AP Sunday Sports Roundup

It's 'Nova-Tar Heels for the title

HOUSTON (AP) — Check your brackets--anybody have Villanova playing North Carolina in Monday night's NCAA men's basketball final? If so, you're in luck.

In the most lopsided Final Four game ever, Villanova shot 71.4 percent and mauled Oklahoma 95-51 in the first national semifinal at the men's Final Four. Josh Hart scored 23 points on 10 of 12 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds with for the second-seeded Wildcats.

Kris Jenkins added 18 for Villanova, which broke it open with a 21-4 run early. The Wildcats also had a 15-0 run in the second half.

Villanova coach Jay Wright said his team just had "one of those nights" when everything clicked. 'Nova made it particularly tough on star Sooners guard Buddy Hield. He was held to nine points on 5-of-20 shooting. The Sooners shot just 31.7 percent.

It's 'Nova's third appearance in an NCAA title game -- and first since the Wildcats upset Georgetown to win the 1985 championship.

HOUSTON (AP)— The second semifinal was hardly a nail-biter either. North Carolina, the lone remaining No. 1 seed, beat Syracuse for the third time this season, 83-66. If the Tar Heels beat Villanova Monday night, they will earn their sixth national title.

Brice Johnson and Justin Jackson each had 16 for North Carolina, which led by double-digits most of the game against 10th seed Syracuse. Johnson also pulled down nine rebounds. Marcus Paige added 13 for the Tar Heels and sparked North Carolina in the second half with three 3-point shots.

North Carolina had a huge edge inside and finished with 16 second-chance points on 16 offensive boards.

The Tar Heels have won each of their NCAA tournament games by at least 14 points.

Coach Roy Williams will be looking for his third national championship as coach of the Tar Heels.

NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL-HONORS

UConn duo sweeps AP awards

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — UConn's Breanna Stewart is The Associated Press Player of the Year in women's college basketball for a record third time.

Stewart was a unanimous choice. That's the first time that's happened since the first award in 1995. Ralph Sampson of Virginia was the only men's basketball player to win the award three times.

UConn's Geno Auriemma is The Associated Press Coach of the Year in women's college basketball for the eighth time.

UConn has won 73 straight games and Auriemma stands two victories from winning a record 11th national championship. That would move him past UCLA men's coach John Wooden for the most in college basketball history.

UConn plays Oregon State in one of Sunday's national women's semifinals. Washington plays Syracuse in the other semifinal.

NBA-SCHEDULE

Spurs 39-0 at home...Pacers holding onto final playoff spot in East

UNDATED (AP)— Kawhi Leonard had a career-high 33 points, LaMarcus Aldrige had 31 points and 15 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Toronto Raptors 102-95 for their franchise-record 64th victory. The Spurs also extended their NBA-record home winning streak to start the season to 39 games.

San Antonio never trailed and topped its 63-win season in 2005-06.

Toronto sat Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan for rest.

In other NBA:

— Reggie Jackson scored 22 points, Tobias Harris added 21 and the Detroit Pistons overcame Jimmy Butler's first career triple-double to beat the Chicago Bulls 94-90. The Pistons are holding the seventh spot in the East. Butler had 28 points and career highs of 17 rebounds and 12 assists.

— Portland routed the Miami Heat 110-93. C.J. McCollum led the Blazers with 24. He also dished out seven assists.

— Rudy Gay had 25 points and nine rebounds, Seth Curry added 17 points and the Sacramento Kings beat the Denver Nuggets 115-106

— C.J. Miles scored 25, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:39 left, and the Indiana Pacers rallied to beat the dreadful Philadelphia 76ers 115-102. The Sixers have lost 13 straight and 25 of 26. The Pacers are holding onto the final playoff slot in the East.

NBA-CLIPPERS

Rivers says Griffin will return Sunday against Wiz

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Blake Griffin is returning to the Los Angeles Clippers after a three-month absence caused by injuries to his hand and quadriceps, and his four-game suspension for punching the team's assistant equipment manager.

Coach Doc Rivers says Griffin will start against the Washington Wizards in Sunday's game at Staples Center. It will be the first of seven games Griffin will appear in before the playoffs begin.

Griffin hasn't played since Christmas Day. The Clippers had a 30-15 record during his absence.

MLB-NEWS

Nats move Strasburg up

UNDATED (AP) — Nationals manager Dusty Baker says the team will start Stephen Strasburg in its second game of the season at the Atlanta Braves.

That represents a switch from Washington's original plan to start Gio Gonzalez in Game 2 in Atlanta on Wednesday. Strasburg had been scheduled to pitch Thursday for the Nationals Park home opener against the Miami Marlins.

So Washington will begin the season with Max Scherzer facing the Braves on Monday for opening day. Strasburg will follow on Wednesday.

In other baseball news:

— The Atlanta Braves got close to their season-opening roster limit by adding outfielder Drew Stubbs and pitcher Alexi Ogando to the roster from Triple-A Gwinnett. They are designating for assignment outfielders Michael Bourne and Emilio Bonifacio.

— The New York Yankees have traded catcher Carlos Corporan to the Tampa Bay Rays for cash. The 32-year-old Corporan hit .178 with three home runs and 15 RBIs last season with Texas.

INDYCAR-PHOENIX

Dixon wins in IndyCar return to Phoenix

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Scott Dixon dominated after taking the lead on a midrace caution and crossed the checkers under another yellow flag to win IndyCar's first race at Phoenix International Raceway in 11 years.

