Digital Sports Desk

March Madness Tip-Off

March 20, 2025 by Digital Sports Desk

While We’re Young (Ideas) – Special NCAA Edition

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

PROVIDENCE – Highly respected sports industry guru Tony Ponturo, he of multi-time nominee and winner for both the Most Powerful Man in Sports and in the theatre industry, wrote a thought-leadership book entitled, “Revenge of the C+ Student.” Ponturo, a two time TONY Award winner for his efforts on Broadway, reviving “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and producing 2010 Best Musical “Memphis,” helped make the brands “Bud” and “Bud Light” household names on a worldwide basis. Just ask The Budweiser Clydesdales.

Ponturo spent 26 years selling Bud, the exact same amount of time this columnist spent working for David Stern at the National Basketball Association. Looking at those two parallel lines, and enlightened by Ponturo’s book and his transcript, I’d love to author a similar sports business practice book and I’d call it, “At Least I Was Good at Geography.”

To wit, I give you this year’s brackets for NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball.

In the East, we have:

No. 2 Alabama
No. 3 Wisconsin
No. 4 Arizona
No. 5 Oregon
No. 6 BYU (Utah)
No. 7 St. Mary’s Moraga (California)
No. 14 Montana

In the West, we have:

No. 1 Florida

No. 2 St. John’s (New York)

No. 3 Texas Tech (Lubbock, Texas)

No. 4 Maryland

No. 5 Memphis (Tennessee)

No. 6 Missouri

No. 8 UConn (Hartford, Connecticut area)

No. 9 Oklahoma

No. 14 UNC Wilmington (North Carolina)

No. 16 Norfolk State (Norfolk, Virginia)

There’s a few more.

In the South, there’s Michigan State (Lansing), Marquette (Wisconsin), Yale (New Haven, Connecticut), and Michigan (Ann Arbor) – four schools where you can’t get much further North, unless Canada does become the 51st State and UConn is south of Yukon.

In the Midwest, the bracket claims, UCLA (Los Angeles), Gonzaga (Spokane, Washington), Utah State (Logan, Utah), and then a slew of Southeastern or Southern schools like Wofford (Spartanburg, South Carolina), High Point (North Carolina), Clemson (South Carolina), Kentucky, McNeese (Lake Charles, Louisiana), Tennessee and Georgia.

There are other examples, but you surely get the point.

In recent years, the NCAA made adjustments to the brackets so an Eastern team such as St. John’s (full disclosure as my alma mater) can play in the West Regional but remain in Providence, Rhode Island to do so. But, success in Providence sends teams in that pod to San Francisco while a successful weekend in Seattle for Arizona or Oregon sends a team to Newark New Jersey.

The tournament itself increased from 64 to 68 teams in 2001, so we’ve been bickering about this stuff for decades. Still, there is no resolve and it’s pretty bad when there’s no Big East team in the East.

Admittedly, this is nothing new being reported. The days of a truly East vs West NCAA Tournament went out with the 16 team set-up which gave the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in New York the golden opportunity of securing a very deep field in the late ‘60s and early ‘70’s. As the times changed and the Big Dance played to a bigger ballroom of dancers, the money kicked in and TV programmers maxed-out the billions being spent.

Suffice it to say, the names of the regionals should no longer be East, West, South and Midwest, and maybe the NCAA should take a page out of the NHL’s book and rename the basketball regionals something like:

Lester Patrick
Conn Smythe
James Norris
Charles Francis Adams

Joking aside, it’s time to rid the tournament of its D- grade in Geography, as the Men’s and Women’s basketball committees divvy-up the schools with goals other than to stack them to represent a region of the USA.

May it be suggested:

Dave Gavitt Division (East)
John Wooden Division (West)
Ray Meyer Division (Midwest)
Guy Lewis Division (South-Texas-Southwest representation)

Those names, in tribute of Dave Gavitt (founder of the BIG EAST), John Wooden (the great UCLA coach), Ray Meyer (coached Chicago’s DePaul University from 1942 to 1984) and Guy Lewis (coach of University of Houston from 1956 to 1986). To pay proper respect to college basketball in the United States, the Most Outstanding Player from each division would be recognized and awarded with:

Gavitt MOP received the Patrick Ewing Trophy
Wooden MOP honored with the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy
Meyer MOP receives the Oscar Robertson Trophy
Lewis MOP honored with the Junior Bridgeman Trophy

Should the tournament choose to expand, we could very easily add:

Gonzaga Division (Northwest) – MOP award John Stockton Trophy
Coach K Division (Southeast) – MOP gets the Michael Jordan Trophy (apologies to Grant Hill, Ralph Sampson, Artis Gilmore and Len Bias).

Those two divisional mentioned do not need further explanation, I hope.

The bottom line as the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament begins, is that the famed, crack committee did a pretty good job of selecting the right teams and fairly distributing them across the four existing regional pods, sans the Group of Death they sent out West.

The West is so stacked, a hot team like Florida, after its No. 1 vs No. 16 tilt against Norfolk State, will have a rough road to the Final 4, including:

Winner of UConn v.Oklahoma
Winner of Memphis v. Colo State/or/Maryland v. Grand Canyon
A Regional Final against No. 2 St. John’s or others (Kansas/Texas Tech) etc

There’s gotta be a better way.

