CORONAVIRUS
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) - The BNP Paribas Open, the near-major tennis tournament set to begin this week in the California desert, won’t be played as scheduled after a case of coronavirus was confirmed in the Coachella Valley.
It’s the largest U.S. sporting event to be called off over concerns about the spread of the disease. The South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, was canceled Friday.
The announcement came Sunday night after many players were already in the desert practicing. Qualifying matches were to begin Monday with women’s main draw matches starting Wednesday and the men’s draw beginning Thursday.
The Riverside County Public Health Department declared a public health emergency for the desert cities 110 miles east of Los Angeles, including Indian Wells where the ATP and WTA tours were to play the two-week tournament.
TROY, N.Y. (AP) - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute says it will play host to an ECAC men’s hockey quarterfinal series this coming weekend without fans in response to two confirmed cases of the coronavirus in New York’s Capital Region.
RPI will play host to Harvard on Friday and Saturday, with the deciding game of the best-of-three next Sunday if necessary. All three games will be conducted without spectators.
NBA
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Anthony Davis scored 30 points, LeBron James added 28 and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Clippers 112-103, snapping their Staples Center co-tenant’s six-game winning streak.
Avery Bradley added 24 points to help the Lakers won their fourth in a row and 11th in 12 games. They pulled away in the second half after the Clippers’ smothering defense helped them lead most of the first two quarters.
The Lakers recently clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2013, and it’s possible they could meet the Clippers in the postseason. The crowd made it feel like a playoff atmosphere, with a strong contingent of raucous Lakers fans on hand for what was a Clippers’ home game. They chanted “MVP! MVP!” when James completed a 3-point play that tied the Lakers’ largest lead of 12 points with 40 seconds to play.
Paul George scored 31 points, Kawhi Leonard added 27 and Montrezl Harrell had 20 for the Clippers.
PHOENIX (AP) - Devin Booker scored 20 of his 36 points in Phoenix’s 47-point first quarter and the Suns beat the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks 140-131.
The Bucks played without MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo because of a minor knee sprain. Injured Friday night in a loss at the Los Angeles Lakers, he’ll also sit out Monday night at Denver.
Ricky Rubio had a triple-double for the Suns with 25 points, 13 assists and 13 rebounds. Aron Baynes added 24 points, and Mikal Bridges had 21.
Khris Middleton scored 39 points for Milwaukee. Former Suns guard Eric Bledsoe had 28.
CLEVELAND (AP) - Andre Drummond returned from a leg injury to score 28 points and add 17 rebounds, and Kevin Love shook off a tough shooting night to make a big 3-pointer in overtime and lift the improving Cleveland Cavaliers to a 132-129 win over the San Antonio Spurs .
Drummond, who missed the past three games with a strained left calf, put the Cavs up 124-22 with a layup and Love followed with his 3 from the corner 28 seconds later to put Cleveland up by five.
Love had missed his first four attempts from long range before his clutch shot and he finished just 3 of 12 from the field, but added 18 rebounds.
Derrick White hit a 3 to pull the Spurs within 131-129 in the final seconds, but Collin Sexton made a free throw for the Cavs and San Antonio didn’t get off a last-second heave in time.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Cassius Winston scored 27 points and No. 16 Michigan State beat No. 19 Ohio State 80-69 to win a third straight Big Ten championship.
The Spartans (22-9, 14-6 Big Ten) shared the conference title with No. 9 Maryland and No. 24 Wisconsin and they will be the second-seeded team at the Big Ten Tournament behind the Badgers.
The Buckeyes (21-10, 11-9) had won four straight and six of their previous seven games.
Ohio State’s leading scorer, Kaleb Wesson, was held to eight points on 1-of-8 shooting after entering the day averaging 14-plus points per game.
GOLF
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Tyrrell Hatton went from losing his mind to winning the tournament.
Bay Hill served up the most demanding test this side of a major, and Hatton kept it together down the stretch Sunday by playing bogey-free over the last seven holes for a 2-over 74 to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
It was his fifth victory worldwide, and first on the PGA Tour, and it came in just his second start since returning from surgery on his right wrist during the offseason.
But the 28-year-old Englishman could only smile when he tapped in a 3-foot par putt on the 18th for a one-shot victory over Marc Leishman, one of the few players who kept moving forward - barely - on another day of blustery, brittle conditions at Bay Hill.
Hatton finished at 4-under 284, one of only four players who beat par for the week, the fewest at Bay Hill since 1980. So severe was the course that Matt Fitzpatrick closed with a 69, the only player to break 70 on the weekend.
AUTO RACING
AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Joey Logano raced to his second NASCAR Cup Series win in three weeks, holding off Kevin Harvick over the final two laps after an overtime restart at Phoenix Raceway.
Also the winner two weeks ago in Las Vegas for Team Penske, Logano has 25 career Cup victories. He overcame several tough moments, including a pit-road penalty for an uncontrolled tire and a broken jack during another stop.
A late caution triggered the two-lap overtime shootout with Logano, Harvick and Kyle Busch all in a decent position to win. Logano had a good restart at the mile oval and was able to hold off Harvick. Busch was third, Kyle Larson finished fourth and Clint Bowyer was fifth.
Pole-sitter Chase Elliott and Harvick dominated the first half of the race but Elliott had to make a green-flag stop because of a loose front tire and fell a lap behind the leaders. He eventually earned a free pass to get back on the lead lap and finished seventh.
UFC
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Zhang Weili defended her UFC strawweight championship with a spectacularly brutal split-decision victory over former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 on Saturday night.
Israel Adesanya then defended his middleweight title with a dull unanimous decision over Yoel Romero in the main event at T-Mobile Arena in the UFC’s hometown.
Zhang (21-1) and Jedrzejczyk (16-4) traded brutal punches and kicks throughout five technically fascinating rounds, badly damaging each other’s faces. After the last of several standing ovations from the Las Vegas crowd, Zhang won the fight 48-47 on two judges’ cards, while Jedrzejczyk won 48-47 on the third.
Romero and Adesanya then staged a snoozer that had fans booing and chanting obscenities. Adesanya (19-0) still defended his belt for the first time, winning 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 on the judges’ scorecards.
Romero (13-5) fought an extraordinarily passive fight. Adesanya appeared unable to figure out a way through the 42-year-old Brazilian’s defenses, but his efforts mattered more to the judges.
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