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Stinky Sox

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Chicago’s Omar Narvaez had three RBIs, while Jacob Amaya and Miguel Vargas each delivered two-run doubles and Davis Martin pitched six-plus strong innings as the host Chicago White Sox routed the Boston Red Sox 11-1 on Friday.

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Chicago snapped an eight-game losing streak while sending Boston to its fourth loss in five games. The White Sox capitalized on five Red Sox errors to score six unearned runs.

A career outing from Martin (1-1) helped propel the White Sox. The right-hander pitched into the seventh inning for the first time in 22 major-league starts while matching his previous best with six strikeouts.

Martin scattered one run and six hits while walking one. He retired nine straight Boston hitters during one stretch.

Red Sox counterpart Sean Newcomb struggled to keep the White Sox off the bases. Amaya lined a two-run double to left with two outs in the second inning to give Chicago a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

There also were two outs when Vargas contributed a two-run double to start a four-run fourth. Luis Robert followed with a run-scoring single, stole second base and scored on Lenyn Sosa’s RBI single.

Newcomb (0-2) spaced six runs and six hits in four innings with two walks and six strikeouts.

Narvaez extended the White Sox advantage to 7-0 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. He added a two-run single in the seventh.

Boston avoided a shutout in its half of the seventh. A Wilyer Abreu double and Kristian Campbell single chased Martin from the game before Blake Sabol lofted a sacrifice fly against reliever Cam Booser.

Alex Bregman grounded out to third with the bases loaded to end the threat.

Michael A. Taylor collected three hits for Chicago while Brooks Baldwin and Sosa each added two.

White Sox second baseman Chase Meidroth, acquired from the Boston organization in the offseason trade that sent left-hander Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox, made his major-league debut and reached base in all four plate appearances. He posted a single and three walks while scoring two runs.

Abreu and Campbell had two hits apiece for the Red Sox.

Martin, Booser, Penn Murfee and Brandon Eisert combined for 11 strikeouts.

–Field Level Media

Runs Scarce for Sox & Sox

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – “Let’s get some runs” is typically the domain of Chicago’s North Side, where it’s a common refrain at Wrigley Field should the Cubs be trailing at the seventh-inning stretch.

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A weekend series between the host Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox could use an infusion of offense, though.

The White Sox have scored three runs in their past three games entering Friday’s series opener. The Red Sox, meanwhile, needed a bit of good fortune to rally for a 4-3 victory in 10 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday, avoiding a four-game sweep that saw Boston score four runs in the first three games.

Chicago stumbles back home on an eight-game losing streak that includes an 0-6 trip through Detroit and Cleveland.

The White Sox collected just two extra-base hits while being swept by the Guardians — doubles by Austin Slater on Wednesday and Matt Thaiss on Thursday.

Boston rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the eighth inning of its series finale against the visiting Blue Jays, with Trevor Story delivering a game-ending RBI groundout.

Story said the win will “give us something to build on” and ensure a “happy flight” to Chicago.

“It’s been a tough series here with the Blue Jays, but we’re just looking to dominate at home — and we didn’t do that,” Story said.

Right-hander Davis Martin (0-1, 5.73 ERA) gets the call for the White Sox as he aims to recapture the stuff of his first start this season — not his second.

After spacing two unearned runs and four hits in six innings of a March 30 no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels, Martin sputtered on Saturday in Detroit. He yielded seven runs and nine hits, including two home runs, in five innings.

Martin feels he learned a valuable lesson about pitch sequencing from the loss to the Tigers.

“You saw they were jumping on offspeed early and often,” he said. “As we went on, we started switching it to more of a fastball-heavy approach, moving the sinker around, following it up with four-seams, doubling it up with four-seams. So just seeing that earlier, the better.

“Instead of doing that in the third and fourth innings, doing that in the first two or so. Just reading swings, reading those tendencies early in the game is another part of development.”

Martin defeated the Red Sox in his lone career appearance against them, delivering six innings of one-run, three-hit ball in a victory at Fenway Park last September. He walked one and struck out three while working around three hit batsmen.

Lefty Sean Newcomb (0-1, 5.19) will start for the Red Sox. Pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in a doubleheader on Sunday, he turned in a bounce-back effort from his first outing of the season.

