PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Led by Jaykwon Walton's 21 points, the Wichita State Shockers defeated the Temple Owls 79-65 on Thursday night. The Shockers are now 14-12 on the season, while the Owls fell to 14-13.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — IndyCar driver Conor Daly raced Floyd Mayweather into the Daytona 500 for a second consecutive year by bobbing and weaving his way through myriad issues for the ill-prepared team. Daly’s attempt to make his first Daytona 500 was only announced last week. Daly will become the 62nd driver in history to race in both the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500. In May, he can become the 29th driver to compete in both races in the same year. His chances seemed slim from the moment Daytona International Speedway opened because of problems with his car.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The fast-food burger wars were on the menu in the run-up to the Daytona 500. McDonald's and Wendy's bickered this week over the paint schemes for their respective drivers. Bubba Wallace races with McDonald's golden arches on the car. Noah Gragson has Wendy's on his car. Wendy's took a shot at McDonald's ubiquitous logo selection and called it McBland. McDonald's retorted it had better results this week at Daytona.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tiger Woods had a loud and successful return to PGA Tour competition. Woods finished with three straight birdies for a 69 in the Genesis Invitational. That leaves him five shots behind co-leaders Max Homa and Keith Mitchell. Woods is playing for the first time against the world's best since he missed the cut in the British Open last July at St. Andrews. He looked to be losing ground with two bogeys in three holes, leaving him over par through 12 holes. And then he was flawless at the end. Woods says he hasn't heard such noise in a long time.
DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — Commissioner Rob Manfred says Major League Baseball can produce games digitally in conjunction with MLB.TV if Bally Sports regional networks are no longer broadcasting them. He says this is a chance to address the game blackouts that inspire so much anger among fans. Diamond Sports Group is the parent company of 19 Bally Sports networks. It skipped about $140 million in interest payments due Wednesday, starting a 30-day grace period that could be the prelude to a bankruptcy filing. Manfred acknowledged some teams could be at risk of losing revenue. He says MLB is prepared to help those teams.
MERIBEL, France (AP) — American skier Mikaela Shiffrin won the gold medal in the women’s giant slalom at the world championships. Shiffrin held on to her first-run lead to beat Italian skier Federica Brignone by 0.12 seconds. Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway took bronze. It’s Shiffrin’s seventh world title and 13th medal overall from 16 career world championship races. Shiffrin’s victory came a day after an unexpected split with longtime coach Mike Day. Shiffrin was the 2018 Olympic champion in the event and won five of the last six giant slaloms on the World Cup circuit. The victory makes her only the fourth female skier to win world titles in four different disciplines.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas basketball coach Chris Beard was arrested and charged with choking his fiancee and fired less than a month later when the university said he was “unfit” to lead the program. Now the third-degree felony charge is dismissed, and so is the threat of up to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors announced that after reviewing the evidence and the fiancee's wishes not to prosecute they likely could not get a conviction. Domestic violence experts say prosecutors had little room to maneuver without a cooperative witness.
UNDATED (AP) — Oklahoma is in the midst of one of the most dominant runs ever in women's college softball. The Sooners have won five of the past nine national titles. They could add another rare accolade this season by becoming the first program since UCLA from 1988 to 1990 to win three consecutive titles. Even without super slugger Jocelyn Alo, the career home run leader, the Sooners are favored to win it all again. UCLA should be among the top challengers. Pitcher Megan Faraimo is one of the nation’s best. Oklahoma State also should be among the top contenders.
UNDATED (AP) — The NCAA softball season is getting started and The Associated Press has a list of players to watch. They include Jordy Bahl of Oklahoma. In her first college season, she went 22-1 with a 1.09 earned run average. Another is Addison Barnard of Wichita State, who was the first player in NCAA history to have at least 30 home runs and 25 stolen bases in a season. Megar Faraimo is back for UCLA, where she had a 24-5 record with seven saves and 292 strikeouts. Montana Fouts is also back for Alabama. She was a first-team NFCA All-American last season.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Salt Lake City’s hosting of this weekend’s NBA All-Star game for the first time in three decades is giving Utah another opportunity to try to change long-held notions that the state is odd or peculiar. It's building on a yearslong push prioritized by influential business and political leaders like Jazz owner Ryan Smith. Utah still proudly celebrates its history as a predominantly Mormon state, but it also tries to market itself as a visitor-friendly hub for businesses and tourists. Yet such mainstreaming efforts could face challenges as the deeply religious, predominantly-white state doubles down on socially conservative stances on matters of race, gender and sports.
NEW YORK (AP) — The famed broadcaster and former St. Louis Cardinals star Tim McCarver has died. He was 81. During 60 years in major league baseball, McCarver played in two All-Star games and on two World Series championship teams. He was the preferred catcher for Bob Gibson in the 1960s and Steve Carlton in the 1970s. He later had a long run as one of the country’s most recognizable, incisive and talkative television commentators. For years, he teamed with Joe Buck on Fox sports telecasts. The Baseball Hall of Fame honored his on-air work in 2012.
THURSDAY SCORES
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (2)Houston 80 SMU 65
Final Maryland 68 (3)Purdue 54
Final (4)UCLA 73 Stanford 64
Final (8)Arizona 88 Utah 62
Final (13)Gonzaga 108 Loyola Marymount 65
Final (17)Saint Mary's (Cal.) 62 San Diego 59
Final Middle Tennessee 74 (25)FAU 70
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Milwaukee 112 Chicago 100
Final Washington 114 Minnesota 106
Final L.A. Clippers 116 Phoenix 107
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Columbus 3 Winnipeg 1
Final Florida 6 Washington 3
Final Carolina 6 Montreal 2
Final Boston 5 Nashville 0
Final Detroit 5 Calgary 2
Final St. Louis 4 New Jersey 2
Final Seattle 6 Philadelphia 2
Final Vegas 2 San Jose 1