Bugaluu :: Sports

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/marysvilles-delaney-sherwood-dispatch-regular-174002781.html 

QPR boss shares positive injury update

QPR winger Kwame Poku is back in training following a hamstring injury.

Poku joined QPR this summer but has endured an injury hit season at the club following his move from Peterborough.

He has been out since the beginning of January with his latest setback but head coach Julien Stephan said: “Good news on Kwame Poku; this morning he did a part of the session, so he will probably continue to increase his loads during the week.

“He will probably increase the level of intensity next week, and then let’s see what happens at the end of next week.”

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/qpr-boss-shares-positive-injury-174000122.html 

After a disappointing midweek loss against UT-Arlington, No. 7 TCU traveled west for a major showdown against No. 1 UCLA, the top team in the Big Ten. It was a rough trip for the Horned Frogs, who were swept by the Bruins and allowed 30 runs over the three-game series. TCU (2-5), which has now lost five consecutive games, will look to get back on track during Monday night’s nonconference game against Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.

Friday: No. 1 UCLA 10, No. 7 TCU 2

Playing without ace Tommy LaPour, who sat out the weekend series because of elbow soreness, TCU sent left-hander Mason Brassfield out to open things up. Brassfield struggled, however, logging less than two innings of work while allowing five earned runs on seven hits. Tyler Phenow and Kade Durnin entered in relief, but both Horned Frog pitchers conceded two runs as the Bruins ballooned their lead.

Trever Baumler (1.2 innings) and position player Cole Eaton (2 innings) combined to hold the UCLA offense scoreless in the final frames.Chase Brunson’s solo shot in the fourth inning and Lucas Franco’s bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning were the lone RBIs for the Horned Frogs, who finished with eight hits in the loss. Despite drawing six walks, TCU left 12 runners on base and struck out 14 times against the UCLA pitching staff.

Saturday: No. 1 UCLA 5, No. 7 TCU 1

Arkansas transfer Lance Davis started the second game for TCU. The right-hander fired four frames and struck out five batters, but allowed four earned runs on six hits. Nate Stern and Walter Quinn provided quality relief for the Horned Frogs, combining for six strikeouts and one earned run allowed over four innings.

But the TCU offense, which mustered up just five hits, struck out 14 times for the second consecutive game. Sawyer Strosnider bashed a solo homer in the first inning to drive in the team’s lone run. Strosnider went 2 for 4 and was the only Horned Frog with multiple hits in the loss.

Sunday: No. 1 UCLA 15, No. 7 TCU 5

True freshman Uli Fernsler made his TCU debut in the series finale, throwing two innings and allowing three earned runs on three hits in the start. It was a tough showing for the bullpen, however, as Cal Poly transfer Tanner Sagouspe allowed two runs on four hits over three innings before Noah Franco conceded four runs without recording an out. Hawaii transfer Ethan Thomas walked four and allowing three runs over 2.1 innings.

Cole Eaton, a position player, was once again called on to pitch and gave up three runs without logging an out. Offensively, TCU finished with seven hits, but struck out seven times and left five runners on base. Sawyer Strosnider went 2 for 2 with a home run and an RBI triple, while Lucas Franco crushed a solo shot in the eighth inning and Chase Brunson went 1 for 4 with an RBI single.

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/baseball-no-7-tcu-swept-173918659.html 

It was a massive week for ACC bubble teams … and a treacherous one for those sitting near the top, whether it be conference standings, the Associated Press Top 25 poll or the top 16 NCAA Tournament team list.  

With one week remaining in the regular season, teams are feeling the pressure and some healthy desperation. At this point, they know where they stand and what they need to do within their control to secure the best possible outcome. 

Clemson and Virginia each did that in quick succession on Sunday, boosting their fringe NCAA Tournament résumés with wins over the conference’s three best teams. They were two of four unranked teams to upend an AP Top 25 team last week, joined by bubble buddy Colorado and Texas A&M. In all, 12 teams lost, as did three of the next five to receive votes. 

Clemson secured the best win in head coach Shawn Poppie’s tenure by handing previously ranked No. 9 Duke its first conference loss of the year, 53-51. Hannah Kohn, left alone in the backcourt as a driving Mia Moore drew attention at the rim, hit the game-winning 3-pointer with three seconds left. She had yet to score, missing all four 3-point attempts. The defense busted up Duke’s last scoring try. 

