MEN’S MARCH MADNESS
UConn delivered the latest of its suffocating basketball beatdowns, smothering Purdue for a 75-60 victory to become the first team since 2007 to capture back-to-back national championships. Tristen Newton scored 20 points for the Huskies, who won their 12th straight March Madness game — not a single one of them decided by fewer than 13 points. UConn was efficient on offense but won this with defense. The Huskies limited the country’s second-best 3-point shooting team to a mere seven shots behind the arc, and Purdue only made one. Meanwhile, UConn allowed Zach Edey to go for 37 points on 25 shot attempts.
Purdue's Zach Edey finished with 37 points and 10 rebounds in a huge individual effort in Monday night's loss to UConn in the national title game. But Edey's big night wasn't enough to stop UConn's run to becoming the first repeat men's champion in 17 years. The 7-foot-4 Edey is the two-time Associated Press national player of the year. And he had powered Purdue to its first trip to the NCAA title game since a 1969 loss to UCLA. But Edey was largely single-handed in this one, with only Braden Smith hitting double figures with 12 points.
UConn left Donovan Clingan on the loneliest island, stuck deep in the paint to wrestle Purdue center Zach Edey. Even when Edey bulled his way to shots at the rim, the Huskies refused to give their big man help, knowing the two-time national player of the year would get his points. UConn had a much bigger concern than the 7-foot-4 man in the middle: Purdue’s perimeter shooters. And, boy, did the Huskies shut them down. UConn held one of the nation’s best 3-point shooting team to one made 3 and became the first team in 17 years to repeat as national champions with a 75-60 win.
South Carolina’s victory over Caitlin Clark and Iowa in Sunday’s women’s NCAA championship game had a preliminary audience average of 18.7 million on ABC and ESPN. The only sporting events in the United States to draw a bigger TV audience since 2019 have been football, the World Cup and the Olympics. The audience numbers are expected to increase when Nielsen releases its final numbers on Tuesday. Nielsen says the audience peaked at 24 million. It’s the most-watched basketball game since 2019, when the men’s NCAA title game between Virginia and Texas Tech averaged 19.6 million on CBS.
The NCAA women's basketball tournament is having a moment. Attendance and TV ratings during this year's version of March Madness spiked thanks in part to Iowa star Caitlin Clark. Clark says she expects the growth of interest in women's college hoops to continue even after she moves on to the WNBA. The NCAA is optimistic the women's tournament can start to cash in on some of its newfound popularity. NCAA president Charlie Baker says the organization is exploring providing a financial benefit to the 68 teams that make the field.
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced a policy that all but bans transgender athletes from women’s sports. The NAIA is the governing body for mostly small colleges, covering about 83,000 athletes across the country. The NAIA’s Council of Presidents approved the policy in a 20-0 vote. The NAIA is believed to be the first college sports organization to take such a step. The NCAA responded by saying it remains committed to “fair competition for all student-athletes in all NCAA championships.”
NHL
Jake McCabe scored at 1:30 of overtime and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. Auston Matthews got his NHL-leading 65th goal of the season to go along with an assist, while Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto. Ilya Samsonov made 30 saves. Rickard Rakell and Drew O’Connor scored for Pittsburgh, which is now 6-0-3 over its last nine to get back into the Eastern Conference playoff race. Alex Nedeljkovic had 20 saves. The Penguins are tied with Detroit for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, and trail the New York Islanders by one point for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Conor Garland scored twice and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3. Quinn Hughes and Brock Boeser each had a goal and an assist for the Canucks, and J.T. Miller had three assists. Arturs Silovs finished with 20 saves in his third start of the season. Jack Eichel scored twice and Noah Hanifin had a goal and an assist for Vegas. Logan Thompson finished with 26 saves. The Canucks remain atop the Pacific Division, five points up on the Edmonton Oilers while the Golden Knights hold on to the Western Conference’s second wild card.
MLB
Juan Soto and Anthony Volpe each hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning off Jesús Luzardo, and the New York Yankees romped over the Miami Marlins 7-0. New York improved to 9-2 and matched the best 11-game start in team history. A day after winning in St. Louis, the Marlins dropped to 1-10 for the first time since they lost 11 in a row after an opening victory in 1998. Nestor Cortes, pitching against his hometown team for the first time, allowed two hits, struck out six and walked none over eight innings.
