NCAA March Madness
Other than UConn, the rest of the participants in next weekend's Final Four may need name tags. When they travel to Houston to play for the national title, Florida Atlantic, San Diego State and Miami will all be making their first appearances at the Final Four. It's the first time since 1970 that three first-timers all showed up in the same year. There will be no No. 1 seed at the Final Four for the first time since 2011. Instead, there will be a 9 seed in Florida Atlantic, two 5s in SDSU and Miami, and a 4 seed in UConn, which opens as an overwhelming favorite. The matchups: UConn will take on Miami and FAU will face San Diego State next Saturday in Houston.
Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points and UConn overwhelmed its fourth straight NCAA Tournament opponent, earning its first trip to the Final Four in nine years with an 82-54 blowout of Gonzaga on Saturday. The Huskies have felt right at home in their first extended March Madness run since winning the 2014 national championship, playing their best basketball of what had been an up-and-down season. UConn controlled the usually efficient Bulldogs at both ends in the West Region final. These elite Huskies did what the UConn women couldn’t for once and are headed to Houston. Drew Timme had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Gonzaga in his final collegiate game.
Elsewhere, Alijah Martin, Vladislav Goldin and ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic became the first and lowest-seeded team to reach this year’s Final Four. The Owls withstood another huge game by Kansas State’s Markquis Nowell to beat the Wildcats 79-76. FAU, making just its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament, won the East Region at Madison Square Garden and will head to Houston to play San Diego State. The winningest team in Division I this season had never won an NCAA Tournament game before ripping off four straight, all by single digits.
Jordan Miller scored 27 points and made a series of crucial foul shots down the stretch as Miami rallied to an 88-81 victory over Texas for a spot in the Final Four. Miller finished 7 of 7 from the field and 13 of 13 from the foul line, while Isaiah Wong scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half for the Hurricanes. They are headed to NRG Stadium in Houston for a date with UConn on Saturday night.
Darrion Trammell converted a go-ahead free throw after he was fouled on a floater with 1.2 seconds left, and San Diego State muscled its way into its first Final Four, grinding out a 57-56 victory over Creighton in the South Region final. Lamont Butler scored 18 points and Trammell had 12 for the fifth-seeded Aztecs (31-6), who slowed down the high-scoring, sixth-seeded Bluejays (24-13) and became the first Mountain West Conference team to reach the national semifinals. The experienced Aztecs, in their sixth season under coach Brian Dutcher, will play Florida Atlantic on Saturday in Houston for a spot in the national title game.
Women's March Madness
UConn’s record streak of reaching 14 straight Final Fours ended when third-seeded Ohio State beat the No. 2 seed Huskies 73-61 on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament. Cotie McMahon scored 23 points and the Buckeyes forced UConn into 25 turnovers, ending the Huskies’ season before the national semifinals for the first time in 14 seasons. UConn hadn’t been eliminated this early since 2006. The Buckeyes stopped their own Elite Eight drought. Ohio State hadn’t made a regional final since 1993. The Buckeyes went on to lose in the title game that year. They’ll play Virginia Tech, who beat Tennessee 73-64, tonight in the final.
Meanwhile, Caitlin Clark put on a show with 41 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds to help No. 2 seed Iowa beat fifth-seeded Louisville 97-83 yesterday and sent the Hawkeyes to their first women's Final Four in 30 years. The unanimous first-team All-American was as dominant as she’s been all season in getting the Hawkeyes to Dallas for the women’s NCAA Tournament national semifinals on Friday night. They Seattle 4 Region champion will face the winner of the Greenville 1 region that has South Carolina, who defeated UCLA 59-43 on Saturday, playing Maryland tonight. Iowa (30-6) hadn’t been to the Final Four since Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer led the team to its lone appearance in 1993. Clark had the 11th triple-double of her career and the 19th in NCAA Tournament history.
Angel Reese had 18 rebounds and LSU returned to the women’s Final Four for the first time in 15 years by beating Miami 54-42. The victory concludes a rapid rise for the Tigers under second-year coach Kim Mulkey, who won three NCAA titles at Baylor. Alexis Morris scored 21 points and Reese added 13 for the third-seeded Tigers, who asserted control of a grinding, defense-first game. LSU shot 30.2% and went 1 for 12 from 3-point range, including misses on its first nine attempts. But Miami was even worse from 3, missing all 15 tries. Reese was named the most outstanding player of the Greenville 2 Region. Jasmyne Roberts scored 22 points for Miami.
NBA
Jaylen Brown scored 41 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 137-93 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. The Celtics were without star forward and leading scorer Jayson Tatum, who was sidelined with a left hip contusion. But Boston still moved to 1½ games behind Milwaukee for the Eastern Conference’s best record with its seventh victory in nine games. Malcolm Brogdon added 20 points and nine assists for Boston, and Derrick White had 19 points with eight rebounds. Zach Collins scored 21 points with seven rebounds for San Antonio, which was without 2022 ninth-overall draft pick Jeremy Sochan for the fourth time in five games.
Cole Anthony had 21 points to lead eight Orlando scorers in double figures as the Magic overcame Mikal Bridges’ 44 points for a 119-106 win over the Brooklyn Nets. Franz Wagner added 19 points and 10 rebounds, Wendell Carter had 18 points and six rebounds and Jalen Suggs returned from an injury with 16 points to help the Magic win their third straight. Paolo Banchero finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Bridges made six of nine 3-point shots and came up one point short of his career high of 45 points. Cam Thomas added 18 points for the Nets, who lost for the sixth time in seven games, one night after a rout of the Miami Heat.
LeBron James says two doctors recommended season-ending surgery on a torn tendon in his right foot, but he has decided to finish out the season on the court with the Los Angeles Lakers. James returned to the Lakers on Sunday after a monthlong absence with what he revealed was a significant tendon injury. He wasn’t in the starting lineup for only the second time in his 20-year NBA career, but he still led the Lakers with 19 points in their 118-108 loss to the Chicago Bulls. James returned with eight games left in the Lakers’ regular season as they attempt to avoid missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
NHL
David Pastrnak eclipsed the 50-goal mark by scoring twice and the Boston Bruins won their seventh game in a row by defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in a shootout. Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk converted in the shootout in a matchup of Eastern Conference division leaders. Jakub Lauko also scored for the Bruins who earned their 57th victory and are five wins shy of matching the all-time NHL record with nine regular-season games to play. Charlie McAvoy provided two assists. Boston's Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves. Jack Drury, Brady Skjei and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes.
MLB
Anthony Volpe grew up watching Derek Jeter star at shortstop for the New York Yankees. Now, the 21-year-old is getting the chance to be the Yankees’ opening day shortstop Thursday against the San Francisco Giants. The Yankees announced after a 6-2 win over Toronto that Volpe had won the spot. Volpe was able to share the news with his parents and other family members near the Yankees' dugout and said it is something he will never forget. Volpe, who grew up a Yankees fan, lived in Manhattan as a child before moving to New Jersey. Jeter was his favorite player.
GOLF
Sam Burns is the final winner of the Dell Match Play, and it was a dud of an ending. After so much excitement over four days at Austin Country Club, Burns beat Cameron Young in just 13 holes. The 6-and-5 victory is the second-largest margin over 18 holes in this tournament. There wasn't much Young could do against a guy who made eight birdies over his last 10 holes. The big excitement was Sunday morning. Burns narrowly escaped defending champion Scottie Scheffler in 21 holes. Young was 2 down to Rory McIlroy when he rallied to win in 19 holes.
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