U.S./World Sports category, Page 124
Louisiana clinches Sun Belt’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Themus Fulks scored a career-high 23 points, Jordan Brown had 13 points and 16 rebounds and second-seeded Louisiana beat No. 8 seed South Alabama, 71-66, on Monday night to claim the Sun Belt Tournament championship. The fifth NCAA Tournament berth for Louisiana (26-7) will be its first...
Jenna Fryer: IndyCar bullish on future even after sloppy opener
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Michael Andretti had his head in his hands nearly every time the camera showed him during the IndyCar season-opening race. He started with at least three true challengers to win Sunday on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg, only to see two of his cars involved...
Houston, UCLA, Kansas top latest AP Top 25; Duke back in, Pitt falls out
UCLA is surging, both toward the postseason and in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll. While Houston was No. 1 for a third straight week in Monday’s poll, the Bruins rose two spots to No. 2 for their highest ranking of the season. UCLA (27-4) has won its last...
Kennesaw State makes history with first trip to NCAA Tournament
The Kennesaw State men’s basketball team is going to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. Terrell Burden hit a free throw with 0.7 seconds remaining to lift the Owls past Liberty 67-66 on Sunday in front of a school-record announced attendance of 3,805 to win the...
Kurt Kitayama breaks through in wild finish at Bay HillVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Kurt Kitayama only had to look around at the players next to him in the practice area and right below him on the leaderboard at Bay Hill to know what he was up against Sunday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. “You can’t ignore it. You got to...
William Byron grabs lead in penultimate OT lap for win at Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS — William Byron took the lead on the second-to-last lap of overtime to win the NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas on Sunday and put an exclamation mark on a dominant day for Hendrick Motorsports. The top three drivers were from Hendrick, with Byron beating teammates Kyle...
Marcus Ericsson wins rough IndyCar season-opening raceVideo
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jack Harvey was taken to a hospital and Helio Castroneves needed an ice pack and X-rays. A pair of cars went airborne, the leaders crashed each other and the entire Andretti Autosport fleet was eliminated. Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, meanwhile, won the IndyCar season-opening race....
Texas Tech suspends coach Mark Adams over racially insensitive comment
LUBBOCK, Texas — Texas Tech suspended coach Mark Adams on Sunday over “an inappropriate, unacceptable, and racially insensitive comment” he made to a player. Athletic director Kirby Hocutt said he was made aware of the incident Friday and issued a written reprimand before deciding to suspend Adams to investigate further....
Kitayama holds onto Bay Hill lead over Scheffler, HovlandVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Kurt Kitayama had to leave home to find his way in golf by playing circuits in Europe, Australia and Asia, all for a chance to get to the highest level. Along with three worldwide titles, he learned how to battle. That might come in handy Sunday at...
Kyle Busch suddenly fan favorite entering Las Vegas race
LAS VEGAS — When Kyle Busch emerged from his No. 8 Chevrolet following his victory last Sunday at Fontana, he was greeted with … cheers? The applause continued as Busch did his signature bow, and the feeling is new for him. Busch long has played the NASCAR villain, but the...
Chase Elliott out of NASCAR indefinitely after tibia surgeryVideo
LAS VEGAS — Chase Elliott is out indefinitely after undergoing a successful three-hour surgery to repair a fractured tibia, Hendrick Motorsports general manager Jeff Andrews said Saturday. Andrews said there was no timeline on when the star NASCAR driver would return. Elliott injured his left leg Friday while snowboarding in...
Olympic ticket sales for Paris Games get off to rocky start
PARIS — Organizers of next year’s Paris Olympics promised relatively modest prices and egalitarian access to events, thanks to an online system meant to revolutionize ticket sales and bring the masses to stadiums and arenas for as little as $26. As the month-long opening round of sales winds down, however,...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Basketball’s best ever? Give me Wilt Chamberlain
This past Thursday was the 61st anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in an NBA game. That game had a lot of quirks, not least Chamberlain hitting the century mark. It was a neutral-site game played in Hershey. That was the state of the NBA then: A game played...
