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HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s Steven Adams and Phoenix’s Mason Plumlee were ejected Wednesday night after getting into a fight where Adams wrestled Plumlee to the court in the second quarter.

The two big men got tangled up fighting for a rebound with about three minutes left in the first half. The players remained intertwined as they walked away from the basket and Adams, who was facing Plumlee, then lifted him off the floor and wrestled him to the court.

Plumlee landed on top of Adams and the two continued to scuffle while on the ground as players and officials from both teams rushed over to the pileup.

They were soon separated and Plumlee was bleeding on his forehead above his right eye after being pulled away from the melee. He said he wasn’t sure why he was bleeding but that it was “nothing major.”

The play was reviewed and both players were given double technicals and ejected.

“We just got tied up,” Plumlee said. “He had been going to the boards and doing what he does, so just met him with physicality and, yeah, you all saw it.”

Plumlee was asked to further explain how things escalated into a fight.

“Look, everybody will see the clip that happened, but like he goes for every rebound and he does it whether it’s dirty or not,” he said. “I just felt like they were being more physical than us, so I just made a point to hit him on the glass.”

Adams did not speak to reporters after the game.

Both coaches were surprised that Plumlee and Adams were both ejected.

“It looked like they threw each other down,” Houston coach Ime Udoka said. “They both fell down and whatever, got in a little wrestling match. I didn’t think they would get ejected for that.”

Suns coach Mike Budenholzer agreed.

“It’s just two guys getting tangled up,” he said. “Both physical. Both contenders.”

Phoenix star Devin Booker thought that Plumlee shouldn’t have been ejected.

“I would say I’m biased, but I feel like Steve tried to pick him up and slam him,” he said. “And Mason happened to just be on top of him.”

Crew chief Tony Brothers explained the decision to eject both players to a pool reporter.

“Their aggressive actions were considered a fight and by rule, fighting technical fouls carry a penalty of automatic ejections,” he said.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

BOSTON (AP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder clinched a spot in the playoffs, and they did it against the team they could face when the NBA postseason reaches its peak.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 and Chet Holmgren added 23 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Thunder to a 118-112 victory over Boston on Wednesday night in a much-anticipated potential NBA Finals matchup.

“We’re in March, not June,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said after the Thunder swept the two-game season series against the defending champions. “So we’re focused on March.”

The Thunder also beat the Celtics in Oklahoma City on Jan. 5 in a game that Holmgren missed with an injury.

If they meet again this season, it would have to be in the NBA Finals.

“They’ve achieved what we’re trying to accomplish, and there’s no better test than that in the NBA,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Playing against them is always fun, it’s always a really good challenge, and something that we could test ourselves against. I guess we passed the test so far.”

The Thunder were the second NBA team to clinch a playoff berth this season; Cleveland, which is one win better, earned its spot on Friday. Last year, the Thunder clinched a spot in the postseason on March 31.

“It means we got better than we were last year. Ultimately, that’s all you can ask for,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “You put the work in, put the time in … we took steps in the right direction. We got better and we, I guess checked a goal off the list a little bit earlier than last year, and we have a lot more to do.”

The Celtics, who rode their 3-point shooting to an unprecedented 18th NBA championship last season, set a franchise record with 63 3-point attempts on Wednesday. It tied the most ever for an NBA team in a regulation game.

“Every game’s a test,” said Daigneault, whose team was coming off a split in back-to-backs against 2023 NBA champion Denver. “We can’t choose the opponent, but when you play against elevated teams like this — especially on the road — it’s a real opportunity to improve. And so we take these games seriously.

“We want to see what we have. We want to see what we can learn. We won tonight; we can learn from that. We lost the other night; we can learn from that,” he said. “But, yeah, we have to squeeze all the juice out of all these games that we can.”

Jayson Tatum scored 33 points for Boston, including a 3-point play at the end of the third quarter that erased the remnants of a 12-point Thunder lead and tied the game 88-all. The Celtics went 3 for 14 from 3-point range from there, while Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace scored eight points apiece in the fourth quarter.

