ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Keyshawn Hall scored 26 points and UCF held on to beat Kansas State 80-76 for its second straight win. Max Jones scored 22 points for UCF. K-State's Brendan Hausen made a deep 3-pointer and then was fouled getting poked in the eye by UCF's Mikey Williams with 14 seconds to go. Hausen made the free throw to reduce the the Wildcats’ deficit to 78-76. Hall sealed it with a pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining. Hausen missed a deep 3 attempt on Kansas State’s next possession.
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Caleb Love hit six 3-pointers and scored 23 points, leading No. 22 Arizona to an 83-66 blowout over Utah in the Utes’ first game since coach Craig Smith was fired. Utah fired Smith on Monday and named assistant Josh Eilert as interim coach. The change did little good against the Wildcats. Arizona jumped on the Utes early, building a 14-point halftime lead and rolling from there to keep Utah winless in Tucson since 1986. Arizona’s Tobe Awaka finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Keanu Dawes and Ezra Ausar led Utah with 18 points each.
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Richie Saunders scored 26 points, Trevin Knell added 18 and No. 25 BYU beat short-handed Arizona State 91-81 on Wednesday night to extend its winning streak to five games. BYU never trailed after the first few minutes, making 10 3-pointers in the first half and 17 in the game. Saunders shot 10 of 19 from the field, including 6 of 11 from beyond the arc. The Sun Devils have lost seven of their past eight. Basheer Jihad led Arizona State with 19 points while Joson Sanon and Trevor Best had 18.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — JJ Quinerly scored a career-high 38 points on 16-of-21 shooting to tie the program’s single-game scoring record, and No. 18 West Virginia beat Utah 75-46 to finish 16-0 at home this season. Quinerly matched Meg Bulger (2004-08) for the most points by a Mountaineer women’s player in likely her final game inside the WVU Coliseum. Quinerly scored 14 points in the first half to help build a 30-18 lead. She scored 15 of West Virginia’s 21 third-quarter points, including a steal and fast-break layup for a 51-36 lead entering the fourth. Quinerly made a 3-pointer from the corner with 8:19 left in the fourth to set a career-high with 34 points. She sat out much of the quarter with West Virginia leading by 20-plus for the final 3:51.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Tre Holloman hadn’t even reached the “M” logo at midcourt when he jumped off one foot and let the ball fly. Somehow, it stayed on line before dropping through the hoop with a swish that reverberated across the Big Ten. Holloman's shot from some 65 feet away gave No. 8 Michigan State a 58-55 victory over No. 16 Maryland. The buzzer beater also gave the Spartans a half-game lead over Michigan atop the Big Ten. The Terrapins had a chance to win with the shot clock off. But after Ja'Kobi Gillespie missed a 3-pointer, there was just enough time for one final Michigan State heave.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — RJ Luis Jr. scored 24 points and No. 7 St. John’s clinched a share of its first Big East regular-season title in 33 years by beating Butler 76-70. Kadary Richmond had 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals for the Red Storm, who set a school record with their 16th conference win of the season. They secured the program's sixth Big East regular-season championship and can wrap up an outright league crown Saturday with a victory over Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden or a Creighton loss at Xavier. The only outright Big East regular-season title for St. John’s came in 1985 on the way to a Final Four appearance.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NFL is considering changing overtime rules in the regular season to decrease the advantage for teams who win the coin toss. League executive Troy Vincent said the competition committee agrees overtime rules need to be addressed. Receiving the ball first has become more of an advantage than pre-2011, when overtime was sudden death. Both teams currently have an opportunity to possess the ball in overtime unless a touchdown is scored on the first possession. The rules are different in the playoffs. Also, the NFL plans to use its virtual measuring system to determine first downs in 2025, although officials will still spot the ball by hand.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Miami Dolphins are the top-ranked team, followed by the Minnesota Vikings, for the second consecutive season in the NFL Players Association report card. The Atlanta Falcons, Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers round out the top five in the third annual NLPA report card released Wednesday at the NFL scouting combine. The Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals were the bottom five. JC Tretter, the NFLPA’s chief strategy officer, said 1,695 players responded to the survey, an average of 52 players per team and 77% of the union’s membership. The report cards were compiled between Aug. 26 and Nov. 20.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani will make his first spring training appearance of the year on Friday night. That will be against his old team, the Los Angeles Angels. Ohtani will be the designated hitter. Roberts has not given a timetable for Ohtani’s return to the pitching mound other than to say he hopes it would be “sooner than later”. Roberts has ruled Ohtani out for the season-opening series in Tokyo on March 18-19. Ohtani injured his left shoulder sliding into second base during the World Series. He did not pitch last season while recovering from surgery to repair a ligament in his throwing elbow.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUES BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Houston 3 Washington 0
Final N.Y. Yankees 7 St. Louis 0
Final Pittsburgh 7 Baltimore 3
Final Philadelphia 9 Toronto 6
Final San Diego 3 Chicago White Sox 1
Final Colorado 7 Kansas City 6
Final Cincinnati 9 L.A. Angels 4
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Minnesota 4 Detroit 0
Final Tampa Bay 8 Boston 2
Final Texas 7 Cleveland 4
Final Athletics 8 Seattle 5
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Miami 4 N.Y. Mets 1
Final Atlanta 9 Pittsburgh 4
Final Arizona 7 Milwaukee 1
Final L.A. Dodgers 9 Milwaukee 3
Final Chicago Cubs 4 San Francisco 4
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (1)Auburn 106 Mississippi 76
Final (7)St. John's 76 Butler 70
Final (8)Michigan St. 58 (16)Maryland 55
Final Vanderbilt 86 (12)Texas A&M 84
Final (13)Clemson 83 Notre Dame 68
Final (17)Kentucky 83 Oklahoma 82
Final (18)Memphis 84 Rice 72
Final (22)Arizona 83 Utah 66
Final (25)BYU 91 Arizona St. 81
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Detroit 117 Boston 97
Final Indiana 111 Toronto 91
Final New York 110 Philadelphia 105
Final Portland 129 Washington 121
Final Miami 131 Atlanta 109
Final Oklahoma City 129 Brooklyn 121
Final L.A. Clippers 122 Chicago 117
Final Sacramento 118 Utah 101
Final Houston 118 San Antonio 106
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Winnipeg 4 Ottawa 1
Final Colorado 5 New Jersey 1