ARKANSAS TAKES DOWN ALABAMA
Freshman Jaylin Williams scored 10 of his season-high 13 points during a decisive run and No. 20 Arkansas beat sixth-ranked Alabama 81-66 on Wednesday night.
It was the Razorbacks’ first win at home over a ranked team in three years.
Williams keyed the 17-2 run that turned a six-point deficit into a nine-point lead with less than 10 minutes to play. He was one of five Arkansas players to finish in double figures for Arkansas (18-5, 10-4 Southeastern Conference). Justin Smith scored 11, Jalen Tate and J.D Notae had 12 apiece and Moses Moody led all scorers with 24, 16 of which came from the free-throw line.
No. 20 Arkansas 81, No. 6 Alabama 66
Alabama (18-6, 13-2) managed only the two points during that stretch, a John Petty Jr. jumper, for a span of 8:53.
Arkansas’ run provided too much frustration. Petty was charged with a technical foul after appearing to argue a no-foul call with 6:55 left. The Razorbacks would build their lead to 16 less than two minutes later, forcing an Alabama timeout. Petty would be ejected after picking up another technical with 1:01 left.
Alabama ran hot and cold the whole game. The Crimson Tide missed their first nine 3-pointers, but would follow by making eight of their next 10, including the first basket of the second half, giving them their first lead since the opening five minutes of the game.
Jordan Bruner led Alabama
with 14 points, 12 of which came in the first half. Petty finished with 12.
The loss snapped Alabama’s winning streak at three games and Arkansas’ win extended its SEC-winning streak to eight.
No. 11 Florida State 88, Miami 71: Sardaar Calhoun scored a career-high 16 points and visiting Florida State (14-3, 10-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) coasted to a win over Miami (7-14, 313), which has lost eight of its last nine. Isaiah Wong scored 29 points for the Hurricanes.
No. 13 Creighton 77, DePaul 53: Marcus Zegarowski, Christian Bishop and Denzel Mahoney scored 13 points apiece and host Creighton (17-5, 13-4 Big East) made fast work of DePaul (4-11, 2-11).
N.C. State 68, No. 15 Virginia 61: DJ Funderburk scored nine of his 14 points in the second half and North Carolina State (11-9, 7-8 ACC) opened a big lead and held off host Virginia (15-6, 11-4) for its fourth straight Atlantic Coast Conference road victory.
No. 25 Tennessee 70, Vanderbilt 58: Victor Bailey Jr. made 5-of-8 3-pointers and finished with 21 points as visiting Tennessee (16-6, 9-6 Southeastern Conference) beat in-state rival Vanderbilt to sweep the season series. Vanderbilt (6-13, 2-11) lost its third straight with Scotty Pippen Jr., the SEC’s second-leading scorer averaging 20.5 points a game, sidelined by injury.
West
Air Force 62, New Mexico 55: Joseph Octave scored 18 points, A.J. Walker had 16, and the host Falcons (5-17, 315 Mountain West) beat the Lobos (6-14, 2-14) to snap a 10-game losing streak.
Megan Rapinoe scored two first-half goals and the United States won the SheBelieves Cup title with a 6-0 victory over Argentina on Wednesday night in Orlando, Fla.
The United States is undefeated in 37 games in a row overall and 53 on American soil.
Carli Lloyd, Kristie Mewis, Alex Morgan and Christen Press also scored, and the U.S. women became the first team to have three straight shutouts in the SheBelieves Cup, which is in its sixth year.
The defending champion U.S. team blanked Canada in the round-robin tournament opener and then downed Brazil 2-0 on Sunday. Earlier Wednesday, Brazil beat Canada 2-0 at Exploria Stadium. Brazil finished second.
Rapinoe scored in the 16th minute with a welltimed strike on a through ball from Rose Lavelle for the early lead.
Rapinoe added another in the 26th minute, tapping in a cross from Lloyd.
More soccer
The Portuguese connection of Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva combined for almost identical goals as Manchester City beat Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0 to close in on a fourth straight appearance in the Champions League quarterfinals.
• Real Madrid struggled to break down 10-man Atalanta before Ferland Mendy netted an 86th-minute winner to give the Spanish giant a 1-0 win in the first leg of the round of 16.
Olympics
Did the Australian city of Brisbane just get picked as the host of the 2032 Olympics?
It looked that way when the International Olympic Committee named the bid centered on the coastal city in the state of Queensland as its preferred candidate.
The decision by the IOC’s executive board puts Brisbane on a fast-track to victory 11 years ahead of the games and before several expected rival candidates have publicly developed their plans.
• The IOC warned weightlifting’s troubled governing body again that the sport faces being dropped from the 2024 Paris Olympics if doping and leadership issues are not dealt with.
Tennis
Billie Jean King and the other members of the Original 9 who laid the groundwork for the women’s professional tour are the first group elected together to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, joining Lleyton Hewitt and Dennis Van der Meer in the Class of 2021.
Hewitt was the only one of five nominees in the Player Category who was voted in. He won Grand Slam singles titles at the U.S. Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002, reached No. 1 in the ATP rankings and helped Australia win a pair of Davis Cup championships.
The other nominees in that category were Lisa Raymond, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Sergi Bruguera and Jonas Bjorkman.
Van der Meer, who died in 2019, advocated for a universal teaching method in tennis and was elected in the Contributor Category, as were the Original 9.
Local colleges
The San Diego State softball team was shut out, 14-0, in five innings at No. 1 UCLA. It was the first loss of the season for the Aztecs, who were off to their first 5-0 start since 2005.
Bruins (6-0) pitcher Megan Faraimo threw a perfect game, the 19th in UCLA history, striking out five.
• Katie Lukes (16 kills) and Roxie Wiblin (14) led the
No. 18 USD women’s volleyball team (9-0, 9-0 WCC) over San Francisco (5-4, 5-4), 2624, 25-16, 25-23.
• Senior goalkeeper Bennett Bugelli of the No. 10 UC San Diego women’s water polo team was named the Big West Player of the Week after making a career-high 17 saves in the Tritons’ 9-8 sudden-death overtime win over No. 17 San Diego State.
Also
Playing just their second road game of the season, the San Diego Gulls (7-2) dropped their second contest, a 4-2 loss to the Henderson Silver Knights. Bryce Kindopp and Benoit Olivier-Groulx scored for the Gulls, who gave up three goals in the final period, one an empty-netter.