NCAA:
In the women's NCAA basketball tournament, Kia Nurse scored 29 points and tied a tournament record with nine 3-points to lead undefeated UConn to a 94-64 win over Syracuse in a second round rematch of last year's national championship game. In other games, Stanford routed No. 7 seed Kansas State 69-48 to advance to the Cardinal's 10th straight Sweet 16, and Oregon earned its first Sweet 16 berth by upsetting Duke 74-65.
Morgan Manz scored 22 points and made six 3-pointers, Aryn McClure added 15 and 12th-seeded Quinnipiac is headed to the Sweet 16, stunning fourth-seeded Miami 85-78 in a second-round NCAA Tournament game last night. Sarah Shewan and Paula Strautmane each scored 11 for Quinnipiac, which will head to Stockton, California and play top-seeded South Carolina on Saturday.
Kaelon Wilson scored 18 points and Texas-Arlington routed Akron 85-69 in the second round of the NIT. No. 6 seed Texas-Arlington (27-8) will play the Cal State Bakersfield-Colorado State winner in a quarterfinal. The Mavericks have won 14 straight at home. Wilson was 7 of 9 from the floor. Kevin Hervey and Erick Neal added 13 points apiece for the Mavericks, who shot 53 percent from the floor and made 12 of 29 (41 percent) from long range. Jimond Ivey scored 14 points to lead No. 7 seed Akron (27-9). Kwan Cheatham Jr. chipped in 11 points.
Jim Boeheim says he fully intended for next year to be his last as Syracuse's basketball coach, and he never thought otherwise until Sunday. That's when longtime assistant Mike Hopkins — and Syracuse's coach-in-waiting — left to become head coach at Washington. Boeheim said at a news conference Monday he never tried to change the agreement he made with the university to retire after next season. Boeheim says Hopkins informed him in a tearful meeting Saturday of the Washington offer.
Elsewhere in the women's tournament:
—Brittany McPhee had 21 points, Alanna Smith added 19 and second-seeded Stanford routed No. 7 seed Kansas State 69-48 to advance to the Cardinal's 10th straight Sweet 16. The Cardinal (30-5) had no problem dealing with the Wildcats (23-11) or their home crowd, which spent much of the game sitting in silence. Stanford roared to a 39-21 halftime lead and never looked back in advancing to face No. 3 seed Texas on Friday night in Lexington, Kentucky.
—Ruthy Hebard had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Oregon earned its first Sweet 16 berth by upsetting Duke 74-65. Maite Cazorla added 17 points and Lexi Bando finished with 14 points to help Oregon (22-13) become the first No. 10 seed in a decade to reach the round of 16. The Ducks, in their first tournament since 2005, had never advanced past the second round in their 12 previous appearances. Now they're on to Bridgeport.
__Asia Durr scored 23 points, Mariya Moore made all five 3-pointers for 19 points and Louisville beat Tennessee 75-64. Moore's perimeter shooting provided a lift on a night that fourth-seeded Louisville had to work hard late to finish 44 percent from the field. She scored the Cardinals' first eight points of the fourth quarter with back-to-back 3s for a 54-47 lead before Durr followed with seven of their next eight points to make it 62-51 with 4:07 remaining. Durr also became the 28th Louisville player to reach 1,000 career points.
— Nina Davis and the Baylor women are headed back to the Sweet 16, and a very familiar spot. Davis and Alexis Prince both scored 16 points in their last home game, and the Lady Bears earned their ninth consecutive Sweet 16 trip with an 86-46 win over California.
— The long shots kept making long shots and the Sweet 16 is Quinnipiac's reward. Morgan Manz scored 22 points and made six 3-pointers, Aryn McClure added 15 and 12th-seeded Quinnipiac stunned fourth-seeded Miami 85-78 in a second-round game.
— Kari Korver scored 21 points, hitting seven 3-pointers, and fourth-seed UCLA routed Texas A&M 75-43 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
— Kelsey Plum scored 38 points, adding another record to her career resume, and No. 3 seed Washington raced past No. 6 seed Oklahoma.
NBA:
In the NBA, the Clippers topped the Knicks 114-105, Boston won against Washington 110-102, Orlando beat Philadelphia in overtime 112-109, Indiana bested Utah 107-100, Houston defeated Denver 125-124, and it was Golden State over Oklahoma City 111-95.
Boston increased its slim hold over Washington for second place in the playoff hunt in the NBA's Eastern Conference with a 110-102 victory over the slumping Wizards. Isaiah Thomas, back after missing two games with an injury, led the Celtics with 25 points in the game, which extended Boston's lead over Washington in the division to two and a half games.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sent a memo to the league's board of governors Monday, calling the way teams are choosing to rest starters in some games "an extremely significant issue for our league" and pressing owners to be more involved in the decision-making process. Silver also told the owners that the matter will be discussed at league meetings next month after nationally televised games on back-to-back Saturday nights were diluted by decisions to rest star players. ESPN.com first reported the contents of the memo. The rest issue has been an even hotter-than-usual talking point in the NBA of late with teams like Golden State and Cleveland — the last two NBA champions — electing to rest superstars in recent nationally televised games.
