Hany Mukhtar scored in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time Saturday night and visiting Nashville SC stayed unbeaten with a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew.

The match appeared destined for a scoreless draw without much in the way of true high-danger chances until Mukhtar received expert service from Cristian Espinosa. After taking a pass in the box from Andy Najar, Espinosa spun defender Rudy Camacho around twice and then fed Mukhtar near the goal mouth, where he poked the ball past Patrick Schulte.

The goal enabled Nashville (3-0-1, 10 points) to claim the top spot in the Eastern table despite Columbus (0-2-2, 2 points) controlling the ball most of the night. The Crew possessed the ball for 55.3% of the fixture and made 171 more passes than their visitors.

But they couldn’t convert that into goals and remained winless through four matches under first-year coach Henrik Rydstrom. Meanwhile, Nashville goalie Brian Schwake (two saves) recorded his second clean sheet — both on the road.

Prior to Mukhtar’s marker, neither team generated a scoring opportunity of better than 9%. Each finished the match with eight shots, while Nashville had a 4-2 advantage in shots on frame.

Nashville came into the match boasting a top 10 offense and defense, scoring seven times in its first three fixtures while conceding just twice. Meanwhile, Columbus found its defensive shape last week but couldn’t find the back of the net in a scoreless draw with Chicago.

This one trended more toward that match and less towards the wide-open affairs the Crew played in the first two matches. Neither team generated a chance with a goal expectancy of even 10% in a scoreless first 45 minutes.

Columbus came the closest to scoring in the third minute of stoppage time but Max Arfsten’s long-range try from outside the box struck the crossbar and bounced away.

Jack Maher logged Nashville’s only first-half shot on net in the 39th minute on a header but Schulte (three saves) was able to parry it away.

–Field Level Media

Koa Peat scored 21 points before fouling out and Brayden Burries also had 21 as top-seeded Arizona defeated second-seeded Houston 79-74 on Saturday night in Kansas City to win the Big 12 conference tournament and claim the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Jaden Bradley scored 13 points and Ivan Kharchenkov added 12 for No. 2 Arizona, which won its ninth straight game. The Wildcats (32-2) are in the running for the No. 1 overall seed after winning their first Big 12 championship in their second year in the league, avenging last year’s title game loss to Houston.

“I’m just doing whatever the team needs me to do,” Peat said on ESPN. “We worked for this and we deserve this.”

Joseph “JoJo” Tugler scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the No. 5 Cougars (28-6), who had a five-game winning streak snapped. Mercy Miller had 13 points and seven rebounds, Chase McCarty had 10 points and Emanuel Sharp also scored 10 before fouling out for Houston.

The Cougars led for just 59 seconds. Still, they are expected to be a No. 2 seed when the bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday.

Miller drained a 3-pointer with 1:05 remaining and Milos Uzan buried a trey with 53.8 seconds left as Houston moved within 75-72.

Motiejus Krivas sank two free throws to give Arizona a five-point lead with 22.9 seconds remaining. McCarty’s two free throws with 13.2 seconds left pulled Houston within 77-74.

Burries made two free throws with 8.3 seconds left to seal it for the Wildcats.

Arizona shot 46.3% from the field, including 6 of 13 from 3-point range.

The Cougars made 43.8% of their shots and were 8 of 21 from behind the arc.

Arizona led by eight at halftime before scoring the first seven points of the second half to take a 51-36 lead. Burries made two free throws to cap the half-opening run.

The Wildcats again led by 15 with just over 14 minutes left before Houston rattled off 14 consecutive points.

Sharpe buried a 3-pointer to start the run and Uzan later converted a three-point play to move the Cougars within 59-54 with 9:32 remaining. Tugler and Miller followed with layups as Houston trailed by one with 7:08 to play.

Burries scored on a runner and made the ensuing free throw with 6:41 left to end the Arizona scoring drought at seven minutes, 23 seconds.

A basket by Flemings brought Houston within two before Kharchenkov banked in a long 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a 65-60 lead with 5:52 to play.

The long trey started a 9-2 run for Arizona. Kharchenkov had seven of the points and Peat ended it with a short jumper to make it 71-62 with 3:51 left.

Burries scored the final 10 Arizona points of the first half as the Wildcats led 44-36 at the break. Burries had 12 points in the half, one behind Bradley’s 13 and one ahead of Peat’s 11.

Tugler had 10 points in the half for the Cougars.

–Field Level Media

Vladislav Gavrikov scored a goal and dished two assists and the New York Rangers held on for a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night in Saint Paul, Minn.

Noah Laba, Jaroslav Chmelar and Vincent Trocheck also scored for New York, which won its fourth game in a row. Adam Fox picked up a pair of assists.

Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin tied his career high with 46 saves to earn the victory. He made six saves in the first period, 20 saves in the second and 20 saves in the third.

Matt Boldy and Danila Yurov scored one goal apiece for Minnesota, whose point streak ended at five games (3-0-2). The Wild lost in regulation for the first time since March 1.

Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson gave up four goals on 18 shots.

The Rangers started the scoring on a power-play goal 2:41 after the opening faceoff. Laba streaked into the offensive zone on an odd-man rush and scored on a wrist shot from the right circle.

New York made it 2-0 with five minutes to go in the first period. Gavrikov chipped in a loose puck in front of the net with a backhand shot.

The Wild got on the scoreboard in the first minute of the second period. Boldy carried the puck between a pair of defenders and buried a power-play goal.

The sequence marked Boldy’s 38th goal, which increased his career high and tied him with Kirill Kaprizov for the team lead.

The Rangers pulled ahead 3-1 with 11:19 remaining in the second period. Chmelar scored on a mini-breakaway with a backhand shot.

Trocheck made it 4-1 with 10:57 left in the second period. He redirected a shot past Gustavsson, who was screened by traffic in front of the net.

Minnesota pulled within 4-2 with 12:41 remaining. Yurov tapped in a shot from the front of the crease to reach double-digit goals in his rookie campaign.