ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, MARCH 22, 2021 SPORTS 15

Howard back in NCAAs, takes top-seeded Michigan to 2nd round Abilene Christian stuns Texas, caps upset-heavy fi rst round

INDIANAPOLIS, March 21, (AP): Abilene Christian and its frantic, havoc-causing defense bounced coach Shaka Smart team seeded 13th or lower to reach the round of 32 in this NCAA Tournament. and Texas out of the NCAA Tournament in the fi rst round yet again, as the 14th-seeded Wildcats stunned the third-seeded BYU 73, UCLA 62 Longhorns 53-52. In Indianapolis, Johnny Juzang poured in 27 points in his second big game of the NCAA Tournament, Jules Bernard pro- Joe Pleasant, a 58.8% foul shooter on the season, made two free throws with 1.2 seconds left, and the Wildcats took down vided a big second-half lift, and No 11 seed UCLA beat sixth-seeded BYU. their in-state rivals in the fi rst meeting between the schools. Bernard fi nished with 16 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 13 for the Bruins (19-9), who survived a First Four scare from Pulling off one fi nal upset in a fi rst round fi lled with two years’ worth of excitement, Abilene Christian became the fourth Michigan State and will now play for a spot in the Sweet 16. It was the fi rst win for UCLA in regulation since handling Utah on Feb. NHL Results/Standings 25. Michigan 82, Texas Southern 66 In West Lafayette, Ind., Juwan WASHINGTON, March 21, (AP): Re- Howard won his fi rst NCAA Tourna- sults and standings from the NHL ment game since taking over as Michi- games on Saturday. gan’s coach, guiding Mike Smith and Pittsburgh 3 New Jersey 1 the top-seeded Wolverines past Texas Florida 2 Nashville 0 Southern. Colorado 6 Minnesota 0 Smith scored 18 points and Hunter Tampa Bay 4 Chicago 1 Dickinson added 16 as Michigan NY Islanders 6 Philadelphia 1 rolled into the second round without Dallas 3 Detroit 0 NY Rangers 3 Washington 1 Isaiah Livers, who is out with a foot Toronto 2 Calgary 0 injury. Eli Brooks and Brandon Johns Columbus 3 Carolina SO 2 Jr. had 11 points apiece. Montreal 5 Vancouver SO 4 Michael Weathers had 24 points for Edmonton 4 Winnipeg 2 the Tigers (17-9). Arizona 5 Anaheim 1 St Louis 5 San Jose 2 LSU 76, St. Bonaventure 61 In Bloomington, Ind., Freshman East Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Cameron Thomas scored 27 points in Washington 31 20 7 4 44 106 92 another impressive performance and NY Islanders 32 20 8 4 44 96 72 his LSU teammates provided the re- Pittsburgh 31 19 11 1 39 99 86 bounding muscle, leading the eighth- Boston 28 16 8 4 36 77 66 seeded Tigers past ninth-seeded St. Philadelphia 29 15 11 3 33 93 105 Bonaventure. NY Rangers 30 13 13 4 30 89 79 LSU (19-9) can reach its second New Jersey 28 10 14 4 24 69 89 straight Sweet 16 if it beats Michigan. Buffalo 29 6 19 4 16 61 101 Darius Days and Aundre Hyatt each Central Division had 13 points and Trendon Watford GP W L OT Pts GF GA had 11. Days and Watford also had 11 Tampa Bay 30 22 6 2 46 110 70 Florida 30 20 6 4 44 102 83 rebounds each while Hyatt grabbed 10. Carolina 30 20 7 3 43 101 78 The Tigers have won fi ve of six. Columbus 32 13 12 7 33 86 103 Colorado 96, Georgetown 73 Chicago 32 14 13 5 33 95 106 Dallas 27 10 10 7 27 77 71 In Indianapolis, Colorado used an Nashville 31 13 17 1 27 73 100 early 3-point barrage to parlay its Detroit 32 10 18 4 24 71 104 highest seeding ever into a win over West Division Georgetown and coach . GP W L OT Pts GF GA Led by freshman Jabari Walker’s Vegas 28 21 6 1 43 94 63 5-for-5 shooting clinic from 3-point Colorado 29 19 8 2 40 97 65 range, the fi fth-seeded Buffs (23-8) Minnesota 29 18 10 1 37 87 75 made 16 3-pointers and shot 64% from St Louis 31 16 10 5 37 96 99 Texas’ Jericho Sims (20) blocks the path of Abilene Christian’s Mahki Morris during the fi rst half of a college game in the fi rst round of the NCAA long range. Arizona 31 13 13 5 31 77 92 tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on March 20. (AP) Georgetown won four games in four Los Angeles 29 12 11 6 30 85 83 days earlier this month to take the Big San Jose 29 11 14 4 26 83 103 Anaheim 32 9 17 6 24 71 110 East Tournament title and make a sur- prise trip to the NCAA Tournament. North Division But the Hoyas fi nished 13-13 on the GP W L OT Pts GF GA Toronto 32 20 10 2 42 107 83 season. Qudus Wahab led Georgetown Edmonton 34 21 13 0 42 116 97 Vasilevskiy wins 11th straight with 20 points. Winnipeg 31 18 11 2 38 100 91 Florida St 64, UNC Greensboro 54 Montreal 31 14 8 9 37 100 87 In Indianapolis, RaiQuan Gray scored Vancouver 35 16 16 3 35 99 111 Calgary 32 15 14 3 33 87 97 17 points and Florida State began what Ottawa 33 10 20 3 23 87 130 it hopes will be another deep run under Note: Two points for a win one point for coach Leonard Hamilton, holding off overtime loss. The top four teams in each 13th-seeded UNC Greensboro. division will qualify for playoffs under this as Lightning beat Blackhawks Balsa Koprivica had 13 points and season’s temporary realignment. nine rebounds and Anthony Polite add- Zibanejad scores late, Rangers end Capitals’ win streak at 7 BASKETBALL

