UConn, Gonzaga Kansas St. and FAU have made it to the Elite Eight after victories last night in the NCAA tournament.
UConn got 24 points from Jordan Hawkins and the Huskies are one step away from the Final Four after defeating Arkansas 88-65 in a Sweet 16 matchup in Las Vegas. The Huskies are 28-8 and seeded fourth in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, No. 3 seed Gonzaga beat UCLA 79-76 last night, and will now take on UConn in the elite eight tomorrow.
Julian Strawther hit a 3-pointer with 7.2 seconds left to answer a 3-pointer by UCLA’s Amari Bailey, lifting Gonzaga to a wild 79-76 win over UCLA in the Sweet 16. The Bruins were the West Region’s No. 2 seed and stormed back from an eight-point deficit in the final 1:05. UCLA took a a 76-75 lead on Bailey’s 3-pointer with 12.2 seconds left. The Zags brought the ball up the floor and Strawther stepped into a 3-pointer, sending Gonzaga fans to their feet and the Zags into the Elite Eight.
Markquis Nowell broke the NCAA Tournament record for assists in a game with 19, his last two on spectacular passes in the final minute of overtime, and Kansas State beat Michigan State 98-93 in a Sweet 16 thriller at Madison Square Garden. Playing in his hometown and fighting through a second-half ankle injury, Nowell found Keyontae Johnson for a reverse alley-oop with 52 seconds left in OT to give the Wildcats the lead for good in this back-and-forth East Region semifinal. Nowell finished with 20 points and five steals. A.J. Hoggard led Michigan State with 25 points. Kansas State will face Florida Atlantic for a berth in the Final Four.
Florida Atlantic, playing in just its second NCAA Tournament, moved within a victory of the Final Four by using a second-half push led by Michael Forrest to beat fourth-seeded Tennessee 62-55. The ninth-seeded Owls will play third-seeded Kansas State in the East Region final at Madison Square Garden. Johnell Davis lead the Owls with 15 points and Forrest finished with 11, eight in a crucial second-half run when FAU took control. The Volunteers, who were looking for just the second Elite Eight appearance in program history, shot 33% — including 6 of 23 from 3-point range. Josiah-Jordan James and Jonas Aidoo scored 10 points apiece.
Iowa State was quick to say that its miserable shooting performance in the NCAA Tournament had nothing to do with some wonky rims in Greensboro, North Carolina. Nevertheless, the Cyclones were among the many teams that struggled during the opening weekend, especially from the 3-point line. In fact, the shooting percentage from beyond the arc is on pace to set a record low since it was added for the 1987 tournament. Division I teams shot at a 34% clip from 3 during the regular season, or nearly 3% better than they have during the Big Dance. And eight of 68 teams have had their worst 3-point shooting games of the season during the NCAA Tournament.
On the women’s side, Sweet 16 play begins today in Greenville, South Carolina and Seattle, Washington.
Sixteen teams will play eight games between Friday and Saturday to battle for a spot in the Elite 8 quarterfinals. Games will air on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, and can be streamed live on fuboTV and other live TV services.
The games kick off at 2:30 this afternoon with No. 9 Miami facing No. 4 Villanova on ESPN. Tomorrow at 4 p.m. on ABC, No. 3 Ohio State takes on No. 2 UConn.
Friday, March 24
• No. 9 Miami vs. No. 4 Villanova, 2:30 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 3 LSU vs. No. 2 Utah, 5 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 6 Colorado vs. No. 2 Iowa, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 8 Ole Miss vs. No. 5 Louisville, 10 p.m. on ESPN
Saturday, March 25
• No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Maryland, 11:30 a.m. on ESPN
• No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 1 South Carolina, 2 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 2 UConn, 4 p.m. on ABC
• No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 1 Virginia Tech, 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2
WNIT
A confrontation between two players in the postgame handshake line following Bowling Green’s win over Memphis on Thursday night in the Women’s NIT has been referred to campus police. As the teams walked toward center court following Bowling Green’s 73-60 win in the Round of 16 game, Memphis’ Jamirah Shutes stopped to talk with Falcons’ player Elissa Brett. After a short conversation, Shutes appears to throw a punch at Brett, who fell toward the scorer’s table and onto the sideline. There was no immediate word about what caused the confrontation or if any player was seriously injured.
NBA
Paolo Banchero’s 21 points included a 3 with 1:26 remaining and two free throws in the final seconds to help the Orlando Magic turn back the New York Knicks 111-106. Cole Anthony added 18 points for Orlando and Wendell Carter Jr. had 16 points and eight rebounds. Franz Wagner scored 16 points before leaving in the fourth quarter with ankle injury. Quentin Grimes and Immanuel Quickley scored 25 points each for the Knicks, who lost their third straight. Julius Randle finished with 23 points and nine rebounds.
Isaac Okoro hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 0.7 seconds remaining and finished with 11 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Brooklyn Nets 116-114. Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points, Evan Mobley had 26 points and 16 rebounds and Jarrett Allen finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds against his former team. Cleveland won for the eighth time in 10 games. Mikal Bridges scored 32 points, Spencer Dinwiddie had 25 points and 12 assists and Joe Harris hit five 3-pointers and finished with 15 points as the Nets lost their fifth straight game.
NHL
Adam Fox ended a 24-game stretch without a goal and the New York Rangers overcame the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2-1 victory. Fox scored at 4:01 of the third period and the Rangers forged a split of a two-game set this week among Metropolitan Division contenders. Artemi Panarin also scored and assisted on the goal-ahead goal. Mika Zibanejad had two assists for the Rangers. Sebastian Aho had Carolina’s goal and Frederik Anderson stopped 14 shots. The Hurricanes clinched an Eastern Conference playoff spot later when the Florida Panthers lost to Winnipeg.
David Pastrnak scored his 49th goal, Tyler Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist and the Boston Bruins overcame a sluggish performance to beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 for their fifth straight victory. Jake DeBrusk scored on a breakaway, David Krejci put home on a rebound midway through the third period and Jeremy Swayman stopped 29 shots for the Bruins, who went 0 for 5 on the power play. While they were denied a chance to clinch the Atlantic Division when Toronto beat Florida, the Bruins improved to 55-11-5 and remained on pace to break the league record of 62 wins in a season. Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach each scored power-play goals, Suzuki added an assist and Jake Allen made 17 saves in Montreal’s 10th loss in 12 games.
James van Riemsdyk scored the only goal in a shootout, and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4 for coach John Tortorella’s 700th career victory. Tortorella is 700-573-181 in 1,454 games as an NHL head coach. His 700 wins rank 12th in NHL history and his career games rank ninth in NHL history. He joined Peter Laviolette as the second American-born coach to win 700 games. Scott Laughton, Joel Farabee, Rasmus Ristolainen and Tyson Foerster scored for the Flyers. Matt Boldy had two goals for the Wild, and Oskar Sundqvist and Marcus Foligno also scored.
Joe Pavelski scored the tiebreaking goal on a third-period power play, and the Stars overcame Sidney Crosby’s first career goal in Dallas in a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Roope Hintz and Jamie Benn also scored as the Stars moved a point ahead of Minnesota atop the Central Division with the Wild’s 5-4 shootout loss in Philadelphia. Crosby’s 548th career goal was the 35-year-old’s first in 10 games at the home of the Stars and gave him at least one in all of the other 31 NHL arenas. Miro Heiskanen assisted on Pavelski's goal for a 12-game point streak that set a franchise record for a Dallas defenseman.
John Carlson had a goal and an assist in his return from a fractured skull, and the Washington Capitals beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-1. Washington's Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom also had a goal and an assist. Nikita Zaitsev scored for Chicago in the third period, and Anton Khudobin made 22 saves in his first NHL game since Jan. 15, 2022, with Dallas. Next up for Chicago is Saturday at Minnesota before hosting Vancouver on Sunday night in the organization’s Pride game. The organization has decided against wearing special warmup jerseys to commemorate Pride night, citing an anti-gay Kremlin law that could imperil Russian athletes when they return home.
A National Hockey League team with a Russian player has decided against wearing special warmup jerseys to commemorate Pride Night, citing an anti-gay Kremlin law that could imperil Russian athletes when they return home. The Chicago Blackhawks will not wear Pride-themed warmup jerseys before Sunday’s game against Vancouver. That's according to a person with knowledge of the matter who spoke to The Associated Press. The decision was made by the Blackhawks following discussions with security officials within and outside the franchise, a person familiar with the situation told the AP on Wednesday. Two Canadian players on the Florida Panthers decided not to wear Pride-themed jerseys on Thursday night, while Russian star Sergei Bobrovsky took part in warmups in one.
MLB
Trevor Bauer was shunned by every major league team, so he’s signed a one-year deal with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. On Friday before about 75 reporters in a Yokohoma hotel, he slipped on the BayStars uniform — No. 96 — and said all the right things. Not a single Japanese reporter asked about his suspension in the United States over domestic violence allegations or the reasons surrounding it. He said he hoped to strike out 200 and keep his average fastball velocity at 96 mph.
It’s a fair assumption that Father Time will catch up with Justin Verlander one of these days. The three-time AL Cy Young Award winner is putting up quite a fight. The 40-year-old Verlander signed with the New York Mets during the offseason and looks like he’s got plenty of good pitching left. The hard-throwing righty has a 2.25 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 16 innings in four starts during Grapefruit League action. The Mets are hoping to squeeze another elite season out of Verlander and Max Scherzer, who is 38 years old. Scherzer has also had a solid spring training, giving up just one earned run over 11 2/3 innings.
Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins needs surgery for a torn ACL after injuring his left knee while fielding a grounder in a spring training game and is expected to miss a significant amount of time. The Phillies did not say when Hoskins would have the surgery or exactly how long the slugging first baseman might be sidelined. Hoskins hit 30 homers with 79 RBIs last season for the reigning National League champions. He was backing up to play a chopper on Thursday when the ball popped out of his glove. Hoskins, a free agent at the end of the season who turned 30 last week, hit six homers in Philadelphia’s playoff run last season. The Phillies lost to the Houston Astros in the World Series.
GOLF
Rory McIlroy is really digging the long ball at the Dell Match Play. He capped off his victory against Denny McCarthy by driving the 375-yard closing hole to just inside 4 feet for an eagle that was conceded. It was a brilliant display of power at Austin Country Club. McIlroy is leading a parade of undefeated top seeds into the final round of group play. Defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele also are 2-0 going into Friday. They still have work to do. That's not the case for 20 players who already are eliminated.
TRACK AND FIELD
Track and field has banned transgender athletes from international competition while adopting new regulations that could keep Caster Semenya and other athletes with differences in sex development from competing. The World Athletics Council adopted the same rules as swimming did last year in deciding to bar athletes who have transitioned from male to female and have gone through male puberty. No such athletes currently compete at the highest elite levels of track. World Athletics president Seb Coe said the updates for athletes with differences in sex development, such as Semenya, will have to undergo hormone-suppressing treatment for six months before competing to be eligible for events outside of the previously restricted range of 400 meters to a mile.
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