NBA News

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Eric Dailey Jr. scored 20 points, Xaiver Booker had 15 points and eight rebounds to make up for the absence of leading scorer Tyler Biloudeau and seventh-seeded UCLA withstood every serious challenge and beat 10th-seeded UCF 75-71 Friday night in the NCAA Tournamen t. The Bruins (24-11) play the winner of the game between No. 2 seed …

DETROIT (AP) — Jalen Duren scored 23 points as the Detroit Pistons beat the Golden State Warriors 115-101 on Friday night in a game missing two of the NBA’s biggest stars. The Pistons beat the Warriors in the first matchup of the season between the teams on Jan. 30, but that was the last game Golden State’s Steph Curry (knee) …

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Bennett Stirtz scored 16 points and No. 9 seed Iowa weathered his erratic shooting to hold off eighth-seeded Clemson 67-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night. The Hawkeyes (22-12), making their March Madness debut under coach Ben McCollum, move on to a second-round South Region meeting against either top-seeded and defending …

ATLANTA (AP) — Virginia junior Claire Curzan repeated as champion in the 100-yard backstroke on Friday and the Cavaliers remained in first place heading into the final day of the women’s swimming and diving championships. Curzan won the race with the second-fastest time ever at 48.24, trailing only Gretchen Walsh (48.10). She was 1.38 seconds faster than Bella Sims and …

LAAX, Switzerland (AP) — Eileen Gu added another halfpipe title to her resume Friday, taking the first Snow League season championship by capturing gold in the circuit’s last contest. The victory came nearly four weeks after the 22-year-old capped off the Milan Cortina Olympics with a gold medal on the halfpipe, adding to a pair of silver medals she had …

Be sure to follow USA TODAY Sports’ live updates keeping track of all of NCAA Tournament’s Friday first round games. PHILADELPHIA, PA — If there is one thing about March Madness that is consistent on a yearly basis, it is the rallying love from men’s college basketball fans for the mid-major programs that are included in the 68-team field. Advertisement The Miami …

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Family matters at High Point, enough that coach Chelsea Banbury has no problem with assistant Katie Clayman missing the Panthers’ last practice before their NCAA Tournament opener. It’s March Madness, and Clayman got to watch her husband win his tournament debut Thursday as the High Point men upset No. 5 seed Wisconsin in Portland, Oregon. Clayman …

For the better part of the past month, the most hyper-analyzed and breathlessly discussed team in men’s college basketball wasn’t in Lexington, Kentucky or Lawrence, Kansas or on North Carolina’s famed Tobacco Road. It was a mid-sized state school in southwest Ohio that wasn’t even picked in the preseason to win its own (typically) one-bid conference and had gone nearly …

Be sure to follow USA TODAY Sports’ live updates keeping track of all of NCAA Tournament’s Friday first round games. PHILADELPHIA, PA — Virginia basketball coach Ryan Odom did not mention the elephant in the room with his team heading into Friday’s Men’s NCAA Tournament First-Round game against No. 14 seed Wright State. Advertisement “We never talked about it,” Odom said following …

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Labaron Philon Jr. scored 29 points and No. 4 seed Alabama rallied from an early double-digit deficit to beat 13th-seeded Hofstra 90-70 in a first-round game in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. The Crimson Tide (24-9) advanced to a second-round matchup against fifth-seeded Texas Tech (23-10), a 20-point winner over 12th-seeded Akron …

Rick Barnes and Travis Steele weren’t the only coaches on the court for Tennessee’s matchup against Miami (Ohio) in the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was sitting courtside for the meeting between the Volunteers and RedHawks on Friday, March 20. REQUIRED READING: March Madness scores: See the big shots, moments, highlights in …

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Avery Howell had 30 points and nine rebounds to lead Washington to its first women’s NCAA Tournament victory since 2017, beating South Dakota State 72-54 on Friday. South Dakota State jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the first five minutes, but the game was tied at 15 when Howell made a 3-pointer with 50 …

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jacari White hit six 3-pointers and scored 26 points, and third-seeded Virginia avoided yet another early NCAA Tournament exit, beating a resolute Wright State 82-73 in the first round on Friday. The Cavaliers (30-5) will face sixth-seeded Tennessee or No. 11 seed Miami (Ohio) in the second round in the Midwest Region on Sunday. Advertisement Virginia won …

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Brayden Burries hit four 3-pointers while scoring 18 points, Koa Peat added 15 points and top-seeded Arizona opened its NCAA Tournament run with a 92-58 victory over Long Island on Friday. Ivan Kharchenkov had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Big 12 regular-season and tournament champion Wildcats (33-2), who quickly showed why they’re the tournament’s …

NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball is changing at a dizzying speed in 2026 with the arrival of robot umpires, the return home of the Tampa Bay Rays and an alphabet soup of networks televising games in perhaps the last season before a labor shutdown. Much has transpired in the 4 1/2 months since the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied in World …

ST. LOUIS — The standout game of the morning session needed five more minutes to finish Friday, as No. 7 Kentucky fended off No. 10 Santa Clara, 89-84, in an overtime classic extended into the extra period by Otega Oweh’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer. A game that delivered perhaps the moment of the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament set a …

We have a jam-packed episode of The Dunker Spot coming your way! Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones start the show discussing the absurd run Luka Doncic has been on over the past 24 hours — 100 points across two games?! They talk about what makes him so tough to deal with, and dabble in some “Best In The World” talk. …

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday barring College Football Playoff and other postseason games from airing during the annual Army-Navy matchup in December. Trump directed the commerce secretary and the FCC chairman to coordinate with the playoff committee, the NCAA and media rights partners to ensure an exclusive broadcasting window for the storied rivalry traditionally …

Each week during the 2025-26 NBA season, we will take a deeper dive into some of the league’s biggest storylines in an attempt to determine whether trends are based more in fact or fiction moving forward. Last week: The NBA will have another 100-point scorer Fact or Fiction: The list of NBA title contenders is longer than you think Stephen …

March Madness is underway and today’s college stars have a chance to cement themselves in this summer’s NBA draft class. The 2026 draft is expected to take place in late June. In USA TODAY’s latest mock draft, Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr.  is expected to go in the first round. Here’s how USA TODAY currently projects the guard’s draft night will …

PHILADELPHIA — Dan Hurley knew in the offseason what Connecticut needed to emphasize if it wanted to return to the level it was when the Huskies won back-to-back championships in March Madness, just two years ago. The Huskies, the 2 seed in the East Region of the 2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament, didn’t need any philosophical or schematic changes. They simply …

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here. The Atlanta Hawks look to stay hot tonight as they take on the slumping Houston Rockets, who have dropped back-to-back contests. My Hawks vs. Rockets predictions favor Atlanta to secure yet another victory amid their 11-game winning streak. Read more in my NBA …

PHILADELPHIA — Before Virginia men’s basketball was named the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region of the Men’s NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday, Thijs De Ridder never really knew what March Madness was. “Not much,” De Ridder told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday. Advertisement REQUIRED READING: March Madness bracket, live scores: NCAA Tournament first round update You can’t necessarily …

ST. LOUIS – With Santa Clara’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 30 years barely 24 hours away, Herb Sendek spent a lot of his Thursday morning media session looking backward. The Broncos’ longtime head coach, 10 days removed from his 600th win as a head coach, split his news conference mostly between discussing his own team and reminiscing on his …

The Washington Wizards are already getting the full Anthony Davis experience. Over a month after Davis was aquired by the team in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks, the 14-year veteran has yet to suit up with his new team due to an injury. That injury — ligament damage in his left hand — will keep Davis sidelined at least …