Friday’s Sports In Brief

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher has insisted throughout the NCAA Tournament that if his team plays to its strengths, it doesn’t matter what the opposition does.

The Aztecs certainly played the way they wanted to against the top overall seed in March Madness.

Darrion Trammell and San Diego State used a dominant defensive performance to knock Alabama out of the tournament, bottling up All-America freshman Brandon Miller in a 71-64 victory in the Sweet 16.

Trammell scored 21 points while Miller, whose outstanding season was marred by off-the-court complications, was held to nine points on 3-of-19 shooting and had six turnovers.

The fifth-seeded Aztecs (30-6) will face sixth-seeded Creighton on Sunday in the South Region final. Each program is seeking its first Final Four appearance.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Nijel Pack and Miami hit shots from near and far against the stingiest defense in the country to beat Houston 89-75 on Friday night in the Sweet 16, leaving the NCAA Tournament without a single No. 1 seed among its final eight teams for the first time since seeding began in 1979.

Miami (28-7), only the fifth team this season to score at least 70 points against Houston (33-4), will play second-seeded Texas or No. 3 seed Xavier in the Midwest Region final for the chance to go to the Final Four.

About 30 minutes before Houston’s loss, top overall seed Alabama fell to San Diego State in Louisville, Kentucky. Fellow No. 1 seeds Purdue and Kansas lost during the tournament’s first weekend.

The fifth-seeded Hurricanes reached a regional final for the second straight year just a few hours after Miami’s ninth-seeded women’s team hung on to beat Villanova and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time. Miami and UConn are the only schools with teams remaining in both tournaments.

This is the first time in three years Houston didn’t make it to the Elite Eight.

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Alexis Morris hit two foul shots with 10 seconds to play as No. 3 seed LSU reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA women’s tournament for the first time since 2008, beating second-seeded Utah 66-63.

Down 64-63, the Utes had a chance to back in front, but Jenna Johnson — a near 75% foul shooter — missed both attempts with 4.7 seconds to go. Utah’s Dasia Young had her hands on the rebound, but LSU’s Sa’Maya Smith took it away.

Morris added two more foul shots for a three-point lead. The Utes had a final chance, but Young’s 3-point try from the left corner hit the side of the backboard as time expired.

LaDazDazhia Williams scored a season-high 24 points and Angel Reese had her 31st double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds for LSU (31-2). Morris finished with 15 points.

Coach Kim Mulkey’s team will face ninth-seeded Miami on Sunday night for a spot in the Final Four.

SEATTLE (AP) — Caitlin Clark scored 31 points and No. 2 seed Iowa shook disappointments the past two seasons and reached the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament with an 87-77 win over Colorado in the Seattle 4 Regional semifinals.

After two straight tournaments where Clark’s season ended in the round of 16 and the round of 32, the Hawkeyes will play for a chance at just the second Final Four berth in school history on Sunday.

Clark was the catalyst for Iowa’s big second half, and the first-team All-American finished 11 of 22 shooting with four 3-pointers and eight assists. It was her 11th game this season scoring at least 30 points.

Monika Czinano added 15 points, including a key basket in the paint with 1:10 remaining. Kate Martin scored 16 and McKenna Warnock scored 10. Iowa shot 54% for the game and 59% in the second half.

Iowa (29-6) will face No. 5 seed Louisville in the regional final on Sunday. It’s the fifth Elite Eight appearance for the Hawkeyes, but their only Final Four appearance came in 1993.

NBA

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Luke Kennard made a franchise-record 10 3-pointers to match his career high with 30 points, Desmond Bane added 25 points and the Memphis Grizzlies clinched a playoff spot after building a 31-point halftime lead and coasting to a 151-114 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Kennard connected on 10 of 11 shots from outside the arc — only the second player in NBA history to score 30 points all on 3-pointers. Bane was 5 of 7 from 3-point range as Memphis made 25 3-pointers to set a franchise mark.

Ja Morant scored 18 points and had eight assists in his second game after serving an eight-game league-imposed suspension after he posted a video in which he is shown waving a gun at a Denver-area strip club. Morant again came off the bench and entered with 5:08 left in the first quarter.

Jaren Jackson Jr. also scored 18 points and had seven rebounds and two blocks for Memphis, which had the second-most points in franchise history. The Grizzlies won their 11th straight at home and moved within three games of idle Denver, which holds the top spot in the Western Conference.

Memphis clinched the Southwest Division on Wednesday night, but weren’t assured a playoff berth until its victory Friday night since division winners don’t automatically earn playoff spots.

BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 34 points, setting a new franchise record with his 40th 30-point game this season, and the Boston Celtics rolled to a 120-95 win over the Indiana Pacers.

Tatum passed Hall of Famer Larry Bird, who had 39 30-point games during the 1987-88 season.

Jaylen Brown added 27 points and seven rebounds, and Derrick White finished with 22 points and nine assists. The Celtics have won four out of five and improved to 27-9 at home this season.

Five of Boston’s remaining eight games will be at TD Garden as they try to catch Milwaukee in the race for the Eastern Conference’s top playoff seed. The Bucks entered the day with a 2 1/2-game edge in the standings. The Celtics had a half-game lead over third-place Philadelphia.

BASEBALL

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Miles Mikolas is sticking with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The right-hander signed a $55.75 million, three-year contract that will carry through the 2025 season. The new deal replaces a $68 million, four-year contract signed in February 2019 that covered the 2020-23 seasons and was set to pay $15.75 million this year.

Mikolas will receive a $5 million signing bonus payable July 1 and will make $18.75 million in 2023 and $16 million in each of the following two seasons. Mikolas can earn a $250,000 bonus for winning a Cy Young Award, $50,000 for All-Star election or selection or winning a Gold Glove, $100,000 for League Championship Series MVP and $150,000 for World Series MVP.

Mikolas is scheduled to make the second opening-day start of his big league career next Thursday when the Cardinals host Toronto. Mikolas went 12-13 with a 3.29 ERA last season while helping St. Louis to the NL Central title.

GOLF

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Matt Kuchar has a place in the record book with Tiger Woods. Equally pleasing was getting a spot in the weekend at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

Kuchar had an easy time at Austin Country Club with a 7-and-6 victory over Si Woo Kim to win his 36th match in tournament history, matching the mark held by Woods.

The final session of group play was all about getting to the knockout stage on the weekend, and a record number of top seeds survived.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler (1), Rory McIlroy (3), Patrick Cantlay (4), Max Homa (5) and Xander Schauffele (6) each won their groups. That’s the highest number advancing among the top eight seeds since the Match Play switched to group play in 2015.

GOLD CANYON, Ariz. (AP) — Jenny Shin of South Korea had a run of five straight birdies to close out her front nine on the way to a 5-under 67 and shared the lead with Maddie Szeryk of Canada and Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand after two rounds of the LPGA Drive on Championship.

Jutanugarn raced up the leaderboard, following an opening 67 with a bogey-free 7-under 65 that included an eagle and five birdies. Szeryk pieced together a round that included an eagle and six birdies, including one on her final hole, while Shin used seven birides to offset two bogeys to get to 12-under 132 at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club in the LPGA’s first full-field event of the year.

American Lilia Vu shot a 6 under and was a stroke off the lead, while South Korea’s Na Rin An and American Alison Lee were tied for fifth place at 10 under.

No. 3-ranked Jin Young Ko, a winner two weeks ago in Singapore, was among eight players tied for seventh place at 9 under on the crowded leaderboard.

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