No. 1 Duke holds off furious North Carolina rally to win 74-71, reach ACC title game without Flagg
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kon Knueppel scored 17 points, and No. 1 Duke held off a furious second half rally by rival North Carolina to beat its rival for the third time this season, 74-71 on Friday night to reach the ACC Tournament championship game. Khaman Maluach added 13 points and...
Hawkeyes’ worst season in 7 years prompts firing of Fran McCaffery, program’s all-time wins leader
Iowa fired coach Fran McCaffery on Friday after the Hawkeyes won their fewest games and had their lowest Big Ten regular-season finish in seven years. The 65-year-old McCaffery, who was under contract through 2028, had said last week that he intended to return for a 16th season rather than retire....
Injuries to freshman star Cooper Flagg, Maliq Brown hit at inopportune time for No. 1 Duke
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cooper Flagg went airborne to snag a rebound in his first ACC Tournament game when Duke’s freshman star landed awkwardly and crashed to the court, holding his left ankle and writhing in pain. It came moments after defensive whiz Maliq Brown had to be helped to the...
Copeland leads as McNeese goes back-to-back in Southland
LAKE CHARLES, La. — Quadir Copeland scored 18 points, and McNeese defeated Lamar, 63-54, in a cold-shooting, defensive battle Wednesday, giving the Cowboys back-to-back Southland Tournament championships. The top-seeded Cowboys (27-6) will be making their fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Cowboys led wire-to-wire. The gap was 31-22 with...
New-look Big 12 Tournament set to begin Tuesday in Kansas City with Houston as the No. 1 seed
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The new-look Big 12 Tournament begins with the first of three straight quadruple-headers Tuesday, and the addition of four programs and the departure of Texas and Oklahoma aren’t the only things that promise to make it look a bit different. Kansas as the No. 6 seed...
UCLA and South Carolina are 1-2 in women’s AP Top 25; No. 6 TCU has highest ranking in its history
UCLA vaulted back up to No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s basketball Top 25 on Monday after beating USC for the Big Ten title over the weekend. The Bruins, who spent 12 weeks atop the poll before losing to the rival Trojans in early February, received 16 first-place votes...
Duke ends Auburn’s 8-week stay at No. 1 in AP Top 25; Oregon, Illini return as postseason heats up
Duke ended Auburn’s eight-week stay at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll on Monday, while the Tigers dropped to third behind Houston as all three programs began preparing for their conference tournaments. The Blue Devils took advantage of back-to-back losses by Auburn to ascend to...
NC State fires coach Kevin Keatts a year after improbable ACC title and Final Four run
RALEIGH, N.C. — N.C. State fired men’s basketball coach Kevin Keatts on Sunday, an abrupt end to an eight-year tenure coming less than a year after the Wolfpack’s improbable run to the ACC championship and the Final Four. The school announced the move a day after the Wolfpack closed a...
No. 2 USC has best ranking in AP Top 25 in 39 years after beating UCLA; Texas still No. 1
Southern California has its best ranking in 39 years after moving up to No. 2 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll on Monday. The Trojans won the Big Ten regular-season title Saturday, beating then-No. 2 UCLA for the second time this year. That victory vaulted USC up...
Auburn atop AP Top 25 for 8th straight week; No. 6 St. John’s has highest ranking in 34 years
Auburn and Duke remain atop the AP Top 25. The rest of the poll was a big jumble. Auburn was the unanimous pick at No. 1 for the second straight week, receiving all 61 votes from a media panel in the poll released on Monday. The Tigers held the top...
ACC, FSU, Clemson reach proposed settlement to end legal fight, change money distribution
The legal fights between the Atlantic Coast Conference and high-profile member schools Clemson and Florida State appear close to resolution, which could provide the league with a measure of stability for the coming years. The league and the two schools have reached a proposed settlement that would include changing the...
Export native Luciana Perry continues to rise in women’s college tennis ranks at Ohio State
Luciana Perry was encouraged to try different sports while growing up in Export. But she always came back to tennis. There was a natural pull to the sport. Her father, Craig, grew up in Florida and played tennis at Rollins College before moving to Pittsburgh to teach the sport at...
