AP Sports SummaryBrief at 1:28 p.m. EDT

Can Villanova rise into a championship contender again? Wildcats bank on Kevin Willard to lead them PHILADELPHIA (AP) The Villanova Wildcats have hired Maryland's Kevin Willard as their new coach.

Willard had been linked to the Villanova job throughout the NCAA Tournament, where the Terrapins earned a No.

4 seed and reached the Sweet 16 before losing to Florida.

Maryland went 27-9 this season and 14-6 in the Big Ten Conference.

Willard replaces Kyle Neptune, who was fired earlier this month after three straight seasons without an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Walter Clayton Jr.

rallies Florida into Final Four with 84-79 March Madness win over Texas Tech SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Walter Clayton Jr.

rescued top-seeded Florida with two late 3-pointers, and the Gators rallied from nine points down late to reach the Final Four with an 84-79 victory over Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournaments West Region final.

The Gators trailed 75-66 with less than three minutes to play before staging a furious rally against the third-seeded Red Raiders, who had done the same in the Sweet 16 against Arkansas.

Clayton dribbled out of the paint and hit a fadeaway 3 with 59 seconds left to give Florida a 78-77 lead, and the Gators held on from there.

Duke's great D sends Blue Devils to their 18th Final Four with an 85-65 win over Alabama NEWARK, N.J.

(AP) Dukes stream of NBA-ready standouts used smothering defense and other options on offense to paper over Cooper Flaggs rough shooting night and lift the Blue Devils to the programs 18th Final Four with an 85-65 victory over Alabama.

Flagg made only six of 16 shots, including a brick that got stuck in the flange of the rim, but still finished with 16 points.

Kon Knueppel, another potential lottery pick, led the Blue Devils with 21 points.

Alabama failed to crack 70 points for only the second time this season.

Duke will play the winner of Sunday's game between Tennessee and Houston next week in the Final Four.

Man City rallies to beat Bournemouth and reach FA Cup semifinals but Haaland goes off injured Manchester City could still end its disappointing season with a trophy after rallying to beat Bournemouth 2-1 in the FA Cup quarterfinals as Erling Haaland inspired the comeback before being forced off injured.

Haaland equalized in the 49th but hobbled off 12 minutes later.

Omar Marmoush came on as Haalands replacement and scored the clinching goal to ensure City won in the quarterfinals for a record seventh straight season.

Marcus Rashford scored his first goals for Aston Villa to help his new team beat second-tier Preston 3-0 and reach the semis for the first time since 2015.

Villa will play Crystal Palace in the last four at Wembley Stadium while City will face Nottingham Forest.

Bueckers has career-high 40 to lead one-woman March Madness rout for UConn, 82-59 over Oklahoma SPOKANE, Wash.

(AP) Paige Bueckers scored a career-high 40 points, rescuing UConn from its first-half doldrums and single-handedly turning a tight game against Oklahoma into an 82-59 rout that sent the Huskies to the Elite Eight of the womens NCAA Tournament.

Bueckers had 29 points after halftime for the Huskies, who trailed 36-32 at the break.

The likely No.

1 overall pick in the WNBA draft eclipsed her previous career best of 34 points, set Monday in UConns second-round victory over South Dakota State.

The electrifying senior guard matched her career high with six 3-pointers.

UConn will face either Southern California or Kansas State for a spot in the Final Four.

USC shakes off JuJu Watkins' absence and beats Kansas State 67-61 in March Madness SPOKANE, Ore.

(AP) Kennedy Smith stepped into the void left by injured star JuJu Watkins, scoring 19 points to help Southern California hold off Kansas State 67-61 in the Sweet 16 of the womens NCAA Tournament.

The top-seeded Trojans were considered title contenders before Watkins tore her right ACL during a second-round victory over Mississippi State.

Now theyll be underdogs in an Elite Eight rematch on Monday with Paige Bueckers and second-seeded UConn.

The Huskies knocked the Trojans out of last years March Madness in Watkins first season.

Avery Howell, another freshman, scored 18 points for USC.

Serena Sundell scored 22 points for Kansas State.

Judge homers 3 times as Yanks go deep on Cortes' first 3 pitches and hit 9 HRs vs.

Brewers NEW YORK (AP) Aaron Judge combined with Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger to go deep on the first three pitches from Nestor Cortes, then hit two more homers as the New York Yankees set a team record with nine home runs against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Judge hit a solo homer, his ninth career grand slam and a two-run shot in his 40th multihomer game and third with three homers.

He finished with a career-high eight RBIs in New Yorks 20-9 victory.

He came up just short of becoming the 19th player to hit four homers in a game when his sixth-inning fly fell on the right-field warning track for a run-scoring double.

Shohei Ohtani ramps up throwing program, but Roberts says MVP isn't close to mound debut for Dodgers LOS ANGELES (AP) Shohei Ohtani has thrown his first bullpen session since late February, but the reigning NL MVP still has plenty of work to do before he takes the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ohtani threw more than 20 pitches in the bullpen at Dodger Stadium after throwing long toss in the outfield.

He was also in his customary leadoff spot in the Dodgers lineup as the designated hitter for their series finale against the Detroit Tigers.

Dave Roberts speculated earlier in the year that Ohtani might be able to make his pitching debut for the Dodgers by May, but theres no firm timeline.

Blue Jays put 3-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer on IL because of right thumb inflammation TORONTO (AP) The Toronto Blue Jays put right-hander Max Scherzer on the 15-day injured list Sunday because of inflammation in his right thumb.

The move comes one day after the three-time Cy Young Award winner left his debut start with Toronto after three innings because of right lat soreness.

Toronto recalled left-hander Easton Lucas and selected lefty Mason Fluharty, both from Triple-A Buffalo.

Left-hander Richard Lovelady, who allowed four runs in relief of Scherzer and took the loss to Baltimore Saturday, was designated for assignment.

Battle for Texas: Former Big-12 foes TCU, Texas ready for Elite Eight showdown at women's tourney BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

(AP) A little over a year ago, coach Mark Campbells TCU women had to forfeit a pair of games and hold open tryouts on campus because they didnt have enough healthy players.

The Horned Frogs added four walk-ons.

They had an awful stretch in which they lost 11 of 12 games.

Two of those losses were to Vic Schaefers Texas Longhorns, who TCU will meet Monday in the Elite Eight of the womens NCAA Tournament..

This article has been shared from the original article on cadillacnews, here is the link to the original article.