Howdy, I’m your host, Austin Knoblauch, filling in for Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.
From Ryan Kartje: The answers had run out. The worst case had caught up to USC.
There was no more outrunning the reality that loomed over this entire NCAA tournament, not with Paige Bueckers at the height of her powers and the full weight of the Connecticut onslaught raining down on them. Without JuJu Watkins, there was no further the Trojans could go. And once again, it was the Huskies who slammed the door, ending USC’s season in the Elite Eight once again with a 78-64 victory, just like they had last March.
That their season ended in the exact same place, on the doorstep of their first Final Four in almost four decades, was no less painful to swallow for the Trojans, who will have to watch their crosstown rivals, UCLA, take on Connecticut next weekend with a national title berth on the line.
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But as she stood in front of her players, warding off tears, coach Lindsay Gottlieb harkened back to the speech she made in the losing locker room a year before.
She told them then that the standard had been raised at USC. Expectations would soon be soaring. It was up to them to meet them.
Her words proved prescient, as this season proved an entirely different challenge. And although on paper, it might seem that the program came no further, Gottlieb, at the end of her fourth campaign as coach, knew that wasn’t true.
“Even though we’ve lost at the same point and stage, I think our team 100% delivered on raising that bar and raising that standard,” Gottlieb said. “This is where we wanted to be, and we now feel disappointed that we didn’t take this step this year, but obviously there are circumstances that make it really hard at this stage to win this one. This was the hardest one to win.”
Women’s NCAA tournament bracket
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DODGERS
Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow delivers during the first inning of a 6-1 win over the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium on Monday night.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
From Jack Harris: On Thursday and Friday night at Dodger Stadium, a common refrain echoed from the home plate escalators as the crowd was filing out.
“One-hundred-sixty-two and 0!” one fan shouted Thursday, while administering two-handed high-fives to passers-by.
“One-hundred-sixty-two and 0!” another yelled Friday, soliciting a chorus of cheers back in response.
In a 162-game baseball season, such perfection is virtually unattainable. But for now, Dodgers fans can keep on dreaming.
Because six games in, their team has been, well, perfect.
ALSO: Shower ‘mishap’ sidelines Freddie Freeman; Dodgers ‘interested’ in torpedo bats
UCLA MEN’S BASKETBALL
UCLA center Aday Mara grabs a loose ball against Southern Utah in November.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
From Ben Bolch: UCLA has suffered a big setback in its plans for next season: Aday Mara is not returning.
The 7-foot-3 center who could become a gargantuan story for his next team is planning to play elsewhere after two seasons as a Bruin. Mara’s departure was confirmed by two people close to the situation not authorized to publicly divulge his plans because they have not been made public.
Mara is a two-way force who can score in a variety of ways and pass like a point guard while also blocking shots, altering others and keeping an untold amount from being taken.
But he did not play a heavy allotment of minutes until the second half of the season, possibly accelerating his departure.
LAKERS
Lakers star LeBron James drives to the basket during a 104-98 win over the Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena on Monday.
(Ric Tapia / For The Times)
From Broderick Turner: The Lakers have “recognized the magnitude” of every game they have to play as the season winds down, their coach JJ Redick saying they have to play each of them with an urgency to determine their own playoff seeding fate in the super-competitive Western Conference.
It really is simple for the Lakers: Keep winning and that will improve their seeding in the unforgiving West.
And win the Lakers did on Monday night, pulling out a gritty 104-98 win over the Rockets at Crypto.com Arena. It was an especially significant win because the fourth place Lakers are chasing second-place Houston in the Western Conference standings.
LeBron James came through in the clutch from the free-throw line and on defense, with big-time contributions from key role players Gabe Vincent and Dorian Finney-Smith as Luka Doncic fought through a poor shooting night and a banged up left elbow.
James sealed the game with two free throws with 11.1 seconds left and an emphatic block of Alperen Sengun with eight seconds remaining, keeping the Lakers ahead by four.
KINGS
Longtime Kings broadcaster Nick Nickson calls a game against the New York Rangers at Crypto.com Arena on March 25.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
From Kevin Baxter: Don’t think of this as Nick Nickson’s final season behind the microphone for the Kings. Think of it as an encore.
Nickson planned to be golfing by now. He planned to be following his grandkids, Casey and Avery, to their games and attending the birthday parties and anniversaries he had to miss in more than five decades as a hockey broadcaster.
The Kings had other plans, summoning Nickson to a meeting in the summer of 2023 where he worried he might be fired before he could tell them he was ready to retire. Instead the Kings told Nickson, their longtime radio voice, they wanted him to simulcast the radio and TV calls. And they wanted a two-year commitment.
“Had it not been for the change, last year might have been my last,” he said.
RAMS
Rams running back Kyren Williams stiff arms Minnesota Vikings safety Camryn Bynum during the Rams’ wild-card playoff win in January. The Rams are meeting with Williams’ agent this week.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
From Gary Klein: Kyren Williams is not an agenda item for owners at the NFL annual meeting.
But talks with the agent for the Rams running back are on general manager Les Snead’s and vice president Tony Pastoors’ to-do list here in the next few days.
Williams, a three-year veteran who has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of the last two seasons, is eligible for an extension.
“We all want this to work out,” Snead said Monday. “It’s just, can we agree upon a, let’s call it, a contract where we both feel like it’s a win-win.”
CHARGERS
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh says he’s excited to work with former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Mekhi Becton.
(Doug Benc / Associated Press)
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The Chargers brought in perhaps their biggest offseason signing under the cover of darkness on a Friday evening. Of course a Jim Harbaugh-coached team would make an offensive lineman the secret weapon of its offseason plan.
