U.S./World Sports category, Page 56
William Byron leads Hendrick to 1-2-3 Martinsville finish
William Byron took the lead with 73 laps to go and held onto it during a two-lap overtime finish Sunday to enhance Hendrick Motorsports’ celebration of its 40-year anniversary of its first victory in racing with a victory in the NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway. Byron, the first of...
Augusta National’s 8th hole has uphill climb, blind shot
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Bruce Devlin hit the best shot he never saw at the Masters. It was the first round in 1967, and the Australian was 240 yards away on the par-5 eighth hole at Augusta National. He took a lash with his 4-wood. The ball landed on the front...
South Carolina finishes off perfect season with NCAA championship, beating Clark and Iowa 87-75Video
CLEVELAND — Kamilla Cardoso delivered again for Dawn Staley and South Carolina. A perfect finish. A dynasty. A team too big for Caitlin Clark and Iowa this time around. Cardoso had 15 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, and South Carolina completed its perfect season with an 87-75 victory over...
Tennessee hires Marshall’s Kim Caldwell as the Lady Vols’ 4th coach in NCAA era
Tennessee athletic director Danny White has moved quickly and gone outside the historic Lady Vols’ program in hiring Marshall coach Kim Caldwell as only its fourth head coach in the NCAA era. White announced the hiring Sunday, within a couple of hours of the women’s national championship game. It’s a...
Defending champ UConn gets past Alabama to return to title game
GLENDALE, Ariz. — UConn kept its bid to repeat as national champion intact by surviving its first true test of the NCAA Tournament, getting 21 points from freshman Stephon Castle while clamping down defensively in the second half of an 86-72 win over Alabama in the Final Four on Saturday...
Zach Edey, Purdue power way into NCAA title game past N.C. State
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Purdue kept its March Madness dream alive while snuffing out North Carolina State’s, getting 20 points and 12 rebounds from Zach Edey in a 63-50 victory Saturday that placed the Boilermakers a win from their first NCAA title. N.C. State poked and jabbed at the 7-foot-4 Edey...
Cup Series drivers seeking more consistency from NASCAR
More consistency. That’s what NASCAR Cup Series drivers want, not only from their pit crews and engineers but also from the governing body and how decisions are made in the race command center. After NASCAR said Denny Hamlin jumped the overtime restart at Richmond Raceway last Sunday night and won...
South Carolina tries to finish off perfect season vs. Caitlin Clark
CLEVELAND — Dawn Staley knows Sunday’s national championship game is a big moment for women’s basketball. South Carolina is looking to finish a perfect season with the program’s third NCAA title. Standing in the way of Staley and the Gamecocks is a generational player in Caitlin Clark and an Iowa...
Iowa-UConn women’s Final Four semifinal most-watched hoops game in ESPN history
BRISTOL, Conn. — Iowa’s 71-69 victory over UConn at the women’s Final Four on Friday night averaged 14.2 million viewers on ESPN, making it the most-viewed women’s basketball game on record and the largest audience for an ESPN basketball broadcast. The previous women’s hoops mark was 12.3 million for last...
South Carolina women stay perfect, surge past N.C. State 78-59 to reach NCAA title gameVideo
CLEVELAND — All-America center Kamilla Cardoso scored 22 points, and unbeaten South Carolina avoided a second straight stumble in the women’s Final Four, surging past N.C. State, 78-59, on Friday night. The talented and tenacious Gamecocks (37-0) led by one at halftime before putting their full arsenal on display in...
Akshay Bhatia stretches lead to 5 shots at windy Texas OpenVideo
SAN ANTONIO — Akshay Bhatia survived a rocky start Friday in the Valero Texas Open by rallying with a pair of late birdies for a 2-under-par 70 that stretched his lead to five shots and raised hopes of getting the final spot in the Masters next week. Bhatia started with...
Crimson Tide trying to slow down the UConn juggernaut in the Final FourVideo
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Alabama coach Nate Oats had to rebuild his roster and replace three assistant coaches. The pieces ended up fitting perfectly. The fast-and-furious Crimson Tide were among one of the nation’s best offenses all season and rolled into the program’s first Final Four. The run has taken Alabama...
