The Washington Post - USA (2022-04-03)

MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Kansas vs. North Carolina

Tomorrow, 9:20 p.m., TBS

Ryan’s legacy: D awn Staley, Geno Auriemma

carry a heavy influence of a Virginia legend. D3

WOMEN’S C HAMPIONSHIP GAME

South Carolina vs. Connecticut

Today, 8 p.m., ESPN

HOCKEY

Capitals vet Lars Eller

finds a slump just as hot

rookie finds his game. D10

SOCCER

D.C. United yields a

stoppage-time goal and

falls to Atlanta, 1-0. D10

PRO BASKETBALL

Ginóbili, Hardaway and

Cash top the 2022 Hall

of Fame class. D6

BASEBALL

The Nats send out a fan

favorite and name their

Opening Day starter. D2

KLMNO

SPORTS

SUNDAY, APRIL 3 , 2022. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS M2 D

BY KAREEM COPELAND

minneapolis — As the U.S.

women’s national basketball

team holds training camp this

week in conjunction with the

NCAA women’s Final Four, the

absence of two-time Olympic

gold medalist Brittney Griner

looms large.

Griner has been detained in

Russia since mid-February after

being arrested at Sheremetyevo

Airport near Moscow for alleged-

ly having vape cartridges contain-

ing hash oil in her luggage. That

could result in a 10-year prison

sentence.

“I don’t think there’s a day that

goes by that anyone even remotely

close to her or knows her or has

played with her before doesn’t feel

it,” said Kelsey Plum, who won

Olympic gold with the three-on-

three team. “It’s absolutely heart-

breaking. I was just talking to

[Breanna Stewart] the other day

— Stewie’s like: ‘Every day, I just

have a moment where I’m like,

man, BG’s out on the other side,

and there’s nothing [to do about

SEE GRINER ON D6

Griner’s detainment in Russia looms over U.S. basketball training camp

BY EMILY GIAMBALVO

new orleans — The Kansas Jayhawks

marched into the men’s Final Four under a

somewhat dim spotlight, even as the storied

program flashed its title potential through-

out this postseason. So much of the conver-

sation gravitated toward the other national

semifinal, the one featuring the bitter rivals

from North Carolina. But here at the

Superdome, the top-seeded Jayhawks

showed they demand attention as well,

never trailing in a convincing win over

Villanova.

The Jayhawks earned their place in

Monday’s national championship game

with an 81-65 win, showcasing a dynamic

and complementary offensive attack. They

were fueled by standout guard Ochai Agbaji

and dominant big man David McCormack.

Kansas (33-6) had to fend off the relentless

SEE KANSAS ON D5

No. 1 seed Jayhawks

stifle Wildcats, earn

berth in title game

KANSAS 81,

VILLANOVA 65

minneapolis — D awn

Staley repeated the question

to buy time. It stumped her,

or rather, it asked the

consummate competitor to

go against herself.

“Am I a better coach than

I am a player?” Staley said.

“Go d. That’s a good

question.”

Great players don’t often make great

coaches, and that’s a truism for every

sport. Staley is on the short list of the

greatest point guards in women’s

basketball history. And at just 51 years old,

she is a coach with 537 career victories and

one national title (the first in the history

of the South Carolina women’s team). She

won three Olympic gold medals as a player

and coached Team USA to gold in Tokyo

last summer. On Sunday night, if the

Gamecocks can defeat a Connecticut

program undefeated in its 11 title game

SEE BREWER ON D3

A Hall of Famer as

a player, Staley may

be better as a coach

Jerry

Brewer

NCAA TOURNAMENT

Heel turn

CHRIS GRAYTHEN/GETTY IMAGES

North Carolina’s R.J. Davis, left, and Leaky Black celebrate as the final seconds tick off in the Tar Heels’ win over Duke in a national semifinal. North Carolina will play Kansas for the title.

BY CHUCK CULPEPPER

new orleans — In a city where

evenings have been known to stray into

the soupy air and decompose into woe

and sometimes nausea, the storied men’s

basketball program at Duke spent a

thrilling Saturday night drifting into a

nightmare. That nightmare will recur its

loop carrying through years and decades.

It will feature one of the tensest games

in the 83-year history of the NCAA men’s

tournament, a blurry thing with 18 lead

changes, five of them in the final three

minutes. It will star North Carolina

guard Caleb Love stepping up and rock-

eting in a manful three-point shot with

25 seconds left for a four-point lead. It

SEE NORTH CAROLINA ON D4

UNC wins back-and-forth clash with rival,

sending Krzyzewski out with a bitter defeat

NORTH CAROLINA 81,

DUKE 77

Hubert Davis’s first with the Tar Heels,

the age-old adversaries headed to their

huddles with 78 seconds remaining.

None among the 70,602 assembled here

had a clue who would win.

Who knew that stomach linings could

be eaten away, that jet-black hair could

turn gray, over the course of 2^1 / 2 hours?

Lifetimes have been poured into this

rivalry. Two fan bases needed

defibrillators just to be breathing by the

SEE SVRLUGA ON D4

new orleans — I f it

ever came to this —

college basketball’s

unthinkable

Armageddon, Duke vs.

North Carolina not just in

the NCAA men’s

tournament but in the

Final Freaking Four — it

had to play out as it did Saturday night

at the Superdome. In Mike Krzyzewski’s

final season as the Blue Devils’ coach and

Handing Coach K a career-ending loss,

on this s tage, is all-time moment for Carolina

Barry

Svrluga

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI’S NCAA FINAL FOUR APPEARANCES

ROUND 1985-86 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1993-94 1998-99 2000-01 2003-04 2009-10 2014-15 2021-22

Semifinal

opponent

Kansas

W, 71-67

Kansas

L, 66-59

S eton Hall

L, 95-78

A rkansas

W, 97-83

UNLV

W, 79-77

Indiana

W, 81-78

Florida

W, 70-65

Michigan State

W, 68-62

Maryland

W, 95-84

Connecticut

L, 79-78

West Virginia

W, 78-67

Michigan State

W, 81-61

North Carolina

L, 81-77

Final

opponent

L ouisville

L, 72-69

U NLV

L , 103-7 3

Kansas

W, 72-65

Michigan

W, 71-51

Arkansas

L, 76-72

Connecticut

L, 77-74

Arizona

W, 82-72

Butler

W, 61-59

Wisconsin

W, 68-63