Reuters Sports News Summary
Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.
No upset alert for No. 1 seed Gonzaga in first-round rout
Rui Hachimura scored 21 points, Killian Tillie had a season-high 17 and top-seeded Gonzaga dominated from the start in an 87-49 beatdown of Fairleigh Dickinson in a first-round West Region game Thursday in Salt Lake City. Gonzaga set a school record for margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament game.
NCAA roundup: No. 12 Murray State stuns No. 5 Marquette
Star sophomore point guard Ja Morant had 17 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds for the first triple-double in NCAA Tournament play since 2012 to help Murray State roll to a convincing 83-64 victory over Marquette on Thursday in West Regional play at Hartford, Conn. Morant dominated the contest from the outset despite taking just nine shots. He recorded his fourth career triple-double as 12th-seeded Murray State (28-4) roughed up the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (24-10). The previous triple-double in NCAA play was achieved by Michigan State's Draymond Green, who had 24 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in a victory over LIU-Brooklyn.
Figure skating: Olympic champion Zagitova claims another crown
Olympic figure skating champion Alina Zagitova on Friday claimed yet another crown by winning the world title, overcoming an uneven season by soaring to a commanding win with an ambitious program that left the Russian in tears. Second-place finisher Elizabet Tursynbaeva of Kazakhstan also made history by being the first woman to successfully land a quad jump in senior international competition and the first woman from her nation to claim a world championship medal.
UCLA soccer coach charged in admissions fraud scandal resigns
The University of California, Los Angeles' men's soccer coach, Jorge Salcedo, who is among those charged in the biggest college admissions fraud scheme ever uncovered in the United States, resigned his post on Thursday, school officials said. Salcedo was one of nine current or former college coaches, as well as an associate athletic director, who were charged by federal prosecutors in Boston on March 12 in connection with the fraud scheme that has captured national attention.
NBA roundup: Cousins returns, leads Warriors to win
DeMarcus Cousins contributed six points to a third-quarter runaway in his return to the lineup Thursday night, helping the Golden State Warriors blow out the Indiana Pacers 112-89 in Oakland, Calif. All five starters scored in double figures as the Warriors were able to retain a half-game lead over Denver in their duel for best record in the Western Conference. The Pacers saw their lead over Boston trimmed to a half-game in their fight for the fourth seed in the East.
Baylor bests Syracuse in 3-pointer-filled battle
Point guard Makai Mason scored 22 points, and ninth-seeded Baylor hit a season-high 16 3-point shots to beat eighth-seeded Syracuse 78-69 Thursday night in an NCAA Tournament West Region first-round game at Salt Lake City. Mason scored 16 of his points in the first half but was scoreless in the second half until hitting a key jumper with 2:43 left after he grabbed the rebound of his own miss. The basket gave the Bears a 72-67 lead.
Boxing: AIBA president Rahimov resigns four months after election
Amateur boxing's governing body (AIBA) president Gafur Rahimov announced his resignation on Friday, claiming that "politically based discussions" were harming the organization's progress as the sport battles to remain part of the Olympic program. Rahimov was elected in November despite being on the U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions list "for providing material support" to a criminal organization, a claim the Uzbek strongly denies.
Curry on Morant: Ja ready to rule NBA
Ja Morant stole the show in Hartford on Thursday, but the Murray State flash opened eyes nationwide with his triple-double performance that led his 12th-seeded Racers into the second round in a blowout of Marquette. Among the observers wowed by the sophomore point guard was another former NCAA Tournament darling, former Davidson dynamo Steph Curry.
NHL roundup: Crosby, Pens top Predators in shootout
Sidney Crosby scored the only goal of a shootout as the Pittsburgh Penguins snapped a three-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators, who had their three-game winning streak halted. After Bryan Rust scored in the second period for Pittsburgh, Nashville's Ryan Ellis tied it 1-1 with 3:01 left in regulation with an unassisted sharp-angle goal from the bottom of the right circle.
League ready for female head coach says NBA's diversity boss
Widely considered the most progressive men's sports league in North America, the NBA has its sights on the possibility of hiring a female head coach – a move that would cement its position as a leader in sporting diversity. While it is impossible to determine a timeline for when a woman may hold an NBA head coaching position it appears to be closer than ever now that they are a bigger part of the league.
