March 6, 2025 4:30 am
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Michael O’Connell scored 15 points and N.C. State maintained hopes of playing in the ACC Tournament, beating Pitt 71-63. Jaland Lowe scored 20 points for Pitt. N.C. State is trying to play its way into the 15-team tournament and currently resides in 16th place in the 18-team league. The Panthers are fighting for a spot in the top nine in search of a first-round bye.
March 5, 2025 4:30 am
DENVER (AP) — Casey Mittelstadt scored the go-ahead goal on a power play with 4:09 remaining, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1. Artturi Lehkonen scored twice, including into an empty net, and Jack Drury added another empty-netter as the Avalanche moved to 3-0 on their season-long, six-game homestand. Scott Wedgewood was stellar in goal, stopping 32 shots. Defenseman Ryan Lindgren made his Colorado debut after being acquired from the New York Rangers last weekend. Rickard Rakell scored for the Penguins.
March 5, 2025 4:32 am
Saquon Barkley will become the highest-paid running back in NFL history after his record-setting season helped the Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl. The Eagles are giving Barkley a two-year contract extension worth $41.2 million with $36 million guaranteed, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because the extension hasn’t been announced, said Barkley’s new deal includes $15 million in incentives. Barkley ran for 2,504 yards in the regular season and playoffs, breaking Terrell Davis’ record for most yards rushing in one season.
March 5, 2025 4:34 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James has become the first player in NBA history to score 50,000 combined points in the regular season and postseason. He needed just one point during the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the New Orleans Pelicans. The 40-year-old James is already the top scorer in NBA history in both the regular season and the playoffs during a career in which he has rewritten all previous definitions of basketball longevity. He is on the verge of 50,000 combined points deep into his 22nd season. That’s tied with Vince Carter for the most seasons in the league by any NBA player.
March 4, 2025 2:13 am
The PIAA Basketball playoff brackets were released Sunday afternoon. Those 12 brackets include six Washington County teams. Chartiers-Houston and Peters Township are sending both boys and girls into the state tournaments. They’ll be joined by girls teams from Canon-McMillan and Fort Cherry. Action is slated to start Friday/Saturday with the finals set for the Giant Center, March 27-29. Click for PIAA Brackets
First Round
Friday, March 7
6:00 pm 5A Boys Spring Grove at Peters Township
7:00 pm 6A Girls Canon-McMillan at Allderdice
7:00 pm 2A Girls Chartiers-Houston at Aliquippa
7:00 pm 2A Girls Fort Cherry at Kennedy Catholic
Saturday, March 8
1:00 pm 5A Girls Conrad Weiser at Peters Township
1:00 pm 2A Boys Chartiers-Houston at Lakeview
March 4, 2025 4:34 am
CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cincinnati Bengals have placed the franchise tag on Tee Higgins for a second time, as the team hopes to work out a long-term deal with the star wide receiver. If the Bengals can’t reach a contract with the 26-year-old Higgins before July 15, his salary for the 2025 season would be $26.2 million. Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin reiterated last week at the NFL scouting combine that one of his top priorities is to get a deal done with Higgins. Higgins is the second player to receive a franchise tag, joining Kansas City guard Trey Smith. Teams have until Tuesday at 4 p.m. EST to tag players.
March 4, 2025 4:35 am
Jimmy Johnson has announced his retirement from Fox Sports after being part of its NFL coverage for most of the network’s 31 years. The 81-year-old Johnson made the announcement during an appearance on “The Herd With Colin Cowherd.” He said he had been thinking about retiring for four or five years. He said he would miss the people he’s worked with and called it a great run. Johnson worked alongside hosts Curt Menefee and Terry Bradshaw and analysts Howie Long and Michael Strahan. As a coach, he won consecutive Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys and the college football national championship with Miami in 1987.
March 3, 2025 4:33 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — William Nylander scored 1:00 into overtime, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5. Nylander, Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies each had a goal and an assist as Toronto earned its fifth consecutive win. John Tavares, Max Domi and Conor Timmins also scored. It was Nylander’s 35th goal of the season and No. 252 for his career, passing Bob Pulford for 10th on the franchise list. Crosby had a goal and two assists for the Penguins. He passed Bobby Hull for 18th on the NHL’s career goals list and Gordie Howe for 10th on the league’s assists list. Crosby has 611 goals and 1,050 assists.
March 3, 2025 4:35 am
Pittsburgh freshman cornerback Mason Alexander has died in a car crash in Indiana. According to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, the 18-year-old Alexander was a passenger in a vehicle that swerved off the road Saturday and struck a tree in Fishers, a northeastern suburb of Indianapolis. The car burst into flames upon impact. Alexander was pronounced dead at the scene. Alexander was a star at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers. He signed with the Panthers in December and enrolled at Pitt in January. Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi said the team is “shocked” and that Alexander will always remain a Panther in the eyes of the program.
March 2, 2025 12:07 pm
Saturday, western Pennsylvania wrestlers either earned invitations to the PIAA Wrestling Championships or their seasons came to an end. Multi-district individual regional tournaments were held at Altoona (Southwest 2A boys), Canon-McMillan (West 3A boys) and North Allegheny (West girls) along with 9 other sites across the state. The top seven finishers at Altoona, five at Canon-McMillan and four at North Allegheny earned advancement to the state tournaments at the Giant Center in Hershey. That action begins Thursday. Click on each tournament for medal-bout results.
PIAA 2A Boys Southwest Regional (Altoona)–Braedon Welsh (Fort Cherry) is the only regional champion among the 12 Washington/Greene County wrestlers heading to the PIAA championships out of the SW AA Regional. McGuffey has four qualifiers, Bentworth and Burgettstown two apiece with Beth-Center, Fort Cherry, Wash High and West Greene one each.
PIAA 3A Boys West Regional (Canon-McMillan)–Nicholas McGarrity (Peters Township) was the lone champion from the two-county area. In fact, he was the only local finalist. Canon-McMillan, Peters Township and Trinity have two qualifiers to the state tournament, Ringgold and Waynesburg have one each.
PIAA Girls West Regional (North Allegheny)–Marlee Solomon and Natalie Rush claimed regional titles for Canon-McMillan. The Big Macs’ duo will be joined by four other CM wrestlers in the state tournament, more than half the two-county’s contingent. Abigail Dolanch (Avella) and Elaina Ashby (Trinity) also won regional titles. Trinity has two qualifiers, Fort Cherry and Peters Township one each.
