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PHOENIX — Observations and other notes of interest from Sunday night’s 111-102 victory over the Phoenix Suns:

– Granted, this was different than Saturday night in Utah.

–With enough missed shots on both ends to create ample opportunities for offensive rebounds.

– But for the Heat this remained about more than that.

– It remained a commitment to hit the offensive glass.

– For years, the Heat’s priority was to defend the backcourt.

– Rarely did more than two attack the offensive glass.

– Now the boards are being prioritized on both ends.

– On Saturday, it was 26 offensive rebounds against the Jazz.

– This time the Heat were up to 10 by halftime, closing with an impressive 18.

– “We want to make the efforts to go to the glass,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said between the games. “You can stand and watch, you can stand and kind of shuffle back, or you can make an effort.”

– He added, “We’ve been shooting more threes, so those are good opportunities to crash on the glass.”

– So, yes, hunt offensive rebounds.

– “I’m fine with them going,” Spoelstra said. “Yeah, we want them making efforts. I’d rather them do that than stand and watch.”

– Suns coach Jordan Ott took note before Sunday night’s game.

– “They’re not playing with two traditional bigs, and they’re still getting there,” Ott said, with the Heat without 7-foot Kel’el Ware for a fifth consecutive game. “So that’s something different that they’re doing.”

– With Davion Mitchell missing his fifth game with a shoulder contusion, the Heat opened for the third consecutive game with a lineup of Bam Adebayo, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Pelle Larsson and Kasparas Jakucionis.

– Early in the day, only Adebayo of that first five was not on the Heat injury report.

– That lineup entered 2-1.

– It was Larsson’s 24th start.

– With Devin Booker and  Jalen Green out for Phoenix, the Suns opened with a lineup of Collin Gillespie, Grayson Allen, Dillon Brooks, Royce O’Neale and Mark Williams.

– They entered 1-3 when starting those five.

– Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic entered together first off the Heat bench.

– Myron Garner then was moved up to third off the Heat bench.

– And then Dru Smith for nine deep.

– With Simone Fontecchio rounding out the 10-man rotation.

– The Heat team flight from Salt Lake City to Phoenix was delayed by more than three hours Saturday night/Sunday morning.

–  According to FlightAware,  the team did not arrive until 4:30 a.m. local time with the game scheduled for 6 p.m. Phoenix time.

– Spoelstra was quick to downplay the inconvenience.

– “I mean, we were fortunate to save a little bit of time,” he said pregame with a smile. “They just dropped us off in parachutes like Navy SEALs. We’re ready to go.”

– Of Mitchell missing his fifth game overall and third in a row with a shoulder sprain, Spoelstra said, “He’s definitely making progress, but we need to go through some kind of workout where he takes contact and then see how he responds to that. But everything else is trending in a really good way.”

– Mitchell went through a non-contact workout 45 minutes prior to the game.

– Spoelstra was asked if he approached the stretch of five games in seven nights with a blueprint, with Sunday ending the run.

– “It’s tough to plan too far ahead based on things that happen during the course of the current game,” he said.

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– Playing with one of the highest switch rates in the league, Spoelstra offered pregame insight in the absolute trust in Adebayo . . . and therefore perhaps some of the lack of trust in Ware.

– “You have to have versatile defenders,” Spoelstra said of the defensive switching. “But if you don’t have a five that can play multiple coverages, then you’ll be pretty much stuck to one coverage. Bam has proven over the course of his career that I think he’s the most versatile defender in the league because he has shown exceptional ability to defend in any coverage, whether you want to go drop, whether you want to go catch, whether you want to go trap somebody or switch. So it’s the end of the discussion.”

– Spoelstra added, “If your center can’t switch, then you’re only switching one through four. But in addition to that, yeah, you have to have a group of guys that can either handle the switch when they roll down or guard on the perimeter.”

– Spoelstra also spoke pregame of Adebayo turning in recent high-volume games with his 3-point shooting.

– “He’s a very good shooter,” Spoelstra said. “I’ve noticed that this year, when we’ve done shooting games, he’ll win games against our best 3-point shooters. So he’s earned that right to launch them.”

– Spoelstra added, “We all like it. It helps our offense when he’s spacing the floor. He’s finding a good balance right now, spacing out there and also attacking and being the rugged guy at the rim.”

– With Sunday night’s game, the Heat are done for the season with their schedule west of the Central time zone. Sunday was the Heat’s final game in the Mountain time zone this season, with Thursday night’s game in Portland their last in the Pacific time zone.

PHOENIX — Salvage mission complete.

Moving past bad losses to the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers that could have made this a road to ruin, the Miami Heat followed up Saturday night’s blowout victory over the Utah Jazz with a 111-102 victory Sunday night over the Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center.

With the victory, the Heat closed out the five-game trip at 3-2 to improve to 25-22.

Shorthanded and sleep-deprived, the Heat found a way, with Jaime Jaquez Jr. settling things in the fourth quarter.

“To come out 3-2 is good. We’ll take that,” guard Norman Powell said. “And being above .500 on this road trip, I think it sets us up good for going home.”

Both teams were significantly shorthanded.

For the Heat, it was Tyler Herro (ribs) and Kel’el Ware (hamstring) already back in South Florida and Davion Mitchell (shoulder) missing the final three games of the trip.

For the Suns, it was Devin Booker (ankle) and Jalen Green (hamstring) sidelined.

In addition, the Heat did not arrive in Phoenix until 4:30 a.m. Sunday, after a late-arriving plane in Salt Lake City.

Of that turn-and-burn scenario, coach Erik Spoelstra said before the game, “They just dropped us off in parachutes like Navy SEALs. We’re ready to go.”

His team then soldiered through.

“This was a tough turnaround, and I’m not making an excuse for it,” Spoelstra said afterward. “I’m just saying when we got to bed at 6 and have two games in less than 22 hours, it’s fun. It’s fun to try to rally around the challenge.

“This oftentimes could be a scheduled loss, and everybody just absolutely rallied around the opportunity. And you have a moment like this. Hopefully it can lead to more momentum because it’s a tougher type scenario.”

The Heat got 22 points from Bam Adebayo, 20 from Jaquez, 16 from Powell and 10 points and 10 rebounds from Andrew Wiggins.

Five Degrees of Heat from Sunday night’s game:

1. Game flow: The Heat led 32-21 after the first period, 58-48 at halftime and 82-77 going into the fourth.

The Heat consistently built double-digit leads through each of the first three quarters, only to see the Suns consistently close the gap.

The Heat then matched their largest lead to that point when they went up 89-77 with 10:09 to play.

The difference then was the Heat reverted to a formula that had been so successful early this season, a Jaquez takeover, with the Heat giving the ball to their sixth man and getting out of the way, a payoff that included a 3-pointer that gave the Heat a 101-83 lead.

Jaquez scored 11 in the fourth quarter, also with three assists in the period.

“We knew how important this win was,” Jaquez said. “We know how important this next stretch of games is for us going into All-Star break. So we’re just taking that to heart and we’re done talking about it. We need to just go do it. And that’s kind of our message going into that game.”

2. Miss or miss: The Heat opened 1 of 13 on 3-pointers, with the lone conversion coming from Adebayo. The Suns weren’t much better at the outset, opening 2 of 12 on 3-pointers.

The Heat’s second 3-point conversion did not come until Nikola Jovic converted from the left corner. Powell followed with a 3-pointer on the Heat’s next possession.

The Suns stood 2 of 19 on 3-pointers at the half, the Heat 3 of 17. In that first half, Royce O’Neale was 0 for 6 on 3-pointers for the Suns, Powell 1 of 6 for the Heat.

The Heat closed 9 of 36 on 3-pointers, on a night they had to find another way. The Suns finished 7 of 35 on 3-pointers.

“More than anything,” Spoelstra said, “it was just the mentality, the collective spirit to try to accomplish something a little bit unique in a long NBA season.”

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3. Powell persists: For weeks now, Powell has been a constant on the Heat injury report with back soreness.

The fact that he perseveres has been laudable, but the struggles have been real, as he stands now less than a week from finding out Sunday if he makes his first All-Star Game, when conference reserves are named.

“Yeah, he was pretty banged-up these last couple games,” Spoelstra said. “This one was in question because it was such a quick turnaround, and the only rest we really had was on the airplane. So, he wanted to give it a go. He passed all the tests to make himself available. And he contributed in other ways. He had ten rebounds. And he’s always a threat.”

It wasn’t just the need for a high volume of shots to get to his scoring total in this one, it was coming off a pair of games when he closed a combined 0 for 11 from behind the arc.

This time he closed 5 of 21 from the field, 2 of 11 on 3-pointers.

