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.
Getty ImagesALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - With a chance to extend West Virginia’s improbable NCAA tournament run, Kevin Pittsnogle’s mind was far from the foul line.
“Coach told me to think about my wife,” said the recently married forward. “That kind of cheered me up, and I didn’t think about anything else.”
With a swish and another swish, Pittsnogle’s free throws sealed a 65-60 win over Bob Knight and Texas Tech on Thursday night, moving the Mountaineers to the regional finals for the first time since Jerry West led them to the championship game in 1959.
“Thrilled. It’s the best word I can use to describe it for our state, our university and especially our players,” coach John Beilein said.
Pittsnogle scored 22 points, including the free throws to make it 64-60 with 17.2 seconds left, to send the seventh-seeded Mountaineers (24-10) to Saturday’s regional final against Rick Pitino’s fourth-seeded Louisville Cardinals (32-4).
“I’ve talked with sports psychologists and they always say to make them feel relaxed and happy,” Beilein said about his conversation with Pittsnogle. “I said ‘You have a wonderful wife and family. Think about that while you’re out there.”’
They needed something good to think about after watching a 62-55 lead whittled down to two points. The Mountaineers won despite not scoring a field goal over the last 3:54.
A former bubble team and an eighth seed in the Big East tournament, West Virginia added yet another dramatic win to its best run in the NCAA tournament since West and the Mountaineers lost the national title game 71-70 to California.
Pittsnogle, a muscular, tattooed 6-foot-11 forward who shoots and handles the ball like a guard, carried the Mountaineers down the stretch, and his 3-pointer with 6:10 left put West Virginia ahead to stay at 56-53.
But the Red Raiders (23-11), battling for their first trip to the round of eight, didn’t go down easily. A three-point play by Jarrius Jackson and a layup by Devonne Giles — his first points since the opening minutes, cut West Virginia’s lead to 62-60 with 1:17 left.
With the Mountaineers on their heels, Pittsnogle bailed them out. Jackson stole the ball near midcourt and raced in for a layup, but Pittsnogle blocked it with 57 seconds remaining. In the battle for the loose ball, the Red Raiders got three offensive rebounds and four shots, but all missed.
“That’s exactly how I thought the game would go,” Knight said. “I did not think it was going to be easy at all to score against them.”
The ball started to roll out of bounds near the Texas Tech bench and Beilein’s son, Patrick, managed to save it and call a timeout with 30.5 seconds left to set up the free throws.
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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