Arizona
Cardinals Expect All-Pro Kicker to Return
ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals are set to see kicker Matt Prater return to the practice field on Wednesday as the team prepares for their Week 16 matchup against the Carolina Panthers.
“He’ll be out there kicking today. You’ll see him out there booting it today,” head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters ahead of practice.
Prater played in just four games this season after suffering a knee injury which saw him land on injured reserve back on Oct. 15.
While the full injury was not disclosed, ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss reported Prater has been recovering from surgery to repair his meniscus in the left knee.
Replacement Chad Ryland has mostly been clutch for the Cardinals in Prater’s absence, helping Arizona to a 7-7 record while going 22-26 on all field goal attempts, converting all 15 kicks under 40 yards.
With just three weeks left in the regular season, Prater could make a return at any point when the Cardinals officially open his 21 day window for return. Prater is allowed to practice with the team and can be elevated to the active roster at any point.
Arizona has matchups against the Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers to close out the year.
It will be interesting to see how the Cardinals handle their kicking conundrum, as Ryland has mostly played well while Prater is one of the league’s best despite being at the age of 40.
Arizona
Get 2026 spring training tickets for all 15 MLB teams in Arizona
February might not be synonymous with sunshine and baseball anywhere quite like it is in Arizona. One of my favorite things about the metro-Phoenix area is that you can enjoy baseball from February to November if you count spring training to Fall League (which I do).
Spring training is here! Pitchers and catchers have already reported and actual baseball games officially start on Friday, Feb. 20. The Cactus League spreads from Glendale to Mesa in Arizona, making it the home for 15 MLB teams in February and March. This year that will include at least one Team USA appearance, as the boys will face the Colorado Rockies at Talking Stick in Scottsdale in preparation for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Here is how to get tickets for any of the 15 MLB teams playing the Cactus League for spring training:
Arizona Diamondbacks 2026 spring training tickets
Athletics 2026 spring training tickets
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Chicago White Sox 2026 spring training tickets
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Cleveland Guardians 2026 spring training tickets
Colorado Rockies 2026 spring training tickets
Kansas City Royals 2026 spring training tickets
Los Angeles Angels 2026 spring training tickets
Los Angeles Dodgers 2026 spring training tickets
Milwaukee Brewers 2026 spring training tickets
San Diego Padres 2026 spring training tickets
San Francisco Giants 2026 spring training tickets
Seattle Mariners 2026 spring training tickets
Texas Rangers 2026 spring training tickets
Arizona
Arizona bench overpowers No. 23 BYU to snap 2-game skid
PROVO — Down a pair of starters in Arizona’s Koa Peat and BYU’s Richie Saunders, it was the Wildcats’ bench who came up big Wednesday night.
The Cougars? Not so much.
Anthony Dell’Orso scored a season-high 22 points, and Ivan Kharchenkov added 18 points and seven rebounds as No. 4 Arizona snapped a two-game losing skid with a 75-68 win over BYU at the McKay Center in Tucson, Arizona.
Jaden Bradley added 12 points and 10 assists for the Wildcats (24-2, 11-2 Big 12), who got 11 points from Brayden Burries and outscored the Cougars’ bench 26-6.
AJ Dybantsa poured in a game-high 35 points, seven rebounds and two assists to lead BYU (19-7, 7-6 Big 12); and Robert Wright III scored 13 with four rebounds and three assists.
Kennard Davis Jr. had 10 points, two rebounds and two assists, while Keba Keita pulled down nine boards for the Cougars.
Dybantsa set the BYU freshman scoring record, moving ahead of Danny Ainge’s 632 points while averaging 21.2 points in 1977-78.
But when it came to finding answers from an increasingly shortened rotation, BYU coach Kevin Young was at a loss.
In short, absent Richie Saunders after the senior suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the first minute of last Saturday’s overtime win over Colorado, the Cougars need to answer the bell.
Dell’Orso rang it for them.
Dell’Orso scored 15 points off the bench including a pair of 3-pointers in the first half to help the Wildcats lead by as much as 39-33 just before the break.
Dybantsa totaled 16 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Wright scored 11 to help the Cougars pull within four.
But Dell’Orso capped his 5-of-9 shooting first half with his third 3-pointer at the buzzer to help the Wildcats to a 42-35 halftime lead.
“Richie brings a lot of scoring, a lot of aggressiveness,” Dybantsa said after the game. “So I just tried to mimic what he gave us and try to do what he does.”
BYU made just 3-of-10 from the field to open the second half, and Arizona shot up to 57% to take a 13-point lead on Kharchenkov’s jumper eight minutes in.
Dybantsa had 19 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to seven, 73-66, with two minutes remaining. Davis capped a 7-0 run in just over 90 seconds to pull the Cougars within 73-68 in the final minute.
But Dell’Orso punctuated Arizona’s win with an open dunk off a turnover to give the home team a win in the series for the first time in five tries.
“We’ve just got competitive guys. I think we have a lot of belief in ourselves, no matter what situation we find ourselves in,” Young said. “And that was the case tonight against a really good basketball team.
“You have to give them a lot of credit, because they had a lot of guys who stepped up.”
Arizona
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