GREEN MAG

The Big East regular-season title will hardly be settled, but St. John's or UConn can improve its chances at getting the top seed at the conference tournament when the rivals convene Wednesday in Hartford, Conn.

The 15th-ranked Red Storm hope to exit with a 1 1/2-game lead for first place while the sixth-ranked Huskies hope to end the night with a half-game lead.

When the teams met in New York on Feb. 6, the Red Storm pulled away in the final minutes of an 81-72 victory.

St. John's (22-5, 15-1 Big East) will attempt to push its winning streak to 14 games. The winning streak is the longest since the school won 19 straight Dec. 22, 1984-Feb. 23, 1985, a stretch that included a school-record 14-game conference winning streak.

Reserve guard Dylan Darling led the Red Storm in scoring for the second time in three games when he scored 17 on Saturday in a dominant 81-52 home win over Creighton.

"We're going to have to be engaged in that the whole time and be prepared," Darling said about facing UConn.

Red Storm forward Bryce Hopkins contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds for his second straight double-double to earn Big East player of the week honors after also getting 23 and 10 boards in a gritty 76-70 win at Marquette.

The Red Storm allowed their fourth-fewest points in a conference game in three seasons under Pitino and held Creighton to 32.1% shooting, marking the fourth time during the winning streak an opponent shot under 40%.

"It's just all about preparation now," St. John's forward Dillon Mitchell said after collecting 10 rebounds. "We played a great defensive game today, and we're going to need another next week.

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"Now it's just about being consistent, (doing) the work on it (to) get better at it."

UConn (25-3, 15-2) is attempting to avoid four straight losses to St. John's for the first time since dropping 17 consecutive meetings Feb. 11, 1981-Jan. 10, 1989.

The Huskies saw their 18-game overall winning streak stopped in the first meeting when they committed 15 turnovers to negate shooting 54.7% and hitting 9 of 19 3-point attempts.

After the St. John's' game, UConn beat Butler and Georgetown, then took a 91-84 home loss to Creighton a week ago. UConn coach Dan Hurley referred to the Huskies' defense in the latter game "as a joke".

UConn responded to Hurley's criticism with a 73-63 win at Villanova on Saturday. The Huskies led by as many as 21 and held the Wildcats to 40.7% shooting from the field, marking their best showing since limiting Xavier to 36.7% in a 92-60 win on Feb. 3.

"We played elite-level defense, and we were pretty sharp on offense when we got shots on goal," Hurley said of the Saturday performance. "Obviously the turnover situation reared its ugly head, but I just thought we rebounded the ball, we guarded, we played offense at a high level and our depth kicked in. That's kind of like bulletproof basketball right there."

Alex Karaban scored 12 points against Villanova after getting held to two in the Creighton loss. Tarris Reed Jr. added 11 points and six rebounds, helping the Huskies to a 37-24 rebounding edge.

"For the rest of the way here, it's like, St. John's is not gonna lose -- I imagine -- any more than two games, obviously they're coming to us next," Hurley said. "So we can't afford to lose another game in the regular season in the Big East if we want to win the league."

--Field Level Media

TURIN, Italy (AP) — Torino has fired Marco Baroni and immediately named Roberto D'Aversa as the new coach of the Serie A club.

Baroni was axed after Torino lost at Genoa 3-0 on Sunday, a fourth straight winless match in all competitions. Torino played the entire second half with 10 men.

Torino sits 15th in the table, just three points clear of the drop zone.

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The 50-year-old D'Aversa, an Italian who was born in Stuttgart, Germany, signed a contract to June 30, Torino said in a statement.

The former Serie A midfielder was previously in charge of Italian sides Empoli, Lecce, Sampdoria, Parma and Virtus Lanciano.

AP soccer:https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

They asked for this, don't forget. Downright begged for it, even.

University leaders, conference commissioners, coaches, all of them. They wanted — no, theycraved—guardrails.

Got to have those guardrails. Can't behave themselves without guardrails.

Apparently, the folks atNCAAHQ were listening. They've heeded the call to action with a feverish push to enforce the association's membership-approved eligibility rules that impede eighth-year senior quarterbacks and prohibit ex-college basketball players from returning to college hoops after three years in the NBA G League.

