COLLEGE BASKETBALL
The Men’s NCAA Tournament Final Four has been set with UConn, Florida Atlantic, San Diego State and Miami traveling to Houston next week to play for the national title.
Florida Atlantic, San Diego State and Miami will make their first appearance in college basketball’s grand final, the first time since 1970 that three first-timers appeared in the same year.
There will be no No. 1 seed in the Final Four for the first time since 2011. Instead, there will be 9 seed Florida Atlantic, a pair of 5 seeds in SDSU and Miami, and 4 seed UConn. The combined total of the four teams is 23, the second-highest total since seeding began in 1979. It marks the first time that no top 3 seed has made it.
Saturday’s games: San Diego State vs. FAU, in a not-so-classic 5-on-9 matchup. In the later game, it’s the Hurricanes as 5 1/2-point underdogs against FanDuel Sportsbook’s heavy favorite UConn, at minus-135 , to bring home a fifth national title.
Two No. 1 seeds are still playing in the women’s tournament.
LSU completed its rapid rise with Kim Mulkey reaching the Final Four in his second season under the former Baylor coach. The Tigers are in the Final Four for the first time in 15 years after beating Miami 54-42. Iowa’s Kaitlyn Clark put on a great show for the No. 2-seeded Hawkeyes in Seattle, finishing with 41 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in a 97-83 win over fifth-seeded Louisville. Iowa is in the Final Four for the first time in 30 years.
No. 1 South Carolina (35-0) faces No. 2 Maryland (28-6) and No. 1 Virginia Tech (30-4) faces No. 3 Ohio State (28-7) on Monday night to determine the final two places in the final four.
PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James says two doctors have recommended season-ending surgery on a torn tendon in his right leg, but he has decided to sit out the season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
James returned to the Lakers on Sunday after a month-long absence with what he revealed was a serious hamstring injury. He wasn’t in the starting lineup for just the second time in his 20-year NBA career, but he still led the Lakers with 19 points in their 118-108 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
The NBA career leader has not played since Feb. 26, when he complained of soreness in his right leg after a win in Dallas. James considered surgery after receiving the sobering diagnosis, but the outstanding play of his teammates throughout and his own inner determination contributed to his decision to continue playing. James also said his doctors told him he’s “healing faster than anyone they’ve seen before with the injury.”
GOLF
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Sam Burns is the latest winner of the Dell Match Play, and the ending was silly.
After so much excitement over four days at Austin Country Club, Burns defeated Cameron Young in just 13 holes. The 6-5 win is the second largest margin over 18 holes in this tournament. There was nothing Young could do against a man who birdied eight of his last 10 holes.
The big excitement was Sunday morning. Burns narrowly escaped defending champion Scotty Scheffler in 21 holes. Young was 2 under off Rory McIlroy when he rallied to win in 19 holes.
GOLD CANYON, Ariz. (AP) — Celine Boutier of France beat Georgia Hall of England with a birdie on the first playoff hole Sunday to win the LPGA Drive on Championship.
Boutier forced a playoff by making a testing putt on the par-5 18th to close at 4-under 68, matching Hall (65) at 20-under 268 in the first full-field LPGA event of the season.
Playing the 18th hole again, neither golfer found the green with their second shot of the playoff. Boutier, chipping from almost the same spot as she did in regulation, short and to the right of the green, tipped about 4 feet. Meanwhile, Hall hit his second shot into a greenside bunker, blasted past the hole and missed his birdie effort. That set up Boutier’s game-winning shot.
PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic (AP) — England’s Matt Wallace won his first PGA Tour title at the Corales Punta Cana Championship.
Wallace reeled off four straight birdies down the stretch of the Corrales course in Punta Cana and closed with two solid pars for a 6-under 66. He was on the putting green when Nikolaj Hoygaard, the 22-year-old Dane playing on a sponsor’s exemption, had 20 -foot putt on the 18th that would have forced a playoff. The shot just missed on the low side, giving the Dane a 68.
Wallace, already a four-time winner on the European Tour, finished at 19-under 269 in the win in his 80th career PGA Tour start.
FOOTBALL
LONDON (AP) — Antonio Conte has left his position as manager of Tottenham Hotspur by mutual consent, the Premier League club announced Sunday.
The Italian’s assistant Christian Stellini has been appointed acting head coach until the end of the season.
The announcement comes just over a week after Conte delivered post-match remarks in which he accused the team’s players of being “selfish” and also took aim at the club’s ownership.
Conte was in charge of Tottenham for 16 months but failed to end a trophy drought that lasted until 2008. His tenure ended in inglorious fashion, with his outburst following a 3-3 draw at Southampton making his departure all but inevitable. His contract was due to expire at the end of the season.
CAR RACE
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Tyler Reddick scored his first win with new team 23XI Racing, holding off multiple late restarts to win in a triple overtime Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, the first road race on this year’s NASCAR schedule.
Reddick’s win was Toyota’s first of the year and his first since joining the team, which is co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. It was Reddick’s fourth career Cup Series victory, third on the road. Reddick won a year ago at Road America and Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his final season with Richard Childress Racing.
The race had eight cautions over 17 laps and went to three overtimes and seven laps after the scheduled distance.
Kyle Busch, who pushed Reddick on the last three restarts, finished second in the RCR Chevrolet, which became available to the two-time Cup champion when Reddick jumped to 23XI.
HOCKEY
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Teresa Vanisova scored 4:23 into overtime and the Major League Hockey Federation’s Isobel Cup headed to Canada for the first time in its eight-year history after the Toronto Six beat the Minnesota Whitecaps 4-3 on Sunday night .
The six won the title while making their first championship appearance in three seasons of existence. And they reached the Isobel Cup final, winning their last two games to defeat Connecticut Whale 2-1 in a best-of-three semi-final series.