COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
Seventh-ranked Duke has avenged its Feb. 7 loss to Virginia.
A.J. Griffin scored eight of his 13 points in the final four minutes of the Blue Devils’ 65-61 victory over the Cavaliers. Griffin hit back-to-back 3-pointers and a layup down the stretch to help the Blue Devils move to 24-4 overall, 14-3 in the ACC.
Jeremy Roach had a team-high 15 points for Duke. Trevor Keels added 13, three coming in the final minute.
Kihei Clark scored 25 points and hit a career-high six 3-pointers, all in the first half for Virginia.
In Wednesday’s other top-25 men’s basketball games:
Walker Kessler just missed his third triple-double of the season as third-ranked Auburn got by Mississippi, 77-64. Kessler had 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks to help the Tigers bounce back from Saturday’s one-point loss at Florida. Jabari Smith and Zep Jasper each had 15 points as Auburn stayed atop the SEC at 13-2.
Bryce Hopkins came off the bench to score 11 of his career-high 13 points during a 15-2 run in the second half of sixth-ranked Kentucky’s 71-66 decision over LSU. The short-handed Wildcats trailed 36-28 just after halftime and needed offense besides Oscar Tshiebwe, who had 17 points and 16 rebounds. Kellan Grady and Davion Mintz also had 13 points for the Wildcats, who played their second consecutive contest without injured starting guards TyTy Washington Jr. and Sahvir Wheeler.
Eleventh-ranked Providence needed triple-overtime to defeat Xavier, 99-92. Jared Bynum provided 27 points, including a 3-pointer that put the Friars ahead by five with 28 seconds left. A.J. Reeves finished with 16 points and Al Durham had 13 to help Providence move to 23-3.
Jordan Davis sank a jumper with 2:18 left to give No. 13 Wisconsin the lead en route to a 68-67 triumph over Minnesota. Steven Crowl had 20 points to lead the Badgers, while Tyler Wahl chipped in 12 points and nine boards. The Badgers are 22-5 overall and 13-4 in the Big Ten.
Kyler Edwards scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half of 14th-ranked Houston’s 81-67 downing of Tulane. Taze Moore punctuated his 18-point performance with a two-handed alley-oop dunk with just more than a minute remaining. Fabian White Jr. had 12 points and three blocked shots for the 23-4 Cougars, who shot 62% in the second half.
Andrew Jones had 21 points as 20th-ranked Texas defeated TCU, 75-66. Marcus Carr had 19 points for the 20-8 Longhorns, while Timmy Allen added 17 points and seven rebounds. Mike Miles Jr. had 17 points for the Horned Frogs.
In men’s college basketball, Notre Dame defeated Syracuse, 79-69, UAlbany held off Maine, 72-68, Vermont bested Binghamton, 66-49, Dayton outscored UMass, 82-61, and UMBC topped Hartford, 92-85. On the women’s side, Hartford squeaked by UMBC, 74-71, Maine held off UAlbany, 49-45, and UMass downed VCU, 66-57.
MLB:
Major League Baseball says the regular season will be shortened if a new collective bargaining agreement isn’t in place by Monday.
Locked-out baseball players and team owners met for a third straight day Wednesday in an attempt to reach a deal that would salvage opening day on March 31. The announcement by management comes amid little negotiating progress with the lockout in its 84th day.
Players have not accepted Monday as a deadline and have suggested any missed games could be made up as part of doubleheaders, a method MLB said it will not agree to.
The union told MLB that if games are missed and salaries are lost, clubs should not expect players to agree to management’s proposals to expand the postseason and to allow advertisements on uniforms and helmets.
MLB’s only new offer to players Wednesday was to increase the minimum salary by an additional $10,000 a year. MLB increased its proposed minimum for this year to $640,000, with the figure rising by $10,000 in each additional season of a five-year agreement. Players have asked for $775,000 in 2022, with $30,000 jumps each season.
The two sides are facing what management says is a Monday deadline for a deal that would allow the season to start as scheduled.
Former major league infielder Julio Cruz has died at 67.
Cruz was an original Seattle Mariners player from their inaugural season who later became a Spanish-language broadcaster for the franchise. The switch-hitting second baseman played 10 seasons total in the majors, including parts of seven with the Mariners.
Cruz was traded to Chicago midway through the 1983 season and sparked the White Sox to the AL West title that year.
NFL:
Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst says he’s not giving Aaron Rodgers any deadlines on when to decide on a possible return and he believes the four-time MVP will reach a resolution soon.
Rodgers has said he hasn’t made up his mind regarding his plans for next season and hasn’t ruled out returning to the Packers, retiring or requesting a trade. He has said he’d like to make a decision by the time the free agency period starts next month, giving the Packers enough time to prepare for life with or without him.
Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is launching an initiative through his Know Your Rights Camp that will offer free, secondary autopsies to family members of anyone whose death is “police-related.”
The goal of the initiative is to eliminate concerns about reliability and objectivity of the first autopsy.
