NBA News

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Graham Ike scored 30 points in his first game back from injury and No. 6 Gonzaga beat rival Saint Mary’s 73-65 on Saturday night in their final West Coast Conference meeting at McCarthey Athletic Center. Jalen Warley had 10 points and seven rebounds as the Bulldogs (22-1, 10-0) won their 15th straight game and improved to …

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Quinn Hughes had a goal and an assist to set a franchise record for defensemen by extending his point streak to eight games in the Minnesota Wild’s 7-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night. Joel Eriksson Ek, Mats Zuccarello and Brock Faber also had a goal and an assist apiece for Minnesota, which won …

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been reshaping the middle and backend of their roster over the past week. They recently traded De’Andre Hunter for Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis, waived Chris Livingston, and signed Tristan Enaruna to a two-way spot. That trend continued as ESPN’s Olgun Uluc reported late Saturday evening that the team is also waiving former second-round pick Luke …

SYDNEY (AP) — In a masterful performance, as he’s done so many other times, Alexander Volkanovski successfully defended his featherweight title with a unanimous decision over Diego Lopes at UFC 325 on Sunday afternoon. New South Wales native Volkanovski (29-4-0) won on all three judges’ scorecards 49-46, 49-46 and 50-45, much to the delight of the crowd inside Sydney Olympic …

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Brandon Miller scored 26 points, Collin Sexton made all five 3-point attempts off the bench and finished with 21 points and the Charlotte Hornets held on to beat the San Antonio Spurs 111-106 on Saturday to extend their winning streak to six games. LaMelo Ball 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to help give the …

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Hannes Steinbach, Zoom Diallo and Wesley Yates III combined for 65 points as Washington beat Northwestern 76-62 on Saturday. Steinbach notched 22 points and 14 rebounds for his fourth-straight double-double, and 14th of the season, tying Isaiah Stewart’s freshman record for the Huskies (12-10, 4-7 Big Ten). Diallo added 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting, six rebounds …

Police handcuffed and escorted Tuskegee basketball coach Benjy Taylor off the court after a loss to Morehouse on Saturday, Jan. 31, following a Division II HBCU game. According to HBCU GameDay, Taylor was attempting to ensure conference-mandated security protocols were followed after Morehouse’s 77-69 win over the Golden Tigers in Atlanta. Football players from Morehouse intermingled with players during the …

NEW YORK (AP) — Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson was fined $50,000 by the NBA for “aggressively pursuing, berating, and making inadvertent contact with a game official” during a game on Friday night. The NBA’s head of basketball operations James Jones made the announcement on Saturday. Advertisement The incident happened after Atkinson was called for his second technical foul and …

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Freshman Trent Sisley made the first of two free throws with less than a second remaining in a second overtime and Indiana outlasted UCLA 98-97 on Saturday. Nick Dorn hit six 3-pointers and scored a season-high 26 points for the Hoosiers (15-7, 6-5 Big Ten Conference) in a third straight victory following a four-game losing streak. …

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani won’t pitch for Japan in the World Baseball Classic in March, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday. Roberts said it was Ohtani’s decision to focus solely on being the designated hitter for his native country. Advertisement He said the team “absolutely” would have supported Ohtani if he had wanted to …

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Ehis Etute scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Oregon in a 68-61 win over No. 16 Maryland on Saturday night. Etute shot 10 of 15 from the field and 6 of 8 from the line. Sofia Bell added 16 points, hitting four 3-pointers. Advertisement The Ducks (17-7, 5-6 Big Ten) pulled …

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lamine Yamal put on another show as he scored Barcelona’s opener and tormented defenders all game long to spearhead the La Liga leader to a 3-1 win at Elche on Saturday. Yamal scored in the sixth minute and passed for Marcus Rashford to put the victory beyond doubt late in the second half. Elche pulled level …