Hayes:Trinidad Chambliss-led death of NCAA could lead to birth of SEC-only world

Toppmeyer:What Trinidad Chambliss return to Ole Miss means for Lane Kiffin, LSU

A strange thing is happening, too. Rules are enjoying a renaissance. The NCAA iswinningin court. Now, that's what I call an upset!

In recent weeks, the NCAA prevailed in two of three court decisions in high-profile eligibility cases.

Mississippi quarterbackTrinidad Chambliss scored the lone winagainst the NCAA, when a judge determined the NCAA improperly denied Chambliss a medical redshirt for one of his years at Division II Ferris State. This court ruling will allow Chambliss a sixth season.

The NCAA, though, prevailed in eligibility cases brought byTennessee's forever-a-student Joey Aguilarand pro basketball player (turnedAlabamabasketball player)Charles Bediako.

For those scoring at home, the 2-1 score counts as a hard-fought best-of-three series victory for the NCAA. Reports of the NCAA's imminent demise were premature.

If the universities and coaches affected by the decisions don't like it, well, just remember, y'all asked for this. You wanted rules.Here they are, your preciousguardrails!

No crying when the rules work against you.

NCAA scores upset road win in case brought by Tennessee's Joey Aguilar

The NCAA won these rulings as a road underdog, too.

A Knoxville, Tennessee, judge who calls UT his alma materruled in favor of the NCAA and against Aguilarlast week. The judge denied Aguilar's quest for a fourth season of FBS eligibility after he previously spent four years in junior college.

NCAA rules — remember those old things? — say an athlete has five years to play four seasons, no matter whether he spends some of his time in JUCO.

Being a college quarterback in perpetuity is good work if you can get it, so I don't blame Aguilar for shooting his shot in court. Another season would've generated millions for him in NIL payout.

Just one problem: NCAA rules inhibit Aguilar's desires to never leave college sports, and the guardrails held up, in this case.

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Hometown judge Chris Heagerty might have cost his alma mater a win or two this season when he ruled against Aguilar, a big win for guardrails and a triumph for Johnny Law against Joey Quarterback within the Wild, Wild West of college sports.

Volscoach Josh Heupel had supported Aguilar's bid for another season, because coaches pine for guardrails up to the point their team stands to benefit from an eighth-year senior quarterback. Alas, no luck for Heupel, Aguilar or Tennessee.

Why can't Tennessee land a QB?Josh Heupel's strange portal problem

The NCAA celebrated the judge's ruling as if it scored an upset against a ranked opponent.

"We will continue to defend the NCAA's eligibility rules," the NCAA announced in a triumphant statement.

To support his ruling, the judge used language people with a juris doctorate would understand. Here's the upshot, in layman's terms: Aguilar already played five college seasons. He spent two additional years on JUCO rosters as redshirt and COVID years. NCAA eligibility rules being what they are, it's finally time for him to go pro in something other than college sports.

This wasn't just a victory for the NCAA and the gotta-have-some-rules crowd. It's also a win for George MacIntyre, a redshirt freshman who now moves to the head of the line in Tennessee's quarterback competition.

Charles Bediako renews dream to be an ex-pro basketball player

While Aguilar turns his attention to the NFL combine, Bediako refuses to take the "L." He'sappealing to the Alabama Supreme Courtin his quest to play college basketball, three years after he decided he wanted to be a pro basketball player instead of staying in college.

As Bediako toiled in the G League, he saw the light that the bliss of college combined with NIL riches yields the good life.

Nate Oats has thrown his steadfast support behind Bediako, because guardrails are great in theory, but here in realitya win-at-all-costs coachneeds a big man with pro experience to fuel his team's March Madness run.

"The system's clearly broken," Oats said in support of Bediako's college comeback, "and I'm all for figuring out a way to fix it."

That loosely translates to: The system is imperfect, and I'll do whatever I can to take advantage and worm my way through the system's cracks.

And, hey, that's the job.

Too bad for Alabama, the NCAA took its membership seriously when coaches and administrators hollered en masse they wanted guardrails and rules enforcement.

