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ATLANTA (AP) — After a season of jarring change and inconsistent play, the Atlanta Hawks appear to be coming together at just the right time.

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The Hawks won their seventh straight game — the team's longest streak since the 2021-22 season and best active run in the NBA — by holding off the woeful Dallas Mavericks124-112on Tuesday night.

It wasn't pretty, but was just the kind of effort the Hawks needed as they try to escape a fifth straight trip to the play-in tournament.

"We're becoming more mature," saidNickeil Alexander-Walker, who scored 29 points against the Mavericks. "The way we've won some of these games in this stretch have been really good, because we're proving that we can respond in the middle, like that adjustment period that needs to be made. We're handling runs better. Our unity is more cohesive as a group, and it shows."

Cohesive would not be a word to describe this season. The Hawks came in with high hopes, but injuries and illnesses deprived them of key players Trae Young and Kristaps Porzingis for long stretches. Atlanta struggled at home and tumbled under .500 with a seven-game skid in December.

BothYoungandPorzingishave since been traded away, signaling yet another new era for a franchise that has largely been a remote outpost on the NBA landscape.

Atlanta is now led by Jalen Johnson, who made his first All-Star Game appearance this season, joined by Alexander-Walker andDyson Daniels.

All three came up big in the latest victory, in which the Hawks struggled to put away a Dallas team in full tanking mode with 18 losses in its last 20 games.

But, after the Mavericks tied the game at 97 with just over nine minutes remaining, the Hawks took control. Alexander-Walker hit back-to-back 3-pointers that essentially sealed the victory.Johnson had 27 pointsand eight assists. Daniels contributed 14 points and 10 assists while stifling Dallas rookie star Cooper Flagg.

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"We found a way to get stops, found a way to band together," Alexander-Walker said.

Alexander-Walker has blossomed in his first season with the Hawks after spending much of his career in a backup role.

He credited his teammates for giving "me that confidence to just continue to shoot, continue to play the game, make the reads. Their reactions to whether or not that was a great (read) or not have been a relief to me. To just be able to play and not look over my shoulder, I just feel free."

Already recognized for his defensive prowess, Daniels has assumed many of the playmaking duties once held by Young, recording 50 assists with just four turnovers in the last seven games.

"Dyson has been huge for us, not just during this winning streak but over the whole year," Johnson said. "Dyson brings pretty much every aspect to the game. He's somebody who's always willing to get better, always willing to learn."

Before the Hawks get too carried away, it's worth noting that only one victory in their current streak has come against an opponent with a winning record.

Johnson recognizes that this team is still a work in progress. The Hawks are only ninth in the East and remained 2 1/2 games behind sixth-place Miami for the final guaranteed playoff spot.

"We're not focused on the winning streak. That's not the end goal," Johnson said. "The end goal is to make a playoff push."

AP NBA:https://apnews.com/NBA

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Ronda Rousey says her bout with Gina Carano on May 16 is the biggest fight that can be made in mixed martial arts, and they're both thrilled to end their lengthy retirements for thislong-awaited showdown.

Rousey and Carano made their first public appearance on Tuesday to promote their comeback bout at Intuit Dome, Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer's sparkling new arena.

While Carano expressed gratitude and excitement about her first fight in 17 years, the ever-feisty Rousey sees the bout as the opening strike in an attempt to challenge the UFC "monolith" for dominance in the sport.

"This is the biggest fight in MMA right now," Rousey said. "There are no two people in this sport with more international name recognition than me and Gina — except Conor (McGregor), but no one is going to sanction that. This isn't a charity card. This isn't a throwback, nostalgia card. This is the biggest fight in the sport right now, and it needed to happen now. This is fate between us. We have been on a collision course ever since I sat on a couch watching her on TV, just in complete awe what this woman was doing."

Both fighters were pioneers in the nascent days of women's MMA. Carano was the sport's biggest early television star in the 2000s — and Rousey said she became aware of the sport by watching Carano, eventually picking it up and honing the talent that single-handedly persuaded the UFC to create women's divisions in the 2010s.

But the sport accelerated past the MMA icons, who both moved on to entertainment careers after their star power appeared to exceed their cage abilities. Carano, who turns 44 next month, hasn't fought at all since 2009, while the 39-year-old Rousey last competed in 2016 before having two children.

Both fighters say they had never fully given up on MMA, and this bout was too tantalizing to pass up.

