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2B – Daily News – Saturday, April 2, 2011 Fredette named AP’s top player HOUSTON (AP) — Jimmer Fre- dette became a one-name star in his senior season at BYU. Leading the country in scoring helped as did being on a team that spent the second half of the season ranked in the top 10. On Friday, Fredette — excuse me; Jimmer — was selected The Associat- ed Press’ player of the year. ‘‘It’s been quite a ride and it’s been a lot of fun and I wouldn’t take any- thing back,’’ Fredette said. ‘‘I had quite the career at BYU. There were a lot of ups and downs, but there were a lot more ups this year.’’ The Cougars won the Mountain West Conference regular-season title and lost to San Diego State in the tour- nament final. A No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, they lost to Flori- da in overtime in the round of 16 and finished with a 32-5 record. ‘‘I just knew right from the begin- ning we could have a very good year with the guys returning, and it was one of the most talented teams I’ve ever played on,’’ said Fredette, who aver- aged 28.5 points. ‘‘Then we started to play well and beat Arizona, and I knew from there we could be a force. That’s what happened because we stayed hungry all year, and that’s what separated us from other teams.’’ Notre Dame’s Mike Brey was selected the coach of the year as he led the Fighting Irish to a second-place finish in the Big East and a No. 5 rank- ing in the final poll. ‘‘The personality of this group was so stable whether it was a big win or a loss, they stayed stable,’’ said Brey, who has been at Notre Dame for 11 seasons. ‘‘When they had great wins it didn’t change them. When they had a tough loss it didn’t change them. Sta- ble is the word.’’ Fredette received 48 votes from the 65-member national media panel that selects the weekly Top 25. The voting was done before the NCAA tourna- ment. Kemba Walker of Connecticut was second with 11 votes. Nolan Smith of Duke had five and Jared Sullinger of Ohio State one. ‘‘To see Jimmer progress and become a leader of his team, that will be his basketball legacy,’’ BYU coach Dave Rose said. ‘‘He is driven not just to be the best player he can, but it was how he helped his teammates to win. He always found a way. That’s what I’ll remember most.’’ Fredette is the first BYU player to win the award and the first from the Mountain West since Andrew Bogut of Utah in 2005. Next up for the 6-foot-3 Fredette is the NBA draft. ‘‘I just feel like as long as I can get into the right situation I can be suc- cessful, but it’s all about the situation,’’ he said. ‘‘Hopefully when I get in that situation I’ll prove that I can play and earn the respect of my teammates, coaches and general manager, every- body involved, and hopefully play well for them.’’ Brey led the Fighting Irish to a 27- 7 record, their second-most wins in a season. Their 14-4 mark in the Big East tied their record for conference victories. Notre Dame was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, losing to Florida State in the third round. Brey drew 28 votes, 14 more than runner-up Steve Fisher of San Diego State. Brey is the first Notre Dame coach to win the award, and he is the second straight Big East coach to get it fol- lowing Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim last year. Winning an early season tourna- ment in Orlando, Fla., let Brey know he had the makings of a good team. ‘‘I made sure we cut the nets down in Orlando and the Disney people said ’We don’t do that.’ I said ’You do this year. Get a ladder.’ As an independent for so long we didn’t have a lot of chances to cut the nets down. For the big picture and this year. That was a huge confidence boost.’’ Nadal beats Federer at Key Biscayne KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) — Rafael Nadal usu- ally receives a trophy when he beats Roger Fed- erer. This time, the reward is a chance to play Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final at the Sony Ericsson Open. Nadal advanced with surprising ease Friday night, drubbing an erratic Federer 6-3, 6-2. FOUR (Continued from page 1B) STAR Freshman Brandon Knight had two game-win- ners in the NCAA tourna- ment, making a tough drive against Princeton with 2 sec- onds left and hitting a jumper with 5.4 seconds left to beat overall No. 1 seed Ohio State. He struggled from the field in both games before hitting the big shots. He had 30 points against West Vir- ginia and 22 against North Carolina. The 6-foot-3 guard doesn’t have a great assist-to- turnover ratio (17-14 in the tournament), but he can score. His 14 games of 20 points-plus is a Kentucky freshman record. COACH This is John Calipari’s third Final Four, and each has been with a different school, matching Rick Piti- no’s record. Calipari’s runs with Massachusetts in 1996 and Memphis in 2008 both were vacated for violation of NCAA rules within the pro- gram. Calipari is one of the better coaches in terms of making in-game adjust- ments, especially on the defensive end as he did in the win over Ohio State. KEY POINT Kentucky is young with three freshmen in the rota- tion, but it’s the upperclass- men who have come up big in the tournament. Center Josh Harrellson is averaging 14.8 points and 9.0 rebounds MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Salt Lake 2 0 0 6 5 1 Colorado 2 0 0 6 4 1 Galaxy 1 1 1 4 3 5 Vancouver 1 1 0 3 4 3 QUAKES 11 0 3 2 1 Seattle 0 2 1 1 1 3 FC Dallas 0 2 1 1 1 5 Chivas USA 0 2 0 0 2 4 Portland 0 2 0 0 1 5 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Philadelphia 2 0 0 6 2 0 Chicago 1 0 1 4 4 3 New England 1 0 1 4 3 2 Columbus 1 1 1 4 3 3 New York 1 0 1 4 1 0 D.C. 1 1 0 3 4 3 Kansas City 1 1 0 3 5 5 Toronto FC 1 1 0 3 4 4 Houston 0 1 1 1 1 2 ————————————————— Friday’s result Columbus 2, FC Dallas 0 Saturday’s games Seattle FC at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. Chivas USA at Toronto FC, 10 a.m. Sporting Kansas City at Vancouver, 4 p.m. Houston at New York, 4:30 p.m. Portland at New England, 4:30 p.m. Philadelphia at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. Sunday’s game D.C. United at Colorado, 4 p.m. The Spaniard never lost serve, converted four of five break-point chances and committed only 10 unforced errors to 31 for Federer. The first matchup in the United States in six years between Rafa and Roger was a clunker instead of a classic, disappointing a capacity crowd that tried in vain to inspire a Federer in the tournament, while swingman Deandre Liggins has been a defensive stopper covering both guards and forwards. UCONN ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR No. 3 Connecticut beat No. 14 Bucknell 81-52; No. 6 Cincinnati 69-58; No. 2 San Diego State 74-67; No. 5 Arizona 65-63. STAR This might be the easiest call in all of college basket- ball. Kemba Walker had a great regular season, and the 6-foot-1 junior has been even better in the postseason. He led the Huskies to five wins in as many days to win the Big East tournament, averag- ing 26.