No. 24 Michigan beats Oregon 80-76 for 3rd straight victory, handing Ducks 4th loss in a row
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Will Tschetter had a season-high 17 points, Danny Wolf scored 10 of his 15 points in the first half and Vladislav Goldin had nine of his 15 after halftime to help No. 24 Michigan hold off Oregon 80-76 on Wednesday night.
The Wolverines (17-5, 9-2 Big Ten) have won three straight to pull into a second-place tie with No. 9 Michigan State behind No. 7 Purdue in the conference standings. The Ducks (16-7, 5-7) have lost four in a row for the first time since the 2013-2014 season.
Jackson Shelstad led Oregon with 18 points. Nate Bittle had 16 points, Keeshawn Barthelemy added 15 and TJ Bamba had 13 points.
Wolf led an 11-0 run in the first half that put the Wolverines ahead by double digits after they had trailed.
Michigan led 14 points in the first half and had to make free throws late to seal the victory after the Ducks rallied.
Takeaways
Oregon: After starting 13-1 and and being a top-10 team for three weeks in December following wins over AP Top 25 teams Alabama and Texas A&M, the Ducks have dropped five of their last six games.
Michigan: In Dusty May's first season, the Wolverines are 11-0 at home. The unblemished mark will be tested in their next home game against Purdue next week.
Key moment
Wolf put Michigan ahead by double digits midway through the first half with a dazzling, step-back jumper.
Key stat
The Wolverines outscored Oregon 36-24 in the paint.
Up next
Both teams are back in action Saturday. Oregon plays at No. 9 Michigan State, with Spartants coach Tom Izzo a win away from tying former Indiana coach Bob Knight's record of 353 Big Ten victories. Michigan is at Indiana.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Daddy's coming home with pole position. Denny Hamlin celebrates new son with top spot at Pocono
Denny Hamlin (11) and Chase Briscoe (19) battle for position during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Denny Hamlin (11) and Chase Briscoe (19) battle for position during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Pocono Raceway paints its signature black rocks outside the garage in gold lettering with a last name and race car number highlighted to honor some of NASCAR's greats. Jimmie Johnson has one. So does Richard Petty, among others. So where's the celebratory boulder for Denny Hamlin, who holds the track record with seven wins and saw another victory thrown out in 2022 because of a disqualification? Advertisement Hamlin laughed when he said Pocono officials told him the requirement was, 'either retire or die.' At 44 years old, Hamlin — who just welcomed a son with fiancee Jordan Fish — should have the prime of his life ahead. As for retirement? What, and miss out on all the fun? Even without a Cup championship on his resume, Hamlin remains a dominant force in the sport and he showed again Saturday why he's the driver to beat on the 2 1/2-mile tri-oval track. Hamlin skipped last week's race in Mexico City following his son's birth and returned without missing a beat, turning a lap of 172.599 mph to take the top spot in Sunday's race. Advertisement 'Truthfully, I'm on a run,' Hamlin said. 'I don't know how else to say it.' Yes, life is good for Hamlin, especially after the couple welcomed their third child, Jameson Drew Hamlin, on June 11. Hamlin shared in a social media post that the baby was delivered at 8 pounds, 4 ounces and was measured at 22 3/4 inches. The name has special meaning: The three-time Daytona 500 champion's given name is James Dennis Alan Hamlin. So his son's name is for James' son and the JD theme is for two men (JD Gibbs and James Dean) who helped launch his career path into NASCAR. Hamlin said a difficult labor and the logistical issues of traveling on short notice to Mexico forced him to miss the race. 'If we were racing at Darlington,' he said, 'I would have been there on race day.' Advertisement The layoff didn't affect Hamlin. He earned his third NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and 57th of his career on June 8 at Michigan International Speedway and jumped right back into the top spot at Pocono. Maybe some unexpected rest this week helped Hamlin crush it in the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. 