6 hours Ago By AP
No. 1 Duke holds off furious North Carolina rally to win 74-71, reach ACC title game without Flagg CHARLOTTE, N.C.
(AP) — Kon Knueppel scored 17 points and No. 1 Duke held off a furious second half rally by North Carolina to beat its rival for the third time this season, 74-71 on Friday night to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game. Khaman Maluach added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Blue Devils, who played without star Cooper Flagg.
Duke (30-3) will play the winner of the second semifinal between No. 10 Clemson and No. 13 Louisville.
After North Carolina (22-13) cut a 24-point deficit to one, Ven-Allen Lubin had two free throws with 4.1 seconds. But he missed the first and had the second made free throw waved off after teammate Jae-Lyn Withers stepped in the lane too early.
Cooper Kupp agrees to terms with his home state Seahawks on 3-year, $45 million deal, AP source says A person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press that Cooper Kupp and the Seattle Seahawks have agreed on a three-year, $45 million contract. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Friday because the contract hasn’t been signed. Kupp, the Super Bowl 56 MVP, was released by the Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday.
He’ll help replace DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett in Seattle, which traded quarterback Geno Smith and signed Sam Darnold in free agency. Kupp starred in college at Eastern Washington and was the AP Offensive Player of the Year in 2021. Luka Doncic won't play Friday in Denver, joining LeBron James on Lakers' injury list DENVER (AP) — Luka Doncic won’t play against the Denver Nuggets, joining LeBron James on the Lakers’ lengthy list of unavailable players.
The Lakers ruled the star guard out on the second night of back-to-back games because of left calf injury management and a right ankle sprain. Doncic had his highest-scoring game with the Lakers on Thursday, scoring 45 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in a 126-106 loss in Milwaukee. James is missing his third straight game with a left groin strain and has already returned to Los Angeles along with Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy) and Jaxson Hayes (bruised right knee.
) Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia share lead at The Players as Justin Thomas ties course mark with 62 PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia share the lead at The Players Championship in what could be a wild weekend with expected wind. The biggest surprise is Justin Thomas being part of the mix.
Thomas shot 78 in the opening round. He was 16 shots better on Friday. Thomas set the tournament record with 11 birdies.
With a bogey from the water on the last hole, he still tied the course record at 62. He was seven behind and happy to be playing. Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa were two behind.
Two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler was six shots back. Ejiofor powers No. 6 St.
John's past No. 25 Marquette 79-63 into 1st Big East final since 2000 NEW YORK (AP) — Zuby Ejiofor scored a career-high 33 points, a St. John’s record in the Big East Tournament, and the sixth-ranked Red Storm pulled away from No.
25 Marquette 79-63 to reach the conference championship game for the first time in 25 years. Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. added 13 points and Ejiofor grabbed nine rebounds as the top-seeded Red Storm wiped out an early 15-point deficit.
They advanced to play second-seeded Creighton or No. 3 seed UConn on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. St.
John’s has won eight straight — and 18 of 19 since the new year. Kam Jones had 24 points for the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles. No.
96 fits Hurricanes' Roslovic just right as he scores goal 2nd straight game RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jack Roslovic got his No.
96 jersey back, and he’s wearing it well. The Carolina Hurricanes center scored a goal in a second straight game and has four points over three games since taking back the number. He took a pass at the side of the net and slipped it past Petr Mrázek to break a 1-1 tie in the second period against Detroit Friday and assisted on another goal.
The Hurricanes won 4-2. Roslovic agreed to give Mikko Rantanen No. 96 when Rantanen came to the Hurricanes in a trade.
Rananen was traded to Dallas after 14 games. Hawkeyes' worst season in 7 years prompts firing of Fran McCaffery, program's all-time wins leader Iowa has fired coach Fran McCaffery after the Hawkeyes won their fewest games and had their lowest Big Ten regular-season finish in seven years. The 65-year-old McCaffery was under contract through 2028 and said last week that he intended to return for a 16th season rather than retire.
Athletic director Beth Goetz decided a change was in order amid declining attendance at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and will sign off on McCaffery’s $4.2 million buyout. McCaffery was 297-207 at Iowa.
He was fired on Friday. Not just Ohtani: Tokyo Series will showcase the depth of Japanese talent in Major League Baseball TOKYO (AP) — The spotlight will be on slugger Shohei Ohtani this week when the superstar returns to Japan and leads the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the Chicago Cubs in the first two games of the Major League Baseball season at the Tokyo Dome. But he won’t be the only one playing in front of his home country.
Four other Japanese players — LA’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, along with Chicago’s Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga — will be on the field in a display of how deep the talent pool is in the country. After finishing last season with Patrick Mahomes, DeAndre Hopkins gets to play with Lamar Jackson OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — DeAndre Hopkins moved from one two-time MVP quarterback to another.
After reaching the Super Bowl last season with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, Hopkins will now play with Lamar Jackson and Baltimore after reaching a one-year deal with the Ravens. Baltimore’s offense was dazzling last season as Jackson threw for a career-high 4,172 yards and finished with a passer rating of 119.6.
The Ravens don’t necessarily need Hopkins to regain the form that made him an all-Pro from 2017-19. He did reach 1,000 yards receiving in 2023 before putting up more pedestrian numbers last season. Myles Garrett thinks Browns are in a better place after extension, discussions about team's future BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Cleveland edge rusher Myles Garrett believes a trade request and voicing his frustrations during Super Bowl week about the Browns’ 3-14 campaign was the catalyst for more conversations with general manager Andrew Berry about the franchise’s future.
Instead of being traded, Garrett agreed to a four-year contract extension with an annual value of $40 million that makes him the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history..
_2025_03_15_15_58_34.jpg)
