General Sports 24-Hour Briefing
×Basketball
Ryan Blaney completed a Team Penske sweep at Phoenix Raceway by winning the Cup Series race Sunday. No. 15 West Virginia avenged two losses to No. 10 TCU by beating the reigning Big 12 tournament champion 62-53 in the conference title game. Gianna Kneepkens scored 19 points and Kiki Rice added 15 points and eight assists as No. 2 UCLA rolled past Iowa 96-45 to win its second straight Big Ten tournament crown. Chris Ashby made 10 3-pointers and scored 34 points to lead Queens University to an NCAA berth in its first year of eligibility with a 98-93 win over Central Arkansas in the Atlantic Sun tournament. Madison Booker scored 18 points as No. 4 Texas sprinted to a 14-0 lead against No. 3 South Carolina en route to the Longhorns' first women's SEC tournament title. No. 13 Duke rallied to win its second straight women's Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title, beating No. 12 Louisville 70-65 in overtime Sunday.
College Basketball Coaching Moves
Boston College has fired coach Earl Grant, ending his five-year run at the school. Georgia Tech has fired men's basketball coach Damon Stoudamire, ending his tenure at the school after three seasons.
Golf
Akshay Bhatia beat Daniel Berger on the first sudden death play-off hole to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Sonay Kartal saved a match point and took a medical time out before battling to a 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-2) victory in her second round match against Emma Navarro at Indian Wells. Britain's Emma Raducanu was overpowered by Anisimova at Indian Wells, losing 6-1 6-1 in a third-round encounter lasting just 52 minutes.
Hockey
Ireland clinched a World Cup place with a dramatic shootout win over Japan to finish third at the qualification tournament in Santiago. England's men won their World Cup qualifying tournament with a 4-1 victory over Pakistan in the final in Egypt.
Rugby
Leicester Tigers overpowered defending champions Bath to set up a Prem Rugby Cup final meeting with Exeter at Welford Road. Exeter scored four tries as they beat Northampton Saints 31-14 at Sandy Park to reach the Prem Rugby Cup final. Defending Super League champions Hull KR got up and running in 2026 with a 32-6 victory at winless Huddersfield Giants. Ireland debutant Nathan Doak says his first cap came "at the right time" when introduced off the bench in Friday's hard-fought 27-17 win over Wales at the Aviva Stadium. England's Ben Earl defends Steve Borthwick's record as head coach following their defeat by Italy and claims that "large parts of the performance were brilliant."
Soccer
The International Cricket Council has defended its attempts to fly teams home from the T20 World Cup and has "categorically" refuted "any claims of bias." India's dominant T20 World Cup title win - their third white-ball trophy in a row - shows the other nations need to catch up, writes Matthew Henry.
Track & Field
Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo regains the world half-marathon record as he claimed victory in Lisbon on Sunday.
Darts
World number one Luke Littler successfully defends his UK Open title, beating James Wade in the final in Minehead.
UFC
Charles Oliveira dominates Max Holloway from start to finish to win the BMF title by unanimous decision at UFC 326 in Las Vegas. UFC legends Jon Jones and Conor McGregor were both left off the promotion's planned White House card, with Dana White saying Jones was "never ever" in his mind for a fight.
Winter Sports
British Winter Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Bankes claims victory in the women's snowboard cross at a World Cup event in Erzurum, Turkey. Snowboarder Emanuel Perathoner competed at two Olympics for Italy. After a devastating knee injury, and then a move into Para-sport, he has won Paralympic gold at his home Games. GB's mixed doubles pair lose to China after the mixed team are narrowly edged out by Canada in Cortina.
Other Sports
New Zealander Brett Randell becomes the first bowler in the 254-year history of first-class cricket to take five wickets in five balls. Racing Bulls' rookie Arvid Lindblad says he "showed people a bit of what I am here to do" after finishing eighth on his F1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix.