Associated Press stories, Page 725
Alabama rides wave of 3-pointers to beat Clemson, reach 1st Final Four
LOS ANGELES — Mark Sears made seven 3-pointers and Alabama recovered from its early long-distance shooting woes with 16 treys to beat Clemson, 89-82, on Saturday night, sending the Crimson Tide to the Final Four for the first time. The Tide (25-11) will face defending national champion UConn in Glendale,...
Oklahoma State Patrol diverts traffic after barge hits bridge
SALLISAW, Okla. — The Oklahoma State Patrol said Saturday that it closed a highway south of Sallisaw after a barge struck a bridge over Arkansas River. Troopers closed South U.S. Highway 59 about 1:25 p.m. after receiving word of the incident and diverted traffic from the area, state patrol spokesperson...
Donovan Clingan, UConn power back into Final Four in rout of Illinois
BOSTON — Defending national champion UConn powered its way back into the Final Four behind a 30-0 run led by Donovan Clingan, who finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Huskies crushed Illinois, 77-52, on Saturday night. It was a March Madness record 10th straight double-digit victory for...
Pope overcomes health concerns to preside over a blustery Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square
ROME — Pope Francis rallied from a winter-long bout of respiratory problems to lead some 60,000 people in Easter celebrations Sunday, making a strong appeal for a cease-fire in Gaza and a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine. Francis presided over Easter Sunday Mass in a flower-decked St. Peter’s Square...
Scottie Scheffler overcomes late double bogey for 66 in Houston
HOUSTON — Scottie Scheffler made double bogey from what he thought was a good shot, responded with back-to-back birdies and finished with a 4-under-par 66 on Saturday to be part of a five-way tie for the lead in the Houston Open. Scheffler is trying to become the first player since...
Biden is raising more campaign cash than Trump — and he’ll need it
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is raising gobs of cash. And it has an election-year strategy that, in a nutshell, aims to spend more — and spend faster. Not only has Biden aimed to show himself off as a fundraising juggernaut this month, but his campaign is also...
William Byron, Kyle Larson: Richmond Raceway challenges confidence
RICHMOND, Va. — William Byron already has a pair of victories just six races into the NASCAR Cup Series season, and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson has one, too. Neither comes to Richmond Raceway brimming with confidence. “It’s just one of those places we go to that we just don’t...
In search of 1st Final Four trip, Tennessee takes care of Creighton
DETROIT — Dalton Knecht had 24 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, and Tennessee moved within a victory of its first trip to the Final Four, beating Creighton, 82-75, in a Midwest Region semifinal Friday night. Zakai Zeigler added 18 points and six assists for the second-seeded Volunteers....
After key injury to Houston point guard, Duke earns spot in Elite Eight
DALLAS — Kyle Filipowski had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Duke advanced to the Elite Eight with a 54-51 win over top-seeded Houston, which played the final 26 minutes Friday night without All-America point guard Jamal Shead after he turned his right ankle. Even with Shead on the bench,...
Easter weekend storm hits Southern California with rain, mountain snow
LOS ANGELES — An Easter weekend storm slammed into Southern California, bringing more rain and mountain snow to a region already drenched by winter weather. The slow-moving storm was expected to unleash 1 to 3 inches of rain, as well as up to 2 feet of snow in the mountains...
Baltimore collapse focused attention on vital bridges. Thousands are in poor shape across U.S.
After a yearlong closure, a bridge over the Puyallup River reopened in 2019 with a sturdy new span and a brand new name. It even won a national award. But today, the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge is closed again after federal officials raised concerns about a vintage section of the...
Sweet 16 nets another big win for Purdue and big man Zach Edey, 80-68 over GonzagaVideo
DETROIT — Purdue big man Zach Edey withstood all the abuse Gonzaga could lay on him Friday night, finishing with 27 points and 14 rebounds to lift the Boilermakers to an 80-68 victory and move them one win from the Final Four. Gonzaga leaned on, swatted and grabbed at the...
