Duke pulls out of ACC Tournament, NCAA tournaments streak ends
Duke arrived at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament hoping to make an unprecedented run to extend its long NCAA Tournament streak.
Instead, the Blue Devils abruptly had to pull out of the tournament and end its season due to a positive COVID-19 test and the resulting quarantining and contact tracing.
The ACC announced that the Blue Devils’ quarterfinal game against No. 15 Florida State for Thursday night has been canceled. And athletics director Kevin White said Duke’s season is over, ending the Blue Devils’ streak of 24 consecutive NCAA appearances that began in 1996.
In a statement, White said the positive test for someone within the program came after Wednesday’s win against Louisville, the Blue Devils’ second win in as many days in Greensboro. Before this, there had been no positive tests all season for a player or coach, he said. TOP-SEEDED OREGON KNOCKS OUT ASU >> LJ Figueroa scored a seasonhigh 21 points, Will Richardson had 17 points, seven rebounds and nine assists and top-seeded Oregon eased into the semifinals with a 91-73 victory over Arizona State in the Pac12 Conference tournament.
Oregon did not miss consecutive shots in the final 15 minutes of the game until the 1:30 mark when it was in front 6035. The Ducks made six straight for a 41-23 lead and seven consecutive to go up 54-33.
Eugene Omoruyi had 15 points and six rebounds for Oregon (20-5), which has won six straight games to reach 20 wins for the 11th straight season. Amauri Hardy added 11 points and Chandler Lawson 10.
CAL 76, STANFORD 58 (WED.) >> Matt Bradley scored 19 points off the bench and Ryan Betley, also off the bench, scored 13 and No. 11 seed California never trailed beating sixthseeded Stanford 76-58 on Wednesday night in the first round of the Pac-12 Conference tournament.
Bradley and Betley combined to shoot 11 for 16 including 6 for 8 from 3-point range.
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>> Sergio Garcia has played TPC Sawgrass enough to know that trouble is lurking around every turn, and the opening round at The Players Championship provided another example. Just not for him.
A solid start turned into a brilliant one for Garcia, who finished birdie-birdieeagle for a 7-under 65, staking the Spaniard to a threeshot lead among the early starters.
Garcia, who won the PGA Tour’s premier event in 2008, holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 seventh, hit a 3-iron to 15 feet on the par-3 eighth, and closed it out with a 5-wood to 18 feet for eagle on his final hole.
The 65 matched his best score on the Stadium Course.
The Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Draymond Green have been selected as finalists for the U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball team that will play in the Tokyo Games this summer.
Curry and Green are among 57 finalists to make Team USA’s 12-man roster, which will be announced later this year, and play in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics that were postponed from last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Klay Thompson — out for the season with an Achilles tear — was on the original list in 2020, but did not make the cut in the latest player pool.
It’s unclear how the adjusted NBA season will impact the Olympics, which will be held from July to August. The NBA began the 2020-21 season in December in part to avoid its season over-lapping with the Summer Games. The condensed, 72-game regular season is set to end on May 16, followed by a postseason play-in tournament from May 18-21. The last day of the Finals has been marked for July 22 — one day before the planned start of the Olympics.
Curry, 32, has never participated in the Olympics and has stated his desire to play for Team USA in the past. But when asked in December if he planned to play in the 2021 Tokyo Games, Curry said he wasn’t sure. “Very open-ended question, and I have no idea,” Curry said. “That’s my best answer.”
Meanwhile, Green, 31, was part of the gold-medal winning 2016 U.S. Olympic team that went 8-0 in Rio de Janeiro and, in 2019, had stated his desire to play for Team USA in 2020.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is on the Team USA coaching staff, led by San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.