Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/660028
ByCliffBrunt TheAssociatedPress NORMAN,OKLA. BuddyHield'sre- sults have usually caught up with his imagination. This season has surpassed even his wildest dreams as Oklahoma heads to the Final Four this week. The senior guard considered leaving for the NBA last year, but returned to school to improve his game and has been nearly unstop- pable this season. He's second in the nation in scoring and averag- ing 29.3 points in the NCAA Tour- nament heading into the national semifinal Saturday night against Villanova. Hield said when he came back to Oklahoma, he knew he had to average at least 17 points. "Maybe 19, 20 points," he said. "To average 25 on a nightly ba- sis is kind of tough to do. Every- body's coming at you, and you've still got to put up huge numbers. It's a blessing." Oklahoma's run to the Fi- nal Four reassured Hield that he made the right decision. The Sooners are rolling and the Baha- mas native is a projected lottery pick after being considered a late first-round or early second-round pick a year ago. "I can't be more happy than this," he said. Oklahoma assistant coach Chris Crutchfield said Hield has improved because he put in the time. "He's been special because he's worked harder," Crutchfield said. "His drive has been way more than anybody else I've coached." Hield shoots 46.5 percent and leads the nation with 4.1 3-point- ers per game. He has been at his best in key moments. He scored 46 points at Kansas and made seven of his eight 3-pointers in the second half on his way to 32 points against LSU. Hield hit a game-winning 3-pointer against Texas and scored 39 in the Big 12 Tournament against Iowa State. In the tournament, he's scored big against VCU and Oregon. A re- peat against Villanova could lift his team to the title game Mon- day against the winner between North Carolina and Syracuse. "A lot of times you talk about guys, especially good players, who have 'it,"' Crutchfield said. "You can't put a tag on it." Hield was mostly a slasher as a freshman, when he started about half the games. He worked on his shot mechanics and became more of a spot-up shooter as a sopho- more. Oklahoma coach Lon Kru- ger said Hield also was persistent with the mental game. "After every practice — and it sounds like I'm exaggerating, but no, it was after every practice — 'Coach, what do I need to work on? What do I need to do?'" Kru- ger said. Hield learned to better balance his shooting and attacking during the second half of his junior year and was named Big 12 Player of the Year. That's when he thought MEN'S NCAA TOURNAMENT HIELD'SFINAL4IS PAYOFF IN RETURN Oklahoma'sstarguardcamebackforseniorseason,optingagainstNBA SUEOGROCKI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield (24) shouts in the second half of a Feb. 13game against Kansas in Norman, Oklahoma. Hield returned to school for his senior season and has the Sooners in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. Hield (24) gestures to the Oklahoma crowd following a second-round game against VCU in the NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City. Hield returned to school for his senior season. ALONZO ADAMS — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE NCAATOURNEYFINAL4 Saturday: Villanova vs. Oklahoma, 3:09p.m., TV on TBS. TUNEIN DIAMONDBACKS 12, A'S 9 Up next: Oakland A's at San Fran- cisco Giants, exhibition, 7:15p.m. Thursday, TV on CSNBA. THESCORE By Rick Eymer The Associated Press MESA, ARIZ. Phil Gosselin had three hits including a triple and five RBIs, Wellington Castillo homered and the Arizona Dia- mondbacks beat the Oakland Ath- letics 12-9 on Wednesday. Shelby Miller pitched four in- nings in his final spring appear- ance, giving up seven runs on seven hits. He walked three and struck out four. Tuffy Gosewisch and Yasmani Tomas also drove in runs for Arizona. A's starter Rich Hill had his best outing of the spring, allowing a pair of runs on two hits over 4 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out two. Every A's position player had one at-bat and left the game for an early flight to Oakland. Top prospects Matt Chapman and Chad Pinder each hit a home run for the A's. Chris Coghlan drove in a pair of runs and Yon- der Alfonso drove in one. Arizona's Jean Segura singled, his 30th hit of the spring, to im- SPRING TRAINING Gosselin's 5 RBIs li D'backs over A's By Anne M. Peterson The Associated Press CORVALLIS, ORE. When Ore- gon State defeated mighty Stan- ford in January for the first time in 29 tries, Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer gave credit to Beavers coach Scott Rueck. In the six seasons since Rueck took over, Oregon State had steadily ticked off the milestones. Beating Stanford was the latest. There were more to come. "He's put them into the na- tional conversation, which is fab- ulous," VanDerveer said. Oregon State's most recent ac- complishment is the program's first-ever NCAA Final Four ap- pearance. The Beavers face unde- feated defending champion Con- necticut in Indianapolis on Sun- day for a chance to play for the national championship. "Did I ever think we could be here in six years?" Rueck said Wednesday. "No way." To fully appreciate how far the Beavers have come, consider that when Oregon State hired Rueck, the team was down to two play- ers and three recruits who were on the fence. The Beavers were in disarray WOMEN'S NCAA Oregon State: Open tryouts to Final Four RICK BOWMER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, le , steals the ball from Utah Jazz guard Shelvin Mack (8) during the first quarter Wednesday in Salt Lake City. By Diamond Leung Bay Area News Group SALT LAKE CITY Out of charac- ter and out of sync for most of the game, the Warriors came back to beat the Utah Jazz 103-96 in over- time on Wednesday to set their franchise record for wins in a sin- gle season. Stephen Curry scored 31 points, going in the paint to score six straight go-ahead points in the extra period before taking a charge. Draymond Green then threw down a thunderous dunk off a pick-and-roll with Curry for the exclamation point, as he finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The Warriors pushed their re- cord to 68-7 and are five wins in seven remaining games from breaking the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' record of 72 victories in a single season. The Warriors got the win against a potential first-round playoff opponent in Utah, which is fighting to make it into the post- season. Scratching and clawing in the second game of a back-to-back in the altitude, the Warriors waited until crunchtime to see their true selves shine. Klay Thompson drilled a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in regulation to tie the score at 89, getting a second try at the shot after Shaun Livingston grabbed an offensive rebound. Green then blocked Shelvin Mack's potential game-winning shot, and Gordon Hayward's follow missed. The Warriors trailed by as many as 10 points in the game and heading into the fourth quar- ter were down 69-63. They shot only 43.8 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers. But the Jazz were also mistake- prone, making only 13 of their 29 free throw attempts. NBA Currytakesoverinovertime Warriors beat Jazz, set franchise record for wins with No. 68 WARRIORS 103, JAZZ 96 (OT) Up next: Boston Celtics at Golden State Warriors, 7:30p.m. Friday, TV on CSNBA, ESPN. THESCORE HIELD PAGE 2 A'S PAGE 2 BEAVERS PAGE 2 WARRIORS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, March 31, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1