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US Open champion Gauff starts 2024 with 6-4, 6-2 win over Claire Liu in Auckland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:23 GMT

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff started her 2024 season and her defense of the Auckland Tennis Classic title Tuesday with a rusty-at-times 6-4, 6-2 win over American compatriot Claire Liu.Gauff used her powerful forehand well but took time to find her range, over-hitting at times in the first set.She raced to an early 4-0 lead then dropped serve, served for the first set at 5-2 and lost serve again to love before composing herself to overcome a tenacious performance by Liu.Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the U.S. Open final 2–6, 6–3, 6–2 for her first major title last year.On Tuesday, Gauff mostly stuck to the baseline while Liu came more often and effectively to the net. But as Gauff settled in and found her service rhythm, she took the second set more convincingly in 35 minutes, the match in 82 minutes.“Happy to start off the season with a win,” Gauff said. “I needed to be tested.“I feel like I played well today for the first match in a while and I’m h...

Leonard reaches 13,000 career points in his return, Clippers beat Miami 121-104 for 3rd straight win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:23 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 24 points in his return from injury, Paul George added 23 and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the short-handed Miami Heat 121-104 on Monday night for their third straight win.The Clippers opened the new year where they left off after going 11-2 in December for the West’s best record during the month. Norman Powell added 22 points off the bench and James Harden had 15 points and 10 assists.Leonard was back after missing four games with a hip contusion. The Clippers held things down in his absence, going 2-2.Leonard’s dunk to open the fourth gave him 13,000 career points. He had six rebounds and five assists before sitting down for the game’s final 5:43.Leonard got off to a slow start, missing both of his shot attempts in the first when he was scoreless. But Leonard found his spots in the second, scoring 13 points including 10 in a row, as the Clippers erased a 14-point deficit to lead 59-58 at halftime.Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 21 point...

Sugar Bowl Winners

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:23 GMT

Jan. 1, 2024 — CFP: No. 2 Washington 37, No. 3 Texas 31Dec. 31, 2022 — No. 5 Alabama 45, No. 11 Kansas St. 20Jan. 1, 2022 — No. 7 Baylor 21, No. 8 Ole Miss 7Jan. 1, 2021 — CFP: No. 3 Ohio State 49, No. Clemson 28Jan. 1, 2020 — Georgia 26, Baylor 14Jan. 1, 2019 — Texas 28, Georgia 21Jan. 1, 2018 — Alabama 24, Clemson 6 (CFC SF)Jan. 2, 2017 — Oklahoma 35, Auburn 19Jan. 1, 2016 — Mississippi 48, Oklahoma St. 20Jan. 1, 2015 — Ohio St. 42, Alabama 35 (CFC SF)Jan. 2, 2014 — Oklahoma 45, Alabama 31Jan. 2, 2013 — Louisville 33, Florida 23Jan. 3, 2012 — Michigan 23, Virginia Tech 20, OTJan. 4, 2011 — Ohio St. 31, Arkansas 26Jan. 1, 2010 — Florida 51, Cincinnati 24Jan. 2, 2009 — Utah 31, Alabama 17Jan. 1, 2008 — Georgia 41, Hawaii 10Jan. 3, 2007 — LSU 41, Notre Dame 14Jan. 2, 2006 — West Virginia 38, Georgia 35Jan. 3, 2005 — Auburn 16, Virginia Tech 13Jan. 4, 2004 — LSU 21, Oklahoma 14Jan. 1, 2003 — Georgia 26, Florida St. 13Jan. 1, 2002 — LSU 47, Illinois 34Jan. 2, 2001 — Miami 37, Florida 2...

Suns, without Durant, rout Trail Blazers 109-88 for 4th straight win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:23 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers 109-88 on Monday night for their fourth consecutive victory.With Kevin Durant sidelined by right hamstring tightness, the Suns had seven players score in double figures. Jusuf Nurkic, playing against his former team, had 18 points. Chimezie Metu, starting for Durant, scored 14, and Grayson Allen and reserve Eric Gordon each had 12.“He changes everything,” Nurkic said of Beal, who returned Friday from an ankle injury. “It’s simple. We depend on him. When he’s out there, it doesn’t matter what he does, just being out there makes a big difference for our team.” Phoenix star Devin Booker was held to 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting, but he contributed eight rebounds and six assists. Bol Bol helped make up for Durant’s absence with 11 points and nine rebounds.Durant scored 31 points in Sunday’s victory over Orlando, but coach Frank Vogel said he tweaked the hamstring lat...

