U.S./World Sports category, Page 58

AUSTIN, Texas — William Byron won the Daytona 500 with an agonizing final lap under a caution flag. He took the checkered flag Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas at full throttle. Byron started from pole position and delivered a dominant drive in NASCAR’s first road course race of...

PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Peter Malnati got a great break with the tournament on the line and followed that with an even better shot, making a late birdie on his way to a 4-under-par 67 to win the Valspar Championship on Sunday and earn his first trip to the Masters....

INDIANAPOLIS — Tyler Kolek had 21 points and 11 assists, and David Joplin made two free throws with 7.4 seconds left to help Marquette finally beat Colorado 81-77 on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In their third season under coach Shaka Smart, the second-seeded Golden Eagles...

LAS VEGAS — Perfect brackets on the ESPN Tournament Challenge site fell hard after second-seeded Ohio State exited Sunday in the second-round action of the women’s NCAA Tournament. Seventh-seeded Duke rallied from 16 points down to defeat the Buckeyes 75-63, causing 1,283 perfect brackets to drop to 154. Just .05%...

The finale played at PPG Paints Arena Saturday as part of the NCAA Tournament’s slate of first-weekend games in Pittsburgh proved to be a March Madness classic, with Creighton and Oregon duking it out in double overtime before the Bluejays came out on top, 86-73. In the first game of...

No one had more fun Saturday night than D.J. Burns, the mountain of a man who scored 24 points to lead N.C. State to a 79-73 overtime victory against Oakland at PPG Paints Arena. He played more than 42 of the game’s 45 minutes, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out four...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Former Valparaiso legend Homer Drew is racking up frequent flyer miles crossing the country to support his sons while they coach in the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Scott and Bryce Drew are trying to lead their teams into the Sweet 16. Their 79-year-old father watched...

PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Keith Mitchell capped off a magnificent run through the “Snake Pit” at Innisbrook on Saturday with a shot he never saw go in. His 7-iron from the 18th fairway one-hopped into the hole for eagle and a 5-under-par and a two-shot lead in the Valspar Championship....

NEW YORK — James Madison announced itself by beating a Big Ten team to start this season. When the Dukes did it again to start their NCAA Tournament, they made sure everybody knew: “It’s not an upset,” Xavier Brown yelled, popping his jersey in the middle of the celebration with...

SPOKANE, Wash. — A year ago, Yale’s John Poulakidas and August Mahoney were stuck at home watching the Ivy League champion make a magical NCAA Tournament run. The two Bulldogs wanted a taste of what that was like. Given the opportunity on Friday, they helped Yale become the latest Ivy...

N.C. State had a losing record in the ACC (9-11), finished behind nine teams in the standings and lost to Pitt twice. Yet the Wolfpack will be inside PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night competing against Oakland — an 11 seed against a 14 seed — for a spot in...

When Oakland coach Greg Kampe climbed the steps to the stage Friday afternoon for the final news conference before his team’s game Saturday night against N.C. State, few knew the truth. The 68-year-old man had not been to sleep since the night before Oakland’s victory Thursday against Kentucky at PPG...

No. 14 Oakland vs. No. 11 N.C. State 7:10 p.m. Saturday, PPG Paints Arena TV: TBS Winner plays: Winner of Colorado (26-10)/Marquette (26-9) on March 28-29 in Sweet 16 Series history: First all-time meeting. Oakland (24-11, 18-5 Horizon League) Coach: Greg Kampe (40th season) How they got here: Oakland upset...

When the third-seeded Creighton Bluejays take the court Saturday for their NCAA Tournament second-round game with 11th-seeded Oregon at PPG Paints Arena, the past and present of their basketball program will intersect. Coaching the Ducks is Dana Altman, who previously coached at Creighton from 1994-2010. After Altman’s departure for Oregon,...

No. 11 Oregon vs. No. 3 Creighton 9:40 p.m. Saturday, PPG Paints Arena TV: TBS Winner plays: Winner of No. 2 Tennessee (25-8)/No. 7 Texas (21-12) March 28-29 in the Sweet 16 Series history: Oregon leads the all-time series 2-1. Oregon (24-11, 15-8 Pac-12) Coach: Dana Altman (14th season) How...

N.C. State opened the NCAA Tournament where it left off in conference play — with a win. The surprising Wolfpack have been doing that a lot lately. Ben Middlebrooks scored a season-high 21 points, Mohamad Diarra went for 17 points and 12 rebounds, and ACC champion N.C. State used its...

John Calipari finished the postgame handshake line and made a beeline toward the locker room. A quick exit. Another early one for Kentucky. As Calipari walked off the floor at PPG Paints Arena in what had been an otherwise warm return trip to his blue-collar Western Pennsylvania roots, he kept...

LAS VEGAS — Kentucky’s 80-76 loss to Oakland didn’t just end a bunch of perfect brackets. It all but ruined many when it comes to the big picture. The third-seeded Wildcats were picked in 95% of brackets in the ESPN Tournament Challenge to beat the 14th-seeded Golden Grizzlies. What’s more,...

During Jack Gohlke’s previous trip into Pittsburgh in late February, he scored nine points against Robert Morris. It took less than a month, but his return to the city with the 14th-seeded Oakland Golden Grizzlies put him on the brink of celebrity status. Gohlke, a senior who started his college...