The NCAA Tournament is heading to the Sweet 16 in the battle for the national championship in men’s basketball. Top seeds Purdue and defending champion Kansas did not make it. Sweet 16 weekend will see games in New York City, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Missouri, and Louisville, Kentucky. The Final Four is in Houston. The semifinals are on April 1, with the championship game on April 3.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Markquis Nowell scored 23 of his 27 points after halftime, and Kansas State overcame a horrid start from outside by hitting a couple of clutch 3-pointers and topping Kentucky 75-69 in Sunday’s second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Paul George had 29 points and the Los Angeles Clippers handed the Portland Trail Blazers their sixth straight loss with a 117-102 victory on Sunday night. Kawhi Leonard added 24 for the Clippers as they fight for home-court advantage in the playoffs. Los Angeles was sitting at fifth in the Western Conference standings just behind of the Phoenix Suns. Jusuf Nurkic finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers, who were in 13th in the West, well outside of playoff contention. Damian Lillard had 21 points and nine assists.
Trea Turner homered twice to give him a tournament-leading four, and the defending champion United States romped over Cuba 14-2 to reach its second straight World Baseball Classic final. Paul Goldschmidt and Cedric Mullins also homered for the Americans, who scored in seven of eight innings — putting up crooked numbers in five of them. Turner and Goldschmidt had four RBIs each. The U.S. plays Japan or Mexico in Tuesday night’s championship, trying to join the Samurai Warriors as the only nations to win the title twice. Turner, hitting No. 9 in the batting order, has a tournament-leading 10 RBIs.
Drew Timme extended his one-of-a-kind college career by at least one more game, scoring 28 points to help third-seeded Gonzaga make its eighth straight Sweet 16 with a come-from-behind 84-81 win over TCU. Timme made his first 3-pointer since December as part of a 13-1 run that helped the Zags take a seven-point lead with just under nine minutes left after trailing most of the night. After TCU pulled within three late, Timme made a twisting shot in the lane with a defender draped all over him. Gonzaga will face UCLA in the West Region semifinals in Las Vegas. Mike Miles Jr. scored 24 points for TCU.
Madison Scott hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left that gave Mississippi the lead for good, Angel Baker scored 13 points, and the Rebels delivered on their declaration to get defensive, stunning top-seeded Stanford 54-49 on Sunday night to reach the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 for the first time in 16 years.Behind the entire game, Stanford called timeout with 28 seconds left then Hannah Jump turned the ball over and Scott converted. Haley Jones lost the ball out of bounds on the Cardinal’s last possession with a chance to tie then again in the waning moments.
NEW YORK (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 22 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists in his 28th triple-double of the season, Michael Porter Jr. had 28 points and nine rebounds, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Brooklyn Nets 108-102 on Sunday.
Austin Reaves scored a career-high 35 points, D’Angelo Russell added 18 points and the Los Angeles Lakers hung on for a 111-105 victory over the Orlando Magic. Anthony Davis had 15 points and 11 rebounds on another rough shooting night, but Reaves carried the Lakers to victory with 13 points in the fourth quarter, including 10 in the final 1:33. Rookie Paolo Banchero scored 21 points for Orlando, but got an unwise technical foul with 25.3 seconds to play. Franz Wagner also scored 21 points in the Magic’s sixth loss in eight games to wrap up a four-game road swing.
The battle for the national championship in women’s basketball is on. The top seeds are South Carolina, Indiana, Stanford and Virginia Tech. Stanford is the first of that quartet to lose, ousted by Ole Miss. Sweet 16 weekend brings a twist this year for the women’s teams: There will be two regional sites instead of four: Greenville, South Carolina, and Seattle each will host eight teams. The Final Four is in Dallas on March 31 and the championship game is two days later on April 2.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, Brook Lopez scored 17 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, and the Milwaukee Bucks rallied for a 118-111 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night. Khris Middleton added 20 points and Bobby Portis had 14 as the Bucks improved to an NBA-best 51-20. Antetokounmpo had his 33rd career triple-double. Fred VanVleet had 23 points and O.G. Anunoby added 22 for the Raptors, who had won their three previous games. Toronto missed a chance to move into eighth in the East Conference ahead of Atlanta, which lost to San Antonio 126-118.
Isaiah Wong and Jordan Miller led a decisive second-half spurt for Miami, which beat Indiana 85-69 Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to reach its second straight Sweet 16. Wong, the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year, was limited to five points in a first-round win over Drake, He had 27 points and eight rebounds for coach Jim Larrañaga’s fifth-seeded Hurricanes, the only ACC team left in March Madness. Miller scored 19 points. Miami will face top-seeded Houston in the Midwest Region semifinals in Kansas City, Missouri, on Friday. All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis had 23 points and eight rebounds for the Hoosiers.
Commented