COL BKB: Memphis 81, Cal St.-Northridge 70
KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 19 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Memphis closed with a 20-6 run Thursday and beat upset-minded Cal State-Northridge 81-70 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's West Region.
The Tigers led 34-31 at the half but, before their game-ending spurt, trailed 64-61 after Mark Hill's layup with 9:06 remaining.
Roburt Sallie led the winners with 35 points, four rebounds and three steals.
Tyreke Evans scored 15 points with five assists and three steals and Antonio Anderson added 13 points, 10 assists and three steals for the Tigers (32-3), who established a first-round record by sinking 10-of-15 3-pointers in their 26th consecutive victory.
Rodrigue Mels led Northridge with 15 points. Tremaine Townsend scored 14 with nine rebounds and Kenny Daniels scored 14 with four rebounds.
Hill had 13 points and six assists, while Willie Galick added 12 points and six rebounds for the Matadors (17-14), the surprise champion at last week's Big West Tournament.
UConn Coach Jim Calhoun out with illness
PHILADELPHIA, March 19 (UPI) -- Longtime Connecticut men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun will miss his team's NCAA Tournament game Thursday due to an undisclosed illness, CBS Sports reported.
The Huskies, the top seed in the West Region, faced No. 16 seed Chattanooga Thursday afternoon in a first-round contest at Philadelphia.
His replacement is assistant George Blaney.
"Coach Calhoun has not been feeling well for the past several days and it is best that he not coach the team for precautionary reasons," the school's director of sports medicine, Dr. Jeff Anderson, said in a release.
Calhoun, who has had health issues in the past, has guided the Huskies to a 27-4 record in his 23rd season at the Big East Conference school.
Report: Ban against soccer players lifted
ROME, March 19 (UPI) -- The Court of Arbitration for Sport has suspended bans against two star Italian soccer players, the Italian ANSA news agency reported.
The Lausanne-based CAS upheld an appeal by the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) of the one-year bans for former Brescia winger Daniele Mannini and Brescia striker David Possanzini.
The penalties were levied when the players arrived late for a doping test when they played for Brescia in Serie B in 2007.
The ban had led to an outcry in Italian soccer and, in its appeal, the FIGC called the bans "excessive."
"My feeling is that (the CAS) decided to strike two weak links to set an example," said former Brescia Coach Serse Cosmi Wednesday.
Brescia Chairman Gino Corioni said the players were late because of his decision to read the team the riot act after a 3-0 home loss.
"The two lads didn't do anything wrong, it isn't fair," Corioni added.
Rower Scott Rennie dies of heart attack
LONDON, March 19 (UPI) -- British Olympic rowing hopeful Scott Rennie has died of a heart attack, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday. He was 25.
Rennie, called "Big Ren," collapsed on a rowing machine at the Molesey Boat Club in Surrey. Fellow rowers performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until paramedics arrived. Medical personnel treated him for 30 minutes before taking him to Kingston Hospital but doctors were unable to save him, the newspaper said.
"It was a normal training session," fellow rower Henry Ellender, 27, a witness, told The Daily Telegraph. "He had been out on the Thames for a session in a single boat already."
Rennie had represented his country at the European level and Ellender said he was dedicated to his training and achieving a place on the Olympic squad. He finished fifth in England's team trials last month, and was set to represent Molesey Sunday in the traditional Boat Race fixture against Cambridge, The Daily Telegraph said.
Annika Sorenstam announces pregnancy
ORLANDO, Fla., March 19 (UPI) -- Hall of Fame golfer Annika Sorenstam, 38, said Thursday she is expecting her first child.
Sorenstam, in a posting on her Web site, said she and husband Mike McGee are "absolutely thrilled and look forward to this new chapter in our lives!"
Sorenstam retired from the LPGA Tour last year, saying she had "other priorities in my life." She and McGee, who is the managing director of her business brand, were married on Jan. 10.
"We have had a lot of exciting changes in the past few months and adding a new addition to our family later this fall will certainly be at the top of that list," Sorenstam said on her Web site.
Sorenstam won 73 LPGA events and more than $22.5 million since joining the tour in 1994. Her win total is third best in LPGA history while her total prize winnings ranked first all time.
