INDIANA BOYS BASKETBALL SEMI-STATE MATCH-UPS
CLASS 4A
FORT WAYNE WAYNE (21-4) VS. KOKOMO (22-4)
PENN (27-1) VS. HAMMOND CENTRAL (26-1)
BROWNSBURG (21-4) VS. JENNINGS COUNTY (24-2)
BEN DAVIS (30-0) VS. BLOOMINGTON NORTH (19-5)
CLASS 3A
DELTA (18-9) VS. JOHN GLENN (17-10)
NORTHWOOD (25-2) VS. FORT WAYNE DWENGER (13-13)
SCOTTSBURG (21-5) VS. NORTH DAVIESS (24-5)
GUERIN CATHOLIC (18-8) VS. BEECH GROVE (17-6)
CLASS 2A
GARY 21ST CENTURY (21-5) VS. FORT WAYNE BLACKHAWK (24-3)
WAPAHANI (25-1) VS. LEWIS CASS (19-7)
BROWNSTOWN CENTRAL (23-4) VS. INDIANAPOLIS SCECINA (18-6)
PARKE HERITAGE (19-9) VS. LINTON-STOCKTON (27-1)
CLASS 1A
SOUTHWOOD (13-12) VS. FOUNTAIN CENTRAL (23-4)
MARQUETTE CATHOLIC (20-7) VS. KOUTS (17-9)
INDIANAPOLIS LUTHERAN (17-7) VS. LOOGOOTEE (20-7)
JAC-CEN-DEL (18-9) VS. ROCK CREEK ACADEMY (11-14)
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL- NCAA TOURNAMENT
NO. 7 MICHIGAN STATE 72, NO. 10 USC 62
NO. 3 XAVIER 72, NO. 14 KENNESAW STATE 67
NO. 3 BAYLOR 74, NO. 14 UC SANTA BARBARA 56
NO. 5 SAINT MARY’S 63, NO. 12 VCU 51
NO. 2 MARQUETTE 78, NO. 15 VERMONT 61
NO. 11 PITT 59, NO. 6 IOWA STATE 41
NO. 6 CREIGHTON 72, NO. 11 NC STATE 63
NO. 4 UCONN 87, NO. 13 IONA 63
NO. 16 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 63, NO. 1 PURDUE 58…PURDUE POST GAME: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8lh3_Wau5U
NO. 6 KENTUCKY 61, NO. 11 PROVIDENCE 53
NO. 5 MIAMI (FLA.) 63, NO. 12 DRAKE 56
NO. 3 GONZAGA 82, NO. 14 GRAND CANYON 70
NO. 9 FLORIDA ATLANTIC 66, NO. 8 MEMPHIS 65
NO. 3 KANSAS STATE 77, NO. 14 MONTANA STATE 65
NO. 4 INDIANA 71, NO. 13 KENT STATE 60…INDIANA POST GAME: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sspJT_Tqfbo
NO. 6 TCU 72, NO. 11 ARIZONA STATE 70
SATURDAY, MARCH 18 (ROUND OF 32. ALL TIMES EASTERN)
NO. 5 SAN DIEGO STATE VS. NO. 13 FURMAN | 12:10 P.M. | CBS
NO. 4 TENNESSEE VS. NO. 5 DUKE | 2:40 P.M. | CBS
NO. 1 KANSAS VS. NO. 8 ARKANSAS | 5:15 P.M. | CBS
NO. 7 MISSOURI VS. NO. 15 PRINCETON | 6:10 P.M. | TNT
NO. 1 HOUSTON VS. NO. 9 AUBURN | 7:10 P.M. | TBS
NO. 2 TEXAS VS. NO. 10 PENN STATE | 7:45 P.M. | CBS
NO. 2 UCLA VS. NO. 7 NORTHWESTERN | 8:40 P.M. | TNT
NO. 1 ALABAMA VS. NO. 8 MARYLAND | 9:40 P.M. | TBS
SUNDAY, MARCH 19 (ROUND OF 32. ALL TIMES EASTERN)
NO. 3 XAVIER VS. NO. 11 PITT | 12:10 P.M. | CBS
NO. 3 KANSAS STATE VS. NO. 6 KENTUCKY | 2:40 P.M. | CBS
NO. 2 MARQUETTE VS. NO. 7 MICHIGAN STATE | 5:15 P.M. | CBS
NO. 4 UCONN VS. NO. 5 SAINT MARY’S | 6:10 P.M. | TNT
NO. 3 BAYLOR VS. NO. 6 CREIGHTON | 7:10 P.M. | TBS
NO. 9 FLORIDA ATLANTIC VS. NO. 16 FDU | 7:45 P.M. | TRUTV
NO. 4 INDIANA VS. NO. 5 MIAMI (FLA.) | 8:40 P.M. | TNT
NO. 3 GONZAGA VS. NO. 6 TCU | 9:40 P.M. | TBS
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL – NCAA TOURNAMENT
FRIDAY, MARCH 17 — FIRST ROUND
NO. 8 USF 67, NO. 9 MARQUETTE 65 (OT)
NO. 7 ARIZONA 75, NO. 10 WEST VIRGINIA 62
NO. 10 GEORGIA 66, VS. NO. 7 FLORIDA STATE 54
NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 72, NO. 16 NORFOLK STATE 40
NO. 2 MARYLAND 93, NO. 15 HOLY CROSS 61
NO. 6 MICHIGAN 71, NO. 11 UNLV 59
NO. 3 NOTRE DAME 82, NO. 14 SOUTHERN UTAH 56
NO. 2 IOWA 95, NO. 15 SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 43
NO. 3 LSU 73, NO. 14 HAWAII 50
NO. 1 VIRGINIA TECH 58, NO. 14 CHATTANOOGA 33
NO. 11 MISSISSIPPI STATE 81, NO. 6 CREIGHTON 66
NO. 1 STANFORD 92, NO. 16 SACRED HEART 49
NO. 2 UTAH 103, NO. 15 GARDNER-WEBB 77
NO. 9 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 62, NO. 8 USC 57 (OT)
NO. 10 PRINCETON 64, NO. 7 NC STATE 63
NO. 8 OLE MISS 71, NO. 9 GONZAGA 48
SATURDAY, MARCH 18 — FIRST ROUND
TENNESSEE TECH VS. INDIANA | 11:30 A.M. | ESPN2
SAINT LOUIS VS. TENNESSEE | 1 P.M. | ABC
JAMES MADISON VS. OHIO STATE | 1:30 P.M. |ESPN2
MIAMI VS. OKLAHOMA STATE | 2 P.M. | ESPN
FLORIDA GULF COAST VS. WASHINGTON STATE | 2:30 P.M. | ESPNU
VERMONT VS. UCONN | 3 P.M.| ABC
TOLEDO VS. IOWA STATE | 3:30 P.M. | ESPN2
ST. JOHN’S VS. NORTH CAROLINA | 4 P.M. | ESPN
CLEVELAND STATE VS. VILLANOVA | 5 P.M. | ESPNU
ALABAMA VS. BAYLOR | 5:30 P.M. | ESPN2
MIDDLE TENNESSEE VS. COLORADO | 7 P.M. |ESPNEWS
DRAKE VS. LOUISVILLE | 7:30 P.M. | ESPN2
PORTLAND VS. OKLAHOMA | 9 P.M. | ESPNU
IONA VS. DUKE | 9:30 P.M. | ESPN2
EAST CAROLINA VS. TEXAS | 10 P.M. | ESPN
SACRAMENTO STATE VS. UCLA | 11:30 P.M. | ESPN2
NBA SCOREBOARD
PHILADELPHIA 121 CHARLOTTE 82
ATLANTA 127 GOLDEN STATE 119
CLEVELAND 117 WASHINGTON 94
CHICAGO 139 MINNESOTA 131 2OT
HOUSTON 114 NEW ORLEANS 112
MEMPHIS 126 SAN ANTONIO 120 OT
BOSTON 126 PORTLAND 112
DALLAS 111 LAKERS 110
NHL SCOREBOARD
PHILADELPHIA 5 BUFFALO 2
TORONTO 5 CAROLINA 2
ST. LOUIS 5 WASHINGTON 2
ANAHEIM 7 COLUMBUS 4
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SCOREBOARD
CHICAGO CUBS 4 CHICAGO WHITE SOX 4
OAKLAND 7 SAN FRANCISCO 2
MILWAUKEE 4 TEXAS 3
LA DODGERS 9 CHICAGO CUBS 7
LA ANGELS 12 KANSAS CITY 1
ARIZONA 4 COLORADO 2
CINCINNATI 7 CLEVELAND 1
SEATTLE 10 SAN DIEGO 5
ATLANTA 8 BOSTON 0
DETROIT 8 NY YANKEES 7
BALTIMORE 5 MINNESOTA 3
WASHINGTON 11 HOUSTON 7
PITTSBURGH 6 TAMPA BAY 2
PHILADELPHIA 4 TORONTO 2
PHILADELPHIA 8 TORONTO 1
ST. LOUIS 16 MIAMI 2
NY METS 6 MIAMI 1
TOP INDIANA (RELEASES)
INDY FUEL
FUEL GAIN POINT IN OVERTIME LOSS
INDIANAPOLIS – The Fuel hosted the first place Toledo Walleye for the second weekend in a row. While the Fuel forced overtime late in the game, they ultimately fell to the Walleye 3-2.
1ST PERIOD
Just over two minutes into the first frame, Thomas Ebbing of Toledo opened the scoring with an even-strength goal. At 7:57, Indy’s Luc Brown took a slashing penalty that the Fuel killed off.
Those were the only plays that made their way onto the scoresheet. By the end of the period, Toledo was outshooting Indy 12-7.
2ND PERIOD
Gordie Green, who returned to the Walleye’s roster just this afternoon, took a slashing penalty at 1:29 of the second period. 27 seconds into the power play for Indy, Andrew Bellant tied the game with Indy’s first goal.
The Fuel remained on the power play as Toledo’s Brandon Hawkins was called for tripping. Two minutes after that penalty was killed off, Toledo took the lead again with a goal by Hawkins.
About six minutes later, Toledo’s Adrien Beraldo took a slashing penalty that was killed off.
Indy’s Koletrane Wilson sat for a holding penalty with three minutes to go in the second frame. Chris Cameron also took a tripping penalty that led to almost 30 seconds of 5-on-3 action for Toledo.
3RD PERIOD
Tensions rose between the two teams in the first half of the third period which resulted in an Indy power play after Hawkins was sent to the box again, this time for hooking.
That penalty was killed off but the Fuel and Walleye continued to exchange heated checks while the score remained 2-1 Toledo.
After the Fuel pulled Zach Driscoll from goal, Spencer Watson gave the Fuel life 18:45 into the third with a game-tying goal assisted by Colin Bilek and Bryan Lemos.
With 14 seconds remaining in regulation, with the game tied at two, Wilson took a roughing penalty giving Toledo a power play opportunity that carried into overtime.
OVERTIME
The Walleye were able to capitalize on their power play advantage just 57 seconds into the sudden death period. Ryan Cox put the game away for Toledo with the help of Hawkins and Green for a final score of 3-2.
INDY ELEVEN
INDY ELEVEN ACQUIRES FORWARD DOUGLAS MARTINEZ VIA TRANSFER FROM SACRAMENTO REPUBLIC FC
INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, March 17, 2023) – Indy Eleven continued to strengthen its attacking corps for the 2023 season with the addition of forward Douglas Martinez via transfer from fellow USL Championship side Sacramento Republic FC. Terms of the deal that brings the Honduran striker to the Circle City will not be released; the transfer remains pending per league and federation approval.
Having started his professional career at the age of 16 in Honduras with C.D.S. Vida in 2013, the 25-year-old Martinez brings ten years of pro experience to the Eleven’s attacking corps. That tenure includes four seasons in the USL Championship, during which he’s collected 27 goals and 12 assists in 90 combined regular season and playoff matches (64 starts) with SRFC, San Diego Loyal SC (2021), Real Monarchs SLC (2019-21), and New York Red Bulls II (2017). Martinez also scored a pair of goals, both in 2020, across 25 appearances (10 starts) in Major League Soccer action with Real Salt Lake during parts of three seasons between 2019-21.
“Douglas is a multifaceted finisher with great experience who can bring another dimension to our attack,” said Indy Eleven Head Coach Mark Lowry, who coached against Martinez’s Real Monarchs teams in Western Conference action while with El Paso Locomotive FC. “He’s proven he can produce at this level and we believe he’ll fit our approach on both sides of the ball incredibly well. We look forward to incorporating him into the squad quickly and to the contributions he’ll bring to the group this season.”
