UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (AP) — Ohio State scored four goals in the final 10 minutes of the first period, and the No. 1 overall seed Buckeyes beat fifth-seeded Northeastern 5-0 on Friday in the first of two semifinals Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena.
Ohio State (36-4-0), which set the program's single-season wins record with 36, advanced to its fifth straight national title game to improve to 14-4 in the NCAA Tournament and 7-4 in the Frozen Four.
Northeastern (29-9-1) was making its fourth Frozen Four appearance in program history and first since 2023 when Ohio State defeated the Huskies 3-0. The Huskies dropped to 5-7-0 in the NCAA Tournament.
Five different players scored for the Buckeyes and 10 players recorded a point.
Joy Dunne, a Patty Kazmaier top-10 finalist, scored on a rebound 10 minutes into the game for her 27th goal of the season. Then Kaia Malachino and Sanni Vanhanen scored a minute apart for a 3-0 lead.
Emma Peschel beat the first-period buzzer with a slap shot to make it 4-0 and Sara Swiderski sent a shot from the blue line that deflected into the goal in the third.
Hailey MacLeod recorded her fifth shutout this season with 15 saves — five coming in the first 10 minutes. She ended a breakaway chance five minutes in and finished the frame with eight saves.
Northeastern goaltender Lisa Jönsson made 37 saves.
Up next
The Buckeyes will face the winner of the second semifinal between No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 3 Penn State.
Nathan MacKinnon orchestrated Colorado’s attack with surgical precision, racking up three assists as the Avalanche crushed the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Friday night. With the victory, Colorado became the first NHL team to punch their ticket to the 2026 playoffs, solidifying their dominance in the Western Conference.
Martin Nečas was electric, tallying a goal and two assists, while Kadri, Nelson, and Nichushkin also found the back of the net, ensuring the Avs’ offense was firing on all cylinders. The league-leading Avalanche (45-13-10) now hold a four-point cushion over rival Dallas for the top spot in the West.
Simplicity made a huge difference in today's game.
The Avalanche’s power play, once dormant, has suddenly become a major weapon. They went 2-for-4 with Nečas and Kadri each scoring on the man advantage, while Mackenzie Blackwood turned aside 19 shots to backstop the victory.
AVS ARE THE FIRST TO CLINCH 🏔️
The @Avalanche are headed to the #StanleyCup Playoffs for the ninth straight season!
Chicago’s lone goal came from Wyatt Kaiser, but it was little consolation. Arvid Söderblom faced a barrage of 45 shots, standing tall amid Colorado’s relentless pressure. The Blackhawks were further hampered by the absences of defenseman Louis Crevier and forward Andrew Mangiapane, both sidelined with injuries sustained Thursday in a 2-1 win at Minnesota.
Colorado, coming off a rough stretch in which they lost four of five, made a statement Friday: don’t sleep on this team.
First Period
Over five minutes into the opening frame, Hawks forward Tyler Bertuzzi burst onto a breakaway, gliding toward the net with dangerous speed. But “Manimal” Josh Manson wasn’t having it. The veteran defenseman tracked him relentlessly, forcing Bertuzzi to hesitate and look for help that never came. In a flash, the puck was stripped away, leaving Chicago’s best chance of the period nullified.
The Avalanche answered by asserting dominance early. In the first seven minutes alone, Colorado fired eight shots, leaving Chicago scrambling just to keep pace. “The Tasmanian Devil” line—Parker Kelly, Jack Drury, and Joel Kiviranta—was relentless, cycling hard, crashing the net, and trying to jam every loose puck past Söderblom. The trio whirled around in perfect chaos, their energy and pace a constant nightmare for the Hawks’ defense.
Colorado’s urgency was clear. Coming in with just four goals over their last three games, the Avs were determined to set the tone. Sam Malinski launched two vicious wrist shots, both of which the goalie somehow managed to smother, keeping the game scoreless.
With roughly 8:45 remaining, Andre Burakovsky, a member of Colorado’s 2022 Stanley Cup-winning team, broke free for Chicago on a dangerous breakaway. But Blackwood slid across the crease to rob the winger and preserve the deadlock.
Then, with 6:41 left, Nečas made the game feel inevitable. MacKinnon carried the puck with authority through the neutral zone and into the offensive end, executing a slick spinorama pass just past the blue line to Nichushkin. In one fluid motion, Nichushkin shifted from backhand to forehand and found Nečas alone in the slot. Nečas didn’t hesitate—he ripped a shot past Söderblom, giving Colorado a 1-0 lead and marking his 32nd goal of the season. The precision and timing of the play were textbook Avalanche hockey: speed, skill, and chemistry in perfect harmony.
Just 2:03 later, the lead doubled. On the power play, Makar’s wrister from the point deflected off Nelson and into the net while Dominic Tominato served a slashing penalty on Toews. For Nelson, it was his 31st goal of the season and his first since February 25. Colorado’s top line was asserting dominance, and the Hawks were being forced to dig in early.
With just over three minutes remaining, Drury went to the penalty box for hooking, but Colorado’s penalty kill held strong, keeping Chicago off the board and finishing the period with momentum firmly on their side.
Second Period
Blackwood opened the second under immediate pressure—and he rose to the occasion. Connor Bedard slipped past Makar with his trademark speed and unleashed a shot with his elite release, but the goalie’s glove snapped up in perfect timing, robbing the superstar and keeping Colorado’s two-goal lead intact.
At the close of the first, the Avalanche had asserted total dominance: a 2-0 lead and a staggering 19-5 edge in shots.
However, the Hawks clawed back six minutes and 48 seconds into the frame. Kaiser beat the defense and buried a clean shot five-hole, cutting the lead to 2-1. Moments earlier, Chicago had nearly scored when a drop pass from Brindley left the puck exposed in open ice, resulting in a post hit—but the Hawks capitalized on the chaos this time around.
With 5:09 remaining, Nelson went to the penalty box for hooking Bedard, sending the Hawks on their second man advantage of the game. Kiviranta and the Avalanche penalty kill unit were relentless, clearing multiple pucks and keeping Chicago off the board yet again.
Third Period
Thirteen seconds into the final frame, Drury drew a penalty in style. After toe-dragging past Donato and faking him out of position, Donato swung his stick in desperation, tripping Drury and handing Colorado a power play.
MacKinnon took full advantage. Receiving a pass from Makar in the left circle, he spun and delivered a cross-ice feed to Kadri, who rifled the puck into a wide-open net just 23 seconds into the advantage, extending the lead to 3-1. It was Colorado’s second power-play goal of the night, and the Avs were asserting full control.
At the four-minute mark, Rinzel gave Colorado another man advantage by shooting the puck out of his own zone, resulting in a delay-of-game penalty. Though the Avs failed to convert, they were now 2-for-3 on the night with the extra man.
Then, at 8:34, Nichushkin added some insurance. MacKinnon forechecked hard, forced a turnover in front of the net, and used his body to create space and time. Nichushkin swooped in, gained possession, and fired a shot past Söderblom to make it 4-1. It was his 15th goal of the season, and Colorado’s dominance was undeniable.
Shortly after, Toews went to the penalty box for interference, giving Chicago another chance with the man advantage. Chaos ensued on the Hawks’ power play. Levshunov attempted to lift Nelson’s stick but instead struck him in the face, drawing a four-minute double minor. After some tense four-on-four hockey, Colorado went on their fourth power play of the period with 2:07 to work with.
Even then, the Hawks tried to fight back. Levshunov sprinted out of the box and accepted a long breakout pass, racing in on a breakaway—but Blackwood stood tall, turning away the chance and preserving Colorado’s commanding lead.