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists. With talk of him being exhausted from his big week in New York, Walker went and averaged 26.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists in the four NCAA tournament games. He has been a leader of the young team and is the only upperclassman in the Huskies’ starting lineup. COACH Jim Calhoun is looking for his third national champi- onship in his fourth Final Four appearance. The 68- year-old Hall of Famer has a career record of 853-607 placing him sixth on the all- ARENA NATIONALCONFERENCE West Division WL T Pct PF PA Arizona 3 0 0 1.000186 103 CATS 21 0 .667 177 159 Utah 2 1 0 .667 194 144 Spokane 0 3 0 .000 145 180 Central Division WL T Pct PF PA Chicago 3 0 0 1.000165 110 Dallas Iowa Kansas City 0 2 0 .000 103 113 Tulsa 0 3 0 .000 107 186 AMERICAN CONFERENCE South Division WL T Pct PF PA Orlando 2 0 0 1.000115 87 Jacksonville 3 1 0 .750 241 175 Georgia 1 1 0 .500 110 118 Tampa Bay 1 3 0 .250 138 232 New Orleans0 3 0 .000 107 157 Eastern Division WL T Pct PF PA Cleveland 2 0 0 1.000127 81 Pittsburgh 2 1 0 .667 159 133 Philadelphia 1 1 0 .500 86 114 Milwaukee 0 3 0 .000 119 160 ————————————————— Thursday’s result Utah 69, Dallas 40 Friday’s results Iowa at San Jose, late Jacksonville 54, Tampa Bay 30 Kansas City at Spokane, late Saturday’s games Chicago at Cleveland, 1 p.m. Tulsa at Pittsburgh, 4:30 p.m. Georgia at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Orlando at Arizona, 7 p.m. Monday’s game Philadelphia at Milwaukee, 4:30 p.m. 2 1 0 .667 157 155 1 1 0 .500 71 100 comeback by chanting his name. They met before the final round for the first time since 2007 because Federer recently slipped from second to third in the rankings and landed in Nadal’s half of the draw. Now, the No. 1-ranked Nadal and No. 2 Djokovic will play for the champi- onship. Djokovic won the tournament in 2007, while time wins list and third among active coaches behind Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim. The Huskies’ Big East champi- onship was Calhoun’s record seventh. He has been sus- pended for three games next season over NCAA viola- tions in his program. KEY POINT The Huskies are going wherever Kemba Walker takes them. The rest of the team has really picked it up since the postseason started. Freshman Jeremy Lamb is averaging 16.0 points, and sophomore Alex Oriahki is pulling down 9.8 rebounds per game. Connecticut’s wins in the regional semifi- nals and finals were road games at a neutral site as San WOMEN NCAA National Semifinals At at Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis Sunday’s games — ESPN Stanford vs. Texas A&M, 4 p.m. Connecticut vs. Notre Dame, 6 p.m. MLB MLB West Division Texas American League WL Pct GB Angels 1 1 .500 .5 A’s 1 0 1.000— 00 .000 .5 Seattle 0 0 .000 .5 East Division WL Pct GB Baltimore 1 0 1.000— New York 1 0 1.000— Toronto 1 0 1.000— Boston 0 1 .000 1 Tampa Bay 0 1 .000 1 Central Division WL Pct GB Chicago 1 0 1.000— Kansas City 1 1 .500 .5 Cleveland 0 1 .000 1 Detroit 0 1 .000 1 Minnesota 0 1 .000 1 ————————————————— Friday’s results Seattle at Oakland, late Baltimore 4, Tampa Bay 1 Chicago 15, Cleveland 10 Kansas City 2, Los Angeles 1 Texas 9, Boston 5 Toronto 13, Minnesota 3 Saturday’s games Seattle (Vargas 0-0) at Oakland (Anderson 0-0), 6:05 p.m. Chicago (Jackson 0-0) at Cleveland (Carrasco 0-0), 10:05 a.m., WGN Minnesota (Liriano 0-0) at Toronto (Drabek 0-0), 10:07 a.m. Los Angeles (Santana 0-0) at Kansas City (Davies 0-0), 10:10 a.m. Detroit (Penny 0-0) at New York (Burnett 0-0), 1:10 p.m. Baltimore (Matusz 0-0) at Tampa Bay (Shields 0-0), 4:10 p.m. Boston (Lackey 0-0) at Texas (Lewis 0-0), 5:05 p.m., MLBN Sunday’s games Seattle (Fister 0-0) at Oakland (G.Gonzalez 0-0), 1:05 p.m. Chicago (Danks 0-0) at Cleveland (Masterson 0-0), 10:05 a.m. Detroit (Scherzer 0-0) at New York (Hughes 0-0), 10:05 a.m. Minnesota (Blackburn 0-0) at Toronto (Cecil 0-0), 10:07 a.m. Baltimore (Tillman 0-0) at Tampa Bay (Davis 0-0), 10:40 a.m. Boston (Buchholz 0-0) at Texas (Harrison 0-0), 11:05 a.m., TBS Los Angeles (Kazmir 0-0) at Kansas City (Chen 0-0), 11:10 a.m. West Division National League WL Pct GB Arizona 1 0 1.000— Dodgers 1 0 1.000— Padres 1 0 1.000— Colorado 0 1 .000 1 GIANTS 01 .000 1 East Division WL Pct GB Atlanta 1 0 1.000— Florida 1 0 1.000— Philadelphia 1 0 1.000— New York 0 1 .000 1 Washington 0 1 .000 1 Central Division WL Pct GB Cincinnati 1 0 1.000— Pittsburgh 1 0 1.000— Chicago 0 1 .000 1 Houston 0 1 .000 1 Milwaukee 0 1 .000 1 St. Louis 0 1 .000 1 ————————————————— Friday’s results San Francisco at Los Angeles, late Arizona 7, Colorado 6, 11 innings Florida 6, New York 2 Philadelphia 5, Houston 4 Pittsburgh 6, Chicago 3 Saturday’s games San Francisco (Cain 0-0) at Los Angeles (Lilly 0-0),1:10 p.m.,FOX Atlanta (Hanson 0-0) at Washington (Lannan 0-0), 10:05 a.m. Pittsburgh (Maholm 0-0) at 0 Chicago (Zambrano 0-0), 1:05 a.m. San Diego (Richard 0-0) at St. Louis (Westbrook 0-0), 1:10 p.m. Houston (W.Rodriguez 0-0) at Philadelphia (Lee 0-0), 4:05 p.m. Milwaukee (Marcum 0-0) at Cincinnati (Wood 0-0), 4:10 p.m. New York (Niese 0-0) at Florida (Nolasco 0-0), 4:10 p.m. Arizona (Hudson 0-0) at Colorado (De La Rosa 0-0), 5:10 p.m. Sunday’s games San Francisco (Zito 0-0) at L.A. (Kuroda 0-0),5:05 p.m.,ESPN2 Milwaukee (Wolf 0-0) at Cincinnati (Arroyo 0-0), 10:10 a.m. New York (Dickey 0-0) at Florida (Vazquez 0-0), 10:10 a.m. Atlanta (Hudson 0-0) at Washington (Zimmermann 0-0), 10:35 a.m. Houston (Happ 0-0) at Philadelphia (Oswalt 0-0), 10:35 a.m. San Diego (Moseley 0-0) at St. Louis (Garcia 0-0), 11:15 a.m. Pittsburgh (Ohlendorf 0-0) at Chicago (Garza 0-0), 11:20 a.m., WGN Arizona (Saunders 0-0) at Colorado (Chacin 0-0), 12:10 p.m. Nadal is seeking his first Key Biscayne title. Djokovic stretched his winning streak to 25 con- secutive matches by beat- ing Mardy Fish in the other semifinal, 6-3, 6-1. Three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapo- va seeks her first Key Bis- cayne title Saturday when she plays 2009 champion Victoria Azarenka. Diego State and Arizona had the crowd on its side in Ana- heim, Calif. THE SKINNY These teams met in November in the champi- onship game of the Maui Invitational. The unranked Huskies, led by Walker’s 29 points, prevailed 84-67 over No. 8 Kentucky, taking a 50- 29 lead at halftime and hold- ing the Wildcats to 36.7 per- cent shooting overall. The teams have changed quite a bit since then mostly because the three freshmen who play key roles for both teams have played a full season. FINAL FOUR National Semifinals At Reliant Stadium Houston Saturday’s games - CBS Butler vs.Virginia Commonwealth, 3:09 p.m. Kentucky vs. Connecticut, following Houston winners Kim, Wagner contend again Houston Open HUMBLE, Texas (AP) — Course knowledge matters at the Houston Open. PGA Tour rookie Chris Kirk shot a 3- under 69 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Anthony Kim and 2008 winner Johnson Wagner after two rounds at Redstone. Kirk was 9-under par, and played his last few holes just as the wind picked up in the afternoon and made scoring more difficult. Kim and Wagn- er took advantage of the calm morning conditions and used their background at the course to move into contention. Kim shot a 64, the lowest round of the day, and Wagner had a 67. ‘‘I’ve got very good feelings as soon as I step on the prop- erty here,’’ Wagner said. Padraig Harrington, first-round leader Jimmy Walker and Josh Teater were two shots back at 7 under. Organizers groomed the Tournament Course at Redstone to simulate conditions that players will see at the Masters next week, and the set-up lured many of the world’s top players to Houston. Phil Mickelson (70) and Lee Westwood (72) were part of a large group at 4 under and Ernie Els (72) and Fred Couples (72) were among the players at 1 under. Kim is trying to become the first back-to-back winner of the event since Vijay Singh won in 2004 and ’05, the last two years it was played at the adjacent members’ course. The Tournament Course became the host in 2006, and Kim has enjoyed almost every visit. Before he turned pro, Kim was the only player to break par in winning a collegiate event here in 2006. He tied for fifth in the Houston Open as a tour rookie in 2007 and shot three sub-70 rounds last year to earn his third career victory. ‘‘It helps, knowing I played well before, knowing I made a couple putts when it mattered,’’ he said. ‘‘Some shots I had are similar, some putts I had are very similar, so I try to remember those things, and play off that.’’ Kim’s 64 was four strokes better than his lowest round when he won last year. Starting on the back nine, Kim made six birdies in his first 10 holes, including chip-ins on Nos. 12 and 16. He needed only 22 putts to equal his lowest round since January. Kim said before the tournament that his swing needed major retooling and that he spent several days working with coach Adam Schreiber on changes. Kim’s gratified that the work is already producing results. ‘‘It feels great to have that feeling of confidence and go out there, make some good golf swings and make a couple of putts after that,’’ Kim said. Wagner feels a more emotional connection to Redstone, after earning his first tour victory here three years ago. He needs to win this week to qualify for the Masters. THE PICK Kemba Walker and the Huskies have been on a nine- game run that is unprece- dented because of the time (18 days) and the opposition (seven ranked teams). Con- necticut continues to roll on with a 69-67 victory. CBI Best-of-3 Championship Series Game 1 Creighton 84, Oregon 76 Game 2 Oregon 81, Creighton 58 Game 3 — Friday Oregon 71, Creighton 69 Oregon wins championship 2-1 NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-San Jose 45 23 9 99 230 199 Phoenix 42 25 11 95 221 213 Kings 44 27 6 94 210 184 Ducks 44 28 5 93 223 223 Dallas 38 27 11 87 209 218 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA Detroit 44 23 10 98 247 226 Nashville 42 26 10 94 206 184 Chicago 42 27 8 92 246 212 Columbus 34 31 13 81 209 240 St. Louis 35 33 10 80 226 228 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA z-Vancouver 52 17 9 113 253 177 Calgary 39 29 11 89 240 232 Minnesota 37 32 8 82 195 217 Colorado 28 40 8 64 213 270 Edmonton 23 43 11 57 182 255 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-Philadelphia 46 22 10 102 245 207 x-Pittsburgh 45 25 8 98 221 190 N.Y.Rangers 41 32 5 87 220 188 New Jersey 36 36 5 77 162 193 N.Y.Islanders 30 36 12 72 218 246 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-Boston 43 23 11 97 232 182 Montreal 41 30 7 89 205 203 Buffalo 39 29 9 87 226 214 Toronto 36 32 10 82 209 238 Ottawa 30 38 10 70 181 239 