Walker shoots Connecticut past Pittsburgh
Men’s basketball: Kemba Walker scored 24 points and hit the winning basket on a stepback jumper at the buzzer, and No. 21 Connecticut (24-9) stunned third-ranked Pittsburgh (27-5) 76-74 in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament Thursday in New York.
Walker got the ball at the top of the key with 15 seconds left, allowed the clock to melt under 5, then made a move toward the basket. He used a crossover and shoulder roll to dump his defender, 6-foot-10 Gary McGhee, right to the ground, then calmly drained the shot.
• Freshman Melo leads Syracuse over St. John’s: Freshman center Fab Melo scored a career-high 12 points, including two layups in the final 2 minutes, and No. 11 Syracuse beat No. 17 St. John’s (21-11) 79-73 in New York.
Brandon Triche had a season-high 22 points for the fourth-seeded Orange (26-6), who will meet ninth-seeded Connecticut in the semifinals tonight.
• Kansas tops Oklahoma St.: Mario Little’s three-point play broke a tie with 71 seconds to go and Oklahoma State missed a desperation heave at the buzzer, allowing No. 2 Kansas to escape with a 63-62 victory in the second round of the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
Kansas (30-2) trailed by as many as eight until Oklahoma State (19-13) got into foul trouble in the second half.
Heat top Lakers, snap five-game loss streak
NBA: Chris Bosh scored 24 points, Dwyane Wade added 20 and the host Miami Heat snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Los Angeles Lakers 94-88 to clinch a playoff spot.
LeBron James finished with 19 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Heat (44-21), who have never secured a postseason bid faster in their history. Kobe Bryant scored 24 points for the Lakers.
Canucks beat Sharks in SO after wild finish
NHL: At San Jose, Calif., Cory Schneider made 44 saves and stopped all three San Jose attempts in the shootout and Alexandre Burrows scored in the second round of the tiebreaker in the Vancouver Canucks’ wild 5-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks.
The teams combined for three goals in the final 2:13 of regulation, with San Jose’s Ryan Clowe tying it on a power play with 21 seconds left.
• Boyes’ OT goal sinks Bruins: Brad Boyes scored at 3:44 of overtime and the visiting Buffalo Sabres came back from two deficits to beat the Boston Bruins 4-3. Boston squandered leads of 2-0 in the second period and 3-2 in the third.
Stakes, tension rise in NFL labor talks
Football: The tension and stakes rose in the NFL labor talks in Washington with only a day left before the twice-extended collective bargaining agreement expires, increasing the possibility of the league losing games to a work stoppage for the first time in nearly a quarter-century.
With the two sides far apart on key economic issues, nine of the 10 members of the owners’ labor committee joined NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at the office of the federal mediator overseeing the talks, but none of the owners met with any players.
Mahan takes Cadillac Championship lead
Golf: Hunter Mahan had seven birdies and no bogeys in 11 holes in the Cadillac Championship in Doral, Fla., before the storm-delayed opening round was suspended by darkness.
Mahan was two shots clear of Charley Hoffman, who shot a 5-under-par 67. Martin Kaymer and Luke Donald were 5 under through 10 holes, with Lee Westwood another shot back. Tiger Woods (1 under) and Phil Mickelson (2 under) completed 15 holes before play was halted.
• Driscoll leads Puerto Rico Open: James Driscoll shot a 9-under 63 to take the first-round lead in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open at Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Angel Cabrera, Omar Uresti and Brendan Steele opened with 66s to tie for second. Alex Prugh (Ferris, UW) fired a 31 on the back nine to finish at 3-under 69. Kirk Triplett (Pullman) finished the first round at 1 under.
Idaho musher leads, hasn’t taken break
Miscellany: Trent Herbst from Ketchum, Idaho, is leading the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Herbst has not yet completed a mandatory 24-hour rest, whereas other front-runners, including four-time defending champion Lance Mackey and four-time champion Martin Buser, had satisfied that race requirement.
Herbst was the first musher to reach the checkpoint in the ghost town of Iditarod, Alaska, about 534 miles from Anchorage.
• Bokko upsets Davis to win 1,500 world title: Havard Bokko of Norway upset defending champion Shani Davis of the United States to win the 1,500-meter title at the single-distance speedskating world championships in Inzell, Germany.
Bokko clipped Davis by 0.05 seconds after covering the distance in 1 minute, 45.04 seconds. Lucas Makowsky of Canada was third.