Sports
How UConn-Illinois, Arizona-Michigan will be decided in men’s Final Four
INDIANAPOLIS — The 2026 edition of the men’s Final Four features some of the most dominant teams of the season.
Arizona spent nine straight weeks atop the AP poll after opening the season on a program-best 23-0 start. The Wildcats will face Michigan, the team that unseated them from No. 1, which is averaging 95.3 points per game in the NCAA tournament, the most by a team en route to the semifinals since Kentucky averaged 97.0 in 1993.
The two join Illinois in reaching the Final Four by winning every NCAA tournament game by double digits, marking the first time three teams have done that since 1973, per ESPN Research. The Fighting Illini will open the action Saturday against UConn, which is chasing its third national championship in four seasons. The Huskies have won their past two meetings with the Illini: in the Elite Eight during their 2024 title run and a nonconference meeting at Madison Square Garden in November.
Who will advance to Monday’s national championship? ESPN college basketball reporters Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf break down what — and whose performances — could decide both games.
Who is the most important player on the floor Saturday?
Borzello: Tarris Reed Jr.
Reed emerging as the modern-day Wilt Chamberlain in the NCAA tournament has transformed UConn. He has been the most dominant player in the field the past two weeks, bookended by a 31-point, 27-rebound performance against Furman in the first round and outperforming AP Player of the Year Cameron Boozer against Duke in the Elite Eight. Reed is averaging 21.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.3 blocks in the tournament while shooting 60% from the field.
Reed will have to control the paint on offense and defense against Illinois. The Fighting Illini will look to contain his post scoring with 7-foot-1 Tomislav Ivisic and 7-2 Zvonimir Ivisic — the ability of both players to stretch the floor and make 3s could force Reed away from the rim defensively. He played just 15 minutes in the first meeting between the teams because of an ankle injury but went 0-for-3 from the floor and committed four fouls.
UConn can’t afford for that to happen again.
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Tarris Reed Jr.’s massive 31-point, 27-rebound game propels UConn
Tarris Reed Jr. unleashes career highs with 31 points and 27 rebounds to lift the UConn Huskies to the second round.
Medcalf: Koa Peat
At 6-8 and 235 pounds, Arizona needs the freshman’s combination of size, talent and skill to beat Michigan. The good news for the Wildcats is that Peat is doing some of his best work as the season closes out, averaging 14.8 points and connecting on 53% of his shots inside the arc over the past 10 games. This game is a battle between two excellent teams with six projected first-round NBA draft picks between them.
Peat will have to be a defensive stopper against one of the biggest frontcourts in college basketball and create the production inside the paint the Wildcats will need to match an opponent that is prolific in the paint.
It’s difficult to imagine Michigan winning without All-American Yaxel Lendeborg playing well. You could make the same case about Arizona and Peat, who scored eight points combined in the team’s two losses.
What will determine UConn-Illinois?
Borzello: Perimeter shooting.
Illinois has been one of the country’s most 3-point-happy teams all season, although the Illini became less reliant on perimeter shots down the stretch. They still rank in the top 15 nationally in 3s made per game and 3-point attempt rate, but after making double digit 3s in 18 of their previous 22 games, they have done it just once since March 3 — and went 3-for-17 from 3 against Iowa in the Elite Eight.
For UConn, it’s less about volume and more about making shots. On paper, Solo Ball, Braylon Mullins and Alex Karaban are as fearsome a shooting trio as there is in college basketball. But in recent reality, Ball is 14.3% from 3 over his past six games, Mullins is 18.5% from 3 in his past eight games and Karaban went just 1-for-6 from 3 against Duke.
UConn doesn’t have to outshoot Illinois because of the edge it will have inside, but it’s a massive boost for UConn’s offense when it is making shots.
Medcalf: Illinois’ ability to corral Reed.
Mullins hit the winning 3 against Duke while UConn’s second-half defense and offensive execution fueled the comeback, but the Huskies’ win would not have been possible without Reed’s production: 26 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
Illinois has length around the rim that few teams can match. But if Reed is as dominant as he has been throughout the NCAA tournament, it will create more opportunities for Mullins, Karaban and their backcourt mates to affect the game offensively — but the Huskies also need Reed to be a force in the paint defensively. Opposing players have made just 25% of their attempts around the rim against Reed during the NCAA tournament.
