NCAA Tournament highlighted by close calls
SALT LAKE CITY, March 21 (UPI) -- The first round of the NCAA Tournament produced one close game after another Thursday as a series of big-name teams barely escaped.
Illinois, Kansas and Duke were all in danger of falling Thursday night before pulling out wins while Central Michigan and Tulsa created the day's biggest upsets.
Of the 16 games played Thursday, 11 were decided by eight points or less. The only real blowouts were provided by the two top seeded teams in action -- Oklahoma and Arizona.
The West Region was deemed to be the most difficult in the tournament, but the second, third and fourth-seeded teams in that region were almost eliminated in the space of two hours.
No. 2 Kansas survived two three-point attempts in the final seconds to pull out a 64-61 win over Utah State; No. 3 Duke pulled away in the final minute for a 67-57 decision over Colorado State and No. 4 Illinois fought off Western Kentucky, 65-60.
Four games were won by lower-seeded teams Thursday and three of those came in the West Region. No. 11 Central Michigan ousted Creighton, 79-73, to set up a second-round meeting with Duke; and No. 10 Arizona State surprised Memphis, 84-71, creating a matchup against Kansas.
In addition, ninth-seeded Gonzaga downed Cincinnati, 74-69, which will bring about a game against Arizona on Saturday.
Arizona coasted into the second round with an 80-51 victory over Vermont, a team that arrived in Salt Lake City only 11 hours prior to tipoff after being stranded in snowbound Denver. Oklahoma, seeded No. 1 in the East, did not score a point for almost five minutes at the start of the game, but eventually wore down South Carolina State, 71-54.
The fourth lower seeded team to win was No. 13 Tulsa, which captured the final game of the night over Dayton, 84-71. Dayton will play in the second round against Wisconsin, which had its hands full before eliminating Weber State, 81-74.
Another underdog should have won, but when Dylan Page missed an open layup just before the buzzer, Notre Dame was able to escape with a 70-69 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
In other action Thursday, Marquette defeated Holy Cross, 72-68; California went to overtime before defeating North Carolina State, 76-74; Connecticut fought off BYU, 58-53; Missouri nipped Southern Illinois, 72-71; and Stanford won over San Diego, 77-69.
The only team from a power conference to lose Thursday was North Carolina State while all four Pac-10 teams in action were winners.
Montreal fans boo national anthem
MONTREAL, March 21 (UPI) -- Montreal fans booed the American national anthem Thursday night, after which the New York Islanders blasted the Canadiens, 6-3.
Alexei Yashin had his finest night of an otherwise disappointing season with two goals and three assists Thursday night as the Islanders raced to a four-goal lead and all but ended the playoff hopes of the Canadiens.
Amid the backdrop of the American-led invasion of Iraq, the sellout crowd of 21,273 all but drowned out the Star Spangled Banner with a chorus of boos.
The fans gave a prolonged standing ovation when Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur was introduced during pregame ceremonies but had little else for which to cheer.
Former Canadien Arron Asham scored the only goal of the first period and Jason Blake and Oleg Kvasha struck in the opening minute of the second to give New York a 3-0 lead. When Yashin put in a rebound during a two-man advantage at 6:11, the Islanders were in control and the booing was back.
Yashin answered a power-play goal by Donald Audette and had several chances to complete a hat trick in the third before Dave Scatchard scored into an empty net with 20 seconds remaining.
Montreal's frustrations spilled over 6:57 into the final period when goaltender Jose Theodore charged out of the net after Islanders rookie Mattias Weinhandl. Theodore got in a couple of shots with his glove before order was restored.
Andreas Dackell and Jason Ward had the other goals for the Canadiens, who fell eight points behind the Islanders and Boston for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot with seven games left.
Montreal is winless in its last seven home games (0-6-1). New York completed a pivotal 3-2-1 road trip to catch the seventh-place Bruins.
Other NHL results: Columbus 4, Toronto 3 in overtime; Colorado 2, San Jose 0; Philadelphia 4, Pittsburgh 2; St. Louis 3, Anaheim 2 in overtime; Washington 4, Calgary 1; Phoenix 3, Edmonton 2 in overtime; Vancouver 7, Nashville 3.
Spurs nip Stars
DALLAS, March 21 (UPI) -- Tony Parker made a layup over two defenders with 1.2 seconds left in overtime Thursday night to give San Antonio a 112-110 win over Dallas.
Parker had a successful rookie campaign in 2002 and has improved dramatically this season, nearly doubling his scoring average. Even more impressive is the increased responsibility and trust he has been given in his second season as he -- not superstar Tim Duncan -- is controlling the offense in crucial moments.
The 20-year-old Frenchman missed a potential game-winning shot in the final seconds of regulation but redeemed himself in overtime. After Malik Rose made a layup to forge a 110-110 tie with 39 seconds left, Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki missed a jumper at the other end.
Duncan secured the rebound and the Spurs called a timeout with seven seconds left. Rose caught the inbounds pass and drew three defenders before passing to Parker, who drove past Raja Bell and got the shot over the outstretched arms of the 7-foot Nowitzki and 7-6 Shawn Bradley.