“Obviously, there’s always added juice to the game playing the defending champions. I think anybody would say that,” Holmgren said. “But at the end of the day, it’s one of 82. Win or lose, we’re going to try to learn from it, come back next game and try to be better.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

The Dallas Cowboys acquired cornerback Kaiir Elam from Buffalo on Wednesday, adding depth to a position with some questions as the Bills decided to move on from their 2022 first-round draft pick.

The Bills acquired two draft picks — a 2025 fifth-round selection and a 2026 seventh-rounder — while giving up a 2025 sixth-round choice to the Cowboys.

Elam joins a group with two established starters in Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland, but Diggs might not be ready for the start of the season coming off the 2021 All-Pro’s second major knee surgery in as many years.

Dallas also lost reliable nickel cornerback Jourdan Lewis to Jacksonville in free agency. Lewis spent his eight seasons with the Cowboys.

Depending on what Dallas does in the draft, second-year man Caelen Carson could start if Diggs isn’t ready by Week 1. Andrew Booth, acquired in a preseason trade last year, and Josh Butler are two more options.

The 23-year-old Elam, who was drafted 23rd overall three years ago, struggled to establish a regular role in Buffalo. He started six games as a rookie and was overtaken on the depth chart by fellow rookie Christian Benford, a sixth-round pick.

A nagging injury limited Elam to three games in 2023. His playing time dwindled even when healthy last year, with four starts in 13 appearances while being a healthy scratch four times.

Elam’s struggles became even more apparent in 32-29 loss to Kansas City in the AFC championship game when Benford was sidelined early by a concussion. Elam was burned several times by Patrick Mahomes and company.

Elam had no interceptions and six pass breakups in 12 starts over 29 games with the Bills.

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AP Sports Writer John Wawrow contributed from Buffalo, New York.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The woman who accused Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy of attacking her last week, resulting in a case in which the district attorney has so far declined to pursue charges, has been granted a protective order against him by a Texas judge.

Attorneys for Tia Jones confirmed the order in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday night. They added that Jones is “fully cooperating with law enforcement as they continue to actively investigate the violence that occurred.”

“Ms. Jones has chosen to use her voice to speak up for herself,” said Angelica Cogliano, who is representing the woman along with attorneys Addy Miro, Leslie Booker and Deniz Kadirhan. “In doing so, she looks forward to the facts and circumstances of that night coming to light through the formal legal process, and getting the justice that she deserves.”

Worthy was arrested last Friday and held in a county jail on a charge of assault on a family or household member in which their breath was impeded, or choking in common terms. He was released the following day, when Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick said that his office has spoken with witnesses and was not accepting the case at that time.

Williamson County includes parts of Austin, where Worthy played college football at the University of Texas.

In a statement, Worthy’s attorneys, Chip Lewis and Sam Bassett, said their client was innocent of the charge against him. They said the allegation was made by a woman who had been living in Worthy’s home, and that she had been asked to leave multiple times over the last two weeks “upon discovery of her infidelity.”

“She has refused to vacate the residence and made a number of extortive efforts prior to resorting to this baseless allegation against Mr. Worthy,” the lawyers said. “The complainant further destroyed a room in the residence, scratched Mr. Worthy’s face and ripped out parts of his hair, which there is photographic evidence of. Worthy told law enforcement at the time of the incident he did not want to press charges against the complainant.”

The Chiefs told the AP on Saturday that they were aware of the situation and still gathering information.

Worthy was chosen by the Chiefs with the 28th overall pick in last year’s draft after setting the record for the fastest 40-yard dash at the NFL combine. He got off to a quick start by scoring a pair of touchdowns in his NFL debut, and after a midseason lull, he became the Chiefs’ go-to wide receiver as they chased an unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl title.

Worthy finished with 59 catches for 638 yards and six TDs while running 20 times for 104 yards and three more scores.

He was one of the few bright spots for the Chiefs in a 40-22 loss to Philadelphia in the Super Bowl, too. Worthy caught all eight of his targets for 157 yards and a pair of touchdowns at the Superdome in New Orleans.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Middle reliever Hunter Strickland has agreed to a minor league contract with Texas and will report to the Rangers’ big league spring training camp.

