Basketball

If the BYU crowd was extra loud Tuesday night, thank Conor McGregor for the raucous atmosphere ... The Notorious was in the house as the school's hoops team beat Baylor, and he had the student section FIRED UP!

Mystic Mac was courtside for the Cougars game vs. the Bears at the J. Willard Marriott Center ... and it sounds like McGregor had a blast!

"I've always wondered what the college game would be like, and I am very, very, very impressed," McGregor said.

A wild melee broke out toward the end of the VCU vs. Saint Louis men's basketball game on Tuesday ... with full-grown men toppling on top of each other, flooding over several rows of seats and into the aisle -- forcing the contest to be delayed for several minutes.

The violence went down with 1:10 left in the Billikens' 78-69 win over the Rams ... when out of nowhere, the cameras cut to a guy throwing his body weight onto another spectator and forcing them to the ground.

Several others -- as well as police and security -- tried to get involved to break it up ... but it only got more chaotic from there.

The high school basketball player who dropped 102 points in a game isn't too bothered with people questioning the team's sportsmanship after the record-breaking performance ... telling TMZ Sports if others had the opportunity, they would have done the same thing!!

We caught up with Mesrobian High School seniors Nick and Dylan Khatchikian after their wild outing last week ... in which Nick ran the score up while Dylan lobbed up 35 assists in their 119-25 victory over Waverly High School.

While tons of people couldn't believe the stat line -- including LeBron James -- others questioned if it was disrespectful. Nick shared his side of things ... and he feels the final score could have been even more lopsided.

The L.A. FireAid concert is getting massive contributions from the biggest names in the music industry ... but now the event is getting a financial boost from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, who will match every donation during the event livestream!!

Event organizers made the announcement Tuesday morning ... saying the former Microsoft CEO -- who has a net worth of $129.4 billion -- and his wife, Connie, will help double the impact of the benefit.

This contribution is on top of the $15 million donation the couple pledged a few weeks ago to assist those impacted by the L.A. wildfires.

Bradley Beal’s family had an awful time during the Phoenix Suns game Monday night ... the All-Star's wife revealed a heckling fan (at a home game, mind you) was so relentless in his criticism of BB, it brought their kid to tears!

Kamiah Adams-Beal gave a blow-by-blow account of her experience at the Footprint Center for the Clippers-Suns game, which Phoenix won, explaining she usually ignores the "clowns" at Bradley's games, saying this specific fan crossed the line.

"During the game, a 'Suns fan' spent the entire night heckling my husband. It got so bad I sent my kids away in the third quarter after multiple people asked if we were okay & asked if I wanted them to say something," Adams-Beal said on Monday.

Timothée Chalamet might be a "Complete Unknown" in theaters ... but he certainly wasn't one at the Knicks game Monday -- 'cause Karl-Anthony Towns took some time out of his postgame routine to gift him a jersey!!

The cool scene all unfolded just after KAT and New York beat up the Memphis Grizzlies at Madison Square Garden.

The 29-year-old center walked over to the actor -- who had some sweet courtside seats for the contest -- stripped off his top, signed it and handed it over. The two then posed for a grip of pictures.

Rudy Gobert freaked out during the Timberwolves' win over the Hawks on Monday night ... when an apparent horn fell from the arena's scoreboard -- and landed right in front of the NBA star.

The malfunction was caught on the TV broadcast at the end of the first quarter of the showdown at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

The Wolves center was heading toward his team's bench after the buzzer ... when the black piece of equipment came crashing to the court, nearly hitting Gobert.

Conor McGregor was ready to pick on someone much larger than his own size at the Bucks vs. Jazz game on Monday ... looking big man Brook Lopez up and down right in the middle of the action!!

The hilarious interaction went down in the second quarter of Milwaukee's 125-110 road win over Utah ... when Notorious was walking along the sideline to get to his courtside seat, but was interrupted by something the 7'1" center said.

The UFC superstar quickly turned around and approached Lopez during Damian Lillard's free throw attempts ... and the two shook hands before McGregor playfully made it seem like he was scoping out an opponent.

Duke men's basketball star Khaman Maluach didn't have a turnover Monday night, but his stomach sure did ... as he threw up all over the floor during the Blue Devils' home tilt with N.C. State.

The gross moment happened with about four and a half minutes left in the contest ... as Duke was trying to extend its 63-62 lead.

Maluach was down in the low post waiting to make a play ... when suddenly, he emptied the contents of his stomach right underneath the basket.

A California high school basketball player gave new meaning to stuffing the stat sheet on Thursday ... scoring a whopping 102 POINTS in a game -- and the accomplishment got LeBron James' attention.

The unbelievable feat happened during Mesrobian High School's 119-25 win over Waverly High School .... when Nick Khatchikian went 48-60 from the field in just 22 minutes of action.

The young hooper had 40 points in the first, 79 by halftime and had his entire 102 with over two minutes left in the third ... when he was finally benched.

Anthony Davis is begging the Lakers to bring in a big man ... and Dwight Howard knows an easy solution -- going to social media to remind L.A.'s front office he's readily available.

AD voiced his desires in a sit-down with Shams Charania this week ... saying his strengths are in the power forward position, so acquiring a center and moving him to the four in the lineup would work wonders.

Howard -- who won a championship with the Purple and Gold in 2020 -- got wind of the Brow's comments ... and on Friday, he explained the Lakers wouldn't have to bend over backward to give AD what he wants.

It's Draya Michele's birthday, but it's Jalen Green who's enjoying the cake ... 'cause the Houston Rockets hooper wished her a special 40th by sharing a pic of himself grabbing her backside in a lovey social media post.

22-year-old JG gave the special shout-out on Thursday ... saying, "Happy Pday to the realest on my side. I love you."

The last three words are obviously a big deal ... and goes to show just how serious the two are, despite all the chatter surrounding their relationship.

Doesn't seem Jimmy Butler's sweating his latest Heat suspension ... 'cause just hours after the hooper's team hit him with a two-game ban, he was seen yuckin' it up with famed comedian Andrew Schulz at a swanky party.

TMZ Sports has learned Butler made his way to the Reserve Cup Draft & Dinner hosted by Moncayo Ocean Club on Wednesday night ... mere hours after he was punished by the Heat for missing the team's flight to Milwaukee for its upcoming road matchup with the Bucks.

Butler, who wasn't expected at the event, didn't appear to care one bit about the trouble with his employer ... as he smiled big while rubbing elbows with a bunch of celebs, including Schulz, Jerry Jeudy and Wayne Boich.

Forget ice cream and rom-coms, Naomi Osaka's apparently turning to hoops to get her mind off her recent breakup.

The tennis superstar was at the Brooklyn Nets game Wednesday night -- just a couple weeks after announcing her split from Cordae.

The 27-year-old -- who was forced to retire in the third round of the Australian Open due to an injury -- appeared to be in great spirits at the outing ... smiling and throwing up a peace sign during a break in the action.

Sydney Sweeney ditched her fiancé for a special plus-one at the Brooklyn Nets game on Tuesday ... catching all the action courtside with her 11-year-old movie costar.

The 27-year-old actress hit up the Barclays Center to watch the Nets' Battle of the Boroughs with the New York Knicks ... which ultimately ended with Karl-Anthony Towns and Co. coming away with the 99-95 victory.

Sweeney's partner, Jonathan Davino, was nowhere to be seen -- instead, she elected to have fellow "The Housemaid" cast member Indiana Elle join in on the fun.

Roki Sasaki is getting a warm welcome in Los Angeles ... with the Dodgers' new star pitcher landing a personal meet-and-greet with LeBron James at the Lakers game!!

The 23-year-old Japanese athlete was front and center at the Purple and Gold's home win over the Washington Wizards ... getting a courtside view of King James' triple-double performance in the 111-88 victory.

The 40-year-old made sure to take a second to chop it up with the flamethrower ... shaking his hand as they exchanged pleasantries during shootaround.