NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night

Denver Nuggets 119, Detroit Pistons 100

Indiana Pacers 139, Milwaukee Bucks 123

Nuggets 119, Pistons 100 – Nuggets top Pistons to end skid, clinch Northwest Division 

Nikola Jokic deferred to teammates early before looking for his shot and finished with 30 points to help the Denver Nuggets beat the Detroit Pistons 119-100 to end a season-high four-game losing streak and clinch the Northwest Division. The two-time reigning NBA MVP had three assists and three rebounds before his first attempt several minutes into the game and finished 14 of 18 from the field with 10 rebounds and nine assists. Rodney McGruder scored 20 for the Pistons, who have lost 12 of 13 games and have the NBA’s worst record.

Pacers 139, Bucks 123 – Pacers rally late, beat Eastern Conference-leading Bucks 

Andrew Nembhard scored 24 points and Aaron Nesmith hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points as the Indiana Pacers rallied late and beat the Central Division- and Eastern Conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks 139-123.

Tonight

Minnesota Timberwolves at Chicago Bulls, 8:00 p.m.

Saturday

Philadelphia at Indiana, 7:00 p.m.

Miami at Chicago, 8:00 p.m.

Sunday

Miami at Detroit, 6:00 p.m.

NBA – Bulls’ Ball to have cartilage transplant in ailing left knee

Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball will have a cartilage transplant in his left knee. The team and his agency, Klutch Sports, didn’t say when the operation will take place or what the timeline for his recovery will be. It will be Ball’s third surgery on the knee in a little more than a year. Ball hasn’t played in over a year and Chicago ruled him out for the season last month. Ball averaged 13 points and 5.1 assists while shooting 42.3% on 3-pointers over 35 games last season, his first in Chicago. The Bulls have lost six in a row are 11th in the Eastern Conference at 26-33.

NCAAMBKB – Men’s College Basketball – NCAA Tournament
Yesterday
NCAA Tournament First Round

8 Maryland 67, 9 West Virginia 65

13 Furman 68, 4 Virginia 67

7 Missouri 76, 10 Utah State 65

1 Kansas 96, 16 Howard 68

1 Alabama 96, 16 Texas A&M Corpus Christi 75

5 San Diego State 63, 12 Charleston 57

15 Princeton 59, 2 Arizona 55

8 Arkansas 73, 9 Illinois 63

9 Auburn 83, 8 Iowa 75

5 Duke 74, 12 Oral Roberts 51

2 Texas 81, 15 Colgate 61

7 Northwestern 75, 10 Boise State 67

1 Houston 63, 16 Northern Kentucky 52

4 Tennessee 58, 13 Louisiana 55

10 Penn State 76, 7 Texas A&M 59

2 UCLA 86, 15 UNC-Ashville 53

Today
NCAA Tournament First Round

10 USC vs. 7 Michigan State, 12:15 p.m. Superhits 103.7 Cosy-FM 11:00

14 Kennesaw State vs. 3 Xavier, 12:40 p.m.

14 UC Santa Barbara vs. 3 Baylor, 1:30 p.m.

12 VCU vs. 5 St. Mary’s, 2:00 p.m.

15 Vermont vs. 2 Marquette, 2:45 p.m.

11 Pittsburgh vs. 6 Iowa State, 3:10 p.m.

11 NC State vs. 6 Creighton, 4:00 p.m.

13 Iona vs. 4 UConn, 4:30 p.m.

16 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. 1 Purdue, 6:50 p.m.

11 Providence vs. 6 Kentucky, 7:10 p.m.

12 Drake vs. 5 Miami, 7:25 p.m.

14 Grand Canyon vs. 3 Gonzaga, 7:35 p.m.

9 Florida Atlantic vs. 8 Memphis, 9:20 p.m.

14 Montana State vs. 3 Kansas State, 9:40 p.m.

13 Kent State vs. 4 Indiana, 9:55 p.m.

11 Arizona State vs. 6 TCU, 10:05 p.m.

NCAAMBKB – Most March Madness brackets bust before sundown on Day 1

NCAA Tournament brackets were busted early Thursday. No. 13 seed Furman beat fourth-seeded Virginia and No. 15 Princeton defeated second-seeded Arizona. The NCAA March Madness Twitter account posted that only .065% of brackets remained perfect as the first round was still being played. In ESPN’s Tournament Challenge bracket game, 18,078 perfect brackets remained. Just more than 20 million had suffered at least one loss.

