Show notes
NBA – National Basketball Association Last Night Detroit Pistons 122, Atlanta Hawks 101 Sacramento Kings 110, Indiana Pacers 109 Pistons 122, Hawks 101 – Grant, Cunningham lead Pistons to rare rout of Hawks Jeremi Grant scored 21 points and the slumping Detroit Pistons routed the Atlanta Hawks 122-101 on Wednesday night. Cade Cunningham added 17 points and eight assists for Detroit. The Pistons led by 29 points while winning for the second time in eight games. Detroit had eight players in double figures as they easily surpassed its previous biggest victory margin of the season, 16 against Toronto on Jan. 14. Saddiq Bey hit his 192nd 3-pointer of the season in the fourth quarter, breaking Allan Houston’s franchise record. Trae Young had 21 points and nine assists for Atlanta, De’Andre Hunter scored 15 points, and Bogan Bogdanovic added 13. The Hawks had won five of seven. Kings 110, Pacers 109 – Jones’ last-second tip-in lifts Kings over Pacers 110-109 Damian Jones’ tip-in with less than a second left lifted the Sacramento Kings to a 110-109 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Trey Lyles missed a 3-pointer but Jones tipped in the rebound with 0.2 seconds remaining. Davion Mitchell scored 25 points and Chimezie Metu had a career-high 22 as the Kings snapped a three-game losing streak. Buddy Hield led the Pacers with 25 points and Goga Bitadze added 20. Tyrese Haliburton had 13 points and 15 assists. Haliburton and Hield were traded by the Kings to the Pacers in February. Tonight Chicago Bulls at New Orleans Pelicans, 8:00 p.m. Indiana Pacers at Memphis Grizzlies, 8:00 p.m. NHL – National Hockey League Last Night Chicago Blackhawks 4, Anaheim Ducks 2 Blackhawks 4, Ducks 2 – Blackhawks snap 3-game losing streak with 4-2 win over Ducks Dylan Strome scored the go-ahead goal with 3:50 remaining and Patrick Kane had another big night against Anaheim as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the skidding Ducks 4-2. Strome redirected Riley Stillman’s shot from near the blueline past John Gibson to help the Blackhawks snap a three-game losing streak. Kane had a goal and two assists, giving him a point in nine straight games against Anaheim. Sam Carrick — who was playing in his 100th NHL game — scored twice for Anaheim, marking the first multigoal game of his six-year career. However, it wasn’t enough for the Ducks, who have dropped eight straight for the fifth time in franchise history. Tonight Detroit Red Wings at New York Islanders, 7:30 p.m. Chicago Blackhawks at Los Angeles Kings, 10:00 p.m. NCAAMBKB – Men’s NCAA Tournament Tonight Sweet 16 – South Region – AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX 11 Michigan vs. 3 Villanova, 7:29 p.m. News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM 6:45 5 Houston vs. 1 Arizona, 9:59 p.m. Sweet 16 – West Region – Chase Center, San Francisco, CA 4 Arkansas vs. 1 Gonzaga, 7:09 p.m. 3 Texas Tech vs. 2 Duke, 9:30 p.m. NCAAMBKB – South Preview: ‘Nova vs. Michigan again at site of ’18 title Villanova is back in San Antonio for the first time since winning the national title there four years ago. Even the opponent is the same, though the Sweet 16 game against Michigan is at a different arena. The Wildcats and Wolverines meet Thursday night at the home of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. That is about three miles from the Alamodome, where Nova won the title in 2018. In the other South Region semifinal, top seed Arizona takes on Houston. The Cougars are playing only a three-hour drive from home. NCAA – Study: Michigan, Kentucky top academics-based NCAA brackets Michigan and Kentucky stood out in a study examining the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournament brackets based on graduation rates, academic success and diversity in the head coaching ranks. The Wolverines were the overall No. 1 seed as the national champion for a third straight year in the men’s field according to the study released Wednesday by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at Central Florida. The Wildcats held the overall No. 1 seed as the women’s champion. Teams that performed well and are still in the tournaments are the Michigan and North Carolina men, along with the Notre Dame women. NCAA – NCAA men’s, women’s tournaments see double-digit TV gains The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are seeing double-digit viewer increases over last year. The men’s tournament is up 12% over last year. The tournament is also off to its best start in five years, averaging 9.12 million viewers through the second round. The women’s tournament is up 15% overall through the first two rounds. The second round averaged 474,000 viewers, a 25% jump from last year. Both tournaments are back to their normal setups for the first time since 2019. They were played in a bubble last year after being canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. MLB – Major League Baseball – Spring Training Yesterday Detroit Tigers 6, Pittsburgh Pirates 6 – TIE Texas Rangers 14, Chicago White Sox 5 Chicago Cubs 5, Oakland A’s 4 Today New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers, 1:05 p.m. San Francisco Giants at Chicago White Sox, 4:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Angels, 4:10 p.m. MLB/EPL – Cubs owners denounce racism after backlash over Chelsea bid The owners of the Chicago Cubs, who are bidding for Premier League club Chelsea, touted their anti-racism credentials after a backlash in England about offensive comments by the father of the baseball team’s chairman. It has been three years since family patriarch Joe Ricketts apologized after online media outlet Splinter News published emails featuring