Associated Press stories, Page 1744
Thomas lives on edge and rallies to win Players ChampionshipVideo
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Justin Thomas found the right time for a near-perfect performance to put a rough start to the year behind him, rallying from three shots behind with bold play to close with a 4-under-par 68 and win The Players Championship on Sunday. Thomas became only the...
Gonzaga, Baylor, Illinois, Michigan get No. 1 seeds for NCAA TournamentVideo
The biggest unknown leading into a March Madness bracket reveal more than a year in the making had nothing to do with bubble teams or top seeds. Instead, it was the not-so-simple matter of which programs would be healthy enough to play. Kansas and Virginia, two programs hit with covid-19...
No. 3 Illinois beats No. 9 Ohio State in OT to take Big Ten titleVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu both scored 16 points, both grabbed nine rebounds and both made key plays in overtime to give No. 3 Illinois a 91-88 victory over No. 9 Ohio State on Sunday for its first Big Ten Tournament title since 2005. Cockburn made the go-ahead...
Dan + Shay, Justin Bieber win country Grammy AwardVideo
Justin Bieber is a Grammy winner in the country genre for his “10,000 Hours” collaboration with Dan + Shay. Dan + Shay accepted the best country duo/group performance Grammy virtually. Bieber did not appear during the Grammys Premiere Ceremony, where the majority of Sunday’s awards are bestowed. Dan + Shay...
All Duke University undergrads must quarantine
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke University issued a quarantine order for all of its undergraduates effective Saturday night because of a coronavirus outbreak caused by students who attended recruitment parties, the school said. The university said in a statement that all undergraduate students will be forced to stay-in-place until at least...
Record-setting Saints QB Drew Brees announces retirement at 42Video
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, the NFL’s leader in career completions and yards passing, decided to retire after 20 NFL seasons, including his last 15 with New Orleans. “Til the very end I exhausted myself to give everything to the Saints organization, my team and the...
Aaron Jones staying with Packers on 4-year, $48 million dealVideo
Pro Bowl running back Aaron Jones agreed to a new deal with the Green Bay Packers and won’t be exploring free agency. Drew Rosenhaus, Jones’ agent, confirmed his client had agreed on a four-year deal worth $48 million that includes a $13 million signing bonus. “We anticipated bigger offers in...
Fewer brackets but same number plan bets on March Madness
ATLANTIC CITY — Fewer Americans expect to fill out brackets for the NCAA’s college basketball tournament this year, but the overall number of people making bets on March Madness should remain about the same as the last time the tournament was held, according to the gambling industry’s national trade association....
St. Bonaventure beats VCU in Atlantic 10 Tournament title gameVideo
DAYTON, Ohio — Kyle Lofton scored 23 points, and Osun Osunniyi scored 14 points with 12 rebounds as St. Bonaventure beat VCU, 74-65, on Sunday in the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. St. Bonaventure (16-4) entered the A-10 Tournament as the top...
Pelosi pledges swift work on major infrastructure packageVideo
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday pledged swift work by Congress on a job and infrastructure package that will be “fiscally sound,” but said she isn’t sure whether the next major item on President Joe Biden’s agenda will attract Republican backing. Fresh off a major legislative victory on...
Winter storm closes roads in Wyoming, Colorado, NebraskaVideo
A powerful late winter snowstorm intensified over the central Rocky Mountains on Sunday with heavy snow and wind leading to airport and road closures, power outages and avalanche warnings in parts of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. The National Weather Service in Wyoming called it a “historic and crippling” winter storm...
No. 6 Alabama adds another SEC title, edges LSU in championship gameVideo
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Herbert Jones drove for a go-ahead layup with 19.5 seconds, and No. 6 Alabama won the SEC Tournament for the first time since 1991, holding off a late flurry to edge LSU, 80-79, on Sunday. Coach Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide added to their regular-season title...
Average U.S. price of gas up 25 cents a gallon in past 3 weeks
The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline jumped 25 cents a gallon over the past three weeks to $2.89. The average price in Pennsylvania rose to $3.03 per gallon on Sunday, according to price tracking service GasBuddy, with the Pittsburgh region averaging $3.06. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg...
