NCAA:
Villanova is the first overall seed in the NCAA men's basketball tournament as it seeks a second straight national championship. Kansas is No. 1 in the Midwest despite its loss to TCU in the Big 12 quarterfinals. North Carolina has the top seed in the South, and Gonzaga heads the West Region. No 13 Vermont will take on No 4 Purdue on Thursday in Milwaukee at 7:27 p.m. No. 14 Iona faces No. 3 Oregon on Friday at 2 p.m.
Greensboro is getting its shot at Jim Boeheim. Four days after the Hall of Fame coach from Syracuse angered an entire city by saying there was "no value" in the Atlantic Coast Conference holding its postseason tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Orange were matched up Sunday night against UNC Greensboro in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.
The SEC and Big Ten conferences crowned their tournament champions on Sunday. De'Aaron Fox scored 18 points, and eighth-ranked Kentucky won its third straight Southeastern Conference Tournament championship by beating Arkansas, 82-65. The Wildcats added their 30th tournament title all-time to their 48 regular season championships. Kentucky controlled the game after a 13-0 run made it 46-30 one minute into the second half.
Michigan was Cinderella in the Big Ten as the Wolverines stifled No. 24 Wisconsin, 71-56 in the title game. Michigan had dropped 17 of its previous 20 meetings with the Badgers before winning for the fourth time in as many days.
In other conference title games:
— Jared Terrell finished with 20 points and E.C. Matthews added 19, including a decisive runner with 55 seconds to go as Rhode Island beat VCU, 70-63 to take the Atlantic-10 tournament. The Rams are in the NCAA tourney for the first time since 1999.
— Myles Stephens had a career-high 23 points and eight rebounds and Princeton won the inaugural Ivy League Tournament, 71-59 over Yale. The Tigers hadn't reached the NCAA tournament since 2011.
— Jordon Varnado had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Troy defeated Texas State 59-53 in the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. It has been 14 years since the Trojans last made an NCAA tournament appearance.
In women’s college basketball, UAlbany beat Maine 66-50 to win the America East tournament Championship. Meanwhile the men are competing in the CIT on Thursday when St. Peter’s faces UAlbany at 7 p.m.
In the ECAC men’s hockey tournament, Union advanced on Saturday after downing Princeton 4-3 in overtime. They will take on Cornell next in the Lake Placid semifinals at 7:30 on Friday. The Big Red won its game against Clarkson 2-1 on Sunday. Quinnipiac faces Harvard in the other semifinal game.
In Hockey East quarterfinals play, UMass Lowell beat New Hampshire 8-2 to advance to the semifinals against Notre Dame on Friday.
NBA:
In the NBA, Boston bested Chicago 100-80, Brooklyn won against the Knicks 120-112.
NHL:
In the NHL, the Rangers bested Detroit 4-1.
The NHL has given a two-game suspension to Capitals defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk for charging Los Angeles Kings defenseman Kevin Gravel in Saturday's game. Shattenkirk left his feet to hit Gravel behind the net, earning a minor penalty with 4:03 remaining. He missed Sunday's game at Anaheim and will sit out Tuesday's clash with Minnesota in Washington.
NFL:
The New York Giants have signed former San Diego Chargers offensive lineman D.J. Fluker to a one-year, $3 million deal. The Giants announced the signing yesterday. The 11th pick overall in 2013, Fluker started 61 of 66 regular-season and postseason games for San Diego over the last four seasons. He was released on Tuesday by the Chargers.
The Buffalo Bills agreed to terms with wide receiver Corey "Philly" Brown yesterday. Brown spent the past three seasons with the Carolina Panthers, catching 79 passes for 1,019 yards and seven touchdowns in 43 games. First-year Bills coach Sean McDermott is familiar with Brown, having served as Carolina's defensive coordinator from 2011-16.
In other NFL moves:
— The Detroit Lions have agreed to a deal with guard T.J. Lang as the team rebuilds its offensive line. The Eastern Michigan product had spent his entire career with Green Bay since the Packers drafted him in the fourth round in 2009.
— The Jacksonville Jaguars have released veteran defensive tackle Roy Miller, who was due a $400,000 roster bonus Monday and would have counted more than $4 million against the salary cap in 2017. Former undrafted rookie Abry Jones is expected to take over the starting spot after inking a four-year, $16 million contract last month.
MLB:
In baseball’s spring training, Atlanta beat the Yankees 10-2, Detroit topped the Mets 4-3, and it was Philadelphia over Boston 6-5.
The Indians likely will be without second baseman Jason Kipnis when they begin their American League title defense. Cleveland manager Terry Francona says Kipnis will be shut down for the next two weeks to let him recover from a sore shoulder. Kipnis has been dealing with the problem this spring and had a cortisone shot two weeks ago.
The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired switch-pitcher Pat Venditte from the Seattle Mariners for minor league outfielder Joey Curletta. The trade was announced yesterday. The 31-year-old Venditte had pitched three times in spring training for Seattle this year and twice for Italy in the World Baseball Classic.
Nolan Arenado and Buster Posey homered and drove in three runs apiece as the U.S. ripped Canada, 8-0 to advance to the second round of the World Baseball Classic. The Americans finished 2-1 in pool play.
MLS:
David Villa scored two goals and NYCFC newcomers Rodney Wallace and Maxi Moralez added one each in a 4-0 victory that overshadowed the MLS debut of 2016 Hermann Trophy winner Ian Harkes for D.C. United on Sunday.
NASCAR:
NASCAR fans were treated to an exciting race and a Pier 6 brawl on Sunday in Las Vegas. The race was won by Martin Truex Jr., who passed Brad Keselowski with two laps to go and avoided a wreck the following lap. Truex won the first two race stages and re-took the lead with 39 laps to go after a lengthy cycle of green-flag pit stops.
Keselowski appeared to be pulling away after a restart and on his way to his second straight win. But he ran into mechanical problems that caused him to finish fifth. Kyle Larson was second, followed by Chase Elliott and Joey Logano.
The late wreck led to a post-race fight between Joey Logano and Kyle Busch. Logano rammed Busch's car after the race, sending it spinning down pit road. The two tangled moments later, with crew members pulling Busch away as blood ran down his forehead. Busch was taken to the infield care center to get his forehead looked at. He was quickly treated and released.
IndyCar:
Sebastien Bourdais went from worst to first in the IndyCar season opener at St. Petersburg. Bourdais earned his 36th victory to break a tie with Bobby Unser for sixth on the circuit's career win list. He started last in the 21-car field following a problem in qualifying. Simon Pagenaud finished second, almost 10 seconds behind.
PGA:
Adam Hadwin has earned a spot in the Masters field by winning the Valspar Championship. The Canadian closed with an even-par 71 for a one-stroke victory over Patrick Cantlay. Hadwin lost a two-shot lead with one swing on the 16th hole when his tee shot sailed into the water and led to double bogey. He recovered by closing with back-to-back pars before Cantlay bogeyed the final hole. Hadwin was 14-under for the tournament. Jim Herman and Dominic Bozzelli tied for third at minus-12.
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