They were partying at West End Johnnies at an NCAA Regional in Boston

PICKS: Here are a few picks that are going into a combination of my two or three bracket submission with friends and family. (Note: I always bang out one bracket on Selection Sunday night and set it aside). Then with more thought and research I do another bracket for use in pools.

TEAMS CONSIDERED HOT: These teams were playing the best over the past few weeks and into their conference tournaments:

Florida
Duke
Houston
Auburn
Tennessee
Michigan State
St John’s
Alabama
Texas Tech
Iowa State

FACTS: In the Round of 64, the higher seed wins 71.5% and that includes No. 8 v. No. 9 which are really equal … In the Second Round, the better seeds win at a 73.1% clip. After that, the advantage for the higher seeds declines gradually:

Sweet 16 – 63.8% victory pace for higher seed
Elite 8 – 55%

In terms of vulnerable seeds since 2009, the No. 6 seeds are (29-31) against the No. 11s. In just the last 10 years, No. 11 seeds are 22-18 vs. No. 6

Applying the 6 vs 11 raw data to this particular year’s bracket set-up surfaces a few interesting upset possibilities:

In the East bracket, can No. 11 VCU upset No. 6 BYU in Denver where you have to figure in the travel and altitude?
In the South, No. 6 Ole Miss has to play the hot play-in winner of North Carolina.
In the West, No. 6 Missouri (22-11) has a tough draw vs. No. 11 Drake (30-3).
And, in the Midwest bracket, No. 6 Illinois will face play-in winner Xavier, a team that finished the Big East regular season quite strong with seven straight victories to close out the season before meeting and losing to Marquette at the Garden.

The teams entering the tournament that have executed the best in terms of both Offensive and Defensive efficiency:

Auburn
Duke
Florida
Houston
Arizona
Tennessee
Louisville

Not to bore anyone with a full Round-by-Round, Pick-by-Pick selection show, (see Jay Bilas’ column on ESPN.com as he does a much better job than everyone else put together), I’ll simply list my Regional Finalist predictions. Yes, they are rather high seeds.

East: Duke vs. Wisconsin
Midwest: Houston vs. Tennessee
South: Auburn vs. Michigan State
West: Florida vs St. John’s

No matter what – whether your bracket is torn up tomorrow or your favorite team survives and advances – it’s time for March Madness. Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the spectacle of the best of College Basketball (Men’s and Women’s) with a love of the game and not the X and O marks on a piece of paper, otherwise known in American culture as “your bracket.”

TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook | Special

March 16, 2025 by Digital Sports Desk

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

PROVIDENCE – Highly respected sports industry guru Tony Ponturo, he of multi-time nominee and winner for both the Most Powerful Man in Sports and in the theatre industry, wrote a thought-leadership book entitled, “Revenge of the C+ Student.”Ponturo, a two time TONY Award winner for his efforts on Broadway, reviving “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and producing 2010 Best Musical “Memphis,” helped make the brands “Bud” and “Bud Light” household names on a worldwide basis. Just ask The Budweiser Clydesdales.

To wit, I give you this year’s brackets for NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball.

In the East, we have:

No. 2 Alabama
No. 3 Wisconsin
No. 4 Arizona
No. 5 Oregon
No. 6 BYU (Utah)
No. 7 St. Mary’s Moraga (California)
No. 14 Montana

In the West, we have:

No. 1 Florida
No. 2 St. John’s (New York)
No. 3 Texas Tech (Lubbock, Texas)
No. 4 Maryland
No. 5 Memphis (Tennessee)
No. 6 Missouri
No. 8 UConn (Hartford, Connecticut area)
No. 9 Oklahoma
No. 14 UNC Wilmington (North Carolina)
No. 16 Norfolk State (Norfolk, Virginia)

There’s a few more.

There are other examples, but you surely get the point.

In recent years, the NCAA made adjustments to the brackets so an Eastern team such as St. John’s (full disclosure: it’s my alma mater) can play in the West Regional but remain in Providence, Rhode Island to do so. But, success in Providence sends teams in that pod to San Francisco while a successful weekend in Seattle for Arizona or Oregon sends a team to Newark, New Jersey.

Lester Patrick
Conn Smythe
James Norris
Charles Francis Adams

May it be suggested:

Dave Gavitt Division (East)
John Wooden Division (West)
Ray Meyer Division (Midwest)
Guy Lewis Division (South-Texas-Southwest representation)

Gavitt MOP received the Patrick Ewing Trophy
Wooden MOP honored with the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy
Meyer MOP receives the Oscar Robertson Trophy
Lewis MOP honored with the Junior Bridgeman Trophy

Should the tournament choose to expand, we could very easily add:

Gonzaga Division (Northwest) – MOP award John Stockton Trophy
Coach K Division (Southeast) – MOP gets the Michael Jordan Trophy (apologies to Grant Hill, Ralph Sampson, Artis Gilmore and Len Bias).

Those two divisional mentioned do not need further explanation, I hope.

The West is so stacked, a hot team like Florida, after its No. 1 vs No. 16 tilt against Norfolk State, will have a rough road to the Final 4, including:

Winner of UConn v.Oklahoma
Winner of Memphis v. Colo State/or/Maryland v. Grand Canyon
A Regional Final against No. 2 St. John’s or others (Kansas/Texas Tech) etc

There’s gotta be a better way.

They were partying at West End Johnnies at an NCAA Regional in Boston

TEAMS CONSIDERED HOT: These teams were playing the best over the past few weeks and into their conference tournaments:

Florida
Duke
Houston
Auburn
Tennessee
Michigan State
St John’s
Alabama
Texas Tech
Iowa State

Sweet 16 – 63.8% victory pace for higher seed
Elite 8 – 55%

In terms of vulnerable seeds since 2009, the No. 6 seeds are (29-31) against the No. 11s. In just the last 10 years, No. 11 seeds are 22-18 vs. No. 6

Applying the 6 vs 11 raw data to this particular year’s bracket set-up surfaces a few interesting upset possibilities:

In the East bracket, can No. 11 VCU upset No. 6 BYU in Denver where you have to figure in the travel and altitude?
In the South, No. 6 Ole Miss has to play the hot play-in winner of North Carolina.
In the West, No. 6 Missouri (22-11) has a tough draw vs. No. 11 Drake (30-3).
And, in the Midwest bracket, No. 6 Illinois will face play-in winner Xavier, a team that finished the Big East regular season quite strong with seven straight victories to close out the regular season before meeting and losing to Marquette at the Garden.

The teams entering the tournament that have executed the best in terms of both Offensive and Defensive efficiency:

Auburn
Duke
Florida
Houston
Arizona
Tennessee
Louisville

East: Duke vs. Wisconsin
Midwest: Houston vs. Tennessee
South: Auburn vs. Michigan State
West: Florida vs St. John’s

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | March 16

March 16, 2025 by Digital Sports Desk

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief, Digital Sports Desk

NEW YORK – At one point in 2023, this column took a deep dive into a lifetime of memories created within New York City’s Madison Square Garden. It’s worthwhile to take a look back at that column and soak in the many experience from such a magical world.

This week, writing from a press room we used to call “The Rotunda” but now renamed “The Expo,” it’s time to recall the rise of the Big East Conference, which began in 1979-80 but didn’t make “The Garden” its post-season HQ until 1983 after fiddling around with a moving post season home that included:

1980 – Providence Civic Center (Georgetown 87-81 over Syracuse)
1981 – Carrier Dome (Syracuse 83-80 over Villanova)
1982 – Hartford Civic Center (Georgetown 72-54 over Villanova)

In ‘83, the tournament moved to The Garden, and the BIG EAST never looked back, finding the perfect meeting place for a bevy of teams taking the subway, the Tubes, Amtrak or an easy flight into town. When the conferences played square-dancing do-si-do and Val Ackerman was named Commissioner, she and the “Catholic 7” school presidents made sure they kept the rights to play at MSG. Then Ackerman re-upped to the point where this year marks the 43rd consecutive season the BIG EAST champion has been crowned at The Garden.

Just last season, Ackerman and Garden event guru Joel Fisher announced the tournament will continue to be held at The Garden through 2032, ensuring “The World’s Most Famous Arena” will host 50 consecutive BIG EAST men’s basketball tournaments.

Ackerman and the Big East are not just about men’s hoops, as Ackerman was formerly the President of the WNBA (1996-2005) and represents women’s sports about as strongly as anyone in the USA. All totaled, sponsored athletic programs of the Big East institutions provides big time college participation opportunities for more than 3,800 student-athletes on over 200 men’s and women’s teams in 22 sports.

The memories of the past run deep (as the link to column above connects), but what’s most important is that new memories are being created each and every year. The future is quite bright, as long as Ackerman is in the Commissioner’s chair and the game officials continue to excel by allowing the players, ahem, student-athletes to determine the outcomes with a “let them play” style. That works, as long as the teams are evenly matched and there’s no B.S. or malicious intent on the physical nature of the game.

At this tournament, the game officials just might be the MVPs.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: While the topic is NCAA college basketball, here’s to sharing my United States Basketball Writers’ annual choices for men’s and women’s All-Americans, and the Wayman Tisdale Rookie award, along with the Hank IbaCoach of the Year award:

Men’s All American Vote (Ranked)

Men’s All-America 1 – Johni Broome, Auburn

Men’s All-America 2 – Cooper Flagg, Duke

Men’s All-America 3 – RJ Davis, North Carolina

Men’s All-America 4 – Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton

Men’s All-America 5 – Kam Jones, Marquette

Men’s All-America 6 – Mark Sears, Alabama

Men’s All-America 7 – RJ Luis, St. John’s

Men’s All-America 8 – Hunter Dickenson, Kansas

Men’s All-America 9 – Caleb Love, Arizona

Men’s All-America 10 – Alex Karaban, U Conn

Men’s All-America 11 – Kadary Richmond, St. John’s

Men’s All-America 12 – Ace Bailey, Rutgers

Men’s All-America 13 – Eric Dixon, Villanova

Men’s All-America 14 – Dylan Harper, Rutgers

Men’s All-America 15 – Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest

Men’s Most Outstanding Player Vote (Ranked)

Oscar Robertson Trophy 1 – Cooper Flagg, Duke

Oscar Robertson Trophy 2 – Johni Broome, Auburn

Oscar Robertson Trophy 3 – Cam Jones, Marquette

Wayman Tisdale Rookie (First Year) Player of the Season Vote (Ranked)

Tisdale Award 1 – Cooper Flagg, Duke

Tisdale Award 2 – Liam McNeeley, U Conn

Tisdale Award 3 – Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn

Hank Iba Award for National Coach of the Year Vote (Ranked)

Henry Iba Award 1 – Bruce Pearl, Auburn

Henry Iba Award 2 – Tom Izzo, Michigan State

Henry Iba Award 3 – Rick Pitino, St. John’s

On the women’s side, here is my All-American ballot:

Women’s All-America 1 – Paige Bueckers, U Conn

Women’s All-America 2 – JuJu Watkins, USC

Women’s All-America 3 – Lauren Betts, UCLA

Women’s All-America 4- Madison Booker, Texas

Women’s All-America 5 – Ta’Niya Latson, Florida State

Women’s All-America 6 – Aneesah Morrow, LSU

Women’s All-America 7- Hailey Van Lith, TCU

Women’s All-America 8 – Olivia Miles, Notre Dame

Women’s All-America 9 – Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame

Women’s All-America 10 – Georgia Amoore, Kentucky

Women’s All-America 11 – Kiki Rice, UCLA

Women’s All-America 12 – Mikaylah Williams, LSU

Women’s All-America 13 – Izzy Higginbottom, Arkansas

Women’s All-America 14 – Grace Larkins, South Dakota

Women’s All-America 15 – Joyce Edwards, South Carolina

HAVERBACK: Also, of importance, the USBWA recognized the long service to the game of women’s basketball by Rose DiPaula, Director of Strategic Communications and Content Development at the University of Maryland, who was honored with the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Mary Jo Haverbeck Award winner for 2025. … The award is presented annually to recognize those in women’s college basketball who have rendered a special service to the USBWA and sportswriters who cover college basketball. It is named after the late Mary Jo Haverbeck, the longtime women’s sports communications director at Penn State who passed away in January 2014. The award pays tribute to Haverbeck for her pioneering and visionary work as one of the first women to work in the sports communication profession.

BIG EAST LEGEND: After the press conferences were completed on Friday night, St. John’s coach Rick Pitino presented John Paquette, the retiring BIG EAST head of communications (since Day 1), with an “official” No. 35 St. John’s uniform/jersey to commemorate Paquette’s 35 years of service to the BIG EAST conference. A classy move by Pitino and St. John’s players/athletic staff as Paquette had only announced his decision to retire (at the end of the school year) this week. “While it’s impossible to imagine a BIG EAST world without John Paquette in it, we join in the chorus of congratulations that we know will come his way with this announcement,” said BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman. “The BIG EAST will be eternally grateful to John for countless late nights, unrelenting travel, his unmatched knowledge about our proud history, and the extraordinary relationships he’s developed with media members across the country. Simply put, few have done more for the BIG EAST than John. We wish him, Debbie, Phil, Charlotte, Terry, and his family nothing but the best as they begin this new family chapter.” Paquette has been active in College Sports Communicators (CSC) – (formerly the SIDs), the national trade organization of college athletics communicators. He has served terms on the CSC Executive Board and Board of Directors and was CSC President for the 2023-24 academic year. Paquette is a member of the CSC Hall of Fame. He’s also mentored countless communications staffers and interns who have gone on to enjoy productive careers in the sports industry.

TIDBITS: Red Sox Slugger Rafael Devers made his 2025 spring training debut on Saturday. He batted second, ahead of INF Alex Bregman and INF Trevor Story. … San Francisco Giants right fielder Jerar Encarnacion is tied for the MLB spring training lead in RBI with 13. … Throughout spring training, the New York Mets pitching staff has raved about teammate Clay Holmes’ “stuff,” saying it’s been “nasty” which is the ultimate compliment. On Friday, Holmes was named as the starter for the Mets’ March 27 in Houston. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, is converting a career reliever to a starter over the past few months and like what he’s seen. … It’s Selection Sunday, and the Southeast Conference might get a load of invites to the Big Dance. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey believes it would be “justified” (his word not ours) for his conference to receive as many as 14 bids to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. “It’s a unicorn league right now. We’re not going to change our name, but we stand alone historically. And I think that’ll be rewarded,” said Sankey as noted in D-1 ticker. “We went 30-4 against the ACC,” he added. … St. John’s went (0-1) against the SEC, dropping a November 24 game to Georgia (66-63). … Villanova relieved head coach Kyle Neptune of his duties after three years at the help. Neptune was an assistant to the NCAA chmpionship coach Jay Wright and went to Fordham for a year or so, turning around the Rams’ fortunes before returning to ‘Nova. The Villanova job is one of the gems of college basketball coaching. They’ll be lining up for interviews in Philly.

THIS JEST IN: Red Sox spring training signee Trayce Thompson leads the Majors in spring training Home Runs with six. He also leads the Grapefruit League in OPS (1.585) and has hit .357 (10-for-28) with 13 RBI in 14 games. At the moment, there’s no clarity on whether the 33-year old veteran MLB outfielder with a career .212 batting average will make the big league club or not. There’s a decent chance he’ll get picked up by another club if the Sox part ways when camp breaks or he might become a fill-in for Wilyer Abreu, who may or may not be ready for Opening Day after a gastrointestinal virus caused him to lost a significant amount of weight this spring. Abreau, however, was in the Red Sox starting lineup on Saturday, batting eighth.

YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: There were multiple reports this week on the upcoming fate of the MSG Network and its counterpart in the amazing Sphere venue – the combination being Sphere Entertainment. According to reports in Front Office Sportsa month ago and many financial reports this week, Sphere reported financial results for the three months ending Dec. 31. Revenue declined 2% to $308 million with a net loss of $126 million for the fourth quarter. The company also warned that bankruptcy is an option for the regional sports network if it cannot refinance its $804 million in debt that originally came due last October 11. The RSN’s debt sits within the MSG arm, and creditors can’t make a claim on Sphere. The company and its lenders have entered into several forbearance agreements to extend the deadline, with the current expiration date on March 26. … In other words, “It could be trouble for MSG Net.” … Now, why is that such a “You Can’t Make It Up” item? It seems New York Knicks franchise owner James Dolan – who has been on a two-year rant on this topic – called for a financial resolution to be voted on at this month’s NBA Board of Governors meeting as he’s asking for clearer accounting of the league’s finances, according to a letter received this week by the league office and the NBA Board of Governors. Back in September, Dolan said he wouldn’t be voting on the league’s 2024-25 budget or voting for a chairman of the board. … What’s his beef? … Last year, Dolan sent another letter criticizing the league for its new television deal, which he said would render regional sports networks as “unviable” moving forward. … “The NBA has made the move to an NFL model — deemphasizing and depowering the local market,” Dolan wrote in the letter, which was obtained by ESPN. “Soon, your only revenue concern will be the sale of tickets and what color next year’s jersey will be. Don’t worry, because due to revenue pooling, you are guaranteed to be neither a success nor a failure.

“Of course, to get there, the league must take down the successful franchises and redistribute to the less successful. This new media deal goes a long way to accomplishing that goal,” wrote Dolan and his attorney. … The NBA signed a new 11-year media rights deal worth $76 billion, granting broadcast rights on behalf of the league to ESPN/ABC, NBCUniversal, and Amazon Prime Video, starting in the 2025-26 season. This agreement will significantly increase the number of nationally televised games and thus limited individual team “home broadcasts.” … In summary, a guy who is bankrupting a regional sports network, complete with linear and streaming rights in the No.1 major market in the USA, is now peering into the line-by-line operation of the league office which has helped increase franchise values from some $32.5 million (expansion of 1998-99) to $125m (expansion of 1995) to some $4 or $5 or even $6 billion in 2025, according to recent reports of the proposed sale of Boston Celtics. He’s seeking minutia from a league office that took the national TV deal from $88m in 1982-83 to its current $76 billion?

C’mon now.

Interestingly, New York Mets club owner Steve Cohen recently added more than 400,000 shares to his position in Sphere Entertainment through his Point72 Asset Management hedge fund, according to a Feb. 14 SEC filing. It pushed the billionaire’s stake in Sphere to 7.3%, according to a report this week in Sportico.

What do the Mets see that MSG/Knicks/Rangers do not?

St. John’s Wins Big East Title

March 15, 2025 by Digital Sports Desk

NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – It was 25 years in the making and it came in the same year legendary St. John’s coach Lou Carnesecca passed away just before his 100th birthday.

Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr scored 27 of his 29 points in the second half, and the top-seeded St. John’s Red Storm pulled away to secure an 82-66 victory over second-seeded Creighton. With the victory, which surely had the late Coach Carnesecca smiling down with blessings upon his team on Saturday night, the Red Storm secured its first Big East conference tournament championship since 2000. With it comes an automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and a likely No. 2 seed.

Embed from Getty Images

The Red Storm (30-4), ranked No. 6 in the nation, won their ninth straight game by overcoming an early eight-point deficit a day after rallying from a 15-point deficit to beat Marquette Friday night in the semifinals.

The tournament’s most valuable player, Luis was 1 of 5 in the first half before making 10 of 13 shots as St. John’s dominated the second half. The Red Storm made 14 straight shots to turn a 41-38 deficit with 12:53 left into a 70-55 bulge with 5:16 remaining.

Luis scored 12 points during the decisive barrage, which started when Zuby Ejiofor hit a jumper and completed a 3-point play to forge a 41-41 tie. The Red Storm never trailed after Deivon Smith’s tough jumper in the lane countered a Steven Ashworth 3 and put the Red Storm up 45-44 with 11:07 left.

Luis took over from there, hitting two 3s and three layups in the Red Storm’s dominating 25-11 blitz.

Ejiofor followed up his career-high 33-point showing against Marquette by contributing 13 of his 20 in the second half. Kadary Richmond contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds as the Red Storm shot 71.9 percent in a 57-point second half and 52.3 percent overall.

Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 15 on 7-of-10 shooting for the Bluejays (24-10), who lost their fifth title game in five tries since joining the Big East from the Missouri Valley in the 2013-14 season. Jackson McAndrew added 14 while Ashworth and Jamiya Neal contributed 13 apiece as Creighton shot 43.3 percent and misfired on 20 of 26 3-point attempts.

Embed from Getty Images

The Blue Jays made seven of their first eight shots and opened a 17-9 lead on a basket by McAndrew with 13:22 remaining. Creighton made four of its final 22 shots and St. John’s sliced the deficit to 28-25 by halftime.

Luis hit a corner 3 to forge a 38-38 tie with 14:26 left, and Ejiofor completed a 3-point play nearly two minutes later for a 41-41 deadlock. After St. John’s took its first lead, Ashworth hit a 3 over Vincent Iwuchukwu with 11 1/2 minutes left. St. John’s Smith hit a jumper in the lane, and Richmond made a strong move to the rim for a 47-44 lead a little over a minute later.

After Neal dunked to get Creighton within 49-48, Luis converted a crafty layup off a bounce pass from Smith for a 58-50 lead with about 7 1/2 minutes left.

– Field Level Media

Celtics, Tatum Defeat the Heat

March 15, 2025 by Digital Sports Desk

MIAMI – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 28 points, leading the visiting Boston Celtics to a 103-91 win over the slumping Miami Heat on Friday night. Boston (48-19) also got 25 points from Jrue Holiday, who made 10 of 15 shots, including shooting 5-of-8 on 3-pointers.

Derrick White was key for the Celtics as he scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter. Through three quarters, he was 0-for-6 on 3-pointers. But he made 3-of-5 from deep in the fourth quarter.

The Heat (29-37), who are 9-25 versus teams with a record of .500 or more, have lost a season-high six straight games. A 10-2 run early in the fourth quarter keyed by a White trey gave the Celtics breathing room and they cruised from there.

Boston, which is 16-4 over its past 20 games, made 19 3-pointers to just 13 for Miami.

Andrew Wiggins led Miami with 23 points, and the Heat got 19 points and a game-high six assists from Tyler Herro.

Boston’s Jaylen Brown, the reigning NBA Finals MVP, sat out the game due to a right-knee injury. Boston replaced the 6-6 Brown with 7-1 Luke Kornet in the starting lineup.

Miami switched up its starting lineup, too, but not due to injury. The Heat started Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Duncan Robinson in place of Kel’el Ware and Davion Mitchell … but to no avail.

To open the game, Boston made its first five shots to take a 14-6 lead. The first four of those shots were 3-pointers.

Miami, though, hung in there, trailing just 30-23 by the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Heat tied the score 37-37 on a 3-pointer by Mitchell. After a Celtics miss, Miami took its first lead of the game, 39-37, on a Pelle Larsson cutting dunk with 5:34 left in the half.

Miami held Boston to 25.0 percent shooting in the second quarter as the teams went into halftime tied, 50-50. Miami shot 61.1 percent in the second quarter, including a 12-4 edge in paint points.

Holiday led all first-half scorers with 16 points. Wiggins had 14 points for Miami.

Miami led by as many as five points in the third, but the Celtics recovered to take a 78-77 lead into the fourth.

Boston then started the fourth with its 10-2 run, and Miami never got back on top.

–Field Level Media

Green Carries Creighton Over UConn

March 14, 2025 by Digital Sports Desk

NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Creighton’s Jasen Green scored a career-high 19 points and second-seeded Blue Jays withstood a comeback try by third-seeded UConn and earned a 71-62 victory Friday night in the semifinals of the Big East tournament.

Embed from Getty Images

The Creighton Bluejays (24-9) advanced to the championship game for the fifth time since joining the Big East, but they have yet to win the title. Creighton will face top-seeded St. John’s, which pulled away to beat Marquette 79-63 in the first semifinal.

Green made all seven of his shots in the first half, and the Bluejays led by 11 at halftime. He got his only second-half basket with 2:43 left when he sank a turnaround jumper at the left side of the paint over Alex Karaban, who was playing with four fouls.

Green, who entered averaging 4.3 points, eclipsed his previous career high of 14 against Georgetown set Feb. 23. He scored one point in 21 minutes during Creighton’s double-overtime comeback win over 10th-seeded DePaul on Thursday.

The biggest night of Green’s career occurred when UConn keyed on Ryan Kalkbrenner and held the star center to 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting.

Kalkbrenner had help from others besides Green. Jamiya Neal also scored 19, including a dunk in the final seconds that infuriated the Huskies and resulted in double technical fouls. Steven Ashworth contributed 12 a night after hitting the tying 3 with 21 seconds left in regulation.

The Bluejays shot 75 percent in the opening half and 52 percent overall.

Solo Ball and Liam McNeeley scored 13 apiece as the Huskies (23-10) had their five-game winning streak halted. Hassan Diarra added 11, but Karaban was held to six on 3-of-10 shooting and picked up his fourth foul with about 15 1/2 minutes left.

McNeeley made 6 of 20 shots for the Huskies, who hit 42.6 percent from the floor and were 8 of 21 (38.1 percent) from 3-point range.

Karaban’s drive to the rim forged a 28-28 tie with 6:44 remaining in the first half, but Creighton got others besides Kalkbrenner involved in an 18-7 run to end the half. Green scored 10 first-half points, including a basket on a drive to the hoop with 29 seconds left before the break to help the Bluejays hold a 46-35 edge at halftime.

Kalkbrenner hit a difficult jumper in the lane for a 55-38 lead with 16:27 left. The Huskies answered with 12 straight points, getting within 55-50 when Aidan Mahaney sank a 3-pointer from the right side with 12:11 left.

The Huskies were within 59-56 following consecutive hoops from Tarris Reed Jr. Neal sank a trey with 5:24 to go for a six-point edge after UConn coach Dan Hurley berated the officials for an out-of-bounds call against his team. Creighton hiked its lead to 66-58 when Green made his final shot.

–Field Level Media

St. John’s Comes Back vs. Marquette

March 14, 2025 by Digital Sports Desk

NEW YORK – St. John’s University center Zuby Ejiofor scored 23 of his career-high 33 points in the second half as top-seeded Johnnies pulled away for a 79-63 victory over fifth-seeded Marquette on Friday night in the Big East tournament semifinals.

The Red Storm (28-4) advanced to their first conference tournament title game since beating UConn in 2000. St. John’s will face either third-seeded UConn or second-seeded Creighton.

St. John’s won its seventh straight and improved to 11-0 at Madison Square Garden this season by outscoring Marquette 44-26 in the final 20 minutes after facing an early 15-point deficit.

After being held to four points in the quarterfinal win over Butler on Thursday, Ejiofor dominated the second half, hitting seven of eight shots from the field. Ejiofor surpassed his previous career best of 28 set Dec. 7 against Kansas State and shot 11-of-15 overall.

Six days after hitting the game-winner in overtime in Milwaukee, Ejiofor also sank 11 of 12 free throws and pulled down nine rebounds before exiting to a standing ovation in the final seconds.

RJ Luis Jr. added 13 on 4-of-18 shooting for the Red Storm, who shot 41.8 percent overall and scored 44 points in the paint. Kadary Richmond collected 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while Aaron Scott contributed 11.

Kam Jones started hot and led the Golden Eagles (23-10) with 24 points. He scored 15 by halftime when Marquette took a two-point lead.

Stevie Mitchell added 11 but David Joplin was held to nine on 3-of-12 shooting and Chase Ross was limited to eight as the Golden Eagles shot 34.5 percent after halftime and 39 percent overall.

Jones scored 10 points, hitting two open 3s along with a crafty reverse layup as the Golden Eagles took a 12-5 lead a little over four minutes in. Jones sank his third 3 for a 20-9 lead with 14:07 left, and the Golden Eagles soon took a 15-point lead on a layup by Joplin.

St. John’s answered with a 22-7 run and forged a 31-all tie with 5:11 left on a corner 3 by Deivon Smith. There were two more deadlocks the rest of the half before Marquette entered the break with a 37-35 lead following two free throws by Mitchell with 30 seconds left.

Scott hit a corner 3 for a 42-all tie with 17:14 left and Ross was assessed a flagrant foul for throwing Ejiofor to the floor. Scott hit a 3 from the right side in front of coach Rick Pitino before Jones could cover as the Red Storm took a 51-45 lead with 15:23 left.

After Scott’s 3, Ejiofor and Luis combined for the next 19 Red Storm points, upping the lead to 70-56 on the center’s powerful two-handed dunk with 5:26 remaining to start finishing it off.

–Field Level Media

Big East: Can St. John’s Step-Up?

March 14, 2025 by Digital Sports Desk

NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – In two memorable regular-season games, St. John’s went toe-to-toe and outlasted Marquette.

Embed from Getty Images

Whoever makes enough plays to win the third meeting will get a chance to play for the Big East tournament championship.

Top-seeded St. John’s (28-4) will attempt to advance to the title game for the first time since 2000 while fifth-seeded Marquette (23-9) will seek a third straight trip to the final when the two teams meet in the first semifinal on Friday evening.

They are the only two ranked teams in the tournament; St. John’s is No. 6 and Marquette is No. 25.

The winner will face second-seeded Creighton or third-seeded UConn in the Big East final on Saturday.

St. John’s earned a 70-64 victory over Marquette n Feb. 4, one of its 10 wins this season at Madison Square Garden, site of the conference tournament. The Red Storm were ranked No. 12 at the time, and the victory was the ninth in a 10-game winning streak.

Afterward, Marquette coach Shaka Smart described St. John’s defense as playing with “incredible violence” after it held the Golden Eagles to 29 percent shooting from the field in the second half.

When the teams met in the regular-season finale in Milwaukee last Saturday, the Red Storm were ranked sixth and ended an 18-win campaign in the conference by outlasting the Golden Eagles 86-84 in overtime.

“The reality for us, it’s about being the best us for 40 minutes,” Smart said after his team outlasted Xavier in the quarterfinals for an 89-87 win on Thursday. “It’s about watching the tape and learning what are the things we can do better. When you play great teams, they present challenges, but as I tell these guys, we present challenges, too.”

Both of St. John’s top two players keyed the two wins against Marquette. In the first meeting, RJ Luis Jr. totaled 17 points and 11 rebounds and then had 28 points last week when the Red Storm won on Zuby Ejiofor’s second buzzer-beater of the season and survived a 32-point showing from Kam Jones.

“They won the league for a reason,” Smart said. “They got a heck of a team. They’re rolling. They’re playing at a high level.”

Both teams advanced after earning different types of victories on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals.

Big East: Creighton Faces UConn

March 14, 2025 by Digital Sports Desk

NEW YORK – Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner has spent this week anticipating another chance to play for a Big East championship.

The four-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year is one step closer to achieving his goal, but standing in second-seeded Creighton’s way is a semifinal matchup with third-seeded UConn, which appears to be peaking again.

Embed from Getty Images

Creighton (23-9) has won three straight and the 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner has scored 79 points in those games. The Bluejays needed 32 from the senior center when they outlasted DePaul for an 85-81 double-overtime win on Thursday in the Big East quarterfinals.

The Bluejays scored the final 11 points of regulation after struggling offensively throughout, and Kalkbrenner hit the go-ahead basket in double overtime after Creighton lost an eight-point lead in the first overtime.

“Like I’ve been saying ever since I decided to come back for another year, I haven’t gotten the Big East Championship yet,” Kalkbrenner said after making 14-of-21 shots in 47 minutes Thursday. “So to come back for another day and get another shot at staying another day and getting a shot at the championship is huge.

“I really, really, really want this championship, and I’m going to play my butt off to get it. Yeah, it means a lot to be able to come back another day.”

The Huskies (23-9) are on a five-game winning streak and seeking their second straight title after beating Marquette for their first Big East crown since 2011 on the way to a dominating second straight national championship.

UConn’s past five wins are by an average of 16 points. The Huskies earned their fourth double-digit victory of this streak when they pulled away down the stretch for a 73-56 victory over sixth-seeded Villanova in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

“It’s March,” UConn forward Alex Karaban said. “We’re desperate for championships here so we want to play our best basketball right now. There’s no better time.”

Karaban fueled the latest win when he scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half. Karaban sank two of his four 3s when the Huskies ended the game on a 22-5 run over the final 7:58.

The teams split a pair of single-digit games during the regular season, and Kalkbrenner was held to 18 points in those games combined as others had career performances for both teams.

The Bluejays earned a 68-63 win at UConn on Jan. 18 when Jamiya Neal scored a career-high 24 points. The Huskies notched a 70-66 victory at Creighton on Feb. 11 when freshman Liam McNeeley scored 38 points.

“Obviously every game is different,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said about facing Creighton and Kalkbrenner. “Yeah, that defensive scheme is really challenging. There’s opportunities in the paint. They may not be all the way at the rim. There’s opportunities for us to drop, the deep drop that he plays to get to the logo, which are tougher shots but their scheme and what he is as a defensive player is obviously going to be a challenge.”

– Field Level Media

Ullmark Sticks It to Bruins

March 13, 2025 by Digital Sports Desk

OTTAWA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) -Two goals and an assist from Drake Batherson led the Ottawa Senators to a 6-3 win over the visiting Boston Bruins. Ottawa opened a 4-1 lead after one period and never looked back, ensuring its fifth straight win and a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1).

Ridly Greig and Shane Pinto each added a goal and an assist, Tyler Kleven and Claude Giroux also scored, and Linus Ullmark made 22 saves for the Senators.

Embed from Getty Images

Ullmark stopped eight Boston shots in the third period.

Casey Mittelstadt, David Pastrnak and Marat Khusnutdinov each scored for Boston, which was looking to win its third straight for just the second time this season.

The goals by deadline acquisitions Mittelstadt and Khusnutdinov were their first as Bruins.

Boston’s Jeremy Swayman allowed four goals on 15 shots before Joonas Korpisalo relieved him with 15 saves on 16 shots after the first period.

Ottawa landed the first six shots and validated its dominant start with a 2-0 lead. Pinto scored first on a turnaround shot from the right circle just 3:44 into the proceedings.

The Senators doubled their lead at 9:09 when Nikolas Matinpalo wrapped the puck around the boards to Kleven, who fired a one-timer from high on the left.

Mittelstadt made it 2-1 at the 10:57 mark. After a hard forecheck forced a turnover, Vinni Lettieri sent a backhand pass across the crease to his fellow Minnesota native, who beat Ullmark with a wrist shot.

Then, two goals in a 22-second span put the hosts back in full control at 4-1. Batherson moved the buffer back to two at 16:21, finishing a tic-tac-toe passing sequence with Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle on the power play.

A Swayman misplay helped keep Ottawa’s offense in the zone, and Greig netted the second quick-fire goal after Pinto’s point shot created an open net-front rebound.

Pastrnak struck first in the middle period, deflecting John Beecher’s wrist shot from the point from near the crease at 6:59.

Batherson reestablished the three-goal difference again at 11:01, potting the rebound of a Thomas Chabot point shot that Dylan Cozens tipped. The Bruins responded just 2:54 later, as Khusnutdinov took Elias Lindholm’s feed down the slot for a wrist shot goal.

Ullmark made a highlight-reel save with 1:29 left in the second, diving across to snatch Mason Lohrei’s one-timer after Jakub Lauko threaded a cross-ice pass. A Nikita Zadorov post in the final minute also kept Ottawa’s lead at 5-3 after two periods.

Giroux’s empty-netter with 1:16 left in regulation iced the game.

–Field Level Media

Digital Sports Desk

While We’re Young (Ideas) – Special NCAA Edition

Bracketology: NCAA Fails Geography 101