SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Ezra Ausar had 21 points and Lawson Lovering posted a double-double to help Utah hold on for a 74-69 victory over Kansas State. Ausar made 7 of 14 shots and all seven of his free throws, adding eight rebounds for the Utes (15-11, 7-8 Big 12 Conference). Lovering totaled 15 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double this season. Gabe Madsen added 13 points. Brendan Hausen scored 17 to lead the Wildcats (13-13, 7-8), who have lost two straight following a six-game win streak. Max Jones and Dug McDaniel both scored 13 with McDaniel adding six assists.
WACO, Texas (AP) — Tobe Awaka had 14 points and 12 rebounds as No. 19 Arizona moved into second place alone in the Big 12 Conference with a 74-67 win at Baylor. Caleb Love and Henri Veesaar each had 13 points for the 18-8 Wildcats. Their back-to-back losses last week to Kansas State and No. 5 Houston dropped them six spots in the latest AP Top 25 poll earlier Monday. VJ Edgecombe scored 24 points for the 16-10 Bears. Norchad Omier had his 82nd career double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
UNDATED (AP) — Auburn is No. 1 in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll for the sixth consecutive week. The Tigers claimed 59 of 60 first-place votes in the latest poll after beating then-No. 1 Alabama on the road. Florida claimed the other first-place vote and broke last week's tie with Duke to move up to second. The Southeastern Conference has a national-best nine ranked teams. No. 25 Louisville returned to the poll for the week's only new addition.
UNDATED (AP) — Notre Dame is No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll for the first time since 2019. Texas moved up to second for its best ranking since 2017. UCLA had been No. 1 for 12 straight weeks after beating South Carolina in late November but the Bruins are now third in the rankings. USC moved up to fourth and UConn is fifth after routing then-No. 4 South Carolina.
UNDATED (AP) — There’s one month until the NCAA Tournament selection show and there are still many teams battling to get off the bubble and into the field. South Florida (18-8) has won seven straight games, including a triple-overtime victory over Rice last week, to get into the at-large conversation if the Bulls don’t win the conference tournament. They face Charlotte and Memphis this week. Jose Fernandez’s team needed overtime to beat Charlotte the first time they met. It's a key weekend in the Ivy League and Atlantic-10 for teams looking to keep their NCAA hopes going.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Owen Larson called it when he said his dad wouldn’t win the Daytona 500 because “he probably needs to try really hard because he’s not good at superspeedway racing.” The 10-year-old was right in his assessment. Kyle Larson can win just about anywhere in any type of car. But when it comes to Daytona and Talladega, NASCAR’s 2021 Cup Series champion is a disaster. Larson dropped to 0 for 22 at Daytona International Speedway when he finished 20th in Sunday night’s Daytona 500. Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon is a three-time Daytona 500 winner who believes the lack of success on superspeedways is “getting in his head.”
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Cam Ward says not playing in the second half of Miami's bowl game was a predetermined decision and that he'd do it the same way again. The quarterback could be the first player taken in the NFL draft. He accepted the Davey O'Brien Award on Monday night as the top college quarterback. He hasn't decided if he will throw at the NFL combine next week. Ward was showered with online criticism suggesting that he quit on the Hurricanes after he didn’t play the second half of the Pop-Tarts Bowl in December. They lost to Iowa State after he broke the NCAA Division I record for career touchdown passes.
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — The Red Sox’s ballyhooed signing of Alex Bregman was met with considerable resistance Monday when Rafael Devers said he wouldn’t cede third base. Devers is a three-time All-Star and has played the hot corner for Boston since 2017 and himself received a major deal just two years ago. The Red Sox signed Bregman on Saturday to a three-year, $120 million contract that includes a $5 million signing bonus. A two-time All-Star, Bregman has hit more than 20 home runs each of the past three seasons.
MONDAY SCORES
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Canada 5 Finland 3
Final Sweden 2 USA 1
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (3)Duke 80 Virginia 62