March Madness NCAAB podcast with Michelle Richardson: Top schools Virginia and NC; plus Tenn, Kentucky, and Duke

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Photo credit: @UVAMensHoops

On the March Madness NCAAB podcast with Michelle:

#1 Michelle, talk about some the top ranked schools in March Madness, Virginia and North Carolina.

#2 Talk about the Tennessee Vols (5), Kentucky Wildcats (6), and Duke Blue Devils (10).

#3 The Washington State Cougars (11-20) finished up their season with Oregon State Beavers (18-12) they’ve lost four in a row. What is the best thing they can expect out of the Pac-12 Tournament?

Michelle’s Final Thoughts

Michelle does the NCAAB podcast each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Barracuda snap losing skid with 5-4 shootout victory over Heat

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda had looked like the playing of a broken record in five straight games with the opposing team, scoring the first two goals in the first period to take control of the game. However, three unanswered goals in the third period paved the way for a 5-4 comeback shootout victory over the Stockton Heat on Sunday afternoon at SAP Center.

The Cuda desperately snapped their four-game losing skid and have won their third consecutive shootout (4-4). Francis Perron scored the only goal in the shootout as Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau was perfect stopping all three Stockton attempts.

Stockton (25-26-4-2) drew first blood while short-handed in the first period. Ryan Lomberg led a 2-on-1 odd man rush Dillon Dube. Lomberg connected with Dube who beat Bibeau (12-10-5) for his 13th goal of the season at the 6:11 mark. Juuso Valimaki received the secondary assist on Dube’s second short-handed goal in consecutive games. It was the 16th short-handed goal for Stockton this season, which leads the AHL.

The Heat doubled their lead after taking advantage of a failed Cuda clearing attempt. Spencer Foo kept the puck in, fed a pass over to Tyler Graovac, who found an open Dube, who put the puck past Bibeau for his second goal and 14th of the season at the 9:04 mark.

San Jose (31-18-2-1) cut the lead in half early in the second period. Francis Perron was able to tip home a shot from the point by Kyle Wood, who broke his stick on the shot, past Heat goalie Jon Gillies (13-15-5) for his 16th goal of the season at the 2:47 mark. The goal broke a 10-game goal-less drought for Perron.

Stockton regained their two-goal lead when Foo scored his 15th goal of the season on the power play at the 8:36 mark. Dube and Valimaki were credited with assists.

Graovac made it 4-1 when he scored his 20th goal of the season at the 17:47 mark. Foo and Dube, who was involved in the scoring of all four Stockton goals, received assists.

The third period belonged to San Jose as they scored three unanswered goals to tie the game and force overtime.

Evan Weinger jammed home his own rebound after his initial redirection of a shot from the point by Matt Fonteyne hit the right post. It was Weinger’s ninth goal of the season at the 10:11 mark of the third period. Nick DeSimone was credited with the secondary assist.

Alex True cut the deficit to a one-goal game. With Bibeau pulled for an extra attacker, True received the puck from Maxim Letunov, turned and fired the puck through a sea of traffic past Gillies for his team-leading 21st goal of the season at the 18:33. Jeremy Roy received the secondary assist.

TJ Hensick brought down the house with the game equalizer with 1:05 left in the game while the Cuda had a 6-on-4 advantage with Valimaki in the sin-bin for cross checking. DeSimone and Jayden Halbgewachs were credited assists on Hensick third goal of the season.

Stockton had a power play opportunity in the over time session but weren’t able to cash in, thanks to Bibeau making a few big saves to send the game to the shootout.

Bibeau made 16 saves on 20 to earn his 12th victory of the season. Gillies finished with 31 saves on 35 shots in suffering the defeat .

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/6 on the power play despite the Heat having the 30th ranked penalty kill in the league. Stockton was 1/5.

Jon Martin and Buddy Robinson exchanged fisticuffs late in the first period.

The announce attendance was 4,642. It was the second annual Pucks and Paws Day, where fans were able to bring their dogs to the game.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda host the Colorado Eagles on Saturday 3/16 at 1:15 pm at SAP Center.

NHL podcast with Daniel Dullum: Kane banged up from fight, is day to day; Flames, Sharks, Knights’ playoff race; Jets’ Wheeler lights the lamp; plus more

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@SanJoseSharks file photo: Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins and Evander Kane of the San Jose Sharks mix it up back on Tue Feb 26th at TD Waterhouse Garden in Boston. Kane was injured in this brawl and is day to day.

On the NHL podcast with Daniel Dullum

1 Evander Kane expected to miss Sharks game against Chicago.

2 Flames and Sharks battle to see who avoids Knights in playoffs.

3 Blake Wheeler scores four goals as the Winnipeg Jets beat surging Columbus Blue Jackets.

4 Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens try to create space in NHL East races.

5 Remembering Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings great, Players Union pioneer and NY Rangers all-time leader in games played and Harry Howell number ten on the all-time Rangers top 100 list and finished up in the WHA and played for the Oakland Seals he played in 1400 games. He passed away at 86.

Daniel Dullum does the NHL podcast each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sources: Raiders set to acquire WR Antonio Brown from Steelers

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photo from bleacherreport.com file: Antonio Brown joins the Oakland Raiders in a three year deal, the former Pittsburgh Steelers wideout is looking forward to catching passes from Raider quarterback Derek Carr

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

The Pittsburgh Steelers have agreed to trade star wide receiver Antonio Brown to the Oakland Raiders, a source close to the situation told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Brown announced the move via his Instagram account late Saturday night wearing his No. 84 in the Silver and Black of the Raiders.

The trade cannot be made official until the new league year, which begins this Wednesday.

According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, Brown will receive a new three-year contract at $50.125 million, with a maximum value of $54.125 million. Brown will earn $30.125 million in guarantees. He was due no guaranteed money in his previous contract.

Armed with three first-round picks (No. 4, No. 23, and No. 27 respectively), the Raiders didn’t have to part ways with any of those precious picks for Brown.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the Raiders will send 2019 third- and fifth-round picks to the Steelers as compensation. Pittsburgh originally thought that they were going to send Brown to the Buffalo Bills, but discussions broke down between the two clubs late Thursday night into early Friday morning.

After taking a beating last season for trading away stars in defensive end/linebacker Khalil Mack (to Chicago) and wide receiver Amari Cooper (to Dallas), the Raiders needed to land an impact player this offseason.

By all accounts, the All-Pro wide receiver is an impact player that makes the Raiders better today than they were yesterday with this trade. Brown should become Raiders quarterback Derek Carr’s best friend, with his penchant for getting open and making acrobatic catches in traffic.

In 130 career games, the 30-year-old Central Michigan product has 11,207 receiving yards and 74 touchdowns. He is the only receiver in NFL history to have six consecutive seasons with at least 100 receptions, 1,200 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.

In 2018, the 30-year-old Brown hauled in 104 catches for 1,297 yards for an NFL-best 15 touchdown for the Steelers.

Earthquakes blanked by Minnesota United 3-0

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By: London Marq

SAN JOSE, Calif. — 2018 was a dark year for the San Jose Earthquakes, who finished the campaign with only 4 wins. One bright spot for the Quakes was the season series they won against Minnesota United. The United has traveled to San Jose twice before and lost both games. San Jose looked to continue that trend as Minnesota returned to Avaya Stadium. San Jose opened the 2019 season with a 2-1 loss to Montreal. They wanted to avoid making it a habit.

The Earthquakes opened the first half under pressure. Minnesota was able to maneuver the ball into the scoring third of the field. United had a total of 8 shots, most of which threatened the Earthquakes goalkeeper, Daniel Vega. Vega, who was under constant duress during the first half, faced a barrage of shot attempts for a near 10-minute stretch. He was equal to it. From the 27th minute through the 36th, Vega defended 5 shots on target, 2 of reach he blocked. San Jose in contrast, only had 4 shots on goal for the half.

The second half opened with scoring early as Minnesota United drew a penalty in the 49th minute. MLS All-Star and Colombia national Darwin Quintero slotted it into the corner. Just short of 3 minutes later, Minnesota would find the back of the net with a goal from the former NASL MVP Miguel Ibarra. Just like that, 6 minutes removed from being tied at half time, the Quakes were playing to salvage a tie.

