Live Blog: 2019 Coupe De France Final

The last time Stsde Rennais FC lifted a trophy was back in 1971. Absolutely no one on this year's Rennes side were alive during that time, their parents were merely enjoying the springtime of their youth. But today, the hot dog capital of France is hoping to cut the mustard (to go with its world-famed galettes-saucisses) against Paris Saint-Germain and prove that French club football is more balanced than anybody thinks!

It's the 2019 Coupe de France Final from the Stade de France in Paris. Join Jo-Ryan Salazar at 0800 UTC -7 for coverage of the event via 24liveblog.

Alexander Rossi: 2019 Grand Prix of Long Beach Champion

Alexander Rossi turned the Grand Prix of Long Beach into more of a parade than a race.

The Californian won the 45th edition of the famed street race Sunday in even more dominating fashion than he did in winning at Long Beach a year ago.

Rossi captured the IndyCar Series race from the pole position, as he did in 2018, and he led 80 of the race’s 85 laps around the 11-turn, 1.97-mile course.

Rossi won by a crushing 20 seconds over second-place Josef Newgarden, the biggest margin of victory at Long Beach since Al Unser Jr. won by 23 seconds in 1995.

“It’s an amazing day,” Rossi said. “I have a great car and a great crew behind me” on the Andretti Autosport team, he said.

But Rossi also had mixed emotions and was subdued in his victory celebration because his grandfather died Saturday. “I want to dedicate this one to him,” Rossi said.

One factor that helped Rossi lengthen his lead was that the race was nearly accident-free.

“The whole time you hold your breath hoping the yellow [flag] doesn’t come” for a crash-related caution period that would bunch the field and wipe out Rossi’s lead, team owner Michael Andretti said.

Rossi “drove flawlessly all weekend,” Andretti said. “To be able to start on pole here is a big advantage. Everything went perfect today.”

Rossi, a 27-year-old native of Nevada City, quickly proved that his No. 27 Honda-powered car was the class of the field.

He took the lead on the opening lap, led by 11 seconds over the second-place car at the halfway point and kept stretching his lead with the help of flawless pit stops.

It was Rossi’s sixth career IndyCar victory. His first win came in 2016 when he captured the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie. Rossi also became the fourth different winner through the first four races of this year’s IndyCar season.

The win lifted Rossi into second place in the championship standings, 28 points behind Newgarden, the 2017 IndyCar champion who scored his best finish at Long Beach in eight starts. Rossi is pursuing his first IndyCar Series title.

Rossi said “you cherish those days” when a victory comes by such a big margin and added “we didn’t have a whole lot of pressure.” He agreed that starting in the first spot was a major advantage.

“Winning the pole is just huge come Sunday because it allows you to hopefully be in front leaving Turn 1 and really just control the race from there,” he said. “You can run your own strategy and your own pace.

“You just stay in the zone and stay focused,” Rossi said.

Graham Rahal crossed the finish line in third and Scott Dixon in fourth, but IndyCar officials penalized Rahal — and reversed their finishes — after finding that Rahal threw a block on Dixon that ran afoul of IndyCar rules as Dixon tried to pass Rahal on the final lap.

“I’m not upset about it. We had a good day,” Rahal said. “We were going to lose a spot anyway” because the “tires were just absolutely shot,” he said.

Still, Rahal said he wasn’t sure a penalty was warranted. “Yes, I blocked, but you’re allowed to block in this series” in certain situations. He added that he “gave [Dixon] a lane” to pass. “If he wanted to go, he could go,” Rahal said.

Dixon said that had Rahal “not defended or reacted the way he had done, we would have gotten the pass easily. Graham has definitely been racing on the edge.”

The Grand Prix capped three days of various forms of racing and other festivities at the Long Beach event, and organizers said there were about 187,000 spectators over the three days, a 1% gain from last year.

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Virginia: 2018-19 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Champions

MINNEAPOLIS -- Now that, Virginia, is the way to close out a season.

And quiet those critics, too.

Led by De'Andre Hunter and his NBA-ready game, the Cavaliers turned themselves into national champions Monday night, holding off tenacious, ferocious Texas Tech for an 85-77 overtime win -- a scintillating victory that came 388 days after a crushing setback that might have sunk a lesser team for years.

