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Nimari Burnett scored a career-high 31 points to lead No. 2 Michigan to a 110-69 rout of Penn State in a Big Ten contest on Thursday in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Burnett went 11 of 16 from the field overall and 7 of 10 from 3-point range while playing just 21 minutes. L.J. Cason, Trey McKenney and Morez Johnson each scored 12 points for Michigan (21-1, 11-1 Big Ten), which is now off to its best start in school history.

Michigan shot 60.6% from the field overall (40 of 66), including 51.7% from 3-point range (15 of 29), and held a 44-21 rebounding advantage.

Freddie Dilione V scored 19 points and Josh Reed and Melih Tunca each had 15 points in defeat for Penn State (10-13, 1-11), which shot 2 of 20 from 3-point range and 37.1% overall (23 of 62).

Going up against a bigger Michigan frontline was going to be challenging enough for Penn State, but the task got harder for the Nittany Lions at the beginning of the game when 7-foot freshman center Ivan Juric was ruled out with an illness.

Michigan dominated the first half, taking a 56-24 lead into the locker room. The Wolverines shot 21 of 32 from the field overall and made 7 of 13 shots from 3-point range in the half. Meanwhile, Penn State was 0 of 10 from the 3-point line in the first half.

The second half wasn't much different, as Michigan built a 42-point lead on Burnett's triple that made it 76-34 with 14:40 remaining.

The Wolverines reached the 100-point mark with 3:23 left when a 3-pointer by Will Tschetter gave Michigan a 100-59 lead.

It was the eighth time this year that Michigan has scored at least 100 points in a game.

Michigan left little doubt from the start, opening the game on a 15-2 run and going up 26-10 with 8:50 remaining in the first half.

The Wolverines later went on a 9-2 run to grab a 44-18 lead with 3:38 until halftime.

--Field Level Media

The New York Knicks reportedly could be without Miles McBride until the playoffs as the guard needs sports hernia surgery,according to The Athletic's Fred Katz.

The 25-year-old McBride has played 35 games this season and is averaging 12.9 points, 2.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds in a little over 28 minutes per night. His pending long-term absence is one reason why the Knicks went out onacquired Jose Alvarado from the New Orleans Pelicansahead of Thursday'sNBA trade deadline.

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This isn't the first injury issue for McBride this season. He missed eight games in December with a high left ankle sprain. That same ankle has caused him to sit out the Knicks' past five games as the team awaited test results.

The Knicks have won eight straight games following Wednesday's134-127 double overtime victoryover the Denver Nuggets. At 33-18, they sit second in the Eastern Conference.

On Wednesday, the Knicks acquired Dalen Terry from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Guerschon Yabusele. That moved allowed them to flip Terry to the Pelicans for help at guard with Alvarado now that McBride is seemingly sidelined until the playoffs.

Alvarado is averaging 7.9 points, 3.1 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game this season.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Hawks remained busy before the NBA trade deadline Thursday by acquiring point guard Gabe Vincent and a 2032 second-round draft pick from the Los Angeles Lakers for shooting guard Luke Kennard, a person with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press.

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Vincent adds depth at point guard in the deal, said the person, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Wednesday night because the trade had not yet received the required league approval.

Atlanta's busy trade season began with the deal which sent All-Star point guardTrae Youngto Washington for a package including guards CJ McCollum and Nickeil Alexander-Walker on Jan. 7. Vincent, 29, has played in 29 games, including seven starts, while averaging 4.8 points for the Lakers this season.

Kennard, 29, gives the Lakers a top 3-point shooting threat. Kennard has averaged 7.9 points in 46 games for Atlanta and leads the NBA with his 49.7% 3-point shooting.

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On Wednesday, the Hawks acquired centerJock Landalefrom the Utah Jazz for cash considerations and traded centerKristaps Porzingisto Golden State in exchange for forward Jonathan Kuminga and guard Buddy Hield.