At Final Four, they turn back the clock with Purdue, N.C. State and an old-school matchup of big menVideo
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The opener at the Final Four on Saturday might feel like a trip through a time machine. Yes, those are Purdue and N.C. State, one program here for the first time since 1980, the other trying to write a 21st-century version of college basketball’s greatest story ever...
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson edges UConn’s Dan Hurley for AP coach of the year
There was a moment during the NCAA Tournament, when top-seeded Houston was well on its way to a 40-point rout of No. 16 seed Longwood, that helps to capture why the Cougars have become so dominant under Kelvin Sampson. It was late in the game, and Mylik Wilson was late...
Purdue’s Zach Edey is the overwhelming choice for 2nd straight AP Player of the Year award
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The child who wanted Zach Edey’s autograph during his Purdue recruiting trip apparently saw something others missed. Big Maple was destined to be a basketball star. While many college coaches passed on the unpolished Canadian prospect as the basketball world became enamored with perimeter play and...
Top 10 moments in WrestleMania historyVideo
This weekend WWE will put on WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia. In 1985, the concept was professional wrestling’s biggest names merging with some of the biggest names in pop culture. WrestleMania 1 was a gamble. Today, WrestleMania is now a sure thing. With tickets going on sale five months ahead of...
USC’s Bronny James declares for NBA draft and enters transfer portal after 1 season
LOS ANGELES — Bronny James will enter the NBA draft after one season at Southern California that was shortened by his recovery from cardiac arrest. The 19-year-old son of LeBron James announced Friday on his Instagram account that he also plans to retain his college eligibility and will enter the...
Seton Hall scores final 9 points to win NIT championship by 2
INDIANAPOLIS — Dre Davis scored on a layup with 16 seconds left Thursday night to cap Seton Hall’s decisive late run, giving the Pirates a 79-77 victory over Indiana State and their first NIT championship since 1953. Seton Hall (25-12) scored the final nine points in a battle between two...
ACC wants March Madness success to translate into more NCAA Tournament bids
GLENDALE, Ariz. — No one expected N.C. State to be in the Final Four after needing a miracle run through the ACC Tournament to even make the NCAA Tournament. It’s no surprise, however, to see the ACC here based on recent history. The league has been in transition with the...
Akshay Bhatia opens with a 63 to lead Texas Open by 3. Rory McIlroy is 6 backVideo
SAN ANTONIO — Akshay Bhatia rode the rare experience of knowing a PGA Tour course with a sublime day with his irons for a 9-under-par 63 on Thursday, giving him a three-shot lead in the Valero Texas Open and taking a small step toward a potential trip to the Masters....
Masters ’24: Competing tours converge on Augusta National chasing the same prizeVideo
Jon Rahm went from wearing a Masters green jacket in April to an LIV Golf black letterman’s jacket in December. Those two images — one in Butler Cabin with Scottie Scheffler, the other in a New York studio with Greg Norman — illustrate the great divide in golf that has...
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, UConn’s Paige Bueckers cross paths in Final Four
CLEVELAND — Their memories are blurry. Of AAU tournaments and Team USA practices. Of gold medals and deep 3s. Of the girl with the brown ponytail with the unlimited range who always seemed to know what was coming next and the blonde who never got rattled with the ball in...
Final Four serves up usual menu of fun stories — and UConn looks to snuff out all of them
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Final Four this week delivers the last entry in college basketball’s heartwarming yearbook, an annual assortment of legendary longshots, coaches looking for hugs and magic oozing from every corner of the bracket. Only problem with the 2024 version: UConn doesn’t believe in magic. The only thing...
Masters ’24: Capsules of 10 key players at Augusta NationalVideo
A capsule look at 10 key players for the Masters, to be played April 11-14 (listed in predicted order of finish): SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER Age: 27. Country: United States. World ranking: 1. Worldwide victories: 9. Majors: Masters (2022). Masters appearances: 4. Masters memory: Having such a large lead that he could...
South Carolina’s Dawn Staley is the AP Coach of the Year for the 2nd time
Dawn Staley did a masterful job guiding a young South Carolina team back to the Final Four with an undefeated record for the second straight season. Staley was honored Thursday as The Associated Press women’s college basketball Coach of the Year for the second time. She received 27 votes from...
