AP National Sports

By JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona and Real Madrid resume their fight for the Spanish league title as the competition starts again following a seven-week hiatus for the World Cup. Barcelona has a two-point lead and hosts crosstown rival Espanyol at Camp Nou on Saturday. Defending champion Madrid visits Valladolid on

BORMIO, Italy (AP) — Three-time Olympic gold medalist Matthias Mayer of Austria has ended his Alpine skiing career with immediate effect. Mayer surprisingly announced his retirement shortly before a men’s World Cup super-G in an interview with Austrian TV after he returned from the course inspection. Mayer said “last season was fantastic with the third

By ERIC OLSON AP Sports Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — This season certainly hasn’t unfolded the way Geno Auriemma envisioned. His UConn Huskies weathered a run of injuries and illness to reach the NCAA Tournament championship game last season and the core of that team was supposed to be back this year. Or so he

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer MIAMI (AP) — LeBron James turns 38 on Friday. And he averaged more points as a 37-year-old than anyone ever has in NBA history. He actually averaged more points at that age than he has at any age since he was 21. But the 20-year NBA veteran made clear

By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer HOUSTON (AP) — Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin said a Texas Tech player spit on one of his players and possibly used a racial slur Wednesday night in the Texas Bowl. A scrum between the teams came after Ole Miss’ Dayton Wade fumbled early in the fourth quarter and Texas

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic has reiterated his earlier comments that he bears no hard feelings on his return to Australia after his visa cancellation and subsequent deportation in January ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament. Djokovic was deported almost 12 months ago after arriving unvaccinated against COVID-19 at a time when the

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Led by Matt Bradley’s 27 points, the San Diego State Aztecs defeated the Air Force Falcons 71-55 on Wednesday. The Aztecs improved to 10-3 with the win and the Falcons fell to 9-6 in the Mountain West Conference opener for both teams..

By DAN GREENSPAN Associated Press ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Adam Henrique had two goals, John Gibson made 49 saves in his return after missing five games because of a lower-body injury and the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in a shootout. Trevor Zegras had two assists to pass the 100 career points,

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Led by Jermarl Baker Jr.’s 20 points, the Fresno State Bulldogs defeated the Wyoming Cowboys 58-53 on Wednesday. The Bulldogs are now 5-7 with the victory and the Cowboys dropped to 5-8 after the Mountain West Conference opener for both teams.

RENO, Nev. — Led by Kenan Blackshear’s 20 points, including a layup with 3.8 seconds to go, the Nevada Wolf Pack defeated the Boise State Broncos 74-72 on Wednesday. The Wolf Pack are now 11-3 with the victory and the Broncos dropped to 10-4 after the Western Conference opener for both teams.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Omari Moore scored 15 points and Sage Tolbert III added five points in the overtime as the San Jose State Spartans defeated the UNLV Rebels 75-72 on Wednesday. The Spartans moved to 10-4 with the victory and the Rebels dropped to 11-2 after the Mountain West Conference opener.

By CAMERON SALERNO Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Malik Monk scored 33 points, including a tiebreaking free throw with 0.7 seconds left, and the Sacramento Kings came back from down 19 points late in the third quarter to beat the Denver Nuggets 127-126. Nikola Jokic scored 40 points for Denver but missed a 3-pointer

By JANIE McCAULEY AP Sports Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jordan Poole scored 26 points and converted a key layup with 1:27 left and the undermanned Golden State Warriors rallied to beat the Utah Jazz 112-107 on Wednesday night. Ty Jerome hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 5:18 to play after his own steal, then made

By ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 42 points and the Chicago Bulls rallied to beat Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks 119-113 in overtime Wednesday night. The Bulls trailed by 15 early in the fourth quarter, only to pull even in the closing minute of regulation. DeRozan scored 10

By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer HOUSTON (AP) — Texas Tech’s first-year coach had a great day. Joey McGuire got a new contract with a hefty raise before leading the Red Raiders to a 42-25 victory over Mississippi in the Texas Bowl on Wednesday night. “It’s a pretty awesome day,” McGuire said. “I really do

SYDNEY (AP) — Taylor Fritz and Madison Keys have given the United States a 2-0 lead over the Czech Republic at the new United Cup mixed teams tournament. Fritz broke Jiri Lehecka’s serve in the ninth game of the second set and went on to beat the Czech player 6-3, 6-4. Keys followed that up

By ROBBIE FAULK Associated Press STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Mark Sears scored 20 points and No. 8 Alabama pulled away in the second half to beat No. 21 Mississippi State 78-67 on Wednesday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. Freshman Brandon Miller added 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Crimson Tide

By GAVIN GOOD Associated Press EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Freshman Cotie McMahon scored 24 points, and No. 3 Ohio State pounded Northwestern 81-48. The Buckeyes led 35-24 at halftime. They pushed their lead to 20 after hitting five of six shots over the last five minutes of the third quarter, including a pair of 3s

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Led by Callum McRae’s 19 points, the Sacramento State Hornets defeated the Cal State-Stanislaus Warriors 72-51 on Wednesday. The Hornets are now 7-6 with the win and the Warriors dropped to 3-8.