Oklahoma City will trade forward Jerami Grant to the Nuggets for a 2020 first-round draft pick, ESPN reported Monday. According to the report, the trade saves the Thunder $39 million in salary and luxury tax. It marks the sixth first-round pick the Thunder has obtained this week — the team secured five future first-rounders when it traded Paul George to the Clippers. Grant is under contract for the next two seasons and will have a player option for the 2020-21 season, according to ESPN....

Following a nearly two-month ordeal full of odd reports and rumors, the Timberwolves agreed to send Butler and Justin Patton to the Sixers in exchange for Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless and a 2022 second-round pick. The last straw was a five-game road trip that ended with a 121-110 loss to the Kings in which Butler scored only 13 points in 41 minutes. The defeat in Sacramento prompted Wolves president of basketball operations and head coach Tom Thibodeau to finally pull the plug on the failing Butler experiment....

The “Today” co-host announced on the air Tuesday that she is pregnant with her second child and has been advised not to travel to Brazil. MORE: Rio Olympics venues | Medical experts want Games moved or postponed “I’m not going to be able to go to Rio,” she said. “The doctors say that we shouldn’t because of the Zika virus.” Women who are pregnant or may soon become pregnant are most at-risk for Zika, which has been linked to birth defects in babies....

Avent, speaking to reporters following his team’s 3-1 loss to Vanderbilt on Friday, said his job was to teach baseball and make sure his players got an education — not to inform them whether to get the vaccine. He also declined to say if he himself was vaccinated. “I’m not going to talk about that,” Avent said (via USA TODAY). “If you want to talk baseball, we can talk baseball....

The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee announced the decision, which was made on the recommendation of local health officials in Omaha, Neb., about 12 hours before the Wolfpack (37-19) were to face defending champion Vanderbilt for a place in this year’s finals. That game was declared a no-contest, and Vanderbilt was declared the winner of its bracket. The Commodores will meet Mississippi State or Texas in Game 1 of the best-of-three final series Monday....

The Wildcats, winners of the Big East Tournament, obtained their second national championship in the past three seasons with a convincing win over Big Ten Champion Michigan Monday night in San Antonio. MORE: Get Villanova 2018 National Championship gear Relive all the key moments from the big game below. NCAA championship live updates, highlights Villanova 79, Michigan 62 Villanova captures its second national championship in the last three years behind a moster performance from Most Outstanding Player sophomore Donte DiVincenzo....

As a result, Missouri will be forced to vacate all of its 23 wins during the 2013-14 season and to pay a $5,000 penalty to the NCAA. MORE: See SN’s midseason hoops award winners According to the NCAA’s findings, two Mizzou donors provided extra benefits to basketball players. The NCAA served Missouri with a verbal Notice of Inquiry on April 14, 2014. Four days later, Haith announced he was taking the vacant head coaching job at Tulsa....

The meetings previously were held in Indianapolis, home of the NCAA headquarters, and Kansas City. The move to the Big Apple will surely add to the buildup for the most anticipated tournament in all of sports — as if it needed it. MORE: Most shocking tourney upsets | Unbreakable Final Four records “Our motivation behind this change is simple. We want even more focus on selection week, which will give March Madness considerable momentum heading into the best three weeks of the year,” said Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, chairman of the committee....

New Mexico happens to be one of the few states without an anti-hazing law. These laws generally make it a crime to engage in hazing and define the activity as forced physical activity, forced consumption of food or beverage, forced engagement in risky behavior, or deprivation of sleep, food, or drink. In states with the law, hazing might be a severe misdemeanor or a lower-class felony. Some states also have safe-harbor laws for reporting incidents of hazing....

March Madness is arguably one of the greatest sporting events of the year and unquestionably features the two greatest days on the annual sporting calendar. In short it is the perfect time of year. MORE: Potential bracket busters | 10 best teams without Final Four appearance | Seven worst ways Kentucky can lose In order to maximize March Madness intake, you need help, which is why the Sporting News is here....

