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NCAA Tournament resumes Thursday

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 26 (UPI) -- The NCAA Tournament resumes Thursday with North Carolina and UCLA trying to stay on course for a possible championship showdown.

The tournament was whittled from 65 to 16 teams last week and all four of the No. 1 seeds survived to compete in the regional semifinals.

North Carolina was particularly impressive in its opening two victories. Only one team in the tournament has reached the 100-point mark in a game and the Tar Heels have done it twice in blowout wins over Mount St. Mary's and Arkansas.

North Carolina will play fourth-seeded Washington State in the East Region semifinals in Charlotte. The winner of that game will play either West Virginia or Xavier.

In the West Region at Phoenix, top-seeded UCLA will face Western Kentucky, one of two No. 12 seeds remaining. UCLA overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half to defeat Texas A&M on Saturday.

Tennessee will play Louisville in the other West semifinal.

On Friday, top-seeded Kansas will play Villanova (also a No. 12) seed and Wisconsin will meet Davidson in the Midwest. Those games will be played in Detroit. In the South, No. 1 seed Memphis will play Michigan State and Texas will face Stanford.

Celtics increase conference lead

BOSTON, March 26 (UPI) -- A 30-point effort from Kevin Garnett Wednesday allowed Boston to down Phoenix 117-97, the Celtics' first win over the Suns in six tries.

Boston increased its lead over Detroit to six games in their battle for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Paul Pierce scored 27 points and Kendrick Perkins had 13 for the Celtics, who avoided what would have been only their second three-game losing streak of the season. Boston had dropped back-to-back games against New Orleans and Philadelphia.

Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 32 points, but the Suns managed only 40 points during the second half and lost their second straight.

Shaquille O'Neal scored 16 points and Steve Nash had 12.

Boston began to pull away with a 9-2 run in the third period and took an 11-point lead into the final quarter.

Phoenix went cold during the final period and its starters were taken out of the game with five minutes left.

California fires men's hoops coach

BERKELEY, Calif., March 26 (UPI) -- The University of California-Berkeley Wednesday fired men's basketball Coach Ben Braun after a 12-year run.

Braun's firing was announced by Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour.

"This was an extremely difficult decision that was undertaken with great care and diligence," Barbour said on the school's Web site. "In the final analysis, I have determined that it is time for Cal to seek new leadership in our men's basketball program. Competing for conference championships and a place in the NCAA Tournament are goals and expectations that are embraced at Cal. Unfortunately, we have not been able to consistently meet those expectations in our men's basketball program."

Braun's 12-year record in Berkeley was 219-154, including 17-16 (6-12 Pac-10) this season. His teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament five times.

The Golden Bears' 2007-08 season ended Monday with a 73-56 loss at Ohio State in the second round of the NIT.

Cal finished eighth or ninth in the Pac-10 three times in the past four seasons.

Americans surprise Poland in exhibition

KRAKOW, Poland, March 26 (UPI) -- Landon Donovan set up two goals Wednesday and the United States stormed to a surprising 3-0 win over Poland in Krakow.

The Americans produce all three goals on restarts in the international exhibition.

Donovan's free kick led to Carlos Bocanegra scoring in the 11th minute and Oguchi Onyewu scored on a header in the 35th minute off a Donovan corner kick. Eddie Lewis scored on a direct free kick in the 73rd minute.

The United States evened its all-time series with Poland at 7-7-2.

Team USA will return to Europe in May for matches against England and Spain.