"We only get to live once, and this makes me feel so alive," said Carano, who also revealed for the first time that she has married her longtime partner, muay thai fighter Kevin Ross. "It's pretty incredible and surreal to be here today. It's healing. It's exciting. It's everything I could have hoped for. I didn't know I needed this so bad."

Rousey and Carano have finally decided to return for a fight that's been anticipated and predicted for many years, despite their long career detours.

Carano said that while she never formally retired, she was persuaded to return after lengthy conversations with Rousey, who was nine months pregnant when she initially proposed the bout in December 2024. Rousey had no interest in fighting for several years while focused on professional wrestling and her family with former UFC heavyweight Travis Browne, but she got the itch after helping her coach in judo training.

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Rousey said she retired a decade ago not because of back-to-back losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, but because of neurological issues "that I didn't really have any clarity about, and it just hurt to be around (the sport)."

Carano also said she has been through several years of medical problems before feeling good enough recently to entertain a return to fighting.

"We both need to rewrite our own endings together," Rousey said. "So I reached out to her, and it's been such a journey to get here. So many obstacles. So many people tried to get between us. We went from barely knowing each other to being like, 'You know what? We're going to fight each other.'"

As to those obstacles, Rousey sharply criticized the UFC for a financial offer that she says was much smaller than what they'll get fromNetflixand Jake Paul's promotional company.

Rousey initially wanted to make her comeback with MMA's dominant promotion on its final pay-per-view card, but she sees the UFC's offer as part of a corporate sickness in the company for which she made untold millions.

Rousey said she still loves UFC President Dana White, but the promotion's corporate overlords have strangled fighter pay. Rousey even joined the sport-wide criticism of the fights announced for the high-profile UFC show at the White House this summer.

"Now it's become about changing the entire landscape of the sport and challenging the monolith that the UFC has become," Rousey said. "Of course, I just wanted to do something fun. I don't have to change the world, but that's the way that we do it. I'm so happy that we're here, and I'm so grateful that Gina trusted me."

The Netflix show is being promoted by YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul's Most Valuable Promotions, but Rousey made it clear she is heavily involved in the promotional end. Paul hopes to promote many more MMA shows in the future, and Rousey said she hopes to fill MVP's version of White's role in the company.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou also will appear on the card, fighting 40-year-old Philipe Lins. The 39-year-old Ngannou left the Professional Fighters League last week, and he said MVP's initial plan was for him to fight Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven before heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk made a deal tofight Verhoeven in Egypt.

AP sports:https://apnews.com/sports

TheNortheast Conference Tournamentends Tuesday night, but the conference has already determined who it will send to theNCAA Tournamentbefore tipoff in the final.

Long Islandwill be inMarch Madness, punching the first official ticket of 2026 after defeatingWagneron Saturday, March 7 in theNEC tournament semifinals. The conference regular-season champion Sharks clinched the spot even though they haven't won the tournament title yet, thanks to who they will face in the championship game.

March Madness automatic bids:Who is in NCAA tournament field of 68?

It will be Long Island vs.Mercyhurstin the NEC title, but Mercyhurst isn't eligible for the NCAA Tournament. Since it made the finalwith a winoverStonehill, it paved the way for the other participant to get the automatic bid.

Why Mercyhurst isn't eligible for NCAA Tournament?

Mercyhurst isn't able to be in March Madness because it is in the middle of its transition to Division I.

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The Lakers officially made the jump from Division II to Division I in July 2024, starting the mandatory four-year process under NCAA rules. It means Mercyhurst isn't eligible for the NCAA Tournament until the 2027-28 season.

Another NEC team is going through a similar process in Le Moyne. The Dolphins made the jump in July 2023 and aren't able to make the NCAA Tournament until the 2026-27 season.

There was a scenario in place where Mercyhurst and Le Moyne made the NEC conference championship game. If both of those teams would have made it, then there would have been a game between the two losing semifinalists to determine who gets the automatic spot.

Long Island will have the chance to leave no doubt in their selection by winning the conference title. The Sharks and Lakers will play on Tuesday, March 10 for the NEC crown.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Why Mercyhurst can't make March Madness if it beats LIU for NEC title

Texas is set to executea death row inmatewho fatally stabbed his girlfriend and her 8-year-old son in a fit of rage before he turned the knife on her 12-year-old son, who miraculously survived the attack.

Cedric Ricks, 51, is set to be executed by lethal injection on Wednesday, March 11, for the murder of 30-year-old Roxann Sanchez and her 8-year-old Anthony. Ricks stabbed them both repeatedly after he got into an argument with Sanchez on May 1, 2013.

