Quick Hitters
Browns make 3 major trades, acquire QB Taylor, WR Landry
CLEVELAND — Maybe the losing and laughing will finally stop. The Browns aren’t fooling around.
With three stunning trades on the eve of free agency, Cleveland landed a proven starting quarterback, a game-breaking, three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver and a shut-down cornerback.
After 16 straight losses on the field, victory.
Two months after a winless season mercifully ended, new general manager John Dorsey addressed major roster needs Friday by acquiring mobile quarterback Tyrod Taylor in a deal with Buffalo, wide receiver Jarvis Landry from Miami and cornerback Damarious Randall from Green Bay, a person with direct knowledge of the overhaul told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Teams are not permitted to announce any trades until next week.
In exchange, the Browns shipped quarterback DeShone Kizer and swapped late-round picks with the Packers, gave the Dolphins a fourthround pick this season and a seventh rounder in 2019 and sent the Bills the No. 65 overall pick in this year’s draft.
LAS VEGAS — Deandre Ayton was admittedly nervous in his first Pac-12 tournament game, awed by the size of the arena and the spotlight.
More comfortable and familiar with his surroundings, the Bahamian big man dominated his second go-round, sending the Wildcats into the title game for the second straight season.
Ayton scored seven of his 32 points in overtime and grabbed 14 rebounds, lifting No. 15 Arizona to a 78-67 victory over UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals on Friday night.
“I had some butterflies the first game,” Ayton said. “The nervousness went away and it was just business after that.”
Ayton triggered a second-half resurgence after Arizona (26-7) labored offensively in the first half.
UCLA (21-11) matched Arizona nearly shot for shot, tying the game at 67 on Jaylen Hands’ drive with 8 seconds left. His teammate, Aaron Holiday, missed on a runner at the buzzer after an Arizona turnover.
Then Ayton took over. He scored 13 straight points at the end of regulation into overtime and made 13 of 16 shots overall. He had 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting in the quarterfinals against Colorado.
Behind Ayton’s massive performance and a defensive shutdown of UCLA in overtime, the Wildcats earned a chance to defend their Pac-12 tournament title against the OregonSouthern California winner on Saturday.
“It gives our guys and our team a lot of confidence because if you can defend UCLA, I think you have an opportunity to defend some of the best offensive teams in this country,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said.
UCLA answered every Arizona punch until overtime. The Bruins were no match for Ayton on defense and missed all seven of their shots — six 3-pointers — to go scoreless in overtime.
Thomas Welsh led UCLA with 17 points and 17 rebounds.
“We were probably a little bit run down, but at the same token, they had three guys play 40-plus minutes as well,” UCLA coach Steve Alford said. “So that’s not an excuse. I thought they stepped things up in the overtime and we were able to match that.”
UCLA has boosted its NCAA Tournament hopes by winning eight of its last 11 games, including an 8877 victory over Stanford in the Pac-12 quarterfinals. Holiday was superb in the win over the Cardinal with 34 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
The Bruins won the lone regular-season meeting against Arizona, handing the Wildcats their only home loss by shooting 52 percent in an 82-74 victory on Feb. 8.
UCLA shot well at the start of the semifinal and so did Arizona. Then neither team could get much to fall.
The Bruins shot 4 of 16 from the 3-point arc and led 30-26 at halftime. The Wildcats were 3 for 13 from 3 and