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SAN DIEGO –  By the time the basketball rolled off the tips of his right hand, St. John’s guard Dylan Darling was moving so fast toward the basket that he didn’t even see if the ball went in the hoop.

But he heard the noise that followed: The final buzzer sounded. The crowd roared.

And that’s how he knew. He had just won the game for St. John’s on a banked-in layup as time expired to beat No. 4 seed Kansas Sunday in the second round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament 67-65.

“I didn’t actually watch it go through the net,” Darling told USA TODAY Sports in the hallway outside the St. John’s locker room after the game. “But I heard everybody’s reaction.”

He raised his arms in triumph right afterward. And then he got tackled by his teammates on the baseline as the Red Storm celebrated their first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999. No. 5 seed St. John’s next will play No. 1 seed Duke on Friday in Washington, D.C.

But it’ll be hard to top this in terms of sheer panedemonium at the end.

Here’s how it went down, according the players and Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, who is taking his fourth team the regional round in the tournament.

∎ Darling, a transfer from Idaho State, hadn’t made a shot all game before the buzzer-beater. He missed on his four previous attempts - all from 3-point range.

∎ The ball went in even though the left handed Darling shot and dribbled the ball with his right.

∎ Darling even asked his coach, Rick Pitino, to let him make that play at the end before he did it.

“This is the amazing thing, and the funniest thing I've ever been involved with,” Pitino said.

The final sequence for St. John’s and coach Rick Pitino

St. John’s never trailed and led by as much as 14 points in the second half before Kansas surged at the end to tie the game at 65-65 on two free throws from freshman guard Darryn Peterson with 13 seconds remaining.

St. John’s got the ball back then with a chance to win. But Kansas had four fouls to give before it would force the Red Storm to the free-throw line.  Meanwhile, the clock was ticking with no timeouts left, leading Darling to give some feedback to St. John’s coach Rick Pitino.

What should his team do on the final play?

Pitino listened with amusement to the player he calls “Bells” because he has “balls the size of church bells.”

“We're going to run a play, but they've got fouls to give,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said afterward.  “And Bells come up to me and says, ‘Run power,’ which is a high, back-screen pick-and-roll.  So I walk away and I said, `Wait a second.  He hasn't scored a bucket, and he wants to run a play for himself.’ I'm thinking as I'm walking, but he's Bells.  And not only did he do it, he went with his right hand. So real proud of him because to want the ball when you haven't made a shot is unbelievable.”

'He hadn't done a damn good thing the whole night'

After the Jayhawks committed four fouls to disrupt the Red Storm’s final possession, St. John’s forward Bryce Hopkins inbounded the ball to Darling with 3.9 seconds left. He took the pass in the backcourt and went straight for the hoop, dribbling three times with his right hand away from his Kansas defender, Elmarcko Jackson.

“He got downhill, and I was kind of trailing the play just in case he missed the layup,” Hopkins told USA TODAY Sports after he inbounded the ball to Darling. “I was gonna be there for the rebound, hopefully, and try to put a tip back in.”

He didn’t need to.

“As soon as Bells said to me to run power, I knew he could get to the rim because he hadn't done a damn good thing the whole night,” Pitino said. “So I knew he was going to do it.”

The St. John’s locker room was loud afterward

Hopkins and St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor each scored 18 points for St. John’s. Ejiofor was near the top of the 3-point arc ready to set a screen when Darling fielded the inbounds pass. He didn’t have to do much but watch.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God! Big Bell strikes again,’” Ejiofor told USA TODAY Sports afterward. “That’s what he’s done all season.”

Darling didn’t think there was time for anything else. He could have passed the ball to the corners if necessary, or tossed it to Ejiofor if he didn’t see an opening. There still wasn’t much time.

“I saw the lane, and I just went for it,” Darling said.

It might be the last 'cruel' play for Kansas coach Bill Sefl

It might even send Kansas coach Bill Self into retirement. The Hall of Fame Jayhawks coach said afterward he hadn’t made up his mind about that after experiencing recent health issues.  He’s won two national championships, just like Pitino. This loss stings.

“One of the things that makes it so great is that it can be great,” Self said. “But it can also be cruel.”