Newcomb took a no-decision, spacing one run and six hits in 4 2/3 innings, with three walks and five strikeouts. In his first game, on March 31, he took the loss after giving up four runs on eight hits over four innings of an 8-5 loss at Baltimore.

Newcomb has pitched to a 0.00 ERA in two career relief appearances against the White Sox covering 2 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

Bruins Hand Out Season Awards

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official New Release) – The Boston Bruins announced the recipients of their 2024-25 season awards for the team. Morgan Geekie has been named the recipient of the Eddie Shore Award, given to the player who shows exceptional hustle and determination, as chosen by the “Legacy Season Ticket Holders.”

David Pastrnak has been chosen the winner of the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy, awarded to the player exemplifying outstanding performance on home ice as determined by the Boston chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Parker Wotherspoon has been selected for the John P. Bucyk Award for providing exceptional off-ice charitable contributions, chosen by John Bucyk.

Eddie Shore Award
Bruins forward Morgan Geekie has been selected by the “Legacy Season Ticket Holders” as the 2024-25 Eddie Shore Award winner for demonstrating exceptional hustle and determination throughout the season. The 6-foot-3, 208-pound forward, has appeared in 74 games with the Bruins this season, recording career highs in goals (30), assists (23) and points (53). Among active Boston skaters, the Strathclair, Manitoba native ranks second in goals, points, even strength goals (26), even strength points (44) and power play goals (4).

Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy
David Pastrnak has been selected as the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy recipient for the 2024-25 season for his outstanding performance on home ice this season. Through 39 games at TD Garden this season, the 6-foot, 200-pound forward has totaled 24 goals and 28 assists for 52 points with a plus-17 rating. The Havirov, Czechia native leads the Bruins in goals, assists, points, even strength goals (20), even strength points (42), power play goals (4), power play points (10) and shots (157) in home games this season. This is the second consecutive year and the fourth season that Pastrnak has received the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy (2025, 2024, 2022, 2020).

John P. Bucyk Award
Parker Wotherspoon will receive the John P. Bucyk Award for his contributions in the Boston community this season. Wotherspoon has been involved in several community events including the team’s annual holiday toy shopping, a Halloween visit at Massachusetts General Hospital and various meet and greets. In January 2025, he visited the Richard J. Murphy School to participate in a STEM lesson with a 7th grade classroom. Later in the season, Wotherspoon also participated in a game of goalball with students from the Perkins School for the Blind. The award is named after Bruins legend John P. Bucyk, who is in his 68th season with the organization.

Sox Lose Crochet’s Fenway Debut

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Toronto’s George Springer homered and Easton Lucas pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings to help the visiting Toronto Blue Jays defeat the Boston Red Sox 6-1 on Tuesday in the second game of a four-game series.

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The game was scoreless until Springer hit a solo home run against Garrett Crochet (1-1) in the top of the sixth inning. It was his second home run of the season.

The Blue Jays added three more runs in the sixth, all three unearned as Boston made a pair of two-out throwing errors.

Lucas (2-0) limited Boston to three hits. He struck out eight and walked one.

Crochet, who signed a six-year, $170 million contract extension last week, made his first start at Fenway Park since he joined the Red Sox in an offseason trade with the Chicago White Sox. He allowed four runs (one earned) on five hits in 5 2/3 innings, with four walks and five strikeouts.

Bo Bichette collected three hits and drove in three runs for the Blue Jays, who beat Boston 6-2 on Monday. Springer and Tyler Heineman each had two hits.

After David Schneider reached first on an Alex Bregman throwing error and Myles Straw walked, Toronto extended its lead to 2-0 when Heineman hit an infield single and Schneider scored on second baseman Kristian Campbell’s error on the throw to first. Bichette followed with a two-run single to center that drove in Heineman and Straw to make it 4-0.

Boston scored its lone run in the seventh. Romy Gonzalez doubled and scored on Ceddanne Rafaela’s single. The Red Sox got two hits from both Rafaela and Trevor Story.

The Blue Jays added two runs in the eighth. Bichette drove in Straw with a one-out single, then Heineman scored when Anthony Santander grounded out to second with the bases loaded.

Boston struck out 12 times in the loss.

