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T25 MEN’S BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Jayhawks take outright Big 12 crown
UNDATED (AP) — Top-ranked Kansas has wrapped up the Big 12 regular-season title with a little help from West Virginia.
Devon Dotson had 17 points and the Jayhawks finished 17-1 in the conference be defeating Texas Tech, 66-62. Udoka Azubuike (oo-DOH’-kah az-ah-BOO’-kay) was the key man for the Jayhawks, providing 15 points, 11 rebounds and a putback with 1:41 left that put them ahead to stay.
Baylor’s big chance for a share of the conference title ended when the Mountaineers used a big second half to down the fourth-ranked Bears, 76-64. West Virginia went on a 21-5 run and held Baylor without a field goal for eight minutes midway through the second half.
Emmitt Matthews scored a season-high 18 points and freshman Oscar Tshiebwe (SHEEB’-way) added 16 with 12 rebounds for WVU.
In other top 25 games Saturday:
— Obi Toppin (OH’-bee TAH’-pihn) contributed 27 points and third-ranked Dayton rolled George Washington 76-51 on Saturday to finish the regular season with its school-record 29th victory. Jalen Crutcher added 21 points on 5-for-8 shooting from 3-point range in the Flyers’ 20th straight win, matching the team mark set in 1951-52.
— Sam Merrill scored 17 of his 27 points in the second half, including a contested 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to lift Utah State to a 59-56 victory over No. 5 San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament championship. Neemias Queta scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half for the Aggies, who trailed 27-11 in the first half and at one point went nearly 13 minutes without making a field goal.
— Sixth-ranked Kentucky rallied from 18 down to beat Florida, 71-70 at Gainesville. Nick Richards scored 17 of his 19 points after halftime to help the Wildcats avoid their first losing streak in three months.
— No. 7 Florida State clinched the ACC regular-season title with its 16th consecutive home win, 80-62 against Boston College. Balsa Koprivica (koh-prih-VEET’-suh) posted 15 points and Dominik Olejniczak (oh-LAY’-nee-chuhk) had 14 points as the Seminoles finished 16-4 in the conference.
— No. 22 Virginia picked up its eighth straight win as Mamadi Diakite (MAH’-mah-dee dee-ah-KEE’-tay) contributed 17 points and eight rebounds to a 57-54 downing of 10th-ranked Louisville. Kihei (KEE’-hay) Clark posted 18 points had a team-high 18 points for the Cavaliers, whose late-season surge allowed them to finish in a tie for second in the ACC.
— Marcus Zegarowski made all five of his 3-pointers and finished with 23 points to lead 11th-ranked Creighton to a 77-60 victory against No. 8 Seton Hall and a share of the Big East regular-season title. The Bluejays finished the game on a 21-6 run, won for the 11th time in 13 games and came away with the top seed in next week’s conference tournament.
— Vernon Carey Jr. poured in 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead 12th-ranked Duke to an 89-76 win against arch-rival North Carolina. Tre Jones had 21 points and Cassius Stanley added 19 as the Blue Devils finished in a second-place tie with Virginia in the ACC.
— Jermaine Samuels had a 3-point play with 5.6 seconds left as No. 14 Villanova survived a late scare to defeat Georgetown 70-69. Saddiq Bey (sah-DEEK’ bay) led the Wildcats with 18 points.
— Samir Doughty made eight of 13 3-pointers and finished with 32 points as 17th-ranked Auburn beat Tennessee 85-63 to end a two-game slide. Doughty finished one off his career high in points, going 10 of 17 from the floor overall.
— Miller Kopp provided 22 points and Northwestern pulled away in the second half to beat No. 20 Penn State, 80-69. The Wildcats scored a season-high 46 points in the second half and ended a seven-game home losing streak.
— Nate Reuvers (REE’-vurs) scored 17 points and No. 24 Wisconsin held Indiana to just one basket over the final 10 minutes of a 60-56 comeback over the Hoosiers. The win gives the Badgers at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season crown.
NBA-SCHEDULE
Rockets lose again
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Houston Rockets have fallen another game behind Utah in the battle for the fourth seed in the NBA’s Western Conference and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Rockets have lost three straight after winning six straight and 10 of 12.
Terry Rozier scored 24 points and had six assists for the fast-starting Hornets in a 108-99 win over the Rockets. Charlotte roared ahead 20-0 while Houston missed five 3-pointers and committed eight turnovers on its first 12 possessions.
Devonte Graham had 23 points and PJ Washington added 22 to help the Hornets end a three-game losing streak.
The Rockets wasted James Harden’s triple-double of 30 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds while Russell Westbrook sat out the game.
Houston is 1 ½ games behind the Jazz in the West and only one game ahead of Dallas for the Southwest Division lead.
The Jazz picked up their fifth straight win as Bojan (BOY’-ahn) Bogdanovic furnished 32 points in their 111-105 decision over the Pistons. Donovan Mitchell scored 25 for Utah, which squandered a 22-point, first-half lead before going on an 18-2 run in the fourth quarter.
The Jazz swept a four-game road trip that also included games against the Cavaliers, Knicks and Celtics.
Checking out Saturday’s other NBA action:
— Kevin Love scored 27 points including the go-ahead basket with four minutes remaining as the Cavaliers downed the Nuggets, 104-102 to complete a sweep of the two-game season series. Collin Sexton also scored 27 points and Matthew Dellavedova (deh-lah-veh-DOH’-vah) had a career-high 14 assists to help Cleveland end a four-game losing streak.
NBA-NEWS
Kenny Atkinson out as Nets coach
UNDATED (AP) — The Brooklyn Nets have made a surprising coaching change with the team on track for a second consecutive playoff berth.
