The incident occurred during United under-21s’ 5-2 defeat against Barnsley in the Carabao Cup, when the 18-year-old was heard by the referee directing the term “gay boy” at an opponent.

Fletcher was handed a six-game ban — two of which he already served following the red card he received in that game — and the remaining four (non-first team) suspended games were given for the FA’s ‘Aggravated Breach.’

The FA and Fletcher’s opponent both concluded that he had no intention to be anti-gay.

Manchester United confirmed the player has since apologised, and stated he did not intend to use the term as an anti-gay insult.

“I am truly sorry for the offensive word that I used in the heat of the moment,” Fletcher said.

“Despite the fact that I had no intention to use the term as a homophobic insult, I completely understand that such language is unacceptable and immediately apologised after the game.”

The club stated that Fletcher will strengthen his understanding of discriminatory language and why it is harmful.

“In addition to his ongoing participation in regular academy programmes on diversity and inclusion, Jack will also take part in educational training through the FA,” a statement on their website read.

“Manchester United prides itself on being an inclusive and welcoming club. Since launching All Red All Equal in 2016, we have embedded equality, diversity and inclusion into everything we do.”

The teenager, who joined United in 2023 from Manchester City along with his twin brother Tyler, has made three appearances in the Premier League this season as a substitute and is considered one of the club’s brightest prospects.

A post on social media from Rainbow Devils, United’s LGBTQ+ supporters’ club, welcomed the player’s apology.

“We hope Jack learns from this and grows as a person and a player,” it said.

“His immediate regret and guilty plea suggests that he will.”

Additional reporting from ESPN’s Rob Dawson.

Matthew Stafford threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns in Seattle and the Rams sacked Sam Darnold three times, but the Seahawks quarterback and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba tore their defense apart when he had enough time to throw. Darnold and Smith-Njigba hooked up 10 times for 153 yards and one of Darnold’s three touchdown passes, so it wasn’t surprising to hear Rams General Manager Les Snead prioritizing help in the defensive backfield on Tuesday.

“Is there an All-Pro that you could add?” Snead said, via Nate Atkins of TheAthletic.com. “That would be nice.”

There aren’t any All-Pros available in free agency, but a trade could be a possibility and the chances of making one are helped by the Rams holding a pair of first-round picks this year. Snead’s well known for saying “f—k them picks” while building the Rams’ Super Bowl LXI winners and he said on Tuesday that he’s looking for “a player who is going to give us an edge and make an impact.”

The Rams’ front office has openly acknowledged the need for top-tier secondary talent. General Manager Les Snead highlighted the team’s intent to add impact players in the defensive backfield, specifically mentioning All-Pro talent as a priority to bolster a unit that has been a weakness in crucial games.

This strategy mirrors broader NFL offseason trends. Other franchises, such as the Dallas Cowboys, have been linked to pursuits of high-caliber defensive backs — including potential draft targets at the safety position — as they aim to close coverage gaps and improve overall defensive consistency.

Atkins suggests Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie as a Rams target as he is looking for a new contract and played for Rams defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake while in college. McDuffie has been named an All-Pro and the coming days should bring more of an idea about whether Snead will be pushing to bring him to Los Angeles.

The Huskers (25-4, 14-4 B1G) started their West Coast trip with an 82-67 win at USC on Saturday. Nebraska roared back from a 36-31 halftime deficit by shooting 53 percent in the second half and outscored USC, 51-31 after the break. Pryce Sandfort had 20 of his game-high 32 points in the second half, while Braden Frager and Rienk Mast finished with 17 and 11 points, respectively, for the winners. The Huskers won the game with strong rebounding, enjoying a 41-25 advantage on the glass while turning 18 offensive rebounds into a season-high 19 second-chance points.

Sandfort’s third 30-point game of the season included five 3-pointers, and the junior forward is now within striking distance of the Big Ten record for most 3-pointers in conference play. He is just five 3-pointers away from Shawn Respert’s mark set in 1994-95.  The Huskers, who are seeking to lock in one of the four triple-byes for next week’s Big Ten Tournament, can tie the school record for wins in a season with a victory over UCLA on Tuesday.

UCLA (19-10, 11-7 B1G) looks to rebound following a 78-73 road loss to Minnesota on Saturday. Tyler Bilodeau had a game-high 32 points and eight rebounds while Eric Dailey Jr. and Skyy Clark combined for 35 points in a losing effort. UCLA shot 51 percent, including 10 3-pointers and out-rebounded the Gophers, 30-20, but Minnesota shot 58 percent from the field, including 12-of-23 from 3-point range to pull the upset.

Numbers to Know
3 – Pryce Sandfort has three 30-point games this year following Saturday’s 32-point effort at USC. The only players with more 30-point games in a season are Dave Hoppen (6, 1984-85), Brice Williams (4, 2024-25), Andre Smith (4, 1979-80), Eric Piatkowski (4, 1993-94) and Tyronn Lue (4, 1997-98).

312 – Nebraska’s 312 3-pointers this season is seven shy of the school record of 319 set in 2023-24. NU has hit 10-or-more 3-pointers in 19 games this season. ‘

9.6 – Nebraska ranks 24th nationally with 9.6 turnovers per game. NU is one of seven Big Ten teams in the top 25 nationally in fewest turnovers per game as of March 2.

54.5 – Nebraska’s top four scorers (Rienk Mast, Pryce Sandfort, Braden Frager and Jamarques Lawrence) are combining for 54.5 points per game. None of them were in the Husker lineup last season.

.714 -Nebraska is 10-4 in its last 14 Big Ten road games dating back to last season. The Huskers are also 14-2 in their last 16 games away from Pinnacle Bank Arena since March 31, 2025 (7-2 road, 7-0 neutral).

80+ Nebraska is 52-10 (.839) under Fred Hoiberg when scoring 80 or more points, including a 43-7 mark over the last three-plus seasons. Of those seven losses since the start of the 2022-23 season, four came in overtime.

1,069 – Rienk Mast now has 1,069 career rebounds and is one of only five active players with at least 1,000 career rebounds, Carson Towt (Notre Dame),  Graham Ike (Gonzaga), Izaiyah Nelson (South Florida) and Yaxel Lendeborg (Michigan).

13 – Pryce Sandfort has 13 20-point games on the season, which ties for the third-most by a Husker in the Big Ten era. The only Huskers with more 20-point games in a season in the Big Ten era are Brice Williams (20, 2024-25) and James Palmer (18, 2018-19).

1 – According to Stathead, Sam Hoiberg is the only player nationally at 6-0 or under averaging at least five rebounds per game this season. Over the past six seasons, only two power conference players 6-0 or under have grabbed 5 or more rebounds per game (Braden Smith, 2023-24; RJ Davis, 2022-23).

Huskers Return to Top 10 in both Polls
Nebraska returned to the top 10 in both polls this week, jumping from 12th to ninth in the AP poll released Monday afternoon and going from 10th to ninth in Monday’s Coaches poll.

• With the No. 9 ranking, Nebraska has been ranked in the top-10 in the AP for eight of the past nine weeks dating back to Jan. 5

• The Huskers have been ranked for 12 straight weeks dating back to Dec. 8.

• On Jan. 26, Nebraska earned its highest ranking in school history, moving to No. 5 in both the AP and Coaches polls following a 20-0 start.

• The Huskers are 54-26 (.675) all-time when ranked in the AP poll following Saturday’s win at USC.

• Prior to this season, the 1965-66 season was the only other season where Nebraska was ranked in the top 10. NU spent four straight weeks in the poll (Feb. 7-28) in 1965-66, reaching as high as eighth on Feb. 21, 1966. That season, the Huskers went 20-5, including 12-2 in the Big Eight to finish second to Kansas, but did not advance to postseason play. That Kansas team that won the Big Eight lost to eventual NCAA Champion Texas Western, 81-80, in double overtime in the Midwest Regional Final.

• Prior to its 2025-26 poll debut on Dec. 8, the Huskers had not been ranked in the AP poll since Dec. 31, 2018.

Worth Noting
• The Huskers enter the week tied with Michigan State for second in the Big Ten standings. A win on Tuesday would clinch a triple bye for next week’s Big Ten Tournament in Chicago. With a week to go in the regular season, NU could be anywhere from the No. 2 to the No. 5 seed next week.

•Nebraska looks to be the first team to sweep the Southern California West Coast trip this season. The Huskers look to join Michigan (2024-25) and Minnesota (2024-25) as the only Big Ten schools to sweep the trip.

• NU is now 3-0 on its two West Coast trips dating back to last season, as the Huskers went 2-0 at Oregon and at Washington last season.

• Nebraska assistant coach Ernie Zeigler spent three years at UCLA on Ben Howland’s staff from 2003-06, helping the Bruins to an NCAA runner-up finish in 2006.

• Nebraska junior Berke Büyüktuncel faces his former team, as he spent his freshman year at UCLA in 2023-24. That season, he played in 26 games, including eight starts, for the Bruins.

• Nebraska’s 25-4 record marks the first time that Nebraska has won 25 of its first 29 games in a season.

• Nebraska’s 25 wins marks just the second time in program history that Nebraska has won 25 or more games in a season (also 1990-91). With a win on Tuesday at UCLA, Nebraska will match a school record for wins in a season.

•The Huskers now have three straight 20-win seasons for the first time in school history. Nebraska’s 25 regular-season wins is already a school mark, bettering the mark of 24 set by the 1990-91 team which entered the Big Eight Conference Tournament with 24 wins.

