Alcaraz, Swiatek in fourth round
Defending champion
Carlos Alcaraz rallied over the last seven games to turn back Felix Auger-Aliassime on Sunday at the BNP Paribas Open.
The Spaniard scored a 6-2, 6-3 third-round victory to extend his Indian Wells winning streak to eight matches.
Alcaraz has won the last two meetings against AugerAliassime. Stefanos Tsitsipas also advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Frances Tiafoe.
On the women’s side, topranked Iga Swiatek overcame a slow start to defeat
Linda Noskova in straight sets 6-4, 6-0 and reach the fourth round.
Late Saturday, Novak Djokovic beat Aleksandar Vukic 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in his first trip to the desert since 2019.
Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka also won — barely — rallying to win their opening matches in thirdset tiebreakers.
South Carolina takes SEC title
MiLaysia Fulwiley scored a career-high 24 points including four threepointers as No. 1 South Carolina held off No. 8 Louisiana State 79-72 to win the Southeastern Conference Tournament title, a victory marred by a fourth-quarter fight that led to Gamecocks leading scorer and rebounder Kamilla Cardoso being ejected.
South Carolina (32-0) was ahead 73-66 when Fulwiley stole the ball from Flau’jae Johnson, who wrapped her up and was called for a foul. Johnson then bumped South Carolina’s Ashlyn Watkins, and the 6-foot-7 Cardoso rushed and pushed the 5-10 Johnson the ground.
Players from both benches rushed toward them. Cardoso can be expected to miss time in the NCAA tournament for her actions.
In other conference tournament finals, Caitlin Clark overcame a cold start to score 30 of her 34 points after halftime and help third-ranked Iowa rally past Nebraska 94-89 in overtime to win a third straight Big Ten title; Hannah Hidalgo had 22 points as No. 14 Notre Dame held off No. 10 North Carolina State 55-51 in the Atlantic Coast; Jada Quinn scored 18 of her 32 points in the fourth quarter to lead Chattanooga to its 20th Southern championship with a 69-60 win over UNC Greensboro; Maggie Doogan scored 18 points and Richmond added its first Atlantic 10 title to its first regular-season crown with a 65-51 win over Rhode Island; Bryanna Brady scored 21 points to help Presbyterian beat Radford 60-37 to win the Big South in High Point, N.C. On the men’s side, Jalen Blackmon scored a career-high 43 points as Stetson defeated Austin Peay 94-91 to win the Atlantic Sun; Tucker DeVries scored 27 points as Drake defended its Missouri Valley crown with an 84-80
win over Indiana State; Michael Christmas scored 18 points as Longwood defeated UNC Asheville 85-59 to win the Big South.
Scottie Scheffler with a bogey-free, six-under 66 while playing in the last group to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational by five shots . ... Abraham Ancer regained just enough of the composure that helped him pull out to a five-stroke lead after two rounds to beat Cameron Smith and Paul Casey in a playoff and win the inaugural LIV Golf tournament in Hong Kong ...
Bailey Tardy picked up her first LPGA victory, shooting seven-under 65 in the final round of the Blue Bay tournament in Sanya, China . ...
Brice Garnett holed a 15foot birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole to win the Puerto Rico Open . ... In Tucson, Ariz., Joe Durant took advantage of Stewart Cink’s back-nine meltdown to win the Cologuard Classic for his fifth Champions victory, closing with a four-under 67.
The NBA fined Minnesota center Rudy Gobert $100,000 — the maximum allowed under the CBA — two days after he implied referee Scott Foster was not calling
games fairly and further suggesting that gambling is having a detrimental impact on the outcome of games . ... Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella was suspended for two games and fined $50,000 by the NHL for unprofessional conduct directed at the officials by refusing to leave the bench area after a game misconduct on Saturday night at Tampa Bay.
Baker Mayfield is staying with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after agreeing to a three-year contract worth up to $115 million, including $50 million guaranteed, a person familiar with the deal told the Associated Press.
In Saturday’s late Big West men’s basketball games,Kane Milling scored 24 points as third-place UC Davis (19-12, 14-6) beat Long Beach State 88-78 at Walter Pyramid. Marcus Tsohonis led the Beach (18-14, 10-10) with 21 points, five assists and two steals . ... Cal State Fullerton’s Dominic Brewton led all scorers with 28, but the Titans (14-18, 7-13) fell to UC Irvine 81-71 at Titan Gym. The first-place Anteaters (28-4, 17-3) were led by Bent Leuchten, who had 17 points and eight rebounds.