COLLEGE BASKETBALL-NCAA TOURNAMENT-MEN
Unbeaten Zags keep rolling with 83-65 rout of Creighton
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Top-seeded Gonzaga did against Creighton what it’s done throughout their unblemished season. Drew Timme scored 22 points and the top-seeded Bulldogs rolled past the fifth-seeded Bluejays to win 83-65 in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Andrew Nembhard added 17 points for the Bulldogs, who have won a school-record 33 consecutive games and extended their Division I record to 26 straight double-digit wins.
The Zags will face sixth-seeded Southern California or seventh-seeded Oregon on Tuesday in the West regional final. Marcus
Zegarowski scored 19 points to lead the Bluejays, who were trying to reach their first Elite Eight since 1941.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL-NCAA TOURNAMENT-WOMEN
Oregon vs. Louisville headlines women’s regional semis
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Zia Cooke scored 17 points to lead top-seed South Carolina to a 76-65 win over fifth-seeded Georgia Tech and reach the Elite Eight.
It’s the third time in the past four women’s NCAA Tournaments that the Gamecocks have at least reached the regional finals. South Carolina won the national championship in 2017.
After going scoreless in the first half, Aliyah Boston had the first seven points in the third quarter as South Carolina went on a 14-6 run to start the period. That lengthened a four-point halftime lead to double digits. The Yellow Jackets made a run in the fourth quarter to get within 69-63, but five consecutive points — the last coming on a 3-pointer from Cooke with 3 minutes left — sealed the win.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL-NIT CHAMPIONSHIP-MEN
Memphis wins NIT title with 77-64 win over Mississippi State
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Boogie Ellis scored 23 points and Memphis beat Mississippi State 77-64 in the NIT championship game.
The Tigers have a title in Penny Hardaway’s third season coaching his alma mater after just missing out on the NCAA Tournament. They also were NIT champs in 2002.
Landers Nolley II opened the second half with a jumper and a 3-pointer that put 20-8 Memphis ahead to stay. The Tigers won 11 of their last 13 games, the only losses being one-possession setbacks six days apart against NCAA Elite Eight team Houston. Cameron Matthews scored 19 points to pace Mississippi State.
COLLEGE BASEKTBALL-NEWS
AP source: Hoosiers to hire Mike Woodson as coach
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana will hire former star player and longtime NBA coach Mike Woodson as its new head coach. A person with knowledge of the decision confirmed the hiring to The Associated Press on Sunday.
Woodson has spent 22 of the last 23 seasons coaching in the NBA, including stints as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks. He has never coached at the college level, but played for Bob Knight.
Woodson finished his college career as Indiana’s second 2,000-point scorer.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Capitals hold on to beat Rangers for 10th win in 11 games
UNDATED (AP) — Tom Wilson had two goals, Alex Ovechkin scored the 724th of his career and the Washington Capitals held on to beat the New York Rangers 5-4 for their 10th victory in 11 games.
Ovechkin has 11 goals in those 11 games and leads the team with 18 this season.
The Capitals led 4-0 early in the third period on a goal by Evgeny Kuznetsov (kooz-NET’-sahv) before a Rangers scoring flurry made things interesting. T.J. Oshie’s (OH’-sheez) deflection goal with 8:14 left that gave him a three-point game proved crucial as it stood up as the game-winner.
The Rangers have lost two one-goal games in a row after a three-game winning streak.
MLB-NEWS
Brewers’ Topa undergoes MRI, will start year on injured list
UNDATED (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers reliever Justin Topa will open the season on the injured list after undergoing an MRI on his elbow.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell says Topa threw just three pitches in a simulated game Saturday before leaving with elbow discomfort. The Brewers are awaiting results on an MRI. The 30-year-old Topa made his major league debut last season and went 0-1 with a 2.35 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings.
Counsell also says the Brewers have re-signed reliever Brad Boxberger to a minor league contract and that first baseman Daniel Vogelbach has made the team.
