Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Ochai Agbaji scored 23 points and passed Wilt Chamberlain on Kansas' career scoring list, leading the No. 5 Jayhawks to a 102-83 win over Kansas State. Agbaji has 1,444 points in 110 games, 26th on Kansas' all-time list. He passed Chamberlain with his 13th point of the first half. Chamberlain had 1,433 points in 48 games. Markquis Nowell scored 20 points, Nijel Pack, Selton Miguel and Mike McGuirl each had 13, and Mark Smith added 11 for Kansas State.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Keegan Murray scored 28 points as No. 25 Iowa defeated Michigan State 86-60. Kris Murray, Keegan's twin brother, and Jordan Bohannon each had 11 as the Hawkeyes continued their February run. Iowa lost three of its last four games to end January, but is 5-1 since. Keegan Murray, who entered fourth nationally in scoring at 23.4 points per game, was 10 of 15 from the field. It was his 19th game of 20 or more points this season. It was the third consecutive win by Iowa over the struggling Spartans, who have dropped five of six overall.
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Pete Nance scored 20 points and Northwestern pulled away in the second half to beat Nebraska 77-65. Northwestern (13-13, 6-11 Big Ten) ended a three-game losing skid while Nebraska (7-20, 1-15) has lost three straight. Boo Buie and Chase Audige added 15 points apiece for Northwestern, which opened the second half on a 26-14 run for an 18-point lead with about 10 minutes left and stretched it to 68-47 with 7:27 remaining. Alonzo Verge Jr. and Bryce McGowens had 15 points apiece for the Cornhuskers, who pulled to 72-63 but didn't get closer.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Vladimir Tarasenko scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and Jordan Binnington made 25 saves to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Ivan Barbashev had a goal and an assist, and Brayden Schenn and Brandon Saad also scored for the Blues, who completed a 3-1 road trip. St. Louis, which was playing in Philadelphia for the first time since Jan. 7, 2019, has won two straight and four of five. Oskar Lindblom scored for the Flyers, who lost their sixth in a row and 19th in the last 21.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Kennedy Chandler scored 23 points to lead No. 17 Tennessee to an 80-61 victory over Missouri on Tuesday night. Santiago Vescovi made 4 of 6 3-pointers and scored 14 points, and Victor Bailey Jr. added 11 points for Tennessee. Javon Pickett led Missouri with 16 points, and Kobe Brown had 12 points and nine rebounds.
UNDATED (AP) — Gonzaga is the unanimous No. 1 in the latest Associated Press men's basketball poll. The Zags aren't likely to budge the way they're dominating the West Coast Conference. Gonzaga remained at No. 1 for the second straight week, receiving all 61 votes from a media panel. Arizona moved up a spot to No. 2 for its highest ranking in four years, with Auburn, Purdue and Kansas rounding out the top five. Gonzaga is winning its WCC games by an average of 27 points. Saint Mary's gave the WCC two ranked teams and No. 25 Iowa moved into the poll for the first time this season.
UNDATED (AP) — LSU has moved into the top 10 of The Associated Press women's basketball poll for the first time in 13 years. Coach Kim Mulkey's Tigers climbed three places to No. 8. LSU has 23 victories, its most since the 2011-12 season. Mulkey won three national titles in 21 years as Baylor's coach and this is her first season with LSU. South Carolina remained the unanimous No. 1 team in the poll. The Gamecocks were followed by Stanford, North Carolina State, Louisville and Baylor. Michigan, Connecticut, Iowa State and Indiana round out the top 10. The Hoosiers fell five spots after losing twice.
Update on the latest sports
NHL-SCHEDULE
Blues beat Flyers
UNDATED (AP) — Vladimir Tarasenko scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and Jordan Binnington made 25 saves to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Ivan Barbashev had a goal and an assist, and Brayden Schenn and Brandon Saad (sahd) also scored for the Blues, who completed a 3-1 road trip. St. Louis, which was playing in Philadelphia for the first time since Jan. 7, 2019, has won two straight and four of five. Oskar Lindblom scored for the Flyers, who lost their sixth in a row and 19th in the last 21.
In other NHL ice action:
— Rickard Rakell had two goals in regulation and scored the winner in a shootout to lead the Anaheim Ducks to a 4-3 victory over the skidding San Jose Sharks. Trevor Zegras converted in the first round of the tiebreaker, and Anaheim goalie Anthony Stolarz turned away Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl. That put it in the hands of Rakell, who went top shelf on James Reimer to give the Ducks their second straight win. Rakell has a three-game point streak, and six of his 14 goals have come in the last seven games. Derek Grant also scored for the Ducks, and Stolarz stopped 40 shots. Couture had two goals for the Sharks, who lost their seventh in a row.
— Zach Parise scored twice and added an assist, Brock Nelson scored for the third straight game, and the New York Islanders opened their road trip with a 5-2 win over the Seattle Kraken. New York won for just the second time in the last six games, jumping out to an early lead and overwhelming the Kraken, who were playing their third game in four nights. Seattle has lost five straight. Kyle Palmeri scored his fourth goal in his last four games and Casey Cizikas added his fifth of the season as the Islanders built a 4-0 lead.
— Thomas Chabot scored twice, including the game winner late in the third period, to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild. Chabot was back after missing four straight games. Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle also scored for Ottawa, while Anton Forsberg stopped 40 shots. Kevin Fiala, Jared Spurgeon and Jon Merrill scored for the Wild (31-14-3), who were playing the second of four games on a Canadian road trip. Cam Talbot made 30 saves. The game wrapped up a stretch of 10 games in 16 nights for the Senators (19-26-5).
— Mikael Granlund scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and the Nashville Predators snapped a four-game losing streak with a 6-4 win over the Florida Panthers. Tanner Jeannot scored twice for Nashville, Filip Forsberg had a goal and an assist, and Yakov Trenin and Roman Jusi added goals. David Rittich stopped 44 shots. The Panthers lost at home for the first time in 10 games. Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves.
— Patrik Laine scored his second goal of the night 20 seconds into overtime to lift Columbus over Toronto 4-3 for the Blue Jackets' third straight win. Adam Boqvist and Brendan Gaunce also scored for Columbus, while Jean-Francois Berube stopped 39 shots and recorded his first NHL assist in his second straight win. The Blue Jackets have now won eight of their last 10 games. Toronto lost its third straight. Jack Campbell stopped 26 shots in the loss, which kept the Maple Leafs in third place in the Atlantic Division.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Ochai Agbaji scored 23 points and passed Wilt Chamberlain
UNDATED (AP) — Ochai Agbaji scored 23 points and passed Wilt Chamberlain on Kansas' career scoring list, leading the No. 5 Jayhawks to a 102-83 win over Kansas State. Agbaji has 1,444 points in 110 games, 26th on Kansas' all-time list. He passed Chamberlain with his 13th point of the first half. Chamberlain had 1,433 points in 48 games.
Markquis Nowell scored 20 points, Nijel Pack, Selton Miguel and Mike McGuirl each had 13, and Mark Smith added 11 for Kansas State.
In other college basketball action:
Jahvon Quinerly scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half, helping No. 24 Alabama rally from a nine-point deficit in the first half before holding off Vanderbilt 74-72. Alabama has won four of five. The Crimson Tide had to shake off a cold-shooting first half. They also had to hold on at the free-throw line late after missing seven of their final eight shots. Scotty Pippen Jr. missed a free throw that could've tied it for Vanderbilt with 46.1 seconds left. Jordan Wright's layup rolled over the rim with 4.8 seconds to go with another chance to tie it up.
— R.J. Cole hit a driving floater with 5.9 seconds left and then took a charge at the other end of the court to rally No. 21 UConn to a 71-69 win over No. 8 Villanova. Adama Sanogo scored 20 points and Tyler Polley drained a clutch 3-pointer for the Huskies, who beat the Wildcats for the first time since 2014 to secure their first 20-win season in six years. Isaiah Whaley added 13 points and Cole had 12 for the Huskies, who played most of the game without coach Dan Hurley after he was ejected in the first half. Collin Gillespie had 17 points and Brandon Slater added 15 for Villanova.
— Davion Warren scored 16 points, Bryson Williams had 13, and ninth-ranked Texas Tech won its 20th consecutive home game with a 66-42 victory over Oklahoma. The 22-6 Red Raiders won their fourth game in a row since a loss at Oklahoma two weeks ago. The Sooners have lost four in a row since that win at home. Texas Tech opened the second half with a 10-0 run and later scored 19 in a row. Jalen Hill had a team-high eight points for the 14-14 Sooners.
— Kennedy Chandler scored 23 points to lead No. 17 Tennessee to an 80-61 victory over Missouri. Santiago Vescovi made 4 of 6 3-pointers and scored 14 points, and Victor Bailey Jr. added 11 points for Tennessee. Javon Pickett led Missouri with 16 points, and Kobe Brown had 12 points and nine rebounds.
— JD Notae scored 22 points, including a huge 3-pointer with a little more than minute remaining, and No. 18 Arkansas beat Florida 82-74 Tuesday night for its first win in Gainesville since 1995. The Razorbacks won for the 12th time in 13 games and ended a 14-game skid in the O'Connell Center. Colin Castleton led the Gators with a career-high 29 points.
— Keegan Murray scored 28 points as No. 25 Iowa defeated Michigan State 86-60. Kris Murray, Keegan's twin brother, and Jordan Bohannon each had 11 as the Hawkeyes continued their February run. Iowa lost three of its last four games to end January, but is 5-1 since. It was Keegan Murray's 19th game of 20 or more points this season. It was the third consecutive win by Iowa over the struggling Spartans, who have dropped five of six overall.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL NEWS
'I've done this before': Martelli leads Michigan for Howard
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Phil Martelli is all set to guide Michigan for the rest of the college basketball regular season. The 67-year-old Martelli will fill in while Wolverines head coach Juwan Howard serves a five-game suspension. Howard was penalized after hitting a Wisconsin assistant coach in the head during a postgame handshake line Sunday.