The Rangers announced Strickland’s deal on Wednesday, adding a veteran right-hander to the mix for a bullpen spot.

The 36-year-old has pitched for eight teams during his 10-year big league career, most recently with the Los Angeles Angels last year. He went 3-2 with a 3.31 ERA in a team-leading 72 appearances.

Strickland won a World Series with San Francisco in 2014 and was part of Washington’s 2019 World Series run. He has a career record of 25-23 record with a 3.40 ERA and 29 saves in 480 games.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

TOKYO (AP) — Hundreds of fans at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, who lined up 10 deep and hoped to catch a glimpse of Shohei Ohtani as he arrived on Thursday, saw nothing of the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar.

What they saw was a 40-meter-long (130 feet) temporary white wall to shield the players in case they came through the arrival area. The Chicago Cubs exited this way when they arrived late Wednesday night.

The Dodgers were seen on the tarmac disembarking from their charter from Phoenix, and Ohtani was one of the first off. But the players didn’t make it to the arrival area, apparently taking an escape route.

The next chance to see Ohtani and the Dodgers will be Friday when the teams open practice at the Tokyo Dome.

The two-game series to open the MLB season is Tuesday and Wednesday, early evening starts in Tokyo. Games will go live in the early morning the same day in North America. Japan is 13 hours ahead of the American east coast.

Fans waited for hours inside the terminal, hoping Ohtani might show. Many carried signs of welcome. One was a bright yellow board that read, “I love LA.” Others wore Dodgers caps and shirts and other garb.

Several times excited fans reached high with smartphones, thinking Ohtani had arrived. It was always a false alarm — they mere passengers from other flights.

Patient and polite, fans eventually departed the reception area when it was clear that Japan’s most famous citizen would not appear.

Most fans were hopeful, but realistic.

“I just came hoping for any chance I might see him. But I knew, probably not,” Satoshi Yoshii, a local accountant, said. “But you come with hope because of who he is.”

Misaki Ueta came with her husband Reishi and a friend, Ryusei Takahashi. The two men wore Ohtani’s No. 17 Dodgers jersey.

“We just came to be able to breathe the same air,” Misaki said. “The Ohtani air.”

Others came for the event — like a rock concert.

“I don’t care if I can’t see him because I’m not really a fan of Ohtani,” Kotomi Miyakoda said. Standing alongside was her friend, also Kotomi — Kotomi Nakatsu.

“I’m not a fan but I want to see him, the person,” Nakatsu said.

This is billed as the Japan Series by MLB. It also could be billed as the Marketing-Ohtani-in-Japan Series. Ohtani is MLB’s most marketable asset.

This is the second straight season that MLB has opened its season in Asia. Last year it was South Korea with the Dodgers and San Diego Padres, and where the gambling scandal broke around Ohtani’s interpreter.
Cubs vs. Dodgers

The teams come to Tokyo with five Japanese players. The Dodgers have Ohtani and pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. The Cubs come with designated hitter Seiya Suzuki and pitcher Shota Imanaga.

Imanaga and Yamamoto are expected to oppose each other on Tuesday in the first game.

The American clubs will face the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers in exhibition games on Saturday and Sunday.
Marketing the Dodgers in Japan

Chris Marinak, MLB’s chief operations officer, talked with The Associated Press in an interview about the advatanges of having a player like Ohtani.

“It helps to have a generational talent like Ohtani — essentially the best player in the game — to be from a different market,” Marinak said. “It changes how you can communicate about the game in different markets.”

It’s not difficult. Japan has adopted the Dodgers as its national team. There has always been a strong connection but now it’s rock soild since Ohtani won the World Series with the Dodgers.

The Dodgers have set up an exhibition in central Tokyo called “Dodgers Experience at MLB Tokyo Series.” Fans can see the World Series trophy and championship rings.

There’s also a chance to view the Dodgers’ rich history, dating to Brooklyn before the team moved to Los Angeles to start the 1958 season. There are also interactive experiences where fans can try to hit an Ohtani pitch.