In other MLB news:
— Corey Kluber (KLOO’-bur) will follow ace Gerrit Cole in the New York Yankees’ rotation and Jameson Taillon (TY’-ahn) will be skipped the first time through as the team builds him up slowly in his return following Tommy John surgery. Cole will start Thursday’s opener against Toronto at Yankee Stadium and Kluber, returning from two injury-filled seasons, will start Saturday against the Blue Jays. Domingo Germán (hehr-MAHN’) will start the series finale against the Blue Jays on April 4 in his first appearance in two years following a suspension under MLB’s domestic violence policy. Taillon is to make his Yankees debut against the Orioles on April 7.
— Logan Allen has earned a spot in Cleveland’s starting rotation with a strong camp, but the left-hander’s role is still not quite finalized. President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti says Allen, Triston McKenzie and Cal Quantrill all made the club’s opening day roster. Antonetti said Allen will pitch in the Indians’ fourth game — the home opener on April 5 — but the team is still working through how he’ll be used. Quantrill will pitch out of the bullpen while McKenzie is expected to be used primarily as a starter.
— Veteran pitchers Ian Kennedy and Matt Bush will break from the Texas Rangers spring training camp as top options in the back end of the bullpen. The 36-year-old Kennedy went to camp on a minor league deal. Bush has had surgery twice on his right elbow since his last big league appearance in 2018. Manager Chris Woodward says both will be on the team and fit nicely into those late-inning roles since they have done it before. One-time closer José Leclerc and Jonathan Hernandez will both miss the start of the season with potential long-term elbow issues.
PGA-MATCH PLAY
Scheffler and Horschel in All-American final
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — It’s an All-American final for the third straight time in the Dell Technologies Match Play.
Scottie Scheffler delivered the clutch putt with a 10-foot birdie on the 17th hole. That led to a 1-up victory over Matt Kuchar (KOO’-chur).
Kuchar was trying to match Tiger Woods’ record by reaching the championship match for the fourth time. But he couldn’t buy a putt, and he missed an 8-footer on the 18th to extend the match. The longest putt Kuchar made was just over 3 feet.
Scheffler, the 24-year-old Texas graduate who feels right at home at Austin Country Club, moved on to the championship match Sunday afternoon against Billy Horschel, who knocked out Victor Perez of France with a 3-and-2 victory.
It’s the 10th time since this World Golf Championship began in 1999 that two Americans reached the final.
NASCAR-BRISTOL
Rain swamps Bristol dirt track; NASCAR to try again Monday
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — NASCAR’s hyped return to dirt is instead a muddy mess on hold at least until Monday.
Torrential rains flooded campgrounds and parking lots surrounding Bristol Motor Speedway and created a rut for NASCAR far deeper than anything the Cup Series drivers encountered on the track.
NASCAR canceled all Sunday activity because even if Bristol’s converted dirt track could eventually be readied for night racing, the entire facility was a swampy mess. Grandstand seats that had been covered in dust were caked in mud, while pit road and the apron around the 0.533-mile bullring held several inches of standing water.
After 2 1/2 inches of rain fell across “Thunder Valley,” NASCAR made an atypical decision to call an early washout. The first Cup Series race on dirt since 1970 was rescheduled for 4 p.m. Eastern time on Monday. Trucks were set to run at noon.
F1-BAHRAIN GP
Hamilton holds off Verstappen to win tense F1 season-opener
SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) — Lewis Hamilton just managed to hold off Max Verstappen to win the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix and clinch the 96th F1 win of his career.
The race was effectively decided when Verstappen overtook Hamilton but went too wide on a turn and off track limits. He was told by his team to give Hamilton the position back as he risked a time penalty. Verstappen finished .74 seconds behind the Mercedes driver.
Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas took third, far behind the front two.
TENNIS-MIAMI OPEN
Isner, Osaka advance to 4th round
MIAMI (AP) — John Isner (IHZ’-nur) won a match that had no break points, sweeping two tiebreakers to edge No. 11-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime in the third round of the Miami Open. That made it four consecutive sets Isner has won by tiebreaker against Auger-Aliassime in Miami. The score was also 7-6, 7-6 when they met in the 2019 semifinal.
On the women’s side, Naomi Osaka advanced to the fourth round for the first time in her career when qualifier Nina Stojanovic withdrew from their match shortly before the scheduled start because of a right thigh injury. Osaka, ranked No. 2, has won 22 consecutive matches since her most recent defeat in February 2020, and she earned her fourth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last month. But in Miami, where she is making her fifth appearance, she has previously made early exits.