DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — La’Nya Foster scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Erica Moon added 17 points, and Georgia Tech defeated Florida State 72-60 in a first-round game at the ACC Tournament on Wednesday.
The Yellow Jackets led for all but 2 minutes but didn't put the game away until a 9-2 run late in the fourth quarter gave them a 70-56 lead.
Talayah Walker had 16 points and seven rebounds for Georgia Tech (14-17), the No. 11 seed.
No. 14 seed Florida State (10-21) got 16 points from Sydney Bowles.
Georgia Tech spotted Florida State the first four points of the game but the Yellow Jackets hit five of their next seven shots to build a 14-6 lead halfway through the first quarter. Georgia Tech went up by 11 later in the quarter before Florida State cut the gap to 22-16 heading to the second.
Georgia Tech scored nine points in a 1:20 stretch of the second quarter to push their lead back to 10. It was 39-29 at halftime.
Each time Georgia Tech's lead reached 10 points in the first three quarters, the Seminoles bounced back. Georgia Tech went up 54-40 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the third but Florida State cut it to 56-48 by the end of the quarter.
Up next
Georgia Tech plays No. 6 seed Virginia Tech on Thursday. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals against third-seeded North Carolina.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Linda Caicedo scored the lone goal in the second half and Colombia defeated Argentina 1-0 in the SheBelieves Cup tournament on Wednesday.
The United States was set to play rival Canada in the later match at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field.
Caicedo, who plays professionally for Real Madrid, scored in the 64th minute to put Colombia in front. It was her 18th international goal and came off an assist from Leicy Santos.
The United States downed Argentina 2-0 in the SheBelieves opener on Sunday in Nashville. Colombia fell 4-1 to Canada in its tournament opener.
Shortly before the match, Bay FC announced that it had acquired Argentina defender Aldana Cometti from French club FC Fleury. Cometti joins the National Women's Soccer League club on a two-year contract with a team option for a third.
Argentina, ranked No. 30 in the world, made one other SheBelieves Cup appearance in 2021, finishing fourth. Colombia, ranked No. 20, previously played in the tournament last year and finished third.
Colombia will face the United States on Saturday in the tournament finale in Harrison, New Jersey. Argentina will play Canada in the early game.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Shay Ciezki had 22 points and seven assists, Nevaeh Caffey scored nine of her 13 in the fourth quarter, and No. 13 seed Indiana overcame a 20-point deficit to beat Nebraska 72-69 on Wednesday in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Indiana (18-14) has won four in a row and is 7-2 following its 0-10 start in Big Ten play.
No. 12 seed Nebraska (18-12) has lost seven of its last nine games and may have seen its NCAA Tournament bubble burst.
Amiah Hargrove led the Cornhuskers with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Britt Prince had 20 points and eight assists. Logan Nissley scored 12 and Jessica Petrie added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Ciezki had her 21st game this season with at least 20 points and passed Mackenzie Holmes (692 points, 2022-23) for second on Indiana’s single-season scoring list with 694 points this season.
Lenee Beaumont made two 3s in an 8-0 spurt that gave Indiana a 68-67 lead — its first of the game — with 1:06 left. Prince missed a pull-up jumper before Ciezki darted to the rim for a layup with 32 seconds to go. Hargrove had an offensive rebound and putback that made it a one-point game with 17 seconds remaining before Caffey made two free throws to cap the scoring.
Prince and Nissley missed potential tying 3-point shots in the closing seconds.
Beaumont scored 11 of her 14 in the second half and Edessa Noyan had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Indiana, which trailed 45-25 late in the second quarter.
Then-No. 25 Nebraska beat the Hoosiers 78-73 at home Jan. 8 to snap an eight-game skid in the series, which Indiana leads 14-7.
Up next
Indiana: Plays 11th-ranked and fifth-seeded Ohio State in the second round on Thursday.
Nebraska: Awaits a potential postseason invitation.
