WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Caitlin Clark wasted no time becoming the NCAA women’s career scoring leader, taking less than three minutes to score the eight points she needed to break Kelsey Plum’s record. Clark did it with her signature shot — a 35-foot 3-pointer that hit nothing but net. And Clark didn’t let up from there. She finished with a school-record 49 points, tied her career best with nine 3-pointers and had 13 assists in No. 4 Iowa’s 106-89 victory over Michigan. Clark’s huge night put her at 3,569 points and within 80 of her next milestone, Lynette Woodard’s major women’s college scoring record of 3,649.
UAlbany 38 NJIT 36
Niagara 84 Siena 70
Syracuse 71 Miami 60
Rider 45 Iona 43
Canisius 68 Marist 52
UVM 75 New Hampshire 41
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UAlbany 83 NJIT 58
UVM 70 New Hampshire 54
NBA
Ziaire Williams and GG Jackson scored 27 points apiece, and the Memphis Grizzlies held on for a 113-110 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night in the last game for both teams before the All-Star break. Vince Williams added 18 points and 12 rebounds for Memphis. Ziaire Williams’ points were a career high. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 35 points and 12 assists, his 43rd double-double of the season. Damian Lillard finished with 24 points and seven assists. Bobby Portis added 15 points and Brook Lopez had 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.
Klay Thompson came off the bench for the first time since his rookie season to knock down seven 3-pointers and score a season-high 35 points, leading the Golden State Warriors to a 140-137 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night. Thompson was a reserve for the first time since March 11, 2012. Rookie guard Brandin Podziemski replaced him in the starting lineup and finished with 13 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. Draymond Green chipped in a season-high 23 points for the Warriors. Thompson scored 17 points in the Warriors’ 84-point first half, but they needed a missed 3-pointer by Collin Sexton to hold on for their eighth win in 10 games.
Anthony Edwards had 34 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves built a 30-point lead after the most lopsided first quarter in the NBA this season, handing the Portland Trail Blazers a sixth straight loss with a 128-91 rout on Thursday night. Karl-Anthony Towns added 23 points for the Western Conference-leading Timberwolves, who led 44-14 after one quarter in their fourth straight win. Jerami Grant had 20 points for the Trail Blazers, who closed the gap to single digits in the third quarter. But the Timberwolves pushed the lead to 112-81 midway through the final period on Monte Morris’ jumper.
Welcome back, LeBron James. Welcome for the first time, Paolo Banchero, Scottie Barnes, Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Maxey. All-Star weekend in Indianapolis is here, with some familiar names, some new faces, a nod to nostalgia and a bit of unwinding for everyone before the stretch run of the season. Most of the 54 players who will be part of the weekend’s on-court festivities — and quite a few more are coming as well — began arriving on Thursday. For James, it’s his 20th All-Star Game and 21st All-Star weekend in his 21 NBA seasons.
Klay Thompson was told Thursday he wouldn’t be starting a game for the first time since he was a Golden State rookie in 2012. He responded with his best game of the season. Thompson scored a season-high 35 points, making seven 3-pointers and leading the Warriors to a 140-137 victory over the Utah Jazz. Thompson was replaced at shooting guard by rookie Brandin Podziemski. Thompson, Stephen Curry’s longtime partner as the starting backcourt, entered the game in the first quarter. It was the first time the four-time NBA champion came off the bench since March 11, 2012, during the lockout-delayed first season of his career.
NHL
Chris Kreider scored a hat trick, Adam Fox had four assists and Jonathan Quick made 31 saves as the New York Rangers downed the Montreal Canadiens 7-4 to match a season high with their sixth straight victory. Mika Zibanejad added a goal and two assists for the Rangers, who also got goals from Will Cuylle, Vincent Trocheck and Kaapo Kakko. Artemi Panarin had three assists. The Rangers scored four times in 4:10 during the second period after Montreal took a 1-0 lead in the first. Cole Caufield had two goals for Montreal, which has lost three of four. Jake Evans and Juraj Slafkovsky also scored for the Canadiens.
Anton Lundell scored twice, Matthew Tkachuk added a goal and two assists and the surging Florida Florida Panthers cruised past the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2. Aaron Ekblad and Johan Gadjovich also scored for Florida. Evan Rodrigues added two assists to reach 200 career points as the Panthers extended their franchise-record road winning streak to nine. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots to win his fifth straight start. Jake Guentzel scored his 23rd goal of the season for Pittsburgh. The Penguins have dropped three straight games.
