HOT POINT

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Azzi Fudd helped lead a second-half comeback and finished with 25 points, and Sarah Strong scored 21 despite early foul trouble as No. 1 UConn outlasted Villanova 83-69 on Wednesday night.

UConn Villanova Basketball

The Huskies (28-0, 17-0 Big East) have won 44 consecutive games since last losing 80-76 at Tennessee on Feb. 6 of last year. They ran their winning streak against conference opponents to 64 games, including regular-season and Big East Tournament contests.

UConn had its problems containing speedy Villanova sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe, who led the Wildcats with 26 points.

Denae Carter scored 21 points for the Wildcats (21-6, 14-4), who had their six-game winning streak ended. They remain in second place in the conference. For small consolation, Villanova became the first team this season to lead UConn at halftime, 40-37.

The Huskies surged out of the locker room and scored the first seven points of the third quarter. They extended their lead to 51-44 early in the third when Strong committed back-to-back fouls and headed to the bench with four.

Nova closed within four, but UConn's Fudd and Ashlynn Shade (13 points) helped keep the Huskies surging. Fudd hit a basket with eight seconds left in the quarter to extend UConn's lead to 11 points.

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Then Strong, back for the fourth quarter, scored nine consecutive points as UConn went up 74-55.

Early on, much went Villanova's way. UConn trailed until there was 5:41 remaining in the first and went ahead on a Strong 3-pointer, 10-9.

Up next

UConn: Host Providence on Sunday.

Villanova: Host Marquette on Sunday.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign uphereandhere(AP mobile app). AP women's college basketball:https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-pollandhttps://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

Texas Tech will be without star JT Toppin the rest of the way.

The Red Raiders announced on Wednesday that Toppin will miss the rest of the season with a torn right ACL. Toppin went down late inNo. 13 Texas Tech's 72-67 loss at Arizona State, and had to be helped off the floor.

Toppin tried to drive to the rim in transition late in the second half of the contest at Desert Financial Arena on Tuesday when he appeared to lose his balance right as he was going up. That sent Toppin crashing down to the court hard, and he reached for his leg almost immediately under the rim, clearly in a lot of pain.

After remaining down on the court for quite some time, Toppin was helped off and back to the locker room. He did not return.

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Toppin had 20 points and eight rebounds when he went down. The junior, who was named a preseason All-American back in October, has averaged 21.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game this season.

Texas Tech now sits at 19-7 on the season with Tuesday's loss, which came just days after they knocked off then-No. 1 Arizona on the road.

The Red Raiders have been hanging with the top of the Big 12 pretty successfully this season, thanks in part to a big win over Houston late last month. They handed Duke its first loss of the season back in December, too, and currently sit in fifth in the conference standings entering the final stretch of the season.

But Toppin has undoubtedly been a major part of that success. While the rest of their schedule is relatively tame, save for a trip to Ames to take on No. 6 Iowa State next week, surviving the Big 12 tournament and making a run in the NCAA tournament without Toppin is going to be much more difficult.

Scottie Scheffler is the trendy pick to win everywhere he plays. As the World's No. 1 golfer, perhaps that's not breaking new ground.

For all of his success, however, Scheffler has yet to win at Riviera Golf Course in Los Angeles.

In fact, the four-time major champion has finished in the top 10 just twice (T7 in 2022, T10 in 2024) in six tries on the course. His third-place finish last year at the Genesis Invitational was achieved at Torrey Pines in San Diego, with the tournament calling an audible due to damage caused by the wildfires in Los Angeles.

Scheffler will look for that elusive victory at Riviera Golf Course when he tees off at the Genesis Invitational on Thursday. The Tiger Woods-hosted tournament features 14 of the top 15 golfers in the world and serves as the PGA Tour's second signature event of the year.

A stacked field notwithstanding, Scheffler is keeping his eyes on the course.

"Well, I think when you look at the golf course, it's a great golf course. I think it challenges us in some different ways," Scheffler said of Riviera GC. "Then I think you have a lot of history here, and it's a golf course that's stood the test of time.

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"The golf course has changed and evolved than when it was first built and I think it's evolved for the better and it still challenges us to this day, which is pretty cool. Like I said, greens got a lot of slope. The rough is a whole new challenge for us this week. Yeah, it should be fun."

Scheffler, 29, didn't have much fun in the first round of last week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am before catching fire on Sunday. He recorded three eagles to highlight his sizzling final round, extending his streak of top 10 finishes to 18. His run began last March at the Texas Children's Houston Open.

For Scheffler to have fun this week, he'll need to solve the par-4, 479-foot 12th hole -- and he knows it.