DJ Stewart hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to give New York the lead, and the Mets held on to beat the Atlanta Braves 8-7. Brandon Nimmo drove in five runs with four hits, including two homers for New York. The Mets, who have won four of five, snapped Atlanta’s three-game winning streak on the night Atlanta celebrated the 50-year anniversary of Hank Aaron’s record-breaking 715th homer. Marcell Ozuna hit his fifth homer of the season for the Braves, matching Mookie Betts and Tyler O’Neill for the most in the majors.
Alec Bohm had an RBI double in the 10th inning and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3. Bohm’s hit off Ryan Helsley (1-1) drove in automatic runner Cristian Pache, and Bryson Stott followed with a sacrifice fly for the insurance run as the Phillies won for the third time in their last four games. Gregory Soto got the last three outs for his first save. The Cardinals rallied for two in the bottom of the ninth off Jeff Hoffman (1-0) to tie it. Jordan Walker scored the first with a sacrifice fly and Mason Winn’s two-out single tied it 3-all.
Elly De La Cruz hit his first two homers of the season, a massive 450-foot solo drive and a sinking liner that turned into his first career inside-the-park drive, and the Cincinnati Reds held off the Milwaukee Brewers for a 10-8 win. De La Cruz had three hits and scored four times. Will Benson also homered for the Reds, and Spencer Steer had two RBIs. The Reds led 8-0 after four innings and 9-3 after five. And the Brewers nearly rallied for an improbable win. Milwaukee’s Brice Turang homered and drove in four runs.
Ryan McMahon atoned for a costly error with three hits, Charlie Blackmon homered and tripled, and the Colorado Rockies beat Arizona 7-5 to deny Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo his 500th career win. Arizona has dropped five in a row since Lovullo got his 499th victory April 2 against the New York Yankees. Lovullo, in his eighth season, is the longest-serving manager in franchise history. Colorado starter Kyle Freeland grinded through five innings for his longest outing of the season and Peter Lambert (2-0) pitched two innings of relief to earn the win. Jake Bird retired Eugenio Suarez with a bases-loaded fly to right to end the game and earn his first save after the Diamondbacks pushed across a run against Nick Mears.
Lane Thomas drove in three runs and Washington spoiled Blake Snell’s San Francisco debut, beating the Giants 8-1 in the opener of the Nationals’ week-long stay in the Bay Area. Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, agreed to a $62 million, two-year contract March 18. He had been throwing at extended spring training in Scottsdale, Arizona, to build up his arm strength. Trevor Williams allowed one run and three hits over five innings for Washington.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a go-ahead, two-run home run with two outs in the eighth, two innings after the Padres scored seven runs, and San Diego stunned the Chicago Cubs 9-8. Tatis watched the ball soar into the left field seats, flipped his bat aside and pumped his fists after hitting his fourth of the year. Tatis was wearing custom cleats honoring the late Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. Rookie Jackson Merrill was aboard on a leadoff walk off Adbert Alzolay. Cubs right-hander Javier Assad, who grew up across the border in Tijuana, took a two-hit shutout and an 8-0 lead into the sixth.
José Ramírez hit a two-run homer — his 100th at Progressive Field — and the Cleveland Guardians followed the total solar eclipse by winning first-year manager Stephen Vogt’s home debut, 4-0 over the Chicago White Sox. Three hours after fans chanted his name while the sun was blocked by the moon, Ramírez connected in the fifth inning off Bryan Shaw. The Guardians improved to 8-2. Triston McKenzie pitched 5 2/3 innings for Cleveland, off to its best start since 2011. The White Sox dropped their fifth straight and fell to 1-9. They have scored an MLB-low 16 runs, the club’s fewest in 10 games since 1968.
José Berríos pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings, Davis Schneider hit a two-run single and the Toronto Blue Jays won their home opener Monday night, beating the Seattle Mariners 5-2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had two hits and drove in a run as the Blue Jays won before a sellout crowd of 40,069 at their renovated stadium. The lower level of seats and both clubhouses were rebuilt over the offseason. Berríos (2-0) allowed four hits, all singles, including three from Seattle’s Ty France. The right-hander walked one and matched a season-high by striking out six. Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo (0-3) lost for the third time in three starts.
Yordan Alvarez and Victor Caratini homered as Houston rallied from an early deficit to beat the Texas Rangers 10-5 after Astros scheduled starter Framber Valdez was scratched because of elbow soreness. The Astros earned a split in the four-game series. Seth Martinez worked 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief after Blair Henley retired only one of the nine batters he faced when making his major league debut starting in place of Valdez. The Astros led 2-0 before Henley threw his first pitch, but the 26-year-old from nearby Fort Worth allowed five runs before getting an out on his 34th pitch.
Mike Trout hit his fifth homer and added an RBI triple, and Tyler Anderson pitched seven-plus innings of four-hit ball in the Los Angeles Angels’ 7-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. Taylor Ward had three hits and drove in three runs for the Angels, who have won six of eight since getting blown out in their first two games of the season. Anthony Rendon also had three hits and scored three runs. Zach Eflin yielded five runs and nine hits over five innings for the Rays on his 30th birthday.
Bryan Reynolds hit his 100th career home run as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers 7-4. Connor Joe and Jared Triolo had two hits and two RBIs for the Pirates as Pittsburgh improved to 9-2. That's tied with the New York Yankees for the best record in the majors. Mitch Keller struck out nine in six innings to pick up his first win of the season. Detroit's Reese Olson allowed six runs on nine hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. The Tigers have dropped four of five after starting 5-0.
Shohei Ohtani had two doubles and a home run — his third in five games — to power the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Minnesota Twins 4-2. James Outman hit the go-ahead homer in the seventh inning and Freddie Freeman and Will Smith drove in runs to fuel another smooth victory for Dodgers newcomer James Paxton. Manny Margot hit a two-run homer off his former team to give the Twins a third-inning lead. The loaded Dodgers lineup was too much for a depleted bullpen after starter Bailey Ober deftly worked to depart with one run allowed in five innings.
Baseball’s Hall of Fame will unveil a bronze statue of Hank Aaron on May 23 on the first floor of its museum in Cooperstown, New York. And the U.S. Postal Service will release a commemorative stamp picturing Aaron in his batting stance wearing his Atlanta Braves uniform. Both announcements came on the 50th anniversary of Aaron’s 715th home run, which topped the record 714 hit by Babe Ruth. Aaron hit 755 home runs from 1954-76, a mark that stood until Barry Bonds hit 762 from 1986-2007, a feat assisted by performance-enhancing drugs. Aaron was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1982. A 25-time All-Star, he set a record with 2,297 RBIs.
Shane Bieber held it together as long as he could. Cleveland’s ace became emotional when discussing the upcoming Tommy John elbow surgery that will end his season. Bieber's voice cracked before the Guardians' home opener as he talked about the decision to have the operation. The 2020 Cy Young winner was dominant in two starts before he succumbed to pain. The 28-year-old is in his final season under contract with Cleveland, which has offered him a long-term deal in the past. Bieber understands there are no certainties about his future, but he is more focused on recovering and getting back on the mound.
GOLF
Forget the azaleas and dogwoods at Augusta National. Players are marveling over firm and fast conditions for the Masters. How long it lasts depends on one day of rain expected later in the week. Xander Schauffele says shots into par 5s are bouncing across the turf. Tony Finau played a chip on the 11th hole he couldn't keep on the green. Tiger Woods was out early with Will Zalatoris for nine holes. Among those who used Monday as a day of rest was Akshay Bhatia. And for good reason. He just got into the Masters by winning the Texas Open.
If anybody knows what Will Zalatoris has gone through as he tries to return from back surgery to play competitive golf again, it just might be his playing partner during Monday’s practice round for the Masters. Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods has undergone the same procedure several times to alleviate pain caused by a herniated disc. Zalatoris says most of Woods' advice has been about the rehabilitation process and how to be patient in the recovery. But it was somehow fitting that the two were first off the tee together one year to the day that Zalatoris was on the operating table.
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