From Maddie Lee: A fastball up and off the plate to Guardians left-handed hitter Steven Kwan was an inauspicious beginning to Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki’s season debut.
The arm-side miss fell in line with a persistent spring-training pattern for Sasaki, who struggled with command from his first Cactus League start through his Freeway Series appearance last week.
Over the course of a seven-pitch strikeout, however, Sasaki adjusted — something he failed to do during game action this spring.
“I actually didn’t have confidence at all before this game started,” Sasaki said through an interpreter Monday. “But I was just focusing on doing what I can control.”
Go beyond the scoreboard
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In the Dodgers’ 4-2 loss Monday, Sasaki’s first start of the season was something of a best-case scenario. He held the Guardians to one run and four hits in four-plus innings. And the biggest difference from his spring training struggles was he issued just two walks.
The Dodgers squandered the effort with a lack of offense, in their first loss of the season.
Sasaki will have more to prove against stronger offenses than Cleveland’s. But his performance at least suggested that the Dodgers’ faith in him wasn’t misplaced.
“We know he can do it here, and especially now that his velocity is back to closer to where it used to be,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said last week. “I feel like he puts us in a great position to win.”
Lakers star LeBron James, left, stands next to his son and Lakers guard Bronny James before a win over the Washington Wizards on Monday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
From Broderick Turner: The Lakers followed the lead of their oldest member, the triple-double producing LeBron James, in dispatching the Wizards 120-101 at Crypto.com Arena on Monday night.
Two days off between games left James looking spry, with lob dunks and dunks on the fast break contributing to his 21 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. James was eight for 16 from the field in notching his third triple-double of the season and the 125th of his 23-year NBA career, ranking him fifth all time.
At 41 years and 90 days old, James once again became the oldest player in league history to record a triple-double, passing his previous mark (41 years, 79 days).
“I mean, I’ve had moments more this year and last year that I’ve enjoyed more in the moment,” James said. “It’s pretty cool to know that I’m at this point in my career (and) I’m still able to do those things, man. It’s super dope. It’s super humbling. And I just try to put the work in and continue to put the work in and those are the results of it.”
UCLA guard Kiki Rice dribbles under pressure from Texas guard Rori Harmon on Nov. 26 in Las Vegas.
(Ian Maule / Getty Images)
From Marisa Ingemi:UCLA finally knows who it will face in the Final Four in Phoenix this week.
A day after taking down No. 3-seed Duke in the Elite Eight, the Bruins learned on Monday they will face fellow No. 1-seed Texas on Friday, the only team to beat them all season.
Since their Final Four debut ended with a 34-point loss to UConn last season, the Bruins have been on a mission to prove themselves. They faced their first adversity of the tournament during Sunday’s win over Duke when they trailed at the half, and now they’ll get a true test against the Longhorns.
“I trust this kid’s heart,” McVay said three times Monday at the NFL owners meetings.
But do the Rams trust Nacua, who has been at the center of several off-the-field situations, enough to break the bank with a massive extension?
Last week, a woman filed a civil lawsuit against Nacua, alleging that on New Year’s Eve he made an antisemitic statement during a group dinner and later bit her shoulder. Nacua’s attorney told The Times before the lawsuit was filed that Nacua “denies these allegations in the strongest possible terms,” and that Nacua would “pursue all available legal remedies in response to these false and damaging statements.”
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg perform at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games handover celebration in Long Beach in August 2024.
(Emma McIntyre / Getty Images for LA28)
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: There’s still more than two years remaining before the Olympics return to L.A., but fans can lock in their seats this week when tickets officially go on sale.
The virtual ticket box opens April 2 for locals in Southern California and Oklahoma. LA28 is planning to make 14 million tickets available for the Games, which would break the record for total tickets sold set by Paris 2024. The L.A. Games already attracted a record number of ticket registrations, topping 5 million fans from 197 countries and territories for the first drop.
Cabrera gave up one hit and walked one in his Chicago debut, delighting the crowd of 36,702 on a picturesque night at Wrigley Field. The 6-foot-5 right-hander was acquired in a January trade with Miami.
Carson Kelly and Moisés Ballesteros each drove in two runs for the Cubs (2-2) in the opener of a three-game series.
From the Associated Press: John Tavares redirected a shot from Morgan Rielly into the net with five seconds left in overtime to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over the Ducks in a fight-marred game Monday night.
The Leafs overcame a 3-1 deficit with three goals in the third period, including Rielly’s snap shot from the high slot that beat Ducks goalie Ville Husso stick-side to give Toronto a 4-3 lead with three minutes left in regulation.
But Leo Carlsson, who hobbled to the locker room after taking a hard hit and falling to the ice in the first minute of the third, gathered a loose puck near the left circle and flicked a shot past Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz to make it 4-4 with 1:39 left.
Tavares added a first-period goal, and Stolarz stopped 28 of 32 shots for Toronto, which took the ice about 1½ hours after general manager Brad Treliving was fired near the end of his third season, with the Maple Leafs on the verge of being eliminated from the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
From the Associated Press: The Super Bowl will return to Las Vegas in 2029 for the second time after NFL owners voted Monday to award the nation’s gambling and entertainment capital the big game.
Las Vegas getting the Super Bowl back seemed only like a matter of time after Kansas City defeated San Francisco 25-22 in overtime at Allegiant Stadium in February 2024.
Commissioner Roger Goodell all but gave the return his blessing after the first Super Bowl in a city the league long shunned because of concerns about legalized sports betting.
“The Vikings are mourning the loss of Ring of Honor member Joey Browner,” the team said Sunday in a statement. “Browner will be deeply missed by former coaches and teammates, as well as many others he impacted throughout his life.”
The Vikings added in a separate post: “He helped define what it is to be an NFL safety.”
No cause of death was given. In August, former Minnesota quarterback Tommy Kramer organized a fundraiser for Browner, who Kramer said was “battling through some serious health issues.”
1923 — The Ottawa Senators of the NHL completes a two-game sweep of the WCHL’s Edmonton Eskimos with a 1-0 victory to win the Stanley Cup for the third time in four years. Harry “Punch” Broadbent scores the goal.
1931 — Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne and seven others die in a plane crash in a wheat field near Bazaar, Kansas. During his 13 years at Notre Dame, the 43-year-old coach, led the “Fighting Irish” to 105 victories, 12 losses, five ties and three national championships.
1968 — The American League’s new franchise in Seattle chooses Pilots as its nickname.
1973 — The Philadelphia Flyers tie an NHL record for most goals in one period, scoring eight goals in the second period of a 10-2 win over the New York Islanders.
1973 — Ken Norton scores a stunning upset by winning a 12-round split decision over Muhammad Ali to win the NABF heavyweight title. Norton, a 5-1 underdog, breaks Ali’s jaw in the first round.
1975 — UCLA beats Kentucky 92-85 for its 10th NCAA basketball title under head coach John Wooden. Wooden finishes with a 620-147 career record after announcing his retirement two days earlier.
1976 — Cleveland Cavaliers beat Jazz to clinch club’s first ever NBA playoff berth.
1980 — Larry Holmes scores a TKO in the eighth round over Leroy Jones to retain his WBC heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
1980 — Mike Weaver knocks out John Tate in the 15th round to win the WBA heavyweight title in Knoxville, Tenn.
1982 — NBA and NBAPA reach 4-year agreement on return for minimum & maximum payrolls, the first of its kind in team sports.
1984 — Mike Bossy becomes first player in NHL history to record 7 straight 50 goal seasons.
1985 — Old Dominion beats Georgia in the 4th NCAAW National Championship.
1986 — Freshman center Pervis Ellison hits two free throws with 27 seconds left to seal Louisville’s 72-69 victory over Duke in the NCAA basketball championship.
1990 — 20-year old C Joe Sakic becomes the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points in a season
1991 — Tennessee edges Virginia 70-67 in overtime for its third NCAA women’s basketball title. It’s the first overtime in the NCAA’s 10-year history.
1991 — Amy Alcott wins the Dinah Shore golf tournament with a record eight-shot victory over Dottie Mochrie.
1994 — Chicago White Sox assigns former NBA superstar Michael Jordan to the Birmingham Barons of Class AA Southern League.
1995 — Major league baseball players end their strike.
1997 — Martina Hingis becomes the youngest No. 1 player in tennis history. The 16-year-old Swiss sensation, who claimed her fifth title of 1997 at the Lipton Championships on March 29, supplants Steffi Graf in the WTA Tour rankings.
1998 — Expansion clubs, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks both suffer losses in their MLB debuts.
2002 — UConn women’s basketball team beat Oklahoma, 82-70; Huskies conclude perfect season (39-0).
2002 — Andre Agassi wins his 700th career match and captures his second straight Key Biscayne Title.
2005 — Tarence Kinsey hits a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to lift South Carolina to a 60-57 victory over Saint Joseph’s for the NIT championship.
2012 — Ray Whitney passes 1,000 career points with a goal and assist in Phoenix’s 4-0 victory over Anaheim.
2013 — In one of the biggest upsets in the history of the NCAA women’s tournament, sixth-seeded Louisville stuns defending national champion Baylor in the regional semifinals, 82-81. It’s the end of a remarkable college career for Baylor’s Brittney Griner, a record-setting 6-foot-8 post player who ended up as the second-highest scoring player in NCAA history.
2013 — Pete Weber ties Earl Anthony by winning his 10th major Professional Bowlers Association title with a 224-179 win over Australian Jason Belmonte in the Tournament of Champions.
2017 — UConn’s record 111-game winning streak comes to a startling end when Mississippi State pulls off perhaps the biggest upset in women’s basketball history, shocking the Huskies 66-64 on Morgan William’s overtime buzzer beater in the national semifinals.
2018 — Anthony Joshua beats Joseph Parker by unanimous decision to become a three-belt world heavyweight boxing champion. Joshua adds Parker’s WBO belt to his WBA and IBF titles, and moves within one belt of becoming the first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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Passengers arrive to discover their posessions have been left behind as days of walkouts start at sites – full list
12:17, 31 Mar 2026Updated 12:17, 31 Mar 2026
Trolleys to transport suitcases in Terminal T4 of Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport, this Easter, as two ground handling strikes at Groundforce and Menzies airlines hit(Image: Getty Images)
Passengers flying from 13 Spanish airports hit by strike action have landed to discover all their luggage has been left behind, local media has reported. Canarias said the first day of the strike by Groundforce workers, the ground handling operator that services Air Europa flights, resulted in continuous delays across all the airline’s flights and passengers arriving at Canary Island airports without their luggage, having had to leave it behind at their point of origin.
Alternating work stoppages are taking place between 5 and 7 am, 11 am and 5pm, and 10 pm and midnight, the first day of the strike affected 13 Spanish airports, three of them on the islands of Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura, where delays occurred throughout the day. These delays did not originate at the island airports but rather on flights arriving primarily from Madrid, Barcelona, and Bilbao, with delays approaching an hour.
Airports impacted are Barcelona-El Prat, Madrid-Barajas, Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Bilbao, Lanzarote, Alicante, Valencia and Malaga. The Groundforce strike is scheduled for this Wednesday (April 1) and Good Friday (April 3), with the possibility of becoming indefinite.
Because the aircraft operate on a network, delays accumulated throughout the day, causing significant disruptions to flights departing from the three affected airports in the archipelago. At major airports on the Iberian Peninsula, such as Madrid, Barcelona, and Bilbao, planes departed without luggage in their holds throughout Monday, leaving many passengers arriving at their destinations without their belongings.
It’s worth remembering that the most affected route is Madrid-Gran Canaria, on which Air Europa operates seven flights daily. According to Orlando Robledano, secretary of the aviation sector at the UGT union, the strike’s impact on Canary Island airports has been reduced due to the minimum services imposed by Groundforce on all Lanzarote Airport employees. Even members of the works council received this notification requiring them to comply with these minimum services, making it impossible to achieve the level of participation required for a strike of this nature.
This, coupled with the fact that domestic flights at Canary Island airports are protected and must be serviced regardless of delays, meant that the problems were less severe at the islands’ airports than at those on the mainland. Other affected airports include Alicante, Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, and Málaga.
Hosteltur reported that strikes at Canary Island airports during the peak days of Holy Week, between Maundy Thursday (April 2) and Easter Monday (April 6) may be called off as workers at Menzies—who provide check-in, boarding, and baggage services to airlines such as Norwegian, EasyJet, and British Airways—along with the works council and their union representatives from UGT, are close to reaching an agreement to call off the strike that was set to affect nearly 3,000 of the group’s employees in Spain, 600 of them in the Canary Islands.
At least six planes took off from Madrid-Barajas Airport on Monday without their passengers’ luggage due to an indefinite strike by the ground handling company Groundforce. On this first day of the strike, disruptions are being reported at all airports, although the most significant impacts are felt in Madrid and Barcelona, according to union sources, Telecinco reported.
Passengers report long queues and checked baggage left on the tarmac during the first day of the strike The indefinite strike by Groundforce ground staff began this Monday at Barcelona Airport, with protests taking place at three different times. The affected services are all those related to ground handling.
Long queues were reported at Barcelona’s El Prat Airport, where Alberto García said: “There have been some delays, and some planes have even departed with very little luggage. It was the protesters themselves who informed passengers that their bags would not arrive on time.
“The unions continue fighting for their objective and are demanding that the company comply with the wage agreements stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement.” At this time, many people have seen their flights significantly delayed or have had their luggage left behind.
In Madrid, people have had to wait for extended periods to check their luggage. Some report waiting for “four or five hours.”
Many planes, especially those arriving from Madrid, “are arriving without luggage, and the problems are spreading,” a UGT spokesperson told Europa Press, adding that “there is no guarantee that luggage will arrive.” The delays “affect not only direct flights but also many connecting flights, since passengers arrive without their luggage and therefore miss their next flight.”
He was on the bench for the Freeway Series finale at Dodger Stadium earlier this week, when manager Dave Roberts came over to check in and give Rojas the news.
“I didn’t know if ‘Thank you’ was the right thing to say because it’s something I earned,” Rojas recounted before the Dodgers’ 8-2 win Thursday against the Diamondbacks. “It’s not something that I asked for as a favor. So I was just kind of speechless.”
Rojas embraced Roberts.
“It was a gift to myself because of all the hard work and the preparation I put in throughout my whole career,” Rojas said. “This way is the best way possible because I got up to the big leagues as a utility defensive replacement who can play shortstop but couldn’t really hit much.”
Rojas, who intends to retire after this year, wrapped up his final opening day as a starter.
Opening day is a celebration across baseball. But the Dodgers made it a full production. The pregame program Thursday included roster-introduction pyrotechnics, along with a stage and blue carpet set up in center field.
From Bill Plaschke: There were fireworks, there was a flyover, there was Will Ferrell screaming and Keith Williams Jr. crooning and four months of cheers unleashed by fans wearing championship belts and howling grins.
But the real stars of Thursday’s Dodger opening day show never made a sound.
They arrived silently at the end of the pregame ceremony, carefully held by two of the men who helped win them, lifted high for all those who so passionately longed for them.
They were the last two Commissioner’s Trophies, the back-to-back World Series championship trophies, the two symbols of the Dodgers domination held side by side in the afternoon sun.
Man, it was beautiful. Goodness, how they sparkled. Incredible, how they glowed.
It was almost as if they were powered by some electrical force, some sort of championship current running between them, lighting them up with a blinding power curated by the battered fingers of the two veterans who touched them.
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Mike Trout homers as Angels win
Mike Trout homered to launch what he hopes will be a bounce-back year, leading the Angels to a season-opening 3-0 win over the Houston Astros on Thursday.
Trout also walked three times and played center field for the first time since April 2024. The three-time MVP played 130 games last season, his most since 2019 because of various injuries.
Making his franchise-record 14th opening day start, the 34-year-old Trout broke a scoreless tie in the seventh inning when he sent a 96-mph fastball from reliever AJ Blubaugh (0-1) 403 feet onto the train tracks in left center. It was his fifth opening day homer, also a club record.
The Angels ended an eight-game road losing streak in season openers, starting 1-0 on the road for the first time since 2013.
From Marisa Ingemi: The UCLA women’s basketball team hasn’t lost a game in 120 days. In that time, the Bruins have outscored opponents by a total of 806 points and just one other school — Connecticut — has gone without a loss during the same stretch.
Yet somehow, the No. 1 seed in the Sacramento 2 region of the NCAA tournament hasn’t captured the same momentum and praise as the other three top seeds who have muscled their way into the Sweet 16.
UCLA (33-1) will play No. 4 Minnesota (24-8) at 4:30 p.m. Friday in Sacramento. The game will air on ESPN. Entering the matchup, is UCLA’s less dominant NCAA tournament run a cause for concern? Or is a win a win when it comes to March?
“Each game is going to present different adversity points,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “And I think that we don’t look at it as getting back to something. We look at it as everything is a learning opportunity. ‘What does that teach us? How does that make us better? What kinds of things do we need to tighten up?’”
Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves for his third shutout of the season and 39th of his career to lead the Kings to a 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Mikael Granlund capped off his hat trick scoring on the power play with one second remaining in overtime on Thursday night to give the Ducks a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames.
Granlund has seven goals during a four-game goal streak that has him up to 19 on the season as the Ducks extended their winning streak to four games.
The Pacific Division-leading Ducks opened the night with a five-point cushion on the Edmonton Oilers and a six-point lead on the Vegas Golden Knights.
Eligibility for women’s competition will be determined by a one-time mandatory genetics test, according to the IOC. The test requires screening through saliva, a cheek swab or a blood sample.
No transgender woman competed at the 2024 Paris Summer Games, and it is unclear if any trans women currently compete at an Olympic level. Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand was the last to do so, competing in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics without winning a medal.
The new eligibility policy is not retroactive and does not apply to recreational sports programs. The IOC said in a statement that it “protects fairness, safety and integrity in the female category.”
“Eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females.”
1939 — Oregon beats Ohio State 46-33 in the NCAA’s first national basketball tournament.
1942 — Joe Louis knocks out Abe Simon in the sixth round at Madison Square Garden to retain his world heavyweight title.
1945 — Oklahoma A&M beats New York University 49-45 for the NCAA basketball championship.
1951 — Bill Spivey scores 22 points to lead Kentucky to a 68-58 win over Kansas State for the NCAA basketball title.
1960 — The Boston Celtics score a then NBA Finals record 76 points in the first half a 140-122 win over the St. Louis Hawks. Tom Heinsohn (24), Bill Sharman (23), Frank Ramsey (22) and Bob Cousy (20) each score 20-or-more points to win the series opener.
1971 — UCLA beats Villanova 68-62 for its fifth NCAA basketball title.
1978 — Jack Givens scores 41 points to lead Kentucky to a 94-88 victory over Duke for the NCAA basketball title.
1983 — Larry Holmes wins a unanimous 12-round decision over Lucien Rodriguez to retain his world heavyweight title in his hometown of Scranton, Pa.
2005 — Annika Sorenstam shoots a final-round 68 to finish at 15-under to win the Nabisco Championship by eight shots over Rosie Jones. It’s he 59th victory of the Swedish star’s LPGA Tour career — and her eighth major championship win.
2010 — Long shot Al Shemali wins the $5 million Dubai Duty Free, pulling away from a crowded field to pull off a surprisingly easy win in the Dubai World Cup. Al Shemali, at 40-1, starts slow then duels it out with Bankable before taking the lead for good.
2011 — Jamie Skeen scores 26 points as Virginia Commonwealth delivers the biggest upset of the NCAA tournament, a 71-61 win over No. 1 seed Kansas in the Southwest Regional final.
2014 — The Philadelphia 76ers tie the NBA record for futility with their 26th straight loss, falling 120-98 to the Houston Rockets. Philadelphia matches the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers for the NBA’s worst skid.
2017 — UConn’s women’s basketball team advance to its 10th consecutive Final Four with a 90-52 victory against Oregon. The victory moves coach Geno Auriemma past Pat Summitt for the most NCAA tournament victories at 113.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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From Maddie Lee: Shohei Ohtani’s three straight strikeouts in the fourth inning of his final spring start Tuesday featured a different putaway pitch for each.
He got Angels slugger Jorge Soler to whiff on a sweeper. Jeimer Candelario went down on a curveball. And Jo Adell struck out on a fastball.
“Just shows the confidence he has and different ways he had to attack guys, to get ahead and also put guys away,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 3-0 loss to the Angels in the Freeway Series finale. “And today the feel was really good, even better than the first outing.”
Pretty much everything was clicking for Ohtani heading into the regular season, even though it was only his second spring training start on the mound. Ohtani recorded 11 strikeouts in four-plus innings. He held the Angels to four hits, three of which were consecutive singles in the fifth, and was charged with three runs, all scored in the fifth.
For the first time in three years, Ohtani is set to begin the season as a fully healthy pitcher. And it will be the Dodgers’ first time managing his two-way schedule all year. Limited the last two seasons by his recovery and build-up from elbow surgery, Ohtani last made 20-plus starts in 2023 with the Angels.
“The desire is high,” Roberts said when asked about Ohtani’s aim to pitch wall to wall. “I think it’s realistic. Then the bigger question is, how are we going to manage that and navigate it?”
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Can Kurt Suzuki lead Angels to success?
From Steve Galluzzo: Anxious may be the best word to describe the vibe in Anaheim before the Angels fly to Houston ahead of Thursday afternoon’s season opener versus the Astros.
New manager Kurt Suzuki has infused enthusiasm into a club that has not finished above .500 since 2015 and has missed the playoffs for an MLB-worst 11 straight seasons. The Angels went 72-90 and finished last in the American League West, though they were nine games better than 2024 — when they set a franchise record for losses with 99. Time will tell if the Halos have enough talent to contend in a division the Seattle Mariners are heavily favored to win.
A special assistant for the Angels the last three seasons, Suzuki signed a one-year contract last October and is the team’s fifth full-time manager since Mike Scioscia stepped down in 2018 after compiling a franchise-record 1,650 victories over 19 seasons. Suzuki spent 16 seasons as a major league catcher, retiring in 2022.
“It’s been fun,” Suzuki said prior to Sunday’s Freeway Series game, a 13-5 loss to the Dodgers at Angel Stadium. “Obviously I’ve never managed before but just being out of the game just as recently as a few years ago I understand the situations of the game, the speed of the game and those type of things. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy by any means. It’s a lot of work, but I’m having a great time, we’re surrounded by great people and the guys have been awesome so it’s been all good.”
As a former player, Suzuki will trust his instincts.
“For me, it’s attention to detail, it’s fundamentals, it’s just really being a baseball player,” he said. “Sometimes in this day and age of analytics and all that stuff you can kind of get lost in that sometimes. Not to say forget about it, but I think the more you can just play baseball how it’s supposed to be played, move guys over, situational hitting, things you grew up doing, if we can kind of keep that style and play hard and all that, I like our chances.”
From Bill Shaikin: Two decades after owner Arte Moreno decided the Angels should play under the Los Angeles name, elected officials representing Anaheim are pursuing two paths toward getting their hometown back into the team name.
Assemblyman Avelino Valencia, whose district includes Angel Stadium, has introduced state legislation that could require any sale or new lease of the stadium property be conditioned upon the team reverting to the Anaheim Angels name.
Meanwhile, Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken has asked the city attorney to explore whether the Angels have violated their current lease by dropping the Anaheim name from legal documents.
Not the best team in the country this year, but truly a testament to teamwork and hard work and talent retention.
Whether UCLA wins it all this season or not, the Bruins are the envy of teams everywhere, including Oklahoma State, whose season they ended with an 87-68 second-round victory Monday. Afterward, UCLA’s six seniors joined their teammates in one last victory lap around the court, waving to fans, soaking in the adoration, on their way to the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive season.
“Seeing a team who gets to host, a team who has stayed together, for the most part, they get to experience all the things that all of us want, and that is so incredibly rare and hard and special,” Oklahoma State coach Jacie Hoyt said.
But how much further those things will take these Bruins in the NCAA tournament after they fought off Oklahoma State?
Yegor Sharangovich scored in the fourth round of the shootout to lead the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Kings on Tuesday night.
Olli Maatta and Zayne Parekh, each with their first goals of the season, scored in regulation time for the Flames, who have won four games in a row for the first time this season. Dustin Wolf stopped 23 shots.
Quinton Byfield scored both goals and Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves for the Kings, who have points in seven of their last nine but just three victories. They have dropped four straight.
Mikael Granlund scored twice, Alex Killorn had a goal and an assist, and the Ducks beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-3 on Tuesday night.
Mason McTavish and Troy Terry also scored for the Ducks, while John Carlson had three assists and Lukas Dostal stopped 27 shots.
The Ducks grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second period, only to see Vancouver rally and tie the score twice before McTavish scored the winner at the 5:45 mark of the third.
1934 — Horton Smith wins the first Masters golf tournament by one stroke over Craig Wood.
1947 — Holy Cross, led by George Kaftan, beats Oklahoma 58-47 in the NCAA basketball championship.
1958 — Sugar Ray Robinson regains the middleweight title for a record fifth time with a 15-round decision over Carmen Basilio.
1961 — Cincinnati ends Ohio State’s 32-game winning streak with a 70-65 win in the NCAA basketball championship. In the third-place game, St. Joseph’s beats Utah 127-120 in quadruple-overtime.
1967 — UCLA, led by sophomore Lew Alcindor’s 20 points, beats Dayton 79-64 for the NCAA basketball championship.
1972 — Bill Walton scores 24 points to lead UCLA to an 81-76 victory over Florida State and the NCAA basketball title.
1972 — Maryland beats Niagara 100-69 in the NIT championship, becoming the first team to score 100 points in the finals of the tournament.
1973 — The Philadelphia 76ers post the worst mark in NBA history at 9-73 under coaches Roy Rubin (4-47) and Kevin Loughery (5-26).
1982 — Wayne Gretzky becomes the first NHL player to score 200 points in a season.
1995 — Scotty Bowman gets his 900th regular-season coaching victory as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Canucks 2-1 in Vancouver.
2006 — Following the tradition of teenage American women pulling off big upsets, 16-year-old Kimmie Meissner uses the performance of her life to soar to the World Figure Skating Championships title.
2008 — Tennessee gives coach Pat Summitt her 100th NCAA tournament win, a 78-52 rout of host Purdue. The win sends the Lady Vols to the NCAA regional semifinals.
2011 — The Southwest regional is the first in NCAA men’s basketball history with three double-digit seeded teams in the semifinals. Virginia Commonwealth, an 11th seed beats 10th seed Florida State 72-71 in overtime and the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks beat No. 12 seed Richmond 77-57 in the region’s other semifinal.
2012 — In the NBA’s first quadruple-overtime game since 1997, Joe Johnson scores 37 points and Josh Smith adds 22 as the Atlanta Hawks beat Utah 139-133. The four overtimes tie for the third-longest game in NBA history.
2016 — Klay Thompson scores 40 points and Stephen Curry adds 33 to help the Golden State Warriors become the second team to post back-to-back 65-win seasons with a 128-120 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. The Warriors improve their record to 65-7 following a 67-win season a year ago. The only other team to win at least 65 games in consecutive seasons was Chicago in 1995-96 and 1996-97.
2017 — Arrogate shows his class again in the $10 million Dubai World Cup as he comes from last place to win by an impressive 2 1/4 lengths.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
WASHINGTON — Melania Trump on Tuesday called on nations to work together to improve access to education and technology for children around the world, delivering her plea as she addressed a gathering of her counterparts from more than 40 countries.
The first lady’s Fostering the Future Together initiative, which she announced last year, and an inaugural two-day summit that she opened Tuesday are examples of how Melania Trump has expanded her portfolio to embrace global issues.
“As people we dream. As leaders we progress. As nations we will build,” she said in opening remarks. “Beginning today, let’s accelerate our new global alliance, this bond, to positively impact the progress of our children.”
She called on participants to host regional meetings, conduct research studies, begin new partnerships and collaborate with another member country “to cultivate the skills young people need to be successful in this rapidly evolving world.”
She said the goal of empowering children will be achieved by creating innovative programs, advocating for supportive education policies, sponsoring tech-focused legislation and building strong public-private partnerships.
“This room is filled with extraordinary human capital,” the first lady said. She urged the leaders seated around a large U-shaped table in a State Department auditorium to “harness it to elevate your children, to empower your people and to accelerate your economies.”
The gathering included technology companies such as Microsoft, Google and OpenAI.
Among those participating were Olena Zelenska, the spouse of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The first lady announced the Fostering the Future Together initiative during the U.N. General Assembly session last fall.
From Marisa Ingemi: There were always going to be tears. In the final game at Pauley Pavilion for six UCLA seniors, it was going to be a stunning defeat or a cathartic release before the next step in the NCAA tournament mission.
It was the latter, as the decorated group of Bruins took their final stroll around the perimeter of the court and waved to the fans, tears glistening and smiles wide.
The top-seeded Bruins led wire-to-wire, beating No. 8-seed Oklahoma State 87-68 in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Monday night at Pauley Pavilion to advance to the Sweet 16. The Bruins will face No. 4 seed Minnesota on Friday in Sacramento.
One of UCLA’s seniors, Lauren Betts, put together the best game of her career with 35 points while shooting 15 of 19 at the moment her team needed it most.
“That’s really cool,” Betts said. “I mean, I can’t deny, like, that is really cool. I feel like the points, they really don’t mean anything to me. To me, like, I really just want to win games with this team. The fact that we won today is what matters most to me, and that we’re moving on to the Sweet 16.”
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USC women are routed
From Chaunte’l Powell: Monday night served as a litmus test for ninth-seeded USC to see how a program on its way back to prominence measured up against top-seeded powerhouse South Carolina.
The Trojans were no match in the frontcourt against South Carolina, suffering 101-61 season-ending loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards and Madina Okot got going early, scoring nine of the Gamecocks’ first 11 points. South Carolina would finish the game with 60 points in the paint. Edwards finished the game with 23 points and 10 rebounds and Okot had 15 points and 15 rebounds.
USC freshman Jazzy Davidson, who scored a phenomenal 31 points in her NCAA tournament debut Saturday against Clemson, missed her first two shots. But she recovered and found some offensive rhythm, finishing with 16 points. Kennedy Smith picked up the slack in the first half, scoring nine of USC’s first 15 points. Unfortunately, she struggled after that and finished four for 15 from the floor.
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The brush from a fingertip toppled the Lakers’ longest winning streak in six seasons.
The Lakers’ nine-game win streak ended Monday with a 113-110 loss to the Detroit Pistons when Luka Doncic missed a tying three-pointer at the buzzer after LeBron James’ inbounds pass was deflected by Tobias Harris.
Doncic had 32 points, seven rebounds and six assists, but was three for 13 from three and missed two big shots in the final seconds.
The superstar guard had been on a historic heater, averaging 40 points over the previous nine games. With nine seconds left, James tried to inbound the ball over Harris and across the court to Doncic, who had to chase down the deflected pass that also went off forward Maxi Kleber’s arm. Doncic collected the ball and danced with Detroit forward Jalen Duren, pump faking, spinning and stepping back before launching a sky-high three.
Kawhi Leonard scored 28 points in 25 minutes and the Clippers pummeled the Milwaukee Bucks 129-96 on Monday night.
Brook Lopez added 19 points, Darius Garland had 15 points and six assists, and the Clippers won consecutive games after four straight losses. They made all 18 of their free throws and got back to .500 with 10 games remaining in the regular season after having a 6-21 record on Dec. 18.
Gary Trent Jr. paced the Bucks with 20 points off the bench. Ryan Rollins led their starters with 13, and Milwaukee had five players in double figures. The Bucks have lost 10 of their last 14 games, including three of four since sitting superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo because of a left knee injury.
From Maddie Lee: The Dodgers’ rotation order is set for the first homestand of the season.
To round out the series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, after Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the mound Thursday on opening day, he’ll be followed by Emmet Sheehan and Tyler Glasnow. Roki Sasaki is penciled in for Monday against the Cleveland Guardians, followed by Shohei Ohtani on March 31.
Off days on Sunday and April 2 make it possible for the Dodgers to give all their pitchers at least five days’ rest between their first and second starts without needing a sixth starter.
Left-hander Justin Wrobleski is pegged to be that additional starter when the schedule features less frequent days off. In the meantime, he’ll be available to throw multiple innings out of the bullpen.
1936 — Detroit’s Mud Bruneteau ends the longest game in NHL history with a goal after 116 minutes and 30 seconds (six overtimes) to edge the Montreal Maroons 1-0 in the semifinals of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
1941 — Long Island University wins the NIT championship with a 56-42 victory over Ohio.
1945 — NYU battles back from a ten-point deficit with two minutes to go to send the NCAA tournament national semifinal game into overtime. NYU wins 70-65. At the time, a team got one free throw when fouled near end of game, but could elect instead to inbound the ball. Ohio State is fouled three times, opts to shoot the foul shot and misses each time.
1956 — San Francisco’s Bill Russell has 26 points and 27 rebounds to lead the Dons to an 83-71 win over Iowa and their second-straight national title and 55th consecutive victory, then an NCAA record.
1962 — Paul Hogue scores 22 points and grabs 19 rebounds and Tom Thacker adds 21 to lead Cincinnati to a 71-59 victory over Ohio State for its second NCAA basketball championship.
1970 — Jerry West of the Lakers wins his only NBA scoring title, accumulating 2,309 points in 74 games for a 31.2 ppg. average.
1973 — Kansas City-Omaha’s Nate “Tiny” Archibald becomes the first player in NBA history to lead the NBA in both scoring (34.0 ppg.) and assists (11.4 apg.) in the same season.
1975 — Muhammad Ali knocks out Chuck Wepner in the 15th round to retain the world heavyweight title in Cleveland.
1975 — Princeton becomes the first Ivy League school to win the NIT title with an 80-69 win over Providence.
1979 — Indiana State, led by Larry Bird, advances to the NCAA Championship game by squeezing past DePaul 76-74. Bird has 35 points, 16 rebounds and 9 assists.
1980 — Louisville beats UCLA 59-54 to win the NCAA basketball title.
1992 — Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux becomes the 36th player in NHL history with 1,000 points, getting an assist in the second period of the Penguins’ 4-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
1994 — Kansas State’s Askia Jones scores 62 points in 28 minutes in a 115-77 victory over Fresno State in the NIT quarterfinals. Jones shoots 18-for-25 from the floor, including 14-of-18 on three-pointers, and 12-for-16 from the line.
2013 — Florida Gulf Coast goes from shocking the men’s college basketball world to downright impressing it. The Eagles beat San Diego State 81-71 to become the first No. 15 seed to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
2017 — Devin Booker scores 70 points, becoming the sixth different player in NBA history to reach that total, but the Boston Celtics get 34 points from Isaiah Thomas and outlast the Phoenix Suns 130-120.
2018 — Nathan Chen completes six quadruple jumps in the free program to become the first U.S. winner of the men’s world figure skating title since 2009.
2018 — Loyola Chicago romps to a 78-62 victory over Kansas State to cap off a stunning run through the bracket-busting South Regional. The Ramblers (32-5) match the lowest-seeded team ever to reach the Final Four, joining LSU (1986), George Mason (2006) and VCU (2011). The South is the first regional in tournament history to have the top four seeds — including overall No. 1 Virginia — knocked out on the opening weekend.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Democratic legislative leaders on Monday called on voters to boycott USC’s upcoming gubernatorial debate if the university does not invite candidates who were excluded from participating.
The unsparing letter adds another layer of controversy to Tuesday’s forum, which as a result of the university’s selection criteria would not include any of the leading candidates of color.
“We are writing to demand you open the March 24 gubernatorial debate to all leading candidates,” said the letter sent Monday evening to USC President Beong-Soo Kim by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón (D-Goleta) and the leaders of the legislative Latino, Black, Asian and Pacific Islander, Native American, LGBTQ, Jewish and women’s caucuses. “The outcry over this debate is deafening and includes legal demands from the excluded candidates’ attorneys, public calls by elected leaders across the state, concerns from the included candidates’ own campaigns, and growing alarm from California voters. Instead of responding to these valid concerns by expanding the debate, USC has doubled down.”
USC officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Tuesday’s debate is scheduled less than two months before ballots begin arriving in voters’ mailboxes.
The university has been embroiled in controversy over the criteria it used to select the candidates it invited to participate in Tuesday’s debate, which is co-sponsored by KABC-TV Los Angeles and Univision.
Specifically, critics have pointed out the methodology allowed San José Mayor Matt Mahan — a white candidate who recently entered the race and is polling poorly — to vault above former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former state Controller Betty Yee.
“The university’s selection process — built on a formula never before used for a debate of this scale, has delivered a result that is biased,” the letter says. “When a methodology produces this outcome — one that elevates a candidate with notable ties to USC’s donor community and the co-director of the Dornsife Center for the Political Future — the burden falls on USC to explain itself, not on everyone else to accept it. If USC does not do the right thing, we call on California voters to boycott this debate.”
Mike Murphy, a co-director of the USC center hosting the debate, has been voluntarily advising an independent expenditure committee backing Mahan. The veteran GOP strategist previously said he had nothing to do with organizing the debate and that he has asked for unpaid leave at the university through the June 2 primary if he takes a paid role in the campaign.
USC has also received tens of millions of dollars in donations from billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso and his wife. Caruso, a USC alumnus who served as a trustee for years, is also a Mahan supporter.
“I had no conversations with the debate hosts or organizers,” Caruso said in a statement to The Times on Monday. “This is the most important election for California in a generation, and I encourage everyone to be engaged, learn as much as possible about each candidate, then form an opinion who can move California forward in the most positive of ways. Watching debates is a part of that process. That is why I believe debates should include all the credible candidates.”
The debate sponsors released a joint statement on Friday defending their decision.
“We want to be clear that we categorically, unequivocally deny any allegations that the debate criteria was in any way biased in favor or against any candidate and want to clarify the facts,” said the statement by the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future and its broadcast partners. “The methodology was based on well-established metrics consistent with formulas widely used to set debate participation nationwide — a combination of polling and fundraising — and developed without regard to any particular candidate.”
Hours later, the four prominent Democrats who were excluded from the debate called on their rivals to boycott the event, reiterating their concerns that the criteria used to determine who was invited to participate resulted in every prominent candidate of color being excluded from the forum.
The four Democrats who are participating in the debate — Rep. Eric Swalwell of Dublin, former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer and Mahan — all issued statements criticizing USC’s selection criteria, but did not pull out of the debate.
“It is a shame that USC has decided to elevate one candidate at the expense of others,” Swalwell wrote on X on Sunday. “USC, and every host of a gubernatorial debate, should employ fair, objective, and honest criteria for all candidates. I remain hopeful they will do so Tuesday night.”
Porter expressed similar thoughts.
“Criteria used to determine which candidates qualify to participate in a debate must be transparent, fair, and objective,” she wrote on X. “I’m disappointed by how USC handled the process for Tuesday’s debate. Candidates and Californians deserve answers.”
Would UCLA have beaten Connecticut if Tyler Bilodeau was healthy? That’s what will haunt the Bruins and their fans for the rest of March Madness.
Even without their leading scorer the seventh-seeded Bruins battled valiantly, briefly taking the lead in the second half. But in the end they simply didn’t have enough firepower to knock off No. 2 Connecticut, which surged late in its 73-57 win in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday.
“My message to our team is no excuses,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “Somebody brought up Tyler. We didn’t bring it up. It’s five-on-five. Sadly, I’ve got a lot of practice in dealing with that in NCAA tournament play, but it sucks for him.
“At the end of the day, someone said to me what would have happened if you had your guy? You never know. But I thought the bottom line was they played harder than us. Their defense was better than our offense, and I take responsibility for that.”
UCLA (24-12) failed to reach the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive season. The Bruins struggled with their shooting most of the night, going 19 for 49 (39%) in comparison to Connecticut’s 23 for 49 (47%). Both teams had the same number of free-throw attempts (21), but the Bruins made just 67% of their shots and the Huskies made 90%.
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Buying time until JuJu Watkins returns. Keeping the ship afloat until the talented recruiting class that includes Saniyah Hall makes its way to campus.
But the Trojans showed Saturday that’s not the case. They’re making a plate and eating now.
The No. 9 seed Trojans gutted out a 71-67 overtime win over No. 8 seed Clemson in what USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb described as “a culture win.”
That game featured many tests for a young team in March and the Trojans responded well to the challenges. They are advancing on the back of freshman Jazzy Davidson’s 31 points and senior Kara Dunn’s 22.
From Bill Plaschke: The truth of this Dodgers season was recently found in a place where all sports truths are clipped and tapered and styled into reality.
The barbershop.
Of course, the barbershop, where ball talk is real talk, and where the expectations around the Dodgers upcoming quest for a three-peat recently smothered me like a hot towel to the head.
I was sitting in the chair in mid-shave when a bald gentleman barged into the shop searching not for a cut, but a promise.
“Say it!” he shouted to me from just inside the door. “Say what everybody around here believes!”
“No, say it about the Dodgers!” said the man, and he was serious. “Say that they have the best team in history and they’re going to win another championship! Say it, because that’s what everybody thinks!”
The shop quieted, chairs swiveled, and suddenly everyone was looking at me, at which point I said the one word I’ve never written in any of the last dozen or so Dodger preview columns.
The NBA rescinded Doncic’s 16th technical foul, the league announced Sunday, allowing Doncic to avoid a mandatory one-game suspension that would have kept him out of Monday’s game against the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons.
Doncic and the Lakers appealed the call after he was given a technical for taunting against Orlando Magic forward Goga Bitadze in Saturday’s Lakers win. Bitadze’s technical foul was also rescinded after the European players were arguing while Doncic was shooting free throws. Doncic claimed Bitadze made a vulgar comment toward Doncic’s family in Serbian while Bitadze said he first heard inappropriate comments from Doncic and only repeated what he heard the Lakers guard say.
Nick Schmaltz scored his second goal of the game at 1:46 of overtime to give the Utah Mammoth a 4-3 victory over the Kings on Sunday night.
Schmaltz carried the puck in on a two-on-one rush with defenseman Mikhail Sergachev on his left and fired a snap shot between goalie Darcy Kuemper‘s legs.
After the Kings controlled play in the three-on-three overtime and nearly ended it on Alex Laferriere’s shot that went off the right post, Kevin Stenlund won a faceoff against Quinton Byfield to set up Schmaltz’s seventh winning goal of the season.
Troy Terry scored on a breakaway 1:29 into overtime for his second goal of the game after Mikael Granlund tied it late in regulation and the Ducks rallied to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 6-5 on Sunday night.
Anaheim ended Buffalo’s seven-game road winning streak when Tage Thompson couldn’t keep in the puck in the Ducks’ zone and Terry held on a 2-on-0 break to score on a backhander.
Granlund tied the score at 5 with 1:44 remaining in the third period on a power play with Ville Husso pulled for an extra attacker.
Portland’s Kristoffer Velde scored in the 13th minute and Timbers defender Kamal Miller picked up a red card seven minutes later, but James Pantemis surrendered only a João Klauss goal to help them hold on for a 1-1 draw with the Galaxy on Sunday.
Velde scored for the second time this season to give Portland (1-3-1) a 1-0 lead early. But things became difficult from the 20th minute on when Miller received his card for a foul on Klauss.
Antony Alves Santos notched his first assist this season on the score and Joao Ortiz picked up his second.
Klauss came up with the equalizer in the 30th minute with assists from Marco Reus and Gabriel Pec. It was the fifth goal for Klauss, who has certainly helped ease the loss of superstar Riqui Puig for a second straight season because of injuries. Klauss spent his first three seasons with St. Louis City, where he scored 25 goals in 79 appearances.
1939 — Long Island University finishes the season undefeated after a 44-32 victory over Loyola of Chicago in the NIT championship.
1944 — Maurice Richard, playing in his second Stanley Cup playoff game, scores five goals in a 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup semifinals. Toe Blake has five assists.
1948 — Kentucky, behind Alex Groza and Ralph Beard, defeats Baylor 58-42 for the NCAA basketball championship.
1956 — Bill Russell leads San Francisco to an 83-71 victory over Iowa in the NCAA basketball championship.
1957 — North Carolina defeats Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas in triple-overtime to win the NCAA men’s championship. The Tar Heels win 54-53 to finish the season with a 32-0 record.
1968 — Lew Alcindor scores 34 points to carry UCLA to a 78-55 win over North Carolina in the NCAA basketball championship.
1974 — N.C. State ends UCLA’s streak of seven national championships with an 80-77 victory in double overtime of the NCAA tournament semifinals. David Thompson leads the Wolfpack with 28 points and 10 rebounds while teammate Tom Burleson scores 20 and pulls down 14 rebounds.
1991 — London beats Frankfurt 24-11 in the first World League of American Football game.
1994 — Wayne Gretzky scores his 802nd goal, passing Gordie Howe as the top goal scorer in NHL history. The Kings center scores in the second period for his 62nd NHL record.
1996 — Michelle Kwan caps a nearly perfect season by winning the women’s title at figure skating’s world championships for the United States’ first singles sweep since 1986.
2002 — Brendan Shanahan of the Red Wings scores his 500th goal, breaking a scoreless tie at 7:48 of the third period. Detroit beats Colorado 2-0.
2002 — Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson becomes the first undefeated four-time NCAA wrestling champion at the NCAA championships. Sanderson beats Lehigh’s Jon Trenge 12-4 to win at 197 pounds and finish his career with a 159-0 record.
2007 — Kobe Bryant becomes the second NBA player to score at least 50 points in four straight games when he has 50 in the Lakers’ 111-105 win at New Orleans. Only Wilt Chamberlain has more, scoring at least 50 points in seven consecutive games during the 1961-62 season.
2010 — The NFL changes its overtime rules for playoff games to give both teams an opportunity to get the ball.
2014 — Quardell Young drives the length of the court for a go-ahead layup with 0.9 seconds left and Wisconsin-Whitewater holds off Williams to win the NCAA Division III men’s championship 75-73. The Warhawks (29-4), whose football team took the national championship in December, win the basketball championship for the second time in three years and fourth time in four trips to the final.
2016 — Guard Russ Smith of the Delaware 87ers scores an NBA D-League-record 65 points in a 140-129 loss to the Canton Charge.
2022 — After 114 consecutive weeks as world #1 female tennis player, 25 year old Australian Ash Barty makes unexpected retirement announcement.
2023 — Harry Kane overtakes Wayne Rooney’s record to become England’s all-time greatest goalscorer in 2-1 victory over Italy with his 54th goal.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
When UCLA baseball coach John Savage scouts prospects, he looks at their projections and skill upside. Most important, he wants players dedicated to the culture he’s developed during his 22 years as a coach.
“We want people that fit into our program, that want to be a part of a winning culture,” he said.
Most of his current roster consists of players who came up short in last year’s College World Series. This year, the No. 1 team in the country has its eyes set on winning a national title in Omaha. The Bruins (21-2 overall, 9-0 in the Big Ten) are coming off a three-game weekend home sweep of Maryland.
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The Times spoke to Savage about the expectations the Bruins set for themselves and his longevity with UCLA. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Your team entered the year ranked No. 1 nationally and has gotten off to a strong start. How have you managed expectations?
Savage: It’s really about the people you have in the clubhouse. They’ve been born and raised through our program. Now it’s their junior years. They went to Omaha their sophomore year. They had a difficult year their freshman year. It’s been a work in progress, and I think the expectations are probably the heaviest inside our room. Everybody’s held to a very high standard and they believe in one another, they believe in the program. It’s refreshing to coach people that want to be coached, and to have people that love UCLA, and want to stay at UCLA.
After returning a large percentage of last year’s production, what differences have you noticed in this roster compared to previous teams?
UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
Savage: I think the leadership is fantastic. Roch Cholowsky, Cashel Dugger, Michael Barnett, Jack O’Connor — our captains, they do a wonderful job of making sure guys are accountable. Everybody’s a year older. Everybody’s a little stronger. Everybody’s a little faster. A lot of guys that work extremely hard to upgrade their physicality, and then certainly it’s a mental game. We’ve worked really hard on the mental side of things to make sure that we’re combining both phases.
What has allowed your program to retain so much of its core talent year to year?
Savage: I would say loyalty, personal relationships, wanting to be at UCLA, to get a degree from UCLA, coaching staff, facilities, location. But, I would say most importantly, relationships. We didn’t win a national championship last year and these guys seem to be on that sort of mission.
Last season’s run to Omaha ended just short of the championship series. How much has that experience motivated this year’s group early in the season?
Savage: You see where you’re going. People always talk about Omaha, but if you never go, it’s hard to really envision what it looks like. It’s something that if you experience, you want to go back. It’s the mecca of college baseball and the city of Omaha has done a wonderful job of developing this tournament over 75 years. It’s an experience that you go and you definitely want to go back as a player and certainly as a coach.
How has recruiting or roster construction changed, if at all, now that UCLA is competing in the Big Ten instead of the Pac-12?
Savage: It’s still UCLA. I’ve been here 22 years, we’ve produced 30 major leaguers. It’s a place that you certainly could go and enjoy your college life and go play in the major leagues. The Big Ten is getting better in baseball, with the addition of UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington. Obviously, it has helped the baseball side of things quite a bit. But there’s a lot of programs that are investing throughout the Big Ten in baseball and it’s only going to get better. Baseball is baseball. You gotta go play any time, anywhere.
With the travel demands that come with a conference like the Big Ten, what adjustments have you made to keep players fresh and focused?
Savage: We don’t charter. We’re all commercial. We fly out of LAX on Wednesday morning and we get back late Sunday night. It’s a challenge and it’s certainly one that it’s a daily and weekly operation. In terms of managing school, they all go to class. Not a lot of remote classes, really, so we love the challenge and the opportunity to grow as a young player and a young person.
You’re now in your 22nd season leading the Bruins. What has kept you motivated to continue evolving as a coach after more than two decades in Westwood?
Savage: I love being at UCLA. I love what it stands for. It’s a combination that I’m really looking for in terms of baseball, schedule, league, school — it’s just an elite combination. You have to make sure you’re grounded. You have to make sure you’re very consistent. You have to make sure that you have true values that are consistent with the university and that equates to winning. Winning is really, really difficult, especially now at the Power 4 level.
When players leave UCLA after their careers — whether they go to pro baseball or move on to other careers — what do you hope they carry with them from their time in your program?
Savage: That they understand how to be a contributor to an organization, to a business, how to lead a family, how to lead a group in work. Just be a person that people like to be around and a person that has a vision, that they want to get better and they want to do well in their lives and they want to have impact on other lives. That’s ultimately what we’re looking for, that they can handle themselves in any phase of life.
UCLA men are out, UCLA women stay strong
UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr. tries to get through UCLA’s Trent Perry, from left, Donovan Dent and Eric Dailey Jr. in the first half Monday.
(Matt Rourke / Associated Press)
UCLA coach Mick Cronin never wavered.
If senior forward Tyler Bilodeau felt any pain, he was not playing the NCAA tournament.
The No. 7 seed Bruins could not overcome No. 2 seed UConn’s interior game and suffered a 73-57 loss. The Bruins kept it close early, trailing by just five at halftime.
Cronin will help UCLA cope with the sudden end to its season and then immediately work on sorting out next season’s roster.
While fans questioned Cronin’s aggressive coaching style, the Bruins did play significantly improved defense through the final four weeks of their season and his players never wavered in their support of him.
Now Cronin will start over, working to forge comparable buy-in from the next wave of players.
The UCLA women walk to the bench during a time out against Cal Baptist.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
It’s rare for a No. 1 seed in the women’s NCAA tournament to miss the Sweet 16, but the Bruins (32-1) say they expect a big test when they face No. 8 seed Oklahoma State (24-9) at 7 p.m. Monday night at Pauley Pavilion.
It will be the final game the Bruins’ celebrated senior class will play at Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA coach Cori Close provided the following scouting report on Oklahoma State.
“I think that what stands out is their ability to shoot the three, their versatility, their work down the tunnel with the high ball screen,” Close said. “They’re extremely good in transition. It’s going to be so important for us to make them play later into the shot clock, which is going to be easier said than done. But I guess with the exception they don’t have like a really tall big, but they actually remind me in terms of their style and some of the actions that they run of Oklahoma. Their guard play.
“And one of the big things that we talk a lot about is trying to make them play later in the clock than they’re comfortable with. Now we go through all the analytics, and the later you have them play in the shot clock, the less efficient they become. They’re 13th in the country in offensive efficiency. They’re really, really good.
“Defensively I think that we obviously need to really hunt the paint. We’ve got some advantages with our size there. But they’re a really good team.”
Survey says
We asked “How far will the UCLA men advance in the NCAA men’s tournament. After 648 votes, the results:
They lose in the second round, 36.5% They lose in the Sweet 16, 27.5% They lose in the Elite Eight, 17.3% They win it all, 12.6% They lose in the first round, 3.2% They lose in the Final Four, 2.5% They lose in the championship game, 0.4%
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. One month into the high school baseball season, the top teams in the City Section are becoming clear.
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Top City teams emerge
With league play having begun, top teams are stepping forward in City Section baseball one month into the season.
To no one’s surprise, West Valley League rivals Birmingham (10-1, 3-0) and El Camino Real (9-3, 3-0) deserve to be ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the City Section going into their first matchup of the season Tuesday at Birmingham. They are slated to play three league games. Both teams’ pitching has been outstanding.
Birmingham junior Nathan Soto is 3-0 with an 0.34 ERA. Sophomore Carlos Acuna is 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA. El Camino Real’s Jackson Sellz is 3-0 with an 0.54 ERA. Hudson December and Andrew Katz have also contributed on the mound. Look for a low-scoring game with some bunts Tuesday.
Bell (12-1, 2-0) is back to playing the way the Eagles performed in 2024 when they won the City title. Jayden Rojas, the City player of the year as a sophomore, is batting .421 and 4-0 on the mound with an 0.32 ERA. The Eagles are the heavy favorite to win the Eastern League.
Carson (9-1-1, 3-0) has taken early charge of the Marine League race, getting some clutch hits from Skylar Vinson.
Sun Valley Poly (6-3, 3-0) already has wins over Sylmar, North Hollywood and Kennedy in the Valley Mission League. Fabian Bravo is the pitcher/hitter to watch.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is Monroe at 11-0 and now the favorite to win the East Valley League. Four-year varsity pitcher Miguel Gonzalez is 4-0 with an 0.85 ERA and 32 strikeouts and only three walks in 24 2/3 innings. The leading hitter with 21 hits is junior Luis Martinez. The Vikings have yet to face a top opponent, so it remains to be seen which playoff division they will end up in.
Garfield, Sylmar, San Fernando, Cleveland and Narbonne are all capable of working their way into an Open Division playoff berths after slow starts.
Basketball awards time
Maxi Adams of Sierra Canyon was The Times’ boys’ basketball player of the year.
(Craig Weston)
During a season in which the individual talent for boys and girls basketball was extraordinary, earning all-star recognition became quite an achievement.
The Times’ boys’ basketball player is Maxi Adams of Sierra Canyon. Here’s the report.
The versatile Anthony Murphy of Corona showed off his speed and power in 8-3 win over King, getting a home run, triple, double and single. That’s called hitting for a cycle. And he almost did it again in the next game with a home run, a double and two singles. He also struck out all three batters he faced in a relief role.
