Johnny Sexton became the highest points scorer in Six Nations history as the Ireland captain topped Ronan O'Gara's record haul in Saturday's showdown with England.
Fly-half Sexton, who plans to retire after the Rugby World Cup later this year, remains a hugely significant part of the Ireland team who sit top of the world rankings and headed into their final fixture of this year's Six Nations with a Grand Slam in their sights.
The 37-year-old came into the match with 557 points in the Six Nations, level with former team-mate O'Gara.
He slotted over with 18 minutes on the clock against England at the Aviva Stadium to move top of the list outright.
The record held by Sexton covers the entirety of the Six Nations, as well as its previous incarnation as the Five Nations.
France kept their Six Nations title hopes alive with a 41-28 victory over a spirited Wales at Stade de France.
Les Blues boosted their championship quest by earning a bonus point to displace Ireland at the summit of the table, and they will be crowned champions if the latter fail to beat England later on Saturday.
Damian Penaud scored twice while Jonathan Danty, Uini Atonio and Gael Fickou also crossed for the hosts, who claimed their 17th win in 18 Tests.
Meanwhile, George North, Bradley Roberts, Tomos Williams and Rio Dyer went over for the visitors but, despite the bonus point, they have now lost their last five meetings with France.
Wales had scored the fewest points in this year’s championship, but they made a purposeful start in Paris, as a lengthy spell of pressure culminated in North going under the posts in the eighth minute.
But France responded just two minutes later. Romain Ntamack embarked on a dangerous burst before offloading to Antoine Dupont, who found the unmarked Penaud for his 25th international try.
After Thomas Ramos kicked the hosts into the lead, they stretched their advantage in similar fashion six minutes before the break. This time, Danty was on his own to cross in the corner after his team-mates brilliantly worked the ball from left to right.
France built on their momentum by crossing twice within 10 minutes of the restart. A neat move culminated in Atonio's first international try, before Fickou rounded off a series of sharp passes that carved open the Wales defence.
The last six meetings between these sides in the Six Nations had been decided by five or fewer points, and Wales ensured a degree of respectability on the scoreline with Roberts and Williams cutting the deficit to 34-21.
Les Bleus thwarted any hopes of a dramatic turnaround as Penaud went over in the corner, yet the visitors had the final word with Dyer racing away in the dying moments.
Stuart Hogg conceded Scotland were fortunate to come away from their final Six Nations match with victory over bottom side Italy.
Scotland claimed a bonus-point win at Murrayfield to all but secure third place, bar a bonus-point win and a huge margin of victory for England against Grand Slam-hunting Ireland later on Saturday.
While the 26-14 scoreline may suggest the hosts dominated the contest, there were just six points in it at half-time and a five-point difference in the closing stages.
Italy pushed for a try that would have earned them a shock result in Edinburgh, but Blair Kinghorn's superb third try at the death killed off the visitors' hopes.
Scotland's all-time record try scorer Hogg, who was working as a pundit for BBC Sport after being ruled out of the contest through injury, accepts lessons must be learned by his side.
"It was very frustrating to watch. For Scotland, we were in control for large periods and then last 10 minutes was harum-scarum," he said.
"We can count ourselves lucky. That last try doesn't reflect the scoreline. It's a Scotland win, five points in a Test match and that's all you can ask for.
"We'll learn a hell of a lot from that and it'll stand us in good stead going forward. If you're not on it for 80 minutes, you aren't going to win Test matches."
Duhan van der Merwe superbly reached over for the first try, either side of a couple of Tommaso Allan penalties, before Kinghorn crossed over twice either side of half-time.
Allan chased down a grubber and then added three more points from the boot to set up a tense conclusion, but Kinghorn's brilliant breakaway third got Scotland over the line.
Scotland have won their last eight Six Nations matches against Italy, with that their longest winning run against any nation in the tournament.
Jack Dempsey, whose 23 tackles without missing one was the second-highest return of any player in this year's tournament, told BBC Sport: "It was a bit scary towards the end.
"Credit to the front row at the end there with a great scrum to get us our of trouble. But yeah, it was knee-shaky stuff. Honestly, I was just waiting for the whistle to go."
Scotland are set for their highest finish since 2018, having won three out of their five games for the fifth time in the past seven editions of the tournament.
As for Italy, they have collected the wooden spoon for eight years running and have won just one of their past 42 Six Nations games, coming against Wales 12 months ago.
After putting in another brave showing, head coach Kieran Crowley is hopeful Italy's time will come.
"We keep turning up at the office and hopefully a bounce will go our way one day," he said. "It was one hell of a game – they gave it everything, we gave it everything.
"It's not for lack of effort. We're playing an up-tempo game – we have to keep putting our players under that pressure in training and learn to execute a little bit better."
Fraser McConnell began the Grand Finale of the 2022/23 Nitro Rallycross Series with a runner-up finish in the first of three rounds on Friday at the Glen Helen raceway.
“Great start to the nitro rallycross finale with another shiny belt and a silver medal,” said the 24-year-old Jamaican on Instagram after round one.
“Really good points in the bag with two more race days to come,” he added.
The round was won by European Rallycross champion Andreas Bakkerund while Timo Scheider was third. The overall leader and McConnell’s teammate Robin Larsson was eighth.
The second and third races to determine the champion will take place on Saturday and Sunday and can be viewed on Sportsmax or the Sportsmax app.
Jamaican superstar Jhaniele Fowler was at her dominant best to help the West Coast Fever win a dramatic rematch of the 2022 Suncorp Super Netball League grand finale over the Melbourne Vixens at the RAC Arena in Perth on Saturday.
The end of the first quarter saw the Fever enjoy a 17-12 lead before the Vixens won the second by one to reduce the halftime deficit to four, with the Fever leading 32-28.
The third quarter saw the Vixens chip into the lead a little more to set up a tense fourth quarter with the score now being 48-46 in favour of the Fever.
The teams fought to the end in the final stanza, with the Fever eventually coming out 62-61 winners.
Fowler, who has won the league’s player of the year award for the past five seasons, shot a perfect 55/55 to lead the Fever to a win to kick off the defence of their 2022 title.
Elsewhere, Shimona Nelson scored 53 goals from as many attempts to lead the Collingwood Magpies to a 71-63 win over the New South Wales Swifts, for whom Romelda Aiken-George scored 30 goals from 35 attempts.
Iga Swiatek is unsure whether she will be fit to defend her Miami Open title after a rib injury hampered the world number one during a semi-final defeat at the Indian Wells Open.
A savage 6-2 6-2 thrashing at the hands of Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina came while Swiatek was suffering physically.
She was emphatically outplayed, and how much of a factor the injury was is unclear, with tests in the coming days set to dictate what happens next for the 21-year-old Pole.
Swiatek was asked about what Rybakina did well and said: "I feel like it's still more me and my mistakes. I'm also not feeling 100 per cent physically. I have a little discomfort in my rib, and we're going to consult with the medical team."
She said she would use the days leading up to next week's event in Miami as a chance to recover.
"In terms of the rib, we'll see, because I still have to run some tests and see what's going on. I don't know yet," she said after Friday's defeat.
"Honestly, I haven't played with a lot of injuries. It's a new situation for me. The last time I played with an injury, the only tournament I can remember, is Roland Garros in 2019, so I was pretty young.
"Now it's a totally different level. I have been playing, so there has been some fatigue all the time. I would say it's kind of constant, but I'm pretty sure that tomorrow or the day after will help in recovery."
Asked whether it was a problem that could prevent her playing in Miami, Swiatek said: "No, for now I'm preparing to play, but we'll see what the next days are going to tell us. I don't know yet."
Swiatek last year won both Indian Wells and Miami to complete the 'Sunshine Double' in the early stages of a 37-match winning run that ended with a third-round Wimbledon defeat to Alize Cornet.
While Swiatek seeks medical expertise, Rybakina goes on to face Aryna Sabalenka in Sunday's Indian Wells trophy match, a repeat of the Australian Open final that Sabalenka won to earn a first grand slam singles title.
It is the third time this century that the WTA Indian Wells showpiece match has featured the same line-up as the Melbourne Park final after 2000 (Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis) and 2012 (Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka).
Blair Kinghorn scored three tries as Scotland rounded off their Six Nations campaign with a 26-14 bonus-point win over Italy to all but seal third place in this year's championship.
Gregor Townsend's side had lost successive games to France and Ireland, having opened up with back-to-back wins for the first time, but they ended their tournament on a high.
Duhan van der Merwe and Kinghorn crossed over in the first half, though Scotland's advantage stood at just six points at the interval as Tommaso Allan twice kicked over.
Kinghorn marked his return to the side with another try early in the second half and, while Allan did reduce the deficit to five points, Kinghorn's late third snatched a bonus point.
Van der Merwe brilliantly grounded the ball in the left corner mid-leap to get Scotland off the mark, but a couple of Allan penalties either side ensured Italy had the lead.
Marco Riccioni was shown a yellow card after another collapsed scrum and that proved a big moment as Kinghorn crashed over a minute later and this time converted.
Despite some last-ditch defending, Ben White was able to spin the ball to Kinghorn to stretch over in the 43rd minute for another converted try as Scotland moved well in front.
However, Allan collected Paolo Garbisi's grubber to open Italy's try count and, having missed the conversion, found the sticks from a penalty to bring Scotland within five points.
That set up a gripping conclusion, but Italy's hopes of snatching a second win in 42 Six Nations games ended when Van der Merwe played in star man Kinghorn on the counter.
Scotland get the job done
Despite what the scoreline may suggest, this was a far from vintage performance from Scotland and it could so easily have been Italy who came away with the victory.
Townsend's side ultimately came out on top, though, with this their eighth successive Six Nations win against Italy, who finish with the wooden spoon for an eighth time running.
Scotland now look certain to finish third for the first time since 2018, bar an improbable big margin of victory for England in their showdown with Grand Slam-chasing Ireland later on Saturday.
Kinghorn does it again
This was the first game Scotland had started without either Finn Russell or Stuart Hogg in their side since the opening game of the 2012 edition.
Ollie Smith and Kinghorn were brought in, and boy did the latter make the most of the chance, with his hat-trick taking him level with team-mate Huw Jones at the top of the tournament try chart.
It is the second time Kinghorn has scored two or more tries in a single game for Scotland, the other occasion also coming against Italy on the opening day of the 2019 tournament when also scoring a hat-trick.
Fairleigh Dickinson delivered on coach Tobin Anderson's pre-game optimism as they beat Purdue, but he was not content to settle for "one of the most unbelievable stories of all".
FDU became just the second 16-seed ever to advance at the NCAA Tournament with Friday's sensational 63-58 win.
Purdue had won the regular season title and the Big Ten Tournament this year, but Anderson was confident his underdogs could cause an upset.
Indeed, following the Knights' win in their play-in game, Anderson told the team: "The more I watch Purdue, the more I think we can beat them. Let's go shock the world."
FDU did exactly that, with the coach gushing in his latest post-game message to his players – while he also outlined a desire to keep this fairytale run going.
"We outplayed them for 40 minutes, we were the better team for 40 minutes," Anderson said.
"Our style was tremendous. We played how we had to, we played how we had to play. Unbelievable team effort, unbelievable approach.
"Listen, you just made history boys. You just made friggin' history, college basketball history tonight. After four wins last year, this whole team together... it is one of the most unbelievable stories of all – and that's all on you guys.
"Listen, we're playing pretty damn well now. Hydrate, do all the stuff we have to do, and we can do something even more.
"Hey, we are going to enjoy this, and I am so proud of you. What an unbelievable, special moment for the rest of our lives."
This will go down as perhaps the biggest upset in March Madness history, yet it also felt painfully familiar for Purdue.
The Boilermakers lost to 15-seed Saint Peter's last year, becoming the first team to lose consecutive NCAA Tournament games against 15-seeds or worse – excluding the First Four.
Purdue coach Matt Painter acknowledged his team would have to "sit in it", adding: "There's nothing you can say that's going to change it, right?
"I mean, it stinks. They outplayed us. They out-coached us. I think that's the one thing as a coach that you always face, and you'll get ridiculed. You'll get shamed, you'll get whatever.
"It's basketball. You've got to get better. You've got to keep fighting to get yourself in this position and then be better. And that's what we have to do."
Boilermakers center Zach Edey had been one of the most dominant players in college basketball this year, averaging 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks, but his 21 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks were not enough.
There will be discussion now around Edey's future amid doubts about his suitability to the NBA, with Painter saying his "level-headed" star would "take the information in and make a decision and do what's best for him".
The coach added: "He's a good dude. It's too bad. He deserves better than this. He deserves better."
Kyrie Irving is focusing on maximising his on-court efficiency after returning from injury in style for the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.
Irving had been absent from the Mavs' previous three games due to soreness on his right foot, the team winning only one of those outings.
But his importance to the Mavs was clear to see as he returned to the court for the 111-110 win away to the Los Angeles Lakers, posting a game-high 38 points, plus six rebounds and six assists.
It was one of those assists that proved decisive at the end, as Irving lured two Lakers players before spotting Maxi Kleber wide open, and he ultimately drained the buzzer-beating three-pointer.
"I'm just grateful I was able to have my head on a swivel," he said post-game.
"I thought for a second about forcing that two up to tie the game, but I saw Maxi open and AD [the Lakers' Anthony Davis] helping a little too much, so I tried to get into his shot pocket, and I'm glad I got it to [Kleber] with enough time to at least get the shot off.
"I could easily be sitting in this position with a loss. It was just that kind of game, but I'm glad we were resilient.
"We got really lucky and fortunate at the end of the regulation, so I'm glad it worked out for us."
Certainly, Irving's inspirational impact showed few signs of any lingering issues with his foot.
But he hinted afterwards that he did play through the pain barrier a little, meaning he felt the need to think extra carefully about how he operated on court.
"It would feel better if my wife rubbed on it when I get home... Watch it," he said with a grin.
"I just need to take care of it. Again, I said a few days ago it's a little worse than I thought, but I've just got to manage it, and I'm not going to sit up here and make any excuses."
On his efficiency, Irving added: "I don't think it's any extra science or anything like that, but it comes down to being intentional about my reps.
"I could sit at home or be on the court and be like, 'I wish my foot felt as great as it has all season', but it's just not the reality.
"Just taking my reps out there on the floor and being efficient in the opportunities I have.
"It's not the first time I've played with an injury or anything like that. Just keep pushing and keep getting rehab and recovery to put myself in the best position."
The Mavs are sixth in the West with a 36-35 record after beating the Lakers, who are 10th on 34-37.
Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said a frank halftime discussion among his players was the catalyst for the biggest comeback in the NBA this season.
Trailing by 29 points in the third quarter of Friday's contest against the San Antonio Spurs, the Grizzlies produced a resounding fightback to earn a 126-120 overtime triumph.
Still down by nine in the final minute of regulation play, a 9-0 stretch in a dramatic finale sent the game into additional time.
Jaren Jackson Jr put up 28 points for the Grizzlies, who set a franchise record with their comeback.
Asked what sparked the revival, Jenkins said: "It really started at halftime.
"We didn't watch any film. I just opened up the floor to the players to talk and said, 'What do you got for me?'
"Four or five guys spoke up and said it was unacceptable what we were doing in the first half.
"We were too casual, we weren't communicating, we weren't executing our coverages, we weren't playing with physicality, we weren't trusting the pass."
The Grizzlies are now 4-3 without their All-Star guard Ja Morant, who served the seventh of an eight-game ban for "conduct detrimental to the league".
Jackson said the turnaround was reward for the Grizzlies' perseverance.
"We came in at halftime, regrouped, talked about it," Jackson said.
"Just came out firing (in the second half). You chip away long enough, you're going to make some noise."
The Grizzlies sit third in the Western Conference with a 42-27 record.
UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards is set for a legacy-defining test on Saturday when he heads into his trilogy fight against Kamaru Usman as the underdog.
Edwards, 31, suffered the last loss of his career against Usman – a unanimous decision back in 2015 as he failed to solve the wrestling-heavy attack from the 'Nigerian Nightmare'.