Matty Beniers had a goal and two assists as the Seattle Kraken concluded a five-game road trip with a 4-1 win over the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins. Jordan Eberle, Eeli Tolvanen and Jared McCann also scored for Seattle. Joey Daccord stopped 36 shots to snap his three-game losing streak. Boston has dropped three straight and four of five, with all the defeats coming at home. David Pastrnak scored for the Bruins, and Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves.
Quinton Byfield scored on a power play with 5:37 left and the Los Angeles Kings rebounded from a seven-goal loss to beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1. Anze Kopitar scored a short-handed goal and David Rittich made 27 saves as the Kings won for only the fifth time in their last 20 games (5-9-6). Tyler Toffoli scored on a power play for New Jersey, which had a two-game winning streak snapped. Nico Daws was outstanding in goal, making 27 saves, including sensational glove stops on Kopitar in the first period and Adrian Kempe in the second.
Auston Matthews had a natural hat trick in the second period and William Nylander scored 54 seconds into overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night. Matthews pushed his NHL-leading goals total to 45, completing his fifth hat trick of the season and 12th of his career in a 7:49 span in the second period. He’s on a 71-goal pace through 51 games, looking to become the first NHLer to hit 70 since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny each had 76 in 1992-93. Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves to help Toronto improve to 28-16-8. Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim and Garnet Hathaway scored for Philadelphia. Samuel Ersson stopped 24 shots.
Anton Lundell scored twice, Matthew Tkachuk added a goal and two assists and the surging Florida Florida Panthers cruised past the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2. Aaron Ekblad and Johan Gadjovich also scored for Florida. Evan Rodrigues added two assists to reach 200 career points as the Panthers extended their franchise-record road winning streak to nine. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots to win his fifth straight start. Jake Guentzel scored his 23rd goal of the season for Pittsburgh. The Penguins have dropped three straight games.
Mason McTavish scored twice against his hometown team to help the Anaheim Ducks beat the Ottawa Senators 5-1 on Thursday night. The 21-year-old McTavish grew up in nearby Carp, Ontario. He has 15 goals this season, his third with the Ducks. Frank Vatrano, Pavel Mintyukov and Cam Fowler also scored for Anaheim. The Ducks rebounded from a 5-0 loss in Montreal on Tuesday night. John Gibson stopped all 15 shots he faced through two periods before leaving because of an upper-body injury. Lukas Dostal made 18 saves in he third. Claude Giroux scored for Ottawa and Joonas Korpisalo made 15 saves. The Senators had won four in a row.
NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov had two goals and an assist as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-3. Kucherov picked up his 93rd point on a goal that made it 4-3 at 8:13 of the third. Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, second in points, increased his total to 89 with two assists. Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Nick Perbix also scored for the Lighting, who got 28 saves from Andrei Vasilevskiy. Defenseman Bowen Byram scored twice for the Avalanche and Artturi Lehkonen added a goal.
Sam Steel scored 35 seconds after the puck dropped, and the Dallas Stars scored four goals in the first 16 minutes on the way to routing the Nashville Predators 9-2. Matt Duchene scored two goals after being bought out by the Predators last summer. Wyatt Johnson made it 4-0 at 15:53 and finished with two goals and two assists. Tyler Seguin and Ty Dellandrea had a goal and two assists apiece as Dallas won its third straight and split the season series with Nashville. Cole Smith and Tommy Novak scored for Nashville, which has lost five of six.
Robert Thomas and Jake Neighbours each had a goal and two assists and the St. Louis Blues beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-3 on Thursday night. Jordan Binnington made 36 saves, highlighted by two dazzling saves on Zach Hyman during an Edmonton power play in the first period. Jordan Kyrou, Torey Krug and Pavel Buchnevich each added a goal and an assist and Brandon Saad also scored to help the Blues win for the eighth time in 10 games. Leon Draisaitl Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Corey Perry scored for Edmonton and Connor McDavid had three assists. The Oilers lost for the third time in five games following a 16-game winning streak. Stuart Skinner made 24 saves.