Highlands grad Brooke Signorella showing promise in volleyball, track at DeSales despite late introduction to both sports
There are those who would debate the notion that competitive cheer is a “sport” on par with the likes of football, wrestling, tennis, etc. Regardless of the answer, Brooke Signorella knows without a doubt where she gets her athleticism. From 13 years in competitive cheer. “I was flipping my body....
New Orleans Privateers suspensions related to possible NCAA violations
NEW ORLEANS — Four New Orleans players who’ve been suspended since late January are under investigation for possible NCAA violations related to sports gambling, a person familiar with the situation said. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the university’s only public statement about...
CFP commissioners meet after SEC, Big Ten leaders urge change
DALLAS — Commissioners who are part of the College Football Playoff had some discussions Tuesday about possible changes for next season, including how the 12-team field is seeded. Several members of the CFP Management Committee, which is made up of all 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete...
Utah fires men’s basketball coach Craig Smith with Utes at 15-12
The University of Utah fired men’s basketball coach Craig Smith on Monday, a day after a 76-72 loss at Central Florida that dropped the Utes to 15-12 this season. Smith was in his fourth season in charge of the program. He was 65-62. The 52-year-old Smith will be replaced by...
Texas is No. 1 in women’s AP Top 25 for the first time in 21 years; N.C. State climbs into top 10
Texas is No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll for the first time in 21 years and the third different team to hold the top spot in the past three weeks. The Longhorns moved atop the poll Monday after previous No. 1 Notre Dame lost in...
IU Indianapolis men’s basketball team safe after bus catches fire
INDIANAPOLIS — Members of the IU Indianapolis men’s basketball team are unhurt and back home Monday, a day after their bus caught fire on Interstate 275. The school posted a message on X on Sunday that all team and staff members were safely evacuated from the bus, which experienced a...
Auburn atop AP Top 25 for 7th straight week; preseason No. 1 Kansas out, ending ranked run at 80 weeks
Auburn remained atop the AP Top 25 for the seventh straight week on Monday, while preseason No. 1 Kansas dropped out of the men’s basketball poll for the first time in nearly four years, ending the Jayhawks’ ranked run at 80 consecutive weeks. The Tigers earned all 60 votes from...
Arizona State’s leading scorer BJ Freeman no longer with team after turbulent stretch
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Arizona State’s leading scorer BJ Freeman is no longer with the program because of conduct detrimental to the team, a team spokesman confirmed on Sunday. The dismissal follows a turbulent stretch for Freeman, who was ejected in games against Colorado and Arizona during conference play. He was...
Flagg fun: Illinois coach suggests young Duke star should stay in school, ‘chase a girl’
NEW YORK — Cooper Flagg has certainly lived up to the hype. So it seems a foregone conclusion the freshman phenom from Duke will become the top pick in this year’s NBA Draft. Illinois coach Brad Underwood has a different idea. “I hope he stays in school. I mean, if...
No. 13 N.C. State women end No. 1 Notre Dame’s 19-game streak with double-OT win
RALEIGH, N.C. — Zoe Brooks had a career-high 33 points to help No. 13 N.C. State push past top-ranked Notre Dame, 104-95, in a double-overtime classic Sunday, ending the Fighting Irish’s 19-game winning streak while keeping alive their hopes to share the ACC regular-season title. Brooks also had 10 rebounds...
Michigan, basketball coach Dusty May reach agreement on contract extension
Michigan basketball coach Dusty May has made an impression in his first year at the helm. And the Wolverines made sure he won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel announced Friday that the university and May have agreed to a contract extension. Terms of the deal...
Fran Dunphy retiring at end of La Salle’s season. He’ll leave as winningest coach in Philly’s Big 5
PHILADELPHIA — La Salle’s Fran Dunphy, who has won more than 600 games and made 17 NCAA Tournament appearances in 33 seasons as coach at three of Philadelphia’s Big 5 schools, said Thursday he would retire at the end of the season. The 76-year-old Dunphy will become special assistant to...
College baseball future may see greater imbalance in competition
The Division I baseball season is less than a week old, and coaches already are planning for 2026 when it’s all but certain scholarship limits will be removed, rosters downsized and players will have opportunities to make more money. They expect the fallout to be fewer opportunities for high school...