Japanese artist Takashi Murakami has also designed artwork around the series. His work will also be on display during the series.
Not a cheap ticket

Tickets on resale sites have been listed at as much as $20,000 for a single game. Many tickets for resale are more in the $2,000-$8,000 range.

Reselling tickets for above the face value is technically illegal in Japan. The government approved the rule before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

CHICAGO (AP) — The major leagues are going to Tokyo and Tennessee. West Sacramento, too. There are some old friends on the schedule, and quite possibly, a chilly reception or two on the way.

Here are some dates to remember for the upcoming season:
TOKYO SERIES — TUESDAY, MARCH 18

Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs: Shohei Ohtani begins his second season with the Dodgers in his native country, taking on the Cubs in a pair of games at the Tokyo Dome. The two-game set marks the 25th anniversary of the Mets and Cubs playing the majors’ first regular-season games in Japan. Ohtani is the main attraction in MLB’s return to Tokyo, but the World Series champions also have Japanese pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, and the Cubs have two key Japanese players in Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki.
OPENING DAY — THURSDAY, MARCH 27

New York Mets at Houston Astros: Juan Soto makes his Mets debut when they visit Jose Altuve and the Astros on opening day. Soto signed a record $765 million, 15-year contract in free agency, giving the Mets a boost after they made a surprising run to the NL Championship Series. He should help anchor a dangerous lineup for New York. The Astros traded Kyle Tucker to the Cubs in December, but they are well-positioned for another playoff run after signing Christian Walker in free agency.
SOTO RETURNS — FRIDAY, MAY 16

New York Mets at New York Yankees: Soto plays his first game at Yankee Stadium since signing with the Mets in free agency. Soto was traded from the Padres to the Yankees in December 2023, and the four-time All-Star hit .288 with 41 homers and 109 RBIs in his lone season with the Bronx Bombers. After the Yankees were spurned by Soto, the AL East champions bolstered their roster by adding Max Fried, Devin Williams, Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt.
TITO RETURNS — MONDAY, JUNE 9

Cincinnati Reds at Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona manages his first game back in Cleveland since taking over the Reds in October. Francona was in Cleveland’s dugout for 11 years before stepping down at the end of the 2023 season because of health reasons. After he departed, Stephen Vogt directed the Guardians to the AL Central title and an appearance in the AL Championship Series. The former big league catcher was voted AL Manager of the Year.
ALL-STAR GAME — TUESDAY, JULY 15

Atlanta’s Truist Park hosts the All-Star Game four years after the event was moved to Denver’s Coors Field over objections to changes in Georgia’s voting rights laws. Atlanta also hosted the 1972 Midsummer Classic at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and the 2000 All-Star Game at Turner Field. The AL has won 10 of 11 after a 5-3 victory over the NL in last year’s game at Texas.
SPEEDWAY CLASSIC — SATURDAY, AUG. 2

Atlanta Braves at Cincinnati Reds: There will be some serious speed and power on hand when Elly De La Cruz and the Reds take on Ronald Acuña Jr. and the Braves at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. An attendance record is a possibility at a venue that can fit 146,000. De La Cruz had a major league-best 67 steals last year, to go along with 25 homers and 76 RBIs. Acuña is coming back after he missed most of last season because of a left knee injury. But Acuña joined the 40-40 club in 2023, hitting 41 homers and swiping a major league-high 73 bags on his way to the NL MVP award.
BREGMAN IS BACK — MONDAY, AUG. 11

Boston Red Sox at Houston Astros: Alex Bregman returns to Houston when the Red Sox visit the Astros for the opener of a three-game series. Bregman spent his first nine seasons with the Astros, winning two World Series titles. The Gold Glove third baseman signed a $120 million, three-year contract with Boston in February. The Red Sox are expected to contend for the AL East title after they also acquired left-hander Garrett Crochet in a December trade with the White Sox.
SUMMER IN SACRAMENTO — SUNDAY, AUG. 31

Texas Rangers at Athletics: The Athletics are scheduled for 15 August home games in their first season at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, capped by the finale of their weekend set against Texas. The A’s ended their stay in Oakland last year, and Sacramento typically has far hotter temperatures than the Bay Area. The team hopes to relocate to Las Vegas and a new ballpark ahead of the 2028 campaign. The Rangers are looking to return to the playoffs after they stumbled to a 78-84 record last year.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS? — SUNDAY, SEPT. 28

Arizona Diamondbacks at San Diego Padres: Corbin Carroll and Arizona finish the regular season with a three-game series against Manny Machado and San Diego. The Diamondbacks have high hopes for this year after they signed ace right-hander Corbin Burnes to a $210 million, six-year contract in free agency. They made it to the World Series in 2023 and then failed to make the playoffs last year. It was a quiet offseason for the Padres, but they still have the dynamic Machado and Jackson Merrill.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tramon Mark and Tre Johnson scored 19 points each and 13th-seeded Texas defeated No. 12-seed Vanderbilt 79-72 in the first round of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday.

Texas, in its first SEC Tournament, will play No. 5 seed Texas A&M in the second round on Thursday.

Texas led by 15 points at halftime and by 15 points again with 4 1/2 minutes to go before Tyler Nickel made a pair of free throws and Devin McGlockton’s layup got Vanderbilt within 70-59.

The Longhorns’ next possessions included a failed one-and-one opportunity and two 3-point misses while the Commodores trimmed their deficit to 72-65 with 1:34 remaining. Vanderbilt got within seven points three more times, but the Longhorns closed out the win with seven made free throws in eight attempts.

Jordan Pope scored 14 points and was 5-for-5 on free throws for Texas (18-14) and Arthur Kaluma scored 11 points, all in the first half. Mark made 9 of 11 free throws and the Longhorns were 25 for 34 from the line.

Jason Edwards scored 20 points, Nickel 14 and Chris Manon 12 for Vanderbilt (20-12). McGlockton had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Texas shot 48% and scored 22 points in the paint in the first half on the way to a 41-26 halftime lead. The Longhorns had an early 12-0 run and Kaluma scored five points in a 12-3 run that led to a 39-22 lead.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — VJ Edgecombe had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Norchad Omier added 12 points and 14 boards, and seventh-seeded Baylor rolled to a 70-56 victory over No. 10 seed Kansas State in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday night.

Jayden Dunn also scored 18 points for the Bears (19-13), who built a 20-point lead early in the second half and then cruised into a quarterfinal matchup with ninth-ranked and No. 2 seed Texas Tech on Thursday night.

David N’Guessan had 20 points and Dug McDaniel finished with 14 for the Wildcats (16-17), who edged Arizona State in the first round but were unable to keep the momentum going against the same team that rallied from 12 down to beat them in January.

The Bears ended the first half Wednesday night on a 9-0 run to take a 41-24 lead into the locker room. Kansas State was just 1 for 12 from beyond the 3-point arc at that point, and veteran forward Coleman Hawkins — who scored 26 points against the Sun Devils — was 0 for 4 from the field and quickly growing frustrated.

Kansas State closed within 58-46 with 8 minutes to go, but Hawkins was whistled for a flagrant foul contesting Edgecombe’s dunk, and Jeremy Roach added a basket after his foul shots to help Baylor pull away again.
Takeaways

Kansas State finished 3 of 25 from beyond the arc. Hawkins and McDaniel were each 1 for 6.

Baylor improved to 15-2 when holding an opponent to 70 points or less this season.
Key moment

Baylor was leading 32-24 with 2:40 left in the first half when it scored the next nine points to take control.
Key stats

Baylor got 27 points from its bench. Kansas State only got four.
Up next

The Bears will play the Red Raiders on Thursday night. Texas Tech beat them 73-59 last month.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Josh Hubbard made six 3-pointers and scored 26 points, and No. 10 seed Mississippi State cruised to a 91-62 victory over 15th-seeded LSU in the first round of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday night.

Mississippi State (21-11) will move on to face seventh-seeded Missouri (21-10) in the second round on Thursday night.

