Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/27952
Monday MLB — A’s at Giants, exhibition, 7 p.m., CSNBA NBA— Wizards at Warriors, 3 p.m., CSNBA NCAA — Women’s regional final, 6 p.m., ESPN UFC — Unleashed, 2-8 p.m., SPIKE Sports 1B Monday March 28, 2011 Unthinkable foursome heading to Houston Even in the unpredictable, anything-goes world of March Madness, this is a Final Four nobody saw coming. Kentucky, Connecti- cut, Butler and Vir- ginia Common- wealth — the improbable, the implausible, the unthinkable and the downright unimaginable. In one game in Houston next Satur- day, No. 4 seed Kentucky will play No. 3 Connecticut — not a completely absurd thought as a Final Four matchup, though hardly a popular pick given their up-and-down regular sea- sons. In the other game, it will be No. 11 Virginia Common- wealth against No. 8 Butler — the team that was almost uni- versally panned when its name was called on Selection Sunday against the defending national runner-up from a 4,500-student campus whose amazing success story had supposedly run its course. ‘‘It never gets old,’’ Bulldogs senior Matt Howard said. Nor does the NCAA tourna- ment, the three-week office pool that places the so-called experts on even footing with those who fill out brackets because they like a team’s col- ors or its mascot. Anything goes. Anyone can win. And never has that been more true than this year. Four teams with a combined 37 losses. Four teams whose combined seeding equals 26, breaking the record of 22 in 2000. Not a single No. 1 seed for only the second time since seeding began in 1979 and, according to STATS LLC., the first time that no 1 or 2 seed will be there. ESPN, which sponsors one of the country’s biggest bracket tournaments, said that out of 5.9 million entries, only two had this foursome making its way to Houston. ‘‘I think what it does as much as anything, it just puts a spin on the NCAA tourna- ment,’’ said Kansas coach Bill Self after his top-seeded team lost 71-61 to VCU. ‘‘It’s wild. ... Because seeds are so overrat- ed. It’s about matchups. And their players could play for us any day.’’ VCU (28-11) got up early on Kansas and never looked back, an upset winner in a tournament that’s all about underdogs. ‘‘Our guys have done a phe- nomenal job of putting all the doubters aside, putting all the people that didn’t believe in us aside and going out and doing their job,’’ VCU coach Shaka Smart said. The Rams are the third No. 11 seed to make the Final Four and the first since George Mason in 2006, also of the Colonial Athletic Conference. But the Rams are the first ever that will need to win seven games — not the usual six — to field. They played in the new ‘‘First Four’’ — an extra round that was added as part of the NCAA’s new $10.8 billion TV deal. Now they’re in the Final Four. They’ll play Butler (27-9), which slumped through big chunks of this season, a some- what predictable result after what was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Final Four last season, played a scant six miles from their Indi- anapolis campus. This year, the destination is Reliant Stadium — 1,036 miles away. The Bulldogs are once again proving that all it takes is good players — not a conference, a big school or gobs of money — to compete on the biggest stage in college sports. MCT photo VCU forward Jamie Skeen (21) powered up a shot as Kansas forward Marcus Morris (22) tried to defend during first-half action. The University of Kansas faced Virginia Commonwealth University in the Southwest Regional Final of the men's NCAA Division I Basketball Championships at the Alamodome on Sunday, in San Antonio,Texas. make it all the way through the NCAA tournament. They were Great Scot! Martin Laird survives early collapse to win Bay Hill ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — All that stood between Martin Laird and victory at Bay Hill were two putts from just inside 90 feet on the 18th hole, which did- n’t seem all that long con- sidering what he already had been through Sunday. First came a stunning collapse that took him from a three-shot lead to a three-shot deficit in a span of seven holes. He was three shots behind when he walked off the 14th green, two shots ahead as he headed to the 17th tee. Laird knocked the first putt up to 3 1/2 feet, then jabbed his fist when he rolled in the par putt to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational. ‘‘That was a hell of a day,’’ Laird said. ‘‘That was a tough fight out there. It was a battle out there, but you know, it makes it even sweeter at the end when I got this trophy.’’ In the toughest final round on the PGA Tour this year, Laird was strong at the end with two birdies and two clutch pars to close with a 3-over water at the flag to 8 feet on the last hole for birdie and a 72. ‘‘You just cannot afford to (waste) shots in the final round — really, at any point in the tourna- ment — if you want to win,’’ Marino said after his third close call this year. ‘‘Unfortunately on 17, that’s exactly what I did. It came back to bite me.’’ Laird, a 28-year-old from Scotland who came to America to play col- lege golf and never left, became the first European to win at Bay Hill. He now heads off to the Mas- ters for the first major of the year, having felt like he just won one. Considering all the MCT photo Martin Laird hits out of a bunker on the first fairway during the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Fla., on Sunday. 75, the highest final round by a winner in the 33-year history at Bay Hill. That two-putt par on the 18th was just enough for a one-shot victory over hard-luck Steve Marino, who lost three shots on two plugged lies in bunkers over the last four holes. Marino fol- lowed a double bogey on the par-3 17th with an all- or-nothing shot over the calamity, it felt as though the U.S. Open have moved from June to March. No one in the last three groups broke par, and those six players were a combined 19-over par. It was a day of sur- vival. For Laird, it turned out to be a remarkable revival. When he pulled his approach from a fairway bunker into the water on No. 11 and made double bogey, he already was 5 over for the round. But while he lost the lead, he See LAIRD, page 2B one of the last at-large teams to make the newfangled 68-team Last season, in one of the most epic finishes in Final Four history, Gordon Hayward’s halfcourt shot banked off glass, nicked off the rim and barely bounded out to leave the Bull- dogs two points short of Duke for the national title. It was a heartbreaker, but maybe one that set the Bulldogs up for a repeat. They’ve won one game by one, another by two and another by three on this year’s road to the Final Four. They beat Florida 74-71 in overtime Saturday to make their second straight trip. ‘‘I think it (last year) helps you with knowing how you need to prepare and what you should do and what you should not do,’’ Howard said. ‘‘I think that will help us.’’ Homers by Betemit, Gordon lift Royals over Giants SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Wilson Betemit hit a three-run homer, Alex Gordon added a two-run shot and the Kansas City Royals beat the San Francisco Giants 7-4 on Sunday. Betemit homered in the fourth off Jonathan Sanchez, who gave up five runs on six hits and a walk in 5 1-3 innings. Gordon’s fifth home run came in the eighth off Ramon Ramirez after Kila Ka’aihue walked. Melky Cabrera doubled twice to raise his Cactus League average to .474. Royals left-hander Jeff Francis picked up the win, allowing one run and six hits in five innings. He struck out six and walked none. Giants minor league outfielder Juan Perez hit a two- run homer off Nate Adcock in the seventh. Jimenez looks sharp for Rockies in win over A’s SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Ubaldo Jimenez looks forward to this opening day assignment even more than his first one. This time he’ll start at home. Jimenez showed he’s set, pitching six shutout innings as a Colorado Rockies split-squad beat the Oakland Athletics 5-2 Sunday. ‘‘I am 100 percent ready for the season to start,’’ Jimenez said. ‘‘I’m happy to be opening at home in front of our fans. We all feel like we have some unfinished business.’’ Jimenez gave up four hits, struck out three and walked none. Four of his five spring starts were scoreless — he also threw six shutout innings in a minor league game. ‘‘That was a wonderful way for an opening day starter to finish the spring,’’ Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. ‘‘He went out there and pitched. He used all his pitches effec- tively.’’ Jimenez will start Friday at home against Arizona. Kevin Kouzmanoff had two hits, his third straight multi- hit game for the A’s. ‘‘Our guys are ready to go,’’ A’s manager Bob Geren said. ‘‘The pitchers have been great. This is a good note for these guys to leave on.’’ The A’s open the annual Bay Bridge exhibition series in San Francisco on Monday night. A’s starter Bobby Cramer went two scoreless innings. Craig Breslow, Brad Ziegler and Jerry Blevins each pitched a shutout inning. Harvick wins at Fontana on final turn pass FONTANA (AP) — Kevin Harvick isn’t one of those dri- vers who jumps out front and stays there all the way to the checkers. He’s more of a lingerer and closer, someone who’s able to stay close to the front then make his move at just the right time. Harvick was at his pass-at- the-end best on Sunday, over- taking California king Jimmie Johnson on the final turn at Auto Club Speedway to win after trailing the entire race. ‘‘I wish we could just go out there and wear ’em out one day, just not have to worry about waiting until the last lap,’’ Har- vick said. ‘‘It does kind of seem we wait until the last moments to really get going. It’s probably somewhat of a bad habit I have, but I guess it worked out.’’ Kyle Busch had the domi- nant car most of the day and led a race-high 151 laps, including off a restart with nine laps left. Johnson, a five-time winner Fontana, had the late burst, chasing down Busch for the lead with two laps left. Harvick, as he always seems to, nailed the finish. He had a rough start to the season, finishing 42nd at Day- tona after a blown engine and hadn’t been able to pull it together since despite having fast cars. His best finish was a fourth at Phoenix. Harvick didn’t have a partic- ularly strong qualifying session at Fontana, either, to start 24th and wasn’t exactly ripping through the field once the race started. What he did do was gradual- ly work his way to the front, pulling up behind Johnson after getting past Busch. Taking advantage of a small gap to the outside, Harvick made his move on Johnson going into Turn 3, then com- pleted it coming around Turn 4. Ahead going down the last straightway, he finished off his becoming-a-trademark finish to take the checkers for the 15th time in his career. ‘‘I really felt good when they had that restart because I knew his car was really fast on the long run,’’ said Richard Chil- dress, owner of Harvick’s No. 29 car. ‘‘I knew if they didn’t get too far out in front of us, we’d have a shot. All we need- ed was to get him side-by-side and start racing. That gave Kevin a chance to catch them and he made the right move going into 3.’’ See PASS, page 2B