NEW YORK (AP) — Markquis Nowell broke the NCAA Tournament record for assists in a game with 19, his last two on spectacular passes in the final minute of overtime, and Kansas State beat Michigan State 98-93 in a Sweet 16 thriller at Madison Square Garden. Playing in his hometown and fighting through a second-half ankle injury, Nowell found Keyontae Johnson for a reverse alley-oop with 52 seconds left in OT to give the Wildcats the lead for good in this back-and-forth East Region semifinal. Nowell finished with 20 points and five steals. A.J. Hoggard led Michigan State with 25 points. Kansas State will face Florida Atlantic for a berth in the Final Four.
NEW YORK (AP) — Florida Atlantic, playing in just its second NCAA Tournament, moved within a victory of the Final Four by using a second-half push led by Michael Forrest to beat fourth-seeded Tennessee 62-55. The ninth-seeded Owls will play third-seeded Kansas State in the East Region final at Madison Square Garden. Johnell Davis lead the Owls with 15 points and Forrest finished with 11, eight in a crucial second-half run when FAU took control. The Volunteers, who were looking for just the second Elite Eight appearance in program history, shot 33% — including 6 of 23 from 3-point range. Josiah-Jordan James and Jonas Aidoo scored 10 points apiece.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Julian Strawther hit a 3-pointer with 7.2 seconds left to answer a 3-pointer by UCLA’s Amari Bailey, lifting Gonzaga to a wild 79-76 win over UCLA in the Sweet 16. The Bruins were the West Region’s No. 2 seed and stormed back from an eight-point deficit in the final 1:05. UCLA took a a 76-75 lead on Bailey’s 3-pointer with 12.2 seconds left. The Zags brought the ball up the floor and Strawther stepped into a 3-pointer, sending Gonzaga fans to their feet and the Zags into the Elite Eight.
Jordan Hawkins scored 24 points for UConn and the Huskies are one step away from the Final Four after an 88-65 rout of Arkansas 88-65 in a West Region Sweet 16 matchup Thursday. The fourth-seeded Huskies (28-8) will play Gonzaga in an Elite Eight game Saturday in Las Vegas. Arkansas' season ended at 22-14. UConn played like a team capable of winning its fifth NCAA Tournament title and first since 2014. The Huskies have outscored their three March Madness opponents by 62 points.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The semifinals of the Midwest Region is stacked with coaching heavyweights. There's Kelvin Sampson of top-seeded Houston, who has led both Oklahoma and the Cougars to the Final Four. There's their opponent Friday night, fifth-seeded Miami, whose own coach Jim Larrañaga took George Mason to the national semifinals and had the Hurricanes in the Elite Eight a year ago. Xavier coach Sean Miller has twice reached the Elite Eight, once at Arizona and once with the Musketeers. Then there's Rodney Terry, the assistant-turned-savior of Texas, who kept the Longhorns together following Chris Beard's firing and has them playing in the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Souley Boum is savoring every moment of his one and only season at Xavier. He chose the school because he believed it would give him his best chance to play in the NCAA Tournament. The All-Big East first-team pick leads the Musketeers into a Midwest Region semifinal against Texas on Friday in Kansas City, Missouri. Xavier itself might not be at the Sweet 16 if it weren’t for the addition of Boum. He is the Big East's second-leading scorer at better than 16 points per game and has elevated a program that won the NIT a year ago.
CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins needs surgery for a torn ACL after injuring his left knee while fielding a grounder in a spring training game and is expected to miss a significant amount of time. The Phillies did not say when Hoskins would have the surgery or exactly how long the slugging first baseman might be sidelined. Hoskins hit 30 homers with 79 RBIs last season for the reigning National League champions. He was backing up to play a chopper on Thursday when the ball popped out of his glove. Hoskins, a free agent at the end of the season who turned 30 last week, hit six homers in Philadelphia’s playoff run last season. The Phillies lost to the Houston Astros in the World Series.
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) — Trevor Bauer was apparently shunned by every major league team, so he’s signed a one-year deal with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. On Friday before about 75 reporters in a Yokohoma hotel, he slipped on the BayStars uniform — No. 96 — and said all the right things. Not a single Japanese reporter asked about his suspension in the United States over domestic violence allegations or the reasons surrounding it. He said he hoped to strike out 200 and keep his average fastball velocity at 96 mph.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Rory McIlroy is really digging the long ball at the Dell Match Play. He capped off his victory against Denny McCarthy by driving the 375-yard closing hole to just inside 4 feet for an eagle that was conceded. It was a brilliant display of power at Austin Country Club. McIlroy is leading a parade of undefeated top seeds into the final round of group play. Defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele also are 2-0 going into Friday. They still have work to do. That's not the case for 20 players who already are eliminated.
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (AP) — A confrontation between two players in the postgame handshake line following Bowling Green’s win over Memphis on Thursday night in the Women’s NIT has been referred to campus police. As the teams walked toward center court following Bowling Green’s 73-60 win in the Round of 16 game, Memphis’ Jamirah Shutes stopped to talk with Falcons’ player Elissa Brett. After a short conversation, Shutes appears to throw a punch at Brett, who fell toward the scorer’s table and onto the sideline. There was no immediate word about what caused the confrontation or if any player was seriously injured.
THURSDAY SCORES
NCAA Sweet 16
EAST at Madison Square Garden
Final OT Kansas St. 98 Michigan St. 93
Final FAU 62 Tennessee 55
WEST at T-Mobile Arena
Final UConn 88 Arkansas 65
Final Gonzaga 79 UCLA 76
INTERLEAGUE
Final Boston 7 Pittsburgh 4
Final Philadelphia 4 Detroit 1
Final San Francisco 6 Chicago White Sox 3
Final San Diego 6 Kansas City 3
Final Houston 5 Washington 4
Final Cleveland 10 San Francisco 0
Final Seattle 17 Cincinnati 6
Final N.Y. Yankees 1 St. Louis 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Toronto 3 Minnesota 0
Final Detroit 8 Baltimore 8
Final Oakland 7 Texas 7
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Chicago Cubs 11 Arizona 1
Final Milwaukee 4 San Diego 2
Final Arizona 11 L.A. Dodgers 5
Final N.Y. Mets 2 Atlanta 2
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Orlando 111 New York 106
Final Cleveland 116 Brooklyn 114
Final New Orleans 115 Charlotte 96
Final L.A. Clippers 127 Oklahoma City 105
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final SO Philadelphia 5 Minnesota 4
Final Washington 6 Chicago 1
Final N-Y Rangers 2 Carolina 1
Final St. Louis 4 Detroit 3
Final Toronto 6 Florida 2
Final Ottawa 7 Tampa Bay 2
Final Boston 4 Montreal 2
Final SO Nashville 2 Seattle 1
Final Dallas 3 Pittsburgh 2
Final Vegas 3 Calgary 2
Final Vancouver 7 San Jose 2
Final Winnipeg 3 Anaheim 2