review Page 496 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Caps hope setback an outlier as West Coast trip ends in San Jose
The Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals have not often searched for a rebound performance this season.,However, the Capitals will be on the hunt for a much-improved effort when they visit the San Jose Sharks on Saturday in the last outing in a three-game California road trip.,The Capitals...

Undermanned Lakers have tall task vs. Nuggets
The Los Angeles Lakers surged to the second seed in the Western Conference with an eight-game winning streak, but that was when LeBron James was healthy.,The NBA's all-time leading scorer has missed the last two games with a groin strain, and that has coincided with a three-game skid for Los Angeles...

On winning streaks, host Penguins clash with Devils
The Pittsburgh Penguins will host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon, with each team looking to extend its respective three-game win streak.,New Jersey enters Saturday's matinee following a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, its third consecutive victory for the first time since ...

Orlando City aim to tighten up defensively vs. Red Bulls
Orlando City are among the worst defensive teams in the MLS, but they were more disappointed in allowing their latest goal shortly after their offense responded last week.,The New York Red Bulls are struggling to score so far and are facing numerous injuries.,While Orlando attempts to improve defens...

Slumping Sabres searching for more 'compete' vs. Vegas
The visiting Vegas Golden Knights are coming off a win while the Buffalo Sabres are in a downward spiral going into their game Saturday afternoon.,The Golden Knights defeated the host Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 on Thursday night and the Sabres fell 7-3 on the road to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesda...

Fire looking to build momentum at Toronto
The short-handed Chicago Fire will look to build momentum following their first win in the Gregg Berhalter era when they visit a Toronto FC side in search of its first victory under Robin Fraser on Saturday.,Hugo Cuypers scored his third goal of the season on a late spot kick last weekend at FC Dall...

Luka Doncic, undermanned Lakers have tall task vs. Nuggets
The Los Angeles Lakers surged to the second seed in the Western Conference with an eight-game winning streak, but that was when LeBron James was healthy.,The NBA's all-time leading scorer has missed the last two games with a groin strain, and that has coincided with a three-game skid for Los Angeles...

No. 5 Alabama makes SEC tournament debut vs. No. 15 Kentucky
Alabama knows that neither success nor failure in the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville is necessarily a predictor of what will happen in the NCAA Tournament., ,The No. 5-ranked Crimson Tide (24-7) have won the conference tournament twice in the last four seasons but didn't advance pas...

Suns sinking fast as they prepare to host Kings
The Phoenix Suns have yet to wave the white flag on their highly disappointing season.,But sinking fast and sitting six games below .500 with just 16 games remaining, the Suns could be moving closer to the inevitable if they should lose at home to the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.,Phoenix has dr...

No. 13 Louisville meets No. 10 Clemson in ACC semifinals
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- No. 13-ranked Louisville and No. 10 Clemson found satisfaction in their results while realizing they were challenged in their first games of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.,Expect another tussle when the teams meet in a tournament semifinal Friday night.,Clemson (27-5), ...

After splitting Big Ten season games, No. 20 Purdue, No. 22 Michigan meet again
Third-seeded Michigan opens its Big Ten tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against sixth-seeded Purdue in Indianapolis on Friday, trying to advance but also attempting to return to the win column ahead of the NCAA Tournament. ,No. 22-ranked Michigan (22-9) fell out of the Big Ten's regular-seaso...

JT Toppin, No. 9 Texas Tech take aim at Arizona
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The top four seeds advanced to Friday's Big 12 tournament semifinals, with third-seeded Arizona knocking off No. 6 seed Kansas 88-77 in the final game of action Thursday night. ,The Wildcats (21-11) will face second-seeded and No. 9-ranked Texas Tech (25-7) on Friday night.,The R...

Islanders face Oilers while trying to hang on in wild-card race
There were plenty of valid reasons why the New York Islanders lost two of three games on their recent West Coast road trip.,But now the Islanders know they are in must-win mode the rest of the season, no matter how undermanned or bedraggled they might become.,The Islanders will attempt to stay on th...

Creighton looks to top UConn, play for long-awaited Big East title
NEW YORK -- Ryan Kalkbrenner has spent this week anticipating another chance to play for a Big East championship.,The four-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year is one step closer to achieving his goal, but standing in second-seeded Creighton's way is a semifinal matchup with third-seeded UConn...

Hot Wolves host Magic, look to conjure up seventh straight win
Minnesota Timberwolves players are brimming with confidence as they return home. ,A six-game winning streak will do that -- especially when the latest victory was a 20-point thumping Wednesday of the Denver Nuggets on the road. ,The Timberwolves will go for their seventh straight win when they tip o...

No. 11 Maryland takes on No. 24 Illinois in Big Ten tournament
Getting the second seed for the Big Ten Conference tournament in Indianapolis might be the classic good-news, bad-news situation for Maryland, which will play its first tournament game Friday evening, against seventh-seeded Illinois.,The good news? Not only did the No. 11-ranked Terrapins (24-7) get...

No. 17 BYU pits its offense against No. 2 Houston, top defense
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- BYU showed its firepower in a 96-92 win over Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals on Thursday.,But No. 17-ranked BYU (24-8) -- the fourth seed in the tournament -- could have more difficulty putting points on the board Friday night when it faces top-seeded Houston (2...

No. 6 St. John's aims for sweep of No. 25 Marquette, berth in final
NEW YORK -- In two memorable regular-season games, St. John's went toe-to-toe and outlasted Marquette. ,Whoever makes enough plays to win the third meeting will get a chance to play for the Big East tournament championship.,Top-seeded St. John's (28-4) will attempt to advance to the title game for t...

Rested UCLA makes Big Ten tournament debut vs. No. 18 Wisconsin
Fourth-seeded UCLA will open its first Big Ten tournament on Friday afternoon with a quarterfinal matchup against fifth-seeded and No. 18-ranked Wisconsin in Indianapolis. ,Wisconsin (24-8) advanced with a 70-63 win over Northwestern in Thursday's second round. Nolan Winter and John Tonje each score...

No. 4 Florida has high hopes ahead of game vs. No. 21 Missouri
Second-seeded Florida can rest easy this week knowing an early departure from the Southeastern Conference tournament wouldn't hurt the school's NCAA Tournament seeding.,But Gators coach Todd Golden sees it the opposite way -- seeding improvement is part of his plan when Florida opens play in Friday'...