A6 THE BULLETIN • MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2021
ON THE AIR
SCOREBOARD
MONDAY
BASEBALL
MLB Preseason, Washington at St. Louis
MLB Preseason Baseball, Cincinnati at LA Angels
BASKETBALL
NBA, New York Knicks at Brooklyn Nets
NBA, Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors
HOCKEY
College Hockey, NCHC Tournament, First Semifinal
College Hockey, B1G Tournament, Semifinal 1
NHL, Philadelphia Flyers at New York Rangers
College, B1G Tournament, Semifinal 2
College, NCHC Tournament, Second Semifinal
SOCCER
Men’s College, Rutgers (Camden) at Penn State
Men’s College, Michigan State at Indiana
Premier League,
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Liverpool
SOFTBALL
College Softball, Mississippi State at Ole Miss
Time
10 a.m.
1 p.m.
TV
MLB
MLB
5 p.m.
7:35 p.m.
ESPN
ESPN
1 p.m.
1:30 p.m.
4 p.m.
5:30 p.m.
6 p.m.
CBSSN
BIG10
NBCSN
BIG10
CBSSN
9 a.m.
11 a.m.
BIG10
BIG10
12:55 p.m. NBCSN
4 p.m.
SEC
BASEBALL
MLB Preseason, Houston at NY Mets
MLB Preseason, Cleveland at LA Angels
BASKETBALL
NBA, Utah Jazz at Boston Celtics
NBA, New Orleans Pelicans at Portland Trail Blazers
HOCKEY
NHL, Boston Bruins at Pittsburgh Penguins
College, B1G Tournament Championship
College, NCHC Tournament, Final: Teams TBA
SOCCER
UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid vs Atalanta
WINTER SPORTS
FIS Freestyle Skiing, World Championships
FIS Snowboarding, World Championships: Big Air
10 a.m.
1 p.m.
MLB
MLB
4:30 p.m.
TNT
7 p.m. NBCSNW,
TNT
4 p.m.
NBCSN
5 p.m.
BIG10
5:30 p.m. CBSSN
1 p.m.
CBSSN
9 a.m.
NBCSN
12:30 p.m. NBCSN
Listings are the most accurate available.
SPORTS BRIEFING
GOLF
Thomas rallies to win Players Championship — Justin
Thomas found the right time for a near-perfect performance
to put a rough start to the year behind him, rallying from three
shots behind with bold play to close with a 4-under 68 and
win The Players Championship on Sunday. Thomas becomes
only the fourth player to win a major, The Players Champi-
onship, the FedEx Cup and a World Golf Championship, and
it couldn’t have come at a better time. He called it as good as
he has ever played tee-to-green, and he needed it to outlast
Lee Westwood, a hard-luck runner-up for the second straight
week. Westwood birdied the final hole for a 72 to finish one
shot behind. Thomas went birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie around
the turn, and put away Westwood for good with a pair of lag
putts from 50 feet — one for birdie on the par-5 16th to take
the lead, another on the island-green 17th for a par. “I fought
so hard today,” Thomas said. “It’s probably one of the best
rounds of my life tee-to-green. I’ve seen some crazy stuff hap-
pen on TV in the past, and I’m glad to be on this side of it.”
FOOTBALL
Saints QB Brees announces retirement at 42 — Saints
quarterback Drew Brees, the NFL’s leader in career comple-
tions and yards passing, has decided to retire after 20 NFL sea-
sons, including his last 15 with New Orleans. “Til the very end
I exhausted myself to give everything to the Saints organiza-
tion, my team and the great City of New Orleans,” Brees said
in social media post Sunday. “We shared some amazing mo-
ments together, many of which are emblazoned in our hearts
and minds and will forever be a part of us. … I am only retiring
from football. I am not retiring from New Orleans. This is not
goodbye.” The decision comes after the 42-year-old quarter-
back won nine of 12 regular-season starts while completing
70.5% of his passes in 2020, and then won a wild-card round
playoff game before New Orleans’ season ended with a divi-
sional-round loss to eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa
Bay. Brees missed four games this season with multiple frac-
tured ribs and a collapsed lung. It marked the second straight
season Brees had to miss part of a season. Brees is the NFL’s all-
time leader in yards passing with 80,358.