–Field Level Media

Fenway’s $170 Million Dollar Man

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – After signing a six-year, $170 million contract extension last week to remain with the Red Sox beyond this season, Garrett Crochet will take the mound in Boston for the first time in his new uniform when he opposes the Toronto Blue Jays tonight.

Crochet (1-0, 1.38 ERA) was named Boston’s Opening Day starter after being acquired from the Chicago White Sox in December, and he pitched twice on the club’s season-opening road trip. After getting a no-decision against the Texas Rangers on March 27, he followed up with a dominant outing on Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles.

A day after locking up his long-term deal, the 25-year-old left-hander pitched the first eight innings of a 3-0 win, scattering just four hits and a walk while striking out eight.

“That’s the reason we committed to him,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

Crochet’s latest effort snapped a four-game Boston skid. It also kicked off a five-game Red Sox winning streak that ended with a 6-2 setback in the series opener against Toronto on Monday.

Crochet last went eight innings in a start when he was pitching at the University of Tennessee, and said he hadn’t “sniffed it since.”

Now, he is ready to pitch in front of the home fans for the first time in Boston.

“This is something that I felt at home with right away,” Crochet said. “They made an immediate impression on me, and I couldn’t be more excited to be wearing a Red Sox uniform for the next several years.”

Crochet has faced the Blue Jays just three times in his career, including one start, when he threw six scoreless innings on May 21, 2024. Overall against Toronto, he is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in eight innings.

The Red Sox could use another spark from Crochet after being held to five hits, including two by Jarren Duran, in the series opener.

Duran was in the news earlier Monday after his mental health struggles, including an attempted suicide, were revealed ahead of Netflix’s documentary on the 2024 Red Sox being released.

“It takes a person with courage and being transparent and genuine to do that. I hope that’s how we see it, right?” Cora said. “He will impact others, and he’s going to save lives with what he did with Netflix.”

Toronto’s trend of strong starting pitching continued with a seven-inning, one-run outing from Jose Berrios, who was moved up a day to the series-opening slot. The Blue Jays’ rotation has covered an American League-leading 61 innings.

As a result of the Berrios move, Easton Lucas (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will start on Tuesday. The rookie left-hander tossed five innings of scoreless, one-hit ball against the Washington Nationals in his first major league start on Wednesday.

George Springer went 4-for-4 and had three two-out RBIs to lead Toronto’s 13-hit effort on Monday. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also had multiple hits in his first game after landing a reported 14-year, $500 million extension.

The deal has not been confirmed and a physical remains pending, but it is undoubtedly vital to the future of an organization that has missed on several big free agents in recent offseasons.

“I feel like this is a very exciting day for Blue Jays fans as a whole, to have a guy like Vladdy who will be here for what looks like and sounds like his whole career,” Springer said. “I wholeheartedly believe his name will be hanging up in the stadium one day.”

Toronto manager John Schneider laid out what the big-money deal would mean for the 26-year-old first baseman.

“It’s different. It comes with a lot of … stuff,” he said. “It’s one thing to go out and perform. Expectations come from that, then there are expectations — whether you like it or not — that you’ll have to be a voice, be a face and set an example.”

–Field Level Media

 

FINAL FOUR: GOLDEN’S GATORS

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SAN ANTONIO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – All-America guard Walter Clayton Jr. scored 11 points in the final 15 minutes and made the game’s biggest defensive play with four seconds left as the University of Florida rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to edge Houston, 65-63, in the NCAA championship game Monday night in San Antonio.

Florida’s Will Richard put up 18 points and Alex Condon added 12 as the Gators earned their first national championship since Coach Billy Donovan’s teams won back-to-back championships in 2006 and ’07. Florida led for just 17 seconds before seizing its first second-half lead on Alijah Martin’s two free throws with 46.5 seconds to play.

The Gators (36-4) tied the 1998 Kentucky Wildcats for the third-largest rally in NCAA championship annals. Florida’s Todd Golden, 39, became the youngest coach to win an NCAA title since 37-year-old Jim Valvano and North Carolina State stunned Hakeem Olajuwon and Houston with Lorenzo Charles’ last-second dunk in 1983.

Houston (35-5) fell to 0-3 in national championship sgame despite a game-high 19 points from LJ Cryer. The Cougars had the ball for the final shot and Emanuel Sharp went up for a 3-point attempt with four seconds left, but Clayton flew out at him and Sharp had to drop the ball to the floor to avoid a traveling violation.

Condon dove on the floor to secure the ball and the rest of the Gators started celebrating as the clock hit zero for an improbable victory that looked impossible early in the second half.

After Florida was whistled for its fifth foul of the second half with 17:21 to play — including back-to-back offensive fouls before the Gators could take a shot — Florida’s assistant coaches jumped on the court and were whistled for a technical.

Cryer canned one of the technical free throws, then took the inbounds pass in the corner and swished a 3-pointer to push the lead to 40-30. Houston’s J’Wan Roberts soon followed with a jump hook in the lane to put the Gators behind by 12.

Clayton, who scored a career-high 34 points to guide Florida over Auburn in the semifinals on Saturday, missed his first six shots and committed three turnovers before finally getting on the board with 14:57 to play in the second half when he hit two free throws.

The Gators rallied in the second half behind a 14-3 run. When Clayton drove for a lefty layup — his first field goal of the night — and hit the accompanying free throw, Florida pulled even 48-48 with 7:54 to play.

Neither team could build more than a 3-point lead the rest of the way.

After Martin’s two free throws gave the Gators a 64-63 edge with 46.5 seconds to go, Richard stripped Sharp on a drive. Florida’s Denzel Aberdeen added a free throw to make it a two-point game with 19.7 seconds to go, then Houston called its last timeout to set up the unsuccessful final play.

The Cougars led 31-28 at halftime thanks to seven points from Mylik Wilson.

–Field Level Media

FINAL FOUR: Clayton’s Place

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SAN ANTONIO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Even in his lowest-scoring game of the NCAA Tournament, Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. made his presence felt on both ends of the court late in the national final on Monday.

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The All-America guard rallied the Gators to a 65-63 victory over Houston in San Antonio, a performance that led to his selection as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

Clayton, a senior, finished the title game with 11 points — all in the final 15 minutes — seven assists and five rebounds.

He also made the key defensive play in the final seconds, leaping to prevent Houston’s Emanuel Sharp from getting off a 3-point attempt. The ball fell to the floor, and Florida’s Alex Condon secured it as time expired.

In the Gators’ semifinal victory over Auburn, Clayton amassed a career-high 34 points. That followed his 30-point effort in the Elite Eight against Texas Tech. Clayton is the first player since Larry Bird in 1979 to have back-to-back 30-point games in the Elite Eight and Final Four.

Overall, he averaged 22.3 points, 3.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds in six NCAA Tournament wins as the Gators closed out a 36-4 season. His season norms were 18.3 points, 4.2 assists and 3.7 rebounds.

Clayton explored entering the NBA draft after last season, participating in pro workouts after the Gators went 24-12 and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Colorado. That was his first campaign at Florida after he played two seasons at Iona.

He was chosen the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2022-23 after putting up 16.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for the Gaels.

–Field Level Media

Houston Shocks Duke at Final Four

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SAN ANTONIO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The University of Houston’s LJ Cryer ignited a 14-point comeback in the final 8:02, and teammate J’Wan Roberts made the go-ahead free throws and Houston stunned Duke 70-67 in a memorable Final Four clash between No. 1 seeds on Saturday night at the Alamo Dome.

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Cryer shot 6-of-9 from 3-point range and led the Cougars with 26 points, while Roberts had 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Emanuel Sharp made massive plays down the stretch and finished with 16 points for Houston (35-4), which will face Florida in the national championship game on Monday night.

Duke’s Cooper Flagg had 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks (35-4) but was whistled for a foul with 19 seconds left that allowed Houston to move in front after the Blue Devils led most of the game.

Houston out-rebounded Duke 42-31 to make up for 37.7 percent shooting from the floor. Duke made just 39.4 percent of its shots after hitting at least 50 percent in each of its first four NCAA Tournament games.

Duke appeared safe when Houston’s Joseph Tugler made contact with the ball when the Blue Devils were attempting an inbound with 1:14 to go. Duke received one technical foul shot and possession.

Kon Knueppel (16 points) made the foul shot for a 67-61 lead, but Houston got a stop on Tugler’s block and Sharp made a major 3-pointer to cut it to 67-64.

James’ inbound pass was stolen by Mylik Wilson, and Houston clawed within one on Tugler’s putback dunk with 25 seconds left. The Cougars then fouled Duke, Tyrese Proctor missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Roberts drew a foul from Flagg on the rebound.

Roberts’ free throws gave Houston its first lead since 6-5. Flagg’s midrange floater with eight seconds left hit the front of the rim and Houston got the rebound. Cryer hit two free throws for the final margin.

Flagg hit a jumper at the 10:31 mark of the second half and Proctor added one free throw for a 59-45 lead, but the Blue Devils missed their next six field-goal attempts.

Cryer had a six-point possession thanks to a flagrant-1 foul call on Mason Gillis under the basket when Cryer made a three. Houston got one foul shot and possession, and Cryer hit a jumper to cut it to 59-51 with 7:43 to play.

Houston pulled within 59-55 before Proctor hit two free throws to end a 4:33 Duke scoring drought. Then, Maliq Brown kicked the ball to Flagg in the right corner for a 3-pointer with 3:03 left.

–Field Level Media

Two Great Ones; Different Eras

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ELMONT, NY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) -Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals has finally caught up to Wayne Gretzky, tying him for the most goals scored in an NHL career.

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While they each have 894 goals, the eras in which they played were far from equal.

Ovechkin tied Gretzky’s 31-year-old record by scoring twice in a 5-3 win against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.

The 39-year-old Russian scored 3:52 into the game on a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle off a feed from behind the net, and tied the record at 6:13 of the third with his patented one-timer from the left circle while on a power play.

Gretzky will be back in attendance on Sunday afternoon when Ovechkin goes for No. 895 against the New York Islanders on Long Island.

“It’s really been a wonderful journey for everyone,” said Gretzky, who went on to play five more seasons after breaking Howe’s record. “It’s great for hockey. I’m so happy for the league. I’m so proud of Alex. … Great for the people in Washington and hockey fans all over the world.”

The paths Ovechkin and Gretzky took to 894 were both long and varied.

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Gretzky became the NHL’s all-time goals leader while also serving as the league’s premier playmaker. He totaled more than twice as many assists (1,963) as goals during his 20-year career.

Ovechkin, on the other hand, has been a prototypical goal scorer ever since notching a pair in his NHL debut on Oct. 5, 2005, less than a month after his 20th birthday.

He has 724 assists in his career, producing more assists than goals only five times in his 20 seasons, most recently in 2023-24, when he totaled 31 goals and 34 assists.

Ovechkin’s blistering one-timer has also made him one of the league’s biggest threats on the power play throughout his career.

Ovechkin has an NHL-record 324 power-play goals, more than a third of his goal total.

Gretzky amassed 204 power-play goals in his career, which is 18th on the NHL’s all-time list, but he holds the NHL record with 686 assists with the man-advantage.

Gretzky also didn’t have the benefit of playing 4-on-4 or 3-on-3 overtime during his career, thus he only tallied two overtime goals, compared to 27 for Ovechkin, which is another NHL record.

Overtime was added prior to Gretzky’s fifth season in the league in 1983-84 and remained 5-on-5 until it was changed to 4-on-4 in the 1999-2000 season, one season after Gretzky retired.

Ovechkin joined the NHL the first season the shootout was added after five minutes of overtime, which was later changed to 3-on-3 prior to the 2015-16 season.

Ovechkin had an opportunity to break Gretzky’s record when Chicago pulled its goalie in the waning minutes on Friday, but Ovechkin opted to stay on the bench.

“I said, ‘Let’s wait,’” Ovechkin said.

Ovechkin has taken advantage of previous opportunities to shoot into an unguarded net. Eight of his 41 goals this season have been scored into an unoccupied net, and he owns an NHL record 65 empty-netters for his career.

Gretzky took advantage of empty nets in his career as well, scoring 56, which is second most in NHL history.

There’s no doubt that today’s rules have also made it easier for speedy players to weave from zone to zone, something Gretzky was not always afforded.

One particular rule that was set aside just as Ovechkin’s career was starting in an effort to open up the ice for more scoring was the elimination of a stoppage for a two-line pass.

Previously, teams were not permitted to pass the puck over both their blue line and the red line, preventing long stretch passes.

One of Ovechkin’s favorite hangouts is along the wall at the opponent’s blue line, where he waits for stretch passes to spring him loose.

The goalies who tried to stop Gretzky and Ovechkin have also gone through a makeover.

Netminders today are bigger and more technically sound than during Gretzky’s era, and their equipment also fills up more of the cage.

Ovechkin will try to break Gretzky’s record against one of the best goalies in the NHL, five-time All Star Ilya Sorokin.

Gretzky will be ready to congratulate Ovechkin if he does.

“When I broke Gordie’s record my dad told me that same night, ‘Be as proud of the guy that breaks your record,’ ” Gretzky said. “When I was breaking Gordie Howe’s record, he was there. And I said two years ago that if Alex gets close to my record, I’ll be here.”

-Field Level Media

Final Four: Duke vs. Houston

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SAN ANTONIO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – As Duke and Houston prepare to battle Saturday night in San Antonio, the story of the Final Four matchup between these No. 1 seeds is a contrast of two basketball powers at different stages of evolution.

The Blue Devils (35-3), appearing in their 18th Final Four and seeking their sixth national title, are the blue blood du jour. They’re the ones with the presumptive No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft, and the team many believe is the best in the sport.

The Cougars (34-4) have made their seventh national semifinal, on par with the likes of Villanova and UConn. But the program most associated with “Phi Slama Jama” has yet to win its first national championship, and this season Houston has not enjoyed the same attention as Duke or the Southeastern Conference despite winning 17 games in a row.

J’Wan Roberts, in his fifth season at Houston, said this week that being overlooked suits the gritty Cougars just fine.

“We’re probably not the big-name school or whatever. We’re just Houston, in Third Ward,” Roberts said. “We probably don’t get the respect that we need, but I think that’s something that puts a fire under us and us keeping a chip on our shoulder.”

Roberts was a freshman on the Houston team that made the 2021 Final Four. He’s blossomed into the Cougars’ top rebounder (6.3 per game) and vocal leader. The forward is one of four Cougars scoring in double figures (10.7 ppg), behind L.J. Cryer (15.4), Emanuel Sharp (12.7) and Milos Uzan (11.6).

The main X’s and O’s question of this Final Four matchup is how Houston’s No. 1 KenPom defense will counter Duke’s No. 1 KenPom offense — and how Duke phenom Cooper Flagg will fare against the Cougars’ man-to-man.

Duke has shot 56.2 percent from the floor and 47.3 percent from 3-point range this tournament, averaging 91.8 points per game. Houston has allowed just 37.6 percent shooting and 24.0 percent on 3-pointers in four games, allowing only one opponent to exceed 60 points.

“You talk about five guys moving together on defense, they’re the best at it,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “They’re the best at it no matter what you do. You really have to take advantage of that window of opportunity, and then you have to go north-south. You can’t be going east-west against these guys.”

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Flagg (18.9 ppg) can score in bunches, but Houston’s lengthy frontcourt of Roberts, Ja’Vier Francis and Joseph Tugler may prioritize neutralizing him and lob threat Khaman Maluach.

Then the Cougars must deal with a Duke backcourt of Kon Knueppel, Tyrese Proctor and Sion James, all of whom are 40 percent 3-point shooters or better.

Scheyer has reached his first Final Four in his third year since succeeding Mike Krzyzewski. But he’s no stranger to the weekend, having made it with Duke as a player (2010) and an assistant (2015, 2022).

“Walking out there (Thursday) for practice, I was just soaking it in like when I was 22 years old walking out for the first time,” Scheyer said.

“… At the same time, I feel we belong here. I feel this is what we’ve worked for. So there’s that combination of amazing pride, wanting to soak it in, but then the incredible hunger and understanding what a challenge this game is going to be on Saturday.”

Scheyer and Houston coach Kelvin Sampson both expressed high respect for one another and revealed that they played a closed-door preseason scrimmage in 2022.

Sampson dubbed Proctor (12.5 ppg) a “professional role player” and complimented James (8.7 points, 4.2 rebounds), Duke’s less-heralded fifth starter.

“The brilliance of Jon is how he insulated those (freshmen) with veteran guys, and they don’t get talked about enough,” Sampson said. “Sion James when he was at Tulane — smart, tough, winner. For them to identify him, evaluate him and say, ‘That’s what we need with these three.’”

–Field Level Media