AP National Sports

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Former Villanova coach Jay Wright says he is at ease with his decision to retire after saying he was “fighting it” to stay engaged during the Wildcats’ Final Four season last year. Wright is also ready for his new broadcasting job after a Hall of

MACON, Ga. — Led by Jalyn McCreary’s 25 points, the Mercer Bears defeated the Middle Georgia State Knights 100-62 on Tuesday. The Bears are now 5-5 on the season, while the Knights fell to 0-2.

By JENNA FRYER AP National Writer LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo was dropped from the starting lineup for Portugal’s match against Switzerland on Tuesday in the round of 16 of the World Cup. The move came a day after his coach expressed frustration about his team captain’s attitude in the last game. Gonçalo Ramos,

By GARY B. GRAVES AP Sports Writer North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye is the unanimous choice as The Associated Press offensive player of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Pittsburgh tackle Calijah Kancey was named the league’s top defensive player. Duke’s Mike Elko, whose Blue Devils improved five games to 8-4 and earned a

By The Associated Press Two-time Grand Slam finalist Karolina Pliskova is reuniting with coach Sascha Bajin ahead of the 2023 tennis season. Pliskova posted on her website and her Twitter account about the move, which comes about six months after she and Bajin stopped working together. The pair originally teamed up in November 2020. While

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Auburn’s top two pass rushers are leaving for the NFL. Defensive end Colby Wooden announced in a video on social media that he is skipping his senior season to enter the draft. Edge rusher Derick Hall also posted a video to announced his plans to leave. Hall is a senior who

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — UConn’s top scorer, Azzi Fudd, is expected to be out three to six weeks because of a right knee injury she suffered during her team’s loss to Notre Dame. The sophomore guard was injured in the first half of the game Sunday when a teammate collided into her. She returned midway

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer AL RAYYAN, Qatar (AP) — Morocco became the first Arab nation and only the fourth African nation to advance to the World Cup quarterfinals by beating Spain 3-0 in a penalty shootout. Pablo Sarabia, Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets missed their penalties for Spain. Sarabia hit the post and

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian soccer great Pelé is improving, doctors said Tuesday. The 82-year-old Pelé has been hospitalized for a week to treat a respiratory infection aggravated by COVID-19. He is expected to leave the hospital when he fully recovers from the infection. “(He has) stable vital signs, is conscious, and with no new

By JANIE McCAULEY and ALI SWENSON Associated Press Stephen Curry is known for scoring deep 3-point shots and buzzer-beaters from half-court but even the celebrated Warriors guard didn’t sink five consecutive full-court baskets, despite a convincingly edited video that swept social media this week. The clip of the 34-year-old phenom racked up more than 28

By TERESA M. WALKER AP Pro Football Writer NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee owner Amy Adams Strunk fired general manager Jon Robinson in the midst of his seventh season with the Titans off to a 7-5 start. The Titans announced Strunk’s decision in a statement. The Titans plan to start searching for a new general

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer Taffy Abel carried the American flag at the 1924 Olympics, where his team won silver in hockey. Henry Elmer “Buddy” Maracle played 11 games in the early-1930s NHL. Paul Jacobs may have played in the league’s second season in 1918-19. But in the commonly known history of hockey, a

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Arsenal says Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus has undergone surgery on a knee injury that ended his involvement in the World Cup. Jesus was hurt in Brazil’s 1-0 loss to Cameroon in the group stage on Friday. Arsenal is the Premier League leader. It did not say for how long the striker

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Nathan Ake finds it difficult marking  Julián Álvarez in training at Manchester City. He’s expecting his task to be even harder when they go head to head at the World Cup on Friday. Álvarez has broken into Argentina’s team at the World Cup and will be looking to score for the

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Cameroon soccer federation president Samuel Eto’o was filmed apparently kicking a man to the ground in an altercation outside a World Cup stadium early. Eto’o had paused to pose for photos with fans in a public area after Brazil beat South Korea 4-1 late Monday.

AL RAYYAN, Qatar (AP) — The match between Morocco and Spain in the round of 16 of the World Cup has gone to extra time with the score 0-0.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s prime minister has backed down from his initial declaration to award bonuses to the national soccer team for its World Cup performance. It was a sudden reversal by Mateusz Morawieck after saying earlier in the day the players should be rewarded for advancing from their group. It was Poland’s best

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico State’s athletic director says power forward Mike Peake has been suspended indefinitely from the basketball team in connection with last month’s fatal shooting of a student from a rival university. Mario Moccia also told reporters Monday night that neither he nor the school could comment on Peake’s enrollment

By ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writer DOHA, Qatar (AP) — There’s no contest between Brazil and Croatia in terms of pupulation. Brazil has 200 million and Croatia has 4 million. Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić put it this way: “So we are pretty much like a suburb of a major city in Brazil.” But Croatia has