OLYMPICS-DAY 4
Snowboarder Chloe Kim has delivered the third gold medal for the United States at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
The 17-year-old Californian dominated the field in winning the halfpipe, posting a score of 93.75 during the first of her three runs in the finals and a 98.25 in the last run. Kim was the only rider to post a score over 90 during the first two rounds.
American Arielle Gold won bronze, edging out three-time Olympic medalist Kelly Clark.
Elsewhere at Pyeongchang:
Alpine skiing is finally underway amid blue skies and sunshine at the wind-buffeted Olympics. Marcel Hirscher of Austria has won the men's Alpine combined event, the first career Olympic gold medal for one of skiing's greats. Hirscher used his elite skills in the slalom leg to rise from 12th place after the opening run of downhill. The men's downhill and women's giant slalom both have been postponed because of gusty winds.
The U.S. is still seeking its first speedskating medal after being held off the podium for the third straight event. World champion Heather Bergsma finished eighth in the 1,500 meters. U.S. teammate Brittany Bowe was fifth.
Ryan Zapolski will be the starting goaltender for the U.S. men's hockey team opener against Slovenia. The 31-year-old Zapolski has been among the best players in the Kontinental Hockey League this season.
NBA-SCHEDULE
The Utah Jazz were nine games under .500 and five games out of a playoff berth in the NBA's Western Conference just three weeks ago. They now find themselves over .500 for the first time in two months following their 10th consecutive win.
Donovan Mitchell scored 25 points and the Jazz extended the league's longest current winning streak by downing the Spurs, 101-99. Mitchell hit a pair of go-ahead baskets and a free throw in the final minute after they trailed by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter.
Joe Ingles added 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Utah, while teammate Derrick Favors chipped in 19 points and eight boards.
Utah still sits in 10th place in the West, but the Jazz are within 1 ½ games of a postseason spot.
Pau Gasol had 15 points and 15 rebounds in San Antonio's third loss to Utah this season.
Checking out Monday's other NBA action:
The Warriors crushed the Suns as Stephen Curry contributed 22 points and Omri Casspi added 19 in a 129-83 laugher. Golden State coach Steve Kerr let a rotating group of players take over the whiteboard during timeouts, with injured Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala getting most of the chances. Kerr spent the breaks outside the huddle while his players drew out plays and discussed strategy in the Warriors' third straight win.
Dario Saric dropped in 24 points and J.J. Redick added 18 as the 76ers earned their 10th straight home win, 108-92 over the Knicks. Joel Embiid had 17 points for the Sixers, who were tied at 73 before going on a 21-6 run that put them ahead 94-79 with about 8 ½ minutes remaining. Philadelphia has moved into a virtual tie with Miami for seventh place in the NBA's Eastern Conference, three games ahead of Detroit.
Anthony Davis poured in 38 points and had 10 rebounds as the Pelicans beat the Pistons for the 11th time in their last 12 meetings, 118-103. Nikola Mirotic helped the Pelicans pull away in the third quarter and finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Lou Williams led seven Clippers in double figures with 20 points and DeAndre Jordan had a double-double in a 114-101 win at Brooklyn. Jordan provided 16 points and 17 rebounds for Los Angeles, which shot 56.5 percent in winning for the fourth time in five games.
The Bulls blew an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter before Zach LaVine hit a tiebreaking dunk off his own inbounds steal to push Chicago past the Magic, 105-101. Lauri Markkanen scored 21 points in the Bulls' second win in three games since dropping seven straight.
NBA-NEWS
The 76ers have signed veteran 3-point specialist Marco Belinelli, whose contract was bought out by the Atlanta Hawks.
Belinelli was averaging 11.4 points in 23.3 minutes per game with the Hawks, who bought him out to allow him to join a contending team.
In other NBA news:
Boston police are facing heavy criticism online for a now-deleted Twitter post for Black History Month that celebrated a white man. The original post on the department's official Twitter account Sunday was in honor of former Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach. Several Twitter users responded by calling the post "tone-deaf" and "clueless." The tweet was deleted less than an hour after it was posted and the department replaced it with an apology.
MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
The North Carolina Tar Heels had a tough time putting away the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
The 14th-ranked Tar Heels need a 13-0 burst in the final 5½ minutes to complete their third win in five days, 83-66 against the Irish. Theo Pinson scored 14 of his 16 points after halftime and finished with 10 rebounds. Joel Berry II delivered a team-high 21 points to help the Heels overcome a tough night by top scorer Luke Maye, who scored just eight points on 3-for-11 shooting.
The win leaves North Carolina 20-7 overall and 9-5 in the ACC.
Monday's other top-25 game had Teddy Allen scoring 16 points in leading No. 20 West Virginia to an 82-66 victory over TCU. James "Beetle" Bolden added 14 points, Daxter Miles Jr. scored 13 and Wes Harris had 11 points in the Mountaineers' third win in four games.
Siena topped Iona 82-78 in overtime. Junior forward Evan Fisher tied his career-high with 21 points, including 10 in overtime, and had nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Khalid Richard scored a career-high 22 as Siena won before a home crowd of 5,773.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL POLL
Virginia has climbed to No. 1 in the latest Associated Press men's basketball poll despite Saturday's loss to Virginia Tech.
The Cavaliers received 30 of 65 first-place votes to reach the top of the poll for the first time since December 1982.
Second-ranked Michigan State is second in the poll with 21 first-place votes and is followed in the poll by former No. 1 Villanova, Xavier and Cincinnati.
Purdue is sixth, ahead of Texas Tech, Ohio State, Gonzaga and Auburn.
UConn remains the unanimous No. 1 team in the AP women's poll. Mississippi State, Baylor, Louisville and Notre Dame round out the top five.
And Belmont is in the AP poll for the first time in school history, checking in at No. 24.
MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL-MISSISSIPPI-KENNEDY
Mississippi men's basketball coach Andy Kennedy says he will step down at the end of the season.
The decision was announced two days after Ole Miss lost at LSU to extend its losing streak to five and drop to 11-14 overall, 4-8 in the SEC.
Kennedy is the winningest coach at Ole Miss with 245 wins, ranking 18th in SEC history.
MLB-NEWS
Spring Training begins for most Major League Baseball teams as pitchers and catchers are set to report to camp this morning. Meanwhile, Hall of Fame pitcher Goose Gossage blasted Yankee’s GM Brian Cashman yesterday for not receiving an invite to spring training. Gossage told The Daily News that George Steinbrenner is “rolling over in his grave” and the late Yankees owner would have fired Cashman “10 years ago.” So far, there are no reports of a response from Cashman. Gossage has made headlines in the past for his comments at Yankees spring training. He said last year that it was “insulting” to him to be compared to former closer Mariano Rivera because he pitched multiple innings per outing while Rivera was primarily a one-inning closer.
In other MLB news:
Former National League Rookie of the Year Wally Moon has died at 87. Moon was the 1954 NL Rookie of the Year after hitting .304 with 12 homers and 76 RBIs. He also won three World Series with the Dodgers from 1959-65. Moon batted .289 with a .371 on-base percentage, 142 homers and 661 RBS in 1,457 career regular-season games.
The Major League Baseball Players Association is keeping media out of its free-agent training camp at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The camp is open to the approximately 100 unsigned players who exercised the right to become free agents in November.
Roy Halladay's No. 32 will be retired by the Toronto Blue Jays before their opener against the New York Yankees on March 29. Halladay died at age 40 on Nov. 7 when the plane he was piloting crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.
Former All-Star pitcher Esteban Loaiza has been arrested in California on suspicion of trafficking drugs. Loaiza was booked Friday on charges involving the possession, transport and sale of 20 kilograms of suspected cocaine.
NHL-SCHEDULE
The Toronto Maple Leafs are within six points of the NHL's Atlantic Division lead after knocking off the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Leafs blew a 3-1 lead in the third period before James van Riemsdyk notched the game-winner in a 4-3 victory against the Lightning. Nikita Kucherov and Yanni Gourde scored 20 seconds apart to tie the game early in the third period, but van Riemsdyk put Toronto back on top 3:19 later to send the Leafs to their fourth straight win.
William Nylander scored twice and had an assist to back Frederik Andersen, who finished with 31 saves in his 28th win of the season.
In other NHL finals:
The Coyotes had dropped nine straight to the Blackhawks until Max Domi, Clayton Keller, Alex Goligoski and Tobias Rieder each had a goal and an assist to lead Arizona to a 6-1 thrashing of Chicago. The Coyotes set a season high for goals and dealt the Hawks their sixth consecutive loss.
Vincent Trochek recorded a hat trick while the Panthers scored four times in the third period to beat the Oilers, 7-5. Evgeni Dadonov had a pair of goals and James Reimer stopped 27 shots as Florida won for the fifth time in six games.
NHL-NEWS
The New Jersey Devils have placed top goaltender Cory Schneider on injured reserve with groin and hip injuries.
Schneider was 17-11-6 with a 2.79 goals-against average when he was injured against Boston on Jan. 23. He is expected to start skating next week.
Also in the NHL
A person familiar with the move tells The Associated Press the Anaheim Ducks will place forward Dennis Rasmussen on waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract or loaning him to another team. Rasmussen had one goal and three assists, and averaged less than nine minutes of playing time in 27 games before Anaheim demoted him to the minors on Dec. 29.
SWIM COACH-SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
Olympic swimmer Ariana Kukors says her former coach "stole so much" from her in the decade she alleges he sexually abused her starting when she was a minor.
Kukors told The Associated Press in an emotional interview that she can't get that time back but can speak out so others recognize signs of abuse. The 28-year-old world champion swimmer says it's freeing to talk about the allegations.
Sean Hutchison has denied abusing Kukors. He has said they were in a consensual relationship after the 2012 Olympics, when she was 23. Kukors said someone who began forming a relationship with her when she was 13 couldn't possibly say it was consensual.
GYMNASTICS-DOCTOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
No charges will be filed against a man who tried to attack former sports doctor Larry Nassar in a Michigan courtroom.
Eaton County prosecutor Douglas Lloyd says Nassar and his attorneys didn't want charges against Randy Margraves. He says he gave those views "considerable weight" because they were potential victims. Margraves is the father of three daughters who say they were sexually assaulted by Nassar, the former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor.
Nassar was sentenced to prison for molesting women and girls with his hands. He's first serving a 60-year sentence for child pornography crimes.
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