on Page 645 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Seasons for Rockets, 76ers heading in different directions
Looking to extend their season-best six-game winning streak, the surging Houston Rockets will look to take advantage of the undermanned visiting Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.,Primed for a return to the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2020, Houston (43-25) pulled even with the Denver Nuggets fo...

Midwest Region: Top seed Houston looks primed for Final Four run
The top-seeded Houston Cougars have been knocking on the door in recent seasons and now appear primed to make a championship run.,Houston has reached the Sweet 16 the past five times the NCAA Tournament has been played. That includes a Final Four appearance in 2021 and the Elite Eight in 2022.,Last ...

Eight teams most likely to make Women's Final Four
Some teams are riding the momentum of having won their conference tournament championship.,Some are hoping the break after the conference tournaments enables them to regain their season-long form after experiencing some slippage down the stretch.,And everyone is hoping to be as healthy and rejuvenat...

West Region: Intriguing coaching matchups loom in early rounds
When the NCAA Selection Committee members filled out the West Region bracket, they must have been looking ahead to potential coaching matchups in the second round.,How else to explain this:,Todd Golden, the coach of top-seeded Florida, has never won an NCAA Tournament game. If he gets the first one,...

SMU, Dayton among top seeds in NIT as teams decline bids
SMU, Dayton, UC Irvine and San Francisco are the No. 1 seeds in the 2025 National Invitation Tournament, organizers revealed Sunday night.,Only four of the 32 teams in the field -- SMU, Stanford, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State -- hail from one of the five power conferences, marking a potentially sh...

South Region: Despite recent struggles, Auburn is No. 1 overall for a reason
The top overall seed, Auburn, lives here. Even though the Tigers wobbled a bit at the end of the regular season and Southeastern Conference tournament with three losses in four games, they still amassed a whopping 16 Quad 1 wins from a 28-5 worksheet.,They might have the nation's best player in John...

Iowa State loses G Keshon Gilbert to injury before NCAA Tournament
Iowa State's run in the NCAA Tournament will come without standout senior guard Keshon Gilbert, who has been ruled out because of a groin injury, coach T.J. Otzelberger announced Sunday.,The Cyclones (24-9), ranked No. 12 in the nation, are seeded third in the South Region with a first-round game Fr...

East Region: No. 1 Duke's chance for title run goes through Cooper Flagg
A decade has passed since Duke won its most recent of five national championships, the longest title drought for the program since claiming its first in 1991. All five of those titles came under the direction of legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski.,Duke has the firepower in 2025 to end an excruciating w...

UCLA grabs No. 1 overall seed in Women's NCAA Tournament
For nearly a monthlong span, UCLA wasn't the best team in its own city, losing twice to Southern California in conference play.,But after defeating USC in the Big Ten championship, the Bruins (30-2) regained Los Angeles bragging rights -- and on Sunday, they earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA...

Ex-Rookie of the Year Paul Flatley dies at 84
Former NFL Rookie of the Year Paul Flatley of the Minnesota Vikings has died, the team said Sunday. He was 84.,Flatley died on Saturday, according to the team.,<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Vikings?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">...

Pistons' composure under the microscope against hobbled Pelicans
The Detroit Pistons surged into a strong playoff position by going 10-1 in a stretch that began Feb. 7.,Since then, they've lost four of six, including their last two.,They'll try to get back on a winning track when they begin a three-game road trip by facing the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night...

Dain Dainja helps No. 16 Memphis beat UAB for AAC title
Dain Dainja registered a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and too-seeded Memphis pulled away for an 84-72 win over UAB to win the American Athletic Conference tournament on Sunday afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas., ,P.J. Haggerty scored a team-high 23 points for No. 16 Memphis (29-5), whi...

No. 22 Michigan forges comeback vs. No. 18 Wisconsin for Big Ten tourney title
Tre Donaldson scored all 11 of his points in the final 8:35 as No. 22 Michigan rallied from an 11-point deficit to claim a 59-53 victory over No. 18 Wisconsin for the Big Ten tournament championship Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis.,Donaldson, who was the hero in Saturday's semifinal win over Maryla...

Team Vitality sweep grand final at ESL Pro League Season 21
Team Vitality blanked MOUZ in three maps at the grand final of the ESL Pro League Season 21, winning the championship on Sunday in Stockholm.,Vitality, who also won the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice event last month in Poland, added to their trophy case at the three-stage, $400,000 tournament in Sw...

Nashville SC hand Union first loss of season
Ahmed Qasem scored his second goal in as many career MLS starts, Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar each added their first of the season and Nashville SC pulled off a 3-1 upset victory over the Philadelphia Union on Sunday afternoon in Chester, Pa.,Mukhtar scored on a penalty late in the second half foll...

Conference finals roundup: VCU, Yale win titles
Max Shulga scored 12 of his game-high 18 points after halftime and No. 1 seed VCU never trailed in a narrow 68-63 victory over No. 2 seed George Mason to win the Atlantic-10 championship game on Sunday in Washington, D.C.,The Rams (28-6) punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the second tim...

Rams re-sign RB Ronnie Rivers to 1-year deal
The Los Angeles Rams will bring back backup running back Ronnie Rivers, with multiple outlets reporting Sunday the deal is for one year.,No financial terms were reported.,Rivers, 26, ran for 99 yards on 22 carries as the third-string running back behind starter Kyren Williams and backup Blake Corum....

Lightning suspends play during final round at The Players
With the leaders midway through their final round Sunday, play was suspended at The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., due to lightning in the area.,Heavy rain also started to fall in the final round, which saw starting times moved up and the bottom portion of the leaderboard forced to...

Team Liquid topple Tundra Esports to win PGL Wallachia Season 3
Team Liquid recorded a 3-1 win over Tundra Esports on Sunday to win the grand final of the PGL Wallachia Season 3 in Bucharest, Romania.,Liquid got off to a fast start by posting a 54-minute victory on green and a 37-minute triumph on red before Tundra Esports responded with a 33-minute win on red. ...

Astros again hand ball to LHP Framber Valdez for opener
Left-hander Framber Valdez was named the Houston Astros' Opening Day starter for a fourth time, manager Joe Espada announced Sunday.,The Astros open their 2024 schedule on March 27 at home against the New York Mets.,In the Astros' opener last season against the New York Yankees at home, Valdez gave ...