Hawks beat Rondo-less Mavericks
NBA: The Atlanta Hawks took the lead with a 13-0 run in the third quarter and went on to a 104-87 victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks, who were without suspended guard Rajon Rondo.
The Mavericks suspended Rondo before the game for conduct detrimental to the team. Rondo had a heated exchange on the court with coach Rick Carlisle in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s win over Toronto.
Dennis Schroder had 17 points off the bench to lead six Atlanta players in double figures.
Monta Ellis led Dallas with 19 points.
A leaking roof at Philips Arena caused a five-minute delay in the first quarter.
• Rockets repel Clippers: James Harden had 21 points, Corey Brewer scored 13 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and the host Houston Rockets snapped a six-game skid to the Los Angeles Clippers with a 110-105 win.
It’s Houston’s first victory over Los Angeles since March 30, 2013 and just the second win in the past 13 meetings with the Clippers.
The Rockets opened the fourth quarter with a 15-1 run to take a 99-86 lead. With the second unit in, Brewer starred in that stretch, scoring 10 points, with two 3-pointers.
Kentucky tops MSU, improves to 28-0
Top 25: Top-ranked Kentucky fought off a slow start to cruise to a 74-56 victory over Mississippi State in Starkville, Mississippi, to keep its undefeated season on track.
Trey Lyles scored a career-high 18 points and Aaron Harrison added 16 for Kentucky, which is the last remaining undefeated team in the country.
The Wildcats led 41-37 with 15:10 remaining, but responded with an avalanche of points down the stretch to turn the contest into another convincing blowout.
Mississippi State has lost eight in a row to the Wildcats. Fred Thomas led the Bulldogs with 14 points.
• No. 19 Baylor edges No. 12 Iowa State: Taurean Prince scored 20 points and 19th-ranked Baylor upset No. 12 Iowa State 79-70 in Ames, Iowa, for its third straight win.
The Bears shot 14 of 26 from 3-point range, becoming the first team other than Kansas to win in Ames since 2012.
Baylor hit five straight 3s late in the second half, the last two by Prince, to take a 72-66 lead with 4:41 left. The Bears held Iowa State to just four points in the final 6:26.
Jameel McKay had a career-high 21 points for the Cyclones, who are now a game behind the first-place Jayhawks in the Big 12 with just three games to play.
• Duke survives Va. Tech: Jahlil Okafor scored a career-best 30 points, including four in overtime, and No. 4 Duke beat Virginia Tech 91-86 in Blacksburg, Virginia for the Blue Devils’ eighth straight victory.
Quinn Cook added 26 points and Justise Winslow had 15 for Duke.
Jalen Hudson scored a career-high 23 points for Virginia Tech, but missed a layup in the final seconds of regulation that could have given the Hokies their first victory against a ranked team in more than two years.
Monaco, Leverkusen pick up UCL wins
Soccer: Geoffrey Kondogbia, Dimitar Berbatov and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco all scored to give Monaco a surprising 3-1 first-leg win over Arsenal at Emirates Stadium in London, in a round-of-16 UEFA Champions League match.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored for Arsenal.
In the night’s other game, Hakan Calhanoglu scored in the 57th minute to give Bayer Leverkusen a 1-0 home win over Atletico Madrid, which finished a man short after Tiago received his second yellow card in the 77th minute.
• Greek soccer suspended: Greece’s top soccer league has been suspended indefinitely because of continued match violence.
The action followed weekend violence at a league match between rivals Olympiakos and Panathinaikos, and a brawl between club officials Tuesday at a board meeting of league organizers in Athens, Greece.
Shell casings match in Hernandez case
Miscellany: A shell casing found in a car rented by ex-New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez and others at the scene of a killing near his home were fired from the same weapon, state police sergeant Stephen Walsh testified in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Five shell casings were found near where Odin Lloyd was shot to death June 17, 2013, in an industrial park not far from the Hernandez home in North Attleborough. An employee of a rental car business has previously testified that she found one shell casing under the driver’s seat of Hernandez’s rented Nissan Altima, which he returned the day of the killing.
Police later found that shell casing in a trash bin at the business.
• USC to honor Carroll: The University of Southern California said that Seahawks coach Pete Carroll will receive an honorary degree at the May 15 graduation ceremony in Los Angeles. Carroll will also be inducted into the school’s athletic hall of fame.