It took nearly seven years for Edwards to earn the rematch, rattling off nine wins in a row over that span to force his way into a world title fight.
He got his opportunity at UFC 278 in August, and while he showed some clear improvement from their first meeting – including landing a rare takedown against Usman – the champion looked set to extend his perfect run in the UFC to 15-0 through four rounds.
But just minutes away from a decision victory, Edwards did the unthinkable. After repeatedly throwing his left roundhouse kick to the body and legs throughout the opening 22 minutes, Edwards sent the same kick high, catching Usman clean as he instinctively leaned into it and defended his body.
It was a moment that will live forever, with the man aptly nicknamed 'Rocky' coming from the clouds to score a monumental upset and conquer the fighting world.
The passion, pain and frustration from his decade-long journey to the top was evident during his famous post-fight interview, where he stared into the camera yelling, "You all said I couldn't do it – well look at me now".
Nobody can ever take that night away from Edwards, and people will still be talking about it long after both he and Usman have hung up their gloves – but the reality is that his dream run may be in its final hours as the trilogy approaches.
While Edwards has proved he is capable of defeating Usman – something none of his previous opponents can say – it is still hard to imagine how he can win three out of five rounds against the former champion.
The grappling advantage for Usman is significant, and he is likely to lean into that even further after the painful illustration about what can happen if he settles for a kickboxing match.
Even after Edwards fought off the grappling attack from Usman in the first round of their title fight, Usman almost assuredly took rounds two, three and four, and really looked in no danger down the stretch until the fight-ending blow.
Usman is simply better at winning rounds, meaning Edwards likely has to repeat his knockout finish to defend his belt for the first time in front of a packed O2 Arena.
It would be unfair to label the historic head-kick as a fluke, or luck. You do not accidentally set someone up for a perfect finishing shot and land it with such force, at such a desperate situation in the biggest fight of your life.
But the thing about once-in-a-lifetime knockouts is that, by definition, they don't happen twice – and a fighter the calibre of Usman will not make the same mistake again.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are anxiously awaiting an injury update on star player Anthony Edwards after the former Rookie of the Year had to be carried off the court on Friday.
Edwards, who is averaging 25.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in his third season, had eight points in eight minutes before going down with an ankle injury early in a 139-131 double-overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls.
The former number one draft pick is living up to the hype on the offensive end, but he has also shown terrific instincts on the other side of the ball, currently tied with Tyrese Haliburton for the fifth-most steals per game (1.6).
Minnesota had been expected to spiral after Karl-Anthony Towns went down with a long-term injury in November, but Edwards had kept them afloat, currently sitting eighth in the West at 35-36.
But while they are just one game behind the six seed, they are also only one game in front of the Utah Jazz in 11th, and any Edwards absence with just 11 games remaining could decide the franchise's playoff fate.
Speaking immediately after the loss, Edwards said he knew straight away that his night was over.
"I couldn't walk on it, so I knew it was a wrap," he said. "See how it feels tomorrow."
Head coach Chris Finch did not have an update on his status, and lamented the crushing nature of the loss after leading in the final stages of regulation.
"It's a devastating loss," he said "We've got to win that game, you know?
"Up two with 26 seconds left, with the ball. No reason to do anything, other than just make them come get us, and we just throw it out of bounds. We couldn't get a shot off in some key moments, too.
"We battled, and battled. We changed defenses all night long, we played our butt off, and we got a chance to win the game – and you've got to win that game."
When asked about how they will move forward without their two top offensive options, Finch said it can not be used as an excuse.
"Nobody cares," he said. "We've got to keep fighting. We've got a heck of a game tomorrow [away against the Toronto Raptors], and nobody cares what's happened to the Timberwolves.
"We'll figure it out, we'll lace it up tomorrow and we'll fight – I know that. We still have other players who can put the ball in the bucket.
"Obviously, you lose Ant's dynamic big-shot making – of course you lose everything he brings – but we're going to have to rely more on ball movement, body movement, pass-pass combinations, those kinds of things.
"I thought we did a really good job in that three-man game with Kyle [Anderson], Mike [Conley} and Rudy [Gobert]… we have things we can go to, we just have to sift through it and figure it out."
Wolves center Rudy Gobert shared the sentiment that the team cannot feel sorry for themselves.
"We know that no one's going to help us," he said. "We're all we got.
"So we've just got to go out there, keep putting in the work, keep enjoying it and just learn from this situation. Win a game when we're in position to win a game."
The Chicago Bulls rode DeMar DeRozan's best game of the season to a thrilling 139-131 double-overtime home victory on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
DeRozan scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including the game-tying basket to force overtime with 20 seconds remaining. He added nine more in the overtime periods, giving him a season-high 49 points on 15-of-25 shooting, including 17-of-18 from the free throw line.
The six-time All-Star logged 52 minutes of action – the third-most of any player this season (Immanuel Quickley 55; Luka Doncic 53) – while chipping in 14 rebounds, four assists, three steals and only one turnover.
His partner-in-crime Zach LaVine was playing a supporting role through three quarters, but he rose to the occasion from that point on, helping the Bulls claw back from a 10-point deficit with 10 minutes remaining.
LaVine had 12 in the fourth quarter, made the shot to force a second overtime, and kept it going with the Bulls' first five points of the final period. He ended up with 39 on identical shooting to DeRozan (15-of-25 from the field), continuing his excellent form since the All-Star break.
He came into Friday's contest averaging 30.7 points while shooting 54.8 per cent from the field, 47.5 per cent from deep and 91.5 per cent from the free throw line in the nine games since the break.
For the Timberwolves, Kyle Anderson put up his second triple-double from the past three games with 11 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, while Rudy Gobert posted 21 points (eight-of-14) and 19 rebounds.
But the big story out of Minnesota will be the health of franchise player Anthony Edwards, after he went down with what looked like a serious ankle injury in the first half.
The win keeps the Bulls (32-37) just a half-game inside the play-in tournament placings.
Kyrie puts away the Lakers
The Dallas Mavericks have won back-to-back games for the first time in over a month after a buzzer-beating 111-110 road win against the Los Angeles Lakers.
They were buoyed by the return of Kyrie Irving after a three-game injury absence, and he dominated the contest with a game-high 38 points on 14-of-23 shooting, with six rebounds and six assists.
Anthony Davis was strong for the Lakers with a team-high 26 points (nine-of-14), but a missed free throw with six seconds remaining meant his side only led by two instead of three. That proved to be the difference as Irving found Maxi Kleber for the game-winning three-pointer.
A win would have pulled the Lakers up into a tie for eighth, and left them just one game out of the six seed, but instead they fell to 34-37 and are in a tie for the 10th seed.
Tatum and Brown deliver another Celtics win
All-Star Boston Celtics duo Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 61 points as they overcame the Portland Trail Blazers 126-112 on the road.
The Celtics had to deal with another big Damian Lillard outburst as he piled on a game-high 41 points (12-of-23 shooting), although his seven turnovers hurt the Blazers.
Tatum shot eight-of-20 and 16-of-18 from the free throw line for his team-high 34 points and 12 rebounds, while Brown was 12-of-23 for 27 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Veteran center Al Horford finished one assist shy of his career-high with 10.
The win is the Celtics' fourth from their past five games, pulling them to within 1.5 games of the Eastern Conference leading Milwaukee Bucks.
The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights made history on Friday as they knocked off one-seed Purdue 63-58 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
In doing so, FDU became the second 16-seed in tournament history to advance into the second round, joining the 2018 UMBC Retrievers.
Adding to the unlikeliness of their upset, the Knights are the shortest team in all of division one basketball this season – among 363 teams – and they had to deal with seven-foot-four National Player of the Year candidate Zach Edey.
Edey still had his way, scoring 21 points on seven-of-11 shooting while adding 15 rebounds and three blocks. He became the first player in tournament history to put up those numbers and still lose, dating back to when blocks became an official stat in 1986.
It was the only shocking upset of the day, although the six-seed Iowa State Cyclones were totally outmatched in their 59-41 defeat at the hands of the 11-seed Pittsburgh Panthers.
