It's Villanova, Oklahoma first to the Final Four

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)— Villanova is going to its first Final Four since 2009 as the Wildcats pursue their first national championship since their miracle victory over Georgetown in 1985.

Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
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'Nova knocked out Kansas, the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, with a 64-59 victory to win the South Regional title. That ends the Jayhawks' 17-game winning streak.

Kris Jenkins, Josh Hart and Ryan Arcidiacono each scored 13 points for the second-seeded Wildcats, who used a 10-0 run to take a 50-45 lead. Devonte Graham led Kansas with 17.

Villanova has its work cut out in next Saturday's national semifinal against Oklahoma. The Wildcats lost to the Sooners 78-55 last Dec. 7 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in their last meeting.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Second seed Oklahoma cruised to the West Regional title by dusting top seed Oregon 80-68. National player of the year candidate Bobby Hield poured in a game-high 37 points, including 8 of 13 three-pointers to lead the Sooners into their fifth Final Four, but first since 2002. It's the 12th time this season Hield has hit for at least 30.

Jordan Woodard added 13 points for the Sooners, who streaked to an 18-point lead in the first half and never let the Ducks back in it.

The Ducks were denied their first trip to the Final Four in 77 years, which was the first NCAA tournament. Elgin Cook was high man for Oregon with 24.

NCAA-ACC

All-ACC Sunday in 2 regional finals

UNDATED (AP)— This mini-Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament has even higher stakes than usual: The ACC is assured of at least two spots in the Final Four with one winner earning a spot in the national championship game. ACC teams are 16-3 in the NCAA tourney.

The entire right side of the NCAA Tournament bracket has boiled down to four teams — and they're all from the ACC--North Carolina and Notre Dame in the East, and Virginia and Syracuse in the Midwest.

The Cavaliers and Orange are facing off in the Midwest final in Chicago on Sunday.

Following that, the Tar Heels and Fighting Irish play Sunday in the East Regional final in Philadelphia.

Because those regions are paired in the Final Four, those winners will meet next Saturday night on the big stage in Houston with a spot in the national title game on the line.

WOMEN'S NCAA TOURNAMENT

UConn wins again

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — Breanna Stewart had 22 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks as No. 1 overall seed Connecticut destroyed fifth seed Mississippi State in a regional semifinal of the women's NCAA Tournament, 98-38. The win was the 72nd straight for UConn, which is 35-0 this season, and left the Huskies three victories shy of an unprecedented fourth consecutive national championship.

UConn next takes on 31-4 Texas, which earned the regional final by eliminating UCLA 72-64.

In the Dallas regional, Baylor routed Florida State 78-58. The Bears take on Oregon State game in the final. Oregon State beat DePaul 83-71.

MEN-DIVISION TWO

Augustana wins first national title

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Daniel Jansen scored 25 points and added nine rebounds to lead Augustana of South Dakota to the NCAA Division II championship, 90-81 over top-ranked Lincoln Memorial of Tennessee.

The Vikings finished 34-2. They won their first national title by outrebounding Lincoln Memorial 42-36 and making 21 of 27 free throws.

NBA-SCHEDULE

Thunder run win streak to 7

UNDATED (AP)— Kevin Durant scored 31 points and Russell Westbrook added 29 to help the Thunder defeat the short-handed San Antonio Spurs 111-92. That's the Thunder's seventh straight victory.

Enes Kanter had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Serge Ibaka added 15 points and eight rebounds for Oklahoma City.

It wasn't the late-season showdown that was anticipated when the schedule first came out — the Spurs rested stars Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.

In other NBA action:

__ LeBron James had 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in his third triple-double of the season and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the New York Knicks 107-93. Kevin Love added 28 points and 12 rebounds.

__ Paul Millsap had 23 points and nine rebounds, and the Atlanta Hawks snapped the Detroit Pistons' five-game winning streak, 112-95.

— Toronto tied a franchise record with its 49th victory, 115-91 over New Orleans. DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points and Patrick Patterson had 16.

— Gordon Hayward scored 16 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and the road-weary Utah Jazz finished a five-game road trip with a 93-84 victory over Minnesota.

— Orlando journeyman center Dewayne Dedmon scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Jason Smith added 14 off the bench and the Magic dealt the Chicago Bulls a blow to their fading playoff hopes, 111-89.

— Nicolas Batum scored 23 of his 25 points in the first half and the Charlotte Hornets used a 3-point barrage to rout the Milwaukee Bucks 115-91. Charlotte connected on 16 of 29 3-pointers.

__ Portland held off Philadelphia 108-105. C.J. McCollum hit for 25.

__ Boston shaded Phoenix 102-99. Isaiah Thomas had a big night for the Celtics with 28 points, six rebounds and three assists.

— Brook Lopez scored 23 points, Bojan Bogdanovic added 18, and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Indiana Pacers 120-110.

NHL-SCHEDULE

Four straight shutouts for Blues...Parise on fire on ice

UNDATED (AP) — Jake Allen made 32 saves with regular starter Brian Elliott back home resting and the St. Louis Blues beat the NHL-leading Washington Capitals 4-0 on Saturday night for their fourth consecutive shutout.

St. Louis won for the 10th time in 12 games and kept pace with the Dallas Stars atop the Central Division.

Kyle Brodziak, Colton Parayko, Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrik Berglund scored for the Blues.

In other hockey:

— Dallas doubled up San Jose 4-2 to stay in first place in the Central Division. Mattias Janmark returned to the lineup from injury and posted his first career two-goal game. Antti Niemi made 34 saves against his former team. The Stars have won four of five

— Zach Parise scored twice, Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves for his 19th NHL shutout and the surging Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-0 a pivotal game between two teams contending for the final Western Conference playoff spot. Parise has five goals in his last two games. The Wild moved five points ahead of Colorado for eighth place in the playoff race.

— Cal Clutterbuck scored a deflected goal with 13.8 seconds left in overtime, and the New York Islanders beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3.

—The Florida Panthers took over first place in the Atlantic Division by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2. Jaromir Jagr had a goal and an assist. Roberto Luongo made 33 saves.

— Boston beat Toronto 3-1. Zdeno Chara snapped a 20-game goal drought and the Bruins ended a season-long five-game losing streak.

— Rickard Rakell scored a power-play goal in overtime and the Anaheim Ducks finished with four straight goals to beat the Ottawa Senators 4-3.

— Shea Weber and James Neal each had a goal and an assist to lead the Nashville Predators to a 5-1 victory over Columbus.

— Chris Kreider had two goals and an assist and the New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-2.

— Winnipeg has been eliminated from playoff contention. The Jets were 3-2 losers to the Sabres as Sam Reinhart tied the game and then set up Jack Eichel's go-ahead goal 4:07 left.

— The Penguins have won seven of eight and remain in the hunt for a playoff berth. They stopped the Red Wings 7-2 as Carl Hagelin scored twice and Phil Kessel had a goal and four assists in the win.

— The Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks beat Calgary 4-1. Andrew Ladd scored twice to give him 22 goals.

__ The L.A. Kings beat Edmonton 6-4. Tyler Toffoli lit the lamp twice and added two assists. He has 29 goals.

__ And Arizona held off Philadelphia 2-1. Shane Doan scored his 26th goal.

MLB-NEWS

Notes from spring training

UNDATED (AP) — The world champion Royals have named Edinson Volquez as their opening day starter on April 3 against the Mets. It'll be a rematch of the final game of the World Series as the Royals are facing the Mets, who have named Matt Harvey as their starter. Volquez, who was 13-9 with a 3.55 ERA last season, limited the Mets to five runs over two starts in the World Series.

— Veteran Joba Chamberlain has made the opening day roster for the Indians. He had signed a free agent contract with the team on Dec. 1. In eight innings this spring, the right hander has given up seven hits and three runs. He walked five and struck out seven and has an ERA of 3.38.

—The Reds and veteran right-handed pitcher Ross Ohlendorf have agreed to a one-year major league contract. He was released by Kansas City on Wednesday after making eight appearances. He pitched nine innings, allowing six runs on nine hits and three walks. Ohlendorf pitched for the Rangers last season.

— The Milwaukee Brewers will start the season without reliever Will Smith, who suffered a torn ligament in his right knee while taking his spikes off after a game. Smith says he was getting ready to shower after pitching in a minor league game on Thursday and was standing on one leg to take off his other shoe when he lost his balance and twisted the knee.

MLB-CUBA PROTEST

Angry fan throws beer into Rays dugout

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — A man apparently angered by the Tampa Bay Rays' recent trip to Cuba made his way onto the field and threw a full can of beer into the team's dugout Saturday night during a spring training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Nobody was hurt. A member of the Pirates' grounds crew and Rays third base coach Charlie Montoyo restrained the protester until police arrived, briefly delaying the game.

The man was arrested and will be charged with causing a fray, trespassing and assault. Police would not yet identify the man.

GOLF-MATCH PLAY

Oosty vs. Bello and Day vs. McIlroy in semifinals

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Jordan Spieth has been eliminated from the Dell Match Play. He was ousted by Louis Oosthuizen on the fourth day of play and in doing so lost his World No. 1 ranking. By winning his match, Jason Day, the winner of the PGA Championship last year, moved past Spieth for the top spot in the rankings.

Rory McIlroy will play Day in one of Sunday's semifinals. Louis Oosthuizen plays 52nd seed Rafa Cabrera Bello of Spain in the other semifinal with the winners meeting Sunday afternoon in the Match Play championship

GOLF-PUERTO RICO OPEN

Poulter on the lead

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Ian Poulter will start the final round of the PGA's Puerto Rico Open on top of the scoreboard. He toured the course for the third round at 4-under to finish play 11-under. Three players are a shot back. The trio consists of Tony Finau, Jonathan Byrd and Steve Marino. Finau had the best round of the group with a 5-under 67.

LPGA-KIA CLASSIC

Ko moves in front

CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) — Top-ranked Lydia Ko made three straight birdies early on the back nine in the Kia Classic and finished with a 5-under 67 to take a three-stroke lead.

Ko closed with five straight pars to reach 14-under 202 at Aviara in the final event before the major ANA Inspiration next week in Rancho Mirage

 

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