Also Thursday, Atlanta requested waivers on injured centerDuop Reathand center N'Faly Dante. Dante is out for the season with a knee injury. The Hawks acquired Reath on Sunday in a trade that sent forward Vit Krejci to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Hawks also obtained second-round draft picks in 2027 and 2030 in the deal.

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

HAVANA — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the government is preparing for severe fuel shortages as he denounced the Trump administration's measures that have cut oil supplies to the island.

"It is reprehensible that a power such as the U.S. would adopt such a criminal policy against a country, as it affects food, transportation, hospitals, schools, economic production and the functioning of our vital systems," Díaz-Canel said.

"We are going to take measures that, while not permanent, will require effort. What else are we to do?" he said during a nationally televised news conference Thursday.

He said the government would roll out a contingency plan in the next week to deal with the fuel shortages.

Díaz-Canel said there is a long list of issues that can be addressed between Cuba and the U.S. He said he's willing to engage in dialogue on any issue, but without pressure or preconditions and with respect for the country's sovereignty.

He said Cubans "do not hate" and recognize the values of the North American people. But the Cuban president said they're preparing a "defense plan" and stated that Cuba is a nation of peace and not a threat to the U.S.

"We aren't in a state of war," Díaz-Canel said, "but we are preparing ourselves in case we have to move to a state of war."

During a briefing Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt repeated President Donald Trump's claims that Cuba's government is about to collapse.

"The president is always willing to engage in diplomacy and I believe that's something that's taking place, in fact, with the Cuban government," she said.

Trump said over the weekend that the U.S.is talking with "the highest people" in Cuba, something Cuba's deputy foreign minister, Carlos de Cossio, confirmed Wednesday when hetold CNNthat Cuba and the U.S. had "some exchanges of messages" that were "linked" to the highest levels of Cuba's government.

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De Cossio has reiterated inmultiple interviewsthis week that there is no official bilateral dialogue or negotiation with the U.S. right now, but they are open to dialogue if certain criteria are met.

Díaz-Canel said Cuba has not received oilshipments from Venezuelasince December. The South American country was the main provider of oil to Cuba, but that ended after the U.S. military operation that led to the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3.

In Havana, reaction to the president's upcoming contingency plan to grapple with fuel shortages was bleak.

"The future of Cuba is very dark," Frank Palomares, a publicist, said. "It's difficult for there to be changes here, and they tend to be delayed."

University student Melani Alarcon said: "We're going to be very bad off, without being able to do anything. In my case, I won't be able to study. There is no future in Cuba right now."

Trump has said he asked Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to stop oil shipments to Cuba. Mexico has been the second largest supplier of fuel to the island for years. Sheinbaum announced over the weekend that she would send food and other humanitarian aid to the island and called for diplomatic dialogue.

Since Maduro's capture, the Trump administration has turned its focus to Cuba. Trump and others in his administration have said Cuba is a "failing nation" and the government will fall.

It's unusual for the communist-run country's president to hold a news conference on short notice like he did Thursday. It reflects the mounting economic pressure Cuba is facing amid the rising tensions with the U.S.

Cuba has been in the midst of anacute economic crisisfor several years. The number of tourists arriving to the island has declined since the pandemic, and U.S. sanctions have cranked up since then. Chronic shortages in food and medicine have plagued the nation for years, andextended daily blackoutsdue to oil shortages have worsened.

Carmen Sesin reported from Miami, and Orlando Matos reported from Havana.

Thirty-one families that lost relatives in two fatal crashes ofBoeing 737 Max jetlinersasked a federal appeals court on Thursday to revive a criminal case against the aircraft manufacturer.

Paul Cassell, a lawyer for the families, urged a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturna lower court's dismissalof a criminal conspiracy charge Boeing faced for allegedly misleading Federal Aviation Administration regulators about a flight-control system tied to the crashes, which killed 346 people.

The dismissal came at therequest of the U.S. governmentafter it reached a deal with Boeing that allowed the company to avoid prosecution in exchange for paying or investing an additional $1.1 billion in fines, compensation for victims' families, and internal safety and quality measures.

Cassell said Thursday that federal prosecutors violated the families' rights by failing to properly consult them before striking the deal and shutting them out of the process.

Federal prosecutors countered that, for years, the government, "has solicited and weighed the views of the crash victims' families as it's decided whether and how to prosecute the Boeing Company."

More than a dozen family members attended Thursday's hearing in New Orleans, and Cassell said many more "around the globe" listened to a livestream of the arguments.

"I feel that there wouldn't be meaningful accountability without a trial," Paul Njoroge said in a statement after the hearing. Njoroge, who lives in Canada, lost his entire family inthe secondof the two crashes — his wife, Carolyne, their children, ages 6, 4 and 9 months, and his mother-in-law.

All passengers and crew died when the 737 Max jets crashed less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019 — a Lion Air flight thatplunged into the seaoff the coast of Indonesia and anEthiopian Airlines flight that crashedinto a field shortly after takeoff.

U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Texas, who oversaw the case for years, issued a written decision in November that described the families' arguments as compelling. But O'Connor said case law prevented him from blocking the dismissal motion simply because he disagreed with the government's view that the deal with Boeing served the public interest.

The judge also concluded that federal prosecutors hadn't acted in bad faith, had explained their decision and had met their obligations under the Crime Victims' Rights Act.

In the case of its deal withBoeing, the Justice Department had argued that given the possibility a jury might acquit the company, taking the case to trial carried a risk that Boeing would be spared anyfurther punishment.

Boeing attorney Paul Clement said Thursday that more than 60 families of crash victims "affirmatively supported" the deal and dozens more did not oppose it.

"Boeing deeply regrets" the tragic crashes, Clement said, and "has taken extraordinary steps to improve its internal processes and has paid substantial compensation" to the victims' families.

The appeals court panel that heard the arguments said it would issue a decision at a later date.

The criminal case took many twists and turns after the Justice Departmentfirst charged Boeingin 2021 with defrauding the government but agreed not to prosecute if the company paid a settlement and took steps to comply with anti-fraud laws.

However, federal prosecutorsdetermined in 2024that Boeing had violated the agreement, and the company agreedto plead guiltyto the charge. O'Connor laterrejected that plea deal, however, and directed the two sides to resume negotiations. The Justice Department returned last year with the new deal and its request towithdraw the criminal charge.

The case centered around a software system that Boeing developed for the 737 Max, which airlines began flying in 2017. The plane was Boeing's answer to a new, more fuel-efficient model from European rival Airbus, and Boeing billed it as an updated 737 that wouldn't require much additional pilot training.

But the Max did include significant changes, some of which Boeing downplayed — most notably, the addition of an automated flight-control system designed to help account for the plane's larger engines. Boeing didn't mention the system in airplane manuals, and mostpilots didn't know about it.

In both of the deadly crashes, that softwarepitched the noseof the plane down repeatedly based on faulty readings from a single sensor, and pilots flying for Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines were unable to regain control. After the Ethiopia crash, the planes were grounded worldwide for 20 months.

Investigators found thatBoeing did not informkey Federal Aviation Administration personnel about changes it had made to the software before regulators set pilot training requirements for the Max and certified the airliner for flight.

WASHINGTON — PresidentDonald Trumpplans to let a treaty that's limited how manynuclear weaponsthe United States and Russia can maintain expire, while his team works to negotiate a new deal.

The New START treaty was set to end on Feb. 5 after Trump opted against taking Russian PresidentVladimir Putinup on a voluntary one-year extension of the agreement that put caps on the number of deployable nuclear warheads and missiles.

"Rather than extend "NEW START" (A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

Some experts have saidin the lead-upto the expiration that allowing New Start to lapse could set off a new arms race, while others have argued that the treaty was not worth extending if it did not include verifiable inspections.

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Trump has said he would like to see a new deal that includes China, which has been expanding its nuclear arsenal. Heannounced last October,as he was preparing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, that the U.S. would begin testing nuclear weapons for the first time in more than three decades.