Martinez arrives in Indiana following a lone season with Sacramento in 2022 that saw him notch five goals and three assists while starting 21 of his 31 appearances in league play. He also started in five of his six contests for Republic FC during their historic run to the Final of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, contributing on the scoresheet with an insurance goal (88’) in a 2-0 win over Phoenix Rising FC in the Fourth Round and an assist on Rodrigo Lopez’s 4th minute opener in a 2-1 road win over MLS’ LA Galaxy in the Quarterfinals.
Martinez broke out in USLC circles in 2019, when his 17 goals (fifth on that season’s Golden Boot chart) and seven assists in 25 appearances helped Real Monarchs SLC – which also featured his new Eleven teammate, midfielder Jack Blake – claim the club’s first league title.
In addition to his club career, Martinez also has featured at the international level for Honduras at both the youth and senior levels. In 2017, he earned his first call-up to the Honduran U-20 team at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship during their second-place finish, and he added one goal during their stint the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He later joined the U-23 team, where he scored two goals and won the silver medal in the 2019 Pan American Games. That same year, he earned the first of his four caps to date (one goal) for the catrachos’ senior squad by appearing in CONCACAF Nations League play. In 2021, he was named to the roster for the 2020/21 Tokyo Olympics, where he started all three matches in group play for Honduras’ U-23 side.
INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS BASEBALL
THIRSTY THURSDAYS, CIRCLE CITY NIGHTS BACK FOR 2023 SEASON
INDIANAPOLIS – The best drink specials are on tap at Victory Field, with 10 Thirsty ThursdaysTM presented by Sun King Brewery slated for the 2023 season. Circle City Nights will also activate for every Thursday night home game.
“Thursday night games at the Vic provide young professionals and adults with budget-friendly drinks, another direct connection to the fun, affordable entertainment we offer fans,” said Kim Stoebick, Indianapolis Indians director of marketing. “We are also excited for the return of Circle City Nights as we celebrate the 317.”
Every Thirsty ThursdayTM features $2 Pepsi fountain drinks, $3 domestic drafts, and $5 premium and craft drafts. Circle City Nights include Indy-inspired jerseys that will be auctioned off on Sept. 21 and local DJs who will perform before and during the game. The Indians have also partnered with The Shop for the Circle City t-shirt collection that will be available
for purchase on the concourse behind Section 108. The limited-edition tee for April 13 is a special Sun King Brewery shirt.
Shirt designs will be released in the coming weeks.
The first Thirsty ThursdayTM/Circle City Night takes place on April 13. Additional dates include June 1, June 8, June 22, July 6, July 27, Aug. 10, Aug. 24, Sept. 7 and Sept. 21.
INDIANA MEN’S BASKETBALL
INDIANA ADVANCES TO SECOND ROUND WITH 71-60 VICTORY
ALBANY, N.Y. -Race Thompson refused to lose. He would push till his tank hit empty. He said it before Indiana’s NCAA tourney opener, proved it during, celebrated after.
One and done matters when you have a guy who cares like Thompson, and, boy, did this senior forward care during Friday night’s 71-60 Midwest Regional victory over Kent State.
Despite multiple bumps and bruises, Thompson scored, rebounded, ran the floor, and led by full-throttle example to total 20 points (8-for-11 shooting, 2-for-3 on three-pointers) and nine rebounds.
“Race stepped up,” associate head coach Yasir Rosemond told Voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer during the post-game radio show. “He hears a lot of stuff. He’s been around a long time. For him to have a game like this, especially at this time of year, is great.”
So was his willingness to sacrifice his body.
“His knee hurts,” Rosemond told Fischer. “His thigh hurts. He has a lot going on. He really battles.”
When Thompson wasn’t dominating, teammate Trayce Jackson-Davis was with 24 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and an IU NCAA tourney-record five blocks. It was his 50th career double-double.
“Just add it to the list of stuff he’s done,” Rosemond told Fischer. “Coach tells him all the time, he could have played better. Tonight, I think he could have. He’s our leader, our guy. We ride him. As Trayce goes, we go.”
Then there was senior forward Miller Kopp, who had 13 points with three three-pointers and five rebounds.
“Coach has been telling him — shoot the ball,” Rosemond said. “Don’t think about it. Shoot the ball. We’ve been telling him that all year.
“He shoots a great percentage, so why not get a couple more shots up? We need him to contribute.”
The Golden Flashes (28-7) had no answer.
“Our guys came to play,” Rosemond told Fischer. “We were great defensively. We made plays. We dug plays. It was our defense.”
The fourth-seeded Hoosiers (23-11) advanced to a Sunday night matchup with fifth-seeded Miami (26-7), which moved on with a 63-56 win over Drake Friday night.
“Miami is really good,” Rosemond told Fischer. “They have good guards. We’ll be prepared.”
IU disrupted Kent State into offensive futility. Indiana blocked shots, altered shots so that even Golden Flashes layups became bad ideas. They shot just 32 percent from the field.
“We committed to 40 minutes,” head coach Mike Woodson said in a post-game TV interview. “(Kent State) can really score and we held them to 60 points. Our defense was really good.”
Offensively, the Hoosiers attacked the paint relentlessly.
“We wanted to dominate on the inside,” Rosemond told Fischer. “We knew Kent State was a little thin inside. We wanted to attack with what our strengths were.”
Jackson-Davis set an instant shot-blocking tone to spark an 8-2 Hoosier start. Kent State rallied for a 9-8 lead. Thompson hit his first four shots for 10 points to help push IU ahead 17-9.
A 9-0 edge in fast-break points kept the Hoosiers in the lead, although the Golden Flashes got within three and then two. Jackson-Davis and Galloway shut that down with inside baskets. Jackson-Davis added a pair of free throws. IU led 35-27 at halftime.
Thompson had 13 points and four rebounds. Jackson-Davis had 10 and seven.
With the Hoosiers holding Kent State to 26.3-percent shooting, Woodson’s main second-half goal was to get the offense going.
The result — IU scored 10 points in less than four minutes to surge ahead 45-31.
The Hoosiers cranked up the defense to match the offense. Kopp hit a three-pointer. Thompson dunked. IU led 52-37.
Then Jackson-Davis took over with dunks and layups to maintain IU’s double-digit advantage. A Kopp three-point play made it a 65-50 score. Jackson-Davis continued his onslaught (12 points in five minutes) to ensure there would be no Kent State comeback.
Now IU is 40 minutes away from its first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2016.
“We need (Trey Galloway) to contribute,” Rosemond told Fischer. “We need some of these other guys to contribute. If we want to advance, we need other guys to play well.”
PURDUE MEN’S BASKETBALL
PURDUE SEASON ENDS WITH FIRST-ROUND UPSET
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Fairleigh Dickinson brought down a giant.
Pulling off one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history, the undersized, underdog Knights stunned top-seeded Purdue 63-58 on Friday night, becoming the second No. 16 seed to win a game in March Madness.
The shortest of the 363 Division I teams in the country, the Knights (21-15) showed no fear in swarming 7-foot-4 All-America center Zach Edey from the start and simply outplayed the Big Ten champion Boilermakers (29-6).
“If we played them 100 times, they’d probably beat us 99 times,” FDU coach Tobin Anderson said. “Play them 100 times, we have one win. But tonight’s the one we had to be unique, we had to be unorthodox. We had to make it tough on them, just be different.”
Sean Moore scored 19 points to lead FDU and a relentless defensive charge – the Knights pressed most of the game – by a team that now has everyone’s attention.
Five years ago, UMBC showed the way for the little guys by overwhelming Virginia in the first 16-over-1 victory after numerous close calls over the years. Still, No. 16s had a 1-150 record against No. 1s and were 1-151 overall before FDU’s shocker.
After the final horn, FDU’s players mobbed each other on the floor of Nationwide Arena, where the fans from Memphis and Florida Atlantic who were waiting for the day’s final game joined forces in cheering on the Knights in the final, frantic minutes.
The Knights will meet FAU – a 66-65 winner over Memphis – on Sunday for a Sweet 16 berth and a trip next week to play at Madison Square Garden in New York, just a short drive from the private school’s main campus in Teaneck, New Jersey.
“Man, I can’t even explain it,” Moore said. “I’m still in shock right now. I can’t believe it. It’s crazy. But it feels amazing.”
Fairleigh Dickinson didn’t even win the Northeast Conference Tournament, falling by one point in the title game to Merrimack, which couldn’t participate in the NCAA Tournament because of an NCAA rule that bars it from the postseason because it’s still completing its four-year transition from Division II.
FDU held Purdue scoreless for more than 5 1/2 minutes down the stretch and moved ahead by five on a 3-pointer by Moore – who is from suburban Columbus – with 1:03 left.
The Knights held on from there, becoming the third straight double-digit seed to send the Boilermakers home. Purdue was a No. 3 seed when it lost to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s, another small New Jersey school, in the Sweet 16 last year. The Boilermakers were bounced in the first round by 13th-seeded North Texas in 2021.
“Our job was just to come into the game and throw a punch,” said FDU’s Demetre Roberts, 20 inches shorter than Edey. “We knew they would throw multiple punches. Just throw a punch back. We knew what type of game this was.”
Edey finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds in what may have been his final college game, but the Knights were masterful against him in the second half. Edey didn’t attempt a shot in the final nine minutes, and anytime he touched the ball there were FDU players draped all around him.
“A lot of times they would have one dude guarding from behind and one dude basically sitting in my lap,” Edey said. “They were full fronting the entire game. Made it very hard to get catches. Credit to them, they had a great game plan coming in. And they executed it very well.”
When Purdue’s late push fell short and its season ended, Edey squeezed the shoulder straps on his jersey and walked stone-faced toward Purdue’s locker room.
The junior center is a possible NBA lottery pick, but the bitterness of this defeat could sway Edey to stick around for another year.
“I have no opinion on that,” Edey said when asked about his future. “I’ll make my decision going forward.”
The Knights’ two prior NCAA Tournament wins came in the First Four, including this year, when they drubbed Texas Southern 84-61. After that game, Anderson told his players he believed they could handle Edey and Co.
“The more I see Purdue, the more I think we can beat them,” Anderson said with a camera in the locker room.
Some of Purdue’s players said they felt disrespected by the comments, which turned out to be prophetic.
“It was the right message, wrong audience,” Anderson said. “I would have said that with no camera in there. I didn’t mean to get Purdue upset. That was not the idea at all. But that’s got to be the message. We’re trying to win the next game. We just can’t be happy to be here.”
“And the guys gotta believe.”
Just being in the tourney was quite an accomplishment for FDU, which went 4-22 a year ago and now has two NCAA tourney wins in three days.
This was Anderson’s first season at the school, and after he landed the job in May, he held a practice the first night just so he knew what he had to work with from a team that had the second-worst record in the program’s 58-year history.
It wasn’t a lot, so he brought three players – Roberts, Grant Singleton and Moore – along with him from Division II power St. Thomas Aquinas.
Turns out, they’re giant slayers.
“We’re the shortest team in the country,” Anderson said. “But we made him (Edey) uncomfortable. And the things he made were not easy baskets. I don’t think he ever felt terribly comfortable. And that was just a great team effort.”
“We were sagging in the paint. We went off certain shooters. Let’s make them make 3s, but not give them 3s — make them make 3s. Just an unbelievable team effort.”
Purdue finished 5 of 26 from beyond the arc – including 3 of 15 in the second half.
It was the Boilermakers, not the undersized Knights, who were scrambling from the opening tip.
Purdue may have had Fairleigh Dickinson outsized on the floor and in the stands as a boisterous group of Boilermakers fans gave their team what felt like a home-court advantage despite being 240 miles from West Lafayette, Indiana.
However, when the Knights’ Joe Munden drained a step-back 3-pointer in the first half, “F-D-U!” chants broke out inside the arena and it became obvious this small team had big dreams.
Without a player on its roster taller than 6-6, Fairleigh Dickinson sometimes needed two players to guard Edey – one in front and one behind – and he missed his first three shots before a dunk.
Edey showed some frustration and at one point told one of the officials, “Sir, he’s holding my left arm.”
Purdue eventually settled in and reeled off 11 straight points – four on Edey free throws – to take 24-19 lead. The Knights, though, responded with their own spurt and Heru Bligen’s layup after a steal helped FDU take a 32-31 into halftime.
Roberts finished with 12 points and 6-4 forward Cameron Tweedy had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting for FDU.
NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
NOTRE DAME WOMEN BEAT SOUTHERN UTAH 82-56 IN MARCH MADNESS
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) Forward Maddy Westbeld scored 20 points and led No. 3 seed Notre Dame to an 82-56 win over No. 14 seed Southern Utah in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
“I’m just ecstatic about this win,” coach Niele Ivey said. “It was such a dominant performance.”
Guard Sonia Citron chipped in 14 points and a season-high six assists. The team’s leading scorer, she transitioned into the team’s primary facilitator with second-team Associated Press All-American guard Olivia Miles out the remainder of the season with an undisclosed knee injury.
“The fact that (Citron) turned into that position – something that she’s never done before – it’s just remarkable and just shows you who she is as a player,” Ivey said. “She can receive information, and she translates it right away. She did an incredible job of pushing the pace.”
Lauren Ebo had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Megan Jensen led Southern Utah (23-10) with 11 points.
“Notre Dame is a great team,” coach Tracy Sanders said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game. We knew they were big. I’m proud of our fight.”
Notre Dame (26-5) awaits the winner of the first-round matchup on Friday evening between No. 6 Creighton and No. 11 Mississippi State.
NEVER IN DOUBT
Notre Dame jumped out to a 16-0 lead and kept its foot on the gas.
“I thought it was imperative that we came out that way,” Ivey said. “We hadn’t played in two weeks.”
The Irish held a 27-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, making 13 of 16 field goal attempts with 20 points in the paint. Westbeld led the way with eight points, while Ebo and Watson each scored six.
DOMINANT DOWN LOW
After a slow start, the Thunderbirds pivoted to a zone defense but still struggled to keep the Fighting Irish off the glass.
“We had to finish it with boxouts and they got a couple of offensive rebounds,” Sanders said. “I thought they adjusted to it. I felt like it was better than us player-to-player trying to match up with them.”
Notre Dame outrebounded undersized Southern Utah by a 53-25 margin, which included 21 offensive boards. The Fighting Irish scored 50 points in the paint to the Thunderbird’s 18.
BIG PICTURE
Southern Utah: Saw its magical 2022-23 season end. The Thunderbirds won the Western Athletic Conference Tournament title and earned the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
“We made history over at Southern Utah and they’ve set the standard and left a legacy,” Sanders said.” I’m just really proud of this group.”
Notre Dame: The ACC regular season champs look to make their second straight Sweet Sixteen appearance.
SMALL COLLEGE ATHLETIC SITES:
INDIANA WESLEYAN ATHLETICS: https://iwuwildcats.com/
EARLHAM ATHLETICS: https://goearlham.com/
WABASH ATHLETICS: https://sports.wabash.edu/
FRANKLIN ATHLETICS: https://franklingrizzlies.com/
ROSE-HULMAN ATHLETICS: https://athletics.rose-hulman.edu/
ANDERSON ATHLETICS: https://athletics.anderson.edu/landing/index
TRINE ATHLETICS: https://trinethunder.com/landing/index
BETHEL ATHLETICS: https://bupilots.com/
DEPAUW ATHLETICS: https://depauwtigers.com/
HANOVER ATHLETICS: https://athletics.hanover.edu/
MANCHESTER ATHLETICS: https://muspartans.com/
HUNTINGTON ATHLETICS: https://www.huathletics.com/
OAKLAND CITY ATHLETICS: https://gomightyoaks.com/index.aspx
ST. FRANCIS ATHLETICS: https://www.saintfranciscougars.com/landing/index
IU KOKOMO ATHLETICS: https://iukcougars.com/
IU EAST ATHLETICS: https://www.iueredwolves.com/
IU SOUTH BEND ATHLETICS: https://iusbtitans.com/
PURDUE NORTHWEST ATHLETICS: https://pnwathletics.com/
INDIANA TECH ATHLETICS: https://indianatechwarriors.com/index.aspx
GRACE COLLEGE ATHLETICS: https://gclancers.com/
ST. MARY OF THE WOODS ATHLETICS: https://smwcathletics.com/
GOSHEN COLLEGE ATHLETICS: https://goleafs.net/
HOLY CROSS ATHLETICS: https://www.hcsaints.com/index.php
TAYLOR ATHLETICS: https://www.taylortrojans.com/
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TOP NATIONAL NEWS
NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL
NCAA TOURNAMENT ROUNDUP: FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON MAKES HISTORY AGAINST PURDUE
For just the second time in 152 tries, a No. 16 wore the slipper perfectly against a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Sean Moore scored 19 and Grant Singleton added eight points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals as No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson shocked No. 1 Purdue 63-58 on Friday night in an East Region first-round game in Columbus, Ohio.
Despite sporting the smallest team in Division I basketball, FDU managed to overcome 21 points and 15 rebounds from 7-foot-4 All-America center Zach Edey.
With the Knights (21-15) leading 61-58, Purdue’s Braden Smith drove the lane, but Moore came from behind and blocked the shot. Fletcher Loyer’s corner 3-point attempt for the Boilermakers (29-6) was off the mark, and Demetre Roberts sealed it with two free throws.
East Region
NO. 2 MARQUETTE 78, NO. 15 VERMONT 61
Kam Jones scored 18 of his 19 points in the second half to help the Golden Eagles down the Catamounts in an East Region first-round game in the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, Ohio.
Jones made 7 of 9 shots from the floor — including 3 of 4 from 3-point range. He scored 18 straight points for his team during a pivotal second-half sequence to propel the Golden Eagles (29-6) to their 10th straight win and notch their first NCAA Tournament victory since their run to the Elite Eight in 2013. Marquette shot a robust 51.8 percent from the floor (29 of 56) and 50.0 percent from 3-point range (10 of 20) to advance to Sunday’s second-round clash against seventh-seeded Michigan State.
Vermont (23-11) was led by Robin Duncan, Dylan Penn and Matt Veretto who each scored 11 points. American East Player of the Year Finn Sullivan was limited to just four points after making just 2 of 9 shots from the floor and 0 of 6 from 3-point range.
NO. 3 KANSAS STATE 77, NO. 14 MONTANA STATE 65
Markquis Nowell recorded 17 points, matched his career high of 14 assists and added six rebounds and three steals to lead the Wildcats past the Bobcats in Greensboro, N.C.
Keyontae Johnson had team highs of 18 points and eight rebounds for Kansas State (24-9). Nae’Qwan Tomlin added 13 points and David N’Guessan had 10 for the Wildcats, who will face sixth-seeded Kentucky in Sunday’s second round.
RaeQuan Battle scored 27 points for 14th-seeded Montana State (25-10), which had an eight-game winning streak end.
NO. 6 KENTUCKY 61, NO. 11 PROVIDENCE 53
Antonio Reeves scored 22 points and Oscar Tshiebwe collected a season-best 25 rebounds to lead the Wildcats past the Friars in Greensboro, N.C.
Jacob Toppin added 18 points while Tshiebwe had eight points, three steals and two blocked shots for Kentucky (22-11).
Ed Croswell scored 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting for Providence (21-12). Kentucky transfer Bryce Hopkins scored just seven points on 2-of-9 shooting, though he grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
NO. 7 MICHIGAN STATE 72, NO. 10 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 62
Joey Hauser recorded 17 points and eight rebounds and Jaden Akins had 12 points and six rebounds as the Spartans defeated the Trojans in first-round action in Columbus, Ohio.
Tyson Walker contributed 12 points and four assists while A.J. Hoggard added 11 points and five assists for Michigan State (20-12), which advanced to a second-round clash Sunday against second-seeded Marquette.
Joshua Morgan’s 14 points led USC (22-11). Kobe Johnson supplied 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists, while the Trojans’ usual leading scorer, Boogie Ellis, was held to six points. Ellis, who entered the game averaging 18.0 points, shot 3-for-12 from the field before fouling out.
NO. 9 FLORIDA ATLANTIC 66, NO. 8 MEMPHIS 65
Nick Boyd slashed to the basket for the decisive hoop with 2.5 seconds left as the Owls nipped the Tigers in Columbus, Ohio.
Florida Atlantic (32-3) earned the first NCAA Tournament win in school history and advanced to face Fairleigh Dickinson.
Giancarlo Rosado led the Owls with 15 points on 6-for-6 shooting. Johnell Davis added 12 points. Kendric Davis topped Memphis (26-9) with 16 points, and DeAndre Williams had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Midwest Region
NO. 3 XAVIER 72, NO. 14 KENNESAW STATE 67
Trailing by 13 midway through the second half, the third-seeded Musketeers reeled off 15 straight points to rally past the 14th-seeded Owls in Midwest Regional first-round play at Greensboro, N.C.
Colby Jones’ free throw with 18.3 seconds left snapped the game’s final tie, then Jack Nunge swatted Terrell Burden’s go-ahead layup off the board with 7 seconds to go to save the Musketeers (26-9), who advance to face 11-seed Pittsburgh.
Burden and Chris Youngblood scored 14 points apiece while Spencer Rodgers added 10 for Kennesaw State (26-9), which nearly topped its first winning season and first NCAA Tournament appearance with a remarkable upset.
NO. 4 INDIANA 71, NO. 13 KENT STATE 60
Trayce Jackson-Davis posted 24 points and 11 rebounds and Race Thompson had 20 points and nine boards as the Hoosiers ousted the Golden Flashes in Albany, N.Y.
Indiana (23-11) next will face fifth-seeded Miami on Sunday. Miller Kopp scored 13 points while connecting on three of the Hoosiers’ five 3-pointers. Jackson-Davis added team highs with five assists and five blocks.
Sincere Carry led Kent State with 15 points. Chris Payton and VonCameron Davis contributed 10 apiece and Malique Jacobs added eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Golden Flashes (28-7).
NO. 5 MIAMI 63, NO. 12 DRAKE 56
Nijel Pack scored 21 points and led a clutch comeback late to help the Hurricanes defeat the Bulldogs in Albany, N.Y.
Miami (26-7) advanced to the second round for the second consecutive season as Wooga Poplar scored 15 points and Norchad Omier produced 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Drake (27-8) came close to earning its first NCAA Tournament win since 1971, excluding the First Four, thanks to a tremendous effort from Darnell Brodie, who finished with 20 points and nine rebounds.
NO. 11 PITT 59, NO. 6 IOWA STATE 41
Nelly Cummings scored 13 points and the 11th-seeded Panthers routed the sixth-seeded Cyclones in a battle of cold-shooting teams in Greensboro, N.C.
The Panthers (24-11) won despite having more turnovers (15) than field goals (14) while shooting 34.1 percent from the floor and 31.6 percent (6 of 19) on 3-pointers. Jamarius Burton added 11 points and Greg Elliott had 10, as the Panthers advanced to face No. 3 seed Xavier.
Gabe Kalscheur and Jaren Holmes scored 12 points each and Tre King added 11 to lead the Cyclones (19-14), who shot 23.3 percent from the floor and 9.5 percent (2 of 21) on 3-pointers.
South Region
NO. 3 BAYLOR 74, NO. 14 UC SANTA BARBARA 56
Adam Flagler posted 18 points and five assists and Caleb Lohner scored a season-high 13 points off the bench as the Bears outlasted the Gauchos in Denver.
After trailing at halftime, Baylor (23-10) led by just 59-52 with less than nine minutes remaining, but then outscored UCSB 15-4 the rest of the way. The Bears will face sixth-seeded Creighton in the second round Sunday.
LJ Cryer added 11 of his 15 points in the second half and teamed with Flagler to account for all 15 points during the Bears’ game-ending run. Lohner made all five of his field goal attempts and added five rebounds in 18 minutes of action — the most he has played since before Christmas.
Miles Norris scored 15 points and Ajay Mitchell had 13 and four assists to lead the Gauchos (27-8), champions of the Big West Conference.
NO. 6 CREIGHTON 72, NO. 11 NC STATE 63
Center Ryan Kalkbrenner poured in a career-high 31 points as the sixth-seeded Bluejays withstood the 11th-seeded Wolfpack’s comeback attempts in a first-round victory in Denver.
Kalkbrenner, a junior, made 11 of 14 shots from the field and also pulled in seven rebounds and blocked three shots. Creighton (22-12) will meet third-seeded Baylor (23-10) in Sunday’s second round. Baylor eliminated UC Santa Barbara 74-56 in the first game at the site on Friday.
NC State’s Terquavion Smith racked up 32 points — two shy of his career high — by making 12 of 27 shots from the field with one 3-pointer and going 7-for-9 at the foul line. NC State (23-11) shot 37.5 overall from the field and went 3-for-13 on 3-pointers.
West Region
NO. 3 GONZAGA 82, NO. 14 GRAND CANYON 70
Julian Strawther scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Bulldogs pulled away in the second half to beat the Lopes in Denver.
Drew Timme added 21 points for Gonzaga (29-5), which will play sixth-seeded TCU on Sunday. Anton Watson also had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Ray Harrison led the Lopes (24-12) with 20 points, Chance McMillian scored 16 and Gabe McGlothan had 11.
NO. 4 UCONN 87, NO. 13 IONA 63
Adama Sanogo notched a 28-point, 13-rebound double-double to lead the fourth-seeded Huskies to a victory over the No. 13 seed Gaels in a first-round matchup in Albany, N.Y.
Sanogo made 13 of his 17 shots from the field to help the Huskies (26-8) advance to the second round, where they will face fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s on Sunday. Jordan Hawkins chipped in 13 points, Donovan Clingan posted 12 and Andre Jackson Jr. supplied 10.
Walter Clayton Jr. paced the Gaels (27-8) with 15 points. Daniss Jenkins finished with 14 points, while Berrick JeanLouis tallied 13 for Iona, which entered the tournament on a 14-game winning streak.
NO. 5 SAINT MARY’S 63, NO. 12 VCU 51
Mitchell Saxen racked up 17 points to lead four scorers in double figures as the Gaels earned a first-round victory over the Rams in Albany, N.Y and a second-round date with No. 4 seed UConn Sunday.
Saxen was an efficient 8-for-11 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds and blocked four shots for the Gaels (27-7). Alex Ducas also had 17 points, Augustus Marciulionis had 13 and Logan Johnson finished with 12 to go along with 10 rebounds.
Adrian Baldwin Jr. paced the Rams (27-8) with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Jayden Nunn chipped in nine points and seven rebounds for VCU, which has not won an NCAA Tournament game since 2016.
NO. 6 TCU 72, NO. 11 ARIZONA STATE 70
JaKobe Coles sank a floater in the lane with 1.5 seconds left to deliver the Horned Frogs a victory over the Sun Devils in Denver.
TCU (22-12) trailed for most of the second half before ending the game on a 15-5 run fueled by an injured Mike Miles Jr., Damion Baugh and Coles. Miles scored a game-best 26 points, 16 coming in the first half before he appeared to aggravate a right knee injury.
DJ Horne went 4-for-5 from the arc en route to a team-high 17 points for Arizona State (23-13), which had throttled Nevada in the First Four to reach the round of 64.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
GEORGIA OUSTS FLORIDA STATE WOMEN FROM MARCH MADNESS 66-54
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) Georgia coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said her first season as the Bulldogs’ head coach was an internal battle to find “stars.”
“The star,” she said, “was our defense.”
The Lady Bulldogs’ zone defense stifled Florida State in Friday’s 66-54 win in a women’s NCAA Tournament first-round game.
Diamond Battles scored 21 points and Audrey Warren added 11 points as the 10th-seeded Lady Bulldogs (22-11) advanced to Sunday’s second round to face No. 2 seed Iowa.
Georgia held the seventh-seeded Seminoles (23-10) to just 26.9% shooting from the field, including 22.9% in the second half.
“They’re big, they’re physical,” Florida State coach Brooke Wyckoff said. “It’s not your typical stand-around zone. They’re very aggressive. They play 100% zone, and they know what they’re doing.”
The Lady Bulldogs have embraced their defensive mentality. Asked why the zone works so well, Battles smiled and said, “I don’t want to give away any secrets.”
She did go into a little bit of detail, though.
“It’s ball pressure,” Battles said. “I think most teams struggle with the pressure, because it is a zone. We try to upset their offense.”
Georgia led 43-40 with 2:03 left in the third quarter before going on a 14-0 run that extended three minutes into the fourth quarter. Florida State would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the game.
“They were getting tips,” Abrahamson-Henderson said of her team’s defensive pressure in that stretch. “It was just being really savvy, getting tips, getting loose balls.”
Florida State guard Taylor O’Brien agreed, saying Georgia’s “defense was all over the place” and “we didn’t get the 50-50 balls.”
The Seminoles (23-10) had just eight available players for the tournament. The university announced on Thursday morning that freshman guard Ta’Niya Latson and sophomore guard O’Mariah Gordon were out for the rest of the season because of injuries.
Latson was an honorable-mention Associated Press All-American along with being the ACC’s Rookie of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection. She averaged 21.3 points and 4.5 rebounds this season. Gordon, who played in 30 games and started twice this season, averaged 6.9 points and two rebounds.
“We’ve played this way all year,” Florida State forward Erin Howard said. “We were used to it. It’s tough mentally, but we’ve been here before.”
Howard had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead Florida State. O’Brien had 15 points.
“We’re obviously very disappointed,” Wyckoff said. “We were confident coming in here. Unfortunately, the ball wouldn’t drop all day.”
Jordan Isaacs had 10 points and Javyn Nicholson had 13 rebounds for Georgia.
“I’m just proud of the buy-in,” Abrahamson-Henderson said of how the Lady Bulldogs have responded in her first season as their head coach. “At the beginning, I was talking about, ‘We’re going to be good, we’re going to be good, we’re going to be good.’ It was about getting used to playing with each other.”
BIG PICTURE
Florida State: The Seminoles built a first-half lead, but couldn’t sustain it as they missed shots in the second half. Not having Latson’s scoring proved to be costly, as Florida State had trouble getting to the basket against Georgia’s defense. “At the beginning of the game, we were getting the shots we wanted,” Howard said.
Georgia: The Lady Bulldogs had their own shooting woes to open the game – they shot just 28.6% in the first quarter – but found an offensive rhythm and took advantage of the Seminoles’ struggles. Georgia went nine deep in the game, taking advantage of Florida State’s lack of depth.
NBA NEWS
NBA FINES GRIZZLIES’ BROOKS $35K FOR SHOVING CAMERA PERSON
NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA fined Memphis Grizzlies guard-forward Dillon Brooks $35,000 on Friday for shoving a camera person on the sideline after chasing a loose ball in a loss in Miami.
Joe Dumars, the NBA’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations, announced the fine.
Brooks shoved the person with 2:40 left in the second quarter of Memphis’ 138-119 loss in Miami to the Heat on Wednesday night.
Brooks was suspended for Memphis’ 135-129 loss at the Los Angeles Clippers on March 5 after picking up his 16th technical of the season in a loss at Denver two days earlier.
The Grizzlies wrap up a three-game road swing Friday night at the San Antonio Spurs.
NBA ROUNDUP: 3-POINTER AT BUZZER PUSHES MAVS PAST LAKERS
Kyrie Irving scored 38 points in his return from a foot injury and Maxi Kleber made a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the visiting Dallas Mavericks pulled off a 111-110 victory on Friday to win consecutive games for the first time in more than a month.
Tim Hardaway Jr. and Christian Wood each scored 12 points as the Mavericks won without Luka Doncic, who has missed the last four games with a thigh injury but could be back Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Mavericks moved two games ahead of the Lakers in the Western Conference standings while winning the season series between the teams 3-1.
Anthony Davis scored 26 points with 10 rebounds for the Lakers after missing Wednesday’s defeat to the Houston Rockets because of load management. Austin Reaves scored 16 points and Dennis Schroder added 15 as Los Angeles played its 10th consecutive game without LeBron James (foot).
76ERS 121, HORNETS 82
Joel Embiid poured in 38 points and rested in the fourth quarter as Philadelphia won its seventh game in a row by blowing out the host Hornets.
Embiid shot 16-for-21 from the field and delivered five assists. He compiled all of his 38 points with more than two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Terry Rozier’s 14 points, P.J. Washington’s 12 points and Kelly Oubre Jr.’s 11 points led Charlotte. The Hornets — who lost their fourth game in a row and are in danger of going winless on a five-game homestand that wraps up Monday night — also got 10 points from reserve Kai Jones.
HAWKS 127, WARRIORS 119
Trae Young scored 25 points and made a key defensive play in the final minute to help host Atlanta defeat Golden State.
The Hawks led by four points when Young stole the ball from Stephen Curry and scored with 45.1 seconds left. Young then iced the game with two free throws. Young finished with 12 assists to secure his 34th double-double, and added six rebounds and a steal.
Curry led Golden State with 31 points, and Kevon Looney racked up his 12th double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds. The Warriors have lost 10 straight road games.
CELTICS 126, TRAIL BLAZERS 112
Jayson Tatum recorded 34 points and 12 rebounds to lead Boston over host Portland.
Jaylen Brown added 27 points for the Celtics. Marcus Smart had 15 points, six assists and four steals, Derrick White added 13 points and Al Horford had 12 points and 10 assists as Boston won for the fourth time in five games.
Damian Lillard scored 25 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter but couldn’t prevent the Trail Blazers from dropping their fifth consecutive contest and 10th in the past 13 games.
CAVALIERS 117, WIZARDS 94
Darius Garland had 24 points, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley added 20 apiece and host Cleveland led wire-to-wire in a win over Washington.
Caris LeVert scored 15 points and Mobley tallied eight rebounds and four blocks for Cleveland, which completed a three-game season sweep of the Wizards. Garland contributed nine assists while shooting 11 of 19 from the field.
Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Kristaps Porzingis had 20 points and nine rebounds.
BULLS 139, TIMBERWOLVES 131 (2OT)
DeMar DeRozan scored a season-high 49 points to go with 14 rebounds and Zach LaVine added 39 points as host Chicago outlasted Minnesota.
DeRozan and LaVine combined for 63 of their points after halftime, helping the Bulls win for the third time in four games. The duo finished 30-for-50 from the field.
Mike Conley sank eight 3-pointers while leading Minnesota with 28 points. Jaden McDaniels followed with a career-high 25 points. Minnesota, which lost Anthony Edwards to injury early in the game, produced six double-figure scorers, but it wasn’t enough to stave off the team’s fourth loss in five games.
ROCKETS 114, PELICANS 112
Jabari Smith Jr. drilled a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining and Houston rallied from a 16-point, second-half deficit to beat visiting New Orleans for its third win in a row.
With the Rockets trailing by one point following a wild back and forth, Smith walked into a pull-up 3 after Houston secured possession with four seconds remaining. The Pelicans were unable to get off a shot on their ensuing possession, falling to 3-8 since the All-Star break.
Jalen Green paced Houston with 25 points while Kevin Porter Jr. added 20. Alperen Sengun added 17 points and 11 rebounds. Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 31 points and six assists, while Jonas Valanciunas had 22 points and 17 rebounds.
GRIZZLIES 126, SPURS 120 (OT)
Dillon Brooks had the game-tying 3-pointer to send the game into overtime and added a key basket from beyond the arc late in the extra period as Memphis defeated host San Antonio.
The Spurs led 84-55 after Malaki Branham’s 3-pointer with 7:50 to play in the third period. The Grizzlies then scored 26 of the quarter’s final 35 points to pull within 93-81 heading into the fourth quarter.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led Memphis with 28 points, Desmond Bane had 21, and Tyus Jones added a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 25 points and Zach Collins had 24.
NHL NEWS
SABRES SIGN NORTHEASTERN GOALIE LEVI TO 3-YEAR CONTRACT
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Sabres signed goalie Devon Levi to a three-year entry level contract Friday, less than a week after the 21-year-old’s junior season ended at Northeastern.
Levi won the Mike Richter Award as college hockey’s top goalie last season, and is once again a finalist this year following a season in which he led the nation with a .923 save percentage. He also led Hockey East goalies with 14 wins, six shutouts, a 1.81 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage.
Drafted by Florida in 2020, Buffalo acquired him in a trade that sent forward Sam Reinhart to the Panthers in July 2021.
Levi is considered the Sabres’ goalie of the future at a position that’s been mostly unsettled since Ryan Miller’s era ended with his trade to St. Louis during the 2013-14 season.
The Sabres have a three-goalie rotation, which includes Eric Comrie and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who are both signed through the end of next season. Levi’s path opened up when Buffalo traded Erik Portillo to Los Angeles earlier this month and after Michigan’s goalie expressed no interest to sign with the team.
Northeastern failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, its season ending in a 2-1 overtime loss to Providence in the Hockey East quarterfinals.
BINNINGTON WAS ‘HOPING FOR LESS’ THAN 2-GAME SUSPENSION
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jordan Binnington loved the thrill of 18,000 St. Louis Blues fans cheering for him after an altercation with Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman.
The ensuing suspension? Not so much.
Binnington on Friday said he “hoped for less” than the two-game ban the NHL’s Department of Player Safety decided on for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct after his first experience having a disciplinary hearing that made him feel a little like Matt Damon.
“It felt like I was in ‘Good Will Hunting’ acting as Will trying to defend himself in trial,” Binnington said. “A new experience, for sure, and definitely not something I want to go through all the time.”
Binnington’s first career suspension will cost him just under $64,865 and keep him out of games at Washington and then at home against Winnipeg on Saturday. He was suspended for throwing a punch at Hartman that he argued never landed.
“I was just reiterating that he knows how to embellish a play,” Binnington said in his first public comments since the suspension was announced Thursday. “I watched the video numerous times. I never made contact with him.”
Nevertheless, coach Craig Berube did not seem surprised at Binnington’s punishment.
“You use your blocker like that, there’s a pretty good chance you’re gonna get suspended,” Berube said. “That’s it. That’s really all I have to say about it.”
NHL ROUNDUP: OWEN TIPPETT’S HAT TRICK LIFTS FLYERS OVER SABRES
Owen Tippett scored three goals to lift the host Philadelphia Flyers to a dominant 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
Joel Farabee and James van Riemsdyk each added one goal for the Flyers, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Kevin Hayes and Tony DeAngelo each had two assists for the Flyers. Goaltender Carter Hart made 36 saves.
Victor Olofsson scored two goals for the Sabres, who lost their second straight. Sabres goaltender Craig Anderson stopped 17 shots.
MAPLE LEAFS 5, HURRICANES 2
Zach Aston-Reese scored two goals as Toronto defeated visiting Carolina.
Morgan Rielly added a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, Mitchell Marner and Auston Matthews also scored and John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok each had two assists. Ilya Samsonov stopped 32 shots as Toronto completed a 2-1-1 homestand.
Brady Skjei and Martin Necas scored for the Hurricanes in the opener of a three-game road trip. Carolina, which got 19 saves from Pyotr Kochetkov, took its third loss in four games.
BLUES 5, CAPITALS 2
Sammy Blais enjoyed his first career two-goal game to lead St. Louis past host Washington. Brayden Schenn had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who have won three of their past five games.
St. Louis’ Jordan Kyrou and Kasperi Kapanen scored, and Brandon Saad earned two assists. Joel Hofer, who came up from Springfield of the AHL to replace the suspended Jordan Binnnington, made 32 saves for the Blues in his first appearance of the season.
Martin Fehervary and Nicklas Backstrom scored and Darcy Kuemper stopped 17 shots for the Capitals, who have won just two of their last six games.
DUCKS 7, BLUE JACKETS 4
Max Jones’ late breakaway goal put Anaheim ahead for good in a wild win over visiting Columbus.
Anaheim gave away the lead four times, resulting in a 4-4 tie nearing the end of regulation. At 17:23 of the third period, Jones intercepted an Andrew Peeke pass attempt and raced down the ice to backhand home the winner. The Ducks then added two empty-net goals.
Scott Harrington had two goals for Anaheim. Ryan Strome and Troy Terry each logged a goal and an assist, and Max Comtois and Trevor Zegras added a goal apiece. Patrik Laine had a goal and an assist for Columbus. Cole Sillinger, Boone Jenner and Nick Blankenburg also scored.
NFL NEWS
WIDE RECEIVER ALLEN LAZARD SIGNS 4-YEAR DEAL WITH JETS
Allen Lazard enjoyed everything about New York when he visited for the first time a few months ago.
Now, it will be home for the Jets’ newest wide receiver. And he’ll be reunited with his former offensive coordinator in Nathaniel Hackett— and perhaps soon quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Lazard signed a four-year contract with the Jets on Friday, a deal worth $44 million and includes $22 million guaranteed, according to multiple reports.
“For me, I just wanted to get to a big city,” Lazard, who is from Iowa, said during a Zoom call. “I wanted to get to a spot that especially has just a melting pot of culture and just be able to get that experience. You know, the bright lights, New York City.”
The Big Apple spotlight might soon shine on Rodgers, Lazard’s former Packers teammate, who said on “The Pat McAfee Show” this week that he intends to play for New York this year after 18 seasons in Green Bay. The sides are still working on compensation details to try to complete a trade.
Lazard knows expectations will rise enormously if Rodgers lands with the Jets, a franchise that hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since 1969 and has the NFL’s longest active playoff drought at 12 seasons.
“Him being here definitely helps the entire organization be able to take that next step that they need to to make a deep playoff run and go win that Lombardi trophy,” Lazard said.
AP SOURCE: SEAHAWKS REACH DEALS WITH JULIAN LOVE, DEVIN BUSH
RENTON, Wash. (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks continued the overhaul of their defense on Friday by reaching agreement on a two-year deal with versatile safety Julian Love, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.
Love’s agreement is worth up to $12 million and came after Seattle announced the signing of former first-round linebacker Devin Bush to a one-year deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the team had not announced Love’s signing.
Love’s addition continues Seattle’s spending at the safety position having already heavily invested in Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs and the likelihood of a deal in the future for Ryan Neal.
Love, who turns 25 on Sunday, started 16 games last season for the New York Giants and recorded career highs in tackles and interceptions. Love played a variety of defensive back positions for the Giants before settling in at safety last season and thriving in the role.
Bush’s signing could end up filling a significant void for Seattle. The 24-year-old was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2019 draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers and had a standout rookie season where he had a career-high 109 tackles and was third in defensive rookie of the year voting. But Bush suffered a torn ACL during the 2020 season and has struggled to rediscover the form from his rookie season.
Last season, Bush appeared in 17 games and started 14. He had 81 tackles and played 62% of the defensive snaps for the Steelers.
He’ll immediately be in consideration for a starting role with Seattle. The Seahawks will start next season without starting linebacker Jordyn Brooks after he suffered a torn ACL late last season. Fellow starter Cody Barton signed with Washington at the start of free agency this week.
Even with the signing of Bush, additional options at linebacker are probably needed for Seattle.
“It definitely is a need,” Seattle general manager John Schneider said during his radio show on KIRO-AM on Thursday. “I’d be lying to you if (I said) it wasn’t.”
BILLS CUT RECEIVER MCKENZIE TO FREE UP SALARY CAP SPACE
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills released receiver Isaiah McKenzie in a salary cap-saving move on Friday, and following a season in which the sixth-year player struggled in an expanded offensive role.
Cutting McKenzie on the day he was due a roster bonus frees up about $2.2 million in salary cap space for a team general manager Brandon Beane projected had about $9 million to work with a day earlier. The move also comes days after the Bills signed free agent receiver Deonte Harty, who is more than two years younger and possesses similar speedy qualities as the 27-year-old McKenzie.
In suggesting McKenzie’s future was uncertain on Thursday, Beane said: “Love Isaiah. He’s been great for us. But, yeah, we’re talking internally about making sure we don’t have too much duplicates.”
McKenzie had one year left on his contract after completing his fourth-plus season in being the longest-tenured receiver on Buffalo’s current roster. Drafted by Denver in 2017, he was claimed off waivers by Buffalo the following season and eventually established himself as a multi-use specialist on offense and as a returner.
Though coming off a season in which he scored four touchdowns and posted career-bests with 42 catches and 423 yards, McKenzie committed numerous drops — he was targeted 65 times — in being given the opportunity to take over the slot receiver’s job. His inconsistencies led to Buffalo making the mid-season move of signing Cole Beasley out of retirement to shore up the position.
BASEBALL NEWS
URÍAS LEADS MEXICO 5-4 OVER PUERTO RICO, INTO WBC SEMIS
MIAMI (AP) Luis Urías hit the go-ahead single in a three-run seventh inning that fueled Mexico’s 5-4 comeback victory over Puerto Rico to advance to its first-ever World Baseball Classic semifinals.
Mexico will face Shohei Ohtani and Japan in the semifinals Monday. Puerto Rico failed to make it past the second round for the first time.
“What a game. I don’t have a cap with me but if I did, I’d tip it to Puerto Rico,” Mexico manager Benji Gil said. “We fought until the end. Thank God, we managed to come out with a victory against a great team.”
Isaac Paredes, who homered earlier, tied it at 4 with a single off losing pitcher Alexis Díaz that drove in Austin Barnes and Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena.
Puerto Rico tried to rally in the ninth with singles from Christian Vazquez and Francisco Lindor, but reliever Giovanny Gallegos got out of the jam for the save.
Arozarena saved the potential tying run in the eighth when he made a leaping catch at the wall in left center.
“We know what kind of player Randy is. He’s a great player. He killed us,” Puerto Rico manager Yadier Molina said. “We couldn’t score. But they played very well. We started very strong, but then the Mexican pitching made some adjustments and kept us in zeros.”
Puerto Rico was coming off an emotional quarterfinals-clinching victory over the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, when New York Mets star closer Edwin Díaz tore the patellar tendon in his right knee while celebrating the win. The sellout crowd of 35,817 at loanDepot park in Miami cheered when Diaz’s jersey appeared on the Jumbotron.
Javier Baez and Eddie Rosario homered off Mexico starter Julio Urías in a four-run first inning.
Rosario hit his second home run of the tournament. Baez, in one of his best games of the event, had three hits, giving him seven total.
“We had a very difficult start to the game but we know the kind of team we have and how united we are,” Paredes said. “There were many innings remaining and we responded at the zero hour.”
Urías allowed five hits and four runs and struck out four before he was lifted after the fourth inning at 60 pitches, which is 20 fewer than the WBC quarterfinals pitch limit of 80.
JoJo Romero got the win.
Paredes made it 4-1 in the second when he homered against Marcus Stroman, which was one of Mexico’s five hits off Puerto Rico’s starter.
Stroman allowed three singles in the fifth, one of which drove in a run for Mexico to make it 4-2. He had two strikeouts in 4 1-3 innings.
Puerto Rico finished second in the past two WBCs. Earlier in this tournament, its pitchers turned in an all-time performance against Israel in pool play with an eight-inning perfect game.
Mexico won group C with a 3-1 record in pool play.
SPRING TRAINING ROUNDUP: NATS SCORE 8 IN NINTH TO BEAT ASTROS
Darren Baker hit a game-tying grand slam in the ninth inning as the Washington Nationals roared back with eight runs to beat the Houston Astros 11-7 on Friday in a spring training game in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Houston entered the top of the ninth up 7-3, with Jeremy Pena earlier slugging two home runs and going 3-for-3 with three RBIs.
Washington scored eight runs on seven hits in the ninth. Francisco Arcia, Ildemaro Vargas and Jeter Downs each singled, and Baker followed with a homer. With two outs, Michael Chavis and Trey Lipscomb walked. Blake Rutherford hit an RBI single, Cody Wilson — who pinch-ran for Arcia — hit a two-run double and Vargas singled home Wilson.
BRAVES 8, RED SOX 0
Matt Olson homered for both of his hits and drove in three runs as Atlanta crushed Boston in Fort Myers, Fla.
The Braves had 17 hits, including home runs from Greyson Jenista and Mitchell Tolman. Five Atlanta pitchers combined on a six-hit shutout, led by starter Jared Shuster, who went four innings and allowed three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.
No Boston player had more than one hit, with Bobby Dalbec recording a triple and Corey Rosier a double.
ORIOLES 5, TWINS 3
Daz Cameron, Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser each went 2-for-3 with a solo home run to lead Baltimore past Minnesota in Fort Myers, Fla.
Orioles starter Dean Kremer yielded three hits and two runs with no walks and three strikeouts in four innings. He allowed two homers in the second inning to Michael Taylor and Kyle Farmer, the latter of whom homered again in the seventh.
PIRATES 6, RAYS 2
Ji-Man Choi, Mason Martin and Canaan Smith-Njigba homered to power Pittsburgh past Tampa Bay in Bradenton, Fla.
Luke Raley and Logan Driscoll homered for two of Tampa Bay’s three hits.
TIGERS 8, YANKEES 7
Andrew Knapp hit two homers and went 2-for-3 with three RBIs as Detroit outslugged New York in Lakeland, Fla.
Akil Baddoo (2-for-3), Riley Greene (2-for-3) and Colt Keith (2-for-2) also homered for the Tigers, who had 13 hits.
The Yankees had 15 hits, led by Wilmer Difo (2-for-4, home run), Benjamin Cowles (homer) and Estevan Florial (2-for-4, three RBIs).
PHILLIES (SS) 4, BLUE JAYS (SS) 2
Rhys Hoskins and Gabriel Rincones Jr. homered for Philadelphia in a victory over Toronto during a split-squad game in Clearwater, Fla.
Cam Eden homered for the Blue Jays, who were outhit 10-5.
PHILLIES (SS) 8, BLUE JAYS (SS) 1
Philadelphia jumped out to an 8-0 lead and cruised past Toronto during a split-squad game in Dunedin, Fla.
Jake Cave was 3-for-4 with three RBIs for the Phillies, while Kody Clemens was 2-for-4 with a home run. Philadelphia scored twice in the first inning, four times in the fourth and twice in the fifth.
Bo Bichette (2-for-3) was the only Blue Jay with multiple hits.
CARDINALS 16, MARLINS 2
Masyn Winn went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and Willson Contreras doubled and went 2-for-3 with three RBIs as St. Louis throttled Miami in Sarasota, Fla.
The Cardinals collected 17 hits, with Dylan Carlson contributing two hits, two RBIs and two runs.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered for Miami.
CUBS 4, WHITE SOX 4
The Chicago teams played to a tie in Phoenix, as four White Sox pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts and six Cubs hurlers totaled nine.
Yan Gomes, Sergio Alcantara and Edwin Rios homered for the Cubs, while Romy Gonzales went deep for the White Sox.
DODGERS 9, CUBS (SS) 7
J.D. Martinez homered and drove in five runs and Miguel Vargas went deep for Los Angeles in a win over a Chicago split squad in Mesa, Ariz.
Jacob Wetzel hit a three-run homer for the Cubs.
BREWERS 4, RANGERS 3
Skye Bolt and Joey Wiemer went deep as Milwaukee edged Texas in Surprise, Ariz.
Rangers starter Nathan Evoldi pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks with five strikeouts. The Rangers got homers from Jonah Heim and Josh H. Smith.
ATHLETICS 7, GIANTS 2
James Kaprielian scattered five hits over four innings, allowing one run with no walks and four strikeouts as Oakland topped San Francisco in Mesa, Ariza.
The Giants totaled eight hits, including doubles from J.D. Davis and Thairo Estrada.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, ROCKIES 2
Diego Castillo homered as Arizona doubled up Colorado in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Diamondbacks pitchers scattered eight hits, with starter Ryne Nelson allowing four but only one run and one walk with six strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.
Yonathan Daza (2-for-2) was the only Rockies batter with multiple hits.
ANGELS 12, ROYALS 1
Jake Lamb went 2-for-3 with a double, a homer and five RBIs as Los Angeles collected 17 hits in a dominant effort against Kansas City in Tempe, Ariz.
Brandon Drury also homered for the Angels. Nick Pratto (2-for-3) was the only Royals batter with multiple hits as the team totaled seven.
METS 6, MARLINS 1
New York center fielder Brandon Nimmo tripled and walked in three plate appearances before injuring his right ankle in a victory over Miami in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Mets manager Buck Showalter said after the game that he had talked to Nimmo and he didn’t think the injury was serious.
The Marlins’ Jerar Encarnacion went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
REDS 7, GUARDIANS 1
Jake Fraley hit a two-run homer, Jose Barrero doubled, tripled and also drove in two runs, and Graham Ashcraft struck out five over four scoreless innings as host Cincinnati defeated Cleveland in Goodyear, Ariz.
Josh Naylor singled home a run and Steven Kwan had two of Cleveland’s five hits.
MARINERS 10, PADRES 5
Ty France hit a two-run homer, Cal Raleigh also drove in two runs and Sam Haggerty doubled twice with two runs as Seattle knocked off host San Diego in Peoria.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his first spring home run, Taylor Kohlwey drove in two runs and starter Blake Snell surrendered nine runs, seven earned, on six hits and three walks in three innings. He struck out five.
GOLF NEWS
SCHENK GETTING RESULTS IN 10TH STRAIGHT WEEK, LEADS VALSPAR
PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) Adam Schenk is playing for the 10th consecutive week on the PGA Tour and finally seeing some good results, making enough putts Friday for a 2-under 69 that gave him a one-shot lead going into the weekend at the Valspar Championship.
Schenk had four birdies, all but one of them from inside 10 feet, and finished with a bogey from the bunker short of the 18th on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook.
That didn’t bother him too much because of the 20-foot putt he made for par on the par-3 eighth, the 10-footer for par he made on the 10th and the long up-and-down for par on the par-5 11th.
“I feel like a lot of times you … maybe shoot 2 under and you’re like, ‘It could have been 6 or 7.’ But it really couldn’t have been a ton better with the amount of putts I made,” he said.
He was at 7-under 135, one shot ahead of Kramer Hickok, who had a 68.
Jordan Spieth is a big part of the weekend, wasting a great round of driving with some suspect short irons. He still posted a 70 and was only two shots behind.
Also part of the weekend is Nick Gabrelcik, who grew up about 10 miles away and is a regular at the Valspar Championship – working the range, carrying signs, caddying in the pro-am. Now the University of North Florida junior is in the field on a sponsor exemption.
Gabrelcik, who lost in the semifinals at Oakmont in the 2021 U.S. Amateur, opened with a 75 and responded with a 67 to easily make the cut. He was at even-par 142.
“Going into the round I was like, ‘We got nothing to lose, we’re 4 over, so let’s just go out and have fun.’ Maybe it’s the last round, maybe it’s not,” Gabrelcik said. “Got the putter going early, made four birdies my first five holes and was like, ‘All right, let’s just keep it together, let’s not play defensive now.’
“It’s an awesome feeling making my first cut.”
Also making the cut was Ludwig Aberg, the No. 1 amateur in the world. Aberg also played the weekend at Bay Hill.
Tommy Fleetwood had a 69 and joined Spieth in the group two shots behind along with Cody Gribble (65) and Davis Riley (68), who lost in a playoff to Sam Burns at Innisbrook last year.
Burns, the two-time defending champion, is trying to become the first player to win the same tournament three straight years since Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic (2009-11). He had a 73 and was seven shots behind.
Justin Thomas had a 70 and was in the group at 3-under 139.
Schenk had had a few close calls in search of his first victory, such as the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas in 2021 and the Barracuda Championship the same year.
He plays a lot, anyway, but there’s a little more emphasis this year because his wife is expecting their first child, a boy, in a little over a month.
“Trying to make as many points as I can to take as much time off as I can and spend time with him and my wife, which will be very special,” Schenk said.
He started his year in Honolulu at the Sony Open and hasn’t had a week off since then, going to California and Arizona, and every stop on the Florida swing. He had made the cut in all but two of them and is No. 72 in the FedEx Cup.
The missed cut last week at The Players Championship might have helped.
“I was home for 3 1/2 days and didn’t touch a club,” Schenk said. “I would have practiced, but the weather was so bad in Indiana, I really couldn’t. So flew into Valspar Tuesday afternoon and got a little practice in and then played nine holes and then teed up in the pro-am and away we went.”
The cut was at 1-over 143. Among those missing was U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who has missed the cut three times in his last six tournament. Fitzpatrick took a 9 on the third hole of the opening round and never caught up.
Harry Higgs had the latest big number. He took an 8 on the par-3 13th hole when he went into the water, and then over the green from the drop area into a bunker, and then blasted out into the water. Higgs had two double bogeys and wound up with an 81.
SPORTS EXTRA
NBA STANDINGS
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||
| W | L | Pct | Conf GB | Home | Road | Div | Conf | Last 10 | Streak | |||
| 1 x-Milwaukee | 50 | 20 | .714 | — | 28-7 | 22-13 | 8-5 | 29-15 | 7-3 | 1 L | ||
| 2 Boston | 49 | 22 | .690 | 1.5 | 26-9 | 23-13 | 9-4 | 29-16 | 5-5 | 2 W | ||
| 3 Philadelphia | 47 | 22 | .681 | 2.5 | 26-10 | 21-12 | 7-6 | 28-15 | 8-2 | 7 W | ||
| 4 Cleveland | 45 | 28 | .616 | 6.5 | 29-8 | 16-20 | 12-3 | 29-15 | 7-3 | 1 W | ||
| 5 New York | 41 | 30 | .577 | 9.5 | 19-16 | 22-14 | 8-8 | 28-17 | 7-3 | 2 W | ||
| 6 Brooklyn | 39 | 31 | .557 | 11.0 | 19-13 | 20-18 | 7-8 | 26-18 | 5-5 | 2 L | ||
| 7 Miami | 38 | 33 | .535 | 12.5 | 24-13 | 14-20 | 9-5 | 19-23 | 6-4 | 2 W | ||
| 8 Atlanta | 35 | 35 | .500 | 15.0 | 19-15 | 16-20 | 7-8 | 21-23 | 5-5 | 1 W | ||
| 9 Toronto | 34 | 36 | .486 | 16.0 | 22-13 | 12-23 | 4-9 | 20-21 | 5-5 | 2 W | ||
| 10 Chicago | 32 | 37 | .464 | 17.5 | 19-16 | 13-21 | 6-8 | 23-22 | 6-4 | 1 W | ||
| 11 Indiana | 32 | 38 | .457 | 18.0 | 19-16 | 13-22 | 7-6 | 22-20 | 6-4 | 1 W | ||
| 12 Washington | 32 | 38 | .457 | 18.0 | 16-17 | 16-21 | 7-5 | 19-25 | 4-6 | 1 L | ||
| 13 Orlando | 28 | 42 | .400 | 22.0 | 16-19 | 12-23 | 5-8 | 15-28 | 3-7 | 2 L | ||
| 14 Charlotte | 22 | 50 | .306 | 29.0 | 11-24 | 11-26 | 7-9 | 13-34 | 3-7 | 4 L | ||
| 15 Detroit | 16 | 55 | .225 | 34.5 | 9-28 | 7-27 | 1-12 | 7-36 | 1-9 | 2 L | ||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||
| W | L | Pct | Conf GB | Home | Road | Div | Conf | Last 10 | Streak | |||
| 1 xy-Denver | 47 | 23 | .671 | — | 30-6 | 17-17 | 10-5 | 32-13 | 5-5 | 1 W | ||
| 2 Sacramento | 42 | 27 | .609 | 4.5 | 21-14 | 21-13 | 8-6 | 27-14 | 8-2 | 2 W | ||
| 3 Memphis | 42 | 27 | .609 | 4.5 | 28-5 | 14-22 | 10-2 | 24-19 | 6-4 | 1 W | ||
| 4 Phoenix | 38 | 32 | .543 | 9.0 | 23-12 | 15-20 | 9-3 | 24-17 | 6-4 | 1 W | ||
| 5 LA Clippers | 37 | 33 | .529 | 10.0 | 19-15 | 18-18 | 7-7 | 21-21 | 5-5 | 4 W | ||
| 6 Dallas | 36 | 35 | .507 | 11.5 | 22-14 | 14-21 | 9-5 | 27-21 | 4-6 | 2 W | ||
| 7 Golden State | 36 | 35 | .507 | 11.5 | 29-7 | 7-28 | 6-9 | 23-19 | 5-5 | 2 L | ||
| 8 Minnesota | 35 | 36 | .493 | 12.5 | 20-17 | 15-19 | 8-7 | 25-20 | 4-6 | 2 L | ||
| 9 Oklahoma City | 34 | 36 | .486 | 13.0 | 21-15 | 13-21 | 7-7 | 20-23 | 6-4 | 1 L | ||
| 10 LA Lakers | 34 | 37 | .479 | 13.5 | 18-17 | 16-20 | 4-9 | 20-24 | 5-5 | 2 L | ||
| 11 Utah | 33 | 36 | .478 | 13.5 | 20-13 | 13-23 | 5-8 | 21-22 | 4-6 | 1 L | ||
| 12 New Orleans | 33 | 37 | .471 | 14.0 | 22-13 | 11-24 | 8-5 | 22-20 | 3-7 | 2 L | ||
| 13 Portland | 31 | 39 | .443 | 16.0 | 17-17 | 14-22 | 5-8 | 21-20 | 2-8 | 5 L | ||
| 14 Houston | 18 | 52 | .257 | 29.0 | 12-24 | 6-28 | 4-9 | 11-35 | 5-5 | 3 W | ||
| 15 San Antonio | 18 | 52 | .257 | 29.0 | 12-25 | 6-27 | 2-12 | 7-37 | 4-6 | 2 L |
NHL STANDINGS
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||
| GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | ROW | GF | GA | Home | Road | L10 | ||
| 1 x-Boston Bruins | 67 | 51 | 11 | 5 | 107 | 49 | 251 | 148 | 27-3-3 | 24-8-2 | 7-3-0 | |
| 2 Carolina Hurricanes | 67 | 44 | 15 | 8 | 96 | 40 | 224 | 173 | 24-8-2 | 20-7-6 | 5-5-0 | |
| 3 New Jersey Devils | 68 | 44 | 17 | 7 | 95 | 42 | 239 | 185 | 19-13-3 | 25-4-4 | 6-2-2 | |
| 4 Toronto Maple Leafs | 68 | 41 | 18 | 9 | 91 | 41 | 232 | 183 | 25-7-5 | 16-11-4 | 6-3-1 | |
| 5 New York Rangers | 68 | 39 | 19 | 10 | 88 | 35 | 226 | 191 | 19-11-4 | 20-8-6 | 6-3-1 | |
| 6 Tampa Bay Lightning | 69 | 41 | 22 | 6 | 88 | 38 | 241 | 210 | 24-6-5 | 17-16-1 | 4-4-2 | |
| 7 Pittsburgh Penguins | 68 | 34 | 24 | 10 | 78 | 33 | 223 | 220 | 19-10-5 | 15-14-5 | 6-3-1 | |
| 8 New York Islanders | 70 | 35 | 27 | 8 | 78 | 35 | 204 | 195 | 20-12-3 | 15-15-5 | 6-3-1 | |
| 9 Florida Panthers | 68 | 34 | 27 | 7 | 75 | 32 | 238 | 231 | 20-10-4 | 14-17-3 | 6-3-1 | |
| 10 Washington Capitals | 70 | 33 | 30 | 7 | 73 | 31 | 218 | 214 | 16-14-4 | 17-16-3 | 5-4-1 | |
| 11 Buffalo Sabres | 68 | 33 | 29 | 6 | 72 | 32 | 248 | 249 | 13-18-3 | 20-11-3 | 2-6-2 | |
| 12 Ottawa Senators | 68 | 33 | 31 | 4 | 70 | 31 | 214 | 223 | 19-13-2 | 14-18-2 | 5-5-0 | |
| 13 Detroit Red Wings | 67 | 30 | 28 | 9 | 69 | 28 | 200 | 219 | 17-12-4 | 13-16-5 | 2-7-1 | |
| 14 Philadelphia Flyers | 68 | 25 | 32 | 11 | 61 | 24 | 177 | 224 | 13-16-4 | 12-16-7 | 2-7-1 | |
| 15 Montreal Canadiens | 69 | 27 | 36 | 6 | 60 | 23 | 195 | 257 | 14-17-3 | 13-19-3 | 2-6-2 | |
| 16 Columbus Blue Jackets | 68 | 21 | 40 | 7 | 49 | 20 | 180 | 260 | 13-20-2 | 8-20-5 | 3-5-2 | |
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||
| GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | ROW | GF | GA | Home | Road | L10 | ||
| 1 Vegas Golden Knights | 69 | 42 | 21 | 6 | 90 | 38 | 224 | 195 | 21-14-1 | 21-7-5 | 7-3-0 | |
| 2 Dallas Stars | 69 | 37 | 19 | 13 | 87 | 34 | 237 | 189 | 17-9-8 | 20-10-5 | 6-3-1 | |
| 3 Los Angeles Kings | 69 | 40 | 20 | 9 | 89 | 34 | 237 | 224 | 22-9-3 | 18-11-6 | 8-1-1 | |
| 4 Minnesota Wild | 68 | 39 | 21 | 8 | 86 | 32 | 203 | 183 | 21-10-3 | 18-11-5 | 7-0-3 | |
| 5 Colorado Avalanche | 67 | 39 | 22 | 6 | 84 | 34 | 221 | 190 | 18-11-5 | 21-11-1 | 6-3-1 | |
| 6 Edmonton Oilers | 69 | 38 | 23 | 8 | 84 | 38 | 268 | 231 | 18-12-5 | 20-11-3 | 6-4-0 | |
| 7 Seattle Kraken | 68 | 38 | 23 | 7 | 83 | 38 | 236 | 217 | 16-14-4 | 22-9-3 | 6-3-1 | |
| 8 Winnipeg Jets | 69 | 38 | 28 | 3 | 79 | 37 | 212 | 197 | 21-12-2 | 17-16-1 | 3-5-2 | |
| 9 Calgary Flames | 69 | 31 | 24 | 14 | 76 | 29 | 216 | 210 | 16-14-3 | 15-10-11 | 4-4-2 | |
| 10 Nashville Predators | 66 | 34 | 25 | 7 | 75 | 30 | 189 | 192 | 17-12-3 | 17-13-4 | 6-3-1 | |
| 11 St. Louis Blues | 68 | 30 | 33 | 5 | 65 | 27 | 215 | 252 | 14-16-4 | 16-17-1 | 4-5-1 | |
| 12 Vancouver Canucks | 67 | 29 | 33 | 5 | 63 | 25 | 228 | 255 | 16-17-1 | 13-16-4 | 7-3-0 | |
| 13 Arizona Coyotes | 69 | 26 | 32 | 11 | 63 | 23 | 195 | 242 | 19-11-3 | 7-21-8 | 6-2-2 | |
| 14 Anaheim Ducks | 69 | 23 | 36 | 10 | 56 | 20 | 182 | 281 | 12-17-3 | 11-19-7 | 5-2-3 | |
| 15 Chicago Blackhawks | 68 | 24 | 38 | 6 | 54 | 22 | 173 | 240 | 14-18-3 | 10-20-3 | 3-6-1 | |
| 16 San Jose Sharks | 69 | 19 | 36 | 14 | 52 | 18 | 199 | 265 | 6-19-10 | 13-17-4 | 1-6-3 |
TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1937 Ending his holdout, Lou Gehrig, who had initially asked for $50,000, agrees to sign with the Yankees for $36,000 and a $750 signing bonus. The new deal for the Bronx Bombers’ first baseman, last season’s American League MVP, makes him baseball’s highest-paid player.
1942 During spring training, Jackie Robinson and Nate Moreland work out with the White Sox in Pasadena, California. Manager Jimmie Dykes, who reluctantly granted their request for a walk-on tryout, dismisses the black players without making an offer for their services.
1943 Due to wartime travel restrictions, spring training camps begin opening in northern locations. Some of the locales include Bear Mountain, NY (Dodgers), French Lick Springs, IN (Cubs and White Sox), Asbury Park, NJ (Yankees), Medford, MA (Red Sox), and Wallingford, CT (Braves).
1953 “Braves Win Last Game for Boston, Milwaukee Loses It.” – BOSTON GLOBE, headline lamenting the city’s National League franchise move to Milwaukee.
When the Braves move from Boston is officially approved unanimously by the National League owners, the team is on the field, beating the Yankees in the fifth inning, 3–0. The club now representing Milwaukee, as of 2:33 PM, blows the lead, dropping a 5-3 decision to the Yankees in the Bradenton, Florida exhibition game.
1953 The Braves end their 77-year-old association with Boston, becoming the first major league club to move since Baltimore shifted to New York in 1903. After listening to Lou Perini’s hour-long impassioned plea, the National League owners unanimously approved the franchise’s change of venue to Milwaukee, where the club will stay for dozen seasons, setting attendance records before moving again in 1966 to Atlanta.
1957 Indian general manager Hank Greenberg turns down the Red Sox’s million-dollar offer for pitcher Herb Score. The former slugger says the Tribe is building for the future and not into selling its premier players.
1958 The Dodgers, playing their first season in LA, do not renew the contract of Emmett Kelly, the team’s resident ‘tramp’ in Brooklyn. The veteran circus performer believes the size of the Coliseum, the club’s new venue on the West Coast, is just “too big for one clown.”
1981 After being declared a free agent because the Red Sox mailed his contract one day past the contractual deadline, Carlton Fisk signs a $3.5 million deal with the White Sox. On Opening Day, the 33-year-old catcher will hit an eighth-inning three-run home run to tie the score, 3-3, which proves to be the difference in Chicago’s eventual 5-3 victory over his old team at Fenway Park.
1985 Commissioner Peter Ueberroth reinstates Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. Major League Baseball banned the two Hall of Famers from associating due to their employment with Atlantic City casinos.
1990 The players and owners reach an agreement on a four-year contract after a 32-day lockout. Although the season will start a week later, teams plan to play a complete schedule, including the 78 games canceled by the work stoppage.
2000 Construction workers install a 15-foot-high and 56-foot-long replica of an 1862 steam locomotive ninety feet above the field onto the rails that run alongside the moveable roof at Enron Field, Houston’s new downtown, which is home partially located on the former home of the city’s Union Station. The 60,000-pound train, with its cargo of oranges, makes a 40-second trip back and forth on its track every time an Astro player hits a home run.
Seattle Mariners vs. Houston Astros (Major League Baseball – Houston, Texas – July 19, 2017)
2000 After reacquiring Jesse Orosco from the Orioles in December, the Mets send the veteran left-hander to the Cardinals for utility player Joe McEwing. In 1978, the eventual four-decade hurler (1979-2003) was the player to be named later in the trade when New York dealt veteran southpaw Jerry Koosman to Minnesota.
2005 After Mark McGwire, who had previously denied using steroids, refuses to answer the questions concerning his involvement during the congressional hearings, U.S. Representative William Lacy Clay (D-MO) wants to remove the slugger’s name given to a stretch of highway in his state. The legislators officially renamed a five-mile segment, a distance approximately as long traveled by the 70 home runs, of Interstate-70 the Mark McGwire Highway as a tribute to ‘Big Mac’ hitting a record 70 home runs in 1998.
2008 The possibility of collusion by the major league owners against Barry Bonds, who has pleaded innocent to four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice, will be examined by the Players Association. The San Francisco slugger, who hit .276 last year with 28 home runs, has not been offered a contract by any major league team.
2008 In an attempt to be part of a healing process on the campus where 32 students and staff became victims of a deadly shooting spree last April, the Yankees play the Hokies at Virginia Tech’s English Field. George Steinbrenner, moved by coverage of the massacre, donated $1 million to a memorial fund and made arrangements for his team to participate in an exhibition game at the school.
2009 The Cubs announce the team will retire its fifth number when 31 will be set aside on May 3rd in honor of Fergie Jenkins (1966-73, 1982-83) and Greg Maddux (1986-92, 2004-06). The hurlers will join Ron Santo (#10), Ernie Banks (#14), Ryne Sandberg (#23), and Billy Williams (#26) as honorees chosen by the Chicago club.
2010 Free-swinging slugger Mark Reynolds (.260, 44, 102) and the Diamondbacks agree to a new three-year, $14.5 million contract. The deal covers the 26-year-old third baseman’s first two arbitration years.
2011 The Mets make a symbolic but expensive roster move when they release their second baseman, Luis Castillo. The oft-injured embattled 35-year-old, best remembered by New York fans for the dropped popup in a 2009 Subway Series game at Yankee Stadium, is still owed the remaining $6 million on the four-year, $25 million contract he signed before the 2008 season.
2014 In a Cactus League game, all nine batters Jose Quintana faces reach base and eventually score in the White Sox’s 16-6 loss to the A’s at Camelback Ranch. The southpaw starter gives up seven hits, including a homer by Jed Lowrie and a triple by Sam Fuld, and issues two walks before exiting the game without retiring a batter.
BASEBALL’S BEST
HAROLD BAINES
At its most basic level, baseball is a hitter’s game. Hits equal runs, and runs equal wins.
And at every turn, Harold Baines parlayed his ability to hit into baseball stardom.
“The guy could flat-out hit,” said Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson.
Baines began his professional baseball career as the No. 1 pick in the 1977 amateur draft by the Chicago White Sox. As the story goes, future Hall of Fame owner Bill Veeck first saw Baines at a Little League game when he was 12, then followed his career until he was eligible for the draft.
“I must’ve had a pretty decent day in Little League that day,” Baines said.
Baines quickly worked his way through the White Sox system, surfacing in the majors in 1980 as young manager Tony La Russa was assembling a future division winner. By 1982, Baines – an outfielder – was receiving American League Most Valuable Player votes after hitting 25 homers and driving in 105 runs during that season.
Over the following five seasons, Baines was named to three All-Star teams while averaging 22 homers and 97 RBI. He led the White Sox to the 1983 American League West title – the Sox’s first postseason appearance since 1959.
As he reached age 30, he quickly became a baseball version of lineup problem-solver. Traded to the Rangers in the middle of the 1989 season in the Sammy Sosa deal, Baines developed a reputation as a player who could help any team during the stretch drive – and one of the best designated hitters in the game. Baines appeared in 1,643 of his 2,830 big league games as a DH, making only 63 appearances in the field from 1989 until the end of his career. But from 1980-86, Baines played only five games at DH while establishing himself as one of baseball’s most dependable right fielders.
“I guess that’s when I realized that it was a business,” said Baines of the trade from the White Sox. “Everybody’s not as fortunate as Cal Ripken to stay in one city his whole career.”
The Rangers sent Baines to the A’s in 1990, where he helped Oakland win the American League pennant. Baines homered in the World Series against the Reds, but Cincinnati swept Oakland.
“I had one goal: To get a World Series ring,” said Baines, who hit .324 in eight Postseason series. “I never got there. On paper, we had a better team (than the Reds in 1990). So that’ll tell you right there that you don’t know.”
Baines moved to the Orioles for two seasons (1994-95), then back to the White Sox, back to the Orioles – then onto Cleveland before more stops with Baltimore and the White Sox – with whom he ended his career in 2001.
The final tally: 2,866 hits and 1,628 RBI, to go along with 384 home runs, a .289 batting average and six All-Star Game selections.
Baines was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2019.
HOMERUN BAKER
By today’s standards, his nickname seems less than appropriate.
But in his time, John Franklin “Home Run” Baker – author of 96 big league round trippers – was the symbol of power on the diamond.
And more than 100 years after earning his nickname, Baker remains a part of baseball lore.
Born March 13, 1886, in Trappe, Md., Baker grew up on a farm and later used his exceptional strength playing for semi-pro teams around Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Baker hooked on with Reading, Pa., of the Tri-State League in 1908 – and that September he debuted with Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics.
The next season, the 23-year-old Baker took over as the A’s third baseman, leading the American League in triples with 19 while batting .305 with 85 RBI – but hitting only four home runs.
In 1910, Baker’s homer total dropped to two – but he more than made up for it by hitting .409 in the World Series against the Cubs, leading the A’s past the Cubs in five games with six runs scored and four RBI.
Then in 1911, Baker – who used an unusually heavy bat weighing 46 ounces – hit an AL-best 11 home runs and drove in 115 runs. In that year’s World Series, Baker crafted his legend with game-winning home runs in Game 2 off future Hall of Famer Rube Marquard and in Game 3 against future Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson – the final blast handing Mathewson his first World Series defeat.
Thereafter, the press referred to him as Home Run Baker.
Baker led the AL in home runs and RBI in both 1912 and 1913, helping the A’s win a third World Championship in four seasons in the latter season. But following Philadelphia’s defeat in the 1914 Fall Classic at the hands of the Boston Braves – and facing a national economic slowdown – A’s manager Connie Mack sold Baker to the Yankees.
Faced with the prospect of playing further away from his Maryland home, Baker refused to report and instead spent 1915 playing semi-pro baseball.
Baker agreed to report to the Yankees in 1916, and spent the next four seasons as New York’s third baseman, averaging eight home runs a year. He retired prior to the 1920 season following the death of his first wife, but returned to the Yankees in 1921 and 1922 before ending his big league career.
His final totals: 13 big league seasons, a .307 batting average, 103 triples, 96 home runs and three World Championships.
Baker was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955. He passed away on June 28, 1963.
BASEBALL YEAR IN REVIEW
YEAR IN REVIEW : 1915 AMERICAN LEAGUE
Off the field…
The Superior Court in Fulton County, Georgia accepted the charter for the establishment of the new Ku Klux Klan on December 4th. The first Ku Klux Klan was an organization that thrived in the South during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War. Subsequent groups calling themselves by the same name sprang up in much of the South after both World War I and II and in response to civil-rights activity during the 1960s. In spite of its efforts, the new Klan was not strong, and by the end of the 1960’s its nationwide power and membership had declined into a small, underground movement.
Ford rolled its one-millionth automobile off the Michigan assembly line, which was responsible for manufacturing half of all cars in America. To meet the growing demands of his “Model T” automobiles, Henry Ford had opened a large factory at Highland Park, in 1910. There, the industrial visionary invented precision building, interchangeable parts and a continuous moving assembly line that revolutionized automobile production by significantly reducing assembly time per vehicle as well as labor costs.
In the American League…
On May 6th, an “up-and-coming” pitcher for the Boston Red Sox nicknamed “The Babe” hit his first major league homerun off the Yankees Jack Warhop at New York’s Polo Grounds.
A back-up catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics named Wally Schang set an American League record after nailing six would-be St. Louis base stealers during a 3-0 loss to the Browns on May 12, 1915.
On June 23rd, Detroit’s Ty Cobb stole home (again) for the fifth time in the month en route to a 4-2 Tiger victory over the St. Louis Browns. “The Georgia Peach” would finish the season with ninety-six.
In the National League…
Making his National League debut, St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Lee Meadows became the first player to wear glasses regularly on the field. Later that season, Carmen Hill of the Pittsburgh Pirates became the second.
On August 18th, Wilbur Good became the only Chicago Cub ever to steal second, third, and home — all in the same inning. His teammates followed his “good” example and went on to beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 9-0.
In the Federal League…
After a lengthy contract dispute instigated by the Federal League’s high salary structures, “Home Run” Baker announced his early retirement from the Philadelphia Athletics at the tender age of twenty-eight. Manager Connie Mack also experienced salary problems with several other players including Chief Bender, Eddie Plank, and Jack Coombs. Refusing to compete with the rival league’s higher pay scale, Mack decided to release the stars and sell Baker to the Yankees after the 1915 season.
In December, organized baseball agreed to a formal “peace treaty” with the Federal League ending a two-year political war. The Federals agreed to disband after the American and National Leagues both agreed to pay an enormous sum of $600,000 for distribution to owners, absorb two franchises (one American League and one National League) and recognize all former players as eligible picks at a Fed-controlled auction.
Around the League…
The Federal League sued organized baseball, claiming it to be an illegal trust and demanding that it be dissolved with all contracts voided. The case was formally filed in the U.S. court in Chicago, before Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis and the future baseball commissioner intentionally stalled his decision while waiting for peace to be declared at the end of the year.
The American League officially banned the emery ball, a pitch introduced by Russ Ford in 1910. Ford had accidentally discovered that a scuffed baseball could be made to break sharply while a semi-pro pitcher. He began intentionally doctoring the ball using emery paper, and disguised his pitches as spitballs, which at the time were legal.
On “Suffrage Day”, 4,100 women bought tickets to see the Giants take on the Chicago Cubs in New York. As a publicity stunt, the suffragettes announced that they would pay five dollars to each player who scored a run. Unfortunately, “Wildfire” Frank Schulte emerged as the only recipient after leading a Chicago “double-steal” in the first inning.
FOOTBALL HISTORY
March 18, 1970 – NFL selects Wilson as official football and the scoreboard as its official game clock.
Picture yourself at a 1920’s era famous Columbus, Ohio Horseshoe Football Stadium with 90,000 other onlookers. The game you are witnessing is the heated rivalry, even then of the Ohio State Buckeyes and the University of Michigan Wolverines in an important game in the Big 10 Conference as the winner would be contending for the title of the conference championship. It’s early in the game, a mere 12 minutes have gone by, but the Michigan eleven are trailing Ohio State 10-0. With that in mind Michigan’s Head Coach Fielding Yost unsheathed his secret weapon, the forward pass using Friedman, left end Bennie Oosterbaan and left halfback Louis Gilbert! It was an aerial assault that had not been seen before as Quarterback Friedman shocked the Buckeye defenders with perfect strikes to his teammate Bennie Oosterbaan while catching other tosses himself from Gilbert. It was Friedman scrambling till he got in trouble and then launching the ball in Oosterbaan’s direction who would sometimes make circus-like grabs. It looked though that the drive had stalled therefore Gilbert as a holder and Friedman with kicking in mind dropped back for a field goal attempt., Louis Gilbert dropped on to one knee as though to hold the ball for a place-kick. Instead he moved out of the way when the ball was snapped back, Friedman caught it, stepped back and promptly fired a swift, flat pass to Oosterbaan who was free behind the Ohio goal-posts. With Friedman’s extra point kick the lead was cut to 3. The Buckeyes next drive stalled and they were forced to punt with only a minute left before the half was over. A split-second decision would be pivotal as the first half was closing. Gilbert again took his position on one knee, ready to field the snap but Friedman called it off and took the snap directly so as to drop kick the ball 43 yards through the uprights. Michigan had tied the score! The teams came out in the second half but neither defense would give ground. As a matter of fact the Blue defense did one better as they recovered a muffed punt deep inside OSU territory. The Buckeyes put up a fight but on fourth down after shedding a couple of red jersey tackles, Benny Friedman lunged over the goal line. Michigan 17, Ohio State 10. What happened next would feel like a gut punch. Ohio State moved the ball down the field with short passes finally punctuated by a Buckeye rush for a score. With the game clock all but expired there came the all important point after try, only one point separating the teams. The snap went down, foot hit the ball with the thud of leather on leather. The pigskin sailed over the line straight down the middle and sailed between the pipes but it was two feet under the crossbar. The Wolverines prevailed in a 17-16 thriller in Ohio then knocked off Minnesota a week later 7-6 to capture the Big Ten crown. We credit the Bentley.Umich site for posting a next day report on the 1926 game that we could take facts from for the story. Benny Friedman was born March 18, 1905 in Cleveland, Ohio and he played as the standout quarterback from 1924 to 1927 of Michigan per the National Football Foundation. Benny was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951. In 1927 as a rookie on the Cleveland Bulldogs, Benny was selected as an All-NFL player as he threw for an almost unheard of 11 touchdown passes! The Pro Football Hall of Fame says that the next season with the Detroit Wolverines he made it to All-NFL status as well as the the two proceeding seasons after that in a New York Giants uniform. What a start to a professional career to be on three different teams and be considered the top of your position each year! He ran, kicked and passed as well as anyone in the League therefore the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined the great Quarterback Benny Friedman in 2005.
MARCH 18 FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME BIRTHDAYS
March 18, 1905 – Aurora, Illinois – The Navy two-way tackle from the mid 1920’s, Frank Wickhorst credited his birth date. You know we have more on this player, just click on his name.
March 18, 1910 – Pocahontas, Arkansas – Wear Schoonover the two-way end at Arkansas was the first official All-America football player in the Southwest Conference as well as the first Arkansas athlete to be elected to the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame in 1967. In 1929, Schoonover did not miss a second of play during a nine-game schedule and earned All-America selection per his bio on the NFF website. In those contests he hauled in seven TD passes and scored 42 points as his Razorbacks posted a 7-2 mark. Wear was a play maker as evidenced against Texas A&M where Schoonover snatched a couple of receptions to set up two Razorback TDs, then blocked the extra point to preserve Arkansas’ 14-13 triumph. Later in the year versus Centenary, Wear picked off five passes, returning one of those 92 yards for a touchdown!
March 18, 1919 – Frank “Gunner” Gatski the center from Auburn who anchored the Cleveland Browns offensive line during the championship years of the late forties in the AAFC and early 1950’s in the NFL was born. According to the ProFootballHOF.com , Frank Gatski played in 11 Championship games in the 12 seasons he participated at the pro level, winning eight of them. Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Gunner Gatski in 1985.
March 18, 1928 – Waco, Texas – Rice University End James “Froggy” Williams earned his nickname by being so slippery for opposing tacklers. James set a school record as its All-time leading scorer by crossing the goal line stripe 13 times, kicking 75 extra points and even a field goal for a total of 156 career points per the NFF. In 1949 Froggy was chosen as a consensus All-America selection. Williams had a knack of having his best games against rival Texas he had two TDs and scored seven extra points in his career against the Longhorns, but the stunner was the only successful field goal in his career which lifted the Owls to a 17-15 victory over Texas. James Williams was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1965.
March 18, 1952 – Mike Webster was the anchor of the Pittsburgh Steelers for 15 seasons winning four Super Bowl Rings per the Pro Football Hall of Fam’s website. The fifth round pick in the 1974 NFL Draft was durable as he played tem straight seasons without missing a snap on offense. Webster was an All-Pro in seven seasons therefore earning a pro Bowl slot in nine different years. Mike completed his career by playing two additional years in the NFL with the KC Chiefs. Mike Webster was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997.
March 18, 1961 – Wyoming County, West Virginia – The 1981 All-American running back of the Penn State Nittany Lions, Curt Warner claimed his birth date. When Curt’s college career was complete the NFF says he had records galore including 11 season, 14 bowl and 42 school records. Warner was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player in two different Fiesta Bowls played in. Curt also led the Nittany Lions to the 1982 National Championship with their Sugar Bowl victory. He set records for career rushing yardage (3,398), career all-purpose yardage (4,982) and 100-yard rushing games (18). Warner is also second all-time in career kick-off return average (28.8 yards), tallying 922 yards and three touchdowns on 32 returns. Curt Warner became a College FOotball hall of Fame inductee in 2009. He had a nice career in the NFL when he earned the All-Pro distinction 4 different times with the Seattle Seahawks for seven seasons. Warner also played one final year with the Rams.
NUMBERS IN SPORTS
42 – 9 – 23
March 18, 1942 – Jackie Robinson and Nate Moreland, both black men requested to try out with the Chicago White Sox but were denied. Remember it wasn’t until April 10, 1947 that Mr. Robinson famously signed a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers thus breaking the color barrier in the MLB some 5 days later. Robinson would then wear his famous Number 42 uniform with the Dodgers.
March 18, 1945 – The Rocket hits the 50 mark! Montreal Canadien skater Maurice Richard became the first player in NHL history to post 50 goals in one season. At that point in his Montreal career Richard was still wearing the Number 9. The Canadiens triumphed 4-2 over the Boston Bruins in the game.
March 18, 1953 – At the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship game, the Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Kansas Jayhawks, 69-68 in a thriller. Jayhawks’ center B. H. Born, Number 23 is named as the tournament Most Outstanding PlayerMarch 18, 1989 – Washington Capitals standout Dino Ciccarelli gets his name in the record books once again. Ole Number 22 registered 7 points in a single game as the Caps dropped the Whalers 8-2.