ROME (AP) — Lazio and Atalanta traded four second-half goals in a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the Italian Cup semifinals Wednesday.
Fisayo Dele-Bashiru took advantage of a through pass from former Atalanta midfielder Daniel Maldini to put Lazio ahead two minutes after the break.
Mario Pasalic equalized four minutes later for Atalanta by knocking in a rebound.
Boulaye Dia took advantage of a defensive error by Pasalic and quickly found the target from the center of the area in the 87th. Then United States international Yunus Musah equalized again for Atalanta in the 90th.
The second legs are scheduled for April 21-22 and the final is May 13.
Atalanta has reached the final three times in the last seven seasons but has won the trophy only once — back in 1963. Lazio is a seven-time champion, having beat Atalanta for its most recent title in 2019.
Steve Kerr is in the final year of his contract, but he's not exactly stressing about it. After a dozen years and four rings coaching Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, Kerr's reaction whenever asked about his contract is some variation of what he said before the season, that he likely would want to continue coaching Curry "for another few years, but I think it makes sense for the organization and for me just to see where this thing is at the end of the year, where they are, where I am."
Warriors General Manager Michael Dunleavy Jr. said he expects him to come back, during an appearance on “The TK Show,” featuring long-time Bay Area writer Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard.
"I don't see why not. I think Steve's mentioned wanting to get to the end of the season and figure it out. I think things, for him, are going well. We'll figure all that out when it comes. I think it's been interesting, like the focus for us internally between myself, (team owner) Joe (Lacob), the players, Steve, has really been on like getting this thing right the rest of the season. So we haven't put a whole bunch of thought into it.
"But you know, obviously, on a personal level, (I) love having Steve here. Yeah, I would project that he's our coach next year. But again, we're going down to absolute certainties, and a lot of it's in his court, so we'll have to see."
Nobody is stressing about this.
While Kerr would have his choice of jobs, the expectation in league circles is that he will only coach the Warriors, then step away whenever the 37-year-old Curry does, likely moving into the Warriors front office in some capacity. But nothing is certain, so everyone's eyes will be on Kerr this summer.
Just expect him to be back on the Warriors' sideline next season.
Mar 3, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jaylon Tyson (20) throws a pass beside Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) in the third quarter at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images
The Cleveland Cavaliers took down the conference-leading Detroit Pistons on Tuesday, thanks in part to 22 points from Jaylon Tyson and how well he defended MVP candidate Cade Cunningham. Tyson stepped up admirably on defense as he was physical at the point of attack and did a good job of shadowing Cunningham everywhere he went on the court.
There was, however, one exception to this.
The league office took offense at a second-quarter play where Tyson comically embellished some contact from Cunningham. Tyson threw his head back and staggered from just inside the free-throw line to the baseline, trying to get a call that didn’t come. Fortunately for the Cavs, Evan Mobley was there to provide a late contest.
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The league office deemed that Tyson’s embellishment of the contact rose to the level of a “flop.” He was fined by the league $2,000 on Wednesday evening. It’s worth noting that Tyson’s antics weren’t rewarded with an offensive foul in the moment.
It was a ridiculous flop from Tyson, but whether or not it was worthy of the $2,000 fine is up for debate. Tyson obviously oversold the call, but not in a believable way. Would he have been fined if he were slightly better at flopping? Is that the lesson here? And if so, is that what we should be enforcing?
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Two of Bayer Leverkusen's young players combined for a breakthrough goal to beat Hamburger SV 1-0 in the Bundesliga on Wednesday and boost the team's fading challenge for Champions League qualification.
Leverkusen was having a frustrating game, with a goal ruled out for handball and a penalty decision overturned on video review, before 20-year-old midfielder Ibrahim Maza and 19-year-old forward Christian Kofane combined for the only goal in the 73rd minute.
Maza drew in Hamburg players before flicking the ball on for Kofane, who lashed it into the top-left corner.