“There’s leading, there’s giving yourself up,” said Powell, who closed with 10 rebounds. “I’ve done that this whole week with playing hurt with my back spasm and everything like that. But tonight I wanted to make an emphasis on getting rebounds and securing the ball so we can get out in transition, and I was able to do that.”

4. Pesky presence: If Spoelstra was looking to inject energy into his team on the second night of the back-to-back, then he picked the right man in playing two-way player Myron Gardner as this third player off the bench.

In one first-quarter sequence, Gardner was part of a video review that ruled his hard foul on Oso Ighodaro was not a flagrant foul, then saw a video review go in his favor when a defensive goaltending call against him was ruled not to be goaltending, followed up by being called for a double-foul with the Suns’ Collin Gillespie, when push came to shove between the two away from the ball.

“Myron is continuing to build trust with everybody,” Spoelstra said. “You feel his energy right away.”

After that brief Gardner jolt, Dru Smith then took over in the second half, with arguably one of his best stretches in weeks. Smith closed with 11 points.

“I just go into the games just trying to stay ready,” Smith said. “And whatever minutes come my way then, I just try to make the most of them. So not really thinking too much about that, just while I’m out there trying to impact the game.”

5. Now, (brief) rest: After the five road games in seven days, the Heat now get their lone two-day break of January, with Monday and Tuesday off.

But then it’s back to the grind, with four games in five nights to follow, the product of the rescheduled game in Chicago from the Jan. 8 postponement there due to condensation on the court at the United Center.

That has the Heat hosting the Magic on Wednesday night, in Chicago on Thursday, and then home against the Bulls on Saturday and Sunday.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Powell said of the break. “I definitely need the rest. And hopefully with these two days I can get everything to calm down and be ready to go.”

By The Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — Drake Maye ran for 68 yards and threw for 86 in sloppy, snowy conditions and scored New England’s only touchdown on a 6-yard keeper, propelling the Patriots to their 12th Super Bowl with a 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

Christian Gonzalez intercepted Jarrett Stidham, starting in place of an injured Bo Nix, at New England’s 36 with 2:11 remaining and the Patriots (17-3) iced their first playoff win in Denver when Maye ran for 7 yards on third-and-5 from his 41.

New England became the third team in the Super Bowl era to win a conference championship with 10 points or less. Buffalo beat Denver 10-7 in the 1991 AFC title game, and the Los Angeles beat Tampa Bay 9-0 in the 1979 NFC championship game.

The Broncos (15-4) finished one step shy of fulfilling Sean Payton’s preseason prediction of a trip to Super Bowl 60.

Both kickers missed two field goals in the frigid conditions with Denver’s Wil Lutz and New England’s Andy Borregales wide on long tries just before the snow came in at halftime.

SEAHAWKS 31, RAMS 27

Sam Darnold threw for three touchdowns, the Seahawks’ “Dark Side” defense came up with a critical fourth-down stop, and Seattle advanced to the Super Bowl, beating Los Angeles in an electrifying NFC championship game on Sunday.

Led by second-year coach Mike Macdonald and Darnold — an eight-year veteran playing for his fifth team — the Seahawks (16-3) reached the fourth Super Bowl in franchise history and first in 11 years. Seattle lost that most recent appearance to New England, its opponent in two weeks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

With Los Angeles (14-6) facing fourth-and-4 at the Seattle 6, coach Sean McVay elected to go for it and Matthew Stafford’s pass was broken up in the end zone by Devon Witherspoon. The Rams didn’t get the ball back until there were 25 seconds left, and Puka Nacua was tackled inbounds near midfield on the final play.

Stafford threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns, but the Rams were undone by critical errors, including a muffed punt by Xavier Smith in the third quarter. On the next play, Darnold connected with Jake Bobo for a 17-yard touchdown.

Darnold, who flopped in his playoff debut last season with the Minnesota Vikings, played through an oblique injury and completed 25 of 36 passes for 346 yards with no turnovers. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 153 yards receiving and a touchdown on 10 catches.

By MATT CARLSON

CHICAGO (AP) — Defenseman Tobias Bjornfot scored his first two goals this season — giving him just three over seven NHL seasons and 139 career games — and the Florida Panthers defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 on Sunday night for their third straight win.

Mackie Samoskevich and Carter Verhaeghe connected 2:04 apart early in the third period and Sam Reinhart added an empty-netter as the Panthers won for the sixth time in eight. Daniil Tarasov made 19 saves and the two-time defending Stanley Cup Panthers moved eight games over .500 for the first time this season.

Tyler Bertuzzi scored his team-leading 25th goal for the Blackhawks. Spencer Knight, who started his career with Florida, made 20 saves and fell to 0-2 against his former team.

The teams generated only a handful of chances through the first and second periods and neither pressured with a territorial edge.

Bjornfot’s fluke goal opened the scoring with 4:27 left in the second. From a faceoff in the Chicago zone, he circled the net and jammed in the puck through Knight’s pads from the right side.

It was the journeyman’s first goal in five games this season. His previous score came in May 2021 with Los Angeles during the COVID-19 altered season.

Bertuzzi tied it 1-all with 29.3 seconds left. At the edge of the crease, he took Ilya Mikheyev’s feed and shoveled a high shot past Tarasov’s stick side.

The Panthers responded with a four-goal third period, despite playing at Minnesota on Saturday and winning 4-3 in overtime.

Samoskevich put Florida back ahead at 5:20 of the final frame when his shot from the slot slipped under Knight’s arm and trickled over the goal line.

Verhaeghe upped it to 3-1 just over two minutes later, firing a one-timer from the slot.

Reinhart scored into an empty net with 1:49 left. With Knight back in goal, Bjornfot connected with 22 seconds left after he cruised into the slot and fired in Verhaeghe’s feed.

Up next

Panthers: Host Utah on Tuesday.

General Daily Insight for January 26, 2026

We’re ready to move forward. Early on, the emotional Moon squares romantic Venus, and misunderstandings about care or timing could impact our plans for the day. Then, at 12:37 PM EST, dreamy Neptune shifts into Aries, fueling our dreams with fiery ambition and energetic action. Still, Neptune’s influence reminds us to slow down and check our expectations while listening for signals that help us bridge differences and reframe choices with care. Take smaller steps, because softer pacing keeps progress steady in the long run.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

Renewed inspiration is showering over your soul throughout the day. Spiritual Neptune begins shaping your identity, softening your approach and inspiring kinder self-talk as you greet strangers and loved ones alike. You may notice that bold choices work better when gentleness guides them, like suggesting an idea without pushing or letting changes unfold slowly. If a friend questions your direction, listen before pushing back, because your courage strengthens when you welcome feedback. Move with heart, because love is what fuels your fire.

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

Take your time making up your mind. Elusive Neptune is gliding into your 12th House of Reflection, inviting quiet time and self-care in a gentler way as you process old stories. Just as you can literally close a tab to free up computer space, you can metaphorically close a tab by releasing past aches to gain mental clarity. If someone pushes for instant answers, know that you don’t owe them an immediate response. Protect quiet moments, because peace strengthens your practical confidence.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

Your network is growing exponentially. Imaginative Neptune meanders into your 11th House of Social Causes, encouraging kinder connections — the sort of relationships that further creative endeavors and amp up hopefulness. You may text a neighbor to reconnect or float an idea at work, because your mind thrives when options multiply. Plans may shift without warning, but you can treat it as an opening rather than a problem. This adaptivity helps you pivot fast and earn support. Let your friends inspire new ideas!

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

Your inner compass knows the way, even if your logical mind hasn’t quite laid out just yet. With Neptune flowing into your goal-centric 10th house, your spirit is drawing you toward fulfilling ways to spend your time. You can choose a project that truly matters or frame an everyday meeting with empathy. If a supervisor or relative seems vague, ask for examples or instructions as needed — especially if they assigned you this task. Consistent effort will help you find your purpose.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

Confidence has a chance to blossom today. Wondrous Neptune is soaring into your 9th House of Investigations, prodding you out of your comfort zone. Make an effort to explore somewhere you’ve never been — even if it’s just a local restaurant you’ve passed a hundred times without entering. Your expressive spirit lights up when you tell stories that bridge differences, because curiosity turns strangers into guides. If travel is unrealistic, reading is the best way to stretch your heart and nourish your courage. Follow wonder!

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

When dreams collide with walls, craft a clear plan. Slippery Neptune moves into your intimidating 8th house, touching upon boundaries with money, secrets, and other vulnerable topics. Don’t rush through any accounting today, especially if it involves shared resources. Practical analysis should reduce stress and support emotional conversations. If a loved one avoids a delicate issue, make sure it’s urgent before pressing them any further. Still, if it does need to be handled today, tell them that — honesty is sometimes better than comfort.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

Your job today is bridge-builder! Fanciful Neptune saunters into your partner-focused 7th house, inviting compassion across connections, whether this involves a friend, lover, business collaborator, or blood relative. You may need to soften your tone, particularly if you have a tough topic to bring up. Thankfully, your sign’s characteristic sense of justice should help you keep negotiations kind when opinions differ. If someone stalls, allow space by offering a few different options for continuation. Practice patience, because steady kindness benefits every shared decision.

