KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The first Big 12 Tournament semifinal delivered the madness.

Arizona outlasted Iowa State, 82-80, on Jaden Bradley’s buzzer-beating 15-footer. The Big 12 Player of the Year hit the game-winner from the right side — while also falling to his right.

The horn sounded as the ball approached the hoop and marked the second ...Read more

The Indiana Pacers might be tanking, but there’s no question they get up for the Knicks.

The Pacers, who own the NBA’s worst record in a season Tyrese Haliburton is sitting with a ruptured Achilles, entered Friday’s meeting with the Knicks at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse having lost 11 in a row, nine of which came via double-digit margins ...Read more

CHICAGO — Michigan’s Dusty May earned the Big Ten Coach of the Year award in media voting for the Wolverines’ dominant season.

Illinois’ Brad Underwood is recognized by Illini Nation as an excellent recruiter who rebuilt the program, though his coaching remains suspect by a faction of fans who want to see better results come tournament ...Read more

NEW YORK — St. John’s is one win away from its second consecutive Big East Tournament championship.

Led by an overpowering frontcourt, top-seeded St. John’s outlasted Seton Hall, 78-68, in Friday night’s hard-fought semifinal at Madison Square Garden.

It didn’t come easily, as the scrappy Pirates turned a 19-point second-half deficit...Read more

NEW YORK — Knicks star Jalen Brunson could be wearing colors that aren’t red, white and blue when the Olympics come stateside to Los Angeles in 2028.

Brunson, who represented the USA in the 2023 FIBA World Cup in the Philippines, said if Team USA doesn’t want him to represent the country in three summers time, he could put in a bid to ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After 12 games, a few dozen slips and one injury over three days, the Big 12 Conference Tournament employees were scrambling late Thursday — err, early Friday — for their busiest hours yet.

Overnight.

The conference removed the glitz and glamour of its all-LED glass floor in favor of the traditional hardwood court ...Read more

CHICAGO — Illinois’ Big Ten Tournament run began and ended Friday at the United Center.

Fifth-seeded Wisconsin topped the fourth-seeded Illini, 91-88 in overtime, behind a combined 69 points from guards John Blackwell and Nick Boyd to advance to Saturday’s semifinal against top-seeded Michigan.

Illinois, which had received a triple bye ...Read more

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The third time was not the charm for Kentucky.

Much like both games in the regular-season series, Florida got off to a good start and controlled the Cats throughout, ultimately scoring a 71-63 victory over UK in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals at Bridgestone Arena.

Kentucky, which was the 9 seed in Nashville and got wins ...Read more

CHICAGO — It’s often said that it’s hard to beat the same team three times in one season, let alone a rival.

The Wolverines can attest to that.

After sweeping the home-and-home series, top-seeded Michigan had to grind out a 71-67 win to send No. 8 seed Ohio State packing in Friday’s Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal at United Center.

...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Pitt athletic director Allen Greene announced Friday afternoon that he would be retaining men’s basketball coach Jeff Capel for a ninth season.

With a 98-88 loss to NC State in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday, Capel’s latest season at the helm ended with a 13-20 record, the fifth 20-loss season in program ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Pitt tried hard and “fought to the end” again Wednesday in the ACC tournament, so let’s give the Panthers credit for that at least.

Their efforts weren’t quite enough, though, and so they lost to NC State and their season ended with 20 losses and even more questions facing the program. The first is the elephant in the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — He didn’t miss it this time.

Luka Doncic recorded his first 50-point game of the season Thursday, hitting two late free throws as the crowd at Crypto.com Arena showered him with “MVP” chants in the fourth quarter. Doncic checked out with 1:41 remaining to a standing ovation with 51 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Midway through the second half in Charlotte, with his team down by double-digits and continuing to fade deeper into a deficit, that’s what UNC coach Hubert Davis kept yelling at his team from the sidelines. He needed them to fight. To punch back. To claw, if they had to.

But in the second ...Read more

The last two NBA champions — and current betting favorites to meet in this year’s Finals — squared off Thursday night in Oklahoma City.

The result: thriller worthy of the game’s biggest stage.

The Celtics pushed the Thunder to the brink despite playing without starters Jayson Tatum and Derrick White and key reserve Nikola Vucevic, but ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As Kansas coach Bill Self barked orders from the sideline inside T-Mobile Center, the tide was starting to turn.

Slowly, KU’s defense began to force the TCU Horned Frogs into bad shots and costly mistakes. A game that was a total dogfight to begin the Jayhawks’ postseason turned into a quintessential Bill Self win.

...Read more

MIAMI — The Heat did not get an 83-point performance from Bam Adebayo on Thursday, but they did not need one.

Despite Adebayo falling 62 points short of his Tuesday total, Miami rolled to its seventh consecutive victory, beating Milwaukee, 112-105, at the Kaseya Center in Miami behind second-year guard Pelle Larsson’s career-high 28 points....Read more

ORLANDO Fla. — Roughly nine days ago at Kia Center, the Magic took down the Wizards to jumpstart a season-long five-game winning streak.

But hosting Washington for the first time since the Southeast Division foe allowed Miami’s Bam Adebayo score 83 points on Tuesday, Orlando was aware the Wizards would likely come out with extra energy ...Read more

Before tip at State Farm Arena, the Nets announced reserve center Day’Ron Sharpe has been diagnosed with an ulnar collateral ligament tear in his left thumb, that he’ll need surgery, and that he’ll miss the rest of the regular season. It was the news of the night, especially given how much Sharpe had become part of the Nets’ nightly ...Read more