General Sports 24-Hour Briefing
×NCAA Basketball
Chad Baker-Mazara is no longer with USC's men's basketball program, the school announced Sunday. The leading scorer departed a day after leaving the Trojans' loss to Nebraska. No. 21 North Carolina denied Duke an outright ACC women's title with a 74-69 victory. Elina Aarnisalo scored a career-high 22 points while Nyla Harris contributed 19 points. No. 7 Florida clinched at least a share of the SEC women's basketball title with a dominant 111-77 win over No. 20 Arkansas. The Gators secured their ninth consecutive victory.
College Football
Colorado quarterback Dominiq Ponder died at age, coach Deion Sanders announced Sunday. The team is mourning the loss of the young player. Meanwhile, Texas joined UConn, UCLA and South Carolina as No. 1 seeds in the latest women's NCAA tournament projections. Iowa and Oklahoma made the biggest jumps in the rankings.
Auto Racing
Tyler Reddick made NASCAR Cup Series history by winning the first three races of the season. The victory at Circuit of Americas marked an unprecedented start to the year. In Moto GP, Marco Bezzecchi won the season opener in Thailand while defending champion Marc Marquez retired late in the race.
Golf
Nico Echavarria claimed victory at the Cognizant Classic after a dramatic finish. Starting three shots back with three holes remaining, he shot a 5-under 66 to finish at 17-under. Shane Lowry's double bogeys on the back nine opened the door for Echavarria's win. Casey Jarvis won the South African Open on the DP World Tour, earning spots in both the Masters and Open Championship later this year with his 3-under 67 final round.
Soccer
Manchester United secured victory over Crystal Palace with Bruno Fernandes playing a "coach on the pitch" role, according to Match of the Day pundit Joe Hart. The Portuguese midfielder orchestrated his team's performance from midfield. In international hockey, Ireland began their FIH World Cup qualification campaign with a 5-2 victory over Canada in Santiago.
Cricket
India booked their place in the T20 World Cup semi-finals with a five-wicket victory over West Indies. Sanju Samson's unbeaten 97 guided the hosts to victory and set up a semi-final against England. South Africa also advanced to the Super 8s after beating Zimbabwe by five wickets to finish top of Group, earning a semi-final against New Zealand.
Rugby
Barry Hawkins claimed his first Welsh Open title with a 9-5 victory over Jack Lisowski in the final. The dominant afternoon session secured the win for the English player. In Six Nations preparations, Cardiff's Keiron Assiratti and Dragons' Ryan Woodman joined Wales' squad for their upcoming match against Ireland.
Track and Field
Kenya's Brigid Kosgei set a new course record of 2:14:29 to win the Tokyo Marathon. The commanding victory showcased her dominance in the distance event. However, controversy struck at the US Half Marathon Championships in Atlanta when a guide vehicle took the leading athletes the wrong way, disrupting the women's race.
Tennis & Other Sports
Australia's Alyssa Healy ended her one-day international cricket career in style, scoring 158 to help Australia complete a clean sweep of their series against India in Hobart. In cycling, Matthew Brennan became the first Briton to win the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne one-day race in Belgium since cycling great Sir Mark Cavendish. The 20-year-old's victory marked a significant achievement in his young career.
Sports Media & Culture
U.S. women's hockey players Hilary Knight, Megan Keller, and brothers Jack and Quinn Hughes appeared on "Saturday Night Live" Saturday night. Knight quipped about the original plan being just the women's team before expanding to include the Hughes brothers.