Florida and UCLA will play for the national championship after winning their Final Four games Saturday.
UCLA earned the chance to play for its 12th national title by beating LSU 59-45. The Bruins shut down the Tigers' mammoth star, Glen "Big Baby" Davis. Florida dispatched upstart George Mason 73-58.
The Gators made 12 3-pointers, a national semifinals record, to end the run of 11th-seeded George Mason, a charming mid-major from the Washington suburbs in northern Virginia. The Patriots had beaten the last two national champions in the previous rounds of the NCAA tournament.
Florida's Joakim Noah, the son of former tennis star Yannick Noah, scored 12 points. Lee Humphrey led the Gators by hitting 6 of 12 3-pointers and scoring 19 points.
For UCLA, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute was the top performer in this one, finishing with 17 points and nine rebounds. But he got plenty of help.
Lorenzo Mata dominated the middle, and was instrumental in stopping in the 2.06m, 141kg Davis. He made just 5 of 17 shots and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.
UCLA has won a record 11 NCAA championships. The Bruins' most recent one, in 1995, was the only one not under coach John Wooden.
Florida, meanwhile has never won one, and only played for the title once before. The Gators lost to Michigan State in 2000 in the same building.
LeBron James scored 47 points and posted his 10th career triple-double, outdueling Dwyane Wade and leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to their seventh straight win, 106-99 over the Miami Heat on Saturday.
Wade finished with 44 points, hitting several 3-point baskets and making several driving layups to keep Miami -- which was without center Shaquille O'Neal -- ahead throughout most of the second half.
James finally put Cleveland up for good, 101-99, on a slam dunk with 1:13 remaining.
Wade missed a 22-foot jumper at the other end. On the next possession, James passed to Donyell Marshall, who threw down a dunk that made former Cavaliers player and current announcer Austin Carr jump up out of his seat.
Bucks 96, Pacers 89
At Milwaukee, Michael Redd scored 20 of his 39 points in the third quarter and Milwaukee set an NBA record with only two turnovers.
The previous mark for fewest turnovers in a game was three, accomplished seven times.
Redd, who had 10 points at the half, shot 8-for-10 from the field, including 4-for-5 from 3-point range in the third quarter as the Bucks won their sixth straight game at home. The streak matches their longest of the season.
Milwaukee remained in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, taking a 1.5-game lead over No. 7 Indiana.
Jermaine O'Neal, who missed Thursday's game against Phoenix with a sore groin, had 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four blocks for the Pacers.
Bulls 100, Celtics 94
At Chicago, Kirk Hinrich scored 23 of his 25 points in the second half and took a key charge late in the game to help Chicago rally for the second time in less than a week to beat Boston.
With nine games left, the ninth-place Bulls (33-40) trail Philadelphia (33-38) by a game for the Eastern Conference's eighth playoff spot. After hosting Indiana on Tuesday, Chicago has back-to-back games against the 76ers -- at Philadelphia on Wednesday and at the United Center on April 8. The Bulls and Sixers have split the first two games.
The loss was a major blow to the 10th-place Celtics (30-43), who now trail Chicago by three games.
Wally Szczerbiak led the Celtics with 28 points and Paul Pierce added 18.
Spurs 106, Wizards 99
At San Antonio, Manu Ginobili scored 16 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and San Antonio came back from a 10-point deficit to beat Washington.
Tony Parker added 24 of his 28 points in the second half for the Spurs (57-16), who have won three straight and hold a three-game lead over Southwest Division-rival Dallas for the best record in the Western Conference.
Gilbert Arenas scored 31 points, Antawn Jamison added 26 and Caron Butler had 21 for the Wizards. Butler missed his first seven shots of the game.
Jazz 102, Trail Blazers 89
At Portland, Oregon, Andrei Kirilenko had 23 points and 13 rebounds to help the Utah hand Portland its 10th straight loss.
Mehmet Okur added 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Jazz, who are moved into a tie for ninth place in the Western Conference with New Orleans. Utah is two games behind Sacramento.
Zach Randolph scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half for the Blazers, whose losing streak is their longest since dropping 12 in a row in 1986.
Joe Dumars, a steady presence on two NBA championship teams during a 14-year career with the Detroit Pistons, has been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, a basketball official told AP on Saturday.
The official, who had knowledge of the decision, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the announcement was scheduled for today.
University of Connecticut women's coach Geno Auriemma also was elected to the hall in his first year of eligibility, according to a basketball official with firsthand knowledge of the voting process. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that former Hawks star Dominique Wilkins will also be inducted.
Dumars, elected in his second year of eligibility, won two NBA championships as a shooting guard with the Pistons, and another title in 2004 as their president of basketball operations. He was MVP of the 1989 NBA Finals, and helped Detroit repeat the following season.
Other finalists include: Charles Barkley, selected in 1996 as one the NBA's 50 greatest players; Adrian Dantley, whose 23,177 career points rank 18th in NBA history; three-time national college Player of the Year Ralph Sampson; and college basketball TV analyst Dick Vitale.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was