Kawhi Leonard had 24 points and 12 rebounds, rookie Kobe Sanders added 20 points, and the Clippers edged the Golden State Warriors 103-102 on Monday night in a wild game that included Warriors coach Steve Kerr getting ejected and Steph Curry fouling out for the first time since 2021.
Kerr was ejected with 7:57 remaining in the game after becoming irate when the Clippers’ John Collins wasn’t called for goaltending. A shouting Kerr pursued the referees along the sideline and had to be restrained by his assistants before getting tossed.
Curry scored 27 points but was just four for 15 from three-point range and nine for 23 overall before fouling out with 42 seconds remaining in the game. He fouled out for the first time since Dec. 17, 2021, at Boston.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr is restrained by guard Gary Payton II and assistant coach Terry Stotts as he argues with a referee.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
James Harden was a late scratch for the Clippers because of right shoulder soreness. But they got double-figure scoring from all five starters, including Sanders, whose points were a career high. Collins added 18 points and Kris Dunn had 16. Ivica Zubac had 11 rebounds.
Jimmy Butler added 24 points for the Warriors, who lost to the Clippers for the eighth straight time on the road.
Curry fouled Dunn with 42 seconds left and the Warriors trailing 101-100 after Curry’s back-to-back three-pointers. Dunn made both free throws before Draymond Green scored in the lane to pull the Warriors within one.
Leonard missed a jumper and the Warriors grabbed the defensive rebound. Butler missed a 16-footer before time expired.
Neither team shot well from three. The Clippers were 10 for 29, while the Warriors were 10 for 41.
The Warriors closed within four early in the fourth before the Clippers outscored them 16-7 to lead 94-81. Leonard scored six and Collins had five.
Golden State ran off nine straight, including seven by Butler, to trail 94-90.
Golden State had won six of eight coming into what was a playoff-like atmosphere that included rapper Snoop Dogg doing commentary for the game streamed on Peacock. It was a matchup of the NBA’s two oldest teams. The average age of the Clippers’ roster is 30.0 to 29.6 for the Warriors.
Green dived for a loose ball and crashed into his team’s bench late in the first half. The team said he sustained a rib contusion, but he remained in the game. Green had 12 assists while going 0 of 6 from three-point range.
If Smith’s recent lull has been unnerving, this knock featured all of his trademark quirks.
He stopped the game whenever a spectator sneezed within shouting distance of the sightscreen and twice he ended up flat on his back – once with his hands, feet and bat positioned above his head.
The rest of Sydney – crisp, pristine and dashed with pink – watched on as Smith eventually waved his bat with his shirt caked in dirt.
For one so great, Smith somehow manages to look ugly.
At another point, Smith berated himself for failing to hit part-time spinner Jacob Bethell for four.
“Ah Steve,” he said. “That’s awful, absolute throwdown.”
He showed Matthew Potts similar disdain when attempting to replicate Lleyton Hewitt’s forehand smash to a bouncer in the final hour.
In Potts’ next over he took it upon himself to hold his arms wide to signal a wide.
Smith – so often the butt of the jokes – has never seemed bothered about gaining the love of England fans.
“I don’t know I am doing it,” he said.
“When I am doing all of those things it probably means I am in a good zone.”
“You won’t see it in the textbook the way he plays,” added former Australia batter Mark Waugh.
“It has been a funny innings that has ebbed and flowed. At times frantic, then he looked like he was struggling to concentrate and got himself going.
“Talking to himself, gesturing, rolling on his back and stopping people at the top of the grandstands. He has got the job done.”
Bradman’s 5,028 Ashes runs and 19 centuries are surely beyond Smith but, though we know Khawaja’s career will end at the conclusion of this Test, further English pain dealt by the New South Welshman cannot be ruled out.
“He prides himself on his batting ability but also his leadership,” said fellow centurion Travis Head.
“That’s also a motivation to continue. While he’s enjoying it, he will hang around. I hope he’s here for a long time.”
When he walked off at The Oval on the final day of the 2023 Ashes, it felt like a goodbye. Smith has offered no such certainty.
“It’s a shame he’s [Khawaja] gone, now I’m the oldest one here,” Smith said before this Test.
“I want to keep playing, I’m still enjoying it. We’ve got a really good team.
“I’ve said for a while I’m taking it day by day, series by series and we’ll see where things land.
“I feel like I’m doing alright at the moment, I’m contributing and having fun so there’s no real end date for me.”
He may no longer be the relentless run-scorer of that 2017-18 series but with his latest Sydney showpiece, Smith showed he is not done frustrating England yet.
Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist, and the Kings held on to beat the Minnesota Wild 4-2 on Monday night.
Warren Foegele, Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe also scored, and Darcy Kuemper stopped 33 shots for the Kings, who beat the Wild for the second time in three nights and got just their fourth win in 12 games (4-6-2).
Jared Spurgeon had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Hartman also scored for Minnesota, which snapped a six-game point streak (3-0-3). and Filip Gustavsson had 29 saves.
The Wild are 3-1-2 on a seven-game road trip that ends Thursday at Seattle. They also lost at Los Angeles 5-4 in a shootout on Saturday night.
Kings center Anze Kopitar left the game after playing 4:54 in the first period. The Kings later ruled him out for the rest of the game because of a lower-body injury.
The Kings had 16-8 advantage on shots on goal in the second period and scored twice to take a 2-0 lead. Minnesota had two power plays in the period, but managed just one shot during the advantages.
Foegele gave the Kings a 1-0 lead with a long shot from just inside the blue line with 4:26 left in the second period.
Fiala doubled the Kings’ lead with 2:08 to go in the middle period. Kuzmenko’s pass deflected off Fiala’s skate on the left doorstep and past Gustavsson for Fiala’s 15th of the season.
Spurgeon got the Wild on the scoreboard at 5:55 of the third period with a shot from the left point through traffic to spoiled Kuemper’s bid for his third shutout of the season.
Kuzmenko restored the Kings’ two-goal lead at 9:20 as he skated with the puck from the left side across the front of the net and put the puck past Gustavsson from the right side.
Hartman pulled the Wild to 3-2 with a power-play goal with 4:39 remaining, but Kempe sealed the Kings’ win with an empty-netter three minutes later..
Up next for the Kings: vs. San Jose on Wednesday night to finish a four-game homestand.
What a Monday night to remember for the Scott brothers, Nolan and Maxwell. In a basketball game matching perhaps the top two public school teams in Orange County, Corona del Mar and Los Alamitos went back and forth, with neither wanting to budge.
Corona del Mar (17-1) got the ball under Los Alamitos’ basket with 11.2 seconds left and down by one point. Coach Jason Simco, who had never beaten Los Alamitos in five seasons, set up a final play that was designed to get the ball to the least likely person, Nolan Scott, a sophomore linebacker for the football team. Brother Maxwell set a screen for him, Luke Mirhashemi found Nolan wide open under the basket and passed him the ball for an easy layup with 4.3 seconds left, delivering a 78-77 victory in a Sunset League game at Los Alamitos’ newly opened gym.
Maxwell Scott finished with 35 points. The brothers have been playing together since flag football days as second-graders. Maxwell played football as a freshman and then focused on basketball, but he is set to return to football as a senior.
“It’s fun to play with him,” Maxwell said.
What a game it was.
“Everyone was making shots,” Maxwell said.
Corona del Mar’s successful final shot took away a magnificent performance from Los Alamitos sophomore Isaiah Williamson, who finished with 26 points.
“I think he was amazing,” Simco said of Williamson. “He’s going to be something else.”
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Coen Carr scored 18 points and Jaxon Kohler added 16 on perfect shooting to lead No. 12 Michigan State to an 80-51 blowout against USC on Monday night.
Jeremy Fears Jr. had 15 points and seven assists for the Spartans (13-2, 3-1 Big Ten), who took control with a 27-6 run early in the game and led by at least 20 for much of the second half.
Kohler made all six of his field-goal attempts, including a trio of three-pointers, and sank his only free throw. He also grabbed eight rebounds, two short of becoming the first Spartans player since at least 1996-97 to have six straight double-doubles in a season, according to Sportradar.
Ezra Ausar scored 16 points and Jerry Easter added 12 for the Trojans (12-3, 1-3), who lost consecutive games for the first time this season.
Michigan State was ahead 33-17 at halftime with Kohler leading the way offensively, scoring eight points while seven teammates contributed at least two.
Carr and Fears picked up their scoring in the second half to build a bigger cushion, combining to score 25 points after halftime.
Michigan State held Chad Baker-Mazara to four points after he entered the game averaging a team-high 20.4 for USC.
The Spartans bounced back from a 58-56 loss to No. 10 Nebraska to win for the fifth time in six games.
The Trojans, coming off a 30-point loss to No. 2 Michigan, are probably ready to go home after getting routed twice in the state of Michigan, but they’ll be in the Midwest for four more days because they play at Minnesota before flying back to California.
Michigan State made half its shots and held USC to 33% shooting.
The Spartans enjoyed a 25-5 advantage in fast-break points and a 21-9 edge in points off the bench.
WASHINGTON — Justin Sourdif scored his first NHL hat trick and added two assists and the Washington Capitals beat the Ducks 7-4 on Monday night.
Alex Ovechkin scored twice, Ryan Leonard had a goal and an assist, John Carlson also scored and Connor McMichael had four assists for the Capitals, who ended a two-game slide. Charlie Lindgren made 41 saves in the win.
Kreider opened the scoring just 6:33 into the first period, ending a 15-game goal drought.
Sourdif evened the score, firing home a drop pass from Connor McMichael in the slot. Three minutes later, the rookie struck again, beating Mrazek glove side to give Washington (22-15-6) a 2-1 lead going into the second.
Sourdif picked up where he left off, finding Ryan Leonard, who banked in a shot off Mrazek to make it 3-1. Just 1:36 later, Leonard returned the favor, setting up Sourdif for a tap-in for his third goal of the game. Ovechkin then rifled home a wrister from the left circle to end a four-game goal drought.
Sourdif is the ninth rookie in franchise history to get a hat trick and the first since Jan. 13, 2006, when Ovechkin did it at Anaheim.
The Ducks (21-18-3) had a furious rally in the third, outshooting Washington 17-5.
The Capitals were without Tom Wilson, who was named to Canada’s Olympic roster on Wednesday, and Aliaksei Protas, who are listed as day to day.
Bob Pulford, a Hockey Hall of Fame player who went on to a lengthy career in the NHL as a coach and general manager, has died. He was 89.
A spokesperson for the NHL Alumni Assn. said Monday the organization learned of Pulford’s death from his family. No other details were provided.
A tough, dependable forward, Pulford helped the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup four times during his 14-year stretch with them from 1956 to 1970. The Newton Robinson, Canada, native was part of the 1967 team that remains the organization’s last to win a championship.
He was picked for five All-Star games and led the league in shorthanded goals three times. After recording 694 points in 1,168 regular-season and playoff games, Pulford was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991.
Off the ice, Pulford was the first president of the players union, taking part in early collective bargaining and laying the foundation for the modern NHLPA.
Pulford spent his final two playing seasons with the Kings in the early 1970s before coaching them for the following five years. He then ran the Chicago Blackhawks’ front office as general manager or senior vice president of hockey operations for three decades from 1977 to 2007, going behind the bench to coach four times during that span.
“Whether coach, general manager, senior executive, or even multiple at the same time, Bob wasn’t afraid to serve in whatever role was most needed at the time and take on the different challenges associated with each that seem unthinkable by today’s standards,” said Blackhawks chairman and Chief Executive Officer Danny Wirtz, whose grandfather, Bill, employed Pulford. “We are grateful for his leadership and devotion to the sport, which will forever be part of our club’s history.”
Former LA Kings Captain, Bob Pulford passed away earlier today. Bob spent seven seasons in Los Angeles, including 5 as Head Coach, earning the Jack Adams Trophy.
Our sincere condolences are with the Pulford Family, including his daughter Wandamae, and son-in-law, Dean Lombardi. pic.twitter.com/lVtxKWP9V6
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Pulford “left an indelible mark on the game,” especially given the various roles he filled.
“Bob became a friend, counselor and confidant to me — particularly in my early years as commissioner — and I had enormous respect for him and all he gave the game,” Bettman said.
The NHL Alumni Assn. in a post memorializing Pulford called him “one of the most respected figures in the history of hockey.”
“Rest in peace, Bob,” the NHLAA said. “Your impact on hockey and on all who had the privilege of knowing you will never be forgotten.”
Will Jacks drops a simple catch on the boundary as England miss the chance to remove Travis Head, who remains unbeaten on 121 on day three of the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney.
Happy New Year, and welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter. So much has happened since we last hit your inbox. The USC-Notre Dame rivalry officially was scrapped (until 2030, at least). D’Anton Lynn took the defensive coordinator job at Penn State, his alma mater. And USC finished its season with a brutal last stand at the Alamo Bowl.
Now the most critical offseason of Lincoln Riley’s tenure with the Trojans lies ahead. The next few weeks especially could make or break the coach’s future at USC. And it all starts with hiring a new defensive coordinator.
Fight on! Are you a true Trojans fan?
Whoever is hired steps into a pressure cooker from the very start. The heat already has cranked up on USC’s coach. If the Trojans don’t make the College Football Playoff, Riley and his coordinator-to-be-named-later could be looking for new jobs at this time next year. And just making the playoff is going to require serious progress on a defense that must replace key players at every level and faces Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon next season.
It might be tempting, with that in mind, to try to maintain continuity, to circle the wagons and promote from within, hoping it’s enough to push USC into the playoff. This idea started taking hold as days dragged on after Lynn’s exit and fans’ panic started to pique: Maybe it was most prudent, the logic went, to promote defensive line coach Eric Henderson to coordinator.
After all, he called defensive plays in the bowl game. He’s a beloved assistant and top-notch recruiter. Not to mention that Georgia Tech, his alma mater, is interested in him for its staff.
