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Brewer, Jones lead Florida International over Western Kentucky 64-61 in Conference USA Tournament

Brewer, Jones lead Florida International over Western Kentucky 64-61 in Conference USA Tournament

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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Jayden Brewer led Florida International with 17 points and Asim Jones sealed the victory with a free throw with 49 seconds left as the Panthers defeated Western Kentucky 64-61 on Tuesday in a Conference USA Tournament opener.
The 10th-seeded Panthers advance to play No. 2-seed Jackson State on Wednesday. FIU ended a three-game losing streak and losers of six of seven entering the tournament.
Brewer also had eight rebounds and three steals for the Panthers (10-22). Jones scored 17 points while shooting 4 of 6 from the field and 8 for 9 from the line and added five rebounds. Ashton Williamson scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds.
The seventh-seed Hilltoppers (17-15) were led by Braxton Bayless, who posted 12 points. Enoch Kalambay added 11 points for Western Kentucky.
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PSG aims for Club World Cup glory after historic Champions League win
PSG aims for Club World Cup glory after historic Champions League win

Yahoo

time30 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

PSG aims for Club World Cup glory after historic Champions League win

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(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File) FILE - PSG's Desire Doue scores his side's second goal past Inter Milan's Federico Dimarco, left, during the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File) Just weeks after winning the Champions League for the first time in its history, Paris Saint-Germain's eyes are now fixed on FIFA's shiny new Club World Cup. The newly-crowned European champion can add the world title to a trophy haul that also included a French league and cup double this season. Advertisement 'We want to finish the season in style with the cherry on the cake,' coach Luis Enrique said. PSG had already qualified for the rebooted Club World Cup in the United States, but its Champions League triumph may still have come as a relief to FIFA. 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Had either of the losing semifinalists — Barcelona or Arsenal — gone on to lift the trophy, then the flagship new tournament would have been without the reigning champion of Europe as well. The qualifying criteria were based on winners of continental trophies in the four years prior to the tournament, but not including the season directly before it. Advertisement That's why Chelsea — Champions League winner in 2021 — has a seat at the table despite finishing fourth in the Premier League last month. Chelsea is arriving at the Club World Cup with a new team, coach and even owners since it won the Champions League four years ago. The club is one of 12 from Europe, including stellar names like Real Madrid, PSG, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Inter and Juventus. South American clubs are Europe's top rivals Some of Latin America's biggest teams are in the tournament — including reigning Copa Libertadores champion Botafogo from Brazil. 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Advertisement Details on ticket sales have not been released, but prices have dropped as the tournament has drawn closer and seats for the opening game between Al Ahly and Inter Miami on Saturday were still available this week. Marriott Bonvoy, a U.S. Soccer Federation partner, has been offering free tickets to some of its elite members for some games. It also remains to be seen what the television viewing figures will be, with the tournament broadcast globally on streaming service DAZN, which has also made 24 matches available with English-language commentary to TNT in the U.S. Eye-catching matches Al Ahly vs. Inter Miami, June 14, Miami Advertisement Five years after its MLS debut, Inter Miami — the team owned by David Beckham — will kick off in the first game of the Club World Cup. Its opponent in the opener is Egypt's Al Ahly — the winner of a record 12 African championships. It's likely to be party time at the Hard Rock Stadium, but the chance of Al Ahly spoiling Miami's big day is very real. PSG vs. Atletico Madrid, June 15, Los Angeles It will be an early test for PSG against Atletico. This is the type of match that could grace the later stages of any Champions League campaign between two of Europe's finest. Chelsea vs. LAFC, June 16, Atlanta Advertisement LAFC got in through the back door via a playoff against Club America of Mexico and its reward is an opening game against two-time Champions League winner Chelsea. Real Madrid vs. Al-Hilal, June 18, Miami The anticipation around this one would have been so much more intense had Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal not released Neymar in January, but it still has other star signings like striker Aleksandar Mitrovic. Madrid has a new coach in Xabi Alonso, who can get off to a flying start by winning the world title. PSG vs. Botafogo, June 19, Los Angeles Champions League winner against the reigning Copa Libertadores champion. This is the type of match that would have been the final in the tournament's previous guise — the best of Europe vs. the best of Latin America. Advertisement Bayern Munich vs. Boca Juniors, June 20, Miami Two soccer giants from different continents clash at the Hard Rock Stadium. This is what this tournament is all about. Expect an electric atmosphere with Boca's fans likely to massively outnumber those cheering on German champion Bayern. Inter Milan vs. River Plate, June 25, Seattle Another clash of continental titans. Champions League runner-up Inter takes on Argentine giant River Plate. Juventus vs. Manchester City, June 26, Orlando City may have relinquished its Premier League title and ended the season empty-handed for the first time eight years, but there's still chance for Pep Guardiola to salvage the campaign with the world title. ___ James Robson is at ___ AP soccer:

How many Panthers fans want another Stanley Cup more than sex or $1 million?
How many Panthers fans want another Stanley Cup more than sex or $1 million?

Miami Herald

time33 minutes ago

  • Miami Herald

How many Panthers fans want another Stanley Cup more than sex or $1 million?

Some Panthers puckheads figure even if their team loses this year's Stanley Cup Final against Edmonton, which the Panthers lead 2-1 going into Thursday's Game 4, three consecutive Cup Finals and last year's Stanley Cup counts as unimagined bounty. Smaller groups want another Panthers' Stanley Cup more than they want $1 million, sex in the near future or beer in the next year. That's what says its survey of 2,000 Panthers fans discovered. The study addressed not only personal sacrifice, but personal superstition. READ MORE: Panthers in contract years are thriving in playoffs. What it means for Florida's future Hops, money, sex and marriage ▪ Money: Only 10% of Panthers fans would give up a month's salary for the Panthers to win another Cup, and, just 1% would give up their savings. Neither should surprise anybody living in a metro area with a high rent/income ratio and in a state where half the residents are living without much cushion. READ MORE: Nearly half of Floridians are living paycheck to paycheck, report finds But, one in five fans, 20%, 'would rather see the Panthers win the Stanley Cup than win $1 million in the lottery' themselves. ▪ Sex and marriage: Only 4% said they would give up their marriage or relationship to see the Panthers get another Stanley Cup, but 10% said they can abstain from sex for six months if it meant a Panthers repeat. The survey didn't break down how many of that 10% were married or how many didn't expect to have sex in the next six months anyway. ▪ Beer: Panthes parade with Stanley again, but you don't drink any beer for a year? That's a deal 25% of fans surveyed would make, the most popular sacrifice on the board. ▪ Vacation: A year of vacation days was worth the Stanley Cup to 10% of fans. Not very superstitious...? The superstition that most Panthers fans will admit is 'wearing a certain color' for luck, something 48% said they do. After that, it dropped off precipitously to avoiding betting on the Panthers (14%), 'wear a lucky piece of clothing (e.g. underwear) (10%); perform an athlete's routine (9.5%); watch the game in a specific location (9%); don't eat a certain food (5%); and rub a lucky token (4.5%).

Are the Panthers in the Oilers' heads? After ugly Game 3, Edmonton knows it must play its own style
Are the Panthers in the Oilers' heads? After ugly Game 3, Edmonton knows it must play its own style

New York Times

time43 minutes ago

  • New York Times

Are the Panthers in the Oilers' heads? After ugly Game 3, Edmonton knows it must play its own style

