Friday’s Den: Wrapping up a busy Thursday…….

— Alabama 89, North Carolina 87
Tar Heels led 54-46 at halftime.
Alabama outscored UNC 43-33 in second half.
North Carolina star Davis was 0-9 behind the arc.
Crimson Tide is in Elite 8 for first time since 2004.

— Clemson 77, Arizona 72
Clemson is in the Elite 8 for the first time since 1980.
Tigers are 9-1 ATS as an underdog this season.
Since 2009, Arizona is 3-5 SU in Sweet 16 games.
Under coach Lloyd, Arizona is 88-18, but only 4-3 in NCAA Tourney games.

2022- was #1-seed, lost to #5-seed Houston
2023- was #2-seed, lost to #15-seed Princeton
2024- was #2-seed, lost 77-72 to #6-seed Clemson

— Illinois 72, Iowa State 69
Illini never trailed; they led by 13 early in game, then hung on.
Illinois survived going 15-29 on the foul line.
Illinois is in Elite 8 for first time since 2005.
Underdogs were 3-1 SU Thursday; they were 1-15 SU in second round.

— UConn 82, San Diego State 52
UConn is 23-1 since Christmas.
Huskies had 21 offensive rebounds, Aztecs 17 defensive boards.
UConn won/covered its last nine NCAA Tournament games.
San Diego State shot 36.2% from the floor, 5-22 on arc.

Famous birthdays for March 29:
Denny McLain, 80
Walt Frazier, 79
Earl Campbell, 69
Billy Beane, 62
Brain Jordan, 57
Matt Olson, 30

— Pirates 6, Marlins 5 (12)
Miami led 5-2 after six innings.
Jake Burger was 3-4, with 3 RBI.
Pittsburgh batters struck out 17 times.

— Rangers 4, Cubs 3 (10)
Pinch-hitter Jankowski tied game with 9th inning home run,
Jonah Heim’s walk-off single ended the game in the 10th.
Cubs’ P Steele left game with a hamstring injury.

— Bronx 5, Astros 4
Houston led 4-0 after two innings.
Juan Soto threw out game-tying run at the plate in 9th inning.
Astros had 13 hits, were only 3-9 with runners in scoring position.

— Diamondbacks 16, Rockies 1
Arizona scored 14 runs on 13 hits…….just in the 3rd inning.
Lourdes Gurriel was 3-5, with three runs scored, 5 RBI
Arizona was 12-15 with runners in scoring position.

— Tigers 1, White Sox 0
Only run of game scored on a 3rd inning sac fly.
Tarik Skubal allowed only 3 baserunners in six IP.
White Sox had three hits, never got a runner to second base.

— Reds 8, Nationals 2
Cincinnati led 7-0 in the third inning.
Reds’ DH Martini hit two homers, knocked in five runs.
Frankie Montas tossed six shutout IP in his Cincinnati debut.

— Padres 6, Giants 4
Trailing 3-2, Padres scored four runs in 7th inning.
Xander Bogaerts had the g0-ahead single.
Yu Darvish allowed one run in 5 IP.

— Dodgers 7, Cardinals 1
Dodgers led 5-0 after three innings.
Tyler Glasnow allowed 3 baserunners in 6 IP in his Dodger debut.
Freddie Freeman was 2-3 with 2 runs scored, 3 RBI

— Orioles 11, Angels 3
Baltimore led 7-0 after four innings.
Corbin Burnes struck out 11 guys in 6 IP, in his Orioles debut.
Trout/Rengifo had the Angels’ only two hits.

— Blue Jays 8, Rays 2
Game was 1-1 after the fifth inning.
Springer, Biggio, Guerrero homered for Toronto.
Zach Eflin was tagged for six earned runs in 5.2 IP.

— Guardians 8, A’s 0
Shane Bieber struck out 11 batters in six shutout IP.
David Fry was 3-4, with two runs scored.
Attendance in Oakland’s last-ever home opener: 13,522

— Twins 4, Royals 1
Pablo Lopez allowed only four baserunners in 7 IP.
Royce Lewis homered, later left game with a leg injury.
Carlos Correa was 3-4, with two RBI.

— Red Sox 6, Mariners 4
Tyler O’Neill homered on Opening Day for 5th year in a row, an MLB record.
Rafael Devers was 2-4 with a homer and two RBI.
Mitch Haniger hit a home run for Seattle. 

Author: Armadillo Sports

I've been involved in sports my whole life, now just write about them. I like to travel, mostly to Las Vegas- they have gambling there.