Ncaa Tournament

Wichita State became one of the feel-good stories of the first week of the NCAA men's basketball tournament after knocking off Gonzaga, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region and the top-ranked team in the country, on Saturday night. And don't expect the Shockers' postseason run to end any time soon. You see, it just so happens that the team's plane just happened arrive back home at Mid-Continent Airport at the exact same time former Heisman Trophy winner and current New York Jets backup quarterback Tim Tebow's jet stopped off to refuel.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The UCLA women beat Oklahoma, 86-80, in November. Defense was not the most important thing in that game. Bruins point guard Thea Lemberger was asked whether the score will be similar Monday when third-seeded UCLA (26-7) faces sixth-seeded Oklahoma (23-10) in a second-round NCAA tournament game at St. John Arena that is scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m. PDT. "No," Lemberger said as she stole a glance at her coach, Cori Close. "We're going to lock down on defense.

— When Stetson missed its first nine field-goal attempts, good shots most of them, it seemed over for the Hatters. When UCLA led by a couple of dozen points midway through the second half, this first-round NCAA game was all but over. The third-seeded Bruins advanced to the second round with a 66-49 win over the Hatters (24-9) on Saturday. UCLA (26-7) will play sixth-seeded Oklahoma on Monday at 4:15 p.m. PDT at St. John Arena. The Sooners (23-10) beat 11th-seeded Central Michigan 78-73 here in Saturday's first game.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- UCLA redshirt senior forward Alyssia Brewer was the happiest of all the happy Bruins when the third-seeded women's basketball team was sent to play their first two NCAA tournament games at St. John Arena. After defeating Stetson, 66-49, on Saturday in the first round, UCLA will play sixth-seeded Oklahoma at 4:15 p.m. Pacific time Monday. On Friday, when UCLA had its first practice here Brewer, who is UCLA's second-leading scorer (11. 1 points per game) and leading rebounder (7.8 per game)

Kings winger Jordan Nolan was fined $1,436.94 by the NHL on Sunday for cross-checking Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks during the teams' game Saturday at Staples Center, the league announced. It was the maximum fine allowed under the collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the players' association. Nolan's hit on Sedin occurred at 5:58 of the second period and was not penalized at the time; however, the league can review any play for the purpose of dispensing supplementary discipline.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -  Pittsburgh basketball Coach Jamie Dixon has signed a 10-year contract extension with the Panthers. According to a Pittsburgh radio report, the extension was in response to job feelers from USC, which is searching for a head coach to replace interim Coach Bob Cantu. New Mexico's Steve Alford, whose name has also been mentioned prominently, also received a 10-year extension this week. Two sources have said Syracuse assistant and former Mater Dei player Mike Hopkins has interviewed for the job and former USC coach Tim Floyd said last week that he had spoken to Athletic Director Pat Haden in Arizona about the job and made the point to Haden that Floyd, though he quit USC, was never charged with any NCAA violations.

Scratch No. 1 Gonzaga out of your bracket and replace it with the Shockers. It was a real shocker, all right. Ninth-seeded Wichita State hit the bull's eye when it came to knocking out the top-seeded Bulldogs, scoring a thrilling 76-70 victory in front of a crowd of 16,060 at EnergySolutions Arena. The win sends Wichita State to next week's West Regional semifinals at Staples Center. The Shockers will face the winner of Sunday's game between Mississippi and La Salle. “This feeling is unimaginable,” said freshman guard Ron Baker, one of Wichita State's heroes.

The father of UCLA basketball star Shabazz Muhammad took out what he called “a little protection” against NCAA investigators, guarding a recording of a phone call that a benefactor had made to the NCAA for more than two years. Ron Holmes would never end up needing the recording, as his son was reinstated with the UCLA Bruins early in the season following an investigation into whether Muhammad received improper benefits. With Muhammad  leading the way, the Bruins recovered from a rough start to the season to win the Pac-12 regular-season title.

SALT LAKE CITY  -- Arizona is thrilled to be playing Harvard on Saturday on its way to next week's West regional in Los Angeles. No one can say that, but it's only human Tucson nature. Wanting to play No. 14 instead of No. 3 to reach the Sweet 16 is a no-brainer. Arizona in its head is thinking, "We get Harvard instead of a New Mexico team some had penciled for the Final Four. " Arizona is thrilled, but it should also be terrified. Have you been paying attention?

I love the Big West Conference, going back to its days as the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. when Lew Cryer was commissioner and Nevada Las Vegas was a national power. I still drink coffee out of a PCAA mug that was a media gift from the 1985 tournament held at the Fabulous Forum. I was a student at current Big West member Cal State Fullerton in 1978 when the Titans came within a shot of making the Final Four. I traveled the road as UC Irvine's basketball beat writer in the early 1980s with Bill Mulligan, the  school's quote-machine coach.