FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Led by Harlond Beverly's 17 points, the Wichita State Shockers defeated the Memphis Tigers 71-65 in the American Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday night. Dalen Ridgnal scored eight points in the first half for Wichita State, who led 35-33 at the break. Wichita State turned a two-point second-half lead into an 11-point advantage with a 9-0 run to make it a 44-33 lead with 16:14 left in the half. Beverly scored 12 second-half points.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Robert Jones scored 18 points, Tre King added 16 points and No. 7 Iowa State harried Kansas State into 20 turnovers, allowing the Cyclones to cruise to a 76-57 victory in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Keshon Gilbert added 12 points and six steals and Tamin Lipsey had 11 points for the fourth-seeded Cyclones, who were clinging to a 40-39 lead with about 16 minutes to go when the Wildcats’ turnovers really began to pile up. Tylor Perry had 18 points, Arthur Kaluma scored 13 and Will McNair Jr. had 12 points for 10th-seeded Kansas State. Iowa State will play No. 14 Baylor in the semifinals on Friday night.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Top-ranked Houston relied on its defense to shut down TCU in a 60-45 victory in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Emanuel Sharp led the Cougars in scoring with 14 points and Jamal Shead scored 12, but it was their defense that held the Horned Frogs without a point for nearly 10 minutes to start the game. Micah Peavy wound up leading the Horned Frogs with 13 points. Top scorer Emanuel Miller was held to three points on 1-for-10 shooting. Houston advanced to the semifinals and will play No. 25 Texas Tech on Friday night for a spot in the championship game.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Pop Isaacs scored 22 points, Chance McMillian added 17 points and eight rebounds and No. 25 Texas Tech beat No. 20 BYU 81-67 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday. The No. 4 seed Red Raiders led by as many as 23 before absorbing a 15-0 run by the Cougars in the second half. Texas Tech advanced into a semifinal matchup with top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Houston on Friday night. Jaxson Robinson had 22 points to lead the No. 5 seed Cougars, who shot 14 of 30 at the 3-point arc in a second-round win over UCF but were just 7 of 35 against Texas Tech.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — RayJ Dennis shook off a tough start to score 13 points and lead No. 14 Baylor to a 68-56 victory over Cincinnati in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Jalen Bridges added 12 points and eight rebounds as the No. 3 seed in the tournament advanced to play seventh-ranked and No. 2 seed Iowa State on Friday night. Dan Skillings Jr. had 15 points for the No. 11 seed Bearcats, who were playing their third game in three days. They beat West Virginia in a high-scoring first-round game before beating short-handed Kansas to reach the quarterfinals in their first Big 12 Tournament appearance.
WASHINGTON (AP) — DJ Horne scored 18 points, including two clutch free throws with 15 seconds left, and North Carolina State ousted No. 11 Duke 74-69 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. Kyle Filipowski had 28 points and 14 rebounds for second-seeded Duke, but N.C. State big man D.J. Burns Jr. kept him frustrated in the second half as the Wolfpack refused to yield. Tenth-seeded N.C. State will face either Virginia or Boston College in Friday’s semifinals, needing two more victories to secure an improbable automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
NEW YORK (AP) — Devin Carter had 22 points and 11 rebounds as Providence secured a huge victory for its postseason resume, holding off No. 8 Creighton 78-73 in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals. Josh Oduro added 17 points and nine boards for the seventh-seeded Friars, who recovered in the final five-plus minutes after squandering a 13-point lead in the second half. They will face 10th-ranked and third-seeded Marquette in the second semifinal Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Jayden Pierre had 15 points and seven assists for Providence. Ryan Kalkbrenner had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the second-seeded Bluejays.
UNDATED (AP) — Oklahoma State says it has fired men’s basketball coach Mike Boynton. He had a 119-109 record in seven seasons at the school. The Cowboys went 12-20 this season and lost their opening game of the Big 12 Tournament to UCF on Tuesday. The Cowboys reached just one NCAA tournament under Boynton as he dealt with the fallout from an NCAA investigation. In 2020, an NCAA infractions committee gave the Cowboys a one-year postseason ban and other penalties after former assistant coach Lamont Evans accepted up to $22,000 so he could help steer athletes to certain financial advisers.
