U.S./World Sports category, Page 177
Hamlin earns NASCAR victory at RichmondVideo
RICHMOND, Va. — Denny Hamlin ran down William Byron with five laps to go Sunday and ended the slowest start to his career with a victory in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway. In a race that featured four sets of green-flag pit stops and a whole lot of...
Duke’s Scheyer ready for program’s ‘pivotal’ coaching changeVideo
NEW ORLEANS — Jon Scheyer tried to soak up every possible nugget and detail he could as retiring Mike Krzyzewski’s designated successor in their final season together on the Duke sideline. Conversations on everything from game strategy to motivating players turned into an endless stream of notes and ideas, studiously...
Spaun takes Texas Open for 1st PGA win, 1st trip to MastersVideo
SAN ANTONIO — J.J. Spaun won his first PGA Tour event — and his first trip to the Masters — by firing a final-round 69 at the Valero Texas Open on Sunday. In his 147th PGA Tour start, Spaun survived a double-bogey start to his round by recording five birdies...
Out of the blue, North Carolina goes for NCAA title vs. KansasVideo
NEW ORLEANS — It should come as no shock that North Carolina and Kansas are playing for the national title. Their names, complete with their intertwined histories, are cemented on the short-short list of college basketball’s greatest programs. There’s a bit of a twist in 2022. While lots of folks...
On the prowl? Tiger arriving at Masters, unsure of playingVideo
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A comeback unlike any other for Tiger Woods might start at the Masters. Just over 13 months since Woods damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors considered amputation, Woods arrived at Augusta National on Sunday afternoon and warmed up on a range where there were...
Thad Matta returning to Butler for 2nd stint as coachVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Thad Matta is returning to Butler, hired Sunday to coach the Bulldogs almost five years after he cited his health while stepping down at Ohio State. The 54-year-old Matta led Butler to a 24-8 record and an appearance in the 2001 NCAA Tournament during his only season as...
North Carolina takes out Duke, Coach K
NEW ORLEANS — For the 48th time over 47 years of unparalleled coaching, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski took the slow walk to midcourt and shook the hand of the North Carolina coach who beat him. After that, he found his wife, Mickie, and they made the slow, sad walk, hand-in-hand, off...
Villanova could have used Justin Moore in Final Four loss
NEW ORLEANS — Villanova needed Justin Moore on offense — to add another scoring threat and spread the floor against Kansas’ swarming interior defense. The Wildcats could have used him on defense — to rotate out on the Jayhawks’ shooters and help dig down into the post. For all the...
Kansas starts fast, cruises to win over Villanova in Final FourVideo
NEW ORLEANS — Kansas and Villanova waged a 3-point shooting contest at the Final Four with one of them racing out to a big lead in the opening minutes and the other spending the rest of the night trying in vain to catch up. It all may sound familiar to...
Snedeker, Hossler, Spaun, Frittelli lead Valero Texas Open
SAN ANTONIO — Brandt Snedeker and Beau Hossler shot rounds of 5-under-par 67 to join J.J. Spaun and Dylan Frittelli atop the leaderboard after the third round of the Valero Texas Open on Saturday. Both Spaun, who shot 69, and Frittelli (70) finished with a share of the lead at...
Denny Hamlin seeks NASCAR Next Gen breakthrough at Richmond
RICHMOND, Va. — Denny Hamlin would love to think a visit to his home track will produce a finish that finally gets his season heading in the right direction. The problem for Hamlin, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates and seemingly all the drivers in Toyotas is they are having a...
Bob Huggins, George Karl, Swin Cash named to Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2022 class
This year’s class for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has quite a regional flavor. Among the 13 inductees announced Friday were West Virginia University alum and coach Bob Huggins, Penn Hills native George Karl and former McKeesport star Swin Cash. The trio with local ties will join former...
UConn-South Carolina title tilt packs plenty of star power
MINNEAPOLIS — The South Carolina Gamecocks held the top spot in the Associated Press Top 25 women’s poll all season about as tightly as they play defense every night. The last test for the No. 1 overall seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament will be the Connecticut Huskies, who produced...
U.S. Open champ Daniil Medvedev says he needs hernia surgery
U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev expects to be sidelined for one to two months after having hernia surgery. The No. 2-ranked man in tennis wrote on Twitter on Saturday that he has been dealing with “a small hernia” in recent months. “Together with my team I have decided to have...
UConn tops Stanford to return to NCAA title game after 5-year absence
MINNEAPOLIS — Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies are back in the NCAA title game for the first time in six years after getting through one of the most difficult seasons of the Hall of Fame coach’s career. Paige Bueckers scored 14 points and UConn advanced to the national championship...
Palmer holds 2-shot lead after 2 rounds of Valero Texas OpenVideo
SAN ANTONIO — Ryan Palmer shot a bogey-free round of 6-under-par 66 at the Valero Texas Open to lead by two shots over Kevin Chappell, Dylan Frittelli and Matt Kuchar after Friday’s second round. Palmer, at 10-under, surged into the lead with consecutive birdies midway through the back nine. Chappell,...
Hope Solo arrested on DWI, child abuse charges
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Former U.S. women’s national team star goalkeeper Hope Solo was arrested after she was found passed out behind the wheel of a vehicle in North Carolina with her 2-year-old twins inside, police said. A police report said Solo was arrested Thursday in a shopping center parking lot...
South Carolina women top Louisville in Final Four, advance to title gameVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — Aliyah Boston had 23 points and 18 rebounds to back up her AP National Player of the Year award and carry South Carolina to the NCAA championship game with a 72-59 victory over Louisville in the semifinals Friday night. Brea Beal matched her season high with 12 points...
Kentucky appeals court denies Bob Baffert’s motion for stay
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Court of Appeals on Friday rejected trainer Bob Baffert’s motion for emergency relief from a 90-day suspension. As a result of the order signed by Acting Chief Judge Allison Jones, the Hall of Fame trainer’s suspension is scheduled to begin Monday. “The Court emphasizes that...
Villanova-Kansas renew high-stakes history at Final FourVideo
NEW ORLEANS — Bill Self was wading through old video of Villanova this week, trying to scout a specific action that the Wildcats use on the offensive end of the floor, when the Hall of Fame Kansas coach did something he has avoided the past four years. Self watched film...
Coach K on an NCAA revamp: ‘Time to look at the whole thing’Video
NEW ORLEANS — The sport Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is leaving is run by an organization he doesn’t much recognize anymore. Or like at all. The 75-year-old coach, whose career ends after Duke is done at the Final Four, used the opportunity of what could be his last big news...
Martin Truex Jr. not ready to consider NASCAR futureVideo
Martin Truex Jr. left Richmond Raceway a winner in his last visit to the Virginia short track, a playoff victory last September that helped him get into NASCAR’s championship round and showed the veteran has plenty left in his tank. He returns to Richmond six months later with his NASCAR...
‘Tea Olive’ hole can be smelly start to MastersVideo
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Alister MacKenzie offered some advice for his design of what has served as the opening hole at Augusta National since the second playing of the Masters. No telling what he might have said to Charl Schwartzel. The par-4 first, known as “Tea Olive” for the fragrant shrubs...
Rivals Duke, North Carolina in titanic clash at Final FourVideo
NEW ORLEANS — The name “Tobacco Road” misses the point. The most important industry in the 11-mile stretch of real estate between North Carolina’s two cathedrals of hoops, the Smith Center in Chapel Hill and Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, is basketball. For decades, a win or loss in any...
Politically charged U.S.-Iran in first Middle East World CupVideo
DOHA, Qatar — A World Cup buildup laced in controversy and geopolitical undertones has conjured up the most politically charged of matchups on the field in Qatar. Just like at the FIFA showpiece in 1998, the United States will play Iran with diplomatic relations yet to be restored between the...
