The No. 18 Saint Louis Billikens men’s basketball team avoided what would have been its third loss of the season Friday. 

However, the Billikens’ 88-75 Atlantic 10 Conference win over Virginia Commonwealth University was marred by a late-game brawl.

With the outcome decided and Saint Louis dribbling out the final seconds as home fans stood and cheered, VCU’s Nyk Lewis swiped the ball from Billikens guard Quentin Jones and launched a half-court shot at the buzzer.

Saint Louis guard Robbie Avila appeared to shove Lewis during the shot attempt. Moments later, both teams’ benches emptied, and a brawl ensued.

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Saint Louis center Robbie Avila (21) drives to the basket during an Atlantic 10 Conference game against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams Feb. 20, 2026, at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Coaches from both teams were seen pushing and shoving near midcourt before officials quickly intervened to try and restore order. After a break in the action, both teams returned to the court.

Lewis went to the free throw line and made three shows before the game officially ended.

St. Louis coach Josh Schertz downplayed the incident, describing it as a routine flare-up that can happen in intense basketball games. 

“There were no punches thrown,” Schertz told reporters after the game. “It was a typical basketball fight, a lot of pushing and shoving and nobody did anything.”

Officials disqualified players who left the bench area during the scuffle, including Jones and VCU’s Barry Evans. 

Saint Louis guard Isaac Holmes (12) drives to the basket as VCU Rams forward Barry Evans (5) defends during an Atlantic 10 Conference basketball game Feb. 20, 2026 at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

VCU coach Phil Martelli Jr. suggested that heightened emotions were inevitable in a matchup between two physical teams.

DUKE STAFFERS ‘GOT PUNCHED IN THE FACE’ AS UNC FANS STORMED COURT AFTER UPSET WIN, COACH SAYS

“I think there’s certainly a healthy intensity as there should be at the top of the league, right? We’ve got a lot of respect for them. I think they have some respect for us, I assume,” he said. 

“It’s two tough teams, two very competitive teams, two physical teams. Stuff like that, you wish it didn’t happen, but, yeah, it’s an intense game. It’s an emotional game.”

VCU Rams forward Lazar Djokovic (17) holds the ball as Saint Louis forward Paul Otieno (25) defends during an Atlantic 10 Conference basketball game Feb. 20, 2026 at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Games between Saint Louis and VCU have gotten chippy in the past, with a wild fight breaking out in the stands when the two schools met last season.

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VCU returns to Richmond next Saturday for a matchup with Fordham. Saint Louis travels to Ohio for a meeting with Dayton Feb. 24.

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Brawl between No. 18 Saint Louis and VCU leaves Rams with only 4 players on court

For the most part, the NFL’s free agency period will get pretty wild starting on Monday, March 9th. That’s the day when teams are allowed to begin chatting with other teams’ players, arriving at verbal commitments along the way.

Nothing at the present moment, though, stops teams from negotiating with the pending FA talent who are already under contract. Consider the word that emerged from Dianna Russini of The Athletic: “The Cowboys have agreed to a three-year, $24 million deal with Javonte Williams, per source, keeping the pending free agent off the market.”

Upcoming FA Re-Signs in Dallas, Vikings Miss on RB

At no point has the ground game been good enough under Kevin O’Connell.

Sure, there are offseason promises, proving that Minnesota is willing to talk the talk. When it comes to walking the walk? Eh, that has been tougher to sustain.

Goodness, the team has even put meaty money into the issue. Signing RG1 Will Fries was about getting nastier in the trenches. So was trading for and then extending Jordan Mason, a burly runner who bowls over defenders. Continuing to employ Josh Oliver and C.J. Ham (now retired) should have led to handing the ball off.

By the end of the 2025 regular season, the 9-8 Vikings had settled in at 23rd in the NFL with 1,841 rushing yards. The 4.5 yards-per-carry average was actually in a tie for 10th in the NFL, so Minnesota was pretty efficient. Hindering the ground game was the reality of just 410 carries all year, coming in at 27th in the NFL.

Put simply, the Vikings needed far more from the ground game but just didn’t hand the ball off very much. Most befuddling was that the young passer was either hurt or struggling for most of the year, further enhancing the need for a potent rushing attack.

Would signing Javonte Williams have made a difference for 2026 and beyond?

The 25-year-old running back is coming off his fifth NFL season. Running for the Cowboys was a nice fit, leading to him turning his 252 carries into 1,201 yards and 11 touchdowns. Very healthy all around. Note that he’s 5’10” and 220 pounds, so Williams has a sturdy build.

Consider how Alec Lewis, Vikings beat writer for The Athletic, discussed the matter, “This is a pretty informative deal here for an intriguing FA running back market. Javonte is really good. Was going to be one of the best of the available bunch. Still multiple interesting names (Travis Etienne, Breece Hall, Rico Dowdle, etc).”

Lewis rightly notes a pair of things: there are several good players remaining while noting that Williams is himself a very good player. Fair enough.

What’s perhaps of more interest is the in-house talent. More specifically, does Aaron Jones get shown the door?

The veteran is coming off an inefficient season where he missed quite a bit of time due to injury. At his best, Jones is a fantastic leader who exemplifies what a Vikings player should be all about: versatile, tough, competitive, and so on.

His debut season in Minnesota was great, leading to a two-year extension for $20 million. The encore season wasn’t nearly so promising. Jones had just 132 carries, 548 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Worse, he’s 31 and has a history of spending too much time in the infirmary. Williams, 25, is coming off a better season and is making an average of $8 million per season instead of the $10 million that Jones demands.

Cutting Jones would mean recouping $7,750,000, per OTC. Anything other than a cut would qualify as a surprise given the financial crunch in Minnesota.

No matter what takes place in the offseason, one thing that’s clear is that improving the ground game needs to be a priority. Minnesota’s entire team is better when the offense has some balance.

Mason appears ready to move into 2026 as a top option, but look for RB help from both of free agency alongside the draft.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

The AEW World Title will be on the line next month on an All Elite Wrestling pay-per-view. Defending champion MJF has now explained how the stipulation for this match will shake out, and why a top babyface will no longer be able to challenge for the belt if he stays true to his word.

Over a week ago at Grand Slam Australia, Maxwell Jacob Friedman bounced back from his prior loss to Brody King by defeating the former Hounds of Hell member and retaining his AEW Men’s World Title. Earlier on the same TV special, Adam Page defeated Andrade El Idolo to earn a shot at the strap, set for Revolution 2026. On the following episode of Dynamite, The Cowboy demanded that MJF defend the World Championship against him in a Texas Death Match, going so far as to promise that he will never challenge for the belt again if he loses.

The Devil was cautious in his response, however, stating that he would take a week to consider Page’s proposal, and possible stipulations for their upcoming pay-per-view showdown. The implications of this angle, especially pertaining to the Hangman’s presence in the AEW World Title scene in the near future, has given birth to speculations and even some confusion on social media. However, MJF himself has now taken to X/Twitter to clear things up for fans, in characteristic fashion.

The Wolf of Wrestling explained that both he and Adam Page had to agree on the stipulation for their Revolution 2026 match, something that they will decide on next week on AEW Dynamite. Friedman also confirmed that Hangman had given his word to not contend for the World Title again if he loses next month.

“We both pitch a stipulation. We both have to agree to the stipulation. Hangman’s given his word if we do, he will never challenge for the world title again. On Wednesday we decide on the stipulation for our match. It’s not complicated. You’re just dumb.” – posted MJF.

It remains to be seen if MJF will meet Hangman Page in Texas Death at Revolution, or whether they will agree on a different stipulation.

MJF defended his belt in a title defense outside of AEW

In his latest defense of the “Triple B” on the independent circuit, Maxwell Jacob Friedman retained the All Elite Wrestling Men’s World Championship against Zilla Fatu this past Friday at HOG No Turning Back. The Main One put on a valiant effort against The Salt of The Earth, and nearly had the title won at one point courtesy of outside interference from Andrade El Idolo. Eventually, however, Friedman managed to submit Fatu with his signature armbar.

The latest episode of AEW Collision showed MJF confronting Andrade afterwards, and the Don Callis Family member making it clear he still had his eyes on the World Title.