Despite a quiet game from the top NBA prospect in action Friday – Keyonte George – the three-seed Baylor Bears had no issue sending home the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 74-56.
George, a six-foot-four freshman guard, is averaging 15.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists as a starter on a quality outfit, but he had just nine points against the Gauchos as the Baylor starters got an early rest.
The most eye-catching individual performance of the day came from reigning National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe, with the six-foot-nine senior piling up 25 rebounds in the six-seed Kentucky Wildcats' 61-53 triumph over the 11-seed Providence Friars.
Tshiebwe finished with 11 offensive rebounds to go with 14 on the defensive end, adding eight points, three steals and two blocks.
The other top seeds in action all survived and advanced, with two-seed Marquette beating 15-seed Vermont 78-61, three-seed Gonzaga getting the better of Grand Canyon 82-70, and three-seed Xavier surviving an early scare to overcome Kennesaw State 72-67.
Elena Rybakina is through to her second final of the year after upsetting world number one Iga Swiatek 6-2 6-2 in Friday's Indian Wells Open semi-final.
Rybakina, 25, added to her terrific recent head-to-head record against the 21-year-old Polish superstar, now with three consecutive straight sets victories since December.
The reigning Wimbledon champion, who became Kazakhstan's first grand slam winner, was all over Swiatek's serve from the jump.
The top seed ended up winning just 42 per cent (18-of-43) of her total service points, with Rybakina converting all five of her break point opportunities.
After taking the opening frame, Rybakina slammed the door shut by running out to a 5-0 lead in the second, hitting five aces in the set while Swiatek had just one for the match.
Rybakina will next face world number two Aryna Sabalenka in the decider after the Belarusian made similar light work of world number seven Maria Sakkari.
Sabalenka, who has dropped only one set en route to the final, needed just 85 minutes to advance 6-2 6-3. She created 10 break point opportunities compared to Sakkari's four, with the Greek talent not able to pull another rabbit out of the hat after four consecutive three-set victories.
It will be the sixth overall meeting between Rybakina and Sabalenka, and a rematch from the Australian Open final, when Sabalenka took it 4-6 6-3 6-4 to extend her head-to-head advantage to 4-1.
It did not come as a surprise that Jimmy Garoppolo left the San Francisco 49ers, and maybe it should not surprise anyone that he ended up with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Garoppolo was introduced by the Raiders on Friday after a one-day delay due to some contract details.
In Las Vegas, he reunites with Josh McDaniels, the New England Patriots' offensive coordinator for the first three seasons of his career.
"Oh yeah," Garoppolo said Friday when asked if the Raiders were on his radar as he approached free agency after five seasons with the 49ers. "Right off the bat actually, one of my agents gave me the first list of teams, Raiders were right up there. I have the familiarity with Josh, Dave [Ziegler]. All that played a role."
The Raiders gave Garoppolo a three-year, $67.5million contract, including $34m in guaranteed money.
"I'm coming in with the mindset that I need to earn everything – I don't want to be given any 'You're the franchise guy' or whatever," he said. "I want to come in and earn it.
"I think it will come through hard work, working with teammates, being in the facility. All those little things will play a role. But yeah, I don't want to be given anything; I want to earn it.
"Just because I’m the quarterback, I'm not the leader because of that. I want to be the leader because guys respect me and believe in me… I think it will happen naturally. I don't want to force anything, be inauthentic. I just want to be myself and it's done me well in the past."
Garoppolo joins a Raiders team coming off a 6-11 season, but with an offense that includes wide receivers Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers and Hunter Renfrow as well as running back Josh Jacobs.
"Whenever you've got skill position guys like that, the run after catch, I'm a big believer," Garoppolo said. "I think if you give them an accurate ball, if you've got the right guys that can make a play – and we seem to have the right guys here."
While Garoppolo is familiar with McDaniels and his offense, it’s been a while since he worked with him. He acknowledged he will have to relearn the language of the offense.
"Basically like going Spanish to French," he said. "It won’t take long but Josh's offense, obviously, has evolved over the years and you've just got to pick it up as quickly as possible. But we'll be fine."
