VCU could possibly be without a starter for the majority of its second-round game against Illinois after an early injury in the contest.

Guard Nyk Lewis went down less than a minute into the matchup on Saturday, March 21. He was attempting to grab a rebound when he landed on a teammate’s foot, twisting his right ankle. He immediately went down and was in visible pain.

VCU staff assisted Lewis getting off the court as he couldn’t put any weight on his right foot.

Freshman Nyk Lewis is helped off the court by VCU staff after turning an ankle pic.twitter.com/TlRsNg4jz4

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 22, 2026

Nyx Lewis latest injury updates

Lewis went into the locker room after the injury but the severity of it remains unknown. He has yet to reappear in the game.

The freshman guard has started every game this season for the Rams, and played a key role in the first round comeback win over North Carolina with 16 points, including two free throws in overtime to seal the win. He averages 8.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, while also shooting 36.2% from 3-point land.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nyk Lewis injury update: VCU leave game vs. Illinois early

Among two games that won’t count, the more interesting contest pits top White Sox prospects at the top Dodgers prospects, held conveniently enough at Camelback Ranch. Ostensibly this roster represents the top players in every organization, and thus it stands to reason that the best at each position are starting in this game. See if you agree:

I mean, see if you agree with the White Sox; as of 100 minutes before game time, the Dodgers had not produced a lineup. Pro tip: It will be a really, really, really, really good one. Bonus pro tip: Some of these guys will be White Sox one day, given the habit the front office has had in trading with L.A. over the past decade or so.

No argument with anyone here, really. Interesting to see that Caleb Bonemer is already being pushed to third base, with Billy Carlson earning the start at short. Grant Magill gets the start at backstop somewhat by default; with the talent on the major league roster, the White Sox are top-heavy at catcher for sure.

Hagen Smith earning the start over, say, Tanner McDougal or Noah Schultz, is instructive — possibly. Coming off of a stellar (short) start on Sunday, Smith may be positioning himself as first man up when the inevitable injury hits the big-league rotation.

This originally was an afternoon game, but due to the scorching heat squatting on Arizona it’s now an 8:05 p.m. Central start. It’s listed as both a CHSN and MLB.TV game, but these days your guess is as good as ours.

With games that go on their permanent record looming (remember when adults threatened you about stuff going on your permanent record?) and a bunch of the NRIs playing in the Spring Breakout game, the White Sox are sporting a starting lineup that is at least very close to what they’ll feature in Milwaukee on Thursday, when things count.

Well, except for the pitcher. MLB listed Ryan Borucki, but he was cut yesterday. So, opening on the mound will be Rule 5 draftee Jedixson Paez, who appears to have made the team despite a lousy spring line (seven earned runs in 8 2/3 innings, but six came in one one-inning outing).

The Reds counter with 2025 All-Star lefty Andrew Abbott, who is set to be their Opening Day pitcher with Hunter Greene out for months. Abbott is having a horrific spring of 20 earned runs in 13 innings. Unfortunately for his spring stats, Abbott won’t be facing any minor-leaguers tonight:

Paez will also be facing most of the lineup the Reds are apt to use against the Red Sox come Thursday:

First pitch in Goodyear is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. Central, when the temp may have drifted below 100° for the first time since early morning. No TV or radio on the White Sox side of things, as the broadcast teams are at the prospects game; try Reds radio, if you can.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza announced that outfielder Mike Tauchman is set to undergo an MRI for a knee issue that he experienced in the team’s split-squad spring training game against the Astros this afternoon.

Tauchman collided with the right field fence early in the game and was visibly uncomfortable while continuing to play in the game before exiting before the top of the fifth inning got underway.

Signed to a minor league deal in mid-February, Tauchman seemed like a very shrewd acquisition and figured to earn a spot on the Mets’ Opening Day roster if healthy. If the results of the MRI don’t show a significant injury, perhaps that’ll still happen, but it certainly wouldn’t be surprising if he were to begin the season on the injured list, even if only for precautionary reasons.

Fellow outfielders Juan Soto and Luis Robert Jr. are locked into the starting gigs in left and center, of course, and Tyrone Taylor always looked like a near lock to make the roster despite his poor 2025 season. And both Tauchman and top prospect Carson Benge appeared likely to make the roster. If Tauchman were to miss any time, Benge would obviously be lined up to the take the vast majority of reps in right field during his absence.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — It was a wild celebration and a moment of March bliss for Clemson, which had not enjoyed many of those the past two decades.

Mia Moore’s running 3-pointer seemingly went through in time to lift the Tigers to a buzzer-beating win over Southern California in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

Until officials cleared the floor to look at replays and determined that the clock hadn’t started when it should have when Moore took an inbound pass and dashed up the court. The referees took away the basket and the score remained 61-all. Clemson would have to play five more minutes if it hoped to advance, and the Tigers fell 71-67 in overtime to USC.