"Well, it typically plays into the wind unless you're off really early in the morning and the wind is blowing the other way," Scheffler said. "But typically you're playing the hole into the wind. The green goes like this in most spots. If you land it in the right bunker, it's probably going to plug. If you hit it left of the green, it typically rolls off into the rough. That's basically if you hit the ball in the fairway. It's also a really challenging tee shot, too, and it's like 500 yards. So there's a few things that make it quite difficult."

Scheffler, 29, has 20 PGA victories.

--Field Level Media

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to travel to Israel next week toupdate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuon the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, two Trump administration officials said.

Rubio is expected to meet with Netanyahu on Feb. 28, according to the officials, who spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity to detail travel plans that have not yet been announced.

The U.S. and Iran recently have heldtwo rounds of indirect talksover the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. Officials from both sides publicly offered some muted optimism about progress this week, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi even saying that "a new window has opened" for reaching an agreement.

"In some ways, it went well," U.S. Vice President JD Vance said about the talks in an interview Tuesday with Fox News Channel. "But in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through."

Netanyahu visited the White Houselast week to urge President Donald Trump to ensure that any deal about Iran's nuclear program also include steps to neutralize Iran's ballistic missile program and end its funding for proxy groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Trump is weighing whether to take military action against Tehran as the administrationsurges military resources to the region, raising concerns that any attack could spiral into a larger conflict in the Middle East.

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On Friday, Trump told reporters that achange in power in Iran"seems like that would be the best thing that could happen." He added, "For 47 years, they've been talking and talking and talking."

The Trump administration has dispatched the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier,from the Caribbean Seato the Mideast tojoin a second carrieras well as other warships and military assets that the U.S. has built up in the region.

Dozens of U.S. fighter jets, including F-35s, F-22s and F-16s, have left bases in the U.S. and Europe in recent days to head to the Middle East, according to the Military Air Tracking Alliance, a team of about 30 open-source analysts that routinely analyzes military and government flight activity.

The team says it's also tracked more than 85 fuel tankers and over 170 cargo planes heading into the region.

Steffan Watkins, a researcher based in Canada and a member of the MATA, said he also has spotted support aircraft like six of the military's early-warning E-3 aircraft head to a base in Saudi Arabia.

Those aircraft are key for coordinating operations with a large number of aircraft. He says they were pulled from bases in Japan, Germany and Hawaii.

A New Jersey Catholic diocese outside Philadelphia hasagreed to pay $180 millionin a clergy sexual abuse settlement, the latest in a church scandal set off more than two decades ago.

The settlement, which must still be approved by a bankruptcy court, comes after the diocese had fought a state agrand jury investigationfor years beforerelenting last year.

The Camden diocese, like others nationwide,filed for bankruptcyamid a torrent of lawsuits after the statute of limitations was relaxed.

Here is a list of some of the other large clergy abuse settlements reached by the Catholic Church in the U.S.

Los Angeles

In 2024, the Archdiocese of Los Angelesagreed to pay $880 millionto more than 1,000 victims of clergy sexual abuse dating back decades.

The archdiocese, which covers Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, had previously paid more than $740 million to victims, making the total payout more than $1.5 billion.

New Orleans

The New Orleans Archdiocese agreed topay at least $230 millionto hundreds of survivors of clergy sexual abuse under a settlement approved by a federal judge in December.

The settlement followed years of negotiations and included policies intended to prevent abuse from happening in the future. The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in 2020 to avoid handling each of the more than 500 abuse claims separately.

San Diego, California

The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego agreed in 2007 to pay $198 million to settle more than 140 clergy sexual abuse claims.

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The diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2024 in response to roughly400 additional lawsuitsalleging priests and others sexually abused children decades earlier. The lawsuits were filed after California lifted a statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse claims in 2019.

Northwestern US

The Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, a Jesuit order, agreed in 2011to pay $166 millionto more than 450 Native Americans and Alaska Natives who were abused at the order's schools across the northwestern U.S. The order also agreed to pay $50 million to settle another 110 sex abuse claims in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 2007.

Orange, California

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange reached a $100 million settlement with about 90 victims of sex abuse in 2004. Three years later, the diocese agreed to pay another $7 million to settle four additional sexual abuse lawsuits.

Portland, Oregon

The archdiocese in Portland was the first Catholic diocese to file for bankruptcy in 2004 over sex abuse allegations after settling more than 100 cases. By the time the bankruptcy was complete three years later, the archdiocese had settled more than 300 claims andpaid out nearly $90 millionin claims and attorney fees. In 2019, the archdiocese agreed to pay nearly $4 million to settle eight additional claims of clergy sexual abuse.

