Frazier, Bulldogs still surging
ATHENS, Ga. — J.J. Frazier finished with 31 points after being held scoreless in the first 11 minutes to help the Georgia men’s basketball team overcome a 16-point deficit and beat Auburn 79-78 on Wednesday night, extending the Bulldogs’ late-season surge. Derek Ogbeide added 10 points and 15 rebounds for Georgia (18-12, 9-8 Southeastern Conference), which has won three straight and five of six to keep alive its hopes for the NCAA tournament. Jared Harper missed a last-second 3-pointer for Auburn (17-12, 6-10), which led 28-12 in the first half and 37-30 at the break. Bryce Brown led the Tigers with 15 points and
Mustapha Heron had 13. But Auburn couldn’t stop the comeback led by Frazier, the 5-foot-10 senior playing in his last regular-season home game. Frazier made five 3-pointers and scored at least 28 points for the fourth straight game. He made two free throws to give Georgia a 79-73 lead, though Auburn’s Danjel
Purifoy, who had 12 points, sank a 3-pointer and made two free throws about 30 seconds later to cut the deficit to one point. Purifoy’s steal of a pass by Frazier gave Auburn a chance with less than 10 seconds remaining before Harper’s last-second miss.
› OAKLAND, Calif. — Kevin Durant is down for the immediate future with a knee injury, and that’s a huge blow on both ends of the court for the playoff-bound, championship-chasing Golden State Warriors. Stephen Curry and Co. are going to have to carry on without Durant perhaps for the remainder of the regular season, maybe longer. He is out indefinitely after he sprained the MCL in his left knee and bruised a bone in his leg during Tuesday night’s loss at Washington, leaving the Warriors without their shot-blocking big man who also does it all on offense. The NBA’s top team will push toward the playoffs without its leading scorer and rebounder — for the month of March, at least. The Warriors said Wednesday that their medical staff hasn’t ruled out a return before the end of the regular season, though nobody is predicting at this stage.
BASEBALL
› Johan Camargo, Micah Johnson and Adam Brett Walker hit home runs in the Atlanta Braves’ 8-7 loss to the New York Yankees in a Grapefruit League game Wednesday in Tampa, Fla. The Yankees led the spring training exhibition 8-0 after six innings. Camargo’s big hit off of reliever J.P. Feyereisen came with one out in the seventh and scored Balbino Fuenmayor and Dustin Peterson, who had reached on a fielder’s choice as a throwing error allowed David Freitas to score, ending the shutout. Johnson also homered in the seventh, and Walker’s eighth-inning homer also scored Dylan Moore. Jaime Garcia took the loss in his first spring start for Atlanta, allowing an earned run on two hits — including a homer — and a walk in two innings.
SOCCER
› CHESTER, Pa. — Lynn Williams scored her second career goal as the U.S. women’s soccer team kicked off its 2017 slate with a 1-0 victory over Germany on Wednesday night in a matchup of the world’s top two teams. Alyssa Naeher made an early diving save and earned the shutout for the top-ranked Americans in the SheBelieves Cup, a four-team round-robin tournament that includes England and France.