Don't mistake these courtroom wins as the NCAA becoming a judicial system juggernaut or a sweeping roadblock to future lawsuits. Sure as lawyers make their living off billable hours, the NCAA's rules and its attempts to enforce them will be challenged in court.

For a moment, though, the beleaguered NCAA can celebrate a couple of wins. A few guardrails still stand within the O.K. Corral of college sports. That's what everyone said they wanted, right?

Blake Toppmeyeris the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Email him atBToppmeyer@gannett.comand follow him on X@btoppmeyer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Joey Aguilar loses in Tennessee court. How about those NCAA guardrails?

It has been exactlyfour years since Russia launched its large-scale invasionof Ukraine, attacking the country from multiple directions. On Feb. 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special operation," a campaign that many expected to be brief and to end with Kyiv's capitulation.

South Korea Russia Ukraine War

Instead, European officials are traveling to the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday to show their support for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people, who are fighting on.

While Putin did not get the quick and overwhelming victory he had hoped for,the cost has been high on both sides. And as Europe's biggest conflict enters its fifth year, there is no sign of any peace deal despite U.S. diplomatic efforts over the past year.

Here's the latest:

European officials visit Kyiv in a show of solidarity

More than a dozen senior European officials arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in a show of support. But they also comewithout two new dealsthey had hoped to present to Kyiv — a new package of sanctions on Russia and a 90 billion euro loan to fund Ukraine's defense for the next two years.

Hungary, seen as most pro-Russian country in the European Union, blocked them both. It's a sign of how difficult it has been sometimes to maintain solidarity as the war drags on.

'We have defended out independence'

Zelenskyy said his country has withstood the onslaught by Russia's bigger and better equipped army, which over the past year of fightingcaptured just 0.79% of Ukraine's territory, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.

"Looking back at the beginning of the invasion and reflecting on today, we have every right to say: we have defended our independence, we have not lost our statehood; (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has not achieved his goals," Zelenskyy said on social media.

"He has not broken Ukrainians; he has not won this war," Zelenskyy also said.

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France's Macron says the war exposes 'the fragility' of imperialism

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on the social platform X that "this war is a triple failure for Russia: military, economic, and strategic."

"It has strengthened NATO — the very expansion Russia sought to prevent — galvanized Europeans it hoped to weaken, and laid bare the fragility of an imperialism from another age," Macron said.

Macron also urged the EU to issue the 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine, a plan that requires the unanimity of the 27 member states.

"There is no justification for calling this into question. We must now deliver on it," he wrote.

Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer were to join a meeting of Western leaders supporting Ukraine, the so-called Coalition of the Willing, via videoconference on Tuesday.

A 'revolution' in warfare

Britain's Armed Forces Minister Al Carns says the war has been "the most defining conflict" in decades due to the way it has revolutionized warfare and upended Europe's security.

"I would never have guessed in my lifetime I would see North Korean troops fighting on the border of Europe," Carns told reporters on Monday. "Which I think is a significant warning signal to all of us."

Carns said the conflict had brought a "revolution in military affairs," especially through the rapid development of drone technology. Drones now account for the vast majority of battlefield casualties in the war.

Western officials say that in the last three months, Russia has lost more casualties than the number of troops it recruits, a potential tipping point.

"The cost on Russia has been almost unimaginable," Carns said, calling a Western estimate of 1.25 million Russian personnel killed and wounded since 2022 likely an underestimate.

Iran and the United States are due tohold new talks in Genevaon Thursday over Tehran's nuclear program.

Iran US Nuclear Timeline

The talks come as America has assembled thelargest fleet of warplanes and aircraftin the Mideast in decades as part of President Donald Trump's efforts to force Iran into a deal after it saw nationwide protests against its theocracy.

Here's a timeline of the tensions over Iran's atomic program:

Early days

1967 — Iran takes possession of the Tehran Research Reactor supplied by America under the "Atoms for Peace" program.

1979 — U.S. ally Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fatally ill, flees Iran as popular protests against him surge. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran and the Islamic Revolution sweeps him to power. Students seize the United States Embassy in Tehran, beginning the 444-day hostage crisis. Iran's nuclear program goes fallow under international pressure.

