DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — DJ Horne had 20 points and Arizona State raced to a big halftime lead and scored the most points ever in a First Four game, burying Nevada 98-73 on Wednesday night. Arizona State advances as a No. 11 seed to face TCU in a West Region first-round game on Friday in Denver.
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Ansley Almonor scored 23 points and Fairleigh Dickinson earned its first NCAA Tournament win in four seasons with a 84-61 win over Texas Southern. Fairleigh Dickinson shot 50% and advanced to the East Region to play top-seeded Purdue in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Bill Self’s status for coaching Kansas in the NCAA Tournament is uncertain as he recovers from a heart procedure. Assistant coach Norm Roberts said the Jayhawks remain hopeful he’ll be on the bench for their opener against Howard on Thursday. Kansas’ Hall of Fame coach was discharged from a Kansas City-area hospital Sunday after having a procedure to treat blocked arteries in his heart. Self attended practice at Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday morning but did not participate in his team’s media availability. Roberts said Self is day-to-day.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — TCU forward Chuck O'Bannon says the team has been motivated all season after coming so close to upsetting a No. 1 seed and getting to the Sweet 16 in last year's NCAA Tournament. The Horned Frogs are now making consecutive March Madness appearances for the first time in 70 years. They play Friday night in Denver against a First Four winner. TCU last year beat Seton Hall to get its first NCAA Tournament win since current coach Jamie Dixon was a guard playing for the 1987 team. The Frogs then overcame a nine-point deficit in the final eight minutes of regulation against Arizona before falling 85-80 in overtime.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — Led by Tyreek Smith's 13 points, the Oklahoma State Cowboys defeated the Youngstown State Penguins 69-64 in the NIT.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Texas Longhorns have team chemistry as strong as any in this NCAA Tournament. The bonds they formed over the summer were tested when former coach Chris Beard was fired in December. Now the Longhorns have the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region with the talent and depth to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2003. They face Colgate in the first round on Thursday. The other game in Des Moines, Iowa, is Texas A&M against Penn State. Midwest No. 1 seed Houston plays Northern Kentucky in Birmingham, Alabama. Iowa faces Auburn in the other game.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Max Rice remembers the excitement he saw watching Northwestern win its first NCAA Tournament game six years ago. Now, Rice wants to do the same for his Boise State team that is looking for its first tournament win when the 10th-seeded Broncos take on the seventh-seeded Wildcats. In a West Region filled with powerhouses like defending champion Kansas, UCLA, Connecticut and Gonzaga, the Wildcats and Broncos are clearly lacking. Northwestern has made it to this stage for just the second time, advancing to the second round in 2017. Boise State is 0-8 all-time in the tournament.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A season removed from reaching the Final Four for a 13th time under Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski, Duke not only is in the NCAA Tournament again, but appears to be peaking at the right time with first-year coach Jon Scheyer at the helm. The fifth-seeded Blue Devils face No. 12 seed Oral Roberts in the opening round of the East Regional on Thursday night in Orlando, Florida, eager to build on a rich March Madness legacy Krzyzewski fashioned over nearly four decades. In Thursday’s only other East Regional matchup, fourth-seeded Tennessee faces Louisiana-Lafayette, also in Orlando.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala, (AP) — Alabama has the No. 1 overall NCAA Tournament seed, one of the best players in college basketball and likely a couple of games in its own backyard. For a Crimson Tide team that’s been an easy target for opposing fans over the past two months, playing less than an hour from campus is no small matter. It means most of the taunts will be replaced by cheers in Birmingham, Alabama, especially for All-America freshman Brandon Miller. It will be an overwhelmingly crimson and white crowd at Thursday’s South Region game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
MIAMI (AP) — New York Mets fans began the year dreaming about a World Series closed out by Edwin Díaz. For now, they’re facing a nightmare scenario. In a startling scene, Díaz was taken off the field in a wheelchair after injuring his right knee celebrating Puerto Rico’s victory over the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic on Wednesday night. There was no immediate word on how severely Díaz was hurt. The Mets said he will undergo more tests Thursday. But the injury was exactly what big league teams and their fans fear the most when their high-priced stars go play for their countries. Díaz was swarmed by teammates after pitching a perfect ninth inning in a 5-2 win. The group was jumping together when Díaz collapsed to the ground.
MIAMI (AP) — The NBA has suspended Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant eight games without pay after determining that his holding a firearm at a club in suburban Denver earlier this month was “conduct detrimental to the league.” Morant will miss his sixth game when the Grizzlies play in Miami on Wednesday night. He will miss the next two games and be eligible to return on Monday when Memphis plays Dallas. The games he already missed will count toward the suspension. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver met with Morant in New York before announcing the league’s decision. He called Morant's conduct “irresponsible, reckless and potentially very dangerous.”
UNDATED (AP) — JIm Nantz and CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus agreed two years ago that this would be Nantz’s final tournament as the top announcer. Nantz started calling early-round games for CBS in 1986 and was the Final Four studio host for five years before taking over play-by-play duties from Brett Musburger in 1991. When Nantz signs off on April 3, he will have called 354 NCAA Tournament games, including 64 national semifinals and 32 championship contests. Nantz decided to step back from doing the tournament to devote more time to family.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
NCAA
EAST
Final Fairleigh Dickinson 84 Texas Southern 61
WEST
Final Arizona St. 98 Nevada 73
NIT
Final Morehead St. 68 Clemson 64
Final Oklahoma St. 69 Youngstown St. 64
Final Sam Houston St. 58 Santa Clara 56
Final North Texas 69 Alcorn St. 53
Final UCF 67 Florida 49
Final Oregon 84 UC Irvine 58
Final Utah Valley St. 83 New Mexico 69
Final Cincinnati 81 Virginia Tech 72
INTERLEAGUE
Chi White Sox at San Francisco 4:05 p.m. (Canceled)
Cleveland at San Diego 9:40 p.m. (Canceled)
Final Toronto 7 Pittsburgh 1
Final Houston 9 Atlanta 3
Final Philadelphia 9 N.Y. Yankees 8
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Seattle at Oakland 4:05 p.m. (Canceled)
Final Boston 9 Tampa Bay 1
Final Texas 4 Kansas City 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Washington at Miami 1:10 p.m. (Canceled)
San Francisco at Arizona 4:10 p.m. (Canceled)
Chi Cubs at Cincinnati 9:05 p.m. (Canceled)
Colorado at L-A Dodgers 9:05 p.m. (Canceled)
Milwaukee at Arizona 9:40 p.m. (Canceled)
Final St. Louis 4 N.Y. Mets 1
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Miami 138 Memphis 119
Final Philadelphia 118 Cleveland 109
Final Boston 104 Minnesota 102
Final Sacramento 117 Chicago 114
Final Houston 114 L.A. Lakers 110
Final OT Dallas 137 San Antonio 128
Final L.A. Clippers 134 Golden State 126
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final SO Colorado 2 Toronto 1
Final SO Washington 5 Buffalo 4
Final N-Y Islanders 6 Anaheim 3
Final Minnesota 8 St. Louis 5