The Bulldogs shot 52% (35 of 67) overall, including 15 of 34 (44%) from long range. Hubbard finished 9 of 19 from the floor, while nine other Bulldogs scored at least five points.

LSU had 22 made field goals (39%) and 15 turnovers to end the season on a six-game skid.

Jordan Sears made three 3-pointers and scored 20 points to lead LSU (14-18). Robert Miller III added 14 points and Cam Carter had 13.

Hubbard scored 16 points in the first half to help Mississippi State build a 44-24 lead at the break. LSU pulled to 51-40 with 15 minutes remaining, but the Bulldogs answered with a 20-2 run for a 71-42 advantage with about 11 minutes left.

The Bulldogs are looking for their third straight NCAA Tournament bid — something they haven’t done since 2005.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Chuck Harris and Matt Cross scored 12 points apiece and sixth-seeded SMU beat No. 14 seed Syracuse 73-53 on Wednesday night in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

SMU (23-9) advances to play third-seeded Clemson in a quarterfinal matchup on Thursday.

Boopie Miller and backup Keon Ambrose-Hylton each scored 10 points for the Mustangs who shot 53.2% (25 for 47).

J.J. Starling scored 16 points and Jyare Davis 14 for Syracuse (14-19).

The Mustangs’ win was in stark contrast to their March 4 home win over Syracuse when they led for only 1:28 and needed a tip-in from Ambrose-Hylton with 2.9 seconds left to seal a 77-75 win.

On Wednesday, SMU started the second half with a 7-0-run and recorded its first double-digit lead to make it 38-28 when Harris hit a jumper with 16:20 left. The Mustangs maintained safe distance and extended the lead to 53-38 on B.J. Edwards’ layup with 6:07 remaining.

The largest lead of the first half belonged to SMU when Kario Oquendo buried a 3-pointer with 1:52 left to give the Mustangs a 31-22 advantage. Syracuse quickly countered with 3’s from Starling and Davis in a 40-second span. SMU led 31-28 at halftime.

The Orange got its largest first-half lead at 5-0 in the game’s first minute-and-a-half.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jeremiah Fears scored 29 points to lead No. 14 seed Oklahoma to an 81-75 victory over 11th-seeded Georgia on Wednesday night in a first-round game of the SEC Tournament.

Jalon Moore hit a 3-pointer during a 10-0 run that gave the Sooners a 74-64 lead with 2:55 remaining. The Bulldogs pulled within four points twice inside the final 19 seconds but didn’t get closer.

Oklahoma (20-12) will move on to play sixth-seeded Kentucky (21-10) in the second round on Thursday. The Sooners have won at least 20 games for a second straight season and ended a two-year conference tournament winless streak.

Moore finished with 14 points for Oklahoma. Mohamed Wague chipped in with 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Fears and Moore combined for eight of the Sooners’ 12 3-pointers.

Silas Demary Jr. scored 24 points to lead Georgia (20-12), which snapped a four-game win streak. Asa Newell added 21 points and 17 rebounds. Blue Cain scored 17 points.

Fears and Moore each made three 3-pointers in the first half to help build a 43-39 halftime advantage. Fears scored 13 first-half points and Moore added nine. The Sooners shot 52% (14 of 17) overall that included 10 from long range.

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — JaKobe Coles scored 24 points to lead six Grand Canyon players in double figures and the Lopes beat UT Arlington 98-75 in a WAC Tournament quarterfinal on Wednesday night.

The second-seeded Lopes (24-7) advance to a Friday semifinal matchup to take on the winner Thursday’s game between third-seeded California Baptist and No. 6 Tarleton State.

Reserve Makaih Williams scored 14 points, Ray Harrison scored 13 points, Tyson Grant-Foster and reserve Caleb Shaw 12 apiece and Duke Brennan 11 for Grand Canyon.

Brandyn Talbot and Raysean Seamster each scored 15 points, Brody Robinson scored 14 points and Diante Smith 13 for the Mustangs (13-18).

Seamster threw down a dunk with 8:11 before halftime to give the Mavericks their only lead at 25-24.