He made the point of saying he wants to take the Raiders to the Super Bowl championship.
"I know every player says that when they come up to their first press conference, but that’s my goal," Garoppolo said. "I want to go get a ring, get the silver and black back to where it should be. I know it's not an easy process. I went through it in San Francisco, lower end of the field when I first got there."
Adam Schenk stood alone atop the leaderboard at seven under through two rounds at the Valspar Championship, with major champions Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas both in the hunt.
Schenk, a 31-year-old American who has never won on the PGA Tour, was tied for the first-round lead after starting his week with a five-under 66. He followed it up with a 69 on Friday, collecting four birdies to go with two bogeys to earn the outright lead heading into the weekend.
Kramer Hickok was the only player one back at six under, shooting a pair of 68s, while some big names were breathing down his neck at the Innisbrook resort in Florida.
Three-time major champion Jordan Spieth (70) sat tied for third at five under, joined by fellow top-30 ranked talent Tommy Fleetwood (69), as well as Cody Gribble (65) and Davis Riley (68).
Spieth spoke positively of his round but found the windy conditions challenging.
He said: "I drove the ball maybe the best of the year today. Gave myself a lot of chances with some wedges. There's a lot of back pins and I just got a little tentative for a few holes.
"Then I decided to attack one on 10 and flew the green. I couldn't quite get my distance control down on some scoring clubs. But when the wind here is gusty like that and the green depths are so small, it gets really, really tricky and doesn't take much. Keep driving the ball like that, I feel like I can fine-tune some of the scoring clubs and maybe get a few more looks."
England's Matt Wallace (67) and Germany's Stephan Jaeger (72) featured in the five-man group rounding out the top 10 at four under, while two-time major champion Justin Thomas headlined the logjam at three under, still well in the mix after a 70.
After a horror quintuple-bogey nine during his first round, reigning U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick was unable to recover and make the cut, missing out by two strokes at three over after a level-par 71.
US president Joe Biden is backing Ireland to topple England in Saturday's final round of the Six Nations.
President Biden hosted a St Patrick's Day event at the White House on Friday.
He has strong links to Ireland, with his mother, Jean, having been of Irish descent.
He is also a distant relative of former Ireland full-back Rob Kearney, who was among the guests at the Washington, D.C. gathering.
Biden, addressing his audience, said: "We've even got a few of my distant Irish cousins here today, including the well-known Irish rugby player Rob Kearney.
"Rob stand up. I want to see you after this, pal.
"You know, Rob, I expect, we know, and this is no offence to anyone in the room, who we are rooting for in the Grand Slam match between Ireland and England."
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was also present on Friday, as was former One Direction pop singer Niall Horan.
Ireland, the world's top-ranked rugby national team, will complete a Six Nations Grand Slam if they beat England in Dublin in the final match of this year's championship at the Aviva Stadium.
Novak Djokovic has been ruled out of the Miami Open after tournament organisers "exhausted all the options" in an effort to secure him a travel exemption.
The 22-time grand slam winner withdrew from the Indian Wells Open as he is unable to play in the United States.
He is not vaccinated against COVID-19, which remains a requirement of international travellers, but Djokovic had hoped to be granted special permission to enter the country.
US tennis authorities and a number of politicians also expressed support for an exception being made for the 35-year-old Djokovic, with US president Joe Biden urged to reconsider policy.
Even last week, Serbian superstar Djokovic was clinging to hopes of playing the Miami Open, which he has won six times.
However, tournament director James Blake told Tennis Channel there is no chance of that happening, despite extensive efforts.
"Obviously, we're one of the premier tournaments in the world, we'd like to have the best players that can play," said Blake, a former world number four.
"We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that's out of our hands. We tried and he wasn't able to play."
Blake said he was in the same position as Indian Wells tournament director Tommy Haas, being unable to influence government-level decisions.
"We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn't able to happen," Blake said. "We'd love to have him, and he’s our greatest champion, won it six times here.
"Unfortunately, that's way above my pay grade."
Blake added: "We exhausted all the options we knew of. Hopefully Novak will be back this year and hopefully he will be back for all the later events in the States including Cincinnati and the US Open."
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