In brief: Wildcats hold back Bulldogs’ upset bid

Men’s basketball: John Wall scored 18 points, including five in overtime, had 10 rebounds and came within two assists of a triple-double to lead No. 2 Kentucky to an 81-75 win over Mississippi State (18-8, 6-5 SEC) in Starkville, Miss.

Wall’s three-point play opened the scoring in overtime, then he added two free throws and blocked Dee Bost’s layup attempt with 36 seconds left to push the Wildcats (25-1, 10-1) to their sixth straight win.

•Virginia Tech beats No. 23 Wake Forest: Malcolm Delaney scored 10 of his 31 points in the decisive final seven minutes and Virginia Tech (21-4, 8-3 ACC) rallied past No. 23 Wake Forest 87-83 in Blacksburg, Va.

Al-Farouq Aminu led Wake Forest (18-6, 8-4) with 25 points.

St. John’s posts upset of Notre Dame

Women’s basketball: Shenneika Smith scored 23 points and Da’Shena Stevens added 21 to help No. 22 St. John’s upset No. 4 Notre Dame 76-71 in New York for the biggest win in the program’s history.

Sky Lindsay scored 13 points for the Red Storm (21-5, 9-4 Big East), who had never beaten a top-five opponent.

Skylar Diggins scored 18 of her 20 points in the second half to lead the Fighting Irish (23-2, 10-2).

Karl diagnosed with neck, throat cancer

NBA: Denver Nuggets coach George Karl says he has been diagnosed with neck and throat cancer but was told it is treatable.

Karl says he started a six-week treatment that includes chemotherapy, and the treatment could cause him to miss games and practices.

Karl was treated for prostate cancer in 2005.

•Webster leads Blazers over Clippers: Martell Webster scored 28 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 as the Trail Blazers cruised to a 109-87 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Portland.

Webster tied a career high by hitting seven 3-pointers.

•Thunder roll to seventh straight win: Kevin Durant had 25 points and 14 rebounds, rookie reserve James Harden added 17 points and the Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks 99-86 in Oklahoma City, to stretch their winning streak to seven games.

Janikowski made richest kicker

Football: Sebastian Janikowski and the Oakland Raiders agreed on a $16 million, four-year deal that is the richest contract for a kicker in NFL history, the team said.

Janikowski will be guaranteed $9 million in the deal, a person familiar with the contract said on condition of anonymity because the team did not announce terms. ESPN first reported the contract.

•NFLPA accuses league of misdoings: The NFL Players Association accused the league of not sharing as much supplemental revenue with its lower-income teams as it is supposed to.

Jeffrey Kessler, the outside counsel for the NFLPA, said that a filing by the union is a result of the NFLPA concluding that the league violated the terms of the collective bargaining agreement and the supplemental revenue sharing plan.

Suspect admits to killing coach

Miscellany: A tearful former football player told Allison, Iowa, police that he repeatedly shot his high school coach because he believed him to be a devil who turned students “into dead people,” according to an interview with the murder suspect recorded hours after Ed Thomas’ death.

The scratchy, muddled audio recording of 24-year-old Mark Becker’s confession was played to a packed Butler County courtroom, the second day of his trial for first-degree murder. Becker has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

•Wife of slain Olympian pleads not guilty: The widow of Olympic shot-put medalist Dave Laut pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the athlete’s shooting death.

Jane Laut, who had previously told investigators that her husband was gunned down when he went to check noises they heard in their back yard, was arrested Saturday by Oxnard police and held on $3 million bail.

Laut, 52, entered her plea in Ventura County Superior Court shortly after being charged. She could be sentenced to life in prison for the Aug. 27 death of Dave Laut, who won a bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics.

•Birmingham named Fed Cup site: The U.S. Tennis Association has chosen Birmingham, Ala., as the site for its Fed Cup semifinal against Russia on April 24 and 25.

•Beckham beaten by former team: David Beckham’s first game against Manchester United was a disappointment for the English midfielder.

Wayne Rooney scored twice as the English champions rallied to beat AC Milan 3-2 in the first leg of the European Champions League’s second round in Milan, Italy.