San Jose had no cohesive rhythm throughout that match, despite passing the ball often and with 83% accuracy. They lost more than 50% of their one on one and were on edge the entire time. After the match San Jose coach Matias Almeyda explained that the offensive game plan wasn’t executed as planned. As a result, the team spent more time crossing the ball from wide areas than they wanted. While the ball found its way into the offensive third with regularity in the second half, San Jose couldn’t manage to get a good touch on the ball to capitalize.

A late San Jose own goal by defender Harold Cummings in the 75th minute effectively ended the game. Quakes captain Chris Wondolowski had a chance to put the team on the board late when the ball came to him a few feet from the goal, but whiffed. It was the summation of the night San Jose had. It’s only two games into the season, so there’s no need to panic yet. Coach Almeyda is looking to take this season one game at a time. The goal right now it to get his team in a winning mindset for next Saturday’s tilt with the New York City Red Bulls.

FINAL: Minnesota defeated San Jose 3-0.

UP NEXT: San Jose heads to the Empire State to face the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, March 16 at 12:30 pm PT.

Condors thrash Barracuda 7-1

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

by Marko Ukalovic

A different game on a different day and time, but the same dominant result. For the third consecutive game, the San Jose Barracuda weren’t able to slow down the red-hot Bakersfield Condors in a 7-1 loss to the Pacific Division leaders on Saturday evening at SAP Center.

The Condors have won 20 of their last 21 games (and the last five straight versus San Jose), while the Barracuda have lost their fourth in a row for the first time all season and are winless in the month of March.

Bakersfield (36-17-2-1) drew first blood in the first period. Logan Day fed a pass that led to a breakaway for Tyler Benson. Benson skated in and beat Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (19-8-1) with a wrist shot on the far side for his 11th goal of the season at the 4:34 mark.

The Condors doubled their lead late in the opening frame when William Lagesson received the puck at the left point from Luke Esposito and his shot went past a body of traffic and trickled through the five-hole of Korenar for his sixth goal of the season at the 14:48 mark.

San Jose (30-18-2-4) had a chance to break the seal four minutes into the second period. A big hit by Cavan Fitzgerald on Joe Gambardella in the middle of the ice led to a breakaway for Jayden Halbgewachs, but Condors goalie Shane Starrett (23-4-3) stoned his attempt.

The Cuda cut the lead in half when a mad scramble in the front of the net led to Maxim Letunov being the last one to touch the puck that slid past Starrett for his 10th goal of the season at the 5:31 mark. Alex True and TJ Hensick were credited with assists.

Less than a minute later, Bakersfield shell shocked San Jose by scoring two goals in 21 seconds. Benson found Cooper Marody in the slot and his one-timer beat Korenar for his 14th goal of the season at the 6:20 mark.

Then, Patrick Russell picked up a loose puck from a shot from the point by Lagesson that hit off a body in front and was able to bury the puck past Korenar with a turnaround shot for his 16th goal of the season at the 6:41 mark for a 4-1 lead.

Bakersfield scored their third unanswered goal of the period when Braden Christopher cashed home a rebound in the slot off a Ryan Stanton shot from the point for his fifth goal of the season at the 12:45 mark. Marody received the secondary assist.

Russell scored his second goal of the evening and 17th of the season on the power play in the third period. Gambardella fed a pass over to Russell, whose one-timer beat Korenar at the 7:00 mark. Ethan Bear recorded the secondary assist.

Evan Polei fired a slap shot past Korenar for his eighth goal of the season at the 15:07 mark to complete the scoring for Bakersfield. Mitch Callahan and David Gust were credited with assists.

Starrett 27 of the 28 shots he faced to earn his 23rd victory of the season and 16 of his last 17 games. Korenar made 25 saves on 32 shots in suffering the defeat.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/3 on the power play. Bakersfield was 1/3.

Bakersfield is now 4-3-1-1 in the season series against San Jose with one more game left between the two teams on March 30th.

The announced attendance was 8,415 set a franchise record and was the highest attendance of the season for San Jose at SAP Center.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda continue their five-game homestand as they host NorCal rival, the Stockton Heat, on Sunday 3/10 at 3:00 pm.

San Jose State closes out regular season with horrifically embarrassing loss at Fresno State 121-81

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Photo credit: @FresnoStateMBB

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose State’s men’s basketball team wrapped up 2019 with a road game at the Fresno State Bulldogs in Save Mart Center Saturday.