Ricks also attacked Sanchez's 12-year-old Marcus with just as much fury, stabbing him repeatedly in the back of the head. But the boy was able to survive by pretending to make the same gurgling sound he heard his younger brother make just before Ricks stopped stabbing him, according to court records.

It was "a nightmarish episode of brutality," the Texas Attorney General's Officesaid in a recent filingin theU.S. Supreme Court.

Although he survived the merciless attack, Marcus had witnessed his mother's and brother's murder, and had to recount the horror during Ricks' murder trial. A 9-month-old son shared by Ricks and Sanchez was left unharmed.

Here's what to know about Ricks' execution.

When is Cedric Ricks' execution?

Cedric Ricks is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday, March 11, in what's known as the Huntsville Unit at a state prison just outside of Houston.

If Ricks' execution moves forward as expected, he will bethe sixth inmateexecuted in the U.S. this year andthe second in Texas.

What was Cedric Ricks convicted of?

On May 1, 2013, Cedrick Ricks and his girlfriend Roxann Sanchez got into an argument that quickly turned physical, according to court records.

Sanchez's two sons from a previous marriage, 8-year-old Anthony and 12-year-old Marcus, tried to intervene by getting between the couple but Ricks was too powerful. He pushed the boys down and continued punching their mother before he ran to get a knife from the kitchen.

Ricks then began stabbing Sanchez while Marcus ran to call police. Ricks ran the boy down, began stabbing him and then began stabbing Anthony.

After the attack, Ricks put the knife back in the kitchen, showered, packed some clothes, put his 9-month old son Isaiah into his crib and left the apartment. Police later tracked him down to Oklahoma and arrested him.

A jury found Ricks guilty of capital murder following a two-week trial during which Marcus testified against him.

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"He held my head down with one hand and stabbed me with the other hand," the boy testified, according to an archived story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "He stabbed me a bunch of times. He didn't say anything."

Ricks also testified, telling the jurors deciding his fate that he wanted to die.

"I wish I could bring them back," he told the court, according to the Star-Telegram. "But I can't fix this ... I don't want everybody to look at me like I'm a monster. I tried to kill myself two or three times but I can't even do that right."

Who is Cedric Ricks?

A native of Chicago, Ricks moved to Texas three years before the murders after losing his job.

In addition to the son he shared with Roxann Sanchez, he also fathered another son during a previous relationship that also was abusive. His ex-wife, Teshana Singleton, testified that Ricks tried to kill her multiple times before their divorce in 2004, including once when he was beating and choking her before bystanders intervened, the Star-Telegram reported in a 2013 story.

Five months before he murdered Sanchez and her son, the Star-Telegram reported that Ricks had been charged with assault and injury to a child for choking her and getting rough with their baby. Sanchez had gotten an emergency protective order against Ricks but it expired four months before the murder, the newspaper reported.

Ricks' parents testified that their son had always been prone to violence and that they did everything they could think of to get him help, including therapists, commitment to a psychiatric facility and physical punishment. But nothing stuck.

In letters to his sons from death row, Ricks wrote of some of his regrets but offered little explanation for the violence he committed,according to a bookwritten by a friend called "These Dry Bones, Redemption from Death Row."

"Sometimes I wake up kicking and screaming for what I have done to you," he wrote to his sons. "I can't say sorry enough for what I've done ... My prayer is that you can forgive me. My prayer is that you both will carry on the legacy of who I have become in Christ, and not who I use to be."

Ricks' attorneys are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution,arguing in a recent filingthat trial prosecutors eliminated jurors based on their race in violation of his constitutional rights. The state is rejecting that argument and saying that it amounts to a delay tactic.

When is the next execution in the U.S.?

The next execution in the U.S. is that ofMichael Kingin Florida on March 17. He was convicted of raping and killingDenise Amber Lee, a 21-year-old mother of two who also was the daughter of a local county sheriff's sergeant.

Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter who covers cold case investigations, breaking news and the death penalty for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Texas to execute inmate for 'nightmarish' murder of girlfriend, son

PresidentDonald Trump'spick for a senior role at the State Department said Tuesday that he is withdrawing from consideration after havingfaced bipartisan backlashover his comments about race and religion.

Jeremy Carl, a conservative political commentator, said he was backing out of his nomination to be assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs because of a lack of support from Republican senators.

Carl needed unanimous support from all GOP members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to advance to a full Senate confirmation vote. Republicans on the panel hold a 12-10 majority, so any GOP vote against him would stall his nomination at 11-11 since tie votes do not advance to the Senate floor.

"Unfortunately, at this time this unanimous support was not forthcoming," Carlwrote on X.

"I accept that political reality, and do not wish to have the President, Secretary Rubio, or the rest of his team waste valuable time and energy attempting to change that decision," he added.

Members of the Foreign Relations Committee grilled Carl last month during his confirmation hearing, with some focusing on his past comments on race and religion.

Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said in a statement after the hearing that he did not believe Carl was the "right person to represent our nation's best interests in international forums," adding that Carl's "anti-Israel views and insensitive remarks about the Jewish people" were "unbecoming."

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The post Carl was nominated for involves implementing U.S. policy at the United Nations and other multilateral organizations.

During the hearing, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., referred to comments by Carl and asked, "How you define white identity and what you think is being erased about white identity?"

Carl responded, in part: "I am concerned with the majority common American culture that we had for some time, that through, particularly, mass immigration I think has become much more balkanized, and I think that weakens us. And again, I'm not running away from that comment."

Murphy later posted a clip of the exchangeon social mediaand called Carl a "legit white nationalist."

Carl pushed back against that post,responding on Xthat he is "not a White nationalist," that "the 'White culture' then that I was referring to was simply the culture of the overwhelming majority of Americans who lived here prior to" 1965 and that "Americans of *every* race or cultural background can ultimately share in and contribute to that culture."

Carl, a senior fellow at the conservative Claremont Institute think tank in Washington, was deputy assistant interior secretary during Trump's first term. He thanked Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their continued support and nomination in his post Tuesday.

"The fact that they chose to nominate me and were so supportive of my candidacy was one of many indications that this is an administration that was not satisfied to simply do business as usual nor to simply pick nominees from the same stable of 'business as usual' possibilities," he wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.

About 140 U.S. service members have been wounded in the first 10 days ofconflict with Iran, according to thePentagon.

"The vast majority of theseinjurieshave been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said. Eight U.S. service members are currently "severely injured," Parnell added.

The new figure is the first insight into the broader toll of injuries that have been sustained by U.S. troops in the wake of a barrage of retaliatory rocket and drone strikes from Iran that have alsoclaimed the lives of seven soldiersin Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

At least 1,230 people have been killed in Iran since the war began, at least 397 in Lebanon and 12 in Israel, according to officials.

Iran's attacks on oil infrastructure and pledges to choke off a vital waterway left markets on edge Tuesday as the United States promised blistering new strikes. The war entered its 11th day with no end in sight as its effects were felt across the Middle East and beyond.

Iran launched new attacks against Israel and Gulf Arab countries, while Israel carried out waves of airstrikes on Iran and Lebanon, where it is battling Hezbollah militants.

Residents of Tehran said they had experienced some of the heaviest strikes of the war, leading to electricity cuts in many neighborhoods of the capital. One resident said his area shook for a half hour from strikes overnight and into Tuesday.

A 27-year-old mother of a toddler said she witnessed a residential building get hit. She and others reached by The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity to prevent reprisals. Tens of thousands of Iranians have sought shelter in the countryside.

Death toll rises in the Gulf

The United Arab Emirates reported two more deaths as nine drones struck the country, while nearly three dozen other drones and missiles were intercepted. Firefighters battled a blaze in the industrial city of Ruwais — home to petrochemical plants — after an Iranian drone strike, officials said. No injuries were reported there.

Iranian attacks on the wealthy Gulf country — home to the business and travel hub of Dubai — have killed six people and wounded 122 others since the U.S. and Israel launched a surprise bombardment of Iran on Feb. 28.

In Bahrain, authorities said an Iranian attack hit a residential building in the capital, Manama, killing a 29-year-old woman and wounding eight people. Bahrain's Defense Ministry says it has intercepted over 100 ballistic missiles and 175 drones since the war began.

Sirens also sounded in Jerusalem, and sounds of explosions could be heard in Tel Aviv as Israel's air defenses worked to intercept barrages from Iran. Hezbollah, which began firing on Israel after the start of the war, launched missiles into Israel.

US and Iranian leaders trade threats

At the Pentagon, Hegseth warned that Tuesday "will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran: The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, intelligence more refined and better than ever." He added that the last 24 hours had seen the fewest Iranian missiles fired since the start of the war.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces hit more than 5,000 targets.

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Iran's leaders have remained defiant after days of heavy strikes targeting the country's leadership, military, ballistic missiles and disputed nuclear program. Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said on X that Iran was "definitely not looking for a ceasefire."