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA x-Washington 45 22 11 101 211 188 x-Tampa Bay 42 24 11 95 230 231 Carolina 37 30 10 84 220 228 Atlanta 33 32 12 78 212 249 Florida 29 37 12 70 188 216 x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division z-clinched conference ————————————————— Friday’s results Calgary 3, St. Louis 2 Chicago 4, Columbus 3, SO New Jersey 4, Philadelphia 2 Colorado at Phoenix, late Saturday’s games Anaheim at San Jose, 7:30 p.m.,CSNC Atlanta at Boston, 10 a.m. Tampa Bay at Minnesota, 11 a.m. Detroit at Nashville, Noon Dallas at Los Angeles, 1 p.m. Buffalo at Washington, 4 p.m., NHLN Carolina at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. Montreal at New Jersey, 4 p.m. Pittsburgh at Florida, 4 p.m. Toronto at Ottawa, 4 p.m. Edmonton at Vancouver, 7 p.m. Sunday’s games N.Y.Rangers at Philadelphia, 9:30 a.m., NBC Buffalo at Carolina, 2 p.m. Minnesota at Detroit, 2 p.m. St. Louis at Columbus, 2 p.m. Tampa Bay at Chicago, 4 p.m., NHLN Calgary at Colorado, 5 p.m. Dallas at Anaheim, 5 p.m. Thursday’s late results San Jose 6, Dallas 0 Vancouver 3, Los Angeles 1 Pacific Division WL Pct GB y-Lakers 54 20 .730 — Phoenix 36 38 .486 18 WARRIORS 32 44 .421 23 Clippers 29 46 .387 25.5 KINGS 21 53 .284 33 Southwest Division WL Pct GB x-S. Antonio 57 19 .750 — x-Dallas 53 22 .707 3.5 New Orleans43 33 .566 14 Memphis 43 33 .566 14 Houston 40 36 .526 17 Northwest Division WL Pct GB x-Okla. City 50 24 .676 — Denver 45 29 .608 5 Portland 43 32 .573 7.5 Utah Minnesota 17 59 .224 34 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB y-Boston 52 23 .693 — x-Philadelphia 40 36 .526 12.5 New York 37 38 .493 15 New Jersey 23 52 .307 29 Toronto 20 54 .270 31.5 Southeast Division WL Pct GB x-Miami 53 23 .697 — x-Orlando 48 28 .632 5 x-Atlanta 44 32 .579 9 Charlotte 32 43 .427 20.5 Washington 19 56 .253 33.5 Central Division WL Pct GB y-Chicago 55 20 .733 — Indiana 35 42 .455 21 Milwaukee 30 45 .400 25 Detroit 26 49 .347 29 Cleveland 15 60 .200 40 x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division ————————————————— Friday’s results Denver at Sacramento, late Atlanta 88, Boston 83 Chicago 101, Detroit 96 Houston 119, San Antonio 114, OT Indiana 89, Milwaukee 88 Memphis 93, New Orleans 81 Miami 111, Minnesota 92 Orlando 89, Charlotte 77 Philadelphia 115, New Jersey 90 Washington 115, Cleveland 107 L.A. Clippers at Phoenix, late L.A. Lakers at Utah, late Oklahoma City at Portland, late Saturday’s games Dallas at Golden State, 4:30 p.m.,CSNB Minnesota at Memphis, 2 p.m. Toronto at Chicago, 2 p.m., WGN Philadelphia at Milwaukee, 2:30 p.m. Okla.City at L.A.Clippers, 4:30 p.m., NBATV Sunday’s games Utah at Sacramento, 3 p.m., CSNC Phoenix at San Antonio, 10 a.m., ABC Denver at L.A. Lakers, 12:30 p.m., ABC Cleveland at New York, 3 p.m. Detroit at Boston, 3 p.m. Miami at New Jersey, 3 p.m. Orlando at Toronto, 3 p.m. Washington at Charlotte, 3 p.m. Atlanta at Houston, 4 p.m. Indiana at New Orleans, 4 p.m. Dallas at Portland, 6 p.m., NBATV Thursday’s late results L.A. Lakers 110, Dallas 82 36 39 .480 14.5 PGA Houston Open At Redstone Golf Club, Tournament Course Humble, Texas Purse: $5.9 million Yardage: 7,457; Par: 72 (36-36) TV: 10 a.m., TGC; Noon, NBC Second Round Leaders Chris Kirk 66-69— 135 -9 Anthony Kim 72-64— 136 -8 Johnson Wagner 69-67— 136 -8 Josh Teater 65-72— 137 -7 Padraig Harrington 68-69— 137 -7 Jimmy Walker 63-74— 137 -7 Tim Petrovic 70-68— 138 -6 Aaron Baddeley 73-65— 138 -6 Scott Verplank 73-65— 138 -6 John Rollins Ben Crane 67-71— 138 -6 70-68— 138 -6