From Spain to the United States, former Robert Morris forward Alvaro Folgueiras’ basketball dream has Iowa in the Sweet 16
TAMPA, Fla. — Alvaro Folgueiras left Spain as a 16-year-old with a dream to play basketball in the United States. He made the biggest shot of his life in the national spotlight to eliminate the defending champions from the NCAA Tournament. On college basketball’s grandest stage and with his mother...
Syracuse hires former star guard Gerry McNamara to take over as men’s basketball coach
Syracuse turned to its past by hiring former star guard Gerry McNamara on Tuesday in a bid to guide a fading men’s basketball program back to prominence. The 42-year-old McNamara, nicknamed “G-Mac,” is returning to where he and Carmelo Anthony led the Orange to a national championship in 2003. McNamara...
Key, Strack help Kentucky women beat West Virginia to secure Sweet 16 trip
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Teonni Key had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Clara Strack had 18 points and 15 rebounds and Kentucky nearly gave up a big lead and held on to beat West Virginia, 74-73, on Monday to advance to the NCAA women’s Sweet 16 for the first time in...
March Madness surges to its best TV start with viewership up 5%
NEW YORK — The NCAA Tournament is off to its best start on record. The tournament averaged 9.8 million for the first three days (the First Four on Tuesday and Wednesday along with Thursday’s first round) according to Nielsen, a 5% increase from last year. CBS and TNT began showing...
Bracket Reset: NCAA Tournament down to a Sweet 16 of high-majors
Cinderella has been kicked out of the dance early for the second straight season. Following a madness-promising first day of upsets, the NCAA Tournament has turned into a high-major affair. The Sweet 16 invite is for power-conference programs only. Advocates for fewer automatic qualifiers and bracket expansion will have a...
First Call: Wild stats about Aaron Rodgers and Justin Fields; Pens hold steady in Metro Division swirl
As we all monitor the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback situation, Monday’s “First Call” has some interesting stats surrounding Justin Fields and Aaron Rodgers. We’re also tracking the Eastern Conference playoff situation for the Penguins. A former Robert Morris Colonial had a shining moment in the NCAA Tournament. And a pair of...
Iowa beats No. 1 seed and defending champ Florida in March Madness
TAMPA, Fla. — Alvaro Folgueiras told Bennett Stirtz he would be ready for the ball, and he delivered in the clutch. Folgueiras, the former Robert Morris standout, nailed a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds remaining, and Iowa eliminated defending national champion Florida, sending the top-seeded Gators home with a 73-72 victory...
Dylan Darling hits driving layup at buzzer, St. John’s beats Kansas 67-65 in March Madness thrillerVideo
SAN DIEGO — Dylan Darling hadn’t made a shot all day when he got the ball at midcourt for St. John’s with 3.9 seconds left in a tied March Madness thriller. Darling could have passed. He could have wilted. He could have missed yet again. Instead, the Red Storm’s tenacious...
Penn State crowns 4 NCAA wrestling gold medalists, breaks its own points record
CLEVELAND — Penn State’s record-setting performance in last year’s NCAA Championships in Philadelphia was quite a feat. But the PSU mark — 177 team points — lasted just a year. Cael Sanderson’s Nittany Lions set a new record this season, finishing with 181.5 team points. PSU wrapped up its fifth...
Texas goes from First Four to Sweet 16, beating Gonzaga
PORTLAND, Ore. — Jordan Pope and Matas Vokietaitis each scored 17 points, Camden Heide hit a game-sealing 3-pointer and Texas became the first team in five years to go from the NCAA Tournament’s First Four to the Sweet 16, beating Gonzaga, 74-68, on Saturday. First-year coach Sean Miller’s 11th-seeded Longhorns...
Coen Carr, Jeremy Fears lead Michigan State to Sweet 16
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Coen Carr recorded his first career double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Jeremy Fears Jr. had 16 assists as Michigan State advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 17th time under coach Tom Izzo, beating Louisville, 77-69, on Saturday in the second round of the...
NCAA asks court to stop DraftKings from using trademarked terms such as ‘March Madness’
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA filed a complaint in federal court Friday seeking an emergency restraining order to stop online sportsbook DraftKings from using registered trademarks associated with the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. The complaint for trademark infringement was filed in the Southern District of Indiana and requests that...
NCAA Tournament roundup: Iowa St. star Joshua Jefferson hurt in rout of Tennessee St.
Iowa State star Joshua Jefferson departed in the first half of the Cyclones’ 108-74 romp over Tennessee State with a left ankle injury Friday, leaving the All-American’s status for the remainder of the NCAA Tournament in doubt. Jefferson landed awkwardly after a layup just 21/2 minutes into the first-round matchup...
Donald Trump issues executive order requiring CFP to avoid broadcasting conflicts with Army-Navy game
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday barring College Football Playoff and other postseason games from airing during the annual Army-Navy matchup in December. Trump directed the commerce secretary and the FCC chairman to coordinate with the playoff committee, the NCAA and media rights partners to ensure...
Otega Oweh’s buzzer-beater saves Kentucky in OT win over Santa Clara in 1st round
ST. LOUIS — Otega Oweh rescued Kentucky with a buzzer-
beater from just inside half court to force overtime, then hit the tiebreaking free throws in the extra period as the seventh-seeded Wildcats beat No. 10 seed Santa Clara, 89-84, on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In...
NCAA roundup: High Point stuns Wisconsin on Chase Johnston’s first 2-point basket of season
PORTLAND, Ore. — Chase Johnston made his first 2-point basket of the season, a fast-break layup with 11.7 seconds remaining that gave No. 12 seed High Point an 83-82 victory over fifth-seeded Wisconsin on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Johnston finished with 14 points, including four...
No. 11 seed VCU erases 19-point deficit, stuns sixth-seeded North Carolina 82-78 in OT
GREENVILLE, N.C. — Terrence Hill Jr. made a stepback 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in overtime, and 11th-seeded VCU erased from a 19-point second-half deficit to stun sixth-seeded North Carolina, 82-78, on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Hill finished 7 for 10 from 3-point range...
No. 1 overall seed Duke survives 16-seed Siena
GREENVILLE, S.C. — For most of Thursday, Duke looked nothing like the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Not with 16th-seeded Siena challenging the Blue Devils at every turn, determined to pull off the rarest of March Madness upsets. And Duke barely avoided exactly that. The Blue Devils...
NCAA Tournament East preview: No. 1 overall seed Duke motivated by last year’s Final Four loss
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Duke enters the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed and looking to avenge last season’s missed opportunity. The Blue Devils (32-2) were bounced in the Final Four by Houston despite a team that included five future NBA players, including three lottery picks and two players...
NCAA Tournament West preview: Gonzaga still searching for elusive championship
PORTLAND, Ore. — In a season of highs and a few lows, Gonzaga is back in the NCAA Tournament and still looking for that elusive title game breakthrough. The Bulldogs (30-3) are riding 27 straight tournament appearances. They’ve twice made it to the national championship game — in 2017 and...
NCAA Tournament South preview: Houston fights the urge to look ahead to possible Florida rematch
OKLAHOMA CITY — Houston could eventually go back home for a rematch of last season’s national championship game it lost to Florida. The South regional final would be played at the Toyota Center in Houston, just a few miles from the Fertitta Center where the Cougars play their home games....
NCAA Tournament Midwest preview: Fresh off 1st NCAA Tournament win, Howard braces for No. 1 seed Michigan
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Howard coach Kenny Blakeney had a blast the last time he saw Michigan play. Following the Bison’s home win against North Carolina Central on Feb. 21, Blakeney and his family ventured over to Capital One Arena in Washington to catch Michigan’s highly anticipated showdown against Duke, which...
Prairie View A&M beats Lehigh in First Four for 1st March Madness win
DAYTON, Ohio — Dontae Horne scored 25 points, and Cory Wells had 19 points and 11 rebounds as Prairie View A&M earned its first NCAA Tournament victory 67-55 over Lehigh on Wednesday night in the First Four. Lance Williams added 10 points for the Panthers (19-17), making their third tournament...
Jeannette grad Ethan Berginc leads WPIAL contingent at NCAA wrestling championships
The start of March Madness officially gets underway at noon Thursday. But so does the NCAA Division I wrestling championships at Cleveland, and the WPIAL will be well represented. There are 50 wrestlers from Pennsylvania who are entered in the tournament, 21 from the WPIAL, including Jeannette grad Ethan Berginc....
Bryan Hodgson’s NCAA Tournament homecoming filled with painful, uplifting memories for South Florida coach
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Bryan Hodgson’s celebrated homecoming comes with both deeply painful and joyously uplifting reminders of South Florida’s full-circle journey in preparing to make his NCAA Tournament coaching debut not far from his Jamestown, N.Y., roots. There are the mental and physical scars — two burn marks on the...
