AP Sports Summary for April 5th, 2025:
Alex Ovechkin ties Wayne Gretzky's NHL record with his 894th goal
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin has tied Wayne Gretzky's NHL goals record by scoring the 894th of his career. Ovechkin scored his second goal of the Washington Capitals' 5-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks with 13:46 left in the third period. Earlier in the night, he got his 893rd to move one away from tying and two from breaking Gretzky's mark that long seemed unapproachable. The 39-year-old Russian superstar is now one away from breaking it with six left to play this season.
At Final Four, Houston slowing Duke's Cooper Flagg could come down to a stopper named Joseph Tugler
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Pretty much every basketball fan has heard of Duke's Cooper Flagg. Nowhere near as many have heard of Houston's Joseph Tugler. If the Cougars are going to spring an upset over the Blue Devils in the all-1-seed Final Four on Saturday, it will almost surely be because one of the country's best defenders, Tugler, figured a way to hold down the country's best overall player, Flagg. Duke is a 5 1/2-point favorite over Houston, which boasts the nation's best defense. The winner will play either Florida or Auburn for the national title on Monday.
South Carolina returns to the NCAA title game and gets a rematch of 2022 against Bueckers and UConn
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The journey has been more challenging than usual, but Dawn Staley and defending national champion South Carolina are still getting the job done. The Gamecocks (35-3) overwhelmed Southeastern Conference rival Texas 74-57 on Friday night in the Final Four of the women's NCAA Tournament, advancing to the title game Sunday against UConn (36-3), an 85-51 winner over No. 1 overall seed UCLA. Coach Geno Auriemma's Huskies traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, in the regular season and dominated the Gamecocks, winning 87-58 on Feb. 16. This is the seventh time The Associated Press preseason Nos. 1 and 2 teams will play in the women's NCAA championship game. South Carolina beat UConn in the 2022 title game after the teams began that season ranked 1-2.
Strong, Fudd help UConn blow out UCLA 85-51 in Final Four as Bueckers moves 1 win from elusive title
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd didn't even need much help from superstar Paige Bueckers to propel UConn into the national title game, leading the Huskies to a remarkably easy 85-51 victory over UCLA in the Final Four of the women's NCAA Tournament. Strong finished with 22 points and Fudd scored all of her 19 points in the first half for the second-seeded Huskies, who are one win away from their 12th national championship and first since the team won four straight from 2013-16 led by former great Breanna Stewart. UConn will face defending champion South Carolina on Sunday for the title.
Defending national champion South Carolina returns to title game with 74-57 rout of Texas
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Defending national champion South Carolina left no doubt it would return to the title game, getting 14 points from Te-Hina Paopao and overwhelming Texas 74-57 in the Final Four of the women's NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks are a win away from becoming the first team to secure consecutive titles since UConn won four straight from 2013-16. Now the teams will meet for the championship after UConn routed UCLA later Friday night. Freshman Joyce Edwards added 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for South Carolina, which used its experience and poise to weather an early deficit and took control with its depth at both ends of the floor.
Duke freshman star Cooper Flagg named the AP men's college basketball player of the year
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Duke star Cooper Flagg is The Associated Press men's college basketball national player of the year. Flagg is just the fourth freshman to win the award. He joins Duke's Zion Williamson, Kentucky's Anthony Davis and Texas star Kevin Durant. He is also the eighth Duke player to win the award, the most of any school. Flagg received 41 of 61 votes from AP Top 25 poll voters to beat Auburn's Johni Broome. They were the only two players to receive votes. Both have their teams in the Final Four this weekend.
Soto at home in Polar Bear's house: Big bats power Mets in `storybook' Citi Field opener
NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Soto's home debut with the New York Mets was a huge success. Citi Field is still Pete Alonso's house, though. Alonso hit an early two-run homer, Soto added an RBI double and the New York Mets beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0 behind the pair of power hitters they signed in free agency last offseason. With the Mets back from a 3-3 trip to start the season, fans were fired up for Soto's first home game since agreeing to a record $765 million, 15-year contract in December. The slugger's No. 22 jersey dotted the stands in a sellout crowd of 43,945, and T-shirts with Seven Juan Eight written on the front were available for purchase — a clever nod to the 718 area code in Queens.
Cleveland's José RamÃrez hits 3 homers and claims another piece of Guardians history
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — José RamÃrez blasted three homers and carried the Guardians to a victory. The veteran slugger claimed another place in Cleveland baseball history in the process. RamÃrez hit a solo homer in the first, a tying two-run shot in the fifth and another solo shot in the ninth inning of the Guardians' 8-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. RamÃrez's 26th career multi-homer game moved him even with Albert Belle and Jim Thome for the most multi-homer performances in the history of a franchise that began play in 1901. It was also the second three-homer game of RamÃrez's career spent entirely with Cleveland.
Verstappen takes pole for Sunday's F1 Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Norris and Piastri
SUZUKA, Japan (AP) — Max Verstappen of Red Bull will start from pole position in the Japanese Grand Prix after turning the top time in qualifying on Saturday in his final attempt. Lando Norris of McLaren will start alongside with teammate Oscar Piastri on the second row with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. Norris and Piastri have won the first two Formula 1 races of the season. Now Verstappen in set up in good shape to win his fourth straight race in Japan. Lewis Hamilton the seven-time champion will start from eighth on Sunday for Ferrari.
NBA fines Grizzlies' Ja Morant $75,000 for continued finger-gun gestures, after warning him to stop
MIAMI (AP) — Ja Morant showed off an imaginary gun. The NBA hit back with a real fine. A day after Morant again used his aiming-a-gun gesture to celebrate making a 3-pointer, the Grizzlies' star was fined $75,000 by the league Friday. It's the second time this week that Morant — who was suspended twice in 2023 for incidents with actual weapons — heard from the league about mimicking the act of using a gun during a game. The first interaction with the league office resulted in a warning, after Morant and Golden State's Buddy Hield made the gesture at one another during a Grizzlies-Warriors game on Tuesday.
AP-Scorecard
Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:
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INTERLEAGUE
Final Boston 13 St. Louis 9
Final N.Y. Mets 5 Toronto 0
Final N.Y. Yankees 9 Pittsburgh 4
Final Athletics 6 Colorado 3
Final San Francisco 10 Seattle 9
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Detroit 7 Chicago White Sox 4
Final Texas 5 Tampa Bay 2
Final Kansas City 8 Baltimore 2
Final Cleveland 8 L.A. Angels 6
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Chicago Cubs 3 San Diego 1
Final Philadelphia 3 L.A. Dodgers 2
Final Arizona 6 Washington 4
Final Atlanta 10 Miami 0
Final Milwaukee 3 Cincinnati 2
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Sacramento 125 Charlotte 102
Final Indiana 140 Utah 112
Final Boston 123 Phoenix 103
Final Detroit 117 Toronto 105
Final Cleveland 114 San Antonio 113
Final Chicago 118 Portland 113
Final Houston 125 Oklahoma City 111
Final Golden State 118 Denver 104
Final L.A. Clippers 114 Dallas 91
Final L.A. Lakers 124 New Orleans 108
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Detroit 5 Carolina 3
Final Washington 5 Chicago 3
Final N-Y Islanders 3 Minnesota 1
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TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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INTERLEAGUE
N-Y Yankees at Pittsburgh 4:05 p.m.
St. Louis at Boston 4:10 p.m.
Toronto at N-Y Mets 7:10 p.m.
Athletics at Colorado 8:10 p.m.
Seattle at San Francisco 9:05 p.m.
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Chi White Sox at Detroit 1:10 p.m.
Houston at Minnesota 2:10 p.m.
Baltimore at Kansas City 4:10 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Texas 7:05 p.m.
Cleveland at L-A Angels 9:38 p.m.
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
San Diego at Chi Cubs 2:20 p.m.
Arizona at Washington 4:05 p.m.
L-A Dodgers at Philadelphia 4:05 p.m.
Cincinnati at Milwaukee 7:10 p.m.
Miami at Atlanta 7:15 p.m.
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
New York at Atlanta 3 p.m.
Memphis at Detroit 7 p.m.
Minnesota at Philadelphia 7 p.m.
Milwaukee at Miami 8 p.m.
Dallas at L.A. Clippers 10:30 p.m.
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
N-Y Rangers at New Jersey 12:30 p.m.
Florida at Ottawa 2 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Dallas 3 p.m.
Anaheim at Vancouver 4 p.m.
Edmonton at Los Angeles 4 p.m.
Carolina at Boston 7 p.m.
Colorado at St. Louis 7 p.m.
Columbus at Toronto 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Montreal 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Buffalo 7 p.m.
Winnipeg at Utah 7 p.m.
Seattle at San Jose 10 p.m.
Vegas at Calgary 10 p.m.
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TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
(2)Houston at (1)Duke 8:49 p.m.
(3)Florida at (4)Auburn 6:09 p.m.
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MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Nashville at Charlotte FC 2:30 p.m.
LA Galaxy at Real Salt Lake 4:30 p.m.
FC Dallas at Atlanta 7:30 p.m.
New England at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m.
CF Montréal at Columbus 7:30 p.m.
Chicago at New York 7:30 p.m.
Orlando City at Philadelphia 7:30 p.m.
Portland at Austin FC 7:45 p.m.
Los Angeles FC at Houston 8:30 p.m.
St Louis City at Sporting Kansas City 8:30 p.m.
Colorado at Vancouver 9:30 p.m.
Seattle at San Diego FC 10:30 p.m.
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