LOS ANGELES (AP) — Grant Nelson converted a go-ahead three-point play with 38 seconds remaining, and Alabama beat top-seeded North Carolina 89-87 to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history. Nelson finished with a season-high 24 points, 19 in the second half, and he blocked RJ Davis’ attempt at a tying layup after giving Alabama the lead. The Tide face sixth-seeded Clemson on Saturday for a berth in the Final Four. Armando Bacot finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds for North Carolina. Rylan Griffen and Aaron Estrada scored 19 points each for Alabama and Mark Sears scored 18.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chase Hunter scored 18 points and converted a three-point play with 25.7 seconds remaining, and Clemson advanced to the Elite Eight for the second time in school history, beating Arizona 77-72 in a West Region semifinal. PJ Hall added 17 points for the sixth-seeded Tigers, who advanced to face either top-seeded North Carolina or No. 4 seed Alabama. Clemson last reached the final eight in 1980, when there were 48 teams in the NCAA Tournament. Jaden Bradley scored 18 points for second-seeded Arizona, which had a horrific shooting night, going 5 of 28 from 3-point range.
BOSTON (AP) — Top-seeded and defending NCAA champion UConn advanced to the Elite Eight with another double-digit victory, beating San Diego State 82-52 in a rematch of last year’s title game. Stephon Castle had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Cam Spencer scored 18 and Tristen Newton added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Huskies. They will play the winner of the other East Region semifinal between No. 2 Iowa State and No. 3 Illinois for a spot in the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona. The Huskies followed up blowouts last weekend with their ninth straight double-digit March Madness victory.
BOSTON (AP) — Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 29 points and Illinois reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005, beating Iowa State 72-69 in an East Region semifinal on Thursday night. Shannon had 20 points in the first half for the third-seeded Illini, who never trailed. He broke away for a dunk in the closing seconds and later hit two free throws to help Illinois fnally put away the second-seeded Cyclones. Illinois reached a regional final for the fourth time in the past 40 years and will meet defending champion UConn on Saturday for a trip to the Final Four. Curtis Jones scored 26 points to lead Iowa State
DALLAS (AP) — Houston is playing in its fifth Sweet 16 in a row, its best March Madness run since making three consecutive Final Four appearances in the Phi Slama Jama era four decades ago. The Cougars were Big 12 regular-season champions this season after making the move into that power conference. They play blueblood Duke on Friday night at the home of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, about 250 miles from the Houston campus. Another Atlantic Coast Conference team, No. 11 seed North Carolina State, takes on second-seeded Marquette and former Texas coach Shaka Smart in the first Dallas game.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — North Carlina State's Sweet 16 game against Stanford in the women's NCAA Tournament is bit of a harbinger of what’s to come. That’s because next season the perennially talented Cardinal are headed to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Second-seeded Stanford plays No. 3 seed N.C. State on Friday night in the Portland 4 Region, before top-seeded Texas plays No. 4 seed Gonzaga. Stanford is among five Pac-12 teams — most of any conference — that have advanced to the Sweet 16 as the league’s days dwindle due to conference reallignment.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Pablo Lopez pitched seven sparkling innings, Royce Lewis homered before leaving with an injury, and the Twins beat the Royals 4-1 to begin defense of their AL Central crown. Carlos Correa added three hits and two RBIs for Minnesota. That was plenty of support for Lopez, who gave up a homer to Maikel Garcia, the first batter he faced, but little else on a warm and sunny afternoon. He allowed four hits and struck out seven without a walk. Cole Ragans struck out nine, a Royals record for opening day, but still took the loss after pitching six strong innings.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani reached three times in his home debut for the Dodgers, and Los Angeles beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 in the Dodger Stadium opener to a season of sky-high expectations. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman homered in the third inning, and Tyler Glasnow pitched six innings of two-hit ball for the Dodgers. No offseason addition to the Dodgers' star-studded lineup was bigger than Ohtani, who showed no signs of distraction after a tumultuous week in which he emphatically denied betting on sports after the firing of his longtime interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Texas Rangers catcher Jonah Heim was going down to block a low pitch when he heard the ball tip off the bat and saw it change directions. Home plate umpire Chad Fairchild didn’t hear or see the same thing in the ninth inning of the season opener for the World Series champions. The Chicago Cubs took the lead on that disputed play before Texas rallied to win 4-3 on Heim’s game-ending RBI single in the 10th inning Thursday night. Fairchild told a poll reporter after the game that he ruled a swinging strike. Asked if he had seen a replay, Fairchild said he had, but refused to talk about what he saw on it.
UNDATED (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says he hopes the sport’s gambling investigation of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani will be short but he isn’t sure. MLB announced its investigation Friday after the Dodgers fired Ohtani’s interpreter and friend, Ippei Mizuhara, following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well over $1 million. Ohtani said Monday he never bet on sports or knowingly paid any gambling debts accumulated by Mizuhara.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Many fans at the Oakland Coliseum were still hanging out in the parking lot when Alex Wood delivered the first pitch of the season for the Athletics against the Cleveland Guardians. And they had no intention of going into the stadium. In protest of the A’s planned move to Las Vegas in 2028, fan groups staged a boycott of the home opener Thursday, purchasing tickets to the game to organize a block party outside the stadium. A half-hour before the game’s first pitch, hundreds of fans gathered in the far corner of the parking lot. They displayed “Sell” T-shirts and flags and threw beanbags at caricatures of team executives —including owner John Fisher and president Dave Kaval.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay All-Star shortstop Wander Franco was placed on administrative leave through June 1 under an agreement between Major League Baseball and the players’ association while the investigation continues in an alleged relationship with a minor. Administrative leave is not disciplinary under the sport’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy, and a player continues to be paid. Franco, who has a $2 million salary this year, remained in his native Dominican Republic while authorities there investigate and did not report to spring training.
HOUSTON (AP) — Scottie Scheffler is off to a solid start in his bid for a third straight PGA Tour victory. The world's No. 1 player shot a 65 in the Houston Open and trails Taylor Moore and Wilson Furr by one shot at Memorial Park. Scheffler has 28 consecutive rounds under par to start the year. Moore made bogey on his first hole and then had an eagle and five birdies for a 64. Furr matched him late in the day, holing out from 120 yards for eagle on the par-4 fifth and closing with birdies on 8 and 9. Pierceson and Parker Coody became the first twins to play with each other on the PGA Tour.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NCAA Sweet 16
EAST
Final UConn 82 San Diego St. 52
Final Illinois 72 Iowa St. 69
WEST
Final Clemson 77 Arizona 72
Final Alabama 89 North Carolina 87
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Texas 4 Chicago Cubs 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Baltimore 11 L.A. Angels 3
Final Detroit 1 Chicago White Sox 0
Final Minnesota 4 Kansas City 1
Final Toronto 8 Tampa Bay 2
Final N.Y. Yankees 5 Houston 4
Final Cleveland 8 Oakland 0
Final Boston 6 Seattle 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Milwaukee at N-Y Mets 1:40 p.m. (Postponed)
Atlanta at Philadelphia 3:05 p.m. (Postponed)
Final Cincinnati 8 Washington 2
Final L.A. Dodgers 7 St. Louis 1
Final San Diego 6 San Francisco 4
Final Pittsburgh 6 Miami 5
Final Arizona 16 Colorado 1
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final OT Atlanta 123 Boston 122
Final New Orleans 107 Milwaukee 100
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Ottawa 2 Chicago 0
Final Pittsburgh 3 Columbus 2
Final Toronto 5 Washington 1
Final N-Y Islanders 3 Florida 2
Final Montreal 4 Philadelphia 1
Final Carolina 4 Detroit 0
Final Minnesota 3 San Jose 1
Final St. Louis 5 Calgary 3
Final Vegas 4 Winnipeg 1
Final Edmonton 4 Los Angeles 1
Final SO N-Y Rangers 3 Colorado 2
Final Dallas 3 Vancouver 1
Final Seattle 4 Anaheim 2