By the final buzzer, the Avalanche had shown the full force of their speed, skill, and depth. Between “Manimal” Manson’s defensive heroics, the relentless pressure from the “Tasmanian Devil” line, MacKinnon’s playmaking wizardry, and Nichushkin and Nečas finishing clinically, Colorado’s 4-1 win was a masterclass in offensive and defensive balance.
NORTH PORT, FL - MARCH 13: Austin Riley #27 of the Atlanta Braves reacts after getting a base hit during the spring training game between the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves on March 13, 2026 at CoolToday Park in North Port, FL. (Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Atlanta’s bats continued to make some noise here in the Grapefruit League as the Braves slugged their way to yet another win during spring training action.
It took a while for the bats to get going but once they did, a couple of the Braves regular made their presence felt in a loud manner. Jorge Mateo did deliver an RBI single in the second inning but the fifth inning was when things got pretty loud. With a runner on first and one out, Matt Olson appeared to have gotten all of a changeup from Pirates pitcher Nick Dombkowski. Olson crushed it with an EV of 109-mph with a 27 degree launch angle but it only ended up landing at the fence (386 feet away from home plate, to be exact) for an RBI double. Drake Baldwin scored a run on the play as the Braves went ahead in the contest.
Austin Riley came up to the plate right afterwards and he proceeded to earn bragging rights in the dugout by hitting a pitch from Dombkowski over the fence for a two-run dinger. Now granted, Riley’s batted ball was “softer” at 102-mph and shorter at 368 feet but the idea is to hit the ball over the fence and that’s what Riley did for the fourth time this spring. That gave the Braves a three-run inning as the middle of the lineup continued to look solid with the regular season looming.
While this was going on, José Suarez ended up throwing 75 pitches across 5.1 innings. He did a very solid job of keeping the Pirates lineup quiet in this one and it wasn’t like the Pirates sent a lineup full of organizational depth to North Port, either. Suarez finished with just one run allowed on two hits, two walks and six strikeouts as well. Suarez’s strikeout victims included Marcell Ozuna (twice), Oneil Cruz and Mississippi State baseball legend Jake Mangum, so it wasn’t like the strikeouts were coming against lesser competition, either. This certainly helped Suarez’s case for leaving North Port and heading to Cobb County instead of Gwinnett County.
Joel Payamps entered the game in the sixth inning in relief for Suarez and he ended up going 1.2 innings while striking out a pair of batters as well. That set the stage for Raisel Iglesias to enter the game in the eighth inning and he tossed his third scoreless inning in five spring training appearances so far. While Iglesias did give up a hit, he did strike out two batters along the way so as long as he’s doing that once the season is underway then people around here will be pretty happy about that. Robert Suarez ended up closing out the game with a scoreless inning and two strikeouts of his own, so it was nice to see the set-up man and closer both clicking in this one as well.
Going back to the regulars at the plate, Drake Baldwin and Dominic Smith each picked up hits in this one. 2026 World Baseball Classic champion Ronald Acuña Jr. was greeted with a very nice ovation upon his return to Braves camp and while he didn’t get a hit, he did make his presence felt by reaching base twice via walks. Meanwhile, Cal Conley hit a double, stole third base and scored on an RBI single, so that’s pretty encouraging. Luis Guanipa drove in Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. with an RBI single of his own and Jorge Mateo’s aforementioned RBI single was his only knock of the day.
If you’re the type who’s encouraged by spring training results then you have to be pleased to see the Braves currently at the top of the Grapefruit League standings. While nobody’s ever hung a banner for winning the Grapefruit League pennant, it’s still nice to see the Braves continuing to click out there as they get ready for the games that will actually begin to count by this time next Friday. Are y’all excited yet?
NEW YORK — Baseball is changing at a dizzying speed in 2026 with the arrival of robot umpires, the return home of the Tampa Bay Rays and an alphabet soup of networks televising games in perhaps the last season before a labor shutdown.
Much has transpired in the 4 1/2 months since the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied in World Series Game 7 to beat Toronto in 11 innings and become the first repeat champion since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees.
There was the usual free agent musical chairs that saw Kyle Tucker wind up with the Dodgers, Bo Bichette with the New York Mets, Alex Bregman with the Chicago Cubs and Pete Alonso with the Baltimore Orioles.
Venezuela became a first-time champion of a World Baseball Classic with record attendance and television viewers.
But looming above the usual excitement for opening day on Wednesday is the possibility of no games in a year.
Tony Clark was forced to resign as players’ association head and replaced by Bruce Meyer as talk intensified about a possible management salary cap proposal the players’ association vows to fight. Major League Baseball is likely to lock out players on Dec. 2, leaving 2027 in limbo.
Cy Young Award winners Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal are on the eight-man executive subcommittee that directs collective bargaining.
“We need people that are invested and kind of have status among players and within the game to go into the negotiations and be comfortable going toe to toe with the owners,” Skenes said. “It’s not something that I sought out. Some guys nominated me for the position and that’s not something you say no to.”
Send in the robots
Following testing that started in the minor leagues in 2019, MLB decided last September to use the Automated Ball-Strike System in the regular season.
While human umps call every pitch, each team has the ability to challenge two calls per game, retaining the challenge if successful, and have the possibility of at least one more in each extra inning.
“You want get the egregiously wrong calls fixed and you want make sure you get it right in a big spot,” three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander said.
ABS won’t be used for a two-game series between Arizona and San Diego in Mexico City on April 25-26, for the Philadelphia-Minnesota game at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 13 or the Atlanta-Milwaukee matchup in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 23.
Finding where a game is televised is more complicated than ever.
Regular-season national broadcasts are split among Fox/FS1, TBS, ESPN, NBC/Peacock, AppleTV and Netflix. NBC’s networks take over the Wild Card Series from ABC/ESPN.
In addition, MLB will produce and distribute the local telecasts of 14 teams following the financial problems of Main Street Sports Group, which operates the regional FanDuel Sports Network stations.
When the New York Yankees play the MLB season opener at the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, the game will be exclusively on Netflix.
Dodgers go for three-peat
After becoming the first team to win consecutive championships since the 1998-2000 Yankees, the Dodgers try to become just the fifth group to win three in a row, joining those Yankees, five by the 1949-53 Yankees, four by the 1936-39 Yankees and three by the 1972-74 Oakland Athletics.
“When you’re a Dodger, people want to take us down. They want to beat us,” manager Dave Roberts told players in his spring training speech. “It’s a Game 7. So I think that we’ve got to look ahead and say that this is going to be harder than it’s ever been and we got to work even harder. And so my ask as a team, as an organization is to push ourselves even more. We already got the talent. There isn’t any more talent in a major league clubhouse than in this room.”
Coming off his fourth unanimous MVP award, Shohei Ohtani is expected to be a two-way player over a full season. He returned to the mound last June 16 following his second major elbow surgery on Sept. 19, 2023.
Back at the Trop
Tampa Bay returns to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg after a season playing home games across the bay at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the Yankees.
Damage to the Trop caused by Hurricane Milton in October 2024 has been repaired. The Rays were 41-40 at Steinbrenner last year, their lowest home winning percentage since 2016. They drew 786,750 for an average of 9,713, selling out 61 games.
“There is genuine, authentic excitement to get back to the Trop,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We’ve played well in the Trop. We’ve had a lot of success in the Trop. And I think we’re going back to something that’s probably going to be a little bit newer, a little better than maybe as we left it because they had to do so many repairs.”
Milestone watch
Four players could reach 400 career home runs this year.
Manny Machado starts the season at 369, followed by Freddie Freeman at 368, Aaron Judge at 367 and Bryce Harper at 363.
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Louis Crevier and forward Andrew Mangiapane missed Friday night's 4-1 loss to Colorado because of unspecified injuries.
Crevier and Mangiapane got hurt during Thursday night's 2-1 victory at Minnesota.
“I don’t think it’s anything long, long term for either guy, but certainly not available tonight,” coach Jeff Blashill said before the matchup with the Avalanche.
Forward Dominic Toninato skated for more than nine minutes after he was recalled from the minors earlier in the day.
Crevier, a seventh-round pick in the 2020 draft, has become a steady performer for Chicago in his third NHL season. The 6-foot-8 Crevier has a career-high five goals and 12 assists in 65 games.
Mangiapane was acquired in a March 4 trade with Edmonton. He has one goal and one assist in seven games with Chicago.
The Blackhawks are still awaiting immigration clearance for Sacha Boisvert after announcing a three-year contract for the forward prospect on Monday. Boisvert, a Quebec native who turned 20 on Tuesday, was the No. 18 pick in the 2024 draft.
The delay could push Boisvert's NHL debut back to the team's upcoming four-game road trip.
“I love gold!” the infamous “Austin Powers” character once said.
Evidently, so do the Dodgers.
On Friday morning, the team revealed its 2026 “Gold World Series Championship” jerseys and hats. Instagram / @dodgersnationThe new merchandise features gold trim wrapped around the name and numbers like a crown.
The new merchandise features gold trim wrapped around the name and numbers like a crown, while the iconic “Dodgers” script across the chest gleams with the weight of October still clinging to it.
The iconic Dodgers hat looks like it was dipped in dominance, with the Dodger blue elevated by a gold LA logo, a solid gold brim, and two stars on either side rest like badges of honor.
The Dodgers will wear the newly released jerseys and hats when they take the field against the Diamondbacks on March 26 for Opening Day at Dodger Stadium.
The new collection celebrates and honors the Dodgers’ seven-game victory against the Blue Jays last October. It is available at Fanatics now.
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PHILADELPHIA, PA — If there is one thing about March Madness that is consistent on a yearly basis, it is the rallying love from men's college basketball fans for the mid-major programs that are included in the 68-team field.
But it isn't necessarily love from the high-level programs when it comes to non-conference scheduling. It's something that fourth-year Miami (Ohio) head coach Travis Steele said needs to change from an analytical standpoint.
"A lot of it's analytically driven. There needs to be adjustments made," Steele said after Miami (Ohio) fell to 6-seed Tennessee on Friday at Xfinity Mobile Arena in the first round of the Midwest Region. "... I don't know when's the last time that they made an adjustment to it or if they have. But fans want to see those games. Our fans do. Their fans do. They want to see brands. It stinks."
RedHawks senior guard Peter Suder agrees with his coach on why high-major programs won't schedule mid-majors.
"I wouldn't say they're afraid. It's a numbers thing, an analytical thing," said Suder, who scored a team-high 27 points on Friday against the Volunteers. "We would like to play them. It's a great opportunity for the mid-majors to go out there and prove they're just as good. It's more of an analytical thing.
Steele and Studer's comments come less than 24 hours after High Point coach Flynn Clayman spoke on the matter after his team knocked off 5-seed Wisconsin in Portland on Thursday. Clayman's emotion in his postgame interview came a few days after Miami (Ohio)'s metrics were once questioned ahead of Selection Sunday because the RedHawks did not have a single Quad 1 win until their First Four win over SMU.
"It looks pretty obvious to me that high-majors need to play mid-majors during the season," Clayman said. "Because they said we ain't played nobody? We played somebody now."
The conversation of Miami (Ohio)'s resume and metrics started well before Selection Sunday for the RedHawks, who are now No. 91 on KenPom and No. 86 on Bart Torvik, two analytical websites, after Friday's win. The RedHawks entered the day as a Quad 2 game for Tennessee, with their No. 64 ranking in the NCAA's NET system.
"Most of the scheduling's done on the phone, and it's frustrating," Steele said.
Steele said he knew back in June of last year that his team would be "in trouble" with its non-conference schedule.
"We didn't finish our schedule until mid-October. We played two weeks later, which is ridiculous, especially in today's college landscape," Steele said. "It sounds crazy to me, but again, I get why they don't want to play because you want to stay away from Quad 2 or Quad 3 games. It does nothing for you.
While the good news is that Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond has produced at a point-per-game pace this season with 67 points in as many games played, the not-so-good news is that he's hit a bit of a scoring snag.
Raymond has one goal and an assist in his last seven combined games, several of which have been when the Red Wings were missing both Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp, their top two centers.
There’s no question about Raymond’s offensive talent, but his recent production hasn’t matched what the Red Wings need from one of their top scoring threats during such a critical point in the standings race.
On Thursday evening, the Red Wings picked up one of their best wins of the season, rebounding from a 1-0 deficit in the third period against the Montreal Canadiens to earn a 3-1 victory.
Early in the first period, Raymond maneuvered around a Canadiens defenseman and found himself all alone in the slot with a perfect opportunity at a high-danger scoring chance.
Instead, he passed up on the shot and tried to feed the puck to David Perron, who was tied up at the side of the net.
Head coach Todd McLellan, who recently said Raymond’s shot totals are lower than they should be, explained that while he would have liked to see a shot in that situation, he understands that Raymond’s hockey instincts may have led him to pass.
“The easy answer for me is to say yes," McLellan said afterward. "We watched it live… for some reason in that moment, he read something or saw something and chose not to (shoot). Would we like him to shoot? Yes, but I’m not going to crucify the young man because he chose to move the puck over."
“Would I like to see him shoot there? Yes, but he’s playing the game, and his instinct told him to go somewhere with it."
Raymond, who finished the game with a single shot on goal, has shown so far in his career that he possesses one of the more elite releases amongst NHL forwards.
Now more than ever, with the standings ultra-tight and with team captain Dylan Larkin still unavailable because of a lower-body injury he sustained earlier in the month, Detroit needs Raymond to put more pucks on net - because when he does, good things usually follow.
"We do need him shooting the puck, because he can fire it," he said.
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HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 18: Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates after making a three pointer during the fourth quarter of the game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on March 18, 2026 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Luka Dončić is the NBA’s leading scorer, so him putting up points for the Lakers isn’t typically a tale worth telling.
But he really outdid himself on Thursday night against the Heat. He was originally listed as questionable to play in the contest due to right hip soreness.
Considering that the game against the Heat was the second leg of a back-to-back, no one would’ve blinked an eye if Luka took the game off to get his body right.
However, Luka pushed through and didn’t just suit up for the Lakers, he was the star of the show.
Dončić scored a whopping 60 points, extending LA’s win streak to eight and scoring more on the Miami Heat than any player ever has.
After the game, Lakers head coach JJ Redick praised his superstar’s efforts.
“It was a superhero performance,” Redick said. “I thought him really keeping us afloat early was really important. And then all the groups there in the second quarter really did a nice job. The group that started, obviously, the second half that got us the lead was great. But he just made big shots, he made tough shots, made a lot of right reads. When he gets it going like that, some of it is you just kind of let him go.
“His teammates felt that. They saw that. We look for some advantages in some places. The Horns Chin Clear that we ran for the off-ball three was just a big time screen from [Ayton], a big time pass from LeBron and a big time shot from Luka. I thought that was one of the bigger buckets he had. But then had the crazy stepback three in front of their bench. I mean, you just go down the list. The shotmaking was unreal tonight.”
The way Luka got his 60 was incredible. Only 15 of his points came from the free throw line and many of his shots were difficult.
According to the NBA’s tracking data, most of his shot attempts came after multiple dribbles. He took 10 shots with 3-6 dribbles and converted 70% of them. And he went 5-10 on the shots where he took seven or more dribbles.
And the player Luka scored the most against? That would be Heat All-NBA defender Bam Adebayo. Dončić scored 22 points over him, going 7-9 from the field.