TAMPA, Florida, March ed 12 points for the Seminoles. 21, (AP): Andrei Vasilevskiy Maryland 63, UConn 54 stopped 30 shots for his fran- In West Lafayette, Ind., Eric Ayala Karatsev wins Dubai Championships scored 23 points and 10th-seeded Mar- chise-record tying 11th con- yland clamped down on defense down secutive victory, Victor Hed- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, sian champion this season. Daniil matches this year. He beat top- the stretch to beat No. 7 seed UConn. man had three assists and the March 21, (AP): Wild card Aslan Medvedev and Andrey Rublev seeded Rublev 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in The 10th-seeded Terrapins held Tampa Bay Lightning beat Karatsev defeated South African are the others. their semifi nal on Saturday, when UConn to 32% shooting to overcome qualifi er Lloyd Harris 6-3, 6-2 in he claimed his fourth consecutive the Huskies’ strong physical game. the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1. the fi nal of the Dubai Champion- TENNIS win over a seeded player at the Maryland was outrebounded 40-29 Steven Stamkos had a goal and an ships for his fi rst title. but its defense carried the Terps to a , and Yanni Gourde, Anthony The 27-year-old Karatsev hard-court tournament. second-round matchup against second- Cirelli and Brayden Point also saved the two break points he The 42nd-ranked Karatsev has Harris was also going for his seeded Alabama. fi rst title after becoming the fi rst scored for Tampa Bay. Alex Killorn faced to win in 1 hour, 15 min- only been beaten by Novak Djok- Alabama 68, Iona 55 utes, becoming the third Rus- ovic and Dominic Thiem in 14 qualifi er to reach the fi nal. had two assists, and the Lightning In Indianapolis, Herb Jones scored Tampa Bay Lightning defense- improved to 12-2-0 at home. 20 points and second-seeded Alabama man Erik Cernak (81) and Chicago Alex DeBrincat scored for the pried open a tight game to beat coach Blackhawks left wing Alex DeBrin- Canucks captain Bo Horvat had a Blackhawks, who have lost four goal and an assist, and Jake Virtanen, Rick Pitino’s underdogs from Iona. cat (12) battle for control of the straight and six of seven. Malcolm Jones had a and layup that puck during the fi rst period of an Brock Boeser and Tyler Motte also Subban fi nished with 25 saves. scored. Hotby made 36 saves. highlighted an 11-0 run and gave Ala- NHL hockey game on March 20, in Since the start of the 2010-11 sea- Tampa, Florida. (AP) bama (25-6) breathing room at 54-46 son, Chicago has one regulation victo- Blue Jackets 3, Hurricanes 2, SO after the teams seesawed with the lead ry against Tampa Bay in 24 meetings. In Raleigh, N.C., Oliver Bjork- through much of the second half. Rangers 3, Capitals 1 strand scored in the fourth round of the Cowboys end skid shootout to give Columbus a win over Gonzaga 98, Norfolk St 55 In Washington, Mika Zibanejad Carolina. In Indianapolis, Corey Kispert scored the go-ahead goal with 2:32 Bjorkstrand and Seth Jones scored scored 15 of his 23 points by halftime left, Keith Kinkaid made 28 saves third-period goals for the Blue Jackets, and No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga rolled Tarleton State and New York snapped Washington’s whose only lead in the game came on in its opener, beating Norfolk State. NHL-best winning streak at seven. the last attempt in the shootout. Elvis Anton Watson had 17 points on New York has won three of four Merzlikins stopped 35 shots for Co- 7-for-7 shooting for the Bulldogs (27- tops Mustangs against East Division-leading Wash- lumbus. 0), who shook off a slow few opening ington this season. The Rangers led STEPHENVILLE, Texas, March 21, Andrei Svechnikov and Warren minutes and easily handled the 16th- for much of the game Friday night be- (AP): Steven Duncan passed for 183 Foegele scored in regulation for the seeded Mid-Eastern Athletic Confer- fore losing on two late goals by Alex yards, three touchdowns and no inter- Hurricanes, who dropped their third ence champions. Ovechkin. ceptions and Tarleton State beat long- straight game following an eight-game Oklahoma 72, Missouri 68 time rival Midwestern State 33-21. New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) works for the puck against winning streak. Goalie James Reimer In Indianapolis, Austin Reaves The Texans (4-2) played against Mid- ICE HOCKEY Washington Capitals defenseman Brenden Dillon (4) during the third pe- made 29 saves. scored 23 points, Brady Manek added western State in the Division II Lone riod of an NHL hockey game, on March 20, in Washington. (AP) Maple Leafs 2, Flames 0 19 and Oklahoma slipped by ninth- Star Conference in every season since seeded Missouri. 2004 and are currently in their fi rst year It looked like a similar recipe Friday Dubois scored for Winnipeg. Connor O’Reilly won the offensive-zone In Toronto, Jack Campbell made 31 after Pavel Buchnevich gave the Rang- Hellebuyck made 33 saves in the loss. draw and then got the puck back in saves for his second shutout of the sea- The eighth-seeded Sooners (16-10) of their four-year transition to Division I are on to the second round for fourth in the Western Athletic Conference. ers a lead late in the fi rst period with Avalanche 6, Wild 0 the circle, where he beat Devan Dub- son and Toronto beat Calgary. his 11th goal of the season off a per- nyk 4:22 into the third to make it 3-2. Jason Spezza and Zach Hyman time in the last six tournaments. Khalil Banks ran 21 times for 135 In Denver, Philipp Grubauer made yards and a touchdown and Ryheem fect pass from defenseman Adam Fox. Kyrou added his second goal of the scored to help Toronto snap a three- Creighton 63, UCSB 62 John Carlson tied it on a with 31 saves, Gabriel Landeskog had a game late in the period and David Per- game losing streak and win for just the In Indianapolis, Christian Bishop Skinner added 19 carries for 102 yards goal and two assists, and Colorado and a touchdown. Tariq Bitson had six 14:05 left, and the Capitals threatened ron scored an empty-netter to give the second time in eight games. made both ends of a one-and-one with on an ensuring power play. Avalanche beat Minnesota. Blues a sweep of the back-to-back set David Rittich stopped 31 shots for 16 seconds left to give fi fth-seeded catches for 83 yards and two touch- Cale Makar had a goal and an assist, downs for Tarleton State. But Kinkaid kept the Rangers in the after arriving in San Jose on a fi ve- Calgary. The Flames beat the Maple Creighton the lead, and the Bluejays game, and Zibanejad won it almost Nathan MacKinnon had three assists and game losing streak. Leafs 4-3 on Friday night. hung on to beat 12th-seeded UC Santa Justin Jones ran for 68 yards and Mikko Rantanen scored his third goal a touchdown and K’Vonte Jackson singlehandedly. He hounded Capitals Vince Dunn also scored, and Perron Stars 3, Red Wings 0 Barbara. defenseman Brenden Dillon in the of- in two games. Tyler Jost, Devon Toews and O’Reilly each had three assists. Creighton’s turbulent season, which and Valeri Nichushkin also scored. In Detroit, Tanner Kero broke a included a one-game suspension for fensive zone, stole the puck and roofed Ville Husso made 29 saves. scoreless tie late in the second period, FOOTBALL a shot past Ilya Samsonov. Grubauer completed his fi fth shut- Dylan Gambrell and Tomas Hertl coach Greg McDermott after he made out of the season and the 16th of his Anton Khudobin stopped all 21 shots a racially insensitive remark in the Panthers 2, Predators 0 scored for the Sharks, who have lost he faced and Dallas pulled away to rushed for 54 yards and a score for the career. The 29-year-old tied his career three straight following a season-high locker room, continues Monday in the In Sunrise, Florida, Chris Driedger high with his 18th win. beat Detroit. West Region when the Bluejays (21-8) Mustangs. stopped 21 shots, Aleksander Barkov three-game winning streak. Dubnyk Andrej Sekera gave the Stars a Wild goaltender Kappo Kahkonen made 16 saves. face 13th-seeded Ohio. McNeese St 21, Northwestern St 7 and Anthony Duclair scored, and Flor- had his personal nine-game winning two-goal cushion midway through the In Natchitoches, La., Cody Orgeron ida dominated Nashville. streak