The win was Dixon's 39th of his career, tying him with Al Unser for fourth on IndyCar's all-time list.

Simon Pagenaud finished second and Will Power was third.

F-1-BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX

Hamilton's "sexy, sexy lap" wins him the pole

SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) — Lewis Hamilton produced what he called a "sexy, sexy lap" to snatch pole position away from his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix. Hamilton's winning margin was just under eight hundredths of a second.

TENNIS-MIAMI

Azarenka a two-timer

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) — Victoria Azarenka completed a rare Indian Wells-Key Biscayne double by beating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2 to win the Miami Open. The two-time Grand Slam champion is only the third woman to win both tournaments in the same year, and the first since Kim Clijsters in 2005. Steffi Graf did it in 1994 and 1996.

GOLF-HOUSTON OPEN

Lovemark and Herman tied for lead

HOUSTON (AP) — Former NCAA champ Jamie Lovemark and Jim Herman are tied for the 54-hole lead at the Houston Open. Both are trying for their first PGA Tour win. They own a one-shot lead over Henrik Stenson, Dustin Johnson, Russell Henley and Roberto Castro.

The Houston event is the last tournament before next week's Masters. The winner goes to Augusta.

LPGA-ANA INSPIRATION

Thompson leads by 1

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) —Long-hitting Lexi Thompson eagled the final hole en route to a 3-under 69 and will have the lead entering Sunday's final round of the ANA Inspiration. She's at 10 under after 54 holes of the first major of the LPGA season.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko, In Gee Chun and Ariya Jutanugarn are tied for second. American Michelle Wie is three shots off the lead.

CHAMPIONS TOUR-MISSISSIPPI GULF RESORT CLASSIC

Dunlap leads after long day

SAUCIER, Miss. (AP) —Scott Dunlap has a two-shot lead at the midway point of the Champions Tour's Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic. Dunlap shot an opening round 6-under 66 and followed it with a 69 for a two-shot lead over Jerry Smith.

The field played 36 holes following Friday's rainout.

NHL-SCHEDULE

Penguins continue late-season surge

UNDATED (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins clinched a playoff berth behind backup goalie Matt Murray's 23 saves for his first NHL shutout, 5-0 over the New York Islanders. Murray played because Penguins top goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (marhk-ahn-dray FLOOR'-ee) is suffering the aftereffects of a concussion.

Surging Pittsburgh improved to 45-25-8 with its fifth straight win. The Pens have outscored opponents 25-10 in that stretch.

The Penguins made the postseason for the 10th straight year.

In other hockey:

— Jordie Benn scored with 4:58 to play and the Dallas Stars rallied from a third-period deficit to assert their Western Conference supremacy with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in a late season matchup of division leaders. Jamie Benn scored his 41st goal for the Stars.

— The Philadelphia Flyers got two power-play goals from Wayne Simmonds, a strong effort from goaltender Steve Mason, and continued their surge toward the playoffs with a 3-2 win over Ottawa.

— Brian Boyle scored the go-ahead goal on a third-period power play and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New Jersey Devils 3-1.

— Ryan O'Reilly scored two first-period goals in a 2:52 span and the Buffalo Sabres surprised the New York Rangers 4-3.

— Detroit jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Toronto and held off the Maple Leafs 3-2. Brad Richards and Mike Green each had a goal and an assist.

— Logan Couture scored the only goal of the shootout to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 3-2 comeback victory over Nashville.

— Florida rallied with two goals in the final eight minutes and beat Montreal 4-3. Aleksander Barkov scored the winning goal with 28.1 seconds left.

— Brandon Saad had his first career hat trick and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1.

— Calgary beat Edmonton 5-0. Joe Colborne had his 18th goal for the Flames. Johnny Gaudreau scored twice to give him 30 goals.

__ And Arizona surprised Washington 3-0. Shane Doan and Oliver Ekman-Larsson broke a scoreless tie with goals 27 seconds apart in the final period.

NFL-BRONCOS

AP source: Elway and Kaepernick talking

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — A person with knowledge of the meeting tells The Associated Press that quarterback Colin Kaepernick met with Broncos GM John Elway at Elway's Denver home last week to talk about restructuring his contract as part of a trade with the San Francisco 49ers.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the talk. They met Thursday, the same day Kaepernick's $11.9 million salary for this season became guaranteed.

The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the meeting. It's the second in two weeks between Elway and Kaepernick, who has been recuperating in Colorado from several surgeries.

FIGURE SKATING

Wagner of U.S. earns silver at worlds

BOSTON (AP) — Sixteen-year-old Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia capped a dominant debut season by winning a world championship with a record-setting free skate score at the World Figure Skating Championship

American Ashley Wagner skated last and sent the home crowd into a frenzy with a personal-best score that moved her from fourth to second. She is the first U.S. woman in a decade to win a medal at worlds.

Canada's Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford defended their pairs world title at the World Figure Skating Championship. They came from behind with a near-perfect free skate.

HORSE RACING-FLORIDA DERBY

Nyquist wins showdown at Florida Derby

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Nyquist has won the Florida Derby to remain unbeaten, giving his connections an enormous payday and likely cementing his status as the favorite for the Kentucky Derby.

Nyquist is 7-for-7 in his career, Nyquist went to the lead early, got tested from favored Mohaymen as the two hit the top of the stretch — and never wavered, winning in 1 minute, 49.11 seconds. He paid $4.40 for a $2 bet.

Majesto was second, Fellowship was third and Mohaymen was fourth. It was the first loss in six career starts for Mohaymen.