College category, Page 15
Stanford hires Frank Reich as interim football coachVideo
STANFORD, Calif. — Andrew Luck picked a familiar person to take over as Stanford’s interim football coach, hiring former NFL coach Frank Reich on Monday to replace the fired Troy Taylor. Luck moved quickly in his new role as general manager of the football program, hiring Reich less than a...
Final Four teams have been locked in on defense all season
Tennessee has one of the nation’s best defenses, a bruising crew that leaves opponents black and blue. Houston gave the Vols a lesson in defensive dominance in the Elite Eight. Swarming and switching, the Cougars had the Vols feeling like they were stuck in an escape room with no exit...
Flagg, Broome, Clayton are among the Final Four players to watch in a showdown between No. 1 seeds
Looking for an inspiring underdog or a glass slipper lying around in San Antonio? This year’s version of the Final Four is not for you. Fittingly for an NCAA Tournament in which big schools from big conferences took record numbers of spots in the first week, then hogged them all...
Auburn completes sweep of No. 1 seeds into Final Four, beating Michigan State
ATLANTA — Johni Broome held his injured right arm through most of Auburn’s Elite Eight postgame celebration. That didn’t keep the star forward from climbing a ladder to cut down the net he then wore around his neck. Broome had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Auburn took command with...
Houston’s defense carries Cougars into 7th Final Four over Tennessee
INDIANAPOLIS — Houston’s relentless defense confused and harassed Tennessee and carried the Cougars into their seventh Final Four and first since 2021, with L.J. Cryer scoring 17 points in a 69-50 victory on Sunday. Emanuel Sharp scored 14 of his 16 points after halftime for top-seeded Houston (34-4) and was...
Lauren Betts, UCLA reach first Final Four of women’s NCAA Tournament, beating LSU
SPOKANE, Wash. — Lauren Betts had 17 points and seven rebounds despite spending the entire second quarter on the bench, and top overall seed UCLA reached its first Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament with a 72-65 victory over LSU on Sunday. The 6-foot-7 Betts added six blocks for...
Can Villanova rise into a championship contender again? Wildcats bank on Kevin Willard
PHILADELPHIA — Kevin Willard publicly campaigned — pleaded, really — during Maryland’s run to the Sweet 16 for more from the university and athletic department for his Big Ten program. More of everything — “fundamental changes,” he called them — that really came down to more money, so much more,...
Defending champ South Carolina returns to Final Four, beating Duke
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Chloe Kitts scored 14 points and defending national champion South Carolina reached the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament for a fifth straight year, beating Duke 54-50 on Sunday. The top-seeded Gamecocks are two wins away from becoming the first team to repeat as champions since...
Duke’s great D sends Blue Devils to their 18th Final Four with win over Alabama
NEWARK, N.J. — Duke freshman Cooper Flagg swooped across the paint and swatted an Alabama player’s shot completely off the court. The ball landed in the stands. Flagg and the Blue Devils — they’re headed to the Final Four. Duke’s long, tall, NBA-ready standouts smothered the Crimson Tide’s nation-leading offense...
Walter Clayton Jr. rallies Florida into Final Four with win over Texas TechVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — Walter Clayton Jr. rescued top-seeded Florida with two late 3-pointers, and the Gators rallied from nine points down late to reach the Final Four with an 84-79 victory over Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region final Saturday. The Gators (34-4) trailed 75-66 with less than...
Auburn’s Pettiford, Michigan State’s Richardson renew AAU rivalry in Elite Eight of March MadnessVideo
ATLANTA — Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford and Michigan State’s Jase Richardson are high-scoring, left-handed freshman guards who have more in common than big games that helped to propel their teams to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight. The guards also share a rivalry that includes on-court matchups long before either began his...
Tennessee’s Jordan Gainey is a sixth man in name only. His coach and teammates consider him a starVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — When the public address announcer turns to Tennessee’s starting lineup during pregame introductions on the road, the team stays in its huddle while the five names are read rather than have the starters step onto the court individually. The Volunteers don’t mean to be rude. They just consider...
Houston scores in final second to fend off Purdue in Sweet 16
INDIANAPOLIS — Milos Uzan soared for an uncontested layup on a beautifully executed inbound play with 0.9 seconds left, and No. 1 seed Houston survived a late collapse to beat fourth-seeded Purdue, 62-60, on Friday night in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Houston led 56-46 with just under...
Top-seeded Auburn comes alive in 2nd half to beat Michigan, move into Elite 8
ATLANTA — With Auburn’s season on the brink, Tahaad Pettiford and Denver Jones suddenly became unstoppable. On to the Elite Eight for the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Pettitford and Jones scored 20 points apiece to lead a second-half barrage that rallied the Tigers to a 78-65 victory...
Tennessee heading back to Elite Eight as defense clamps down on Kentucky
INDIANAPOLIS — Zakai Zeigler had 18 points and 10 assists, and Tennessee outhustled and outplayed Kentucky on both ends of the court in a 78-65 victory Friday night that sent the Volunteers to a second consecutive Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The second-seeded Vols (30-7) beat their border rival...
Michigan State’s 2nd-half rally sends Spartans past Ole Miss
ATLANTA — Jace Richardson scored 24 points, and Michigan State surged past Mississippi in the second half for a 73-70 victory Friday night in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Ole Miss (24-12) was denied in its bid for its first Elite Eight appearance despite leading by 10 points in the...
Penn State safety makes big step at pro day; Carter, Warren don’t participate
STATE COLLEGE — Kevin Winston Jr. didn’t have much left to prove to NFL teams, even after playing just one full game as a junior at Penn State. The 6-foot-11⁄2, 215-pound safety has been solidly projected in the second round for next month’s NFL Draft in Green Bay. Coach James...
3s, wide-open offense take center stage when Duke faces Alabama for a trip to the Final Four
NEWARK, N.J. — When Alabama faces Duke for a trip to the Final Four on Saturday, hoops fans will witness what some say is the future of college basketball, what others call a byproduct of nobody putting up a good enough fight on defense or some combination of both. The...
Deion Sanders’ contract at Colorado extended through the 2029 season
Colorado coach Deion Sanders has received a contract extension through the 2029 season after turning around a downtrodden program in just two seasons. The school said the extension increases Sanders’ yearly base salary to $10 million this year, making him the highest-paid football coach in the Big 12. The deal...
March Maddening? Timing of transfer portal opening can be tough on coaches still in the tourney
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Coaches still playing in the NCAA Tournament are having to split their time between preparing their teams for the Sweet 16 and talking to potential transfers who have entered the portal. Such is life in college basketball. Dawn Staley is one of those coaches, and she said...
Texas Tech rallies to oust Arkansas in Sweet 16 OT thriller
SAN FRANCISCO — Darrion Williams scored the tiebreaking basket with 7.3 seconds left in overtime after tying the game with a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation to lead Texas Tech to an 85-83 win over Arkansas on Thursday night and a spot in the Elite Eight. The first...
Cooper Flagg fills highlight reel in Duke’s Sweet 16 win over Arizona
NEWARK, N.J. — Duke stud Cooper Flagg’s highlight reel included a 3-pointer from just in front of the logo at the halftime buzzer, one no-look pass for an alley-oop and another for a 3 and a huge blocked shot into a row of Arizona cheerleaders. He needed all that to...
Alabama makes March Madness-record 25 3s, romps past BYU in Sweet 16Video
NEWARK, N.J. — Alabama broke the 35-year-old March Madness record for 3-pointers with 25, and Mark Sears scored 30 of his 34 points on 3s, a relentless long-range spree that ushered the second-seeded Crimson Tide past BYU, 113-88, on Thursday night in an NCAA Tournament East Region semifinal. Alabama reached...
Top-seeded Florida runs away from Maryland’s ‘Crab Five’ to reach Elite 8Video
SAN FRANCISCO — Florida’s three standout seniors and its deep bench kept bringing energy until it became too tough for Maryland’s “Crab Five” to keep up. Coach Todd Golden could see his Gators wearing the Terrapins down. Will Richard scored 15 points, Alijah Martin added 14 points and seven rebounds,...
At age 70, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo back in title mix at another March MadnessVideo
ATLANTA — For Tom Izzo, the blueprint for a career like few others was established in his first year as a head coach. His memory is a bit fuzzy — Izzo remembers his 1995 Michigan State team grabbing 26 offensive rebounds in a victory over a powerhouse Arkansas program, when...
