General Sports 3d Briefing
×NCAA Basketball & College Sports
One of the so-called fixers espn.com in a sprawling betting scheme to cash in on big bets on rigged NCAA basketball games pleaded guilty Monday, according to the federal prosecutors' office in Philadelphia. The final AP poll before Selection Sunday has a new top five -- though Duke, Arizona and Michigan stay top three espn.com. No. 2 UCLA picked up three first-place votes from top-ranked UConn in this week's Associated Press women's basketball Top 25 poll, while Texas jumped South Carolina to move into the No. 3 spot espn.com. This week's rankings were shaken up after underwhelming performances from top teams espn.com. The Tar Heels will miss their star freshman as the stakes rise, but his draft stock shouldn't plummet espn.com. Coach John Calipari picked up his 900th career win on Saturday in Arkansas' 88-84 overtime victory over Missouri espn.com. No. 5 Vanderbilt's slim hopes for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament all but ended with Friday night's 89-78 defeat to Ole Miss, a loss that included head coach Shea Ralph getting ejected for arguing espn.com. Miami (Ohio) finished the regular season as the only unbeaten team in Division I men's basketball, winning 110-108 in overtime over Ohio espn.com.
International Sports & Championships
Former world 100m champion Fred Kerley bbc.com is banned for two years for an anti-doping whereabouts violation. Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo regains the world half-marathon record as he claimed victory in Lisbon on Sunday bbc.com. New Zealander Brett Randell becomes the first bowler in the 254-year history of first-class cricket to take five wickets in five balls bbc.com. Britain's Sky Brown becomes a skateboarding world champion for the second time after winning gold in a rain-disrupted park event in Brazil bbc.com. Para-alpine skier Varvara Voronchikhina wins Russia's first medal of the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics with downhill bronze bbc.com. Ex-UFC, PFL heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou espn.com will return to action on May 16 as part of Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions' inaugural MMA fight card headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano. Britain's Emma Raducanu wins only 11 points in the first set as Amanda Anisimova wins 6-1 6-1 to reach the fourth round at Indian Wells bbc.com.
Six Nations Rugby
Scotland deliver arguably their best performance bbc.com in almost 40 years to give themselves unlikely shot at Six Nations title. Ireland keep alive their slim hopes of reclaiming the Six Nations title with a bonus-point victory over spirited Wales in Dublin bbc.com. England's defeat by Italy bbc.com has turned the spotlight on England's leadership, both on and off the pitch. Italy want to keep writing history after finally breaking a duck - their first win over England at the 33rd attempt bbc.com. Ireland head coach Andy Farrell says his side will benefit from the pressure of having to secure a win in Saturday's game against Scotland to secure the Triple Crown bbc.com. England World Cup winner Matt Dawson discusses their historic first loss to Italy and why they need to play with more freedom against France bbc.com. England's Ben Earl defends Steve Borthwick's record as head coach following their defeat by Italy and claims that "large parts of the performance were brilliant" bbc.com. Ireland debutant Nathan Doak says his first cap came "at the right time" when introduced off the bench in Friday's hard-fought 27-17 win over Wales at the Aviva Stadium bbc.com.
Winter Paralympics & Adaptive Sports
Ukraine's Maksym Murashkovskyi bbc.com says he has Chat GPT to thank for helping him win Para-biathlon silver at the Winter Paralympics. Snowboarder Emanuel Perathoner competed at two Olympics for Italy. After a devastating knee injury, and then a move into Para-sport, he has won Paralympic gold at his home Games bbc.com. Team GB bobsleigher Greg Cackett on the near-miss grief he felt after failing to win a Winter Olympic medal bbc.com. Former UConn basketball player Steve Emt was paralyzed in a car accident at. Then he discovered his immense skill in Paralympic curling .
