Caitlin Clark, Iowa advance after grueling second spherical; Shohei Ohtani addresses betting scandal

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🏀 Good morning to everybody however particularly …

THE WOMEN’S SWEET 16

Bumped, bruised and bloodied — and much from their finest — Caitlin Clark and top-seeded Iowa are onto the Candy 16 after incomes a gritty 64-54 win over No. 8 seed West Virginia.

Clark scored 32 factors, however these eight subject objectives didn’t come simply. The Division-I all-time main scorer — whose 1,113 factors this season are additionally now a single-season report — was hounded all night time by an aggressive, bodily Mountaineer protection. She shot 8 for 22 (5 of 14 from 3), had six turnovers and simply three assists. Jack Maloney wonders if the Mountaineers put collectively a recreation plan others can attempt to replicate — Iowa’s 64 factors have been its fewest in a win this season.

However March is about surviving above all else, and the Hawkeyes did simply that. They made 25 of 30 free throws in comparison with simply three of 5 for West Virginia, and endured problem after problem. West Virginia tied the sport 3 times, together with at 52 with underneath three minutes left. Then a Gabbie Marshall block on a Mountaineers’ 3-point try led to Sydney Offalter changing an and-one, and the Hawkeyes by no means seemed again.

Later Monday, top-seeded USC ensured all 4 No. 1 seeds would attain the Candy 16, pulling away from No. 8 seed Kansas for a 73-55 win behind 28 factors and 11 rebounds from JuJu Watkins. Additionally heading to the second weekend is No. 3 seed UConn, which beat No. 6 seed Syracuse, 72-64, behind 32 factors and 10 rebounds from Paige Bueckers. Jack says Bueckers has not solely reclaimed her superstardom however has change into the clear favourite to go No. 1 within the 2025 draft. 

So, yeah, the celebrities shined shiny. So did the highest groups, like South Carolina, Iowa — and people Pac-12 faculties which can be going to rep the convention till somebody turns off the lights, notes Isabel Gonzalez in her winners and losers from the primary two rounds.

• Gonzalez: “The convention has the most effective profitable proportion within the ladies’s match with a 12-2 report after the second spherical. That is the final season of the convention as we all know it and it has been fairly the farewell tour. The Pac-12 obtained seven groups within the NCAA Match, which tied a convention report. Additionally, for the primary time in Pac-12 historical past, three groups have been seeded No. 2 or higher. “

😃 Honorable mentions

🏀 And never such a very good morning for …

JONTAY PORTER AND THE NBA

Raptors ahead Jontay Porter is underneath investigation by the NBA attributable to a number of situations of betting irregularities.

The NBA is wanting into two specific situations: Jan. 26 towards the Clippers and March 20 towards the Kings.

• On Jan. 26, in a recreation vs. the Clippers, Porter’s over/underneath prop guess totals have been set at 5.5 factors, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.5 3-pointers, roughly consistent with his latest averages at that time. Porter performed 4 minutes earlier than exiting attributable to what the Raptors known as a re-aggravation of a watch harm that got here towards the Grizzlies 4 days earlier. His remaining stat line for the Clippers recreation was zero factors, three rebounds, one help and 0 3-pointers.
• DraftKings Sportsbook reported that the “underneath” whole on Porter’s 3-pointers was the most important cash winner amongst all NBA participant props that night time.
• Within the March 20 recreation, Porter’s props have been set at 7.5 factors and 5.5 rebounds, and contemplating the Raptors have been extraordinarily shorthanded, these numbers made sense, too. Porter performed three minutes, recorded zero factors and two rebounds earlier than leaving with what the Raptors known as an sickness.
• The subsequent day, DraftKings reported that Porter props have been as soon as once more the highest moneymakers from that night time’s NBA video games.
• Porter performed 20+ minutes in Toronto’s subsequent recreation, on March 22. He missed the subsequent night time’s recreation and was listed as out attributable to private causes final night time.

One other sportsbook reported comparable irregularities, together with a number of accounts trying to make unusually giant bets (within the tens of 1000’s of {dollars}) on Porter unders. Porter, who’s on a two-way contract, has performed in 26 video games for the Raptors this season, averaging 4.4 factors, 3.2 rebounds and a couple of.3 assists. He’s the youthful brother of Nuggets ahead Michael Porter Jr. 