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

Your capacity to focus grows as today progresses. Neptune is making its way into your 6th House of Service, offering inspiration regarding the things you do every single day. Your routines should work for you — you shouldn’t work for them. You might want to reorganize your desk or bedside table, especially if you’re having trouble concentrating at work or falling asleep at night. Setting things up in advance helps you deliver results without burning out. Care for your systems to sustain steady progress.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

Having fun isn’t a crime! With Neptune skipping into your affectionate 5th house, you’re about to enjoy a period of delightful inspiration on all creative projects. The downside is that following instructions or tutorials may feel unusually constricting. Still, the rewards of Neptune’s thoughtful presence should be worth it! Say yes to a side project that invites play and curiosity. Banish doubt by seeking whimsy and joy as much as possible. Enjoying yourself will make it easier to craft something worthy of pride.

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

Security deepens as roots receive new care. Your household is important — it’s where your heart lives. As nebulous Neptune wanders into the sector of your chart presiding over such things, you could be ready to make some major upgrades. Whether you live alone or share your domicile, steady care is the best way to make sure your foundations are secure. Though real estate stuff can be complicated, with enough time, you’re capable of making it work. Investing in comfort would be wise.

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

When intuition whispers, the universe is turning up the volume. Neptune enters your 3rd House of Messages, encouraging sensitive listening, kinder words, and thoughtful choices about news, neighbors, and everyday errands. You could pause before hitting send, take the scenic route, or frame a chat with empathy. Whatever you’re doing, the way you phrase things matters. When someone shares a worry, mirror their words to show you’re really listening. They may need a listening ear and a hug more than they need specific advice!

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

Tenderness supports more practicality than you might think. You understand the value of gentleness better than most signs. Neptune entering your money zone gives you an opportunity to set budgets that reflect those values, so your finances can reflect what truly matters to your heart. You may compare prices for necessities or put back an impulse buy, knowing patience saves resources. If money talks feel stressful, try having them over a calming cup of tea. Value yourself — self-respect guides smarter choices.

The Miami Dolphins, under new coach Jeff Hafley, continued to rapidly build the coaching staff through his first weekend on the job.

After promoting Bobby Slowik from within as offensive coordinator on Saturday, Hafley is bringing in the first position coach on his staff. The Dolphins are hiring Tyke Tolbert as wide receivers coach, according to a league source.

Tolbert is an experienced receivers coach, teaching the position in the NFL since 2003. He spent the past two seasons with the Tennessee Titans and has also had stints with the Chicago Bears, New York Giants, Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals.

With the 2015 Broncos, Tolbert was a Super Bowl-winning assistant coach who had Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders in his position group. He has also coached the likes of Odell Beckham Jr., Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, Eric Moulds and Lee Evans.

Before Dolphins wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine had just 11 catches for 89 yards without a touchdown this past season in Miami, he had 32 receptions for 497 yards and nine touchdowns in 2024 under Tolbert’s tutelage in Tennessee.

The addition of Tolbert means Robert Prince, the longtime NFL receivers coach who led the position for the Dolphins on former coach Mike McDaniel’s staff last season, is looking elsewhere for a job next season.

According to NFL Network on Sunday morning, Prince interviewed for the Giants’ vacant offensive coordinator position.

Aside from Slowik and Tolbert, Hafley has also hired Chris Tabor as special teams coordinator since his official introduction Thursday.

For the open defensive coordinator role, Hafley interviewed former Miami Hurricanes assistant coach and player Clint Hurtt, who is Philadelphia Eagles defensive line coach and has been defensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks.

The Somerset Academy boys wrestling team finished as the 2A runner-up at the FHSAA Dual State Championship at Osceola High School in Kissimmee from Jan. 23-24.

Somerset Academy crushed Dillard 70-6 in the first round and they defeated Mater Academy 46-21 in the second round. The Panthers cruised past Jensen Beach 49-24 in the third round and they rolled past Pace 50-19 in the state semifinal.

Lake Gibson defeated Somerset 39-16 in the 2A state final. In the state championship, Somerset’s Carlos Sainz (132 pounds) won by major decision (11-3), Darion Shannon (150) picked up a victory by decision (7-1), Tristan Sainz (157) earned a win by major decision (14-3), Eli Diaz (175) stepped up with a victory by decision (9-6) and Mateo Martinez (190) earned a win by decision (10-
6).

In the state semifinal, Somerset Academy individual winners included Avner Ayzerov (106) by decision (10-5), Carlos Sainz (132) by fall (6-1), Dylan Fernandez (138) by technical fall (16-1), Marlo Jimenez (144) by major decision (13-2), Shannon (150) by fall (8-3), Tristan Sainz (157) by fall (11-0), Sidney Katz (165) by fall (7-3), Diaz (175) by decision (17-11), Martinez (190) by fall (6-1) and Sage Suarez (215) by technical fall (16-0).

“We knew it was going to be close and we competed against a deeper team with a solid lineup,” Somerset Academy coach Joe Blasucci said. “We fought well against them. We were not perfect and we could have wrestled better. We have a young team and it’s something to build on. We have a tough and challenging schedule to help prepare our kids for March. We had lost this tournament last year and then won the IBT state championship so we are hoping to perform well in the end this year.”

South Plantation, Wellington fall short in 3A

The South Plantation boys wrestling team fell to powerhouse South Dade 53-24 in the 3A state quarterfinal.

South Dade captured the 3A championship with a 49-21 victory against Freedom. South Plantation’s individual winners against South Dade included Michiah Gillins Jr. (106 pounds) by fall (11-2), Naidreck Saint-Fleur (120) by fall (3-0), Maverick Lorminey
(190) by fall (4-3) and Jonathan Rogers (285) by fall (3-0).

South Plantation previously earned victories against Stoneman Douglas and Coral Springs to reach the third round.

The Wellington boys wrestling squad dropped a 44-23 decision to Freedom in the 3A state quarterfinal.

Wellington’s individual winners against Freedom consisted of Tyler Swinson (106 pounds) by major decision (15-4), Shawnley Clervoyant (113) by major decision (14-5), Nikolas Gray (157) by decision (7-1), Tyler Gray (165) by fall (6-3) and Mac Andrews
(190) by fall (3-1).

Wellington cruised to a victory against Dwyer in the opening round and the Wolverines also defeated Olympic Heights in the second round.

Cardinal Gibbons falls in 1A

The Cardinal Gibbons boys wrestling fell 54-21 to Mater Lakes during the second round in 1A. Cardinal Gibbons previously had a 59-22 victory against King’s Academy in the opening round. Mater Lakes captured the 1A championship with a 44-18 win against
Cocoa Beach.

 

GAINESVILLE — Florida transfer quarterback Aaron Philo became a package deal when incoming head coach Jon Sumrall hired Buster Faulkner away from Georgia Tech to become offensive coordinator.

The Gators had to wait a month for delivery. But upon Faulkner’s early December arrival, he placed Philo on the layaway plan after his two seasons as the Yellow Jackets’ backup.

“Buster had extreme confidence in him,” Sumrall told reporters Saturday. “As I did my homework, think the place he was at, they didn’t want him to leave. There’s a lot of people there that felt like he was ready to be the starter there, and I trust our offensive coordinator to make the call.”

Two-year starter DJ Lagway’s decision to transfer from Florida further cleared the path for Philo, who signed with the Gators Jan. 6, four days after the transfer portal opened.

Philo has quickly adapted to his new surroundings.

Philo attended Florida’s 76-67 loss to Auburn Saturday at the O’Connell Center, where cameras showed him and running back Jadan Baugh on the video scoreboard doing the Gator Chomp — to the delight of a sold-out crowd of 11,004.

Philo still have much to prove. He started just one game during two seasons behind Haynes King at Georgia Tech, where Philo threw two touchdowns and three interceptions after a record-setting career at Prince Avenue Christian in Athens, Georgia.

Georgia Tech transfer quarterback Aaron Philo will join new Florida offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner in Gainesville, where the two aim to revive the Gators' attack. Philo is pictured warming up before an NCAA college football game on Aug. 29, 2025, in Boulder, Colorado. (David Zalubowski/The Associated Press)

For comparison, Sumrall recalled Darian Mensah’s breakout freshman seasons at Tulane. Mensah threw 22 touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 65.9% of his passes and averaging 9.5 yards per attempt before he transferred to Duke prior to the Green Wave’s 2024 loss to Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl.

“He’d never taken a collegiate snap,” Sumrall said. “I get it. That’s American Conference, not the SEC, so a little bit different. But if you got the right guy, sometimes I think experience can be oversold. There’s a lot of guys who are experienced that aren’t very good.

“So I believe in what he’s about because Buster feels comfortable with him and has confidence in what he’s going to be.”

If Philo can produce like Mensah, who had 34 touchdowns in 2025 at Duke, the Gators will have made a massive upgrade at the most critical position in football. Lagway followed an injury-plagued offseason with a sophomore slump featuring a SEC-high 14 interceptions after an offseason filled with accolades, NIL deals and even Heisman hype.

He’ll play his junior season at Baylor.

When spring practice opens March 3, the 6-foot-1 ¾, 220-pound Philo will begin a quarterback competition with redshirt freshman Tramell Jones Jr., himself a player with vast potential after a decorated high school player from Jacksonville Mandarin.

“Tramell, I’m excited about,” Sumrall said. “I like our quarterback room. Is there maybe a known, proven starter in that room? No. Is there guys that think can help us win football games here? Yeah. Now we got a lot of work to do to figure out what that looks like and who’s the starter.

“Long way from making that decision, but they’ll make it for us. The quarterback competition, they decide who starts on me, by how they practice and how they play.”

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com

Florida Democrats called for investigations and removal of federal immigration agents from Minnesota. Republicans blamed protesters for trying to obstruct the agents and prevent them from doing their jobs.

Florida’s political leaders reacted along partisan lines to Saturday’s shooting death of Minnesota protester Alex Pretti, 37, by federal immigration agents.

It was the second such death by authorities in the state in 17 days, following the deadly shooting of Renee Good on Jan. 7.

Posting on X, Republicans largely reiterated views expressed by members of the Trump administration, with some saying that Pretti was killed because he tried to obstruct Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from their jobs deporting unauthorized immigrants from Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Democrats, including several in Broward and Palm Beach counties, said the shooting was unjustified and called for investigations into the actions that led to Pretti’s death. Some called for cutting off ICE’s funding.

Notable exceptions included Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott, both Republicans, who so far have not addressed the incident on their X or Facebook accounts. Spokespersons for the two did not immediately respond to requests for comment by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

But many Florida-based congressional leaders had plenty to say on their social media accounts.

Rep. Lois Frankel, a Democrat whose Palm Beach County district stretches from West Palm Beach to Delray Beach, said, “What ICE is doing on the streets of America is an abomination.” She called for “a thorough, independent investigation — free from interference and with real accountability.”

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Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose district covers southern Broward County, on Saturday noted that “We’ve been warned that Trump’s failure to impose consequences for excessive use of force would cost lives.” She called for ICE agents to be “held accountable to the fullest extent of the law to protect Americans from harm.”

On Sunday, she called ICE agents “undisciplined, masked agents who show no respect for our rights and use lethal force against Americans.”

Wasserman Schultz also called for the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said that Pretti committed domestic terrorism.

Sen. Ashley Moody, a Republican who took over Marco Rubio’s Senate seat a year ago, did not directly address the shooting, but on Saturday posted a statement accusing Democrats with being “so busy trying to win a partisan narrative that they are jeopardizing people’s safety with their rhetoric against federal law enforcement officers.” She urged passage of “my HALO Act, which gives a 25-foot safety zone for officers while they are doing their jobs.”

After the Pretti shooting on Saturday, Rep. Randy Fine posted, “An armed seditionist attacked federal law enforcement today as they were rounding up foreign invaders in Minneapolis The insurrectionist was put down. Well done. I stand with ICE as they fight these foreign invaders and their treasonous allies.”

Fine, a Republican representing a swath of the northeast coastal region, later responded to a tweet by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, that said, “Minnesota has had it. This is sickening.” Walz urged Trump to end this operation and “pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.”

Fine retweeted the Walz post and said, “You’re sickening. And when we are done, you’ll be in jail.”

On Sunday, Fine posted that he has “zero sympathy to those who interfere with ICE as they are rounding up illegal immigrants” and pledged, “We will not stop working until every single immigrant is rounded up and deported. Every single one.”

Democratic Rep. Darren Soto, whose district covers the southern Orlando region, posted that “ICE criminals killed another American citizen.” He added, “Meanwhile, the House approved a $64.4 BILLION DHS budget this week. This is unacceptable and reckless. The Trump Administration must be held accountable.”

Prior to reporting that he was assaulted at the Sundance Festival on Saturday night, Orlando-area Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost said the shooting “is what happens when cruelty is normalized and accountability is absent.” He followed up by stating, “ICE is lawless and should not exist.”

Rep. Shelia Cherfilus-McCormick, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, posted a Washington Post story about the shooting and said it was why she refused to support the DHS funding bill. “Federal agents should not operate in ways that instill fear among the public, killing innocent people,” she said. “Law enforcement must be guided by proper training, clearly defined rules of engagement, and meaningful oversight.”

Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Democrat representing southern Broward and eastern Miami-Dade counties, pointed out that she voted no to increasing funding for ICE. “ICE is unchecked and out of control,” she wrote, “and I won’t write them another blank check without real oversight, transparency, and due process for our community.”

Straddling the partisan line was Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican whose district in Miami-Dade County sites directly below Wilson’s.  On Saturday, Salazar posted, “Washington’s failure on immigration is hitting our streets.” She continued, “Minnesota is the result of Washington refusing to fix a broken immigration system and continuing to enforce outdated laws.”

She called for Congress to enact the Dignity Act, a bill she introduced in 2022 with Texas Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar. If enacted, the bill “revamps our immigration system, including ICE enforcement policy, so they don’t need to be out in large-scale operations in our communities,” Salazar wrote.

It’s an open secret that the Senior Bowl is part scouting operation and part job fair, and you can be certain that the Miami Dolphins, under their new regime of general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley, will take advantage of both functions this week in Mobile, Al.

After all, the Dolphins emphasized they’ll have a draft and develop philosophy, so both actions — finding quality players to draft, and finding quality coaches to aid their development — will be under the microscope as Miami establishes its new ways of doing business.

The Dolphins’ work at the Senior Bowl will including keeping an eye on college prospects at key positions of need such as quarterback, cornerback, defensive tackle, outside linebacker/edge rusher, guard and backup offensive tackle, to name a few.

The Dolphins have eight picks in the April 23-25 draft, including five in the top 90.

Miami has one pick in the first round (No. 11), one in the second (No. 43), three in the third (Nos. 75, 87 and 90), and one each in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds.

While eyeing draft prospects the Dolphins will also keep an eye on Clint Hurtt, the National Team coach at the Senior Bowl. Hurtt is Philadelphia’s senior defensive assistant/defensive line coach and interviewed to serve as the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator. The 47-year-old Hurtt, who won a Super Bowl with the Eagles last season in his second year with the team, played college football at the University of Miami from 1997-2000.

Hurtt spent seven seasons with Seattle, including serving as the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator (2002-23) for two seasons before joining the Eagles.

Miami might also use the Senior Bowl to fill positions on its coaching staff. The Dolphins have already promoted Bobby Slowik, last season’s senior pass game coordinator, to offensive coordinator and hired Chris Tabor as special teams coordinator.

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But there’s another advantage of the Senior Bowl, and that’s player interviews.

This is key because Sullivan mentioned culture as being a key to success at last week’s introductory news conference.

“We’re intentional about the caliber of player and then what they bring to the locker room,” Sullivan said. “You can’t have good culture if you’ve got guys that aren’t bought in and wired right for what you’re trying to build. That’s what I would say is we’re going to build through the draft and we’ll be very selective and deliberate in free agency.”

Dolphins left tackle Patrick Paul thought he left a bad initial impression on Dolphins offensive line coach Butch Barry two years ago during his Senior Bowl interview. Paul thought he came across as arrogant, an account that Barry didn’t dispute.

It turned out not to be a problem. Barry and Paul ended up getting along so well that they did pilates classes together last offseason.

The highest-profile quarterbacks at the Senior Bowl are LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier (6 foot 1, 205 pounds) and Villanova’s Diego Pavia (6-0, 200) although he isn’t expected to be drafted. Nussmeier is regarded as a third- or fourth-round pick and could interest the Dolphins despite his less-than-ideal size.

Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green (6-5, 224) is regarded as a fifth- or sixth rounder. North Dakota State’s Cole Payton (6-3, 233) is regarded as a fifth- or sixth-round pick.

The highest-profile player at the Senior Bowl is Texas Tech linebacker David Bailey, a projected top 5 pick. 

Leading the way among Senior Bowl talents that might interest the Dolphins in the first round of the draft is Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks, although he’s projected in the lower part of the first round.

Among those that could interest the Dolphins in the first three rounds are Tennessee cornerback Colton Hood, Clemson edge rusher T.J. Parker, University of Miami edge rusher Akheem Mesidor, Oregon center-guard Emmanuel Pregnon, San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson, Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Texas Tech defensive tackle Lee Hunter, Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt and Illinois defensive lineman Gabe Jacas.

Practices begin Tuesday at the University of South Alabama, and the game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Among UM players scheduled to play are Mesidor, center James Brockermeyer, safety Jakobe Thomas, cornerback Keionte Scott, and offensive lineman Markel Bell. All are playing for the American team.

Among Florida Gators are Banks, offensive lineman Austin Barber, defensive lineman Tyreak Sapp, and offensive lineman Jake Slaughter. All except Sapp are playing for the American team.

Interestingly, there are no Florida State, FAU, FIU, UCF or South Florida players listed on the rosters.

The Senior Bowl has numerous benefits that don’t happen at other postseason events, mainly actual football — that’ll also happen at Tuesday’s East-West Shrine Bowl in Frisco, Tx., which will feature Hurricanes linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, offensive linemen David Blay and Anez Cooper.

The “actual football” means coaches get to observe players doing 1-on-1 drills along with unit drills (offensive line vs. defensive line, 7-on-7 passing, etc…) and 11 on 11, which doesn’t happen at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis in late February.

Also, and possibly of particular concern to a certain segment of Dolphins fans, Senior Bowl practices are often conducted in colder weather. This week’s temperatures are expected to be in the mid 40s and low 50s.

The Senior Bowl annually attracts more than 900 NFL personnel, which makes it an ideal location for teams such as the Dolphins who are trying to complete coaching staffs. The nighttime scene in Mobile features lots of networking. 

But talent is the real attraction.

The 2024 Senior Bowl featured Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix and Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, a pair of first-round picks who have excelled in the NFL, while the 2025 Senior Bowl featured New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough (second round/Louisville) and Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon II, guard Jonah Savaiinaea and safety Dante Trader Jr.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Brad Marchand scored twice, with his second coming midway through overtime, and the Florida Panthers won their third straight road game with a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.

Sam Reinhart had a goal and assist, Sam Bennett also scored, and the Panthers improved to 5-2 in their past seven. Reinhart’s goal was his 25th of the season, marking the sixth straight year and seventh time overall he’s scored that many.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 shots for his 207th career road win, and he moved into third on the NHL list behind only Martin Brodeur (310) and Marc-Andre Fleury (246). Bobrovsky began the day tied with Ed Belfour.

Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy had a goal and assist each, while Joel Eriksson Ek also scored for Minnesota. Filip Gustavsson stopped 30 shots in dropping to 9-2-4 in his past 13.

Marchand, who also added an assist, decided the game in being set up by Carter Verhaeghe on a 2-on-1 break. Verhaeghe gained control of the puck after Boldy was unable to control a pass from Quinn Hughes in the Florida end.

Boldy, in his first game after missing four with an upper-body injury, put the Wild ahead 3-2 with a short-handed goal with 7:51 left in regulation. Bennett, however, tied it 62 seconds later on the same Panthers’ power play.

Florida improved to 15-0-3 in games decided by one goal this season.

Kaprizov extended his points streak to five games, in which he’s combined for three goals and nine assists.

Minnesota’s John Hynes, who is from Rhode Island, coached his 800th career game, becoming the NHL’s fourth U.S.-born coach to reach that plateau.

Up next
Panthers: At Chicago on Sunday night.

SALT LAKE CITY — Observations and other notes of interest from Saturday night’s 147-116 victory over the Utah Jazz:

– Two weeks ago the Heat went into Indiana had the gall to discount their opposition.

– A loss to the league-worst Pacers followed.

– This time, no such arrogance.

– With no reason for such in light of what had been a 1-2 start to this five-game western swing that concludes Sunday night in Phoenix.

– This time, against an opponent that entered 15-30, the Heat were relentless.

– Not foolishly arrogant.

– “Our guys understand where we are and we’re not where we want to be,” coach Erik Spoelstra said going in. “So the time is now. We’re coming off a disappointing loss. We want to play a lot better, particularly on the defensive end.”

– His reference was Thursday night’s loss in Portland.

– “And, look,” Spoelstra said, “Utah has been dangerous on any given night, particularly the way they can score here at home.”

– Spoelstra added, “We’ve proven we can beat the top of each conference. We’ve also proved so far this season we can lose to the bottom of each conference. That’s the way the league is.”

– So needed desperation from a team that otherwise would have fallen to ninth in the East.

– With Davion Mitchell missing his fourth game with a shoulder contusion, the Heat opened with a lineup of Bam Adebayo, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Pelle Larsson and Jakucionis.

– That lineup entered 1-1.

–  It was Larsson’s 24th start.

– Adebayo tied Udonis Haslem for second on the Heat all-time list for games started at 501.

– Dwyane Wade is the franchise’s all-time leader, at 847.

–  The Jazz opened with a lineup of Ace Bailey, Cody Williams, Jusuf Nurkic, Svi Mykhailiuk and Keyonte George.

– Larsson was called for his second foul 1:54 into the game, leading to the early insertion of Jaime Jaquez Jr.

– Nikola Jovic, amid his recent struggles, was next off the bench.

– Followed, together, by Simone Fontecchio and Dru Smith.

– With Myron Gardner making it 10 deep.

– Leaving Keshad Johnson the only active Heat player out of their rotation.

– Larsson then returned in the second quarter, with his activity allowing the Heat to move to their 73-52 halftime lead.

–  Gardner also was active in his early minutes.

– Likely leading to another rotation opportunity on Sunday, with Mitchell potentially to miss that one, as well.

– Jovic was uneven, but also active.

– Spoelstra went in stressing defense.

– “Defense has to travel, and we’ve had some slippage in containing the basketball one on one, some of our pick-and-roll defense has also slid, and we can’t afford it,” he said.

– Even with Kel’el Ware missing a fourth consecutive game with his hamstring strain, center Vlad Goldin was not summoned from the G League, as the Heat weigh balance with the 7-footer who is on a two-way contact.

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– “We love the progress that he’s making,” Spoelstra said. “We want to continue to develop him there. He’ll spend time here. But right now, we’re just focused on the guys that are available.”

– Of his recent offensive success, Adebayo said at the morning shootaround, “I would say I wasn’t taking different shots than I was when I was in my slump. It’s just being consistent and now shots are falling. So that’s the biggest difference.”

– And when it comes to open threes, Adebayo said that make or miss, he is taking them.

– “There is no thought process,” he said. “If you’re open, shoot it.”

– Yes, Jakucionis said, he very much can sense he is being tested by veteran opponents.

– “I mean, obviously that’s the how the league is, and there’s a lot of like of very good, talented players and they just try to go at someone maybe they never saw, trying to test you,” he said. “So I’m just trying to be ready for that.”

– The game opened the 10th of the Heat’s league-high 17 back-to-back sets, with a 6-3 record on the second nights of such pairing.

SALT LAKE CITY — To a degree, the Miami Heat’s five-game western swing stood in the balance Saturday night against the Utah Jazz.

After a 1-2 start to the stretch of five road games in seven nights, Erik Spoelstra’s team stood in jeopardy of returning to South Florida with a losing record.

Instead, with a 147-116  victory, the Heat moved to 24-22, avoided falling to No. 9 in the Eastern Conference, and potentially could wind up with a winning trip, with the Phoenix Suns, Sunday’s opponent in the trip’s finale, to be without sidelined guard Devin Booker due to an ankle sprain.

Of such absences, the Heat know plenty, again playing in the absences of Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware and Davion Mitchell, and now with concerns with rookie point guard Kasparas Jakucionis.

Both Herro (ribs) and Ware (hamstring) already are back in Miami, with Mitchell likely to miss his third consecutive game Sunday with his shoulder contusion.

So this time the Heat did it by committee, with contributions throughout the rotation.

Center Bam Adebayo set a double-double tone, with 26 points and 15 rebounds, continuing his recent revival, this time 4 of 10 on 3-pointers.

“We know what we’re capable of, we just gotta be more consistent with it,” Adebayo said. “But that’s from top to bottom.”

There also were 23 points from Nikola Jovic, 20 from Pelle Larsson and 17 from Andrew Wiggins, as well as 13 from Norman Powell and 12 from Jakucionis.

The only downside of the loss was Jakucionis having to be helped off the court in the final minutes after going down behind the Heat basket after being elbowed in the head.

“I just kind of got hit in the head, I think, and fell down, got up,” he said. “But I’m good, so everything is fine.

“I stood up and I was fine. So just had to check in with the doctor, and we’re good.”

With the loss, the Jazz fell to 15-31, getting a 17-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound triple-double from center Jusuf Nurkic.

Five Degrees of Heat from Saturday night’s game:

1. Game flow: The Heat led 35-34 after the first period and 73-52 at halftime.

The Jazz clawed within 15 early in the third period, before the Heat pushed back to a 22-point lead, eventually taking a 108-89 lead into the fourth.

From there, the Heat again pushed their lead into the 20s, allowing, on the first night of the back-to-back set, Adebayo to take the rest of the night off with 5:32 to play.

For the Jazz, the close of the game seemingly was devoted to getting Nurkic his third consecutive triple-double.

2. Breaking glass: The Heat held a 19-1 edge on offensive rebounds in the first half, outscoring Utah 19-4 on second-chance points over the opening two periods.

To put those 19 first-half offensive rebounds into perspective, consider that the Heat had 12 and 14, respectively, in their previous two games, and recently had five and nine in consecutive games against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns.

The Heat closed with 26 offensive rebounds to the Jazz’s seven.

The Heat entered 17th in the NBA at 11.4 per game.

“We’ve been making more efforts with this,” Spoelstra said of the offensive rebounding. “It’s been an emphasis all year. But guys are doing a better job of making the efforts these last three weeks or so. Anything that has to do with just making a multiple effort, we want to do it as a basketball team.”

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3. Fouls, fury: Returning to what previously had been problematic, Larsson was forced to the bench with two fouls in the opening 1:54. For Larsson, fouls had haunted him throughout his rookie season, after being acquired by the Heat in the 2024 second round out of Arizona.

But rather than allow the whistles to stifle his game, Larsson returned on the attack in the second period, with eight points in the period to help spark the Heat to their 21-point halftime lead.

“It shows that he’s able to stay engaged on the sideline and not be taken out of any kind of rhythm,” Spoelstra said. “He’s not really a rhythm player, so it’s more effort, energy and making the intangible plays. The first foul he got, that really wasn’t a foul. So it was a cheap foul. And it was unfortunate he had to come out. But he’s mentally stable enough to be able to handle that and then came back in and made a big impact.”

Larsson also again showed his improved 3-point stroke, closing 3 of 6 from beyond the arc.

“I was worried it was going to be one of those nights,” Larsson said of the early whistles. “But Wiggs kind of took the assignment off of me after that when I came back in, so I didn’t risk getting more fouls. He did a great job, so I could just not worry about it.”

4. Stepping in: With Mitchell sidelined, Jakucionis, before he was hurt, thrived in his fourth career start, playing in attack mode both off the dribble and on the glass.

It was a solid bounce-back after being limited to three points and only 11 minutes in Thursday night’s loss in Portland.

“I’m encouraged by what Kas has been doing the last month,” Spoelstra said. “It’s not always going to translate to wow moments, but he was really steady tonight, played with energy, played also smart.”

Jakucionis scored nine points in the first 5:22 of the third period, which made it the highest-scoring quarter of his rookie season.

He closed 4 of 6 from the field, including 2 of 3 on 3-pointers, with five rebounds, his night ending in the locker room ahead of his teammates.

5. The Jovic-coaster: After a brutal outing Thursday in Portland that had him introspective at Saturday morning’s shootaround, Jovic was exponentially better Saturday — which actually was an upgrade.

Jovic was up to 11 points by halftime, playing with an aggressive bent that had him with six free throws over the opening two periods.

“This is what a lot of players go through, and he just has to stay the course,” Spoelstra said. “He’ll be just fine. And it was probably really good for him to see the ball go in, to find a way to get to the free-throw line, be able to make some plays. He’s important to what we’re trying to do.”

Jovic again played as backup center, with Ware missing his fourth consecutive game. He closed 6 of 12 from the field.

“I just trust in my work,” Jovic said. “I think it’s as simple as that. I think the team needed me. I felt responsible for some of the losses and I just wanted to show people that I’m worth it.”

GAINESVILLE — Coach Todd Golden’s Gators have been unbeatable at home, but no Florida team for decades had any trouble against Auburn in the O’Connell Center.

Until Saturday.

The Tigers stunned the Gators 76-67 for Auburn’s first win in Gainesville since 1996 and Florida’s first loss at home after 16 straight wins.

“Disappointing,” Golden said. “We had been playing really well. I don’t think we played great, but I want to credit Auburn. I thought they took the fight to us.”

In a rematch from the 2025 Final Four, Auburn was an 11.5-point underdog to the reigning national champion Gators (14-6, 5-2 SEC) riding a five-game winning streak. But the Tigers (13-7, 4-3) quickly silenced a raucous crowd of 11,004 behind swarming defense and a 22-point first half by Keyshawn Hall, who transferred from UCF.

“It was my fault,” Gators small forward Thomas Haugh said after defending Hall. “I know he is a really talented scorer. I let him get going, and once he gets hot it’s hard to stop.”

Down 43-28 at intermission, the Gators immediately allowed an Auburn 3-pointer to open the second half to trail by 18 points, the largest deficit Florida has faced all season. Florida rallied behind Haugh — who finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds — to tie the game at 54-54 with nine minutes to go.

The Gators eventually ran out of gas as the Tigers pulled away.

“That might be the best road game that we’ve ever had as a program,” Tigers first-year head coach Steven Pearl said after Auburn ended a 15-game skid at UF. “That’s probably the best crowd I’ve seen in this building since I’ve been at Auburn.”

Pearl served the past 10 seasons as an assistant to his father Bruce, who retired in September and handed the reins to his son.

The Pearls and Golden have a long, collegial history, including the 2014-16 seasons when Florida’s coach was a Tigers assistant.

The Gators’ inability to match the Tigers’ intensity did not sit well with Golden. Auburn had a 19-13 first-half advantage against the nation’s top rebounding team while outscoring Florida 36-28 in the paint. Big men Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon combined for just 11 points.

Auburn quickly took a 15-5 lead during the opening four minutes behind 10 points from Hall. The Gators trailed 19-5 after a 12-0 Tigers’ run, ended by a driving layup by point guard Boogie Fland. The basket spurred a 13-2 run, ending on consecutive 3s by Urban Klavzar and Xaivian Lee.

But the Gators could not assume control as Hall came alive again, scoring seven unanswered points to turn a 23-19 lead into a 30-19 advantage. Auburn continued to pull away to establish enough of a cushion to hold off Florida’s inevitable rally.

With the game tied 56-56 after a pair of free throws by Haugh, Auburn had a 6-0 run featuring two baskets by point guard Tahaad Pettiford, the second a driving layup with 4:24 remaining to push the lead to 62-56.

Florida was never closer than four points the rest of the way and trailed by as many as 10 down the stretch.

“I do think a big part of it was the fact that we had to expend so much energy getting back in the ballgame,” Golden said.

But Florida’s coach shouldered the blame for his team not being ready from the opening tip at a sold-out O’Dome.

“It starts with me,” he said. “Anytime you get to a point where you got things rolling a little bit and the moment you feel like you are on the right track, you get punched in the mouth.

“That’s what happened today.”

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com

General Daily Insight for January 25, 2026

We might be craving comfort. The Moon sets off these desires when she steps into Taurus at 1:05 PM EST, reminding us to slow down and take our time. By leaning into our usual routines and focusing on simpler tasks, we give ourselves room to listen, allowing us to respond to frustration with patience rather than anger. Later, as fiery Mars stirs urgency, we can pick our battles carefully and avoid wasting energy on unnecessary struggles. We’re allowed to take care of ourselves.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

Confidence grows as you count your resources. Your 2nd House of Logistics welcomes the Moon, encouraging practical choices that leave room for creature comforts. End a disused subscription to increase your coffee budget, or skip a fast fashion haul in favor of investing in a few classic pieces. Set a clear spending limit to avoid impulse buys. Take your time researching potential purchases to ensure you don’t get saddled with debt for something you don’t even like. Well-reasoned plans protect peace and build confidence.

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

Taurus, your presence speaks before you do. The reflective Moon is stepping into your sign, inviting you to move at a kinder pace and let your natural steadiness lead the room. This is the time to be your authentic self — wear what makes you smile, be somewhere you’re comfortable, and do the things that fulfil your soul. When in doubt, let your instincts take charge. You don’t have to pay naysayers any attention whatsoever. This self-care strengthens your present and future presence.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

A moment of solace can be found today, even if your schedule is jam-packed with events. Your 12th House of Secrets is empowered by the Moon’s entry, reminding you that private time is necessary to recharge your mind. A tense square later stirs the urge to overcommit, especially when it comes to travel plans. Guard your downtime by silencing notifications before returning the most urgent calls. Protecting your inner quiet should make tomorrow’s choices much more manageable. Subtle boundaries can safeguard your energy.

