Sports

By JOHN MARSHALL AP Basketball Writer Conference races across the country are getting tight as the regular season winds toward the finish. The Big 12 and Southeastern conferences will take a break from league games on Saturday to play each other, gifting college basketball fans with some marquee midseason nonconference games. The 10th SEC/Big 12

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Victoria Azarenka has defeated Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-1 to reach the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in a decade. Azarenka displayed the same confident brand of hard-hitting baseline tennis that carried her to championship at Melbourne Park in 2012 and 2013. Azarenka’s semifinal

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Victoria Azarenka has defeated Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-1 to reach the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in a decade. Azarenka displayed the same confident brand of hard-hitting baseline tennis that carried her to championship at Melbourne Park in 2012 and 2013. Azarenka’s semifinal

SAN VIGILIO DI MAREBBE, Italy (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin holds a slim lead after the first run of Tuesday’s giant slalom and is in position for a record-breaking 83rd World Cup victory. Shiffrin currently shares the women’s record of 82 wins with former American teammate Lindsey Vonn. Shiffrin is 0.13 seconds ahead of world champion

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Dillon Dube scored at 2:25 of overtime to give the Calgary Flames a 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Andrew Mangiapane had a goal and two assists, and Nazem Kadri and Walker Duehr also scored for the Flames. Dan Vladar stopped 22 shots to improve to 10-4-4 this season. Patrik

By CAMERON SALERNO Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Trey Lyles scored a season-high 24 points, Harrison Barnes had 15 of his 20 in Sacramento’s record-tying first quarter and the Kings beat the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies 133-100. The Kings tied the NBA record with 12 3-pointers in the first quarter — in just 13 attempts

By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Damian Lillard had 37 points and 12 assists, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the San Antonio Spurs 147-127 to stop a three-game losing streak. Jusuf Nurkic added 25 points and 11 rebounds for the struggling Blazers, who had lost eight of their previous

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Karen Khachanov moved into his first Australian Open semifinal when Sebastian Korda stopped playing in the third set because of an injured right wrist. Khachanov will face either No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or unseeded Jiri Lehecka for a berth in the final at Melbourne

By MATTHEW COLES Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Lauri Markkanen scored 25 points and the Utah Jazz beat the cold-shooting Charlotte Hornets 120-102. The Hornets made only two 3-pointers, both by Terry Rozier, the fewest by an NBA team this season. Charlotte had 16 attempts beyond the arc, shooting 12.5%, while the Jazz

By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writer WACO, Texas (AP) — LJ Cryer had 22 points with five 3-pointers and 17th-ranked Baylor stretched its Big 12-best winning streak to five games with a 75-69 win over No. 9 Kansas. It was a matchup of the last two national champions. The reigning champion Jayhawks lost their third

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Kehlin Farooq scored 21 points to lead Texas Southern to a 71-65 victory over Alabama State. Farooq added nine rebounds for the Tigers (7-14, 3-5 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Davon Barnes totaled 15 points and Zytarious Mortle scored 13. Antonio Madlock led the Hornets (6-14, 4-3) with 15 points, four assists and three

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Olisa Akonobi finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead Alabama A&M to a 67-59 victory over Prairie View A&M. Akonobi added four blocks for the Bulldogs (7-13, 3-4 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Garrett Hicks added 13 points and five boards. Lorenzo Downey scored nine on 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc.

By ALLAN KREDA Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Mika Zibanejad scored twice and Igor Shesterkin stopped 33 shots as the New York Rangers beat the Florida Panthers 6-2. Adam Fox had a goal and two assists, and Jimmy Vesey, Alexis Lafreniere and Filip Chytil also scored for the Rangers, who are 15-4-2 since Dec.