The Blue Devils tore through ACC play after a brutal non-conference schedule and led Clemson by as many as 14 points. Defensively, they kept Clemson to eight points in the first, seven in the third and a 32% field goal percentage over the course of the game (29% from 3). But Clemson tore off a 23-point fourth quarter, won the points off turnovers and allowed Duke a near-season low five steals. 

A similar late-game scene played out in Louisville earlier in the day. Virginia senior guard Romi Levy made the 3 on an assist from Paris Clark, and secured the defensive rebound on Louisville’s last play to secure the 74-72 win. They shot 50%, nearing a season-best, and were 8-of-17 from 3. Louisville had only lost within the conference to Duke. 

Should Clemson and Virginia remain on the right side of the bubble, they would each make their first NCAA appearances in quite some time. 

Clemson hasn’t been back since 2019, when it reached the second round. It was their only appearance since 2002, and the Tigers have been poking up through the bottom of the ACC the last few years. Virginia last appeared in 2018, which was also its only showing since 2010. 

For the ACC collectively, it’s a pro that more teams are likely to make the NCAA Tournament field. But it also comes at a cost: their only two in the first Top 16 reveal probably won’t be moving up. And they already trail the SEC and Big Ten powers. 

Louisville was ranked No. 7 in the first reveal as the second-to-last 2-seed, while Duke was ranked No. 10 and the 3-seed line. The second reveal is Sunday at 11 a.m. ET on ESPN. 

Colorado helped its bubble case with a 75-68 win over then-No. 20 Texas Tech, while Minnesota boosted its mid-seed-line resume with its 74-61 signature win over then-No. 10 Ohio State. 

Combined with Iowa’s 62-44 statement win over Michigan in the race for the Big Ten’s second-best, there is a sense that while the group in contention for the Final Four seems set, the rest of the field feels wide open. It bodes well for early-round close calls and upsets. 

Bracketology: Two-bid Summit, and Summit’s Tennessee

Two-bid Summit? South Dakota State can boost its bubble chances this week when it travels to league-leader North Dakota State on Wednesday. The Jackrabbits (22-6, 12-2) lost the first meeting, 76-68.

They’re looking up at the Bison, (25-2, 14-0) who clinched at least a share of the Summit League regular season title as well as the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. Their 23-game winning streak is second-best in DI, and projects them as the tournament victor and automatic bid earner. South Dakota State is six spots behind them in NET and on the verge of a spot. 

The Lady Vols are on a four-game losing streak, with their NCAA Tournament seeding in jeopardy. (Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Tennessee’s fall: The Lady Vols are on a four-game losing skid and solidly out of a top-16 true seed. Their great collapse could push them down as far as a No. 8 or 9 by the time the regular season is done. They finish with LSU and Vanderbilt, both teams ranked in the top 10. 

Stat of the week: 40 consecutive wins

UConn is always up to something when it comes to winning streaks. It extended its run of dominance against Providence on Sunday with an 81-38 win that marked the 40th consecutive victory in the series. The last time Providence won, in March 1993, the Huskies had yet to win even one of their 12 national championships. 

The Huskies are winning by an average of 42.3 points per game in Big East play, but faced their two closest final scores in the past 10 days. Marquette lost by 15 on Feb. 14. Villanova, a bubble team that should make it into the field, lost by 14 on Wednesday at home. No other Big East opponent has come within 32 by the final buzzer. 

Performance of the week: Ava Heiden, Iowa

The answer to every Michigan comeback attempt was Ava Heiden, the sophomore center who was named to the Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year late-season team earlier in the week. Heiden scored 20 of her 24 points in the second half to send then-No. 13 Iowa over then-No. 6 Michigan, 62-44. She added 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. It was her third consecutive 20-point double-double, a dangerous sign for the Big Ten as the tournament arrives. 

Honorable mentions: Olivia Miles is up to five triple-doubles on the season, after 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a comeback win over Iowa State. Fifteen came within the last five minutes. Aubrey Galvan hit the deep mid-range game-winner late in the shot clock to send Vanderbilt past Kentucky, 81-79. The freshman had 20 points and five assists. Oklahoma’s Raegan Beers finished with 18 points and 18 rebounds in a win over Tennessee. 

