U.S./World Sports category, Page 374
Ja Morant, Markus Howard headline Murray State-Marquette matchup
HARTFORD, Conn. — Murray State’s Ja Morant and Marquette’s Markus Howard have much in common: Point guards, prolific scorers, conference players of the year, All-America contenders. And, apparently, promptness. Morant and Howard struck up a friendship last summer at NBA All-Star Chris Paul’s camp for elite guards. “We were the...
Former WPIAL wrestlers embrace home-mat advantage at NCAAsVideo
For Luke Pletcher, the stakes are higher than most. A Latrobe graduate, Pletcher was one of the best WPIAL wrestlers in recent memory earlier this decade. But the three-time PIAA champion took his talents across the state line to the west. Pletcher became an All-American at Ohio State, placing fourth...
At-large wrestlers can make good on reprieve at NCAAs
Greg Bulsak and Nick Kiussis spent the minutes leading up to 3 p.m. March 12 repeatedly refreshing the NCAA wrestling website on their phones. Sammy Krivus kept himself busy by lifting weights. Ultimately, all three wrestlers received the news they were hoping for the same way: from somebody else. Bulsak,...
Mariners top A’s in MLB opener in Japan
TOKYO — Ichiro drew all the cheers. Most everyone else on the Seattle Mariners did all the hitting. A crowd that came to salute Ichiro Suzuki in his homeland saw Domingo Santana deliver the biggest hit at the Tokyo Dome, a grand slam that sent Seattle over the Oakland Athletics,...
Baltimore mayor sues to block move of Preakness Stakes from Pimlico
BALTIMORE — Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh has sued the owners of Pimlico Race Course in an effort to seize the horse racetrack and block the move of the Preakness Stakes out of the city. News outlets report that on behalf of the city, Pugh is also trying to prevent the...
Tim Benz: A little tweak to make the NCAA Tournament’s First Four better
You may not have even submitted your bracket yet, and the 2019 NCAA Tournament is one night old. One potential 16th-seeded Cinderella — Prairie View A&M — is already going home. Another — either North Carolina Central or North Dakota State — will get eliminated Wednesday night. All that before...
Ex-Pitt star Cameron Johnson part of powerful North Carolina offense
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Cameron Johnson swears there’s no deals among North Carolina’s top three scorers determining who gets to lead the offense in each game. It sure seems that way sometimes, though. The graduate wing, freshman point guard Coby White and senior Luke Maye have proven capable of carrying...
Belmont tops Temple for 1st NCAA Tournament victory
DAYTON, Ohio — Kevin McClain scored 29 points and led the decisive second-half run as Belmont got its first NCAA Tournament win, pulling away to an 81-70 victory Tuesday night and ending Temple coach Fran Dunphy’s career in the First Four. The 11th-seeded Bruins (27-5) play Maryland on Thursday in...
Fairleigh Dickinson rallies for 1st NCAA Tournament win
DAYTON, Ohio — Eleven months ago, Fairleigh Dickinson coach Greg Herenda was seriously ill with life-threatening blood clots. On Tuesday night, he danced on the court and hugged his players after they secured the first NCAA Tournament win in school history. Senior guard Darnell Edge scored a career-high 33 points,...
Single-bid leagues feature standouts, upset possibilities
Vermont’s Anthony Lamb is among several players from one-bid conferences capable of leading their teams to major upsets in the NCAA Tournament. The 6-foot-6 junior forward scored 24 points against Kansas and 25 points against Louisville in the NIT Season Tip Off in November. Although Vermont lost both games, Lamb...
Latrobe grad, Virginia Tech senior Zack Zavatsky wants to go out on top at NCAAs
For Zack Zavatsky, something that’s been a significant part of his life will come to an abrupt end later this month. So why not go out on top? A Latrobe alum, Zavatsky’s final competitive wrestling act figures to come at the NCAA championships this weekend at PPG Paints Arena in...
Latrobe well represented at NCAA wrestling championshipsVideo
When the NCAA wrestling championships come to PPG Paints Arena beginning Thursday, Latrobe will be prominently represented. Three former Wildcats stars will compete in the event. Each of them — Virginia Tech’s Zack Zavatsky and Luke Pletcher and Ethan Smith of Ohio State — has a chance to make the...
Pittsburgh getting bigger, better NCAA wrestling championships
Bob Bubb became an NCAA All-American in 1959, wrestling in the University of Iowa’s gymnasium. Nearly 60 years later, Nico Megaludis won a national title in “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” New York’s Madison Square Garden, with a finals attendance of 19,270 — more than the crowd for the entire...
Need an edge for your NCAA bracket? Geek out over these stats
At this time of year, everyone’s in search of a system — some way of simplifying the brackets and making it a little easier to pick one champion out of all those contenders. You could go with the most experienced coaches or perhaps the teams playing the best defense. Or...
Police say 2-year-old boy died after man sat on him
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Iowa police say a 2-year-old boy died after a man sat on the child for allegedly taking his cellphone. Pottawattamie County court records show 31-year-old Larry Murphy is charged with first-degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death. He’s jailed on more than $1 million bail....
Spoilers! Baylor tops women’s NCAA field as bracket leaks
NEW YORK — One of the joys of March Madness is the surprising things that can happen during the NCAA Tournament. For the women, there was an unpleasant surprise before the tournament even began when the field was revealed early thanks to a production error. The bracket was mistakenly broadcast...
Top 4 seeds in NCAA have (a few) weaknesses that could be their downfall
RALEIGH, N.C. — This year’s NCAA Tournament features a top tier of teams that are heavy Final Four favorites, starting with No. 1 overall seed Duke and star freshman Zion Williamson. Figuring out how to stop them won’t be easy, though some clues might be in weaknesses that showed when...
Penn State coach Cael Sanderson demands his wrestlers win with ‘gratitude’
If you’re wondering how Penn State has been able to win seven of the past eight NCAA wrestling championships, coach Cael Sanderson believes he has the answer. He demands his wrestlers are thankful for who they are, what they’ve been given and the opportunities under their feet every time they...
NCAA tournament gambling guide: Will the underdogs have their day?
According to an American Gaming Association survey, 47 million Americans will wager $8.5 billion on the NCAA tournament this year, and while more than half of that astounding sum will be wagered via bracket pools, $3.9 billion will be bet on the games themselves via a sportsbook (either in person...
Duke back on top; ACC sits 1-2-3 atop final AP Top 25
NEW YORK — Duke is back on top followed by Virginia and North Carolina to give the Atlantic Coast Conference a 1-2-3 showing in the final AP Top 25 poll this season. The Blue Devils (29-5) jumped from fifth to first Monday after winning last week’s league tournament with the...
NCAA Selection Sunday winners and losers: CBS, Bradley, Big Ten, Larry Bird, TruTV and more
The bracket is out. The bubbles are burst. The NCAA Tournament got real Sunday night as CBS’s “Selection Sunday” show revealed the field. And as is always the case, with the telecast as well as the teams, there are winners and there are losers. Some shining moments indeed. — Winner:...
McIlroy overcomes slow start to win The Players Championship
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — His best swing was followed by his biggest drive, both setting up birdies, and from there Rory McIlroy knew how to finish. Suddenly staked to a one-shot lead, McIlroy had a 125-yard walk along the water to the 17th hole to face an island that...
Kyle Busch ties ‘The King’ with 200th career victory
FONTANA, Calif. — Kyle Busch tied Richard Petty’s NASCAR record with his 200th career victory across the three national series Sunday by using an impressive late surge through the field after a speeding penalty to win the Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway. Busch dominated the first two stages,...
Franklin Regional grad Spencer Lee looks to defend NCAA wrestling title
When Spencer Lee last wrestled in Pennsylvania, he lost in the finals of the 2017 PIAA Class AAA championships to Austin DeSanto, who is now his teammate. Lee felt a little betrayed by fans, whom he thought adored him. He didn’t understand at the time that fans love the upset,...
Duke gets top seed for NCAA Tournament, highlights scandal-filled college basketball season
The clock is ticking. The rest of college basketball has three weeks to figure out how to stop Duke’s freshman force of nature, Zion Williamson. Williamson and the Blue Devils got the overall top seed in the NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga and two more ACC teams — North Carolina and Virginia...