Golf & Racing
Thomas Detry espn.com was among eight players from LIV Golf stuck in the Middle East amid the Israeli-U.S. attacks on Iran. Jon Rahm arranged a flight to get them to Hong Kong for the LIV event. Now Detry and others are competing. Akshay Bhatia beats fellow American Daniel Berger on the first sudden death play-off hole to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando bbc.com. Four-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar bbc.com solos to victory as he wins the Strade Bianche for a record fourth time. Ryan Blaney completed a Team Penske sweep at Phoenix Raceway by winning the Cup Series race Sunday espn.com.
Tennis & Other Sports
Britain's Sonay Kartal bbc.com saves a match point and takes a medical time out before battling to a 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-2) victory in her second round match against Emma Navarro at Indian Wells. Britain's Winter Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Bankes claims victory in the women's snowboard cross at a World Cup event in Erzurum, Turkey bbc.com. Hungary's Panna Udvardy says she was sent "disturbing" messages including a picture of a gun, warning her family would be harmed unless she lost a tennis match bbc.com. Filipina tennis prodigy Alex Eala has drawn enormous crowds everywhere she goes. On Sunday, she will take on Coco Gauff at Indian Wells espn.com.
Women's Basketball & Championships
Audi Crooks espn.com hears the haters. But Iowa State's star inherited resilience from her mom and joy from her dad. Her high-scoring game is the ultimate counterpoint. No. 15 West Virginia avenged two regular-season losses to No. 10 TCU by beating the reigning Big 12 tournament champion 62-53 in the conference title game Sunday espn.com. Gianna Kneepkens scored 19 points and Kiki Rice added 15 points and eight assists Sunday as No. 2 UCLA rolled past No. 9 Iowa 96-45 to win its second straight Big Ten tournament crown espn.com. Madison Booker scored 18 points as No. 4 Texas sprinted to a 14-0 lead against No. 3 South Carolina en route to the Longhorns' first women's SEC tournament title espn.com. No. 13 Duke rallied to win its second straight women's Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title, beating No. 12 Louisville 70-65 in overtime Sunday espn.com. Chris Ashby made 10 3-pointers and scored 34 points to lead Queens University to an NCAA berth in its first year of eligibility with a 98-93 win over Central Arkansas in the Atlantic Sun tournament espn.com.
UFC & Combat Sports
Charles Oliveira bbc.com dominates Max Holloway from start to finish to win the BMF title by unanimous decision at UFC 326 in Las Vegas. The BMF legacy is used to a certain type of fight that Holloway vs. Oliveira just didn't bring espn.com. UFC legends Jon Jones and Conor McGregor were both left off the promotion's planned White House card, with Dana White saying Jones was "never ever" in his mind for a fight espn.com. A lightweight title bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje will headline the UFC's White House event on June 14, while Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane will vie for the interim heavyweight championship espn.com. Max Holloway talks to BBC Sport about his trademark 'point-down' before facing Charles Oliveira for the BMF title at UFC 326 in Las Vegas on Saturday bbc.com.
Coaching Changes & Retirements
St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt espn.com is expected to retire after this season, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel. Schmidt, is the all-time wins leader in program history. Boston College has fired coach Earl Grant, ending his five-year run at the school espn.com. Georgia Tech has fired men's basketball coach Damon Stoudamire, ending his tenure at the school after three seasons espn.com. Sri Lanka name former South Africa batter Gary Kirsten as their new head coach bbc.com.
Miscellaneous Sports News
Olympic figure skating gold medalist Alysa Liu has withdrawn from the world championships later this month espn.com. Former UConn basketball player Steve Emt was paralyzed in a car accident at. Then he discovered his immense skill in Paralympic curling espn.com. The University of Texas-El Paso, Jacksonville State and Conference USA will review an altercation that appeared to involve a UTEP fan picking up a chair in a fiery exchange with Jacksonville State players espn.com. England's Under-20 Six Nations title hopes end on Friday despite a 37-17 victory over Italy in Treviso bbc.com. England's men win their Hockey World Cup qualification tournament with a 4-1 victory over Pakistan in the final in Egypt bbc.com. Ireland clinch a place in the Hockey World Cup finals with a dramatic shootout win over Japan to finish third