Vorschau » Earlier Saturday, No. 15 Sloane Stephens

MILWAUKEE -- A short jumper off the glass. A stutter-step shot that drew a foul. An easy layup after a teammate sealed off a defender in the middle. After a bruising tussle with Marquette in the first half, Shannon Scott helped energize No. 10 Ohio State early in the second half for a big win on the road. Scott scored 13 points, including the three buckets during the 12-4 run after halftime, and the Buckeyes pulled away for a 52-35 win Saturday over the cold-shooting, 17th-ranked Golden Eagles. Sam Thompson also scored 13, while Aaron Craft added 10 points and 10 assists for the Buckeyes (3-0), who ended Marquettes 27-game home winning streak, second-longest in the nation. It was the schools first loss at home since Vanderbilt beat the Golden Eagles 74-57 on Dec. 29, 2011. Only South Dakota State (30) had a longer winning streak in the country entering Saturday. Didnt look like they could pull it off after shooting just 27 per cent in the first half. But things opened up after halftime, when coach Thad Mattas team was 15 of 26 from the field (58 per cent). "Eventually, its got to go in the basket," Matta said in recounting a halftime talk. "Fortunately we had that run. It was the difference in the game." Scott, Craft and Thompson were the sparks, while Marquette (2-1) came out flat in the second half in front of a full house of 18,700 friendly fans in the BMO Harris Bradley Center. "As I told our guys, I dont feel sorry for us at all. They beat us," coach Buzz Williams said. "They beat us straight up. They beat us at home before a sellout crowd." It certainly didnt help that the Golden Eagles had 20 turnovers and shot just 10 of 53 (19 per cent) for the game, including 4 of 24 (17 per cent) in the second half. Tied at 19 at halftime, the game opened up with Ohio State going on the run and finding room to manoeuvr inside. Centre Amir Williams started the spurt by muscling out Chris Otule in the post for a basket. Then Williams sealed off Otule in the lane to allow Scott to go in for an uncontested layup. After forcing a steal of Jake Thomas, Scott sped down the court and drew a foul on Thomas on the stutter-step jumper. Lenzelle Smith Jr. lowered his head driving the baseline and flipped up a tough shot around Marquettes big men for a 31-23 lead with 16:21 left. "Defensively, we just didnt get back in transition, and from that point on they had the advantage," point guard Derrick Wilson said. Coach Williams called a timeout that briefly settled his team before the Buckeyes pulled away again. Ohio State had just three turnovers in the second half to 10 for the Golden Eagles, who are breaking in a new backcourt with last years starting trio of Vander Blue, Junior Cadougan and Trent Lockett all gone. Wilson is the new starter at the point. Todd Mayo, helping to fill the minutes left by Blues departure at shooting guard, led the Golden Eagles with 11 points. Whatever the reason, Ohio State found its rhythm on the fastbreak, with a 16-0 edge, including 12-0 in the second half. "The biggest thing we wanted to do was get out in transition," Craft said. "If we could get rebounds and run, we could get lay-ups before they could set up. And thats what we wanted to do." It was another momentous day in Crafts career after he eclipsed 1,000 career points, to become the first player in team history to have that many points along with 500 assists and 200 steals. The bruising first half featured tussles under the bucket, plenty of rebounds and lots of missed shots. The teams combined to shoot 13 of 55 in a half that ended in a 19-all tie on Buckeye forward Marc Lovings 3 from the corner with 7 seconds left. The Golden Eagles had briefly taken control with an 8-0 midway for an 18-14 lead with 4:47 left through the half by making tough shots in the lane, mainly with Amir Williams on the bench. Marquette managed to outrebound Ohio State 50-34. Davante Gardner had 10 points and six rebounds. The teams were scheduled to meet last year in the Carrier Classic in Charleston, S.C. aboard the USS Yorktown, but the game was called off because weather conditions caused a slippery court. Matt Irwin Jersey . The Calgary skip fell 10-8 to Swedens Oskar Eriksson in semifinal action Saturday and will face Switzerlands Peter de Cruz for the bronze medal (Saturday at 10pm et/7pm pt on TSN2). Nashville Predators Jerseys .J. -- All those records, all for naught. http://www.authenticpredatorspro.com/Mattias-ekholm-predators-jersey/ . The defending champions sent their preliminary list to FIFA on Tuesday, with coach Vicente del Bosque to announce the final 23-man squad on May 25. Costa is set to lead the attack in his native Brazil, with Atletico Madrid teammate David Villa and Chelseas Fernando Torres also included, while David de Gea replaces injured goalkeeper Victor Valdes. Filip Forsberg Jersey . The team let Keaton Ellerby, James Wright and Matt Halischuk become unrestricted free agents after declining to make them qualifying offers. Ellerby, 25, appeared in 51 games for the Jets last season and had two goals and four assists. Austin Watson Jersey . The top-ranked Williams carried her winning momentum from 2013 into the new season, beating No. 2-ranked Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday to defend her title at the Brisbane International and set the tone for the Australian Open.PARIS - Rafael Nadals back is giving him more trouble than his opponents so far at the French Open. After pushing his winning streak at Roland Garros to 31 matches with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 victory over 65th-ranked Leonardo Mayer of Argentina in the third round Saturday, eight-time champion Nadal said his bothersome back is forcing him to cut back on the velocity of his serves. Nadals back also acted up in January during his loss to Stan Wawrinka in the Australian Open final. "During my career, I had (a) few problems. ... Hopefully will not be (the) case" the rest of the way in Paris, the No. 1-ranked Nadal said. "I served more slowly since I started feeling the pain," he said, noting that hes worn tape on his back for extra support. Against Mayer, Nadal averaged only 102 mph (165 kph) on first serves, with a top speed of 114 mph (184 kph). That was down from an average of 111 mph (179 kph) and top of 122 mph (197 kph) in the first round against Robby Ginepri last Monday. Through six sets across his first two matches, Nadal faced only five break points and lost serve only twice. He needed to deal with eight break points against Mayer, losing two. Still, Nadal made only 10 unforced errors all match — two in the first set, three in the second, five in the third — and equaled his longest run at Roland Garros. But the last time Nadal won 31 in a row in Paris, he failed to get No. 32, losing in the fourth round in 2009 to Robin Soderling. That remains the Spaniards only defeat in 63 matches at the tournament. Nadal has dropped 19 games heading into his match against 83rd-ranked Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, who is in the second major of his career and beat Jack Sock of the United States 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. Another American, Donald Young, lost in five sets to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, leaving No. 10 John Isner as the last U.S. man in the field. Before this French Open, the 23-year-old Lajovic had a 10-21 career record in tour-level matches, never winning two in a row. "I saw him play a few times on TV. Sure, its great to have new players on tour, young players on the tour that are coming strong. Hopefully not ttoo strong," Nadal said with a smile.dddddddddddd "Well see on Monday. I hope to be ready." Asked whether he would seek advice from another Serbian, No. 2 Novak Djokovic, before facing Nadal, Lajovic joked: "Yeah, I will try to ask everybody (for) some tips." That wont help if Nadal produces shots of the sort he did when Mayer served at 5-all in the second set — a stretching, scooping backhand lob to break. As Mayer watched the shot sail overhead, he waved his left hand to signal to the ball to go out, then rolled his eyes when it curled in. At the other end, Nadal pumped his fist, ahead 6-5 and well on his way to reaching the fourth round for the 10th time in 10 trips to Roland Garros. Roger Federer is the only other man to make it to the final 16 in Paris that many years in a row. The man Nadal beat in last years final, No. 5 David Ferrer, defeated No. 32 Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-3. Ferrer now plays No. 19 Kevin Anderson of South Africa. No. 23 Gael Monfils of France put together a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 win over No. 14 Fabio Fognini of Italy in a wild match that included a point penalty for Fognini when he threw his racket and it landed near a ball boy. Monfils and Fognini combined for more than twice as many unforced errors, 137, as winners, 66. Earlier Saturday, No. 15 Sloane Stephens moved into the fourth round for the sixth major in a row. The American now meets No. 4 Simona Halep of Romania. Other fourth-round matchups: 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova against No. 23 Lucie Safavora; 2012 runner-up Sara Errani against No. 6 Jelena Jankovic; No. 28 Andrea Petkovic against 148th-ranked qualifier Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands. As the sun came out and the temperature topped 70 degrees (20 Celsius) after several days of overcast skies and occasional rain, Stephens eliminated No. 22 Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-3, 6-4, while Halep beat 55th-ranked Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor of Spain 6-3, 6-0. Halep is the highest seeded woman left, because of losses by No. 1 Serena Williams, No. 2 Li Na and No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska. Said Halep: "Thats a surprise for everyone." ' ' '