Baylor, coming off three-week break, remains unbeaten
Adam Flagler scored a season-high 22 points, Jared Butler had 15 of his 18 points after halftime and No. 2 Baylor finally overcame the rust of a three-week break and Iowa State for a 77-72 victory at home Tuesday night, making the Bears 18-0 for the first time in school history.
The Bears (18-0, 10-0 Big 12) played for the first time since an 83-69 win at then-No. 6 Texas on Feb. 2 when they had matched the best start in school history. They then had six consecutive games postponed because of COVID-19 issues in the program, and hadn’t even had another full practice until Sunday.
Iowa State (2-17, 0-14) jumped out to a 15-4 lead in less than 6 1/2 minutes. Their biggest lead was 3215 when Tyler Harris made his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 6:24 left in the first half.
Harris had 22 points for the Cyclones with five 3-pointers, while Rasir Bolton had 21 points.
The Bears never led until MaCio Teague made two free throws with 4:26 left for a 66-65 advantage. They never trailed again, but needed a go-ahead basket by Teague after Jalen Coleman-Lands made a tying 3 with 2:53 left. Teague and Butler combined for the last nine Baylor points. MICHIGAN STATE STOPS NO.
5 ILLINOIS >> Aaron Henry scored 20 points, and Joshua Langford had 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to lead host Michigan State to an 81-72 win over No. 5 Illinois.
The Spartans (12-9, 6-9 Big Ten) earned a desperately needed quality win to bolster their chances of playing in 23 straight NCAA Tournaments. The Fighting Illini (16-6, 124) had won a Big Ten-best seven straight games, putting them in contention for a No. 1 seed in college basketball’s showcase that starts next month.
WCC TOURNAMENTS TO BE HELD WITHOUT FANS >> The West Coast Conference men’s and women’s tournaments in Las Vegas will be held without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference announced.
The tournament will be held March 4-9 at the Orleans Arena. The tournament brackets will be announced Sunday.
NFL
OT WILSON TWEETS HE’S ‘DONE’ WITH TITANS >> Offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson’s brief tenure with the Tennessee Titans might be ending.
The 2020 first-round pick, the 29th overall selection, tweeted Monday, “Im (sic) done with football as a Titan... No further comments.”
The tweet was subsequently deleted.
Wilson’s playing time as a rookie consisted of four plays on Nov. 29 against the Indianapolis Colts, three on offense and one on special teams.
Wilson, 22, ran into trouble last year beginning in training camp. He got a trespass warning from police after he allegedly pondered jumping from a second-story balcony during a party near Tennessee State University on Aug. 15. He subsequently had two stays on the NFL’s reserve/COVID-19 list. On Sept. 11, he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Golf
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP TO ALLOW 10 KFANSPERDAY>> The 2021 PGA Championship in May will be played with approximately 10,000 spectators allowed on the course at Kiawah Island, S.C.
The PGA of America said Tuesday that the decision to admit a limited number of fans for each round of the May 20-23 tournament was made in conjunction with the state of South Carolina, MUSC Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Collin Morikawa will defend his 2020 PGA Championship, which he won in August with no spectators present at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
Soccer
QUAKES RE-SIGN GOALIE BERSANO >> The San Jose Earthquakes announced a new one-year contract Tuesday for goalkeeper Matt Bersano. Bersano, 28, is entering his fifth season with the organization but has yet to make his MLS debut.
From 2017-20, he made 60 appearances while on loan with the Quakes’ former USL Championship affiliate Reno 1868 FC. ÁLVAREZ ON US, MEXICO ROSTERS FOR OLYMPIC QUALIFYING >> Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Efrain Álvarez is on the 48-man preliminary roster for both the United States and Mexico for the Olympic men’s soccer qualifying tournament in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Now 18, Álvarez played for the U.S. at an under-15 tournament in 2016, then switched to Mexico and played for El Tri at the 2019 Under-17 World Cup. He attended U.S. national team training in December but did not appear in the exhibition against El Salvador in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The rosters released Tuesday by CONCACAF are nonbinding, and U.S. coach Jason Kreis may announce a training camp roster on Friday.
The U.S., which failed to qualify for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, opens Group A against Costa Rica on March 18 at the CONCACAF tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Motorsports
NASCAR SUSPENDS CHIP GANASSI FOR COVID-19 VIOLATION >> NASCAR suspended team owner Chip Ganassi for a violation of COVID-19 protocols at Daytona International Speedway last weekend. He also was fined $30,000.
NASCAR said Ganassi, 62, was penalized for allowing a “non-essential individual” into a restricted area.
Pending an appeal, Ganassi will serve his suspension this upcoming weekend at the NASCAR Cup Series event at Homestead Miami Speedway. Chip Ganassi Racing still will be allowed to enter its two cars — the No. 1 Chevrolet for driver Kurt Busch and the No. 42 Chevy for Ross Chastain — in Sunday’s event.
Horse racing
FILLY BECOMES 5TH FATALITY THIS YEAR AT GOLDEN GATE FIELDS >> A 3-yearold filly died Tuesday during training at Golden Gate Fields, making it the fifth thoroughbred fatality at the Albany racetrack this year.
Okoye’s death was listed as an accident on the California Horse Racing Board’s website. She was trained by Isidro Tamayo and finished fourth in her most recent race on Feb. 5. A 4-year-old gelding and a 5-year-old mare died in training incidents last weekend at the track.
The gelding named Sweet Boy died suddenly on Saturday, according to the CHRB. My Three Kids died Sunday, according to the racing board.