COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
Indiana has beaten Purdue for the first time in 10 tries.
Rob Phinisee scored a season-high 17 points in the first half then made the decisive 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds left to send the Hoosiers past the fourth-ranked Boilermakers, 68-65. Phinisee finished with a career-high 20 points to help Indiana move to 12-0 at Assembly Hall this season.
Xavier Johnson added 18 points and Phinisee had four steals.
Jaden Ivey scored 19 of 21 points in the second half for Purdue but missed two shots in the final seven seconds, including a 3 at the buzzer.
Also on Thursday’s college basketball schedule:
Drew Timme delivered 23 points and Chet Holmgren added 22 for top-ranked Gonzaga in a 78-62 win against San Francisco. Anton Watson scored 11 points and Andrew Nembhard 10 as the Zags earned their eighth straight win overall and 62nd in a row at home.
Oumar Ballo provided 21 points and third-ranked Arizona dominated Stanford in an 85-57 blowout. Bennedict Mathurin and Pelle Larsson each added 13 for the 15-1 Wildcats, who are off to their best starting since opening the 20-13-14 with 21 straight wins.
Ninth-ranked UCLA was a 63-58 winner over Utah as Johnny Juzang dropped in 28 points. Jules Bernard had 14 points and seven boards for the Bruins.
No. 16 Southern California ended three years of frustration against Colorado with a 61-58 victory. Chevez Goodwin scored all 18 of his points in the second half and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Trojans.
Ed Croswell scored 15 points and Noah Horchler had 14 with seven rebounds as 21st-ranked Providence defeated Georgetown, 83-75. Al Durham had 15 points and Nate Watson 10 for the 15-2 Friars.
Tyrese Martin scored 25 of his career-high 27 points in the second half to guide No. 25 UConn to its second win over Butler this week, 75-66.
UConn defeated Butler, 75-56. On the women’s side, Siena topped Rider, 82-44, Iona edged by Marist, 49-41 and Georgia Tech beat Syracuse, 65-55.
An arbitrator has ruled that UConn improperly fired former men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie and must pay him more than $11 million, according to Ollie’s attorney.
Ollie was fired in March 2018 after the school reported numerous NCAA violations in his program. His attorney said UConn has 10 business days to comply with the arbitration order.
The school called the decision “nonsensical” but did not say whether it would seek to have the award vacated.
UConn was placed on probation for two years and Ollie was sanctioned individually for those violations, which occurred between 2013 and 2018.
In other college basketball news:
The Nebraska men’s basketball game at No. 19 Ohio State on Saturday has been postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak in the Cornhuskers’ program. Nebraska said in a statement it would not have the Big Ten minimum of seven scholarship players available.
NCAA:
NCAA member schools have ratified a new, pared-down constitution. It clears the way for a decentralized approach to governing college sports that will hand more power to schools and conferences.
The NCAA’s three divisions will now be empowered to govern themselves, a move that college sports leaders hope will reduce legal exposure after a resounding rebuke from the Supreme Court last year.
It means little change for Division II and III, But there could be a massive overhaul in Division I, which has hundreds of big schools and millions of dollars tied closely to football and basketball.
NBA:
The Phoenix Suns were able to improve on their NBA-best record by winning a matchup of hot teams.
The Suns have completed a perfect five-game road trip with a 109-101 win over the Dallas Mavericks. Devin Booker dropped in 28 points and Chris Paul had 20 with 11 assists, helping Phoenix improve to 35-9. Paul’s 3-pointer with 19 seconds left gave the Suns a 107-99 lead.
Luka Doncic had 28 points, Jalen Brunson added 19 and Kristaps Porzingis had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks. Doncic has scored 20 or more points in nine straight games.
Checking out Thursday’s NBA action:
Keifer Sykes hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:41 left in overtime and a layup the next possession to push the Indiana Pacers past the Golden State Warriors, 121-117. Chris Duarte scored 27 points and the Pacers became the first Eastern Conference team to beat the Warriors. Steph Curry scored 39 but none in overtime, missing a 3 from the top of the arc with 16.5 seconds left.
