Surrey 194 and 141 for 3 (Stoneman 71) lead Warwickshire 230 (Rhodes 51) by 105 runs

Mark Stoneman's 71 from 85 balls set the seal on an excellent second-day fightback at The Kia Oval by champions Surrey, who reached stumps on 141 for 3 - an overall lead of 105 - after earlier bowling out Warwickshire for 230.

Sam Curran, Jordan Clark and Morne Morkel each took three wickets as Warwickshire found the going tough following their resumption on 79 for 1 in reply to Surrey's first innings of 194.

Only 19-year-old Rob Yates resisted the Surrey pace attack for long, the left hander taking his overnight 10 to 48 not out by lunch and his determined resistance guiding the visitors to 176 for 5 at the interval despite the losses of Dom Sibley, Sam Hain, Adam Hose and Matt Lamb in the morning session.

But Warwickshire's hopes of a more substantial first innings lead than their eventual 36 were dashed when Yates was caught behind off Curran without adding to his score soon after lunch. After that, Surrey's quicker bowlers worked their way remorselessly through the lower order.

Morkel, in particular, was a fearsome proposition in conditions still favouring swing and seam, and with The Oval's floodlights on throughout the first two sessions. There was even a 15-minute stoppage for bad light in mid-afternoon, with Warwickshire on 208 for 6, and soon after the restart Craig Miles was caught at the wicket off Clark for 20.

Miles, however, had already done well to come through a blistering examination by Morkel. One over from the South African giant, when Warwickshire's score was on 194, featured a bouncer which clipped Miles's shoulder as it flew high to keeper Ben Foakes, who had to leap to claw it down, and two searing lifters which both beat the batsman.

Tim Ambrose fell for 18, leg-before to a wicked yorker from Curran delivered from around the wicket, and Clark had Oliver Hannon-Dalby taken at second slip before Morkel finished off the innings when Jeetan Patel skied him to wide long off.

The morning session had seen Morkel dismiss Sibley for 31, caught at first slip after adding just nine runs to his overnight score, and Hose taken at third slip for 9, with Clark pinning Hain leg-before for 15 and Curran forcing Lamb to edge to Foakes.

Surrey's second innings began with Stoneman and captain Rory Burns clearly intent on providing a positive response to the criticism following their first-day slide to 194 all out against what is a makeshift Warwickshire seam attack due to a chronic injury list. Surrey are yet to win a Specsavers County Championship match this season, with two defeats and four draws from their six games so far.

On-loan left-armer Toby Lester, who took a career-best 4 for 41 on day one, saw his first three overs taken for 25 as Stoneman and Burns did not let him settle. The arrears had already been wiped off the slate when Warwickshire captain Patel brought himself on after just seven overs and, soon, the veteran off-spinner made the breakthrough.

Burns, on 34, went back to a quicker arm ball and was leg-before, after a spirited opening stand of 77 in just under 14 overs, and Scott Borthwick had made only 11 when he edged Patel to Will Rhodes at slip. Patel's testing spell gave him figures of 11-3-25-2.

Stoneman, driving elegantly through the offside for the majority of his 11 fours, had taken Surrey's lead almost to three figures when he edged a fine ball from the returning Hannon-Dalby to keeper Ambrose, but Dean Elgar was joined by Foakes to see the home side through to the close, which came 13 overs early due to more bad light.

Leicestershire 6 for 0 trail Northamptonshire 299 (Wakely 65, Wright 4-78) by 293 runs

Alex Wakely made his first half-century since resigning the Northamptonshire captaincy to lead his side to a good opening day against Leicestershire at Wantage Road. Wakely's 65 in testing conditions set Northants up to make 299 having been sent in before the visitors survived three overs to the close 6 for 0.

Wakely's 76 on the first day of the season was becoming a distant memory with a high score in the Championship since then of only 28. Stepping down as captain didn't bring immediate reward with an eight-ball duck at Durham in his previous innings, but here he battled away to make important runs against the moving ball.

He arrived in just the sixth over of the morning and flicked Mohammed Abbas through midwicket for his first boundary before imperiously pulling Neil Dexter's first ball through the same region on his way to 36 not out by the lunch.

After the break, another pull brought up a second half-century of the season in 102 balls with eight fours before he was tremendously caught at second slip in Abbas' first over of a new spell 20 minutes before tea. Trying to force off the back foot, Wakely flashed an edge towards the cordon where Colin Ackermann stuck up a left hand to claim a fine catch.

It ended a stand of 39 for the fourth wicket - one of several useful partnerships that Northants compiled. The ball moved all day on a green-tinged pitch and under heavy cloud and it was difficult to envisage the batsmen ever getting completely on top so to nudge the board along with good purpose - reaching 187 for 4 at one stage - was a solid effort.

There were few cheap wickets. Rob Newton fell to the new ball for just 5 but everyone else got a start. Ricardo Vasconcelos worked hard for 25 before lazily driving to gully. Temba Bavuma was always scratchy but got to 20, then Dieter Klein found his outside edge with a good delivery. Rob Keogh looked in good touch, striking five boundaries but fell over a full delivery from Chris Wright to be lbw for 34.

The theme continued on a day where it was hard to say any batsmen were really settled. Adam Rossington, now Northants' Championship captain, made a breezy 45 - violently pulling Dexter over midwicket and repeating the trick against Klein to raise a first batting point. But Rossington was bowled by Will Davis and it began a slide from 210 for 5 to 250 for 9 as the second new ball claimed 3 for 7 in 13 balls.

But just when Northants were about to be rolled over Matt Coles, in his second match on loan from Essex, swung 41 in 34 balls including two mighty sixes - one over midwicket and the second over deep square - to almost claim a third batting bonus point before No. 11 Ben Sanderson chipped a catch back to Abbas.

But Coles should have been taken on the deep midwicket fence with the score at 265. It was one of at least seven catches that Leicestershire missed in a miserable display of fielding. Paul Horton at first slip, wicketkeeper Lewis Hill and Harry Dearden all missed two chances each as the visitors conceded an over par total given the conditions.

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -- The presidents of the schools in the Big East voted Monday to extend an invitation to UConn to rejoin the conference for basketball and other sports, according to multiple reports.

A person with firsthand knowledge confirmed to the Associated Press that the schools' presidents voted by conference call on Monday. That person spoke on condition of anonymity because he/she was not authorized to release the information.

UConn has a Board of Trustees meeting scheduled for Wednesday, when it is expected to accept the invitation, and an announcement is expected from the Big East as early as Thursday morning.

"I know a little bit about the back and forth on it. I think it could be a great thing for the state," Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont told reporters at an unrelated news conference Monday. "Let's face it: UConn, in particular UConn basketball, we can compete with anybody. We're ready to take on the very best. Let's see how the negotiations go."

The result of the vote was first reported Monday by CBS Sports.

UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma cautioned that the expected move doesn't mean a return to the glory days of the old Big East.

The Hall of Fame coach, speaking to reporters at a charity golf event, noted that the conference is not the same one that included schools such as Notre Dame and Louisville.

"It's like saying you're moving back to your hometown, but the block that you lived on and half the city is gone," he said. "It's not the same."

Auriemma said his team's success has never depended on what conference it is in, and he doesn't see that changing.

The UConn women have never lost to an American Athletic Conference opponent, going 120-0 in the regular season and six conference tournaments.

The AAC bylaws require UConn to pay a $10 million withdrawal fee and give 27 months' notice before leaving. But terms of the departure were still being negotiated on Monday.

UConn is expected to spend at least another season in the AAC before it moves, and junior Megan Walker said keeping that spotless record intact will be a priority. She said the Huskies understand that the league's other teams now have even more motivation to beat them.

"Ever since I got to the University of Connecticut, we've always been the black hats, the bad guys," she said. "I enjoy it. If we didn't want that challenge, we wouldn't be here at this university. I'm excited to leave the conference or whatever. Whatever conference we are in, I'm excited to play."

Trading trips to Tulsa and Tulane for games at St. John's and Villanova, Auriemma acknowledged, will help the school when it comes to finances and selling fan interest. UConn currently is dealing with a deficit of more than $40 million in its athletic division.

Auriemma said he isn't sure what the move means for the future of UConn's football program. But the coach said he can foresee a day when all schools, not just UConn, have multiple conference affiliations based on what is best for each sport. UConn plays hockey in Hockey East and has retained its Big East membership in field hockey and lacrosse.

Auriemma also challenged UConn fans, many of whom, as he noted, have been calling for the Huskies to rejoin the Big East for six years, to back up their preference by attending more games.

"So if this does happen, there better be 16,000 at the XL Center every night," Auriemma said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury is continuing his professional basketball career -- in a different fashion -- by becoming the head coach of the Beijing Royal Fighters of the Chinese Basketball Association, where he retired from playing last year.

Monday's announcement came after weeks of speculation among Chinese basketball insiders that the 42-year-old New Yorker was set to take a head coach position with Beijing.

"Thank you for the opportunity. I will give everything I have on the sidelines just like I gave everything inside the Lines," Marbury wrote on his Weibo social media account. "The end is another start, I am back, are you with me?"

The team first announced the hiring in a statement hours earlier. Marbury signed a three-year deal with Beijing, according to Chinese media reports.

After 13 seasons in the NBA, Marbury moved to China in early 2010 and joined the CBA, winning three championships there, and has since become one of the best foreign imports the league has seen.

Since retirement from playing, Marbury has been devoted to his business ventures and to youth basketball training in China.

The NBA fined the New York Knicks $50,000 on Monday for violating the league's rules regarding equal access for media by not giving the New York Daily News access to their post-draft news conference on Friday.

The rest of the New York media was invited to the news conference to introduce draft picks RJ Barrett and Ignas Brazdeikis.

"The Knicks acknowledge that we did not comply with the NBA's media policy and made an error in interpreting Friday's announcement as an invite-only event," the team said in a statement. "As we do throughout the year, we have and will continue to provide access to credentialed media as per the league's policy."

The Professional Basketball Writers condemned Friday's incident in a statement Saturday, saying it was "unprofessional and unacceptable."

The PBWA said, "James Dolan, the owner of the Knicks franchise, previously has said that barring Daily News employees from media availabilities sends the Daily News 'a message.' In reality, the only message he is sending is that he is a bully who retaliates against legitimate news outlets that publish content he dislikes."

It was not the first time the Daily News has been barred from a news conference. In December, after the newspaper ran the headline "Do It" on a story about Dolan potentially selling the team, Daily News columnist Stefan Bondy was not allowed to attend a news conference with Knicks president Steve Mills.

When asked by the paper why Bondy was banned, a representative for the team said, "It was invitation only. There is nothing more to add."

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers demurred when asked if he was optimistic heading into formal conversations with Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson this week regarding their respective futures with the team.

"We'll see," Myers said during a Monday news conference to introduce Warriors rookies Jordan Poole, Alen Smailagic and Eric Paschall.

Durant has a player option for next season that he has been expected to opt out of all year. Thompson will be an unrestricted free agent.

The topic of free agency for Durant and Thompson hovered over the organization all season and gained even more intrigue over the past two weeks, after each player suffered an injury that will affect his future. Durant ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the second quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee during the third quarter of Game 6.

The injuries have not changed the feeling inside the organization regarding the pair's potential future with the team. While it's against league protocol for Warriors owner Joe Lacob to publicly say he would give each player a max extension, the feeling internally has been that the team would like to re-sign both players and continue their dynastic run.

No matter what both players decide, the Warriors are confident that each man knows the organization's culture well enough to make an informed decision on whether he wants to stay or not.

"There's no recruiting," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told ESPN recently, regarding the topic of Durant and Thompson's respective futures.

"We're not doing any videos and tours of the city. Basically it's a 'We want you back and we hope you decide to come back and see what happens,' but we're at a different place now," Kerr said. "But any time you're trying to retain your own players, I think the song and dance, the pomp and circumstance is unnecessary and I actually think it's unnecessary even for other players. You just got to do what you got to do, but with our group it's just -- conversation."

Kerr's comments came earlier in the postseason, prior to both player's injuries, but the mood inside the organization remains the same as it was throughout the season. The feeling has been that Thompson would re-sign on a max deal worth $190 million over the next five years, while it was unclear whether Durant would come back, even though the Warriors have the ability to offer him more money than any other team. Kerr admitted as much during his end-of-season news conference after the Warriors lost to the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals.

"The injury throws everything for a loop," Kerr said at the time. "So I have no idea what Kevin's going to do. I know that we all want him back. We think this is a great situation for him and vice versa. So hopefully we get him back and keep this thing going, with the understanding that he's a free agent and we want what's best for him and he's free to make any choice he wants."

Durant has already had surgery on his Achilles. Myers said Thompson is expected to have surgery later this week.

"I think it's been scheduled," Myers said. "Maybe potentially this week. But I don't know the exact time or day, but that's what I'm hearing."

The Portland Trail Blazers have traded Evan Turner to the Atlanta Hawks for Kent Bazemore.

Turner, a former No. 2 overall pick of the Philadelphia 76ers, spent the past three seasons with the Blazers.

Bazemore had been with Atlanta for the past five seasons, making him the longest-tenured current Hawk before the trade. At 29 years old, Bazemore had been the third-oldest member of the Hawks behind Vince Carter (42) and Miles Plumlee (30).

The teams announced the deal early Monday night.

Bazemore started 35 of the 67 games in which he played last season, averaging 11.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 32.0 percent from 3-point range in his seventh NBA season.

Turner averaged 6.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists while playing almost exclusively as a reserve. His 21.2 percent shooting from behind the arc was the worst of his nine-year, four-team career.

Both wing players are headed into the final year of their respective four-year deals.

Who should win the major NBA awards this season? And who will win?

There's a tight race for MVP between Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden, and a deep list of candidates for each trophy.

With less than a week to go in the regular season, our ESPN Forecast panel offers its picks and predictions for MVP, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man and Most Improved Player.

The NBA will officially announce the winners June 24.

Note: Voters gave their top three picks for each award, with five points for first place, three points for second and one point for third.

Rookie of the Year

Trae Young's incredible finish to the season isn't enough to supplant Luka Doncic, who is an overwhelming favorite, according to our panel.

All season long, Doncic has combined usage, efficiency and scoring in rare ways for a player his age.

Others receiving votes: Marvin Bagley III, Mikal Bridges, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jaren Jackson Jr., Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet and Collin Sexton

Who will win?

• Luka Doncic: 98 percent

• Trae Young: 2 percent

MORE: Year One: All access with the top rookies

Coach of the Year

The most challenging leap to make in the NBA is going from good to great. The Milwaukee Bucks' ascendancy to best regular-season team -- with mostly the same pieces from last season -- is driving Mike Budenholzer's candidacy here. He has developed a system around Antetokounmpo that has made the Bucks top three in both offensive and defensive rating.

Budenholzer is joined by a deep list of strong candidates, but it looks like he has pulled away.

Others receiving votes: Kenny Atkinson, Brett Brown, Steve Clifford, Gregg Popovich and Nick Nurse

Who will win?

• Mike Budenholzer: 75 percent

• Doc Rivers: 12 percent

• Michael Malone: 8 percent

• Nate McMillan: 5 percent

MORE: Four stunning stats driving the Bucks' revolution

Sixth Man of the Year

Lou Williams is on track to win his third Sixth Man award -- as long as he can hold off his own teammate. Williams and Montrezl Harrell have sparked a surprising LA Clippers' season as an unstoppable bench duo, with Williams collecting most of the first-place votes here.

Domantas Sabonis, who essentially could not miss to start the season for the Indiana Pacers, joins the Clips in the top three.

Others receiving votes: Malik Beasley, Davis Bertans, Jaylen Brown, Monte Morris, Larry Nance Jr., Derrick Rose, Dennis Schroder and Dwyane Wade

Who will win?

• Lou Williams: 90 percent

• Domantas Sabonis: 8 percent

• Montrezl Harrell: 2 percent

MORE: Inside the magic of Lou and Trez, LA's freestyling bench stars

Most Improved Player

Kawhi Leonard is on pace to miss more than 20 games, yet the Toronto Raptors will likely finish with the second-best record in the NBA. Pascal Siakam is a big reason why. Once a defensive role player and promising sixth man, Siakam has flourished into a real offensive threat -- creating looks in transition and becoming a capable shooter from deep.

Breakout guards D'Angelo Russell and De'Aaron Fox are his main competition here.

Others receiving votes: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Malcolm Brogdon, Jaylen Brown, John Collins, Montrezl Harrell, Tobias Harris, Buddy Hield, Zach LaVine and Derrick Rose

Who will win?

• Pascal Siakam: 55 percent

• D'Angelo Russell: 23 percent

• De'Aaron Fox: 7 percent

MORE: Inside Pascal Siakam's 6,000-mile journey to Raptors stardom

Defensive Player of the Year

Rudy Gobert is on track to win his second DPOY award in a row if he can fend off Paul George and Antetokounmpo.

Defensive impact is maybe the hardest quality to quantify. Still, Gobert has a strong case. He is comfortably No. 1 in ESPN's defensive real plus-minus (4.50), ahead of George and Antetokounmpo (tied for 19th at 2.85).

Others receiving votes: Isaiah Briscoe, Robert Covington, Draymond Green, Al Horford, Kawhi Leonard and Jusuf Nurkic

Who will win?

• Rudy Gobert: 50 percent

• Paul George: 25 percent

• Giannis Antetokounmpo: 18 percent

MORE: Rudy Gobert is this season's most underrated offensive weapon, too

Most Valuable Player

In a close vote, our panel is taking Antetokounmpo over Harden. Interestingly, Antetokounmpo has a much more clear advantage in our panel's pick for who will win the awards, rather than who should.

So how is anyone really supposed to decide between these two great seasons? Five of our experts weigh in here.

Others receiving votes: Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard and Karl-Anthony Towns

Who will win?

• Giannis Antetokounmpo: 68 percent

• James Harden: 32 percent

MORE: Giannis or Harden? The MVP question that's dividing the NBA

_{Image credits: Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images; Tim Warner/Getty Images; AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez; Zach Beeker/NBAE/Getty Images; AP Photo/Rick Bowmer; Benny Sieu/USA TODAY Sports}

NEW YORK -- Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman likes pitching in the Bronx, and he'd love it even more if he weren't there to face the New York Yankees.

Asked Monday at Yankee Stadium about trade speculation connecting him with New York, Stroman stopped short of saying he was hopeful for a deal but insisted he could handle the city's notoriously tough stage.

"I love it. New York's like the mecca of the world," Stroman said. "I love excitement. I love bright lights. I love competition. I love pressure.

"I've always loved pitching here. Even though I haven't always pitched fairly well here, I've always enjoyed it. Yankee lineups are brutal. They're hard to kind of navigate. But yeah, I love the spotlight. The bigger the moment, that's where I've always wanted to be."

The 28-year-old Stroman is from Long Island and has family in the area. He was expecting about 40 family and friends for Monday night's series opener between Toronto and New York, including his brother's youth baseball team, which came early to watch batting practice. Stroman pitched six scoreless innings against the Red Sox on Sunday at Fenway Park and won't throw during this three-game series.

With the AL East-leading Yankees on the prowl for starting pitching before the July 31 trade deadline, Stroman is a sensible target. He's set to become a free agent after this season and is off to a strong start, with a 3.04 ERA. He's 5-9, but that reflects more on the rebuilding Blue Jays, who came into the day 31-47.

Stroman is 2-5 with a 6.37 ERA in nine career starts at Yankee Stadium.

The right-hander said the trade talks have been "hard to kind of grasp," but he has had time to let it set in.

"Obviously, it's hard to ignore all the rumors," he said. "I don't think I'm at a point where they're going to sign me long-term. I've kind of come to terms with it, but it's not something I'm thinking about daily."

Asked if he would prefer a trade to New York, Stroman laughed, said "no comment" and then elaborated carefully.

"I don't know," he said. "I don't really want to think about it like that just because I have no idea how it's going to play out or where it's going to go. I don't want to get all my eggs in one basket."

He's certain he could handle the Bronx, though.

"I'm built for this," he said. "Anybody can say whatever, but I'm built for the bright lights and the moment. I'm not scared of it. I've never been. I'll take that ball each and every time you put pressure on. I love it."

St. Louis Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks has a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow.

The Cardinals announced the injury Monday but did not disclose whether Hicks will undergo surgery, saying that they are "determining the next course of action."

Hicks was removed from Saturday's 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels in the ninth, after 1 1/3 innings.

The 22-year-old has thrown 211 pitches at least 100 mph this season, over 100 more than the next-closest player. Last year, Hicks threw 673 100 mph pitches and became the only player in the past 10 years to throw 500 or more 100 mph pitches in a single season.

Hicks is 2-2 with a 3.14 ERA and 14 saves this year.