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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.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has 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.
Getty ImagesIllinois 54, Minnesota 50
Shaun Pruitt scored 16 points, Brian Randle had 11 and Illinois’ post players overpowered Minnesota, sending the surprising Illini to the championship game.
Tenth-seeded Illinois (16-18) has won a season-high four straight games and needs to win a fourth game in four days to clinch the conference’s automatic NCAA tournament bid when it plays Wisconsin on Sunday.
Minnesota (20-13) was led by Lawrence McKenzie with 13 points and Damian Johnson with eight.
Both teams were playing for the third time in three days, and the Golden Gophers had less than 15 hours to recover from their improbable, last-second victory over No. 22 Indiana in the quarterfinals. Minnesota looked tired after the emotionally draining win.
But the Fighting Illini showed no sign of fatigue in becoming the lowest seed to reach the championship game since 1999, when Illinois did it as the No. 11 seed.
The Gophers missed six of their first eight free throws, 11 of their first 17 field-goal attempts and got into early foul trouble.
Illinois took advantage, jumping to a 13-5 lead — a margin they maintained most of the game — but couldn’t break away.
The Illini led 29-23 at halftime, then opened the second half making just 1-of-10 shots.
That gave Minnesota a chance for another comeback. The Gophers also had rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat Northwestern and reached the semis courtesy of Blake Hoffarber’s buzzer-beater on Friday.
Minnesota opened the half on a 9-3 run and tied the score at 32.
But Illinois recovered, using a seven-point flurry to rebuild a 39-32 lead with 8:15 remaining. After the Gophers closed to 44-40, the Illini delivered a knockout blow by scoring six points in 79 seconds to make it 50-40 with 2:35 left.
They put it away by limiting Minnesota to just two field goals in the final 6:51.
Minnesota’s Spencer Tollackson, who sprained his left ankle Thursday and sat out Friday, played 11 minutes Saturday and had five points. But he was limping by game’s end.
The loss likely ends Tubby Smith’s streak of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances at 14 during stints at Tulsa, Georgia and Kentucky.
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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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.
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.
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