A 3-Ball of Hoops

03/07/2022

By: Jeff Yoder

Welcome Back,

We’re back after a long weekend of college hoops. Today’s edition is a 3-ball of basketball sections. That’s what March is all about, right? A busy week ahead brings conference tournaments, and the madness is just beginning.

Letter Rip!

NCAAM

Disappointment in Durham

Photo: Lance King / Getty Images

North Carolina Spoils Coach K’s Duke Sendoff, But What A Sight It Was

The weekend’s top story had a sad ending, but it was a sight to behold Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski made his final appearance at home accompanied by 96 Duke legends that he coached and mentored in his 42 seasons. The Blue Devils paid tribute to the winningest coach in Division I history, and Coach K’s heartfelt moment was full of tears, but the game was a different story. North Carolina solidified their NCAA Tournament dreams with an upset over the No. 4 team in the nation. The Tar Heels put up 55 in the second-half to spoil Coach K’s farewell. But what a ride it’s been. There’s still plenty of March left for K’s Duke team to give him a proper sendoff.

Watch: UNC def. #4 Duke (94-81)

NCAA Men’s Basketball Highlights

#2 Arizona def. California (89-61)

#3 Baylor def. Iowa State (75-68)

#5 Auburn def. South Carolina (82-71)

#6 Kansas def. #21 Texas (70-63, OT)

#7 Kentucky def. Florida (71-63)

#8 Purdue def. Indiana (69-67)

Nebraska def. Wisconsin (74-73)

Schedule (Conference Tournaments)

Tonight: West Coast Conference Tournament Begins

Tuesday: ACC Tournament Begins

Wednesday: SEC, Big East, Pac-12, Big Ten & Big 12

Additional Storylines

Yahoo! Sports: UNC Spoils Mike Krzyzewski’s Cameron Indoor Farewell

CBS Sports: Bracketology Bubble Watch: North Carolina Moves Into Field After Upset

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NCAAW

Upset Alert: Women’s Conference Tournaments

Photo: Icon Sportswire / Getty Images

Four Top-10 Women’s Teams Fall in Conference Tournaments, Including #1 South Carolina as Kentucky Shocks SEC

One week later, it was women’s turn for a top-10 takedown. After seven men’s top-10 teams fell last weekend, four women’s top-10 fell over the weekend during conference tournaments, including two stunners by unranked Kentucky. UK’s women’s squad took down 6th-ranked LSU before shocking No. 1 South Carolina for the SEC title. It was the Gamecocks’ second loss of the season. Meanwhile, unranked Miami and Nebraska also played spoiler against #4 Louisville and #10 Michigan, respectively. By Sunday night, conference champions were crowned, but one power-five tournament final is tonight.

NCAA Women’s Highlights (Top-10 Upsets)

Kentucky def. #6 LSU (78-63)

Miami def. #4 Louisville (61-59)

Nebraska def. #10 Michigan (76-73)

Conference Tournament Champions

SEC: Kentucky def. #1 South Carolina (64-62)

ACC: #3 NC State def. Miami (60-47)

Big 12: #5 Baylor def. Texas Tech (82-67)

Big Ten: #12 Iowa def. #14 Indiana (74-67)

PAC-12: #2 Stanford def. Utah (73-48)

Tonight: Big East Final

#7 UConn vs. Villanova

Additional Storylines

ESPN: Women’s Bracketology: 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament

NCAA: Dre’una Edwards’ Late 3 Lifts Kentucky Over No. 1 South Carolina for SEC Title

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NBA

LeBron Laughs at Father Time

Photo: Harry How / Getty Images

LeBron James Makes History With 56 Points at 37 Years Old

The Lakers may be awful, but few things are more impressive than the never-ending greatness of LeBron James. LeBron’s Lakers beat Steph Curry and the Warriors on Saturday (124-116) behind LBJ’s 56-point night. It was the most points The King has scored in a Laker uniform, and he joined elite company, becoming the fourth player in NBA history to score 50-plus at age 37 or older (Jamal Crawford, Kobe Bryant & Michael Jordan). LeBron said he was fueled by desperation after Los Angeles (28-35) had lost four straight and eight of their last ten. The Lakers are three losses away from slipping out of the playoff picture, but ‘Bron is still ‘Bron.

Watch: LeBron James Scores 56 in Lakers’ Win

Other NBA Highlights

Tatum Touts 54: Jayson Tatum (54 points) and the Cetlics topped Kevin Durant (37 points) and the Nets on Sunday in a battle of Eastern Conference playoff teams. Tatum caught fire and hit eight 3s in Boston’s win, 126-120.

Middleton Masters the Rematch: The Bucks and Suns met for an NBA Finals rematch, and Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton dropped 44 points with five 3s. The Bucks won, 132-122.

Fox Fires 44, But Kings Lose: De’Aaron Fox was the fourth member of the 40-point club this weekend, pouring in a career-high 44. The Kings fell to the Mavericks on a late 3 from Dorian Finney-Smith, 114-113.

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NFL

Combine Notebook

Photo: Justin Casterline / Getty Images

Top Moments & Highlights From NFL Combine Weekend

Plenty of players put together some dynamite tape on display at the NFL Combine over the weekend, and we’ve got notes. While we can’t recap every result from four days of workouts, these are the top moments and players who stole the show.

DT Jordan Davis: Georgia’s 340-pound defensive lineman Jordan Davis impressed everyone with a blazing 4.78 40-yard dash time on Saturday. For a guy his size, that time was faster than the average quarterback.

CB Kalon Barnes: Baylor defensive back Kalon Barnes posted the fastest 40 time by a DB in combine history — 4.23 seconds. Barnes was just one-hundredth shy of John Ross’ combine record in 2017.

CB Sauce Gardner: Another Cincinnati player made waves on Sunday. Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner posted a 4.41-second 40 time, but his 6-foot-3 frame and ridiculous wingspan measurements might have elevated him to a 1st-round pick.

Additional Storylines

NFL: Five Players Who Boosted Draft Stock at 2022 Combine (Video)

ESPN: Combine Recap: Top Prospect Performances, Risers, Fastest 40s, Biggest Takeaways & More

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OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

NHL: Eichel Slaps GW in Final Seconds

A full weekend of hockey had a lot of highlights, but Jack Eichel’s game-winner took the cake. Eichel netted a goal with 5.2 seconds left in the third to lift the Golden Knights over the Senators (2-1).

SOCCER: City Throttles United in Derby

The Manchester Derby was the marquee soccer match of the weekend until it became lopsided. Manchester City took down Manchester United (4-1) thanks to a pair of braces from Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez.

UFC: Covington Dominates Masvidal by Decision

UFC 272 brought two stars to the main card, and it went the distance. Colby Covington grinded out the win over Jorge Masvidal, landed twice as many blows and forcing six takedowns to get the five-round decision (49-46, 50-44, 50-45).

PGA: Scheffler Wins Arnold Palmer Invitational

Players at the top of the leaderboard tumbled on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but Scottie Scheffler’s even-par round was enough to keep him at 5-under and outlast the field. Nine other players finished below par, including four a stroke behind Scheffler.

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THE HEADLINES