Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: Pittsburgh, Villanova, UConn, and Missouri compete in the Elite Eight, and the Suns try to score a road victory against Utah.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The Suns will be in Utah to take on the Jazz on Saturday night in the top NBA matchup on the day’s schedule. Phoenix’s late playoff push was hit with a setback on Thursday with a 129-109 loss to Portland; Shaquille O’Neal picked up 20 points for the Suns in that loss. Phoenix, though, got past Utah 118-114 at home on Wednesday night, with Grant Hill leading the way with a 26-point game.
Chicago will host Indiana in the only matinee on the league’s Saturday slate, while the evening will also feature Detroit at Washington, New York at Charlotte, Milwaukee at Miami, the Clippers at Houston, Golden State at Denver, and Memphis at Portland. The Trail Blazers got 29 points and 12 rebounds from LaMarcus Aldridge in their win over the Suns, and 26 points from Brandon Roy.
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On the road to the Final Four . . .
It’ll be Missouri vs. Connecticut and Villanova vs. Pittsburgh in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. The No. 1 Huskies have been pegged as 5.5-point favorites in their matchup with the No. 3 Tigers at University of Phoenix Stadium, with that game’s total set at 150 points. Connecticut cruised through the Sweet 16 round on Thursday night with a 72-60 win over Purdue. Missouri was an upset winner on Thursday, getting past No. 2 Memphis 102-91.
Over at TD Banknorth Garden on Saturday night the No. 2 Panthers will enter as 2-point favorites against the No. 3 Wildcats (with the total at 142.5). Pittsburgh outlasted No. 4 Xavier in a 60-55 win on Thursday night, getting 19 points from Sam Young in a game that they trailed 37-29 at halftime. Villanova impressed in a convincing 77-54 dismantling of No. 2 Duke on Thursday, as Scottie Reynolds had a team-high 16 points. Dante Cunningham had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
An afternoon matchup between the Rangers and Penguins in Pittsburgh launches an 11-game slate in the National Hockey League on Saturday. Both New York and Pittsburgh are still in the hunt for fourth place in the Eastern Conference (and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs) thanks to solid play of late. The Penguins are 7-1-2 in their past 10; the Rangers are 6-3-1.
The rest of the NHL’s Saturday schedule will take place at night, and include Los Angeles at Nashville, Boston at Toronto, Ottawa at Atlanta, Philadelphia at the Islanders, Carolina at New Jersey, Buffalo at Montreal, Florida at Dallas, Columbus at St. Louis, Minnesota at Calgary, and Phoenix at San Jose. The Sharks are still neck-and-neck with the Wings for top spot in the West standings.
Rounding out the Roundup . . .
Finally, the 2009 Formula 1 season gets underway this weekend with Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit (with North American race fans catching the event in the wee hours on Sunday morning). Lewis Hamilton won this race last season, beating Nick Heidfeld across the finish line by 5.4 seconds. Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso, Heikki Kovalainen, Kazuki Nakajima, Sebastien Bourdais, and Kimi Raikkonen made up the rest of the race’s top eight in ’08, while Rubens Barrichello was disqualified from sixth due to a pit infraction.