WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Colby Rogers had 19 points in Wichita State’s 80-68 win over Richmond. Rogers added seven rebounds and three steals for the Shockers. Xavier Bell scored 17 points and added five rebounds. Harlond Beverly had 13 points, while adding five rebounds and seven assists. Neal Quinn led the way for the Spiders with 18 points. Jordan King added 17 points and Isaiah Bigelow finished with 11 points.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Speedy utilityman Garrett Hampson and the Kansas City Royals have agreed to a $2 million, one-year contract. Hampson started at six positions last season for Miami and batted a career-best .276 with three homers, 23 RBIs and a .729 OPS in 98 games. He was eligible for arbitration this winter but the Marlins chose not to tender him a contract, making him a free agent. The 29-year-old Hampson started 26 games at shortstop last season, 13 in center field, eight in right field, six at second base, four at third base and two in left field, helping Miami reach the playoffs. Before signing with the Marlins, Hampson spent his first five seasons with the Colorado Rockies.
NEW YORK (AP) — Baltimore’s Félix Bautista is the unanimous winner of the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award and Milwaukee’s Devin Williams won the Trevor Hoffman National League honor. A 28-year-old right-hander, Bautista was 8-2 with a 1.48 ERA and 33 saves in 39 chances for the AL East champion Orioles. He made his final appearance on Aug. 25 and had Tommy John surgery on Oct. 9, which likely will cause him to miss the 2024 season. A 29-year-old right-hander, Williams was 8-3 with a 1.53 ERA and 36 saves in 40 opportunities for the NL Central champion Brewers.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs rookie Rashee Rice could be exactly what the struggling Kansas City passing game has needed this season. As the second-round pick has gotten more comfortable in coach Andy Reid’s complex system, Rice has started to produce in ways that no wide receiver has done through the first 12 weeks of the season. He is coming off a game in Las Vegas where he had game-highs of 10 targets, eight receptions and 107 yards receiving with a touchdown catch. The Chiefs hope he can continue to produce in a big way given the struggles of the rest of their wide receivers.
IRVING, Texas (AP) — National rushing leader Ollie Gordon II from Oklahoma State has named the Big 12’s offensive player of the year after a vote of the league’s 14 coaches. Texas defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat was chosen as the top defensive player. They will be on opposite sides Saturday when the seventh-ranked Longhorns play the No. 19 Cowboys in the Big 12 championship game. Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy was picked as the coach of the year. The AP will release its All-Big 12 awards on Dec. 8.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — In 28 seasons in the Big 12, Texas has only three league championships and none since 2009. That's something the seventh-ranked Longhorns have been reminded of all season. Texas can add a fourth league crown on Saturday against No. 19 Oklahoma State and put an exclamation point on the program's final year in the Big 12 before heading to the SEC in 2024. Many of the Longhorns' key players were here in 2021 when they struggled through a 5-7 finish in coach Steve Sarkisian's first season.
UNDATED (AP) — There could be some awkward trophy ceremonies around college football’s championship weekend. From the Pac-12, where the winner is guaranteed to be one of the schools that helped collapse the conference, to the Big 12, where the commissioner was outwardly rooting against the favorite to win the championship game, to the Big Ten, where Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and the commissioner who suspended him could be sharing a stage, awkward handshakes are highly likely. The games themselves should provide high drama, too, as seven teams fight for four playoff spots.
UNDATED (AP) — There’s been a love-hate relationship with conference championship games historically. This is a year to love the games that have occasionally been knocked for being a money grab, putting unbeaten teams at risk if they slip up against a lesser opponent and being a tough sell for fans. This year, they're critical for the College Football Playoff committee to separate the top-heavy group of elite teams. Oregon plays Washington on Friday in the Pac-12. On Saturday, it's Texas-Oklahoma State in the Big 12, Alabama-Georgia in the SEC, Florida State-Louisville in the ACC and Michigan-Iowa in the Big Ten.
UNDATED (AP) — Oklahoma has promoted Seth Littrell from offensive analyst to offensive coordinator. Littrell fills the spot Jeff Lebby vacated when he left to become Mississippi State’s head coach. Littrell will call plays and coach the quarterbacks. The Sooners also announced that they have promoted tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley to co-offensive coordinator. Finley will continue to coach tight ends and will play an increased role in offensive game-planning and oversight. Oklahoma hired Littrell as an offensive analyst in March 2023. He was head coach at North Texas from 2016 to 2022. He played fullback on Oklahoma’s national championship team in 2000.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The New York Jets opened the 21-day practice window for quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The move Wednesday is the next step in the four-time NFL MVP’s rehabilitation from a torn Achilles tendon. Coach Robert Saleh said Rodgers, who turns 40 on Saturday, was cleared for some football activities but was limited at practice and isn't cleared for contact. Saleh emphasized it’s not necessarily a signal Rodgers will play again this season as it is the next step of the quarterback’s rehabilitation process. At the end of the 21-day period, the Jets will decide whether to activate him or he’ll spend the rest of this season on injured reserve.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mark Cuban in many ways has been the face of the Dallas Mavericks franchise since he bought the club in 2000. Tuesday’s news that he was selling a majority share to perhaps Las Vegas’ most powerful family created a number of questions. The Adelsons confirmed the purchase Wednesday. Miriam Adelson is a medical doctor and widow of Sheldon Adelson. He was the billionaire founder and owner of Las Vegas Sands. She has no corporate role with the company. Her son-in-law is Patrick Dumont. He is the company president and a board member.
PARIS (AP) — Stay and enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime show. That is the message organizers of the Paris Olympics are sending in an effort to reassure the French capital’s residents that security measures and traffic restrictions won’t make their lives nightmarish during the July 26-Aug. 11 event and the Paralympic Games that follow. But critics, including in the Senate, were displeased by plans to require motorists to apply online for a QR code to access traffic-restricted zones of Paris during the games. Senators complained that lawmakers had not been consulted. Nathalie Goulet, a senator from Normandy, likened the proposal to ID papers that France’s Nazi occupiers imposed in World War II.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final Arkansas 80 (7)Duke 75
Final (17)North Carolina 100 (10)Tennessee 92
Final Virginia 59 (14)Texas A&M 47
Final Saint Joseph's 78 (18)Villanova 65
Final (20)Colorado St. 88 Colorado 83
Final (22)James Madison 81 Buffalo 66
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final L.A. Lakers 133 Detroit 107
Final Orlando 139 Washington 120
Final Toronto 112 Phoenix 105
Final Memphis 105 Utah 91
Final New Orleans 124 Philadelphia 114
Final Denver 134 Houston 124
Final L.A. Clippers 131 Sacramento 117
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Montreal 4 Columbus 2
Final N-Y Rangers 3 Detroit 2