“Initially, I thought it was good, but I guess I came up short,” Moore said.

During their review, officials took a stopwatch to the video and found that Moore’s shot and a potential foul that could have sent her to the free-throw line came after the 4.4 seconds that Clemson had to work with when it inbounded the ball.

Clemson coach Shawn Poppie thought his team had a signature March Madness win. At worst, he thought Moore would head to the foul line with almost no time left on the clock.

Instead, the ruling gave new life to USC, and Clemson, which had reached the NCAA Tournament just once since 2002 before this year, had to reset.

“Everything in their mind is, ‘We have just won the first-round game,’” said Poppie, in his second year leading the Tigers. “So for them to have an emotional, again, you just have a quick timeout to motivate them and for whatever reason, we have to go back out there.”

Clemson took a 64-61 lead halfway through the extra period on Moore’s foul shot and a basket by Rachael Rose. From there, USC star freshman Jazzy Davidson took over and lifted the Trojans into the second round.

Davidson hit two of her four 3-pointers in overtime, the first to tie the game and the second to put the Trojans ahead to stay at 67-64 with 1:03 left.

“I told her you don’t ever have to get me a gift because those shots in overtime were enough,” Davidson’s teammate Kara Dunn said with a smile.

Davidson finished with 31 points and Dunn had 22, the pair combining for more than 70% of USC’s scoring.

USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said her video manager thought Moore’s shot came too late. Still, she was trying to plan for free throws by Clemson and how to respond to a potential deficit.

“Obviously, from my end, the officials did a great job going to monitor and they counted down the time from 4.4 seconds. She didn’t get it off in time,” Gottlieb said. “If that’s accurate, then that’s what it is.”

For Poppie, it will be some time before he can stop thinking about his team’s short taste of triumph.

“It was a tough, tough day for (the) Tigers,” Poppie said. “Sad locker room in there, but nothing to hang your head on.”

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

After he went 2×4 with a 3-run HR today, Astros manager Joe Espada said he believes Christian Walker’s bat is coming around:

Espada raved about SP Mike Burrows, who has been better than advertised this spring:

Burrows also said the ball he took off the leg is of no consequence:

Did Espada hint that OF Zach Cole may need some more seasoning in Triple-A?

Cam Smith has made some adjustments to improve at the plate, both physically and mentally:

The Astros have decided to open the season in a 5 man rotation:

This may indicate that Tatsuya Imai will open up as the 3rd starter in the order based on the Astros schedule and off days. It will also lead to bullpen decisions that will likely include multiple relievers who can go multiple innings.

SS Jeremy Pena has swung a bat 2 days in a row as he tries to be ready for Opening Day:

Could Brice Matthews make the team as an outfielder?

ST. LOUIS — Saturday’s pregame conversation, ahead of Iowa State’s round of 32 meeting with Kentucky, focused on the potential absence of one of college basketball’s most important defenders.

T.J. Otzelberger will concern himself just as much with one guaranteed to be on the Enterprise Center floor Sunday.

Otzelberger and his staff know it’s unlikely Joshua Jefferson, pound for pound as important of a two-way player as any in the country, will be able to play through an ankle injury suffered when the Cyclones advanced past Tennessee State on Sunday. His absence would make Iowa State’s March climb tangibly steeper.

CINDERELLA’S TIME: Ranking the most likely upsets in the second round

Yet with the Wildcats now in view, Otzelberger also knows there’s more to contend with than a healing timeline he can’t control. Which is why he spent time Saturday worrying about Brandon Garrison.

“He poses,” Otzelberger said, “a huge challenge.”

Kentucky’s versatile defensive weapon

The No. 2-seeded Cyclones will remember Garrison from his year in the Big 12 at Oklahoma State.

Originally from Oklahoma City, Garrison transferred to Kentucky ahead of the 2024-25 campaign and has appeared in 70 games for the Wildcats since.

At 6-10, 245 pounds, he casts an imposing defensive presence because of his positional versatility, which was on full display during Kentucky’s opening-round overtime win over Santa Clara.

It was during one of the Wildcats’ late huddles that Garrison asked to start switching the pick-and-pop actions Santa Clara had been so successful with. “Let me switch to the guard,” he said. “I’ll cover him.”

Coach Mark Pope gave Garrison the go-ahead, and Garrison repaid that faith by blocking a pair of potentially critical 3-pointers in the game’s final minutes, as Kentucky sealed its dramatic win.

“You have to be brave to speak up as a player,” Pope said. “You have to be really invested, right? You’ve got to be locked in, and you have to be really brave to do it. And then over time, you earn credibility from your teammates to be listened to.”

Pope acknowledged Garrison — like his team — has endured his share of ups and downs this season. But Garrison traded on that equity Friday, then delivered when the Wildcats needed him most.

Otega Oweh’s heroics took top billing, and understandably so. But without Garrison, Kentucky’s path to Sunday’s second-round challenge looks much more difficult.

“He did a terrific job yesterday,” Otzelberger said. “It completely changed the course of the game, his ability to switch and impact plays.”

Contending with the threat of Brandon Garrison

For Iowa State — so modern, so active, so adept at spreading the floor and exploiting screen actions for good shots — a player like Garrison is as dangerous in theory as he is in person.

There’s no doubting the value and ability of the junior forward. To get his players’ attention, Otzelberger needs only to pull up film of Garrison blocking Sash Gavalyugov’s ill-fated 3s on Saturday.

But just as challenging is what a player like Garrison inspires in an opponent, and an offense built around seeking exactly the kinds of shots Garrison affects:

Doubt.

“Oftentimes when a big gets switched onto a guard, the guard thinks it’s time to attack off the bounce or create space, isolate and be able to get to his shot,” Otzelberger said. “With Brandon, he has such great discipline defensively. Not only does he use his length to his benefit, but you always have in the back of your mind, do you really want to drive him to the rim and challenge him?

“There’s a psychological thing that happens there —  ‘Alright, he could block my shot on the perimeter or the rim, and he’s still got the mobility and agility to contain the bounce.’”

On this stage, when there is so much talent and so much pressure, and so little margin for error, even a moment’s hesitation becomes the entire difference between success and failure. What Garrison does matters, but what he can do matters more.

In a game like this, the idea of Brandon Garrison is as powerful as the player himself.

Which is why, on Sunday, when the world is asking whether Jefferson can go or not go, and how it affects Iowa State or doesn’t, there will be at least a small space reserved in the back of Otzelberger’s mind for Kentucky’s No. 10.

“It’s a veteran guy,” he said, “who’s been in the fights before, who cares about his team winning and stepping up on the biggest stage.”

Limiting him on that stage is a crucial step in Iowa State’s journey to the second weekend.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kentucky upset of Iowa State could come down to Brandon Garrison

Things got heated in the game between Oklahoma City Thunder and Washington Wizards as four players were ejected from the contest following an altercation just before the end of the first half.

Wizards forward Anthony Gill made a floating hook shot over Thunder center Chet Holmgren with 27 seconds left in the second quarter as Oklahoma City led 68-63.

After the made field goal, Thunder forward Jaylin Williams attempted to take the ball out and put it back in play, but his path was impeded by Justin Champagnie.

Williams delivered two shoulder bumps as the ball went through the net. Champagnie took exception and shoved Williams. The two exchanged words before an official stepped between them, as teammates rushed over.

Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell approached Champagnie and seemingly said something to him. Champagnie reacted with a push and slap to Mitchell’s face.

Mitchell went stumbling into cameramen on the baseline in an attempt to go after Champagnie.

Mitchell knocked out one camera’s feed as multiple players on both teams followed their teammates into the fray.

Champagnie was the only Wizards player ejected. Three Thunder players were ejected: Mitchell, Williams and Cason Wallace.

The Thunder won the game, 132-111, to improve to 56-15. The Wizards fell to 16-54.

Game leaders include Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 40 points for Oklahoma City. Holmgren notched a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, also adding two blocks. Isaiah Hartenstein nearly had a triple-double with nine points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists. Mitchell scored 14 points before his ejection.

Washington was led by Bilal Coulibaly with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Four players ejected in Thunder win vs. Wizards

The pursuit of the perfect NCAA Tournament bracket continues, but for far fewer people than when Saturday’s second-round games tipped off.

By Saturday evening, after wins by top seeds Duke and Michigan and third-seeded Michigan State, the number of unblemished entries had dropped to 105 in ESPN’s bracket challenge and 133 in the NCAA’s contest. There were more than 25 million entries in each.

Favorites went 16-0 on Friday, and they started 3-0 on Saturday. Duke, picked to win the national championship by 23% of ESPN contestants, dominated No. 9 seed TCU in the second half and won 81-58. Michigan, the third-most popular choice to win the title, dispatched No. 9 seed Saint Louis 95-72. Michigan State beat sixth-seeded Louisville 77-69.

There was also a sharp drop-off in perfect brackets in the women’s tournament Saturday. The day started with 675,000 in the ESPN contest. After 10 games, there were 2,800 left. Two lower seeds won, with No. 10 seed Virginia knocking out No. 7 seed Georgia 82-73 and No. 9 seed Southern California beating No. 8 seed Clemson 71-67. Many more brackets would have been in a shambles had 15th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson, which was in a one-possession game with No. 2 seed Iowa midway through the fourth quarter, been able to pull an upset. Iowa won 58-48.

The odds of going 63-0 in a bracket contest are somewhere between one in 9.2 quintillion (for totally random guesses) or one in 120 billion (semi-educated ones).

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness