Weekday Morning Sports – Monday 3/19/18

sportsreport

NCAAMBB – Men’s College Basketball – 2018 NCAA Tournament – Round 2
Yesterday
East Region
2 Purdue 76, 10 Butler 73
5 West Virginia 94, 13 Marshall 71

Midwest Region
11 Syracuse 55, 3 Michigan State 53
5 Clemson 84, 4 Auburn  53

South Region
9 Kansas State 50, 16 UMBC 43
7 Nevada 75, 2 Cincinnati 73

West Region
7 Texas A&M 86, 2 North Carolina 65
9 Florida State 75, 1 Xavier 70

Syracuse 55, Michigan State 53 – 11th-seeded Syracuse beats 3rd-seeded Michigan State 55-53
The last team selected for the field of 68 is going to the round of 16.  Tyus Battle had 17 points and Oshae Brissett scored 15, lifting 11th-seeded Syracuse to a 55-53 win over third-seeded Michigan State on Sunday and into the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.  Cassius Winston missed an opportunity to win the game for the Spartans with a shot from about 45 feet just before the buzzer. The Spartans, flummoxed by Syracuse’s 2-3 zone, didn’t make a basket in the last 5:41.  The Orange (23-13) forced the Spartans (30-5) to settle for 3-pointers all afternoon. The Spartans took a school record 37 shots beyond the arc, making just eight of them.  Miles Bridges missed a 3 with a chance to tie with 11 seconds left and his college career likely is ending with a performance he would like to forget.  The sophomore star, who turned down a chance to go pro last year, was held scoreless for much of the first half and finished with 11 points on 4 of 18 shooting, making just 3 of 12 shots. Winston scored 15 and Nick Ward added 10 for MSU, who shot just 26 percent.

Thursday – Sweet 16
South Region – Phillips Arena – Atlanta, GA
11 Loyola-Chicago vs. 7 Nevada, 7:07 p.m.
9 Kansas State vs. 5 Kentucky, 9:37 p.m.

West Region – Staples Center – Los Angeles, CA
7 Texas A&M vs. 3 Michigan, 7:37 p.m.
9 Floriday State vs. 4 Gonzaga, 10:07 p.m.

Friday – Sweet 16
Midwest Region – CenturyLink Center – Omaha, NE
5 Clemson vs. 1 Kansas, 7:07 p.m.
11 Syracuse vs. 2 Duke, 9:37 p.m.

East Region – TD Garden – Boston, MA
5 West Virginia vs. 1 Villanova, 7:27 p.m.
3 Texas Tech vs. 2 Purdue, 9:57 p.m.

NCAAWBB – Women’s College Basketball – 2018 NCAA Tournament – Round 2
Yesterday
1 Notre Dame 98, 9 Villanova 72                                 Spokane Region – South Bend, IN
2 Baylor 80, 7 Michigan 58                                          Lexington Region – Waco, TX

Notre Dame 98, Villanova 72 – Notre Dame routs Villanova 98-72
Jessica Shepard had her fourth straight double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead Notre Dame, who found their way to the regional semifinals for the ninth straight season with a 98-72 victory over pesky Villanova. Arike Ogunbowale and Jackie Young had 24 points each and Marina Mabrey added 15 for the Irish (31-3), who held the Wildcats to just 27 second-half points in winning their 25th straight game at Purcell Pavilion.

Baylor 80, Michigan 58 – Baylor women to 10th Sweet 16 in row with win over Michigan
Lauren Cox had 18 points with 16 rebounds, and Baylor is going to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the 10th year in a row after an 80-58 win over Michigan on Sunday night.  The Big 12 champion Lady Bears (33-1) finally put Michigan away by scoring 13 consecutive points in the third quarter. They led 57-41 on a driving layup by Kalani Brown that capped the 4 1/2-minute spurt.  Hallie Thome had 22 points, her fourth straight 20-point game for Michigan (23-10). Katelynn Flaherty, Michigan’s career scoring leader, had 18 points on six 3-pointers.

Tonight
11 Central Michigan vs. 3 Ohio State, 6:30 p.m.          Spokane Region – Columbus, OH

NCAAWBB – Women’s College Basketball – 2018 Women’s NIT
Tonight
Toledo at Michigan State, 7:00 p.m

NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Colorado Avalanche 5, Detroit Red Wings 1
St. Louis Blues 5, Chicago Blackhawks 4 – OT

Avalanche 5, Red Wins 1 – MacKinnon scores twice, Avalanche beat reeling Red Wings 5-1
Nathan MacKinnon kept up his torrid scoring with two goals and an assist, Semyon Varlamov was sharp in making 37 saves and the Colorado Avalanche extended Detroit’s skid to 10 straight games by beating the Red Wings 5-1 on Sunday.  Gabriel Landeskog, Blake Comeau and Tyson Barrie also scored to help the Avalanche remain in playoff position with 10 games remaining.  Justin Abdelkader had a goal for the Red Wings, who fell to 0-9-1 during a winless streak in which they’ve been outscored by a 41-19 margin. It’s the team’s longest winless streak since a 12-game run in 1989.   Red Wings goaltender Jared Coreau made 26 stops

Blues 5, Blackhawks 4 – OT – Blues rally for 5-4 overtime win over Blackhawks
Patrik Berglund scored 3:31 into overtime, and the St. Louis Blues came from behind for a big 5-4 victory over the lowly Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. Defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Vince Dunn each had a goal and three assists for the Blues, who are trying to rally for a playoff wild card in the Western Conference. Alexander Steen had a goal and an assist, and Vladimir Sobotka also scored. St. Louis was trailing 4-3 with 1:22 left in regulation when Pietrangelo drove a long slap shot past a screened Jean-Francois Berube for his 15th of the season. Berglund then got the winner when his shot trickled under Berube in OT. Alex DeBrincat scored three times for last-place Chicago, which has dropped five of six, including its first loss to Buffalo since December 2009 on Saturday. David Kampf also scored, and Berube made 36 saves.

NBA – National Basketball Association
Tonight
Los Angeles Lakers at Indiana Pacers, 7:00 p.m.
Chicago Bulls at New York Knicks, 7:30 p.m.
Detroit Pistons at Sacramento Kings, 10:00 p.m.

MLB – Major League Baseball – Spring Training
Yesterday
Tampa Bay Rays 10, Detroit Tigers 5
Oakland A’s 14, Chicago White Sox 0
Kansas City Royals 11, Chicago Cubs (SS) 9
Cleveland Indians (SS) 11, Chicago Cubs (SS) 4

Today
Baltimore Orioles at Detroit Tigers 1:05 p.m.                    Lakeland, FL
Chicago White Sox at Arizona Diamondbacks, 4:05 p.m.     Scottsdale, AZ
Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati Reds, 4:05 p.m.                          Goodyear, AZ

MLB – Polanco punished by MLB for PEDs
Minnesota Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco has been suspended 80 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.  Polanco tested positive for Stanozolol and became the sixth player to be banned this year under the major league drug program, one more than last year.  Polanco hit .256 with 13 home runs and 74 RBIs last season while starting 127 games at shortstop.

PGA – McIlroy rallies to win at Bay Hill
Rory McIlroy birdied five of his final six holes to close with an 8-under 64 and win the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. McIlroy capped his charge by sinking a 25-foot putt, giving him his first win since September 2016. The final birdie left him two shots ahead of Bryson DeChambeau. Tiger Woods was one shot off the lead until hitting out-of-bounds on the 16th hole to fall back into a tie for fifth. Justin Rose was third, four shots back and one ahead of third-round leader
Henrik Stenson.

NASCAR – Truex wins
NASCAR’s reigning Cup champ has his first win of the year. Martin Truex Jr. easily held off defending Fontana champ Kyle Larson to win the Auto Club 400 at the California track. Truex dominated after Kevin Harvick’s quest for a fourth consecutive victory essentially ended with an early smack into the wall. Truex led 125 laps overall while winning both stages and finishing 11 seconds ahead of Larson. Kyle Busch was third, followed by Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.

NFL – Lions sign RB LeGarrette Blount and re-sign RB Zach Zenner
The Detroit Lions added depth in the backfield, signing LeGarrette Blount and re-signing Zach Zenner.  Detroit signed both players Friday to compete with Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick for carries this year.   Blount, an unrestricted free agent, ran for a team-high 766 yards and two touchdowns during the regular season last year in Philadelphia and scored three touchdowns during the Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning run. He previously played for the New England Patriots, who used to employ Detroit general manager Bob Quin and coach Matt Patricia.  Blount, who has also played for Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, has run for 5,888 yards and 51 touchdowns in his career along with catching 54 passes for 387 yards and two scores. Zenner, who was a restricted free agent this offseason, played in eight games last season and ran for 26 yards and a TD. Over his three-year career with the Lions, Zenner has 119 carries for 420 yards and five touchdowns along with 20 receptions for 207 yards.

NCAAHKY – Men’s College Hockey
Two Big Ten teams have earned number one seeds in this year’s NCAA Hockey Tournament.   Big Ten Conference champion Notre Dame earned the top seed in the East Regional in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  The Irish will face Michigan Tech on Friday, the winner will face the winner of the Providence/Clarkson game.    Ohio State who lost the Big Ten championship game to Notre Dame on Saturday night in South Bend are the number one seed in the Midwest Region in Allentown, PA.  The Buckeyes will face Princeton.  The other Regional semifinal features another Big Ten team, Penn State who face off against Denver.   Michigan is the 4th Big Ten team in the NCAA Tournament, the Wolverines are the 2nd seed in the Northeast Regional in Worcester, MA. and will face Northeastern.  The top seed in that region is Cornell and they’ll face Boston University.   The Tournament’s top overall seed is St. Cloud State who face Air Force, the other West Semifinal is Minnesota State against Minnesota Duluth.   The NCAA Frozen Four will take place in St. Paul, Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center on April 5 and 7.

NCAAWHKY – Women’s College Hockey – Clarkson wins 2nd straight NCAA crown
Elizabeth Giguere scored 7:55 into overtime and Clarkson won its second straight NCAA womens’ hockey title and third in five years with a 2-1 win over Colgate on Sunday.  Giguere stole the puck from a defender just outside the Colgate blue lane, got around the stumbling player, and briefly went down on one knee to keep her balance before faking a move to the right and going left to tuck the puck behind Julia Vandyk. Cassidy Vinkle also scored for the Golden Knights (36-4-1), playing its third straight tournament overtime game. Shea Tiley had 27 saves. Every game in the 2018 Frozen Four went past three periods. Clarkson beat Ohio State 1-0 in overtime in its semifinal; Colgate beat Wisconsin 4-3 in double-overtime. The is the third overtime title game in history: Minnesota-Duluth beat Cornell 3-2 in three overtimes in 2010 and the Bulldogs beat Harvard 4-3 in double-overtime in 2003.

ECHL – East Coast Hockey League
Yesterday
Toledo Walleye 4, Cincinnati Cyclones 1