Murray scores 25 points, Porter adds 22 as Nuggets beat Hornets 111-93

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:23 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray scored 25 points and Michael Porter Jr. added 22 as the Denver Nuggets beat short-handed Charlotte 111-93 on Monday night, sending the Hornets to their 11th straight loss.Nikola Jokic had 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for the Nuggets. Two of Charlotte’s losses during its streak have come against the Nuggets in the last 1 1/2 weeks.“Guys were locked in and defense was leading to offense,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “We took care of it in the second half, and that’s Denver Nuggets basketball.”Miles Bridges led Charlotte with 26 points, and Nick Richards and Brandon Miller each scored 15 for the Hornets, who also lost their eighth straight on the road.Aaron Gordon, who suffered cuts to his hand and face when he was bitten by a dog on Christmas Day, had 10 points in his return for Denver. He rejoined the team in time for practice on Sunday after missing two games. He played with a small protective bandage on his right hand and his facial...

Powerful earthquakes leave at least 30 dead, destroy buildings along Japan’s western coast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:23 GMT

A building falls on the ground following an earthquake in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. A series of major earthquakes started a fire and collapsed buildings on the west coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu. (Kyodo News via AP) A building falls on the ground following an earthquake in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. A series of major earthquakes started a fire and collapsed buildings on the west coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu. (Kyodo News via AP) WAJIMA, Japan (AP) — A series of powerful earthquakes hit western Japan, leaving at least 30 people dead and damaging buildings, vehicles and boats, with officials warning people in some areas on Tuesday to stay a...

The death toll in a series of powerful earthquakes in Japan has risen to 30, local officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:23 GMT

WAJIMA, Japan (AP) — The death toll in a series of powerful earthquakes in Japan has risen to 30, local officials say.Source

Europe’s Silicon Valley? Cambridge says no thanks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:23 GMT

CAMBRIDGE, England — This city wears many crowns: the fastest growing in Britain, the world’s most intensive research cluster and the university with the highest number of tech founders.It also has Britain’s second highest level of inequality and one of the lowest amounts of rainfall of any U.K. city.The tension between those titles has come to a head in the government’s bid to turn Cambridge into “Europe’s Silicon Valley.” Housing Secretary Michael Gove wants to build more than 150,000 new homes there by 2040, more than doubling the city’s size and triple the number local planners had earmarked for the area.“Nowhere is the future being shaped more decisively than in Cambridge,” Gove said in a speech in December. “Its global leadership in life sciences and tech is a huge national asset. But until now… its growth has been constrained.”He envisaged a new quarter with “beautiful Neo-classical buildings, rich parkland, concert halls and museums.” A new development corporation would be e...

Heavy Russian missile attacks hit Ukraine’s 2 largest cities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:23 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s two largest cities came under heavy Russian missile attacks on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring dozens. Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, said one person died and 41 were injured in Russian missile strikes that hit the center of Kharkiv city and other areas. In Kyiv, the capital, five areas of the city were hit in the strikes and at least 12 people injured, according to mayor Vitali Klitschko. The barrage of the cities continued Russia’s escalated attacks on Ukraine in recent days that began on Friday with its largest single attack on Ukraine since the war started, in which at least 41 civilians were killed. The following day, shelling of the Russian border city of Belgorod that Russian officials blamed on Ukraine killed more than two dozen people. Russia has struck back repeatedly since.The attack on Belgorod was one of the deadliest to take place on Russian soil since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine star...

Gunmen kill 6 barbers in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban near the Afghan border

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:23 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Unidentified gunmen shot and killed six barbers before dawn on Tuesday in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the country’s northwest near the Afghanistan border, police said.No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killings in Mir Ali, a town in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Jamal Khan, a local police chief.The incident shocked residents, who said the slain men all worked at various barbershops. Javed Ali, a local resident, said he met one of the slain men last month when he went to a barbershop for a haircut.Mir Ali served as a base for the Pakistani Taliban — who are known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP — for years until the military cleared the area of insurgents. TTP is a separate group but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war.Pakistani milita...