Sports

High Point stuns Wisconsin 83-82 in March Madness on Chase Johnston’s first 2-point basket of season

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Chase Johnston made his first 2-point basket of the season, a fast-break layup with 11.7 seconds remaining that gave No. 12 seed High Point an 83-82 victory over fifth-seeded Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Johnston finished with 14 points, including four 3-pointers for the Panthers, who were 10 1/2-point underdogs, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. He came in shooting 64 of 136 from 3-point range but 0 of 4 inside the arc. The Panthers will face either 13th-seeded Hawaii or No. 4 seed Arkansas in the second round. Nick Boyd finished with 27 points for Wisconsin.

Top seeds are big favorites to start March Madness. It could be tricky for fans to spot an upstart

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — The top seeds in the NCAA Tournament are generally heavy favorites in their first-round games. That could make it difficult for fans to spot an upstart ready to pull an upset. March Madness is coming off a year in which all four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four for only the second time since seeding began in 1979.

Pistons guard Cade Cunningham has collapsed lung, will be evaluated in 2 weeks

All-Star guard Cade Cunningham of the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons has a collapsed lung and is expected to miss at least two weeks and possibly more. The team announced the diagnosis Thursday. The Pistons listed Cunningham as out for Thursday’s game in Washington with a left back contusion. Cunningham got hurt in Tuesday’s win over Washington, leaving midway through the opening quarter with what the team called back spasms. Cunningham is averaging 24.5 points and 9.9 assists for the Pistons. Detroit entered Thursday 3 1/2 games ahead of Boston for the top spot in the East with 14 games remaining.

The Warriors know they’re headed back to the play-in tournament; other teams might think the same

Golden State coach Steve Kerr can do the math. He knows the Warriors are headed to the play-in tournament. The Warriors have 13 games left in the regular season and their loss in Boston on Wednesday night left them 8 1/2 games out of sixth place and the final guaranteed playoff spot in the Western Conference. That said, they’re also 8 1/2 games ahead of 11th place. So, while it’s still mathematically possible that the Warriors end up outside of play-in tournament range, Kerr knows that won’t be the reality.

Xavier Edmonds’ layup with 4.3 seconds left lifts TCU to 66-64 March Madness win over Ohio State

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Xavier Edmonds converted a layup to beat the shot clock with 4.3 seconds left, and No. 9 seed TCU held off a furious second-half rally by eighth-seeded Ohio State for a 66-64 victory to open the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Bruce Thornton’s half-court heave at the buzzer hit all backboard for the Buckeyes. Micah Robinson scored 18 points for TCU, Edmonds finished with 16 and David Punch had 16 points and 13 rebounds. John Mobley Jr. scored 15 points to lead Ohio State. The Horned Frogs move on to face top-seeded Duke or Siena.

FIFA wants Iran to fulfill World Cup schedule and won’t act on a Palestinian complaint about Israel

GENEVA (AP) — In a statement Thursday that did not mention Iran, FIFA president Gianni Infantino says soccer has a key role to “promote peace.” The sport’s governing body took no action on its Palestinian member federation’s complaints against Israeli settlement clubs. FIFA did, however, fine the Israel Football Association $190,000 for discrimination. Infantino reiterated after FIFA’s ruling council met that it will not grant Iranian requests to move the team’s three World Cup group games in June from the United States to Mexico. Infantino says “we have a schedule … we want the FIFA World Cup to go ahead as scheduled.”

Lakers’ LeBron James is questionable against Heat as he approaches NBA record for games played

MIAMI (AP) — LeBron James has been listed as questionable for the Los Angeles Lakers’ game in Miami, meaning Robert Parish might keep outright possession of the NBA’s all-time games played record for a couple more days. The Lakers said James is dealing with left foot arthritis. Also questionable for the game on Thursday are Luka Doncic with right hip soreness and Austin Reaves with a right forearm contusion. James went 13 of 14 from the field in the Lakers’ win on Wednesday, tying the best shooting performance of his NBA career. It was the 1,610th regular season game of his career, one behind Parish’s mark.

MLB partners with Polymarket, makes integrity pact with federal commission on prediction markets

Major League Baseball is entering an official partnership with Polymarket and has an agreement with the federal commission overseeing prediction markets to collaborate on integrity concerns. MLB said in a statement it has a memorandum of understanding with Michael S. Selig, the chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to “further protect the integrity of baseball by ensuring swift response to incidents and anticipating emerging trends more strongly.” Prediction markets have raised concerns from sports leagues already working to combat issues around legal sports gambling.

Giants’ Tony Vitello is attacking his college-to-pro transition with high energy, help from others

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — All eyes are on new San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello as he makes the big jump from coaching the University of Tennessee to major league manager despite no previous professional experience as a player or coach. Giants executive and former catcher Buster Posey believed enough in him to make the unconventional hire. Vitello acknowledges there have been early snags. He knows there will be plenty more along the way. But he has several former managers surrounding him providing support and wisdom.

North Korea qualifies for the Women’s World Cup for the first time since 2011

GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) — North Korea has qualified for the Women’s World Cup again after a long absence following a doping scandal in 2011. North Korea beat Taiwan 4-0 in Women’s Asian Cup playoffs on the Gold Coast led by a Hong Song Ok hat trick. Philippines also secured a place at Brazil next year with a 2-0 win over Uzbekistan on Thursday. There were six guaranteed World Cup spots on offer at the continental championship. Australia, Japan, China and South Korea assured places as quarterfinal winners. The quarterfinal losers went into playoffs for the fifth and sixth spots. The Asian Cup ends on Saturday with the final between Australia and Japan.