One week after Bill Self became the winningest coach at Kansas, the Hall of Famer joined John Calipari and Rick Barnes as the only active Division I head coaches with 800 wins. The top-ranked Jayhawks led UNC Wilmington by five at halftime Tuesday night before using a big second-half run to pull away, eventually finishing off an 84-66 victory that required their starters and main role players all the way to the finish. “We can play better,” Self said afterward, “but I thought tonight was a step in the right direction.” The milestone victory, which comes ahead of a showdown against No. 12 Duke on Tuesday night, moved Self into elite company. Among those with at least 800 wins are the likes of longtime Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski, the all-time winningest, and luminaries such as retired Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and former Jayhawks and North Carolina coach Roy Williams.
BOSTON (AP) — This one wasn’t about their perfect season or a 15-game winning streak or even the NBA Cup. This was a chance for the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers to see where they stood against the defending champions. “This was a great test for us, and unfortunately we didn’t get the win,” said Donovan Mitchell, whose 35 points couldn’t prevent the Cavaliers from picking up their first loss of the season, 120-117 to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night. The Celtics won an unprecedented 18th championship last spring -- rolling over the Cavaliers in five games in the Eastern Conference semis – and entered the season as the favorites to repeat, or at least make it back to the NBA Finals. Cleveland, which won a playoff series last year for the first time since LeBron James left the second time in 2018, wasn’t expected to be a contender.
First, Robert Saleh. Now, Joe Douglas. Woody Johnson is cleaning house for his woeful New York Jets in what has been a hugely disappointing season. Douglas was fired Tuesday as the Jets’ general manager, the latest shakeup for a franchise that had Super Bowl aspirations with a healthy Aaron Rodgers at quarterback but has limped to a 3-8 start and appears likely to miss the playoffs for a 14th consecutive year. The dismissal of Douglas, who was 30-64 and had no winning seasons in his tenure, came exactly six weeks after Johnson fired Saleh as coach on Oct. 8 after the Jets were 2-3 to open the year. “Today, I informed Joe Douglas he will no longer serve as the general manager of the New York Jets,” Johnson said in a statement issued by the team. “I want to thank Joe for his commitment to the Jets over the last six years and wish him and his family the best moving forward.”
Milwaukee’s Pat Murphy and Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt had the unenviable task of taking over for successful and well-liked predecessors when they were named managers of their respective teams during the offseason. Both proved to be naturals. Murphy won National League Manager of the Year on Tuesday after a stellar debut season with the Brewers, while Vogt took AL honors after leading the Guardians to 92 wins and a division title in his first year as a skipper at any level. The 40-year-old Vogt is the first to go from a major league player to Manager of the Year in just two years. The previous fastest was Joe Girardi from 2003 to 2006, when he won NL Manager of the Year with the Florida Marlins.
TUESDAY SCORES
NCAA MEN TOP 25
No. 1 Kansas 84, UNC Wilmington 66
No. 2 Connecticut 81, East Texas A&M 46
No. 15 Marquette 76, No. 6 Purdue 58
No. 9 Kentucky 97, Lipscomb 68
No. 18 Cincinnati 76, Northern Kentucky 60
No. 21 Florida 84, Florida A&M 60