Sports

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Alex Bowman won his third career Daytona 500 pole and will be joined by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson on the front row for NASCAR’s season opener. The Hendrick dominance is no surprise. Bowman is on the Daytona 500 front row for the the

By AL LESAR Associated Press KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Zakai Zeigler and Santiago Vescovi each scored 15 points and No. 10 Tennessee took down newly minted No. 1 Alabama 68-59. Playing its first game as the top-ranked team since the 2002-03 season, the Crimson Tide led just once in the early going and committed 19

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer Notre Dame is promoting tight ends coach Gerard Parker to offensive coordinator and working to hire Wisconsin assistant Gino Guidugli as quarterbacks coach for the Fighting Irish, according to two people with knowledge of the decisions. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz won his first match of the year on Wednesday, beating Laslo Djere 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in the Argentina Open. The 19-year-old U.S. Open champion missed the Australian Open with a leg injury and ceded the No. 1 ranking to Novak Djokovic, who won the title in Melbourne. Alcaraz

By CLIFF BRUNT AP Sports Writer OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the Houston Rockets 133-96. Lu Dort scored 15 points, Jalen Williams scored 13 points and Jaylen Williams added eight points and a season-high 16 rebounds for the Thunder. Oklahoma City posted its largest

By PHILLIP B. WILSON Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Buddy Hield made six 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 27 points to help the Indiana Pacers rally from a 24-point deficit after the first quarter and defeat the Chicago Bulls 117-113. Tyrese Haliburton banked in a 9-foot shot for a 113-112 lead in

By The Associated Press CHICAGO — Led by Courvoisier McCauley’s 26 points, the Indiana State Sycamores defeated the UIC Flames 79-60. The Sycamores moved to 19-9 with the victory and the Flames dropped to 10-18.

By MARK LONG AP Sports Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and action sports star Travis Pastrana grabbed two of the remaining four open spots in the Daytona 500 during pole qualifying. IndyCar regular Conor Daly failed to get on track because of an electrical issue. Thirty-six drivers already were

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — PJ Hall scored 20 points, Chase Hunter added 18 and Clemson jumped out early and cruised to a 94-54 victory over Florida State to end a three-game skid. Clemson (19-7, 11-4 ACC) shot 60% overall and made 12 of 25 from long range. Clemson opened on a 16-3 run, stretching the

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Myreon Jones scored 15 points on five 3-pointers and short-handed Florida beat Mississippi 79-64 on Wednesday night to snap a three-game losing streak. Florida’s leading scorer, Colin Castleton, left the game holding his right hand with 15:05 left in the second half and did not return. Castleton had been averaging 24.8

By CHALIDA EKVITTAYAVECHNUKUL Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — One of the 12 boys rescued from a flooded cave in Thailand in 2018 after being trapped for more than two weeks has died in England, where he was attending a sports academy, the foundation sponsoring his studies said Wednesday. Duangphet “Dom” Phromthep, 17, was found unconscious

By JAY COHEN AP Baseball Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says the league is prepared for whatever happens with Diamond Sports Group after the financially troubled parent company of 19 Bally Sports regional networks skipped about $140 million in interest payments. The missed payments started a 30-day grace period that could be

DENVER (AP) — Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving was ruled out Wednesday night against the Western Conference-leading Denver Nuggets due to tightness in his lower back. It’s the last game for the Mavericks before the All-Star break. Coach Jason Kidd didn’t elaborate pregame what happened. Kidd thought Irving would participate in the All-Star Game this

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) — The Chicago Bears have bought the property that they’ve been sizing up for a new enclosed stadium in suburban Arlington Heights. The Bears announced Wednesday afternoon that they bought the 326-acre property for $197.2 million. The Bears cautioned that the purchase doesn’t mean their plans for a new stadium and

By JAY COHEN AP Baseball Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher talk on a regular basis about a new home for the franchise, and the focus has been on Las Vegas. But Manfred isn’t closing the door on the team remaining in Oakland. He says he thinks

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens have re-signed defensive end Brent Urban and cornerback Daryl Worley. The Ravens announced the moves Wednesday. The 31-year-old Urban played 16 games for Baltimore last season. He finished with one sack. He previously played for the Cowboys, Bears and Titans. He also spent his first four NFL

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers have hired Parks Frazier as their passing game coordinator. The 31-year-old Frazier was part of Frank Reich’s staff with the Indianapolis Colts since 2018, where he served as assistant quarterbacks coach. The Panthers also retained special teams coordinator Chris Tabor, offensive line coach James Campden and assistant offensive

LIEVIN, France (AP) — Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma has broken a 25-year-old indoor world record in the 3,000 meters at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais. Girma covered the distance in 7 minutes, 23.81 seconds at the World Athletics event. The previous record of 7:24.90 was set by Kenya’s Daniel Komen in Budapest in 1998. Spain’s Mohamed Katir

By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The NCAA asked a federal appeals court on Wednesday to reject a legal effort to make colleges treat Division I athletes like employees and start paying them an hourly wage. Lawyers for the student-athletes said that weekly, they often spend 30 hours or more on their sport

By JIM VERTUNO AP Sports Writer AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas prosecutor said Wednesday he will dismiss a felony domestic violence case against former Texas basketball coach Chris Beard, in part because of the alleged victim’s wishes not to prosecute. Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza said after a review of the evidence, and