In brief: UCLA stuns No. 1 Kentucky
Men’s basketball: Thomas Welsh led five players in double figures with 21 points and UCLA knocked off No. 1 Kentucky 87-77 on Thursday night in the Bruins’ first victory over a top-ranked team since 2003.
Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton added 15 points each, Tony Parker had 11 and Aaron Holiday 10 for the Bruins (5-3), who led almost the entire game and shot 53 percent from the field. They last beat a No. 1 team on March 13, 2003, defeating Arizona 96-89 in overtime.
Isaiah Briscoe led Kentucky (7-1) with 20 points. Jamal Murray added 17 and Derek Willis added 11.
The Wildcats had five players in foul trouble, including Alex Poythress, who fouled out with four points with under 10 minutes left. They lost a regular-season game for the first time since March 8, 2014, at Florida.
The result was a dramatic turnaround from last December, when the Wildcats dealt the Bruins a 39-point drubbing in Chicago.
UCLA opened the second half with a 17-10 spurt to build its largest lead of 15.
The Wildcats couldn’t get their offense in gear, appearing to try to do too much in a desperate bid to reduce their double-digit deficit. They got within single digits just once – early in the second half. Willis’ three-point play got them to 67-57 before consecutive baskets by Hamilton and Welsh pushed UCLA’s lead to 71-57.
The Wildcats lost starting forward Marcus Lee, who sustained a head injury in the first half and didn’t return.
Emery banned one game: BYU guard Nick Emery is suspended from the team’s next game following NCAA rules after he punched Utah’s Brandon Taylor.
The Cougars face Weber State on Saturday.
Emery was given a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected from Wednesday’s game against for punching Taylor near the end of the game. The ejection carries an automatic one-game ban.
The freshman apologized and promised to “do better in representing myself, the team and BYU.”
Boeheim penalty upheld: The NCAA has upheld its nine-game suspension of Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, but he will be allowed to begin serving it immediately.
The NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee issued its ruling, saying Boeheim was not directly involved in underlying violations of academic misconduct, extra benefits and the university’s drug testing policy.
The change means the 71-year-old Boeheim will now miss six non-conference games and only three ACC games, returning for North Carolina on Jan. 9.
Celtics defeat Kings in Mexico City
NBA: Isaiah Thomas tormented his former team, scoring 21 points and leading the Boston Celtics over the Sacramento Kings 114-97 in the NBA’s third regular-season game played in Mexico.
Thomas, who played for the Kings from 2011-14, scored 19 points in the first half.
Former Zag Kelly Olynyk added 21 points for the Celtics.
Rudy Gay scored 18 points and DeMarcus Cousins added 16 for the Kings.
Heat top Thunder: Dwyane Wade scored 28 points, including two free throws with 1.5 seconds left that put host Miami ahead to stay and the Heat topped the Oklahoma City Thunder 97-95 in a wild back-and-forth game that featured 38 lead changes.
Chris Bosh scored 16 points, Goran Dragic added 14 and Josh McRoberts scored 12 for Miami, which survived when Russell Westbrook’s 3-point try from the right wing bounced off the backboard as time expired.
Westbrook and Kevin Durant each scored 25 for Oklahoma City, which misfired on a pair of 3s in the final 10 seconds.
Spurs roll: Kawhi Leonard scored 27 points, shooting 7 for 9 on 3-pointers as the San Antonio Spurs eased to a 103-83 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Leonard’s career-high 3s were part of the Spurs going 10 of 18 from behind the arc.
Tony Parker had 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists as San Antonio won for the seventh time in eight games.
Mike Conley, Marc Gasol and Mario Chalmers scored 15 apiece for Memphis.
Kane ties record, but Senators get win
NHL: Mike Hoffman scored his second goal of the game 30 seconds into overtime to give the Ottawa Senators a 4-3 victory over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.
Craig Anderson stopped 35 shots for the Senators.
Patrick had a goal and two assists for Chicago, as he tied Bobby Hull’s franchise record 21-game point streak, set in 1971-72.
Caps edge Habs: T.J. Oshie’s second goal of the game broke a tie in the third period and lifted the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 road victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.
Washington won its sixth straight despite being outshot 35-19.
Lars Eller and Brian Flynn scored for Montreal, which lost in regulation for the first time in seven games (5-1-1).
Luongo boosts Panthers: Roberto Luongo made 32 saves to lead the Florida Panthers to a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators.
Quinton Howden and Jonathan Huberdeau scored for Florida, which won its fourth straight.
Casey holds lead at Hero Challenge
Miscellany: Paul Casey is off to a good start in his final chance to win a tournament this year.
Casey birdied the final hole at Albany Golf Club in Nassau, Bahamas, for a 6-under 66 that gave him a share of the first-round lead with Jimmy Walker and Zach Johnson in the Hero World Challenge.
Defending champion Jordan Spieth made a hole-in-one with a 6-iron on the second hole and finally added a birdie on a par 5 to join a large group at 67 that included Bubba Watson and Adam Scott, who lives at Albany and still holds – barely – the course record of 65.
Phelps shines: Michael Phelps won the 200-meter intermediate medley at the U.S. Winter National Championships in Federal Way, Washington.
Phelps finished in 1 minute, 57.61 seconds, well off his world-best time this year of 1:54.75. Ryan Lochte set the world record of 1:54.00 in 2011.
The 18-time Olympic champion also will race in the 100 butterfly on Friday and the 200 butterfly Saturday.
Brazile wins at NFR: Two-time tie-down roping champion Trevor Brazile won the first round of the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, in 6.80 seconds to move into third place in the season standings.
Brazile broke the first-round record of 6.90 set by Cody Ohl in 2004 and matched by second-place finisher Matt Schiozawa earlier Thursday.
Defending three-time champion Tuf Cooper of Decatur, Texas, remained the standings leader with $140,803 after failing to finish among the top six with a time of 12.00.