Game of the week: Baylor (23-6, 12-4) at TCU (25-4, 13-3), Sunday, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN)

The finale could determine the Big 12 regular-season champion. Olivia Miles scored a career-high 40 points in the first meeting, an 83-67 TCU win on Feb. 12. It kick-started a four-game winning streak that included West Virginia and Iowa State. The Bears will need a better game plan to keep the fifth-year point guard in check after she scored 23 of the team’s 25 points and went 7-of-9 from behind the arc in a game-deciding third quarter.

Honorable mentions: Michigan (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten) at Ohio State (23-5, 12-4), Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET on Peacock; Tennessee (16-10, 8-6 SEC) at LSU (24-4, 10-4), Thursday, 6 p.m. ET on ESPN; Maryland (22-6, 10-6 Big Ten) at Michigan (22-5, 13-3), Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX

Yahoo Sports’ Top 25 AP ballot

1. UConn
2. UCLA
3. South Carolina
4. Texas
5. LSU
6. Vanderbilt
7. Iowa
8. Oklahoma
9. Michigan
10. Kentucky
11. Louisville
12. Ohio State
13. Duke
14. Maryland
15. TCU
16. Ole Miss
17. Michigan State
18. West Virginia
19. Minnesota
20. Baylor
21. Georgia
22. Princeton
23. Texas Tech
24. Tennessee
25. Fairfield

Official AP Top 25

1. UConn
2.UCLA
3. South Carolina
4. Texas
5. Vanderbilt
6. LSU
7. Oklahoma
8. Michigan
9. Iowa
10. Louisville
11. TCU
12. Duke
13. Ohio State
14. Maryland
15. Michigan State
16. Kentucky
17. West Virginia
18. Baylor
19. Ole Miss
20. Texas Tech
21. North Carolina
22. Minnesota
23. Georgia
24. Alabama
25. Princeton

​https://sports.yahoo.com/womens-college-basketball/article/ap-top-25-with-one-week-to-go-before-conference-tournaments-the-pressure-and-resume-building-is-on-173902373.html 

DENVER, CO – JULY 6: Kris Bryant sits on the bench in the ninth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Coors Field on July 6, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Colorado Rockies provided injury updates on Monday morning.

Two players — INF/OF Kris Bryant and RHP Jeff Criswell — are on the 60-day injured list. Bryant, of course, is dealing with lumbar degenerative disc disease while Criswell is continuing his throwing program on his way back from Tommy John surgery.

A new potential addition, though, is RHP Pierson Ohl, who was came to the Rockies from the Minnesota Twins with Edouard Julien. Ohl suffered a right UCL tear and will undergo Tommy John surgery.

The other notable injury is to OF Jared Thomas (No. 5 PuRP), who was a non-roster invitee. Thomas suffered a right hamate injury and underwent surgery.

Otherwise, many Rockies are day-to-day with various injuries.

RHP McCade Brown is day-to-day with right shoulder inflammation. He is progressing in his throwing program.RHP Brayan Castillo is undergoing treatment for right lat tightness. He is not throwing.LHP Kyle Freeland is progressing with treatment for mid-back spasms and will begin throwing this weekINF/OF Tyler Freeman is day-to-day with a low back strain and is doing on-field work.OF Mickey Moniak is taking live BP after suffering from right oblique tightness. He is scheduled to see game action this week.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rockies-injury-updates-feb-23-173743315.html 

There was one deafening narrative that prevailed from Liverpool’s scrappy late win at Nottingham Forest: start Rio Ngumoha, please and thank you.

“Ngumoha did more in 15 minutes than (Mohamed) Salah and (Cody) Gakpo did in the entire game before that,” Jamie Carragher asserted after full-time at the City Ground. The electrifying 17-year-old had come off the bench with his side sluggish and drawing with a club in the thick of a relegation battle, and provided more attacking impetus than any of his more senior colleagues managed in the 77 minutes prior to his introduction. His impact was undeniable.

Carragher’s plea was anything but a hot take. Fans and pundits echoed the call for Ngumoha’s rise up the pecking order, but the teenager’s promotion into the starting XI will need a sacrifice. That, for Reds supporters, seems a no-brainer – and it’s not the Egyptian who felt he’d been “thrown under the bus” three months ago.

Cody Gakpo has been one of, if not the fall guy of Liverpool’s dismal title defence. Half of a left flank that has been full of problems this season, Gakpo is regularly the subject of widespread online fan resentment, perceived a blatant weak point of an imperfect team.