'He's slept through the night the last three nights in a row. So it's been really, really great,' Hamlin said. If anything keeps Hamlin stirring at night, it's the acrimonious legal fight with NASCAR that continues to drag in court. A federal judge urged NASCAR and two of its teams to settle their lawsuit that spilled over into tense arguments during a hearing this week. 23XI Racing, which is owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan, is fighting with NASCAR along with Front Row Motorsports. The two teams say the series is a monopoly, but NASCAR has struck back with a countersuit of its own. Advertisement Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney representing the teams, said he was open to a settlement. Hamlin said Saturday at Pocono he also was open to a settlement, but said no offer of one had been made on their side and wouldn't be at least until there is a mediation attempt. Kessler said NASCAR was uninterested in a settlement. 'I have stated publicly cooler heads will prevail,' Hamlin said. 'I can tell you this, this is not on our end that needs cooler heads. I think the difference is they're saying different things on their side. We're prepared to go all the way.' Hamlin is going to try and go all the way and win at Pocono with his fifth pole in 36 races at the track. Hamlin is the 5-1 betting favorite to win Sunday, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Advertisement 'It's a track that no matter the car we drive or the tires or the aero package, none of that really matters,' Hamlin said. 'You still make speed at this racetrack the same way no matter what car you are driving. I think it's been one of the few tracks I haven't had to change my approach to it depending on the car that I'm driving. I think that's why the success has been sustained.' The rest of the lineup Chris Buescher starts second at Pocono and Carson Hocevar — embroiled in a feud with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who has vowed retaliation for recent wrecks — is third. John Hunter Nemechek is fourth and Cole Custer fifth. Led by Hamlin, Toyota had six of the top-10 starting spots. Advertisement Pocono sellout Pocono Raceway continued its renaissance with a third straight sellout crowd set for Sunday. The track sold out all frontstretch seating, premium seating, suites, infield camping and the grandstand camping area. It also is the fifth consecutive year that the entire infield camping inventory has been sold out. Pocono President Ben May said the track sold around 50,000 grandstand tickets, around 2,000 suite seats and 3,300 camping spots. NASCAR traditionally ran two NASCAR weekends at the track until 2022. The sellout streak started the next year and it was the first since 2010. 'When you look at this weekend, it's sold out. It's fantastic,' three-time Cup champion Joey Logano said. Advertisement NASCAR expressed at least a cursory interest in adding to its recent string of offbeat race locations — everywhere from Mexico City to a temporary track inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — and floated the idea of holding a race inside a Philadelphia stadium, Franklin Field. The site is traditionally home to the Penn Relays and college football. May said he wasn't necessarily concerned another race within driving distance of the mountains — about 100 miles away — would affect Pocono. 'When you get into center city and Philly proper, it's a stick-and-ball town,' May said. 'I'm very comfortable with Pocono's position on the schedule for a long time.' ___ AP auto racing:


USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Notre Dame offered Teddy Jarrard and Peyton Houston, the first 2027 QB's to get one
While Notre Dame football is on another one of its recruiting hot streaks in the 2026 cycle, that doesn't mean they aren't looking ahead to future classes. That's exactly what happened on Saturday, as the Irish offered two quarterbacks scholarships, their first one's of the 2027 cycle. The first one went out to Teddy Jarrard, a 6-foot, 3-inch and 190-pound Georgia native. He's currently ranked as the No. 217 overall prospect in the class by the 247Sports Composite, and also has offers from Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State and multiple others. The other quarterback to get an offer was Peyton Houston, a 5-foot, 11-inch and 198-pound prospect out of Louisiana. He's ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the country's No. 85 player, and not surprisingly has an LSU offer among others. The Irish would surely love to stick it to former head coach Brian Kelly, as in just three short years Marcus Freeman has proved that he was wrong about his assessment of the Notre Dame program. You have to like where the Irish are starting off on their 2027 quarterback recruiting, as both of these offers are to high-level players who have tons of ability. More will surely be offered in the coming months, but it has to mean a lot to each of them that Notre Dame first offers to that class for the position were Jarrard and Houston.

Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
NASCAR Madness: In-Season Challenge begins next week
Every year, like so many people do, Ryan Blaney and his team fill out a bracket for the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Now, a bit of March Madness is coming to NASCAR. Beginning next week, NASCAR holds its first In-Season Challenge, a bracket-style tournament where 32 drivers compete head-to-head for a $1 million prize. Advertisement Sunday's Great American Getaway 400 Presented by at Pocono Raceway is the final seeding race; Michigan and Mexico City were the first two races. A driver's best finish in those three races determines his seed. The next-best finish in those three races is the tiebreaker. If drivers are still tied after that, the point standings after Pocono is the final tiebreaker. The round-of-32 begins next Sunday at EchoPark Speedway at Atlanta. The Chicago Street Course hosts the 'Sweet 16' on July 6. The Sonoma road course is the site of the 'Elite Eight' on July 13. The 'Final Four' will be at Dover Motor Speedway on July 20. The two remaining drivers will battle for the championship in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27. All four races are televised on TNT. Drivers simply advance by having the higher finish than the driver they are matched up against. 'I feel like the race tracks in the actual bracket are good for us; race tracks where I could knock out a top guy no problem,' said Michael McDowell, driver of No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. 'We're also doing it for a million bucks. How can you not be excited about that? That's life-changing money.' Advertisement Most of the drivers are excited about the In-Season Challenge. Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Penske Ford, thinks it comes at a perfect time in the schedule. 'This is kind of that point where the newness has worn off, we're into the rhythm of racing every week, it's starting to be about who's going to be in the playoffs, who's not, the cutoff line, those types of things. But it's not really the main story yet,' Logano said. 'So this really spices up the mid-part of the season. We have a long season, so just kind of changing it up and adding something to it is great.' Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, agrees with Logano. Advertisement 'I think it's exciting for our sport and our fan base,' Larson said. 'It's an extra storyline within the season. A lot of times the summer months can feel long and not much happening. So I think it adds an element of excitement. Hopefully it goes well for us. I think it's going to reward consistency, so hopefully we can be one of those teams.' Blaney believes the In-Season Challenge will create a lot of race-within-the-races scenarios. Not only will drivers try to win, but also finish ahead of the driver they are pitted against. 'We don't have a lot of 1 v. 1 in our sport. This is a cool opportunity to have those matchups,' said Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Penske Ford. 'It will be fun for people to track and watch. I heard the broadcast is going to have a dedicated team just for the in-season tournament to really keep track of it, which is good. You have to do a good job of keeping track of what is going on within the full race. So I think it's neat and will be fun to watch. I don't see one negative about it. You could see a lot of great battles out there for maybe, 20th, but it means a lot if you get 19th.' Much like the NCAA tournament, where people who don't follow college basketball still fill out a bracket, McDowell believes the In-Season Challenge can attract nonrace fans. Advertisement 'I didn't grow up following other sports,' McDowell said. 'To me, this is a unique opportunity for us to engage with a fan who maybe, like me but the opposite, has never watched motor sports or never got into racing. But they're like, 'This is pretty cool. I can get into this.'' Christopher Bell, driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, thinks having Atlanta as the first race of the In-Season Challenge will make things interesting. 'It's hard to pick a favorite going through Atlanta with it being a superspeedway-style race,' Bell said. 'I think you're going to see a lot of upsets Week 1 of the in-season tournament. So get through that one and see who's left standing.' Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, despite missing last week's race at Mexico City due to the birth of his son, is the No. 1 seed by virtue of his win at Michigan. Mexico City winner Shane van Gisebergen is not eligible for the Challenge since he was not in the top 32 in the point standings after Nashville. Advertisement 'I'm a sports guy, so I'm going to be engaged with it,' Hamlin said. 'I'll know who I will have to beat next week. I've told the team, we are going to try and do what we can. We are going to be up against it because we are going to tracks that aren't very favorable to me. But we are going to try to do our best to beat that one car for the next four to five weeks.' Here is how the bracket looks heading into Pocono and potential first-round matchups: 1-Denny Hamlin vs. 32-Carson Hocevar; 2-Chris Buescher vs. 31-Noah Gragson; 3-Christopher Bell vs. 30-Ty Dillon; 4-Ty Gibbs vs. 29-Todd Gilliland; 5-Chase Elliott vs. 28-Justin Haley; 6-Bubba Wallace vs. 27-Joey Logano; 7-Alex Bowman vs. 26-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.; 8-Michael McDowell vs. 25-Austin Dillon; 9-Kyle Larson vs. 24-Austin Cindric; 10-Ross Chastain vs. 23-Ryan Blaney; 11-John Hunter Nemechek vs. 22-Daniel Suarez; 12-Chase Briscoe vs. 21-Tyler Reddick; 13-Zane Smith vs. 20-A.J. Allmendinger; 14-Kyle Busch vs. 19-Josh Berry; 15-Ryan Preece vs. 18-Erik Jones; 16-William Byron vs. 17-Brad Keselowski.