NATIONAL SPORTS NEWS

Last Update on March 22, 2010 06:30 EDT

NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT-SCHEDULE

UNDATED (AP) -- Three double-digit seed are headed to the NCAA tournament round of 16. The underdogs who made it to the next round include No. 12 seed Cornell, No. 11 Washington and No. 10 Saint Mary's. Other upset winners moving on to the regionals include No. 9 Northern Iowa, which ousted tournament favorite Kansas, and No. 6 Xavier and No. 5 Butler, two of five mid-major teams that advanced.

Mid-major Xavier punctuated four days of upsets in the NCAA tournament. Jordan Crawford scored 27 points, sending the sixth-seeded Musketeers to a 71-68 win over third-seeded Pittsburgh in a West Regional second-round game in Milwaukee. Xavier will face second-seeded Kansas State in a round-of-16 matchup in Salt Lake City.

Chris Kramer's layup with 4.2 seconds left in overtime gave fourth-seeded Purdue a 63-61 win over Texas A&M and a berth in the regional semifinals. Kramer is Purdue's leader with Robbie Hummel out with a knee injury. Kramer finished with 17 points. Texas A&M's B.J. Holmes got a final, frantic chance to win the game with a rushed 3-point try that fell short in the second-round game in Spokane.

Brian Zoubek's sixth double-double of his career sent top-seeded Duke past California 68-53 in a South Regional game in Jacksonville. The Golden Bears have been ousted in the first round of the tournament for the fourth time in as many appearances.

Cornell used another upset win to reach the round of 16 for the first time. The 14th-seeded Ivy League champions advanced with an 89-69 win over fourth-seed Wisconsin 89-69 in the East Regional in Jacksonville. Louis Dale had 26 points and Ryan Wittman 24 for the Big Red.

Evan Turner just missed his third triple-double of the season and scored 24 points in leading second-seeded Ohio State to a 75-66 win over Georgia Tech in the Midwest Regional in Milwaukee. He missed the milestone by an assist and rebound.

Da'Sean Butler scored 19 of his 28 points in the first half to lead second-seeded West Virginia to a 68-59 victory over 10th-seeded Missouri in an East Regional game in Buffalo. Butler accounted for 19 of the Mountaineers' 30 points in the first half.

Michigan State is bound for the round of 16. The Spartans got a buzzer-beater from the top of the key by Korie Lucious to defeat Maryland 85-83 in Spokane. Maryland's comeback from a 16-point second-half deficit fell short.

Syracuse eased into the round of 16. The Orange raced to a first-half lead and easily beat Gonzaga 87-65 in Buffalo. The West Regional top seed got 31 points and 14 rebounds from Wes Johnson. The Orange made 12 3-pointers, while Gonzaga shot 3 of 21 from long distance.

In other men's basketball news:

--The Houston Chronicle is reporting Houston basketball coach Tom Penders will resign. The newspaper is citing an unidentified source as saying the decision to step down came after a meeting Sunday with athletic director Mack Rhoades. An announcement is expected today.

NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT/SCHEDULE

UNDATED (AP) -- Top-seeded Connecticut will carry a 73-game winning streak into the second round of the NCAA women's tournament. The Huskies' latest win came against Southern, 93-39. Southern jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the Huskies went on a 15-2 run that fueled the rout. Tina Charles made her first nine shots from the field and led the way with 22 points.

TIGER WOODS-INTERVIEWS

UNDATED (AP) -- Tiger Woods has acknowledged "living a lie," and says only he is responsible for the sex scandal that cost him sponsors and fans. Woods gave five-minute interviews to ESPN and The Golf Channel that aired yesterday. He says he's nervous about how he'll be received when he returns to golf at the Masters at Augusta National next month. CBS says it turned down an interview after being told it would be limited to five minutes of questions.

NBA-SCHEDULE

UNDATED (AP) -- Atlanta is headed to the playoffs for the third straight year. Marvin Williams scored 26 points and was one of three Hawks players with 20 or more points in a 119-114 overtime and playoff-berth clinching victory over San Antonio. It was the Hawks' first win over the Spurs in five years and ended a seven-game losing streak against San Antonio.

In other action:

--LeBron James had 15 points and seven assists in three quarters as the Cleveland Cavaliers completed their first season sweep of Detroit in 30 years, beating the Pistons 104-79.

--Carl Landry scored 24 points and short-handed Sacramento beat the Clippers 102-89 in Los Angeles. The Kings were without rookie point guard and leading scorer Tyreke Evans.

--Danny Granger scored 32 points to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-101.

--Aaron Brooks scored seven straight points down the stretch, leading the Houston Rockets past New York 116-112.

--Kobe Bryant scored 20 of his 24 points in the second second quarter, and the Lakers sent the Washington Wizards to their 11th straight loss, 99-92.

--Jared Dudley scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter and Grant Hill added two key baskets to lead Phoenix to a 93-87 win over Portland, the Suns' fourth straight win.

Also in the NBA:

-- Lakers center Andrew Bynum has learned his left Achilles' tendon is not torn and he is expected to miss about two weeks.

