Utah and Florida clinched the remaining two spots at the NCAA women’s gymnastics championship on Thursday night, denying No. 1 overall seed Oklahoma a chance at a three-peat. Utah took the lead on the first rotation after posting a season-high 49.6375 on the beam — with a 9.950 from Abby Paulson and Malie O’Keefe. Jaylene Gilstrap and O’Keefe also posted 9.950 on the floor to keep Utah in front. The Utes finished with 197.9375 points, while the Gators had 197.8750 for the fifth-highest score in program history at the championships. Defending champion Oklahoma suffered from five falls to place third with 196.6625, followed by Alabama (196.4125). Fifth-seeded Utah and No. 4 Florida join No. 2 LSU and No. 3 California in Saturday’s finals.

Kenny Payne has been hired as associate head coach at Arkansas under John Calipari. Payne was fired last month after going 12-52 in two seasons as the head coach at Louisville, his alma mater. Before that, he spent 10 years as an assistant at Kentucky under Calipari, helping the Wildcats win the national championship in 2012, play for the 2014 title and reach four Final Fours. Payne also has been an assistant at Oregon and for the NBA’s New York Knicks. As associate head coach at Kentucky from 2014 to 2020, Payne helped the Wildcats consistently land highly ranked recruiting classes.

Millions of Indians are voting in a six-week election that’s a referendum on Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The first round of voting is being held across 21 states. Modi is seeking a third rare term in office. He is up against a broad opposition alliance that hasn’t named their candidate for prime minister if they win. India’s voters will elect 543 members for the lower house of Parliament during the staggered elections that will run until June 1. The votes will be counted on June 4.

The Biden administration says it has sent about 50 Haitians back to their country, marking its first deportation flight in months to the Caribbean nation struggling under surging gang violence. Authorities didn’t offer details of Thursday's flight beyond how many deported Haitians were aboard. The Homeland Security Department said it will continue to enforce U.S. laws and immigration policy throughout the Caribbean, as well as at the southern border. Haitians were arrested crossing the border from Mexico 286 times in the first three months of the year. That's just a tiny fraction of the more than 400,000 arrests among all nationalities.

Guitar legend and Allman Brothers Band co-founder Dickey Betts has died at age 80. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer wrote the band's biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man.” Manager David Spero told The Associated Press that Betts died early Thursday at his home in Osprey, Florida. He says Betts had been battling cancer for more than a year and had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Betts shared lead guitar duties with Duane Allman in the original Allman Brothers Band to help give the group its distinctive sound and create a new genre: Southern rock. Acts ranging from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Kid Rock were influenced by the Allmans’ music, which combined blues, country, R&B and jazz with ’60s rock.

A judge has denied a request by the owner of Bob Baffert-trained Arkansas Derby winner Muth for the colt to run in next month’s 150th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Mitch Perry declined Thursday to grant a temporary injunction to Zedan Racing Stables, which had argued that the ban of Baffert was “illegal.” Muth won the Arkansas Derby on March 30 but is ineligible to receive the 100 points that would have put him in the Run for the Roses because of Baffert’s suspension. ZRS sued Churchill Downs days later.

A jury of 12 people has been seated in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York. Alternates are now being selected. The rapid progress Thursday afternoon propels the case closer to opening statements and weeks of testimony in a case charging the Republican with falsifying business records to suppress stories about his sex life in the final days of the 2016 election. The jury includes a sales professional, a software engineer, an English teacher and multiple lawyers. The case centers on $130,000 Trump’s lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen paid to porn actor Stormy Daniels. Trump faces 34 felony counts. He denies any wrongdoing.