Odds for this season’s college basketball title opened in Las Vegas on April 8, just one day after UConn defeated Kentucky to win the 2014 NCAA Tournament championship. The deadline for players to enter the NBA Draft came almost three weeks later on April 28, leaving oddsmakers with a better idea of each school’s roster. Arizona, which opened as the 2015 NCAA Tournament favorite at 6-to-1, saw its number rise to 15-to-1 when top players Aaron Gordon and Nick Johnson announced their intentions to leave for the NBA....

MORE: NCAA Tournament scoreboard | Vegas lines and pick | Hampton coach Steve Merfeld’s take Iowa State Cyclones (25-8) No. 3 seed, South Region Coach: Fred Hoiberg (fifth season) Bid: Big 12 tournament champions Starting lineup G Monte Morris, 6-2, So., 11.5 ppg, 5.4 apg G Bryce Dejean-Jones, 6-5 Sr. 11.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg F Jameel McKay, 6-9, Jr., 11.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg F Dustin Hogue, 6-6, Sr., 10.1 ppg, 4....

Arizona will face Wisconsin in Saturday's regional final at 8:49 p.m. ET, while Florida will take on Dayton at 6:09 p.m. ET. Which teams join the Flyers, Badgers, Wildcats and Gators in the Elite Eight? MORE: Updated bracket | Sweet 16 photos | Unexpected heroes ahead? GONE FINAL No. 1 Arizona 70, No. 4. San Diego State 64 (box score): San Diego State outplayed Arizona in the first half, yet only led by four points....

Computer simulations suggest Neanderthals were already on the brink of extinction and had been for hundreds of thousands of years when—due to one unfortunate event or another—they were pushed over the edge. Small populations and inbreeding may have primed the species for extinction so that random demographic fluctuations was all that was needed to wipe them out for good. This means that while their extinction may have taken place 40,000 years ago, around the same time anatomically modern humans started their migrations to Europe and the Near East, the two events might not be all that interlinked....

According to the sheriff’s office, a computer system went down on Thursday, March 24, and the problem persisted through the weekend, resulting in the release of some inmates from the joint processing center. Andy Kahan, victim services director for Crime Stoppers of Houston, explained to KPRC 2 that what caused the general release of so many people is the requirement that a defendant receives a probable cause hearing by 24 hours for a misdemeanor or 48 hours for a felony after arrest....

Nearly 5 million global infections were reported from December 20 to 26. The biggest increase was seen in the Americas, with cases rising by 39 percent. Around 1.48 million cases were recorded in the region with an infection rate of 144.4 new cases per 100,000 residents. The United States, in particular, reported more than 1.18 million cases during the time period. Canada had the second-highest amount of cases with 78,847, while Argentina came in third place with 65,966 new infections....

Fifty-eight percent of workers say they won’t be able to pay rent, buy groceries or take care of bills if quarantined for 30 days or less, according to a new survey from the Society for Human Research Management (SHRM) released Wednesday morning. One in five workers said they’d be unable to meet those basic financial needs in less than one week under quarantine. “This has a real impact on people’s lives and it’s creating a level of stress that cannot be overstated,” said Johnny C....

About 65 percent of U.S. registered voters of all political affiliations say Trump will “definitely” or “probably will” defeat whoever the ultimate Democratic challenger is against him in the general election. The CBS News/YouGov poll conducted between February 20-22 revealed that Republicans are far more confident than Democrats, with 90 percent of GOP registered voters expecting Trump to win re-election. Just over one-third of registered voters surveyed days prior to the Nevada caucuses say Trump “definitely will not” or “probably will not” be victorious in the general election....

Now with his cancer is remission, Avery has been able to spend more time with his father’s team. After the Huskers beat Illinois 53-43 on Sunday, Avery joined the team on the podium to field questions during the postgame press conference. MORE: Wisconsin upset | Duke goes down | Hypothetical mid-season trades “They did super awesome [in] the game tonight,” Avery proclaimed after being asked about his favorite play. “I was so proud....

The Cornhuskers have renamed one of its 85 athletic scholarships to the Sam Foltz Memorial Scholarship, which will be presented to a player who “embodied Foltz’ traits of leadership, excellence in the community and in the classroom.” MORE: Preseason Top 25 | Top 10 Cornhuskers of all time The player who earned the scholarship this year will be recognized before the Cornhuskers’ home opener against Fresno State on Sept. 3...