Just moments before the tip-off, Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau announced his starting lineup of Michael Steadman, Zach Chappell, Noah Baumann, Seneca Knight, and Ashtin Chastain.

The rivalry game started a little later than expected due to the fact the Bulldogs honored their three seniors–Braxton Huggins, Deshon Taylor, and Sam Bittner–on Senior Night.

The Bulldogs won the tip and the game went underway. SJSU got on the board first, but Huggins hit back-to-back three-pointers to give Fresno State a 6-3 lead at the 17:45 mark. With those threes, Fresno State tied their new school record with 303 threes and counting this season.

Huggins continued his dominance with seven three-pointers with 8:30 left. The Spartans trailed 35-26, which was unfortunate given the fact they held ties and mere leads up until this point. Huggins had a game-high 21 points and gave the Bulldogs a 37-26 lead with 7:44 left. Meanwhile, SJSU shot 10-of-14 with less than seven minutes left.

Taylor made a pair of free throws to make it a 40-27 game in favor of Fresno State with 6:36 left. Fast forward to the timeout, where the Bulldogs led 43-34 at the Bulldogs’ timeout with 4:31 left. The Spartans later stormed off to the locker room with a 59-40 deficit at halftime. Though, SJSU outshot Fresno State by seven percent, so that was one of the silver linings. The other silver lining was the Spartans’ leading scorers in Knight and Steadman–both of whom scored 11 points each.

As if there wasn’t already enough Huggins in the first half, Huggins opened the scoring with quite a few attention-grabbing shots in the second half.

SJSU trailed 73-47 at the 16:18 mark. Fresno State’s trap got to SJSU and that eventually led to Prioleau putting Brian Rodriguez-Flores, a walk-on guard from Phoenix, in the Spartans’ lineup just minutes before the 10-minute mark. Rodriguez-Flores, however, didn’t provide much assistance to the Spartans, who were overwhelmed by the Bulldogs, who made it rain with threes. Noah Blackwell set the record for most threes in conference play in MWC history. Also, Huggins tied the school record for most threes made in a single game.

Blackwell made a pair of free throws to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 100-70 with 6:21 left. The Bulldogs had more records to chase in the Save Mart Center and that they did. Fresno State (22-8, 13-5 MW) refused to stop playing offensively and San Jose State (4-26, 1-17 MW) suffered a 121-81 loss to close out the regular season.

SJSU gears up to take on the #6 Air Force Falcons in the first round of the MWC Tournament in Las Vegas. Game three is set for Wednesday, March 13 at 4:00 pm PT. Follow me on Twitter @AnaKieu for live updates.

Sharks Beat Blues 3-2 in OT, Move to 1st in West

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Photo credit: @fntsyhky

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks defeated the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in overtime at SAP Center Saturday. The win nudged the Sharks up to first place in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference. Two goals came from Timo Meier and the overtime winner came from Kevin Labanc. St. Louis goals came from Pat Maroon and Brayden Schenn. The Sharks’ Martin Jones made 17 saves, while the Blues’ Jake Allen made 30 saves in the loss. Joe Thornton tied Stan Mikita on the NHL’s all time points list with his assist on Timo Meier’s first goal of the game. Meier also set a record for the most NHL goals in a season by a Swiss-born player.

After the game, Meier said:

It took us 60 minutes and some extra to win this game but our team, full four lines, all the guys showed up today. It was a tough battle, you know, they didn’t give us a lot of room out there. They’re a good forecheck team so it took our full lineup tonight and our best game to win this one.

Speaking of how the team has been performing, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said:

It’s that time of year, there’s 15 games left or less, we’re trying to catch Calgary, we’re trying to win the division and important games. I think everyone has adversity, we’ve had some flu, and some injuries and things but guys have taken it as a challenge and really stepped up. I think we’ve had some gutsy wins here.

Both teams were missing significant pieces from their lineups. The Sharks were still without Erik Karlsson and Evander Kane, while the Blues were missing their leading goal scorer Vladimir Tarasenko.

The Blues scored first with a power play goal. Pat Maroon was in the right place to take advantage of a puck that came off the glass and landed by the goal post. It was his fifth of the season. Assists went to Colton Parayko and Vince Dunn.

The Sharks answered with their own power play goal at 16:23. With the power play winding down, Meier caught a pass from Joe Thornton and took a shot behind him. The puck went under goalie Jake Allen for Meier’s 25th of the season. Thornton and Tim Heed got the assists.

Meier added another in the final minute of the first period at 19:33. Logan Couture was in the corner when he made a backhand pass to Meier right in front of the net. Meier found an opening and put it away. Assists went to Couture and Tomas Hertl.

The Sharks led in shots in the first 10-8. Each team scored on a power play and each team killed one penalty. The Sharks had the edge in the face off circle as well, winning 53% of the time.

The second period was almost uneventful, up to the final two minutes. The Blues got a power play when Tomas Hertl was called for hooking. They tied the game at 19:57 of the period. Barclay Goodrow had the puck on his stick and was about to move it away from the goal mouth. Instead, Brayden Schenn came in and knocked it off of Goodrow’s stick and into the net. It was Schenn’s 13th of the season.

The Sharks lost their edge in face offs in the second. The Blues won an impressive 73% of them. The teams were even with six shots each.

Neither team scored in the third, but the Sharks outshot the Blues 15-4. The Blues won 60% of the face offs. The Blues continued to win those face offs in overtime.

Kevin Labanc scored the overtime winner with the team’s second shot of the period. Tomas Hertl gave him the puck in the neutral zone and, after carrying it across the line, Labanc passed it to Couture on the left wing. Couture gave it back quickly, just as Allen moved to block a shot from Couture. Labanc was able to get the shot off before Allen could move back across. The assists went to Couture and Hertl.

The Sharks next play on Monday in St. Paul, Minnesota against the Wild at 5:00 PM PT.

Fox leads the Kings to a 102-94 victory over the Knicks at MSG

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Photo credit: @NBA

By Jessica Kwong

The Sacramento Kings rallied in an early game Saturday—starting at 9 a.m. PST—to beat the worst team in the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks, at Madison Square Garden.

Sacramento beat New York 102-94, led by De’Aaron Fox’s 30 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists. It was not an easy win, with the Knicks dominating with energy to start and leading by as many as 15 points in the first quarter. The Kings were able to cut the Knicks’ lead to 30-23 by the end of the quarter and kept the home team to 16 points in the second quarter and ended the half up 48-46.

The game was tied at 68 points with three-and-a-half minutes left in the third quarter. Sacramento’s Buddy Hield then scored 5 points and the Kings went on a 12-0 run and took a 80-68 lead at the end of the third.

But in the final period, the Knicks went on a 11-0 run and captured a 89-87 lead halfway through. In the last six minutes, Fox made 12 points, including two triples, to take the victory.

“It was a gritty win for us,” Kings head coach Dave Joerger said. “It wasn’t always pretty, but we’re happy to get out with a win.”

Hield scored 19 points and 4 rebounds, Nemanja Bjelica had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Harrison Barnes had 11 points and 8 rebounds.

The Kings are now 33-32 and ninth in the western conference, behind the San Antonio Spurs, who have a track record of pulling through.

Joerger acknowledged that his team may not make the playoffs, but gave the players props for how far they’ve come and how Sacramento has embraced them.

“It does feel good because we’re not where we’re going to be, we’re not where we want to be, but we sure are having fun,” Joerger said. “We’re developing players and guys are getting along great and it’s just a really good vibe, and the city of Sacramento’s on fire right now and we’re having a great time.”

The Kings continue their four-game road trip on Monday against the Washington Wizards. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. PST.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks host Blues tonight at the Tank; Blues playing .500 in last eight games

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Photo credit: @MLB_News247

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 The San Jose Sharks continue to dominate the Montreal Canadiens with a three-goal win on Thursday night 5-2.

#2 The Sharks haven’t lost a home game to the Habs since Nov. 23, 1999, winning 12 straight over Montreal during that span. It was also San Jose’s eighth straight win overall in the series.

#3 For the Sharks’ Tomas Hertl, he scored his 30th goal, which is a career high and he’s having himself a great offensive season.

#4 The Sharks’ goaltender Marty Jones allowed two goals, but stopped 37 Montreal shots.

#5 The Sharks host the St. Louis Blues Saturday night at SAP Center. The Blues have been playing .500 hockey, winning four of their last eight games. Is St. Louis’ cup half full or half empty?

Len joins us for the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com