Illini, Fighting Irish pull off upsets

UNDATED (AP) — Illinois pulled off the upset of the day in college basketball tournament play.

Big Ten Basketball Tournament - Second Round
Getty Images
loading...

The 15-18 Illini shocked No. 20 Iowa 68-66 in the Big Ten Tournament. Malcolm Hill hit the tie-breaking jumper with 1:14 to go to help fend off a furious Hawkeyes rally.

Iowa scored 11 straight points in a 98-second span to tie the score at 66 with 1:40 to go. Peter Jock had 29 points for the 21-10 Hawkeyes.

Elsewhere:

— Notre Dame continues its recent domination of No. 19 Duke with an 84-79 win over the Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. V.J. Beachem scored 19 for the Fighting Irish who have won five of the teams' last six meetings. Next up for the Irish is an ACC semifinal date with North Carolina.

—No. 7 North Carolina shot a sizzling 58.9 percent from the field in an 88-74 win over Pittsburgh in the ACC Tournament. Joel Berry II pace the 26-6 Tar Heels with 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting.

— Fourth-ranked Virginia topped Georgia Tech 72-52 to reach the ACC semifinals. ACC player of the year Malcolm Brogdon led the Cavaliers with 26 points on 10 of 15 shooting.

__ No. 11 Miami reached the ACC semifinals against Virginia by holding off Virginia Tech 88-82. Sheldon McClellan scored 21 for the 'Canes. Miami shot 57 percent from the field.

— Top-ranked Kansas got 21 points from Perry Ellis in an 85-63 win over Kansas State in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals. The Jayhawks improved to 28-4 and will next take on Baylor.

— Sixth-ranked Oklahoma reached the Big 12 semifinals by holding off 21st-ranked Iowa State 79-76. Buddy Hield hit for 39 for the Sooners, who next take on West Virginia. Hield's 39 is the second-most in Big 12 Tournament history

— Devin Williams had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead a balanced West Virginia attack, and the ninth-ranked Mountaineers never trailed in an 86-66 victory over TCU to reach the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament.

— Chris Boucher had 19 points and 11 rebounds to help No. 8 Oregon withstand a late flurry to hold off Washington 83-77 in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals. Andrew Andrews scored 10 of his 19 points during a second half run that saw the Huskies cut an 11-point deficit to two points.

— Also in the Pac-12, No. 12 Utah held off Southern California 80-72 to reach the semifinals. Kyle Kuzman was 11 of 12 from the field in leading the Utes with 23.

— Third-ranked Villanova advanced to the Big East Tournament semifinal with an 81-67 win over Georgetown. Josh Hart scored 25 points in the win while Ryan Arcidiacono added 19 points and six assists. The top-seeded Wildcats are 28-4.

— Also in the Big East, fifth-ranked Xavier slapped Marquette 90-72. Trevon Bluiett matched his career high with 24 points.

— No. 15 Arizona beat Colorado 82-78 in a Pac-12 quarterfinal. Allonzo Trier scored 23 points. Ryan Anderson had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the 25-7 Wildcats, who play eighth-ranked Oregon Friday.

— No. 22 Baylor beat No. 23 Texas 75-61 in the Big 12 Tournament. Taurean Prince keyed the attack for the Bears with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Rico Gathers added 13 points for Baylor which is now 22-10.

— And No. 24 California advanced to the Pac-12 semifinal against Utah by beating Oregon State 76-68. Ivan Cobb led the Golden Bears with 21 points and 15 assists.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL-IVY LEAGUE

Conference tournaments headed to Ivy League

UNDATED (AP) — The Ivy League will join the list of conferences with post-season basketball tournaments. The league will add men's and women's conference tournaments for the 2017 season that will determine automatic berths for the NCAA Tournament. The Ivy League had traditionally sent its regular season champion to the tournament.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL-RUTGERS

Jordan out after three seasons

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Eddie Jordan is out as coach after three seasons as men's basketball team at Rutgers. Rutgers went just 7-25 this season with one win in conference play. Jordan held the job for three seasons and was 29-68. The Scarlet Knicks were 3-35 in conference play in their first two seasons in the Big Ten.

COLLEGE ATHLETICS

NCAA to disperse money for athletes

UNDATED (AP) — The NCAA will distribute an extra $200 million to Division I schools in the spring of 2017 to be used by members for funding benefits for athletes. The NCAA announced that its board of governors had approved the one-time supplemental distribution. Athletics departments can use the money to help pay for full-cost-of-attendance scholarships and provide unlimited meals for athletes. Schools can also create endowments and start or expand health care and academic programs.

NBA-SCHEDULE

Spurs gain ground on Warriors...Cavs win final LeBron-Kobe matchup

UNDATED (AP) — The San Antonio Spurs moved within three games of NBA-leading Golden State by beating the Chicago Bulls 109-101. Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 29. LaMarcus Aldridge added 26 points and 10 rebounds. Tony Parker had 20 points and dished out 10 assists.

The Spurs are 31-0 at home this year and own a 40-game regular season home winning streak dating to last season.

In other NBA:

— The Cleveland Cavaliers are 2-0 on their West Coast road trip after beating the L.A. Lakers 120-108 in LeBron James's final game against the retiring Kobe Bryant. James had 24 points and seven assists. Bryant scored 26 to lead the Lakers. Kyrie Irving had 26 for the Cavs, who remained two and a-half games up on Toronto in the race for No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

— DeMar DeRozan had 30 points and five rebounds and the Toronto Raptors overcame some early sloppiness to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 104-96. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Hawks, who wrapped up a five-game road trip.

— Denver knocked off Phoenix 116-98. Rookie Emmanual Mudiay hit for 30.

NBA-HEAT

Bosh on the mend

MIAMI (AP) — Miami Heat big man Chris Bosh says he is no longer dealing with any active blood clots and remains hopeful that he can return to the team this season. The 11-time All-Star has been sidelined since the All-Star break. He was diagnosed with a blood clot in his left leg and subsequently resumed taking blood thinning medication, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press last month.

NHL-SCHEDULE

B's climb into first... Milestone for Jagr

UNDATED (AP)__ Phillip Di Giuseppe scored on a rebound 1:30 into overtime and the Carolina Hurricanes earned a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins. It was the fourth OT game in a row for the Bruins, who still pulled ahead of Tampa Bay for sole possession of the Atlantic Division lead with the single point.

In other hockey:

— Jaromir Jagr scored two goals and Vincent Trocheck had a goal and three assists to lead the Florida Panthers to a 6-2 victory over Ottawa. Jagr became the fifth player in NHL history to have at least 50 points in 20 NHL seasons — joining Ron Francis, Gordie Howe, Ray Bourque and Mark Messier.

__ Montreal nipped Buffalo 3-2. Torrey Mitchell scored the go-ahead goal with six and a-half minutes left. Star Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban had to leave the game on a stretcher after being inadvertently hit in the neck by teammate Alexei Emelin. The Canadiens said Subban was taken to a hospital for further testing and that he had normal movement in his extremities.

— Justin Abdelkader scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period to lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. That ends Detroit's three-game losing streak.

— Edmonton shaded Minnesota 2-1. Rookie Connor McDavid scored the winning goal, his 14th of the season with seven and a-half minutes left.

— New Jersey blanked San Jose 3-0 as Travis Zajac scored twice. Backup goalie Keith Kincaid got the shutout with 30 saves.

NFL-FREE AGENCY

Updates from around the league

UNDATED (AP) — The signing of free agents continues in the NFL:

— The Raiders have agreed to a four-year, $40 million deal with former Kansas City cornerback Sean Smith. His agent has confirmed the deal. Smith has allowed opponents to catch fewer than 60 percent of passes for all seven of his NFL seasons and gives the Raiders the starter they needed alongside David Amerson.

— The Chiefs have begun to announce their wave of free-agent signings, starting with veteran linebacker Tamba Hali and defensive tackle Jaye Howard. Hali agreed to a three-year deal to remain with Kansas City on Tuesday, while Howard reached a two-year deal to stay with the Chiefs on Wednesday.

— The Bengals have signed starting safety George Iloka and offensive tackle Eric Winston to new contracts. The club says it is also working on a deal with cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones. He has posted on social media that he would get a three-year deal to stay with the team.

— The Dallas Cowboys have added their first free agent, signing former Philadelphia defensive lineman Cedric Thornton on a four-year contract worth up to $18 million. The addition comes a day after the Cowboys re-signed middle linebacker Rolando McClain as they attempt to shore up their defense.

— The Falcons have re-signed defensive end Adrian Clayborn to a two-year contract and have added former Miami end Derrick Shelby with a four-year deal. A day after making former Cleveland center Alex Mack the NFL's highest-paid player at his position, the Falcons turned their attention to shoring up a pass rush that's ranked no higher than 28th in sacks since 2012.

— The Falcons have also filled a big spot on their offense, reaching terms with former Cincinnati receiver Mohamed Sanu on a five-year contract. He will compete with Justin Hardy for the No. 2 receiver role behind All-Pro Julio Jones.

— Philadelphia has agreed on a two-year contract with linebacker Nigel Bradham. The 26-year-old is the third former Bills player to join the Eagles this week. All three played for new Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz when he held that position in Buffalo in 2014.

— The Steelers have their replacement for retired tight end Heath Miller. Pittsburgh has signed former San Diego tight end Ladarius Green to a four-year deal. The 25-year-old is coming off a career year with the Chargers in which he set personal bests in receptions, yards receiving and touchdown receptions.

— Tampa Bay has addressed a need created by Logan Mankins' retirement by signing former Seattle guard J.R. Sweezy to a five-year deal. A seventh round draft pick by the Seahawks in 2012, Sweezy starting 49 of 59 regular-season games and 10 postseason games for Seattle.

— The Detroit Lions have signed free agent cornerback Johnson Bademosi. He has been a special teams standout for Cleveland. He played for the Browns the past four seasons.

— The Seattle Seahawks continue to focus on retaining their own free agents by agreeing to terms with wide receiver Jermaine Kearse. Kearse and the Seahawks reached agreement on a three-year deal. He's the third player Seattle has brought back this week. Seattle previously agreed to deals with defensive tackle Ahtyba Rubin and cornerback Jeremy Lane. Last season, Kearse had 49 receptions for 685 yards and five touchdowns in the regular season. He had another 14 catches and two touchdowns in the postseason.

MLB-CARDINALS

Peralta has surgery

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — St. Louis shortstop Jhonny Peralta has undergone surgery for a left thumb injury. He will most likely miss about 10-to-12 weeks. Offseason acquisition Jedd Gyorko is likely to get the first chance to fill in at shortstop. The Cardinals also have utility man Greg Garcia and prospect Aledmys Diaz in camp.

PGA-VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP

Three share lead

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) — Keegan Bradley, Ken Duke and Charles Howell III share the after the opening round of the Valspar Championship after opening with 4-under 67s.

Chesson Hadley is a shot back.

Defending champion Jordan Spieth opened with a 5-over-76.

More From KROC-AM