At this point in his relatively young career, nothing Luka does should shock anyone.
But he raised his level to another stratosphere in this game. He is the first Laker to score 60 since Kobe Bryant did it in the last game of his career. Luka is leading the league in 40-plus games at 13 and, due to him hitting nine threes against Miami, he is now the franchise leader in 3-pointers made in a season at 232, surpassing the record set by D’Angelo Russell.
He may have been a superhero on Thursday, but the Wonder Boy always has the ability to make an ordinary game into an extraordinary one.
It’s what makes him a generational talent and why the future in LA looks brighter by the day.
Forward Tyler Bilodeau was ruled out just before the Bruins’ first-round matchup against the No. 10 seed UCF Knights. He was listed as questionable on the NCAA injury report prior to East region contest on Saturday, March 20.
Bilodeau sprained his right knee during UCLA's win over Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament earlier this month.
Bilodeau absence is a blow to the No. 7 seed Bruins. The senior forward is UCLA’s leading scorer, averaging 17.6 points per game. He was selected third-team All-Big Ten this year.
Without Bilodeau, the Bruins will rely on guards Donovan Dent, Trent Perry, Skyy Clark and Eric Dailey Jr. to carry most of the scoring load. All four guards average more than 10 points per game this season.
Bilodeau, a 6-foot-9 senior, played his first two collegiate seasons at Oregon State before transferring to UCLA in 2024.
UCLA is hoping for a deeper run in this year’s NCAA Tournament. The Bruins won their first-round matchup last season against Utah State but were bounced out in the second round by Tennessee.
UCLA is 23-11 this season and finished sixth in the Big Ten.
For a few grueling seconds, Mark Pope’s soul left his body, with the Kentucky men’s basketball coach’s sullen facial expression saying it all.
Then, with a flick of the wrist, his star player banked it right back into place.
In one of the more eventful and chaotic four-second sequences in NCAA tournament history, Pope’s Wildcats team gave up a go-ahead 3-pointer to Santa Clara with 2.4 seconds remaining only to immediately respond with a 3 of its own, with Otega Oweh firing it off the glass from just past midcourt as time expired to send the game into overtime and ultimately deliver Kentucky an 89-84 victory in a first-round matchup on Friday, March 20 in St. Louis.
While Oweh played the role of hero on a day in which he scored a career-high 35 points, it was Pope’s range of emotions to the waning seconds of regulation that stood as some of the enduring images from the Wildcats’ thrilling triumph.
After Allen Graves buried a 3 for Santa Clara to break a 70-70 tie in the 7-versus-10 matchup, Pope looked out at the court stoically after intently providing defensive instructions to his players only seconds earlier. He remained that way as Oweh’s shot went up and raised his arms in joy after it passed through the net and calmly said “Let’s go” to his players as they passed by him.
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 20, 2026
Kentucky went on to outscore Santa Clara 16-11 in the extra period to move on to face No. 2 seed Iowa State in the second round of the tournament on Sunday.
Any fear and disappointment Pope might have felt after Graves’ shot would have been understandable.
Though Pope, a team captain on Kentucky’s 1996 national championship team, was greeted with excitement when he was hired by his alma mater in 2024, his second squad at the school fell well short of the massive expectations that greeted it. The Wildcats went 21-13 in the regular season and finished ninth in the SEC, despite having a roster worth a reported $22 million. That roster, though, was built in part around a big man coming off a significant injury from the previous season who only appeared in only four games this season (Jayden Quaintance) and a point guard whose poor shooting made him a curious fit for Pope’s 3-heavy offense (Jaland Lowe, who, for good measure, was also severely limited by injuries this season).
Pope guided the Wildcats to a Sweet 16 in his first season in 2024-25 and improved to 46-25 at Kentucky with the win Friday.