Grand Canyon closed the first half outscoring UT Arlington 16-4 over the final 5:02 and went to intermission with a 46-32 advantage and maintained the double-digit lead for the entire second half.

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The NCAA selection committee will have some juggling to do before the bracket comes out Sunday to keep March Madness from looking like an extension of the Southeastern Conference’s regular season.

With the country’s deepest league in line to place between 12 and 14 teams in the tournament, some long-held guidelines drawn to help set the matchups will have to give way, bringing the possibility that conference rivals could face each other as early as the second round or the Sweet 16.

“We will move it to try to ensure they don’t play each other too frequently,” the chair of the selection committee, North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham, said Wednesday in a call to preview the selection. “But it is a reality of where we are today.”

The reality is shaped thanks in part to a flurry of realignment that has left college sports with four megaconferences. Three of those will gobble up nearly half of the 68 spots in the tournament. The record for a conference came in 2011 when the Big East placed 11 teams in the bracket.

Some projections have the SEC earning up to 14 spots, the Big Ten getting as many as 10 and the Big 12 earning up to eight. Of those 32 projected spots, seven could go to teams that were in different conferences as recently as 2023 — programs such as Oklahoma, Oregon and BYU.

There will be some big-picture repercussions from all this realignment. In a notable development earlier this week, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark got on board with an idea to expand the tournament to 76 teams in a move that would favor Power Four conferences.

More urgently, though, having so many teams from so few conferences will force the 12 members of the selection committee, who are holed up in a conference room in Indiana this week, to make some nontraditional decisions.

The NCAA bracketing principles frown on teams that have played three times in a season from meeting before the Elite Eight. Likewise, they urge the committee to avoid potential pairings between teams that have played twice coming before the Sweet 16. But, in a tweak that was put in for this season, the principles note that those rules “can be relaxed if a league has nine or more teams in the tournament.”

Cunningham said the committee’s biggest priority will be getting the seedings right, an exercise that could make it more difficult to avoid these early matchups.

“We really try to keep everybody on the same seed line” they’ve earned, he said. “We don’t want to move them to a different seed line because that really does impact the tournament. But it’ll be a little bit trickier this year.”

The SEC’s dominance is showing up not only in the sheer volume of teams but also where they land. Auburn is a lock for a No. 1 seed, with Florida considered a slight favorite to edge out Tennessee and Alabama for another.

Among the biggest questions is whether the top overall seed in the tournament will go to Auburn or Duke, which this week supplanted the Tigers at No. 1 in the AP Top 25. The irony there is that Duke is one of only three teams from the ACC projected to make the field of 68, which would mark the hoops powerhouse’s lowest total in 25 years.

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FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Vittoria Blasigh scored 20 points, Carla Brito added 17 and No. 3-seed South Florida defeated Rice 69-62 on Wednesday night to win the American Athletic Conference championship.

The Bulls will return to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence. It will be South Florida’s 10th trip to March Madness.

South Florida led 47-32 halfway through the third quarter before Malia Fisher scored six points in a 10-4 run that got the defending-champion Owls within 51-42 heading to the fourth quarter.

Ninth-seeded Rice opened the fourth with another four points and held USF scoreless for nearly four minutes. At that point, Mama Dembele scored twice in the paint to put the Bulls back up by nine.

Fisher scored in the paint to get Rice within 62-57 with 40 seconds left, then the Bulls closed out the win by making 7 of 8 free throws.

Dembele had 13 points and eight assists and Sammie Puisis scored 12 points for the Bulls (23-10). Blasigh had six rebounds plus three assists and Brito contributed nine rebounds and three assists. South Florida made 16 of 19 free throws.

Sussy Ngulefac had 19 points, Fisher 17 and Dominique Ennis 14 for Rice (17-17).

Brito scored seven points in the first quarter and Blasigh added five as the Bulls took an 18-12 lead into the second quarter. A three-point play by Blasigh put USF up 27-16 with four minutes left in the half and they went on to lead 37-26 at halftime after she closed the scoring with another jumper. Blasigh and Brito led the way with 12 points each in the first half.

South Florida never trailed and there was one tie at 2-2. ___

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