snapped. He stopped 36 shots. Penguins 3, Devils 1 third period. A little later in the game, Nashville’s Juuse Saros stopped 47 In Newark, N.J., Bryan Rust and Khudobin denied Robby Fabbri on a completed 17 of 22 passes for a sea- Islanders 6, Flyers 1 son-high 306 yards, two touchdowns of 48 shots, but the Predators couldn’t Jake Guentzel each had a goal and an breakaway and fi nished with his third and no interceptions to help McNeese solve Driedger, making his fi rst start In Uniondale, N.Y., Casey Cizikas assist, helping Pittsburgh end a two- shutout this season. The Stars sealed State end a three-game slide with a since March 7. scored twice in New York’s four-goal game skid. the win with 6:17 left, when Ty Del- 21-7 win over Northwestern State. Barkov backhanded in a rebound fi rst period, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Zach Aston-Reese also scored, Ca- landrea scored to make it 3-0. Coach Frank Wilson earned his fi rst 9:15 into the second period for his 13th Jordan Eberle, Anthony Beauvillier sey DeSmith made 24 saves and Sid- Detroit’s Thomas Greiss had 30 Southland Conference with the Cow- goal, and Duclair added an empty- and Josh Bailey also scored to help the ney Crosby had two assists for Pitts- saves, fi lling in for injured goaltender boys (2-3, 1-3). Javon Antonio had six netter with 15 seconds left. Nashville Islanders end a two-game skid that fol- burgh, which won for the seventh time Jonathan Bernier. lowed a nine-game winning streak. catches for 103 yards for Northwestern beat the Panthers 2-1 on Thursday, but in nine games. Coyotes 5, Ducks 1 State. Florida improved to 9-0-1 following a Oliver Wahlstrom and Thomas Kyle Palmieri scored for New Jer- Hickey each had two assists and Ilya In Anaheim, California, Derick UC Davis 73, Cal Poly 24 loss this season. sey and Scott Wedgewood made 26 Brassard completed a hat trick early Oilers 4, Jets 2 Sorokin stopped 23 shots for his sev- saves in his second consecutive start In Davis, Calif., Hunter Rodrigues enth straight win. in the second period and Arizona beat In Edmonton, Alberta, Leon Drai- for the Devils, who had won their pre- Anaheim to end a fi ve-game losing was 19 of 23 for 265 yards and three Joel Farabee scored for Philadel- vious two games. touchdowns and UC Davis set school saitl’s third-period goal proved to be streak. phia, which has lost seven of its last 11. Canadiens 5, Canucks 4, SO records for total yards (768) and points the winner as Edmonton rallied from Carter Hart, who came in with a 3.70 Jakob Chychrun had a goal and an in a 73-24 victory over Cal Poly. two goals down and beat Winnipeg. goals-against average and .880 save In Montreal, Tomas Tatar scored assist, Clayton Keller scored for the UC Davis’ previous record for total Connor McDavid had a goal and an percentage, fi nished with 22 saves. the shootout winner, fooling Braden second straight game. Antti Raanta yards was 697 against Mesa State, and assist, and Darnell Nurse and Devin Holtby with deft stick-handling in the made 27 saves, allowing only Adam the scoring record was 65 versus San Shore also scored. Mike Smith made Blues 5, Sharks 2 sixth round of the tiebreaker. Henrique’s late goal. Francisco State in 1985. 29 saves. The Oilers have won three In San Jose, California, Ryan Tatar also had a goal and an assist Ryan Miller was pulled after allowing Creighton’s Christian Bishop dunks Ulonzo Gilliam Jr. rushed for 105 consecutive games and are tied with O’Reilly snapped a third-period tie 12 in regulation. Nick Suzuki, Joel Ed- three goals on 14 shots in the fi rst period the ball against UC Santa Barbara yards and a touchdown for UC Davis the Toronto Maple Leafs atop the seconds after San Jose was penalized mundson and Brendan Gallagher also for the Ducks. Anthony Stolarz made 12 during the fi rst half of a college bas- (2-1). McCallan Castles, Lance Babb North Division. Edmonton was com- for a faceoff violation, Jordan Kyrou scored, and Shea Weber and Phillip saves in relief. Anaheim has lost fi ve of ketball game in the fi rst round of II, Blake Thorpe and Ulonzo Gilliam ing off a 2-1 win on Thursday night. scored twice and St. Louis Blues beat Danault each had two assists. Carey six, with the victory coming in overtime the NCAA tournament at Lucas Oil Jr each had a receiving touchdown. Andrew Copp and Pierre-Luc the Sharks. Price stopped 14 shots. Thursday night against Arizona. Stadium in Indianapolis on 20. (AP)