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From Broderick Turner: Bad.
Bad.
Bad.
There really was no other way to describe the unsightly basketball the Clippers played Sunday night during a disheartening 110-93 loss to an underwhelming Atlanta Hawks team at Crypto.com Arena.
The Clippers have lost four of their last five games.
“Right now, like I said, we got to do the necessary things to get out of this rut that we’re in,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said. “And so it starts with playing hard first – every single possession. It starts with executing on both sides of the basketball defensively…Things we talk about every single day we show on film. We just got to execute them, not for 20 minutes, not for 28, for 48 minutes. And so you’re not going to make shots every night and we understand that, but you can do things the right way. Slot cut, post speed, baseline cut, getting back in transition
when the shot goes up. Those things you can take care of every single day. And that’s what we got to do for 48 minutes if we want to be a good team.”
That the Clippers got down by 29 points in the fourth quarter was just bad because of the lack of effort they displayed.
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NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT
From Ben Bolch: Last Monday, Long Beach State announced it would be seeking a new basketball coach.
Five days later, Dan Monson reminded the school it already had one.
In one of the maddest story lines of March, Monson’s team did not go quietly in what was supposed to be his final week on the job.
Losers of five consecutive games, the Beach rolled through the Big West Conference tournament with victories over UC Riverside, UC Irvine and UC Davis. Now, its season will roll on into the NCAA tournament with a coach who is on the way out.
What happens if the Beach (21-14) continues to roll like a tidal wave through another week or so? The 15th-seeded 49ers will face second-seeded Arizona (25-8) in the first round of the West Region on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
Monson told The Times that given the circumstances, the season’s end would mark the end of his 17 seasons at the school regardless of what kind of run his team could put together.
“You want to be wanted,” Monson said during a telephone interview while on the bus ride back from the Big West tournament in Henderson, Nev. “It’s like your girlfriend trying to come back because you became a celebrity, and I don’t think that’s fair to my players because I would only do it if they were going to come back and that’s not fair to them with the [transfer] portal and the opportunities they’ve created for themselves.”
Men’s schedule
All times Pacific
FIRST FOUR
Tuesday
No. 16 Wagner (16-15) vs. No. 16 Howard (18-16), 3:40 p.m., TruTV
No. 10 Colorado State (24-10) vs. No. 10 Virginia (23-10), 6:10 p.m. , TruTV
Wednesday
No. 16 Grambling State (20-14) vs. No. 16 Montana State (17-17), 3:40 p.m., TruTV
No. 10 Colorado (24-10) vs. No. 10 Boise State (22-10), 6:10 p.m., TruTV
FIRST ROUND
EAST REGION
Thursday
No. 6 Brigham Young (23-10) vs. No. 11 Duquesne (24-11), 9:40 a.m., TruTV
No. 3 Illinois (26-8) vs. No. 14 Morehead State (26-8), 12:10 p.m., TruTV
No. 2 Iowa State (27-7) vs. No. 15 South Dakota State (22-12), 4:35 p.m., TruTV
No. 7 Washington State (24-9) vs. No. 10 Drake (28-6), 7:05 p.m., TruTV
Friday
No. 8 Florida Atlantic (25-8) vs. No. 9 Northwestern (21-11), 9:15 a.m., CBS
No. 5 San Diego State (24-10) vs. No. 12 Alabama Birmingham (23-11), 10:45 a.m., TNT
No. 1 Connecticut (31-3) vs. No. 16 Stetson (22-12), 11:45 a.m., CBS
No. 4 Auburn (27-7) vs. No. 13 Yale (22-9), 1:15 p.m., TNT
SOUTH REGION
Thursday
No. 3 Kentucky (23-9) vs. No. 14 Oakland (23-11), 4:10 p.m., CBS
No. 6 Texas Tech (23-10) vs. No. 11 North Carolina State (22-14), 6:40 p.m., CBS
Friday
No. 2 Marquette (25-9) vs. No. 15 Western Kentucky (22-11), 11 a.m., TBS
No. 7 Florida (24-11) vs. No. 10 Boise State (22-10) / Colorado (24-10), 1:30 p.m., TBS
No. 8 Nebraska (23-10) vs. No. 9 Texas A&M (20-14), 3:50 p.m., TNT
No. 4 Duke (24-8) vs. No. 13 Vermont (28-6), 4:10 p.m., CBS
No. 1 Houston (30-4) vs. No. 16 Longwood (21-13), 6:20 p.m., TNT
No. 5 Wisconsin (22-13) vs. No. 12 James Madison (31-3), 6:40 p.m., CBS
MIDWEST REGION
Thursday
No. 3 Creighton (23-9) vs. No. 14 Akron (24-10), 10:30 a.m., TNT
No. 6 South Carolina (26-7) vs. No. 11 Oregon (23-11), 1 p.m., TNT
No. 7 Texas (20-12) vs. No. 10 Virginia (23-10) / Colorado State (24-10), 3:50 p.m., TNT
No. 5 Gonzaga (25-7) vs. No. 12 McNeese (30-3), 4:25 p.m., TBS
No. 2 Tennessee (24-8) vs. No. 15 Saint Peter’s (19-13), 6:20 p.m., TNT
No. 4 Kansas (22-10) vs. No. 13 Samford (29-5), 6:55 p.m., TBS
Friday
No. 1 Purdue (29-4) vs. No. 16 Montana State (17-17) / Grambling State (20-14), 4:25 p.m., TBS
No. 8 Utah State (27-6) vs. No. 9 Texas Christian (21-12), 6:55 p.m., TBS
WEST REGION
Thursday
No. 8 Mississippi State (21-13), No. 9 Michigan State (19-14), 9:15 a.m., CBS
No. 2 Arizona (25-8) vs. No. 15 Long Beach State (21-14), 11 a.m., TBS
No. 1 North Carolina (27-7) vs. No. 16 Howard (18-16) / Wagner (16-15), 11:45 a.m., CBS
No. 7 Dayton (24-7) vs. No. 10 Nevada (26-7), 1:30 p.m., TBS
Friday
No. 3 Baylor (23-10) vs. No. 14 Colgate (25-9), 9:40 a.m., TruTV
No. 6 Clemson (21-11) vs. No. 11 New Mexico (26-9), 12:10 p.m., TruTV
No. 4 Alabama (21-11) vs. No. 13 Charleston (27-7), 4:35 p.m., TruTV
No. 5 Saint Mary’s (26-7) vs. No. 12 Grand Canyon (29-4), 7:05 p.m., TruTV
Second round: March 23-24
Sweet 16: March 28-29
Elite Eight: March 30-31
Final Four: April 6 (Glendale, Ariz.)
Championship: April 8 (Glendale, Ariz.)
USC BASKETBALL
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Lindsay Gottlieb hunched over the back of USC forward Rayah Marshall’s chair as ESPN ticked off names. Two regional brackets went by without the Trojans. Gottlieb gripped Marshall’s shoulder tighter.
“Geezy, relax,” Marshall told her coach, “You’re that girl.”
Gottlieb and the Trojans had no reason to sweat on Selection Sunday. The Pac-12 tournament champions earned the top seed in the Portland Regional 3 bracket and will host No. 16 seed Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the first round at Galen Center on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. PDT (ESPN). The winner will play No. 8 Kansas or No. 9 Michigan in the second round on Monday.
USC (26-5) surged back into the national spotlight behind freshman star JuJu Watkins to make back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time since 2004-06. After upsetting Pac-12 regular-season champion Stanford in the conference tournament final to win their first conference title since 2014, the Trojans claimed their highest NCAA tournament seed since 1986, when Cheryl Miller led them to the national championship game as a senior.
UCLA BASKETBALL
From Ben Bolch: Living up to her name this time of year has been agonizing for Cori Close.
Her UCLA women’s basketball teams have made five appearances in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. They’ve gone to one Elite Eight, matching the furthest run of any team in school history other than the 1978 bunch that won the AIAW championship.
All this getting within reach of the Final Four only to fall short has left the Bruins waiting for that big breakthrough under the coach who is nearing the end of her 13th season.
Their next push starts Saturday at Pauley Pavilion, where the second-seeded Bruins (25-6) will face 15th-seeded Cal Baptist (28-3) in a first-round game in the Albany 2 Region at 6:30 p.m. PDT (ESPN2). This represents the highest seeding in school history for UCLA but was not the top seed the team coveted.
