College category, Page 14
Houston scores in final second to fend off Purdue in Sweet 16
INDIANAPOLIS — Milos Uzan soared for an uncontested layup on a beautifully executed inbound play with 0.9 seconds left, and No. 1 seed Houston survived a late collapse to beat fourth-seeded Purdue, 62-60, on Friday night in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Houston led 56-46 with just under...
Top-seeded Auburn comes alive in 2nd half to beat Michigan, move into Elite 8
ATLANTA — With Auburn’s season on the brink, Tahaad Pettiford and Denver Jones suddenly became unstoppable. On to the Elite Eight for the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Pettitford and Jones scored 20 points apiece to lead a second-half barrage that rallied the Tigers to a 78-65 victory...
Tennessee heading back to Elite Eight as defense clamps down on Kentucky
INDIANAPOLIS — Zakai Zeigler had 18 points and 10 assists, and Tennessee outhustled and outplayed Kentucky on both ends of the court in a 78-65 victory Friday night that sent the Volunteers to a second consecutive Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The second-seeded Vols (30-7) beat their border rival...
Michigan State’s 2nd-half rally sends Spartans past Ole Miss
ATLANTA — Jace Richardson scored 24 points, and Michigan State surged past Mississippi in the second half for a 73-70 victory Friday night in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Ole Miss (24-12) was denied in its bid for its first Elite Eight appearance despite leading by 10 points in the...
Penn State safety makes big step at pro day; Carter, Warren don’t participate
STATE COLLEGE — Kevin Winston Jr. didn’t have much left to prove to NFL teams, even after playing just one full game as a junior at Penn State. The 6-foot-11⁄2, 215-pound safety has been solidly projected in the second round for next month’s NFL Draft in Green Bay. Coach James...
3s, wide-open offense take center stage when Duke faces Alabama for a trip to the Final Four
NEWARK, N.J. — When Alabama faces Duke for a trip to the Final Four on Saturday, hoops fans will witness what some say is the future of college basketball, what others call a byproduct of nobody putting up a good enough fight on defense or some combination of both. The...
Deion Sanders’ contract at Colorado extended through the 2029 season
Colorado coach Deion Sanders has received a contract extension through the 2029 season after turning around a downtrodden program in just two seasons. The school said the extension increases Sanders’ yearly base salary to $10 million this year, making him the highest-paid football coach in the Big 12. The deal...
March Maddening? Timing of transfer portal opening can be tough on coaches still in the tourney
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Coaches still playing in the NCAA Tournament are having to split their time between preparing their teams for the Sweet 16 and talking to potential transfers who have entered the portal. Such is life in college basketball. Dawn Staley is one of those coaches, and she said...
Texas Tech rallies to oust Arkansas in Sweet 16 OT thriller
SAN FRANCISCO — Darrion Williams scored the tiebreaking basket with 7.3 seconds left in overtime after tying the game with a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation to lead Texas Tech to an 85-83 win over Arkansas on Thursday night and a spot in the Elite Eight. The first...
Cooper Flagg fills highlight reel in Duke’s Sweet 16 win over Arizona
NEWARK, N.J. — Duke stud Cooper Flagg’s highlight reel included a 3-pointer from just in front of the logo at the halftime buzzer, one no-look pass for an alley-oop and another for a 3 and a huge blocked shot into a row of Arizona cheerleaders. He needed all that to...
Alabama makes March Madness-record 25 3s, romps past BYU in Sweet 16Video
NEWARK, N.J. — Alabama broke the 35-year-old March Madness record for 3-pointers with 25, and Mark Sears scored 30 of his 34 points on 3s, a relentless long-range spree that ushered the second-seeded Crimson Tide past BYU, 113-88, on Thursday night in an NCAA Tournament East Region semifinal. Alabama reached...
Top-seeded Florida runs away from Maryland’s ‘Crab Five’ to reach Elite 8Video
SAN FRANCISCO — Florida’s three standout seniors and its deep bench kept bringing energy until it became too tough for Maryland’s “Crab Five” to keep up. Coach Todd Golden could see his Gators wearing the Terrapins down. Will Richard scored 15 points, Alijah Martin added 14 points and seven rebounds,...
