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SPORTSBRIEFING STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Small leads WVU

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Javon Small scored 26 points and Joseph Yesufu added 18 as No. 21 West Virginia held off Colorado 78-70 on Sunday in the teams’ first meeting as members of the Big 12 Conference.

The Mountaineers (12-3, 3-1 Big 12) overcame foul trouble and used a late 13-4 run to thwart Colorado, which had cut the deficit to two points with 5:28 left. Yesufu had eight points in that spurt.

Julian Hammond III had 23 points and Assane Diop added 13 for Colorado (9-6, 0-4), which lost its fourth straight game.

Colorado trailed by three and West Virginia had just lost two starters to fouls when the Mountaineers beat the press and started a fast break that ended on Yesufu’s layup and free throw for a 71-65 lead with 1:23 left.

Takeaways

West Virginia: Three straight 3-pointers by Small, the Big 12’s leading scorer and reigning player of the week, gave West Virginia its biggest lead, 49-35, with 17:28 remaining.

Colorado: The Buffaloes, who entered the game with the worst turnover margin in the Big 12, had 14 turnovers in the game.

Key moment

Before the contest, Colorado held a moment of silence to honor longtime Buffaloes head football coach Bill McCartney, who died Friday at age 84.

Key Stat

Colorado is now 2-2 against ranked teams this season. West Virginia rebounded from its unexpected home loss to Arizona that snapped a seven-game winning streak.

Up next

Both teams play Wednesday. Colorado hosts Cincinnati and West Virginia is at Houston.

Lightning sting Pens

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nikita Kucherov had two goals and an assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Sunday.

Brandon Hagel also scored for the Lightning, and Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul had empty-net goals.

Tampa Bay recorded points in both halves of back-to-back games for the first time this season. It lost in overtime against New Jersey on Saturday.

Jake Guentzel, who won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2017, had two assists to become the second player in Lightning history with at least 20 goals and 40 points in his first 40 games with the franchise. Guentzel signed a seven-year deal with the Lightning in the offseason.

Rickard Rakell scored his 22nd goal of the season for Pittsburgh, and Kevin Hayes added his third goal in five games. Sidney Crosby recorded his 1,040th career assist to tie Marcel Dionne for 11th on the NHL’s career list.

The Penguins played without Evgeni Malkin, who was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.

Takeaways

Lightning: Looked lethargic early, but Kucherov snapped a 2-2 tie with his 20th goal with 3:03 left. The Lightning have won three of four since a four-game losing streak.

Penguins: Dropped to 3-5-3 in their last 11 games.

Key moment

Kucherov stole the puck at the Penguins’ blue line and beat Tristan Jarry on a partial breakaway for his clutch goal.

Pacers end Cavs’ streak

CLEVELAND (AP) — Andrew Nembhard scored 19 points, Pascal Siakam had 18 points and nine rebounds and the Indiana Pacers ended NBA-leading Cleveland’s winning streak at 12 games, beating the Cavaliers 108-93 on Sunday night.

The teams will complete the home-and-home set Tuesday night in Indianapolis.

Myles Turner added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Jarace Walker had eight points and 12 rebounds off the bench to help Indiana win its sixth straight. The Pacers held the Cavaliers to a season low in points and outscored them 68-40 in the second half.

Cleveland lost for the first time since Dec. 8 at Miami. It is 33-5 overall and 20-2 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Darius Garland had 20 points and seven assists for the Cavs. Donovan Mitchell scored 19 points and Evan Mobley had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Takeaways

Pacers: All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who has appeared in all 40 games and is averaging team highs of 8.9 assists and 35.0 minutes, sat out the second half after experiencing left hamstring tightness. He had two points and five assists.

Cavaliers: Indiana coach Rick Carlisle raved about Cleveland’s depth and style under new coach Kenny Atkinson, saying, “They don’t have any weaknesses. I mean, you can’t find any. All of their guys can score and those guys play defense, too.”

Key moment

Immediately after the Cavaliers built their largest lead at 60-45 in the third, Indiana used a 32-7 run to seize a double-digit advantage. Backup power forward Obi Toppin fueled the surge with 10 points in a five-minute span, including a steal-and-slam in the backcourt.

Key stat

The Cavaliers, who are shooting a league-high 40.1% on 3-pointers, made just 11 of 41. They misfired on 15 of their first 16 attempts in the second half and finished with a season-low 26.8%. Mitchell and Garland combined for six of their makes.

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