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With Lauren Betts out, No. 1 UCLA survives No. 22 Michigan State upset bid in thriller

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With Lauren Betts out, No. 1 UCLA survives No. 22 Michigan State upset bid in thriller


Londynn Jones made a pull-up jumper.

Kiki Rice got a steal.

Janiah Barker scored a tough putback layup.

Rice hit free throws.

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And then, Timea Gardiner hit the biggest three of the season for the Bruins with 44 seconds to go.

Top-ranked UCLA has proven to be one of the deepest teams in the nation, and they showed it again Sunday night, overcoming the absence of their leading scorer to defeat No. 22 Michigan State 75-69 in a March Madness-like thriller.

Bruins coach Cori Close let out a big sigh at the start of her postgame news conference.

“I aged a few years in that game,” she joked. “I am really proud of the confidence, and the grit and the toughness that we earned. We’ve been talking a lot about not relying on your talent or making it look pretty, but doing whatever it takes to find a way to win.”

UCLA star center Lauren Betts did not play because of a foot injury. She wore an air cast during pregame warmups and is considered day-to-day, the team announced.

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Making up for Betts’ absence required a collective effort, and Barker did her part. One of her best plays came with just over a minute left before halftime when she stole the ball from Michigan State’s Nyla Hampton and scored on an easy layup to put the Bruins ahead 41-28 with just over a minute before halftime.

“We’re a super deep team as well, and so I think we did a phenomenal job,” Gardiner said. “Janiah Barker set us up today, she played 31 minutes and got a double-double, and she played phenomenal. Obviously, we’re missing a huge piece with Lauren out, but everyone stepped up in their own way, and I think that that makes a really great team.”

Barker finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Gardiner also had 18 points for the Bruins to go along with four rebounds. Rice’s 16 points and seven assists were also crucial.

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But UCLA (24-1 overall, 12-1 Big Ten) missed Betts’ defensive presence, the Spartans scoring 40 points in the paint.

“The biggest thing that hurt us not having Lauren tonight was how we would play defensively,” Close said. “And it took us a long time to figure out how we could adjust with her not being there as a rim protector. … When I got the text that Lauren wasn’t going to be able to go, I started thinking about how they had already earned this. They beat a top-25 team in Creighton, and they did it without Lauren. They know how to do this. We got plenty to do it. It’s time for next woman up.”

1 UCLA's Londynn Jones tries to drive past Michigan State's Theryn Hallock in the second half.

2 UCLA's Londynn Jones, left, tries to strip the ball away from Michigan State's Jaddan Simmons.

3 UCLA's Kiki Rice (1) smiles with teammates in the final minute of the Bruins' win Sunday.

1. UCLA’s Londynn Jones tries to drive past Michigan State’s Theryn Hallock in the second half. 2. UCLA’s Londynn Jones, left, tries to strip the ball away from Michigan State’s Jaddan Simmons. 3. UCLA’s Kiki Rice (1) smiles with teammates in the final minute of the Bruins’ win Sunday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Michigan State (19-6, 9-5) was the more physical team early in the second half with an aggressive press, forcing five UCLA turnovers in the first five minutes.

Theryn Hallock and Julia Ayrault led the way for Michigan State as they erased UCLA’s eight-point halftime lead. The Spartans took their first lead late in the third quarter off a Jocelyn Tate layup and held a 55-53 lead going into the fourth.

Michigan State extended its lead with two free throws on the first possession and led for most of the fourth until Gardiner’s critical three-pointer put the Bruins ahead by two.

Rice extended the lead to four after hitting two free throws following a Michigan State team technical foul. She hit another two free throws with 13 seconds left to secure an important win for UCLA following their first loss of the season Thursday to rival USC.

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“I think [the win] meant a lot to us,” Rice said. “We didn’t want to let one loss derail our season because we know the kind of team we are, but it was really great to just have so many different people step up tonight. I think it brings everyone confidence, and it really just puts us in a good mindset going into the next few games, which will be tough.”

As time expired, Barker grabbed a missed layup by Grace VanSlooten and waved to the raucous Pauley Pavilion crowd.

With March looming, Close knows the Bruins are in position to get a high NCAA tournament seed, but she wants to see more from her team over the final stretch of the regular season.

“I think we can play grittier,” Close said. “I’m proud of how we did it [tonight], but I even think there’s more in us. I think there’s more. We still let the game happen to us in too many possessions, and I just started to think about how good we are now, but if we could, every practice, fight for a few more inches, if we could fight for more consistent rebounding, if we could fight for more talk out there and more connectivity, who knows?”

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College basketball rankings: Michigan holds off Arizona at No. 1 in USA TODAY Sports poll

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College basketball rankings: Michigan holds off Arizona at No. 1 in USA TODAY Sports poll


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There is no change at the top in the USA TODAY Sports men’s college basketball coaches poll this week, but the margin for the No. 1 team is much closer.

