NCAA MEN'S TOURNAMENT
Defending champion Connecticut, along with Houston, Purdue and North Carolina are the top seeds in a March Madness bracket that started going haywire even before the pairings came out. Of the four top seeds, only UConn heads into the tournament coming off a win. That played into the Huskies receiving the No. 1 overall seed. The other three top seeds lost in their conference tournaments.
The NCAA men's basketball tournament matchups were unveiled Sunday. In games of regional interest, UConn is the No. 1 overall seed and faces 16th-seeded Stetson on Friday in Brooklyn. Vermont earned a 13 seed and faces fourth-seeded Duke, also on Friday in Brooklyn. Yale, a 13 seed, heads to Spokane to face fourth-seeded Auburn on Thursday. Colgate notched a 14 seed and will face third-seeded Baylor in Memphis on Friday. And 15th-seeded St. Peter's goes to Charlotte to play second-seeded Tennessee on Thursday.
NCAA WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT
The NCAA women's basketball tournament field is set, and MVP Arena could see the top names in the sport when it hosts third- and fourth-round games later this month. Among the teams in the bracket's two Albany regionals are top-seeded Iowa, with scoring leader Caitlin Clark, second-seeded UCLA, third-seeded LSU, top-seeded South Carolina and second-seeded Notre Dame. UConn, seeded third, is not routed through Albany. The Huskies begin with a matchup against 14th-seeded Jackson State.
In opening round matchups of regional interest, 13th-seeded Fairfield faces fourth-seeded Indiana, while sixth-seeded Syracuse awaits the winner of the 11-seed play-in game. Holy Cross and Sacred Heart, both 16 seeds, begin in the play-in round.
NBA
Victor Wembanyama had 33 points and 16 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs overcame 31 points by Brooklyn’s Cam Thomas and beat the Nets 122-115 in overtime to snap a three-game skid. Wembanyama added seven assists and seven blocks while collecting his 36th double-double in 60 games. The 7-foot-4 rookie center has five games of at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and five assists. Dennis Schroder finished with 19 points and Mikal Bridges added 14 points for the Nets.
Sam Hauser had career highs of 30 points and 10 3-pointers to help the short-handed Boston Celtics beat the Washington Wizards 130-104 on Sunday night. Jayson Tatum also scored 30 points with six 3-pointers as the NBA-leading Celtics hit 24 shots from beyond the arc in a game in which they never trailed despite missing three starters. Jordan Poole scored 31 points for the NBA-worst Wizards, who were without four starters.
Damian Lillard had 31 points and 16 assists and Bobby Portis had 31 points and 10 rebounds to lead Milwaukee past the Phoenix Suns 140-129 as the Bucks hit 24 3-pointers to win without star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo was out Sunday with left hamstring soreness. He missed just his fourth game of the season and first since March 4, when he was out with Achilles tendinitis. Khris Middleton added 22 points for Milwaukee in his first game back after missing 16 games with a sprained left ankle. Bradley Beal had 28 points, Grayson Allen had 25 points and Devin Booker scored 23 for Phoenix.
Bam Adebayo made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Miami Heat to a 104-101 win over the Detroit Pistons. Cade Cunningham missed a 3-pointer for Detroit with 9 seconds left and Terry Rozier sprinted up the court with the rebound. He couldn’t get to the basket, so he tossed the ball to Adebayo, who made his third 3-pointer in the last three games. Duncan Robinson scored a season-high 30 points for Miami on 10-for-15 shooting. Evan Fournier scored a season-high 18 for the Pistons.
Kyrie Irving hit a running left-handed shot at the buzzer, capping a wild final 26 seconds and giving the Dallas Mavericks a 107-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets rallied from 13 points down midway through the fourth quarter and went ahead on Jamal Murray’s tiebreaking 3-pointer with 26 seconds remaining. Luka Doncic answered almost immediately on the inbounds pass after a timeout, hitting from several feet behind the arc for a 105-105 tie. Denver had a five-game road winning streak stopped. Doncic scored 37 points and Irving had 24. Murray scored 23 points, while the Mavs frustrated Jokic into a 6-of-16 shooting day. Jokic had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Paolo Banchero scored 29 points and the Orlando Magic pulled away from Toronto for a 111-96 victory, handing the Raptors their seventh straight loss. Franz Wagner had 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Orlando, and his brother, Moritz, scored 14 points. The Magic improved to 8-2 in their last 10 games. Jordan Nwora led the injury-ravaged Raptors with 18 points, including 12 during a third-quarter burst. Gary Trent Jr. scored 15 points, and Immanuel Quickley and Bruce Brown each had 12.
Dejounte Murray scored 21 points, De’Andre Hunter added 20 and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Los Angeles Clippers 110-93 to snap a three-game losing streak. Jalen Johnson had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Clint Capela added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawks. Murray had five 3-pointers, marking a career-high fifth straight game he has knocked down at least four from beyond the arc. The Hawks were 17 for 34 on 3-pointers after tying a season high with 20 in Friday night’s loss at Utah. Kawhi Leonard scored 28 points to lead the Clippers, and Paul George had 26. Los Angeles has lost four of its last five and is in fourth place in the Western Conference.
Victor Wembanyama sounds like he expects to be playing an NBA game — or two, perhaps — in his native France next season. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich confirmed Sunday night that the Spurs are heading to Paris next season, something that former Spurs guard Tony Parker revealed to French reporters several weeks ago. “We’re going there,” Popovich said. The comment about Paris came after San Antonio topped Brooklyn in Austin, in what was a home game for the Spurs. The NBA hasn’t announced which teams will be playing in Paris next season.
NHL
Jonny Brodzinski scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and the New York Rangers defeated the New York Islanders 5-2. Mika Zibanejad, Will Cuylle, Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere also scored for the Rangers, who have won five of six. Igor Shesterkin finished with 25 saves. Bo Horvat scored twice, Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves but the Islanders lost their fourth consecutive game.
Jack Eichel scored his 21st goal of the season and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the New Jersey Devils 3-1. After the Devils took a 1-0 lead 38 seconds into the third period, the Golden Knights scored the next two goals with Eichel's being the go-ahead. William Carrier and William Karlsson also scored for Vegas, while goalie Logan Thompson stopped 19 shots. Nico Hischier scored for New Jersey, which played Sunday on the second leg of back-to-back nights and its fourth road game in seven days. Jake Allen made 34 saves.
Dmitry Orlov had two goals and two assists, and the Carolina Hurricanes scored four times in the third period to beat the Ottawa Senators 7-2. Evgeny Kuznetsov, Seth Jarvis, Jalen Chatfield, Jake Guentzel and Brendan Lemieux also scored for Carolina. Sebastian Aho had three assists and Frederik Andersen made 30 saves. Thomas Chabot and Tim Stutzle scored for the Senators, who had their three-game win streak halted. Anton Forsberg stopped 31 shots.
Ryan Donato, Kevin Korchinski and Joey Anderson scored in a 1:23 span of the third period, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2. Philipp Kurashev and Connor Bedard also scored for the Blackhawks, who have won four of their last six games. Petr Mrazek finished with 24 saves. Ryan Carpenter and Klim Kostin scored for San Jose in its 13th loss in 14 games (1-11-2). Devin Cooley had 26 saves in the 26-year-old’s NHL debut. The Sharks led 2-1 before the Blackhawks scored four times over the final 10 minutes of the game.
Tyler Toffoli scored twice and added an assist, leading the Winnipeg Jets past the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-1. Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist, and Kyle Connor, Logan Stanley and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored on Sunday. Sean Monahan added two assists and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 30 shots for the Jets, who pulled even with the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche atop the Central Division. Brendan Gaunce scored and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 21 shots for Columbus.
Sidney Crosby matched Wayne Gretzky for the seventh-most goals with a single franchise in NHL history, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings 6-3. Crosby, Lars Eller, Reilly Smith and Valtteri Puustinen each had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh, which won for the second time in three games following a four-game losing streak. Michael Bunting and Drew O’Connor also scored. Crosby’s 583rd career goal, his first in 12 games and No. 33 on the season, helped the Penguins keep their playoff hopes alive after dealing star winger Jake Guentzel at the trade deadline.
Robert Thomas scored two power-play goals in the third period, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 for their fourth consecutive victory. Jake Neighbours also scored a power-play goal in the third for the Blues. Kevin Hayes scored in the second, and Pavel Buchnevich had three assists. St. Louis is four points back of Vegas for the second wild card in the Western Conference. Troy Terry scored two goals for Anaheim in its sixth consecutive loss. The Ducks were shut out in their previous two games.
GOLF
Scottie Scheffler has become the first player in the 50 years of The Players Championship to win back-to-back. This was the hardest. Not only was he dealing with neck pain all week, he started the final round five shots behind. Scheffler closed with a 64. That matches the lowest final round by a winner. He also tied a Players Championship record with a five-shot comeback. U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, British Open champion Brian Harman and Xander Schauffele all finished one shot behind. All of them had their chances over the final three holes to force a playoff.
TENNIS
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Daniil Medvedev for the second straight year in the BNP Paribas Open final. The Spaniard won his first title since taking Wimbledon last year. Alcaraz is the first man to defend at Indian Wells since Novak Djokovic won three in a row from 2014-16. Iga Swiatek beat Maria Sakkari in just over an hour to win the women's title. Swiatek lost just 21 games in six matches during the 12-day tournament. Swiatek earned her 20th match win of the year, which leads the WTA Tour. It was a repeat of the 2022 final, in which Swiatek also beat Sakkari.
NASCAR
Denny Hamlin has won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway after passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. in the final laps. It's his fourth victory at the famed short track. Hamlin also won at NASCAR’s bullring last September. This one was much different. Tire issues hampered most everyone all afternoon as only five cars finished on the lead lap — the first time that has happened in the Cup Series in 20 years. The Gibbs cars were the class of the field.
PGA TOUR
Players on the PGA Tour board are preparing to meet with the Saudi leader backing LIV Golf. Rory McIlroy says such a meeting with Yasir Al-Rumayyan should have happened long ago. Al-Rumayyan is governor of the Public Investment Fund, which backs LIV Golf. Details remain vague on a planned meeting Monday, including the location and who will be involved. Also unclear is what will be on the table. Patrick Cantlay is one of the six player directors on the board. He doesn't anything too substantive. McIlroy is drawing distinctions between Al-Rumayyan and disruptive nature of LIV operators like Greg Norman.
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Cincinnati 2 New England 1
Atlanta 2 Orlando City 0
MLB
Boston 12 N.Y. Yankees 6
N.Y. Mets 7 Miami 6
Washington 9 N.Y. Mets 8
Boston 3 Atlanta 3
Toronto 5 Philadelphia 5
Pittsburgh 8 Tampa Bay 4
Baltimore 8 Atlanta 2
St. Louis 10 Houston 6
Arizona 2 L.A. Angels 0
Cubs 8 Texas 6
Arizona 5 Seattle 4
Cleveland 4 Cincinnati 2
Milwaukee 6 Kansas City 4
San Diego 1 Korea 0
San Diego 5 LG Twins 4
Toronto 9 Minnesota 4
Baltimore 4 Detroit 4
White Sox 3 Oakland 3
Colorado 5 San Francisco 3
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen doesn’t expect to sign a long-term contract with star first baseman Pete Alonso before the end of the season. Alonso has a $20.5 million, one-year contract and can become a free agent after the World Series. Cohen says: “We haven’t had any discussion and I think at this point, for Pete, it’s best for him to go and have a great year and not be distracted." Alonso has a .251 batting average with 192 homers, 498 RBIs and a .870 OPS in five major league seasons.
Joey Votto sure knows how to make an instant impression, going deep on the first pitch he faced as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. Votto lined a 392-foot homer to left-center off Philadelphia ace Zack Wheeler in his inaugural spring training game with Toronto. Granted, there was some debate about whether the ball went out, and Votto momentarily stopped at second base. But the umpires ruled it a homer and he continued on his way home. Home is what led Votto to Toronto in the first place, agreeing to a minor league contract with his hometown Blue Jays after spending 17 seasons with the Reds.
© 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