Arne Slot, however, has not budged over one of his more favoured starters, to the wrath of this vocal section of the fanbase. The Dutch winger has started 29 out of his 35 appearances in all competitions under his countryman this term and boasts most minutes of any forward in the Liverpool squad.

Ngumoha’s cameo at Forest has once again stoked criticism against Slot’s selection choices vis-a-vis Gakpo, deemed a blockage to the pathway a late-summer transfer decision was meant to provide for the youngster. But is the scathing heat actually warranted, or is Gakpo really just a scapegoat?

Is Cody Gakpo as much of a problem as Liverpool fans make out? (REUTERS)

It’s important to note that sentiment towards the winger has undoubtedly been overblown by the toxicity of football social media. A lot of match-going fans, while frustrated by his downturn in performances this term, are not this viscerally enraged by Gakpo’s continued involvement.

You don’t need to reach that point of extremities to deserve being benched, of course – and the case for such a demotion is definitely there.

His play-style has been the first point of attack. The argument that Gakpo is a “one-dimensional” footballer is used on a weekly basis by his critics. His trademark strategy – cut in from the left and shoot with his right – has become painfully predictable from a viewing perspective and a simple test for any professional right-back who has studied his match footage.

Gakpo’s ‘cut in and shoot’ move has become painfully predictable (Getty Images)

Persistence would be justified by results but, on the surface, results are non-existent. Looking at his shot map this term, not a single one of his five Premier League goals has come from the left, despite him firing 40 shots off his designated flank. The vast majority of efforts are either blocked or missed, with only seven posing real danger to the goal; five were saved, while two hit the post.

His conversion rate – significantly down from last season – has good reason to be maligned. What Gakpo doesn’t get credit for, however, is forcing the issue.

Something Liverpool have lacked this season is urgency going forward. It’s part of the reason why their expected goals (xG) per 90 has almost halved compared to 2024/25. Gakpo is not part of the xG problem.

The 26-year-old fires off the second most shots per 90 (2.76) out of any Liverpool player who has featured for over 1,000 minutes this term, only behind summer recruit Hugo Ekitike, who has comparably been hailed as a revelation at Anfield – and rightly so. With only a handful of strikes to his name, it’s therefore no surprise that Gakpo is underperforming his xG, whose end product has a lot to be desired. But for what it’s worth, at least he’s getting into positions where he can pull the trigger.

Gakpo does force the issue even if his end product isn’t there (Getty Images)

Moreover, Gakpo possesses a role in Slot’s setup that is crucial to build-up. At around the halfway stage of this season, he was in the 90th percentile among wingers for progressive passes received per 90. Slot’s system funnels the ball to him more than almost anyone else on the pitch, which has given him the scope to create an average of 1.88 chances per 90, more than the likes of top-six attacking counterparts Leandro Trossard, Matheus Cunha and Pedro Neto. But it should be higher.

His pass completion rate ranks comparatively low, demonstrating that he is not the right profile for this position. He is a finisher, not a creator, and it’s logical explanation why his “cut in and shoot” often ensues when he receives the ball. He doesn’t possess the technical attributes to progress play further.

So while Gakpo is a problem, it isn’t necessarily his fault. He has been shoehorned into a role that doesn’t suit the player. It doesn’t suit Federico Chiesa either, who has long been promoted by fans as a capable alternative.

Maybe Ngumoha, a prospect compared to Neymar during his youth days, is the answer. The former Chelsea youngster has that spark that Liverpool fans have yearned for since last summer’s departure of Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich, who despite his own finishing shortfalls offered a wow factor that Gakpo does not.

Rio Ngumoha impressed off the bench against Nottingham Forest (Getty)

However, the burden of a role that Gakpo is clearly struggling in could be too much for a player in the embryonic stages of his senior career. Ngumoha wouldn’t just be required to fearlessly drive at opposition defenders like he loves to do; per Slot’s system, he would be at the heart of passing play and build-up.

It may be too much, too soon – but that should not stop Slot from rolling the dice. The Reds manager was guilty of changing too much last summer when “if it ain’t broke” probably should’ve been the mantra for his title-winning side. It’s obvious he now has something to fix.

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rio-ngumoha-time-now-cody-141154488.html