What will determine Arizona-Michigan?
Borzello: Points in the paint.
As college basketball trends more toward bigger lineups and dominance around the rim, Arizona and Michigan are leading the charge. Both teams have size, are physical and look to assert themselves on the offensive end through sheer aggression. Arizona ranks fifth in the country in paint points per game, second in 2-point attempts per game, third in free throw attempts per game and is top 10 in offensive rebound percentage. Michigan is second in 2-point field goal percentage, third in 2-point percentage defense and is top 20 in both paint points per game and second-chance points per game.
Against Arkansas in the Sweet 16, Arizona had 60 points in the paint and 30 from the free throw line. The Wildcats then outscored Purdue by a combined 28 points in those areas in the Elite Eight. On the other side, Michigan put on a transition exhibition against Tennessee, which is something a team with the Wolverines’ size is not typically capable of doing.
Can either team establish itself around the rim? That’ll be the key.
Medcalf: Perimeter pressure.
Both teams’ post attack will thrive according to what happens on the perimeter.
Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries are each at their best when they’re driving downhill, drawing extra pressure and creating open looks for their teammates, so Michigan’s efforts to stall an Arizona team that’s excellent around the rim will have to start with the Wildcats’ offensive facilitators.
On the other side, Arizona won’t be able to send more help to mitigate Michigan’s paint threats if the Wolverines are a threat from the perimeter: Elliot Cadeau, Trey McKenney, Nimari Burnett and Yaxel Lendeborg have all made at least 37% of their 3-point attempts. If the Wolverines are off, though — they made just 28% of their 3-point attempts in their three losses this season — the Wildcats’ job will be easier.
Final Four predictions
UConn-Illinois
Borzello: UConn, 74-72
Medcalf: UConn, 77-73
Arizona-Michigan
Borzello: Arizona, 82-80
Medcalf: Michigan, 78-76
SYDNEY: As Twenty20 cricket competitions explode around the world, Australia’s Big Bash League is struggling to chart a vision for the future, after plans to privatise its franchises stalled.
Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg is adamant that outside investment is necessary to shore up the game’s financial future and keep pace with a boom in other well-funded leagues played in a similar time slot.
They include the UAE’s ILT20, South Africa’s SA20, and New Zealand’s privately-backed NZ20 scheduled to start in December 2027, all bidding for the best local and overseas players.
“If those salary caps (of other leagues) are significantly higher than ours over the coming years, and players can earn more in those areas, then players will follow those. That’s a real risk to us,” Greenberg told local media.
“I want to make sure that for Australian cricket, our ambition is to have a league that runs at the key part of the year for us, which is the December-January window, and it’s the best T20 league in the world at that moment in time.
“To do that, we have to have a significant amount of money in our salary caps to attract not only the best players from overseas, but to retain and attract our own best players.”
He added: “The concept of bringing private capital to cricket is inevitable at some point.”
While not a direct competitor as it runs in a different window, the benchmark Indian Premier League has seen massive success thanks to wealthy benefactors, with England’s The Hundred also on a roll after an influx of private capital.
But it is a thorny issue in Australia with an initial proposal to sell stakes in each of BBL’s eight teams stalling last month amid concerns about a loss of control for the game’s local custodians.
While the Victorian, Western Australian and Tasmanian cricket associations voiced support and South Australia said it was open to the idea, New South Wales and Queensland rejected the move.
Queensland Cricket, which controls the Brisbane Heat, said it was worried about player payments skyrocketing to unsustainable levels, and that private owners may not be as invested in the grassroots game.
Cricket NSW, which operates the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder, was similarly concerned that it could be detrimental to how the sport is governed and how local players are produced.
‘Sugar hit’
There are also fears about an Indian takeover, with the most likely buyers seen as the rich IPL team owners who have invested in other short-form competitions around the globe.
Former Australian captain Greg Chappell is in the “No” camp, arguing that the BBL belongs to the states and communities that have built it into a successful and well-attended product.
While acknowledging the commercial realities, he said selling it off was not the answer.
“The moment you introduce private ownership at scale, you introduce a set of priorities that may not always align with the long-term health of the game,” he wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Private investors, however well-intentioned, answer to shareholders, not to Australian cricket.”
Andrew Jones, a former head of strategy at Cricket Australia who was instrumental in the launch of the BBL, is similarly unconvinced.