NHL:
In the NHL, Buffalo skated by Detroit 2-1, Toronto doubled up Boston 4-2, Nashville won against Arizona 3-1, Dallas blanked San Jose 1-0, and it was Edmonton over the Kings 2-0.
The U.S. women's national team says discussions with USA Hockey over an ongoing wage dispute were productive and will continue this week. The team released a statement Monday night after a lengthy meeting that included almost 20 players and top executives from USA Hockey. Players announced last week they'd boycott the upcoming world championships in Plymouth, Michigan, unless significant progress was made toward a labor agreement. In the statement, players said the goal was to reach an agreement this week that would still allow them to get to training camp and play in the tournament. Camp was set to begin Wednesday with the tournament beginning March 31.
NFL:
Tom Brady's missing Super Bowl jersey has been found in Mexico six weeks after it vanished from the Patriots' locker room — but the mystery isn't over. The NFL said the jersey was found in "possession of a credentialed member of the international media," and authorities were investigating Monday whether a former Mexican tabloid newspaper executive played a role in the theft.
The New York Giants are giving former Jets quarterback Geno Smith a chance to learn from Eli Manning. The Giants yesterday announced that they had signed Smith and cornerback Valentino Blake, who also excels on special teams.
The New York Jets have signed veteran free-agent quarterback Josh McCown to a one-year deal. The team announced the signing last night. Agent Mike McCartney announced on Twitter that the contract is for one season. Financial terms were not immediately available.
President Donald Trump has taken a swipe at controversial NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick at a campaign-style rally in Louisville, Kentucky. Kaepernick, who played for the San Francisco 49ers but now is a free agent, hasn't yet been signed to another team. Trump told the crowd he read an article reporting that NFL owners don't want to pick Kaepernick up "because they don't want to get a nasty tweet from Donald Trump." "Do you believe that?" he asked the enthusiastic crowd. Kaepernick refused to stand during the national anthem at the start of NFL games last season to protest police treatment of minorities. Trump says of the people of Kentucky, "They like it when people actually stand for the American flag."
Meanwhile Spike Lee says it’s "fishy" that former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick remains an NFL free agent. Kaepernick's season-long protest of "The Star Spangled Banner" ahead of 49ers games became a topic of national debate last season. Kaepernick was protesting police treatment of minorities in the country. He has indicated he plans to stand for the anthem next season. Lee wrote on Instagram Sunday that he had brunch with Kaepernick in New York. The director questioned what crime Kaepernick has committed. He says the quarterback's lack of suitors "smells mad fishy to me."
A former friend of ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez told the jury at Hernandez's double-murder trial that the player opened fire on a car because he believed two men inside had taunted him at a nightclub. Alexander Bradley testified about the shootings on July 16, 2012. Bradley said Hernandez ordered him to pull up next to the victims' car at a stop light and then repeatedly fired a revolver into the car. Safiro Furtado and Daniel de Abreu were killed. Relatives of the men wept as Bradley testified, prompting Judge Jeffrey Locke to call for a brief recess. Bradley said Hernandez used a racial epithet and said, "What's up now?" before firing.
The Pittsburgh Steelers signed free agent running back Knile Davis and free agent cornerback Coty Sensabaugh on Monday, regrouping after missing out on coveted linebacker Dont'a Hightower by finding depth at two areas of need heading into 2017. Davis played three-plus seasons with the Chiefs, who selected him in the third round of the 2013 draft. He ran for 463 yards and six touchdowns, both career highs, with Kansas City in 2014 before his career took a turn. His playing time diminished in 2015 and last fall the Chiefs traded Davis to Green Bay for a seventh-round choice in the 2018 draft.
MLB:
In baseball’s spring training, the Yankees tripled up Washington 9-3, Detroit won against the Mets 5-1, and Boston beat Baltimore 7-4.
New York Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius has a bruised right shoulder, ending his time at the World Baseball Classic and leaving his status for opening day in doubt. Yankees manager Joe Girardi didn't put on a timetable on a return. It's unclear how or when Gregorius got hurt while helping the Netherlands reach the semifinals of the WBC.
Tim Tebow is joining the Columbia Fireflies. The former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback will start his pro baseball season with the Mets' Class A franchise in Columbia. New York Mets manager Terry Collins announced the move Monday.
PGA:
Dustin Johnson is facing a trio of major champions in his group at the Dell Technologies Match Play. Johnson is the No. 1 seed for the first time in Match Play, which starts Wednesday at Austin Country Club in Texas. The three players assigned to his round-robin group are PGA champion Jimmy Walker, two-time major champion Martin Kaymer and former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson. Defending champion Jason Day, the No. 3 seed, has Bay Hill winner Marc Leishman in his group. They are only two Australians in the 64-man field. Rory McIlroy has Emiliano Grillo, Gary Woodland and Soren Kjeldsen, while fourth-seeded Hideki Matsuyama has drawn Louis Oosthuizen, the runner-up last year. Also in Matsuyama's group are Ross Fisher and Jim Furyk.
The course that will host the 2020 Olympic golf tournament has decided to change its membership policy to include women. The Kasumigaseki Country Club says its executive board decided on the change after discussions among its members. The membership policy came under scrutiny when Tokyo's governor urged it to admit women as full members. Other critics said the club's policy was contrary to the spirit of the Olympics.
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