AP Sports SummaryBrief at 11:48 p.m. EDT
Walter Clayton Jr. rallies Florida into Final Four with 84-79 March Madness win over Texas Tech
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Walter Clayton Jr. rescued top-seeded Florida with two late 3-pointers, and the Gators rallied from nine points down late to reach the Final Four with an 84-79 victory over Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region final. The Gators trailed 75-66 with less than three minutes to play before staging a furious rally against the third-seeded Red Raiders, who had done the same in the Sweet 16 against Arkansas. Clayton dribbled out of the paint and hit a fadeaway 3 with 59 seconds left to give Florida a 78-77 lead, and the Gators held on from there.
Duke’s great D sends Blue Devils to their 18th Final Four with an 85-65 win over Alabama
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Duke’s stream of NBA-ready standouts used smothering defense and other options on offense to paper over Cooper Flagg’s rough shooting night and lift the Blue Devils to the program’s 18th Final Four with an 85-65 victory over Alabama. Flagg made only six of 16 shots, including a brick that got stuck in the flange of the rim, but still finished with 16 points. Kon Knueppel, another potential lottery pick, led the Blue Devils with 21 points. Alabama failed to crack 70 points for only the second time this season. Duke will play the winner of Sunday’s game between Tennessee and Houston next week in the Final Four.
Bueckers has career-high 40 to lead one-woman March Madness rout for UConn, 82-59 over Oklahoma
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Paige Bueckers scored a career-high 40 points, rescuing UConn from its first-half doldrums and single-handedly turning a tight game against Oklahoma into an 82-59 rout that sent the Huskies to the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament. Bueckers had 29 points after halftime for the Huskies, who trailed 36-32 at the break. The likely No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft eclipsed her previous career best of 34 points, set Monday in UConn’s second-round victory over South Dakota State. The electrifying senior guard matched her career high with six 3-pointers. UConn will face either Southern California or Kansas State for a spot in the Final Four.
USC shakes off JuJu Watkins’ absence and beats Kansas State 67-61 in March Madness
SPOKANE, Ore. (AP) — Kennedy Smith stepped into the void left by injured star JuJu Watkins, scoring 19 points to help Southern California hold off Kansas State 67-61 in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament. The top-seeded Trojans were considered title contenders before Watkins tore her right ACL during a second-round victory over Mississippi State. Now they’ll be underdogs in an Elite Eight rematch on Monday with Paige Bueckers and second-seeded UConn. The Huskies knocked the Trojans out of last year’s March Madness in Watkins’ first season. Avery Howell, another freshman, scored 18 points for USC. Serena Sundell scored 22 points for Kansas State.
Judge homers 3 times as Yanks go deep on Cortes’ first 3 pitches and hit 9 HRs vs. Brewers
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge combined with Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger to go deep on the first three pitches from Nestor Cortes, then hit two more homers as the New York Yankees set a team record with nine home runs against the Milwaukee Brewers. Judge hit a solo homer, his ninth career grand slam and a two-run shot in his 40th multihomer game and third with three homers. He finished with a career-high eight RBIs in New York’s 20-9 victory. He came up just short of becoming the 19th player to hit four homers in a game when his sixth-inning fly fell on the right-field warning track for a run-scoring double.
Ilia Malinin cruises to 2nd straight title to cap an American gold rush at figure skating worlds
BOSTON (AP) — Ilia Malinin defended his world title with free skate that earned a standing ovation inside TD Garden on Saturday night, capping a memorable home championships for the Americans. They won gold medals in three of the four figure skating events to give them a wave of momentum heading into an Olympic year. Malinin finished off the haul by scoring 318.56 points to win the men’s title by more than 31. Earlier in the night, Madison Chock and Evan Bates captured their third straight ice dance title for the U.S., and one night earlier, Alysa Liu won the Americans their first women’s title since 2006.
Shohei Ohtani ramps up throwing program, but Roberts says MVP isn’t close to mound debut for Dodgers
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani has thrown his first bullpen session since late February, but the reigning NL MVP still has plenty of work to do before he takes the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani threw more than 20 pitches in the bullpen at Dodger Stadium after throwing long toss in the outfield. He was also in his customary leadoff spot in the Dodgers’ lineup as the designated hitter for their series finale against the Detroit Tigers. Dave Roberts speculated earlier in the year that Ohtani might be able to make his pitching debut for the Dodgers by May, but there’s no firm timeline.
Roki Sasaki pulled from Dodger Stadium debut in 2nd inning after more struggles with his control
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Roki Sasaki’s home debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers ended in the second inning Saturday night after the touted right-hander again struggled with his control. Sasaki issued four walks while throwing 61 pitches to just 12 batters before manager Dave Roberts pulled him with two outs and two Detroit Tigers on base. Sasaki allowed two runs and three singles while repeatedly falling behind his batters early. He threw just 32 strikes in his second major league start and his first at Dodger Stadium for the defending World Series champions. Sasaki issued five walks in three innings last week in Tokyo.
Sears, Alabama can’t duplicate record 3-point night, fall to Duke with Final Four at stake
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Mark Sears was held to six points and Alabama followed an NCAA Tournament-record 25 3-pointers with only eight, dooming its shot at a second straight Final Four in an 85-65 loss to Duke in the East Region final. Sears — who finished 2 of 12 from the field and 1 for 5 on 3s — shot a clunker on Alabama’s first attempt and never got untracked. He hit 10 3s and scored 34 points on the same Prudential Center court only two nights earlier against BYU. This time, Sears made his only basket of the first half with 2:17 to go.
Min Woo Lee pulls away from Scottie Scheffler and everyone else to lead Houston Open by 4
HOUSTON (AP) — Min Woo Lee cooked up a 63 in the Houston Open to blow past Scottie Scheffler and everyone else. He has a four-shot lead over Alejandro Tosti going into the final round as Lee chases his first PGA Tour victory. Lee chipped in for birdie and then had eight consecutive one-putt greens. One of those was a tap-in when he nearly aced the ninth hole. Scheffler couldn’t get anything to fall and shot 69. He went from a one-shot lead to five shots behind. Rory McIlroy had a late eagle for 66 but was still eight shots behind.
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