No. 16 Texas Tech rallies to beat No. 1 Arizona 78-75 in OT for Wildcats’ second straight loss
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — JT Toppin scored eight of his 31 points in a dominant overtime performance and No. 16 Texas Tech sent No. 1 Arizona to its second straight loss, shocking the Wildcats 78-75 on Saturday. Texas Tech (19-6, 9-3 Big 12) beat the No. 1 team for the third time in school history. The Wildcats (23-2, 10-2) were 23-0 before losing to No. 9 Kansas 82-78 on Monday. Arizona had a 64-57 lead with 3:29 left in regulation, but Texas Tech rallied. Arizona’s Ivan Kharchenkov tied it at 66 with two free throws and Christian Anderson couldn’t hit a contested jumper as time expired.Anderson added 19 points, hitting six 3-pointers. Arizona’s Tobe Awaka had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman Brayden Burries also scored 16 points.
Fight breaks out between No. 17 St. John’s and Providence and seven players are ejected
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Seven players were ejected from Saturday’s game between No. 17 St. John’s and Providence after a fracas resulting from a hard foul by Friars forward Duncan Powell on Bryce Hopkins sent the Red Storm star crashing to the ground. St. John’s coach Rick Pitino, who led Providence to the 1987 Final Four, was in the middle of it, trying to hold back his players. But several entered the fray as it drifted toward the Red Storm bench. The game was delayed by nearly 20 minutes while the referees sorted out the punishments: Four St. John’s players were booted and two from Providence, with another Friar ejected later in the game.
Lindsey Vonn says her latest surgery after Olympic crash ‘went well’ and she can return to US
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Lindsey Vonn says the latest surgery on her left leg that she broke in the Olympic downhill “went well” and now she “will be able to finally go back to the U.S.” The 41-year-old Vonn is being treated at a hospital in Treviso, Italy. She crashed 13 seconds into her run during last Sunday’s race and was airlifted off the course by helicopter. She said Monday she had suffered a “complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly.” Vonn says she is “still looking forward to the moment when I can stand on the top of the mountain once more. And I will.”
Jordan Stolz joins Eric Heiden with a 500-1,000 speedskating double gold at the Olympics
MILAN (AP) — Jordan Stolz has won his second speedskating gold medal of the Milan Cortina Olympics by finishing first in the 500 meters in an Olympic-record time. Saturday’s race was the American’s second of the Winter Games. The 21-year-old from Wisconsin was coming off a victory in Wednesday’s 1,000, the first of his four individual events in Milan. He came to these Games as someone considered a contender for gold in all four. The men’s record for most speedskating titles at one Olympics is the five for Eric Heiden at Lake Placid in 1980. Stolz beat 500 world champion Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands, who got the silver.
NBA’s Adam Silver to consider changing draft lottery, revoking picks to stop teams from tanking
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver believes teams are tanking more aggressively this season than the league has ever seen before, and he is considering many possible remedies to ensure real competition, from taking away draft picks to making wholesale changes to the draft and the lottery. Silver immediately addressed the hottest topic in NBA circles Saturday in his annual address during All-Star weekend at Intuit Dome, making it clear that the NBA will do almost anything to make sure its teams earnestly compete. He also said the NBA still expects to make decisions on expansion this year, starting with discussion at the Board of Governors meeting next month.
It’s the US (and the US) against the world as the NBA All-Star Game tries yet another format
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The NBA is trying its fourth All-Star Game format in four years this weekend as it attempts again to answer one of the bigger existential questions in professional basketball. How do you get both the players and their fans to care about this midseason showcase? The newest scheme appears to be the most promising yet, at least according to people like Victor Wembanyama who still believe this game should matter. A team of veteran All-Star Americans, a team of younger U.S. players and a third team representing the rest of the world will play in a round-robin tournament Sunday, setting up a final.
Heat’s Keshad Johnson soars to a slam dunk title, edging Carter Bryant who had a perfect score
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Keshad Johnson of the Miami Heat has won the NBA Slam Dunk contest after beating San Antonio rookie Carter Bryant in the final. Bryant opened the last round with a perfect score, but he missed his first two tries and settled for a lesser dunk on his second. Johnson stayed steady and sealed it with a free throw line takeoff and a one-handed windmill. Hall of Famer Julius Erving handed him the trophy. Portland’s Damian Lillard won the 3-point contest over Devin Booker of Phoenix. Team Knicks took the Shooting Stars title in the contest’s first return since 2015.
Bhatia’s big birdie runs helps him beat the wind and lead at Pebble Beach
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Akshay Bhatia goes into the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a two-shot lead. He shot a 68 on Saturday with a big run of birdies on the scoring holes early. That gave him enough of a cushion to hold on when the cold wind arrived. Bhatia is up two over Jake Knapp, Collin Morikawa and Sepp Straka. The final hour was a prelude to Sunday. The wind was whipping and golf balls were wobbling on the greens. Wind and rain are in the forecast and tee times have been moved up by an hour.
A battered car forces William Byron into a backup for his Daytona 500 three-peat bid
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — William Byron chases an unprecedented third straight Daytona 500 win Sunday when he attempts to make NASCAR history. He’ll be trying to win NASCAR’s season opener for the third consecutive year in a backup car after he damaged his primary in a qualifying race. He starts near the back in 39th, but he says that does not scare him. Byron has won here with a backup before. He has also won by staying patient and avoiding trouble, not by leading lots of laps. The field also has big storylines. Kyle Busch starts on the pole while stuck in a long winless skid and Brad Keselowski races while recovering from a broken leg.
Adam Silver urges WNBA, players’ union to work faster on CBA negotiations to avoid a work stoppage
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has called on the WNBA and its players’ association to increase their urgency to get a labor deal done in time for the new season to begin as scheduled in early May. Silver didn’t propose a deadline for a WNBA collective bargaining agreement in his annual address during NBA All-Star weekend, but he urged both sides to pick up the pace. The league and the players are still not close on the main issue of revenue sharing. The players want roughly 30% of the gross revenue, while the league has offered over 70% of net revenue.