LONG BEACH >> The Long Beach State women’s basketball team will travel to Oregon tonight at 6 to face the Ducks in a first-round women’s National Invitation Tou ament game. It’s the third time in four years that the 49ers (24-8) have qualified for a postseason tou ament for coach Jody Wy . Oregon (2...

@MWhicker03LANG on Twitter RALEIGH, N.C. >> Julian Jacobs heard the buzzer and heaved the basketball high into the ozone of Orleans Arena. What he would do, when it came down, was anyone’s guess. The point guard at Las Vegas’ Desert Springs High School had decided on USC long before he won the Nevad...

FONTANA >> Looking on as Derrick Cope and his small crew worked on his Xfinity Series Chevrolet out in the Auto Club Speedway parking lot, it was a stark reminder of the wide financial range in NASCAR. Cope is best known as the West Coast underdog who stu ed the racing world in 1990 by wi ing the Da...

RALEIGH, N.C. — Two years ago, USC coach Andy Enfield asked his players to anonymously write on a piece of paper their preseason goals for the Trojans. “I wrote to win the national championship,” point guard Julian Jacobs said. “I was a naive freshman. My family taught me to think big. I didn’t know...

The unprecedented television money flooding the EPL and subsequent influx of high-paid foreign talent at the expense of homegrown players has some critics fretting about the long-term implications for the evolution of England’s national team. There’s a similar debate in nouveau riche China, where cl...

Nate Koch becomes the life of the party when he climbs up on his bike, comes out of the saddle and balances himself up on the crossbar. Organizers of the World Cycling League call it showmanship. The rider from Long Beach says it’s just a matter of when a party favors itself inside a velodrome and c...

The Los Angeles Rams are closing in on a contract with former Jets first-round pick Quinton Coples, a source close to the situation said. Coples’ agent, Chad Speck, confirmed the two sides had reached an agreement. Coples never lived up to his first-round status over his three seasons in New York, n...

UFC 199 already has a strong Califo ia presence with two championship fights. And now it’s getting a local vibe in a battle of kings. Hawtho e’s Kevin “King” Casey will take on Elvis “The King” Mutapcic in a middleweight clash on June 4 at The Forum in Inglewood. The two main bouts feature three fig...

CIF State Basketball Playoffs Saturday’s Southe Califo ia Regionals Finals At Pyramid, Long Beach State Division II Girls Mater Dei vs. Cajon, 9 a.m. Division I Boys J. W. North vs. Long Beach Poly, 11 a.m. Division I Girls Vista Murrieta vs. Brea Olinda, 1 p.m. Division I Boys Crespi vs. Redondo Un...

LOS ALAMITOS >> After a hotly contested three quarters of CIF State Division II boys basketball playoff action at Los Alamitos on Tuesday night, the visiting Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits went on an incredible 20-0 run to take the victory. Advertisement Let's block ads! (Why?)

After already filling out his bracket for the NCAA men’s basketball tou ament, Lakers coach Byron Scott sounded confident about his selections. But Scott politely declined to share his predictions out of fear of jinxing himself. That also might explain Scott’s neutral feelings on the Lakers chances ...

DALLAS >> Look out Central Division. The Kings are trying to give the Pacific a say in the race for the top spot in the Weste Conference. Tyler Toffoli scored again a night after ending a long goal drought, and the Kings capped an impressive back-to-back against the Central with a 5-2 victory agains...

Instead of cheers erupting over Kobe Bryant’s presence, boos chirped over the Lakers’ ineptitude. Instead of cleansing the odor from a poorly played game only three days ago, the Lakers’ still had some stench. Instead of offering a rare feel-good moment in the present, the Lakers only presented a po...

SEATTLE >> After a heartbreaking loss to Hawaii in the Big West Tou ament final, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team was given new life in the National Invitational Tou ament as a No. 6 seed. Trailing No. 3 Washington by three points with 8 seconds left, senior Nick Faust missed a potential g...

The season came to an end Tuesday night for St. Anthony High’s girls basketball team in a 59-53 road loss to Antelope Valley during the CIF State Division IV Regional semifinals. The Saints had a 21-20 advantage at the half, but managed just four points and trailed 35-25 at the end of the third quar...

SAN ANTONIO >> The emergence of Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge has made the San Antonio Spurs less reliant on their bench than in previous years. But the Clippers lea ed San Antonio’s reserves can still be potent. Leonard had 20 points and the Spurs wore down the short-handed Clippers 108-87 on...

The margins of error are extra slim for local high school baseball teams this season. Top teams across the greater Long Beach area are boasting impressive young arms and improved team defense. The offense, on the other hand, is slow going so far. “Pitchers are usually ahead of the hitters at this ti...

SAN ANTONIO >> Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and the San Antonio Spurs wore down the short-handed Clippers 108-87 on Tuesday night to match the second-longest home wi ing streak to open a season in NBA history. San Antonio won its 33rd straight home game this season, tying Orlando’s start to the 1995-...

FONTANA >> Perhaps the best race of the weekend will take place Saturday night as several NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors race from Auto Club Speedway to Irwindale to participate in ceremonies for the K&N Pro Series West season opener. Irwindale Speedway will host the Napa Auto Parts 150 in addition t...

FONTANA >> With a full year under his belt as president of Auto Club Speedway, Dave Allen can sport a smile in an instant. It’s been, and continues to be, a tough job with difficult challenges, but it remains something the 45-year-old enjoys. On a daily basis. And he’s not the only one. Allen, who h...