Sports

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — The coach who led the Croatian national soccer team to the semifinals of the 1998 World Cup in France has died. Miroslav “Ciro” Blazevic was 87. His family and friends say Blazevic died at a Zagreb hospital after a long battle with prostate cancer. Blazevic was known as the “coach of

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer This year’s Super Bowl features a rare matchup of the NFL’s top two teams from the regular season. The Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs were the league’s only 14-game winners, marking just the sixth time since the 1970 merger that the squads with sole possession of the

SINSHEIM, Germany (AP) — American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo has been hired by Bundesliga club Hoffenheim. It comes four months after he was fired by another German club, Stuttgart. The New Jersey-born Matarazzo spent just over two years at Hoffenheim as an assistant coach and youth coach from 2017 through 2019 before taking the Stuttgart job.

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN AP Sports Writer BRUSSELS (AP) — Domenico Tedesco has been appointed head coach of Belgium’s national team. The Belgian federation says the 37-year-old Tedesco, who previously coached Schalke 04, Spartak Moscow and Leipzig, has signed a deal until after the European Championship next year in Germany. He replaces Roberto Martinez, who guided

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A senior official with the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee and three company executives have been arrested in an ongoing bid-rigging scandal related to the Games. Prosecutors say Olympic official Yasuo Mori has been arrested along with Koji Henmi, who headed the sports division at Japanese advertising giant

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Jarod Lucas scored 28 points, Kenan Blackshear hit a short-range jumper that rimmed in at the buzzer and Nevada beat New Mexico 77-76. The Wolf Pack are now 19-6 on the season, while the Lobos moved to 19-5.

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer LeBron James got the first official statistic of his NBA career on a rebound. His next entry on the stat sheet was an assist. Even then, points weren’t the priority. They never were. Somehow, he became the most prolific scorer in NBA history anyway. It finally happened Tuesday night,

By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic posted his 19th triple-double of the season by halftime and the Denver Nuggets rode a 49-point first quarter to a 146-112 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Jokic finished with 20 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds. It was the second time in his career

By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James became the NBA’s career scoring leader on a stepback jumper late in the third quarter, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record during his 38-point performance in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 133-130 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. James surpassed the mark held since April 1984

By The Associated Press Timeline of the National Basketball Association’s scoring record progression, focusing on LeBron James and his pursuit of the record Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has held for the past 39 years.

DALLAS (AP) — John Isner has advanced to the second round at his hometown Dallas Open. The American won a pair of tiebreakers in a match without any service breaks for a straight-sets victory over Chun-Hsin Tseng. The fifth-seeded Isner served 22 aces. He now has 498 career victories in tiebreakers. He is joined in

FRESNO, Calif. — Led by Isaiah Hill’s 17 points, the Fresno State Bulldogs defeated the San Jose State Spartans 70-62 on Tuesday. The Bulldogs moved to 9-14 with the win and the Spartans fell to 14-10.

By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bronny James stepped over to his dad’s locker and played the phone video he had taken of Tuesday night’s biggest moment. The NBA’s new scoring king tipped his head back in a rich, full-throated laugh when the audio revealed Bronny had anticipated that the historic

By DAVID SMALE Associated Press MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Markquis Nowell scored 18 points and No. 12 Kansas State finished strong, snapping a two-game skid by beating No. 17 TCU 82-61. The Wildcats outscored TCU 17-2 to end the game. Kansas State improved to 19-5 and moved within a game of first-place Texas in a

By The Associated Press Reaction from social media and elsewhere, regarding LeBron James passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s leading scorer.