Kim, Rodman watch basketball game
‘You have a friend for life’
SEOUL, South Korea, Feb 28, (AP): ExNBA star Dennis Rodman hung out Thursday with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un on the third day of his improbable journey with VICE to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with the leader and later dining on sushi and drinking with him at his palace.
“You have a friend for life,” Rodman told Kim before a crowd of thousands at a gymnasium where they sat side by side, chatting as they watched players from North Korea and the US play, Alex
Alex Poythress added 16 points, Willie Cauley-Stein 12 and Julius Mays and Archie Goodwin 11 each as Kentucky (20-8, 11-4 Southeastern Conference) pulled within a game of first-place Florida with two games remaining. The Wildcats also improved to 3-1 since freshman center Nerlens Noel’s seasonending knee injury on Feb 12.
Kentucky had to be careful not to overlook a Mississippi State team that entered with a 12-game losing streak and just eight healthy players. The Wildcats easily avoided that trap, leading from the outset and steadily pulling away for its most lopsided SEC win this season.
Akron 88, Ohio 81 In Athens, Ohio,Demetrius Treadwell scored 21 points and Jake Kretzer came off the bench with a career-high 19 as Akron extended its winning streak to 19 games, the nation’s longest this season, by defeating Ohio 88-81 in overtime Wednesday night.
The Zips (23-4, 13-0 Mid-American Conference) overcame a 21-3 first-half Ohio run that put them in a 34-16 hole.
Akron had a 15-0 run of its own for a 49-45 lead 6:05 into the second half, but the Bobcats (20-8, 11-2) didn’t fold. Jon Smith’s layup for Ohio in the final second of regulation sent it to overtime. Saint Louis 70, Saint Josephs 53 In St Louis, Jim Crews did his best to downplay No. 18 Saint Louis’ 10th straight victory in its first game as a Top Detrick, a spokesman for the New Yorkbased VICE media company, told The Associated Press.
Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with three members of the professional Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, VICE correspondent Ryan Duffy and a production crew to shoot an episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series.
The unlikely encounter makes Rodman the most high-profile American to meet Kim since the young North Korean leader 25 team this season.
“I hate to be bland and boring, but we don’t talk about it,’’ the Billikens’ interim coach said after a dominant second half by the Atlantic 10 leaders in a 70-53 victory over Saint Joseph’s on Wednesday night. “It’s so irrelevant to us right now. took power in December 2011, and takes place against a backdrop of tension between Washington and Pyongyang. North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test just two weeks ago, making clear the provocative act was a warning to the United States to drop what it considers a “hostile” policy toward the North.
Kim, a diehard basketball fan, told the former Chicago Bulls star he hoped the visit would break the ice between the United States and North Korea, VICE founder Shane Smith said. When you’re in this kind of tunnel, we don’t deal with it too much — or at all.’’
Remembering a so-so first half that leading scorer Dwayne Evans referred to as ‘’neutral’’ kept players from rejoicing too much about outscoring Saint Joseph’s by 15 points the rest of the way and holding the Hawks to season-worst 32.6 percent shooting.
USC 89, Arizona 78 In Los Angeles, by moving the ball and creating quality shots, Southern California cruised to one of its best wins in years.
Eric Wise scored 22 points to lead five Trojans players in double figures, propelling USC to an 89-78 victory over No. 11 Arizona on Wednesday night.
Southern California (13-15, 8-7 Pac12) shot 33 for 54 from the field, led by Wise’s 9 for 12. Byron Wesley added 18 points, J.T. Terrell had 14 and Jio Fontan scored 12 with nine assists. Aaron Fuller also had 12 points.
It was USC’s first win over a ranked team since it beat then-No. 10 Arizona two years ago.
“It’s a tremendous victory for the team and for the program,’’ interim coach Bob Cantu said. “We played for 40 minutes, we got stops when we needed and we shot the ball really, really well. We shot 61 percent, which was big-time against a tremendous team. I believe Arizona’s a team that can be in the Final Four, without any question. Tonight was our night.’’