Corona (7-0) is set to face Corona Santiago (9-2) in a three-game series this week. To say scouts will be out en masse when Santiago’s Striker Pence pitches Wednesday might be an understatement. He’s only a sophomore with a fastball that can reach 100 mph. The games are Monday at Santiago, Wednesday at Corona and Friday at Santiago.
Santa Margarita has lost standout shortstop Brody Schumaker for the rest of the season because of a shoulder injury. Freshman Cooper Holland provided a lift in Las Vegas with 11 RBIs. The new shortstop is sophomore Warren Wulfemeyer, whose grandfather, Mark, is one of the most recognizable names in Orange County basketball history.
Former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame pitcher Justin Lee, the 2023 player of the year by The Times, was clocked throwing his fastball between 97 and 99 mph pitching for UCLA.
Two unbeaten teams, St. John Bosco and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in this week’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times. St. John Bosco has shut out five of its seven opponents. Jack Champlin is creating options for the St. John Bosco coaching staff. He continues to be a great closer but is also effective as a starter.
The National High School Invitational begins Wednesday in Cary, N.C. Southern California is well represented with Orange Lutheran, St. John Bosco, Aquinas and Harvard-Westlakek participating.
Friday marks the end of the sit-out transfer period in the Southern Section. Players who did not move become eligible. Bishop Alemany could be the team to watch. Mikey Martinez, who helped Crespi win the Mission League title last season as a pitcher and outfielder, will join the Warriors.
Softball
Murrieta Mesa continues to dominate with 14 consecutive wins to start the season. Sophomore Tatum Wolff is hitting .533 with 24 hits, including eight doubles.
Chaminade is 9-0 and came through with a break-through win over defending Mission League champion Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 7-6, scoring five runs in the seventh. The Eagles have an outstanding sophomore pitcher in Finley Suppan, the daughter of former major leaguer Jeff Suppan. Here’s the report.
JSerra (13-2), Fullerton (11-1), Norco (9-2), Oaks Christian (10-1) and Etiwanda (14-1) continue to be teams on the rise.
City Section softball is wide open as teams test themselves against Southern Section opponents. Defending champion Granada Hills is 5-5.
Banning is 7-6. Carson is 7-5. They will join San Pedro in another tough Marine League battle.
Track and field
The impressive early marks in the 100 meters for boys signals some real fast times will be coming later in the spring.
Benjamin Harris of Servite leads the way at 10.23 seconds. Next are Quran Clayton Jr. of Oak Hills and Jorden Wells of Servite at 10.28. Others include Nicolas Obimgba of Torrance (10.34), Zion Phelps of Loyola (10.39), Jaden Griffin of Newbury Park (10.43), Wesley Ace of Gardena Serra (10.51), Quincy Hearn of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (10.52) and AJ McBean of Mira Costa (10.55).
Many are football players using track to get faster, and college recruiters are noticing.
Ejam Yohannes of Loyola has stamped himself the favorite in the 400 with a time of 46.11. Imagine if he improves a little what he might be running coming June.
Dean Guzman of Moorpark cleared 6-9 in the high jump at the Maurice Greene Invitational.
For girls, Olivia Kirk of Calabasas ran a state-leading 11.51 in the 100 meters at Oaks Christian. Teammate Malia Rainey ran 11.76. Kirk also has the leading 200 time at 23.46.
Sophomore Grace Smith from Claremont ran the 800 in 2:08.80 at the Hi-Racer Meet of Champions.
Volleyball
Loyola’s JP Wardy, left, tries to tip the ball past Mira Costa’s Colby Graham, center, and Miles Crotty during a match at Mira Costa in Manhattan Beach on March 20, 2026.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Always expect drama and excitement when volleyball rivals Loyola and Mira Costa meet. It happened again Friday, with Mira Costa rallying from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Cubs in five sets. It was a remarkable performance turned in by junior Mateo Fuerbringer, who recorded 37 kills. He’s committed to UCLA.
Boys Volleyball: Full Playoff Results From The 9th Annual Chatsworth Invitational Tournament Are In. Saugus Defeats Host Chatsworth To Capture Gold, Village Christian Takes Silver, East Valley Earns Bronze, And Van Nuys Finishes With Copper. @CIFLACS#RepTheCitypic.twitter.com/yQdRlZf6tc
Saugus defeated the host Chancellors to win the Chatsworth tournament championship.
So long Angelo Gasca
Venice coach Angelo Gasca showing off City Division I title trophy in 2021.
(Cliff Kensinger)
The high school sports community was in mourning after the death of Venice football coach Angelo Gasca. He was 65.
Few have made a bigger impact for their community on and off the field than Gasca, who was involved as a coach at Venice for 36 years and also played for the Gondoliers.
Todd Quinsey is the new football coach at Ayala. . . .
Christian Collins of St. John Bosco, a McDonald’s All-American, has committed to USC. . . .
Inglewood guard Jason Crowe Jr. was selected the Gatorade state player of the year. . . .
Jon Palarz has resigned after 17 years as basketball coach at Calabasas. . . .
Former Granada Hills Kennedy football coach Dion Lambert is the new defensive coordinator at Simi Valley. . . .
Brandon Clifford has been named the basketball coach at Campbell Hall. He last coached in Greensboro, N.C. . ..
Derek Allen is the new boys water polo coach at Agoura. . . .
United Teachers Los Angeles has announced members would strike on April 14 if no deal is reached with the Los Angeles Unified School District. That would disrupt spring sports in the City Section, likely forcing games to be postponed or canceled based on previous strikes. Charter schools such as Birmingham and Granada Hills would not be affected since their teachers have separate contracts. . . .
Dylan O’Leary is the new football coach at San Dimas after being an assistant at South Hills. . . .
In 2021, JSerra pitcher Gage Jump delivers a pitch against Harvard-Westlake.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Former JSerra pitcher Gage Jump has become one of the top pitching prospects in the Oakland Athletics organization. The left-hander originally signed with UCLA before transferring to LSU. He was drafted No. 74 overall in 2024. He’s listed at 6-feet tall but throws with power.
From On3, a story on the controversy in Nevada, where public schools in Clark County are moving to independent status as protest against Bishop Gorman’s powerful football program.
Granada Hills Kennedy QB Diego Montes has been accepted to UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science with Civil Engineering. What an achievement. Ringer for intramural football team.
Incredibly, former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame pitcher Jack McDowell is not in the College Baseball Hall of Fame. He was an All-American at Stanford, a Cy Young Award winner with the White Sox. That needs to change. One of the greatest high school and college pitchers of the 1980s.
The new shortstop for Santa Margarita is sophomore Warren Wulfemeyer. His grandfather, Mark, is one of the best basketball players produced in Orange County. A look back at what grandpa did at Troy. https://t.co/CRXwYqZUPt
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: On the same night he tied Robert Parish for the NBA record in regular-season games played, ageless wonder LeBron James had a 19-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in Thursday’s 134-126 win over the Miami Heat. The 41-year-old playing in his 1,611th game helped the Lakers (45-25) win their season-best eighth consecutive game while star guard Luka Doncic poured in a season-best 60 points, including 20 points in the final quarter.
James became the oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double, besting the mark he set last month.
“He’s a psycho,” coach JJ Redick said with affection, awe and respect.
James, Doncic and guard Austin Reaves were all questionable to play in their second game in as many nights. Doncic was dealing with right hip soreness and Reaves was battling a right forearm contusion after Wednesday’s physical win over Houston. James, who took a hard spill in the fourth quarter and banged his right elbow, was officially nursing left foot arthritis. Earlier this season, James characterized his ailments as being simply “old.”
But before Redick could even check on the status of his stars Thursday afternoon, he learned they already decided on their availability. The players huddled in the locker room after Wednesday’s game before the coaches entered and decided they would all play against Miami (38-32).
“When he said he was playing, I was like, I can’t let a 41-year-old play and I not play,” said Reaves, who battled through a bruise on his shooting wrist to finish with 18 points. “So [I] signed up to play and so did Luka and we went and grinded the win out.”
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Clippers lose to Pelicans again
Trey Murphy III scored 27 points and the New Orleans Pelicans extended their home winning streak to seven games with a 105-99 victory over the Clippers on Thursday night.
Saddiq Bey had 20 points and Zion Williamson added 15 for the Pelicans, who swept the two-game set against the Clippers after a 124-109 win, also at home, on Wednesday night.
Dejounte Murray was held out to rest as part of his comeback from a ruptured Achilles tendon. He had 17 points and a season-high 11 assists Wednesday night in his ninth game since making his season debut last month.
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 22 points, John Collins had 18 and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 16 for the Clippers, who lost their fourth in a row.
Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov scored in a shootout to give the Philadelphia Flyers their fourth victory in five games, 4-3 over the Kings on Thursday night.
Noah Cates had a goal and an assist, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim also scored, and Samuel Ersson made 22 saves. The Flyers remained six points behind Boston and Detroit for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots.
On Wednesday night against the Ducks, Cates scored in overtime in the Flyers’ 3-2 victory.
Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin failed on their shootout attempts for Los Angeles, though the Kings still moved into the second wild-card in the Western Conference.
From Ryan Kartje: USC has settled a lawsuit with a former high-ranking athletic department official who alleged the university allowed former athletic director Mike Bohn to racially harass and discriminate against her, then fired her when she voiced concerns about Bohn’s behavior.
Joyce Bell Limbrick was the highest-ranking Black and female official in USC’s athletic department when she was fired by the university in September 2023, four months after Bohn resigned amid an internal investigation into his conduct and the culture of the department. Bell Limbrick filed suit early last year, accusing USC of wrongful termination.
That dispute was settled out of court this week. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
1897 — Yale beats Penn 32-10 in New Haven, Conn., in the first men’s intercollegiate basketball game.
1918 — The Toronto Arenas (who would become the Maple Leafs) are the first NHL team to play in the Stanley Cup Final. Toronto’s Reg Noble scores two goals with an assist in the first period of a 5-3 win over Vancouver of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association.
1939 — In a game of unbeaten teams, Long Island U. defeats Loyola of Chicago 44-32 to win the National Invitation Tournament title.
1954 — In the first televised NCAA championship game, La Salle defeats Bradley 92-76 and sets a record for most points in the title game.
1965 — Gail Goodrich’s 42 points lead UCLA to a 91-80 victory over Michigan in the NCAA basketball championship.
1965 — St. John’s sends Joe Lapchick out a winner, as the Redmen beat Villanova 55-51 to win their fifth National Invitation Tournament championship.
1965 — Bill Bradley scores 58 points to lead Princeton to a 118-82 rout of Wichita State in the NCAA third-place game. UCLA beats Michigan 91-80 to win its second National championship.
1968 — Dave Bing of the Detroit Pistons finishes the season with a league-leading 27.1 average, becoming the first guard in 20 years to lead the NBA in scoring.
1969 — Less than two months after she becomes the first woman to ride in a pari-mutuel race in America, Diane Crump rides her first winner at Gulfstream Park.
1976 — Boston’s John Havlicek becomes the first NBA player to score more than 1,000 points per season for 14 consecutive years.
1988 — Mike Tyson knocks out Tony Tubbs in the second round to retain his world heavyweight title in Tokyo.
2005 — Liz Johnson becomes the first woman to advance to the championship match of a Professional Bowlers Assn. tour event, but loses by 27 pins to Tommy Jones in the final of the PBA Banquet Open.
2005 — LeBron James, 20, becomes the youngest player to score 50 points in an NBA game, when he scores 56 in the Cavaliers’ 105-98 loss to the Raptors.
2006 — Japan beats Cuba 10-6 in the title game of the inaugural World Baseball Classic.
2010 — Northern Iowa pulls off one of the biggest NCAA upsets in years by knocking No. 1 overall seed Kansas with a 69-67 win. Ali Farokhmanesh buries an open three-pointer with the shot clock still in the 30s to give the Panthers a four-point lead with 35 seconds left.
2014 — Bernard Tomic loses the shortest completed ATP match on record, lasting only 28 minutes at the Sony Open in his first tournament since having surgery on both hips. Ending a two-month layoff, Tomic wins just 13 points and loses to Jarkko Nieminen 6-0, 6-1. It’s the quickest match since the ATP started keeping such records in 1991.
2020 — After 20 years with the New England Patriots, six-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady officially agrees to move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Driver Daniel Dye has been suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for “insensitive comments made during a recent livestream,” the organization announced Tuesday.
The full-time driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was also suspended indefinitely by his team, Kaulig Racing.
In the video, Dye imitated IndyCar driver David Malukas. At one point during the livestream, Dye referred to the voice he had used as a “David Malukas gay voice.”
According to a NASCAR news release, Dye was punished for violating a rule that states members should not make “a public statement or communication that criticizes, ridicules, or otherwise disparages another person based upon that person’s race, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, or handicapping condition.”
“Dye used language that officials deemed unacceptable, resulting in Tuesday’s suspension,” NASCAR stated. “Dye must complete sensitivity training before he may return to competition.”
On Tuesday, Dye posted a statement on social media, in which he apologized to Malukas and others for his “careless comments.”
“I chose my words poorly, and I understand why it upset people,” Dye wrote. “I’m sorry to anyone who was offended. That’s not how I want to represent myself.
“I have some close friends in the LGBTQ+ community who I would never want to feel less of themselves because of what I said, and that’s exactly why I should hold myself to a higher standard. In talking with them, I realize that a true friend would know better than to act the way I did and for that I need to be a better friend. What I said doesn’t reflect how I feel about them or anyone else.
“I didn’t think enough before I spoke, and I in no way meant any harm. I know that intention does not erase impact and I need to do better.”
Malukas and his team, Team Penske, did not immediately respond on Wednesday to requests for comment.
Dye, 22, was also suspended four years ago as a driver in the ARCA series, which NASCAR owns. He had been arrested and charged with felony battery for allegedly punching a high school classmate in the groin area. He was reinstated when the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor.
In 49 Truck Series starts, Dye has two finishes in the Top 5 and 10 finishes in the Top 10, earning one pole position. He is in 13th place through three races this season.
From Broderick Turner: The combination of Luka Doncic and LeBron James was overpowering and enthralling for all to see during the Lakers’ dynamic 124-116 win over the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on Wednesday.
Doncic was masterful with his near triple-double of 40 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.
“I thought he definitely put on a clinic down the stretch,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Whether it was in isolation, versus fires in isolations, versus the shock with (Alperen) Segun, he just got us good offense whether for himself or for his teammates every single time down the floor….We moved the basketball, so that kind of got us going and then when Luka came back in he was just fantastic.”
James was a force with 30 points, five rebounds and two assists.
He was super efficient, missing just one of his 14 shots and making both of his three-pointers.
“Look, he was awesome tonight and I think two, part of the evolution of him on this team has been, particularly in this stretch, it’s just been his patience,” Redick said. “His patience, knowing he’s going to get the ball and he’s going to have transition opportunities and he’s going to have plays called for him and he’s going to play off-ball and get a corner three…He was great.”
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Clippers lose to Pelicans
Saddiq Bey scored 25 points, Trey Murphy added 23 and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame an early 18-point hole to beat the Clippers 124-109 on Wednesday night.
Dejounte Murray had 17 points and 11 assists, while Zion Williamson and rookie Derrick Queen each scored 14 for the Pelicans, who received a standing ovation as the final seconds wound down on their sixth straight victory at home and ninth win in their last 13 games overall
Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points and John Collins added 18 for the Clippers, who dropped a game below .500 (34-35), but maintained a tenuous hold on the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference standings, a half-game ahead of Portland.
From Maddie Lee: A sparse crowd braved the heat, which was approaching 100 degrees when Dodgers right-hander Shohei Ohtani walked off the mound at Camelback Ranch. But those who did were treated to a dominant pitching performance from the four-time MVP in his first start of spring training.
They repaid the favor with a standing ovation.
“I’ve learned that you don’t ever underestimate or try to make predictions on what Shohei’s going to do,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s always going to deliver. Yeah, I thought he would be a little bit more rusty than he was today. The breaking ball was good, got some swing and miss. The fastball command, he was working ahead in the count today. So across the board, really good.”
Ohtani limited the San Francisco Giants to one hit and overshot the innings goal Roberts laid out Wednesday morning by pitching to one batter in the fifth inning. Ohtani didn’t give up a run in those 4 ⅓ innings, and the only other blemishes on the performance were a pair of walks and a hit batter.
After over more than 100 hours of in-person negotiations since March 10 in New York, the WNBA and its players union came to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement early Wednesday morning.
The deal will allow the season to begin on time, commissioner Cathy Engelbert said, and training camp to kick off at the end of April.
Noah Cates scored on a deflection off goalie Lukas Dostal’s skate at 2:17 of overtime and — after a review for offsides on the play — the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Ducks 3-2 on Wednesday night.
The Pacific Division-leading Ducks forced overtime on Leo Carlsson’s goal with 1:54 left in regulation.
Dan Vladar made 34 saves to help Philadelphia rebound from a 2-1 shootout loss to Columbus at home Saturday night. The Flyers are six points behind Boston and Detroit for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots.
1942 — The Thoroughbred Racing Associations of the United States is formed, with John C. Clark president.
1950 — Babe Didrikson Zaharias shoots a record 298 and beats Clair Doran by eight strokes to capture the U.S. Women’s Open.
1950 — The Rochester Royals win their 15th consecutive game, 97-66 over the Baltimore Bullets to set an NBA record for consecutive victories to close a season.
1955 — San Francisco wins the NCAA basketball championship with a 77-63 victory over La Salle.
1955 — Dick Ricketts and Si Green combine for 56 points to lead Duquesne to a 70-58 triumph over Dayton in the NIT championship.
1956 — The Minneapolis Lakers defeat the St. Louis Hawks 133-75 for the biggest rout in NBA playoff history.
1960 — Ohio State wins the NCAA basketball title with a 75-55 victory against California.
1960 — Mach Herndon’s 26 points leads Bradley to a 88-72 triumph over Providence for the NIT title. Lenny Wilkens scores 25 points for the Friars.
1966 — Texas Western, starting five Black players, wins the NCAA basketball championship with a 72-65 upset of all-white Kentucky.
1966 — BYU beats New York University 97-84 for the NIT championship.
1972 — The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women holds its first basketball championship and Immaculata beats West Chester State 52-48.
1972 — The Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors 162-99 for the most lopsided victory in NBA history.
1987 — Bonnie Blair skates ladies’ world record 500 m (39.43 sec)
1994 — Hartford’s Brian Propp reaches the 1,000-point mark with a goal in a 5-3 win over Philadelphia.
1995 — Chicago’s Michael Jordan returns from his 17-month retirement. Wearing No. 45, he shoots 7-of-28 from the field and scores 19 points in the Bulls’ 103-96 overtime loss at Indiana.
1998 — The U.S. women’s soccer team sustains the worst loss in its 13-year history, falling 4-1 to reigning World Cup champion Norway in the Algarve Cup.
2006 — Tennessee’s Candace Parker is the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game, jamming one-handed on a breakaway 6:12 into the second-seeded Lady Vols’ 102-54 victory against an Army team that was making its NCAA tournament debut.
2011 — Duke gives coach Mike Krzyzewski his 900th victory, a 73-71 win over Michigan, and the Blue Devils advance to the round of 16 for the 12th time in 14 years.
2014 — Chris Eversley scores 19 points to help Cal Poly become the first team in 59 years with 19 losses to win an NCAA tournament game, beating Texas Southern 81-69 in the First Four.
2015 — Lindsey Vonn wins the final super-G of the season and with it her 19th crystal globe trophy — equaling the record of Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark.
2015 — R.J. Hunter’s three-pointer with 2.7 seconds remaining caps a comeback from a 12-point deficit and lifts 14th-seeded Georgia State over third-seeded Baylor 57-56 in the NCAA Tournament.
2015 — William Lee scores the last four points for 14th-seeded UAB in its 60-59 upset of Iowa State.
2019 — Houston Rockets guard James Harden becomes first player in NBA history to score at least 30 points against all 29 opponents in a single season with 31 in a 121-105 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
2022 — LeBron James moves past Karl Malone (36,909) into second on NBA’s all-time scoring list with 38 points in Lakers’ 127-119 loss to Washington Wizards.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
The Grammy-nominated “Call Me Maybe” pop star and her husband, music producer Cole M.G.N., welcomed their first child together months after tying the knot last fall. Jepsen, 40, revealed the arrival of her little one on Instagram.
“Last 2 weeks have been the best of my life,” the Canadian singer-songwriter captioned a photo shared to her Instagram story on Tuesday. The photo, a mirror selfie, shows Jepsen all smiles in a leopard-print bucket hat, white shirt and black shorts as she cradles her child, who wears a green-striped onesie.
“Welcome to the world little one,” Jepsen wrote.
“Run Away With Me” singer Jepsen and music producer Cole M.G.N. — whose full name is Cole Marsden Greif-Neil — exchanged their vows in late October at the Chelsea Hotel in New York, three years after striking up a romance in 2022. A month later, Jepsen announced she and her husband were expecting.
“Oh hi baby,” she captioned a set of baby-bump-baring photos shared to Instagram in November. In the tender maternity shoot, Jepsen cradles her bump in bed alongside Marsden Greif-Neil. Jepsen continued posting on Instagram about her maternity journey with fans, in January posting photos from the beach, from home and from fitting rooms as she spoke about finding a lullaby for her child-to-be.
On Tuesday, she channeled a Frankie Valli classic to express her “Emotion” about being a mother: “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”
Last year, Jepsen celebrated 10 years of her cult-favorite album “Emotion,” the follow-up to her 2012 smash hit “Call Me Maybe.” She celebrated the milestone with a lively anniversary concert in August at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, featuring celebrity guests and moments of reflection.
“I had brought a little suitcase, and I kept calling my parents and saying, ‘Send more clothes!’” Jepsen said, recalling her move to Los Angeles from her native Canada when she was 26. “Five years later, I was like, I think I live here now. I’m very happy to say L.A. has become my home.”
Pop music critic Mikael Wood contributed to this report.
From Maddie Lee: The first pitch of the Dodgers’ 2026 season won’t capture the exuberance of the last pitch of 2025. But it will be meaningful in its own right, as the official first step of the team’s quest for a third straight championship.
How poetic that the same arm should deliver both pitches.
“It’s an honor for me,” Dodgers opening day starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto said Tuesday through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “And then it’s opening day at a Dodger Stadium home game, and that’s very [much an] honor to me. I also feel the responsibility.”
Yamamoto is scheduled to make one more Cactus League start, against the Padres on Friday, before taking the Dodger Stadium mound next Thursday when the Diamondbacks come to town. It will be the second opening-day start of Yamamoto’s MLB career, and his first at home.
It will also mark the end of a whirlwind offseason and spring training for Yamamoto, who not only shouldered a demanding postseason workload, but also navigated an especially quick turnaround to pitch for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic.
“It’s hard to put into words,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He is just very driven, he’s very disciplined in his work. That’s some of the things that allows him to compete at a high level. Where most people would feel that you win the World Series MVP, you don’t have enough to pitch in the WBC. He wanted to pitch for his country, and now he’s really excited about the start of 2026.
“He is a very determined person. He really is. We’re just lucky he’s on our team.”
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Sure, it’s a quarterback’s league, but a major focus of the upcoming NFL draft will be about getting to the quarterback. This class is loaded with talented pass rushers, and teams figure to take advantage of that early and often. This mock draft has edge rushers off the board with the second, third and fourth selections.
How appropriate that the April 23-25 draft will be held for the first time in Pittsburgh, birthplace of the Steel Curtain.
The Steelers, incidentally, take a receiver in this mock — and there are lots of talented prospects at that spot, too. This contemplates the Rams selecting USC receiver Makai Lemon, although it’s entirely possible that the sure-handed Trojans star will already be gone by the time the 13th pick rolls around.
The Chargers, meanwhile, take an offensive lineman to address the need that haunted them all last season after they were ravaged by injuries up front.
Venezuela defeats the U.S. to win the World Baseball Classic
Venezuela won the World Baseball Classic for the first time, rebounding from a blown eighth-inning lead to beat the United States 3-2 Tuesday night on Eugenio Suárez’s tiebreaking double in the ninth.
Maikel Garcia’s third-inning sacrifice fly and Wilyer Abreu’s fifth-inning homer off rookie Nolan McLean built a 2-0 lead before a roaring pro-Latin America crowd. Meanwhile, left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez and lights-out relievers limited the Americans to two hits through the seventh.
Bobby Witt Jr. walked with two out in the eighth and Bryce Harper drove the second straight changeup from Andrés Machado over the center-field fence for a two-run homer that tied it. Harper slowly trotted around the bases and took time at third to salute coach Dino Ebel.
Luis Arraez walked against Garrett Whitlock starting the ninth. Pinch-runner Javier Sanoja stole second just ahead of catcher Will Smith’s throw and came home when Suárez doubled to the left-center gap. Suárez spread his arms wide and pointed to the sky at second base while teammates streamed from the dugout to greet Sanoja at the plate.
Daniel Palencia struck out two in a perfect bottom half to finish a three-hitter and get his third save of the WBC, striking out Roman Anthony to end the game. Venezuelans ran onto the infield to celebrate as the Americans stared while leaning on their dugout railing.
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.
1950 — CCNY beats Bradley 69-61 for the NIT championship.
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 accumulate 2,000 three-pointers after hitting four in a 101-95 win over Sacramento.
2008 — The Houston Rockets’ 22-game winning streak comes to an end. Kevin Garnett scores 22 points and Paul Pierce adds 20 as the Celtics beat the Rockets 94-74, stopping Houston’s remarkable run.
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.
2013 — LeBron James and the Miami Heat escape Boston with their 23rd win in a row, the second longest win streak in NBA history. James scores 37 points and makes the go-ahead basket with 10.5 seconds left in Miami’s 105-103 victory.
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.
2019 — 40-year old Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki overtakes Wilt Chamberlain to move into sixth place with 31,424 points on the NBA scorers’ list; Mavs suffer 129-125 OT loss to New Orleans Pelicans.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
BEIRUT — Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, has been killed in an Israeli airstrike, a move that represents a palpable hit to an Iranian leadership that has shown little interest in compromise after almost three weeks of war with the U.S. and Israel.
Killing Larijani, who led Iran as de facto wartime leader after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died on the first day of the war, eliminates a veteran official seen as the consummate insider despite not having the religious credentials for the Islamic Republic’s highest offices. Israel, in an announcement Tuesday, said the attack occurred the night before.
For all his bellicose comments since the war began, Larijani was also seen as a pragmatist, and observers say his death might strengthen the resolve of what’s left of Iran’s leadership, rather than induce a willingness to compromise.
His post as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council gave Larijani control of the country’s top security body, where he tasked government forces with subduing anti-regime protests in January. Thousands of Iranians were killed.
Also killed in the Israeli strikes was Gen. Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij, the volunteer auxiliary wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and an integral part of the state’s ability to keep order.
“Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated overnight and joined the head of the annihilation program, Khamenei, and all the eliminated members of the axis of evil, in the depths of hell,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Tuesday.
Israeli officials have employed “axis of evil” to refer to Iran and its allies, including the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
Larijani had served as parliamentary speaker for 12 years and became the point man on nuclear negotiations as well as relations with allies such as China and Russia. He often acted as the government’s representative in the media.
Iranian officials confirmed that Larijani and Soleimani had been killed. They said Larijani’s son, the head of his office and several guards were also killed in the strikes.
Soon after Katz’s announcement, Iranian authorities released an undated note said to have been written by Larijani in which he honored Iranian sailors killed in a U.S. attack. The image of the note was also posted to Larijani’s account on X.
There was no explanation why the note was released and whether it is signified Larijani was still alive.
“We are undermining this regime in the hope of giving the Iranian people an opportunity to remove it,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu and President Trump have repeatedly called on ordinary Iranians to topple the government.
