AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Sir’Jabari Rice scored 23 points and a smothering defensive effort carried No. 9 Texas to a 75-59 win over No. 3 Kansas that earned the Longhorns a second-place finish in the Big 12. Kansas had already secured the league championship earlier in the week. The loss snapped the Jayhawks’ seven game winning streak. Texas entered the day in a three-way tie for second but the win and losses by Kansas State and Baylor left the Longhorns all alone in the spot. Big 12 scoring and rebounding leader Jalen Wilson led Kansas with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Erik Stevenson scored 27 points, Kedrian Johnson added 23 and West Virginia gave its NCAA Tournament hopes a big boost with an 89-81 victory over No. 11 Kansas State on Saturday. Emmitt Matthews added 20 points and Tre Mitchell scored 14 for West Virginia, which has won three of four heading into the conference tournament. Before a sellout crowd, West Virginia rallied from 10 points down to take a 39-37 halftime lead and never trailed after that. Kansas State saw its four-game winning streak snapped. Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson each scored 24 points for the Wildcats and Cam Carter finished with 13.
WACO, Texas (AP) — Jaren Holmes had 16 points and Iowa State ended a four-game losing streak with a 73-58 win over seventh-ranked Baylor. The 18-12 Cyclones played their first game Saturday since the dismissal of veteran guard Caleb Grill from the team earlier this week. They built as much as a 14-point lead before halftime. When Baylor had a 10-0 run early in the second half to cut its deficit to 36-32 with 15:29 left, the Cyclones responded with a spurt of 11 points in a row of their own. Adam Flagler had 20 points with five 3-pointers for the 22-9 Bears.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Tanner Groves scored a season-high 23 points to go with 10 rebounds and Oklahoma rode a hot start all the way, beating No. 22 TCU 74-60 in the regular-season finale for both teams. Grant Sherfield added 20 points and Milos Uzan had 12 for Oklahoma. The Sooners made their first six shots and improved their record this season to 15-16. Oklahoma finished at the bottom of the powerful Big 12 Conference, but beat four ranked opponents, having earlier defeated then-No. 2 Alabama, Kansas State and Iowa State. Mike Miles Jr. scored points for TCU. The Horned Frogs are 20-11.
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Caleb Asberry knocked down seven 3-pointers and Oklahoma State held on late to beat Texas Tech 71-68 in the Big 12 Conference regular season finale. The Cowboys, who had lost five straight games, four to ranked teams, going into the game, will be the No. 7 seed in the conference tournament and play 10th-seeded Oklahoma on Wednesday. Texas Tech is the No. 9 seed and plays eighth-seeded West Virginia, also Wednesday.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Shaylee Gonzales scored 21 points and No. 12 Texas smothered Kansas State 80-52 to win a share of the Big 12 Conference championship for the first time since 2004 as the regular season came to an end. The Longhorns share the title with Oklahoma, but the defending tournament champions take the No. 1 seed into the league tournament because they swept the Sooners. Serena Sundell had 12 points for the Wildcats, the ninth-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, taking on Texas Tech Wednesday in Kansas City. Texas took control early, scoring the first eight points of the game and led 20-9 after one quarter as Gonzales scored nine points. A 9-0 run in the second quarter pushed the lead to 29-11 and then the Longhorns scored the last 10 points to lead 39-14 at the half.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Offsetting a milestone night from No. 23 Iowa State’s Ashley Joens, Zakiyah Franklin scored a career-high 31 points and Wyvette Mayberry added 22 and Kansas ended a 16-game losing streak to the Cyclones with a 98-93 victory. Joens scored 33 points to jump two spots to 16th place on the Division I all-time scoring list with 2,935. Joens moved past LSU’s Joyce Walker (2,906) and Penn State’s Kelly Mazzante (2,919). Franklin shot 12 of 20, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, and all four of her free throws for the Jayhawks (18-10, 8-9 Big 12 Conference). Mayberry made four 3s adding six assists. Freshman Denae Fritz scored a career-high 26 points shooting 9 for 10 with four 3s for the Cyclones (18-9, 10-7).