• Nebraska has 46 wins over the past two seasons. It is the most wins in a two-year stretch in school history. NU won a combined 45 games spanning the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons.

• Nebraska is 7-2 on the road in Big Ten play in 2025-26. The seven road wins in conference play is already a program record heading into Tuesday’s game at UCLA. Prior to this season, the record was five conference road wins set four other times, the most recent in 1965-66. NU is 10-2 away from Pinnacle Bank Arena this season.

• Nebraska’s 14-4 Big Ten record is already the most conference wins in school history. The previous high for conference wins was 13, set in 2017-18, when NU finished with a 13-5 mark.

• Nebraska is 15-2 at home this season and is 54-13 (.806) at Pinnacle Bank Arena over the past four seasons. The regular season finale vs. Iowa on March 8 will be the ninth straight sellout in Big Ten play.

• Nebraska’s 20-0 start marked just the third time in the last 30 years a Big Ten team has started 20-0 and the first since Ohio State opened the 2010-11 season with 24 straight wins.

• Nebraska is 2-3 vs. ranked teams in 2025-26 following the overtime loss to Purdue on Feb. 10. Since March 1, 2022, the Huskers are 11-14 in the last 25 games against ranked teams, including 5-4 against top-10 teams. Prior to that, NU had lost 24 straight against ranked teams dating back to the 2019 Big Ten Tournament.

• Nebraska is 12th in the NET rankings released on March 2. The Huskers are one of five Big Ten teams in the top 15 of the NET (No. 2 Michigan, No. 5 Illinois, No. 9 Purdue, No. 11 Michigan State and No. 12 Nebraska).

• As of March 2, Nebraska’s is 12-4 in the first two quads (8-4 in Q1, 4-0 in Q2) with all four losses currently to teams in the top 30 of the NET.

• Nebraska saw its school-record 24-game win streak snapped on Jan. 27. It nearly doubled the previous mark of 14 set two other times (1912-13 and 1990-91) and was the longest win streak by a Big Ten team since Ohio State won 24 straight to open the 2010-11 season.

• Since the start of the 2023-24 season, NU is 69-29 (.704) while the 69 wins are tied for fourth among Big Ten teams in that span (Purdue-80; Illinois-73; Michigan State-74; Wisconsin-69; Nebraska-69) as of March 2.

Noting the Husker Offense
• Nebraska is averaging 78.6 ppg, which is the Huskers’ highest scoring average after 29 games since the 1995-96 season (80.8 ppg). The 1995-96 team marked the last time Nebraska averaged 80.0 ppg in a season and one of just six teams in school history to average 80.0+ ppg. Nebraska’s highest season average under Hoiberg is 77.7 ppg in 2024-25.

• The Huskers are third in the Big Ten and 18th nationally with 10.8 3-pointers made per game as of March 2. NU is on pace to break the single-season record of 9.54 set in 2001-02. Nebraska is one of three teams on pace to break the Big Ten’s single-season mark for 3-pointers per game (10.4 by Penn State in 2022-23).  NU led the Big Ten with 9.4 3-pointers per game in 2023-24, the fifth time a Hoiberg-coached team led the conference in 3-pointers per game.

• Nebraska’s 312 3-pointers ranks second in school history, trailing only the school record of 319 set in 2023-24.

• Nebraska has made 10-or-more 3-pointers 19 times this season, including four games with at least 15 (17 vs. Oregon and FIU; 15 vs. Oklahoma and Illinois). The 17 3-pointers was one shy of the school mark of 18 set against Kansas in 2002.

• The seven 3-pointers by Braden Frager and Pryce Sandfort vs. Oregon on Jan. 13 marked the first time in school history that NU has had multiple players hit seven 3-pointers in a game. According to Stathead, it was the third Big Ten game since 2010-11 where multiple teammates hit seven or more 3-pointers in a game.

• The Huskers rank third nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.91-to-1) as of March 2. It is on track to shatter the school mark of 1.81 set in 1984-85. The Big Ten has the three top teams nationally in that category (Purdue-1st; Northwestern-2nd; Nebraska-3rd).

• Nebraska enters the UCLA game ranked fourth in the Big Ten and 13th nationally with 18.3 assists per game. It is an increase of 4.1 assists per game from last season. Nebraska’s highest assist per game total under Hoiberg is 15.3 per game in 2023-24.

• The Huskers are seventh in the Big Ten and 24th nationally in turnovers per game at 9.6 per contest. The 9.6 turnovers per game is on pace to break the school mark of 9.96 per game set in 2018-19.

Noting the Husker Defense
• Nebraska has been stout defensively this season, ranking second in the Big Ten and 18th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.398).

• The Huskers are second in the Big Ten and 16th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 65.4 ppg. The 65.4 ppg allowed is 7.2 points per game fewer than last season and on pace to be NU’s lowest scoring defense since the 2014-15 season (63.1 ppg).

• The Huskers have held 18 opponents to under 1.00 points per possession and have a 17-1 mark in those games.  Over the last four seasons, NU is 58-4 (.935) when holding foes to under 1.00 PPP and 60-6 when holding opponents to under 70 points.

• Nebraska leads the Big Ten with 7.3 steals per game.

• The Huskers are second in the Big Ten and 14th nationally in turnover margin at +3.6 per game.

• Nebraska has improved its KenPom defensive efficiency in each of the past three seasons and are fifth nationally as of March 2. Nebraska’s best KenPom rank on defense was 15th nationally in 2008-09. That is the last time Nebraska ranked in the top 20 nationally in defensive efficiency.

This and That
• The Huskers have excelled in close games this season, going 4-2 in games decided by one possession, including a 3-2 mark in Big Ten play. Last year, NU was 0-6 in games decided by one possession.

• The Huskers posted their third double-digit comeback of the season against Indiana on Jan. 10, overcoming a 16-point second-half deficit (also 16 vs. Oklahoma and 12 vs. USC Upstate). It marked the 12th time under Hoiberg NU has overcome a double-digit deficit, including seven times in the last two seasons. Nebraska nearly erased a 22-point deficit in the overtime loss to No. 13 Purdue on Feb. 10.

• As of March 2, there have been 26 triple-doubles in Division I basketball this season while NU is the only school with multiple players recording a triple double. Over the last seven seasons, only five schools – NU (2025-26), Iowa State (2023-24), Western Kentucky (2021-22), Portland (2021-22) and Utah (2019-20) – have had multiple players record triple-doubles in the same year.

• NU has 29 double-digit scoring runs this season, which is tied for 11th nationally according to EvanMiya.com as of March 2.

• Nine Huskers have posted double-figure efforts this season, while four players have had at least one 20-point performance (Pryce Sandfort-13; Braden Frager-6; Rienk Mast-4; Jamarques Lawrence-2).

• Nebraska completed its non-conference slate with a perfect 11-0 record, marking the first time since the 1928-29 season where NU posted an unblemished non-conference mark (6-0). The Huskers are 31-2 in regular-season non-conference play since the start of the 2023-24 season (10-1 in 2023-24; 10-1 in 2024-25).

USC Recap
Pryce Sandfort had a game-high 32 points to lead three Huskers in double figure, as No. 12 Nebraska dominated the second half in an 82-67 win over USC on Feb. 28. Sandfort had 20 of his 32 points after halftime, as Nebraska overcame a 37-31 halftime deficit by shooting 53 percent in the second half and holding USC to 39 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes.

Braden Frager had 17 points and eight rebounds while Rienk Mast added 11 points and six boards, as Nebraska enjoyed a 41-25 advantage on the glass, including 18 offensive boards.

Nebraska opened the half with a 12-2 run over the first 3:02, taking the lead for good on Sandfort’s four-point play with 18:22 left before Berke Buyuktuncel’s dunk put the Huskers ahead 43-38. In all, NU held the Trojans to two field goals over the first seven-plus minutes as the Huskers extended the lead to 51-42 after basket from Mast and Frager.

USC pulled to within 51-46 after a pair of Alijah Arenas baskets before Nebraska used a 15-0 surge over the next 4:24 to put the game away and extend the margin to 66-46 after five straight points from Sandfort, who posted his third 30-point game of the season.
Arenas and Chad Baker-Mazara had 14 points apiece for USC.

Notes from the USC Game
• NU improves to 25-4, as the 25 wins are one shy of the single-season school record of 26 set in 1990-91.

• Nebraska improves to 14-4 in Big Ten play, as the 14 wins breaks the school record for most conference wins in a season.

• Nebraska improves to 7-2 in Big Ten road games this season. NU is now 10-2 away from Pinnacle Bank Arena this season (7-2 road, 3-0 neutral).

• Nebraska has won 46 games over the past two seasons, the most combined wins in consecutive years in school history.

• Pryce Sandfort posted his third 30-point game of the season with 32 points. His three 30-point games mark ties for the third-highest total by a Husker in the Big Ten era, trailing only Brice Williams (2023-25) and James Palmer Jr. (2017-19), who had four 30-point games apiece.

• Sandfort’s five 3-pointers gives him 75 in Big Ten play, five shy of the most 3-pointers by a player in Big Ten Conference history.

• Nebraska had a season-high 18 offensive rebounds against USC, while the +16 margin on the glass matched its best effort of the season (vs. Northwestern).

• Braden Frager came off the bench for 17 points and tied his career high with eight rebounds. Frager also had eight rebounds against New Mexico and against Maryland.