College Basketball News
Florida and Houston are battling for the men’s college basketball championship tonight. Both teams escaped their Final Four games on Saturday in thrillers. Florida senior Walter Clayton Jr. scored 34 points to help the Gators come back from a halftime deficit to beat Auburn 79-73. After that, Houston one-upped them with one of the most memorable comebacks in recent memory. The Cougars trailed by 14 with eight minutes remaining, but turned on the defense and upset Duke 70-67. The Blue Devils only made one field goal in the final 10 and a half minutes of the game as they were held to their second-lowest scoring game of the season. Former Washington State University coach Kelvin Sampson has now brought Houston to its first title game since 1984. Tonight’s championship tips off at 5:50 on KPUG.
Meanwhile, the women’s title game was settled in dominant fashion yesterday. UConn topped South Carolina 82-59 to capture its 12th national title. Senior Azzi Fudd led the Huskies with 24 on her way to being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Paige Bueckers capped off her stellar career with UConn by bringing home their first title since 2016. She’s expected to be the #1 overall pick in next week’s WNBA Draft.
Mariners News
The Mariners got swept over the weekend and to make matters worse, they’ll be without a key player for at least the next few series. The M’s fell to the San Francisco Giants in three consecutive games, including a walk-off loss yesterday to complete the sweep. Home runs by Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh weren’t enough as Wilmer Flores drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Giants their seventh straight win.
Victor Robles stunned the baseball world with an incredible catch in the foul territory netting before being carted off the field. Robles was placed on the 10-day injured list today with a dislocated left shoulder while Dominic Canzone has been called up from Triple-A Tacoma to take his place. The 3-7 Mariners are back at home and will look to rebound tonight against their division rival Houston Astros with Logan Gilbert taking the mound. Coverage begins at 5:30 and first pitch is at 6:40 right here on KGMI.
Kraken/NHL News
The Kraken’s offense kept up their hot play over the weekend to wind down the season. Seattle beat the San Jose Sharks 5-1 on Saturday behind two goals and an assist from Jared McCann. The win gave the Kraken their first back-to-back road wins since mid-February. It came after another dominant offensive showing against Vancouver where they won 5-0. The Kraken are now onto the third match of their final, five-game road trip of the season. They’ll look to put a stop to the LA Kings’ four-game win streak. Coverage begins at 7:00 and puck drops at 7:30 over on KBAI.
Speaking of the NHL, an unthinkable record has been broken. Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin scored goal No. 895 yesterday to pass Wayne Gretzky as the NHL’s all-time leader in goals scored. Ovechkin netted the record breaker in the second period of a 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders. The game came to a standstill as players and fans celebrated the historic moment with Gretzky and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman looking on from the stands. The 39-year-old Russian is playing his 20th season in the league, all of them having been spent with the Capitals.
Seattle Storm News
Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird has been named to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Bird was a 13x WNBA All-Star with Seattle and helped the team win four championships. Joining Bird was fellow WNBA greats Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles. They’ll be enshrined in early September.
WWU Vikings News
The Hall of Fame was top of mind for Western Washington University over the weekend. The school inducted nine national champion rowing teams into the Western Athletics Hall of Fame last Saturday. The Vikings’ dominant program won seven straight national rowing titles between 2005 and 2011, then two more in 2017 and 2024.
It continued the school’s “Year of the Viking,” which celebrates the Vikings’ 13 national championship teams. The “Year of the Viking” finishes up this Saturday, April 12, with the 1998 softball team’s hall of fame ceremony at Viking Field.