Michigan is still first, receiving 16 of 31 No.-1 votes while keeping its record clean for another week. But No. 2 Arizona has closed within four poll points of the Wolverines with 14 first-place votes after the Wildcats blew away Alabama to rack up yet another ranked win on the road over the weekend. Duke holds at No. 3 overall, claiming the remaining first-place nod, and Iowa State and Connecticut continue to round out the top five.

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TOP 25: Complete USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball poll

In fact, the first 11 positions in the poll are the same. Purdue, Gonzaga, Houston, Michigan State and Brigham Young comprise the lower half of the top 10, with Louisville retaining the 11th spot.

Vanderbilt climbs two spots to No. 12 as Alabama slides four places to 16th. Nebraska makes the week’s biggest jump, a gain of seven positions to No. 15 after the unbeaten Cornhuskers defeated Illinois on the road.

No new teams enter the Top 25, as Iowa hangs on to the final spot after a loss to Iowa State.



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Bodies of missing snowmobilers recovered from icy Michigan lake

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Bodies of missing snowmobilers recovered from icy Michigan lake


MASON COUNTY, MI – The bodies of two missing snowmobilers were found Sunday morning.

Two Grand Haven men were recovered by first responders in six feet of water on Dec. 14 in Round Lake off Sugar Grove Road in Mason County’s Sheridan Township.

The riders, aged 65 and 49, were reported missing at 12:30 a.m. after their family had not heard from them for several hours, according to the Mason County Sheriff’s Office.

At first, through family of the missing, police believed the two may have been snowmobiling on trails in Lake County. 

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The Lake County Sheriff’s Office started searching trails in attempts to locate them.

Around 4:30 a.m., the search expanded to include eastern Mason County.

A searcher located snowmobile tracks leading onto Round Lake off Sugar Grove Road. A further search showed no tracks leaving the lake.

Due to darkness and heavy snowfall, a check of the lake from shore could not be performed.

At first light, police saw what appeared to be a snowmobile helmet several hundred yards offshore on the ice.

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Mason County Sheriff’s Office launched a drone when weather permitted and spotted a hole in the ice.

There was a helmet at the hole.

Rescuers attempted to get to the area, but kept falling through the ice, making rescue efforts impossible, the press release stated.

The Michigan State Police Dive Services Team and Mason County dive team were called to assist and made their way onto the ice.

An airboat from the Manistee County Sheriff’s Office responded to support recovery efforts.

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While the team worked to get to the hole in the ice, an MSP diver fell through the ice, but was properly tethered to another diver and was pulled from the ice unharmed.

Law enforcement recovered the bodies in approximately six feet of water. Two snowmobiles were also found submerged under the ice.

The Ludington Police Department, United States Coast Guard-Manistee, Michigan DNR-Law Enforcement, Branch Township Fire Department, Carr Fire Department, Fountain Area Rescue, Free Soil Fire Department, Hamlin Fire Department, Irons Fire Department, Luther Fire Department, Pleasant Plains Fire Department, Manistee Fire Department and Norman Township Fire Department all assisted at the scene.



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Urban Meyer reacts to Sherrone Moore scandal after coach’s shock Michigan firing

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Urban Meyer reacts to Sherrone Moore scandal after coach’s shock Michigan firing


One of the best college football coaches of all time, Urban Meyer, lent some sympathy to Sherrone Moore — or at least his family — in the wake of the former Michigan head coach’s shocking firing last week. 

“Last night, I said a prayer for that family,’’ Meyer said on “The Triple Option Podcast,” speaking of Moore’s wife and daughters. 

“I mean, you’ve got three little girls,’’ said Meyer, who won a national title at Ohio State a little over a decade ago. “You’ve got a guy that was on top of the road a week ago.”

Urban Meyer reacted to the fallout of Sherrone Moore’s shock firing from Michigan. Getty Images
The former Michigan football coach was fired for cause after the university confirmed he had an inappropriate relationship with a. staffer. AP

That changed in stunning fashion, as Moore, a married father of three, went from leading the Wolverines to out of a job, fired in Ann Arbor for cause after the university confirmed he had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.

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The situation only worsened when Moore was later arrested after he allegedly broke into the home of the staff member, and during an argument, grabbed butter knives and threatened to kill himself.

Sherrone Moore was charged on Friday with third-degree home invasion, a felony, as well as a pair of misdemeanors. AP

On Friday, he was charged with third-degree home invasion, a felony, as well as a pair of misdemeanors — stalking and breaking and entering.


Here’s the latest on former Michigan coach Sherrone Moore


Even Meyer, who created some controversy of his own during a brief, ill-fated tenure as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars — when he was seen on video in 2021 that showed him dancing suggestively with a woman who was not his wife and was later fired before finishing his lone season in Jacksonville — was stunned by Moore’s downfall.

“They’re up 6-0 on the Buckeyes at home,” Meyer said of Michigan’s early lead against rival Ohio State on Nov. 29. “And then, also, you wake up, and they’re in this situation. Rivalries aside, this is all human element. Now, this is something that, from what you read, that’s some serious stuff that went on. And just, all of a sudden, you start seeing the impact. Forget football. Who cares about football?’’

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