injury news out of camp, Quinn Priester is expected to begin the season on the IL with a return TBD as he deals with a nerve issue “in the T.O.S. [thoracic outlet syndrome] family,” per manager Pat Murphy. He isn’t expected to require surgery. Additionally, outfielder Akil Baddoo’s quad injury is worse than expected, and he’s expected to miss 3-4 weeks.

Tonight’s pitch is set for 8:05 p.m. CT. The game will have an audio broadcast available on MLB.com.

Formula 1 heads to China celebrating vast numbers of overtakes, even as drivers debate how meaningful they are.

Ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix and the first sprint race of the season Saturday, Max Verstappen said it’s “a jungle out there” as teams adapt to the new way of racing.

Instead of racking up hours on a state-of-the-art simulator, Verstappen joked his practice now focused on collecting Mario Kart’s speed-boosting mushrooms to adapt to F1’s new reliance on electrical power boosts.

Ferrari debuts ‘Macarena’

George Russell is the driver to beat in Shanghai after his dominant win in Australia last week, and Mercedes will be in contention for another 1-2 finish in China.

The only team which came close to crashing the party was Ferrari, which threw away its chances with a pit strategy error. A drive from seventh to second for Russell’s teammate Kimi Antonelli showed how Mercedes can sweep past other teams even if the start doesn’t go it way.

All eyes will be on Ferrari in first practice as it uses a unique rear wing which rotates upside-down for more speed on the straights.

Dubbed the “flip-flop” or “Macarena”, it was used briefly in testing, dropped for Australia, and is the sort of innovation which could help Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton take the fight to Mercedes. It could also disrupt the airflow and hinder cars following close behind.

Changes on the way

F1’s governing body, the FIA, could take stock of how the racing is going and make changes, potentially even in time for the Japanese Grand Prix later this month.

One gripe so far has been the lack of control by drivers of when the electrical power kicks in and how much is used.

They can’t stop the power being deployed in typical straight-line driving and can only add an extra boost, which in Australia meant cars finishing the formation lap with an empty battery and lacking pace at the start. That’s “not a lot of fun and also quite dangerous,” Verstappen said Thursday.

A related issue ended home hero Oscar Piastri’s race before it began in Australia, when the extra power kicked in unexpectedly and tipped him into the barriers before he even reached the grid.

If F1 can’t race next month in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, which remain on the schedule for now despite the Iran war, it would leave a five-week gap in the calendar, which teams could use to refine any changes.

Zhou a boost for Cadillac

There hasn’t been a Chinese driver on the grid since Zhou Guanyu left Sauber at the end of 2024, but he’s still a big celebrity in his home country. As reserve driver for Cadillac, he could give the new team extra recognition in a key market after its solid but unspectacular debut in Australia.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Kansas City Royals at San Diego Padres, March 12, 2026, 6:10 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Peoria Sports Complex – Peoria, AZ

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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GB community, this is your thread for today’s game. Enjoy!

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wouldn’t rule out re-engaging in trade talks for edge rusher Maxx Crosby while saying he didn’t anticipate such a move since his club is “pretty far down the road” in free agency.

The Cowboys were on a short list of suitors when the Baltimore Ravens agreed to send two first-round draft picks to the Las Vegas Raiders for Crosby, only to back out of the deal a day before it could become official.

When Crosby was still apparently headed to Baltimore, Dallas acquired edge rusher Rashan Gary from Green Bay for a 2027 fourth-round pick on the first day of free agency this week.

The Cowboys have been in flux with their pass rush ever since sending young star Micah Parsons to the Packers for two first-rounders a week before the season started last year.

“We’re pretty far down the road relative to what our plans are,” Jones said Thursday when asked about Crosby at an event promoting an IndyCar series street race that will run by the 80,000-seat home of the Cowboys in Arlington. “So while I don’t anticipate it, I don’t want to rule anything out.”

Dallas is trying to rebuild a defense that was among the worst in the NFL last season. Christian Parker was hired as defensive coordinator, and the Cowboys signed two safeties in Jalen Thompson, who spent his first six seasons with Arizona, and P.J. Locke.

The Cowboys added some salary cap flexibility by sending defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa to San Francisco for a third-round pick this year. While Dallas has two first-rounders, the club was without another pick until the fourth round before trading Odighizuwa.

Odighizuwa was a third-round pick in 2021 and signed an $80 million, four-year extension last year, before negotiations stalled with Parsons.

That relationship soured, the Parsons trade to the Packers sent defensive tackle Kenny Clark to Dallas. Then the Cowboys used one of the first-round picks from the Parsons deal to acquire star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets.

Dallas had three defensive tackles with contracts carrying an average annual value of at least $20 million, and the Parker hiring meant a switch to a 3-4 base defense, creating even more of a log jam with the interior of the defensive line.

The Cowboys placed the $27.3 million franchise tag on receiver George Pickens and have until July 15 to try to reach a long-term deal with CeeDee Lamb’s star sidekick. That’s another reason for the Odighizuwa trade.

“We needed to spread it around a little bit,” Jones said, referring to the salary cap. “Let’s not take anything away from him individually, but we’ve got two outstanding football players, we have other backup players, plus we don’t want to rule out drafting a player.”

Parker is the third defensive coordinator hired in three years, after those units struggled in one season each under Mike Zimmer and Matt Eberflus. The blown assignments and other poor play were particularly pronounced with Eberflus.

“I feel very good about it,” Jones said. “We have nowhere but up to go on defense. It’s not anyone’s fault at all. But we’ll almost assuredly be much better. And I’m betting on us improving on offense. That ought to get us with better feeling when we get to December.”

While Gary recorded at least 7 1/2 sacks for the fourth time in the past five seasons, he didn’t have any in the second half of 2025.

The expected boost from the addition of Parsons was there early in the season, when Gary led the NFL with 4 1/2 sacks though three weeks, but fizzled late. Parsons missed the final three games after tearing an ACL.

The comparisons are likely to continue since Gary and Parsons have essentially traded places in the past year. The 28-year-old who spent his first seven seasons in Green Bay doesn’t see it that way.

“He was able to reach out to me, I was able text him back,” Gary said. “But I have yet to be able to really have a conversation with him. At the end of the day, it’s a business, so I don’t look at it as trading places or things like that. I’m just coming here to be me and be the impact (player) that the Cowboys need.”

The Cowboys also traded defensive end Solomon Thomas to Tennessee in a deal that included a seventh-round pick swap between the clubs.

Dallas is changing the competition behind quarterback Dak Prescott by signing Sam Howell and releasing Will Grier. Barring other QB changes, Howell will compete with Joe Milton for the backup job.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Last year, on its way to the No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament and the program’s second Final Four appearance, Auburn became one of the most breathlessly discussed teams in men’s college basketball.

The Tigers’ star player, Johni Broome, was at the center of a season-long national player of the year debate with Duke’s Cooper Flagg. They had an exceptionally old roster, with five players in their rotation who were at least 21 years old, including one, 25-year-old Chad Baker-Mazara, who was old enough to run for a seat in Congress. At the head of the operation was coach Bruce Pearl, a man who, for all of his teams’ accomplishments, has been a subject of controversy for much of his career, going all the way back to his days as an assistant at Iowa in the late 1980s (you can Google “Bruce Pearl Deon Thomas”).

And, to think, the 2025-26 edition of the Tigers may be even more polarizing.

March Madness pressure meter: 5 teams with most at stake

Bracket live updates: Auburn, Miami Ohio shake up NCAA Tournament field

Even with Pearl enjoying retirement and his son, Steven, at the helm, Auburn has perhaps the most contentious resume for an at-large berth to the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The Tigers have a power-conference pedigree, a talented roster and a handful of highly impressive wins, but they’re just 17-16 this season after falling 72-62 to Tennessee in the second round of the SEC tournament Thursday, March 12.

