Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
Reuters
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Dane Bradshaw was describing his part in Tennessee’s winning play when a replay of it suddenly appeared on the locker room TV.
“Hold on, we’ve got to see this,” he said.
There he was on screen, finding a streaking Chris Lofton with an inbound pass. And there was Lofton, falling away from the basket as he launched a 19-footer over the outstretched arms of defender Torrell Martin.
“It was a good look, but he was all up on me,” Lofton said. “It still felt good.”
His teammates surely felt the same way.
Lofton took that pass with 2.9 seconds left and rattled home a jumper barely inside the 3-point line to help the second-seeded Volunteers avoid a huge upset with a 63-61 victory over Winthrop on Thursday in the first round of the Washington Regional.
“It doesn’t matter how it came, I’m just glad it happened,” Volunteers point guard C.J. Watson said.
Craig Bradshaw missed a shot right before the buzzer that would have tied it for the Eagles (23-8), who remained winless in six trips to the tournament. They were trying to become the fifth 15th seed to record an upset in the first round, and the first since 2001.
Instead, the Volunteers advance to the second round for the first time in six years, where they will face seventh-seeded Wichita State.
“It was a real gut check for both teams,” said first-year Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, who led underdog Wisconsin-Milwaukee to two victories in last season’s tournament. “Both teams were physically exhausted at the end of that game.”
The frantic finish capped a heart-pounding game that featured nine ties and eight lead changes, the final one coming on Lofton’s shot. His were the only points in the final 2:42 as both teams squandered chances to advance to the second round.
“We were right there,” Martin said. “It was tied for a good long while, but we went on a drought. It just took one play, and we didn’t make it, they did.”
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The Volunteers (22-7) had a couple of opportunities in the final seconds. Watson missed a 3, but they retained possession when Bradshaw chased down a long rebound on the other end of the court. Pearl called a timeout to set up the play, with Dane Bradshaw throwing it in.
The first option was for a lob pass to 6-foot-7 Andre Patterson, but when he was covered, Bradshaw looked for Lofton.
“I thought they were going to come to me the whole time, unless we got an easy shot, of course,” Lofton said.
His was anything but, and after it went in with four-tenths of a second on the clock, the Tennessee players mobbed Watson. Winthrop coach Gregg Marshall used his final timeout, and James Shuler’s long pass bounced off the backboard to Craig Bradshaw.
Replays also showed that the ball hit off a Tennessee player, which should have started the clock, before it got to him. It was a moot point since the hurried shot clanged off the rim, allowing the Volunteers to hang on.
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“You can definitely make the case that this was good for us, the way it turned out,” Dane Bradshaw said. “Coach says the teams we play obviously will continue to get better, but the situation we were in won’t get any tougher.”
Major Wingate led Tennessee with 15 points, and Martin finished with 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for the Eagles.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
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Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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