By contrast, Pitino said he was “jubilant.”

“We've taken another step now,” said Pitino, 73. “So it's just awesome.  Proud of our guys, and now it's just starting. The fun is just starting.”

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rick Pitino reveals St. John's buzzer-beater play against Kansas

SAN DIEGO –  Hall of Fame Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self said Sunday March 22 he hasn’t decided if he will return for another season after his team got beat by No. 5-seed St. John’s on a buzzer-beating layup in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Self, 63, has experienced some health concerns in recent years and was briefly hospitalized in January.

March Madness scores: Buzzer-beater, monster upset and more nail-biters

“No, I haven't decided,” Self said in the postgame news conference at Viejas Arena. “I'll get back and visit with family. I've had obviously some issues off the court health-wise.  And that will be discussed. But I love what I do.  I want to feel good while I'm doing it, though. We'll get back and we'll discuss that when we get back.”

His No. 4-seeded Jayhawks had just suffered a 67-65 loss, preventing them from reaching their first Sweet 16 since 2022, when they went on to win the national championship.

It was a tough loss to swallow. Lefthanded St. John’s guard Dylan Darling took an inbounds pass with 3.9 seconds left, drove to hoop with his right hand and banked the ball in as time expired to win the game.

Self also was hospitalized last year and two stents inserted during a heart procedure. In 2023, he experienced chest tightness and had concerns about his balance as his team was preparing for a Big 12 tournament.

He has won more than 800 games in his career, including two national championships at Kansas in 2008 and 2022.

If he does retire, it won't be because of what happened against St. John's. He made it clear Sunday that his decision will be about his health.

"My career ain't going to be based on one game," Self said.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kansas coach Bill Self may retire after crushing loss due to health issues

NEW YORK (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns had 26 points and 16 rebounds, Jalen Brunson scored 23 points and the New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards 145-113 on Sunday night for their sixth straight victory.

Josh Hart made all three 3-point shots and added 16 points as New York handed Washington its 16th straight loss. Mikal Bridges had 14 points and six assists, while Mitchell Robinson came off the bench to make all five shots and finish with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 17 minutes.

The Knicks rang up 77 points in the second half against one of the NBA's worst teams and shot 58.5% from the floor and 53% from 3-point range. They also made 18 of 19 free throws (94.7%).

Tyler Kolek played about 5 1/2 minutes in the blowout and went 4 for 4, including 3 for 3 behind the arc, and scored 11 points after pouring in 42 while playing for the Knicks' NBA G League team earlier in the day.

Jaden Hardy made seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points for the Wizards. Anthony Gill had 18.

The Knicks led 68-52 at halftime, then made nearly 62% of their shots in the final two quarters and led by 33 points in the fourth.

The Knicks beat the Wizards for the 12th straight time, their second-longest winning streak in the series. New York beat Washington 15 straight games between 1992-95.

The Wizards played without forward Justin Champagnie, who was suspended one game by the NBA for fighting and escalating an on-court altercation that spilled into the seating area during a loss to Oklahoma City on Saturday.

Up next

Wizards: Visit Utah on Wednesday.

Knicks: Host New Orleans on Tuesday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

NEW YORK (AP) — Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves for his NHL-leading seventh shutout of the season, Bo Horvat scored the only goal on the first shot of the game and the New York Islanders moved back into a playoff spot with a 1-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night.

Sorokin bounced back a night after he allowed six goals on 32 shots before being pulled in New York's 7-3 loss at Montreal. The shutout was his franchise-record 29th and Sorokin tied his single-season high set in 2021-22.

Horvat scored 1:25 into the game, taking a pass from Anders Lee and beating Jet Greaves with a snap shot. It was the earliest goal scored in an Islanders 1-0 victory in franchise history.

The Islanders snapped a two-game skid that knocked them briefly out of a playoff spot. With 85 points, they're in the second wild-card position in the Eastern Conference and tied with the Blue Jackets. Columbus is in third place in the Metropolitan Division because it has played one fewer game than New York.

Greaves finished with 21 saves for Columbus, which had its four-game winning streak and 12-game points streak stopped.

