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Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
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.
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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had hole-by-hole reports.
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.
AP
PHILADELPHIA - Advancing to the regional semifinals provided Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun with a strong feeling of accomplishment.
Beating Kentucky made it even more special.
Connecticut took control early, then survived a furious comeback bid by the Wildcats and held on for an 87-83 victory Sunday in the NCAA tournament.
The eagerly anticipated first meeting between the two high-profile programs proved well worth the wait. Although No. 1 seed Connecticut never trailed after the opening five minutes, the Huskies couldn’t wrap up the win until Rudy Gay made two free throws with 3.3 seconds left.
“It’s amazing that we were playing Kentucky for the first time,” Calhoun said, “but we’re trying to earn (recognition) as a lead program in America, and hopefully we continue to do that. It was obviously a tremendous, tremendous basketball game.”
Marcus Williams scored 20 points, including four clutch free throws in the final 30 seconds, and Gay had 19 for Connecticut (29-3), which next faces the University of Washington in the semifinals of the Washington Regional.
Last year, Connecticut was eliminated in the second round by North Carolina State. The Huskies made amends for that performance, however, by defeating a Kentucky team that wouldn’t quit after falling behind by 13 points in the second half.
“Kentucky gave us a great shot,” Calhoun said, “but we’re going to D.C.”
After losing to Syracuse in the Big East tournament quarterfinals, UConn struggled in its first-round win over Albany. Calhoun hopes this victory will provide the Huskies with a much-needed shot of confidence.
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“Sometimes I’d like to see them with more swagger,” Calhoun said. “Perhaps we’ll walk out of here with that kind of swagger.”
Patrick Sparks scored a career-high tying 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting for No. 8 seed Kentucky (22-13), which failed to reach the round of 16 for only the third time in the last 12 seasons. The Wildcats are 3-8 against No. 1 seeds since the selection committee began using seeds in 1979.
“We made some runs at them and had an opportunity,” Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. “When you have an opportunity to play against a No. 1 seed, you have to raise your level of play. We did. They’re a very talented team, a team I think is capable of winning it all.”
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Kentucky and Connecticut have combined for nine NCAA titles, including three of the last eight, but this was the first time they got together on the basketball court.
At first, the matchup appeared to be a mismatch. UConn led by 12 at halftime and 13 with 13:37 remaining, but that’s when the Wildcats finally found their shooting touch.
It was 66-57 before Kentucky’s Sheray Thomas scored from the baseline and Bobby Perry added a 3-pointer to get the Wildcats within four with 7:58 left.
After UConn upped the margin back to eight, Thomas hit a 3-pointer and Rajon Rondo beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer during a 10-4 spree that got Kentucky to 74-72 with 3:16 to go.
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.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 15 points and Evan Smotrycz added 13, helping No. 22 Michigan remain unbeaten at home with a 70-61 win over Illinois on Sunday.
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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.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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