AP National Sports

By The Associated Press FLORENCE, Ala. — Led by KJ Johnson’s 20 points, the North Alabama Lions defeated the Jacksonville Dolphins 80-62 on Thursday night. The Lions improved to 12-10 with the victory and the Dolphins fell to 11-9.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Kseniya Malashka scored 12 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter to make sure Middle Tennessee State’s first game as a ranked team in nine years wasn’t an upset, leading the No. 23 Blue Raiders to a 63-48 win over Florida Atlantic. MTSU ran its winning streak to 15 games

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Flightline ran away in all six of his races, and ran away with top honors at the Eclipse Awards on Thursday night. And trainer Todd Pletcher, for the first time in nearly a decade, received the sport’s top prize as well. Flightline — the now-retired winner of last year’s Breeders’

By NOAH TRISTER AP Sports Writer COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Diamond Miller scored 23 points, and No. 10 Maryland closed the first quarter with a 13-2 run and led the rest of the way in a 72-64 victory over No. 13 Michigan. Abby Meyers contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Terrapins, who

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Garrett Tipton drilled a contested 3-pointer from the top of the key with less than a second to play, Juston Betz scored 18 points and Bellarmine defeated Eastern Kentucky 72-71 on Thursday night. Alex Priem drove into the lane and kicked the ball back out to Tipton for the winner with

BOONE, N.C. — Led by Terence Harcum’s 21 points, the Appalachian State Mountaineers defeated the Georgia State Panthers 71-59 on Thursday night. The Mountaineers moved to 12-10 with the win and the Panthers fell to 9-12.

By NOAH TRISTER AP Sports Writer COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Diamond Miller scored 21 points, and No. 10 Maryland closed the first quarter with a 13-2 run and led the rest of the way in a 72-64 victory over No. 13 Michigan. Abby Meyers contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Terrapins, who

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — On the day Indianapolis Colts interim coach Jeff Saturday completed his second interview for next season’s job, one Indy fan started an online petition to stop Saturday’s candidacy. It received nearly 3,000 signatures by Thursday night. Saturday took over his former team in November despite having no coaching experience at the pro

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Deja Kelly scored 23 points, Kennedy Todd-Williams added 22 points and No. 15 North Carolina used a big fourth quarter to beat Pittsburgh 72-57. It was tied at 44-all after three quarters until North Carolina opened the fourth on a 17-1 run to take control. Todd-Williams highlighted the run by making a

NEW YORK — Led by Tedrick Wilcox Jr.’s 21 points, the Saint Francis (BKN) Terriers defeated the Wagner Seahawks 65-56 on Thursday night. The Terriers are now 10-11 on the season, while the Seahawks fell to 11-8.

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer LeBron James is closing in on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA career scoring record. And now, he has caught Abdul-Jabbar on another page of the All-Star record book. James was announced Thursday as an NBA All-Star for the 19th time, the Los Angeles Lakers’ star tying Abdul-Jabbar for the most selections

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles have acquired left-hander Cole Irvin from the Oakland Athletics along with minor league right-hander Kyle Virbitsky for minor league infielder Darell Hernaiz. Oakland had dealt catcher Sean Murphy to the Braves this offseason after last year’s trade-heavy winter sending away several stars: Matt Olson to Atlanta, Matt Chapman to

By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Pro Football Writer FRISCO, Texas (AP) — A shuffling of the coaching staff for the Dallas Cowboys won’t include defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. He is returning after another year of receiving interest from teams seeking head coaches. Coach Mike McCarthy says the decision not to renew the contracts of six of

By BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer Pedal power is returning to the America’s Cup. Two-time defending champion Emirates Team New Zealand has added a new group of elite athletes, including two cyclists, to help provide the immense amount of power required for the various systems on the foiling AC75 sloops that will be sailed in

By RYAN KRYSKA AP Sports Writer Ray Herbert, a 1962 All-Star Game winning pitcher who threw batting practice for his hometown Detroit Tigers for decades after retiring, died peacefully in Michigan five days after his 93rd birthday. Herbert started his big league career with Detroit in 1950 and pitched for four teams over 14 seasons,

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer MADRID (AP) — Vinicius Junior scored in extra time to help Real Madrid come from behind and defeat 10-man Atletico Madrid 3-1 to secure a spot in the Copa del Rey semifinals. The goal came not long after Vinícius was the target of an apparent hate crime in which

CINCINNATI (AP) — Offensive linemen Alex Cappa and Jonah Williams didn’t practice again because of injuries. That makes it more likely the Bengals will again start three backup linemen in Sunday’s AFC championship game against the Chiefs. Right guard Cappa (ankle) and left tackle Williams (dislocated kneecap) haven’t practiced at all this week. Backups Max

By JANIE McCAULEY AP Sports Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Overwhelming favorite and reigning world champions Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier scored a personal best of 81.96 in their short program for a commanding lead on the first day of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The pair took the ice in sparkling silver costumes

By JIM VERTUNO AP Sports Writer AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Claudio Reyna was moved out of his leadership role as sporting director of Austin FC, the latest job change that followed the Reyna family’s spat with U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter. The 49-year-old Reyna was shifted to a title of technical adviser. The former U.S captain