HOUSTON (AP) — Quentin Grimes had 14 points and six rebounds, DeJon Jarreau added 12 points and seven rebounds and No. 25 Houston beat Wichita State 76-43. Marcus Sasser and Caleb Mills each had 11 points, and Nate Hinton had 10 points and nine rebounds for Houston. The Cougars have won seven of eight and took over sole possession of first place in the American Athletic Conference. Dexter Dennis had 10 points and six rebounds, and Tyson Etienne and Jaime Echenique each scored seven points for Wichita State. The Shockers have lost three straight.
UNDATED (AP) — Baylor, Kansas, Gonzaga and San Diego State are the top seeds in the NCAA's preliminary rankings. The Bears are the No. 1 overall seed in rankings released by the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee. The preliminary rankings are based on games through Friday. They are designed to be a sneak peek at the selection process before the official seeds are revealed on Selection Sunday, which is March 15. The Final Four is March 27-29 in Atlanta.
National Headlines
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has won the pole for NASCAR's season-opening Daytona 500. Stenhouse turned a fast lap at 194.582 mph to put his new Chevrolet Camaro on the pole for next Sunday's race. Stenhouse is making his debut with JTG-Daugherty Racing after Roush Fenway Racing abruptly fired him late last year. Stenhouse bettered Alex Bowman, who reached 194.363 mph around the 2 1/2-mile superspeedway, to lock down the front row. The starting order for the rest of the 40-car field will be set by a pair of qualifying races Thursday at Daytona International Speedway.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Kemba Walker dropped in 27 points and Jayson Tatum added 26 as the Boston Celtics picked up their seventh straight win, 112-111 at Oklahoma City. Jaylen Brown finished with 17 points for the Celtics, who made 16 3-pointers and improved to 37-15. The Thunder ended a four-game winning streak despite Danilo Gallinari and Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 24 apiece.
CLEVELAND (AP) — The Los Angeles Clippers handed the Cleveland Cavaliers their worst home loss in franchise history, 133-92 as Lou Williams dropped in 25 points and Paul George added 22. Montrezl Harrell delivered 19 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Los Angeles, which played without Kawhi Leonard because of a sore left knee. The Clippers are tied with Denver for second place in the NBA’s Western Conference at 37-16, three games behind the Los Angeles Lakers.
HOUSTON (AP) — Bojan Bogdanovic drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Utah Jazz a 114-113 victory over the Houston Rockets. Jordan Clarkson scored 30 points and Donovan Mitchell finished with 24 points, six assists and five rebounds for the Jazz, who won their second straight after a five-game losing streak. Russell Westbrook had 39 points for the Rockets, while backcourt mate James Harden added a triple-double of 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Furkan Korkmaz scored 31 points and Joel Embiid added 28 with 12 rebounds in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 118-112 victory over the Chicago Bulls. Korkmaz stayed hot after netting a career-high 34 points in Friday’s 119-107 home win over Memphis. Ben Simmons added 19 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds as Philadelphia improved their league-best home record to 24-2.
Sunday Scores
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final Marquette 76 (19)Butler 57
Final (25)Houston 76 Wichita St. 43
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Boston 112 Oklahoma City 111
Final Philadelphia 118 Chicago 111
Final Memphis 106 Washington 99
Final 2OT Atlanta 140 New York 135
Final Utah 114 Houston 113
Final L.A. Clippers 133 Cleveland 92
Final Portland 115 Miami 109