NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Adama Sanogo scored 24 points and UConn pulled away from Saint Mary’s for a 70-55 win that put the Huskies in the Sweet 16 for the first time in nine years. No. 4 seed UConn advanced to the West Regional in Las Vegas on Thursday. Next up is eighth-seeded Arkansas, which knocked off No. 1 seed Kansas. Sanogo followed his 28-point game in UConn's NCAA Tournament opener against Iona with another powerful and efficient performance in the paint. Saint Mary’s of the West Coast Conference failed to get out of the first weekend of the tournament for the second straight season as a No. 5 seed.
Isaiah Wong and Jordan Miller led a decisive second-half spurt for Miami, which beat Indiana 85-69 Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to reach its second straight Sweet 16. Wong, the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year, was limited to five points in a first-round win over Drake, He had 27 points and eight rebounds for coach Jim Larrañaga’s fifth-seeded Hurricanes, the only ACC team left in March Madness. Miller scored 19 points. Miami will face top-seeded Houston in the Midwest Region semifinals in Kansas City, Missouri, on Friday. All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis had 23 points and eight rebounds for the Hoosiers.
Johnell Davis scored 29 points, Alijah Martin added 14 and Florida Atlantic ended Fairleigh Dickinson’s magical March by outlasting the No. 16 seed 78-70 in the NCAA Tournament. The ninth-seeded Owls needed everything they had to put away the Knights, who stunned top-seeded Purdue on Friday night in just the second 16-over-1 upset in men’s tournament history. FAU will play Tennessee in the Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Knights couldn’t come up with an encore after topping Purdue, but not before putting up a fight to the finish.
Tyson Walker scored 23 points and No. 7 seed Michigan State beat second-seeded Marquette 69-60 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, sending coach Tom Izzo’s squad back to the Sweet 16 for the first time in four years. Marquette transfer Joey Hauser had 14 points for the Spartans and A.J. Hoggard had as 13 Michigan State took over in the last three minutes. The Spartans advanced to play third-seeded Kansas State in the East Region semifinals on Thursday at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The 68-year-old Izzo won his record 16th March Madness game with a lower-seeded team and reached his 15th regional semifinal. Olivier-Maxence Prosper led Marquette with 16 points.
Drew Timme extended his one-of-a-kind college career by at least one more game, scoring 28 points to help third-seeded Gonzaga make its eighth straight Sweet 16 with a come-from-behind 84-81 win over TCU. Timme made his first 3-pointer since December as part of a 13-1 run that helped the Zags take a seven-point lead with just under nine minutes left after trailing most of the night. After TCU pulled within three late, Timme made a twisting shot in the lane with a defender draped all over him. Gonzaga will face UCLA in the West Region semifinals in Las Vegas. Mike Miles Jr. scored 24 points for TCU.
Ryan Nembhard had a career-high 30 points and No. 6 seed Creighton found its shooting touch to beat third-seeded Baylor 85-76 and earn a spot in the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons. With Baylor heavily focused on containing big man Ryan Kalkbrenner, Nembhard and the Bluejays went to work from outside. They shot 45.8% from 3-point range. They also went 22 of 22 from the free throw line. The Bluejays will meet 15th-seeded Princeton in Louisville, Kentucky. The Bears lost for the second straight season in the second round after winning the title in 2021.
Jack Nunge scored 18 points, Adam Kunkel added 15 on five first-half 3-pointers, and No. 3 seed Xavier beat 11th-seeded Pittsburgh 84-73 to reach its first Sweet 16 since 2017. Colby Jones had 10 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists and Souley Boum and Jerome Hunter each chipped in with 14 points as all five Xavier starters scored in double digits. Xavier moves on to play No. 2 seed Texas on Friday in the Midwest Region semifinals in Kansas City, Missouri. Blake Hinson scored 18 points and Jamarius Burton had 16 for Pitt.
Markquis Nowell scored 23 of his 27 points after halftime, helping Kansas State beat Kentucky 75-69 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The win sends the third-seeded Wildcats to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2018. And it came thanks to a series of big shots that finally pushed them through in a tight game. Ismael Massoud and Keyontae Johnson hit two huge 3s late for Kansas State. Oscar Tshiebwe had 25 points and 18 rebounds for sixth-seeded Kentucky. Kansas State advanced to play No. 7 seed Michigan State in Thursday's East Region semifinals.
NIT
Second Round
at CU Events Center
Final Utah Valley St. 81 Colorado 69
at Matthew Knight Arena
Final Oregon 68 UCF 54
at Kohl Center
Final Wisconsin 75 Liberty 71
at Bartow Arena
Final UAB 77 Morehead St. 59
at UNT Coliseum
Final North Texas 75 Sam Houston St. 55
at Gallagher-Iba Arena
Final Oklahoma St. 71 E. Washington 60
CBI
First Round
at Ocean Center
Final OT E. Kentucky 91 Cleveland St. 75
Final Rice 84 Duquesne 78
Final OT Radford 72 Tarleton St. 70
Final OT Milwaukee 87 Stetson 83
NCAA WOMENS TOURNAMENT
North Carolina takes on Ohio State at 4 p.m. on ESPN
Louisville against Texas at 7 p.m. on ESPN
Toledo versus Tennessee at 6 p.m. on ESPNU
UConn faces Baylor tonight at 9 p.m. on ESPN
Colorado takes on Duke also at 9 p.m. on ESPNU
Madison Scott hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left that gave Mississippi the lead for good, Angel Baker scored 13 points, and the Rebels delivered on their declaration to get defensive, stunning top-seeded Stanford 54-49 on Sunday night to reach the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 for the first time in 16 years. Behind the entire game, Stanford called timeout with 28 seconds left then Hannah Jump turned the ball over and Scott converted. Haley Jones lost the ball out of bounds on the Cardinal’s last possession with a chance to tie then again in the waning moments.
Caitlin Clark had 22 points and 12 assists while Monika Czinano added 20 points to help Iowa beat Georgia 74-66 in a second-round women’s NCAA Tournament game. The Hawkeyes (28-6), the No. 2 seed in Seattle Regional 4, advance to the ninth Sweet Sixteen in program history. Gabbie Marshall added 15 points and McKenna Warnock added 14 for Iowa, which erased the memory of last season’s second-round loss to No. 10 seed Creighton. Clark, a first-team Associated Press All-American, was held scoreless for 13 minutes in the first half, but scored 14 second-half points.
NBA
Nikola Jokic had 22 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists in his 28th triple-double of the season, Michael Porter Jr. had 28 points and nine rebounds, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Brooklyn Nets 108-102 on Sunday.
Jamal Murray scored 20 of his 25 points in the first quarter for the Nuggets, who looked nothing like the slumping team that had dropped five of six. Denver shot 62.5% in the first half and led comfortably most of the game while playing for the second straight afternoon.
Mikal Bridges scored 23 points and Nic Claxton had 19 for the Nets, who have lost three straight as they try to hold onto a top-six seed and a guaranteed postseason spot in the Eastern Conference.
NHL
Jeremy Swayman stopped 26 shots to post his second consecutive shutout, David Pastrnak matched a career-high by scoring his team-leading 48th goal, and the NHL-leading Bruins routed the reeling Buffalo Sabres 7-0. Patrice Bergeron scored 15 seconds in and added two assists in a game the Bruins scored three times on their first seven shots. Jake DeBrusk had a goal and three assists while Garnet Hathaway and Hampus Lindholm also scored. The Sabres dropped to 2-7-2 in their past 11 as part of a swoon that began immediately after they won five of six to move into eighth-place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Defenseman K’Andre Miller had two goals and two assists in New York’s six-goal first period, Jaroslav Halak made 22 saves for his first shutout of the season, and the Rangers beat the Nashville Predators 7-0. Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists in the opening period, and Filip Chytil, Mika Zibenejad, Tyler Motte and Chris Kreider also scored to help New York cruse to its fourth straight home win and second shutout in two days. The Rangers beat Pittsburgh 6-0 on Saturday night after also beating the Penguins on Thursday and Washington on Tuesday. The Rangers scored six times on their first eight shots, chasing Nashville starting goalie Kevin Lankinen after he gave up four goals on five shots. He was replaced by Juuse Saros.
Jesper Bratt scored three goals for his first NHL hat trick as the New Jersey Devils rallied from two goals down and beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 to end a three-game skid. Nico Hischier and Nolan Foote also scored to help the Devils improve their league-leading road record to 26-5-4. Vitek Vanecek finished with 22 saves to help New Jersey get a win after losing at home to the Lightning on Tuesday and Thursday before blowing a 2-0 lead in a 4-2 loss at Florida on Saturday. Nikita Kucherov reached the 100-point mark for the third time in his career with a goal in the first period and Alex Killorn also scored for the Lightning, who had won three straight. Andrei Vasilevskiy had 34 saves.
WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC
Trea Turner homered twice to give him a tournament-leading four, and the defending champion United States romped over Cuba 14-2 to reach its second straight World Baseball Classic final. Paul Goldschmidt and Cedric Mullins also homered for the Americans, who scored in seven of eight innings — putting up crooked numbers in five of them. Turner and Goldschmidt had four RBIs each. The U.S. plays Japan or Mexico in Tuesday night’s championship, trying to join the Samurai Warriors as the only nations to win the title twice. Turner, hitting No. 9 in the batting order, has a tournament-leading 10 RBIs.
Hundreds gathered outside Miami Marlins' home ballpark in Little Havana on Sunday to protest for the Cuban national baseball team played the United States in the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic. It's the first time the Cuban team has played in Miami, a landing spot for many who fled the country to escape the Soviet-style communist government of late leader Fidel Castro. The Cuban team is comprised of major league stars who defected from the island nation along with current Cubans, who are technically government employees. While some fans wanted to separate sports from politics, others wanted no part.
Houston Astros star Jose Altuve has a broken right thumb and needs surgery after getting hurt in Venezuela’s 9-7 quarterfinal loss to the United States at the World Baseball Classic. The second baseman fell to the field after he was struck by the 95.9 mph sinker from Colorado reliever Daniel Bard in the fifth inning Saturday night. The Astros say they will announce a prognosis after the operation. Mets All-Star closer Edwin Díaz sustained a season-ending knee injury during the postgame celebration of Puerto Rico’s 5-2 win over the Dominican Republic.
NFL
The New York Jets have signed former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard to a four-year contract. Lazard reunites with Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who worked with the receiver in the same role in Green Bay from 2019-21. Lazard could also rejoin quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who said this week on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he intends to play for New York this year. Multiple reports say the 27-year-old Lazard has a contract worth $44 million and includes $22 million guaranteed. Lazard is coming off his best NFL season during which he had personal highs with 60 catches and 788 yards receiving to go along with six touchdowns.
The New York Jets re-signed veteran defensive lineman Solomon Thomas to a one-year contract. The 27-year-old Thomas had 26 tackles, two tackles for loss, four quarterback hits and a half-sack while working as a backup in New York’s D-line rotation. Thomas is entering his second season with the Jets after signing a one-year deal last offseason. The team didn’t announce terms, but Thomas’ new contract is worth $3.9 million, according to reports. Thomas will help offset the losses of defensive linemen Sheldon Rankins and Nathan Shepherd, who signed elsewhere this week as free agents.
A person with knowledge of the negotiation says free agent long snapper Joe Cardona is returning to the Patriots on a new four-year contract worth $6.3 million. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Friday on the condition of anonymity because the contract hadn’t been announced. The deal was first reported by NFL Network. Cardona has been a staple part of New England’s special teams since joining the team as an undrafted free agent in 2015. The Patriots also announced the signings of receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, safety Jabrill Peppers and running back James Robinson.
The Dallas Cowboys have acquired receiver Brandin Cooks in a trade with the Houston Texans. The deal adds a speedy veteran to play alongside CeeDee Lamb. Houston gets a fifth-round pick this year and a 2024 sixth-rounder. The trade is reminiscent of a year ago when Dallas sent No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper to Cleveland for two late-round picks. The difference is the Texans will pay $6 million of Cooks’ $18 million salary. The Browns absorbed the entire $20 million owed to Cooper. It’s the fifth time the 29-year-old Cooks has been traded.
TENNIS
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 to win the BNP Paribas Open title and regain the world's No. 1 ranking. The 19-year-old Spaniard will move from second to first in the ATP Tour rankings on Monday, displacing Novak Djokovic. In the women's final, Elena Rybakina beat Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (11), 6-4 and handed the world's second-ranked player just her second loss this year. Alcaraz and Rybakina earned $1,262,220 each for their victories.
NASCAR
Joey Logano dominated early and then passed Brad Keselowski on the final lap to win NASCAR’s race at Atlanta and end the early season domination of Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports. Logano won the pole but Keselowski looked like the Ford driver to beat late in the race. Keselowski had help from Corey LaJoie but Logano got a push from Christopher Bell that proved decisive on the final lap. Logano’s win ended a streak of four consecutive victories by Chevrolet to open the NASCAR Cup season, including back-to-back wins by Hendrick’s William Byron.
(C) 2023 Associated Press
