Louisville downs Wichita State in NCAA semifinal
ATLANTA, April 6 (UPI) -- Russ Smith and Luke Hancock teamed up for 41 points Saturday and No. 1 Louisville rallied for a 72-68 win over Wichita State and a berth in the NCAA title game.
Smith scored 10 of his 21 points in the second half and Hancock added 11 of his 20 after the break -- including a pair of late 3-pointers -- as the Cardinals (34-5) erased a 12-point deficit.
Tim Henderson began the late surge with a pair of 3-pointers and Louisville went on a 12-3 run, grabbing the lead for good in its quest for its first NCAA championship since 1986.
Chane Behanan provided 10 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinals, who will face the winner of Saturday's second national semifinal between Syracuse and Michigan in Monday's title tilt.
Cleanthony Early paced the ninth-seeded Shockers (30-9) with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Carl Hall (13 points, five rebounds) and Ron Baker (11, eight) also reached double figures for Wichita State.
Serbia pulls upset in Davis Cup doubles
BOISE, Idaho, April 6 (UPI) -- Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic survived an epic fifth set Saturday to pull off an upset victory and move Serbia within reach of the Davis Cup semifinals.
Bozoljac and Zimonjic surprised the American brother tandem of Mike and Bob Bryan, giving Serbia a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five match series.
With world No. 1 Novak Djokovic set to play in one of Sunday's two remaining singles matches, Serbia became a clear favorite to win the quarterfinal series. Djokovic will meet Sam Querrey, after which American John Isner will face Viktor Troicki.
The doubles match was an obvious critical juncture in the Serbia-United States matchup and the Americans were favored since the Bryans are the No. 1 ranked doubles team in the world.
Bozoljac and Zimonjic prevailed, however, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-1), 5-7, 4-6, 15-13.
The match lasted 4 hours, 23 minutes with the final set taking 1 hour, 39 minutes to complete. There were 434 points played and they were split exactly in half.
Horschel hangs on to Texas Open lead
SAN ANTONIO, April 6 (UPI) -- Second-round leader Billy Horschel remained on top by two shots after overcoming a stiff breeze to register a 2-under-par 70 Saturday at the Texas Open.
Horshel also came into the day with two-stroke lead and turned in a steady round in a bid for a his first PGA Tour title and a spot in next week's Masters.
He finished 54 holes at 10-under-par 206 at TPC San Antonio.
Horshel birdied the 14th from five feet out, moving to minus-11, then faltered to a bogey at 15th to slip back to 10-under, where he stayed following three pars to close out the round.
Jim Furyk used a 3-under 69 to forge a second-place tie with Charley Hoffman (70) at 8-under 208.
Sharing fourth place one shot further back were Rory McIlroy (71), Bob Estes (69) and Ryan Palmer (68).
Serena routs Venus in Charleston semifinal
CHARLESTON, S.C., April 6 (UPI) -- Serena Williams routed older sister Venus in straight sets in their first meeting in four years Saturday, reaching the finals of the Family Circle Cup.
Serena Williams will meet Jelena Jankovic in Sunday's final after the ninth-seeded Serb overcame Switzerland's Stefanie Voegele 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2 in the day's second semifinal.
Defending champion Serena Williams breezed past Venus 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinal match -- their first meeting since the finals of the 2009 WTA Championships in Qatar, and the most lopsided of 24 career encounters between them.
Serena's fifth straight win over her sister gives her a 14-10 lifetime record against Venus, the 2004 Charleston champ.
The elder Williams looked fatigued in the match, committing eight double faults while converting just 52 percent of her first serves.
The triumph gave top-ranked Serena world a 10-match winning streak heading into the Charleston final.