The Nets have parted company with Kenny Atkinson and put assistant Jacque Vaughn in charge for the rest of the season. The move comes with the team 28-34 and seventh in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
General manager Sean Marks says it was a mutual decision.
Atkinson was 118-190 in 3 1/2 seasons of his first NBA head coaching job.
Also in the NBA:
— Warriors guard Stephen Curry missed Saturday’s game against the 76ers because of the flu. The team also said that Curry is not at specific risk for COVID-19 or coronavirus.
— The Pacers say point guard Malcolm Brogdon will be out indefinitely with a torn left hip muscle. Brogdon is listed as week to week.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Flyers extend win streak, stay tied with Caps
UNDATED (AP) — The Philadelphia Flyers have retained their share of first place in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division by earning their ninth consecutive win.
Claude Giroux’s second goal of the game snapped a 1-1 tie midway through the third period of the Flyers’ 3-1 victory at Buffalo. Carter Hart turned back 38 shots in winning his seventh straight decision and 10th in his last 11 games.
Both the Flyers and Capitals top the division with 89 points.
Washington kept pace with a 5-2 win over the Penguins as Nic Dowd scored twice for the first multi-goal game of his career. Nicklas Backstrom, Richard Panik and TJ Oshie (OH'-shee) also scored to back Braden Holtby, who stopped 26 shots in the Caps’ fifth victory in their last 14 games.
The Penguins lost for the seventh time in nine games to fall five points behind the Capitals. Sidney Crosby scored for the third straight game and Evgeni Malkin notched his 22nd for Pittsburgh.
The Flyers begin their game two points behind Washington.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— Tampa Bay ended the Bruins’ four-game losing streak as Anthony Cirelli and Mikhail Sergachev (SUR’-gah-chehv) scored short-handed goals just 62 seconds apart in the first period of the Lightning’s 5-3 victory at Boston. David Pastrnak (PAHS’-tur-nahk) scored his 48th goal for the Bruins, who trailed 3-0 after one period and watched their lead in the Atlantic Division shrink to seven points over the Bolts.
— The Predators pulled out a 1-0 win over the Stars as Juuse Saros (YOO’-see SAH’-rohs) blanked Dallas for the second straight game. Ryan Ellis scored a power-play goal in support of Saros, who made 37 saves in his fourth shutout of the season and 11th overall.
— Vincent Trochek’s first goal as a Hurricane was the game-winner 1:36 into overtime as Carolina downed the Islanders, 3-2 to end a four-game skid. Josh Bailey tied it with 4:58 left in regulation before New York fell to 0-3-3 in its last six games.
— Dustin Brown had three goals and an assist in the Kings’ fifth straight win, 7-3 over the Wild. Blake Lizotte and Trevor Moore scored 53 seconds apart in the second period to help Los Angeles improve to 8-2-1 in its last 11 games.
— The Rangers are three points out of a playoff berth after Travis Zajac (ZAY’-jak) and Kyle Palmieri each had a pair of goals in the Devils’ 6-4 win against New York. Blueshirts netminder Igor Shesterkin (shehs-TUR’-kihn) allowed five goals on 23 shots over two periods in his first game since sustaining a rib fracture in a car accident on Feb. 23.
— Mike Hoffman had a goal and an assist while the Panthers scored three times in the third period to down the Canadiens, 4-1. Chris Driedger (DREE’-gur) stopped 33 shots on a night Florida retired Roberto Luongo’s (loo-AHN’-gohz) jersey No. 1.
— Chris Tierney atoned for his missed penalty shot by scoring 35 seconds into overtime to give the Senators their fourth win in five games, 2-1 at San Jose. Nick Paul also tallied and Craig Anderson stopped 31 shots as Ottawa took the opener of a five-game road trip.
PGA-ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL
Hatton leads through 54
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Tyrrell Hatton is the third-round leader at the Arnold Palmer Invitational as he seeks his first PGA Tour victory.
Hatton braved strong winds in shooting a 1-over 73 that puts him two strokes ahead of Rory McIlroy and Marc Leishman. Hatton has earned four international victories during his career.
McIlroy also shot a 73 to fall into a tie with Leishman, who carded a 72. Four others are within three strokes of the lead.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPORTS
NBA tells teams to plan for empty arenas
UNDATED (AP) — The NBA wants its teams to prepare to play games without fans if necessary because of the coronavirus crisis. The league circulated a memo to its teams Friday telling them to prepare in case it becomes necessary to play games without fans or media, as sports leagues in Europe have already done. The memo detailed potential actions that teams might need to take “if it were to become necessary to play a game with only essential staff present.”
The memo, obtained by The Associated Press, says teams should identify which team and arena people would be needed to conduct games, and be able to communicate quickly with non-essential staff, as well as ticket holders and corporate partners.
In other virus-related developments:
— The Islanders and Hurricanes conducted postgame interviews outside their dressing rooms Saturday in an effort to avoid the spread of illness. Players convened in the hallway or near the corridor where the Islanders skate onto the ice.
— The Giants, Nationals, A's and other teams are taking Major League Baseball's recommendation and pre-signing cards and baseballs to hand out to fans, cutting down on interactions around the ballpark. At the Giants' complex in Scottsdale, Arizona, stadium personnel disinfected railings shortly before fans arrived for an afternoon game against the White Sox, and the team is spending extra time sanitizing around the clubhouse and other facilities.
— The women’s world hockey championships in Canada have been canceled because of the virus. The two-week tournament was set to open March 31, with venues in Halifax and Truro, Nova Scotia. The 2003 tournament scheduled for Beijing was called off because of the SARS outbreak in China.
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