UNDATED (AP) — Stanford has fired men’s basketball coach Jerod Haase after he finished his eighth season at the school without a single NCAA Tournament appearance. Athletic director Bernard Muir announced the decision on Thursday night, shortly after the Cardinal finished a second straight losing season with a 79-62 loss to No. 22 Washington State in the Pac-12 quarterfinals in Las Vegas. Stanford went 14-18 for the season and finished in a three-way tie for ninth place in the Pac-12 with an 8-12 mark in conference. Haase had a 126-127 record overall for Stanford.
UNDATED (AP) — The NFL is reviewing whether the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles violated tampering policies during the legal tampering window, a league spokesman said Thursday. The Falcons agreed to a contract with four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins shortly after teams were permitted to start negotiating with unrestricted free agents on Monday. The Eagles quickly struck a deal with two-time Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley soon after the negotiation period opened at 12 p.m. EDT. Teams are permitted to talk directly with agents during the 52-hour negotiating window, but can’t speak to the player unless he has no agent and represents himself.
UNDATED (AP) — The Chicago Bears acquired wide receiver Keenan Allen from the Los Angeles Chargers for a fourth-round pick. Allen has spent his entire 11-year career with the Chargers and was the longest-tenured player on the roster. Allen is going into the final season of a four-year extension he signed in 2020, but refused to take a pay cut or restructure his contract according to one person familiar with the trade. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because they aren’t at liberty to publicly discuss personnel moves. Allen’s salary cap number for the upcoming season is $34.7 million, including a $5 million roster bonus due on Sunday.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Rory McIlroy had 10 birdies, two water balls and one lengthy dispute on where to take a penalty drop. It added up to a 65 at The Players Championship. That's his lowest start at the TPC Sawgrass and it gave him a share of the lead with Xander Schauffele and Wyndham Clark. One tee ball went into the water on the 18th. The one causing issues was on No. 7, his 16th hole of the round. Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland were questioning whether the ball landed above the red hazard line. McIlroy says he was comfortable with where he dropped.
UNDATED (AP) — More than half of Americans say they are against college athletes unionizing, though younger respondents were more supportive than older, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey found that 55% of adults believe NCAA athletes should not be permitted to form unions that would led to collective bargaining with schools. The survey found breaks in support along three lines: political party identification, race and age. Six in 10 adults under the age of 45 support allowing college athletes to form unions. Last week, Dartmouth men's basketball players voted to join a union.
THURSDAY SCORES
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (1)Houston 60 TCU 45
Final (2)UConn 87 Xavier 60
Final (4)North Carolina 92 Florida St. 67
Final (6)Arizona 70 Southern Cal 49
Final (7)Iowa St. 76 Kansas St. 57
Final Providence 78 (8)Creighton 73
Final (10)Marquette 71 Villanova 65
Final NC State 74 (11)Duke 69
Final (14)Baylor 68 Cincinnati 56
Final (15)South Carolina 80 Arkansas 66
Final (18)Utah St. 87 Fresno St. 75
Final (25)Texas Tech 81 (20)BYU 67
Final (22)Washington St. 79 Stanford 62
Final Colorado St. 85 (23)Nevada 78
Final Duquesne 65 (24)Dayton 57
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 6 Boston 1
Final Tampa Bay 3 Atlanta 1
Final Baltimore 5 Pittsburgh 2
Final Seattle 4 Milwaukee 2
Final Chicago Cubs 3 Oakland 1
Final Cleveland 13 Colorado 7
Final Kansas City 6 Arizona 0
Final Washington 5 Houston 3
Final Texas 7 Cincinnati 4
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Toronto 5 Minnesota 1
Final Detroit 7 N.Y. Yankees 0
Final Chicago White Sox 5 L.A. Angels 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final N.Y. Mets 0 St. Louis 0
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Boston 127 Phoenix 112
Final L.A. Clippers 126 Chicago 111
Final Houston 135 Washington 119
Final Milwaukee 114 Philadelphia 105
Final New York 105 Portland 93
Final Oklahoma City 126 Dallas 119
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Buffalo 4 N-Y Islanders 0
Final OT Boston 2 Montreal 1
Final Arizona 4 Detroit 1
Final Carolina 4 Florida 0
Final Pittsburgh 6 San Jose 3
Final Tampa Bay 6 N-Y Rangers 3
Final SO Ottawa 3 Columbus 2
Final Toronto 6 Philadelphia 2
Final Minnesota 2 Anaheim 0
Final New Jersey 6 Dallas 2
Final Calgary 4 Vegas 1