LEXINGTON, Ky. — Jasper Johnson says the best Christmas gift he’s ever gotten was an all-terrain vehicle when he was a child.

“My dad got me a four-wheeler, but I didn’t have it too long,” the Kentucky freshman guard said. “I ended up crashing it when he let me drive it, and he got scared.”

In the second half of the 2025-26 UK ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Facing an overmatched opponent that allowed him to freely tinker with his lineups, UCLA coach Mick Cronin tried plenty of mixing and matching Tuesday afternoon.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway was that a three-guard lineup might be the way to go after the continued struggles of centers Xavier Booker and Steven Jamerson II.

"We've ...Read more

NEW YORK — The NBA is once again taking a hard look at tanking, and the timing is no coincidence.

As the league continues to deal with the fallout from a gambling scandal that exposed how injury information and late-season lineup decisions can be exploited, officials have begun exploring new ways to remove the incentive to lose on purpose.

...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky was without its complement of players yet again Tuesday afternoon.

For this one, it didn’t matter.

The Wildcats defeated Bellarmine, 99-85, in a rare weekday matinee game in Rupp Arena. It was the team’s final game of the calendar year, as well as the last nonconference matchup on the 2025-26 schedule. UK will ...Read more

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas freshman Kohl Rosario did something Monday night that he hasn’t done since late November.

He hit multiple 3-pointers.

In the second half of a 90-61 blowout win over Davidson, Rosario hit back-to-back 3s, drawing a roar from the packed Allen Fieldhouse crowd that wasn’t matched the rest of the game.

Rosario, ...Read more

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — After a nail-biter on Saturday in Atlanta, No. 12 North Carolina men’s basketball treated its home crowd to a comfortable 99-51 win over ECU to close out nonconference play.

The game had tilted so far in UNC’s favor that, by the later minutes of the second half, the loudest sound from the crowd was the jeering of a ...Read more

DENVER — The Denver Nuggets might’ve been guilty of coasting Monday, but they could afford to coast.

Scoring the first 19 points of the game and leading by 25 after the first quarter, Denver bounced back from its largest loss of the season with a 135-112 win over the Utah Jazz at Ball Arena.

The Nuggets (21-7) haven’t lost consecutive ...Read more

BOSTON — A glance at the stat sheet would suggest Jaylen Brown, with his game-high 31 points and nine rebounds, was the driving force behind the Boston Celtics’ latest victory.

But credit for the 103-95 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night belonged to Boston’s bench.

Down 20 early in the third quarter, head coach Joe Mazzulla sent...Read more

NEW YORK — For the first time this season, St. John’s is unranked.

The Red Storm fell out of the AP Top 25 two days after Saturday’s 78-66 loss to Kentucky dropped them to 7-4.

St. John’s opened the season ranked No. 5 but has failed to live up to the lofty expectations thus far.

The Johnnies are 0-3 against ranked opponents and 2-4 ...Read more

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — By halftime on Saturday night at the Intuit Dome, the Clippers seemed to have the Lakers snared in a trap game. There was no other way to describe it.

The Lakers were down three regulars to start with, Austin Reaves and Deandre Ayton inactive with injuries and Rui Hachimura unavailable with a hip/groin injury suffered the ...Read more

DENVER — Quesarito Night got extra spicy.

“I wish there was fighting (in basketball),” Denver Nuggets guard/enforcer Bruce Brown said early Saturday evening after a 115-101 home loss to the Houston Rockets. “I wish we didn’t get fined.”

“I definitely wanted to cross the line,” Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant told a small ...Read more

NEW YORK – When it comes to slumps, skids and defeats in droves, it’s as if the logic for the losses is without limitation.

Sometimes it’s death by 3-pointers. Sometimes it’s an opposing hot hand. Sometimes one bad stretch doing the damage.

Sunday night, in falling for the seventh time in eight games with a 132-125 loss to the New York...Read more

NEW YORK — Defense set the tone Sunday night and carried Brooklyn home to a win.

The Nets limited the Toronto Raptors from the opening tip through the final possessions, pulling away late for a 96-81 win Sunday night at Barclays Center to move to 8-19 on the season.

After struggling against the Miami Heat, Michael Porter Jr. led the way with...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves are nothing if not predictable.

Two nights after picking up their best victory of the season against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, a team they rarely lack motivation to play, the Bucks came to town without former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Wolves’ tendency to play to the level of ...Read more

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan coach Dusty May was wary about this stretch of the schedule.

With final exams in the rearview mirror and Christmas break on the horizon, it’s a time of the year that seems to be ripe for upsets. Teams that try to coast into the holidays and have wandering minds can get caught slipping by lesser competition.

The ...Read more

Alex Karaban matched his season-high with 21 points as the UConn men’s basketball team overcame a slow start without leading scorer Solo Ball to beat DePaul, 72-54, in Chicago’s Wintrust Arena Sunday night.

The No. 5 Huskies improved to 12-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Big East as they head into a short holiday break.

It was UConn’s ...Read more

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas assistant basketball coach Joe Dooley was arrested late Saturday night in west Lawrence, Kan., on suspicion of driving under the influence, failure to stop at an accident and transporting an open container, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office booking recap report.

He has been suspended from coaching ...Read more

NEW YORK — Having already experienced both sizzle and stumble, it has become clear that this could well be a season determined in the margins for the Miami Heat.

As in the margin between yet another trip to the play-in round — a fourth in a row — or something more substantive.

As in the margin of one more 3-pointer or one more rebound, ...Read more

When Luka Doncic sustained a left leg contusion and sat out the entire second half Saturday against the Clippers, he became the latest in a growing list of ailing Lakers players.

Doncic became the fourth injured Lakers starter in a 103-88 defeat to the struggling Clippers at Intuit Dome.

Doncic played 19 minutes in the first half, but he didn�...Read more