At age 70, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo back in title mix at another March MadnessVideo
ATLANTA — For Tom Izzo, the blueprint for a career like few others was established in his first year as a head coach. His memory is a bit fuzzy — Izzo remembers his 1995 Michigan State team grabbing 26 offensive rebounds in a victory over a powerhouse Arkansas program, when...
Kentucky, Tennessee ready for 3rd meeting this season as they seek Elite 8 berthVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Kentucky and Tennessee are adding a new chapter to their border rivalry Friday night. They’re taking it north, to Indianapolis, for their first meeting in March Madness. This NCAA Tournament matchup has higher stakes but similar emotions. Tennessee guards Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack spent Thursday’s news conference...
At 464 pounds, Florida’s Desmond Watson could become the heaviest draft pick in NFL historyVideo
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Considering everything massive defensive tackle Desmond Watson showed during Florida’s pro day, his most impressive feat might have been escaping the practice facility without anyone noticing. The 6-foot-6, 464-pound pro prospect somehow slipped team personnel and media members after his workout in front of NFL scouts Thursday....
Don’t write off future Cinderellas just because it’s an all-power conference Sweet 16, coaches sayVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Nearly every year there’s at least one lovable underdog that rises from obscurity in the NCAA Tournament to capture the hearts of basketball fans and bust their brackets. Not this year. All 16 regional semifinalists are from power conferences for the first time since the bracket expanded to...
Calipari embraces new Cinderella role with 10th seeded Arkansas in Sweet 16
SAN FRANCISCO — In an NCAA Tournament sorely lacking in Cinderella stories, coach John Calipari has the unusual role of being the closest thing to it. After routinely taking powerhouse teams in his first decade at Kentucky to the Sweet 16 and beyond, Calipari has surprisingly done the same in...
Players rocking T-shirts are everywhere in March Madness. Why? ‘It’s part of that dripper vibe’
Mouhamed Dioubate would love to tell you he had a good, practical reason to start rocking a compression shirt underneath his Alabama jersey. That it keeps his arms warm. That he loves the way it feels. That it’s a tribute to the old school days of Patrick Ewing and Chris...
Now with Arizona, Caleb Love takes on Duke again
NEWARK, N.J. — He’s back. If there’s a single player Duke or any of its fans would love to not run into when the stakes are this high, Caleb Love would be that player. Love used to play for Duke’s biggest rival, North Carolina. Now he plays for Duke’s next...
Numbers to know for each of the 16 teams remaining in March Madness
The smaller the number, the larger the impact at this year’s NCAA Tournament. Arkansas, the No. 10 seed in the West Region, is the only double-digit seed still alive heading into the regional semifinals. All four No. 1 seeds and three of the four No. 2 seeds are still standing....
Arkansas’ John Calipari not backing off relying on freshmen in NIL, transfer portal eraVideo
Moon native John Calipari embraced the one-and-done era like few college basketball coaches, becoming one of the best annually at bringing in talented freshmen and routinely getting them to Final Fours before shipping them off to the NBA. The formula served him well during his 15-year run at Kentucky that...
Stylistic versatility: Those left in the NCAA Tournament have proven they can win a lot of ways
Houston and Gonzaga met in a second-round NCAA Tournament matchup last weekend in Wichita, Kan., that could as easily have been played in the Final Four, the way Kelvin Sampson’s and Mark Few’s teams had played throughout the season. The Cougars were No. 1 in scoring defense, more than a...
USC looks to keep March Madness title hopes alive without generational talent JuJu Watkins in lineup
LOS ANGELES — If Southern California wants to win its first national championship in 41 years, the Trojans will have to find a way to get it done without star guard JuJu Watkins. They notched their 30th win for the first time since 1986 by walloping ninth-seeded Mississippi State, 96-59,...
Texas hires Xavier’s Sean Miller, the coach who beat the Longhorns in the NCAA Tournament
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas hired Xavier’s Sean Miller to take over the Longhorns basketball program Monday, turning to the coach who had just knocked them out of the NCAA Tournament a few days earlier in an attempt to spark a program that struggled in its first season in the Southeastern...
West Virginia women fall to North Carolina, which sets up Sweet 16 meeting with Duke
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Alyssa Ustby scored 16 of her 21 points after halftime to help North Carolina beat West Virginia 58-47 on Monday night in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament. The fifth-year senior’s big night included 10 third-quarter points for the third-seeded Tar Heels (29-7), who...