MOTOR SPORTS
Truex wins at Phoenix Raceway — Martin Truex Jr. pulled
away in the final laps Sunday at Phoenix Raceway for his first
NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and 28th overall.
Truex beat the four championship finalists from last year. He
had failed to advance into the season-ending finale for the first
time in four years and could only watch as Chase Elliott beat
Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski for the title
at the desert oval. All four tailed Truex across the finish line.
— Bulletin wire reports
Continued from A5
When the final horn went
off, Oregon State players and
coaches excitedly bolted to-
ward mid-court, looking for
anyone wearing orange and
black to embrace. Tinkle said it
felt like “I was in a wind tunnel
… I haven’t gotten that many
hugs since we had a family re-
union.”
Junior forward Maurice
Calloo, who had a breakout
performance in the title game
with 15 points, looked at Tin-
kle shortly after it was over and
said “I could tell he was happy
for us.”
Among those Tinkle first
embraced were his two four-
year seniors, Ethan Thompson
and Zach Reichle, one arm
tightly wrapped around each.
Prep Sports
Monday, March 15
Volleyball: Mountain View at Summit, 6:30 p.m.
Boys soccer: Ridgeview at Mountain View,
4:30 p.m.; North Marion at Madras, 4 p.m.; Central
Christian/Trinity Lutheran at Columbia Christian,
4:15 p.m.
Girls soccer: Mountain View at Bend, 4 p.m.; Ma-
dras at North Marion, 4 p.m.; Pleasant Hill at La Pine,
4 p.m.
Tuesday, March 16
Volleyball: Crook County at The Dalles, TBD; North
Marion at Madras, 6 p.m.; Creswell at La Pine, 6 p.m.;
Culver at Sheridan, 5 p.m.; North Lake/Paisley at
Gilchrist, 6:30 p.m.; Central Christian at Trinity Luther-
an, 5:30 p.m.
Boys soccer: Summit JV at Redmond, 6 p.m.; Bend
JV2 at La Pine, 4 p.m.
Girls soccer: Crook County at Summit JV, 4 p.m.;
Summit at Sisters, 6 p.m.; Redmond at Ridgeview,
6 p.m.; Molalla at Estacada, 6 p.m.
BASKETBALL
NBA
TUESDAY
Championship
Women’s College
ON DECK
“I just thanked them for
their commitment to leading
the way for us, on and off the
court,” Tinkle said.
The seventh-year coach’s
message to each player he
hugged had a theme: This is
why you came to Oregon State.
“We knew if we got every-
body on the same page and
bought in, that we could do
tremendous things,” Tinkle
said.
Including something that
hasn’t been done since 1990:
winning a championship and
cutting down nets.
One by one, players and
coaches walked up the step
ladder placed underneath the
basket to cut a piece of net as
a memory. Sophomore point
guard Gianni Hunt says grati-
tude was the only thing on his
mind as he reached the top of
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W
L
Pct
Phila.
27
12
.692
Brooklyn
26
13
.667
Milwaukee
24
14
.632
Miami
21
18
.538
Boston
20
18
.526
Charlotte
19
18
.514
New York
20
19
.513
Atlanta
19
20
.487
Indiana
17
20
.459
Toronto
17
21
.447
Chicago
16
20
.444
Washington
14
23
.378
Cleveland
14
24
.368
Orlando
13
26
.333
Detroit
10
28
.263
WESTERN CONFERENCE
W
L
Pct
Utah
28
10
.737
Phoenix
25
12
.676
L.A. Lakers
25
13
.658
L.A. Clippers
25
14
.641
Portland
22
16
.579
Denver
22
16
.579
San Antonio
19
16
.543
Dallas
20
17
.541
Golden State
20
19
.513
Memphis
17
18
.486
Oklahoma City
17
22
.436
New Orleans
16
22
.421
Sacramento
15
23
.395
Houston
11
26
.297
Minnesota
9
30
.231
Sunday’s Games
Oklahoma City 128, Memphis 122
Golden State 131, Utah 119
Phila. 134, San Antonio 99
Miami 102, Orlando 97
Atlanta 100, Cleveland 82
Boston 134, Houston 107
Minnesota 114. Portland 112
L.A. Clippers at New Orleans, late
Toronto at Chicago, late
Monday’s Games
Milwaukee at Washington, 4 p.m.
