Month: March 2022

By CLIFF BRUNT AP Sports Writer OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Theo Maledon scored 17 of his season-high 25 points in the fourth quarter and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Orlando Magic 118-102 to snap a 10-game losing streak. Tre Mann and Isaiah Roby each scored 21 for the Thunder in a matchup between two

By JONAH BRONSTEIN Associated Press BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Tage Thompson scored two goals and added another in a shootout, Alex Tuch also had a shootout goal, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Wednesday night for their third consecutive win. Zemgus Girgensons also scored for the Sabres, who have won five

By CLAY BAILEY Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Desmond Bane scored 23 points, including nine straight as Memphis rebuilt its lead in the fourth quarter, and the Grizzlies beat Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets 132-120. Irving scored 43 points and Kevin Durant had 35 points and 11 rebounds. Irving was on the court

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer MIAMI (AP) — Jordan Poole scored 30 points, and the short-handed Golden State Warriors scored the first 19 points of the second half on the way to beat the frustrated Miami Heat 118-104 on Wednesday night. Damion Lee, Jonathan Kuminga and Andrew Wiggins each scored 22 points for the

TORONTO (AP) — Pierre Engvall scored a short-handed goal with 4:42 left in the third period to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils. Engvall moved in on a 2-on-1 rush with Ilya Mikheyev off serving a double minor for high-sticking, delayed and then fired his 11th goal

By MARK AMBROGI Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Damian Jones’ tip-in with less than a second left lifted the Sacramento Kings to a 110-109 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Trey Lyles missed a 3-pointer but Jones tipped in the rebound with 0.2 seconds remaining. Davion Mitchell scored 25 points and Chimezie Metu had a career-high

By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum had 11 of his 26 points during Boston’s nearly perfect first quarter to help the Celtics roll to a 125-97 victory over the Utah Jazz. Jaylen Brown also added 26 points and Marcus Smart finished with a career-high 13 assists as Boston recorded its

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — Browns cornerback Greg Newsome said he was surprised as the rest of the NFL when quarterback Deshaun Watson changed his mind and picked Cleveland as his new team. Newsome was the first Browns player to speak about Watson, the former Houston quarterback who will be bringing

By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — RJ Barrett scored 30 points and the New York Knicks made 20 3-pointers to beat Charlotte 121-106, snapping the Hornets’ five-game winning streak. Obi Toppin had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Alec Burks chipped in with 17 points for the Knicks, who have won

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Wade Taylor IV posted 12 points as Texas A&M beat Wake Forest 67-52 in the quarterfinals of the NIT. Isaiah Mucius led the Demon Deacons on Wednesday night with 15 points.

By DAVE HOGG Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — Jeremi Grant scored 21 points and the slumping Detroit Pistons routed the Atlanta Hawks 122-101 on Wednesday night. Cade Cunningham added 17 points and eight assists for Detroit. The Pistons led by 29 points while winning for the second time in eight games. Detroit had eight players

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — World Series MVP Jorge Soler is guaranteed $36 million in his three-year contract with the Miami Marlins and can earn up to $40 million. The 30-year-old outfielder gets $12 million this year, $15 million in 2023 and $9 million in 2024 as part of the deal announced Tuesday. It also includes

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and SAM METZ Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Republican governors in two states this week rejected legislation to ban transgender players from girls sports. The vetoes show there are some remaining fractures among GOP leaders over how to navigate gender’s reemergence as a culture war issue. Still, those decisions to

By RONALD BLUM AP Sports Writer MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. could clinch a return to soccer’s World Cup with two games to spare if it wins in Mexico City, Panama loses at home to last-place Honduras and Costa Rica fails to win at home against first-place Canada. A home match against Panama looms

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Maverick McNealy was the last man to get into the Dell Technologies Match Play. Perhaps it was only fitting he was the first to close out his match. He routed Joaquin Niemann in 12 holes to highlight a typically unpredictable day at Austin Country Club.

By GARY SCHATZ Associated Press GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) — Right-hander Tyler Mahle has been chosen to start for the Cincinnati Reds on opening day against the World Series champion Atlanta Braves. Manager David Bell gave the four-year veteran the news on Wednesday morning ahead of his second spring training start. The 27-year-old Mahle tied for

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Mike Okauru scored 11 of his 28 points in the two overtime periods, Jaylen Sims also finished with 28 points and UNC Wilmington beat Middle Tennessee 96-90 in the College Basketball Invitational championship game. Jaylen Fornes added 19 points for UNC Wilmington. Okauru was 10 of 12 from the line and

By The Associated Press Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 26th, and final, appearance in the Sweet 16 is a classic matchup of offense vs. defense. The second-seeded Blue Devils face No. 3 Texas Tech in a West Region semifinal Thursday night in San Francisco. Duke is scoring better than 80 points per game and Texas Tech

By MAURICIO SAVARESE AP Sports Writer SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil coach Tite and his players are doing their best to boost Neymar’s morale after the striker’s recent struggles at Paris Saint-Germain. Neymar and Argentina great Lionel Messi have both faced heavy criticism in Paris after the team’s loss to Real Madrid in the round

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The defensive line of the Los Angeles Chargers had two big flaws last season. They are hoping the addition of Austin Johnson helps in both areas. Johnson signed a two-year deal on March 16 to join the Chargers after having a career season with the

By JACK THOMPSON Associated Press SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Lance Lynn says he’s not particularly concerned about who starts on opening day for the Chicago White Sox. Manager Tony La Russa hasn’t announced whether Lynn or Lucas Giolito will get the ball when the White Sox face Detroit on April 8. Lynn says “it’s awesome”

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — The Texas Rangers have renewed the contract of All-Star outfielder Adolis Garcia for the 2022 season. The team signed their 28 other pre-arbitration eligible players to one-year deals. Garcia hit .243 with 31 homers and 90 RBIs last year, his first full big-league season. The 29-year-old right fielder from Cuba played

By FRED GOODALL AP Sports Writer TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Piece by piece, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are reassembling an impressive array of playmakers around Tom Brady. Free-agent running back Leonard Fournette finalized a three-year, $21 million contract with the team, joining receivers Chris Godwin, Russell Gage and Breshad Perriman, Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Rachel Balkovec, hired by the New York Yankees as the first woman to manage a minor league affiliate of a Major League Baseball team, was hit in the face by a batted ball during a drill and will be sidelined for up to a week. Balkovec was struck Tuesday. She will

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are seeing double-digit viewer increases over last year. The men’s tournament is up 12% over last year. The tournament is also off to its best start in five years, averaging 9.12 million viewers through the second round. The women’s tournament is up 15% overall through

By BRETT MARTEL AP Sports Writer BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — New LSU coach Matt McMahon brushes aside the specter of possible NCAA sanctions for the program he agreed to take over this week. He says he’s not concerned with how possible punishments might affect his ability to build on the already formidable career coaching

By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Pro Football Writer EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Hiring a new general manager and head coach created an expectation that major roster moves by the Minnesota Vikings would follow. They have instead kept their best and costliest players largely intact. Owner and president Mark Wilf spoke out against starting over. General manager

By JIM VERTUNO AP Sports Writer SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Arizona point guard Kerr Kriisa is a bit wild and more than a handful. Not just for opponents, but sometimes for the top-seeded Wildcats. The Estonian sophomore is the cocky and feisty sort who can drive opponents crazy, taunt their fans and question game officials.

MONTREAL (AP) — A Quebec judge has sentenced once-celebrated baseball writer Jonah Keri to 21 months in jail for repeated abuse of his ex-wife. Quebec court Judge Alexandre Dalmau’s sentence was considerably higher than the one sought by the Crown, which was for a minimum of one year in jail. Before his July 2019 arrest

By DAVID BRANDT AP Sports Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Trevor Story and Nick Castellanos are among the newest $100 million men during a Major League Baseball offseason full of big contracts. There’s been a robust market for the sport’s star players, even with a 99-day lockout that froze negotiations from December until mid-March. Story and

By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Quandre Diggs says being in a comfortable environment played heavily into his decision to re-sign with the Seattle Seahawks rather than going elsewhere in free agency. The Pro Bowl free safety signed a three-year deal worth up to $39 million. Diggs says he didn’t want

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral showed off his right arm and his apparently healthy right ankle for NFL teams. Corral threw Wednesday for representatives of almost every NFL team at the Ole Miss pro day, including at least four head coaches. Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Atlanta’s Arthur Smith, Carolina’s Matt Rhule and Mike

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer The NHL has voided the Golden Knights’ trade of Evgenii Dadonov to the Ducks because Anaheim was on his no-trade list. The league says Dadonov’s limited no-trade clause had not been complied with. Vegas tried to trade Dadonov and a future second-round pick to Anaheim to clear salary cap

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana High School Athletic Association on Wednesday commended Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb’s veto of a bill banning transgender females from participating in girls school sports after the association previously held back from taking an explicit stance on the proposal. IHSAA Commissioner Paul Neidig expressed reservations that the proposed legislation only addressed

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer Danielle Shepherd last weekend became just the second woman in at least two decades to lead an IMSA sports car team to victory. Shepherd earned her victory in the Twelve Hours of Sebring in just the second race of her new job. The 28-year-old was promoted during the