Boston

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston agreed to pay $85 million to settle more than500 clergy sex abuse lawsuitsin 2003. The scope of the sex abuse crisis in Boston set off reports around the United States and the world of widespread abuse by priests and the church's efforts to hide it.

Covington, Kentucky

In 2006, the Diocese of Covington paid more than $81 million to more than 200 sexual abuse victims in a court settlement.A report from the diocesereleased in 2020 found that 59 Catholic priests and 31 others associated with the church had sexually abused children since the 1950s.

Philadelphia

As of 2022, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has paid more than $78 million to settle 438 claims of clergy sexual abuse, accordingto a report. In 2023, the archdioceseagreed to pay $3.5 millionto settle an additional sex abuse case.

Wilmington, Delaware

TheCatholic Diocese of Wilmington, which serves Catholics in Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland, agreed in 2011 to pay $77 million to roughly 150 clergy sex abuse victims.

Oakland, California

The Diocese of Oakland reached a $56 million settlement with 56 survivors of sexual abuse in 2005. The diocesefiled for bankruptcyin 2023 after more than 300 child sex abuse lawsuits were filed after a new state law temporarily extended the statute of limitations for child sex abuse litigation.

HONG KONG (AP) — At Lunar New Year, red holds the promise of luck and reunion — a color meant to call people home and carry wishes for the year ahead.

Lunar New Year Red Photo Gallery

It sits at entrances and lingers along walls. It threads through wishes and wraps around food. In smoke, it lifts and thins into the air.

Across much of Asia — where the festival is known as the Spring Festival, Tet, or Seollal — the new year is marked by rituals long believed to gather people against darkness and draw good fortune near. This year's festival begins the Year of the Horse, one of the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac.

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These photographs follow the color red from public celebrations to smaller, everyday spaces.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP'scollaborationwith The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Kevin Durant has found himself at the center of more "burner" account accusations, the latest of which swirled on social media while the Houston Rockets standout played in his 16th NBA All-Star Game on Sunday.

The 37-year-old is alleged to be behind direct messages from an anonymous account that criticized players and coaches he's accompanied during a career that's seen him win two titles and one league MVP award.

"I know you gotta ask these questions, but I'm not here to get into Twitter nonsense,"Durant told reporters after Houston's practice on Wednesday. "I'm just here to focus on the season, keep it pushing. But I get you have to ask those questions."

Durant added:

"My teammates know what it is. We've been locked in the whole season. ... We had a great practice today, looking forward to this road trip."

At the moment, there's no evidence actually linking these critical comments to Durant. Still,social media ran rampant with the theory, circulating screenshots of an anonymous user who, among other things, blamed Rockets All-Star center Alperen Şengün for his defense, said that they couldn't trust forward Jabari Smith Jr. to make a shot or get a stop and took a dig at former Phoenix Suns star teammate Devin Booker.

Durant is quick to quip, confront and discuss with everyday social media users from his own verified X account,which has more than 19 million followers. He isn't afraid to stir the pot online or engage with casual fans. Many love him for that kind of engagement, which he willingly offers and most NBA stars avoid.

Durant was asked at this year's All-Star Weekend media availability on Saturday if he'd rather give up video games or Twitter, now known as X, for the rest of his life.

"I'm gonna go Twitter,"Durant said before continuing jokingly, "because they don't deserve to hear this God-level-like talk I'm giving to them. They take it for granted."

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But Durant has used burner accounts before.

In 2017, Durant posted in the third-person from his personal account, throwing shade on the Oklahoma City Thunder and then-head coach Billy Donovan while explaining his decision from the previous year to leave the franchise that drafted him for the Golden State Warriors, a Western Conference foe and the league's crown jewel at the time.

Durant owned his mistake and apologized for itin the aftermath of the social media storm he caused.

In 2019,according to The Athletic, Durant said in an interview on ESPN's "The Boardroom" that he used anonymous accounts as a way to speak out and dodge the notoriety that's often impossible to hide from as an NBA player.

Durant is playing in his 18th NBA season. He's spent 19 total years in the league, representing five franchises.

Now with the Rockets, he's still among the best in the sport. He's shooting above 50% from the field and north of 40% from 3. His 25.8 points per game are tops on the team.

While fourth in the West, the 33-20 Rockets will need a strong push to grab the No. 2 seed like they did ahead of last year's playoffs.

Durant is trying to tune out the noise, even if it's once again loud and scrutinizing his social-media presence.