Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — David McCormack muscled his way to 25 points, Ochai Agbaji added 21 and hot-shooting Kansas withstood every Villanova run for a 81-65 victory Saturday night that sent the Jayhawks back to the national title game. Christian Braun also had 10 points for the Jayhawks, including a key 3-pointer to ward off a comeback late in the game. Now, they hope to follow a familiar pattern against Duke or North Carolina on Monday night. The last three times that the Jayhawks and Wildcats have met in the tournament, the winner has gone on to win it all. Collin Gillespie had 17 points and Brandon Slater had 16 for the Wildcats, who struggled early without injured guard Justin Moore and never could come all the way back.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — North Carolina spoiled Mike Krzyzewski's fairytale ending with a gritty performance. Kansas went on a 3-point shooting spree to take down a fellow blue blood, putting coach Bill Self in position to win the second title he's waited so long for. One of the bluest Final Fours ever is headed toward an epic finish: North Carolina and Kansas. They'll meet Monday night in the Big Easy with a chance to add to their already-storied legacies. North Carolina will be playing for its seventh national championship. Kansas is looking for No. 4.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's remarkable career came to a sudden end Saturday night after Caleb Love made a key 3-pointer and three late free throws to lift archrival North Carolina to a thrill-a-minute 81-77 victoryover the Blue Devils in the national semifinals showdown. This was the 258th, most consequential and maybe, just maybe, the very best meeting between these teams, whose arenas are separated by a scant 11 miles down on Tobacco Road. The Tar Heels, of all teams, pinned the 368th and final loss on the 75-year-old Coach K, exactly four weeks after they ruined the going-away party in his final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. North Carolina will play Kansas for the title Monday.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Villanova guard says he's grateful for emotional support and encouragement he's received from family, Villanova and even NBA star Kevin Durant since his season ending injury last weekend. Moore tore his Achilles near the end of a regional final victory over Houston and spoke before Saturday night's semifinal game against Kansas. Moore says Durant has assured him that his career isn't over and would advise him on his recovery as needed. Durant had a similar injury in 2019. The 6-foot-4 Moore averaged 34.4 minutes, 14.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per outing in 36 games. Villanova's offense stagnated early with Moore against Kansas and the Wildcats trailed 40-29 at halftime.
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Robert Thomas scored for the third straight game and set up Nathan Walker's go-ahead goal late in the third period to lead the St. Louis Blues over the Calgary Flames 6-4. Justin Faulk had a goal and two assists for the Blues. Ryan O'Reilly also scored for St. Louis, which earned five of six possible points on its Western Canada road trip. Ivan Barbashev and Brandon Saad added empty-netters. Villle Husso, who played more than 47 minutes Friday in relief of Jordan Binnington, was back in net for the Blues. He made 39 saves to improve to 19-6-5. Brett Ritchie, Johnny Gaudreau, Noah Hanifin and Dillon Dube scored for Calgary, which has lost three in a row. The Flames went 2-3-1 on their homestand.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — North Carolina, Duke and Kansas are bona fide basketball bluebloods, the best of the best in the men's college game. UCLA and Kentucky are no-doubters, too. But when the conversation turns to Villanova, which has the same number of championships as Kansas, a pleasant water-cooler debate over blueblood status can become a heated argument. The same goes for Indiana, which has long been considered among the best programs in the country, but hasn't won a title since 1987, or Michigan State, which has become a perennial contender under Tom Izzo but has only cut down the nets twice in its history.
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina need 20 starts together to become baseball's most prolific battery, The first of those 20 will likely come on opening day. Manager Oliver Marmol has officially announced the 40-year-old Wainwright as the Cardinals' starting pitcher against Pittsburgh on Thursday, with the 39-year-old Molina set to catch him. With 20 more starts together, Wainwright and Molina will have 325 total, passing Detroit's Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan for most career starts as a battery.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid's second goal of the game 1:11 into overtime lifted the Edmonton Oilers to a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Blues. Zach Hyman also scored two goals, Evander Kane had a goal and two assists, Darnell Nurse had a goal and an assist, and Mike Smith made 31 saves in the Oilers' ninth straight home victory. Pavel Buchnevich scored twice and Robert Thomas and Ivan Barbashev had a goal and an assist for St. Louis, which had a two-game winning streak ended. Brayden Schenn also scored. Jordan Binnington allowed four goals on 13 shots before being replaced by Ville Husso who finished with 25 saves.
Update on the latest sports
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT-FINAL FOUR
Tar Heels, Jayhawks reach Monday's title game
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It will be North Carolina taking on Kansas in Monday's NCAA men's basketball championship game at New Orleans.
The Tar Heels earned am 81-77 win over Duke that ends Mike Krzyzewski's (shuh-SHEHF'-skeez) Hall of Fame coaching career. Caleb Love made a key 3-pointer and three late free throws to finish with a game-high 28 points. RJ Davis chipped in 18 points and Armando Bacot (BAY'-kaht) grabbed 21 rebounds for North Carolina.
The Tar Heels are in the championship game for the first time since winning their sixth title in 2017.
Paolo Banchero (bahn-KEHR'-oh) was the lone Blue Devils starter with more than 10 points, finishing with 20 and 10 rebounds. Trevor Keels came off the bench to add 19 points.
Kansas has advanced to the NCAA title game for the first time since 2012 by defeating Villanova.
David McCormack and Ochai Agbaji (OH'-chy ahg-BAH'-zhee) led the Jayhawks' attack in an 81-65 win over the Wildcats. McCormack delivered a season-high 25 points, the most he's ever scored in an NCAA Tournament game. He also had nine rebounds.
Agbaji had 21 points for the Jayhawks, who shot 54% and were 13 of 24 from 3-point range.
Jalen Wilson added 13 rebounds, 11 points and five assists to the win.
Kansas scored the game's first 10 points and led by 19 at one point in the first half. Agbaji hit five 3s for 15 first-half points as the Wildcats repeatedly left him open. McCormack took advantage of single coverage to score 13 by intermission.
Collin Gillespie was high man for Villanova with 17 points, hitting five 3-pointers.
Game 2 of the semifinals is much tighter as Duke and North Carolina were tied at 55 with just under 11 minutes remaining.
MEN'S BASKETBALL-NEWS
Killings stays at Albany
UNDATED (AP) — Albany has announced that men's basketball coach Dwayne Killings will serve a five-game suspension next season and pay a $25,000 fine for "inappropriate physical contact" with a player.
The university's investigation concluded that it was an isolated incident. The school says Killings admitted his mistake, apologized and will keep his job.
In other college basketball news:
— The first Black basketball player at Pittsburgh has died at 86 following a battle with cancer. Julius Pegues (pihg-EE') played one year on the 1954 freshman team before earning a scholarship and moving to the varsity. He averaged 13.6 points and 4.9 rebounds in 77 career games for the Panthers, helping them make a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.
NBA-SCHEDULE
Heat pad conference lead
UNDATED (AP) — The Miami Heat were able to increase their lead in the NBA's Eastern Conference to 1 1/2 games over Milwaukee.
Jimmy Butler scored 22 points and the Heat reached the 50-win mark for the first time in eight years by thumping the Bulls, 127-109. Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro (HEE'-roh) each contributed 19 points for Miami, which shot 54% from the field and went 17 of 34 from beyond the arc.
Dewayne Dedmon added 14 points and the Heat won their third straight after losing four in a row.
Zach LaVine had 33 points for the Bulls, who fell a half-game behind Toronto for fifth place in the East.
In other NBA action:
— The 76ers snapped a three-game skid by blowing out the Hornets, 144-114. Joel Embiid (joh-EHL ehm-BEED') had 29 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for the Sixers, who tied a team record with 21 3-pointers. Tobias Harris supplied five treys and finished with 23 points.
— Klay Thompson poured in 36 points and the Warriors erased a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Jazz, 111-107. Jordan Poole added 31 and Andrew Wiggins had 17 as the Warriors snapped a four-game losing streak and clinched a playoff spot. At 49-29, they hold a one-game lead over the Mavericks for the third seed in the West.
— Darius Garland had 24 points and 13 assists to send the Cavaliers to a 119-101 win over the Knicks. Garland led seven Cavaliers in double figures as Cleveland snapped a two-game losing streak. Caris LeVert finished with 19 points for the Cavs, while Moses Brown and Isaac Okoro each added 16.
— The Hawks made it five straight wins as Trae Young provided 34 points and 10 assists in their 122-115 win over the Nets. De'Andre Hunter had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta, which took control by outscoring Brooklyn, 37-20 in the second quarter. The Nets lost despite Kevin Durant's 55 points and fell into ninth place in the East, a game behind the streaking Hawks.
NBA-HALL OF FAME
Ginobili, Hardaway among 8 new Hall of Fame inductees
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — NBA stars Manu Ginobili and Tim Hardaway are among the 2022 class of Basketball Hall of Fame inductees.
Ginobili spent his entire 16-year NBA career with San Antonio, winning four NBA championships and twice receiving All-Star nods. Hardaway played 15 NBA seasons and was a five-time All-Star in the 1990s.
Also selected this year were WNBA great Swin Cash; former NBA coach George Karl; long-time college coach Bob Huggins, WNBA champion and two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Lindsay Whalen; and NCAA national champion and former WNBA Coach of the Year Marianne Stanley.
They will be enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Sept. 10.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Panthers rally after down 6-2 in the third period
UNDATED (AP) — The Florida Panthers staged a furious comeback against the Devils in Newark on Saturday.
The Panthers stormed back from a four-goal, third-period deficit to beat the Devils, 7-6 in overtime. Gustav Forsling scored twice, including the game-ender 1:45 into OT to make Florida the first Eastern Conference team to reach 100 points.
Aleksander Barkov also had two goals for the Cats, who trailed 6-2 with under 14 ½ minutes remaining. Barkov scored twice with the extra attacker, including the tying tally with 1:24 left in regulation.
In other action:
— Devon Toews (deh-VAHN' tayvz) scored with 4:26 remaining to send the Avalanche to their team record-tying 28th home win, 3-2 versus the Penguins. The goal came just 27 seconds after Mike Matheson tied the game for Pittsburgh. Darcy Kuemper (KEHM'-pur) finished with 38 saves for the NHL's top team.
— Erik Haula (HAH'-lah) scored his second goal of the game with just under four minutes left to break a tie in the Bruins' 5-2 win versus the Blue Jackets. Brad Marchand scored his 31st of the season, and Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle each added an empty-netter for Boston. Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves for the Bruins, who have won six of their past seven games.
— Auston Matthews scored his league-leading 51st goal and Morgan Rielly collected three points in the Maple Leafs' fourth win in a row, 6-3 versus the Flyers. Rielly, John Tavares, Wayne Simmonds, Timothy Liljegren and Pierre Engvall also scored for Toronto, which has netted 24 goals during the winning streak. The Flyers scratched defenseman Keith Yandle, ending the NHL's Iron Man record for consecutive games played at 989.
— The Canadiens knocked off the Lightning, 5-4 on Nick Suzuki's shootout goal. Jesse Ylonen (YEH'-see OO'-lah-nehn) knotted it at 4 from the left circle at 2:18 of the third. Nikita Kucherov (KOO'-cheh-rahv) had a goal and two assists for Tampa Bay, which shares second place in the Atlantic Division with the Maple Leafs.
— Robert Thomas scored for the third straight game and set up Nathan Walker's go-ahead goal late in the third period of the Blues' 6-4 downing of the Flames. Villle Husso made 39 saves to improve to 19-6-5, helping St. Louis finish 2-0-1 on its three-game trip. The Flames' third straight loss cuts their lead in the Pacific Division to three points over Los Angeles.
— Captain Anze Kopitar (AHN'-zhay KOH'-pih-tahr) recorded a goal and one assist in his 1,200th career NHL game, leading the Kings to a 3-2 victory at Winnipeg. Adrian Kempe also had a goal and assist and Gabriel Vilardi notched his third goal of the season for the Kings. Cal Petersen stopped 25 shots to help Los Angeles finish 2-0-1 on its three-game road trip.
— Marc-Andre Fleury is 3-0 since joining the Wild after recording 37 saves in a 3-1 victory against the Hurricanes. Mats Zuccarello (zoo-kah-REH'-luh) and Kirill Kaprizov (kah-REEL' kah-PREE'-zahf) each a goal and an assist as Minnesota stretched its point streak to nine games at 8-0-1. Carolina lost in regulation for just the sixth time in 35 home games, keeping its lead in the Metropolitan Division at five points over the Rangers.
— The Stars own the second Western Conference wild-card position after scoring four times in the first period of a 5-4 win at San Jose. Vladislav Namestnikov (nah-MEHST'-nih-kahv), Jani Hakanpaa (YAH'-nee HAH'-kan-pah), Roope (ROO'-peh) Hintz, Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski scored for the winners. Tyler Seguin (SAY'-gihn) added three assists as Dallas won won its third straight and sixth in its last seven.
MLB-NEWS
Mets ace Scherzer suffers hammy injury, day after deGrom out
UNDATED (AP) — First it was Jacob deGrom. Now it's Max Scherzer.
The New York Mets say Scherzer is dealing with a hamstring issue and isn't sure when he'll pitch next. The announcement comes a day after the team announced deGrom would be shut down for at least a month because or a stress reaction in his pitching shoulder.
Scherzer was expected to start in place of deGrom on Opening Day. The Mets could open with All-Star Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco or Taijuan Walker.
In other baseball news:
— Braves reliever Luke Jackson has ligament damage in his right elbow and there's no timetable for his return. The team said Saturday that tests revealed damage to the ulnar collateral ligament in Jackson's elbow. Jackson was 2-2 with a career-best 1.98 ERA in 71 games last year, helping Atlanta win its first championship since 1995.
— A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that the Guardians have agreed to terms with closer Emmanuel Clase on a five-year, $20 million, five-year contract. The person says the deal includes club options for 2027 and 2028. Clase recorded 24 saves with a 1.29 ERA in 71 appearances as a rookie last year, striking out 74 over 69 2/3 innings.
— The Yankees boosted their depth behind the plate by acquiring catcher Jose Trevino from the Rangers for right-hander Albert Abreu (ah-BRAY'-oo) and lefty Robert Ahlstrom. The 29-year-old Trevino hit .239 with five home runs and 30 RBIs for Texas last season, making 81 starts.
— Yankees minor league manager Rachel Balkovec is back on the field, a week after she was hit in the face by a batted ball during a drill. Balkovec is the first woman to manage a minor league affiliate of a major league team.
PGA-TEXAS OPEN
Four share Texas Open lead through 54 holes
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Brandt Snedeker and Beau Hossler each shot rounds of 5-under 67 to join J.J. Spaun and Dylan Frittelli atop the leaderboard after the third round of the Valero Texas Open.
A final-hole bogey kept Scott Stallings out of the lead. He also shot 65 and was a shot back at 9-under. Matt Kuchar's (KOO'-churz) bogey at 18 dropped him to 8-under after an even-par round.
TENNIS-MIAMI OPEN
Swiatek downs Osaka 6-4, 6-0
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Iga Swiatek (EE'-gah shvee-AHN'-tehk) has ended her journey to the women's No. 1 ranking in fitting fashion. The second-ranked player continued her searing start to 2022 by beating Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-0 to win the women's title at the Miami Open and extend her winning streak to 17 matches.
Swiatek will replace the now-retired Ash Barty at No. 1 on Monday.
TENNIS-MEDVEDEV-SURGERY
US Open champ Medvedev says he needs hernia surgery
UNDATED (AP) — U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev says he expects to be sidelined for one to two months after having hernia surgery.
The No. 2-ranked man in tennis wrote on Twitter Saturday that he's been dealing with "a small hernia" in recent months. The timeline suggests Medvedev likely will miss the French Open, which begins on May 22.
NASCAR-RICHMOND QUALIFYING
Blaney pole-sitting again
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Ryan Blaney turned a lap of 119.782 mph at Richmond Raceway to earn his third consecutive top starting spot in NASCAR's top series.
It's the ninth pole for Blaney in 241 career starts, and his third this season.
William Byron will start on the outside of the front row, with Kyle Busch and Chase Briscoe in the second row.