Hamburg's own young star Luka Vušković threw his boots against the bench in frustration at the end. The 19-year-old defender, on loan from Tottenham, had a shot blocked by Leverkusen goalkeeper Janis Blaswich in the final seconds and headed the rebound onto the crossbar. Hamburg is 11th and winless in three games.
Leverkusen remained sixth in the Bundesliga but cut the gap to fourth-place Stuttgart, the last team in the Champions League places, to three points.
Leverkusen coach Kasper Hjulmand made five changes to his lineup, partly due to injuries, and handed a first senior start to 18-year-old German-American winger Montrell Culbreath, who played 80 minutes.
The game was originally meant to be played in January but it was rescheduled when Hamburg’s stadium roof suffered structural damage following heavy snow and required urgent repairs.
The win over Hamburg is part of a crucial run of games for Leverkusen, which faces Arsenal in the Champions League round of 16 next week and is struggling to qualify for next season's Champions League after winning one of its previous four Bundesliga games prior to Wednesday.
Does defense really win championships?
A good defense is important, but in the modern NBA, where spacing, pace, and shot-making dominate — elite offense has increasingly become a prerequisite to be a true title contender.
Consider the last three champions. The 2025 Oklahoma City Thunder ranked third in offensive rating, the 2024 Boston Celtics finished first, the 2023 Denver Nuggets ranked fifth. In fact, only one of the six teams to reach the NBA Finals during that span finished outside the league’s top 10 in offensive efficiency.
As the regular season enters its final month, the Eastern Conference has largely consolidated into four legitimate contenders – the Pistons, Celtics, Knicks and Cavaliers.
Using FTN’s NBA StatsHub, we can take a deeper look at those teams through the lens of shot-making efficiency — identifying which of the East’s top seeds is best positioned to reach the NBA Finals.
Detroit Pistons
Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, deservedly well-respected for his ability to develop young talent, has engineered one of the most impressive turnarounds in the league in the Motor City, guiding the Pistons toward the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference after the team won just 14 games two years ago. He had a similar impact in his time with the Cavaliers, taking them from a lottery team and transforming them into a playoff contender in short order.
The question surrounding Bickerstaff’s teams, however, has never been about regular-season success. The larger critiques have always been about whether the offensive formula that drives those regular season wins can hold up in the postseason – something that hasn’t happened to date.
Using NBA StatsHub, it’s not difficult to see those same concerns rising to the forefront of Bickerstaff’s team once again – particularly after losing to the short-handed Cavaliers Tuesday.
The Pistons have only three players posting a Field Goal Percentage Over Expectation above +3% this season, and that list doesn’t include their No. 1 or No. 3 scoring options:
Jalen Duren: +4.9% FGOE
Duncan Robinson: +4.7% FGOE
Isaiah Stewart: +3.0% FGOE
As a team, the Pistons rank just 25th in three-point percentage and rely heavily on converting shots inside the arc to generate offense.
The result is an offense that has been effective, but not elite in terms of efficiency. Detroit currently ranks 11th in offensive rating, making them the only top contender in the Eastern Conference sitting outside the league’s top five in that category — a potential warning sign with the playoffs approaching.
Boston Celtics
When it was announced that Jayson Tatum would miss significant time to begin the 2025-26 season, expectations for the Celtics were understandably tempered. After playing alongside Kyrie Irving in his first two years in the NBA, Jayson Tatum had since led the Celtics in scoring in each of his six subsequent seasons. Naturally, when it was announced that Tatum would miss significant time to begin the 2025-2026 campaign, expectations for Boston were tempered – they entered the new campaign with a preseason win total of just 43.5 wins.
Fast forward to March, and head coach Joe Mazzulla has Boston sitting at 41-20 and firmly in control of the No. 2 seed. A major reason for that success has been the Celtics’ depth of elite shot-makers.
According to StatsHub, Boston has six players posting a 3%-plus Field Goal Percentage Over Expectation this season.
Luka Garza: +6.6%
Payton Pritchard: +4.3%
Jaylen Brown: +3.7%
Sam Hauser: +3.6%
Jordan Walsh: +3.5%
Nikola Vučević: +3.0%
Unlike Detroit, Boston’s primary scorers are all on this list, absent Derrick White, who has been more valuable as the team’s top facilitator this year. Jaylen Brown has taken a step forward as a lead option, while players like Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser have provided efficient perimeter scoring in complementary roles.
The Celtics could have more help on the way, too. Reports indicate that Tatum is nearing a return from his Achillies injury, which would further strengthen the Celtics’ spacing and add another high-level shooter to an already efficient offense.
The Celtics rank second in the NBA in three-point attempts per game, leaning heavily into their perimeter shooting and trusting that their collective shot-making will consistently put them in a position to win. This is a group that is more than capable of making a deep playoff run.
New York Knicks
After winning the NBA Cup, the Knicks spent the next month looking like one of the worst teams in the league. They went 7-11 across their subsequent 18 contests, ranking 25th in net rating in that span.
New York has since found their groove, however, winning 15 of their last 19 games. They lead the NBA in net rating since Jan. 20 (+13.9). They rank seventh in offensive rating and have allowed the fewest points per 100 possessions during their recent hot streak.
Much of their success can be attributed to having an efficient superstar running the show in The Big Apple. Jalen Brunson owns a +4.2% Field Goal Percentage Over Expectation this season. He’s been even better of late, at 8.4% FGOE across the last month. New York’s other top offensive contributors, Mikal Bridges (+9.4% FGOE) and Karl-Anthony Towns (+6.4% FGOE) have also been playing excellent basketball as we approach the homestretch of the schedule.
The Knicks are peaking at the right time of year and look as capable as any team in the Eastern Conference right now.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers are the biggest wild card in the Eastern Conference this season. They entered the new campaign as the odds-on favorite to win the East, but injuries and a lack of consistent availability from their core four led to a tumultuous first half of their schedule.
In early February, they abandoned their traditional core-four, trading Darius Garland to the Clippers in exchange for James Harden – a gamble that has worked brilliantly to date.
Cleveland is 8-3 since the trade, ranking seventh in the NBA in net rating during that span, despite Donovan Mitchell and other key players continuing to miss time due to various ailments.
Tuesday, the Cavaliers defeated the No. 1 seed Pistons without Mitchell and Dean Wade, the latter of whom is their best perimeter defender.
Harden has fully unlocked Jarrett Allen on the offensive end of the floor, evident from the fact that he leads the entire NBA in Field Goal Percentage Over Expectation during the last 30 days (min. 5 games played, 10 FGA/game).
This roster doesn’t have the chemistry or cohesion of other contenders in the East, but they have re-emerged as the odds-on favorites to win the conference for valid reasons. The ceiling for the Cavaliers is arguably higher than any of Detroit, Boston, or New York.
The Takeaway
Among Eastern Conference contenders, Boston’s offensive profile appears most sustainable to make a deep postseason run. They have a clear No. 1 scorer in Jaylen Brown, who is surrounded by a number of high-quality shot-makers.
If Field Goal Percentage Over Expectation is any indication, we could be seeing the Celtics back in the NBA Finals this June.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Olivia Hamlin scored 16 points, Delaney Gibb and Lara Rohkohl each had 15, and Sydney Benally added 14 as BYU beat Houston 76-66 in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday.
After winning its first Big 12 Tournament game in its third season as a conference member, ninth-seeded BYU (21-10) will play eighth-seeded Utah in the second round Thursday.
BYU outshot 16th-seeded Houston 47% to 31% but had to overcome 22 turnovers and didn't have the game in hand until the final minutes.