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

This afternoon favors friendly, low-pressure plans. Your friends are key, as Luna is entering your 11th House of Social Circles to build trust and improve overall teamwork. You could send a kind text to a friend or compliment their outfit so they feel seen. Steer clear of doing everything yourself, because sharing simple tasks invites others to contribute and strengthens the shared bond. If everyone’s energy levels allow, you could go out together, but spending time chilling at home is just as valuable.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

Recognition follows your steady, well-timed efforts. This is underlined by the Moon marching into your visible 10th house, guiding you to present your work with the confidence it deserves. When you put your all into something, others should appreciate the effort, at minimum. Though pressure could arrive in a public situation, you can stand strong. Perhaps you’ll come up with a solution that could save time without cutting quality. Even if you don’t have a specific answer, being willing to try means a lot.

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

Curiosity maps out points of interest throughout your day. Your 9th House of Extension awakens a need to reach out and connect dots, enlightening you as you search for answers of any kind. Maybe you’re fixing a car issue on your own for the first time, though you could also be learning about a more lighthearted topic, like a recent hobby or upcoming event. At work, you may share your notes with a teammate who appreciates careful thinking. Following your interest fuels motivation.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

Trust grows where you feed it. If you want someone to feel safe being vulnerable around you, you ought to offer them a similar level of openness. This is underlined by the Moon gliding into your 8th House of Trust, which insists upon honest conversations, especially around delicate topics. With Luna on your side, you’re prepared to listen carefully and make suggestions that benefit everyone. If emotions rise, take a breath and pause to think before leaping to conclusions. Choose transparency and compassion.

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

Scorpio, partnership talks deserve clear ground rules. The moody Moon activates your 7th House of Connections and squares combative Mars in your 4th House of Home, so plans may bump against home needs. You’re allowed to make demands — but you might have to compromise with someone else’s, especially if you live with them or deeply care about their opinions. Naming feelings out loud prevents assumptions, and doing so politely keeps negotiations respectful. Lead the tone with a level head to keep progress possible.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

Morning routines set an encouraging pace. Your 6th House of Holistics settles into a manageable rhythm as the thoughtful Moon supports measured improvements to your daily grind. Avoid cluttered spaces if you want to have a clear mind. Your optimistic nature loves big leaps, yet everyday progress is currently the best way to build momentum. If you wear yourself out, check tomorrow’s schedule and see if you could move one commitment to restore some breathing room. Respect your limits to ensure your energy lasts.

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

Play restores courage and fuels bright ideas. Luna is skipping into your delightful 5th house, shining light on all areas of life that spark joy. Taking risks may sound tempting — and that’s okay, but avoid betting anything that truly matters. You can work on a personal project or learn a new hobby, just don’t invest the family fortune in such things. Whatever your role, happiness increases your stamina and helps you see fresh angles. Make play purposeful, because joy refreshes creative courage.

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

Your abode could use some attention today. The temperamental Moon bounces into your 4th House of Home and squares action-oriented Mars (currently in your sign!), so be ready to handle some friction between your ideas and the requirements of your living situation. You may have to buckle down and do some extra work, though a compromise could help you lessen the total load. Perhaps everyone works together, then everyone gets some free time. Be honest about your goals, then invite others to suggest workable adjustments.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

Which words will carry kindness and clarity? Your 3rd House of Vocabulary comes alive as the intuitive Moon helps you speak plainly and listen for what is unspoken. Write an email or make a call that admits a once-hidden motivation, or ask a follow-up question to confirm you understood correctly. If a chat takes a negative turn, slow down and return to the facts that everyone recognizes. Practice waiting before replying so your intuition has a chance to speak. Communication nurtures understanding.

GAINESVILLE — Jon Sumrall’s winter workouts are underway, but something is missing as the Gators push to gain favor with their new coach and his staff.

The iconic, ubiquitous logo that defines Florida football will not be given to those who fall short this offseason.

“Gotta earn it. Gotta earn the logo,” Sumrall said Saturday. “We ain’t earned it yet. We haven’t earned a damn thing. All we’ve got is our name. Where are you gonna put your freaking name on every day? So to wear the Florida Gator logo, to wear the Gators across your helmet and to wear the Gator head, you got to earn that.”

Urban Meyer, a big Sumrall fan and advocate during UF’s coaching search, had a similar approach when he first arrived after the 2004 season.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Sumrall said. “I didn’t know that, but that doesn’t surprise me. I know a lot about Urban. We hadn’t talked about that.”

Sumrall hopes the tactic produces similar results. Meyer’s Gators won two national titles (2006, 2008) during his first four seasons in Gainesville.

Florida has not contended since then while cycling through four coaches before hiring Sumrall on Nov. 30.

A native of Alabama who played at Kentucky, Sumrall is aware of the standard set decades ago by Meyer and before him by Steve Spurrier. The two Hall of Fame coaches attended Sumrall’s introductory press conference Dec. 1 when the 43-year-old vowed to win big.

New Florida coach Jon Sumrall inherited a 4-8 team with holes to fill and attitudes to adjust while building a new culture. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

Sumrall reiterated his message Saturday during the first half of Florida’s 76-67 loss to Auburn at the O’Connell Center. Florida trailed 43-28 by halftime as a 16-game home winning streak came to an end.

But Florida’s new coach energized the crowd.

“We’re going to do everything in our power. We’re going extremely hard every day, tirelessly, to bring championship football back to the University of Florida,” he said.

Sumrall then spent the final four minutes of the half seated in the student section known as the Rowdy Reptiles.

Earlier, Sumrall and Co. hosted about 50 recruiting prospects in the 2027 and 2028 classes as Florida’s new staff pushes to build a championship roster.

Sumrall inherited a 4-8 team with holes to fill and attitudes to adjust while building a new culture after former coach Billy Napier’s teams managed to win just 23 games.

The first order of business was to retain the best players from the 2025 Gators. Sumrall and new general manager Dave Caldwell prioritized five of them: linebacker Myles Graham, receivers Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson, running back Jadan Baugh and edge rusher Jayden Woods.

Sumrall said keeping Graham took little effort, given the legacy established by his father Earnest, a tailback from 1999-2002. The fact Brown’s father played at Florida from 2002-05 — his final season spent on Meyer’s first team — helped secure a 19-year-old who led UF in receiving as  true freshman.

Wilson was trickier. Even though the 6-foot-3, 213-pound sophomore did not enter the transfer portal, Sumrall said, he had plenty of suitors.

Florida offensive lineman Bryce Lovett trains during the Gators' rigorous offseason program implemented by new strength and conditioning coach Rusty Whitt. (Courtesy UF's University Athletics Association).

Retaining Baugh and Woods required more work.

Sumrall and his family, including his mother and her dog, visited Baugh for 90 minutes on Christmas Eve at his family’s home in Atlanta.

“That was unique,” Sumrall said. “I don’t think I’ve ever done an in-home visit with a current player that’s not in the portal, that’s on your team. I’ve never done an in-home visit on Christmas Eve.”

Of the five Gators, Woods was the only one to enter the portal. To get him back to Florida, Sumrall, defensive coordinator Brad White and linebackers coach Bam Hardmon flew to Kansas City to convince him to play his sophomore season at Florida.

“He’s got an awesome dad that we got to meet,” Sumrall recalled. “His grandparents, complete rock stars.”

Sumrall’s effort paid off with a talented core group to build around.

“The most important thing to me was trying to retain our best players that we could,” he said. “There’s a coaching change, there’s going to be some change and some transition, but that part was critical for us to have any opportunity to have success next year.

“Keeping Jaden Baugh and Jayden Woods makes coaching a lot easier. Those guys are not just really good football players, but they’re the kind of guys you want to build the culture around because of how they carry themselves.”

The Gators’ Big Five, their returning teammates, two dozen transfers and 17 early enrollees from the 19-player 2026 signing class are quickly finding out about Sumrall’s expectations.

New strength coach Rusty Whitt gives no quarter as he puts players through the paces while they don a shirt with only their name and Jordan Brand logo on it. The Gator head will be awarded in due time.

When is anyone’s guess.

“I haven’t thought about that yet,” Sumrall said. “I just want to see them work their ass off.”

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Malik Reneau had a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double, Tre Donaldson and Shelton Henderson each added 16 points, and Miami defeated Syracuse 85-76 on Saturday.

Reneau picked up his sixth double-double of the season, and was 8-for-12 shooting from the floor and 1 for 2 from beyond the arc. He also dished five assists to tie Donaldson for a team-high.

The Hurricanes (16-4, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) snapped a two-game skid after winning their first four games of conference play.

Miami got off to a hot start, opening on a 9-0 run and building a double-digit lead. They took a 41-36 lead into halftime after Syracuse rallied back, but held the lead for all of the second half to win comfortably.

Tru Washington chipped in with 14 points on 6-for-13 shooting and the Hurricanes turned in a stellar shooting performance, making 61% of their shots from the field and 54% from beyond the arc. They had 20 of 33 made shots off assists.

Miami entered the contest leading the ACC in field-goal percentage and third in assists per game.

For the Orange (12-8, 3-4), Donnie Freeman led with 14 points, and Kiyan Anthony and Naithan George each had 13 points. Syracuse shot 49% from the field and 29% from deep.

Up next

Miami hosts Stanford on Wednesday.

Syracuse visits NC State on Tuesday.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

• Wine is poured at the Restaurant People Experience during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• People enjoy the offerings during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• Roasted oysters from Boatyard during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• Grilled meats cooking during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• Caviar bumps are passed out by costumed cowboys during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• A colorful display from Lona Cocina y Tequileria at the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• Cheese steak sandwich from Steak 954 at the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• Fresh pizzas from Frank Pepe during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• People gather under the palm trees during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• Coconut Shrimp ceviche from Omni during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• Wine is poured at the Restaurant People Experience during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• Peruvian Nikkei fusion from E41 during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• People gather under the palm trees during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• There were plenty of drink offerings during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• Costumed cowgirls from the Restaurant People Experience during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• Qui Lam, Alex Kuk, and Mike Mayo during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• Grilled meats during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• Pickle shots at the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• Evelyn’s Fort Lauderdale offered treats during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
• Offering from Casablanca Cafe during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Show Caption1 of 20Wine is poured at the Restaurant People Experience during the Visit Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival Grand Tasting at Las Olas Oceanside Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)ExpandThe Visit Lauderdale Food & Wine Festival hosted its signature event, The Grand Tasting, on Saturday at Las Olas Oceanside Park. The beachfront gathering featured more than 100 food and drink samples from a record 70 participating restaurants, alongside live music and culinary demonstrations. The photo gallery captures the highlights from the afternoon, showcasing the local culinary talent and the variety of offerings from eateries across Broward County.

Bobby Slowik, who came to the Miami Dolphins last season as the senior pass game coordinator, will be named as their new offensive coordinator, a league source has confirmed to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. ESPN was the first to report Slowik’s promotion.

Slowik served as the Houston Texans’ offensive coordinator for the two seasons (2023-24) before he joined the Dolphins, helping to develop young quarterback C.J. Stroud.

Slowik’s offense ranked No. 7 in 2023 and No. 2 in pass plays of more than 25 yards (41). Stroud had 23 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 100.8 passer rating.

The Texans dipped to No. 22 in total offense in 2024 as injuries hit the offensive line. Stroud had 20 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and an 87.0 passer rating.

Still, Houston finished 10-7 and had three offensive Pro Bowl selections— left tackle Laremy Tunsil, running back Joe Mixon and wide receiver Nico Collins.

The Dolphins will be looking to revamp an offense that thrived on speed and finesse under former coach Mike McDaniel.

New Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley has already expressed part of his offensive vision.

“Now I need to hire an offensive coordinator,” he said at Thursday’s introductory news conference, “and there are certain core beliefs that I really do believe in like running the ball and being really physical up front, so when they know we’re going to run the ball, we’re still going to run it well. That’s going to be huge for me. And then we do, we need to build it around the quarterback, and you have to surround that quarterback with weapons — the o-line, the wideouts, the backs so it’s not all him.”

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Most likely Slowik’s top job will be replacing quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, but he will likely also need to replace wide receiver Tyreek Hill and find a backup right tackle (behind Austin Jackson), a starting or backup right guard (for James Daniels) and depth all around. It’s not known whether Slowik’s offense would require fullback Alec Ingold, a team leader.

The Dolphins famously had the NFL’s No. 1 offense in 2023 at 401.3 yards per game. They were No. 2 at 29.2 points per game, finishing with an 11-6 record and earning a wild-card round playoff berth before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs, 26-7, in a frigid postseason game.

After that the offense went into somewhat of a descent, largely due to Tagovailoa’s injuries and declining play.

Slowik will work with talent such as running back De’Von Achane, the 2025 team MVP after rushing for a career-best 1,350 yards last season, center Aaron Brewer, an All Pro selection, left tackle Patrick Paul, and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.

One option at quarterback for Miami could be the Green Bay Packers’ Malik Willis, who is due to hit free agency in March. Hafley and new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan worked with Willis closely in Green Bay, where both Sullivan and Hafley were before joining the Dolphins.

Sullivan said Thursday that he has a philosophy in quarterbacks.

“I’ve learned if you can help it, don’t wait till you don’t have a quarterback to find one, you know what I mean?” Sullivan said. “It starts there.”

Sullivan also spoke of other qualities he wants from his offense.

“I think obviously it always starts with the quarterback,” he said. “Anybody that’s in this business will tell you that, but we’ll build this from the inside out. I think you have to do that.

“I think you have to make sure that your line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball is big, tough, resilient and that there’s depth so that you can survive the — it’s a violent game, there’s going to be injuries — that you can survive injuries. The thing that I think we have to focus most on right now is making sure that we build infrastructure.”

Hafley made the first hire on his coaching staff Friday night, bringing in Chris Tabor as special teams coordinator.

And Hafley has interviewed Philadelphia Eagles defensive line coach, and former former Miami Hurricanes player and assistant coach, Clint Hurtt for his defensive coordinator vacancy. Hurtt has previously served as a defensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks.

SALT LAKE CITY — Being physically strong has been a necessity for Nikola Jovic at times such as these, with the Miami Heat without sidelined center Kel’el Ware.

Being mentally strong appears to be an ongoing challenge for the 22-year-old Serbian forward, including a brutal outing in Thursday night’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, when all semblance of confidence appeared to be lost.

“I don’t even know how to explain it,” Jovic said at Saturday morning’s shootaround at Delta Center, ahead of Saturday night’s game against the Utah Jazz. “I want to play good. I’m not making shots right now, and I get a little bit down on myself. That’s it.”

With a pair of Jovic missed free throws, an airballed 3-pointer, a turnover in the backcourt after a rebound and then a three-shot foul on that same sequence, coach Erik Spoelstra seemingly had no choice in pulling Jovic for the balance of Thursday night’s loss.

“He’ll be fine,” Spoelstra said Saturday, with the Heat next moving on to Sunday night’s game against the Phoenix Suns, the final stop on this five-game western swing. “Every player goes through some pockets of the season where it’s not going exactly how you want to. I think these are big opportunities for growth. When you face it and you embrace it, and then eventually you overcome it, you gain a lot of confidence from that. He’ll be just fine.”

A week ago, it was Spoelstra upping the ante with verbal challenges of Ware, before Ware was lost with the hamstring strain that has him back in Miami, missing all five games of this trip. Jovic said no prodding needed in his case.

“I have my own sense of drive. I want to win. They want to win, too. And, I mean, at the end of the day, I want to be a great player,” he said. “That’s what drives me every day — not the fact that coaches have to drive me and stuff like that. I drive myself, and I think I’m my biggest motivator. That’s about it.”

With Ware out, the moments are now coming at center. It might not be Jovic’s position of choice with his perimeter skill set, but one he appreciates he has to fulfill.

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“Yeah, it is a little bit different,” Jovic said of playing up in weight class. “I think defensively, not as much. It’s actually easier for me, because if I’m going to guard somewhere, it’s in the post. The big guys are not as fast. The only thing I’ve got to worry about is rebounding. But offensively, I just think I’ve got to be a little bit more smarter.

“We don’t run a lot of plays. So I’ve got to figure out how, as a five, do I space a floor and what do I do. Sometimes I feel like I’m lost on the court a little bit, like in spacing. Because I’m not sure where exactly to be.

But, no, there is no bucking the process.

“Whatever coaches need us to do, I’ll do it,” he said. “I’m not a system player. I mean, I’m not a guy who you build a system around right now. We’re not going to build our offense around me. So for right now, it’s just whatever coaches need me to do and whatever our play style, whatever play style they want to play, I just have to adapt.”

Mitchell’s caution

After an abbreviated two-game return after previously missing two games with a shoulder contusion, point guard Davion Mitchell said Saturday it is time to make sure he gets things right, with Saturday his second consecutive missed game.

“I think I just got to kind of take my time and kind of let this heal, because I don’t want it to kind of it to be like this like the whole season where I’m feeling good and I think I’m fine, and it happens again and I’m going back to square one. So, I just got to take my time.

“What happened was I didn’t play contact before when I got back. And then when I first got contact, it was in the game.”

Mitchell initially was injured in the Jan. 13 home victory over the Suns, then missing the next two games. He returned in the loss to the Golden State Warriors at the start of this trip and then aggravated the contusion in Tuesday night’s victory over the Sacramento Kings.

“It was the beginning of the third quarter with the Kings, when I was guarding Russ,” he said of Russell Westbrook. “And I kind of reached my arm out and he kind of bumped it a little bit. And it kind of aggravated it then.  And then afterwards, it just didn’t feel too good.”