Lengthy story quick, sportsbooks receiving a number of enormous bets on the underneath for a little-known position participant who then leaves these specific video games early caught the league’s eye.

This, clearly, is a possible main downside for Jontay Porter and the league as a complete, pending the outcomes of the investigation. As Sam Quinn notes, “All NBA staff, gamers or in any other case, are prohibited from betting on any league occasion. Fines, suspensions and termination of contracts are all doable punishments for violations of this coverage.”

😢 Not so honorable mentions

⚾ Shohei Ohtani: ‘I by no means guess on baseball or another sports activities,’ interpreter ‘has advised lies’

Shohei Ohtani spoke to the media Monday for the primary time since MLB opened an investigation on a betting scandal by which Ohtani and his representatives allege now-former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara stole tens of millions of {dollars} from the Dodgers famous person to cowl playing money owed via an unlawful bookmaker.

Listed below are the key factors from Ohtani’s assertion, which he learn and which was translated by Dodgers interpreter Will Ireton:

• “I by no means guess on baseball or another sports activities. I’ve by no means requested anyone to do this on my behalf. I’ve by no means gone via a bookmaker to guess on sports activities. Up till a few days in the past, I did not know this was taking place. Simply to go over the end result, Ippei has been stealing cash from my account, and has advised lies.”
• “The primary time I knew about this playing — Ippei’s playing — was after the primary recreation [in Korea] after we had the group assembly within the clubhouse.”
  
• “Clearly I by no means agreed to repay the debt or make funds to the bookmaker. And eventually, after we went to the resort and talked one to at least one, that was once I came upon he has huge debt, and it was revealed throughout the assembly that Ippei admitted that he was sending cash utilizing my account to the bookmaker.”
  
• “After I was lastly capable of speak to my representatives, that is when my representatives came upon Ippei has been mendacity the entire time. And that is once I contacted the Dodgers and my legal professionals.”
  

Mizuhara initially advised ESPN that Ohtani had paid off his playing money owed. Mizuhara then modified his story and mentioned Ohtani didn’t know in regards to the betting, a narrative that falls consistent with Ohtani’s assertion. The Dodgers fired Mizuhara instantly after the story broke. Ohtani isn’t dealing with any self-discipline and stays an energetic participant.

This story has been stuffed with twists and turns, and there might be extra to return. Our MLB writers have accomplished a terrific job protecting each angle:

🏀 Hawks stun Celtics with largest comeback in franchise historical past

Down 30 factors to the Celtics — the league’s finest and hottest group — the short-handed Hawks might have been forgiven in the event that they packed it in. As an alternative, Atlanta pulled off the most important comeback in franchise historical past, turning a 68-38 deficit simply earlier than halftime right into a 120-118 win.

Total, it is the tenth occasion on report of a group overcoming a 30-point deficit.

The comeback began with a 9-0 Atlanta run to finish the primary half and ended with De’Andre Hunter‘s 3-pointer off a Clint Capela offensive rebound to place Atlanta up 4 with underneath 10 seconds left. With out Trae Younger, Atlanta obtained an impressive team-wide effort, with six gamers scoring double-digit factors and Hunter’s 24 main the best way. It is an enormous win with the Hawks within the play-in race (5.5 video games forward of the Nets for tenth within the East, 1.5 video games behind the Bulls for ninth).

That is additionally yet one more regarding collapse for Boston, Sam Quinn writes.

• Quinn: “It was lower than three weeks in the past on March 5 that Boston blew a 22-point result in the Cavaliers in a humiliating nationally televised defeat. Boston has misplaced solely 15 video games all season, however has blown double-digit leads in additional than half of these video games (eight). … This sort of inconsistency could be the distinction between survival and elimination within the postseason. Even when the Celtics do not lose typically, it is not an awesome signal that so a lot of their losses appear to return in the identical style.”

📺 What we’re watching Tuesday

🏀 Lakers at Bucks, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Mavericks at Kings, 10 p.m. on TNT