Kurt Kitayama handles a windy Bay Hill as Jon Rahm faltersVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Kurt Kitayama is chasing his first PGA Tour victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a world-class group of contenders right behind him. Kitayama should be used to that. Last year alone, he fell one shot sort of Jon Rahm in Mexico, Xander Schauffele in Scotland and...
Medvedev beats Djokovic, to face Rublev in Dubai final
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Daniil Medvedev ended Novak Djokovic’s 20-match winning streak by beating the world’s top-ranked player 6-4, 6-4 to reach the final at the Dubai Championships on Friday. The third-seeded Medvedev will face defending champion Andrey Rublev in an all-Russian final of the hard-court tournament. The former...
Paris Olympics sports bodies seek IOC clarity on Russia
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Ongoing uncertainty about letting Russian athletes try to qualify for the Paris Olympics affects “less than half” of its 32 sports, the umbrella group of Summer Games governing bodies said on Friday. Those sports have an urgent need for more clarity from the International Olympic Committee with...
Antoine Davis finishes shy of passing Pete Maravich scoring mark
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Antoine Davis outscored them all — except for “Pistol” Pete. Detroit Mercy’s star guard finished four points shy of surpassing Pete Maravich as the NCAA career scoring leader Thursday night, scoring 22 in a gritty 71-66 loss to Youngstown State in the Horizon League tournament. Davis came...
Jon Rahm has big finish for 65 and the lead at Bay HillVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Jon Rahm started his round strong and ended it even better Thursday, closing eagle-birdie-birdie for a 7-under-par 65 and a two-shot lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Not even the brute test of Bay Hill was a match for golf’s hottest player. “Amazing round of golf,” he...
Gunmen leave Argentine soccer star Messi a menacing message
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Gunmen left a threatening message Thursday for Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi and opened fire at a supermarket owned by his in-laws in Argentina’s third-largest city, police said. Nobody was injured in the early morning attack, and it was unclear why assailants would target Messi or...
Stewart follows heart, begins full-time drag-racing careerVideo
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Tony Stewart usually lets guys with families hit the runway first following NASCAR races. The Hall of Fame driver who’s now a team owner and part-time television commentator figures it helps them get home and see their kids before bedtime. It’s a noble gesture, for sure, one...
PGA Tour moves toward elite field with no cuts for 2024Video
ORLANDO, Fla. — The PGA Tour is moving toward an elite schedule in 2024 with 16 designated events — half of them with no more than 80-man fields and no cuts — along with a chance for players on the outside to play their way in. Still to be finalized...
Georgia star Jalen Carter charged with racing in fatal wreck
ATLANTA — Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter, projected as one of the top players in next month’s NFL draft, has been charged with reckless driving and racing in conjunction with the crash that killed offensive lineman Devin Willock and a recruiting staff member. The Athens-Clarke County Police Department has issued...
New NCAA president says NIL rules could protect athletes
As Charlie Baker takes over as NCAA president, he brings a different way of thinking about one of the most important and polarizing issues in college athletics: regulating how student-athletes monetize their fame. To Baker, athletes such as quarterback recruit Jaden Rashada and Miami basketball players Hanna and Haley Cavinder...
Just Fontaine, who scored 13 goals at 1958 World Cup, dies
PARIS — Just Fontaine, the French soccer great who scored a record 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup, has died. He was 89. Fontaine’s former club Reims and the French soccer federation confirmed his death on Wednesday. Fontaine took six games to achieve his feat at the 1958 tournament...
Kobe Bryant family settles photo lawsuit for $28.5 million
LOS ANGELES — The family of the late Kobe Bryant has agreed to a $28.5 million settlement with Los Angeles County to resolve the remaining claims in a lawsuit over deputies and firefighters sharing grisly photos of the NBA star, his 13-year-old daughter and other victims killed in a 2020...