Hiring someone else might mean not only losing Henderson in the staff shuffle, but also potentially losing key players or recruits along his defensive line. Several of those players, including five-star freshman Jahkeem Stewart, have publicly endorsed Henderson for the job.
Look, Henderson is a really good coach. And it’s great that his players think so highly of him. But now is not the time to make him — or anyone else on USC’s staff — the defensive coordinator.
That’s not a reflection on Henderson or secondary coach Doug Belk so much as it’s a reflection on the moment. Riley can’t afford for this coordinator hire, his third in five years, to fail. Not after all the resources that USC has poured into this next season being the culmination of its overhaul of the football program. To hand the defense to anyone other than a proven coach with a track record of immediate success is a risk that Riley just can’t take. Not now.
The question is whether any proven coaches are willing to take a risk with USC.
That’s not to say the right coach can’t step in next season and immediately make the Trojans a top-25 defense. Pete Kwiatkowski seemed to fit that profile. He has deep college experience, a close connection to athletic director Jennifer Cohen and a defense that just two years ago was among the top in college football. That he was let go by Texas just before USC lost its coordinator seemed like kismet.
But as of Sunday night, according to the Athletic, Kwiatkowski was trending toward becoming Stanford’s defensive coordinator.
Stanford.
Now I don’t know where Kwiatkowski stood in the pecking order of candidates for USC. Nor is USC doomed if it doesn’t hire him.
But that’s the profile of a coordinator that should get the job. A proven coach capable of getting the best out of USC’s talent and turning the Trojans into a playoff-caliber defense in the way his predecessors couldn’t.
Because if this doesn’t work, Riley won’t get the chance to hire a fourth.
Transfer portal notes, Week 1
Former Auburn wide receiver Cam Coleman, the most coveted player who’s not a quarterback in the portal, is scheduled to meet with USC.
(Michael Woods / Associated Press)
—Iowa State cornerback Jontez Williams became the first big-name commitment out of the portal for USC, and he’s a big get indeed. Williams started just five games last year before suffering a season-ending injury but was a standout and All-Big 12 second-team selection in 2024. Securing a No. 1 cornerback was always a top priority for USC in the portal, and the Trojans managed to find one within two days. A good start. Presumably Williams was paid to start next to Chasen Johnson or Marcelles Williams next season.
—USC is in the market for a top receiver and has a visit set up for Thursday with Cam Coleman, the most coveted portal player who’s not a quarterback. Landing Coleman, a top-five prospect in the 2024 class who played at Auburn, would be a huge coup — and Riley has shown a propensity for pulling in top transfer receivers in the past. Coleman, though, is an Alabama native and is considering Alabama, Texas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M too. His previous recruiting cycle revolved around SEC country. He’s also going to command a massive payday, maybe the largest for any player outside of a quarterback. USC may find it more prudent to use that money elsewhere.
—If USC can’t land Coleman, there still are plenty of viable options available. Expect USC to be aggressive in finding at least one transfer receiver to join the fray. North Carolina State wideout Terrell Anderson, who led the Wolfpack in receiving, visited USC on Sunday. Texas wideout DeAndre Moore Jr. spent time at St. John Bosco and Los Alamitos High, where he was teammates with outgoing Trojans wideout Makai Lemon.
—Linebacker remains a position of significant need, and USC managed to snag the first one that came to visit. Washington’s Deven Bryant was third on the Huskies in tackles. But while he doesn’t strike me as a difference-maker at that position, he was graded higher against the run than any of USC’s linebackers.
—Others to watch on the defensive line: Penn State end Zuriah Fisher, who visited this past weekend, and Clemson tackle Stephiylan Green.
Jaden Brownell, right, may have been the only Trojan to have a good game against Michigan.
(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)
—Of the football players who have yet to be signed, three stand out: Quarterback Husan Longstreet, defensive tackle Jide Abasiri and defensive back Alex Graham. Longstreet is obvious. As a five-star passer prospect, he’d be the heir apparent after Jayden Maiava if he decides to stick around. But it’s a surprise these days if anyone does. Abasiri is an athletic marvel with a ton of unrealized potential as a pass rusher, and Graham earned a ton of praise before having his freshman season derailed by injuries. Keeping two of the three would be a coup.
—The USC men were dominated by Michigan in a 30-point loss. Now Michigan State awaits in East Lansing. That’s a brutal one-two punch coming out of the holiday break, and the Trojans didn’t look ready for the fight Friday. Michigan jumped out to an 11-0 lead, forcing six turnovers in the process, and USC never fully bounced back. No one, outside of maybe reserve forward Jaden Brownell, had anything approaching a good game. The Trojans don’t have long to bounce back, with Michigan State on tap at Breslin Center on Monday. The Spartans are coming off a tough loss at Nebraska and will have something to prove. USC will have its work cut out for it.
—The USC women don’t have the frontcourt to hang with teams like UCLA. Lindsay Gottlieb wasn’t able to lure any top-tier transfer bigs in the offseason, and while that lack of a frontcourt doesn’t always show up against lesser or smaller teams, it was an obvious issue against UCLA and Lauren Betts. I’m not sure where Gottlieb goes from here with the frontcourt if she hopes to be competitive against UCLA the next time around. Maybe Gerda Raulusaityte takes a step forward in the coming weeks before their next meeting. Maybe Kennedy Smith, at 6 feet 1, could just start at the five? (Only half-kidding.) Whatever she does, Gottlieb will be working around this problem the rest of this season.
—Everyone agrees that the college football calendar has to change. So let’s do something about it. There are still two weeks until the College Football Playoff title game. The regular season ended the last weekend of November. That’s way too long to wait even before you consider that three of the four teams that had byes — and the long layoff that comes with them — lost in this playoff. Teams with a bye are now 1-7. But the problems with the calendar go deeper than that. Eventually, when the playoff moves to 16 teams — or more — we’ll do away with conference championship week and move everything up. If you played the first round during championship week, you could be done by the latest on Jan. 8. That’s much more reasonable.
Claire Danes as Aggie Wiggs and Matthew Rhys as Nile Jarvis in “The Beast in Me.”
(Courtesy of Netflix)
Netflix has had a good year in the slow-burn, psychological thriller department, and “The Beast in Me” is another worthy entrant into that group. Claire Danes stars as an author still paralyzed by the sudden loss of her son to a car accident. When she decides to write about her new neighbor — the mysterious real estate scion Nile Jarvis, who is played by Matthew Rhys — she becomes obsessed with determining if the rumors that Jarvis killed his wife are true.
I could do without Danes’ signature lip quiver, but the always-tremendous Rhys is a creepy revelation. Certainly worth your time for a quick, eight-episode binge.
Until next time …
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Marcus Rashford might have a route back to Manchester United, trio may stay at Old Trafford after Ruben Amorim exit, Juventus keen on Federico Chiesa return.