Shun’teria Anumele scored 17 points and TK Pitts 14 for Houston (7-23). The two combined for eight straight points as Houston cut a 12-point deficit to three to open the fourth quarter. BYU held on, leading by five with 3:20 to go before scoring the next eight points with Hamlin making it 74-61 on a bucket in the paint.
Brinley Cannon hit a 3-pointer — her first shot of the game — to open the third and give BYU the lead for good. Rohkohl scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and BYU led 56-44 heading into the final period.
BYU never trailed but found itself tied at 29 at halftime after committing 15 turnovers, 10 in the first quarter when it led 11-10.
Jade Jones added 11 points for Houston.
BYU had won the lone regular-season matchup 79-64 on Jan. 10 against a Houston team that was missing four players, three of whom had been suspended for the game following their ejections after a scuffle against Kansas State on Jan. 7.
Up next
BYU: The Cougars, on a four-game win streak, swept Utah in two regular-season games, each time by 12 points.
Houston: Season is over after going 1-17 in Big 12 play before losing Wednesday.
The Lakers announced Wednesday afternoon the hiring of Michael Spetner as chief strategy and growth officer, a newly created position in which "he will be responsible for leading the organization's long-term business strategy, driving value and identifying opportunities for international growth."
"As we look to redefine what's possible across the sports landscape for fans and partners, we will build on the Lakers legacy and orient toward the future to consider what's next," Rosen said in the statement. "Michael's leadership will help us optimize our business to ensure long-term value."
Spetner has been the Dodgers vice president of business strategy and analytics since 2015, where he reportedly focused heavily on engaging with international audiences. The Dodgers' footprint in Japan has skyrocketed in the last two years after the signings of superstars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, and Spetner reportedly helped the team capitalize on that by overseeing efforts to launch a fan club based in Japan and the creation of an immersive exhibit in Tokyo highlighting the team's history.
According to his bio on the Dodgers' staff directory, Spetner "developed analytical tools and frameworks to help business leaders across the organization leverage data and insights to make key decisions."
When Rosen first spoke with reporters in the days after his hiring, he mentioned that he "only dreamed of having the reach that the Lakers have" in his role with the Dodgers. Spetner was a major part of building towards that dream, and now he gets the chance to push the Lakers' growth even further as one of the earliest hires in new owner Mark Walter's ongoing front office overhaul.
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — A brawl between South Alabama and Coastal Carolina in the women's Sun Belt Tournament on Wednesday left eight players ejected and knocked a referee to the ground where she required medical attention.
There were under six minutes left in the fourth quarter when South Alabama’s Cordasia Harris and Coastal Carolina’s Tracey Hueston began fighting under the basket. Harris appeared to bump Hueston slightly from behind before Hueston turned around and began pushing and swinging at Harris, who pushed back.
Two referees, multiple teammates and staff members quickly worked to separate the women and a referee was knocked to the ground in the melee. She appeared to be hit in the head or neck area by Hueston as the referee was attempting to push her away from Harris.
She remained on the ground on her back while order was restored and multiple staff members and a medical professional ran onto the court to attend to her. A sheriff’s deputy also came onto the court after the fight ended.
There was no immediate update on the referee's condition.
Hueston and Harris were both given technical fouls and ejected, along with six other players who participated in the fight.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - MARCH 02: A detail view of the Nike basketball shoes of Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks before a game against the Boston Celtics at Fiserv Forum on March 02, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) | Getty Images
WREXHAM, Wales (AP) — Wrexham will play Liverpool in a friendly match at Yankee Stadium as part of its East Coast tour this summer, and by that time the fast-rising Welsh club will know if it has reached the Premier League.
Wrexham has earned an unprecedented three straight promotions and is playing in the second-tier Championship for the first time since the 1980s.
Its surge up the English soccer pyramid, documented in the Emmy-winning “Welcome to Wrexham” TV series, began in 2022 with promotion from the non-league fifth division.