Dallas' Nick Van Exel, who scored 10 of his season-high 35 points in the final six minutes, missed a three-pointer from the left corner as time expired.
Duncan collected 25 points and 18 rebounds but did not score in the final seven minutes. Nevertheless, San Antonio pulled within 2 1/2 games of Dallas for the best record in the Western Conference.
Nowitzki had 34 points and 12 rebounds as the Mavericks lost for the third time in six games.
Other NBA results: Detroit 113, Philadelphia 85; Sacramento 107, Los Angeles Lakers 99.
Woods trails by one
ORLANDO, March 21 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods easily outdueled Ernie Els in their first confrontation of the year in the opening round of the Bay Hill Invitational Thursday.
On a course set up much like one hosting a U.S. Open, Woods shot a 2-under 70 that left him one shot out of the lead -- shared by six players. Els stumbled late in the round and wound up with a 2-over 74.
Aaron Baddeley, Stewart Cink, Trevor Immelman, Jonathan Kaye, J.L. Lewis and Jeff Maggert were tied at the top after all shot a 3-under 69.
Among those tied with Woods were Brad Faxon, former champion Robert Gamez and Nick Faldo. John Daly produced his best showing of the year with a 71.
In Phoenix, Annika Sorenstam enjoyed a solid start to her season Thursday but was still looking up at the other two members of the former "Big Three" after the first round of the Safeyway PING.
After skipping the season-opening event in Tucson, Sorenstam had six birdies and a bogey en route to a 5-under-par 67 at Moon Valley Country Club. On this course two years ago, she became the first LPGA Tour member to break 60 in a round.
Sorenstam was two strokes off the pace set by Korea's Se Ri Pak, whose 7-under 65 included eight birdies and a bogey. Karrie Webb of Australia played bogey-free until the 18th hole and settled for a 66.
Jermaine Lewis signs with Jaguars
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 21 (UPI) -- Jermaine Lewis, a two-time Pro Bowler as a kick returner, signed a three-year contract Thursday with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Terms were not disclosed, but Lewis reportedly received $3 million, including a signing bonus of $1 million.
Lewis was a major disappointment with the expansion Houston Texans last season. The Texans hoped Lewis, 28, would also emerge as a receiver, but that did not happen.
At 5-7, 180 pounds, Lewis struggled with the physical demands of a receiver, catching just two passes for 41 yards.
As Houston's primary returner, Lewis averaged 20.9 yards on 46 kick returns and 7.8 yards on 36 punt returns.
Lewis was one of the league's premier returners in his six years with Baltimore from 1996-2001, recording six touchdowns on punts and returning a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown in a Super Bowl XXXV.
Thibault suffers from post-concussion syndrome
CHICAGO, March 21 (UPI) -- Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Jocelyn Thibault is suffering from post-concussion syndrome and will be sidelined indefinitely.
Thibault was cleared to play after suffering a concussion against the Boston Bruins on March 9 and started the Blackhawks' next four games. But he has developed symptoms consistent with post-concussion syndrome and will be re-evaluated in a week.
To take Thibault's place, the Blackhawks recalled goaltender Craig Andersson from the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League.
Andersson has played in 28 games for the Admirals, posting a 14-9-4 record with a 1.93 goals-against average and .919 save percentage.
Chicago's third-round pick in the 2001 draft, Andersson made his NHL debut earlier this season, posting an 0-1-0 record at 2.09 GAA.
Ron Artest suspended again
NEW YORK, March 21 (UPI) -- Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest was suspended for two games Thursday for exceeding the NBA's flagrant foul points limit.
Artest, who has already missed 11 games due to a handful of suspensions, drew a flagrant foul when he whacked Boston's Paul Pierce five seconds into Wednesday's 102-72 victory. It continued a trend of questionable behavior for Artest.
Artest's two-game suspension was automatic since he has accumulated eight flagrant foul points this season.
Earlier this season, Artest broke a camera in the tunnel of Madison Square Garden and was fined and suspended. He also recently threw Philadelphia's Eric Snow to the floor and got into an argument with Miami coach Pat Riley.
Giants re-sign Omar Stoutmire
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., March 21 (UPI) -- The New York Giants announced Thursday they had re-signed starting free safety Omar Stoutmire.
Terms were not disclosed.
A six-year veteran, Stoutmire has spent the last three years with the Giants and moved into a starting role last season.
Stoutmire, 28, had a career-high 99 tackles, including 62 solo, along with three passes defensed and two forced fumbles last season.
McBride to play in Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 21 (UPI) -- World Cup star Brian McBride on Thursday said he would return to the Columbus Crew.
He turned down a $1 million offer from the English club Everton to buy out his Major League Soccer contract.
McBride will return to the United States immediately and not appear in this weekend's match against Premiership leaders Arsenal.
By turning down the transfer, McBride cost himself approximately $100,000.
McBride was expected to stay on loan until April 1, but the Crew requested his early release to play in a CONCACAF Champions Cup match this Sunday.