August 2002 — Western intelligence services and an Iranian opposition group reveal Iran's secret Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.

June 2003 — Britain, France and Germany engage Iran in nuclear negotiations.

October 2003 — Iran suspends uranium enrichment under international pressure.

February 2006 — Iran announces it will restart uranium enrichment following the election of hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Britain, France and Germany walk out of stalled negotiations.

June 2009 — Iran's disputed presidential election sees Ahmadinejad reelected despite fraud allegations, sparking protests known as the Green Movement and a violent government crackdown.

October 2009 — Under U.S. President Barack Obama, the U.S. and Iran open a secret back-channel for messages in the sultanate of Oman.

July 2012 — U.S. and Iranian officials hold secret face-to-face talks in Oman.

July 2015 — World powers and Iran announce a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limits Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

The nuclear deal collapses

May 8, 2018 — Trump unilaterally withdraws the U.S. from the nuclear agreement, calling it the "worst deal ever." He says he'll get better terms in new negotiations to stop Iran's missile development and support for regional militias. Those talks don't happen in his first term.

May 8, 2019 — Iran announces it will begin backing away from the accord. A series of regional attacks on land and at sea blamed on Tehran follow.

Jan. 3, 2020 — A U.S. drone strike in Baghdad kills Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the architect of Tehran's proxy wars in the Middle East.

Jan. 8, 2020 — In retaliation for Soleimani's killing, Iran launches a barrage of missiles at military bases in Iraq that are home to thousands of American and Iraqi troops. More than 100 U.S. service members suffer traumatic brain injuries, according to the Pentagon. As Iran braces for a counterattack, the Revolutionary Guard shoots down a Ukrainian passenger plane shortly after takeoff from Tehran's international airport, reportedly mistaking it for a U.S. cruise missile. All 176 people on board are killed.

July 2, 2020 — A mysterious explosion tears apart a centrifuge production plant at Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment facility. Iran blames the attack on archenemy Israel.

April 6, 2021 — Iran and the U.S. under President Joe Biden begin indirect negotiations in Vienna over how to restore the nuclear deal. Those talks, and others between Tehran and European nations, fail to reach any agreement.

April 11, 2021 — A second attack within a year targets Iran's Natanz nuclear site, again likely carried out by Israel.

April 16, 2021 — Iran begins enriching uranium up to 60% — its highest purity ever and a technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Feb. 24, 2022 — Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moscow ultimately will come to rely on Iranian bomb-carrying drones in the conflict, as well as missiles.

July 17, 2022 — An adviser to Iran's supreme leader, Kamal Kharrazi, says Iran is technically capable of making a nuclear bomb, but has not decided whether to build one.

Mideast wars rage

Oct. 7, 2023 — Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip storm into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage, beginning the most intense war ever between Israel and Hamas. Iran, which has armed Hamas, offers support to the militants. Regional tensions spike.

Nov. 19, 2023 — Yemen's Houthi rebels, long supported by Iran, seize the ship Galaxy Leader, beginning a monthslong campaign of attacks on shipping through the Red Sea corridor that the U.S. Navy describes as the most intense combat it has seen since World War II. The attacks mirror tactics earlier used by Iran.

April 14, 2024 — Iran launches an unprecedented direct attack on Israel, firing over 300 missiles and attack drones. Israel, working with a U.S.-led international coalition, intercepts much of the incoming fire.

April 19, 2024 — A suspected Israeli strike hits an air defense system by an airport in Isfahan, Iran.

July 31, 2024 — Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, is assassinated during a visit to Tehran after the inauguration of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel later takes responsibility for the assassination.

Sept. 27, 2024 — An Israeli airstrike kills Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.

Oct. 1, 2024 — Iran launches its second direct attack on Israel, though a U.S.-led coalition and Israel shoot down most of the missiles.

Oct. 16, 2024 — Israel kills Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip.

Oct. 26, 2024 — Israel openly attacks Iran for the first time, striking air defense systems and sites associated with its missile program.

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Trump returns and reaches out

Jan. 20, 2025 — Trump is inaugurated for his second term as president.

Feb. 7, 2025 — Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says proposed talks with the U.S. are "not intelligent, wise or honorable."

March 7, 2025 — Trump says he sent a letter to Khamenei seeking a new nuclear deal with Tehran.

March 15, 2025 — Trump launches intense airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen, the last members of Iran's self-described "Axis of Resistance" capable of daily attacks.

April 7, 2025 — Trump announces the U.S. and Iran will hold direct talks in Oman. Iran says they'll be indirect talks, but confirms the meeting.

April 12, 2025 — The first round of talks between Iran and the U.S. take place in Oman, ending with a promise to hold more talks after U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi "briefly spoke" together.

April 19, 2025 — The second round of talks between the U.S. and Iran are held in Rome.

April 26, 2025 — Iran and the U.S. meet in Oman a third time, but the negotiations include talks at the expert level for the first time.

May 11, 2025 — Iran and the U.S. meet in Oman for a fourth round of negotiations ahead ofTrump's trip to the Mideast.

May 23, 2025 — Iran and the U.S. meet in Rome for a fifth round of talks, with Oman saying the negotiations made "some but not conclusive progress."

The Iran-Israel war begins

June 9, 2025 — Iran signals it won't accept a U.S. proposal over the nuclear program.

June 12, 2025 — The Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency finds Iran in noncompliance with its nuclear obligations. Iran responds by announcing it has built and will activate a third nuclear enrichment facility.

June 13, 2025 — Israel launches its war against Iran. Over 12 days, it hits nuclear and military sites, as well as other government installations.

June 22, 2025 — The U.S. intervenes in the war, attacking three Iranian nuclear sites.

June 23, 2025 — Iran responds to the U.S. attack by targeting a military base in Qatar used by American troops, causing limited damage.

June 24, 2025 — Trump announces a ceasefire in the war.

July 25, 2025 — Iranian and European diplomats hold talks in Istanbul over Iran's nuclear program.

Aug. 8, 2025 — France, Germany and the United Kingdom warn Iran in a letter that it will reimplement U.N. sanctions if there is no "satisfactory solution" to the nuclear standoff by Aug. 31.

Aug. 28, 2025 — France, Germany and the United Kingdom say they've started the process to "snapback" U.N. sanctions on Iran.

Sept. 9, 2025 — Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency reach a deal over potentially starting inspections, but questions remain over its implementation.

Sept. 19, 2025 — U.N. Security Council declines to stop "snapback" sanctions on Iran.

Sept. 26, 2025 — U.N. Security Council rejects China and Russia's last-minute effort to stop "snapback."

Sept. 28, 2025 — U.N. reimposes "snapback" sanctions on Iran barring any last-minute diplomacy.

New protests roil Iran

Dec. 28, 2025:Protests break outin two major markets in downtown Tehran after the Iranian rial plunges to arecord low— 1.42 million rials to one U.S. dollar — compounding inflationary pressure and pushing up the prices of food and other daily necessities.

Jan. 3, 2026: Khamenei says"rioters must be put in their place,"in what is seen as a green light for security forces to begin more aggressively putting down the demonstrations.

Jan. 8, 2026: Following a call fromIran's exiled crown prince, a mass of peopleshout from their windowsand take to the streets in nationwide protests. The government responds by blocking the internet and international telephone calls in a bid to cut off the country of 85 million from outside influence. An ensuing security force crackdown kills thousands and sees tens of thousands detained.

Jan. 13, 2026: Trump says he has called off any meetings with the Iranians and promises that unspecified "help is on its way."

Jan. 26, 2026: The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three accompanying warships arrive in the Middle East amid Trump's threats to attack.

Feb. 3, 2026: A U.S. Navy fighter jetshoots down an Iranian droneapproachingthe Lincolnin the Arabian Sea. Iranian fast-attack boats attempt to stop a U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Feb. 6, 2026: Iran and the U.S. holdindirect nuclear talks in Oman, with the head of the U.S. military's Central Command also coming.

Feb. 17, 2026:Iran and the U.S. hold talks in Genevawhile Tehran says it has temporarily closed the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes.

Feb. 26, 2026: Iran and the U.S. are due to hold another round of talks in Geneva after America assembles the largest fleet of warplanes and aircraft in the Mideast in decades.