In brief: West Virginia rallies, stays atop Big 12

College basketball: Jaysean Paige scored 23 points, including a crucial 3-pointer with 1:05 left, and No. 14 West Virginia beat No. 13 Iowa State 81-76 on Tuesday night in Ames, Iowa, for its league-leading fourth Big 12 road win.

Devin Williams added 17 points and 18 rebounds for the Mountaineers (18-4, 7-2), who rallied from 15 points down for its third win in four games.

Paige shot 10 of 17 from the field, none bigger than the 3 that gave West Virginia a 75-74 lead. The Mountaineers outrebounded the Cyclones 43-26, and Tarik Phillips grabbed his own missed free throw to seal it with 19 seconds left.

Georges Niang scored 20 points and Abdel Nader had 19 for Iowa State (16-6, 5-4), which lost consecutive games for the second time this season.

Iowa State fell behind by as many as six points in the second half before Niang’s 3 and layup put the Cyclones back on top 68-64. Paige tied it at 70-all on a layup with 2:36 left and the Mountaineers hit six straight free throws in the final 41 seconds.

Tennessee rallies to upset Kentucky: Kevin Punter Jr. scored a game-high 27 points for Tennessee and the Vols rallied from a 21-point first-half deficit to upset No. 20 Kentucky, 84-77 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Kentucky’s Tyler Ulis hit two free throws to tie the game with 5:16 left, but Tennessee responded with a Robert Hubbs free throw to retake the lead, an up-and-under layup from Detrick Mostella and a 3-pointer from Punter to make it 76-70 59 seconds later.

Gamecocks lose three straight: Yante Maten scored 18 points, Kenny Gaines had 17, and Georgia beat No. 25 South Carolina 69-56 in Athens, Georgia, giving the Gamecocks their third loss in a row.

Georgia led by 10 points at halftime and never trailed in the second half. J.J. Frazier hit two late 3s for Georgia, which snapped a two-game skid.

Krzyzewski out sick: Duke says Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski was not with the Blue Devils for the game at Georgia Tech.

School officials said Krzyzewski “was feeling under the weather” after the team meal Monday night.

Raptors top Suns, spoil Watson’s debut

NBA: Kyle Lowry scored 26 points, including five 3-pointers, DeMar DeRozan added 22 points and the Toronto Raptors held off host Phoenix 102-97, spoiling the debut of Suns interim coach Earl Watson.

The Raptors, whose franchise-record 11-game losing streak ended Monday night in Denver, led the entire second half but had to hold on at the finish.

Rockets snap losing streak: James Harden scored 26 points and tied a career-high with 14 assists as the Houston Rockets snapped a three-game skid with a 115-102 win over the visiting Miami Heat.

Josh Smith scored all of Houston’s points in a 7-2 run that pushed the advantage to 104-89 with about five minutes remaining.

Howard suspended: The NBA suspended Rockets center Dwight Howard for Tuesday night’s game against Miami for touching an official during a loss over the weekend. The league said the one-game suspension without pay was for “striking the arm of a game official” late in Saturday’s 123-122 home loss to Washington.

Clippers await Griffin investigation results: The Clippers will decide whether Blake Griffin joins them for the team’s upcoming road trip after the NBA announces the results of its investigation of the star forward’s punching of an assistant equipment manager.

Griffin broke his shooting hand in the Jan. 23 incident in Toronto between him and Matias Testi.

Crosby scores three to guide Pittsburgh

NHL: Sidney Crosby scored three straight goals for his first natural hat trick in more than five years, and Pittsburgh opened the second half of the season with a 6-5 win over visiting Ottawa.

The two-time NHL MVP pushed his goal total to 20 and has scored at least one in Pittsburgh’s last eight home games.

Chris Kunitz had a goal and two assists. The Penguins’ six goals were a season high.

Blues edge Predators: Troy Brouwer scored with 1:05 remaining in the third period and Brian Elliott made 16 saves to give the St. Louis Blues a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators at Nashville, Tennessee.

Leafs top Bruins in OT: Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau scored a power-play goal with 1:54 left in overtime and the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs rallied to beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 and end a four-game losing streak.

Italian Parliament backs Rome’s bid

Olympic games: The Italian Parliament voted to back Rome’s bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games. Italian Premier Matteo Renzi is a strong supporter of Rome’s candidacy.