Clippers hand Suns 10th loss in a row

Griffin scores 31 points; Paul adds 29 points, 10 assists in 124-118 win

GLENDALE — Kansas guard Frank Mason III and Gonzaga coach Mark Few have won The Associated Press player and coach of the year awards, the news cooperative announced Thursday at the Final Four in Glendale.

Mason led Kansas to its 13th consecutive Big 12 title. He received 37 votes Thursday from the same 65-member media panel that selects the weekly AP Top 25.

Few has taken the Zags to the NCAA Tournament in all 18 of his seasons there. He was a runaway winner Thursday receiving 31 votes from the panel.

PHOENIX — The Los Angeles Clippers, worn down from a tough game the previous night, still had enough energy to send the Phoenix Suns to their 10th straight loss. But it was no blowout. Blake Griffin scored 31 points, Chris Paul added 29 points and 10 assists and the Clippers held on to beat the Suns 124-118.

“Back to back, all these games, me and Blake talked about it,” Paul said. “How to push through and find a way to win, and this goes in the win column. I’m not going to watch the film and dissect too much of it. We got the win.”

Devin Booker returned to the Suns’ lineup and scored 33 points while playing in front of his former college coach, Kentucky’s John Calipari, and matched his season high with nine assists, but fouled out with 4:45 to play.

The Clippers (46-31), coming off a 133-124 home win over Washington on Wednesday night, pulled within a game of Utah (46- 29) for the No. 4 playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“We didn’t necessar- ily play great. We won the game,” Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers said. “We’ll take that.”

Booker, three games removed from his 70-point outburst in Boston, missed Tuesday’s game in Atlanta with a sore right ankle.

Rookie Tyler Ulis, who also played for Calipari, had 16 points and matched

at Trail Blazers 7 p.m. Saturday, FSAZ

his career best with 12 assists. Marquese Chriss scored 20 for the Suns, and Jamal Crawford had 19 for the Clippers.

The Suns, just back from a six-game road trip, trailed 113-106 when Booker fouled

6A Southern 4A Southwest 3A Metro 2A West 1A West Kansas’ Mason, Gonzaga’s Few win AP awards

ASSOCIATED PRESS ABOVE: LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS’ CHRIS PAUL (3) controls the ball as Phoenix Suns’ Tyler Ulis (left) tries to strip it away during the first half Thursday in Phoenix. RIGHT: Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin (32) looks to pass the ball as Phoenix Suns...