MON SEVEN

The nation's lone remaining unbeaten team looks to raise its winning streak to 25 when No. 23 Miami (Ohio) plays host to its archrival Ohio in Mid-American Conference play Friday night in Oxford.

Both schools took a break from conference action to play in the MAC-Sun Belt Conference Challenge over the weekend.

Miami (24-0, 11-0 MAC) held off a rally from Marshall to post a 90-74 road win Saturday, while Ohio (13-12, 7-5) traveled to Norfolk, Va., on Saturday and dropped a 78-72 decision to Old Dominion.

When No. 1 Arizona fell at Kansas on Monday night, the RedHawks were left as the only unbeaten team in Division I men's basketball. In addition to being the only team without a loss, Miami has the nation's longest active winning streak at 24, with No. 18 Saint Louis second at 17 straight.

Miami already has set Mid-American Conference records for the best start and the longest winning streak, breaking the 21-game streak recorded by Kent State in the 2001-02 season. The RedHawks have the longest win streak to start a season since Gonzaga won its first 31 games before losing in the 2021 national championship game.

On Saturday at Marshall, the RedHawks built a 24-point first-half lead before watching the Thundering Herd cut it to nine twice in the second half. But Marshall could get no closer as Miami pulled away late for the wire-to-wire victory.

"That's been our group all year. We're totally unflappable," Miami coach Travis Steele said. "Calm, cool, collected, confident. We just started executing a little bit better on offense and defense and were able to stretch it out again."

Miami has improved its defense over the last four games since escaping back-to-back overtime games in which the opponent scored over a 100 points in each contest.

"We score a lot of different ways and have a clear identity on the offensive end, but you've got to have an identity on defense, too," Steele said. "I think our defensive identity is definitely coming to life the last couple games."

Since starting point guard Evan Ipsaro was lost 12 games into the season due to a torn ACL, Miami has compensated with a balanced scoring attack. Brant Byers (14.8 ppg) and Peter Suder (14.2) have picked up the scoring slack while Antwone Woolfolk has been a force in the paint, averaging 10.4 points and 5.5 rebounds a contest.

In the win over Marshall, Eian Elmer led the way with 18 points, including 4-for-4 from 3-point range. The game marked the 18th time this season Miami shot 50% or better from the field, knocking down 33 of 59 shots.

Ohio shot 46.6% from the field (27 of 58) but was just 8 of 25 from beyond the arc and 10 of 15 from the line in the disappointing loss at Old Dominion. Leading scorer Jackson Paveletzke was held to just seven points, but he still leads the Bobcats in scoring at 16.6 points per game.

Aidan Hadaway is averaging 14.2 points a contest while Javan Simmons is the other player in double figures at 14 points per game, a figure he reached in the loss at the Monarchs.

"We've done well in spurts in our losses and, obviously, it's not good enough to win a game and it's about putting it together, you know, playing that complete 40 minutes," Ohio coach Jeff Boals said on Feb. 3. "Just a mindset of continuing to get better, coming in and preparing the right way."

--Field Level Media

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2026 is coming into focus,with a list of 21 finalists announced Wednesday.

It's a diverse group of recent NBA and WNBA stars, top coaches, older names and other contributors. The headliners include Blake Griffin, Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, Mike D'Antoni and Kelvin Sampson,all of whom are first-time nominees.

Doc Rivers and Amar'e Stoudemire are among the bigger names getting a second look for induction. The lone referee nominated is the long-controversial Joey Crawford, while the team in the running is the 1996 U.S. women's national team, whose Olympic dominance helped launch the WNBA the following year.

One of those 1996 players, Jennifer Azzi, is also up for individual induction.

The finalists will have their fate decided by the Hall's 24-member Honors Committee. The new class will be announced on April 4 during Final Four weekend.

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026 finalists

Players

• Jennifer Azzi

• Molly Bolin-Kazmer

• Tal Brody

• Elena Delle Donne*

• Blake Griffin*

• Chaminique Holdsclaw

• Kevin Johnson

• Marques Johnson

• Candace Parker*

• Amar'e Stoudemire

• Buck Williams

Coaches

• Mike D'Antoni*

• Mark Few

• Dušan Ivković

• Gary McKnight

• Dick Motta

• Doc Rivers

• Kelvin Sampson*

• Jerry Welsh

Referees

• Joey Crawford

Teams

• 1996 United States Women's National Team*

* denotes a first-time nominee

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Busch won the pole for NASCAR's season-opening Daytona 500 to give the driver with the longest active losing streak in "The Great American Race" a shot at the victory that has escaped him his entire career.

NASCAR Daytona 500 Auto Race

Busch is 0 for 20 in the Daytona 500 and hasn't started in the top five since 2016, when he still drove for Joe Gibbs Racing. He started fourth and finished third that year, then was a career-best second to then-teammate Denny Hamlin in 2019.

"Kyle, we've got to get him this 500," said team owner Richard Childress.

No driver has ever won their first Daytona 500 after 20 previous attempts. The late Dale Earnhardt won for Childress in his 20th start in 1998 — three years before Earnhardt was killed in a crash on the final lap of the 2001 race.

"Sounds really good right now — being able to qualify on my first pole for the Daytona 500, that's pretty special," said Busch, who wore custom-designed Olympic-themed racing shoes at Daytona International Speedway.

He earned the pole Wednesday night with a lap at 183.925 mph in a Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, the team that signed him before the 2023 season when his contract was up with Gibbs and his salary was too high for most teams.

But his time in the No. 8 has been rocky for the two-time NASCAR champion. He's won three races since joining RCR — all in his first season — and takes a 93-race losing streak into the Daytona 500.

Busch starts the year with new crew chief Jim Pohlman, who led Justin Allgaier to the 2024 championship in NASCAR's second-tier series.

The pole runs continues a strong few weeks for Busch and his family: Older brother, Kurt, was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame last month.

"Feels really good for RCR as a group," Busch said. "Just a valiant effort by everybody here. It would be really nice to be doing an interview like this about being No. 1 come Sunday night."

RCR last put a car on the pole for the Daytona 500 in 2014 when Austin Dillon, grandson of the team owner, qualified first. Dillon won the race in 2018.

Chase Briscoe, last year's pole-sitter, qualified second in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

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"It's a really big deal, not only for myself, but I haven't even checked my phone, I'm sure (Bass Pro Shops owner) Johnny Morris is ballistic already," Briscoe said of his sponsor. "He gets super fired up for this race. He's called me two or three times this week telling me he's so excited to get here and asking me how the car is. It's a big deal for him, as well. It should be awesome to be on the front row again Sunday."

Although 37 drivers were locked into the race ahead of time trials, the starting order is not determined until after a pair of Thursday night qualifying races. Of those locked in, 36 drive chartered cars that guarantee a spot in every race. An additional slot went to seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson under a provisional rule that allows for a 41st "world-class driver" trying to enter a Cup event.

Johnson is a two-time Daytona 500 winner and finished third last year. He left full-time NASCAR racing after the 2020 season.

There were two spots open for those not already locked in and they were claimed by Corey Heim for 23XI Racing and Justin Allgaier for JR Motorsports. They were the fastest cars in time trials.

Heim, last year's Truck Series champion, will be making his Daytona 500 debut.

"Kind of nerve-wracking for sure," said the 23-year-old from Georgia. "So impressed and thank you for 23XI Racing and Toyota, coming here with an open car and a fourth team at 23XI, to be able to do that is pretty impressive even from my eyes. I feel like that's a very big accomplishment from those guys. Just blessed to be a part of the team."

Allgaier is in for the fourth time in his career and the second consecutive year while driving for two-time race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"It's such a great sport to be part of it and it's awesome to be able to come down here and try to make your way in," Earnhardt said. "It is stressful, but that's the best part about it."

There are two remaining open spots in the field that will be decided Thursday night via a pair of 150-mile qualifying races. The highest finisher in each race among the drivers not qualified will earn a berth in the Daytona 500.

Those still trying to get in the race are: Anthony Alfredo, Corey LaJoie, BJ McLeod, Casey Mears, Chandler Smith and J.J. Yeley. Only two will race Sunday.

AP auto racing:https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The death toll froma crackdown over Iran's nationwide protests last monthhas reached at least 7,002 people killed with many more still feared dead, activists said Thursday.

Iran

The slow rise in the number of dead from the demonstrations adds to the overall tensions facing Iran both inside the country and abroad as it tries to negotiate with the United States over its nuclear program. A second round of talks remains up in the air as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed his case directly with U.S. President Donald Trump to intensify his demands on Tehran in the negotiations.

"There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated. If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference," Trump wrote afterward on his TruthSocial website.

"Last time Iran decided that they were better off not making a Deal, and they were hit. ... That did not work well for them. Hopefully this time they will be more reasonable and responsible."

Meanwhile, Iran at home faces still-simmering anger over its wide-ranging suppression of all dissent in the Islamic Republic. That rage may intensify in the coming days as families of the dead begin marking the traditional 40-day mourning for the loved ones.

Activists' death toll slowly rises

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which offered the latest figures, has been accurate in counting deaths during previous rounds of unrest in Iran and relies on a network of activists in Iran to verify deaths. The slow rise in the death toll has come as the agency slowly is able to crosscheck information as communication remains difficult with those inside of the Islamic Republic.

Iran's government offered its only death toll on Jan. 21, saying 3,117 people were killed. Iran's theocracy in the past has undercounted or not reported fatalities from past unrest.

The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll, given authorities have disrupted internet access and international calls in Iran.

The rise in the death toll comes as Iran tries to negotiate with the United States over its nuclear program.

Diplomacy over Iran continues

Senior Iranian security official Ali Larijani met Wednesday in Qatar with Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Qatar hosts a major U.S. military installation that Iran attacked in June, afterthe U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sitesduring the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June. Larijani also met with officials of the Palestinian Hamas militant group, and in Oman with Tehran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen on Tuesday.

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Larijani told Qatar's Al Jazeera satellite news network that Iran did not receive any specific proposal from the U.S. in Oman, but acknowledged that there was an "exchange of messages."

Qatar has been a key negotiator in the past with Iran, with which it shares a massive offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf. Its state-run Qatar News Agency reported that ruling emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani spoke with Trump about "the current situation in the region and international efforts aimed at de-escalation and strengthening regional security and peace," without elaborating.

The U.S. has moved theaircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, ships and warplanes to the Middle East to pressure Iran into an agreement and have the firepower necessary to strike the Islamic Republic should Trump choose to do so.

Already, U.S. forces haveshot down a dronethey said got too close to the Lincoln and came to the aid of a U.S.-flagged ship that Iranian forces tried to stop in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.

Trump told the news website Axios that he was considering sending a second carrier to the region. "We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going," he said.

Concern over Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Meanwhile, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said it was "deeply appalled by credible reports detailing the brutal arrest, physical abuse and ongoing life‑threatening mistreatment" of 2023Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi.

The committee that awards the prize said it had information Mohammadi had been beaten during her arrest in December and continued to be mistreated. It called for her immediate and unconditional release.

"She continues to be denied adequate, sustained medical follow‑up while being subjected to heavy interrogation and intimidation," the committee said. "She has fainted several times, suffers from dangerously high blood pressure and has been prevented from accessing necessary follow‑up for suspected breast tumors."

Iran just sentenced Mohammadi, 53, toover seven more years in prison. Supporters had warned for months before her arrest that she was at risk of being put back into prison aftershe received a furlough in December 2024 over medical concerns.

Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Washington contributed to this report.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities in overnight attacks, officials reported on Thursday as Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyysaid Moscow was "hesitating" about another round ofU.S.-brokered talkson stopping the fighting.

Russia Ukraine War

Washington has proposed further negotiations next weekbetween Russian and Ukrainian delegationsin Miami or Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, which was the location of the last meeting, Zelenskyy said late Wednesday.

Ukraine "immediately confirmed" it would attend, he said. "So far, as I understand it, Russia is hesitating," Zelenskyy told reporters in a messaging app interview late Wednesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that another round of talks was expected "soon" but gave no further details.

American officials made no comment on the possibility of further talks as part of a yearlong peace effort by the Trump administration. Zelenskyy said last week that the United States has given Ukraine and Russia aJune deadline to reach a deal.

But withRussia's invasion of its neighbormarking its fourth anniversary later this month, disagreements between Moscow and Kyiv over key issues have held up a comprehensive settlement. The issues include who keeps the Ukrainian land that Russia's army has so far occupied, especially in the eastern Donbas industrial heartland, and Moscow's demands for Kyiv to surrender more territory.

Ukraine wantsWestern-backed security guarantees, including a date for joining the European Union, and a postwar reconstruction package in place before it can contemplate signing aproposed 20-point settlement, Zelenskyy said.

Russia has meanwhile continued topound Ukrainian civilian areas, including residential areas and thepower grid, and Moscow has not responded to a U.S. proposal for an "energy ceasefire" that would also halt Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil facilities, Zelenskyy said.

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Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, Russia fired 219 long-range strike drones, 24 ballistic missiles and a guided aircraft missile at Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian air force.

The main targets were the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, the second-largest city of Kharkiv, Dnipro in central Ukraine, and the southern port city of Odesa, the air force said — all cities that have come under relentless bombardment.

In Dnipro, Russian strikes injured four people, including a 4-year-old girl and a newborn boy, regional head Oleksandr Hanzha wrote on Telegram.

In Kyiv, several residential buildings were damaged, and two people were injured, according to the city administration.

Temperatures have moved above freezing point in Kyiv, but it is still bitterly cold in the city. Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said that almost 2,600 residential buildings were left without heating as the attack damaged critical infrastructure.

In Odesa, one person was injured as a residential high-rise was partially destroyed and a market and a supermarket caught fire, regional head Oleksandr Hanzha wrote on Telegram.

Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine athttps://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine