19 4 9 4 2 22 19 7 6 0 6 27 Thursday, March 28, 2024 Kennebec Sentinel C2 SPORTS NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division Pct GB z-Boston 57 15 .792 x-New York 43 28 .606 13 39 33 .542 18 x-Philadelphia Brooklyn 27 45 .375 30 Toronto 23 49 .319 34 Southeast Division Pct GB x-Orlando 42 29 .592 x-Miami 39 33 .542 3 Atlanta 32 39 .451 10 Charlotte 17 54 .239 25 Washington 14 58 .194 28 Central Division Pct GB x-Milwaukee 46 26 .639 x-Cleveland 44 28 .611 2 x-Indiana 41 32 .562 5 Chicago 34 38 .472 12 Detroit 12 60 .167 34 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division Pct GB New Orleans 44 28 .611 Dallas 43 29 .597 1 Houston 36 35 .507 7 Memphis 24 48 .333 20 San Antonio 16 56 .222 28 Northwest Division Pct GB x-Denver 51 21 .708 x-Oklahoma City 50 21 .704 x-Minnesota 49 22 .690 1 Utah 29 43 .403 22 Portland 19 53 .264 32 Pacific Division Pct GB L.A. Clippers 44 27 .620 Sacramento 42 30 .583 2 Phoenix 42 30 .583 2 L.A. Lakers 40 32 .556 4 Golden State 37 34 .521 7 x-clinched playoff spot z-clinched conference Games Golden State 113, Miami 92 Oklahoma City 119, New Orleans 112 L.A. Lakers 128, Milwaukee 124, 2OT Dallas 132, Sacramento 96 Games Brooklyn at Washington (n) Cleveland at Charlotte (n) Golden State at Orlando (n) L.A. Clippers at Philadelphia (n) New York at Toronto (n) Portland at Atlanta (n) Detroit at Minnesota (n) Houston at Oklahoma City (n) Indiana at Chicago (n) L.A.
Lakers at Memphis (n) San Antonio at Utah (n) Phoenix at Denver (n) Games Boston at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. Milwaukee at New Orleans, 8 p.m. Games Detroit at Washington, 7 p.m. Golden State at Charlotte, 7 p.m. L.A.
Clippers at Orlando, 7 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Indiana, 7 p.m. Chicago at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m. Philadelphia at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m.
New York at San Antonio, 8 p.m. Phoenix at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. Portland at Miami, 8 p.m. Minnesota at Denver, 9 p.m. Houston at Utah, 9:30 p.m.
Dallas at Sacramento, 10 p.m. Games Boston at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Memphis at Orlando, 7 p.m. Milwaukee at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. NBA LEADERS Through March 26 Scoring FG FT PTS AVG Doncic, DAL 63 727 439 2137 33.9 Antetokmpo, MIL 67 768 482 2052 30.6 Gilgs-Aexndr, OKC 70 756 528 2131 30.4 Durant, PHO 65 657 334 1791 27.6 Brunson, NY 66 645 341 1808 27.4 Booker, PHO 58 562 337 1587 27.4 Tatum, BOS 67 618 379 1827 27.3 Curry, GS 65 573 274 1735 26.7 Fox, SAC 64 621 278 1697 26.5 Edwards, MIN 68 634 359 1798 26.4 Young, ATL 51 418 339 1344 26.4 Jokic, DEN 69 709 314 1802 26.1 Maxey, PHI 63 566 301 1624 25.8 James, LAL 62 591 257 1573 25.4 Davis, LAL 68 642 370 1680 24.7 Lillard, MIL 67 502 428 1639 24.5 Leonard, LAC 65 581 247 1544 23.8 Brown, BOS 64 580 202 1497 23.4 DeRozan, CHI 70 551 460 1628 23.3 Markkanen, UTA 54 419 243 1253 23.2 Rebounds OFF DEF TOT AVG Sabonis, SAC 72 251 733 984 13.7 Gobert, MIN 65 241 597 838 12.9 Davis, LAL 68 214 646 860 12.6 Jokic, DEN 69 199 647 846 12.3 Duren, DET 54 177 467 644 11.9 Antetkompo, MIL 67 179 587 766 11.4 Nurkic, PHO 68 199 547 746 11.0 Allen, CLE 67 215 504 719 10.7 Adebayo, MIA 61 142 507 649 10.6 Vucevic, CHI 67 187 525 712 10.6 FG Percentage FG FGA PCT Gafford, DAL 305 426 .716 Zubac, LAC 284 434 .654 Gobert, MIN 340 526 .646 Claxton, BKN 324 513 .632 Allen, CLE 437 697 .627 Duren, DET 313 501 .625 Antetokounmpo, MIL 768 1250 .614 Sabonis, SAC 567 938 .604 Wagner, ORL 287 480 .598 Williamson, NO 543 927 .586 Assists AST AVG Haliburton, IND 60 669 11.2 Young, ATL 51 553 10.8 Doncic, DAL 63 617 9.8 Jokic, DEN 69 619 9.0 Harden, LAC 64 545 8.5 Sabonis, SAC 72 599 8.3 VanVleet, HOU 64 523 8.2 James, LAL 62 501 8.1 Cunningham, DET 59 447 7.6 Jones, WAS 66 485 7.3 NBAGL EASTERN CONFERENCE Pct GB x-Osceola 21 10 .677 x-Maine 20 12 .625 1 x-Indiana 19 12 .613 2 x-Delaware 19 14 .576 3 Capital City 19 14 .576 3 Long Island 19 14 .576 3 Motor City 16 17 .485 6 Wisconsin 15 16 .484 6 College Park 15 17 .469 6 Windy City 14 17 .452 7 Greensboro 15 19 .441 7 Birmingham 14 19 .424 8 Cleveland 13 18 .419 8 Raptors 12 21 .364 10 Grand Rapids 11 21 .344 10 Westchester 11 21 .344 10 WESTERN CONFERENCE Pct GB x-Stockton 22 10 .688 x-Sioux Falls 22 10 .688 Rio Grande Valley 19 12 .613 2 Salt Lake City 19 13 .594 3 Oklahoma City 19 13 .594 3 Santa Cruz 18 13 .581 3 Texas 18 14 .563 4 Austin 18 14 .563 4 Rip City 18 14 .563 4 South Bay 17 14 .548 4 Mexico City 16 15 .516 5 Memphis 14 18 .438 8 Ontario 14 19 .424 8 Iowa 7 24 .226 14 League 2 31 .061 20 x-clinched playoff spot Games Long Island 127, Grand Rapids 94 Maine 127, College Park 112 Memphis 118, Stockton 117 Salt Lake City 113, Austin 108 Games Raptors 116, Motor City 102 Westchester 110, Greensboro 92 Capital City 122, Delaware 116 Oklahoma City 115, Birmingham 99 Indiana at Wisconsin (n) Iowa at Osceola Magic (n) Windy City at Cleveland (n) Rio Grande Valley at Mexico City (n) South Bay at Santa Cruz (n) Games Cleveland at Grand Rapids, 7 p.m.
Maine at College Park, 7 p.m. Texas at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. League at Ontario, 10 p.m. Games Indiana at Osceola Magic, 7 p.m. Memphis at Westchester, 7 p.m.
Motor City at Raptors, 7:30 p.m. Austin at Iowa, 8 p.m. Stockton at Sioux Falls, 8 p.m. Wisconsin at Windy City, 8 p.m. Salt Lake City at Rio Grande Valley, 8:30 p.m.
Santa Cruz at Rip City Remix, 9 p.m. Mexico City at South Bay, 10 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT EAST REGIONAL First Round UConn 91, Stetson 52 Northwestern 77, FAU 65, OT San Diego St. 69, UAB 65 Yale 78, Auburn 76 Duquesne 71, BYU 67 Illinois 85, Morehead St. 69 Washington St.
66, Drake 61 Iowa St. 82, S. Dakota St. 65 Second Round UConn 75, Northwestern 58 San Diego St. 85, Yale 57 Illinois 89, Duquesne 63 Iowa St.
67, Washington St. 56 Boston Regional Semifinals Thursday, March 28 UConn vs. San Diego 7:39 p.m. Iowa St. vs.
Illinois, 10:09 p.m. Regional Championship Saturday, March 30 UConn-San Diego St. winner vs. Iowa nois winner, TBA SOUTH REGIONAL First Round Houston 86, Longwood 46 Texas 98, Nebraska 83 James Madison 72, Wisconsin 61 Duke 64, Vermont 47 Colorado 102, Florida 100 Marquette 87, W. Kentucky 69 NC State 80, Texas Tech 67 Oakland 80, Kentucky 76 Second Round Houston 100, Texas 95, OT Duke 93, James Madison 55 Marquette 81, Colorado 77 NC State 79, Oakland 73, OT Dallas Regional Semifinals Friday, March 29 Houston vs.
Duke, 9:39 p.m. Marquette vs. NC State, 7:09 p.m. Regional Championship Sunday, March 31 Houston-Duke winner vs. Marquette-NC State winner, TBA MIDWEST REGIONAL First Round Purdue 78, Grambling St.
50 Utah St. 88, TCU 72 Gonzaga 86, McNeese St. 65 Kansas 93, Samford 89 Oregon 87, South Carolina 73 Creighton 77, Akron 60 Texas 56, Colorado St. 44 Tennessee 83, St. 49 Second Round Purdue 106, Utah St.
67 Gonzaga 89, Kansas 68 Creighton 86, Oregon 73, 2OT Tennessee 62, Texas 58 Detroit Regional Semifinals Friday, March 29 Purdue vs. Gonzaga, 7:39 p.m. Tennessee vs. Creighton, 10:09 p.m. Regional Championship Sunday, March 31 Purdue-Gonzaga winner vs.
Tennessee-Creigh- ton winner, TBA WEST REGIONAL First Round North Carolina 90, Wagner 62 Michigan St. 69, Mississippi St. 51 Dayton 63, Nevada 60 Arizona 85, Long Beach St. 65 Grand Canyon 75, Saint (Cal.) 66 Alabama 109, Coll. of Charleston 96 Clemson 77, New Mexico 56 Baylor 92, Colgate 67 Second Round North Carolina 85, Michigan St.
69 Arizona 78, Dayton 68 Alabama 72, Grand Canyon 61 Clemson 72, Baylor 64 Los Angeles Regional Semifinals Thursday, March 28 North Carolina vs. Alabama, 9:39 p.m. Arizona vs. Clemson, 7:09 p.m. Regional Championship Saturday, March 30 North Carolina-Alabama winner vs.
Arizo- na-Clemson winner, TBA FINAL FOUR At State Farm Stadium Glendale, Ariz. National Semifinals Saturday, April 6 TBD vs. TBD, TBA TBD vs. TBD, TBA National Championship Monday, April 8 Semifinal winners, 9:20 p.m. NCAA TOURNAMENT PORTLAND 4 First Round Texas 82, Drexel 42 Alabama 82, Florida St.
74 Iowa St. 93, Maryland 86 Stanford 79, Norfolk St. 50 Utah 68, S. Dakota St. 54 Gonzaga 75, UC Irvine 56 Tennessee 92, Green Bay 63 NC State 64, Chattanooga 45 Second Round Texas 65, Alabama 54 Stanford 87, Iowa St.
81, OT Gonzaga 77, Utah 66 NC State 79, Tennessee 72 Portland, Ore. Regional Semifinals Friday, March 29 Texas vs. Gonzaga, 10 p.m. Stanford vs. NC State, 7:30 p.m.
Regional Championship Sunday, March 31 Texas-Gonzaga winner vs. Stanford-NC State winner, TBA PORTLAND 3 First Round Southern Cal 87, Texas Christi 55 Kansas 81, Michigan 72, OT Syracuse 74, Arizona 69 UConn 86, Jackson St. 64 Baylor 80, Vanderbilt 63 Virginia Tech 92, Marshall 49 Duke 72, Richmond 61 Ohio St. 80, Maine 57 Second Round Southern Cal 73, Kansas 55 UConn 72, Syracuse 64 Baylor 75, Virginia Tech 72 Duke 75, Ohio St. 63 Portland, Ore.
Regional Semifinals Saturday, March 30 Southern Cal vs. Baylor, 5:30 p.m. UConn vs. Duke, 8 p.m. Regional Championship Monday, April 1 Southern Cal-Baylor winner vs.
UConn-Duke winner, TBA ALBANY 1 First Round South Carolina 91, Presbyterian 39 North Carolina 59, Michigan St. 56 Nebraska 61, Texas 59 Oregon St. 73, E. Washington 51 Oklahoma 73, Florida Gulf Coast 70 Indiana 89, Fairfield 56 Mississippi 67, Marquette 55 Notre Dame 81, Kent St. 67 Second Round South Carolina 88, North Carolina 41 Oregon St.
61, Nebraska 51 Indiana 75, Oklahoma 68 Notre Dame 71, Mississippi 56 Albany, N.Y. Regional Semifinals Friday, March 29 South Carolina vs. Indiana, 5 p.m. Notre Dame vs. Oregon 2:30 p.m.
Regional Championship Sunday, March 31 South Carolina-Indiana winner vs. Notre Dame-Oregon St. winner, TBA ALBANY 2 First Round Iowa 91, Holy Cross 65 West Virginia 63, Princeton 53 Creighton 87, UNLV 73 UCLA 84, Cal Baptist 55 Colorado 86, Drake 72 Kansas St. 78, Portland 65 Middle Tennessee 71, Louisville 69 LSU 70, Rice 60 Second Round Iowa 64, West Virginia 54 UCLA 67, Creighton 63 Colorado 63, Kansas St. 50 LSU 83, Middle Tennessee 56 Albany, N.Y.
Regional Semifinals Saturday, March 30 Iowa vs. Colorado, 3:30 p.m. UCLA vs. LSU, 1 p.m. Regional Championship Monday, April 1 Iowa-Colorado winner vs.
UCLA-LSU winner, TBA FINAL FOUR Cleveland National Semifinals Friday, April 5 TBD vs. TBD, TBA TBD vs. TBD, TBA National Championship Sunday, April 7 Semifinal winners, 3 p.m. HOCKEY NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division GP OT Pts GF GA Boston 73 42 16 15 99 245 203 Florida 72 46 21 5 97 234 177 Toronto 71 40 22 9 89 261 226 Tampa Bay 71 39 25 7 85 250 235 Detroit 72 36 29 7 79 245 240 Buffalo 72 34 33 5 73 216 216 Montreal 71 27 32 12 66 196 245 Ottawa 70 30 36 4 64 225 249 Metropolitan Division GP OT Pts GF GA 72 48 20 4 100 246 199 Carolina 73 45 21 7 97 248 199 Philadelphia 73 36 27 10 82 217 226 Washington 71 36 26 9 81 198 224 New Jersey 73 36 33 4 76 241 247 N.Y. Islanders 71 30 26 15 75 212 239 Pittsburgh 71 31 30 10 72 209 214 Columbus 72 23 37 12 58 207 266 WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division GP OT Pts GF GA Dallas 73 45 19 9 99 270 219 Colorado 72 46 21 5 97 270 214 Winnipeg 72 44 22 6 94 221 177 Nashville 72 43 25 4 90 236 210 St.
Louis 72 38 30 4 80 208 217 Minnesota 71 34 28 9 77 220 230 Arizona 72 30 37 5 65 213 236 Chicago 72 21 46 5 47 160 257 Pacific Division GP OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 72 45 19 8 98 251 192 Edmonton 70 43 23 4 90 252 204 Los Angeles 71 38 22 11 87 223 185 Vegas 72 39 25 8 86 232 214 Calgary 71 33 33 5 71 217 231 Seattle 71 29 29 13 71 189 206 Anaheim 72 24 44 4 52 177 259 San Jose 71 16 47 8 40 158 291 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs. x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division z-clinched conference Games Boston 4, Florida 3 Pittsburgh 4, Carolina 1 Washington 4, Detroit 3, OT N.Y. Rangers 6, Philadelphia 5, OT New Jersey 6, Toronto 3 Nashville 5, Vegas 4, OT Edmonton 4, Winnipeg 3, OT Chicago 3, Calgary 1 Montreal 2, Colorado 1 Seattle 4, Anaheim 0 Arizona 6, Columbus 2 Dallas 6, San Jose 3 Games Ottawa at Buffalo (n) Boston at Tampa Bay (n) Games Chicago at Ottawa, 7 p.m. Columbus at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Florida, 7 p.m. Philadelphia at Montreal, 7 p.m. Washington at Toronto, 7 p.m. Detroit at Carolina, 7:30 p.m.
Calgary at St. Louis, 8 p.m. San Jose at Minnesota, 8 p.m. Vegas at Winnipeg, 8 p.m. Los Angeles at Edmonton, 9 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Colorado, 9 p.m. Anaheim at Seattle, 10 p.m. Dallas at Vancouver, 10 p.m. Nashville at Arizona, 10 p.m.
Games New Jersey at Buffalo, 7 p.m. NHL SCORING LEADERS Through March 26 GP A PTS Nikita Kucherov, TB 70 41 82 123 Nathan MacKinnon, COL 72 45 78 123 Connor McDavid, EDM 68 26 93 119 Artemi Panarin, NYR 72 43 59 102 David Pastrnak, BOS 73 45 56 101 Mikko Rantanen, COL 72 39 58 97 William Nylander, TOR 71 40 54 94 Leon Draisaitl, EDM 70 38 55 93 Auston Matthews, TOR 70 59 34 93 J.T. Miller, VAN 72 34 57 91 Elias Pettersson, VAN 72 33 51 84 Sam Reinhart, FLA 72 51 33 84 Quinn Hughes, VAN 72 13 68 81 Filip Forsberg, NSH 72 40 41 81 ECHL EASTERN CONFERENCE North Division GP OL SOL Pts GF GA Adirondack 63 38 17 5 3 84 211 185 Norfolk 64 37 21 6 0 80 225 192 Newfoundland 63 27 26 8 2 64 207 223 Maine 62 28 27 7 0 63 212 213 Trois-Rivieres 62 27 27 5 3 62 182 213 Worcester 63 27 28 5 3 62 177 204 Reading 63 26 30 5 2 59 179 221 South Division GP OL SOL Pts GF GA Greenville 63 41 18 3 1 86 202 183 Jacksonville 63 38 19 5 1 82 210 160 Florida 64 34 21 7 2 77 198 170 South Carolina 65 36 24 4 1 77 228 196 Orlando 64 34 22 6 2 76 198 186 Savannah 63 25 32 5 1 56 189 218 Atlanta 64 20 40 3 1 44 166 233 WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division GP OL SOL Pts GF GA Toledo 63 40 14 4 5 89 259 194 Indy 64 35 23 5 1 76 205 195 Wheeling 65 35 27 2 1 73 208 188 Kalamazoo 62 33 26 3 0 69 183 176 Fort Wayne 64 32 27 2 3 69 202 202 Cincinnati 64 28 30 6 0 62 222 237 Iowa 63 26 29 6 2 60 166 211 Mountain Division GP OL SOL Pts GF GA Kansas City 62 45 11 4 2 96 265 178 Idaho 64 42 18 2 2 88 270 218 Tulsa 63 28 28 6 1 63 202 204 Utah 64 29 32 3 0 61 205 231 Allen 62 27 32 2 1 57 205 246 Wichita 63 23 32 7 1 54 196 246 Rapid City 63 25 35 3 0 53 198 247 NOTE: Two points are awarded for a win, one point for an overtime or shootout loss. Top four teams in each division advance to playoffs. Games No games scheduled Games Reading at Trois-Rivieres (n) Toledo at Indy (n) Newfoundland at Worcester (n) Iowa at Kansas City (n) Allen at Rapid City (n) Idaho at Utah (n) Games Jacksonville at Orlando, 7 p.m.
Savannah at Greenville, 7:05 p.m. NCAA HOCKEY TOURNAMENT First Round Thursday, March 28 Denver vs. UMass, 2 p.m. Boston vs. RIT, 5 p.m.
Maine vs. Cornell, 5:30 p.m. Minnesota vs. Omaha, 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 29 Boston College vs.
Michigan Tech, 2 p.m. Michigan State vs. Western Michigan, 5 p.m. Wisconsin vs. Quinnipiac, 5:30 p.m.
North Dakota vs. Michigan, 8:30 p.m. Quarterfinals Saturday, March 30 Denver-UMass winner vs, BU-RIT winner, 4 p.m. Maine-Cornell winner vs. Minnesota-Omaha winner, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 31 BC-Michigan Tech winner vs. Michigan State- Western Michigan winner, 4 p.m. Wisconsin-Quinnipiac winner vs. North Dako- ta-Michigan winner, 6:30 p.m. FROZEN FOUR At St.
Paaul, MN Semifinals, April 11 National championship, April 13 PWHL GP OW OL SOW SOL Pts Toronto 19 10 6 3 0 36 50 41 Minnesota 19 8 4 4 3 35 47 35 Montreal 18 7 5 3 4 31 44 45 Ottawa 50 50 Boston 38 48 New York 19 3 9 4 3 20 39 49 Teams awarded three (3) points for a regulation win, two (2) points for an overtime or shootout win, one (1) point for an overtime or shootout loss, and zero (0) points for a regulation time loss. Sunday, March 24 Minnesota 3, Montreal 2, SO Monday, March 25 New York 3, Boston 2 Thursday, April 18 Toronto at Boston, 7 p.m. BASEBALL AMERICAN LEAGUE East Division Pct GB Baltimore 0 0 .000 Boston 0 0 .000 New York 0 0 .000 Tampa Bay 0 0 .000 Toronto 0 0 .000 Central Division Pct GB Chicago 0 0 .000 Cleveland 0 0 .000 Detroit 0 0 .000 Kansas City 0 0 .000 Minnesota 0 0 .000 West Division Pct GB Houston 0 0 .000 Los Angeles 0 0 .000 Oakland 0 0 .000 Seattle 0 0 .000 Texas 0 0 .000 Games No games scheduled Games No games scheduled Games L.A. Angels (Sandoval 0-0) at Baltimore (Burnes 0-0), 3:05 p.m. Detroit (Skubal 0-0) at Chicago White Sox (Crochet 0-0), 4:10 p.m.
Minnesota 0-0) at Kansas City (Ragans 0-0), 4:10 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (Cortes 0-0) at Houston (Valdez 0-0), 4:10 p.m. Toronto 0-0) at Tampa Bay (Eflin 0-0), 4:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Steele 0-0) at Texas (Eovaldi 0-0), 7:35 p.m.
Cleveland (Bieber 0-0) at Oakland (Wood 0-0), 10:07 p.m. Boston (Bello 0-0) at Seattle (Castillo 0-0), 10:10 p.m. Games Toronto at Tampa Bay, 6:50 p.m. N.Y. Yankees at Houston, 8:10 p.m.
Boston at Seattle, 9:40 p.m. Cleveland at Oakland, 9:40 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE East Division Pct GB Atlanta 0 0 .000 Miami 0 0 .000 New York 0 0 .000 Philadelphia 0 0 .000 Washington 0 0 .000 Central Division Pct GB Chicago 0 0 .000 Cincinnati 0 0 .000 Milwaukee 0 0 .000 Pittsburgh 0 0 .000 St. Louis 0 0 .000 West Division Pct GB Los Angeles 1 1 .500 San Diego 1 1 .500 Arizona 0 0 .000 Colorado 0 0 .000 San Francisco 0 0 .000 Games No games scheduled Games No games scheduled Games Pittsburgh (Keller 0-0) at Miami (Luzardo 0-0), 4:10 p.m. San Francisco (Webb 0-0) at San Diego (Dar- vish 0-0), 4:10 p.m.
St. Louis (Mikolas 0-0) at L.A. Dodgers (Glas- now 0-0), 4:10 p.m. Washington (Gray 0-0) at Cincinnati (Montas 0-0), 4:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Steele 0-0) at Texas (Eovaldi 0-0), 7:35 p.m.
Colorado (Freeland 0-0) at Arizona (Gallen 0-0), 10:10 p.m. Games Milwaukee at N.Y. Mets, 1:40 p.m. Atlanta at Philadelphia, 3:05 p.m. Pittsburgh at Miami, 7:10 p.m.
Colorado at Arizona, 9:40 p.m. San Francisco at San Diego, 9:40 p.m. St. Louis at L.A. Dodgers, 10:10 p.m.
TODAY IN SPORTS MARCH 28 1942 Stanford beats Dartmouth 53-38 for the NCAA basketball championship. 1944 Arnold 22 points leads Utah to a 42-40 victory over Dartmouth for the NCAA basket championship. 1950 CCNY beats Bradley 71-68 in the NCAA basketball final to become the only team to win the NIT and NCAA titles in the same year. CCNY beat Bradley 69-61 in the NIT on March 18. 1972 Wilt Chamberlain plays his last pro basketball game.
1977 Marquette beats North Carolina 67-59 for the NCAA basketball title. 1982 Louisiana Tech beats Cheyney State 76-62 in the first basketball championship. The tournament replaces the AIAW championship which had been held since 1972. 1989 Southwestern Louisiana pitchers Cathy McAllister and Stefni Whitton pitch back- to-back perfect games against Southeastern Louisiana, a first in NCAA Division I softball history. McAllister strikes out 10 in a 5-0 victory and Whitton has 14 strikeouts in a 7-0 triumph.
1990 Michael Jordan scores 69 points to help Chicago beat Cleveland 117-113 in overtime and clinch a playoff spot. 4th time he scores 60 pts in a game. 1992 Christian Laettner hits a 15-foot turn- around jumper at the buzzer to give defending champion Duke a 104-103 overtime victory over Kentucky and a fifth consecutive trip to the Final Four. 1992 Eric Forkel posts a 217-133 victory over Bob Vespi in the title match of the $300,000 PBA National Championship. 133 sets a record for the lowest in tournament final history.
1993 Teemu Selanne of the Winnipeg Jets scores his 69th and 70th goals of the season in a 3-3 tie with Los Angeles Kings. Selanne is the eighth player, and first rookie, to have a 70-goal NHL season. 1995 Michael Jordan, playing in his fifth game in 22 months, scores 55 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 113-111 victory over the New York Knicks. 2006 Oklahoma center Courtney Paris is the first freshman selected for The Associated Press All-America team in basketball. Paris averaged 21.4 points and led the nation in rebounding (15.1).
She is the first NCAA player with 700 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks in a season. 2012 The new rule for postseason overtime is expanded to cover the regular season on a 30-2 vote by the NFL owners. All games that go into overtime cannot end on a field goal on the first possession. 2015 Breanna Stewart has 31 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to help UConn rout Texas 105-54, earning coach Geno Auriemma his 100th NCAA Tournament win. Auriemma is the second coach to reach the century mark, joining Pat Summitt, who finished with 112 victories in her career.
2015 Kentucky escapes with a 68-66 win against Notre Dame to go to 38-0 and advance to the Final Four. Wisconsin tops Arizona 85-78 to reach consecutive Final Fours for the first time. AUTO RACING NASCAR CUP SERIES POINTS LEADERS Through March 25 1. Martin Truex Jr, 220. 2.
Ty Gibbs, 215. 3. Ryan Blaney, 211. 4. Denny Hamlin, 206.
5. Kyle Larson, 205. 6. William Byron, 183. 7.
Christopher Bell, 183. 8. Ross Chastain, 182. 9. Chase Elliott, 173.
10. Tyler Reddick, 171. 11. Alex Bowman, 165. 12.
Chris Buescher, 153. 13. Kyle Busch, 150. 14. Daniel 148.
15. John H. Nemechek, 144. 16. Brad Keselowski, 134.
17. Chase Briscoe, 131. 18. Bubba Wallace, 129. 19.
Austin Cindric, 119. 20. Michael McDowell, 119. 21. Erik Jones, 106.
22. Joey Logano, 100. 23. Corey LaJoie, 99. 24.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr, 98. 25. Carson Hocevar, 95. 26. Todd Gilliland, 81.
27. Daniel Hemric, 79. 28. Josh Berry, 77. 29.
Austin Dillon, 77. 30. Ryan Preece, 74. 31. Justin Haley, 73.
32. Harrison Burton, 65. 33. Kaz Grala, 65. 34.
Noah Gragson, 59. 35. Zane Smith, 59. 36. David Ragan, 17.
37. Derek Kraus, 11. 38. Jimmie Johnson, 9. 39.
Kamui Kobayashi, 8. BASKETBALL AP photo Left-handed reliever Joely Rodriguez will start the season in the Boston Red bullpen. AL EAST PREVIEW BY NOAH TRISTER AP Baseball Writer hard to tell what was most unusual about last season in the AL East. Baltimore and Tampa Bay took the top two spots in the division, the first time that had ever happened. And the Yankees and Red Sox were the bottom two teams, which occurred since before the start of divisional play.
The AL East has changed a lot from the days when the big-market behemoths would overpower the rest of the division. Tampa Bay has been a formidable op- eration for a while now, and the Orioles capped a swift rise from the depths of a rebuild, winning 101 games and a division title in 2023. wealth of young, cost-controlled tal- ent should make the Orioles a threat for years to come, and now take a shot at defending their AL East crown. proven it to our- selves that we can win a di- vision and we can go to the playoffs, so I think you can just feel that in the atmo- sphere, how excited every- one Baltimore outfielder Austin Hays said. scared.
The Yankees won 99 games and the division two seasons ago, so not as though their situation is hopeless in the face of the low-spending Orioles and Rays. different about the AL East these days is you can look at New York, Baltimore, Tam- pa Bay and Toronto and none of them seems like much of an underdog. HOW THEY PROJECT 1. New York Yankees. Af- ter barely finishing above .500 last year, the Yankees made a major offseason splash when they acquired three-time All-Star Juan Soto.
A lineup with Soto, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Tor- res is powerful enough to lift New York back atop the division, but a lot will de- pend on the health after troublesome toe was such a problem last year. The stakes are high. Soto and Torres are en- tering their final season of team control, and manager Aaron Boone is under pres- sure to produce after last disappointment. 2. Baltimore Orioles.
The Orioles made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons since 1996-97. Now Baltimore has a chance to become a postseason main- stay. Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman could be among the best players in baseball at their positions, and manager Brandon Hyde should have all sorts of options when filling out the lineup. A recent trade for Corbin Burnes gave the Orioles an ace they can lean on. Whether Baltimore can repeat as division champi- ons may come down to how it handles the absence of star closer Bautista after Tommy John surgery.
Duplicating last 30- 16 mark in one-run games will be a tall order. 3. Toronto Blue Jays. Other teams in the AL East could breathe a sigh of relief when Shohei Ohtani stayed out west instead of signing with Toronto. The Blue Jays remain a dangerous team, however, with Vladimir Guerrero, Bo Bichette and George Springer in the fold.
Kevin Gausman leads all major league pitchers over the past two seasons in the FanGraphs version of wins above replacement. Toronto has made the postseason in three of the past four sea- sons but won a pen- nant since 1993. 4. Tampa Bay Rays. Dis- count the Rays at your per- il by now clear.
Tampa Bay is coming off a 99-win season in which it nearly held on to win the AL East despite major injury problems down the stretch. But now the Rays start the season with similar con- cerns. Starting pitchers Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen and Jeffrey Spring are still recover- ing from injuries, and the Rays traded Tyler Glasnow during the offseason. Short- stop Wander sta- tus remains uncertain. He played since August, when MLB and authorities in the Dominican Republic began investigating accusa- tions that he had an improp- er relationship with a minor.
5. Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox have finished last two straight seasons despite finishing with a not-that-terrible 78 wins each time. Such is life in the AL East. Boston has some punch in the lineup thanks to Rafael Devers and Triston Casas, but the starting rotation has plen- ty of questions even after Brayan Bello pitched well enough to earn a long-term deal.
Boston hired ex-pitch- er Craig Breslow as its new chief baseball officer follow- ing last season, but he has his work cut out for him in the short term. POSTSEASON WOES As impressive as the AL East was in the regular season last year, none of its teams even won a playoff game. And some of them have been waiting a while for significant postseason success. The Yankees won a pennant since 2009. You could call that a first-world problem, but it equals the longest drought of the live ball era.
Balti- more been to a World Series since 1983 and has now lost eight straight post- season games. Tampa Bay and Toronto have each dropped seven in a row. Orioles have title to defend Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays set to challenge, Red Sox far behind Red Sox at Mariners When: 10:10 Thursday Where: T-Mobile Park, Seattle Probable pitchers: Brayan Bello vs. Luis Castillo TV: NESN SEASON OPENER.
