BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Linus Ullmark stopped 31 shots and the Buffalo Sabres snapped an 18-game skid with a 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin was the first off the bench as the final horn sounded and led a line of Sabres players high-fiving Ullmark in an arena without fans. It was the first win for Buffalo since a 4-1 victory at New Jersey on Feb. 23, and ended an 0-15-3 streak. The slump was tied for the league’s 14th longest, and worst since the Pittsburgh Penguins had a 0-17-1 stretch during the 2003-04 season.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Gonzaga’s bid for a perfect season will continue into the Final Four of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Meanwhile, UCLA’s unexpected run through the tournament continues. Drew Timme provided 15 of his 23 points while the Bulldogs outscored Southern Cal, 49-30 in the first half of an 85-66 win over the Trojans. Jalen Suggs just missed a triple-double for the 30-0 Zags, delivering 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as Gonzaga captured the West Region. All-American Corey Kispert had 18 points and eight boards on an “off” night, hitting just six of his 19 shots from the floor. Gonzaga still finished at 50% shooting despite Kispert’s struggles. Isaiah Mobley delivered 19 points and seven rebounds for the Trojans, who finished the year 25-8.
UCLA survived a series of nail-biting misses by top-seeded Michigan in the closing seconds for a 51-49 victory that made the Bruins the fifth No. 11 seed ever to reach the Final Four. Johnny Juzang poured in 28 points while playing most of the second half on a sore ankle. Tyger Campbell added 11 points for the Bruins, who will face Gonzaga in the national semifinals. Franz Wagner missed a pair of 3-point attempts over the final 19 seconds, including one at the buzzer to bounce the top-seeded Wolverines from the tournament.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) – The Stanford and South Carolina women’s basketball team will be spending the weekend in San Antonio. Zia Cooke scored 16 points and the Gamecocks used their stifling defense to advance to the Final Four for the third time, shutting down Texas, 62-34. Top-seeded South Carolina blocked 14 shots, nine by Laeticia Amihere. The Gamecocks also held the sixth-seeded Longhorns to 23% shooting and outscored them, 10-0 in the fourth quarter. Destanni Henderson and Victaria Saxton each scored 12 for the Gamecocks. Lexie Hull scored 21 points and Stanford reached the Final Four by rallying for a 78-63 victory over Louisville. Stanford trailed by 12 midway through the third quarter before scoring 13 consecutive points to take its first lead since early in the game. Kiana Williams finished with 14 points for the Cardinal, including a pair of big 3-pointers while Stanford pulled away. The Cardinal have reached a 14th Final Four as they seek their third national championship and first since 1992.
UNDATED (AP) – The NFL is increasing the regular season to 17 games and reducing the preseason to three games. Team owners on Tuesday approved the 17th game, marking the first time in 43 years the regular season has been increased. It went from 14 to 16 games in 1978. The Super Bowl now will move back a week to Feb. 13, which places it directly in the middle of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. Coincidentally, NBC has the broadcast rights to both. Each extra NFL game will be an interconference matchup based on where teams finished in the previous season. AFC teams will be hosting the 17th game in 2021.
WJPA-AM (1450) is your radio home of March Madness. We’ve got live broadcasts of the Women’s & Men’s Final Four Friday & Saturday. Our coverage continues through the Women’s & Men’s National Championships April 4-5. From the first tip to the final whistle, you can listen on-air and online Listen Here! Scores of each day’s games will be listed in the Scoreboard Section with “Feature Games” listed below.
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Casey DeSmith made 19 saves after starter Tristan Jarry’s mysterious exit and the Pittsburgh Penguins held off the New York Islanders 2-1. Jarry left after the first period and DeSmith filled in by holding the Islanders at bay as Pittsburgh pulled even with New York in the East Division. Jared McCann scored his eighth goal of the season and Anthony Angello collected the first power-play goal of his career for the Penguins. Matt Martin scored his seventh of the season for the Islanders and Semyon Varlamov made 20 saves but couldn’t stop New York from getting swept during its final two-game set in Pittsburgh.
UNDATED (AP) – There are just six teams still alive in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Top seed Baylor and No. 2 Houston are two of those teams after moving on to the national semifinals.
Baylor has reached the Final Four for the first time in 71 years by getting 22 points from MaCio Teague and a dominating defensive performance from Davion Mitchell in an 81-72 victory against Arkansas. The Bears watched an 18-point cushion shrink to four before Arkansas missed 12 straight shots and Teague hit a pair of 3-pointers to put it out of reach. The Razorbacks’ rally occurred while Mitchell was sitting on the bench after picking up his third foul with about eight minutes left. Jared Butler finished with 14 points, while Mitchell chipped in 12 points and six assists for Baylor.
JD Notae and Davonte Davis had 14 apiece for the Razorbacks, who came up one game short of their first Final Four in 26 years.
Houston has advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the Guy Lewis-led Phi Slama Jama squad went to the 1984 title game. The second-seeded Cougars made things difficult on themselves by blowing a 17-point halftime lead before knocking off No. 12 Oregon State, 67-61. Quentin Grimes drained a 3-pointer with 3:21 left to break a 55-all tie before Houston hit enough free throws down the stretch to improve to 28-3. Grimes had 18 points and Marcus Sasser delivered a game-high 20 for the Cougars. Maurice Calloo scored a team-high 13 points for the Beavers, who were vying to become the worst-seeded team ever to make a Final Four.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) – UConn will be making a 13th consecutive Final Four trip in the women’s NCAA Tournament. The Huskies will be joined by a team making its first-ever appearance in the national semifinals. Paige Bueckers scored 28 points and the first overall seed used a huge run spanning the final two quarters to beat No. 2 Baylor, 69-67. The Huskies trailed 55-45 late in the third quarter before scoring 19 consecutive points, including 10 by Bueckers. Baylor got within one after Dijonai Carrington converted two free throws with 19.3 seconds left. Aari McDonald scored 33 points and third-seeded Arizona beat No. 4 Indiana 66-53 to earn its first trip to the Final Four. The Pac-12 player of the year briefly left the game with a twisted ankle with 2:35 left, but limped back on and scored six more points. Her three-point play with 34 seconds left put the exclamation point on the victory.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Gonzaga remains in line for an historic season after advancing in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The first overall seed continued its march toward perfection with a 83-65 rout of Creighton, putting the Bulldogs in the Elite Eight. The Zags improved to 29-0, won their 33rd in a row since last season and extended their Division record of double-digit wins to 26.
Drew Timme scored 22 points and Andrew Nembhard had 17 with eight assists for Gonzaga. The Bulldogs led 22-12 seven minutes in, carried a 43-33 lead into halftime and spent most of the second half pulling away. Marcus Zegarowski finished with 19 points to lead the Bluejays. Joining Gonzaga in the regional finals is fellow No. 1 seed Michigan, which had a surprisingly easy time knocking off No. 5 Florida State. The Wolverines scored their first 30 points of the second half from close range and coasted to a 76-58 rout of the Seminoles. Hunter Dickinson scored 14 points and Franz Wagner had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan. The Wolverines improved to 23-4 and moved to the regional finals for the first time since 2018. The Seminoles committed 10 of their 14 turnovers by halftime and shot 5-for-20 from 3-point range for the game. FSU didn’t hit the 20-point mark until the waning moments of the first half and went 24 minutes without nailing a 3-pointer.
UCLA still hasn’t lost since being relegated to the First Four round. Jaime Jaquez Jr. hit two big jumpers early in overtime and finished with 17 points as the 11th-seeded Bruins downed No. 2 Alabama, 88-78. Jacquez and David Singleton took control in overtime after star guard Johnny Juzang fouled out. Singleton’s two free throws made it 79-70 with under a minute to go. The Bruins led by three until Alex Reese drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of regulation, giving the Crimson Tide new life. UCLA is in the Elite for the first time since 2008 and will take on Michigan. Sixth seed Southern Cal became the third Pac-12 team to reach the Elite Eight as the Trojans knocked off conference rival Oregon, 82-68. Isaiah White scored 22 points and the Trojans shot 10 of 17 from 3-point range to reach the regional finals for the first time since 2001. USC used an early 17-2 run to go up 14 before settling for a 41-26 halftime lead. Tahj Eaddy finished with 20 points and Evan Mobley added 10 with six assists and eight rebounds. Next up for the Trojans is another West Coast matchup at Indianapolis, this time against first overall seed Gonzaga.
Make it 10 wins in 11 games for the Capitals following a 5-4 win over the Rangers. Tom Wilson scored twice and Alex Ovechkin notched the 724th of his career. Ovechkin has 11 goals in his last 11 games, leaving him seven shy of tying Marcel Dionne for fifth on the all-time list.
The Devils are 4-0-1 against the Bruins this season after Kyle Palmieri’s first-period goal was just enough in a 1-0 win by New Jersey. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 40 shots and was helped out when a late Bruins goal was waved off by video review because of goaltender interference.
