p Page 96 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Playoff-hungry Islanders pick up crucial win over sliding Stars
The New York Islanders claimed two big points Thursday in their quest for a playoff spot with a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars in Elmont, N.Y.,Bo Horvat scored to reach the 30-goal mark for the fourth time in his career, and Calum Ritchie added his 11th for the Islanders (41-27-5, 87 points). Mat...

Iowa rallies past Nebraska, in first Elite Eight since '87
HOUSTON -- Bennett Stirtz scored a team-high 20 points, Tate Sage added 19 and ninth-seeded Iowa rallied from a first-half, double-digit deficit to defeat fourth-seeded Nebraska 77-71 on Thursday in the South Regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.,Stirtz provided the Hawkeyes (24-12) with their...

Last-second tip-in lifts No. 2 Purdue past Texas
SAN JOSE -- Trey Kaufman-Renn tipped in a shot with 0.7 seconds left to give No. 2 Purdue a 79-77 win over No. 11 Texas in the NCAA Tournament's West Region semifinals on Thursday night.,Purdue's Braden Smith drove to the lane on the final possession, and his jumper bounced off, right to the hands o...

Canadiens stay hot with low-scoring defeat of Blue Jackets
Zachary Bolduc scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and assisted on Montreal's other goal in a 2-1 win for the Canadiens against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.,Jayden Struble also scored for the Canadiens (40-21-10, 90 points), who have won three straight. Jakub Dobes ...

Paolo Banchero's 30 points help Magic stop skid vs. Kings
Paolo Banchero had a team-high 30 points and combined with Desmond Bane for eight in a late 12-0 flurry that sent the Orlando Magic on their way to a 121-117 victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings on Thursday night.,Bane finished with 23 points and Tristan da Silva 18 for Orlando (39-34), which ...

Hornets snap Knicks' win streak behind Kon Knueppel's big outing
Kon Knueppel had 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists on Thursday to help the Charlotte Hornets earn a 114-103 victory over the visiting New York Knicks.,LaMelo Ball added 22 points and Brandon Miller scored 21 for Charlotte (39-34), which won its fifth straight game. Coby White and Miles Bridge...

Lydia Ko fires 60 for early lead at Ford Championship
LPGA Hall of Famer Lydia Ko came extremely close to a mammoth achievement: the second round of 59 in LPGA history.,Ko birdied four of her last five holes to shoot a 12-under-par 60 and set the pace in the first round of the Ford Championship on Thursday in Chandler, Ariz.,The Cattail Course at Whirl...

Jalen Duren, Kevin Huerter lead Pistons past Pelicans
Jalen Duren dominated inside with 30 points and 10 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons won for the fifth time in six games by thumping the visiting New Orleans Pelicans 129-108 on Thursday night.,Duren added seven assists, two blocks and two steals for the Eastern Conference leaders.,The Pistons (53-20)...

Nuggets look to extend home surge with visit from Jazz
The Denver Nuggets struggled to win at Ball Arena for most of the 2025-26 season, but they are now taking advantage of playing at home during the stretch run.,Denver (46-28) has won five in a row on its court after a 17-13 home start and can make it six in a row when the struggling Utah Jazz visit F...

Pepperdine hires Virginia assistant Griff Aldrich as coach
Pepperdine hired Virginia associate head coach Griff Aldrich as its new men's basketball coach on Thursday.,"The opportunity to build a championship-caliber program within a University that promotes faith, academics, and excellence is tremendously exciting for our family," Aldrich said in a statemen...

Panthers' Rasheed Walker says gun charge getting dismissed
New Carolina Panthers left tackle Rasheed Walker told reporters during his introductory press conference Thursday that a gun charge against him from early this year is being dismissed.,Walker, 26, was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a firearm by New York ...

Italy 1 win away from World Cup after blanking Northern Ireland
Italy finally cleared its first hurdle in the World Cup playoffs -- and now it has one more game to win to avoid missing the competition for the third straight time.,The four-time World Cup champions beat Northern Ireland 2-0 on Thursday night in Bergamo, getting a breakthrough goal from Sandro Tona...

Paul Waring goes bogey-free, jumps out to Round 1 lead at Houston Open
England's Paul Waring shot a 7-under-par 63 without a bogey to lead after the first round of the Texas Children's Houston Open on Thursday in Houston.,Waring is one stroke ahead of Gary Woodland, who was one of the final golfers to finish the round.,Sam Burns, Michael Brennan and Tom Hoge all shot 6...

Vinicius Junior: Brazil hasn't earned right to be World Cup favorites
Vinicius Junior said Brazil has not earned the right to be considered favorites to win the 2026 World Cup, and that the team does not want that tag.,Brazil has won a record five World Cups, but none since 2002. In the span since, Brazil has not finished better than fourth in 2014 and finished a disa...

Cardinals match Rays' sixth-inning uprising with their own, win 9-7
Alec Burleson capped an eight-run sixth inning with a two-run homer to help the St. Louis Cardinals rally for a 9-7 victory against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays in the season opener for both teams on Thursday afternoon.,Burleson's home run came after the Rays had scored six runs in the top half of th...

Mike Trout blast leads Angels to rare Opening Day road win over Astros
Mike Trout homered, walked three times and stole a base, and Jose Soriano struck out seven over six shutout innings to lead the visiting Los Angeles Angels to a 3-0 victory over the Houston Astros on Thursday afternoon in the season opener for both teams., ,It was the 405th career home run for Trout...

Thriving Jayson Tatum leads Celtics into battle vs. Hawks
Jayson Tatum will attempt to take another step forward in his return from surgery to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon when the Boston Celtics try to cool off the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Friday night., ,Tatum turned in what was arguably his best performance of the season during Wednesday's 1...

Christopher Sanchez fans 10 as Phillies top Rangers in opener
Cristopher Sanchez struck out 10 batters over six scoreless innings and Kyle Schwarber and Alec Bohm each homered, fueling the host Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Thursday in the season opener for both teams.,Signed to a six-year contract extension on Sunday, Sanchez (1...

Kevin McGonigle's four-hit MLB debut powers Tigers past Padres
Kevin McGonigle doubled in the first two at-bats of his MLB career, Dillon Dingler homered and drove in three runs and the visiting Detroit Tigers started the season with an 8-2 rout of the San Diego Padres on Thursday.,McGonigle, a 21-year-old who made the jump all the way from Double-A to make the...

Garrett Crochet, Red Sox begin season with shutout of Reds
Garrett Crochet pitched six scoreless innings and Ceddanne Rafaela broke a scoreless tie in the seventh with an RBI single to lead the visiting Boston Red Sox past the Cincinnati Reds 3-0 on Thursday in the season opener for both clubs.,Roman Anthony had three hits, while Trevor Story and Jarren Dur...