AP National Sports

By BRETT MARTEL AP Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Trey Murphy III hit a career-best nine 3-pointers to highlight his career-high 41 points, and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 127-110. CJ McCollum had 22 points and 11 assists for New Orleans, which made 18 of its first 30 3-point attempts

By TOM CANAVAN AP Sports Writer NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes stole a puck and scored early and set up two goals by Jesper Bratt to lead the New Jersey Devils beat Carolina 3-0 to tie the Hurricanes for first place in the Metropolitan Division.  Vitek Vanecek had 32 saves in posting his third

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer Dawn Staley has South Carolina six wins away from finishing off a historic season. The Gamecocks are looking to become the 10th women’s basketball team to go undefeated for an entire season as the they enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. Staley’s squad has been

By KEVIN COONEY Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid scored 34 points, James Harden had 18 points and 14 assists and the Philadelphia 76ers cruised to a wire-to-wire 112-93 win over the fading Washington Wizards. Tobias Harris added 11 points and De’Anthony Melton 10 for the 76ers who have won five in a row

By RAUL DOMINGUEZ Associated Press SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Jalen Williams scored 21 points and had 10 assists and Oklahoma City used a balanced effort on offense without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to beat the San Antonio Spurs 102-90 as they compete for a berth in the Western Conference play-in tournament. Ousmane Dieng had 17 points and

By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writer FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Kendric Davis scored 31 points and Memphis held on to beat No. 1 Houston 75-65 in the American Athletic Conference tournament championship game. DeAndre Williams had 16 points and 13 rebounds for coach Penny Hardaway and the 26-8 Tigers, who got the league’s automatic

By The Associated Press March Madness is here! Here is what to know, including the favorites and underdogs as well as key games and how to watch the NCAA Tournament: TOP SEEDS The top four seeds in the tournament are Alabama, Houston, Kansas, and Purdue. Each is in a region, some tougher than others (on

By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer Kris Letang’s power-play goal 1:38 into overtime lifted the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. Letang’s ninth goal of the season came after New York’s Artemi Panarin was called for tripping Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin early in the extra period. Letang’s blast from the point

By DAVID BRANDT AP Sports Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — William Byron won his second straight NASCAR Cup Series race, taking advantage of a pair of late cautions to give Hendrick Motorsports a victory in overtime at Phoenix Raceway. Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet got a great start in overtime with two laps left, and just

By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writer Purdue and Marquette were far from the favorites in their own conferences going into the season. They are now the top two seeds in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament. Big Ten regular-season and tournament champion Purdue is a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1996,

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer The top overall seed, Alabama, has been on a roll despite being entangled in a murder case. Another No. 1 seed, defending national champion Kansas, is coming off a blowout loss and has a coach coming out of the hospital. Yet another, Houston, just watched its best player go

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer MADRID (AP) — Barcelona needed some help from a video review to restore its nine-point lead over Real Madrid in the Spanish league. The Catalan club beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 after the VAR disallowed an 87th-minute goal by Athletic forward Iñaki Williams for a handball in the buildup. VAR

By JOHN MARSHALL AP Basketball Writer Kansas is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region and will have coach Bill Self back on the sideline. Self missed the Big 12 Tournament after undergoing a heart procedure, but the school has announced he will return to lead the third-ranked Jayhawks against Howard in

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler is back to No. 1 in the world thanks to a masterful performance at The Players Championship. Scheffler ran off five straight birdies around the turn at the TPC Sawgrass. He extended his lead to six shots at one point. Scheffler

By AARON BEARD AP Basketball Writer North Carolina has gone from starting the season at No. 1 to missing the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels on Sunday officially became the first top-ranked team in The Associated Press preseason poll to miss to miss March Madness since the field’s expansion to 64 teams in 1985. The

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Basketball Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Houston has received the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region for the NCAA Tournament. The selection committee rewarded the Cougars at the expense of Kansas, which had been hoping its national title defense would include a stop in Kansas City, Missouri, just down

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Arabian Knight is off the Kentucky Derby trail. Wagering has been suspended on the 3-year-old colt for the Derby’s future wager after owner Amr Zedan announced the decision. Arabian Knight was the second choice on the morning line behind favorite Forte for the May 6 race. “Trainer Tim Yakteen wasn’t happy

By LARRY LAGE AP Hockey Writer DETROIT (AP) — Dylan Larkin scored to help his team take a four-goal lead and the Detroit Red Wings held on to beat the Boston Bruins 5-3. The Red Wings were ahead 4-0 late in the second period and the NHL-best Bruins pulled within a goal midway through the

TOWSON, Md. (AP) — Brianna Tinsley scored 18 points, Ariana Vanderhoop added 17 and seventh-seeded Monmouth rolled over No. 1 seed Towson 80-55 in the Colonial Athletic Association championship game, giving the Hawks a long-awaited return to the NCAA Women’s Tournament. Monmouth will be making its second NCAA appearance and first since appearing in the

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Sports Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen DeLoach had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and top-seeded VCU beat second-seeded Dayton 68-56 to win the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time in eight years. The Rams head to the NCAA Tournament with a nine-game winning streak and a title