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Arizona overwhelms Akron with 3s and dunks in 93-65 March Madness victory

Bradley finished with 19 points, Townsend had 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting, Carter Bryant scored 12 and Love and KJ Lewis each had 10 for the Wildcats (23-12), who reached the second round of March Madness for the third time in coach Tommy Lloyd's four seasons. Arizona shot 12 of 25 from 3-point range and threw down nine dunks. The Wildcats will face either Oregon or Liberty in the East Region on Sunday.

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Donovan Dent scores 21 points to lead New Mexico over Marquette 75-66 in March Madness

Donovan Dent scored 21 points and No. 10 seed New Mexico took control late in the second half to defeat seventh-seeded Marquette 75-66 on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Richard Pitino joined his father in the second round after New Mexico (27-7) snapped a four-game NCAA Tournament losing streak and won its first game since 2012. Rick Pitino has No. 2 seed St. John's playing its next game Saturday against Arkansas.

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No March Madness here: No. 1 seed Florida rolls past Norfolk State 95-69 for 7th straight win

First-team All-American Walter Clayton Jr. scored 23 points and Florida defeated Norfolk State 95-69 on Friday, ensuring all four No. 1 seeds made it out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament unscathed. Alijah Martin added 17 points for the Southeastern Conference champions, who built a 32-point lead in the first half en route to their seventh straight win. Christian Ings scored 16 points and Jaylani Darden added 15 for 16th-seeded Norfolk State (24-11).

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Austin Wells homers twice, Carlos Rodon solid in final spring start as Yankees beat Tigers

Austin Wells continued his hot hitting and Carlos Rodon was solid in his final spring start as the Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers, 4-0, in Lakeland.

Here are the takeaways...

-Earlier in the day, Dominic Smith opted out of his contract with the Yankees and was removed from the lineup. Barring any last-minute changes, the Yankees are content with the lefties they have in the lineup/bench and it was proven right early in this one.

Wells led off the game smashing a 3-2 fastball over the right field wall. But the left-handed catcher wasn't done. After hitting a single in his third at-bat, Wells came up in the seventh and finished his night smoking a three-run bomb that had an exit velocity of 104.3 mph and went 383 feet.

Wells has hit five spring training home runs and finished 3-for-4 while driving in all four Yankees runs. It's easy to see Wells leading off for the Yankees against right-handed pitchers the way he's been swinging the bat.

Ben Rice, the other power-hitting lefty, was also very impressive smacking two doubles to go 2-for-4. Rice's place on the roster isn't confirmed, but he's now hitting .278 with an OPS of .943 this spring. It'll be hard not to include him with Giancarlo Stanton likely landing on the IL to start the season.

-Speaking of hitters trying to make the team. With Smith opting out, Pablo Reyes is a potential right-handed fit for the Yankees' bench. Unfortunately, he went 0-for-3 on Friday but is still hitting .297 with a .831 OPS this spring.

Other notable batters include Trent Grisham who finished 0-for-3 with a walk, Oswaldo Cabrera who went 0-for-4 and Oswald Peraza who was hitless in his three at-bats while striking out twice.

-Rodon had his final tune-up before starting Opening Day and he was good. The southpaw worked around trouble a bit, but when he needed an out he got one with his fastball, which topped out around 96 mph, and slider combination to the tune of five strikeouts. Rodon left after 4.1 innings (77 pitches/45 strikes) of scoreless ball, allowing three hits and three walks.

-Yoendry Gomez is looking to earn a spot in the Yankees' bullpen and he was very effective, allowing just one walk and striking out two batters in 2.1 innings of work.

Highlights

What's next

The Yankees return home to Tampa to host the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.

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Auburn’s Johni Broome, Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner centers of attention in March Madness matchup

Johni Broome and Ryan Kalkbrenner are big men with big-time experience on the March Madness stage. Just not against each other, which makes Saturday night's NCAA Tournament second-round South Region showdown between overall top seed Auburn and No. 9 seed Creighton so compelling. Plot lines abound thanks to the Tigers’ and Blue Jays’ multiple strengths, but the matchup of main men in the middle is the most intriguing.