him making Islamophobic comments, such as “Islam is a cult and not a religion.” Paul Canoville, Chelsea’s first Black player, tweeted “a big fat anti racism NO to the Ricketts bid.” The Ricketts family says it “rejects any form of hate in the strongest possible terms.” MLB – Lynn ready if needed to start on opening day for White Sox Lance Lynn says he’s not particularly concerned about who starts on opening day for the Chicago White Sox. Manager Tony La Russa hasn’t announced whether Lynn or Lucas Giolito will get the ball when the White Sox face Detroit on April 8. Lynn says “it’s awesome” that the White Sox have multiple potential opening day starters. Lynn finished third in the American League Cy Young Award voting last season. He made his spring debut on Wednesday against the Texas Rangers. WNBA – Griner seen by US consulate in Russian detention facility The U.S. State Department says a U.S. Embassy official has visited with WNBA star Brittney Griner, who remains detained near Moscow, to check on her condition. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told CNN the official found Griner “to be in good condition.” Price did not identify the official who had been granted consular access to Griner, something the United States had been demanding. Griner was detained after arriving at a Moscow airport, reportedly in mid-February, after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges that allegedly contained oil derived from cannabis, which could carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. COVID – New York City to let unvaccinated athletes play home games New York city’s mayor will announce Thursday that he’s exempting athletes and performers from the city’s vaccine mandate for private workers. The move will allow Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving to play home games, and let unvaccinated baseball players take the field when their season begins. According to a person familiar with the upcoming announcement who was not authorized to discuss it publicly, Mayor Eric Adams will make the announcement Thursday morning. It will be effective immediately. The city’s sweeping vaccine mandate for workers will still apply to people with other types of jobs, including government employees. NFL – Lions add ex-Chiefs CB Mike Hughes, ex-Ravens LB Chris Board The Detroit Lions have addressed pressing needs, signing cornerback Mike Hughes and linebacker Chris Board. Detroit announced the moves Wednesday, adding depth where it is needed on defense. Hughes started in five of 17 games last season with the Kansas City Chiefs. He had 45 tackles, one interception, forced four fumble and returned a fumble for a score in 2021. Board started in two of 63 games over the last four years with the Baltimore Ravens. He had 59 tackles, 2 1/2 sacks, forced two fumbles and was a key contributor on special teams. NFL – Michaels, Herbstreit to call Prime Video’s NFL package Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit will be the announcing team when Prime Video takes over “Thursday Night Football” in September. Michaels moves to Prime from NBC. His contract with NBC ended last month after he was in the booth for his 11th Super Bowl. Herbstreit will remain ESPN’s lead college football analyst and do NFL games for Prime. ESPN also announced that Herbstreit had signed a multiyear extension. Tennis – That’ll do: Barty signs off on tennis at 25, ranked No. 1 Ash Barty signaled the end of the photo opportunities at her retirement news conference in her typically low-fuss, matter-of-fact style: “Righto, that’ll do.” Barty surprised almost everyone in tennis when she announced her retirement at age 25 in a video posted to social media on Wednesday. She’s spent the last two years atop the women’s tennis rankings and won two of the last three Grand Slam singles titles. A day later she confirmed she’d set a date to get married but wasn’t ready to make it public. For all other details about her future plans, Barty says “You’ll have to wait and see. Be patient.” Russia/Ukraine – Russian Olympians face backlash after Vladimir Putin rally Russian Olympic athletes who participated in a rally supporting President Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine are facing a backlash. They gathered on stage at the Luzhniki Stadium on Friday as part of the concert and entertainment program around Putin’s speech. Olympic champion Evgeny Rylov is under investigation from the governing body of swimming. Swimwear manufacturer Speedo has dropped Rylov for his involvement in the pro-Putin rally. It says the remainder of Rylov’s sponsorship fee will be donated to the United Nations agency caring for refugees. MHSAA – High School Sports Last Night Girls Soccer St. Joseph 6, Kalamazoo Christian 0 St. Joe’s Ellie Smith scored a hat-trick, while Eleah Hedstrom scored twice in the Bears 6-0 win over Kalamazoo Christian. Anna Kalamaros scored the other goal for St. Joe. South Haven 4, Saugatuck 0 Hudsonville 2, Portage Central 1 Gull Lake 2, GR Forest Hills Central 1 Allegan 5, Hopkins 0 Harper Creek 2, Otsego 2 – TIE Today Girls Soccer Three Rivers at Parchment, 6:00 p.m. Baseball Kalamazoo Hackett at Paw Paw, 4:30 p.m. Softball Decatur at Paw Paw, 4:00 p.m. (DH) Kalamazoo Christian at Grandville Calvin Christian, 4:30 p.m. Boys Basketball – State Semifinals Division 3 at Michigan State University Menominee (22-3) vs Ecorse (9-10), 12:00 p.m. Schoolcraft (23-2) vs Flint Beecher (22-2), 2:00 p.m. Division 4 at Michigan State University Ewen-Trout Creek (22-3) vs Lake Leelanau St. Mary (21-4), 5:30 p.m. Wyoming Tri-unity Christian (19-6) vs Genesee Christian (21-4), 7:30 p.m.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.