"We believe that the aggressor should be punched in the mouth so that he learns a lesson so that he will never think of attacking our beloved Iran again," he said.

A top Iranian security official, Ali Larijani, appeared to threaten Trump himself, writing on X that "Iran doesn't fear your empty threats. Even those bigger than you couldn't eliminate Iran. Be careful not to get eliminated yourself." Iran has been accused of plotting attempts to kill Trump in the past.

Attacks on oil aimed at pressuring the US

Iran has repeatedly targeted energy infrastructure with attacks that appear aimed at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the U.S. and Israel to end their strikes. It has also fired on Israel and U.S. military bases in the region.

Brent crude, the international standard, spiked to nearly $120 on Monday before falling back but was still at around $90 a barrel on Tuesday, nearly 24% higher than when the war started on Feb. 28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average drifted lower initially on Tuesday, but turned positive as oil prices sank and hopes rose that wealthy industrialized countries could tap into strategic reserves.

Iran has effectively stopped tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil is carried. Attacks on merchant ships near the strait have killed at least seven sailors, according to the International Maritime Organization.

Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it "will not allow the export of even a single liter of oil from the region to the hostile side and its partners until further notice."

Trump warned on social media that "If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far."

A bulk carrier likely came under attack on Tuesday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, with the captain reporting a splash and a loud bang nearby, according to a monitoring center run by the British military.

Amin Nasser, the president and CEO of Saudi Arabia's oil giant Aramco, said tankers were being rerouted to avoid the strait, and that its East-West pipeline would reach its full capacity of 7 million barrels a day being brought to the Red Sea port of the Yanbu this week.

"The situation at the Strait of Hormuz is blocking sizable volumes of oil from the whole region," he said. "If this takes a long time, that will have serious impact on the global economy."

Hundreds of thousands displaced by fighting

The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday that more than 667,000 people in Lebanon had registered as displaced — an increase of over 100,000 since a day earlier — and more than 85,000 people from Lebanon, mostly Syrians, had entered neighboring Syria.

The British government said the number of commercial flights from the UAE to the U.K. is returning to normal levels, with 32 flights operated from Dubai to Britain on Monday and another 36 scheduled Tuesday.

However, British Airways said it has suspended flights to and from Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Dubai and Tel Aviv until later this month.

Many foreign nationals have been getting out of the Persian Gulf region: Over 45,000 U.K. citizens have returned from the area since the conflict began, the British Foreign Office said, and some 40,000 people returned to the United States, according to the State Department.

A fishing tournament in Texas was shrouded in controversy Monday due to a possible cheating scandal. The Texas Game Wardens were contacted after a fisherman was accused of tampering with a bass ahead of a weigh-in.

After performing a necropsy on the fish, Texas Game Wardens found three weights in the fish's stomach, they explained in a Facebook post.

The weights did not show signs of erosion, suggesting they had been placed in the fish recently. Additionally, Texas Game Wardens reportedly found similar weights of the same style and size in the angler's boat.

That angler, Curtis Lee Daniels, was arrested and charged with "fraud in fishing tournaments." That particular crime is considered a felony since, in this instance, Daniels is alleged to have violated the law during a tournament in which the prizes exceed $10,000.

According to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department code, altering the weight of a fish "for the purpose of representing that the fish as entered in the tournament was that length or weight when caught" is a violation of the law.

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While there are some instances in which that violation can result in a misdemeanor, the nature of Daniels' alleged crime constitutes a third-degree felony charge, per Texas Parks & Wildlife Department code.

An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, except that if the offense occurred during a tournament in which any prize or combination of prizes to be awarded for any one category for which an award is given, whether the prize or prizes are to an individual or a team, is worth $10,000 or more in money or goods, the offense is a felony of the third degree.

This particular tournament, the Lake Fork Lure Co. Tournament, features over $10,000 in prizes, making Daniels' alleged violation a felony.

In the Lake Fork Lure Co. Tournament rulebook, organizers explicitly mention that any person who attempts to artificially alter a fish's weight "will be subject to prosecution under federal laws."

As part of the tournament, contestants also agree to submit to a random polygraph examination. It's unclear whether Daniels took part in that exam or if it played a role in the scandal.

If found guilty, Daniels could face two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 under Texas law.

It's far from the first time a fishing tournament has been rocked by aweight-related cheating scandal. Thesame thing happened in Ohioin 2022, where two fishermen were charged with felonies. They were eventually sentenced to "10 days local incarceration," had their fishing license suspended and were forced togive up the boat used in the tournament.