Filip Zadina had two goals and two assists for a career-high four points in the San Jose Sharks’ 6-3 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night. Luke Kunin also scored twice, Justin Bailey had a goal and two assists for his first career multi-point game and Mikael Granlund added a goal. MacKenzie Blackwood made 31 saves to help San Jose improve to 15-33-5. Nazem Kadri, Mikael Backlund and Andrei Kuzmenko for Calgary and rookie Dustin Wolf stopped 25 shots. The Flames have dropped two straight to fall to 25-24-5. After setting up the tying and go-ahead goals in the second period, Zadina put it away with goals 37 seconds apart early in the third to make it 5-2.
Elias Lindholm scored twice, Thatcher Demko made 27 saves and the NHL-leading Vancouver Canucks beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Thursday night for their third straight victory. Nikita Zadorov scored his first goal with Vancouver, J.T. Miller added a goal and Elias Pettersson had three assists. The Canucks improved to 37-12-6, good for 80 points and a six-point lead over Florida, Boston and Dallas. J.T. Compher scored for Detroit, and Alex Lyon stopped 17 shots. The Red Wings fell to 27-20-6 with their second straight loss.
NFL
Police say the shooting that left one person dead and nearly two dozen injured after the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade appeared to stem from a dispute between several people. Police Chief Stacey Graves said Thursday that the 22 injured people ranged in age from 8 to 47 years old, with half of them were under the age of 16. A mother of two was killed. Police say they detained three juveniles but released one who they determined wasn’t involved, leaving two in custody. Investigators are asking for witnesses and victims to call a dedicated hotline. The shooting outside the city's historic Union Station happened despite the presence of more than 800 police officers.
Kansas City's mayor and security experts say it could be time to rethink the way teams celebrate their championships. Mayor Quinton Lucas said if the Chiefs win another Super Bowl it might be better for a smaller party at their home stadium, where security can be managed more easily. One person was killed and 22 others wounded when gunfire broke out shortly after the Chiefs left the stage at their victory rally. Police say they believe the shooting was the result of a dispute among individuals in the crowd, and not a terrorist attack. Security experts say large gatherings combine with the prevalence of guns to make a deadly combination.
MLB
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says he will retire when his current term ends in January 2029. Speaking at a spring training news conference, Manfred noted he will be 70 years old and been commissioner for 14 years when his term ends on Jan. 25, 2029. The 65-year-old succeeded Bud Selig in January 2015 and was given a five-year term. Owners voted in November 2018 to offer Manfred a new deal through the 2024 season, then voted last July to approve his latest term.
PGA TOUR
Tiger Woods attracted all the attention. The best golf was in the group ahead. Patrick Cantlay is looking like he wants to join the list of Southern California natives who have won at Riviera. He opened with a 64 at the Genesis Invitational and has a one-shot lead. Woods shot a 72 that was marked by a bizarre finish. He hit a shank from the middle of the 18th fairway and then hit a brilliant recovery through the trees. He was eight behind. Rory McIlroy was in worse shape with a double bogey-triple bogey stretch that led to 74.
Tiger Woods is back on the PGA Tour and his lasting memory was a shank. Woods hit a shank with an 8-iron from the 18th fairway at the Genesis Invitational. He attributes that to back spasms over the last two holes. At least he made a terrific recovery. He still made bogey and shot 72. That leaves him eight shots out of the lead. He'll need a better round Friday to make sure he sticks around for the weekend. Woods says his back has been acting up at home. He also says there was rust from not having played much.
DAYTONA 500
Jimmie Johnson raced his way into the Daytona 500 with a three-wide move through the final turn of Thursday night’s first qualifying race. Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing won the 150-mile race that is part of how the field is set for Sunday’s season-opening “Great American Race.” Johnson has Sunday’s race on what he expects to be a nine-race schedule this season. He’s co-owner now of Legacy Motor Club and, in his second season, switched the team from Chevrolet to Toyota. But the Toyotas lacked speed in Wednesday night time trials and Johnson failed to earn a guaranteed spot in what will be his 21st Daytona 500. It meant that he had to beat J.J. Yeley in the first of two qualifying races Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway.
SOCCER
U.S. women’s national team captain Lindsey Horan apologized Thursday for recent comments in which she said American soccer fans “aren’t smart” and they “don’t know the game.” Speaking on a conference call with reporters ahead of the first CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup, Horan said her remarks were “poorly expressed.” Horan said she had reflected on the remarks and the reaction to them. In addition to apologizing, Horan emphasized the appreciation both she and the rest of the team have for the fans.
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