AP Sports Summary for Wednesday, March 20th, 2024.
No explosives found at Seoul stadium in police search following bomb threat against Ohtani
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police say they've found no explosives at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome after searching the site following a reported bomb threat against Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani. Police say about 150 officers used sniffer dogs and X-ray detectors to search through the stadium but no suspicious objects have been discovered. Police officers said they acted on a tip that there was a threat targeting Ohtani but didn't elaborate. Major League Baseball's opening game between the Dodgers and the San Diego Padres is scheduled to start later Wednesday at the stadium.
Joel Scott scores 23 as Colorado State routs Virginia 67-42 to cap Day 1 of March Madness
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Joel Scott had 23 points and 11 rebounds as Colorado State won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in 11 years, blowing out Virginia 67-42 in the First Four. Nique Clifford scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Rams. Colorado advances as a No. 10 seed to play seventh-seeded Texas in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday. Reece Beekman had 15 points on 4-of-16 shooting for Virginia, which hasn't won an NCAA Tournament game since it won the national title in 2019. That stretch includes two first-round losses as a No. 4 seed.
Jokic's 35 points pace Nuggets in 115-112 win over short-handed Timberwolves after tight finish
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 35 points and 16 rebounds and Michael Porter Jr. scored 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter as the Denver Nuggets fended off the undermanned and undersized Minnesota Timberwolves 115-112. Jamal Murray added 18 points and 11 assists and Aaron Gordon had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets. They blew an 18-point lead in less than 12 minutes before recovering down the stretch to finish a four-game road trip on a strong note. Anthony Edwards had 30 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. His tying 3-point attempt fell short at the buzzer.
Analysis: Despite low trade value, Justin Fields still has potential to be a special player
Justin Fields went from being considered a franchise quarterback to disregarded by the Chicago Bears in just three seasons. It's quite a fall for a former first-round pick who showed promise. After more than a dozen QBs switched teams last week in the opening days of the NFL's free-agent frenzy, the Bears traded Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional sixth-round pick in 2025. The pick becomes a fourth-rounder if Fields ends up playing more than expected. It's not surprising that Fields was traded, but it was a shocker that the Bears basically gave him away.
Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr. ruled out of NCAA Tournament with bone bruise on knee
Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr. has been ruled out of the NCAA Tournament because of a bone bruise on his knee that caused him to miss six of the past 12 games, including the Jayhawks' one-and-done ouster in the Big 12 Tournament. Kansas coach Bill Self told reporters Tuesday upon the team's arrival in Salt Lake City that McCullar would be out. The news comes two days before the fourth-seeded Jayhawks play No. 13 seed Samford in the first round. The Jayhawks at least get second-team All-American Hunter Dickinson back. He dislocated his shoulder in their regular-season finale against Houston.
ESPN will remain the home of the College Football Playoff through 2031 under $7.8 billion deal
The College Football Playoff and ESPN have announced a deal that will give the network exclusive rights to the expanded postseason through the 2031 season. The agreement puts the national championship game on ABC starting in 2026. Financial terms were not announced, but as previously reported the new six-year agreement will pay the CFP and participating conferences $1.3 billion annually and nearly $8 billion in all. The major conferences and Notre Dame agreed on a new revenue-sharing plan last week that allowed the CFP to finalize the deal with ESPN.
March Madness as we know it could be on the way out amid seismic changes in college sports
Tracking the changes upending college sports can be as frenetic as keeping up during the first week of March Madness. Ultimately, those changes could impact what America's favorite basketball tournament looks like in the future. News about athlete compensation, player unions and realignment dominate discussions. Everything in college sports is open for discussion, interpretation and adjustment. That includes the industry's most hallowed tradition, the NCAA basketball tournaments, which begin this week and will stretch from coast to coast. The bottom line behind it all is money.
Park, 1st Korean to play in MLB, throws ceremonial 1st pitch in Dodgers-Padres season opener
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Former Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres pitcher Chan Ho Park threw the ceremonial first pitch ahead of the two teams' season opening game in South Korea. Park began his Major League Baseball career in 1994 with Los Angeles as the first South Korean-born player in the big leagues. He waved to cheering crowds packing Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome while wearing a Padres jersey since he works for San Diego as an adviser. Park went into his wind-up and threw the ball to San Diego's current South Korean shortstop Ha-Seong Kim.
MLB 2024: Splashy Ohtani, Yamamoto signings boost Dodgers as teams try to dethrone Rangers
The Los Angeles Dodgers showcased splashy signings Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but other teams focused on the fact that pricey payrolls don't translate into titles very often. Baseball's biggest spender has won the World Series just three times in the last 23 seasons. Steve Cohen's New York Mets became the most expensive failure in baseball history, boosting payroll to a record $355 million on opening day last year, then finishing fourth in the NL East at 75-87 and incurring a record luxury tax of nearly $101 million.
Mexican League rules allow Bauer to pitch for the Diablos Rojos
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Trevor Bauer was cleared to play in the Mexican League because he was not convicted for charges of sexual assault, according to the executive president for the Diablos Rojos club, Othón DÃaz. Bauer, the 2020 NL Cy Young Award winner, is slated to play five games for Diablos Rojos that included a weekend exhibition against the New York Yankees. The 33-year-old Bauer served a 194-game suspension from MLB after a San Diego woman said Bauer beat and sexually abused, an accusation the pitcher denied. Bauer was not charged with any crime.
AP-Scorecard
Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:
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INTERLEAGUE
Final Milwaukee 8 Cleveland 5
Final L.A. Angels 10 Cincinnati 6
Final Seattle 12 Colorado 3
Final San Francisco 9 Kansas City 8
Final Cleveland 8 Colorado 8
Final Philadelphia 0 Detroit 0
Final Miami 3 Houston 3
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Boston 5 Tampa Bay 2
Final Baltimore 13 Toronto 8
Final Oakland 7 Texas 7
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final St. Louis 11 Miami 10
Final N.Y. Mets 3 St. Louis 1
Final Arizona 4 Chicago Cubs 1
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Orlando 112 Charlotte 92
Final Houston 137 Washington 114
Final New Orleans 104 Brooklyn 91
Final Dallas 113 San Antonio 107
Final Denver 115 Minnesota 112
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final OT Detroit 4 Columbus 3
Final New Jersey 5 Pittsburgh 2
Final Philadelphia 4 Toronto 3
Final Winnipeg 4 N-Y Rangers 2
Final Boston 6 Ottawa 2
Final Carolina 4 N-Y Islanders 1
Final Colorado 4 St. Louis 3
Final Nashville 8 San Jose 2
Final OT Edmonton 3 Montreal 2
Final Minnesota 4 Anaheim 0
Final Los Angeles 6 Chicago 2
Final Tampa Bay 5 Vegas 3
Final Vancouver 3 Buffalo 2
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TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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INTERLEAGUE
Toronto at Atlanta 1:05 p.m.
Cincinnati at Chi White Sox 4:05 p.m.
Texas at Cincinnati 4:05 p.m.
Chi Cubs at Oakland 4:05 p.m.
San Francisco at L-A Angels 4:10 p.m.
Philadelphia at Baltimore 6:05 p.m.
Pittsburgh at N-Y Yankees 6:35 p.m.
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Detroit at Minnesota 1:05 p.m.
L-A Angels at Kansas City 9:05 p.m.
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
L-A Dodgers at San Diego 6:05 a.m.
N-Y Mets at Miami 1:10 p.m.
Colorado at Arizona 4:10 p.m.
St. Louis at Washington 6:05 p.m.
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Indiana at Detroit 7 p.m.
Miami at Cleveland 7 p.m.
Milwaukee at Boston 7:30 p.m.
Sacramento at Toronto 7:30 p.m.
Utah at Oklahoma City 8 p.m.
L.A. Clippers at Portland 10 p.m.
Memphis at Golden State 10 p.m.
Philadelphia at Phoenix 10 p.m.
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Toronto at Washington 7:30 p.m.
Arizona at Dallas 8 p.m.
Minnesota at Los Angeles 10 p.m.
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