Wrexham is currently in sixth place in the Championship with 11 games remaining in the season. The top-two finishers secure automatic promotion to the Premier League and the teams that finish third to sixth will qualify for the end-of-season playoffs for the one extra promotion spot.
Wrexham's three-match tour, announced on Wednesday, begins July 25 against Leeds at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. The Liverpool game is July 29. The team then faces Sunderland on Aug. 2 at Subaru Park near Philadelphia.
The Spurs knew the 76ers would be shorthanded coming into last night’s game in Philadelphia, with Joel Embiid out with an oblique strain and Paul George serving 25-game suspension for violating the league’s drug policy. What they didn’t know was just how quickly and badly they would overwhelm a squad that still had All-Star Tyrese Maxey and rookie star VJ Edgecombe. (If NBC had known this would be the case two weeks in advance, they probably would have picked Pistons vs. Cavs over this game for their Throwback broadcast.)
It was just one of those nights where everything was clicking on all cylinders for the Spurs while nothing was for their opponent, and the result was them getting out to as much as a 49-point lead. For a while there, it looked like they might break their record for largest margin of victory on the road (as well as the 76ers’ worst loss at home) before the third string got outscored by nine in a garbage time fourth quarter, making it “only” a 40-point victory.
Perhaps not so coincidently, the margin-of-victory record they could have beaten came in Philadelphia just over 10 years ago, when Tim Duncan was in his final season and the Spurs were just beginning a new (but what would turn out to be too brief) era led by Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge. Even though Duncan, Leonard and Manu Ginobili didn’t play in that game, it was the beatdown of all beatdowns, with the Spurs obliterating the “Trust the Process” 76ers 119-68: a 51-point victory that remains intact in their record books after they couldn’t beat it last night.
While that may just seem like a distant memory at this point and irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, it’s one that will live on forever in our hearts because of one person. That’s right, this was “The Boban Marjanovic Game”, when the Serbian giant got extended playing time for the first time in his NBA career. He had already gotten some attention a month prior, when “tough guy” Tyler Hansbrough’s terrified reaction to him when viral, but now people really got to see him in action, and it was a joy to watch.
Dunks, jumpers, floaters, fadeaways — no one had seen such a huge human make shots like this, and they wouldn’t again until, well, Wemby. By the time the game was over, boban had 18 points on 8-10 shooting, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. It was such a spectacle that 76ers fans stayed in their seats until the end — rare for home fans on the wrong end of a blowout — and were even cheering every Boban basket like he was their own player.
Last night’s game was fun, but there was no breakout performance or anything memorable about it, and it will soon be forgotten as a small part of the Spurs’ resurgent season (although it is an interesting connector between the relative end of one era and the start of new a one). The same can’t be said for what happened in Philly on December 7, 2015, so sit back, relax, and relive one of the most fun Spurs memories in modern history.
Teams could be penalized for failing to cooperate with the initiative, with up to a $10,000 institution penalty for the first offense, up to a $20,000 fine for the second, and up to a $30,000 fine and up to a $10,000 penalty for the head coach for the third.
The move comes as player availability reports have become common in the sport’s five major conferences over the past few seasons. The ACC, Big 12 and SEC post their initial injury reports for intra-conference games the night before a matchup, while the SEC and Big East post them the morning of league games.
In theory, the updates put athletes and coaches at less of a risk of getting hounded by gamblers looking for injury updates.
“Player availability reports are intended in part to reduce betting-related pressure, solicitations and harassment student-athletes and other team personnel receive from bettors connected to playing status,” the NCAA said in a release. “The NCAA runs the largest integrity monitoring service program in the world and provides college athletes with online threat detection services as part of its comprehensive strategy to respond to the rise of sports betting.”
Under the new system, athletes will be designated as (more than a 75% chance to play), questionable (up to a 75% chance to play) or out (will not play). Teams must submit their initial reports by 9 p.m. local time the night before a game and provide an update by two hours prior to tipoff the following day.
