AP National Sports

By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — LaMelo Ball made six 3-pointers before breaking his right ankle in the third quarter, and the Charlotte Hornets held on to beat the Detroit Pistons 117-106 for their fifth straight victory. Terry Rozier scored 22 points and Gordon Hayward had 19 points for Charlotte, which

By ANTHONY SANFILIPPO Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jimmy Butler hit an acrobatic reverse layup in the final minutes, and his 23 points led five Miami players in double figures as the Heat edged the Philadelphia 76ers 101-99. James Harden had a chance to win the game for the 76ers, but his 3-point try at

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — Ben Johnson led Bellarmine with 26 points and Juston Betz hit a game-winning jump shot with 0.4 seconds left as the Knights defeated North Florida 76-74 on Monday night in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. Johnson also added three steals for the Knights (15-17, 9-9). Peter Suder scored 13 points and

KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — BJ McLaurin and Kenny Dye scored 12 points apiece to lead Queens University to a 61-55 victory over Florida Gulf Coast in the first round of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. McLaurin hit two 3-pointers and all four of his free throws for the Royals (17-14, 1-0 Atlantic Sun Conference). Jay’Den

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Freshman Darrianna Littlepage-Buggs finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds off the bench to lead Baylor to a 63-54 victory over No. 12 Texas. Littlepage-Buggs, who averages 9.5 rebounds per game to lead all first-year players, has 10 double-doubles this season for the Bears (19-10, 10-7 Big 12 Conference). She has

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — R.J. Davis scored 19 points, Leaky Black had 18 points and nine rebounds and North Carolina eased by Florida State 77-66 for its third straight victory. North Carolina pulled away in the first half with 11 3-pointers in building a 43-25 lead. Davis and Caleb Love each made three 3-pointers in

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (AP) — Maddy Siegrist scored 24 of her 32 points after halftime, Christina Dalce had 11 points and 11 rebounds and No. 17 Villanova beat Seton Hall 83-56. Villanova will be the two seed behind UConn in the Big East Tournament. The Wildcats finished the regular season with their best ranking since

By PAT EATON-ROBB AP Sports Writer STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Aaliyah Edwards scored 19 points and No. 9 UConn secured the Big East regular-season title outright with a 60-51 win over Xavier. Caroline Ducharme added 14 points and Lou Lopez Senechal scored 12 for the Huskies (26-5, 18-2 Big East), who have won a regular-season

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers may miss multiple weeks with an injury to his right foot. The full extent of the injury is not yet known and more test results are pending. That’s according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke to The Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — World Cup champion Lionel Messi edged Kylian Mbappé again, this time to take FIFA’s best men’s player award on Monday. The best women’s player was Spain’s Alexia Putellas for a second straight year. After steering Argentina to World Cup glory in an epic final against Mbappé’s France last year in Qatar, Messi

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers have added to their front office, hiring Adrian Wilson as vice president of player personnel. Wilson spent the last eight seasons with the Arizona Cardinals’ scouting department, including the last two as vice president of player personnel. He was promoted to co-interim general manager of the Cardinals near

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The pilot of a medical transport plane that crashed during a winter storm in Nevada, killing all five people on board, followed in the footsteps of his grandfather who flew bombers in World War II. A brother of 46-year-old Scott Walton of Allendale, Michigan says he was almost 40 when he

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski continued to overhaul his coaching staff following a 7-10 season, hiring Bill Musgrave as a senior offensive adviser and making several other changes. Stefanski’s offseason has previously included firing both defensive coordinator Joe Woods and special teams coordinator Mike Priefer. They

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The pilot of a medical transport plane that crashed during a winter storm in Nevada, killing all five people on board, followed in the footsteps of his grandfather who flew bombers in World War II. A brother of 46-year-old Scott Walton of Allendale, Michigan says he was almost 40 when he

MADRID (AP) — Samuel Chukwueze has scored and assisted as Villarreal came from behind to defeat relegation-threatened Getafe 2-1 and end a four-game losing streak in the Spanish league. Chukwueze scored in the 44th minute and set up José Luis Morales in the 52nd after Enes Unal put the visitors ahead in the ninth. The

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired forward Sam Lafferty and defenseman Jake McCabe from the Chicago Blackhawks. Their latest big trade comes the day after division-rival Tampa Bay paid a hefty price to acquire forward Tanner Jeannot from Nashville. Talent continues to flow to Eastern Conference contenders ahead of

PARIS (AP) — World Cup champion Lionel Messi edged Kylian Mbappé again, this time to take FIFA’s best men’s player award on Monday. The best women’s player was Spain’s Alexia Putellas for a second straight year. After steering Argentina to World Cup glory in an epic final against Mbappé’s France last year in Qatar, Messi

By CHIP CIRILLO Associated Press Barry Trotz became the Nashville Predators’ first coach back in 1997. Now he will become the team’s second general manager on July 1. On Sunday, David Poile announced his plans to retire as GM on June 30 after 26 years with the Predators. Poile, 73, will remain as an adviser.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Women’s professional tennis has made its WTA tournament debut in the capital of Texas. Katie Volynets got things started by beating Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 in an all-American matchup on Monday to reach the second round of the ATX Open in Austin. The 21-year-old Volynets is ranked a career-high 92nd