Jonas Valanciunas had 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Pelicans dumped the Knicks, 102-91. Josh Hart added 17 points for New Orleans, which opened the second half on a 32-12 run to take a 24-point lead.
The Chicago Bulls say guard Lonzo Ball will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and is expected to be out six to eight weeks.
Ball has missed three games since a 42-point loss to Golden State last week. He had the same knee scoped in 2018 when he was with the Lakers.
Ball has been a major contributor in Chicago’s rise to the top of the Eastern Conference this season, averaging 13 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists.
In other NBA news:
Nets guard Kyrie Irving has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for cursing at a fan in Cleveland on Monday. He used profanity in reminding the fan that he helped the Cavaliers win the NBA championship in 2016.
Brooklyn assistant coach David Vanterpool was fined $10,000 and the Nets were penalized $25,000 by the league for interfering with play in a victory at Washington. Vanterpool reached across the sideline and deflected a pass with 5:42 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Nets’ 119-118 victory on Wednesday.
NHL:
The Boston Bruins returned to their winning ways following their 7-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
Charlie McAvoy’s power-play goal with 45 seconds left was the difference as the Bruins won for the ninth time in their last 11 games, 4-3 versus the Capitals. The man advantage was created when Washington’s Nic Dowd was called for throwing his stick with just 2:34 left in the third.
David Pastrnak scored twice and Patrice Bergeron also had a goal for the Bruins.
The Capitals rallied from a pair of one-goal deficits but took just 17 shots on Linus Ullmark.
The Panthers are as hot as the Bruins, improving to 9-1-1 in their last 11 with a 6-0 thrashing of the Oilers. Aleksander Barkov had two goals and an assist to back Sergei Bobrovsky, who handled 40 shots in his first shutout of the season.
Carter Verhaeghe, Anthony Duclair, Sam Bennett and Owen Tippett also scored as Florida handed Edmonton its seventh consecutive loss.
Even hotter are the Avalanche, who rolled to a 4-1 win over the Kings to move to 10-0-1 in their last 11 games. Kiefer Sherwood scored for the first time in nearly three years, and Mikko Rantanen had a power-play goal. Darcy Kuemper made 40 saves as Colorado won the second game back-to-back after defeating Anaheim 2-0.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
Mike Matheson had two goals and an assist as the Penguins won for the 14th time in their last 16 games, 6-4 against the Senators. Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby also scored while the Pens were building a 5-1 lead, but Ottawa got within one before Jake Guentzel scored an empty-netter.
Ryan Johansen and Mikael Granlund each scored a goal and assisted on another to lead the Predators’ first win in five games, 5-2 versus the Jets. Eeli Tolvanen, Luke Kunin and Tanner Jeannot also scored for Nashville, Roman Josi had two assists and Juuse Saros made 36 saves. Josi became the team’s all-time assist leader with 357, surpassing David Legwand.
The Golden Knights pulled out a 4-3 win over the Canadiens on Shea Theodore's overtime goal. The Golden Knights outshot the Canadiens 53-27, with Montreal’s Sam Montembeault making 49 saves.
The Flyers have their second 10-game losing streak of the season after Oliver Bjorkstrand and Patrik Laine scored for the Blue Jackets in a 2-1 victory at Philadelphia. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 33 shots and blanked the Flyers until Garrett Mayhew beat him in the third period.
The Stars ended their seven-game road losing streak by getting two goals and an assist from both Jason Robertson and Tyler Seguin in a 5-4 comeback over the Sabres. Roope Hintz added a goal and an assist, John Klingberg set up three tallies and Braden Holtby made 20 saves as Dallas sent Buffalo to its ninth consecutive home loss.
Carson Soucy had the first two-goal game of his career and Calle Jarnkrok scored in the third period of the Kraken's 3-2 victory against the Sharks. Seattle won consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 27 and 29. Seattle snapped a nine-game losing streak with a shootout victory over Chicago on Monday.
TENNIS:
Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka is in the fourth round at Melbourne for the first time since 2016 after overpowering 15th-seeded Elina Svitolina, 6-0, 6-2.
Azarenka had 17 winners compared to nine unforced errors and never faced a break point. Svitolina made mistake after mistake, 26 unforced errors in all.
Azarenka improved to 5-0 against Svitolina.
Also at the first Grand Slam of the year:
Fifth seed Maria Sakkari beat Veronika Kudermetova, 6-4, 6-1 to move into a fourth-round match against American Jessica Pegula, who beat Nuria Parrizas Diaz, 7-6, 6-2.
French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova rallied from a set and a break down against Jelena Ostapenko to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 and advance to the fourth round at Melbourne for the first time.
Defending champion Naomi Osaka faces Amanda Anisimova at Margaret Court Arena, while No. 1 Ash Barty plays hard-hitting Camila Giorgi at Rod Laver Arena. Both are on the night schedule.
Rafael Nadal will continue his bid for a record 21st Grand Slam title with a third-round match against No. 28 Karen Khachanov.
MLB:
Locked out baseball players plan to make a counteroffer to management on Monday, 11 days after clubs gave the union a proposal when snail-paced negotiations resumed following a 42-day break.
The sides differ on luxury tax thresholds and rates, arbitration eligibility, revenue-sharing level, postseason size, amateur draft changes and other ways to address the union’s allegation of improper service time manipulation by clubs.
In other baseball news:
The Rays’ proposed plan to split the season between Florida and Montreal has been rejected by Major League Baseball. Despite reaching the World Series in 2008 and 2020, the Rays have ranked near the bottom in attendance annually.
Major League Baseball is expanding its automated strike zone experiment to Triple-A. MLB’s website posted a hiring notice seeking seasonal employees to operate the Automated Ball and Strike system.
NFL:
San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is hopeful that star edge rusher Nick Bosa will be cleared to play in Saturday’s NFC playoff game against the Packers in Green Bay.
Bosa left last week’s wild-card win at Dallas in the first half with a concussion but has made good progress in his recovery. Bosa returned to practice on a limited basis on Wednesday and was a full participant on Thursday.
In other NFL news:
Chiefs linebacker Willie Gay has been charged with criminal damage to property after authorities say he broke some items during an argument. The Kansas City Star reports that an Overland Park, Kansas, police report says Gay broke a vacuum and other items with a total value of $225. The report says no alcohol, drugs or weapons were involved and no one was injured.
A woman who had a son with former NFL defensive lineman Norman Hand has been arrested on allegations of defrauding a healthcare fund for retired players and their dependents out of about $60,000. Louisiana State Police spokesman Katherine Stegall says 53-year-old Toni Charles is accused of submitting false claims for Hand’s son to the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Reimbursement Account Plan.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL:
California football coach Justin Wilcox has signed an extension through the 2027 season.
Wilcox has a 26-28 record and led the Bears to back-to-back winning seasons and bowl games in 2018 and 2019 for the first time in a decade.
Cal went 5-7 this season but beat rivals Stanford and Southern California down the stretch.
In other college football news:
Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall will miss spring football practice after an offseason surgery. The school announced Thursday that McCall, defensive end Josaiah Stewart and tight end TJ Ivy Jr. will be absent from the workouts that are scheduled to start Feb. 8. All three players are expected to be ready for the regular season.
OLYMPICS:
The U.S. Olympic team’s top doctor says all of the 200-plus athletes heading to Beijing for the Winter Games next month are fully vaccinated, and not a single one asked for a medical exemption.
Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Finnoff told The Associated Press the 21-day quarantine period the IOC is requiring for unvaccinated participants, combined with the education the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee provided, “really resonated with the athletes.”
In other Olympic news:
ESPN has joined the increasing number of media companies that will not be sending reporters to next month’s Beijing Games. The network cites continued concerns about rising COVID-19 cases worldwide and China’s strict policy about those who test positive.
PGA:
Patrick Cantlay shot a 10-under 62 for a share of the first-round lead with rookie Lee Hodges in The American Express at La Quinta Country Club.
Cantlay played the first seven holes in 7 under, making an eagle on the par-5 sixth and five birdies.
Hodges made a memorable debut in the event. The former Alabama star played the back nine at La Quinta in 7-under 29, eagling the par-5 fifth and making five birdies.
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