l Page 1442 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Minnesota fires Ben Johnson after four seasons at alma mater
Minnesota fired Ben Johnson on Thursday morning after four years as the head coach at his alma mater.,The Golden Gophers finished with a 15-17 record (7-13 Big Ten) after dropping a 72-64 setback to Northwestern on Wednesday in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. The loss was Minnesota's fift...

No. 20 Purdue focused on task at hand in game vs. USC
Purdue isn't in the position to overlook anyone in the Big Ten tournament, particularly after five losses in seven games to conclude the regular season.,Thoughts of making a deep run have been replaced with a single-game focus as the No. 6 seed Boilermakers (21-10) open play with a second-round matc...
We Learned Nothing From Thunder vs. Celtics NBA Finals Preview
There was way too much hype surrounding Wednesday night's Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics matchup, and we learned nothing from the presumed NBA Finals preview....

Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton set sights on DePaul
NEW YORK -- Ryan Kalkbrenner saw his name mentioned in conjunction with another Big East player who enjoyed a storied NBA career at Madison Square Garden.,Kalkbrenner joined Patrick Ewing as the only second player to be named as a four-time winner of the Big East's Defensive Player of the Year award...
Aaron Rodgers Is Holding the Steelers Hostage, and They Might Deserve It
Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley said Aaron Rodgers is holding the Pittsburgh Steelers hostage, and they might deserve it for entertaining the circus for this long....

UConn, Alex Karaban begin Big East tourney title defense vs. Villanova
NEW YORK -- While UConn experienced some uneven moments during the regular season, the two-time defending national champion seemed to figure things out in the final two weeks of the regular season and could be starting to peak again.,The Huskies start defense of their Big East tournament title with ...

Baylor looks to regain upper hand vs. No. 9 Texas Tech
Second-seeded Texas Tech will look for a season sweep of seventh-seeded Baylor when the two collide Thursday evening in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo.,In their first meeting, Texas Tech won 73-59 in Lubbock, Texas, on Feb. 4. The Bears have captured three o...

No. 13 Louisville puts 9-game win streak on line vs. Stanford
Louisville arrived this week at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Charlotte, N.C., as the hottest team in the league, having won nine straight games and 19 of its past 20.,It's a remarkable turnaround from last season, when the Cardinals entered the event on a seven-game losing streak and ...

No. 24 Illinois aims to continue ascent vs. Iowa
Illinois' up-and-down season is pointing in the right direction ahead of its opening game in the Big Ten Tournament against 15th-seeded Iowa on Thursday evening in Indianapolis.,Less than three weeks ago, the seventh-seeded Fighting Illini (20-11) were a flu-wracked, defenseless mess. They were comi...

Upstart Colorado faces tall task in clash vs. No. 2 Houston
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- There's a much-used expression in March, when every game can be a team's last of the season. Survive and advance.,Colorado has survived twice this season in the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City, Mo., but advancing means a matchup with the No. 2 team in the nation, Houston, on T...

Wake Forest, UNC enter ACC matchup clinging to NCAA bubble
CHARLOTTE -- North Carolina and Wake Forest meet in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals with similar mindsets in terms of their overall postseason outlook.,Many projections suggest both teams need a victory Thursday afternoon to keep alive their NCAA Tournament hopes.,"Our eyes an...

Past two No. 1 picks face off as Blackhawks battle Sharks
The first overall picks of the past two NHL drafts will finally oppose each other when Connor Bedard's Chicago Blackhawks visit Macklin Celebrini's San Jose Sharks on Thursday.,The teams split their first two meetings in October, but Celebrini didn't play in either matchup due to a lower-body injury...

No. 18 Wisconsin attempts to regroup against Northwestern
Wisconsin looks to bounce back from its disappointing end to the regular season when the 18th-ranked Badgers face Northwestern Thursday afternoon in the second round of the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis.,The 13th-seeded Wildcats (17-15) advanced with a 72-64 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday ...

No. 6 St. John's stirs 1980s memories prepping for Butler
NEW YORK -- For the first time in nearly 40 years, St. John's enters the Big East tournament as the top seed.,After winning their first outright regular-season title since the 1984-85 season, the No. 6 Red Storm (27-4) open their quest to win their first conference tournament since 2000 when they fa...

Top-ranked Duke prepared for test from Georgia Tech
CHARLOTTE -- Duke will play with the No. 1 national ranking next to its name for the first time this season when it takes the court in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals Thursday afternoon.,The Blue Devils face Georgia Tech with hopes of solidifying an NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed....

Caps' Pierre-Luc Dubois faces former team in visit to L.A.
Pierre-Luc Dubois didn't last long with the Los Angeles Kings. Just one season into his eight-year contract, he was traded to the Washington Capitals last June for goalie Darcy Kuemper.,Dubois will make his first return to Los Angeles when the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals, who have won five i...

Former Arkansas, NBA C Oliver Miller dies at 54
Oliver Miller, who starred at center for Arkansas ahead of a lengthy NBA career, died at age 54, the National Basketball Retired Players Association announced on Wednesday.,No cause of death was stated.,<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The basketball community has lost a Lege...

Mikal Bridges' OT buzzer-beater lifts Knicks over Blazers
Mikal Bridges scored 33 points and drilled the winning 3-pointer as time expired in overtime to give the New York Knicks a 114-113 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.,Deni Avdija converted a three-point play with 3.4 seconds left to put Portland ahead by two before the Knicks ra...

Utah nips Ducks, remains in thick of wild-card hunt
Dylan Guenther had a goal and an assist for the Utah Hockey Club in a 3-2 win against the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.,Jack McBain and Alexander Kerfoot also scored and Karel Vejmelka made 19 saves for Utah, which ran its point streak to four games (2-0-2) and moved w...

Magic next to face Pelicans, 'unguardable' Zion Williamson
The New Orleans Pelicans have been restricting Zion Williamson since he returned from a 27-game absence due to a hamstring injury.,But opponents are having a hard time restricting him. The latest to fail the test was the Los Angeles Clippers, who saw Williamson record his second career triple-double...