Lee appeared to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead with 7:54 remaining, but Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness challenged the goal and the call was overturned on video review when it was ruled that Lee interfered with Greaves.

Shortly after the Islanders' goal was waved off, Sorokin made saves on in-close attempts by Sillinger and Marchenko.

The Blue Jackets pulled Greaves with just over two minutes left, but Sorokin — who had 13 saves in the third period — and the Islanders held on.

Up next

Blue Jackets: Visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.

Islanders: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

On the final day of the first week of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, the reigning national champion saw its dream of a repeat come to an end.

In arguably the biggest upset of the opening week of the tournament, No. 9 seed Iowa knocked off No. 1 seed Florida 73-72 thanks to a 3-pointer from Alvaro Folgueiras with 4.5 seconds remaining.

The Hawkeyes had led by as many as 12, but saw the Gators claw back to take a two-point lead with eight seconds remaining after Isaiah Brown split two free throws.

Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz took the inbound pass and had a two-on-two in front of him, after Florida had opted to press and Stirtz’s primary defender, Boogie Fland, gambled to try to get a steal. As Stirtz took the ball up the court near the 3-point arc, Gators forward Thomas Haugh bit to cut off Stirtz’s path to the basket, leaving Folgueiras wide open in the corner to knock down the go-ahead 3 with four seconds remaining.

ARE. YOU. JOKING.

IOWA LEADS. THIS IS MARCH. #MarchMadnesspic.twitter.com/sNDHTqaGj1

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026

Florida had a chance to pull out a win, but was unable to even get a shot off, with Xaivian Lee driving to the basket and trying to dump it off to Haugh, only for an Iowa defender to stick his hand in to block the pass as time expired.

IT'S ALL OVER! THE CHAMPS GO DOWN 🤯

IOWA IS HEADED TO THE SWEET 16! 😱 #MarchMadnesspic.twitter.com/I7DldUMrjD

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026

With the win, Iowa earned a trip to its first Sweet 16 since 1999, a milestone it reached in just its first season under coach Ben McCollum.

The Gators became the first No. 1 seed to lose in the tournament this season.

Folgueiras' triple was one of two game-winning shots Sunday, with St. John's guard Dylan Darling giving his team a 67-65 victory over Kansas earlier in the day on a layup as time expired.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iowa basketball upsets Florida in March Madness with 3 heard 'round the world

DALLAS (AP) — Reilly Smith scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:38 left in the third period and the Vegas Golden Knights beat Dallas 3-2 on Sunday night, denying the Stars' bid to clinch a playoff berth.

Vegas' Mitch Marner skated into the high slot and his shot ricocheted off two Dallas players and landed near Smith, who scored from close range past a defenseless Casey DeSmith. The deciding goal came after the teams played more than seven minutes without a whistle.

Brayden McNabb and Ivan Barbashev also scored for Vegas, which snapped a three-game skid and won for just the third time in nine games. Adin Hill made 13 saves for the Golden Knights, who outshot Dallas 33-15.

Dallas' Wyatt Johnston set a franchise single-season record with his NHL-leading 23rd power-play goal. Johnston held the mark for the most in a season since the Stars moved to Dallas in 1993-94. His latest moved him past Dino Ciccarelli (1986-87) for the most for the Minnesota-Dallas franchise.

Justin Hryckowian also scored for Dallas (43-16-11), which is five points behind Western Division-leading Colorado (102). The Avalanche lead the NHL and Western Conference with a record of 46-13-10. DeSmith stopped 30 shots as the Stars lost for the third time in four games. Sam Steel had two assists.

McNabb opened the scoring at the 4:01 mark of the first period, carrying the puck out of his own zone, splitting two defenders and beating DeSmith low to the glove side.

Johnston scored his 38th of the season on a power play at 10:55 of the second and and Hryckowian put the Stars ahead with his 11th of the season at 16:48.

Barbashev tied the game at 2, scoring on a power play at 16:48 of the second after Nils Lundkvist was sent off for slashing. Barbashev took a feed from Brett Howden and scored from a tough angle near the side of the net.

Up next

Golden Knights: At the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

Stars: Host the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

There will be no repeat champion in men’s college basketball.

No. 1 seed Florida has been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, losing to No. 9 seed Iowa 73-72 in the second round matchup and sending the Gators home early.

The Hawkeyes did it in stunning fashion: down two points with eight seconds left, Bennett Stirtz drove down the court and found a wide open Alvaro Folgueiras for a go-ahead 3-pointer with four seconds left. Florida was unable to respond with its last chance.

"This is really special for the dreamers, and there is no better dreamer than us," Folgueiras said on the broadcast after the win.

ARE. YOU. JOKING.

IOWA LEADS. THIS IS MARCH. #MarchMadnesspic.twitter.com/sNDHTqaGj1

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026

The defending champions entered the Sunday, March 22, game fresh off their massive blowout victory of No. 16 seed Prairie View A&M in the first round, scoring a tournament high 114 points in the win. Two days later, the Gators looked nothing like the team that earned a top seed in the NCAA bracket.

Iowa started strong, turning the game into a physical battle that had a few heated moments in its favor. The Hawkeyes jumped out to a 10-point lead midway through the first half, and Florida was forced to play catch-up the majority of the final 20 minutes, trailing by as much as 12 points in the second half.

Florida took the lead with five minutes left and held it as the momentum shifted toward the top seed playing in its home state. But Iowa didn’t fold, leading to the shocking last-second bucket.

Iowa is the first No. 9 seed to make the Sweet 16 since Florida Atlantic in in 2023, and became the ninth No. 9 seed to take down the top seed since seeding began in 1979 − the first since Florida State in 2018. Florida joins Kansas in 1998 as the only teams in NCAA Tournament history to win a game by at least 50 points and lose the following contest.

With the loss, it ensures Connecticut will remain the last back-to-back champion, accomplished in 2023 and 2024. While the Huskies’ wins were recent, it follows a trend of defending title winners struggling to defend their titles the following season.

Eight of the past nine national champions have failed to make the Sweet 16 one year after winning it all. The loss also ensures there will not be an all-No. 1 seed Final Four after all the top teams in the bracket made it last season.

Iowa coach Ben McCollum continues to impress in his first season in Iowa City. In the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three seasons, this will be Iowa’s first Sweet 16 appearance this century, last making the round in 1999. Awaiting the Hawkeyes in the round is a familiar foe in Nebraska, as the Big Ten rivals will meet Thursday, March 26, in Houston.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida's repeat hopes dashed by Iowa in Round 2 upset of March Madness

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Victor Olatunji scored in the 85th minute and Sergi Solans also scored a goal Sunday for Real Salt Lake in a 2-2 tie with San Diego FC.

Olatunji tapped in a cross played from the right side to the back post to cap the scoring.

Rafael Cabral had three saves for Real Salt Lake (3-1-1).

Juan Manuel Sanabria played an arcing ball to the center of the area and Solans went up high for a header that slipped inside the right post to open the scoring in the 17th minute.

Marcus Ingvartsen tied it a 1-1 in the 27th minute when he poked in a loose ball from point-blank range for his fourth goal of the season.

Anders Dreyer, on the counter-attack, took a pass from Amahl Pellegrino and took a couple touches before he chipped a shot over Cabral, who had charged off his line, into a wide-open net to give RSL a 2-1 lead in the 56th minute.

Dreyer, who was second in MLS with 38 goal contributions (19 goals, 19 assists) in 2025, has three goals and three assists this season.

Christopher McVey was shown his second yellow card in the 89th minute and San Diego (3-0-2) played a man down the rest of the way.

Seven of RSL's nine first-half shots came in stoppage time.

Duran Ferree had four saves for San Diego.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic is clear to play Monday night at Detroit after the NBA rescinded his 16th technical foul of the season.

Doncic and Magic center Goga Bitadze each received a technical foul with 1:19 left in the third quarter of Los Angeles' 105-104 win at Orlando on Saturday night. The players exchanged words while Doncic was at the free-throw line, and appeared to continue the conversation on the way down the court.

The NBA announced on Sunday that the technical on each player had been rescinded. A 16th technical foul triggers a one-game suspension.

The Lakers have won nine in a row going into the matchup with the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons. Doncic is averaging 40 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists during the streak.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Well, that's that.

No perfect NCAA Tournament brackets remained among the millions of entries in the ESPN bracket challenge and in the contests tracked on the NCAA's official website.

The end came Sunday night when No. 6 seed Tennessee beat No. 3 seed Virginia 79-72 in the 44th game of the tournament.

The day started with two perfect brackets left in the ESPN contest and four on the NCAA's site, which tracks the ESPN challenge along with six contests run by other outlets. ESPN had 26.5 million entries, and 36 million were tracked by the NCAA.

After a pair of No. 2 seeds eliminated No. 7s Sunday — Purdue beat Miami 79-69 and Iowa State topped Kentucky 82-63 — ESPN had two intact brackets and the NCAA had three.

When Dylan Darling's buzzer-beating layup gave No. 5 seed St. John's a 67-65 win over No. 4 seed Kansas, ESPN had one perfect bracket left.

The number of perfect brackets in the women's tournament dropped to 279 in the ESPN contest and less than 400 on the NCAA website after higher seeds won the first six games Sunday.

The closest women's games were 4-vs.-5 matchups. Minnesota beat Mississippi 65-63 on a last-second shot and North Carolina got past Maryland 74-66. The other four games were blowouts decided by no fewer than 23 points. No. 1 seed Texas and No. 2 seed LSU hit triple digits, with the Longhorns routing No. 8 seed Oregon 100-58 and the Tigers mauling No. 7 seed Texas Tech 101-47.

The odds of going 63-0 in a bracket contest are somewhere between one in 9.2 quintillion (for totally random guesses) or one in 120 billion (semi-educated ones).

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — Hyo Joo Kim held off Nelly Korda on Sunday at Sharon Heights to complete a wire-to-wire victory in the Fortinet Founders Cup.

Her opening five-stroke advantage gone after 10 holes, Kim regained the lead on the next hole and ended up with a one-shot margin after a closing bogey.

“I don’t think I was necessarily shaken up or my emotions were all over the place,” Kim said through a translator. “I was just trying to keep my focus on my shots and what I was doing.”

Kim shot a 1-over 73 for a 16-under 272 total. The 30-year-old South Korean player also won the 2015 event in Phoenix. She has eight LPGA Tour titles to go along with 14 KLPGA Tour victories.

Korda closed with a 69. The American won the season opener in Florida, then skipped the Asia swing.

“Obviously, something like 17 stings, so it is what it is,” Korda said. “It’s golf. It’s a quick turnaround. There is next week. So, just going to take all the positives.”

Earlier Sunday, brother Sebastian Korda beat top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz in the third round of the Miami Open tennis tournament.

Korda matched Kim with a bogey on No. 2, then birdied six of the next eight to tie for the lead. Kim pulled back ahead with a birdie on the par-4 11th, traded bogeys with Korda on the par-4 12th and took a two-stroke lead with a birdie on the par-4 14th.

Kim gave back the stroke with a bogey on the par-4 16th, then hit a flop from deep rough to 2 1/2 feet to save par after hitting long on the par-3 17th. Korda three-putted for bogey on 17, missing a 3-footer, to send Kim to 18 with the two-shot advantage that she ended up needing.

“I think just in the back nine my two par saves were probably the things I’m proudest about today," Kim said. "Just because my shots weren’t playing as well.”

Kim won for the first time in a year since the Ford Championship in Phoenix, the event that begins Thursday at Whirlwind Golf Club.

She started fast at challenging Sharon Heights, holing out for eagle on the eighth hole Thursday in a 63 that gave her a two-shot lead. She pushed the advantage to four Friday with a 70.

“I enjoyed every single day, but this course was pretty tough,” Kim

Korda parred the final hole.

“I wish I could have hit that drive into the fairway and given myself a better opportunity to press a little bit more,” Korda said. “But that’s just golf. Those are sports. Sometimes it’s on your side and sometimes it’s not.”

Sei Young Kim (67) and Jin Hee Im (69) tied for third at 11 under.

Top-ranked Jeeno Thitikul tied for 14th at 8 under after a 73.

The tournament began as a tribute to the 13 founders of the LPGA. It began in Arizona in 2011 and last year was played in Florida.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf