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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Tar Heels take ugly win over Wildcats

North Carolina's James Michael McAdoo, right, and Brice Johnson, left, defend as Kentucky's James Young drives to the basket. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

Men’s basketball: Marcus Paige scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half and James Michael McAdoo had 20 points, helping No. 18 North Carolina beat No. 11 Kentucky 82-77 on Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C.

J.P. Tokoto added 15 points for the Tar Heels (7-2). UNC shot 57 percent after halftime and scored 20 points off turnovers to finally wrestle control of a foul-filled game away from the Wildcats (8-3).

It wasn’t always pretty for the Tar Heels, from 19 missed free throws to seeing the Wildcats swat away seven of their shots.

Aaron Harrison scored 20 for Kentucky, which shot 41 percent and committed 17 turnovers.

• Top-ranked Arizona survives Michigan: Nick Johnson made six free throws over the final 25 seconds, and the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats (11-0) held on for a 72-70 victory over the Michigan Wolverines (6-4) in Ann Arbor, Mich., after rallying from an 11-point deficit in the second half.

Hirscher rallies for giant slalom win

Winter sports: Two-time defending World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher produced a superb second run to capture a giant slalom race.

The Austrian was third after the first run, 0.41 seconds behind Frenchman Alexis Pinturault, but tamed the hostile Stade Olympique de Bellevarde course in Val d’Isere, France, to finish 0.76 seconds ahead of France’s Thomas Fanara and 1.09 clear of Germany’s Stefan Luitz.

Pinturault finished fourth after an error on the top section.

• Weirather claims super-G victory: Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein earned her first victory of the World Cup season, winning a women’s super-G in St. Moritz, Switzerland with a time of 1 minute, 17.38 seconds in near-perfect race conditions.

Kajsa Kling of Sweden was runner-up, 0.31 seconds behind.

• Kearney wins first moguls race of season: Olympic champion Hannah Kearney of the U.S. scored 25.07 points to win the season-opening World Cup moguls race in Kuusamo, Finland. World champion Mikael Kingsbury of Canada claimed the men’s title with a score of 26.93.

• U.S. men sweep 2-man bobsled: Steven Holcomb and Chris Fogt finished two runs in 2 minute 50.19 seconds to help the U.S. sweep the medals at the World Cup 2-man bobsled race in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Nick Cunningham and Johnny Quinn were second in 1:50.74, and Cory Butner and Chuck Berkeley third in 1:50.85.

Bryant, Lakers find first win since return

NBA: Kobe Bryant scored a season-high 21 points and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Bobcats 88-85 in Charlotte, N.C., for their first win since Bryant returned from a torn Achilles tendon on Dec. 8.

Bryant was 8 of 15 from the field and hit two free throws with 37 seconds remaining to put the Lakers ahead for good.

• Blazers set team 3-point mark in win: LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 points and 16 rebounds, Nicolas Batum added 17 points and the Portland Trail Blazers set a franchise record with 21 3-pointers in its 139-105 road win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Backes backs Blues win over Blue Jackets

NHL: David Backes scored on a breakaway 22 seconds into overtime and the St. Louis Blues rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the Blue Jackets 4-3 in Columbus, Ohio.

Chris Stewart tied it with 6:27 left in regulation for St. Louis.

• Canadiens edge Islanders: Max Pacioretty scored 1:51 into overtime and Carey Price made 21 saves for his 21st NHL shutout as the Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Islanders 1-0 in Uniondale, N.Y.

• Wild rally for shootout win: Mikko Koivu scored the winner in the shootout and Josh Harding made two glove saves, helping the Minnesota Wild rally for a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.

Maidana too much for Broner to handle

Miscellany: Marcos Maidana overpowered Adrien Broner to take the WBA welterweight championship, knocking him down twice in a 115-110, 116-109 and 117-109 unanimous decision at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Maidana (35-3) handed Broner his first loss in 28 bouts.

• Braehmer captures vacant belt: Germany’s Juergen Braehmer (42-2, 31 KOs) unanimously outpointed Marcus Oliveira (25-1-1, 20 KOs) 115-112, 117-110, 117-110 in Neubrandenburg, Germany, to take the vacant WBA world light heavyweight title.

• Johnson defends UFC title: In Sacramento, Calif., Demetrious Johnson stopped Joseph Benavidez with a big right hand just 2:08 into the first round to defend his UFC flyweight title.

• Kuchar, English share lead at Shootout: Thanks to a 27 on the back nine and 60 overall, Matt Kuchar and Harris English took a four-shot lead at 20-under-par after better-ball play in the Franklin Templeton Shootout in Naples, Fla.

Retief Goosen and Freddie Jacobson are four shots back at 16 under as the format changes to a scramble today.