U.S./World Sports category, Page 259
NCAA field missing mainstays Duke, Kentucky and LouisvilleVideo
Duke, Kentucky and Louisville are NCAA Tournament regulars. Not this year, though. The Blue Devils, Wildcats and Cardinals were left out in the cold when the March Madness brackets were unveiled on Sunday. It is the first time since 1976 all three schools missed the tournament in the same year....
Truex Jr. pulls away late to win NASCAR race at PhoenixVideo
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Martin Truex Jr. pulled away in the final laps Sunday at Phoenix Raceway for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and 28th overall. Truex beat the four championship finalists from last year. He had failed to advance into the season-ending finale for the first...
Thomas lives on edge and rallies to win Players ChampionshipVideo
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Justin Thomas found the right time for a near-perfect performance to put a rough start to the year behind him, rallying from three shots behind with bold play to close with a 4-under-par 68 and win The Players Championship on Sunday. Thomas became only the...
Gonzaga, Baylor, Illinois, Michigan get No. 1 seeds for NCAA TournamentVideo
The biggest unknown leading into a March Madness bracket reveal more than a year in the making had nothing to do with bubble teams or top seeds. Instead, it was the not-so-simple matter of which programs would be healthy enough to play. Kansas and Virginia, two programs hit with covid-19...
No. 3 Illinois beats No. 9 Ohio State in OT to take Big Ten titleVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu both scored 16 points, both grabbed nine rebounds and both made key plays in overtime to give No. 3 Illinois a 91-88 victory over No. 9 Ohio State on Sunday for its first Big Ten Tournament title since 2005. Cockburn made the go-ahead...
Fewer brackets but same number plan bets on March Madness
ATLANTIC CITY — Fewer Americans expect to fill out brackets for the NCAA’s college basketball tournament this year, but the overall number of people making bets on March Madness should remain about the same as the last time the tournament was held, according to the gambling industry’s national trade association....
St. Bonaventure beats VCU in Atlantic 10 Tournament title gameVideo
DAYTON, Ohio — Kyle Lofton scored 23 points, and Osun Osunniyi scored 14 points with 12 rebounds as St. Bonaventure beat VCU, 74-65, on Sunday in the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. St. Bonaventure (16-4) entered the A-10 Tournament as the top...
No. 6 Alabama adds another SEC title, edges LSU in championship gameVideo
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Herbert Jones drove for a go-ahead layup with 19.5 seconds, and No. 6 Alabama won the SEC Tournament for the first time since 1991, holding off a late flurry to edge LSU, 80-79, on Sunday. Coach Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide added to their regular-season title...
Georgia Tech beats No. 15 Florida State for 1st ACC title since 1993Video
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Michael Devoe scored 20 points and Georgia Tech shot 52% after halftime to beat No. 15 Florida State, 80-75, in Saturday night’s ACC Tournament championship game. League player of the year Moses Wright added 15 points and eight rebounds for the fourth-seeded Yellow Jackets (17-8), who won...
No. 13 Texas beats No. 12 Oklahoma St for first Big 12 titleVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Matt Coleman scored a career-high 30 points, Jericho Simms added a career-best 21 and No. 13 Texas was poised at the foul line down the stretch in beating No. 12 Oklahoma State, 91-86, on Saturday night to give the Longhorns their first Big 12 Tournament title....
Patrick Ewing, Georgetown take Big East, NCAA bid with stunning routVideo
NEW YORK — Patrick Ewing is taking Georgetown back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 after the eighth-seeded Hoyas completed a surprising run to a Big East championship Saturday night with a stunning 73-48 rout of No. 17 Creighton. On the 49th anniversary of the day...
Rick Pitino back in the NCAA Tournament with MAAC champion IonaVideo
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Rick Pitino ended an Iona team photo, a championship trophy as the centerpiece, by pointing toward a ladder and telling the Gaels to clip the nets. He knows the way. From coaching perennial powers to exile to the New York suburbs, Pitino has navigated a vagabond...
Marvin Hagler, middleweight boxing great, dies at 66
Marvin Hagler, the middleweight boxing great whose title reign and career ended with a split-decision loss to “Sugar” Ray Leonard in 1987, died Saturday. He was 66. Wife Kay G. Hagler confirmed the death on Facebook on the verified Marvelous Marvin Hagler Fan Club page. “I am sorry to make...
Call of the wild: Great outdoors is great escape in pandemicVideo
For those venturing off the beaten path, be advised — it’s a little crowded out there. By nature’s standards, anyway, as the great outdoors has become the great escape. Hiking trails, parks and other open spaces were packed in 2020 with a cooped-up population searching for fresh air during the...
Lee Westwood leads at TPC, gets another shot at Bryson DeChambeauVideo
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Lee Westwood gets another shot at winning The Players Championship and another crack at Bryson DeChambeau. Westwood made a 25-foot birdie putt on the island-green 17th hole, and he closed out a 4-under-par 68 with a 5-footer for par to extend his bogey-free streak at...
One year later, NASCAR reflects on covid-changed sportVideo
AVONDALE, Ariz. — The big story at Phoenix Raceway one year ago was the remarkable recovery of veteran driver Ryan Newman, who strolled around the infield sipping a soft drink just weeks after a horrific crash in the Daytona 500 had everyone fearing the worst. It was an entertaining race...
No. 9 Ohio State edges No. 4 Michigan in Big Ten semifinalsVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Duane Washington Jr. scored 24 points, E.J. Liddell added 18 and No. 9 Ohio State fended off a frantic finish from No. 4 Michigan for a 68-67 victory Saturday and a chance to play for the Big Ten Tournament title. The Buckeyes (21-8) will play their fourth game...
Hartford wins America East, advances to 1st NCAA TournamentVideo
HARTFORD, Conn. — Austin Williams scored 20 points with eight rebounds and three steals, and Hartford earned an automatic bid to its first NCAA Tournament, beating UMass Lowell, 64-50, on Saturday in the America East championship. Fourth-seeded Hartford was in the title game for the second straight season after last...
Better with age? Westwood takes lead at Players ChampionshipVideo
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Lee Westwood isn’t interested in comparing himself with the player who rose to No. 1 in the world a decade ago. All he knows is he is playing some of his best golf, and he gets another chance to see if it can hold up...
Kansas withdraws from Big 12 tourney after positive covid test
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas withdrew from the Big 12 Tournament on Friday after a positive covid-19 test within the men’s basketball program, becoming the third major team to have its conference postseason come to an end because of the coronavirus. The development sent No. 13 Texas into the championship...
Positive covid-19 test for Virginia nixes ACC semifinal
The Atlantic Coast Conference has canceled its tournament semifinal game between No. 16 Virginia and Georgia Tech due to a positive covid-19 test, quarantining and contact tracing within the Cavaliers program. The league called off its second tournament game in two days on Friday morning, less than 12 hours before...
Olympic host Japan will not take part in China vaccine offer
TOKYO — Japan will not take part in China’s offer — accepted by the International Olympic Committee — to provide vaccines for “participants” in the postponed Tokyo Games and next year’s Beijing Winter Games. Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa said Friday that Japan had not been consulted by the IOC about...
Big finish sends Sergio Garcia to big lead at Players ChampionshipVideo
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Sergio Garcia rushed to the first tee and raced to the finish line Thursday in The Players Championship. Most importantly, he avoided the kind of wreck that allowed the TPC Sawgrass to live up to its reputation as the course where anything can happen to...
Hendrick off to fast start with 2 wins heading into Phoenix
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hendrick Motorsports celebrates each race win with a Victory Bell t hat is carted across the campus for every employee to ring. If not for the pandemic, the bell would have made two trips so far this season. The Hendrick folks believe the count should actually be...
‘Controlled environment’: NCAA plunges ahead with tourneys
Mount St. Mary’s earned its sixth bid to the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday night by beating Bryant in the Northeast Conference Championship game, setting off a postgame celebration that included joy, anticipation, hugs — and covid-19 testing. Before the Mountaineers made the 7 1/2-hour bus trip from Smithfield, Rhode Island,...