Kaepernick led the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl following the 2012 season. He last played in the NFL in 2016, the year he started kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice.
NBA:
The Portland Trail Blazers say center Jusuf Nurkic will be sidelined for at least four weeks because of left foot plantar fasciitis.
The team said the condition has been bothering Nurkic since September.
Nurkic has started 56 games this season, averaging 15 points and 11.1 rebounds. He has 30 double-doubles.
Also around the NBA:
The Cavaliers have promoted assistant general manager Mike Gansey to GM. Gansey has been with the Cavs since 2011. He will have an increased role in draft preparations while working with Koby Altman, who was recently promoted from GM to president of basketball operations.
NHL:
The Colorado Avalanche did just fine without top-line forward Nathan MacKinnon.
Gabriel Landeskog notched his 24th and 25th goals of the season as the Avalanche dumped the Red Wings, 5-2 in Detroit. Nazem Kadri registered his 22nd goal of the season for the Avs, who also got tallies from Tyon Jost and Valeri Nichushkin.
Alex Newhook, Mikko Rantanen and Devon Toews each had two assists as Colorado improved to an NHL-best 37-10-4.
MacKinnon missed the game with a lower-body issue.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
Corey Perry’s 400th career goal was the eventual game-winner as the Lightning beat the Oilers, 5-3. Perry made it 4-1 in the second period to help Tampa Bay overcome Connor McDavid’s two goals. Pat Maroon, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov also scored for the Lightning, who were coming off a seven-day break.
The Stars pulled out a 3-2 win over the Jets as Tyler Seguin scored 54 seconds into overtime on a play that required a review. Seguin’s shot in transition was stopped by Connor Hellebuyck, and the goalie reached for the puck in midair as Seguin sent it back toward the goal. Seguin and Jamie Benn each had a goal and an assist for Dallas.
Viktor Arvidsson scored his second goal of the game with 3:39 remaining to give the Kings a 3-2 victory over the Coyotes. The Kings have won five straight road games and are 7-0-2 in their past nine, with the last two coming in Arizona. Blake Lizotte also scored for the Kings and Cal Petersen made 17 saves for his second consecutive win over Arizona.
The Canadiens have their first four-game winning streak in three years after Nick Suzuki scored twice in a 4-0 shutout of the Sabres. Suzuki tallied on a penalty shot and had an assist to back Samuel Montembeault, who turned back 32 shots in his first NHL whitewash. Cole Caufield and Jake Evans completed the scoring for Montreal.
Chicago Blackhawks forward Jujhar Khaira will miss the rest of the season after he had surgery on his lower back. Khaira had the operation yesterday, and team physician Michael Terry says he is expected to be sidelined for 10 to 12 weeks. The 27-year-old Khaira had three goals and no assists in 27 games in his first season with the Blackhawks.
In other NHL news:
Maple Leafs prospect Rodion Amirov has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas says the 20-year-old Russian winger is undergoing treatment in Germany and will not return for the remainder of the season. Agent Dan Milstein said Amirov is skating three times a week and working out daily while with his family in Germany having treatment.
GOLF:
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has told players in a meeting at the Honda Classic that anyone who joins a rival league will be off the PGA Tour and shouldn’t expect to return.
Tuesday’s meeting had been scheduled weeks in advance, but it began just minutes after Phil Mickelson released a statement in which he apologized for “reckless” remarks about the Saudis and praised Greg Norman’s LIV Golf Investments for sharing his goal of making golf better. Monahan declined to comment when asked if Mickelson had been suspended or faces punishment.
In other golf news:
Two-time major champion Zach Johnson is taking over as Ryder Cup captain, leading an American side trying to end 30 years without a victory on European soil. Three people with knowledge of the decision confirmed the move to The Associated Press. Johnson played on five Ryder Cup teams and was an assistant on the last two teams.
TENNIS:
Third-ranked Alexander Zverev has been thrown out of the Mexican Open for violently smashing his racket on the umpire’s chair moments after losing a doubles match.
The incident took place Tuesday night after Zverev and Marcelo Melo lost to Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara 6-2, 4-6, 10-6 in Acapulco. Zverev struck the umpire’s chair three times, sat for a moment, then got back up and yelled at the umpire. He struck the chair once more with his racket as the umpire climbed down.
In other tennis news:
A man who was found guilty of stalking U.S. Open tennis champion Emma Raducanu has been given a five-year restraining order. Amrit Magar also has been sentenced to an 18-month community service order that includes 200 hours of unpaid work. He will be under curfew for eight weeks and monitored by an electronic tag.
OLYMPICS:
NBC says the just-completed Beijing Olympics reached an average combined audience of 11.4 million people in prime time on the main network, the USA cable network and Peacock streaming service. That’s the lowest-ever American audience for any Olympics, and down 42% from the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018.
Nielsen says the prime time telecasts on NBC alone reached an average of 9.3 million viewers, down 48% from South Korea.
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