MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Top seed Florida and No. 11 Dayton have advanced to Saturday’s South Regional final in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Michael Frazier II hit five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points as the Gators beat UCLA 79-68 to reach its fourth consecutive NCAA regional final. Jordan Sibert (SY’-burt) scored 18 points and Kendall Pollard added a season-high 12 to lead the Flyers to an 82-72 win over No. 10 Stanford.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Top seed Arizona and No. 2 Wisconsin will square off in Saturday’s West Regional final in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Nick Johnson missed his first 10 shots before scoring all of his 15 points in the last 2:45 of the Wildcats’ 70-64 triumph over San Diego State. Frank Kaminsky scored 19 points and Ben Brust provided 14 as the Badgers downed Baylor 69-52.
HOUSTON (AP) — The Philadelphia 76ers now share the NBA record for most consecutive losses after James Harden torched them for 26 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds in just three quarters of Houston’s 120-98 blowout over the Sixers. It’s the 26th straight loss for Philly, matching the record set by the 2011-11 Cleveland Cavaliers. The 76ers will have the record all to themselves if they fall to Detroit at home on Saturday.
DALLAS (AP) — Chris Paul scored 31 points as the Los Angeles Clippers rallied past Dallas 109-103 to maintain their one-game lead over Houston for third place in the West. Blake Griffin added 18 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and helped the Clippers rally from a 10-point deficit in the final period. The Mavericks fell a half-game behind Phoenix for the NBA’s eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth.
BOSTON (AP) — Patrice Bergeron (pah-TREES’ BEHR’-zhur-ahn) scored twice and Tuukka (TOO’-kah) Rask stopped 28 shots as the Boston Bruins won for the 13th time in 14 games, 3-0 over the Chicago Blackhawks. It was a 1-0 game until Carl Soderberg and Bergeron scored 13 seconds apart early in the third period to back Tuukka (TOO’-kah) Rask’s league-high seventh shutout of the season. The outcome gives the NHL’s Eastern Conference leaders a nine-point edge over Pittsburgh.
