KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Led by Josh Kunen's 15 points, the San Francisco Dons defeated the Wichita State Shockers 67-63 on Tuesday. The Dons are now 6-0 on the season, while the Shockers moved to 3-2.
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) — Markquis Nowell scored 29 points and had 11 assists, Keyontae Johnson scored 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Kansas State beat Nevada 96-87 in overtime. The Wildcats outscored Nevada 16-7 in the extra session. Nowell’s layup with 11 seconds left in regulation tied it at 80 and the Wolfpack couldn’t get off a shot. Jarod Lucas scored 20 points, Will Baker 19, Kenan Blackshear 17 with 10 assists and Tre Coleman and Darrion Williams each scored 10 for Nevada.
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) — College basketball's early season tournaments are proving more valuable than ever for teams trying to forge an identity with multiple transfers. The transfer portal has led to more roster turnover and upheaval each year. Holiday tournaments like this week's Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas take on more value as teams need competitive games to figure out their rotations and chemistry with new additions. North Carolina State coach Kevin Keatts says there's more value for that growth in games than in practices. Kansas coach Bill Self says it takes longer to build cohesion than many understand with freshmen and transfers.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas and football coach Lance Leipold have agreed to a two-year contract extension to keep him with the Jayhawks through the 2029 season. That's according to a person familiar with the terms of the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday night because the school had not announced the extension. Leipold had a year added to his original contract on Sept. 1 as a reward for a two-win first season that raised hopes that the football program might finally return to relevance. But after a 5-0 start had the Jayhawks ranked in the AP Top 25, and a sixth win made them bowl-eligible, the school made an aggressive move to lock up Leipold.
UNDATED (AP) — No. 15 Kansas State gets into the Big 12 title game with a victory in its regular-season finale over Kansas. The Wildcats could have that spot clinched before kickoff Saturday night, if Texas loses its finale at home to Baylor on Friday. Kansas State has won 13 in a row over Kansas. Fourth-ranked and undefeated TCU is home against Iowa State. It's a matchup of the Cyclones' league-best defense against TCU's Big 12-leading offense. The Big 12 goes in the final weekend of the regular season already with eight teams being bowl eligible.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Fourth-ranked TCU and Iowa State are on the opposite ends of the Big 12 standings. The Horned Frogs just keep winning close games, and are still in position to make the four-team College Football Playoff. The last-place Cyclones on Saturday wrap up their first losing season since coach Matt Campbell’s debut in 2016. They are coming off their sixth Big 12 loss by a touchdown or less. But they could play big spoilers in their final game. The Cyclones have won three in a row against TCU and Iowa native quarterback Max Duggan.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Changes are afoot in the Big 12, even before Oklahoma and Texas depart for the Southeastern Conference. Fourth-ranked TCU has replaced the Sooners as the Big 12 team in the running for a College Football Playoff spot. The Horned Frogs already are in the conference title game heading into their regular-season finale against Iowa State. No. 15 Kansas State is a surprise contender for the other spot in the title game. The Wildcats would get in if No. 24 Texas loses to Baylor on Friday. If Texas wins, Kansas State would need to beat Kansas on Saturday night to qualify.
UNDATED (AP) — LSU has moved up to fifth and Southern California is sixth in the College Football Playoff rankings behind Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU. The top four remained the same for the third straight week, but the teams chasing changed order after Tennessee lost to South Carolina last Saturday night. Two huge games this weekend could create more clarity. Michigan is at Ohio State and USC hosts Notre Dame, which checked in at 15th in the selection committee’s rankings.
NEW YORK (AP) — Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander and St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols have won baseball’s Comeback Player of the Year awards. Verlander, the American League recipient, returned from Tommy John surgery to lead Houston to its second World Series championship. He had the lowest ERA in the majors and was a unanimous winner of his third Cy Young Award — becoming the first player to earn the prize after not pitching in the previous season. Pujols, honored in the National League, came back to St. Louis for his final season and posted his biggest numbers in years at age 42. The three-time MVP compiled an .895 OPS for the NL Central champions and became the fourth major leaguer to reach 700 career home runs.
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The staggering loss for Lionel Messi and Argentina against Saudi Arabia at the World Cup is right up there with the biggest upsets in tournament history. Messi is playing at likely his last World Cup and chasing the one title that has been elusive to him. Messi and his highly-rated team are among the favorites to win the World Cup in Qatar but have an unwanted place on a very different list now.
TUESDAY SCORES
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (10)Creighton 90 (9)Arkansas 87
Final (13)Auburn 85 Bradley 64
Final (14)Arizona 87 (17)San Diego St. 70
Final (21)Texas Tech 70 Louisville 38
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Philadelphia 115 Brooklyn 106
Final Sacramento 113 Memphis 109
Final Detroit 110 Denver 108
Final Phoenix 115 L.A. Lakers 105
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Buffalo 7 Montreal 2
Final N-Y Rangers 5 Los Angeles 3