NHL-FLAMES-LANKOW

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Calgary center Daymond Langkow's return to the team is uncertain after he was hit in the back of the next by a puck yesterday against the Wild. The team says Langkow has movement in all his extremities, but he still has X-rays and tests to undergo. Langkow was removed from the ice on a stretcher after being checked from behind by Minnesota defenseman Greg Zanon. He hit Wild defenseman Marek Zidlicky as he lost his balance and fell forward. With Langkow's head down as he fell, Calgary defenseman Ian White fired toward the net and hit his teammate.

NHL-SCHEDULE

UNDATED (AP) -- Ryan Miller made 27 saves and the Sabres have extended their winning streak to three games, beating Carolina 5-3 and completing their five-game road trip at 3-1-1. Jochen Hecht scored two goals and Tim Connolly, Toni Lydman and Tim Kennedy also scored for Buffalo. Sergei Samsonov, Brandon Sutter and Eric Staal scored for the Hurricanes, eight points behind the eighth place team in the Eastern Conference.

Elsewhere in the NHL:

-- Anaheim's Teemu Selanne has became the 18th player in NHL history to score 600 goals, reaching the milestone in a 5-2 win over Colorado.

-- Adrian Aucoin scored in the fourth round of the shootout and Phoenix matched a franchise record with its ninth straight victory, 3-2 over Dallas.

-- Florida got first-period goals from Nathan Horton, David Booth and Cory Stillman and snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over Tampa Bay.

-- Chuck Kobasew scored twice to lead Minnesota Wild to a 4-3 victory over Calgary.

-- Devan Dubnyk made 27 saves in his second straight victory as Edmonton stopped San Jose 5-1. Dustin Penner and Shawn Horcoff each had a goal and an assist in the win. San Jose is 0-5-1 in its last six games.

-- Dustin Boyd and Patric Hornqvist scored in a 48-second span in the third period in Nashville's 3-2 win over St. Louis.

--Ondrej Pavelec made 44 saves and moved Atlanta within a point of eighth-place Boston in the race for an Eastern Conference playoff spot after beating Philadelphia 3-1.

--Miroslav Satan and Dennis Wideman scored for Boston in a 2-1 win over the Rangers. The victory kept the Bruins a point ahead of Atlanta in the race for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

NASCAR-FOOD CITY 500

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- Jimmie Johnson is a winner for the third time this season -- and for the first time at Bristol Motor Speedway. Johnson darted from sixth to first in three laps. The Sprint Cup points leader sped through the field on a restart with 10 laps to go Sunday. It was his third victory this season and the 50th of his career. Tony Stewart finished second with Kurt Busch third. Busch led 275 of the 500 laps.

PGA-TRANSITIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) -- Jim Furyk is the 13th winner in 13 PGA Tour events this season. Furyk won a tour event for the first time since 2007. Furyk closed with a 2-under 69 for a one-shot victory over K.J. Choi in the Transitions Championship. Furyk last won at the 2007 Canadian Open. He has 14 career PGA Tour wins and ended a 58 tournament winless stretch.

MLB-TWINS

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -- The Twins are dealing with mixed news. The good news for Minnesota is that American League MVP Joe Mauer has agreed to an eight-year, $184 million contract extension that covers the 2011-2018 seasons and includes a no-trade clause. The bad news came from the bullpen. Closer Joe Nathan will miss the entire season with a right elbow injury that will require surgery. He made the decision today after playing catch with Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson. Nathan leads the majors with 246 saves since 2004.

In other baseball news:

--The Dodgers have released former Cy Young Award winner Eric Gagne. A team spokesman says Gagne asked for his release yesterday, six days after he was reassigned to their minor league camp.

--White Sox closer Bobby Jenks expects to be back for the season opener after an MRI showed he has no structural damage in his right calf.

-- Los Angeles Angels pitcher Jered Weaver had his second straight sub-par outing, giving up eight hits and six runs -- five earned -- in just over four innings in a 12-6 loss to Seattle in Tempe, Ariz.

-- Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer was sharp through five innings in his spring training debut. He held Baltimore to one run and five hits, finishing with six strikeouts and no walks. Baseball's oldest player at 47 is coming back from off-season knee surgery.

PHILIPPINES-PACQUIAO

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Manny Pacquiao says he is open to fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr., and is waiting for a challenge to come from Mayweather. Pacquiao is running for Congress in the Philippines.

SOC--MLS LABOR

CARSON, Calif. (AP) -- Landon Donovan says negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement in Major League Soccer went quickly once the league's officials understood the rationale behind the players' positions. The league and the union agreed on a new five-year collective bargaining agreement Saturday, ending three days of intense talks.

PARALYMPICS-CLOSING CEREMONIES

WHISTLER, British Columbia (AP) -- The 2010 Winter Paralympics are over. They have been declared closed by the president of the International Paralympic Committee Sir Phillip Craven. It was the first time Canada has hosted the Paralympic Games. Vancouver hosted last month's Winter Olympics.

BOBBY BOWDEN AWARD

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama's Nick Saban has won the inaugural Bobby Bowden national collegiate coach of the year award. He led the Crimson Tide to a national championship, setting a school record with 14 victories.

MIKE TYSON-PIGEONS

NEW YORK (AP) -- Mike Tyson's upcoming reality television show about pigeon racing has caught the attention of PETA. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says the show is cruel to animals. The show is to air next year on Animal Planet and will follow the boxing champion competing in pigeon races.