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In a game that came down to the wire…twice, No. 2 seeded Central Missouri escaped with a 66-64 win over No. 6 seed Fort Hays State in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals on Saturday night (Mar. 4). Jessie Sallach buried a 3-point shot just before the horn of regulation to force overtime, but had their chance of a repeat as tournament champs dashed when Ashley Tull happened to be in the right spot to gather a deflected ball for a buzzer-beating layup in the extra frame.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State fell to No. 12/14 ranked Central Oklahoma in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals on Saturday (Mar. 4). The Tigers held an eight-point halftime lead only to see the Bronchos slip by in the second half and hold on by a score of 55-51. FHSU moved to 21-9 overall, while UCO moved to 26-4 and will play Northwest Missouri State in the championship game Sunday.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Hendrick Motorsports says Chase Elliott is out indefinitely after undergoing a successful three-hour surgery to repair a fractured tibia. General manager Jeff Andrews says there is no timeline on when the star NASCAR driver will return. Elliott injured his left leg Friday while snowboarding in Colorado. Josh Berry will drive the No. 9 Chevrolet in place of Elliott in Sunday’s Cup race in Las Vegas. Andrews said the process has begun to attain a waiver from NASCAR for Elliott to be eligible for this year’s playoffs.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Kurt Kitayama is hanging on at Bay Hill. Kitayama recovered from an early double bogey and finished with a birdie for an even-par 72. That gives him a one-shot lead over defending champion Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland going into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Scheffler finished with three straight birdies to overcome a rocky start. He shot 68. Hovland had a 66. Also in the mix are past Bay Hill winners Tyrrell Hatton and Rory McIlroy. Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are four behind. Bay Hill is likely to be as brittle and baked as usual for Sunday's final round.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jon Jones ended a three-year sabbatical from the UFC, moved up to its highest weight class and emphatically won the heavyweight belt Saturday night with a first-round submission over Ciryl Gane. The 35-year-old Jones took Gane to the mat just a little more into the round, and won with a guillotine chokeat 2:04 in UFC 285. For Jones, this was his first fight in three years and his first in the heavyweight division. The former light heavyweight champion is regarded as UFC’s greatest fighter.
KVITFJELL, Norway (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin finished seventh at a World Cup super-G affected by changing weather conditions as the American skier missed out on a record-tying 86th career victory. Shiffrin was among the early starters when low clouds caused flat light and snowfall slowed most racers. Later starters benefited from improved conditions when skies cleared. Nina Ortlieb with bib 31 led an Austrian sweep of the podium. Shiffrin's next race is a giant slalom in Sweden on Friday. The American needs one victory to match Ingemar Stenmark’s total on the all-time overall winners list.
SATURDAY SCORES
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (24)Texas A&M 67 (2)Alabama 61
Final (9)Texas 75 (3)Kansas 59
Final (4)UCLA 82 (8)Arizona 73
Final (6)Marquette 96 St. John's 94
Final Iowa St. 73 (7)Baylor 58
Final West Virginia 89 (11)Kansas St. 81
Final Auburn 79 (12)Tennessee 70
Final (13)Virginia 75 Louisville 60
Final (14)UConn 71 Villanova 59
Final (16)Miami 78 (25)Pittsburgh 76
Final (18)San Diego St. 67 Wyoming 50
Final (19)Xavier 78 Butler 66
Final Seton Hall 82 (20)Providence 58
Final Oklahoma 74 (22)TCU 60
Final (23)Kentucky 88 Arkansas 79
INTERLEAGUE
Final Atlanta 3 Baltimore 2
Final Atlanta 7 Minnesota 5
Final Chicago Cubs 2 L.A. Angels 0
Final Colorado 7 Seattle 1
Final Kansas City 12 Cincinnati 6
Final Cincinnati 10 Oakland 9
Final L.A. Dodgers 7 Kansas City 6
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Tampa Bay 14 N.Y. Yankees 10
Final Toronto 18 Detroit 5
Final Chicago White Sox 5 Texas 4
Final Houston 4 Boston 4
Final Cleveland 4 Oakland 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 4 Pittsburgh 3
Final St. Louis 9 Washington 6
Final N.Y. Mets 15 Miami 4
Final Arizona 9 San Francisco 5
Final Milwaukee 14 San Francisco 2
Final San Diego 5 Arizona 4
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final OT Toronto 116 Washington 109
Final Cleveland 114 Detroit 90
Final Houston 122 San Antonio 110
Final Miami 117 Atlanta 109
Final Philadelphia 133 Milwaukee 130
Final Minnesota 138 Sacramento 134
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final N-Y Islanders 4 Detroit 1
Final Buffalo 5 Tampa Bay 3
Final Boston 4 N-Y Rangers 2
Final Dallas 7 Colorado 3
Final Florida 4 Pittsburgh 1
Final Washington 8 San Jose 3
Final Vancouver 4 Toronto 1
Final Ottawa 5 Columbus 2
Final Winnipeg 7 Edmonton 5
Final Nashville 3 Chicago 1
Final Minnesota 3 Calgary 0
Final Los Angeles 4 St. Louis 2