Pitt knocks off top-ranked UConn for second time
Sam Young dominated one of this season’s biggest games with 31 points and No. 3 Pittsburgh likely secured one of the top seeds in the NCAA tournament, opening up a 14-point lead early in the second half before holding off top-ranked Connecticut 70-60 on Saturday in Pittsburgh.
Pitt (28-3, 15-3 Big East) had never beaten a No. 1-ranked team in school history, only to accomplish it twice in less than a month – both times against Connecticut (27-3, 15-3).
Pitt becomes the seventh school to beat a top-ranked team twice in a season. The last team to do it was North Carolina over Duke during 1998.
•Auburn upsets LSU: Korvotney Barber had 16 points and 17 rebounds as Auburn (21-10, 10-6 Southeastern Conference) rolled to a 69-53 victory over No. 12 LSU (25-6, 13-3) in Auburn, Ala., for its seventh win in eight games.
•Marquette falls in OT: Jonny Flynn scored 20 of his 24 points after halftime and No. 25 Syracuse (23-8, 11-7 Big East) beat No. 13 Marquette 86-79 in overtime in Milwaukee, handing the Golden Eagles (23-8, 12-6) their fourth straight loss.
•Richmond tops Xavier: Kevin Anderson scored a career-high 29 points to lead Richmond (17-14, 9-7 Atlantic 10) to an 80-75 upset of No. 17 Xavier (24-6, 12-4) in Richmond, Va.
•Baylor women hold on: Jessica Morrow scored 23 points, including the final 12 of the game, for No. 5 Baylor (25-4, 12-4 Big 12) in a 64-60 victory over No. 10 Texas A&M (23-6, 11-5) in Waco, Texas.
NBA
Hawks top Pistons
Josh Smith scored 19 points, Al Horford added 18 and they each grabbed 12 rebounds to help the Atlanta Hawks beat Detroit 87-83 in Atlanta and end the Pistons’ four-game winning streak.
•Mavericks romp: Dirk Nowitzki scored 34 points, Jason Terry equaled a season-high with 33 and the Dallas Mavericks handed the Washington Wizards their fifth straight loss, 119-103 in Dallas.
Golf
Honda up for grabs
Y.E. Yang shot even-par 70, good enough to give him a one-shot lead over Jeff Klauk (67) and Jeff Overton (70) at the PGA’s Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
•O’Meara, Langer share lead: Mark O’Meara shot a 5-under 66 to grab a share of the lead with Bernhard Langer at the Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach, Calif.
•Hull out front: Australia’s Katherine Hull had seven birdies en route to a 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead over Angela Stanford after the third round of the HSBC Women’s Champions tournament in Singapore. Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., was 17 strokes back.
NHL
Blue Jackets breeze
Rick Nash had his fourth career hat trick and second against Detroit this season, and R.J. Umberger added two goals to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to an 8-2 win over the Red Wings in Detroit.
•Recchi delivers: Mark Recchi, acquired at the trade deadline, scored two goals and the Boston Bruins snapped a three-game winless skid with a 5-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in Boston.
Winter sports
Vonn doesn’t clinch title
Lindsey Vonn clipped a gate during the slalom in Ofterschwang, Germany, missing a chance to clinch the overall title, and Sandrine Aubert of France won her first World Cup race.
Vonn is seeking to become the first American woman to win the overall title twice.
•Kroell wins downhill: Klaus Kroell led an Austrian 1-2 finish in Kvitfjell, Norway, to win his first World Cup downhill race. Michael Walchhofer was the runner-up.
•Deneen tops field: Patrick Deneen won the men’s moguls event at the World Freestyle Championships in Inawashiro, Japan.
Deneen, a 21-year-old Cle Elum, Wash., resident, earned a comfortable win over Finland’s Tapio Luusua and Canada’s Vincent Marquis.
•Americans set record: American Shani Davis set a world record in the 1,000 meters at the speedskating World Cup in Kearns, Utah, breaking the mark U.S. skater Trevor Marsicano held for about 20 minutes.
Davis finished in 1:06.42 for his second record in two days at the Utah Olympic Oval. Marsicano’s time was 1:06.88.
Miscellany
Another win for Busch
Another track, another victory for Kyle Busch.
The 23-year-old star won his second straight NASCAR truck race, holding off Kevin Harvick on the final lap at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga.
Busch surged past Todd Bodine on the back straightaway with five laps to go and held on the rest of the way to win the American Commercial Lines 200.
•U.S. takes lead: The top-ranked doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan gave the United States a 2-1 lead over Switzerland in Davis Cup play in Birmingham, Ala.
The Bryans beat Yves Allegro and Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2) to become the winningest U.S. Davis Cup doubles team.
Andy Roddick will try to clinch the series against Wawrinka today and send the U.S. on to the quarterfinals against Croatia in July. James Blake takes on Marco Chiudinelli in the final match.
•Einstein fastest: Brazilian-bred Einstein took charge down the stretch on the way to a one-length victory in the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap in Arcadia, Calif.
•I Want Revenge victorious: I Want Revenge won the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct Race Track in New York and moves on the road to the Kentucky Derby.
•Jackson beats Jardine: Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson won his second consecutive bout, defeating Keith Jardine by unanimous decision in front of a sold-out crowd at UFC 96 in Columbus, Ohio.