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Playing the Florida Panthers can, at times, be like mental warfare. They have mastered the art of walking right up to the line and then not crossing it right when their opponent's head is ready to explode. They'll provoke you into a cross-check, slash or punch — sometimes, all of the above — then skate away with a satisfied grin. Advertisement Just look at the way Sam Bennett let Trent Frederic punch him in the back of the head, cross-check him twice — the final so fierce that Frederic's stick broke across Bennett's left arm — then grab him by his jersey in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. Bennett refused to engage before a line brawl was incited. 'Sometimes you've got to take a punch,' Bennett said Wednesday. In wrestling terms, this is a team that plays the heel perfectly. They admit a big part of their aggressive, aggravating game plan is pushing you to the brink of boiling over. Opponents know it's coming. When you're facing a team that has Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk, Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad, plus hard-nosed energy guys such as Jonah Gadjovich and A.J. Greer, you know you're going to have to deal with trash talking, big hits, top players being checked hard, sneaky extracurriculars and little room to operate. But knowing it's coming doesn't mean being able to counter it. And when an opponent's frustration sets in, as it did for the Edmonton Oilers in Monday's 6-1 Panthers pounding, Florida wins in more ways than just the scoreboard. 'That's part of their DNA,' Oilers star Leon Draisaitl said. 'That's what they do. I think there's spurts in the series when we've handled it really well. (Monday) night, the game's over with 11 minutes left and all hell breaks loose. It's a UFC fight. I think overall, we can be a little more disciplined and stay away from that.' Everything stemmed from Trent Frederic breaking his stick with cross-checks on Sam Bennett 😳 — Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) June 10, 2025 Indeed, in the third period of Game 3, the Oilers looked like a bunch of lumberjacks, two-handing Panthers players in the back of the legs shift after shift. Sure, they knew the game was out of hand by that point, and it's common in that situation to, as Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch so eloquently said, 'make investments for the next game.' Advertisement But this felt different, even if the Oilers denied losing their scruples. 'It's an emotional time,' Draisaitl said. 'It's two teams that want to win — two teams doing it their own way — but I don't think anybody is going crazy here. They're good at what they do, but (Monday) night was the first night where it got out of hand a little bit. The game's over, it's 5-1 and it's not a big deal. We have guys that are intense. They like getting in those situations just as much as they do.' Even before the game got out of hand, though, the Oilers took four first-period penalties, including cross-checking and high-sticking minors to Evander Kane. Kane would later slash a fallen Carter Verhaeghe in the face right after he was two-handed by Evan Bouchard. Evander Kane tried to sneak this one in but got caught in the process#LetsGoOilers | #TimeToHunt — Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) June 10, 2025 Earlier in the game, Bouchard cross-checked Anton Lundell, who fell quickly to the ice before being punched again by Jake Walman. The Oilers accused the Panthers during the game of diving (Lundell and Sergei Bobrovsky) and turtling (Tkachuk wanting no part of fighting Kane). 'They seem to get away with it more than we do,' Kane said afterward. 'It's tough to find the line. They're doing just as much stuff as we are.' The Panthers do get away with plenty. As Marchand said, they know that the refs 'can't call everything all the time.' There was one shift in the first period on Monday where Bennett looked like he committed two penalties on Draisaitl that went uncalled. But what's so hard for opponents is that the Panthers are unrelenting with their in-your-face style — and also at turning the other cheek. One of their biggest improvements over the past couple of years under Paul Maurice has been after-whistle discipline. Advertisement 'It used to be a lot worse,' Verhaeghe said. 'We'd engage a lot more. But I think over the years, we realized that it doesn't really help anything and that you play hard between the whistles, but the after-whistle stuff only hurts us. 'We do a good job drawing penalties. We'll take that. But I think two or three years ago when we made it to the Final (against the Vegas Golden Knights), we were a pretty undisciplined team. After the whistle, we'd be involved in scrums and everything like that. And then we realized that it didn't really help our game and nothing good would happen from it.' Added Greer, 'We have to play in between whistles, especially with a team that has such a good power play. We try to frustrate them with how little time they have with the puck. So if a guy's coming up the ice, if our D man has a good gap on him, he has to chip in, and then he gets held up — he has nothing to do. 'All he's doing is chasing the puck. He gets frustrated, and that translates to stuff after the whistle. For us, that's how we're trying to frustrate them, is by playing a tight defensive game and not letting them have any open ice or any chances to get to that net. That's how we have to play. That's how we have to frustrate them, and then that'll translate to us getting power plays, right? That's how we view it, and that's how our game plan is.' Of course, the Panthers can be sneaky, too, like when Greer removed Walman's glove and casually tossed it onto Florida's bench. That led to Walman squirting a water bottle between the benches, a move that resulted in one of Walman's two $5,000 fines stemming from Game 3. Walman was spraying water at the Panthers bench 👀 — B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 10, 2025 'We have plenty of water on our bench,' Greer said, sarcastically. 'We've got great trainers, great training staff. We've got Gatorade. We've got water, BodyArmor. We've got some nice stuff over there.' Greer's other fine was for repeatedly punching Tkachuk in the face as John Klingberg held Tkachuk's head. Advertisement Tkachuk is a common factor in a lot of this. The hate between him and Kane, in particular, is real. As Kane said before the series, 'We know what he's about. There's never a lot of backup to that talk.' Or as Kane said after Game 1, 'What's it like (playing Tkachuk)? It's like any player. He just talks a little more.' Jake Walman just gave a couple rights to Matthew Tkachuk 😳👊 — Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) June 10, 2025 But even Tkachuk has toned down the after-whistle shenanigans. His first year in Florida, Tkachuk averaged 1.55 penalty minutes per game (123 in 79 games). Last season, it was down to 1.1 (88 in 80 games). This past regular season, 1.03. 'You take a look at Matthew Tkachuk's penalties, the line graph of his penalties, and there's a significant drop after his first six months here, with the exception of whenever he and (brother) Brady play against each other,' Maurice quipped. 'Then there's this one game spike.' Maurice also agreed that it's the Panthers' style between the whistles that frustrates opponents. In his mind, absorbing the punches and stick infractions and skating away is part of paying the price in the playoffs. As Tkachuk said after Game 3, the Panthers talked during the third period about, 'If you have to take a punch, take a punch. If you have to take a cross-check, take a cross-check. Spear, slash in the face, whatever the case is, you've got to take it.' When Bouchard and Kane went after Verhaeghe, he lived those words. 'It's just smart,' Verhaeghe said. 'Let them go to the box all night.' And that's what the Oilers will have to avoid the rest of the series. After Game 3, they've got to know that the Panthers are trying to sucker them into the nonsense. 'We know what they are,' defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. 'We got experience of playing them last year, and I think it's more on us as players. That's their brand. That's what they do. That's what they do really well. But at the same time, we've won four games against them in these Finals in the last two years. And I think if you look at those games, we're a very focused group. We play our game. We don't let that even creep in a little bit. Maybe we lost that a little bit (Monday) night, but we know what to do.' Advertisement Same with the Panthers. 'We have a really focused group this year,' Bennett said. 'Our eyes are on one thing and one thing only, and guys are going to stick up for each other. Guys are going to stand up for each other. But we have one goal in mind, and all the other stuff is just distracting and just to try to get you off your game. We have one goal in mind, and that's all that we're really worried about.' (Photo of Jonah Gadjovich, Trent Frederic and Sam Bennett: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

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