“A one-off sale is a sugar hit, not a solution,” he said in The Australian newspaper, arguing that revenues can be better grown through sponsorships, wagering, ticketing, and more focus on commercialising the women’s game.
Despite scepticism, Greenberg remains confident and is now eyeing a hybrid ownership model.
This would allow the BBL franchises keen to sell stakes to do so while allowing those against to maintain complete ownership.
“If we end up not going together at the same time, can we still extract the same level of revenue, and can we extract the same level of value?” he said.
“I think we can, but I’ve got to do the work to satisfy a recommendation that would ultimately go to the members and our board.”
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The New York Knicks took a commanding 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday as the franchise eyes its first NBA Finals berth since 1999.
Jalen Brunson scored 30 points to lead New York to a 121-108 win over Cleveland, while Mikal Bridges added 22 as the Knicks never trailed in Game 3.
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The New York Knicks bench reacts during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game three of the Eastern Conference finals at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 23, 2026. (David Richard/Imagn Images)
New York is the seventh team in NBA history to win at least 10 straight during a postseason run. The last team to do it was the Boston Celtics, who also went on a 10-game run on their way to the 2024 title.
All but one of the Knicks’ wins have been by double digits, with an average margin of victory of 22.5 points.
Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell finished with 23 points in 38 minutes, while teammate James Harden added 21. Cleveland shot 12 of 41 from 3-point range and 12 of 19 from the foul line.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) drives to the basket against New York Knicks guard Landry Shamet (44) during the first quarter in Game Three of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at Rocket Arena on May 23, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Cleveland rallied and tied it at 50-all on a jumper by Harden before the Knicks countered with a 10-1 run. They went into halftime with a 60-54 advantage.
Music superstar Taylor Swift was courtside for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night alongside fiancé and Ohio native Travis Kelce.
Swift and Kelce, who recently signed a three-year, $54 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, took their seats in Rocket Arena shortly before the opening tip.
Singer Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce attend Game Three of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 23, 2026. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
With the Cavs trailing 91-82 at the end of the third quarter, Kelce and Swift were shown on the arena’s giant scoreboard. Fans cheered wildly as Kelce showed off his team cap and wine-and-gold shirt.
Game 4 is set for Monday night at Rocket Arena in Cleveland. The series will return to Madison Square Garden for Game 5 on Wednesday, if necessary.
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Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs will host the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 on Sunday night. Oklahoma City enters the matchup with a 2-1 series lead.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Sports
NASCAR’s Truck Series and O’Reilly Autoparts Series honor Kyle Busch with moments of silence at Charlotte
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The NASCAR world is paying tribute to Kyle Busch this weekend, and that includes some classy ones from two series in which the late driver had a lot of success.
While Busch — who passed away Thursday after “severe pneumonia [that] progressed into sepsis” — had been a full-time driver in NASCAR’s top series, the Cup Series, for more than 20 years, he still competed occasionally in both the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Craftsman Truck Series.
He was especially known for his dominance in the Truck Series, winning 69 of his 184 races, and at one point owned a team. In fact, the final win of Busch’s career came just under a week before his death in a Truck Series race at Dover.
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Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, is introduced before the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 1, 2026. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
On Friday, the Truck Series was in Charlotte as part of the Coca-Cola 600 weekend for a race that Busch was supposed to take part in.
NASCAR, RACING WORLD REACTS TO KYLE BUSCH’S SHOCKING DEATH AT 41: ‘CANNOT COMPREHEND THIS NEWS’
Corey Day was in the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, the truck in which Busch took his final win, and it was set to start on pole after Friday’s qualifying was rained out.
Kyle Busch celebrates the final win of his NASCAR career at Dover Motor Speedway. (Photo by David Hahn/Icon Sportswire)
Before the race was set to begin on Friday evening, teams and fans held a moment of silence for Busch.
Unfortunately, the race never got underway and was postponed until Saturday morning and then again to Saturday night.
The O’Reilly Autoparts Series, which Busch raced in many times and won many times during his career, also took a moment to remember him before their race at Charlotte on Saturday.
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That race was also suspended due to rain.
There will be some heavy hearts on Sunday when the Coca-Cola 600, the NASCAR Cup Series’ longest race of the year, gets started at 6 p.m. ET.
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