Manchester United sacking Ruben Amorim could provide England forward Marcus Rashford, 28, who is on loan at Barcelona, with a route back to Old Trafford. (Mirror), external
England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, 20, Netherlands forward Joshua Zirkzee, 24, and Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte, 24, were all desperate to leave Manchester United in January had Amorim stayed. (Mail – subscription required), external
Juventus have started talks with Liverpoolover a loan move for Federico Chiesa, with the 28-year-old Italy forward open to a return to the Serie A club where he spent two seasons between 2022-2024. (La Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian), external
Bournemouth were prepared to pay 40m euros (£34.7m) for Stuttgart and Germany winger Jamie Leweling as a replacement for their 25-year-old Ghana winger Antoine Semenyo, who is closing in on a transfer to Manchester City, but the Bundesliga club rejected the Cherries’ offer. (Sky Sports – in German), external
Tottenhamhave held talks with Santos over a deal for their highly rated Brazilian left-back Souza, 19, who is also interesting Newcastle. (Teamtalk), external
Former Wolvesboss Gary O’Neil has held talks over becoming the new Strasbourg head coach, with the French club’s current manager Liam Rosenior closing in on replacing Enzo Maresca at Chelsea. (Athletic – subscription required), external
Crystal Palace20-year-old England Under-21 forward Romain Esse is set to spend the remainder of the season on loan at Championship leaders Coventry City. (Sky Sports), external
Amorim has earned a reputation for his explosive news conferences since joining United in November 2024.
In January 2025, he described his team as “maybe the worst” in the 147-year history of the club.
“One of his best traits and most likeable things about him has always been his ability to be quite punchy in his press conferences,” former United centre-back Rio Ferdinand said on his podcast.
“He was upbeat, and he had quite a jovial way about him.”
The Portuguese manager’s comments last month on striker Chido Obi and left-back Harry Amass, both 18, also raised questions over his commitment to the club’s academy.
Trying to emphasise he is not scared to play young players, he criticised the performance levels of Obi and Amass, who is on loan at Sheffield Wednesday.
“Amass was doing really well and got player of the month, while you had Chido scoring goals in the under-21s,” said former United defender Phil Jones on BBC Radio 5 Live’s The Monday Night Club.
“The academy is a massive part and will always be a massive part of the DNA of the club and I don’t think that helped him in any way.”
Carragher, who believes Amorim would be “bottom of the list” of managers to have succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson at the club since 2013, added: “Best part of Amorim was his performances in the press conferences – not the performances of his teams.
“At times, it felt like he was as good a pundit as Gary Neville when talking about United. But the problem was that he was the manager.”
“I don’t think it’s been just sound bites from Amorim,” Neville said.
“I think he’s meant every single word that he said. I think that he’s a real, genuine, honest guy. I don’t think he’s someone who’s playing the game. He was absolutely all in every time he did anything.
“But if the performances are that poor and the results are so poor, it doesn’t matter how likeable or honest you are. You’re going to get sacked at a club like United.”
Nigeria will face Algeria or DR Congo in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal after a 4-0 win against Mozambique.
Published On 5 Jan 20265 Jan 2026
Share
Victor Osimhen scored twice as Nigeria made short work of Mozambique at the Africa Cup of Nations, cruising into the quarterfinals with a comprehensive 4-0 victory in their last-16 tie.
Ademola Lookman, a former winner of the African footballer of the year award, like Osimhen, opened the scoring after 20 minutes in Fes on Monday and helped set up the other three goals on the night.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
Osimhen had started the game without wearing his trademark mask, but restored the face covering before netting Nigeria’s second goal on 25 minutes. He then scored again just after half-time before Akor Adams sealed the win.
It is the biggest winning margin in an AFCON knockout tie since Egypt hammered Algeria 4-0 in the semifinals at the 2010 tournament in Angola.
Determined to make up for their failure to qualify for the World Cup, the Super Eagles march on to a last-eight tie on Saturday in Marrakesh against either Algeria or the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The teams clash in the last 16 on Tuesday, and a victory in the game for the DRC would offer Nigeria a chance to avenge their defeat on penalties against the Leopards in a World Cup qualifying playoff in November.
Mozambique appeared in the knockout phase of an AFCON for the first time after advancing as one of the best third-placed sides in the group stage.
Nigeria’s forward Akor Adams celebrates scoring the team’s fourth goal during the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 match against Mozambique [Sebastien Bozon/AFP]
They were no match for a Nigerian team that was much-changed from their final group game, when coach Eric Chelle offered a chance to several fringe players for a 3-1 victory against Uganda.
Atalanta forward Lookman, who scored in the 3-2 win over Tunisia in the second group match, was among those brought back into the lineup, and Africa’s best player in 2024 gave his team the lead as the midway point in the first half approached.
Alex Iwobi’s through ball released Adams on the left side of the box, and his cutback was converted first-time by Lookman.
The 28-year-old then turned provider, with his cross from the left in the 25th minute being helped on by Adams, for Osimhen to poke the ball in from close range.
The Galatasaray striker emerged unscathed soon after that, despite going into a challenge with Witi, which saw the Mozambique player knee Osimhen in the stomach.
Lookman’s low ball across the face of goal from the left was finished off by Osimhen to make it 3-0 in the 47th minute and end any prospect of a Mozambique comeback.
The 2023 African player of the year had gone seven AFCON matches without scoring before netting against Tunisia in the group stage. He now has three to his name at the tournament in Morocco.
Lookman was not finished for the night as he supplied Adams inside the box with a quarter of an hour remaining, and the Sevilla forward rifled a shot high into the net.
Earlier in the day, Egypt needed extra time to overcome Benin 3-1 to book their place in the next round, where either Ivory Coast or Burkina Faso await.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. 2026 has arrived, which means league play starts getting serious in high school basketball with a number of huge games scheduled for Friday night.
The matchups
Christian Collins is all smiles after leading St. John Bosco to its own tournament championship.
(Nick Koza)
The Trinity League starts this week, and no game is bigger than Santa Margarita (19-2) hosting St. John Bosco (11-4) on Friday night in a game matching the preseason league title favorites.
Santa Margarita has been doing what everyone expected — taking advantage of its experience with four returning starters. The Eagles already own two wins over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, a Mission League power. St. John Bosco has relied on Christian Collins but suffered defeats to some very good teams in recent weeks.
The Mission League begins with a key Friday matchup of defending champion Harvard-Westlake (17-2) playing at Crespi (13-5). Both schools need a win to challenge league favorite Sierra Canyon, which plays host to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. Former Sierra Canyon women’s star JuJu Watkins will have her jersey retired at halftime.
In the Gold Coast League, Brentwood (18-1) is playing at Crossroads on Friday in the first meeting since Shalen Sheppard transferred from Brentwood to Crossroads.
In the Marmonte League, unbeaten Thousand Oaks (16-0) plays host to Oaks Christian (15-3) on Friday.
In the Del Rey League, St. Bernard is playing at St. Anthony in an early league match that could establish a league favorite.
In the Gateway League, the top two teams face off on Friday, with La Mirada hosting Mayfair. In the Baseline League, 17-1 Etiwanda plays host to 15-4 Damien on Thursday in a matchup of the league’s top two teams. On Tuesday in the Sunset League, the two favorites, Los Alamitos and Corona del Mar, meet at Los Alamitos.
Tajh Ariza (right) and Malachi Harris of Westchester celebrate after winning the City Section Open Division title last season. Westchester is 2-8 this season.
(Nick Koza)
City Section basketball is in a precarious place. The talent level has diminished. The history of great teams and great players is in decline.
Ontario Christian (18-0) and Etiwanda (13-2) continue their march to the Southern Southern Open Division playoffs. Sierra Canyon (13-1) is right behind.
Mater Dei (12-4) is still adjusting to season-ending injury to Kaeli Wynn, but received a 28-point performance from Harmony Golightly in a win over Nevada Democracy Prep.
@MaterDeiGBB is hosting its 2nd Annual Kay Yow Showcase. This year’s show case is a 2-Day Event, day 1 is at Rosary HS & Day 2 will conclude at Mater Dei HS. This year’s event is by the best line up we’ve ever had w/ the best teams, players & coaches in the country!! pic.twitter.com/eX5nkxtmCB
Sage Hill, with a new coach, is 14-4. Kamdyn Klamberg had a 31-point performance last week.
Villa Park is 15-3. Olivia Sturdivant and Lauren Wolfe are both averaging 13 points a game. JSerra is 14-2 and ranked No. 2 in the first Southern Section power rankings. JSerra faces Corona Centennial in a big nonleague game Monday.
In the City Section, Westchester, King/Drew, Birmingham and Granada Hills are emerging as the top teams. Junior Savannah Myles has been leading Westchester, which is 13-0 overall and 3-0 in the Western League.
Transfer tracker
Quarterback Jaden Jefferson of Cathedral is leaving for Corona Centennial.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
It’s time. The high school football transfer tracker for 2026 is up and running. Here’s the link.
The big transfers confirmed last week were Cathedral quarterback Jaden Jefferson and Cathedral receiver Quentin Hale announcing they would be transferring to Corona Centennial.
January is a big month for football transfers because it’s the start of the spring semester. As usual, quarterbacks are leading the way in switching schools.
Looking ahead to 2026
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s JJ Harel is ready for a big 2026.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Predictions for 2026 include lots of unique NIL deals, some baseball standouts and football stars. Here’s my crystal ball forecast.
Soccer
Anderson Carranza has 10 goals for Cleveland’s soccer team.
(Cleveland HS)
City Section boys soccer gets serious this week with the start of West Valley League play. El Camino Real, the defending champion, faces tough games against Cleveland on Wednesday and Birmingham on Friday. Here’s a report.
Rivals Mira Costa (6-2-1) and Palos Verdes (13-2) face off Tuesday at Mira Costa. Mira Costa won the Nike SoCal Holiday Classic last week in Oceanside. Former Palisades player Noah Szeder had two goals in the championship game.
In girls soccer, Santa Margarita has won its first 10 games, including a 3-0 win over Bishop Amat on Saturday. The Eagles have recorded six shutouts and given up just two goals.
Mater Dei is 9-1-3 but suffered its first defeat Saturday, losing to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 1-0.
Harvard-Westlake is 5-1-3 with its only loss to Mater Dei.
Notes . . .
Lance Mitchell is the new football coach at St. Francis. He was head coach at Muir. . . .
Johnathan Coutee is the new football coach at Murrieta Mesa. . . .
Former Long Beach Poly football coach Justin Utupo said he has won an appeal and will be able to coach again in the district in three years. Previously he was banned lifetime. . . .
Congratulations to Westlake High School Head Coach Rick Clausen as he is named our Los Angeles Rams Don Shula Coach of the Year! 🏈
We surprised him alongside Rams Legend, Andrew Whitworth with 2 Super Bowl tickets. pic.twitter.com/N7km2R941C
Westlake football coach Rick Clausen, who took over an 0-10 team and led them to a 10-1 record, has been selected the Rams’ Don Shula award coach of the year. Also honored was Mike Moon of Oxnard Pacifica. . . .
In a big girls water polo match, Mater Dei suffered its first defeat when defending Southern Section champion Oaks Christian beat the Monarchs 11-7. The Santa Barbara tournament is this weekend.
From the archives: Amon-Ra St. Brown
Amon-Ra St. Brown during his Mater Dei days in 2015.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
After 17 NFL games this season, former Mater Dei and USC receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions ranks among the top receivers. He finished with 106 receptions for 1,262 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Remember he’s one of three football-playing brothers and is multilingual being fluent in German.
From the Daily Pilot, a story on Bailey Turner of Huntington Beach becoming a world junior champion in surfing.
From NBCPalmSprings, a story on the death of a teenager golfer who fought to the end dealing with cancer.
From MaxPreps, a story on the 100 most influential people in the history of high school football.
Tweets you might have missed
I was asked by someone diagnosed with prostrate cancer to retweet this story to remind everyone get checked for the new year. Michael Boehle is now cancer free. https://t.co/OYBhEnwGlL
From the hard to believe file: A 5-foot-4 sportswriter running into a 7-6 man from Ethiopia and a 7-4 teenager from Burkina Faso. Now I know Munchkinland. pic.twitter.com/hjnDR1MDKu
Former Thousand Oaks football coach Bob Richards will receive the Coastal Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation Al Wistert Award. The banquet is March 1 at Canyon Club in Agoura.
Summary of Tommy John surgeries for MLB pitchers used by team in 2025. New record of 21 in one season by DET and LAD, which doesn’t even include their pitchers who were injured all season.
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
Did you get this newsletter forwarded to you? To sign up and get it in your inbox, click here.
The Frenchman talked about building castles in the sky. He laboured under the fatal impression that he had time to deliver his vision and that he deserved patience. In his parallel universe he said that winning wasn’t everything while his masterpiece was under construction.
It was all about the “process.” He called on people to look at his past record as evidence of his ability. “Do your job,” he told journalists the day before failing to do his in a 3-1 home loss to Rangers, following on from a 2-0 defeat by Motherwell.
Nancy and Tisdale had to go. What’s also obvious is that the hapless state of the club goes way deeper than those two over-promoted characters. It goes back to who ratified their appointments and why. It goes back to Celtic not just losing their way on the field but off it. It goes to the very top.
The lack of communication from the club is remarkable. Never mind the extreme elements of the support, regular fans – the vast, vast majority – feel a profound disconnection, an alienation from what is going on.
There is a sense of entitlement among some, for sure, and it’s easy to poke fun at that given all the titles Celtic have won. But, elsewhere, there’s just an anger about a club on the drift, making lousy decisions, going backwards domestically and in Europe while sitting on close to £80m in the bank.
These fans talk of a lack of ambition, a lack of a plan under the current board, led by Michael Nicholson, the chief executive, and Dermot Desmond, the major shareholder, and the power in the shadows.
Celtic’s vision seems to amount to staying ahead of Rangers and seeing what they can get out of Europe, if anything.
His assistant manager, John Kennedy, also left at that time. Kennedy had been at Celtic for 27 years as player and coach and yet he was given barely a sentence in a statement when he departed. He deserved more. It’s a legitimate question to ask – where’s the dignity and the class?
There’s not a big picture view at Celtic, or not one that’s apparent. Celtic could finish off their stadium and make it a near 80,000 citadel, one of the continent’s best, but they haven’t done it.
They could build one of football’s greatest museums – lord knows they have enough icons and great moments to fill it – but there’s no sign of it.
They could have deployed a modern and razor-sharp scouting system, but they haven’t done that either.
They bob along, cash-rich and content with bossing it parochially, but even that is now at risk. The emergence of Hearts and the support they’re getting from Tony Bloom and Jamestown Analytics is threatening to change the game in a very significant way.
Celtic thought they could take a gamble on Nancy because they couldn’t imagine a world where any other side could rival their hold over the league title, their bread and butter.
Earlier, three-time Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev called for the tournament to bring forward its night session matches.
Matches begin at 19:00 local time, with two matches scheduled to take place on Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena.
Djokovic and Andy Murray have previously spoken about late finishes in Melbourne, with Murray describing his 04:05am finish in 2023 as a “farce”.
Medvedev, who was beaten by Learner Tien in a match that finished at 2:55am local time, said he was “happy” to play in the night sessions but scheduling changes would be “better for everyone”.
“I like soccer, but here [in Australia] I don’t watch the Premier League because it’s at two in the morning.
“It’s pretty much the same — people who really love tennis would like to see it at six because then they are almost sure to watch both matches.
“OK, if it goes ridiculously long, [instead of finishing] at three, it would finish at two. It’s better for everyone.”
Those who snub Father Time like to say that 50 is the new 30. A different Father — Benedictine priest Maximilian Maxwell— sprinkled holy water in the end zone before his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday with the AFC North title on the line.
Fifty is the new 30 also applies to field goals. More than 70% of kicks over 50 yards are successful these days, a dramatic increase in accuracy from only five years ago. Excuse Maxwell for thinking divine intervention might be necessary should a last-second missed kick determine the outcome.
A 44-yarder is a chip shot for most NFL kickers, including Ravens rookie Tyler Loop, who had made 90% of his attempts — including eight of eight from 40-49 yards — when the ball was snapped with three seconds to play and Baltimore trailing 26-24.
Two words coined when Scott Norwood missed a 47-yard attempt that cost the Buffalo Bills Super Bowl XXV in 1991 once again were screamed on a television broadcast: “Wide right!”
Another memorable miss came from a kicker regarded as the best in the NFL 20-some years ago. Brash, outspoken Mike Vanderjagt of the Indianapolis Colts led the league in scoring in 1999 and four years later became the first kicker in history to make every kick in a full season: 83 of 83 on field goals and extra points.
Yet he botched a boot with 21 seconds to play during a playoff game in 2006, enabling the Steelers to upset the Colts. Pittsburgh went on to win the Super Bowl and Vanderjagt was replaced by Adam Vinatieri. He never regained his form.
Here’s hoping Loop rebounds better than Vanderjagt or Norwood, who was released a year after the historic miss and never played again. Loop was All Pac-12 in 2023 at Arizona, where he holds records for longest field goal (62 yards) and success rate (83.75%). He was the Wildcats’ G.O.A.T. before becoming the Ravens’ goat.
Loop, 24, didn’t duck the media, leaving the impression that he won’t let this failure define him.
“Just want to say I’m super grateful to Baltimore, the organization and the city, just how they embraced me this year has been incredible,” he said. “Just for it to end like that, sucks, and I want to do better.
“Unfortunately, the nature of the job is you have makes, and those are awesome, and unfortunately, you have misses, and for that to happen tonight sucks.”
The specialized nature of kickers can place them on the periphery of team bonding, but Loop’s teammates and coaches were supportive in the aftermath of the season-ending loss.
Coach John Harbaugh walked alongside Loop from the field to the locker room, with his arm around his back comforting him. Quarterback Lamar Jackson downplayed the impact, telling reporters, “He’s a rookie, you know. It’s all good. Just leave it in the past.”
Only time will tell whether Loop can do just that.
For some teams, the search for a new head coach has begun.
The Las Vegas Raiders fired Pete Carroll on Monday morning after a 3-14 season. The Atlanta Falcons fired coach Raheem Morris, as well as general manager Terry Fontenot, on Sunday night after a second straight 8-9 finish. The Cleveland Browns fired coach Kevin Stefanski after six seasons, the team announced Monday morning following a 5-11 finish this season.
Two other teams parted ways with their head coaches during the season. The Tennessee Titans fired Brian Callahan in October after a 1-5 start to the season. The New York Giants fired Brian Daboll in November after a 2-8 start.
With NFL’s Black Monday already in full swing, other teams are likely to make similar moves. Here’s a look at everything that has happened so far. This list will continue to be updated as more changes occur.
Las Vegas Raiders
Former USC coach Pete Carroll, 74, ended his short tenure with the Raiders with a victory against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. But it didn’t make up for what had been a rough season that contained at least two goose eggs on the scoreboard.
So, Monday’s announcement was not completely unexpected.
“The Las Vegas Raiders have relieved Pete Carroll of his duties as head coach,” team owner Mark Davis said in a statement released by the team. “We appreciate and wish him and his family all the best.
“Moving forward, General Manager John Spytek will lead all football operations in close collaboration with Tom Brady, including the search for the club’s next head coach. Together, they will guide football decisions with a shared focus on leadership, culture, and alignment with the organization’s long-term vision and goals.”
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were eliminated from playoff contention after a 37-9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 9. Atlanta went on to win its final four games to finish in a three-way tie with the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers for first place in the NFC South (the Panthers won the division based on head-to-head win percentage).
It wasn’t enough to save Morris, who went 16-18 in two seasons with the Falcons. Fontenot had served as the team’s general manager since January 2021. Atlanta hasn’t had a winning season since 2017.
“I have great personal affinity for both Raheem and Terry and appreciate their hard work and dedication to the Falcons, but I believe we need new leadership in these roles moving forward,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in a statement.
“The decision to move away from people who represent the organization so well and have a shared commitment to the values that are important to the organization is not an easy one, but the results on the field have not met our expectations or those of our fans and leadership. I wish Raheem and Terry the absolute best in their future pursuits.”
Cleveland Browns
Stefanski was named the Associated Press coach of the year in 2020 and 2023, led the Browns into the playoffs in both of those seasons and coached them to a wildcard-round win in 2020. He also had four losing seasons with the team, including this year’s 5-11 campaign, and leaves with a 46-58 overall record.
“We have tremendous gratitude for Kevin’s leadership of the Cleveland Browns over the last six seasons,” Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam said Monday in a statement. “He is a good football coach and an even better person. We appreciate all his hard work and dedication to our organization but our results over the last two seasons have not been satisfactory, and we believe a change at the head coaching position is necessary.”
Stefanski said in a statement released by the Browns: “After six seasons as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, I leave with an immense sense of gratitude. When I arrived in January of 2020, this organization, this community and Browns fans embraced me and my family with open arms. I cannot express properly in words how good we have been treated. A sincere ‘Thank You’ to everyone who I have been so blessed to work for and with over these six seasons. … I wish all of you nothing but success.”
The Browns said they will retain general manager Andrew Berry.
New York Giants
Daboll had a 20-40-1 record during his three-plus seasons with the Giants. The team went 2-5 under interim coach Mike Kafka, who was promoted from offensive coordinator. The new coach will inherit quarterback Jaxson Dart, whom the Giants selected with the No. 25 overall pick in the 2025 draft.
“The past few seasons have been nothing short of disappointing, and we have not met our expectations for this franchise,” Giants president John Mara and chairman Steve Tisch said in a joint statement Nov. 10. “We understand the frustrations of our fans, and we will work to deliver a significantly improved product.
“We appreciate Coach Daboll for his contributions to our organization. We wish the Daboll family all the best in the future.”
Tennessee Titans
Callahan was 4-19 overall when he was fired six games into his second season with the Titans. The team went 2-9 under interim coach Mike McCoy. Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft, started all 17 games at quarterback.
“We are grateful for Brian’s investment in the Titans and Tennessee community during his tenure as head coach. We thank him and his family for being exemplary ambassadors of the Tennessee Titans,” president of football operations Chad Brinker said in an Oct. 13 statement.
“While we are committed to a patient and strategic plan to build a sustainable, winning football program, we have not demonstrated sufficient growth. Our players, fans, and community deserve a football team that achieves a standard we are not currently meeting, and we are committed to making the hard decisions necessary to reach and maintain that standard.”
He said the decision not to compete in the Australian Open, which begins on 18 January, had been “really, really tough”.
Draper struggled with discomfort in the top part of his serving arm – his left – for several months, eventually shutting down his season after withdrawing from the US Open in August.
It came after a successful first part of the year, with Draper reaching a career-high of fourth in the world in June and also securing a maiden Masters 1000 title with victory at Indian Wells in March.
It wasn’t an accident that the Lakers’ first play went to Deandre Ayton. Or that the star big man got the first shot of the third. Or that teammates fed him for back-to-back dunks to help spark a run of five consecutive scoring possessions early in the second half.
After Ayton finished last Friday’s win on the bench, the 7-foot center bounced back with 15 points and eight rebounds against the Grizzlies on Sunday as the Lakers made a point to involve the big man early.
Ayton scored just four points with six rebounds during Friday’s win and watched a tight fourth quarter from the bench because, as coach JJ Redick said, backup Jaxson Hayes “was playing better.” Redick said Saturday that Ayton was “frustrated” he wasn’t getting the ball more in recent games, and his disillusionment showed up on the court.
“It’s a tale as old as time for a big guy,” Redick said after Sunday’s game. “That’s the reality of being a big: someone has to pass you the ball. You’re not initiating the offense.”
Redick said the team identified moments where teammates could have been better at finding the former No. 1 overall pick. There were also other times when Ayton could have been more active on his own. Redick said he mostly wanted to see Ayton being active, engaged and assertive in the game.
Ayton responded by converting six of his eight shots Sunday and helping the team lock down on defense in the fourth. The Lakers clawed back from an 11-point deficit late in the third and held the Grizzlies (15-19) to just 16 points in the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter. Ayton had two blocks in the fourth quarter.
“We’re winning the right way,” Ayton said. “Bigs can’t feed themselves and I just try my best to do what I can to bring effort. And I trust my playmakers out there to find me.”
The Lakers had 30 assists on 38 made shots, their highest percentage of assisted field goals of the season.
The move comes after star Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was dropped by his IPL team on the BCCI’s directives.
Published On 5 Jan 20265 Jan 2026
Share
Bangladesh’s interim government has banned broadcast of this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL), the latest flashpoint in a growing row with neighbouring India, which has now extended to cricket ties between the two nations.
The move follows the decision by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to have the Kolkata Knight Riders drop Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who had signed for the IPL franchise for this season.
The unceremonious dumping of a “star player” like Mustafizur from the IPL “defied logic” and had “hurt people”, the country’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a statement explaining its decision.
Bangladesh have also refused to play their matches of next month’s Twenty20 (T20) World Cup in India, demanding that those be staged in Sri Lanka, co-host of the 20-team tournament.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board’s directors met in an emergency meeting on Sunday and confirmed their decision shortly afterwards.
“Following a thorough assessment of the prevailing situation and the growing concerns regarding the safety and security of the Bangladesh contingent in India and considering the advice from the Bangladesh Government, the board of directors resolved that the Bangladesh national team will not travel to India for the tournament under the current conditions,” it said.
“The board believes that such a step is necessary to safeguard the safety and wellbeing of Bangladeshi players, team officials, Board members and other stakeholders and to ensure that the team can participate in the tournament in a secure and appropriate environment,” the statement added, urging the ICC to take swift action.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has not publicly responded to Bangladesh’s demand to play World Cup matches in Sri Lanka.
Tensions have risen in recent weeks between India and Bangladesh.
Following the protests, the Indian board asked Knight Riders to drop Mustafizur.
The IPL, the world’s richest T20 league, is scheduled from March 26 to May 31.
A “real togetherness” is helping Rangers, with defender John Souttar saying: “I think we’re building something here”.
Following a troubled start to the season, the Ibrox side will move second in the Scottish Premiership if they avoid defeat at home to Aberdeen on Tuesday.
Victory would move them three points behind Hearts at the summit.
Saturday’s 3-1 derby triumph away to Celtic was manager Danny Rohl’s ninth win in 12 league games since taking over from Russell Martin in October, while there has been just one loss in that run.
Scotland international Souttar said it was “so early” to be talking about silverware but did add: “There’s a real togetherness and I think we’re building something here.
“I think we can feel it. The manager, everyone involved can feel it, but it’s important we keep backing it up.”
Rohl inherited a squad short on confidence, with Rangers eight points behind Celtic and 13 adrift of Hearts.
“He’s clear on what he wants from everyone on the pitch,” said Souttar of the German.
“Tactically he’s really good and he can change it within games and he’s not scared to do it at half-time.”
Referencing the comeback win over Celtic, Souttar continued: “(Mohamed) Diomande came on (for Thelo Aasgaard) and brought real energy. Thelo was really good the other night, so I think it’s hard to pinpoint one or two things he’s good at but I really enjoy working with him.
“We just need to keep the momentum going, take it game by game because if we don’t back up on Tuesday there’s no point in doing that on Saturday, so every game’s massive and we keep going.”
IOWA CITY, Iowa — As I sat at a corner table inside another Courtyard by Marriott over the weekend, a floor-to-ceiling window protecting me from the 25-degree chill on a dreary morning, it struck me how much easier this would all be to do from home.
Nap until game time. Pick up the remote. Get a closeup view of every play.
Of course, that approach would also have deprived me — and Times readers — of so much over the last 10 years of being the only full-time traveling beat writer with the UCLA men’s basketball team.
Feeling a piece of stray confetti float against my cheek inside Lucas Oil Stadium after the Bruins reached the Final Four.
Sign up for UCLA Unlocked
A weekly newsletter offering big game takeaways, recruiting buzz and everything you need to know about UCLA sports.
Seeing Prince Ali bound down a hallway inside Oregon’s Matthew Knight Arena while yelling, “This is highway robbery, baby!” after the Bruins came back from nine points down with 51 seconds left.
Chatting with master storyteller Hep Cronin inside Kentucky’s Rupp Arena the day before an NCAA tournament game.
Interviewing Jaime and Angela Jaquez poolside in Maui before their son and daughter became on-campus celebrities.
People like to say they have the best seat in the house. Mine has often been 11F, window, on a United Airlines flight to some far-flung game that has made me cherish this decade of memories inside arenas all over the country.
There’s been so much more besides the palpable tension one can only feel sitting courtside, or in one of the media seats increasingly far removed from courtside in recent seasons. I caught a glimpse of Jake Kyman’s teammates dousing him with water after he made seven three-pointers against Washington and assistant coach Rod Palmer obligingly pushed the locker room door open a little wider than usual on his way out. Scanned cardboard cutouts of fans and pets inside San Diego State’s Viejas Arena. Wrote on deadline at Colorado while a trash collector roamed the stands blaring old Pink Floyd favorites from his boom box.
Yes, there have been annoying travel delays, crummy hotels and way too much time spent away from home. (A quick check of my Lifetime Titanium Elite status with Marriott shows 1,592 nights — the equivalent of nearly 4½ years — since 2003 while traveling for The Times in a variety of roles.)
But this is something I’m thrilled just to have the chance to do.
It takes an incredible financial commitment in a time of shrinking media resources to send someone on the road for every game with a college basketball team in 2026. That’s why I’m so grateful to my bosses for letting me take all these trips over the years.
Fortunately, I’m not the only one who realizes how special this is. Every time he sees me at a road game, Chris Carlson, UCLA’s longtime associate athletic director, has made a point to thank me for being there. He did it again Saturday, inside a club room deep within Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena, after UCLA’s frantic rally had fallen short against the Hawkeyes.
Fans often ask me if I travel on the team plane. That would be a resounding no, leading to innumerable layovers at Chicago O’Hare on the way to somewhere else in Big Ten country while the Bruins travel nonstop via charter. I don’t mind in the least.
Life on the road with the Bruins always packs a wallop, even during down seasons. A few years ago, during coach Mick Cronin’s only losing season with the team, it had just snowed in Pullman, Wash., when I exited a regional jet onto an icy outdoor ramp. I took two steps and fell backward onto my head with such a violent thud that my glasses flew back into the cabin. (I survived, or you wouldn’t be reading this.)
Along the way, there’s been far more laughter than frustration, let alone the need to Google “subdural hematoma.”
I’ve enjoyed every destination in an old conference (Pac-12) without truck stops and a new one (Big Ten) with plenty. I’ve sparked a Twitter war with the Memphis International Airport over a baggage office being closed shortly after sundown. I’ve stood in a hallway when coach Steve Alford threw his players under the bus at Cincinnati — “If you lose,” Alford said, “you get in the gym on your day off and you figure things out, not wait and get in the gym when we meet with you” — not long before the firing of Alford led to the hiring of Cincinnati’s coach.
I’ve heard that new coach — Cronin — yell at his team from two rooms over inside T-Mobile Arena after a loss to Baylor. I’ve also heard Cronin’s teams silence arenas with huge early runs against Stanford, Marquette, Maryland and San Diego State.
Traveling to cover the Bruins has had its side benefits, of course. I’ve seen family in Portland, visited wine country in the Willamette and Napa valleys and taken memorable trips to Arizona and the Bay Area during the COVID-19 season in 2020-21. The enduring image from those trips was the bizarre game against Stanford in Santa Cruz (because of health restrictions in Palo Alto), which featured an equally bizarre ending on an inbounds pass to Cardinals forward Oscar da Silva for a buzzer-beating layup.
There have been white-knuckle prop plane flights from Seattle to Pullman and white-knuckle drives across the Bay Bridge thanks to gephyrophobia. Tense drives from Spokane to Pullman because of the dreaded Colfax speed trap and walls of fog that can blindside you like a fearsome backcourt press.
Including stints covering USC basketball and an additional UCLA season under coach Ben Howland, I’ve logged three trips to the Maui Invitational — including one played in Honolulu — one to the old Great Alaska Shootout and one to Mexico for an exhibition game. The one trip that I really wanted to take — to China in 2017 — and was told no because a boss didn’t think it would be worthwhile ended in an international ordeal. Maybe it was the basketball gods’ way of telling him to keep me on the road.
As the pandemic made the prospect of taking flights seem perilous during the 2020-21 season, I covered a handful of road games off television. Admittedly, it was great to get replays and instant injury reports before hopping on a Zoom for postgame interviews.
But something just didn’t feel right. It wasn’t until the Bruins made the NCAA tournament and I accompanied them for every game on that unforgettable run in central Indiana that I fully understood one of the most important rules of quality coverage.
Being there matters.
Olympic sport of the week: Women’s gymnastics
Jordan Chiles helped UCLA rally to win the Best of the West Quad in Seattle by placing first in all four events.
(Courtesy of Jamie Mitchell)
Trailing California after two rotations in its season-opening meet, the UCLA women’s gymnastics team could rely on something else no one had in its comeback bid.
Jordan Chiles.
Predictably, the Olympic gold medalist helped the fourth-ranked Bruins rally to win the Best of the West Quad at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle by placing first in all four events.
Sticking her double layout dismount on the uneven bars, Chiles scored a 9.925 to help UCLA overtake the No. 20 Golden Bears and move into third place after the third rotation. Chiles topped herself with maybe her best beam performance at the college level, earning a 10 from one of the two judges and a 9.975 score.
UCLA senior Ciena Alipio contributed a 9.925 on the beam, helping her team edge Cal, 196.875 to 196. Host Washington finished third with 195.625 and No. 19 Oregon State was fourth with 195.550.
The Bruins next face No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU and No. 5 Utah on Saturday at the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad in West Valley City, Utah. The meet will be televised live on ABC at 1 p.m. PST.
Opinion time
With two months left before the NCAA tournament, UCLA men’s basketball is teetering on the bubble, with bracketmatrix.com — an aggregator of bracket projections — listing the Bruins as a No. 9 seed before they lost to Iowa on Saturday. Where do you think UCLA finds itself on Selection Sunday?
An elite finish leads to a protected seed
A solid Big Ten run puts it in Nos. 5-7 range
The Bruins just barely make it into the tournament
They’re left out for the second time in three years
We asked, “What was your favorite UCLA sports moment of 2025?”
After 453 votes, the results:
The women’s basketball team’s trip to the Final Four, 49% The men’s water polo team’s national championship, 21% The football team’s three-game winning streak, 19% The baseball team makes the College World Series, 9% The softball team makes the Women’s College World Series, 2%
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at ben.bolch@latimes.com, and follow me on X @latbbolch. To order an autographed copy of my book, “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die,” send me an email. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
