ATLANTA (AP) — Johni Broome had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Auburn took command with 17 unanswered points in the first half to beat Michigan State 70-64 and complete a sweep of No. 1 seeds advancing to the Final Four. Auburn earned its second Final Four trip. Michigan State fell short in its bid to send coach Tom Izzo to his ninth national semifinal. Auburn’s only previous Final Four appearance came in 2019, also under coach Bruce Pearl. The South Region champion Tigers are the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. They became the last of the No. 1 seeds to advance to the Final Four — joining Florida, Duke and Houston.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Villanova Wildcats have hired Maryland’s Kevin Willard as their new coach. Willard had been linked to the Villanova job throughout the NCAA Tournament, where the Terrapins earned a No. 4 seed and reached the Sweet 16 before losing to Florida. Maryland went 27-9 this season and 14-6 in the Big Ten Conference. Willard replaces Kyle Neptune, who was fired earlier this month after three straight seasons without an NCAA Tournament appearance.
ATLANTA (AP) — Twenty-five years after his lone national title, Tom Izzo has come up short of No. 2. Michigan State fell behind by 15 points in the opening minutes and never could fight all the way back against the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The cold-shooting Spartans fell to Auburn 70-64 in the final of the South Region in Atlanta. With a roster that Izzo described as one of his favorites of a three-decade-long career if not the most talented, Michigan State made only 24 of 64 shots from the field, including 7 of 23 from 3-point range.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Lauren Betts had 17 points and seven rebounds despite spending the entire second quarter on the bench, and top overall seed UCLA reached its first Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament with a 72-65 victory over LSU. The 6-foot-7 Betts added six blocks for the Bruins, who will face the winner of Monday’s game between Southern California and UConn. The Final four is Friday night in Tampa, Florida. Gabriela Jaquez added 18 points for the Bruins and Timea Gardiner finished with 15, helping to pick up the slack went Betts went to the bench after committing two first-quarter fouls.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — UConn coach Geno Auriemma caused a minor stir during last year’s NCAA Tournament when he proclaimed that his star guard, Paige Bueckers, was the best player in the country. It raised eyebrows given Iowa phenom Caitlin Clark’s stature, but Auriemma stood by his assessment. With a career-best 40-point performance in this year’s Sweet 16, Bueckers keeps proving that she’s one of the game’s top talents and perhaps the best player in the tournament this year. Now she’ll try to win the national title that eluded Clark and Iowa. Next up is an Elite Eight rematch with Southern California.
CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks got a closer look at two of their top prospects when Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel each made their NHL debut. Moore had 17 shifts and skated for more than 15 minutes during Chicago’s 5-2 loss to Utah, and Rinzel took 23 shifts and skated for more than 20 minutes. Moore played on a line with captain Nick Foligno and center Joe Veleno. Rinzel was paired with Wyatt Kaiser, a third-round pick in the 2020 draft, on the blue line. Moore and Rinzel each decided to leave the University of Minnesota and turn pro as Chicago continues to look to the future at the end of another disappointing season.
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