NORTH PORT, FL - MARCH 13: Dylan Dodd #46 of the Atlanta Braves pitches during the game between the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves at CoolToday Park on Friday, March 13, 2026 in North Port, Florida. (Photo by Christopher Denver/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Atlanta Braves have trimmed their camp roster down to 36 players today after optioning left-handed reliever Dylan Dodd to Triple-A Gwinnett and reassigning top pitching prospect JR Ritchie, catcher Sandy León, utilityman Luke Williams, and outfielders José Azócar and Ben Gamel to their minor league camp.
Dodd, who pitched well out of Atlanta’s bullpen last season, had an option remaining making his chances to stick on the Opening Day roster as the third left-hander in the bullpen an uphill battle due to the organization prioritizing roster flexibility.
The four position players who were reassigned are all big league veterans who have been part of the Braves organization in past seasons, with the exceptions of Gamel. They all inked minor league deals with Atlanta this off-season and could see time with the big league club at some point in 2026 if they stay with the organization.
Gamel has a strong enough Spring Training that Jurickson Profar’s 162-game suspension opened the door slightly for him to open the season with Atlanta.
Ritchie appears to not be part of the Opening Day roster – something that seemed more and more plausible after an impressive showing in Florida. There is still a chance he could open the year in Atlanta, but it seems the Braves will start him in Gwinnett, barring an injury in the final week before the Braves open against the Kansas City Royals on March 27.
Atlanta will have to make 10 more transactions to get the big league roster down to 26 players.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 27: Juan Mejia #47 of the Colorado Rockies delivers a pitch against the San Diego Padres during a spring training game at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on February 27, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Colorado Rockies dropped a high-scoring affair yesterday, falling 14–11 to the San Francisco Giants. Willi Castro and Kyle Karros each had two hits to lead the offense, but bullpen struggles proved costly—most notably Seth Halverson, who continued to have a tough spring.
Tonight in Peoria, the 12–13 Rockies take on the 14–11 Padres, where temps could still be triple digits at first pitch. The roster is now trimmed to 40, and with Opening Day just one week away, the lineup is largely made up of regulars.
Juan Mejia opens on the mound for Colorado and enters with a 3.38 ERA and four strikeouts across 2.2 innings this spring. He also threw three clean innings for the Dominican Republic in this year’s World Baseball Classic.
In 2025, Mejia posted a 3.96 ERA across 61.1 innings with 68 strikeouts, showing the ability to miss bats and handle consistent bullpen work. The Rockies view him as a key bullpen piece this year, relying primarily on a fastball/slider combination.
Nick Pivetta gets the start for San Diego. The 33-year-old right-hander is being counted on to anchor the Padres’ rotation after a standout 2025 season (2.87 ERA, 190 strikeouts over 181 innings). Pivetta has dealt with minor arm fatigue that pushed back his schedule, and San Diego has been cautious with his workload so far this spring.
On the field, the results haven’t been sharp — he’s allowed multiple runs in every outing and carries a 7.88 ERA this spring. He works primarily off a four-seam fastball, mixing in a curveball and sweeper as his primary secondaries.
Sound off in the comments — what are you watching for tonight?
PEORIA, ARIZONA - MARCH 14: Nick Pivetta #27 of the San Diego Padres pitches during a Spring Training game against the Cleveland Guardians at Peoria Stadium on March 14, 2026 in Peoria, Arizona. (Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Colorado Rockies at San Diego Padres, March 20, 2026, 6:10 p.m. PST
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MESA, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 24: Marco Gonzales #32 of the San Diego Padres pitches during a Spring Training game against the Chicago Cubs at Sloan Park on February 24, 2026 in Mesa, Arizona (Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images) | Getty Images
San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers, March 20, 2026, 6:05 p.m. PST
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Remember Gaslamp Ball is basically a non-profanity site
Out of respect to broadcast partners who have paid to carry the game, no mentions of “alternative” (read: illegal) viewing methods are allowed in our threads
GB community, this is your thread for today’s game. Enjoy!
