WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Led by Kenny Pohto's 16 points, the Wichita State Shockers defeated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 71-61 on Thursday night. The Shockers are now 2-0 with the win and the Hilltoppers fell to 1-1.
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Skylar Vann scored 24 points, Sahara Williams had a double-double and Oklahoma upended No. 12 Mississippi 80-70. The Sooners took charge by scoring the last six points of the third quarter and the first four of the fourth for a 66-57 lead. Ole Miss got within five but the Sooners pulled away again. Vann hit a 3-pointer and followed it up with a three-point play on the next possession before her layup made it 80-66 with 1:43 to play. Williams had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Snudda Collins had 15 points as the Rebels put five players in double figures.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Caitlin Clark had 44 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and No. 3 Iowa pulled away late from eighth-ranked Virginia Tech en route to an 80-76 victory in a neutral site game. The Associated Press player of the year in 2023 showed off her full arsenal, hurting the Hokies with step-back 3-pointers, driving one-handed scoop layups, turnaround jumpers and nifty passes to escape double teams. Clark finished just shy of her career best of 46 points against Michigan in 2022. The Hawkeyes overcame a big game from Georgia Amoore, who had 31 points on seven 3-pointers for the Hokies (1-1). Two-time ACC player of the year Elizabeth Kitley had 16 points and 16 rebounds for Virginia Tech.
CHICAGO (AP) — D’Onta Foreman ran for a touchdown and the Chicago Bears boosted their shot at the top pick in the draft, beating the Carolina Panthers 16-13 on Thursday night. The Bears (3-7) also boosted their chances at the No. 1 pick because they have Carolina’s first-rounder in 2024. They acquired the pick along with Moore last March for the top selection this year. The Panthers (1-8) are tied with Arizona — which plays Atlanta on Sunday — for the worst record in the NFL. Foreman gave the Bears a 16-10 lead in the third quarter with a 4-yard run. Chicago was clinging to a three-point lead with 1:40 remaining when Carolina’s Eddy Pineiro attempted a 59-yard field goal. The ball landed well short.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Quarterback Quinn Ewers will start for No. 7 Texas against TCU after missing two games with a sprained shoulder. Coach Steve Sarkisian announced the decision Thursday. Ewers has passed for 1,915 yards and 13 touchdowns for the Longhorns, who are tied for first in the Big 12. Ewers also has five rushing touchdowns. He left the field in the third quarter of Texas’ 31-24 win at Houston on Oct. 21. Second-year freshman Maalik Murphy has started the last two games in his place and led Texas to a pair of victories.
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy and West Virginia coach Neal Brown have leaped from the hot seat to Big 12 Coach of the Year contenders. Gundy was under scrutiny after the Cowboys lost back-to-back games to South Alabama and Iowa State in September. The team has won five straight, including a 27-24 victory over rival Oklahoma that left the Cowboys tied with Texas atop the Big 12. Brown's West Virginia squad was picked last in the 14-team league. The Mountaineers already are bowl eligible and are one game out of the league lead. They visit No. 17 Oklahoma this week.
UNDATED (AP) — West Virginia has beaten Oklahoma only once since joining the Big 12 in 2012. That was last season. They meet again Saturday with the 17th-ranked Sooners coming off back-to-back losses that pretty much ended any hope of making the four-team College Football Playoff in their final Big 12 season before moving to the Southeastern Conference. West Virginia has won two in a row and is already bowl eligible after being picked in the preseason to finish last in the 14-team league. Seventh-ranked Texas goes to TCU, which is 8-3 against the Longhorns in Big 12 games.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Texas coach Steve Sarkisian is getting what he envisioned for the Longhorns. They are playing big games in Novembers still in the conversation for the College Football Playoff. The seventh-ranked and 8-1 Horns go to TCU on Saturday as the Big 12's last remaining playoff hope. TCU made the four-team playoff last year and was the national runner-up. The Horned Frogs are 4-5 this season and just trying to get bowl eligible. But TCU is 8-3 against the Longhorns since joining them in the Big 12. This is the last scheduled meeting between them before Texas moves to SEC next year.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma believes it still has plenty to play for, despite dropping out of first place in the Big 12 and likely falling out of the race for a College Football Playoff berth. The 17th-ranked Sooners sit one game behind co-leaders Oklahoma State and Texas in the league standings heading into a game against West Virginia with three games left. The Sooners will need to beat a West Virginia team that has just as much to play for. The Mountaineers also are one game out of the Big 12 lead after being picked to finish last in the preseason media poll.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The universal designated hitter has been part of Major League Baseball for two full seasons and, much to the chagrin of some National League traditionalists, the sport has survived and even thrived. In a somewhat surprising development, though, many teams are struggling to get much production from that spot. The next generation of big-bopping DHs like David Ortiz, Edgar Martinez and Frank Thomas hasn’t materialized, with just three players logging at least 110 games at designated hitter during the 2023 season. That trio includes Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani, Braves slugger Marcell Ozuna and the Nationals’ Joey Meneses
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A devoted group of Bay Area baseball fans are sending “Stay In Oakland” boxes to 15 Major League Baseball team owners, imploring them to vote no on the team's planned relocation to Las Vegas. The group is targetting owners who could be swayed to vote against the proposed move during annual league meetings next week. The list includes Boston's John Henry and the New York Yankees' Hal Steinbrenner. The boxes contain green A's caps, baseball cards featuring the owners' likenesses and a note detailing why they should vote against Las Vegas.
SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda (AP) — Alex Noren has been working hard on his wedge game and Bermuda was the ideal spot for that. Port Royal had no wind and Noren had no problem. He set the tournament record with 11 birdies. It gave him a 61 for a two-shot lead in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. That's his best PGA Tour round by two shots. Adam Long had a 66 and earned a spot in the record book. He hit his first 11 fairways. That gave him 69 in a row dating to Las Vegas to set the PGA Tour record.
THURSDAY SCORES
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final Chicago 16 Carolina 13
TOP-25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Final (11)Louisville 31 Virginia 24
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Indiana 126 Milwaukee 124
Final Atlanta 120 Orlando 119
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Vancouver 5 Ottawa 2
Final N-Y Rangers 4 Minnesota 1
Final Boston 5 N-Y Islanders 2
Final Chicago 5 Tampa Bay 3
Final OT Montreal 3 Detroit 2
Final Dallas 5 Columbus 2
Final Winnipeg 6 Nashville 3
Final St. Louis 2 Arizona 1
Final Seattle 4 Colorado 3
Final San Jose 3 Edmonton 2