ATLANTA (AP) — Caleb Wilson dominated in the return to his hometown, scoring 22 points as No. 16 North Carolina cruised past Georgia Tech for a 91-75 victory on Saturday. The 6-foot-10 Atlanta native set a school record by scoring 20 points for the 15th time as a freshman. He had been tied with Tyler Hansbrough, who had 14 games …

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The West Indies got a consolation win off South Africa after rain reduced their Twenty20 match to a shootout at the Wanderers on Saturday. South Africa won the series 2-1 and the West Indies won the last match by six runs on the DLS method in a thrilling finish. Advertisement Rain delayed the start of the match …

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Mike Nwoko scored 21 points as LSU outlasted South Carolina 92-87 in overtime on Saturday. LSU (14-8, 2-7 Southeastern Conference) outscored the Gamecocks 14-9 in overtime and went 21 of 25 from the free-throw line. Rashad King finished with 18 points for LSU, while Marquel Sutton added 16 points and eight rebounds. Max Mackinnon scored 15 …

The Minnesota Timberwolves are teetering. A quick hot streak could push them into position for homecourt advantage in the first round. A stumble could doom them toward the Play-In Tournament. Luckily, the Memphis Grizzlies should be a matchup that helps Minnesota stay on its current hot streak. Advertisement My Timberwolves vs. Grizzlies predictions recognize which starter is hottest these days. …

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Cameron Boozer scored 24 points to lead No. 4 Duke to a 72-58 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday for its ninth straight win. Boozer, coming off a 19-point effort in the Blue Devils’ 83-52 victory over No. 20 Louisville on Monday, connected on 9 of 12 from the floor, grabbed eight rebounds and had five …

It really doesn’t feel like the Luka Dončić trade was only one year ago Sunday. It just can’t be 12 months since the Dallas Mavericks pulled the most shocking trade in NBA history, a move that permanently altered the course of two franchises. It can’t be 365 days since the news broke in the middle of the night that, yes, …

Make that two California teams that the Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly discussing De’Andre Hunter trades with. According to Mike Scotto of HoopsHype, the Cavs and Sacramento Kings have talked through a trade that would send Hunter to Northern California for guards Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroeder, as well as forward Dario Saric. Ellis has become a highly sought-after 3-and-D player, …

While the Philadelphia 76ers have gone 5-5 in their last 10 games, the team appeared to be headed in the right direction with Paul George and Joel Embiid consistently available. Both underwent offseason knee surgery, and it took some time for the veterans to reach a point where their availability (and production) wasn’t an issue. Unfortunately, the 76ers won’t have …

It’s the second game of a most unusual 3-game regular season series, as the Chicago Bulls visit the Miami Heat.  With both teams in a gruelling part of the schedule and many regulars appearing to be sidelined, my Bulls vs. Heat prediction will target the Under on Saturday. Read on for my NBA picks for Saturday, January 31.  Advertisement Bulls …

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR has postponed the preseason exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium until Monday night because of ice and snow blanketing the Winston-Salem area. The Clash was supposed to be a two-day event beginning Saturday, with the main event held Sunday evening. NASCAR late last week cut it to a Sunday-only event in anticipation of poor weather, …

AL MAZROWIAH, Bahrain (AP) — Calum Hill of Scotland salvaged a rough start with a pair of birdies on the back nine for an even-par 72 on Saturday, giving him a two-shot lead in the Bahrain Championship with Patrick Reed and Sergio Garcia suddenly back in the mix. Reed, coming off a whirlwind week in which he won the Dubai …

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Spinners led Pakistan to a 90-run win over Australia to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20 series on Saturday. Australia, which fielded a much stronger side after losing the first game by 19 runs, got bowled out for 108 in 15.4 overs with leg-spinners Abrar Ahmed (3-14) and Shadab Khan (3-26) sharing bulk …

The Hawks have all the assets necessary to put up a strong — and I’d argue a winning — fight in the great Giannis Antetokounmpo bidding war if they so choose to. They have soon-to-be one-time All-Star Jalen Johnson locked up on a long, below maximum value contract, some young desirable talent, and of course a large piece of Milwaukee’s …