MEN’S MARCH MADNESS
Johni Broome had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Auburn took command with 17 unanswered points in the first half to beat Michigan State 70-64 and complete a sweep of No. 1 seeds advancing to the Final Four. Auburn earned its second Final Four trip. Michigan State fell short in its bid to send coach Tom Izzo to his ninth national semifinal. Auburn’s only previous Final Four appearance came in 2019, also under coach Bruce Pearl. The South Region champion Tigers are the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They became the last of the No. 1 seeds to advance to the Final Four — joining Florida, Duke and Houston.
Houston’s relentless defense confused and harassed Tennessee and carried the Cougars into their seventh Final Four and first since 2021, with L.J. Cryer scoring 17 points in a 69-50 victory. Emanuel Sharp scored 14 of his 16 points after halftime for top-seeded Houston, which extended the nation’s longest active winning streak to 17 games. The Cougars had been eliminated as a No. 1 seed in the Sweet 16 in each of the past two years, but this time coach Kelvin Sampson’s team has a shot at the program’s first national title. The Cougars will face Cooper Flagg and five-time national champ Duke Saturday in San Antonio.
WOMEN’S MARCH MADNESS
Lauren Betts had 17 points and seven rebounds despite spending the entire second quarter on the bench, and top overall seed UCLA reached its first Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament with a 72-65 victory over LSU. The 6-foot-7 Betts added six blocks for the Bruins, who will face the winner of Monday’s game between Southern California and UConn. The Final four is Friday night in Tampa, Florida. Gabriela Jaquez added 18 points for the Bruins and Timea Gardiner finished with 15, helping to pick up the slack went Betts went to the bench after committing two first-quarter fouls.
Chloe Kitts scored 14 points and defending national champion South Carolina reached the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament for a fifth straight year, beating Duke 54-50. The top-seeded Gamecocks are two wins away from becoming the first team to repeat as champions since UConn won four straight from 2013-16. South Carolina will play the winner of the Texas-TCU game that takes place Monday night. The Final Four is in Tampa, Florida, on Friday night. Second-seeded Duke was looking to get to its first national semifinals since 2006. The Blue Devils women were also looking to join the men’s program in the Final Four.
The last four teams standing on the women's side will be pared down to two today when #2 TCU takes on top-seed Texas at 7 tonight and #2 UConn plays top-seed USC at 9.
MLB
Aaron Judge homered in his first at-bat, Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered twice and the New York Yankees went deep four more times in a 12-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, a day after becoming the third team in major league history to hit nine homers in a game. The Yankees hit a total of 15 homers and scored 36 runs as they swept the three-game series. A day after homering three times for the third time in his career and finishing with a career-high eight RBIs, Judge hit a two-run homer off Aaron Civale in the first inning, sending a full count 89 mph fastball into the lower left field seats. Judge is the first Yankee with four homers in the opening three games. He finished with 11 RBIs in the series.
New torpedo bats drew attention when the New York Yankees hit a team-record nine homers that traveled a combined 3,695 feet. Using a strikingly different model in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin, Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Austin Wells, Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered in New York’s 20-9 rout of the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. The bats are allowed under Major League Baseball's rules.
Boston Red Sox designated hitter Rafael Devers became the first major leaguer to strike out 12 times in a season’s first four games. Devers went 0 for 4 with two more strikeouts Sunday in Boston’s 3-2 loss to the Texas Rangers. Devers’ latest mark for futility came a day after he became the first big leaguer to be fanned 10 times in the first three games. Devers is 0 for 16 this season. The 12 strikeouts broke the previous record of 11 in the first four games, which had been done four times previously since 1901, according to Sportradar.
Josh Bell and Nathaniel Lowe homered, and the Washington Nationals avoided a season-opening series sweep with a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Bell, who was 0 for 9 to begin his second stint with Washington, ripped an Aaron Nola fastball into the center-field seats for a three-run homer in the fourth inning. Lowe ended Nola’s day with a two-run shot to center in the sixth. Washington starter Mitchell Parker put two runners on in each of the first three innings but escaped trouble each time. He pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and striking out five. Nola allowed five runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings while striking out eight.
Brandon Lowe hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first and the Tampa Bay Rays never trailed Sunday in their 6-4 win over the Colorado Rockies. Taj Bradley pitched six innings, allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts for the Rays and Jonny DeLuca went 3 for 4. Pete Fairbanks, who had 48 saves in 56 opportunities over the past two season, allowed two hits with two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth and earned his first save of the season.
Victor Scott II and Pedro Pages each hit three-run homers to propel the St. Louis Cardinals to a 9-2 win over the Minnesota Twins. Nolan Gorman also homered for St. Louis, which swept the series and is off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2006. It marks the 17th 3-0 start in franchise history covering 134 years. Willi Castro homered for the Twins, who lost their first three games for the first time since 2016. The contest was halted by rain for 58 minutes in the middle of the fifth inning.
Chris Bassitt pitched six innings to win his first start of the season, George Springer hit a two-run single and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-1. Tyler Heineman added a solo home run, his first, as the Blue Jays split the four-game series with their AL East rivals. Orioles right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano left his major league debut after four innings because of cramping. Sugano allowed two runs and four hits. Bassitt gave up one run and eight hits.
Kyren Paris homered on the first pitch he saw after a lengthy rain delay and the Los Angeles Angels rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2. Paris — a second-round pick in 2019 — hit his first home run this year after hitting one last season in 51 at-bats. Closer Kenley Jansen gave up a leadoff double to Andrew Vaughn and a walk to Matt Thaiss to begin the bottom of the ninth. He got Miguel Vargas to pop out before inducing a double-play grounder from Brooks Baldwin. Mike Trout collected his first hit of the season when he singled to load the bases in the top of a two-run first inning for LA.
Tanner Bibee pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning, Kyle Mazardo hit a two-run homer and Gabriel Arias and Daniel Schneemann added solo shots as the Cleveland Guardians beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2. Bibee gave up no runs and two hits in 6 2/3 innings with two strikeouts and two walks. Royals starter Michael Wacha threw 87 pitches over four innings and allowed one run and four hits with two strikeouts and four walks. None of Kansas City’s starting pitchers got past the fifth inning in any game in the series.
Julio Rodríguez hit a towering 438-foot, two-run homer in the sixth to give Seattle the lead, and Bryan Woo pitched six dominant innings and the Mariners beat the Athletics 2-1. Rodríguez’s home run gave the Mariners offense a much-needed boost. Before Rodríguez stepped to the plate, Sears had retired 16 of the previous 18 hitters, with the Mariners managing just three singles against him. Sears allowed two runs and five hits in 6⅔ innings, with no walks and seven strikeouts.
Matt Chapman hit a two-run homer and Heliot Ramos homered for the second time in the series as the San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-3. Giants right-hander Robbie Ray had a perfect game through five innings. He allowed three earned runs with a walk and four Ks to earn the victory Sunday. Reds right-hander Nick Martinez took the loss. Matt McLain hit his second homer and Austin Wynn clubbed his first for Cincinnati.
Griffin Conine hit a home run, Derek Hill scored the winning run from third on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth and the Florida Marlins beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2. Conine hit a solo shot to make it 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh. His father, Jeff Conine who is known as “Mr. Marlin,” was inducted in the the franchise’s hall of fame earlier Sunday. Hill walked to lead off the bottom of the ninth, stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error before he scored on the wild pitch by David Bednar.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a game-tying, two-run homer, Josh Naylor had the go-ahead RBI double and the Arizona Diamondbacks used an eight-run eighth inning to rally past the Chicago Cubs 10-6 on Sunday. The teams split the four-game series. The Diamondbacks sent 12 batters to the plate in the eighth. The Cubs took a 6-2 lead in the top of the eighth on Kyle Tucker’s three-run homer. Tucker turned on a curveball from Joe Mantiply, driving it down the right field line and into the bullpen for his second homer in the series. Seiya Suzuki and Dansby Swanson also homered.
Nick Pivetta threw seven innings of one-hit ball in a brilliant debut with the Padres and Manny Machado returned to the lineup and hit an RBI double as San Diego beat the Atlanta Braves 5-0 on Sunday night to sweep a season-opening, four-game series. Pivetta (1-0), who signed a four-year contract in February, faced the minimum 21 batters. He allowed a leadoff single in the third to Orlando Arcia, who was forced out at second. Pivetta struck out four and walked none. Marcell Ozuna drew Atlanta’s only walk, off Jason Adam leading off the eighth. Adam and Jeremiah Estrada each threw one hitless inning.
NBA
OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges each scored 28 points and the New York Knicks dominated the second half for a 110-93 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night. Bridges scored 21 in the final two periods as the Knicks outscored the Blazers 60-35 after halftime. New York made 27 of 42 shots (64%) across the final 24 minutes after trailing 58-50 at the break. Josh Hart added 14 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Knicks. Deni Avdija scored 33 points and Shaedon Sharpe had 23 for Portland, which shot 13 for 21 while outscoring the Knicks 33-23 in a strong second quarter, then made just 14 baskets the entire second half.
R.J. Barrett scored 31 points and the Toronto Raptors beat Philadelphia 127-109 to send the 76ers to their eighth straight loss. Ja’Kobe Walter scored 17 points on 5 of 11 shooting, including 3 for 5 from 3-point range, for the Raptors, who have won four in a row. Lonnie Walker IV had 23 points and Jalen Hood-Schifino added 18 for Philadelphia.
Jarrett Allen scored 25 points, Donovan Mitchell added 24 and the Cleveland Cavaliers held off the Los Angeles Clippers 127-122 on Sunday afternoon. Evan Mobley had 22 points as Cleveland reached 60 wins for third time in franchise history, and the first since the 2009-10 season. The Cavaliers moved to 4 1/2 games ahead of Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Norman Powell had 34 points for the Clippers, who were without Kawhi Leonard due to right knee injury management. James Harden added 24 points.
Brandin Podziemski scored 27 points and the Golden State Warriors rang up their highest total of the season in a 148-106 rout of the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night. San Antonio also gave up the most points to an opponent this season in losing its fourth straight. Moses Moody scored 20 points, Buddy Hield added 19 and Draymond Greeen had 14 for the Warriors, who led by 47 points and sat their starters in the fourth quarter. Golden State remains sixth in the Western Conference. Keldon Johnson scored 19 points and Sandro Mamukelashvili added 14 for the Spurs.
Stephen Curry scored 23 points in his return from a two-game absence and the Golden State Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans 111-95. Coming back from a March 20 pelvic bruise, Curry hit five 3-pointers. Jimmy Butler had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Jonathan Kuminga added 16 points for the Warriors. Golden State is 1-2 on what could be a pivotal six-game road trip as it seeks a top-six seeding in the Western Conference. Bruce Brown scored 18 for injury-depleted New Orleans, which played without four starters including Zion Williamson. Yves Missi had 12 points and 10 rebounds, giving the rookie center 12 double-doubles this season.
Zaccharie Risacher scored a season-high 36 points, Dyson Daniels added 22 points and five steals while becoming Atlanta’s single-season leader, and the Hawks beat the slumping Milwaukee Bucks 145-124 on Sunday night. Trae Young had 19 points and 19 assists, and Georges Niang finished with 17 points for the Hawks, who snapped a two-game skid. Atlanta turned around the game after Milwaukee’s blistering start and gained control in the third quarter, outscoring the Bucks 36-17 for a 118-92 lead entering the final period. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 31 points for the Bucks, who have lost four straight.
Five players and two coaches were ejected after a fight broke out in the second quarter in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Detroit lost head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, center Isaiah Stewart, forward Ron Holland II and guard Marcus Sasser. Minnesota forward Naz Reid and guard Donte DiVincenzo also were tossed, along with assistant coach Pablo Prigioni. Stewart received a technical foul just moments earlier when he bumped DiVincenzo hard after the whistle. Then Holland was called for a foul as he slapped the ball out of Reid’s hands near the baseline. The two exchanged words, DiVincenzo stepped between them and grabbed Holland’s jersey, and soon all 10 players on the court and multiple coaches were part of the scrum.
Jalen Green scored 33 points for Houston, and Phoenix star Kevin Durant left with an ankle injury in the Rockets’ 148-109 romp over the Suns on Sunday night. Durant fell to the floor with 6:57 left in the third quarter after he stepped on Rockets Jabari Smith Jr.’s foot. Durant got to his feet, but could not put weight on his left leg. Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said Durant will have an MRI on Monday and will not accompany the team to Milwaukee for a game Tuesday night. Durant finished with 11 points in 23 minutes. Houston has won 12 of its last 13 and is second in the West. The Suns fell two games behind Dallas for the final play-in spot.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Alex Ovechkin is now five goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894 after scoring the 890th of his career in the Washington Capitals’ loss to the Buffalo Sabres 8-5 on Sunday. Ovechkin beat James Reimer on a deflection in front. The 39-year-old is now back on pace to pass Gretzky’s mark of 894 that long seemed unapproachable this spring. He has 37 this season and is on track to reach 40 for a 14th time, also the most in league history, despite missing 16 games because of a broken left fibula.
Seth Jarvis scored twice, Sebastian Aho had a goal and two assists, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 6-4. Dmitry Orlov, Mark Jankowski and Logan Stankoven also scored for Carolina, which has won two straight. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 27 shots. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 27 shots. Pierre Engvall scored twice, Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist, and Anders Lee also scored for the Islanders, who have lost five straight (0-3-2). Bo Horvat had two assists and Marcus Hogberg finished with 24 saves.
Nick Suzuki scored to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers. Suzuki scored on a snap shot with 17:58 left in the third period to put the Canadiens ahead 3-2. Juraj Slafkovsky and Lane Hutson each got an assist on the goal. Patrik Laine, Brendan Gallagher and Slafkovsky also scored for the Canadiens. Seth Jones and Sam Reinhart each scored for the Panthers. Samuel Montembeault stopped 24 shots in the win for the Canadiens. Sergei Bobrovsky had 18 saves for the Panthers.
Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves, Kyle Connor had a goal and an assist and the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Sunday for their third straight victory. At 51-19-4, Winnipeg has a three-point lead over Eastern Conference-leading Washington for the top spot in the NHL and a six-point edge over second-place Dallas in the West. Mason Appleton gave the Jets a 2-1 lead at 6:24 of the third period, and Cole Perfetti completed the scoring with 7:49 to go. Pius Suter scored for Vancouver with 1:55 left in the first period. Connor tied it at 9:26 of the second with his 38th goal of the season. Thatcher Demko made 24 saves for the Canucks.
Alexander Kerfoot had a goal and two assists and Karel Vejmelka stopped 27 shots to help the Utah Hockey Club beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 on Sunday. Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev had a goal and an assist. Nick DeSimone and Kailer Yamamoto each scored their first goals of the season and Logan Cooley also scored. Joe Veleno and Ryan Donato scored for Chicago. Arvid Soderblom made 26 saves.
Sidney Crosby scored a power-play goal in overtime and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators 1-0 on Sunday. Crosby has eight goals and 15 points during a 10-game point streak. Crosby also extended a 13-game home point streak. Ridly Greig was called for hooking with three seconds remaining in the third period, giving Pittsburgh the overtime power play. Tristan Jarry stopped 31 shots for his 20th career shutout and his first of the season. The embattled Pittsburgh goaltender, who spent time in the American Hockey League with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season, allowed 11 goals in his last three appearances. Anton Forsberg made 34 saves for Ottawa.
The Toronto Maple Leafs blew a two-goal lead before rallying for a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Steven Lorentz scored the tiebreaker with 8:25 to play. Max Domi and Mitch Marner also scored and Joseph Woll made 29 saves for the Atlantic Division-leading Maple Leafs. They went 2-0-1 on their three-game California road trip by sweeping Los Angeles and Anaheim on back-to-back nights. Leo Carlsson scored his 20th goal and Sam Colangelo tied it on a power play early in the third period for Anaheim, which will soon wrap up its seventh consecutive non-playoff season. Lukas Dostal stopped 20 shots.
Adrian Kempe and Warren Foegele scored twice, Andrei Kuzmeko had a goal and two assists, and the Los Angeles Kings set a team record for home victories in a season, beating the San Jose Sharks 8-1 on Sunday night. Phillip Danault, Trevor Moore and Trevor Lewis also scored, and the Kings picked up their 27th home victory. They previously had 26 victories on home ice four times, with the most recent instance coming in 2022-23. David Rittich made 22 saves. The Kings moved two points ahead of Edmonton for second place in the Pacific Division. Cam Lund scored for the second straight game and the Sharks were held to one goal for the fourth time in their past six games. Georgi Romanov made 28 saves.
TENNIS
Jakub Mensik outdueled Novak Djokovic in two tiebreakers 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) to win the Miami Open for his first ATP title. Ranked 54th entering the tournament, the Czech Republic teenager plowed through Djokovic with poise and a stellar 130 mph serve. He collected 14 aces and got broken only once. Mensik bashed a service winner on match point and fell on his back. Mensik’s victory spoiled the party for Djokovic, who was seeking his 100th career title and a record seventh in the Miami Open.
GOLF
Min Woo Lee is finally a winner on the PGA Tour and it he had to sweat it out at the Houston Open. Lee had a five-shot lead at one point on the back nine. And then Scottie Scheffler and Gary Woodland put together sensational charges. Lee hit a tee shot in the water. And suddenly his lead was down to one shot. Lee hit the best lag of his life from 55 feet just off the 18th green. It stopped inches away for a par and a 67 to win by one. Scheffler shot 63 and Woodland had a 62.
NASCAR
Denny Hamlin ended an agonizing 10-year winless streak at Martinsville Speedway, holding off teammate Christopher Bell in his home state to secure a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. The Joe Gibbs Racing star, from the Richmond suburb of Chesterfield, leads active Cup drivers with six victories at Martinsville. But Sunday was his first on the 0.526-mile oval since March 29, 2015. Hamlin was a frequent contender during his 19-race drought at Martinsville, posting 10 top fives and leading 226 laps. Bell, who leads the Cup Series with three wins this season, was second, followed by Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson. With the 55th victory of his career, Hamlin also snapped a 31-race winless streak since last April at Dover.
© 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