Fresh off a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles, Mekhi Becton has the Chargers head coach already dreaming of what a retooled offensive front could look like.
“The run blocking is elite. Pass blocking as well, elite,” Harbaugh said of Becton on Monday, speaking at the NFL owners meeting in his first comments with reporters since free agency opened three weeks ago. “It’s just hard to get around him. Just start visualizing that size, that length on the right side of the offensive line with Mekhi there and Joe Alt.”
Needing to boost the offense around quarterback Justin Herbert, Becton’s addition could quietly be the offseason’s highest impact move. Harbaugh expects the 6-foot-7, 363-pound Becton to begin at right guard, where the former first-round pick played during the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl run. He will complement rising star right tackle Joe Alt, the 6-foot-8 former fifth overall pick.
CLIPPERS
From the Associated Press: Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell each scored 21 points, Ivica Zubac added 18 points and 20 rebounds and the Clippers beat the Orlando Magic 96-87 Monday night.
James Harden added 20 points and six steals for the Clippers, who won for the 11th time in 14 games.
Paolo Banchero led Orlando with 26 points. Franz Wagner added 21 points for the Magic, who shot 39% and lost for the eighth time in 10 home games.
ANGELS
From the Associated Press: Kyren Paris hit a tying triple in the seventh inning and Nolan Schanuel gave the Angels their first lead with a grounder in the 10th in a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.
Mike Trout had two RBIs for the Angels, who scored three runs on sacrifice flies and finally went ahead in the 10th without a hit. After two walks loaded the bases, Schanuel sent a chopper to second baseman Brendan Donovan, whose throw home was late as Luis Rengifo scored for a 4-3 lead.
Trout added a deep sac fly to center that scored Paris.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1930 — American golfer Bobby Jones starts his Grand Slam season by winning the Southeastern Open.
1938 — Joe Louis knocks out Harry Thomas in the fifth round in Chicago to retain his world heavyweight title.
1940 — Governor Herbert Lehman of New York signs the Dunnigal bill, which legalizes pari-mutuel wagering and outlaws bookmakers at the state’s racetracks.
1954 — Detroit Red Wings right wing Gordie Howe scores 2 goals and an assist, and sets a Stanley Cup playoff record for fastest goal from the start of a game (:09).
1972 — The first collective player’s strike in major league history begins at 12:01 a.m. The strike lasts 12 days and cancels 86 games.
1973 — Boston’s John Havlicek connects on 24 field goals and finishes with 54 points the Celtics defeat Atlanta, 134-109, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
1978 — NY Islanders RW Mike Bossy becomes first NHL rookie to score 50 goals in a season.
1981 — Edmonton C Wayne Gretzky has an assist (his 103rd) to break Bobby Orr’s 10-year mark for most assists in a single NHL season.
1984 — Southern Cal beats Tennessee 72-61 for the NCAA women’s basketball title.
1985 — Villanova shocks Georgetown with a 66-64 victory to win the NCAA basketball title. The Wildcats, led by Dwayne McClain’s 17 points, shot 79 percent from the field, making 22 of 28 shots, and added 22 of 27 free throws.
1989 — Jim McAllister of Glassboro State hits four home runs and drives in nine runs in four at-bats in a 21-5 five-inning rout of Delaware State.
1990 — Betsy King holds on for a two-stroke victory over Kathy Postlewait to win the LPGA Dinah Shore tournament.
1991 — Duke ends years of frustration with a 72-65 victory over Kansas for its first national title in five championship game appearances and nine trips to the Final Four.
1992 — A week before the Stanley Cup playoffs are set to begin, the NHL players strike for the first time in the league’s 75-year history. The strike lasts 10 days.
1996 — Kentucky wins its first national title in 18 years with a 76-67 victory over Syracuse.
1999 — Detroit Pistons G Joe Dumars becomes 10th player in NBA history to play 1,000 games with the same team.
1999 — Philadelphia 76ers head coach Larry Brown wins his 900th pro game.
2000 — Michelle Kwan wins her third World Figure Skating title by pushing through all seven triple jumps. The triple toe-triple toe lifts Kwan above Russians Irina Slutskaya and last year’s champion, Maria Butyrskaya.
2001 — 20th NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: Notre Dame beats Purdue, 68-66.
2002 — With Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter leading the way, Maryland wins its first national championship with a 64-52 victory over Indiana.
2007 — Morgan Pressel becomes the youngest major champion in LPGA Tour history with a game well beyond her 18 years, closing with a 3-under 69 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Pressel plays her final 25 holes over Mission Hills without a bogey as Suzann Pettersen blew a four-shot lead with four holes to play.
2007 — American super swimmer Michael Phelps smashes his own world record in the 400m individual medley (4:06.22) to win his record 7th gold medal at the World Championships.
2011 — Jarome Iginla scores his second goal of the game with 5:03 left to reach 1,000 points and help Calgary rally to beat St. Louis 3-2.
2016 — Golden State Warriors consecutive home winning streak ends at 54 games.
2018 — Arike Ogunbowale hits a 3-pointer with a tenth of a second left to give Notre Dame a 61-58 win over Mississippi State and its first women’s national championship since 2001. Notre Dame, trailing 30-17 at halftime, pulls off the biggest comeback in title game history, rallying from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter and a five-point deficit in the final 1:58.
2020 — All England Lawn Tennis Club cancels Wimbledon for the first time since World War II because of the COVID-19 pandemic; entire grass-court season abandoned.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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