AP Sports SummaryBrief at 11:55 p.m. EDT

By The Associated Press
Updated: April 5, 2025 - 4:00 AM
Published: April 4, 2025 - 4:00 AM

Alex Ovechkin ties Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record with his 894th goal

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin has tied Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goals record by scoring the 894th of his career. Ovechkin scored his second goal of the Washington Capitals’ 5-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks with 13:46 left in the third period. Earlier in the night, he got his 893rd to move one away from tying and two from breaking Gretzky’s mark that long seemed unapproachable. The 39-year-old Russian superstar is now one away from breaking it with six left to play this season.

Strong, Fudd help UConn blow out UCLA 85-51 in Final Four as Bueckers moves 1 win from elusive title

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd didn’t even need much help from superstar Paige Bueckers to propel UConn into the national title game, leading the Huskies to a remarkably easy 85-51 victory over UCLA in the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament. Strong finished with 22 points and Fudd scored all of her 19 points in the first half for the second-seeded Huskies, who are one win away from their 12th national championship and first since the team won four straight from 2013-16 led by former great Breanna Stewart. UConn will face defending champion South Carolina on Sunday for the title.

Defending national champion South Carolina returns to title game with 74-57 rout of Texas

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Defending national champion South Carolina left no doubt it would return to the title game, getting 14 points from Te-Hina Paopao and overwhelming Texas 74-57 in the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks are a win away from becoming the first team to secure consecutive titles since UConn won four straight from 2013-16. Now the teams will meet for the championship after UConn routed UCLA later Friday night. Freshman Joyce Edwards added 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for South Carolina, which used its experience and poise to weather an early deficit and took control with its depth at both ends of the floor.

Duke freshman star Cooper Flagg named the AP men’s college basketball player of the year

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Duke star Cooper Flagg is The Associated Press men’s college basketball national player of the year. Flagg is just the fourth freshman to win the award. He joins Duke’s Zion Williamson, Kentucky’s Anthony Davis and Texas star Kevin Durant. He is also the eighth Duke player to win the award, the most of any school. Flagg received 41 of 61 votes from AP Top 25 poll voters to beat Auburn’s Johni Broome. They were the only two players to receive votes. Both have their teams in the Final Four this weekend.

NBA fines Grizzlies’ Ja Morant $75,000 for continued finger-gun gestures, after warning him to stop

MIAMI (AP) — Ja Morant showed off an imaginary gun. The NBA hit back with a real fine. A day after Morant again used his aiming-a-gun gesture to celebrate making a 3-pointer, the Grizzlies’ star was fined $75,000 by the league Friday. It’s the second time this week that Morant — who was suspended twice in 2023 for incidents with actual weapons — heard from the league about mimicking the act of using a gun during a game. The first interaction with the league office resulted in a warning, after Morant and Golden State’s Buddy Hield made the gesture at one another during a Grizzlies-Warriors game on Tuesday.

Green scores 34 as Rockets snap Thunder’s 11-game winning streak with 125-111 victory

HOUSTON (AP) — Jalen Green had 34 points, Alperen Sengun added 31 and the Houston Rockets snapped the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 11-game winning streak with a 125-111 victory Friday night. Houston, which is second in the Western Conference, improved to 2-3 against the top-seeded Thunder with the win. Oklahoma City lost for the first time since March 10. Jalen Williams led the Thunder with 33 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 22 to reach 20 points for the 70th straight game, moving past Michael Jordan for the fourth-longest single-season streak in NBA history.

Dodgers’ Mookie Betts will make White House visit after skipping previous celebration under Trump

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts said he will attend next week’s World Series championship celebration at the White House after he declined to attend a previous ceremony in President Donald Trump’s first term. The Dodgers are set to visit the White House on April 7 before opening a series at the Washington Nationals, adding that members of the team plan to visit Capitol Hill on April 8. Betts, the star outfielder at the time for the 2018 champion Boston Red Sox, did not make that team’s trip the next season to the White House. Betts was on the Dodgers when the won the World Series in 2020 and attended the celebration the next year under former President Joe Biden.

At Final Four, Houston slowing Duke’s Cooper Flagg could come down to a stopper named Joseph Tugler

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Pretty much every basketball fan has heard of Duke’s Cooper Flagg. Nowhere near as many have heard of Houston’s Joseph Tugler. If the Cougars are going to spring an upset over the Blue Devils in the all-1-seed Final Four on Saturday, it will almost surely be because one of the country’s best defenders, Tugler, figured a way to hold down the country’s best overall player, Flagg. Duke is a 5 1/2-point favorite over Houston, which boasts the nation’s best defense. The winner will play either Florida or Auburn for the national title on Monday.

Soto at home in Polar Bear’s house: Big bats power Mets in `storybook’ Citi Field opener

NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Soto’s home debut with the New York Mets was a huge success. Citi Field is still Pete Alonso’s house, though. Alonso hit an early two-run homer, Soto added an RBI double and the New York Mets beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0 behind the pair of power hitters they signed in free agency last offseason. With the Mets back from a 3-3 trip to start the season, fans were fired up for Soto’s first home game since agreeing to a record $765 million, 15-year contract in December. The slugger’s No. 22 jersey dotted the stands in a sellout crowd of 43,945, and T-shirts with Seven Juan Eight written on the front were available for purchase — a clever nod to the 718 area code in Queens.

Celtics set NBA record for 3-pointers in a season, passing Warriors’ mark from 2022-23

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics broke the NBA record for 3-pointers in a season Friday night against the Phoenix Suns. They set the mark, surpassing Golden State’s total from two seasons ago, when Payton Pritchard hit a left-wing shot 3:40 into the second quarter for No. 1,364. Kristaps Porzingis tied the mark when he up-faked a defender, dribbled to his left a few feet before hitting one from the top with 9:37 left in the second quarter. Boston finished 14 of 39 from 3-point range in the 123-103 victory to push its season total to 1,370. Boston also is third in league history, connecting on 1,351 en route to the NBA title last season.