National Football League
Saturday's Sports in Brief
National Football League

Saturday's Sports in Brief

Published Mar. 15, 2015 2:20 a.m. ET

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Willie Cauley-Stein scored 18 points, Andrew Harrison added 15 and No. 1 Kentucky routed depleted Auburn 91-67 on Saturday to reach the Southeastern Conference final and improve to a school-record 33-0.

Kentucky broke the school-record winning streak of 32 games set from Dec. 5, 1953, to Jan. 8, 1955. The Wildcats will face Arkansas in the final, seeking their 28th tournament title and first since 2011.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Georges Niang scored 19 points, Abdel Nader made the go-ahead foul shots with 48 seconds to go, and Iowa State rallied from a 17-point second-half hole to beat Kansas in the Big 12 championship game.

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It was the fifth straight game - including all three in the tournament - that the Cyclones rallied from a double-digit deficit, prompting Niang to dub them the ''Comeback Kids.''

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Jerian Grant scored 24 points and No. 11 Notre Dame took over with a 26-3 second-half run to rally past No. 19 North Carolina 90-82 on Saturday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game.

Pat Connaughton added 20 points for the third-seeded Irish (29-5). They went from trailing by nine to up double figures with a stunning burst that seized momentum in what amounted to a road game and sent the program to its first title in any league.

GOLF

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) - Ryan Moore made a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Saturday for a 4-under 67 and a one-stroke lead in the Valspar Championship.

Moore birdied four of the final six holes on Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead course to reach 9 under.

Jordan Spieth has second after 68. Derek Ernst was two strokes back at 7 under after a 69.

Moore had 12 straight pars before making a move with birdies on Nos. 13, 14, 16 and 18.

Second-round leader Brendon de Jonge had a 4-over 75 to drop into a tie for 14th at 2 under.

NFL

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The Minnesota Vikings have released wide receiver Greg Jennings, who would have counted $11 million against their salary cap this season.

The move was made Saturday, roughly 18 hours after Minnesota's trade for wide receiver Mike Wallace was finalized with Miami.

Wallace came with a big contract, so carrying both veterans on their current deals was not going to be wise for the Vikings and their cap management. Over two years with the Vikings, Jennings totaled 1,546 yards and 10 touchdowns receiving. He led them last season with 742 yards and six touchdowns.

The jettison of Jennings will likely elevate the role of wide receiver Jarius Wright in the slot position. He was second on the Vikings with 588 yards receiving.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Free-agent running back Reggie Bush has reached a deal with the San Francisco 49ers, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Saturday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity and didn't provide details because nothing had been finalized.

Bush visited the team Wednesday and could be seen touring outside Levi's Stadium with new San Francisco coach Jim Tomsula. Bush joins a Niners team that lost Frank Gore in free agency to the Colts, left guard Mike Iupati to the Arizona Cardinals and a pair of cornerbacks who are now gone, too - Chris Culliver and Perrish Cox. Cox said in a text message to The Associated Press he had reached a three-year deal Saturday with the Titans.

BASEBALL

CLEVELAND (AP) - Al Rosen's success in baseball didn't end after he left the diamond for the final time.

A muscular third baseman for the Cleveland Indians who won the 1953 AL MVP and later worked in the front offices of several teams, died Friday. He was 91.

Rosen was a member on the Indians' 1948 title team, the last Cleveland squad to win the World Series.

A four-time All-Star, Rosen drove in 100 runs in five straight seasons.

NASCAR

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Joey Logano routed the field Saturday to win the Xfinity Series at Phoenix International Raceway.

The Daytona 500 winner raced to his first Xfinity Series victory since 2013 with his dominant win for Team Penske. He led 176 of the 200 laps and had the field covered.

Matt Kenseth was second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon and Erik Jones.

Logano started from the pole in his No. 22 Ford, got a jump on Harvick at the start of the race and led the first 50 laps until he was passed on pit road during a caution.

He led 85 of the first 100 laps.

TRACK AND FIELD

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) - Dominique Scott won the 3,000 meters to wrap up Arkansas' first women's national championship in any sport at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday night.

The top-ranked Razorbacks, led by a meet-high 15 qualifiers, finished with 63 team points to hold off five-time defending champion Oregon - which finished with 46.5 points. Georgia was third with 37.

Scott, who also anchored Arkansas winning distance-medley relay team Friday, finished in 8 minutes, 55.19 seconds in the 3,000 to help overtake the Ducks and secure the title for Arkansas, whose previous best indoor finish was third in 2000.

The Oregon men, led by wins in four distance races, won their second straight title and third overall with 74 points. The Ducks clinched with all three top spots in the 3,000 - led by senior Erick Jenkins with a time of 7:58.81.

CRICKET

Defending champion India made a mockery of the pre-tournament form guides, finishing unbeaten atop Pool B at the Cricket World Cup with a six-wicket win over Zimbabwe on Saturday.

India hadn't won a competitive match on Australian soil in the two months leading up to the tournament, but has now won six in a row to extend its winning streak in World Cup matches to 10 - including the latter half of its run to the title in 2011.

Four-time champion Australia beat winless Scotland by seven wickets in a rain-affected match in Hobart, Australia, chasing down Scotland's paltry total of 130 with 208 balls to spare.

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