Sacramento at Charlotte, 4 p.m.
New York at Brooklyn, 5 p.m.
San Antonio at Detroit, 5 p.m.
Indiana at Denver, 6 p.m.
L.A. Clippers at Dallas, 6 p.m.
Memphis at Phoenix, 7 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Golden State, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday’s Games
Utah at Boston, 4:30 p.m.
Atlanta at Houston, 5 p.m.
Cleveland at Miami, 5 p.m.
New York at Phila., 5 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Chicago, 5 p.m.
New Orleans at Portland, 7 p.m.
Minnesota at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m.
GB
—
1
2½
6
6½
7
7
8
9
9½
9½
12
12½
14
16½
GB
—
2½
3
3½
6
6
7½
7½
8½
9½
11½
12
13
16½
19½
Men’s College
SCORES
Sunday’s Games
AP TOP 25
No. 3 Illinois (23-6) beat No. 9 Ohio St 91-88, OT.
No. 6 Alabama (24-6) beat LSU 80-79.
No. 7 Houston (24-3) beat Cincinnati 91-54.
EAST
Colgate 85, Loyola (Md.) 72
MIDWEST
St. Bonaventure 74, VCU 65
Madness
Continued from A5
“Heck of a game to start the
tournament,” Barnhart said,
with tongue in cheek.
Four teams that didn’t make
it — Louisville, Colorado State,
St. Louis and Mississippi —
have been put on stand-by.
They could find their way into
the bracket if a team in the field
notifies the NCAA by Tuesday
night that it must withdraw be-
cause of health concerns. After
that, if a team pulls out, its op-
ponent will advance via what is
essentially a forfeit.
Fittingly for such an unpre-
dictable season, some teams
hoping to sneak in off the
bubble were denied when Or-
egon State and Georgetown —
coached by its own former su-
perstar, Patrick Ewing — won
their conference tournaments
to steal bids they wouldn’t oth-
erwise have won.
Another unexpected entry is
SCORES
Sunday’s Games
AP TOP 25
No. 6 Baylor (25-2) beat No. 17 West Virginia 76-50.
No. 24 Florida Gulf Coast (26-2) beat Liberty 84-62.
EAST
Lehigh 64, Boston U. 54
Mount St. Mary’s 70, Wagner 38
SOUTH
High Point 62, Campbell 46
VCU 81, UMass 69
SOUTHWEST
Stephen F. Austin 56, Sam Houston St. 45
HOCKEY
NHL
East
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
N.Y. Islanders 29 19 6 4 42 86 64
Washington 27 17 6 4 38 94 87
Pittsburgh
27 17 9 1 35 89 79
Boston
25 14 7 4 32 70 60
Philadelphia 25 13 9 3 29 83 83
N.Y. Rangers 26 11 12 3 25 72 71
New Jersey
25 8 13 4 20 62 82
Buffalo
26 6 16 4 16 58 88
Central
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Carolina
27 20 6 1 41 95 68
Tampa Bay
26 19 5 2 40 97 60
Florida
27 18 5 4 40 93 78
Chicago
29 14 10 5 33 89 92
Columbus
30 11 12 7 29 80 99
Dallas
24 9 9 6 24 69 64
Nashville
28 11 16 1 23 67 96
Detroit
29 8 17 4 20 64 97
West
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Vegas
25 18 6 1 37 83 56
Minnesota
26 17 8 1 35 83 64
Colorado
26 16 8 2 34 78 60
St. Louis
28 14 9 5 33 88 92
Los Angeles 27 11 10 6 28 79 78
Arizona
28 12 12 4 28 70 85
San Jose
25 11 11 3 25 75 89
Anaheim
29 8 15 6 22 63 95
North
GP W L OT Pts GF GA
Toronto
30 19 9 2 40 102 79
Winnipeg
27 17 8 2 36 91 78
Edmonton
30 18 12 0 36 100 87
Montreal
27 12 8 7 31 86 74
Calgary
28 13 12 3 29 76 82
Vancouver
31 13 16 2 28 86 100
Ottawa
31 10 20 1 21 83 124
NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime
loss. The top four teams in each division will qualify for
playoffs under this season’s temporary realignment.
Sunday’s Games
Minnesota 4, Arizona 1
Carolina 2, Detroit 1
Dallas 2, Columbus 1, SO
Colorado 4, Los Angeles 1
N.Y. Islanders 3, New Jersey 2, SO
Ottawa 4, Toronto 3
Monday’s Games
Nashville at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Boston at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m.
Chicago at Florida, 4 p.m.
Philadelphia at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m.
Vancouver at Ottawa, 4 p.m.
Washington at Buffalo, 4 p.m.
Montreal at Winnipeg, 5 p.m.
Edmonton at Calgary, 6 p.m.
San Jose at Vegas, 7 p.m.
St. Louis at Los Angeles, 7 p.m.
Tuesday’s Games
Boston at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m.
Buffalo at New Jersey, 4 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Washington, 4 p.m.
Carolina at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.
Arizona at Minnesota, 5 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.
Anaheim at Colorado, 6 p.m.
68-68-72-72 – 280
65-72-71-72 – 280
73-70-71-66 – 280
72-70-67-71 – 280
70-72-71-67 – 280
73-71-69-67 – 280
72-68-67-73 – 280
70-68-76-67 – 281
72-66-77-66 – 281
70-72-68-71 – 281
71-73-65-72 – 281
70-71-70-71 – 282
71-68-76-68 – 283
72-69-72-70 – 283
76-68-69-70 – 283
70-72-70-71 – 283
72-70-68-73 – 283
69-71-71-72 – 283
70-74-67-72 – 283
70-72-73-69 – 284
71-67-68-78 – 284
74-69-71-70 – 284
71-73-67-73 – 284
73-71-70-70 – 284
73-70-73-68 – 284
70-71-71-73 – 285
73-71-68-73 – 285
70-69-72-74 – 285
71-72-71-71 – 285
75-69-71-70 – 285
74-69-71-71 – 285
70-72-71-73 – 286
76-67-74-69 – 286
75-68-72-71 – 286
72-71-71-72 – 286
71-73-76-66 – 286
73-69-74-70 – 286
72-72-71-71 – 286
73-70-73-71 – 287
72-71-73-71 – 287
71-73-72-71 – 287
75-69-72-71 – 287
72-65-71-79 – 287
70-74-68-75 – 287
70-74-72-71 – 287
74-68-71-75 – 288
73-71-70-74 – 288
69-69-75-75 – 288
74-68-72-75 – 289
71-73-71-74 – 289
74-68-72-75 – 289
71-70-72-77 – 290
72-71-77-70 – 290
70-73-71-76 – 290
73-71-72-74 – 290
74-70-73-74 – 291
73-71-72-75 – 291
71-73-72-76 – 292
69-75-74-74 – 292
73-71-76-73 – 293
73-70-71-79 – 293
74-69-75-76 – 294
European Tour
AUTO SPORTS
NASCAR Cup Series
Instacart 500 Results
Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz.
Lap length: 1.00 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (5) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 312 laps, 49 points.
2. (9) Joey Logano, Ford, 312, 54.
3. (3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 312, 49.
4. (1) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 312, 48.
5. (6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 312, 40.
6. (18) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 312, 40.
7. (2) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 312, 32.
8. (10) William Byron, Chevrolet, 312, 36.
9. (4) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 312, 29.
10. (8) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 312, 43.
11. (32) Aric Almirola, Ford, 312, 29.
12. (11) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 312, 25.
13. (21) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 312, 24.
14. (20) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 312, 24.
15. (12) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 312, 22.
16. (25) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 312, 21.
17. (13) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 312, 20.
18. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 312, 19.
19. (22) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 312, 18.
20. (14) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 312, 17.
21. (27) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 312, 16.
22. (26) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 312, 15.
23. (16) Michael McDowell, Ford, 312, 14.
24. (29) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 312, 0.
25. (7) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 311, 17.
26. (15) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 311, 11.
27. (33) Corey Lajoie, Chevrolet, 311, 10.
28. (19) Ryan Newman, Ford, 311, 9.
29. (23) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 310, 8.
30. (30) BJ McLeod, Ford, 309, 0.
31. (24) Cole Custer, Ford, 308, 6.
32. (35) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 305, 5.
33. (38) James Davison, Chevrolet, 303, 4.
34. (34) Garrett Smithley, Ford, 300, 0.
35. (36) Josh Bilicki, Ford, garage, 258, 2.
36. (31) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, accident, 101, 0.
37. (28) Anthony Alfredo, Ford, accident, 87, 1.
38. (37) Timmy Hill, Ford, engine, 15, 0.
Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 103.802 mph.
Time of Race: 3 hours, .0 minutes, 20 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 1.698 seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 45 laps.
Lead Changes: 22 among 9 drivers.
Lap Leaders: B.Keselowski 0-2; D.Hamlin 3-33; B.Kesel-
owski 34-43; R.Blaney 44-78; B.Keselowski 79; J.Logano
80-141; K.Larson 142; B.Wallace 143; C.Lajoie 144-155;
J.Logano 156-193; D.Hamlin 194; J.Logano 195-223;
M.Truex 224-253; R.Stenhouse 254; M.Truex 255-263;
D.Hamlin 264; B.Wallace 265-267; J.Logano 268; B.Ke-
selowski 269-273; J.Logano 274-283; B.Keselowski 284;
J.Logano 285-287; M.Truex 288-312
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): J.Loga-
no, 6 times for 143 laps; M.Truex, 3 times for 64 laps;
R.Blaney, 1 time for 35 laps; D.Hamlin, 3 times for 33
laps; B.Keselowski, 5 times for 19 laps; C.Lajoie, 1 time
for 12 laps; B.Wallace, 2 times for 4 laps; K.Larson, 1
time for 1 lap; R.Stenhouse, 1 time for 1 lap.
Wins: M.Truex, 1; K.Larson, 1; C.Bell, 1; W.Byron, 1;
M.McDowell, 1.
Top 16 in Points: 1. D.Hamlin, 236; 2. B.Keselowski, 197;
3. J.Logano, 192; 4. M.Truex, 180; 5. K.Larson, 179; 6.
C.Elliott, 179; 7. K.Harvick, 176; 8. C.Bell, 167; 9. W.By-
ron, 152; 10. Ku.Busch, 144; 11. M.McDowell, 140; 12.
A.Dillon, 135; 13. R.Blaney, 134; 14. R.Preece, 123; 15.
Ky.Busch, 115; 16. R.Stenhouse, 113.
The Players Championship Scores
Sunday at TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Purse: $15 million | Yardage: 7,189; Par: 72
Final Round
Justin Thomas (600), $2,700,000
71-71-64-68 – 274
Lee Westwood (330), $1,635,000
69-66-68-72 – 275
Bryson DeChambeau (180), $885,000 69-69-67-71 – 276
Brian Harman (180), $885,000
67-71-69-69 – 276
Paul Casey (115), $579,375
73-67-67-70 – 277
Talor Gooch (115), $579,375
71-68-71-67 – 277
Corey Conners (100), $506,250
68-72-72-66 – 278
Shane Lowry (94), $468,750
68-74-69-68 – 279
Daniel Berger (71), $339,375
74-68-71-67 – 280
Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Scores
Sunday at Education City Golf Course, Daha, Qatar
Purse: $3.5 million | Yardage: 7,307; Par: 71
Final Round
Antoine Rozner, France
69-72-68-67 – 276
Gaganjeet Bhullar, India
67-73-68-69 – 277
Darren Fichardt, South Africa
68-68-70-71 – 277
Guido Migliozzi, Italy
71-67-74-65 – 277
Jamie Donaldson, Wales
68-68-73-70 – 279
Richard Mcevoy, England
65-73-73-68 – 279
Chris Paisley, England
67-70-73-70 – 280
Brandon Stone, South Africa
69-68-73-70 – 280
Thomas Detry, Belgium
66-72-72-71 – 281
Joachim B. Hansen, Denmark
66-71-72-72 – 281
Kurt Kitayama, United States
67-69-75-70 – 281
Niklas Lemke, Sweden
70-72-72-67 – 281
Thomas Pieters, Belgium
68-69-76-69 – 282
Shaun Norris, South Africa
69-70-73-71 – 283
Lars Van Meijel, Netherlands
69-72-73-69 – 283
Johannes Veerman, United States 65-71-72-71 – 283
Jeff Winther, Sweden
67-67-77-72 – 283
Fabrizio Zanotti, Paraguay
67-70-74-72 – 283
Maverick Antcliff, Austria
69-72-72-71 – 284
Nino Bertasio, Italy
65-72-74-73 – 284
Alexander Bjork, Sweden
68-73-78-65 – 284
Yikeun Chang, Korea
70-71-71-72 – 284
Hennie Du Plessis, South Africa 65-74-77-68 – 284
Grant Forrest, Scotland
71-68-75-70 – 284
Garrick Higgo, South Africa
66-71-77-70 – 284
Jordan Smith, England
69-74-71-70 – 284
Andy Sullivan, England
69-74-73-68 – 284
Jorge Campillo, Spain
67-74-70-74 – 285
David Drysdale, Scotland
70-72-73-70 – 285
Lorenzo Gagli, Italy
68-70-73-74 – 285
Kalle Samooja, Finland
65-71-78-71 – 285
Shubhankar Sharma, India
71-68-75-71 – 285
Callum Shinkwin, England
70-68-73-74 – 285
Dale Whitnell, England
68-72-73-72 – 285
BASEBALL
Major League Baseball
American League
HOUSTON ASTROS — Reassigned OFs Colin Barber
and Zach Daniels, LHP Ryan Hartman, RHP Blair Hen-
ley, INF Grae Kessinger and C Lorenzo Quintana to the
minor leagues.
MINNESOTA TWINS — Optioned RHPs Jordan Balazovic,
Dakota Chalmers, Jhoan Duran and Bailer Ober to the
alternate training site. Reassigned LHP Danny Coulombe
and RHP Ian Gibaut to the minor leagues.
National League
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS — Optioned RHP Matt Pea-
cock to Reno (Triple-A West).
ATLANTA BRAVES — Released LHP Philip Pfeifer.
CINCINNATI REDS — Claimed RHP Carson Fulmer off
waivers from Pittsburgh.
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Optioned RHPs Junior Fernan-
dez and Johan Quezada to Memphis (Triple-A East).
WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Optioned RHP Joan Adon
and INFs Yasel Antuna and Jake Noll to Rochester (Tri-
ple-A East).
a familiar face: Rick Pitino. The
coach, ousted at Louisville after
a sordid recruiting scandal that
enveloped the program for years,
led his new team, Iona, from the
ninth seed in the Metro Atlantic
Athletic Conference all the way
to the league title and the au-
tomatic bid that comes with it.
The Gaels open Saturday against
Alabama. Iona played only 13
regular-season games because of
COVID-19 concerns that side-
lined the Gaels for weeks. It was
that kind of season.
And if hoops fans needed
any more evidence of how un-
familiar this tournament will
feel, maybe it’s this: For the
first time since 1976, Duke and
Kentucky will both be miss-
ing from the tournament. Like
Virginia and Kansas, Duke
pulled out of its conference
tournament last week because
of COVID-19. The Blue Dev-
ils announced that marked the
end of their season, before tell-
ing the NCAA that, yes, they’d
be available for March Mad-
ness if asked. But no dice. The
13-11 record wasn’t enough.
Virginia and Kansas were
never in doubt until the coro-
navirus hit both programs. The
Jayhawks (20-8) will bring a No.
3 seed into the tournament’s
West region — the NCAA stuck
with the usual names of the re-
gions — while the Cavaliers
(18-6) will be a 4 seed in the
same part of the bracket, and
come in as the most unusual of
defending champions.
They won it all in 2019, and
were poised for the run at a re-
peat last March when sports
got wiped off the map by the
still-nascent pandemic.
A year later, sports are back,
but the hoops the NCAA is
jumping through to make this
tournament go are a symbol of
how far we are from normal.
The decision to place all the
games in and around the In-
dianapolis area is a first-of-its-
kind move. Also unique are
the quarantine-like situations
all teams will be under during
their stay. Players will get their
own rooms and teams will have
their own floors in a cluster of
hotels around the downtown
convention center. That facility,
usually a magnet for fan fests
and coaching conferences, will
turn into the main practice and
meeting area for all the teams.
Players will have to produce
negative tests for seven days be-
fore arriving in Indianapolis to
be eligible to play.
And if they’re not? In one of
its most eye-grabbing tidbits,
the NCAA announced that if
a team is hit with the virus but
still has five players who can
pass the protocol, that’s enough
to get on the floor for tip-off.
All just another piece of the
puzzle for Americans to con-
sider when they get back to a
much-missed rite of spring —
filling out their brackets, cross-
ing their fingers and waiting
for madness to begin.
Calloo that the Beavers are go-
ing dancing.
“Just you saying it gives me
goosebumps. Puts a smile on
my face,” Calloo said. “First
thing I did when I got my
phone was call my mom. She
was happy for me.”
Tinkle was certain he would
lose it at some point in the
night, probably while sur-
rounded by family, which
included his son Tres, who
played for his father at OSU
from 2015-20. But actually,
emotions began welling hours
before the game, while Tinkle
was alone in his hotel room at
Park MGM.
“Right after pre-game meal,
thinking about how blessed
I am,” Tinkle said. “I’m so
blessed with the family I have,
the support that I’ve had
through the tough times.
“This has been the most
emotional year in my life, and
probably for all of us.”
One hundred nine days
ago, Oregon State’s season for
the ages started the day before
Thanksgiving with a non-con-
ference game against a Pac-12
opponent. There was strain,
there was heartache, but in the
end, fun and joy. It left social
media with its mouth agape,
wondering how a team that
was a near-unanimous pick to
finish last in the Pac-12 presea-
son poll end up at the top of
the heap?
“It’s just incredible that
we’ve gotten to this level, and
we know why we have,” Tin-
kle said. “When you’re patient,
when you stay together, when
you roll with the punches,
eventually this is what it leads
to. We’ve proven that.”
GOLF
PGA Tour
John Locher/AP
Oregon State’s Warith Alatishe (10) grabs a rebound over Colorado during
the second half of the Pac-12 championship game Saturday in Las Vegas.
the ladder.
“Just how blessed and grate-
ful I am for being here, and
being in this position,” Hunt
said. “I’m just so blessed and
Matthew Fitzpatrick (71), $339,375
Sergio Garcia (71), $339,375
Charles Howell III (71), $339,375
Si Woo Kim (71), $339,375
Jason Kokrak (71), $339,375
Victor Perez, $339,375
Jon Rahm (71), $339,375
Charley Hoffman (54), $221,250
Sungjae Im (54), $221,250
Ryan Palmer (54), $221,250
Cameron Smith (54), $221,250
Will Zalatoris, $183,750
Dylan Frittelli (40), $135,964
Tyler McCumber (40), $135,964
J.T. Poston (40), $135,964
Patrick Reed (40), $135,964
Abraham Ancer (40), $135,964
Tom Hoge (40), $135,964
Adam Long (40), $135,964
Keegan Bradley (29), $96,125
Doug Ghim (29), $96,125
Adam Hadwin (29), $96,125
Harry Higgs (29), $96,125
Joaquin Niemann (29), $96,125
Cameron Percy (29), $96,125
Jason Day (21), $73,125
Lanto Griffin (21), $73,125
Patton Kizzire (21), $73,125
Phil Mickelson (21), $73,125
Ryan Moore (21), $73,125
Brendon Todd (21), $73,125
Christiaan Bezuidenhout, $53,250
James Hahn (14), $53,250
Zach Johnson (14), $53,250
Kyoung-Hoon Lee (14), $53,250
Collin Morikawa (14), $53,250
Louis Oosthuizen (14), $53,250
Brendan Steele (14), $53,250
Dustin Johnson (9), $38,036
Adam Scott (9), $38,036
Michael Thompson (9), $38,036
Lucas Glover (9), $38,036
Chris Kirk (9), $38,036
Jordan Spieth (9), $38,036
Nick Taylor (9), $38,036
Ryan Armour (7), $34,950
Matt Jones (7), $34,950
Denny McCarthy (7), $34,950
Kramer Hickok (6), $34,050
Billy Horschel (6), $34,050
Brian Stuard (6), $34,050
Scott Brown (5), $33,000
Scott Harrington (5), $33,000
Harold Varner III (5), $33,000
Jhonattan Vegas (5), $33,000
Patrick Rodgers (4), $32,100
Aaron Wise (4), $32,100
Russell Knox (4), $31,500
Rory Sabbatini (4), $31,500
Martin Laird (4), $30,900
Scott Piercy (4), $30,900
Nate Lashley (3), $30,450
thankful to be here with this
team, with these guys. It’s been
a special run, but we’re not
done.”
A reporter mentioned to
DEALS
Sunday’s Transactions