The Mega Millions jackpot climbed to $743 million ahead of Friday night's drawing, with a cash value of $323.4 million, making it the 10th-largest prize in the game's history as players across the country checked their tickets against Friday's winning numbers.

The winning numbers drawn Friday, July 24, were 2, 5, 42, 44, 60 and a gold Mega Ball of 1. Drawings are held twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday at approximately 11 p.m. Eastern time.

A long stretch without a jackpot winner

The last time a player won the Mega Millions jackpot outright was more than three months earlier, when a ticket purchased in Ohio claimed a $60 million prize on St. Patrick's Day, March 17. Since then, the jackpot has climbed steadily through repeated rollovers as no ticket has matched all six numbers in the twice-weekly drawings.

That stretch has not been entirely without winners, however. In Tuesday's drawing preceding Friday's jackpot, no ticket matched all six numbers for the grand prize, but two players came close to the top prize: one ticket holder in California won $2 million, and another in Arizona won $3 million, both by matching enough numbers to claim a lower-tier prize under the game's payout structure.

How the numbers compare historically

Friday's $743 million prize now ranks 10th on the all-time list of largest Mega Millions jackpots, a........

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