⚡️ Frantic Finishes

Happy Monday! No football? No problem. We had another jam-packed weekend of organized athletics, and we’re here to get you all caught up. March is only four days, and the drama in college basketball continues to build as we had a slew of thrillers highlighted by a Blue Devil banged up in a controversial court storming and an improbable Buckeyes buzzer-beater. On Sunday, the NBA took center stage with a sweet slate of action, but Patrick Kane stole the show by reminding us why sports are so special. We also had a wild photo finish in NASCAR, a new winner on the PGA Tour, and a stirring score in the Carabao Cup final. Let’s go!

PS: Three Mondays from now, we’ll have a bracket.

WTF Stat: Rangers rookie F Matt Rempe is the first player in NHL history to record 27-plus penalty minutes and a game-winning goal within his first four career games - Rempe got into an epic scrap with Flyers F Nicolas Deslauriers on Saturday before netting the game-winner.

Men’s College Basketball - Top Games

• Wake Forest 83, #8 Duke 79: The Demon Deacons earned a massive resume-booster on Saturday as Hunter Sallis (29 PTS, 5-6 3PT, 6 REB) led them on a late charge to knock off Kyle Filipowski (17 PTS, 8 REB) and Duke at home. But the story of the game came after the final buzzer when Filipowski was shaken up in a collision with a Wake Forest fan who was storming the court, which has intensified the debate of court storming in college basketball - Filipowski said postgame, “I absolutely feel like it was personal, intentional for sure”

• #2 Houston 82, #11 Baylor 76 (OT): The matchup of the weekend didn’t disappoint as Baylor erased a 16-point halftime deficit and tied the game on Yves Missi’s (2 PTS, 5 REB) and-1 with 4.4 seconds left in regulation, but Missi missed the go-ahead free throw, and although Houston G Jamal Shead’s (12 PTS, 10 AST) apparent game-winning three at the buzzer was called off when replay showed he didn’t get it off in time, the Cougars held on in overtime thanks to some big-time buckets from LJ Cryer (15 PTS), who was making his return to Waco after spending three seasons with the Bears - Houston (24-3) hasn’t lost since falling to No. 8 Kansas on Feb. 3, who beat Texas on Saturday 86-67

• #17 Kentucky 117, #13 Alabama 95: The Wildcats’ diaper dandy duo of freshmen Justin Edwards (28 PTS, 10-10 FG, 5 REB) and Rob Dillingham (16 PTS, 4 AST) put on a show, as Big Blue rolled Rylan Griffen (21 PTS, 4 AST) and the Tide in Lexington on Saturday to bounce back from Wednesday’s last-second loss at LSU

• #10 North Carolina 54, Virginia 44: Cormac Ryan (18 PTS, 6-11 3PT) was feeling it from downtown, and Virginia scored just 16 points in the first half as the Tar Heels led nearly the entire way for a dominant road victory on Saturday, marking the Hoos’ third loss in four games

• Ohio State 60, Michigan State 57: In a thrilling finish on Sunday, Roddy Gayle Jr. (12 PTS, 8 REB) gave Ohio State its first lead of the game with just 11 seconds remaining, and after Michigan State’s Tyson Walker (12 PTS, 3 REB) went one-for-two from the line to tie it with six ticks left, Dale Bonner (6 PTS) splashed a fadeaway three at the buzzer to snap the Buckeyes’ 17-game road losing streak in miraculous fashion

See the full NCAAM scoreboard here and the current rankings here.

Women’s College Basketball - Top Games

• #1 South Carolina 103, Kentucky 55: That’s 27 up, 27 down! Bree Hall (18 PTS, 8-10 FG) helped South Carolina jump out to a 25-8 lead in the 1st quarter, and the Gamecocks easily handled a struggling Kentucky team on Sunday to improve their record to a perfect 27-0 - the victory also clinched South Carolina’s third consecutive outright SEC regular-season title and their eighth in 11 years

• #13 LSU 75, Tennessee 60: Hailey Van Lith (26 PTS, 7 REB) was magnificent, Angel Reese (11 PTS, 15 REB) surpassed 2,000 career points, and the Tigers used a late 16-2 run to pull away from the Lady Vols on Sunday in Knoxville - LSU (24-4) has won six straight games after back-to-back losses to South Carolina and Mississippi State in late January

• #4 Iowa 101, Illinois 85: Despite struggling from the field, Caitlin Clark (24 PTS, 5-14 3PT, 15 REB, 10 AST) notched her 16th career triple-double, and Iowa rebounded from Thursday’s loss at No. 14 Indiana with a wire-to-wire victory over Makira Cook (26 PTS) and the Illini on Sunday

• #18 Utah 74, #7 USC 68: Former Pac-12 freshman of the year Alissa Pili (23 PTS, 9 REB), who transferred to Utah after three seasons at USC, led the charge for the visitors, and the Utes topped JuJu Watkins (30 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST) and the Trojans on Sunday for their highest-ranked road win in program history - Watkins had 42 points on Friday in a win over No. 11 Colorado

See the full NCAAW scoreboard here and the current rankings here.

NBA - Top Games

• Boston Celtics 116, New York Knicks 102: Jaylen Brown (30 PTS, 8 REB), Kristaps Porzingis (22 PTS, 4 AST), and four other Celtics scored in double-figures, as the East-leading C’s pulled away from Jalen Brunson (34 PTS, 9 REB) and the Knicks at MSG on Saturday for their eighth straight dub - Boston (45-12) has the best record in the NBA and holds a 7.5-game lead over Cleveland (37-19) in the East

• Denver Nuggets 119, Golden State Warriors 103: Klay Thomspon (23 PTS, 5-13 3PT) dropped 17 points in the 1st quarter, but Stephen Curry (20 PTS, 1-10 3PT, 4 AST) couldn’t find his shot, and the Warriors failed to stave off the defending champs, as Nikola Jokic (32 PTS, 16 REB, 16 AST) posted his third straight triple-double and Jamal Murray (27 PTS, 4 REB) had a busy second half to give the Nugs a come-from-behind win on Sunday in San Francisco

• Phoenix Suns 123, Los Angeles Lakers 113: Kevin Durant (22 PTS, 5 REB, 7 AST) and Jusuf Nurkic (18 PTS, 22 REB) helped the Suns build a 45-28 lead in the 1st quarter and Phoenix didn’t look back to top LeBron James (28 PTS, 7 REB, 12 AST), Anthony Davis (22 PTS, 14 REB) and the Lakers in the Valley on Sunday - James was upset after the game about LA’s season-low eight free throw attempts

• Milwaukee Bucks 119, Philadelphia 76ers 98: After beating the West-leading Timberwolves, 112-107, on Friday, Giannis Antetokounmpo (30 PTS, 12 REB, 9 AST) and the Deer capped off a big weekend by coasting past Tyrese Maxey (24 PTS, 7 AST) and the shorthanded Sixers on Sunday in HC Doc Rivers’ return to Philadelphia - the 76ers fired Rivers after last season, and Milwaukee (37-21) is now 5-7 under his command

• Orlando Magic 112, Detroit Pistons 109: With the score tied at 109 and time winding now, Paolo Banchero (15 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST) beat the buzzer by knocking down a tough game-winning, and-1 jumper with 0.9 seconds remaining, as the Magic survived a scare on Saturday against Cade Cunningham (26 PTS, 7 REB) and the bottom-feeding Pistons

See the full NBA scoreboard here and the current standings here.

NHL - Top Games

• Detroit Red Wings 3, Chicago Blackhawks 2 (OT): Your daily reminder that sports rock. In his first game back in Chicago after spending 16 seasons with the Blackhawks and winning three Stanley Cups, Patrick Kane (1 G) received a roaring standing ovation from the United Center crowd following a touching video tribute and then fittingly buried the OT-winner on a breakaway to beat his former team, making for an emotional, storybook return

• Columbus Blue Jackets 4, New York Rangers 2: The Rangers’ 10-game win streak came to a close Sunday as Dmitri Vornkov (1 G, 1 A) and Elvis Merzlikins (40 SA) led the Blue Jackets to an upset win in Columbus - New York (39-17-3) has the most wins in the East and is tied with Boston (34-12-13) with a conference-leading 81 points

• Pittsburgh Penguins 7, Philadelphia Flyers 6: The Battle for Pennsylvania was a goal party as Tyson Foerster (2 G, 1 A) and the Flyers went back-and-forth with Sidney Crosby (1 G, 3 A) and the Pens, but Pittsburgh got the road dub thanks to Kris Letang’s (1 G, 1 A) late 3rd-period bingo

See the full box scores here and the current NHL standings here.