Though assassinating Larijani counts as yet another intelligence coup for Israel and the U.S., both may come to regret the loss of a figure who, despite his defiant rhetoric since the war began Feb. 28, was considered by some analysts as a realist.
His killing adds to the evisceration of Iran’s upper echelons, raising the question of who is left to negotiate an end to the war, or have enough influence to make Iran’s deep state accept compromise.
Some observers say that’s the point.
“Why did the Israelis take out Larijani in this moment? Because Netanyahu is focused on blocking Trump’s pathways for a ceasefire and follow-up negotiations with Iran,” said Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior policy fellow at the European Council for Foreign Relations, adding that “Larijani would have been the man to get that job done.”
Khamenei’s assassination, Geranmayeh said, had already empowered more hard-line figures in government, and Larijani’s death “could act as an accelerator to that path.”
“Israel seems to be turning its attention to targeting those that could push for a political solution to the current crisis,” she said.
Larijani’s death would add to the murkiness surrounding Iran’s leadership. After Khamenei was killed and it remained unclear who would replace him, Trump added to the uncertainty by saying that the country’s new leader would need his approval, but also that the U.S. had killed many of the leaders whom he would have deemed acceptable.
After Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was named the new supreme leader, Trump expressed his displeasure but repeatedly dodged questions about what the transition under the younger Khamenei would mean for the U.S. war effort.
After the elder Khamenei’s death, Larijani emerged as a high-profile voice for Iran, saying that Trump must “pay the price” for the U.S. strikes on the country.
In response, Trump acted as if he didn’t know who Larijani was.
“I have no idea what he’s talking about, who he is. I couldn’t care less,” Trump told CBS News.
Benjamin Radd, a political scientist and senior fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations, said Larijani was perceived to be “the last of the competent bunch” within the Iranian leadership — an intellectual who had a complex understanding of the geopolitical reality on the ground, who had negotiated with the U.S. in the past, and who was “adept at maneuvering” all the various parts of the Iranian power structure.
Radd said Larijani “lost that mantle of being the pragmatist” when he strongly backed the deadly January crackdown on protesters, for which he was “more responsible than anyone else.”
He “absolutely was responsible for a tremendous amount of carnage and death and destruction,” Radd said.
And yet, with his death, “all of that diplomatic, institutional experience” that he did have “is gone” from the Iranian leadership, Radd said.
Those left in power, he said, are “generally not the sharpest people, they’re not the people who understand the subtleties of diplomacy, of what negotiating with the U.S. is like.”
Bulos reported from Beirut and Rector from Colorado.
On Monday, the Lakers displayed their toughness in a 100-92 win over the Rockets at Toyota Center.
Even when they missed 14 straight shots at one point in the fourth quarter, the Lakers showed their resilience with a gritty defensive effort that kept them in the game. The Lakers scored just 17 points in the fourth, but they held the Rockets to just 12 points en route to their sixth consecutive win.
“They’re a really good basketball team and they make you either play hard and match their physicality, and how they muck the game up, or you can lay down,” Redick said. “And we didn’t lay down tonight. Had a deficit there in the third quarter. Our guys just kept playing.”
But three big baskets from Deandre Ayton (seven points, 11 rebounds) and a big three-pointer by Marcus Smart (11 points) helped the Lakers open their six-game trip with a win.
Victor Wembanyama had 21 points and 13 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs overcame an early 14-point deficit before blowing most of a 24-point lead and recovering to hold off the Clippers 119-115 on Monday night at Intuit Dome.
Stephon Castle had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to lead the Spurs (50-18), who reached 50 wins for the first time since 2016-17 and trail the first-place Thunder by three games in the West. Devin Vassell added 20 points.
Fighting to secure a spot for the play-in tournament, the Clippers’ second straight loss dropped them back to .500 with Kawhi Leonard watching from the bench. The NBA’s sixth-leading scorer sat out with a sprained left knee.
From Jack Vita: It’s only fitting that the pitcher who recorded the Dodgers’ final eight outs of the World Series will take the mound on opening day, as the club tries to pick up where it left off in 2025 and chase a third straight championship in 2026.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday that World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto will toe the rubber for the March 26 opener at Dodger Stadium against the Arizona Diamondbacks — the second straight year he’s had the honor and the first time at home, after pitching last season’s opener in Tokyo against the Chicago Cubs.
Roberts added Yamamoto is expected to return to Camelback Ranch soon, after participating in the World Baseball Classic with Team Japan. The Samurai Warriors, seeking a second straight WBC title, were eliminated by Team Venezuela Saturday night in the quarterfinals.
1897 — Bob Fitzsimmons knocks out Jim Corbett in the 14th round to win the world heavyweight title in Carson City, Nev. It’s the first boxing match photographed by a motion picture camera.
1908 — Tommy Burns knocks out Jene Roche in 80 seconds at the Royal Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, to retain the world heavyweight title.
1939 — Villanova wins first game of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament, defeating Brown 42-30 in Philadelphia. Ohio State beats Wake Forest 64-52 in the second game of the doubleheader.
1940 — For the first time in NHL history, one line — The Kraut Line of Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer — finish 1-2-3 in NHL scoring when the Boston Bruins score five goals in the third period to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 7-2.
1955 — Canadien fans riot in the streets of Montreal protesting NHL President Clarence Campbell’s suspension of Maurice “Rocket” Richard the previous day. The Canadiens forfeit the game to the Detroit after a smoke bomb goes off in the Forum and crowds spill into the streets, setting fires, smashing windows and looting.
1961 — Manhattan District Attorney Frank S. Hogan arrests two pro gamblers, Aaron Wagman and Joseph Hacken, and implicates Hank Gunter and Art Hicks of Seton Hall in a collegiate point shaving scandal.
1993 — Dallas snaps a 19-game losing streak with a 102-96 win over visiting Orlando. The Mavericks were one game away from tying the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers for the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history.
2001 — Connecticut cruises to a 101-29 win over Long Island University in the first round of the East Regional, the best defensive effort in the history of the women’s NCAA tournament. Connecticut’s 72-point victory also ties the second-biggest margin in tournament history.
2006 — Jermaine Wallace hits a fadeaway three-pointer with a split-second left, and little Northwestern State pulls off a shocker with a furious rally, beating No. 3 seed Iowa 64-63 in the first round of the men’s NCAA tournament.
2012 — Lindsey Vonn sets a women’s record for the most World Cup points in a season after finishing eighth in a slalom won by Austria’s Michaela Kirchgasser at Schladming, Austria. Vonn reaches 1,980 points to beat the mark of 1,970 set by Janica Kostelic of Croatia in 2006.
2016 — Little Rock advances with an out-of-nowhere comeback that leads to an 85-83 double-overtime victory over Purdue in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
2018 — The UConn Huskies open their NCAA Women’s tournament with a record-setting 140-52 rout of Saint Francis (Pa.). The tournament’s top seed sets a record for points in a tournament game and all-time NCAA records for points in a period (55 in the first) and a half (94 in the first).
2020 — French Open becomes first Grand Slam tennis tournament to be postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
March 16 (UPI) — Illinois will have busy primary elections Tuesday as voters select a candidate to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and fill five U.S. House seats without incumbents.
Three House seats are open due to retirements, and two others have incumbents running for Senate. All seats are expected to be filled with Democrats.
There will also be primaries for governor of the state, but there are no Democrats running against incumbent Democrat JB Pritzker.
Illinois voters “have an opportunity for generational turnover — where a boomer senator is stepping down, and you’ve got three Gen-Xers, who’ve been around on the scene for quite some time, trying to get the seat,” Northwestern University political science professor and Democratic strategist Alvin Tillery told ABC News. Tillery is not involved in any Illinois races.
“It could be another 20 or 30 years before we have a Senate race this competitive in Illinois,” he added.
Key Republicans running for Senate are attorney Jeannie Evans and former Illinois GOP chair Don Tracy.
There are 11 Democrats vying for the seat, but the top three are Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Rep. Robin Kelly.
Krishnamoorthi has raised the most money — more than $30 million — while Stratton has the benefit of Pritzker’s endorsement.
All three have run on fighting President Donald Trump and opposing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, which operated heavily in Chicago during Operation Midway Blitz.
“Fighting ICE has become synonymous with opposing and fighting back against Trump,” Brandon Davis, a Democratic consultant who worked on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2023 campaign, told NBC News.
“I’m the only one with the background of standing up to bullies and bad actors, and successfully doing so, and now I have to stand up to Donald Trump,” Krishnamoorthi told ABC News in an interview. He would be the second Indian-American to hold a seat in the Senate.
Stratton is the first Black lieutenant governor in Illinois and told ABC News: “I have the best path in the nation to elect another Black woman to the United States Senate.”
Kelly has the endorsement of longtime Congressional Black Caucus member Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C. He campaigned with Kelly on Tuesday, telling WLS-TV she is “our go-to person on healthcare issues.”
But all three have focused their ads against ICE.
Stratton has said she wants to “abolish” the agency because, “I don’t believe that this agency can be reformed. I want ICE and CBP out of our American cities.”
Krishnamoorthi said he wants to “abolish Trump’s ICE.” He explained he’s pushing for reforms to stop them from wearing masks and stop “roving gangs of ICE and CBP agents stirring up trouble in our cities.”
Kelly has called to dismantle ICE and the whole of the Department of Homeland Security, saying it’s “too big, too unwieldy and they’re not accountable.”
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UCLA coach Cori Close has said all the right things all season, hammering the importance of winning each day and making the most of every practice.
After watching her team struggle during the Final Four last season, she also urged the Bruins to remember the joy of their journey together was far more important than the final tournament results.
She continued to run the John Wooden playbook on Selection Sunday, brushing away the suggestion that UCLA was snubbed by the NCAA tournament selection committee.
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“Everybody else can talk about whatever they want,” Close said. “We’re going to talk about what that takes, and we are completely committed to just being really focused on us and our journey and keeping the main thing, the main thing.”
While she rightly is focusing on her team, there is no denying UCLA got a bad draw.
Not only were the Bruins denied the No. 1 overall seed despite playing a much tougher schedule than overall No. 1 seed UConn, the Bruins will have to fight through the toughest regional to reach the Final Four in Phoenix.
LSU was the highest rated No. 2 seed and Duke was the highest rated No. 3 seed. Both were assigned to the same regional as UCLA. No. 5 Ole Miss, led by Ohio State transfer and dynamic SEC newcomer of the year Cotie McMahon, is another potent team slotted in the Bruins’ side of the bracket.
“The Sacramento region with UCLA, they absolutely have the toughest region when you look at the LSU-Duke matchup — the No. 1 two seed, the No. 1 three seed,” former Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said on ESPN. “I don’t know how they ended up with the same bracket as UCLA as the No. 2 overall. … I’m perplexed.”
McGraw has been doing the work Close arguably couldn’t for weeks without coming across as whining. The retired coach questioned the NCAA tournament selection’s committee previous rankings that slotted UCLA behind UConn.
On March 2, McGraw posted on X, “Does anyone else think UCLA deserved the overall [No. 1] seed? Undefeated regular season Big Ten champs, beat 11 ranked teams, six of which are currently in the committee’s top 16. They have 14 Quad 1 wins, more than anyone in the country, and their only loss was to another [No. 1] seed. And what about SEC champ South Carolina as the [No. 2] overall?
“UConn is certainly good enough to win the national championship, but UCLA and South Carolina have had as much success against a much tougher schedule.”
UConn fans were quick to point out McGraw’s losing record against Huskies coach Geno Auriemma and their bad blood, but the former Notre Dame coach was armed with notable stats that are supposed to be the basis for the selection committee’s bracket.
It wasn’t enough to help the selection committee ignore the score that seemed to matter the most — a 85-51 UCLA loss to UConn in last season’s Final Four.
“We watched a lot of UConn, we watched a lot of UCLA,” NCAA tournament committee chair Amanda Braun said on ESPN. “The way we watched UConn win throughout the year from beginning to the end, UCLA did a lot of winning too, but ultimately we gave UConn the edge.”
The Bruins have said every team is tough in the NCAA tournament and they must simply focus on being their best each day. Surviving a challenging regional will only make their success sweeter.
And UCLA can take solace that at least one team had a worse draw than it did on Sunday. Crosstown rival USC was awarded a No. 9 seed and will play No. 8 seed Clemson in Columbia, S.C., a short commute for the Tigers’ fans. If the Trojans survive, they most likely will face No. 1 seed South Carolina on the Gamecocks’ notoriously hostile home court.
Survey says
We asked, “How far will the UCLA women advance in the NCAA tournament?”
After 460 votes, the results:
They win it all: 80.8% They lose in the title game: 14.6% Just like last year, they lose in the Final Four: 3.5% A surprising elimination in the Sweet 16: 0.9% A shocking upset in the first or second round: 0.2% They lose in the Elite Eight: No votes
Survey time
How far will the UCLA men advance in the tournament?
They lose in the first round They lose in the second round They lose in the Sweet 16 They lose in the Elite Eight They lose in the Final Four They lose in the title game They win it all
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. The champions have been crowned in high school basketball and soccer. What a weekend it was in Sacramento.
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Damien players celebrate their state Division I boys’ basketball title victory over Folsom at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on March 13, 2026.
(Greg Stein)
In the highest divisions at the CIF state championships at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Southern California basketball teams continue to dominate.
Sierra Canyon and Ontario Christian were crowned Open Division boys and girls champions, respectively. Sierra Canyon overcame the loss of Maxi Adams to an ankle injury in the first quarter to defeat Richmond Salesian 78-70. Here’s the report.
Kaleena Smith of Ontario Christian gets emotional in the first half at Golden 1 Center against Archbishop Mitty.
(Greg Stein)
Ontario Christian received another standout performance from junior guard Kaleena Smith to defeat Archbishop Mitty 56-49. Here’s the report.
Damien won Division I for coach Mike LeDuc. Here’s the report. Corona Centennial’s one-two punch of Sydney Douglas and Cyndee Bryant led the Huskies to the Division I girls title. Here’s the report.