The argument around their candidacy has only ramped up in recent weeks, as the elder Pearl, now working as an analyst for TNT and CBS Sports, has publicly belittled the at-large hopes of fellow bubble dweller Miami (Ohio), which went a perfect 31-0 in the regular season before losing to UMass in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament Thursday.

Its tournament case has touched on some of the rawest, most searing divides in college basketball — namely, whether the final at-large spots should go to middling power-conference teams or mid-major squads with gaudy records that fell short in their conference tournaments. It’s a split that has only gotten more pronounced as the NCAA mulls tournament expansion, raising questions about which kind of teams will end up getting those additional spots.

So what’s at the heart of the dispute over the Tigers? Let’s take a deeper look at their NCAA Tournament resume:

Auburn basketball’s record is bad

The SEC tournament loss to Tennessee was Auburn’s 16th defeat of the season, putting it only one game above .500 (mind you, the NIT used to require participants have at least a .500 record). If the Tigers are selected for the 68-team field, they’d have the most losses ever for an at-large team. No squad with more than 15 losses has ever made the cut for March Madness.

That record includes a 7-11 mark in SEC play during the regular season, which put it 12th in the 16-team conference. Though the conference was considered stronger and deeper last season, six SEC teams got into the 2025 NCAA Tournament with sub-.500 conference records, including two, Oklahoma and Texas, that were 6-12 in league competition.

Those subpar records for Auburn become even more glaring when compared to other teams fighting for the final at-large berths into the tournament — a group that includes, among others, 20-13 SMU, 20-12 Missouri, 21-11 UCF, 26-8 Santa Clara, 24-7 VCU and, of course, 31-1 Miami (Ohio).

Auburn’s March Madness resume metrics are solid

While win-loss records understandably are the most obvious way to measure a team, there are a slew of other metrics that are a part of the team sheet examined by the NCAA Tournament selection committee when trying to fill in the 68-team bracket.

Thankfully for Auburn, a number of those statistical barometers are much kinder to the Tigers.

As of early Thursday evening, Auburn is No. 38 in the NCAA’s NET rankings (though it will likely drop a spot or two when those are updated Friday morning), No. 39 on KenPom, No. 41 on Torvik, No. 26 on BPI and No. 45 on KPI (those final two, like the NET, haven’t been updated to reflect the Tennessee loss).

How can a team that narrowly avoided a losing record be well within the statistical range of a typical at-large team? Much of it comes back to the quality of the Tigers’ schedule. 

Auburn has played 17 Quad 1 games this season, tied for the most of any Division I team. Though it hasn’t fared particularly well in those contests, with a 4-13 record, it has picked up a handful of notable wins. The Tigers beat No. 13 St. John’s in a neutral-site game on Nov. 26. It has home victories against No. 17 Arkansas and Kentucky. And, most impressively, it has a 76-67 road win over reigning national champion Florida, which is the Gators’ only home loss this season.

For all those numbers, the most important one to keep in mind heading into Selection Sunday may well be this one: 0.62. That was the Tigers’ Wins Above Bubble mark entering the day Thursday. It’s a metric NCAA senior vice president for basketball Dan Gavitt has said will be weighed heavily when trying to sift through bubble teams. That mark ranks Auburn No. 44, putting it behind, among others, No. 31 TCU, No. 33 Miami (Ohio), No. 35 Ohio State, No. 36 UCF, No. 37 Santa Clara, No. 40 Missouri and No. 42 VCU, though it also puts it ahead of No. 45 SMU, No. 46 Texas, No. 49 New Mexico, No. 51 Indiana and No. 53 Oklahoma.

Will Auburn make NCAA Tournament?

There’s nothing resembling a clear consensus on whether the Tigers will make the field, though they’re just outside of the field according to Bracket Matrix, which compiles and averages out dozens of mock brackets.

Here’s a look at where various outlets have Auburn:

• USA TODAY Sports: First team out
• ESPN: First team out
• CBS Sports: No. 11 seed (First Four)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Auburn basketball has most polarizing 2026 NCAA Tournament resume