UNDATED (AP) – North Carolina has announced that Hall of Fame basketball coach Roy Williams is retiring after a 33-year career that includes three national championships. The decision comes two weeks after the 70-year-old Williams closed his 18th season with the Tar Heels after a highly successful run at Kansas. Williams won 903 games in a career that included those three titles, all with the Tar Heels, in 2005, 2009 and 2017. UNC lost to Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in his final game, which was Williams’ only first-round loss in 30 tournaments.
UNDATED (AP) – Coronavirus concerns are affecting the Major League Baseball schedule on opening day. Thursday night’s game between the Nationals and Mets has been postponed after one of Washington’s players tested positive for COVID-19. The Nationals issued a statement saying “ongoing contact tracing involving members of the Nationals organization” was the reason for scrapping the game at their stadium. Washington general manager Mike Rizzo said Wednesday that one of his team’s players had tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, before the team left spring training camp. Rizzo said four other players and one staff member were following quarantine protocols after contract tracing determined they were in close contact with the person who tested positive. Rizzo did not identify any of those involved. The contest was not immediately rescheduled, even though Friday already had been set up as an off day that could accommodate a game pushed back from Thursday if necessary. The Nationals said the game “will not be made up on Friday.”
CHICAGO (AP) – The Chicago Cubs have agreed to a one-year deal with catcher Tony Wolters and designated right-hander James Norwood for assignment. Wolters figures to back up Willson Contreras. He signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh last month and was released on March 29. Wolters is a career .238 hitter with seven home runs and 123 RBIs over five seasons with the Colorado Rockies. Norwood was 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA over 23 relief appearances for Chicago from 2018 to 2020.
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Penguins have become the NHL’s hottest team despite a slew of injuries to high-profile players. The Penguins went 12-3-1 during March to move into a tie for second in the East Division. Head coach Mike Sullivan credited his players for adopting a simpler style of play while stars such as Evgeni Malkin and Kasperi Kapanen are out. Pittsburgh’s long injury list now includes goaltender Tristan Jarry, who is out with an upper-body injury.
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.
