AP National Sports

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Khayla Pointer scored 19 points with 10 rebounds and three steals and No. 22 LSU coasted to a 100-36 win over Alcorn State. Alexis Morris scored 14 points for the Tigers, who put all 13 players in the scoring column for the second-straight game. LSU shot 61% (38 of 62)

ATHENS, Ohio — Mark Sears scored 24 points with the help of 10-made foul shots and Ohio beat Marshall 75-65. Obinna Anochili-Killen led the Thundering Herd with 18 points.

WASHINGTON — Tyler Beard had a season-high 23 points as Georgetown defeated Howard 85-73. Kyle Foster led the Bison on Wednesday night with a career-high 26 points.

CONWAY, S.C. — Essam Mostafa had 16 points to lead five Coastal Carolina players in double figures as the Chanticleers rolled past Methodist 102-42. Tomas Stevens led the Monarchs with 16 points.

CHICAGO (AP) — Nicklas Backstrom is in for the Washington Capitals. Evgeny Kuznetsov is out. Backstrom has returned after missing the start of the season because of a left hip injury, taking the ice against the Chicago Blackhawks. Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk and center Nic Dowd also returned for Washington after they were removed from

By BRIAN DULIK Associated Press CLEVELAND (AP) — Rockets coach Stephen Silas is being treated for dehydration in the locker room after leaving the court during their game against the Cavaliers. Silas motioned to assistant coach John Lucas to take over the team as he walked off the floor late in the first quarter, remaining

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Ben Sheppard had 23 points as Belmont beat Chattanooga 76-68. Malachi Smith led the Mocs on Wednesday with 27 points and seven rebounds.

By ERICA HUNZINGER AP Sports Writer DENVER (AP) — U.S. sports leagues are seeing rapidly increasing COVID-19 outbreaks with dozens of players in health and safety protocols, amid an ongoing surge by the delta variant of the coronavirus and rising cases of the highly transmissible omicron mutation. Both the NBA and NHL have postponed games

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Karolina Pliskova has withdrawn from next month’s Australian Open and two warm-up tournaments because of a right hand injury sustained in training. Australian Open officials confirmed the world fourth-ranked player’s withdrawal and said in a tweet: “wishing you a speedy recovery.” Pliskova had earlier said on social media “unfortunately I hurt

By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Pro Football Writer IRVING, Texas (AP) — The NFL’s chief medical officer says the new coronavirus variant has been found among the dramatic increase in the league’s COVID-19 cases in recent days. Dr. Allen Sills is calling this the new phase of the pandemic. The league is putting the focus on

By JAY COHEN AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks have settled a lawsuit by a former player who said he was sexually assaulted by an assistant coach during the team’s run to the 2010 Stanley Cup title. After representatives for the Blackhawks and former first-round pick Kyle Beach met with a mediator

By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Some of the numbers attached to the Seattle Seahawks defense this season are downright unrecognizable. Most glaring is that no team in the league is allowing more total yards than the Seahawks. Seattle is giving up nearly 400 yards per game. But there is a

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Dee Ford won’t be coming back this season for the San Francisco 49ers and quite possibly not at all. The Niners declined to activate Ford from injured reserve, sending him home to rest the lingering back injury that has limited him to seven

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has been playing well despite barely practicing because of a broken pinky toe, said he’d like to avoid surgery unless “absolutely necessary.” Coming off a bye week that resulted in some healing and optimism that he could get back on a regular preparation

By ERIC OLSON AP College Football Writer Texas A&M holds the lead in the race for the national recruiting title in college football. The Aggies are in front in the 247Sports Composite rankings. Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher put together his fourth straight top-10 class. Alabama won nine of the previous 11 recruiting titles and is

LOS ANGELES (AP) — UCLA coach Mick Cronin will miss the fourth-ranked Bruins’ game against Alabama State because of COVID-19 protocols. Associate head coach Darren Savino will serve as acting coach for the game. Team spokesman Alex Timiraos had no further comment on Cronin. The Bruins next play North Carolina on Saturday as part of

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association are in the process of enhancing their health and safety protocols in response to rising coronavirus numbers around the league, said a person familiar with the negotiations. Among the biggest changes: The league and the union are working to finalize a

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts’ status for Philadelphia’s game against Washington on Sunday is uncertain because of an ankle injury. Hurts split reps with backup Gardner Minshew in a walk-through Wednesday as the Eagles (6-7) returned to practice following a bye.  Hurts sat out a 33-18 victory over the New York Jets and