Jerry Schmitt gets 100th win with Duquesne in shutout of WagnerVideo
NEW YORK — Jerry Schmitt collected his 100th win as Duquesne coach as the Dukes blanked Wagner, 17-0, on Sunday. Garrett Owens ran for 89 yards and two touchdowns for Duquesne (2-0, 2-0 Northeast Conference). Schmitt joins eight active coaches in the FCS with at least 100 wins at their...
Fauci: Trump should urge his followers to get vaccinatedVideo
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday he wishes former President Donald Trump would use his popularity among Republicans to persuade more of his followers to get the covid-19 vaccine. In a round of interviews on the morning news shows, the government’s top infectious disease expert lamented polling showing that Trump supporters...
London police under pressure over clashes at women’s vigil
LONDON — London’s Metropolitan Police force was under heavy pressure Sunday to explain its actions during a vigil for a woman whom one of the force’s own officers is accused of murdering. Hundreds defied coronavirus restrictions to gather and protest violence against women, but the event ended with clashes between...
Ireland suspends AstraZeneca vaccine amid blood clot reports
LONDON — Irish health officials on Sunday recommended the temporary suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of serious blood clotting after inoculations in Norway. Dr. Ronan Glynn, Ireland’s deputy chief medical officer, said the recommendation was made after Norway’s medicines agency reported four cases of blood clotting in adults...
2 killed, 13 wounded at party on Chicago’s South Side
CHICAGO — Gunfire erupted at a party on Chicago’s South Side early Sunday, killing two people and wounding 13 others, authorities said. Officers responded at around 4:40 a.m., police spokesman Jose Jara said in a statement. Those shot were between the ages of 20 to 44. Jara earlier said 12...
Survivors struggle as scientists race to solve covid mystery
There was no reason to celebrate on Rachel Van Lear’s anniversary. The same day a global pandemic was declared, she developed symptoms of covid-19. A year later, she’s still waiting for them to disappear. And for experts to come up with some answers. The Texas woman is one of thousands...
Democrats bank on relief aid to win back wary working class
JEANNETTE — When Joe Biden visited this corner of southwestern Pennsylvania in the final weeks before the election, his goal wasn’t to win it so much as to show the area’s overwhelmingly white working-class electorate that his party was at least willing to try. “A lot of white, working-class Democrats...
Georgia Tech beats No. 15 Florida State for 1st ACC title since 1993Video
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Michael Devoe scored 20 points and Georgia Tech shot 52% after halftime to beat No. 15 Florida State, 80-75, in Saturday night’s ACC Tournament championship game. League player of the year Moses Wright added 15 points and eight rebounds for the fourth-seeded Yellow Jackets (17-8), who won...
No. 13 Texas beats No. 12 Oklahoma St for first Big 12 titleVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Matt Coleman scored a career-high 30 points, Jericho Simms added a career-best 21 and No. 13 Texas was poised at the foul line down the stretch in beating No. 12 Oklahoma State, 91-86, on Saturday night to give the Longhorns their first Big 12 Tournament title....
Patrick Ewing, Georgetown take Big East, NCAA bid with stunning routVideo
NEW YORK — Patrick Ewing is taking Georgetown back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 after the eighth-seeded Hoyas completed a surprising run to a Big East championship Saturday night with a stunning 73-48 rout of No. 17 Creighton. On the 49th anniversary of the day...
Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez say they’re still together
LOS ANGELES — J-Lo and A-Rod are still J-Rod. Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez said Saturday that reports of their split are inaccurate, and they are working things through. A day earlier, multiple reports based on anonymous sources said the pop star-actor and the former baseball great had called off...
Rick Pitino back in the NCAA Tournament with MAAC champion IonaVideo
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Rick Pitino ended an Iona team photo, a championship trophy as the centerpiece, by pointing toward a ladder and telling the Gaels to clip the nets. He knows the way. From coaching perennial powers to exile to the New York suburbs, Pitino has navigated a vagabond...