Fallout maps:See how an attack on nuclear silos would impact US cities

Contributing: Cybele Mayes-Osterman

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Trump to let US-Russia nuclear treaty expire

Charles Bediakohas a new and notable adversary in his ongoing fight to retain his college eligibility and continue to compete for theAlabama men's basketball team.

In an NCAA affidavit filed on Thursday, Feb. 5 in Tuscaloosa County (Alabama) Circuit Court, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey asked the court to side with the NCAA's eligibility rules and rule against Bediako.

"I respectfully ask the Court to uphold the NCAA eligibility rules challenged in this case, which are essential to the integrity of college sports, to the educational mission they serve, and to the opportunities they provide for current and future student-athletes," Sankey wrote in the affidavit.

REQUIRED READING:As Alabama loses with Charles Bediako, it reeks of desperation

After playing 82 games across three seasons in the G League, Bediako, who played for Alabama from 2021-23, wasgranted a temporary restraining orderagainst the NCAA on Jan. 21 by Judge James Roberts Jr. that made him immediately eligible.

Since his legal victory, Bediako has played in four games for theCrimson Tide, averaging 9.5 points, five rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. Alabama has gone 2-2 in those games, dropping them from the top 25 of theUSA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.

Roberts, an Alabama donor, has since recused himself from Bediako's eligibility case. Bediako's next hearing is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 6, one day before the Crimson Tide play on the road against archrival Auburn. The hearing will be heard by Judge Daniel Pruet.

The NCAA is arguing that Bediako's multiple professional contracts he signed since leaving Alabama after the 2022-23 season make him ineligible to return to the sport, according to the organization's longstanding eligibility rules.

REQUIRED READING:March Madness bracketology: Houston, Florida rise in NCAA tournament

Sankey agrees with the NCAA's stance, writing in the affidavit that the rules are "grounded in the principle that college athletics are reserved for current college athletes who are actively pursuing a degree while also participating in college sports and for future college athletes who seek to benefit from the unique educational, athletic, and leadership opportunities provided through college sports."

Sankey added that granting Bediako eligibility could "open the door to undermining fundamental principles."

Bediako's return to college basketball comes during a period of substantial and rapid change in the sport. The 7-footer is one of several former G League players who have been added to a college roster for this season, though Bediako's the only one who previously played on a Division I team. Former European professional players have joined teams across the country, as well.

In a message posted on social media, Darren Heitner, one of Bediako's representatives, said the NCAA has contradicted its own rules by granting eligibility to players like Santa Clara's Thierry Darlan and BYU's Abdullah Ahmed, both of whom played in the G League, and Baylor's James Nnaji, who played professionally in Europe and was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the 2023 NBA Draft.

"These waivers demonstrate selective enforcement, undermining Sankey's assertion that inconsistent application fuels disruption," Heitner wrote. "Courts in similar cases have highlighted such inconsistencies as evidence of arbitrary decision-making. Also, Sankey's reliance on outdated principles of amateurism and academic integration is not aligned with the current realities of college athletes and the proliferation of NIL deals."

Heitner added that the affidavit is "littered with conclusory statements that are not tied to specific facts or data."

Greg Sankey's emphasis on the need for consistent application of eligibility rules to avoid disruption in college sports is contradicted by the NCAA's own recent practices.As evidenced by multiple eligibility grants, the NCAA has waived similar rules for former professional…https://t.co/J9heRpP8JN

— Darren Heitner (@heitner)February 5, 2026

Bediako has become a source of perpetual controversy since his first game back. Several high-profile coaches have blasted the development, includingMichigan State's Tom Izzo, who described it as "utterly ridiculous." During a 100-77 loss at reigning national champion Florida, Gators fans chanted"G League dropout"at him throughout the game.

Sankey's input to the Bediako case comes as several of his conference's schools are engaged in high-profile eligibility battles, including Mississippi (with quarterbackTrinidad Chambliss) and Tennessee (with quarterbackJoey Aguilar).

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:SEC commissioner Greg Sankey sides with NCAA in Charles Bediako eligibility case