Martelli has spent nearly four decades as a coach in big-time college hoops, and led Saint Joseph's within one win of the Final Four in 2004.
His first game will be Wednesday night when the Wolverines host Rutgers. Howard is expected to return for the Big Ten Tournament, which begins March 9 in Indianapolis.
MLB-NEWS-LOCKOUT
Owners, players agree to meet for third day in a row Wednesday
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Another day ran off the clock in talks to salvage opening day when locked-out baseball players proposed what they considered a small move forward in drawn-out labor negotiations and management termed it a third straight step backward.
Management again proposed a federal mediator enter the negotiations, but the union immediately turned down that idea, leaving Major League Baseball on track to lose regular-season games to a labor dispute for the first time since 1995.
Less than a week remains until the sides reach what management says is a Monday deadline for a deal that would allow the season to start as scheduled on March 31.
Still, the sides agreed to meet for a third day in a row Wednesday, the 84th day of the second-longest work stoppage in baseball history.
Elsewhere in baseball news:
— One-time Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in a case arising from an altercation with his teenage daughter. Hamilton pleaded guilty Tuesday to unlawful restraint under a plea deal that dismisses a 2020 felony indictment for injury to a child. The judge fined Hamilton $500 and ordered him to pay court costs, do community service and attend parenting and anger management classes. His 14-year-old daughter told her mother, Hamilton's ex-wife, that her father struck her after he became enraged by a comment from her.
NFL-PACKERS-RODGERS
Rodgers still undecided on 2022
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers says he's still making up his mind about whether he wants to return to the Green Bay Packers next season. Rodgers discussed his future Tuesday while talking on "The Pat McAfee Show".
Rodgers said after the season that he would try to make a decision about his 2022 plans in relatively short order rather than dragging out the process. The reigning MVP said at the time that he hadn't ruled out any option, including returning to the Packers for an 18th season, retiring or requesting a trade.
NFL-CHARGERS
Chargers hire Nugent
COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — Brendan Nugent has been hired as the Los Angeles Chargers' offensive line coach. He replaces Frank Smith, who left the Chargers to become the Miami Dolphins' offensive coordinator.
Nugent had spent the previous seven seasons with the New Orleans Saints. He coached the offensive line last season after being the assistant line coach the previous four years. Saints quarterbacks have been sacked a league-low 131 times since 2017.
Elsewhere around the NFL:
— Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores thinks race placed a factor in the team's decision to fire him in January. Speaking on the "I Am Athlete" podcast, Flores alleged he was given tasks that he doesn't think would have been required of a white head coach. Flores did not offer specifics on what tasks he was asked to do that he believes were based on race. Flores was hired recently as a senior defensive assistant by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
SOCCER-EQUAL PAY
American women players settle suit vs US Soccer for $24M
UNDATED (AP) — U.S. women soccer players have reached a landmark agreement with the sport's American governing body to end a six-year legal battle over equal pay. The deal promises them $24 million plus bonuses that match those of the men. The USSF also agrees to establish a fund with $2 million to benefit the players in their post-soccer careers and charitable efforts aimed at growing the sport for women.
GOLF-MICKELSON
Mickelson apologizes
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Phil Mickelson is apologizing for comments he made about the Saudis and the financing of a rival league. Mickelson claims the comments golf writer Alan Shipnuck posted were off the record. Shipnuck wrote that was never the case. Mickelson says he regrets what he said and that his comments were reckless. Meanwhile, KPMG announced that the company and Mickelson have agreed to part ways. Their sponsorship has been around since 2008.
TENNIS-ACAPULCO
Medvedev beats Paire, moves into second round in Acapulco
ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — Daniil Medvedev has beaten Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-4 to move into the second round at the Mexican Open. The 26-year-old Russian can move to No. 1 in the men's tennis rankings if he wins the title here. Medvedev, who won the 2021 U.S. Open and was a runner-up last month at the Australian Open, is playing in Mexico for the first time. He'll play either Alex Hernandez or Pablo Andujar in the next round.
OLYMPICS-FIGURE SKATING-DOPING-BARQUERO
Spanish figure skater Barquero fails Olympic drug test
BEIJING (AP) — Spanish figure skater Laura Barquero has become the fourth athlete to fail a doping test at the Beijing Olympics after testing positive for the banned steroid clostebol.
Barquero and her partner Marco Zandron finished 11th in the pairs competition on Saturday. The International Testing Agency says her positive sample was given after the short program on Friday and the case will be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
There were positive tests in Beijing for an Iranian athlete and two Ukrainians. Russian skater Kamila Valieva tested positive in a sample taken before the Olympics.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Wisconson hires Sheridan and alters roles for Bostad, Turner
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconson has hired Bill Sheridan to coach inside linebackers as one of three changes to Paul Chryst's staff. Chryst also announced Tuesday that Bob Bostad is switching from inside linebackers coach to offensive line coach and Mickey Turner is moving from tight ends coach to an off-field role in which he will lead Wisconson's recruiting efforts.
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