RALEIGH, N.C. -- UConn coach Dan Hurley was asked how it felt after his team rallied to a 67-59 win over Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday night.

He offered the obvious: "It felt normal."

Indeed, Friday night's win for the two-time defending national champion Huskies was their 13th straight in the tournament, tied with the 1991-93 Duke Blue Devils for the longest streak since the tournament expanded in 1985. Hurley said this year's run up to the tournament has been more dramatic -- close losses, more stress -- but the ability to keep winning showcases how special it's been.

"If it wasn't for all of my antics and viral moments," said Hurley, who's repeatedly earned attention for outspoken commentary, "there would be more focus on just what we've accomplished as a program the last three years. It's been an amazing run, one of the best runs anyone's had."

Friday's win was, Hurley said, a microcosm of UConn's 2024-25 campaign -- one far different than what the program enjoyed in the past two years.

No. 8 seed UConn led by as many as 10 points in the first half but saw No. 9 Oklahoma storm back to take the lead. And with 3:20 left in the game and without a field goal in more than three minutes, the Huskies were up just a point.

That's when Alex Karaban drained a critical 3-pointer, giving UConn a cushion it never relinquished.

"Whenever we've been able to start playing good basketball and getting separation, we've tended to shoot ourselves in the foot," Hurley said. "But the thing about this team is we're really battle tested, and we've had to fight so hard all year that we showed a lot of toughness down the stretch to execute some things and make some critical shots and make some critical stops."

UConn is one of just three programs to win back-to-back national titles, and each is playing in Raleigh this weekend. The last to double dip before UConn was Florida, whom the Huskies will face on Sunday with a ticket to the Sweet 16 at stake and a chance to set the tournament record for consecutive victories. (Duke is the other to repeat.)

"Just to be able to come here and, No. 1, to make the tournament and fight our way in, come out here and fight with some honor and get ourselves an opportunity to play one of the best teams in the country," Hurley said, "there's a lot of honor in us being able to face the last team that went back to back."

NEW YORK -- The NBA fined Brooklyn Nets swingman Trendon Watford and Indiana Pacers forward Myles Turner $35,000 each on Friday for an altercation in a game this week.

Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard also was fined $20,000 for his role in initiating the altercation in the Pacers' 105-99 overtime victory over the Nets on Thursday.

The tensions started with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter when Watford ran toward Nembhard after a made basket and hit him with a forearm to the chest. Watford also shoved Turner after he ran toward the scuffle.

Players and team personnel joined the fracas, but it did not escalate further.

Watford was assessed two technical fouls and ejected, while Turner and Nembhard were each assessed technical fouls.

Sometimes, it's about more than just basketball.

Friday night in Minneapolis was one of those times.

Among those in attendance for the Pelicans-Timberwolves game at Target Center was Jacob Ingles, the son of Minnesota veteran Joe Ingles. Jacob has autism, and earlier this week, he achieved the milestone of watching an entire game in person. The only downside: His dad didn't play.

But that changed Friday night.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch not only made sure Ingles played but he gave him his first start since Jan. 30, 2022, and Jacob -- along with his mother and two siblings -- watched proudly as his father inspired Minnesota to a 134-93 win.

"It's emotional," Finch said. "Sometimes, you have to do the human thing. And you always talk about all these minutes matter. Those minutes matter for another reason."

Finch said the idea of starting Ingles was floated to him earlier Friday.

"And I figured if we're going to do it, let's do it in style," he said.

"Guys were behind it, and I think it gave us just the right boost that we needed and a change of energy.

"It's not often you get to do those types of things, but we're really happy that we could."

Ingles finished scoreless in six minutes, but the night was about much more than a box score. He said his goal has, and will continue to be, raising awareness for autism.

"The s---'s real. It doesn't matter who you are or the lifestyle or the money," he told reporters in Minnesota.

"We'll keep doing what we do. The awareness, and we'll keep doing whatever we can to help other families. But I think people just need to understand this is a real thing. It doesn't go away with money. It doesn't go away with situations we're in. All we can do is talk about it. And then obviously for us, give Jacob the best chance to fit in in this crazy world that we're in."

Argentina didn't miss Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martínez and other key players on Friday and beat Uruguay away 1-0 in convincing fashion in their South American World Cup qualifying match.

Thiago Almada scored the winner with a powerful curled shot from the edge of the box, putting the defending champions one point away from its direct spot in the tournament next year.

Argentina leads the round robin competition with 28 points after 13 matches, and could secure its place with a home draw with Brazil on Tuesday. The team of coach Lionel Scaloni already has 15 points ahead of seventh-placed Bolívia, with only five rounds to the end of the competition.

The last time the two soccer powerhouses clashed, Argentina won 1-0 at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil is third with 21 points, one ahead of Uruguay and Paraguay. Colombia, with 19 points, has the sixth position.

The top six teams will secure direct berths to the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The seventh-place team among the 10 of the region will still have a chance to qualify through an international playoff.

 Argentina had to accommodate key absences beyond Messi. Lautaro Martínez, Lisandro Martínez, and Rodrigo De Paul did not play in Montevideo. So coach Lionel Scaloni gave a place to Giuliano Simeone in the starting lineup, with Julián Álvarez and Almada up front.

Uruguay, playing in a full Centenario Stadium against its archrival, took the initiative and had the clearest chances in the first half. But Argentina managed to hold its ground and started getting the better opportunities after halftime.

Almada's goal in the 68th minute, after Argentina had wasted several other opportunities in front of goalkeeper Sergio Rochet, still didn't push Uruguay forward as Marcelo Bielsa's team finished the match with only four shots on goal.

"I was a little anxious, very willing to play and to show why I was making the squad," said Almada, a world champion with Argentina in 2022. "Now we have to rest and wait for this match against Brazil, they will rest one more day than us."

Argentina's Nico Gonzalez will miss the match against Brazil. He was sent off after a challenge against Nahitan Nández in injury time.

Brazil has selection problems of its own for Tuesday's match at the Monumental de Nunez Stadium, as starting goalkeeper Alisson, defender Gabriel Magalhães and midfielder Bruno Guimarães are all ineligible to play.

Argentina coach Scaloni celebrated his team's performance despite so many absences.

"We made a complete match, we absorbed the pressure. When we had to play, we did it. And when we had to defend, we did it too," Scaloni said in a press conference. "I am happy not only for our win, but also for how the team behaves."

Uruguay will have a chance to recover against Bolivia on Tuesday. If the Bolivians fail to beat the Uruguayans, Argentina will qualify for the World Cup even if it loses against Brazil.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Free agent quarterback Jameis Winston announced Friday that he has agreed to sign with the New York Giants.

The deal is for two years and $8 million, sources told ESPN, confirming a report by Fox Sports.

"Start spreading the neWs," Winston posted on his X account Friday, confirming his excitement over his new football home with an apple emoji.

Start spreading the neWs

Jameis Winston (@Jaboowins) March 21, 2025

The signing comes after weeks of the Giants flirting with Aaron Rodgers and missing out on Matthew Stafford, who remained with the Los Angeles Rams on a new contract. Rodgers visited with the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier Friday, hours before New York pivoted to Winston.

It was starting to seem in recent days as if the Giants were a long shot for Rodgers, the former three-time MVP. Winston gives them a quarterback capable of starting who can also serve as a mentor to a young quarterback from the draft.

New York is still expected to add to its quarterback room this offseason despite the addition of Winston. It still needs a young quarterback, who is most likely to come in the draft. The Giants currently hold the No. 3 pick.

Co-owner John Mara said earlier this year that finding the team's quarterback of the future was the No. 1 priority this offseason. Winston and Tommy DeVito are the only two quarterbacks currently on the Giants' roster.

Winston, 31, visited with the Giants earlier in the week. This came on the heels of Joe Flacco and Russell Wilson coming to New Jersey the previous week.

Winston began the 2024 season as the backup to Deshaun Watson but took over as the Cleveland Browns' starter after Watson's season-ending right Achilles tendon tear in Week 7.

He helped spark a Browns offense that failed to reach 20 points in any of Watson's starts. Winston engineered upset victories over the Baltimore Ravens and Steelers, and he threw for a franchise-record 497 yards in a Week 13 loss to the Denver Broncos.

Winston, though, was benched in Week 16 after throwing eight interceptions in a span of three games. The Browns were 2-5 in games that Winston started. Winston finished the year completing 61.1% of his passes for 2,121 yards, 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, while also running for one score.

While working as a media correspondent at the Super Bowl, Winston asked Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley where he should sign. Barkley told him New York.

Winston later expressed his interest in the Giants.

"Would I really sign with the Giants? Absolutely!" Winston told NJ Advance Media at the time. "I want to keep playing and do what I do best."

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Winston entered the NFL as the No. 1 pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2015. After five seasons in Tampa Bay, Winston spent four seasons with the New Orleans Saints before signing with Cleveland last offseason.

In his 10-year career, Winston has appeared in 105 games with 87 starts. He has completed 61.2% of his passes for 24,225 yards, 154 touchdowns and 111 interceptions.

ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi contributed to this report.

"Big" George Foreman, one of the most influential and recognizable boxers of all time, died Friday, his family announced on his social media account.

He was 76.

Foreman, who captured an Olympic gold medal in 1968, was a two-time heavyweight champion and Hall of Fame boxer.

He's perhaps best known for the historic Rumble in the Jungle bout with Muhammad Ali in 1974 in Zaire, a fight Foreman lost in an upset via eighth-round KO. It's arguably the most famous fight of all time and the "When We Were Kings" documentary that chronicled the fight won an Oscar for best picture.

Foreman, of course, made history yet again later on in his career. He fought five more times after he lost the heavyweight championship to Ali at age 25, including another fifth-round TKO victory over Joe Frazier (whom he stopped in two rounds to first win the title) and a fifth-round KO of Ron Lyle in a classic.

After that fifth fight at 28, Foreman shockingly announced his retirement and began a career as an ordained minister in his native Texas.

Foreman was retired for 10 years. He returned in 1987 at age 38. And he went on to mount arguably the most-impressive sports comeback ever.

At first, Foreman padded his record with easy KO wins. One of them was a KO-2 of Gerry Cooney. But then, in 1991, Foreman proved this comeback was for real when he pushed the great Evander Holyfield to the brink in a classic heavyweight title fight at age 42. Though he was unsuccessful in his bid to become a two-time heavyweight champion, Foreman was undeterred.

Five fights later, following a loss to Tommy Morrison, Foreman accomplished the unthinkable.

Down on the scorecards, Foreman landed a two-punch combination that laid Michael Moorer down for the count of 10 in 1994. At age 45 and 299 days, Foreman was the unified heavyweight champion of the world, the oldest man in history to hold boxing's greatest prize (and also the oldest champion ever, a record that stood for 20 years).

"It happened," Jim Lampley called on the HBO broadcast. "It happened!"

Foreman went on to have a successful career alongside Lampley as an HBO boxing analyst. But his greatest success following his in-ring career was yet to come.

The same year Foreman defeated, he launched his eponymous grill. He went on to sell more than 100 million grills worldwide.

In 1999, he sold the commercial rights to the George Foreman grill for $138 million.

Foreman's final fight came in November 1997, a majority-decision loss to Shannon Briggs.

He held his role with HBO as a ringside analyst for 12 years, ending in 2004.

The Ring named Foreman the ninth-greatest puncher of all time and in 2002, one of the top 25 best boxers of the past 80 years.

In a statement, Top Rank called Foreman "one of the biggest punchers and personalities the sport as ever seen."

"George was a great friend to not only myself but to my entire family," Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. "We've lost a family member and are absolutely devastated."

The Boston Celtics said Friday that All-Star forward Jaylen Brown will miss at least two games after he was diagnosed with a bone bruise with posterior impingement in his right knee.

Brown sat out Friday night's game against the Utah Jazz and will miss Sunday's matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers. The Jazz game in Salt Lake City was the start of a six-game road trip for the reigning NBA champions.

Brown will be reevaluated Monday, the team said.

Boston (50-19) entered Friday firmly in second place in the Eastern Conference, six games behind the first-place Cleveland Cavaliers and seven ahead of the third-place New York Knicks.

Brown is averaging 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists this season, playing in 56 of the Celtics' 69 games.

The Baltimore Orioles signed right-hander Kyle Gibson to a one-year contract Friday, the club announced, reuniting with the veteran to reinforce their rotation less than a week from Opening Day.

The deal is worth $5.25 million with $1.525 million more in possible incentives, a source told ESPN.

Gibson, 37, returns to the Orioles after being a reliable option in 2023 for their upstart 101-win club. He went 15-9 with a 4.73 ERA in 33 outings that season as the Orioles won the American League East for the first time since 2014 and reached the postseason for the first time in seven years.

This time, Gibson joins a roster -- highlighted by a talented young core of position players --- with lofty preseason expectations. The rotation is, on paper, the team's weak link.

Corbin Burnes left in free agency over the winter after posting a 2.92 ERA in 32 starts and finishing fifth in AL Cy Young voting in his only season with the Orioles. The team didn't acquire an ace to replace him, instead signing Charlie Morton, 41, and Tomoyuki Sugano, 35, to one-year deals for a combined $28 million.

The rotation took another hit earlier this month when Grayson Rodriguez, the team's anticipated No. 1 starter, was shut down because of elbow inflammation. He will start the season on the injured list.

Gibson does not project as a No. 1 starter, but he should provide stability. A first-round pick in 2009, Gibson has made at least 25 starts in each of his 10 full major league seasons -- and at least 29 starts in nine of the 10.

He went 8-8 with a 4.24 ERA in 30 outings for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2024, finishing the year with 169 innings pitched. Meanwhile, besides Burnes, the Orioles didn't have a pitcher log more than 133 innings.

However, in his first match in Miami since 2019, the 37-year-old showed no signs of being distracted as Hijikata was swiftly swatted aside.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion broke in the second game of the match and never looked back, winning the first set to love in 28 minutes.

It was more of a contest in the second, but Djokovic dominated in the tie-break to move a step closer to a seventh Miami Open title.

"I was playing really well, I mean on a very high level from the beginning, I knew exactly what I wanted to do tactically," he said.

"Obviously it's just the first match but the way I felt on the court and the way I played is really encouraging."