Wolverines fall to Villanova 63-55 – Friday Morning Sports Update

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NCAAMBKB – Men’s NCAA Tournament – Sweet 16
Last Night
South Region – AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
3 Villanova 63, 11 Michigan 55
5 Houston 72, 1 Arizona 60

Villanova 63, Michigan 55 – Samuels powers Villanova over Michigan 63-55 in Sweet 16
Jermaine Samuels scored 22 points and Villanova controlled Michigan in a 63-55 Sweet 16 victory in the NCAA Tournament. Much of Samuels’ scoring effort came on tough drives through Michigan defenders and around Wolverines center Hunter Dickinson. Dickinson had 15 points and 15 rebounds for Michigan. The No. 2 seed Wildcats advance to the South Regional final to play No. 5 Houston, which beat one-seed Arizona.

West Region – Chase Center, San Francisco, CA
4 Arkansas 74, 1 Gonzaga 68
2 Duke 78, 3 Texas Tech 73

Tonight
East Region – Wells Fargo Arena, Philadelphia
3 Purdue vs. 15 Saint Peter’s, 7:09 p.m.
4 UCLA vs. 8 North Carolina, 9:39 p.m.

Midwest Region – United Center, Chicago
4 Providence vs.1 Kansas, 7:29 p.m.
11 Iowa State vs. 10 Miami-FL, 9:59 p.m.

NCAAWBKB – Women’s NCAA Tournament – Sweet 16
Tonight
Greensboro Region – Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro NC
1 South Carolina vs. 5 North Carolina, 7:00 p.m.
3 Iowa State vs. 10 Creighton, 9:30 p.m.

Spokane Region – Spokane Arena, Spokane, WA
2 Texas vs. 6 Ohio State, 7:00 p.m.
1 Stanford vs. 4 Maryland, 9:30 p.m.

Saturday
Bridgeport Region – Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport, CT
1 NC State vs. 5 Notre Dame, 11:30 a.m.
2 UConn vs. 3 Indiana, 2:00 p.m.

Wichita Region – Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita, KS
1 Louisville vs. 4 Tennessee, 4:00 p.m.
3 Michigan vs. 10 South Dakota, 6:30 p.m.

NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
New Orleans Pelicans 126, Chicago Bulls 109
Memphis Grizzlies 133, Indiana Pacers 103

Pelicans 126, Bulls 109 – Graham, McCollum lead Pelicans past Bulls 126-109
Devonte’ Graham hit five 3-pointers on his way to a season-high 30 points, CJ McCollum scored 25 and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Chicago Bulls 126-109. Jonas Valanciunas added 16 points and 19 rebounds for the Pelicans, who won for the fourth time in six games as they try to solidify their hold on a Western Conference play-in spot. Zach LaVine scored 39 points and Coby White added 23 for Chicago. The Bulls played without leading scorer DeMar DeRozan because of his left groin injury and lost for the fifth time in six games. Pelicans undrafted rookie Jose Alvarado scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Grizzlies 133, Pacers 103 – Bane has 30, Grizzlies rout Pacers 133-103 for playoff spot
Desmond Bane scored 30 points, hitting 12 of 15 shots, and the Memphis Grizzlies built a big lead early before coasting to a 133-103 victory over the Indiana Pacers, clinching a spot in the playoffs. Jaren Jackson Jr. finished with 20 points, going 7 of 13 from the field, as the Grizzlies shot 54%. Stephenson led the Pacers with 25 points, while Terry Taylor had 17. Goga Bitadze finished with 14.

Tonight
Washington Wizards at Detroit Pistons, 7:00 p.m.

NYC/Covid – NYC lifts vaccine rule that blocked athletes from home games
New York City’s mayor has exempted athletes and performers from the city’s vaccine mandate. But the decision announced by Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday does not include countless government and private workers, some of whom have lost their jobs for refusing to get vaccinated. Police and other unions are blasting the mayor for seemingly treating the wealthy and famous differently. Adams says the exemption is necessary because athletes and performers bring important money into the city. Before the change, unvaccinated Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving was barred from playing in home games, and several baseball players were expected to be blocked from taking the field.

NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
New York Islanders 5, Detroit Red Wings 2
Chicago Blackhawks 4, Los Angeles Kings 3 – Shootout

Islanders 5, Red Wings 2 – Nelson, Sorokin lead Islanders past Red Wings 5-2
Brock Nelson scored twice and Ilya Sorokin made 37 saves to lead the New York Islanders over the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 for their sixth straight home victory. Anthony Beauvillier had a goal just nine seconds into the game for the second-fastest score in Islanders history. Oliver Wahlstrom and Josh Bailey also scored for the Islanders who improved to 8-4-1 overall since March 1 and 7-1-1 in their last nine games. Anders Lee had three assists and Mathew Barzal added two. Pius Suter and Sam Gagner scored for the Red Wings.

Blackhawks 4, Kings 3 – SO – DeBrincat’s shootout goal propels Blackhawks over Kings 4-3
Alex DeBrincat had a goal and an assist in regulation and then scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. Patrick Kane also had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks. Chicago has won two straight for the first time since reeling off four consecutive victories in the middle of January. Sam Lafferty also scored. Collin Delia made 43 saves. Phillip Danault scored twice for the Kings for his fourth multigoal game of the season. Danault also has a career-high 21 goals. Trevor Moore added a short-handed score for Los Angeles.

NCAA Hockey – NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament
Last Night
2 Notre Dame 2, 3 North Dakota 1 – OT           Albany Regional – MVP Arena, Albany, NY        
2 Minnesota Duluth 3, 3 Michigan Tech 0        Loveland Regional – Budweiser Events Center, Loveland, CO

Today
1 Western Michigan vs.4 Northeastern, 12:00 p.m.    Worcester Regional – DCU Center, Worcester, MA           
1 Michigan vs. 4 American International, 3:00 p.m.    Allentown Regional – PPL Center, Allentown, PA

IIHF – IIHF calls for ethics probe of Russian federation, Fasel
The International Ice Hockey Federation council has referred the Russian Hockey Federation and former IIHF president Rene Fasel to an independent ethics board for investigation over issues related to the war in Ukraine. The IIHF cited Russia’s instructions to the KHL to support the war. it also noted Fasel’s involvement with Russia and his comments about the invasion. Fasel served as IIHF president from 1994-2021. He has since taken a job as an adviser to the KHL, the elite Russian hockey league. Fasel criticized the IIHF to state media after his former organization banned Russia and Belarus from upcoming competitions.

MLB – Major League Baseball – Spring Training
Yesterday
Detroit Tigers 5, New York Yankees 3 – 7 Inn.
San Francisco Giants 9, Chicago White Sox 6
Los Angeles Angels 5, Chicago Cubs 4

Today
Detroit Tigers at Toronto Blue Jays, 1:07 p.m.
Colorado Rockies at Chicago Cubs, 4:05 p.m.
Chicago White Sox at Seattle Mariners, 9:40 p.m.

NFL – Bills stand to lose Bates after OL signs Bears’ offer sheet
A person with direct knowledge of the decision tells The Associated Press that Bills offensive lineman Ryan Bates has agreed to sign an offer sheet with the Chicago Bears. The move puts Buffalo in a position to have to match Chicago’s offer or lose the third-year player without compensation. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the discussions are private. The Chicago Tribune first reported the move earlier in the day. The Bills last week retained the restricted free agent’s rights by tendering Bates a one-year, $2.4 million contract offer.

NFL – Denver Broncos stadium fire torches seats, suite area
Firefighters have extinguished a blaze that torched several rows of seats and a suite area at the Denver Broncos’ stadium. The fire broke out on the fourth level at Empower Field at Mile High on Thursday afternoon and spread to the third level, where it burned at least six rows of seats in two sections. Firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control but were trying to determine if it had spread to other areas of the stadium, which seats more than 76,000 people. No injuries were reported, and investigators have not said what caused the fire.

NASCAR – NASCAR hits Keselowski with huge fine for modifying Next Gen
NASCAR has issued steep penalties against Brad Keselowski and his new race team for illegally modifying a supplied part on the Next Gen car. Keselowski was docked 100 driver points and the No. 6 Ford team docked 100 owner points. Crew chief Matt McCall was fined $100,000 and suspended from the next four Cup races. The penalty plunged the 2012 NASCAR champion from 16th in the current standings to 35th — behind every other full-time driver in the field. Keselowski will also be docked 10 playoff points should he recover to make the playoff field.

Michigan law adds mandatory reporters after Nassar scandal
Physical and occupational therapists, and athletic trainers are now required to report suspected child abuse or neglect under a new Michigan law that follows the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this week signed the legislation. It comes more than four years after the former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University sports doctor was sentenced to a virtual life sentence for his conviction on child pornography charges and sexually abusing athletes. Several athletes testified during victim impact statements in 2018 that over the course of Nassar’s more than two decades of sexual abuse they told adults what was happening, including athletic trainers, and it went unreported.

MHSAA – High School Sports
Last Night
Girls Soccer
Dowagiac 8, Hartford 0
Three Rivers 2, Parchment 1

Boys Basketball – State Semifinals   
Division 3 at Michigan State University
Menominee 74, Ecorse 56
Schoolcraft 55, Flint Beecher 39

Division 4 at Michigan State University
Ewen-Trout Creek 62, Lake Leelanau St. Mary 56
Wyoming Tri-unity Christian 77, Genesee Christian 33

Tonight
Girls Soccer
Paw Paw at Mattawan, 6:30 p.m.
Battle Creek Central at Wyoming Lee, 6:00 p.m.
Sturgis at Coldwater, 5:30 p.m.

Softball
Lawrence at Bangor, 4:30 p.m. (DH)
Hartford at South Haven, 4:00 p.m. (DH)

Baseball
Lawrence at Bangor, 4:30 p.m. (DH)
Hartford at South Haven, 4:00 p.m. (DH)
Constantine at Marcellus, 4:30 p.m. (DH)
B.C. Central at Galesburg-Augusta, 4:00 p.m. (DH)

Boys Basketball – State Semifinals   
Division 1 at Michigan State University
Warren DeLaSalle (18-7) vs Grand Rapids Northview (25-1), 12:00 p.m.
Grand Blanc (20-5) vs Belleville (19-6), 2:00 p.m.

Division 2 at Michigan State University
Grand Rapids Catholic Central (24-1) vs Ferndale (21-3), 5:30 p.m.
Williamston (25-0) vs Freeland (25-0), 7:30 p.m.

Saturday
Boys Basketball – State Finals
***All games will air on News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM***
Division 4
Ewen-Trout Creek (22-3) vs Wyoming Tri-unity Christian (20-6), 10:00 a.m.

Division 1
Teams TBA, 12:15 pm

Division 3
Menominee (23-3) vs Schoolcraft (24-2), 4:30 p.m.

Division 2
Teams TBA, 6:45 pm

Girls Soccer
St. Joseph at Holland Christian, 11:45 a.m.