Women’s schedule
All times Pacific
FIRST FOUR
Wednesday
No. 16 Presbyterian (20-14) vs. No. 16 Sacred Heart (24-9), 4 p.m., ESPNU
No. 12 Columbia (23-6) vs. No. 12 Vanderbilt (22-9), Wednesday, 6 p.m., ESPNU
Thursday
No. 11 Arizona (17-15) vs. No. 11 Auburn (20-11), 4 p.m. | ESPN2
No. 16 Tennessee Martin (16-16) vs. No. 16 Holy Cross (20-12), 6 p.m. | ESPN2
REGIONAL 1
Friday
No. 8 North Carolina (19-12) vs. No. 9 Michigan State (22-8), 8:30 a.m., ESPN2
No. 1 South Carolina (32-0) vs. No. 16 Sacred Heart (24-9) / Presbyterian (20-14), 11 a.m., ESPN
No. 3 Oregon State (24-7) vs. No. 14 Eastern Washington (29-5), 5 p.m., ESPNU
No. 6 Nebraska (22-11) vs. No. 11 Texas A&M (19-12), 7:30 p.m., ESPNU
Saturday
No. 4 Indiana (24-5) vs. No. 13 Fairfield (31-1), 10:30 a.m., ESPN2
No. 2 Notre Dame (26-6) vs. No. 15 Kent State (21-10), 11:15 a.m., ESPN
No. 5 Oklahoma (22-9) vs. No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast (29-4), 1 p.m., ESPNews
No. 7 Mississippi (23-8) vs. No. 10 Marquette (23-8), 1:45 p.m., ESPNU
REGIONAL 2
Friday
No. 6 Louisville (24-9) vs. No. 11 Middle Tennessee (29-4), 10:30 a.m., ESPN2
No. 4 Kansas State (25-7) vs. No. 13 Portland (21-12), 1:30 p.m., ESPNews
No. 3 LSU (28-5) vs. No. 14 Rice (19-14), 1 p.m. | ESPN
No. 5 Colorado (22-9) vs. No. 12 Drake (29-5), 4 p.m., ESPNews
Saturday
No. 1 Iowa (29-4) vs. No. 16 Holy Cross (20-12) / Tennessee Martin (16-16), Noon, ABC
No. 8 West Virginia (24-7) vs. No. 9 Princeton (25-4), 2:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 7 Creighton (25-5) vs. Nevada Las Vegas (30-2), 4 p.m., ESPNews
No. 2 UCLA (25-6) vs. No. 15 California Baptist (28-3), 6:30 p.m., ESPN2
REGIONAL 3
Friday
No. 2 Ohio State (25-5) vs. No. 15 Maine (24-9), 9 a.m., ESPN
No. 7 Duke (20-11) vs. No. 10 Richmond (29-5), 11:30 a.m., ESPNews
No. 4 Virginia Tech (24-7) vs. No. 13 Marshall (26-6), 12:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 5 Baylor vs. No. 12 Vanderbilt (22-9) / Columbia (23-6), 6 p.m., ESPNU
Saturday
No. 3 Connecticut (29-5) vs. No. 14 Jackson State (26-6), 10 a.m., ABC
No. 8 Kansas (19-12) vs. No. 9 Michigan (20-13), 11 a.m., ESPNews
No. 6 Syracuse (23-7) vs. No. 11 Auburn (20-11) / Arizona (17-15), 12:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 1 USC (26-5) vs. No. 16 Texas A&M Corpus Christi (23-8), 1:30 p.m., ESPN
REGIONAL 4
Friday
No. 1 Texas (30-4) vs. No. 16 Drexel (19-14), noon, ESPNU
No. 8 Alabama (23-9) vs. No. 9 Florida State (23-10), 2:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 7 Iowa State (20-11) vs. No. 10 Maryland (19-13), 4:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 2 Stanford (28-5) vs. No. 15 Norfolk State (27-5), 7 p.m., ESPN2
Saturday
No. 6 Tennessee (19-12) vs. No. 11 Green Bay (27-6), 9 a.m., ESPN
No. 3 North Carolina State (27-6) vs. No. 14 Chattanooga (28-4), 11:30 a.m., ESPNU
No. 4 Gonzaga (30-3) vs. No. 13 UC Irvine (23-8), 4:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 5 Utah (22-10) vs. South Dakota State (27-5), 7 p.m., ESPNU
Second round: March 24-25
Sweet 16: March 29-30
Elite Eight: March 31-April 1
Final Four: April 5 (Cleveland)
Championship: April 7 (Cleveland)
L.A. MARATHON
From Steve Galluzzo: Upon breaking the tape on a pristine St. Patrick’s Day morning in the City of Angels, Dominic Ngeno dropped to his knees and kissed the ground in celebration of winning the 39th Los Angeles Marathon.
The 26-year-old Kenyan separated from countryman Cosmas Kiplimo with a little more than three miles to go on the 26.2-mile route that started at Dodger Stadium and ended on the Avenue of the Stars in Century City. Ngeno prevailed by five seconds in 2:10:20 — almost three minutes faster than last year’s winner, Jemal Yimer of Ethiopia.
“I watched the race the last couple of years and my coach gave me a plan in training,” Ngeno said. “I wanted to go 2:08 but it was a little humid the last three kilometers and that reduced our speed. In my mind it was about setting the right pace.”
Ngeno clocked a personal-best 2:07:26 to place third at the Eindhoven Marathon in the Netherlands in October and was ninth in 2:11:23 at the Milan Marathon in Italy in April. Ethiopian Markos Geneti set the L.A. Marathon men’s record of 2:06:35 in 2011, but Sunday was about the Kenyans — Ngeno, Kiplimo and Stacy Ndiwa, who repeated as the women’s winner in a personal-best 2:25:28.
“Last year I didn’t know the course but this year I prepared well for the hills and the weather was better,” said the 31-year-old Ndiwa, who pulled away from runner-up Volha “Olga” Mazuronak in the last mile to win by 20 seconds and shave 5:32 off last year’s effort. Ndiwa received an additional $10,000 for winning the Marathon Chase.
L.A. Marathon results: Check out the top finishers in the men’s and women’s fields
ANGEL CITY
From Andrés Soto: One play that encapsulated Angel City‘s season-opening loss came in the 90th minute when the ball finally got past Bay FC goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx and rolled slowly toward the net, only for Caprice Dedasco to clear it out just before it crossed line, preserving a 1-0 victory for the NWSL newcomers.
“It was a tough, probably, last 30 minutes I would say. It was tough,” Proulx said. “That save that [Dedasco] made on the line was crucial for us.”
Missed opportunities plagued Angel City in front of a sold-out crowd Sunday as the team struggled against Proulx, who made eight saves to secure the win.
Angel City failed to score despite 12 corner kicks and dominating time of possession 59% to 41%. In the 70th minute, a header from Sydney Leroux was deflected by Proulx right in the direction of Angel City forward Alyssa Thompson, whose shot off the rebound flew into the stands. In stoppage time, another shot from Thompson bounced off the crossbar, sealing Angel City’s fate.
TENNIS
Carlos Alcaraz arrived at Indian Wells full of doubt about his twisted right ankle. He’s leaving as a two-time champion.
He defeated Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (5), 6-1 for the second straight year in the BNP Paribas Open final on Sunday, earning his first title since winning Wimbledon last year.
Iga Swiatek beat Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-0 in just over an hour to win the women’s title, with Swiatek losing just 21 games in six matches during the 12-day tournament — an average of 3.5 games per match.
DUCKS
Robert Thomas scored two power-play goals in the third period, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Ducks 4-2 on Sunday night for their fourth consecutive victory.
Jake Neighbours also scored a power-play goal in the third for the Blues. Kevin Hayes scored in the second, and Pavel Buchnevich had three assists.
Troy Terry scored two goals for Anaheim (23-42-3) in its sixth consecutive loss. The Ducks were shut out in their previous two games.
“We don’t shoot the puck enough,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “We have the puck in the slot and won’t shoot it. It’s amazing to me.”
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1945 — Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiens becomes the first NHL player to score 50 goals in a season during a 4-2 triumph over the Boston Bruins in the final game of the season.
1953 — Don Schlundt scores 30 points to lead Indiana to a 69-68 victory over Kansas for the NCAA basketball championship.
1990 — Jeff Fryer’s 41 points leads Loyola Marymount to a 149-115 victory over defending national champion Michigan in the highest-scoring game in NCAA tournament history.
1993 — Santa Clara beats Arizona 64-61 to become the second 15th-seeded team to win a first-round game in the NCAA tournament.
1995 — Michael Jordan announces he is ending his 17-month NBA retirement.
2001 — Indiana’s Reggie Miller becomes the first player in NBA history to make 2,000 3-pointers after hitting four in a 101-95 win over Sacramento.
2009 — New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur breaks Patrick Roy’s NHL record for career wins by a goaltender. Brodeur records his 552nd win in a 3-2 decision over the Chicago Blackhawks.
2015 — Lindsey Vonn wins the World Cup downhill title for the seventh time, winning the last race in the discipline at the World Cup finals in Meribel, France.
2016 — Middle Tennessee State sends a big shock through the men’s NCAA Tournament, topping second-seeded Michigan State 90-81 in the first round. Middle Tennessee never trails the Spartans (29-6) in one of the biggest upsets since the tournament began seeding teams in 1985.
2016 — Thomas Walkup scores 33 points and 14th-seeded Stephen F. Austin takes down West Virginia’s full-court pressure with some of its own in-your-face defense, pulling off a 70-56 first-round upset of the third-seeded Mountaineers in the NCAA Tournament.
2017 — Kalani Brown scores 21 points and top-seeded Baylor overwhelms much smaller Texas Southern 119-30, the most lopsided women’s NCAA Tournament game. The 89-point margin breaks the previous record 74-point win by Tennessee over North Carolina A&T (111-37) in 1994. Baylor’s 119 points are the most scored in regulation of a women’s NCAA Tournament game, surpassing the previous record 116.
2017 — Texas A&M pulls off the biggest comeback in women’s NCAA Tournament history, rallying from a 21-point deficit for a 63-61 victory over Penn to close out the first round of the NCAAs. The fifth-seeded Aggies finish the game on a 25-1 run to beat the 12th-seeded Quakers.
2018 — Tennessee loses for the first time at home in women’s NCAA Tournament history. Marie Gulich has 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead sixth-seed Oregon State to a 66-59 win. The third-seeded Lady Vols had been 57-0 at home, with most of those victories coming under late Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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