LOS ANGELES — The sixth game in eight nights for the Los Angeles Lakers meant they were going to have to pay for all the energy they used fighting short handed over the last week.

It meant Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic needed to sit out because of sore ankles, that Jarred Vanderbilt had to rest an injured groin and Dorian Finney-Smith was out...Read more

St. John’s found itself on early upset alert.

Playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019, the second-seeded Johnnies missed their first five shots in Thursday night’s first-round meeting with No. 15 Omaha and quickly fell behind, 7-0.

The Mavericks would go on to lead for most of the game’s first 14 minutes.

It was an ...Read more

DENVER —The Michigan Wolverines are second round-bound.

It didn’t come easy, and Thursday’s NCAA Tournament first-round matchup certainly had its tense moments.

But like No. 5 seed Michigan has done all season, it found a way to get the job done. After letting a 15-point second-half lead slip away, Tre Donaldson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry left the Golden State Warriors’ game Thursday night against the Toronto Raptors after taking a hard fall late in the third quarter. He was ruled out for the game with a bruised pelvis.

The Warriors defeated Toronto 117-114.

Curry dribbled into the lane and jumped near the hoop to make a pass to the left corner, ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — After dropping a game earlier this season at Rupp Arena in downtown Lexington, the Tennessee Volunteers put forth a convincing effort in their NCAA Tournament opener, which also took place at the home gym of their arch rivals.

The Vols opened their journey in the 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament with a 77-62 victory over Wofford ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — UCLA was trying to maintain a double-digit lead early in the second half when it suffered what looked like a devastating loss.

Sophomore center Aday Mara, who had been dominating Utah State on both ends of the court, rolled his left ankle and limped off the court, sitting on the end of the bench while trainer Tyler Lesher ...Read more

Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball coach Bill Self sat on his bench seat inside Amica Mutual Pavilion and stared directly at the ground for a few seconds.

This was during the second half of Thursday night’s NCAA Tournament first-round game against Arkansas in Providence, R.I. Self’s furrowed brow and tightly closed mouth held a season’s ...Read more

WICHITA, Kan. — And so it ends.

In front of an upset-hungry audience and against an apparently hungrier team, Missouri men’s basketball’s stumbled feverishly but fruitlessly into the season-ending dusk of March.

The No. 11 seed Drake Bulldogs played their game — slowly, patiently and with plenty of Bennett Stirtz. The No. 6 seed ...Read more

The Knicks were a top-five offense with Jalen Brunson in the rotation.

With their All-Star captain sidelined due to a right ankle sprain, buckets have come fewer and further between.

After the San Antonio Spurs ran the Knicks off the Frost Bank Center floors, leading by as many as 28 points in a 120-105 victory on Wednesday night, New York ...Read more

DENVER — There are fond memories, sure. This was the building, after all, where Kevin Young watched his former Phoenix Suns close out a sweep of the Nuggets on the Suns’ dream run to the NBA Finals in 2020-21, the first year of a tenure in the desert that molded him.

But really, this return to Ball Arena brought “nightmares,” as Young ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The top seed Auburn Tigers are moving on in March Madness.

That’s hardly a surprise, though.

Auburn, both a 1 seed and the top overall seed in this year’s men’s NCAA Tournament, dispatched of 16 seed (and play-in game winner) Alabama State by a 83-63 score in the round of 64 on Thursday at Rupp Arena in downtown ...Read more

MIAMI — Pat Riley turned 80 years old Thursday. Happy birthday, Pat! Or not, perhaps.

Personal policy: I never use the word “disaster” in describing anything in sports. There are too many of those for real, natural and man-made, to think anything merits the description where games are being played.

So let’s just call this Miami Heat ...Read more

WICHITA, Kan. — When most eyes inside Intrust Bank Arena were fixated on the basketball court, where the No. 1-seeded Houston Cougars looked every bit the part of a national championship contender on Thursday, something fascinating was happening on the UH bench.

Every time Houston was on defense, assistant coach K.C. Beard, seated near the ...Read more

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Clemson grit? More like Clemson whiffed.

After recording the best regular season in program history, the Tigers’ men’s basketball team got outcoached, outplayed and outhustled most of the afternoon in their opening NCAA Tournament game on Thursday afternoon.

The end result, after a late rally: A 69-67 loss to McNeese ...Read more

DENVER — After getting upset in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament by James Madison, Wisconsin ensured there would be no such bracket-busting on Thursday at Ball Arena.

In Denver’s 2025 March Madness opening game, No. 3 Wisconsin controlled the tempo the whole way against No. 14 Montana. The Badgers used their significant size...Read more

Once upon a time in college basketball, rebuilding meant signing a new core of players and watching them grow up together over two or three years.

Kevin Willard had two weeks.

Two weeks to put a demoralizing 2023-24 season behind him. Two weeks to find shooters and ball handlers to complement his one returning starter, power forward Julian ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — For the second time in the 2024-25 season, the Louisville men’s basketball team has lost at Rupp Arena.

The first time — a Dec. 14 rivalry loss to Kentucky — ended up being a galvanizing moment for the Cardinals. U of L wound up winning 21 of its 24 games from that point onward.

But the second time — Thursday ...Read more

SEATTLE — What was viewed as the last domino before the NBA would seriously entertain expansion has fallen.

The Boston Celtics have reached agreement on a sale. And now the NBA has a ballpark figure it can ask for a potential expansion fee from parties interested in bringing the league back to Seattle.

An agreement was reached Thursday that ...Read more