NCAAMBKB – Men’s College Basketball – NIT
Saturday
NIT Second Round

Michigan at Vanderbilt, 12:00 p.m.                News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM 11:30

NCAAWBKB – Women’s College Basketball (local teams only)
Today

11 UNLV vs. 6 Michigan, 3:00 p.m.                        at LSU

14 Southern Utah vs. 3 Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m.        at Notre Dame

NCAAWBKB –Irish star Olivia Miles out rest of season with knee injury

Notre Dame point guard Olivia Miles will miss the remainder of the season with an injury to her right knee. She suffered the injury in the regular-season finale against Louisville and sat out the ACC Tournament. She will undergo surgery next week. The second-team Associated Press All-American led Notre Dame to the ACC regular season title. She averaged 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game. The Fighting Irish (25-5) are a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host No. 14 Southern Utah (23-9) on Friday.

MLB – Major League Baseball – Spring Training
Yesterday

Arizona Diamondbacks 3, Chicago Cubs 1

Cleveland Guardians 5, Chicago White Sox 1

Philadelphia Phillies 10, Detroit Tigers 1

 Today

New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers, 1:05 p.m.

Chicago Cubs (SS) at Chicago White Sox, 4:05 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs (SS), 4:05 p.m.

NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night

Chicago Blackhawks 2, Nashville Predators 1

Pacers 139, Bucks 123 – Stalock’s 35 saves lead Blackhawks over Predators 2-1 

Alex Stalock made 35 saves to lead the Chicago Blackhawks over the Nashville Predators 2-1. Lukas Reichel and Joey Anderson scored for Chicago, which has won two straight. Roman Josi scored late and Juuse Saros stopped 19 shots for Nashville, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. The Predators trail Winnipeg by four points in the race for the Western Conference’s second wild-card berth. Nashville has played three fewer games than the Jets.

Saturday

Colorado at Detroit, 1:00 p.m.

Chicago at Arizona, 10:30 p.m.

NHL – Blackhawks forward Cole Guttman has shoulder surgery

Chicago Blackhawks forward Cole Guttman had surgery on his right shoulder. The team says the operation was performed in Los Angeles. Team physician Michael Terry says the 23-year-old Guttman is expected “to be out of hockey activities for approximately four months.” Guttman had been a pleasant surprise for rebuilding Chicago. He made his NHL debut last month and finished the season with four goals and two assists in 14 games.

NFL – Poles: Bears in better place after trade, free agency moves

General manager Ryan Poles acknowledged the temptation to wait and see if the Chicago Bears could get more for the No. 1 overall selection in the draft. He couldn’t pass up the chance to add a receiver when the Carolina Panthers offered DJ Moore to go with a haul of picks. The Bears addressed a big need when they agreed to send the No. 1 pick to Carolina for Moore. Besides giving quarterback Justin Fields a top-tier downfield option, they also got the No. 9 and No. 61 overall picks in 2023 plus a first-rounder in 2024 and a second-rounder in 2025. They continued to make moves once free agency started this week. But they still need help on the offensive and defensive lines.

NCAAFB – Michigan RB Blake Corum says he’ll be back by fall camp

Michigan All-America running back Blake Corum says his surgically repaired left knee has gotten strong enough that he has been cleared to run on an anti-gravity treadmill next week. Corum says he’s sure he will play in the season-opening game on Sept. 2 against East Carolina. He tore a meniscus and sprained a ligament in his left knee against Illinois in November. After playing sparingly against Ohio State, he sat out when the Wolverines won the Big Ten title and advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals. Corum ran for 1,463 yards last season.

