L OUISVILLE, Ky. — A reserve guard that Louisville coach Rick Pitino considers so bashful, he sounds shy even when he yells, made sure to send venerable Freedom Hall out with one more memorable game. Kyle Kuric scored all of his career-high 22 points in the second half, and the Cardinals stunned No. 1 Syracuse 78-68 on Saturday before a record-crowd of 20,135 at the 54-year-old venue. It was the final game there before Louisville moves into a new downtown arena. “It’s an unbelievable moment,” Kuric said. “It’s what every kid dreams of.” Kuric may have also assured Louisville (20-11, 11-7 Big East) a return trip to the NCAA tournament by sweeping the regular-season series from the Orange (28-3, 15-3), whose only other loss came against No. 17 Pittsburgh. “These seniors have never gone to an NIT,” Pitino said. “And now they never will.” Although Syracuse led by eight points late in the first half, Kuric was a one-man wrecking crew in the second. He made 9 of 11 shots — including four 3-pointers — to make for another happy ending at Freedom Hall, which has seen its share of historic games. “There have been 54 years of great basketball, and for us to come out and beat the No. 1 team is a great going away present for all our fans,” senior Edgar Sosa said. Trailing 42-39 early in the second half, the Cardinals found their inside game with three straight baskets in the paint that gave them the lead for good. Kuric had two of them, a fastbreak dunk and layup. In a span of just over five minutes, Kuric also had all four of his 3-pointers. After his second one, Syracuse’s Scoop Jardine immediately answered with a 3, so Kuric simply answered right back with another one. Jardine finished with 20 points. With under four minutes left, it was Kuric’s dunk that pushed the Louisville lead to 10, and he got another one on a break that buried the Orange with under two minutes left. “Everybody that comes off their bench is capable of hitting three or four 3s,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “He might be the best at doing that.” Louisville took 40 3-point attempts in the game, making 12 of them — including three by Sosa, who had 12 points. It was a completely different game in the first half, when Syracuse dominated the paint, getting 26 points there compared to 12 for the Cardinals. Syracuse took an early 21-20 lead with more than six minutes to go in the first half on a dunk by Rick Jackson, then stretched it to a game-high eight points a couple minutes later after a 3-pointer and fastbreak layup by Jardine. Sosa nailed a 3 seconds before halftime to make it 35-30 at the break. Boeheim said Louisville seems to have deciphered the Orange’s zone defense, and the players said they were having an off shooting night.
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Louisville shocks No. 1 Syracuse in Freedom Hall finale
Real Madrid came back to beat Sevilla 3-2 and replace Barcelona at the top of La Liga, after the champions were held 2-2 in Almeria.
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Real win thriller to go top of La Liga
C INCINNATI – Jordan Crawford scored 22 points, and No. 25 Xavier won a share of its fourth straight Atlantic 10 regular-season title by beating St. Bonaventure 93-72 on Saturday. The Musketeers (23-7, 14-2) share the title with No. 20 Temple, which beat George Washington earlier in the day. Xavier is the second team in league history to win four straight — Massachusetts got five in a row from 1992-96. Lone senior Jason Love was honored before the game and had 14 points and nine rebounds against a double-teaming defense. He got a standing ovation when he left with 2:36 to go. Xavier won 20 games with fewer than two seniors on the roster for the first time in its history. St. Bonaventure (14-15, 7-9) had been on its best streak of the season, winning four in a row. The Musketeers crushed that momentum with an opening 26-6 run. Andrew Nicholson led the Bonnies with 21 points.
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No. 25 Xavier beats St. Bonaventure 93-72
T AMPA, Fla. – Shaun Marcum looked impressive in his return to a major league mound. Marcum threw two scoreless innings in his first game against big leaguers since hurting his right elbow two years ago and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the New York Yankees 9-1 on Saturday. “Leading up to it, everybody was asking me if I was nervous,” Marcum said. “I was like “No chance.” I’ve never been nervous in my life. But then I got out there today, waiting to pitch that first inning and was more anxious than excited or nervous. I can’t wait to get back out there and compete again.” Yankees backup catcher Francisco Cervelli, who was the designated hitter in the game, left in the third with a concussion after being hit in the helmet by pitch from Zech Zinicola. Cervelli was able to walk off the field and was taken to a hospital for a CT scan, which was normal. He won’t come in (Sunday),” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “I’m not going to rush it.” Cervelli will be examined by team doctor Andrew Boyer on Sunday and a specialist one day later. Marcum missed last season while recovering from elbow ligament replacement surgery on Sept. 30, 2008. The right-hander didn’t allow a hit, struck out two and walked one. “Once I started playing catch, I’m out there warming up, it felt like I was out there in 2008 again with a brand new elbow,” Marcum said. Marcum missed last season while recovering from elbow ligament replacement surgery that took place on Sept. 30, 2008. He was 0-2 with a 2.30 ERA in five minor league rehabilitation starts in 2009. New York starter A.J. Burnett gave up two runs and five hits in 1 2-3 innings. He worked extensively on his change up, which he wants to use more as a third pitch this season. “Everytime I wanted to throw a hook, it was a change up,” Burnett said. “The more I threw it, it got better. Next time I’ll probably throw more. I don’t feel like I’ve had the success I should have. I’m a .500 pitcher. Using another pitch will help.” Burnett is 100-85 in this career. He has gone 31-19 over the previous two seasons. Adam Lind hit a three-run homer and J.P. Arencibia added a two-run shot for the Blue Jays. Jose Bautista had an RBI double in the second, and has a homer, three doubles and four RBIs over the past two games. NOTES: Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was in attendance for his second spring training game this year. … New York closer Mariano Rivera said he could throw batting practice for the first time on Monday. He will make the first of his eight or nine game appearances in mid-March. … Yankees RHP Chan Ho Park will have his first BP session Monday. … New York LHP Andy Pettitte will take part in a two-inning simulated game on Sunday. … Yankees DH Nick Johnson (lower back stiffness) took 50 swings in an indoor cage and could be back in the lineup Monday.
