CHICAGO (AP) — Oscar Cluff had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 18 Purdue beat short-handed UCLA 73-66 on Saturday to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship game.
Cluff scored eight points as Purdue (26-8) outscored UCLA (23-11) 11-4 over the final 3:41. Fletcher Loyer scored 14. Braden Smith contributed nine more assists, giving him 1,064 in his career. He needs 13 to break Bobby Hurley’s NCAA record of 1,076 for Duke from 1989-93.
Trey Kaufman-Ren added 12 points and 10 rebounds, helping Purdue advance to the conference final for the first time since winning the tournament in Chicago in 2023. The Boilermakers will meet No. 3 Michigan. The Wolverines, seeking a championship repeat, beat No. 23 Wisconsin 68-65 when Yaxel Lendeborg made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining.
Already missing star Tyler Bilodeau after he exited Friday’s win over No. 8 Michigan State with a right leg injury, UCLA had to get by in the second half without guard Donovan Dent. He strained a calf and was limited to two points in 10 minutes after scoring 23 and dishing out 12 assists against the Spartans.
Trent Perry led UCLA with 15 points. Xavier Booker scored 12, and Eric Dailey Jr. had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Trailing 58-48, UCLA went on a 12-2 run and tied it at 60 on Perry's jumper with 4:33 remaining. It was 62-all when Purdue's Oscar Cluff scored on a tip-in, C.J. Cox drove for a layup and Cluff scored on a put-back with just over two minutes remaining.
UCLA's Skyy Clark then made it a four-point game with a layup. But Cluff made four free throws in the final 43 seconds, and the Boilermakers got some payback for a two-point loss at Pauley Pavilion in January.
Purdue lost 91-80 to Michigan at home last month even though Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 27 points.
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Purdue center Oscar Cluff (45) battles for a rebound with UCLA guard Skyy Clark during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Big 10 Conference tournament, Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
SHANGHAI (AP) — Formula 1 and its governing body FIA said the Grand Prix races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will not happen in April because of safety concerns related to the Iran war.
Both countries have been struck during Iran’s response after the United States and Israel launched a wave of attacks on Iran.
The announcement was made early Sunday morning in Shanghai ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.
“Due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East region, the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix will not take place in April,” F1 said. “While several alternatives were considered, it was ultimately decided that no substitutions will be made in April.”
F1 was due to race in Bahrain on April 12 and in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on April 19.
“While this was a difficult decision to take, it is unfortunately the right one at this stage considering the current situation in the Middle East," said Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of F1.
The FIA said the two races “will not take place in April” and that no replacements would be organized.
“The FIA will always place the safety and well being of our community and colleagues first. After careful consideration, we have taken this decision with that responsibility firmly in mind,” FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said.
The FIA didn’t explicitly rule out rescheduling the races and, along with F1, did not use the words "cancel" or "postpone" in announcing the series would not be in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia next month.
Ben Sulayem said: “Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are incredibly important to the ecosystem of our racing season, and I look forward to returning to both as soon as circumstances allow.”
The promoters of the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia said they supported the decision.
F1’s packed schedule doesn’t have any obvious open dates for rescheduled races this year.
Calling off the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races means there will be a five-week gap from the Japanese Grand Prix on March 29 and the next race, the Miami Grand Prix on May 3. Without any rescheduling, the 22-race schedule would be the shortest since 2023.
The two Middle East races weren’t until next month but F1 faced making a decision earlier because it typically flies in the first staff and cargo to tracks weeks in advance. F1 was also faced with the difficulty of selling tickets at short notice, which make it almost impossible to set up a replacement race in other countries.
Kimi Antonelli, the Mercedes driver who qualified on pole position for Sunday’s race in Shanghai, said his thoughts were “with the ones that are suffering from this situation” and that safety needed to be the priority, adding of the FIA and F1: “I’m sure they will do the right thing.”
The schedule is a joint matter for the FIA and for F1’s commercial rights holder and teams had signaled a willingness to follow their lead.
“I think we follow the guidance of the FIA and Formula 1, as we always do. They’ve always led us in the right direction,” Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley said Friday. “Nobody’s going to compromise on anything that would put teams into an uncomfortable situation.”
Bahrain had already hosted two preseason F1 tests this season before Israel and the United States launched attacks on Iran. A smaller-scale test of wet-weather tires was called off in the immediate aftermath of those strikes.
A travel shutdown affecting major airports in the Middle East also caused disruption for Europe-based F1 and team staff heading to Melbourne for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
The last time a scheduled F1 race was canceled was in 2023, when the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in northern Italy was called off at short notice due to deadly floods in the area.
In 2022, F1 continued with its race weekend in Saudi Arabia even after Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked an oil depot during a practice session, with black smoke visible from the Jeddah circuit.
The same year, F1 canceled the Russian Grand Prix’s contract after Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
This image released by Bahrain's Interior Ministry shows firefighters extinguishing flames after an Iranian projectile struck an industrial area in Ma'ameer, Bahrain, Monday, March 9, 2026. (Bahrain Interior Ministry via AP)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain comes out of the pits during the Sprint Race of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, Pool)
Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain crosses the finish line and wins the Sprint Race of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, Pool)