N.C. State keeps magical March Madness run alive with 67-58 win over MarquetteVideo
DALLAS — DJ Horne scored 19 points, and N.C. State kept its magical NCAA Tournament run alive, beating Marquette, 67-58, on Friday night to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 1986. Casey Morsell added 15 points, and Mohamed Diarra had 11 points and 15 rebounds for the...
Tony Finau matches his career low and sets the target at the Houston OpenVideo
HOUSTON — Tony Finau matched his career low on the PGA Tour with an 8-under-par 62 on Friday, taking a two-shot lead into the weekend with hopes of winning back-to-back — 16 months apart — in the Houston Open. Scottie Scheffler saw his streak of 28 rounds under par end...
Caitlin Clark thrilled by US national team training camp invite. If Iowa isn’t in the Final FourVideo
Caitlin Clark is thrilled to be invited to participate in USA Basketball training camp at the Final Four. Her focus, though, is purely on getting Iowa to Cleveland for a chance at a national championship. “You always want to grow up and be on the Olympic team, but, lucky for...
Illinois’ Elite Eight run led by Terrence Shannon Jr., who faces rape charge, isn’t talking to mediaVideo
BOSTON — Illinois’ season could have ended up a lot different. The Illini opened the season thriving behind Terrence Shannon Jr., who established himself as one of the premier scorers in the nation. And then they were thrust into uncertainty in December when Shannon was charged with rape or an...
Hijab-wearing players in women’s NCAA Tournament hope to inspire othersVideo
N.C. State’s Jannah Eissa and UC Irvine’s Diaba Konate are bringing visibility and inspiration to some Muslim women by wearing hjiabs while they play basketball. They aren’t the first women to do it in NCAA Tournament play, but with record viewership and attendance they are certainly getting noticed. “Representation really...
EPA sets strict emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks, buses
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday set strict emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks, buses and other large vehicles, an action that officials said will help clean up some of the nation’s largest sources of planet-warming greenhouse gases. The rules, which take effect for model years 2027 through 2032,...
Oakland Athletics fans boycott home opener outside stadium in protest of Las Vegas moveVideo
OAKLAND, Calif. — Many fans at the Oakland Coliseum were still hanging out in the parking lot when Alex Wood delivered the first pitch of the season for the Athletics against the Cleveland Guardians. And they had no intention of going into the stadium. In protest of the A’s planned...
AP mock NFL draft 2.0: Quarterbacks and wide receivers are the top 6 picks
Caleb Williams will visit the Chicago Bears next week to meet more coaches, undergo medical testing and get more familiar with his future team. Williams going to the Bears at No. 1 is easy. Predicting the rest of the first round of the NFL draft is the challenge. Will Washington...
MLB’s percentage of international-born players drops slightly to 27.8%, lowest since 2016
NEW YORK — The percentage of Major League Baseball players born outside the 50 states dipped slightly to 27.8%, its lowest level since 2016. There were 264 players from 19 nations and territories outside of the 50 states among 949 players on opening day active rosters and injured, restricted and...
A tropical cyclone makes landfall in northern Madagascar, killing 18 people
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — A tropical cyclone that swept across Madagascar has killed 18 people and left four missing after making landfall on the north of the Indian Ocean island nation earlier this week, authorities said on Friday. The storm has also caused severe flooding that partly submerged entire villages, displaced...
Louis Gossett Jr., 1st Black man to win supporting actor Oscar, dies at 87
LOS ANGELES — Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries “Roots,” has died. He was 87. Gossett’s first cousin Neal L. Gossett told The Associated Press that the actor died Thursday night...
Biden says he’s working to secure release of Wall Street Journal reporter held for a year in Russia
NEW YORK — On the one-year anniversary of the Russian detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, President Joe Biden said the U.S. is working every day to secure his release. “Journalism is not a crime, and Evan went to Russia to do his job as a reporter —...
Magnitude 2.8 earthquake shakes southern Illinois; no damage or injuries reported
GERMANTOWN, Ill. — An earthquake of magnitude 2.8 has been reported in southern Illinois, near the Missouri state line, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The earthquake was detected about 6:55 p.m. Thursday north of Germantown, about 40 miles east of St. Louis, at a depth of just over 14 miles....