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Blue Jays beat Yankees 9-1
V IERA, Fla. – Mike Pelfrey sawed off a couple of bats with a new pitch, didn’t get down on himself and recovered from a shaky start. Pelfrey unveiled an effective split-finger fastball in his first spring start, Fernando Martinez had four hits and homered twice, and the New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals 14-6 on Saturday. “My thought process coming into the game was I was going to have some adrenaline. I wanted to kind of keep that under control, kind of back off, and I think I did a good job of doing that,” said Pelfrey, who is expected to be the Mets’ No. 2 starter. “It was positive in that aspect.” Pelfrey allowed four runs — three earned — on seven hits in the first two innings he worked, finishing with a 1-2-3 third. The right-hander took a Cristian Guzman liner off the outside of his right knee in the second, sustaining a minor bruise that only required a postgame icepack. Mets manager Jerry Manuel was pleased that Pelfrey didn’t get rattled when Washington used an error to score a first-inning run and then went up 4-2 on Eric Bruntlett’s three-run homer. Instead, Pelfrey finished strong. “The first inning, he got some ground balls that could have got us out of that,” Manuel said. “The second inning was OK. The third inning was outstanding. I thought the third inning, he finally felt comfortable. … That’s the Mike Pelfrey we need.” Pelfrey turned to his new split-finger offering early on, shattering two bats in the first inning and keeping the Nationals off balance. “I think it was good. I think I surprised them a little,” he said. Washington is winless in four exhibition games and has been outscored 50-21. The Mets’ starting lineup included only one player — center fielder Angel Pagan, who is subbing for the injured Carlos Beltran — who is expected to start this season. The Mets’ 20-hit attack also included a home run by Mike Jacobs, who broke a seventh-inning tie with a drive to left-center. Martinez, who hit .176 in 29 games as a 20-year-old in 2009, is trying to force his way onto the club as an extra outfielder. He clubbed Sean Estes’ pitch over the right-field wall in the third and ignited a five-run seventh with a game-tying solo shot off Tyler Walker (0-1). Martinez is 8 for 12 (.667) this spring. “I think to see the display of power, especially with off-speed pitches, was impressive today. When we had (Martinez) in New York, I didn’t see him handle that pitch very well,” Manuel said. “To see him take good swings at it and put it in play with that type of authority shows that he’s growing, he’s maturing.” Left-hander John Lannan, the Nationals’ likely opening day starter April 5, gave up two runs, two hits and a walk in two innings of his first spring outing. He struck out two. After struggling through a 27-pitch first inning during which he hit a batter and issued a walk, Lannan quickly regrouped. “The first inning was a little rough, just trying to find a good rhythm and the ball was up a little quick. But it’s a game of adjustments and I made an adjustment,” Lannan said, adding that his rhythm was better in the second. Washington’s team ERA stands at 12.82 through four games.
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Pelfrey shows off new splitter, Mets top Nats 14-6
Colombia’s Camilo Villegas fired a three-under par 67 to seize a three-stroke lead after the third round of the US PGA Honda Classic.
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Hot-stuff Villegas blazes to PGA lead
LONDON – Manchester United went top of the Premier League by winning 1-0 at Wolves and cash-strapped Portsmouth beat Birmingham 2-0 to reach the FA Cup semifinals today.Paul Scholes scored the only goal after 73 minutes at Molineux…
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Soccer: United back on top
Manchester United moved two points clear ahead of Chelsea and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table with a 1-0 victory away to Wolves.
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Ton-up Scholes puts United back on top
The Blues discovered last night that consistent graft and enterprise can all be undone by one reckless act.Poor old Rudi Wulf won’t be feeling a million dollars this morning for it was his brain explosion where he threw a wild…
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Rugby: Reckless act undoes Blues
The Wellington Phoenix head into today’s semifinal against the Newcastle Jets on the back on an incredible run of form. Striker Chris Greenacre and Michael Brown indentify five things that have been the keys to their success….
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Soccer: Phoenix’s winning secrets