Ingested Articles

Johnny Juzang’s impact at UCLA has been immediate since he transferred from Kentucky. He is the scorer and dynamic player the Bruins had been missing. The junior guard is playing his best at just the right time, leading the Bruins into the Final Four for the first time since 2008. He is projected to be the second Asian American taken in the first round of the NBA draft. He is also an inspiration for younger players at a time when hate crimes against Asian Americans are surging. Juzang says he's happy to inspire anyone, and he enjoys hearing from Asian Americans who are excited about his success. 

Pascal Siakam scored 36 points in three quarters and the Toronto Raptors routed the Golden State Warriors 130-77. Toronto won for the second time in 15 games, helped by 53.4% shooting for the game. Toronto led by 61 points when Malachi Flynn hit a short jump shot with 6:29 remaining. Gary Trent Jr. finished with 24 points and OG Anunoby added 21 points for the Raptors. Andrew Wiggins led Golden State with 15 points, all in the first half. The Warriors lost for the seventh time in eight game. Golden State was without Steph Curry and Draymond Green, a late scratch with a left finger injury.

Italian Jannik Sinner has advanced to the Miami Open final by beating Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets. The 19-year-old Sinner was playing in only his third top-level ATP event. He becomes the fourth teenager to reach the Miami men’s final, joining Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi. In the second semifinal, No. 26-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 final by beating No. 4 Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-4. Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer skipped the tournament, creating opportunities for the four semifinalists. 

A U.S. Capitol Police officer who died after a man rammed his car into him and another officer at a barricade was identified as an 18-year veteran of the force. William “Billy” Evans joined the department in 2003 and was a member of its first responders unit. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed Evans as a “martyr for our democracy,” while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was “heartbroken.” The death is the latest moment of sorrow for a department after the loss of Brian Sicknick, who clashed with rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection and died a day later, and Howard Liebengood, who committed suicide weeks later.

The drummer for Grammy Award-winning rock band Alabama Shakes says he is innocent of child abuse charges filed against him. An attorney for 35-year-old Steven William Johnson, told The Associated Press on Friday that Johnson maintains his innocence on all of the allegations. The musician was arrested last week after being indicted on charges of abuse of a child. The indictment listed no particulars about the charge. His attorneys have filed a court motion seeking more information about the accusation. The Athens, Alabama-based band has been on hiatus since 2018, when lead singer Brittany Howard decided to focus on her solo project. 

California will allow indoor concerts, theater performances and other private gatherings starting April 15. The California Department of Public Health announced the changes on Friday as the rate of people testing positive for the coronavirus nears a record low. How many people can attend events will depend on the level of restrictions in place at each county. And capacity will increase if people can show proof they are fully vaccinated. The governor's office says the plan gives an incentive for more people to get vaccinated, but also prompts questions about health privacy and equity.

President Joe Biden on Friday lifted sanctions that Donald Trump had imposed on two top officials of the International Criminal Court, undoing one of the past administration's more aggressive moves targeting international institutions and officials. Secretary of State Antony Blinken…

Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle will miss Friday’s game at the New York Knicks after testing positive for COVID-19 the morning of the game. Carlisle says he has been fully vaccinated since January and wasn’t experiencing any symptoms. The 61-year-old was hopeful it was a false positive and he would still be able to coach against New York. The official word that Carlisle was out came just a few minutes before tipoff. Assistant Jamahl Mosley is filling in.

About 25 million Americans will be eligible for more money in food assistance under new guidelines from the Biden administration. The change announced late Thursday ensures the lowest-income households can access up to $95 in additional monthly emergency food assistance benefits approved by Congress last year. Previously, people already receiving the maximum benefit amount pre-coronavirus weren't eligible for more. The United States Department of Agriculture also settled a lawsuit Thursday brought by two Californians who could not access extra benefits. The USDA estimates the policy change will send out roughly $1 billion more in extra monthly benefits nationwide.

Authorities say a piece of burning rocket debris seen streaking across the Pacific Northwest sky last week crashed on a farm in eastern Washington state. The Tri-City Herald reports that a farmer discovered a nearly intact piece of the rocket in a field. A Grant County sheriff’s spokesman says no one was hurt when the roughly 5-foot composite-overwrapped pressure vessel hit the ground and left a dent. Foreman says SpaceX officials confirmed it was part of the rocket and have since picked it up. 

Matt Harvey gets another fresh beginning in Boston on Saturday when he’s scheduled to take the mound for the Baltimore Orioles. The 2013 NL All-Star was one of the game’s best pitchers for the New York Mets early in his career but that success was derailed by injuries and ineffectiveness. The 32-year-old right-hander bounced between the Reds, Angels and Royals after leaving the Mets but has mostly struggled. Elsewhere in baseball, MLB's All-Star game needs a new home after the event was pulled by the league from Atlanta. The move is a response to Georgia enacting a new law last month restricting voting rights.

As former Officer Derek Chauvin stands trial in George Floyd’s death, a central question is whether he followed the Minneapolis Police Department’s guidelines on the use of force — and used that force reasonably. The department’s longest-tenured officer sharply questioned Chauvin’s actions, at one point calling it “totally unnecessary” for Chauvin to have restrained Floyd as he did for so long. Lt. Richard Zimmerman on Friday noted a range of actions on the use-of-force continuum that ranges from simply showing up in uniform, to talking to a person, to using deadly force. He says once a person is handcuffed and less combative, officers may simply talk to calm them down. Outside experts have also questioned officers' handling of Floyd, who was accused of passing a counterfeit bill.

A rural New York zoo says the giraffe that became a sensation when her 2017 pregnancy and delivery were livestreamed has been euthanized because of advancing arthritis. A statement from  Animal Adventure Park's veterinarians says 20-year-old April the giraffe started showing signs of mobility problems last summer, and veterinary imaging showed she had arthritis in her left hind leg. The vets say they tried many things to slow the disease's progression, but it became so severe that they couldn't control her comfort. April attracted a huge online audience as she carried her fourth calf in 2017 at the privately owned zoo in Harpursville, a village about 130 miles northwest of New York City.

The agency that investigates Chicago police shootings says it will release the body camera video of an officer fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy earlier this week. Ephraim Eaddy, a spokesman for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, said Friday that after researching the question of whether the release would be legal, the video will be released to the family of Adam Toledo and then the public. He said he did not know when that would be, only that it would be soon. The boy was shot after a brief foot chase ended with an “armed confrontation.” 

Teams in the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are using concierge-like services to deal with life inside the bubble. The NCAA and local organizing groups in Indianapolis and San Antonio have set up ambassador programs and item-delivery services. Those help players, officials and others working inside what the NCAA calls a “controlled environment" at hotels. On the men's side, the requests have included cellphone cords, dress pants and even an ukulele. Teams still alive in both tournaments are now pushing nearly three weeks those bubble-like conditions.

President Joe Biden has ordered that U.S. flags at the White House be lowered to half-staff until April 6 in honor of a U.S. Capitol Police officer who was killed Friday after a man rammed a car into a security checkpoint. Biden says he and first lady Jill Biden are heartbroken over the death of officer William Evans, an 18-year veteran of the Capitol Police force. A second Capitol police officer was injured in the attack, while the suspect was killed. Friday’s incident comes about three months after the Jan. 6 insurrection that killed a Capitol police officer and four other people.

UCLA has more national championships than any other program in men's basketball history. But the Bruins are the underdog in Saturday night's Final Four game against top-seeded Gonzaga. They are listed as 14-point underdogs. That is the biggest spread in the Final Four in 25 years. UCLA coach Mick Cronin says he is simply trying to tell his team it will be a challenge to beat the Bulldogs. So far, the Bruins have beaten a bunch of other teams that were favored against them. The winner advances to the title game against either Baylor or Houston.

We should’ve moved on from the issue of whether to pay or not to pay at least some college athletes. Given the billions that are generated by massive television deals and 90,000-seat stadiums _ not to mention those pesky antitrust laws _ it should be accepted by all sides that some sort of compensation is not only fair, but inevitable. At this point, the discussion needs to be moving on to more complex questions, such as: Who gets paid? How much should they receive? What can be done to ensure gender equality? Will non-revenue sports survive? 

It was fitting that Kevin Love and Matthew Dellavedova returned to the Cavs at the same time. The longtime teammates made comebacks Thursday night in Cleveland's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. And while the Cavs have lost five of six, having Love and Dellavedova back in the lineup has the team believing it can make a late playoff push. Love played in just his fifth game because of a severe calf strain and scored 13 points in 20 minutes. Dellavedova made his season debut after a concussion and appendectomy.