AP National Sports

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Basketball Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mark Adams wasn’t about to use any sort of flowery poetry to describe No. 14 Texas Tech’s 56-55 victory over Oklahoma in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals Friday night, instead describing the entire 40 minutes as “ugly.” Then again, it looks a lot prettier

FORT WORTH, Texas — Jalen Duren added 21 points and 20 rebounds, Lester Quinones scored a career-high 22 points and Memphis topped Central Florida 85-69 in the American Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinals. Darius Perry led the Knights with a season-high 23 points.

By RAUL DOMINGUEZ Associated Press SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Gregg Popovich became the winningest coach in NBA regular-season history, getting his 1,336th victory when the San Antonio Spurs rallied to beat the Utah Jazz 104-102. Popovich broke a tie with Don Nelson, the friend and mentor he served as an assistant under while with Golden

By JACK THOMPSON Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Gary Trent Jr. scored 42 points and the Toronto Raptors held off the Phoenix Suns, beating the NBA’s leading team 117-112 on Friday night. Trent was 8 from 11 from 3-point range and 13 of 21 from the floor. He fell just short of his career high

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Northern Arizona’s Abdihamid Nur set the meet record in the men’s 5000 meters at the NCAA indoor track and field championships. Rachel Baxter, the Atlantic Coast Conference indoor women’s champion, won the pole vault with a personal best 15-1 3/4. The Virginia Tech senior broke the conference record last month with

NORFOLK, Va. — Jesse Zarzuela tied his season high with 27 points as Coppin State topped North Carolina Central 79-73 in the Mid-Eastern Conference tournament semifinals. Kris Monroe led North Carolina Central with 18 points and seven rebounds.

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Jermaine Samuels had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Brandon Slater scored 15 points to lead No. 8 Villanova into the Big East Tournament championship game, beating No. 20 Connecticut 63-60. The second-seeded Wildcats (25-7) play Creighton in Saturday night’s championship game at Madison Square

PARADISE, Nev. — Teddy Allen scored 25 points as New Mexico State narrowly beat Grand Canyon 75-70 in the Western Athletic Conference tournament semifinals. Jabari Rice added 21 points for the Aggies. Holland Woods led the Antelopes with 24 points.

WASHINGTON — Jacob Gilyard had a career-high 32 points as Richmond beat VCU 75-64 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference championship. Vince Williams Jr. led the Rams with 18 points and nine rebounds.

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo had 30 points and 17 rebounds, Jimmy Butler added 24 points and a pair of big third-quarter runs helped the Miami Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-105 on Friday night. Tyler Herro scored 22 points and Max Strus finished with 17 for the Heat,

By CLAY BAILEY Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Ja Morant keyed a fourth-quarter rally scoring 15 of his 37 points in the period to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 118-114 victory over the New York Knicks. Ziaire Williams and Jaren Jackson Jr. finished with 13 points each, Jackson adding five blocks, part of

By AVERY OSEN Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lauren Ebo tied a career-high 17 points, and No. 7 Texas beat Kansas State 72-65 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Rori Harmon had 16, Aliyah Matharu scored 15 and Joanne Allen-Taylor added 12 for the Longhorns, who will play No. 10 Iowa

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Matthew Lee had 14 points as St. Peter’s beat Quinnipiac 64-52 in the semifinals of the Metro Atlantic Conference Tourney. Matt Balanc led Quinnipiac with 14 points.

By BRETT MARTEL AP Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Miles Bridges had 27 points and nine assists, Terry Rozier highlighted his 27-point performance with seven 3-pointers, and the Charlotte Hornets put on a shooting exhibition to beat the undermanned New Orleans Pelicans 142-120. LaMelo Ball had 17 points, nine assists and three steals for

CHICAGO (AP) — Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber was given the 2022 Werner Fricker Builder Award by the U.S. Soccer Federation. The 64-year-old succeeded Doug Logan as MLS commissioner in 1999 and has overseen the league’s expansion from 10 to 29 teams and the opening of 26 soccer-specific stadiums in the U.S. and Canada.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw is staying put with the Los Angeles Dodgers. According to multiple reports, the free-agent pitcher agreed to a one-year contract to return to the only team he’s ever played for. The deal is pending a physical. Kershaw posted a photo of himself on Instagram with the caption, “We back!”