But Virginia was better than that.

A season after becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16 -- the one thing that had never happened in a tournament where anything can -- the Cavaliers watched a 10-point lead turn into a 3-point deficit before Hunter came to the rescue. The sophomore made the game-tying 3 with 12 seconds left in regulation, then made another with just over two minutes left in the extra period to give the Cavs the lead for good.

"Surreal," Hunter called it. "It's a goal we started out with at the beginning of the season. We knew we were going to bounce back from last year. We achieved our dreams."

After going without a field goal for the first 18 1/2 minutes, Hunter finished with a career-high 27 points, and if he leaves as a lottery pick -- well, what a way to go.

He helped the Cavs bring home the first NCAA title for a program with a colorful, star-crossed and, now, very winning history.

Ralph Sampson was in the house, and now it's possible that Sampson and the name "Chaminade" won't be at the top of Virginia's resume anymore.

Or "University of Maryland-Baltimore County." That was the No. 16 seed that stunned the Cavs in the first round last year, its playful social media manager online Monday night tweeting congratulations shortly after the final buzzer. Hunter missed that game with a broken wrist, but nobody thought they'd miss him THAT much.

Each of Virginia's 34 wins leading to the final, and each of its scant three losses, was punctuated by the reminder that only the end result would serve as the ultimate report card on whether the Cavs could truly shed the baggage of last year.

What a ride this was.

A 1 seed once again, they fell behind by 14 early to 16th-seeded Gardner-Webb in this year's opening round, and a nightmare seemed to be repeating itself. But this time, they overcame it. Then, they beat Purdue in the Elite Eight when the game looked lost, and did the same against Auburn on Saturday -- getting bailed out by a foul call and Kyle Guy's three free throws with 0.6 seconds left.

"I told them, I just want a chance at a title fight one day," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. "That's all I want. ... You're never alone in the hills and the valleys we faced in the last year."

Hunter's key 3 in OT gave Virginia a 75-73 lead, and after the teams traded possessions, Tech guard Davide Moretti scrambled after a loose ball heading onto Virginia's end of the court. It appeared it would be Texas Tech ball, but a replay showed Moretti's pinkie finger had barely scraped the ball. Virginia got possession, and worked the ball into Ty Jerome, who got fouled and made two free throws.

Brandone Francis missed a 3 on the other end, and Virginia pulled away -- the first time this game felt remotely comfortable, even after Guy made a 3 to give the Cavs a 10-point lead with 10:22 left in regulation.

Guy is not Virginia's only clutch free-throw shooter, by the way. The Cavs went 12 for 12 from the line in overtime to ice this game. They scored the game's final 11 points.

As for the Red Raiders (31-7), well, what can you say?

The team full of overlooked grinders refused to quit.

They fell behind by 10 twice in this game -- seemingly too much in a matchup between two legendary defenses that allowed way more than the total of 118 points predicted by sportsbooks -- but just kept coming back.

Jarrett Culver, also lottery-pick material, made a spinning left-handed layup over Hunter with 35 seconds left in regulation to put the Red Raiders ahead 66-65. After Jerome missed a teardrop on the other end, Norense Odiase got fouled and made two free throws to make it 68-65.

The nation's best defense couldn't afford to give up a 3, but Jerome skipped a pass to Hunter, who was open on the wing -- and spotted up and drained it. Culver missed a 3 with Guy in his face with a second left, and we were headed to overtime, the first extra session in the final since Kansas beat Memphis in 2008.

"In terms of my guys, I've never been more proud," Red Raiders coach Chris Beard said. "This is real life. We'll bounce back."

The last five minutes of regulation and the OT featured several one-on-one matchups between the two NBA-bound stars, and Hunter came out the winner. He finished 8 for 16 after an 0-for-7 start. Culver, who stayed in his hometown of Lubbock to see how far he could take Tech, went 5 for 22 for 15 points, continuing a cold-shooting Final Four; he went 8 for 34 over the weekend.

Both will likely move on to the NBA. Hunter will go there with a title.

And somebody on Virginia ought to grab that sign.

In the stands, a fan made a cardboard sign with the capital letters "UMBC" running vertically, and this spelled out after each letter:

"Uva."

"Makes."

"Big."

"Comeback."

The Cavs couldn't have written it any better themselves.

Texas: 2019 National Invitation Tournament Champions

NEW YORK -- Texas can hook its horns to an NIT championship.

Dylan Osetkowski had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead Texas to the NIT championship with an 81-66 win over Lipscomb on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

"It's great to win a championship," coach Shaka Smart said.

The Longhorns (21-16) beat South Dakota State, Xavier, Colorado and TCU to reach the final, and survived a few late shots at the lead to win their first NIT title since 1978.

Smart, just 71-66 in four seasons with the Longhorns, got Texas to cut down the nets the same time he is reportedly on the short list of candidates to take the UCLA vacancy. Texas has not won an NCAA Tournament game under Smart and few Texas fans would weep if he left for the Bruins.

Texas fans at the Garden enjoyed the title and held up the "hook em" hand gesture as the final seconds ticked off.

Smart was doused with water in the locker room and had a towel with him as he walked to a press conference.

"There have been teams that have come and won the NIT and used it as an unbelievable springboard," Smart said. "And there's teams that haven't."

Jase Febres held off the pesky Bisons -- don't call it a comb-back -- with 3s in the second half that extended the lead to 13 points each time and kept the Longhorns firmly in charge. He finished with 16 points and Kerwin Roach II had 16.

Smart shared a moment with the troubled Roach on the court, an emotional time for a senior in his final game who has been suspended three times over his career. Roach was named the NIT's most outstanding player.

"He's had some phenomenal moments," Smart said. "I don't think he thought he'd be in college this long."

Long enough to go out a champion.

Texas won in front of about 3,000 spectators, and not one sitting above the lower bowl.

Penn State about packed MSG last year, in large part because of a substantial alumni base and rapper Flavor Flav in the house rooting on his cousin.

But this year?

Well, there were a few hundred fans in burnt orange and that was about it.

So why come to this game?

Hours after the Mets won their home opener against the Washington Nationals, the train hub at Penn Station was packed with fans in Mets jerseys. Some even decided to make it a day-night doubleheader and hit MSG.

There was a small group that had made NIT games a tradition for the last 10 years. In a StubHub era in which tickets are grossly inflated from their face value cost, one fan said there wasn't anywhere else u can sit in the front row and watch basketball for a reasonable price.

StubHub had tickets in the prime 100 level going for $11 bucks 24 hours before tip -- which is at least cheaper than a concession stand burger. When one fan yawned toward the end of the first half, a security guard chirped, "it's too early for that."

Eh, not really.

Osetkowski hit three 3s for 15 points in the first half and the Longhorns raced out to a 41-27 lead. The Longhorns will take their shorn nets back to Texas -- with Smart's fate yet to be determined.

Garrison Mathews, named an Associated Press All-America honorable mention, scored 15 points for the Bisons (29-8). He made all 10 free throws but missed 8 of 10 shots from the floor. With their best player in a funk, Lipscomb was doomed.

"They took Garrison for the large part out of the game," Casey Alexander said. "The only thing to be sad about is that it's over."

South Florida: 2019 College Basketball Invitational Champions

CHICAGO -- David Collins had 19 points and eight rebounds, and South Florida beat DePaul 77-65 on Friday in the College Basketball Invitational championship.

USF made three 3-pointers in a four-minute span to take the first double-digit lead of the second half at 57-47 and extended it to a 14-point advantage after an 8-0 run. The Bulls led by double figures for five-plus minutes until Max Strus made three free throws at 1:06 to pull to 71-64. Xavier Castaneda sealed it with two free throws with 40.4 seconds to play.

Justin Brown had 12 points for South Florida (24-14), which was picked to finish last in the preseason American Athletic Conference coaches' poll. LaQuincy Rideau added 10 points. Antun Maricevic had seven rebounds for the visitors.

South Florida led 37-20 with 6:15 remaining in the first half but didn't score again until Rideau beat the halftime buzzer with a layup for a 39-34 lead. DePaul went on a 14-0 run during USF's drought to get within three points with 25.7 seconds left.

Devin Gage had 19 points for the Blue Demons (19-17), who never led in the game. Strus added 16 points. Femi Olujobi had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Marshall: 2019 College Insider Postseason Tournament Champions

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- C.J. Burks scored 28 points as Marshall romped past Green Bay 90-70 on Thursday night for the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament championship.

Burks also had seven rebounds, six assists and three steals in being named the most valuable player. He had a steal on back-to-back possessions and his fast-break dunk gave Marshall a 72-62 midway through the second half.

Taevion Kinsey added 21 points for the Thundering Herd (23-14). Jon Elmore had 17 points on just 5-of-18 shooting. Marshall was 1 for 12 from 3-point range to start the game and finished 3 of 26.

Tank Hemphill had 21 points for the Phoenix (21-17). Sandy Cohen III added 13 points -- all in the first half -- and JayQuan McCloud had 11.

Green Bay led by as many as 13 points in the first half, but Marshall pulled within 42-40 at the break. Cohen made a 3-pointer early in the first half to move into second on Green Bay's single-season scoring list, passing Virginia coach Tony Bennett.

Adelaide Crows: 2019 AFL Women's Premiers

A SERIOUS knee injury to Adelaide superstar Erin Phillips has cast a shadow over the Crows' emphatic 45-point victory over Carlton in the AFLW Grand Final at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

Played in front of a record crowd for a women's game of Australian football of 53,034, the Crows lived up to their favourites' tag, demolishing the Blues, 10.3 (63) to 2.6 (18).

The attendance was the fifth-highest for a football match at Adelaide Oval.

After a one-point loss to the Western Bulldogs in round one, the Crows went on an eight-game winning streak under first-year coach Matthew Clarke to secure their second flag in three years.

Phillips was best on ground before tearing the ACL in her left knee in the third quarter, the crowd going silent while she was being treated before giving the 2017 AFLW best and fairest a rousing ovation as she left the ground.

Anne Hatchard and Ebony Marinoff dominated the midfield, Eloise Jones was lively in attack and Danielle Ponter kicked three goals.

The Crows also lost forward Chloe Scheer to a suspected ruptured ACL.

Blues captain Brianna Davey was the best for the visitors, who gave themselves too much to do after trailing by 40 points at half-time.

The moment
This was a monumental day for AFLW, and women's sport in general, in many ways. A crowd of 30,000 was expected, but the Adelaide public arrived in droves for an official attendance of 53,034. It was easily the largest crowd for a women's game of Australian football and the fifth-biggest crowd at Adelaide Oval for any football game.

The first blow
The Blues got away to the perfect start within three minutes when young gun Madison Prespakis was awarded a 50m penalty and kicked the opening goal of the game from the goalsquare. It was a rare highlight for the Blues, with the Crows kicking the next nine goals of the game to have the match won by half-time.

Get online now and watch this …
Crows forward Chloe Scheer took an absolute hanger, climbing on the back of Blues defender Kerryn Harrington in the second quarter. But that high turned to concern a few minutes later when Scheer went down on her right knee and was helped from the ground. Scheer missed all of last season with a torn ACL.

Did you see that?
It was attacking footy at its best as Crows speedster Eloise Jones found herself in plenty of space along the wing. After a couple of bounces, Jones delivered a pinpoint kick to Danielle Ponter just beyond the reach of her Blues defender and for her third goal of the game. Jones was influential up forward with her courageous marking and ability to hit targets by foot.

Work in progress
The Blues have been one of the feel-good stories of this season. After winning just two games last year, and a disappointing round-one loss to North Melbourne, they turned their season around under new coach Daniel Harford, playing an exciting brand of football. Led by captain Brianna Davey and NAB AFLW Rising Star favourite Madison Prespakis, the Blues can hold their heads high and have a bright future.

ADELAIDE                   3.0        9.2       10.2     10.3 (63)
CARLTON                    1.3       2.4       2.5       2.6 (18)

GOALS

Adelaide: Ponter 3, Phillips 2, Hatchard, Considine, Martin, Thompson, Jones
Carlton: Prespakis, Davey

BEST
Adelaide: Hatchard, Phillips, Jones, Randall, Allan, Marinoff, J.Foley
Carlton: Davey, Stevens, Prespakis, S.Hosking, Downie

INJURIES

Adelaide: Scheer (knee), Phillips (knee)
Carlton: Harris (knee)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Toner, Heffernan, McGinness

Official crowd: 53,034 at Adelaide Oval