Golf – PGA – Brehm makes ace for share of lead at Valspar, Spieth 1 back

Ryan Brehm was having a solid round in the Valspar Championship. One swing made it a memorable round. Brehm made a hole-in-one on the 17th hole. That led to a 66 and gives Brehm a three-way share of the lead with Stephan Jaeger and Adam Schenk. Jordan Spieth is in the group one shot behind. Spieth only hit five fairways. But his putting is starting to look as good as ever. Spieth is a past winner at Innisbrook. He’s playing the tournament for the first time in five years. Two-time defending champion Sam Burns and Justin Thomas are at 69.

AHL – American Hockey League
Last Night

Grand Rapids Griffins 4, Cleveland Monsters 3

MHSAA – High School Sports
Yesterday
Girls Basketball – State Semifinals
Division 3 at Michigan State University

Blissfield 45, Madison Heights Bishop Foley 41

Hemlock 57, Hart 26

Division 4 at Michigan State University

Baraga 46, Fowler – 44

Glen Lake 49, Adrian Lenawee Christian 31

Yesterday
Girls Basketball – State Semifinals
Division 1 at Michigan State University

Salem vs. West Bloomfield, 12:00 p.m.

Detroit Renaissance vs. Rockford, 2:00 p.m.

Division 4 at Michigan State University

Frankenmuth vs. Goodrich, 5:30 p.m.

Grand Rapids West Catholic vs. Lansing Catholic, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday
Girls Basketball – State Finals

Division 4 – 10:00 a.m.

Division 1 – 12:15 p.m.

Division 3 – 4:00 p.m.

Division 2 – 6:15 p.m.Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic make a layup next to Detroit Pistons center James Wiseman during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)Furman guard JP Pegues, third from right, celebrates with the team after defeating Virginia in a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock (32) blocks a shot by Nashville Predators right wing Luke Evangelista (77) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

NBA – National Basketball Association 
Last Night 
Denver Nuggets 119, Detroit Pistons 100 
Indiana Pacers 139, Milwaukee Bucks 123

Nuggets 119, Pistons 100 – Nuggets top Pistons to end skid, clinch Northwest Division 
Nikola Jokic deferred to teammates early before looking for his shot and finished with 30 points to help the Denver Nuggets beat the Detroit Pistons 119-100 to end a season-high four-game losing streak and clinch the Northwest Division. The two-time reigning NBA MVP had three assists and three rebounds before his first attempt several minutes into the game and finished 14 of 18 from the field with 10 rebounds and nine assists. Rodney McGruder scored 20 for the Pistons, who have lost 12 of 13 games and have the NBA’s worst record.
Pacers 139, Bucks 123 – Pacers rally late, beat Eastern Conference-leading Bucks 
Andrew Nembhard scored 24 points and Aaron Nesmith hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points as the Indiana Pacers rallied late and beat the Central Division- and Eastern Conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks 139-123.
Tonight 
Minnesota Timberwolves at Chicago Bulls, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday 
Philadelphia at Indiana, 7:00 p.m. 
Miami at Chicago, 8:00 p.m.
Sunday 
Miami at Detroit, 6:00 p.m.
NBA – Bulls&#8217; Ball to have cartilage transplant in ailing left knee 
Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball will have a cartilage transplant in his left knee. The team and his agency, Klutch Sports, didn&#8217;t say when the operation will take place or what the timeline for his recovery will be. It will be Ball’s third surgery on the knee in a little more than a year. Ball hasn’t played in over a year and Chicago ruled him out for the season last month. Ball averaged 13 points and 5.1 assists while shooting 42.3% on 3-pointers over 35 games last season, his first in Chicago. The Bulls have lost six in a row are 11th in the Eastern Conference at 26-33.

NCAAMBKB – Men’s College Basketball – NCAA Tournament 
Yesterday 
NCAA Tournament First Round 
8 Maryland 67, 9 West Virginia 65 
13 Furman 68, 4 Virginia 67 
7 Missouri 76, 10 Utah State 65 
1 Kansas 96, 16 Howard 68 
1 Alabama 96, 16 Texas A&amp;M Corpus Christi 75 
5 San Diego State 63, 12 Charleston 57 
15 Princeton 59, 2 Arizona 55 
8 Arkansas 73, 9 Illinois 63 
9 Auburn 83, 8 Iowa 75 
5 Duke 74, 12 Oral Roberts 51 
2 Texas 81, 15 Colgate 61 
7 Northwestern 75, 10 Boise State 67 
1 Houston 63, 16 Northern Kentucky 52 
4 Tennessee 58, 13 Louisiana 55 
10 Penn State 76, 7 Texas A&amp;M 59 
2 UCLA 86, 15 UNC-Ashville 53
Today 
NCAA Tournament First Round 
10 USC vs. 7 Michigan State, 12:15 p.m. Superhits 103.7 Cosy-FM 11:00 
14 Kennesaw State vs. 3 Xavier, 12:40 p.m. 
14 UC Santa Barbara vs. 3 Baylor, 1:30 p.m. 
12 VCU vs. 5 St. Mary’s, 2:00 p.m. 
15 Vermont vs. 2 Marquette, 2:45 p.m. 
11 Pittsburgh vs. 6 Iowa State, 3:10 p.m. 
11 NC State vs. 6 Creighton, 4:00 p.m. 
13 Iona vs. 4 UConn, 4:30 p.m. 
16 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. 1 Purdue, 6:50 p.m. 
11 Providence vs. 6 Kentucky, 7:10 p.m. 
12 Drake vs. 5 Miami, 7:25 p.m. 
14 Grand Canyon vs. 3 Gonzaga, 7:35 p.m. 
9 Florida Atlantic vs. 8 Memphis, 9:20 p.m. 
14 Montana State vs. 3 Kansas State, 9:40 p.m. 
13 Kent State vs. 4 Indiana, 9:55 p.m. 
11 Arizona State vs. 6 TCU, 10:05 p.m. 
NCAAMBKB – Most March Madness brackets bust before sundown on Day 1 
NCAA Tournament brackets were busted early Thursday. No. 13 seed Furman beat fourth-seeded Virginia and No. 15 Princeton defeated second-seeded Arizona. The NCAA March Madness Twitter account posted that only .065% of brackets remained perfect as the first round was still being played. In ESPN’s Tournament Challenge bracket game, 18,078 perfect brackets remained. Just more than 20 million had suffered at least one loss.
NCAAMBKB – Men’s College Basketball &#8211; NIT 
Saturday 
NIT Second Round 
Michigan at Vanderbilt, 12:00 p.m.                News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM 11:30 
NCAAWBKB – Women’s College Basketball (local teams only) 
Today 
11 UNLV vs. 6 Michigan, 3:00 p.m.                        at LSU 
14 Southern Utah vs. 3 Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m.        at Notre Dame
NCAAWBKB – Irish star Olivia Miles out rest of season with knee injury 
Notre Dame point guard Olivia Miles will miss the remainder of the season with an injury to her right knee. She suffered the injury in the regular-season finale against Louisville and sat out the ACC Tournament. She will undergo surgery next week. The second-team Associated Press All-American led Notre Dame to the ACC regular season title. She averaged 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game. The Fighting Irish (25-5) are a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host No. 14 Southern Utah (23-9) on Friday.
MLB – Major League Baseball – Spring Training 
Yesterday 
Arizona Diamondbacks 3, Chicago Cubs 1 
Cleveland Guardians 5, Chicago White Sox 1 
Philadelphia Phillies 10, Detroit Tigers 1
 Today 
New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers, 1:05 p.m. 
Chicago Cubs (SS) at Chicago White Sox, 4:05 p.m. 
Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs (SS), 4:05 p.m.
NHL – National Hockey League 
Last Night 
Chicago Blackhawks 2, Nashville Predators 1

Pacers 139, Bucks 123 – Stalock&#8217;s 35 saves lead Blackhawks over Predators 2-1 
Alex Stalock made 35 saves to lead the Chicago Blackhawks over the Nashville Predators 2-1. Lukas Reichel and Joey Anderson scored for Chicago, which has won two straight. Roman Josi scored late and Juuse Saros stopped 19 shots for Nashville, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. The Predators trail Winnipeg by four points in the race for the Western Conference’s second wild-card berth. Nashville has played three fewer games than the Jets.
Saturday 
Colorado at Detroit, 1:00 p.m. 
Chicago at Arizona, 10:30 p.m.
NHL – Blackhawks forward Cole Guttman has shoulder surgery 
Chicago Blackhawks forward Cole Guttman had surgery on his right shoulder. The team says the operation was performed in Los Angeles. Team physician Michael Terry says the 23-year-old Guttman is expected “to be out of hockey activities for approximately four months.” Guttman had been a pleasant surprise for rebuilding Chicago. He made his NHL debut last month and finished the season with four goals and two assists in 14 games.
NFL – Poles: Bears in better place after trade, free agency moves 
General manager Ryan Poles acknowledged the temptation to wait and see if the Chicago Bears could get more for the No. 1 overall selection in the draft. He couldn’t pass up the chance to add a receiver when the Carolina Panthers offered DJ Moore to go with a haul of picks. The Bears addressed a big need when they agreed to send the No. 1 pick to Carolina for Moore. Besides giving quarterback Justin Fields a top-tier downfield option, they also got the No. 9 and No. 61 overall picks in 2023 plus a first-rounder in 2024 and a second-rounder in 2025. They continued to make moves once free agency started this week. But they still need help on the offensive and defensive lines.
NCAAFB – Michigan RB Blake Corum says he&#8217;ll be back by fall camp 
Michigan All-America running back Blake Corum says his surgically repaired left knee has gotten strong enough that he has been cleared to run on an anti-gravity treadmill next week. Corum says he&#8217;s sure he will play in the season-opening game on Sept. 2 against East Carolina. He tore a meniscus and sprained a ligament in his left knee against Illinois in November. After playing sparingly against Ohio State, he sat out when the Wolverines won the Big Ten title and advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals. Corum ran for 1,463 yards last season.
Golf – PGA – Brehm makes ace for share of lead at Valspar, Spieth 1 back 
Ryan Brehm was having a solid round in the Valspar Championship. One swing made it a memorable round. Brehm made a hole-in-one on the 17th hole. That led to a 66 and gives Brehm a three-way share of the lead with Stephan Jaeger and Adam Schenk. Jordan Spieth is in the group one shot behind. Spieth only hit five fairways. But his putting is starting to look as good as ever. Spieth is a past winner at Innisbrook. He&#8217;s playing the tournament for the first time in five years. Two-time defending champion Sam Burns and Justin Thomas are at 69.
AHL – American Hockey League 
Last Night 
Grand Rapids Griffins 4, Cleveland Monsters 3
MHSAA – High School Sports 
Yesterday 
Girls Basketball – State Semifinals 
Division 3 at Michigan State University 
Blissfield 45, Madison Heights Bishop Foley 41 
Hemlock 57, Hart 26
Division 4 at Michigan State University 
Baraga 46, Fowler &#8211; 44 
Glen Lake 49, Adrian Lenawee Christian 31
Yesterday 
Girls Basketball – State Semifinals 
Division 1 at Michigan State University 
Salem vs. West Bloomfield, 12:00 p.m. 
Detroit Renaissance vs. Rockford, 2:00 p.m.
Division 4 at Michigan State University 
Frankenmuth vs. Goodrich, 5:30 p.m. 
Grand Rapids West Catholic vs. Lansing Catholic, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday 
Girls Basketball – State Finals 
Division 4 – 10:00 a.m. 
Division 1 – 12:15 p.m. 
Division 3 – 4:00 p.m. 
Division 2 – 6:15 p.m.<a href="https://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/976/2023/03/17061147/031723-nuggetspistons2.jpg"></a><a href="https://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/976/2023/03/17061130/031723-ncaa.jpg"></a><a href="https://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/976/2023/03/17061120/031723-hawkspreds.jpg"></a>Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic make a layup next to Detroit Pistons center James Wiseman during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)Furman guard JP Pegues, third from right, celebrates with the team after defeating Virginia in a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O&#8217;Meara)Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock (32) blocks a shot by Nashville Predators right wing Luke Evangelista (77) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 16, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

Southwest Michigan's Sports Leader

WSJM Sports

NBA – National Basketball Association Last Night Denver Nuggets 119, Detroit Pistons 100 Indiana Pacers 139, Milwaukee Bucks 123 Nuggets 119, Pistons 100 – Nuggets top Pistons to end skid, clinch Northwest Division Nikola Jokic deferred to