ap Page 703 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Blazers pull away in 4th, earn pivotal win over Nuggets
Deni Avdija scored a season-high 36 points on 12-of-16 shooting to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a convincing 128-109 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets on Friday night.,Shaedon Sharpe added 23 points as Portland (32-39) won its fourth straight game. Avdija made four 3-pointers and also h...

Oregon jumps out to huge lead, blows out Liberty
Jackson Shelstad scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting to help fifth-seeded Oregon trounce 12th-seeded Liberty 81-52 on Friday night in East Region first-round play of the NCAA Tournament at Seattle.,Nate Bittle contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds and Keeshawn Barthelemy added 10 points for the Duc...

Kevin Durant delivers 42 points as Suns take down Cavaliers
Kevin Durant scored 42 points, including a clutch 3-pointer that helped snuff out a late Cleveland rally, as the host Phoenix Suns scored their third straight win with a 123-112 defeat of the Cavaliers on Friday.,Durant's 3-pointer with 70 seconds remaining in regulation came as Cleveland (56-14) wa...

Coen Carr, Michigan State brush aside Bryant in NCAA opener
Coen Carr came off the bench to produce 18 points and nine rebounds as No. 2 seed Michigan State defeated No. 15 seed Bryant 87-62 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's South Region on Friday in Cleveland.,Jase Richardson supplied 15 points and Tre Holloman contributed 14 for the Spartans (28-...

Thorns, Angel City play to draw after first-half goals
Reilyn Turner scored a goal in the 30th minute and the Portland Thorns finished off a 1-1 draw against visiting Angel City FC in their home opener Friday night., ,Turner's first goal in her second season in Portland helped the Thorns (0-1-1, 1 point) rebound from a 3-1 road loss to the Kansas City C...

No. 8 UConn staves off No. 9 Oklahoma's rally
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Solo Ball scored 14 points and Alex Karaban provided 10 of his 13 points in the last 11 minutes to help two-time defending champion UConn survive a West Region first-round game against Oklahoma 67-59 on Friday night.,It was a game-long tussle for the eighth-seeded Huskies, but they ...

Illinois pulls away from Xavier, earns date with Kentucky
MILWAUKEE -- Will Riley scored 22 points and Tomislav Ivisic added 20 points and 10 rebounds to pace sixth-seeded Illinois to an 86-73 victory over 11th-seeded Xavier in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Region on Friday.,Illinois (22-12) advances to a Sunday second-round game against...

Kristaps Porzingis, streaking Celtics charge past Jazz
Kristaps Porzingis compiled 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as the Boston Celtics posted a 121-99 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday in Salt Lake City.,Jayson Tatum added 26 points for Boston (51-19), which has won four games in a row and nine of the past 10. Reserves Payton Pritchard and S...

Kyle Larson begins bid for Homestead sweep with Truck win
HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Kyle Larson made a dramatic run to the checkered flag, rallying from a late-race spinout to methodically race back through the field and pass the night's most dominant trucks in the final 10 laps to claim victory in Friday's Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway., ,It was ...

Mavericks end 4-game skid by dumping Pistons
Spencer Dinwiddie scored a season-high 31 points and P.J. Washington added 27 as the Dallas Mavericks snapped a four-game losing streak with a 123-117 win over the visiting Detroit Pistons on Friday.,Dallas (34-37) withstood a late rally when Brandon Williams converted a three-point play with 16.9 s...

Iga Swiatek, other top seeds have breezy day in Miami
No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula and No. 5 seed Madison Keys were all straight-sets winners Friday in the second round of the Miami Open.,Swiatek had to save a set point in the second set on her way to defeating France's Caroline Garcia 6-2, 7-5.,"My energy level got down ...

Rockets run win streak to 9 with victory over skidding Heat
Fred VanVleet scored 13 of his game-high 37 points in the fourth quarter as the Houston Rockets won their ninth straight game, defeating the host Miami Heat 102-98 on Friday night.,After scoring just three points in the first quarter, VanVleet scored nine in the second and 12 in the third to get goi...

Spurs relinquish big lead, bounce back to beat Sixers
Jeremy Sochan racked up 23 points and Stephon Castle amassed 17 points and 14 assists as the host San Antonio Spurs defeated the depleted Philadelphia 76ers 128-120 on Friday night.,The Spurs led by a dozen points at halftime and by 16 with seven minutes left in the third quarter until Philadelphia ...

Thunder eviscerate injury-riddled Hornets 141-106
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 141-106 home win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night.,A night after the Thunder clinched the top spot in the Western Conference, Oklahoma City poured it on early to leave little doubt about the outcome.,Both teams...

Wolves get payback in 41-point blowout of Pelicans
Julius Randle scored 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor as the Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 134-93 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night in Minneapolis., ,Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels added 17 points apiece for Minnesota (41-31), which bounced back from a loss ag...

No. 4 Arizona clobbers 13th-seeded Akron in East mismatch
Jaden Bradley recorded 19 points and six rebounds to help fourth-seeded Arizona roll to a 93-65 victory over 13th-seeded Akron on Friday in East Region first-round play at Seattle.,Trey Townsend added 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and collected eight rebounds, and Carter Bryant had 12 points and thre...

Balanced offense leads New Mexico past Marquette
Donovan Dent scored 21 points on Friday night to lead four Lobos in double figures, as 10th-seeded New Mexico pulled a mild upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, eliminating seventh-seeded Marquette 75-66 in a South Region game in Cleveland.,Nelly Junior Joseph added 19 points and seven r...

No. 1 Florida has no trouble with No. 16 Norfolk State
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Walter Clayton Jr. scored 23 points and top-seeded Florida built a big early lead on the way to dismissing No. 16 Norfolk State with a 95-69 victory in the West Region first-round game Friday night.,Alijah Martin added 17 points, Thomas Haugh had 13 and Alex Condon 12 for the Gators...

Kentucky puts away Troy with second-half surge
MILWAUKEE -- Otega Oweh had 20 points and three others scored in double figures as No. 3 seed Kentucky pulled away in the second half for a 76-57 victory over No. 14 seed Troy in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Region on Friday.,The Wildcats (23-11) will face the winner of sixth-see...

Penguins hand Blue Jackets sixth straight loss
Alex Nedeljkovic made 44 saves to backstop the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-3 win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.,Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell each had a goal and an assist and Evgeni Malkin, Noel Acciari and Bokondji Imama also scored for the Penguins (29-32-1...