Sylmar and Birmingham came up short trying to become the first City Section teams from the San Fernando Valley to win state titles. Sylmar was beaten in Division V. Here’s the report. Birmingham settled for runner-up in Division III. Here’s the report.
El Dorado’s girls’ team broke through in Division III. Here’s the report.
Soccer
Garfield goalkeeper Javier Zarate gets his photo taken with CIF executive director Ron Nocetti at state soccer finals. Garfield lost 2-0 in Division V.
(CIF)
Garfield was beaten in the Division V state boys final 2-0 by Branson. But sophomore goalie Javier Zarate continues to impress. Here’s a look at his impact.
Mater Dei deserves the name soccer school of the West. The Monarchs won boys and girls state titles in Division I. The boys defeated Salinas Everett Alvarez 2-1. The girls defeated unbeaten Bishop O’Dowd 2-0. Los Alamitos won Division III boys over Watsonville 1-0. Irvine University won Division IV 3-2.
Baseball
Freshman Louis Lappe of Harvard-Westlake receives congratulations after his first high school hit.
(Craig Weston)
Freshman Louis Lappe of Harvard-Westlake, the former El Segundo Little League star who gained national fame for his walk-off home run at the Little League World Series in 2023, hit his first high school home run on Wednesday.
A moment in time. The first career home run for freshman Louis Lappe. Courtesy Harvard-Westlake. I think he’s going to hit plenty more. pic.twitter.com/jESpnQC6YN
Brody Schumaker of Santa Margarita had four hits, including a grand slam, and seven RBIs in a win over Los Osos. He has struck out once in 34 at-bats.
Landon Hovermale of Norco has allowed no runs in 18 2/3 innings this season.
(Nick Koza)
Norco has one of the hottest pitchers around in Landon Hovermale, who has given up no runs in 18 2/3 innings. Here was his latest performance.
It appears Southern Section is considering reducing teams to the Division 1 baseball playoffs with a smaller division and multiple games. Rest of teams would go in other divisions. Recommended by advisory committee. Only D1. Let’s see what turns out. Sounds like soccer playoffs.
Foothill pitchers have thrown three consecutive shutouts.
There’s every indication that the Southern Section is going to introduce a new playoff format for Division 1 baseball only. It’s expected to be a 16-team tournament broken into four pools with double elimination leading to the quarterfinals with the top two teams in each pool advancing, followed by single elimination. The baseball advisory committee has been pushing for such a tournament in Division 1 for years.
California state leader and meet record 10.27 wind legal for Servite’s Benjamin Harris at the Redondo Nike Track Festival! 📸: Bob Leetch pic.twitter.com/SXr4bESsVJ
Benjamin Harris of Servite turned on the speed at Redondo Union on Saturday, running a wind legal 10.27 seconds in the 100 meters.
Moorpark Track & Field throws down the hammer!! Varsity Boys & JV sweep, Varsity Girls takes down Camarillo for the 1st time in a decade! Jr. Davis Benson sets TWO school records 14.30 110H, 38.82 300H and our Girls 4×100 Record gets broken at 48.26!! WHAT A DAY! @davistbensonpic.twitter.com/GBN8FxWwDZ
One of the most versatile track and field athletes this season has to be junior Davis Benson of Moorpark. He’s putting up good marks in a variety of events. He’s already set school records in the 110 hurdles of 14.30 and the 300 hurdles in 38.82. And he’s gearing up for a high jump showdown later in the season with Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s JJ Harel. Benson has gone 6-10.
Carson’s Jayden Rendon stamped himself as a state contender in the 110 hurdles with a time of 13.91 at Redondo Union.
Lawrence Kensinger of Venice, another pupil of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame throwing coach Nick Garcia, is closing in on 60 feet in the shotput. He recorded a career-best 59-8.
Jaslene Massey of Aliso Niguel, already No. 1 in the state in the discus, won the Nike Indoor Nationals in the shotput at 54-2.75, seventh-best mark in California history. She also got a mark of 188-7 in the discus, second-best all-time.
Loyola’s Ejam Yohannes ran 400 meters in a state-leading 46.24. It was a school record.
Bob Johnson dies
Former Mission Viejo coach Bob Johnson died last week. He was 80.
(Los Angeles Times)
High school football fans across Southern California were offering memories of Hall of Fame coach Bob Johnson after his passing Wednesay. He was 80.
Johnson won nine Southern Section titles coaching at Mission Viejo and El Toro.
One of the best sporting events of the year happens Friday night when volleyball powers Mira Costa and Loyola face off at Mira Costa. . . .
Alfred Rowe has resigned after one season as football coach at Long Beach Jordan. . . .
Earl Sanchez has resigned as basketball coach at Sierra Vista. . . .
Former Gardena Serra and UCLA tight end Caleb Wilson has been hired as an assistant coach at Colorado State under former UCLA coach Jim Mora Jr. . . .
Luis Cruz Jr. is the new football coach at Sunny Hills. . . .
The top football player in the state for next season, Honor Fa’alave-Johnson of Cathedral Catholic, announced he has committed to USC.
From the archives: Mason Edwards
In 2023, Left-hander Mason Edwards of Palisades was one top pitchers in the City Section. Now he’s the ace at USC.
(Steve Galluzzo)
Mason Edwards, a junior at USC from Palisades High, is off to one of the best starts by a pitcher in the nation. He entered last week having allowed no runs and only three hits in 24 innings while recording a 3-0 record. He gave up his first run of the season on Friday. He’s left-handed and has 42 strikeouts. He throws between 90 and 93 mph.
Edwards has continued to improve at USC since his arrive in the fall of 2023.
Recommendations
From the Players Tribune, former El Toro pitcher pitcher Paul Skenes offers advice to Little Leaguers.
From the Daily Bruin, a story on Brentwood basketball coach Ryan Bailey, a former UCLA basketball standout.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on former Chatsworth guard Alijah Arenas keeping his NBA dreams alive.
Tweets you might have missed
Trent McDuffie (St. John Bosco), Colby Parkinson (Oaks Christian), Coleman Shelton (Loyola), Quentin Lake (Mater Dei) are going to be Southern California heroes as they try to help the Rams win a Super Bowl in 2027.
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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The U.S. is the favorite to win the World Baseball Classic championship, but the team is still trying to execute “a complete game” after semifinal win.
Doncic, fueled by trash talk from his opponents Thursday, recorded his first 50-point game with the Lakers, checking out with 1:41 remaining to a standing ovation with 51 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Lakers to a 142-130 win over the Chicago Bulls.
The Lakers (41-25) jumped into third place in the Western Conference with their seventh win in their last eight games, climbing from sixth in just one week despite not having LeBron James for the last three games.
James, returning from elbow and hip contusions sustained in a fall against the Denver Nuggets on March 5, had 18 points with seven rebounds and seven assists. Austin Reaves scored 30 points with seven assists to reach 5,000 career points, and Deandre Ayton had his second consecutive double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lakers let the struggling Bulls (27-39) go on a 12-3 run to tie the score at the end of the first quarter but started to heat up when Doncic scored 10 consecutive points in the second quarter. The streak signaled to the six-time All-Star he was going to have one those nights.
“Somebody started talking to me,” Doncic said, “so I woke up.”
From Ryan Kartje: This was hardly a masterpiece of Big Ten basketball, what with the barrage of bricks and busted possessions. Nor was it the sort of night to convince you of UCLA’s chances as a surefire conference contender.
But amid the mess of its 72-59 win over 14th-seeded Rutgers on Thursday night, UCLA showed the sort of mettle it may need to keep its season kicking this March.
It started with Donovan Dent, whose masterful month continued with his first career triple-double — and the first triple-double in Big Ten tournament history. The senior tallied 12 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. He and Tyler Bilodeau, who added a game-high 21 points, were the rare bright spots on offense for the Bruins.
Otherwise, UCLA struggled to find any sort of rhythm. It shot just 38% from the field, worse than it had in any win this season. And still, the Bruins were in control for most of the game after pulling away early in the second half.
None of that will fly against No. 3 seed Michigan State on Friday at 6 p.m. PDT, which beat UCLA by 23 points the last time they met.
From Anthony Solorzano: Just 0.18 seconds separated Michael Kimani Kamau from $15,000. Sunday’s 41st L.A. Marathon was decided by a late-charging sprint from Nathan Martin, the winner who received $25,000 for first place. The runner-up earned $10,000.
With five miles to the finish line and no one else picking up pace, Martin decided to push himself to the end. Kamau’s experience down the stretch was different. Less than a quarter mile from the finish, his race took an unexpected turn because of a fan.
With many fans cheering him on, one interfered and led him off course. A video posted on Reddit shows Kamau following a fan off course for roughly 10 seconds.
He briefly followed the lead vehicles off the designated course while trying to avoid a spectator who ran into his path. Fans immediately stopped him and pointed him in the right direction.
“I actually thought he won until I got home later that day and saw the news channels reporting that Nathan had an amazing kick at the end,” said Ivan Torres, who filmed the scene.
Organizers are aware of the video but no protests were filed and the results are unchanged.
From Gary Klein: Trent McDuffie was a young high school player in Southern California when the Rams returned from St. Louis to Los Angeles in 2016.
In 2020, McDuffie watched HBO’s “Hard Knocks” episodes about the team, and he was enamored by coach Sean McVay.
“I remember just being like, ‘Dang, I would like to play for that guy,’” McDuffie said Thursday.
McDuffie, an All-Pro cornerback acquired by the Rams in a blockbuster trade, recalled those thoughts during an introductory news conference at the team’s facility in Woodland Hills after he signed a record-breaking four-year extension that reportedly includes $100 million in guarantees.
From Kevin Baxter: A report on how Olympic organizers will tackle civil rights, homelessness and human trafficking ahead and during the 2028 Games has not been made public by the city more than two months after it was filed and no date for its release has been set, leaving human rights advocates fearing the issues will not get the attention and funding they deserve.
Council president Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who chairs the ad-hoc committee on the LA28 Games, has not included the human rights report on the committee’s agenda. His office did not respond to requests for comment and Sharon Tso, the city’s chief legislative analyst, and Matthew Szabo, the city’s administrative officer, both said they have not seen the report and “nothing appears on the council file,” according to Tso.
The delay is limiting discussion on an important topic, said Stephanie Richard, a clinical professor who leads the Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School, which released its own comprehensive report on human trafficking and the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics in December.
William Nylander broke a tie on a power play 36 seconds into the third period and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ducks6-4 on Thursday night to end an eight-game losing streak.
The victory was tempered by the loss of captain Auston Matthews on a knee-on-knee hit from Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas with four minutes left in the second period. Matthews stayed down favoring his left leg before being helped to the locker room. Gudas was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct.
Matthews scored earlier to end a 12-game goal drought.
Cutter Gauthier, Ian Moore, Pavel Mintyukov and Alex Killorn scored for the Pacific Division-leading Ducks. Lukas Dostal stopped 23 shots.
1894 — J.L. Johnstone of England invents the starting gate for horse racing.
1920 — NYU wins the national amateur basketball championship in Atlanta. The Violets beat Rutgers 49-24 in the final of the AAU tournament.
1961 — Floyd Patterson knocks out Ingemar Johansson in the sixth round to retain the world heavyweight title in Miami Beach.
1982 — Elaine Zayak of the United States wins the world figure skating championship.
1983 — Randy Smith’s consecutive game streak ends at 906 games, the longest in NBA history. Smith played for Buffalo, San Diego (twice), Cleveland and New York during the streak.
1997 — The America’s Cup, the oldest trophy in international sports and yachting’s most coveted prize, is all but destroyed by a Maori protester who struck it repeatedly with a sledgehammer in Auckland, New Zealand.
1998 — Bryce Drew hits a leaning three-pointer as time expires to give Valparaiso a shocking 70-69 upset of Mississippi in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional.
2001 — Philadelphia’s Mark Recchi picks up his 1,000th point during a 5-2 win over St. Louis. He’s the 60th player in NHL history to reach the mark.
2007 — Lance Mackey wins the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, becoming the first musher to win major long-distance North American sled dog races back-to-back. On Feb. 20, Mackey won his third consecutive Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, a 1,000-mile race between Fairbanks and Whitehorse, Yukon.
2007 — Dallas’ Mike Modano becomes the 39th player in NHL history and second born in the United States to reach 500 goals, scoring with 10:24 left in the third period of a 3-2 victory over Philadelphia.
2008 — Bode Miller clinches the men’s overall World Cup ski title. Miller earns his second title in four years with a 12th-place finish in the super-G combined, along with Didier Cuche’s announcement that he would not enter the season-ending slalom in Bormio, Italy.
2011 — The NCAA men’s basketball selection committee releases its 68-team draw, which included a record 11 teams from the Big East, the deepest conference in the nation. The tournament adds three more at-large teams that will open the tournament in what the NCAA is calling the “First Four.”
2012 — BYU pulls off the biggest comeback in NCAA tournament history on a wild opening night. Noah Hartsock scores 16 of his 23 points in the second half and the Cougars rally from 25 points down to beat Iona 78-72 in the first round. It marks the biggest comeback in an NCAA tournament game. Previously, the largest deficit overcome was 22 points in 2001 when Duke fought back to beat Maryland 95-84 in the national semifinals. It’s the second incredible turnaround of the night in Dayton. With President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron watching, Western Kentucky comes back from a 16-point deficit in the final 5 minutes to beat Mississippi Valley State 59-58.
2018 — Russell Westbrook picks up the 100th triple-double of his career and the Oklahoma City Thunder uses a 16-0 run late in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Atlanta Hawks for a 119-107 victory. Westbrook scores 32 points, dishes out 12 assists and grabs 12 rebounds to become the third-fastest player to reach the milestone.
2020 — Elite football in Britain, including England’s Premier League, EFL, Women’s Super League plus in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, is suspended until at least April 3 because of COVID-19 pandemic.
2022 — After a 40-day retirement, record breaking quarterback Tom Brady announces he will play at least one more season in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
