TOP 25 MEN’S BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Duke rips Notre Dame
UNDATED (AP) β Top-ranked Kentucky went the comeback route in maintaining its perfect record.
The Wildcats trailed by nine in the first half and were behind midway through the second before pulling out a 68-61 victory at Florida. Aaron Harrison scored a team-high 23 points to help Kentucky beat the Gators for the first time in four tries. Karl-Anthony Towns added 19 as the Wildcats improved to 23-0 overall and 10-0 in the SEC.
There were several matchups of top-25 teams on Saturday.
Kyle Wiltjer had a strong game in Gonzaga’s 81-70 win over San Francisco, finishing with 29 points and 11 rebounds for the second-ranked Bulldogs. Kevin Pangos had 16 points as the Zags improved to 24-1.
Jahlil Okafor (jah-LIHL OH’-kah-forh) contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds as fourth-ranked Duke hammered No. 10 Notre Dame 90-60. Fellow freshman Justise Winslow added 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who shot a blistering 81 percent in the first half and used an early 43-7 run to give the Irish their worst loss since 1999.
Third-ranked Virginia allowed just 13 points in the first half of a 52-47 victory over No. 9 Louisville. Malcolm Brogdon scored 15 points, including a half of big free throws after the Cardinals got within 50-47 with 18 seconds left.
Darrun Hilliard II dropped in 15 points and seventh-ranked Villanova improved to 21-2 by topping No. 24 Georgetown 69-53. The Wildcats built a 14-point halftime lead after being blown out by the Hoyas in their last meeting on Jan. 19
Rico Gathers had 17 points and 16 rebounds as 19th-ranked Baylor downed No. 15 West Virginia 87-69 in Morgantown. Royce O’Neale and Taurean Prince added 15 points apiece for Baylor, which was never threatened after building a 22-point advantage in the first half.
In other top-25 action:
β Fifth-ranked Wisconsin picked up its sixth straight win as Bronson Koenig and Sam Dekkar each had 16 points in a 65-50 decision over Northwestern. Nigel Hayes added 11 points and eight rebounds as the Badgers improved to 21-2 overall and 9-1 in the Big Ten.
β Bo Barnes scored 18 points and Arizona State avenged a January loss against Arizona by downing the sixth-ranked Wildcats 81-78. Savon Goodman had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Sun Devils, who hit 7 of 15 from 3-point range.
β Eighth-ranked Kansas was upset as Le’Bryan Nash scored 18 points to lead Oklahoma State’s 67-62 victory over the Jayhawks. Kansas was held to 27 percent shooting in the second half after carrying an 11-point lead into intermission.
β Jameel McKay scored 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting in his first start to lead No. 11 Iowa State to a 75-38 rout of Texas Tech.
β Isaiah Hicks scored 21 points and Brice Johnson had a double-double of 20 and 10 rebounds as 12th-ranked North Carolina topped Boston College 79-68 to end a two-game skid.
β Brandon Taylor nailed a career-high six 3-pointers and finished with 18 points as No. 13 Utah clobbered Colorado 79-51.
β Seth Tuttle scored 16 points and Matt Bohannon added 14 as 14th-ranked Northern Iowa earned its 11th straight win, beating Drake 69-53.
β Fred VanVleet had Wichita State’s first triple-double in 43 years, delivering 10 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in the 16th-ranked Shockers, 78-35 laugher against Missouri State.
β Marcus Posley capped his 15-point performance by scooping in a six-footer off the backboard at the buzzer to lift St. Bonaventure over No. 18 VCU 73-71.
β No. 21 Oklahoma earned its fourth straight Big 12 win as Ryan Spangler scored 21 points and Buddy Hield chipped in 16 to highlight a 68-56 victory over TCU.
β No. 22 Butler was an 83-73 winner over DePaul behind Kellen Dunham’s 24 points.
β Nic Moore poured in 23 points Cannen Cunningham added a career-high 16 as No. 23 SMU topped Tulsa 68-57.
β Isaiah Taylor scored 23 points, including two foul shots with one second left that sent No. 25 Texas over Kansas State 61-57.
NBA-SCHEDULE
Warriors go Green, beat Knicks
UNDATED (AP) β Stephen (STEH’-fehn) Curry and Klay Thompson combined to shoot just 13-for-40 for the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. Fortunately, the Warriors had Draymond Green on their team and the woeful New York Knicks as their opponents.
Green had 20 points and 13 rebounds as the Warriors handled the Knicks 106-92. Curry shot 5-for-9 from 3-point range but was just 8-for-18 overall in scoring 19 points. Thompson finished with 16 points on just 5-of-22 shooting, but the Warriors still bounced back from Friday’s battle of conference leaders in Atlanta.
Elsewhere in the NBA:
β Dirk Nowitzki hit a 3-pointer that forced overtime before Chandler Parsons scored 10 of his 20 points in the extra period to lead Dallas past Portland 111-101. Nowitzki finished with 25 points for the Mavericks, who trailed by 11 with two minutes left in regulation before sending the Trail Blazers to their seventh straight road loss.
β John Wall scored 17 points and Washington ended a five-game losing streak by ripping Brooklyn 114-77. Rasual (rah-SOOL’) Butler had 15 points in the Wizards’ most lopsided win of the season.
β Chicago’s three-game skid is over after Pau Gasol (pow gah-SAHL’) had 20 points and 15 rebounds in the Bulls’ 107-72 pounding of New Orleans. Derrick Rose added 20 points for the Bulls, who went on a 40-11 run after Pelicans All-Star Anthony Davis hurt his right shoulder in the second quarter.
β Brandon Knight scored 26 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo (YAH’-nihs ahn-teh-toh-KUHN’-poh) added 14 and 11 rebounds Milwaukee held off Boston 96-93. Knight buried a jumper with about six seconds left to help the Bucks complete their sixth win in seven games.
β Robert Covington contributed 11 of his game-high 22 points while Philadelphia was outscoring Charlotte 28-13 in the third quarter of an 89-81 triumph over the Hornets.
β Gordon Hayward scored a game-high 30 points in Utah’s 102-90 win over Sacramento.
NBA-PAUL-FINE
NBA hits Paul with 25K fine
NEW YORK (AP) β Chris Paul is $25,000 lighter.
The NBA has fined the Los Angeles Clippers guard for criticizing an official following Thursday’s 105-94 loss to Cleveland. Paul was given a technical by Lauren Holtkamp and afterward said the call was “ridiculous.” He seemed to imply that one of the NBA’s two female officials may have been in over her head, saying “this might not be for her.”
He later clarified that he was only upset with the call made by Holtkamp, who is in her first full season as an NBA ref.
NFL-BILLS-INCOGNITO
Bills help Incognito revive his career
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) β The Buffalo Bills have agreed in principle to sign offensive guard Richie Incognito.
The nine-year veteran didn’t play last season after being one of the central figures in the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal. He hasn’t played since being suspended and missing the final eight games of the 2013 season.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-ARKANSAS-BIELEMA
Bielema gets extension
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) β Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema (BEE’-leh-mah) has signed a two-year contract extension after guiding the Razorbacks to a 7-6 record and their first bowl berth in three seasons last year. The new package means Bielema is locked up through 2020 and raises his buyout if the former Wisconsin coach leaves for another job. The Razorbacks rose from 76th to 10th in total defense last season, ended a 17-game SEC losing streak and clobbered Texas 31-7 in the Texas Bowl.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Kings end Lightning’s home streak
UNDATED (AP) β The Los Angeles Kings picked up a big victory as the defending Stanley Cup champs scramble for a Western Conference playoff berth.
Justin Williams scored twice and the Kings ended Tampa Bay’s 10-game home winning streak by downing the Lightning 4-2. Tyler Toffoli (tah-FOH’-lee) put the Kings ahead to stay just 93 seconds into the game.
The Lightning’s loss gave the Detroit a chance to grab a share of the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division leads, and the Red Wings took advantage by defeating the Coyotes 3-1 in Arizona. Tomas Tatar (tah-TAHR’) scored the game-winner and had two assists as the Wings earned their third straight victory and ninth in their last 10 games.
Also on ice:
β Nashville leads the Central Division by two points over St. Louis after Mike Ribeiro (rih-BEHR’-oh) scored a tiebreaking goal with 7:14 remaining to send the Predators past the New York Rangers, 3-2. Pekka Rinne (PEK’-uh REE’-nay) stopped 30 shots to help the Predators send the Rangers to just their third loss in 12 games.
β Tomas Plekanec (pleh-KAH’-nehts) and Dale Weise (wees) scored twice in Montreal’s 6-2 drubbing of New Jersey. The Canadiens ended a two-game skid and moved within two points of the Atlantic Division-leading Lightning.