English Carabao Cup - Final

• Liverpool 1, Chelsea 0: A frenetic final at Wembley needed extra time to determine a champion after both teams saw goals wiped away by VAR, but in the end, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk (118’) left no doubt, as the veteran glanced a header off a corner past Chelsea goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic to give his club a dramatic victory, marking the Reds’ record-extending 10th Carabao Cup and their second in three years - van Diijk plans to retire after the season, as well as Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp

See the full international soccer scoreboard here.

PGA Tour - Mexico Open at Vidanta

• Winner: Jake Knapp (-19). Tour rookie Jake Knapp, 29, let a commanding four-shot lead slip away in his first seven holes on Sunday, but recovered with a gutsy performance on the back nine to beat fellow rookie Sami Valimaki for his first PGA victory - Knapp took home $1.5 million for the win, which qualifies him for the Masters and the PGA Championship

See the entire final leaderboard here.

NASCAR - Cup Series at Atlanta

• Winner: Daniel Suarez. In an instant classic from Atlanta, Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez edged out Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney by the skin of his teeth in a three-wide, photo finish that was decided by less than one-hundredth of a second, giving the Mexican driver his second career victory in the Cup Series - it is the third closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history!

See the entire race results here.

Men’s College Lacrosse - Top Game

• #19 Georgetown 11, #1 Notre Dame 10 (OT): After opening the season with a pair of disheartening losses to Loyola and No. 9 Johns Hopkins, the Hoyas made a statement Sunday by knocking off Pat Kavanagh (1 G, 2 A) and the reigning champs in South Bend thanks to Aidan Carroll’s (3 G) OT-winner - Georgetown (2-2) beat Penn last week, and it’s Notre Dame’s (2-1) first loss of the season

See the full MLAX scoreboard here and the current rankings here.

Stop aimlessly scrolling through charts and source the best podcasts around with this newsletter:

Golf season is nearly here, lower your scores this year:

The off-the-field news in college sports is endless these days, understand it better:

When was the last time a DI women’s basketball team completed an undefeated season? (Including the NCAA Tournament)

A. 2019

B. 2016

C. 2014

D. 2012

On February 26, 1959, Celtics G Bob Cousy dished out an NBA-record 28 assists to help Boston beat the Minneapolis Lakers 173-139. Yes, you read that final score correctly. Cousy’s would stand for nearly 20 years until Nets G Kevin Porter broke it in 1978 with 29 dimes in a win against the Rockets. Magic G Scott Skiles now holds the all-time, single-game assists record with 30 in a win against the Nuggets in 1990. Only seven different players have recorded more than 25 assists in a single NBA game, and John Stockton is the only person to do it multiple times, with outings of 26, 27 and 28 assists - will we see someone break Skile's record anytime soon?

NBA

• Toronto Raptors @ Indiana Pacers 7:00pm ET, NBA TV

• Detroit Pistons @ New York Knicks 7:30pm ET, Local

• Brooklyn Nets @ Memphis Grizzlies 8:00pm ET, Local

• Miami Heat @ Sacramento Kings 10:00pm ET, NBA TV

NHL

• Ottawa Senators @ Washington Capitals 7:00pm ET, NHLPP / ESPN+

• New York Islanders @ Dallas Stars 8:00pm ET, NHL Net

• Los Angeles Kings @ Edmonton Oilers 9:30pm ET, NHLPP / ESPN+

• Boston Bruins @ Seattle Kraken 10:00pm ET, NHLPP / ESPN+

College Basketball

• NCAAM: Miami @ #10 North Carolina 7:00pm ET, ESPN

• NCAAM: West Virginia @ Kansas State 7:00pm ET, ESPN2

• NCAAM: #11 Baylor @ TCU 9:00pm ET, ESPN

• NCAAM: Full Schedule

• NCAAW: #11 Colorado @ #12 UCLA 9:00pm ET, ESPN2

• NCAAW: Full Schedule

Trivia Time Answer

B. 2016. UConn is the most recent women's DI basketball team to complete an undefeated season by cutting down the nets, going 38-0 in 2015-16. Last season, South Carolina was 36-0 going into the Final Four — seeking their second consecutive title — but lost to Caitlin Clark and No. 2-seeded Iowa. The Gamecocks are a perfect 27-0 this season, and will look to join UConn (2016, 2014, 2010, 2009, 2002) and Baylor (2012) as the only programs to complete an undefeated title run since 2000.

Prime Lock of the Day

Subscribe to Blitz Prime to unlock this betting slip. For those already signed up, enjoy the winner!

Same time tomorrow — thanks for reading!