β Boston prevented the Islanders from taking over the Metropolitan Division lead as Loui Eriksson’s goal with 7:34 remaining gave the Bruins a 2-1 triumph over New York. Tuukka (TOO’-kah) Rask stopped 39 shots and was perfect after John Tavares beat him midway through the first period.
β The Islanders remain one point off the Metropolitan Division lead after first-place Pittsburgh was blanked 5-0 in Vancouver. Alex Burrows had a goal and an assist to back Ryan Miller, who stopped 31 shots on his sixth shutout of the season.
β Carolina blew a 3-1 lead in the third period before Andrej Sekera (AHN’-dray she-KEHR’-uh) scored the go-ahead goal with 4:51 left to send the Hurricanes past San Jose 5-4. Tomas Hertl (HUR’-tul) scored twice in the Sharks’ third loss in four games.
β Toronto’s team-record 11-game losing streak is over after Richard Panik, Phil Kessel (KES’-ul) and Morgan Rielly scored during a 4 Β½-minute span in the second period of the Maple Leafs’ 5-1 romp over Edmonton.
β Cam Atkinson and Scott Hartnell each had a goal and an assist while Columbus scored four times in the third period to beat Ottawa 4-1.
β Jonas Enroth stopped 38 shots and Zemgus Girgensons (GUR’-gehn-suhnz) had a goal and an assist in Buffalo’s 3-2 triumph over Dallas.
β Charlie Coyle provided the game-winner and Devan Dubnyk (DOOB’-nihk) posted his second straight shutout by stopping 18 shots in Minnesota’s 1-0 win over Colorado.
MLB-A’s-PARKER
A’s beat Parker in arbitration
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) β Oakland Athletics pitcher Jarrod Parker has lost his salary arbitration case after missing the entire 2014 season due to Tommy John surgery.
He will receive $850,000 this season instead of the $1.7 million he was seeking.
Parker is 25-16 with a 3.68 ERA in 62 starts since making his big league debut for Arizona in 2011. He was 12-8 with a 3.97 earned run average in 32 starts for the 2013 A’s and won his only postseason start that season.
GOLF-CASPER-OBIT
Billy Casper dies
SAN DIEGO (AP) β Golf great Billy Casper has died of a heart attack in his Utah home at 83.
Casper won 51 times on the PGA Tour, putting him at No. 7 on the career list behind only Sam Snead, Tiger Woods, Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Byron Nelson. His most memorable major victory came at the 1966 U.S. Open, when rallied from a seven-shot deficit on the back nine at Olympic Club before beating Palmer in an 18-hole playoff.
PGA-FARMERS INSURANCE
English on top
SAN DIEGO (AP) β J.B. Holmes and Harris English will be the co-leaders heading into the final round of the PGA’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
J.B. Holmes birdied all but one of the par 5s for a 4-under 68 that puts him 9-under for the tournament. English led by as many as three shots early until a double-bogey on No. 4, ending his string of 39 holes at par or better.
Spencer Levin, Chad Campbell, Lucas Glover, Nick Watney and Jimmy Walker are one shot back.
LPGA-BAHAMAS CLASSIC
Piller leads when play is stopped
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) β Gerina Piller was the leader when the third round of the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic was suspended because of darkness.
Piller made the turn Saturday at 3-under, leaving her at minus-10 when the round was stopped.
Lexi Thompson was a stroke back along with Sandra Gal, Brooke Pancake, Kelly Shon, Sei Young Kim and Perrine Delacour.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Four-way tie through 36 following Bryant’s albatross
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) β Bart Bryant holed out with a 6-iron from 195 yards on the par-5 18th hole for the first double eagle on the Champions Tour since 2010.
Bryant carded a second-round 69 to join Paul Goydos, Tom Pernice Jr. and Canada’s Rod Spittle atop the leader board at 9-under 135. Bryant had bogeyed four of his previous seven holes before his first career albatross.
TENNIS-POLAND-RUSSIA
Russia defeats Poland to advance in Fed Cup
KRAKOW, Poland (AP) β Maria Sharapova defeated Agnieszka Radwanska (ahg-nee-ESH’-kuh rahd-VAHN’-skuh) 6-1, 7-5 Sunday as Russia advanced to the semifinals of the Fed Cup with an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the World Group tie.
Radwanska also lost on Saturday to Svetlana Kuznetsova while Sharapova beat Agnieszka’s younger sister, Urszula Radwanska.
Russia next hosts the winner of the match between Germany and Australia.
