COUGARS

Patrick Henry takes this one, 48-22.

Josh Kelly had three touchdown receptions, Cameron Ward passed for 404 yards and accounted for five scores, and No. 21 Washington State withstood a late rally to upend No. 14 Oregon State 38-35 in the Pac-12 Conference opener for both teams.

Houston was the lone No. 1 seed left in the tournament for about 30 minutes on Friday night, until its own run ended with an 89-75 loss to Miami in the Sweet 16.

Underdogs have blown up every bracket in the country in what may be the maddest March ever.

For top-seeded Houston, any hope of winning a national title may come down to Marcus Sasser’s ailing groin.

The Washington State Cougars have adopted Shania Twain's “Man, I Feel Like A Woman” song as their official anthem on the way to March Madness.

With All-American Marcus Sasser watching from the bench, top-seeded Houston shook off Northern Kentucky for a 63-52 win opening the NCAA Tournament, Chants of “NKU!”.

Alabama rolls in as the top overall seed in an NCAA Tournament that feels both familiar and foreign this season.

Picking the NCAA Tournament bracket comes with plenty of potential pitfalls.

Houston has received the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region for the NCAA Tournament.

Kendric Davis scored 31 points and Memphis held on to beat No. 1 Houston 75-65 in the American Athletic Conference tournament championship game.

The NCAA Tournament has reached Sweet 16 weekend in the battle for the national championship in men’s basketball.

Houston returned to No. 1 in the AP men’s college basketball poll for the third time this season while Northwestern and Texas A&M barged into the rankings after each had a pair of impressive wins last week.

The lady Cougars of Pulaski look primed and ready for another run in the postseason, after reaching the state final 4 years ago.

Purdue is back at No. 1 in the AP Top 25.

Damian Dunn scored 16 points and made the go-ahead free throw and Kur Jongkuch blocked Houston’s go-ahead attempt in the final seconds.

Ben Burnham scored 15 points to lead No. 18 Charleston to its 20th win in a row, an 87-61 victory over Northeastern.

Houston and Kansas remain firmly atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll after a record weekend of Top 25 losses.

Jarace Walker scored 17 points and No. 5 Houston used runs in each half and the nation’s best scoring defense to beat No. 2 Virginia 69-61.

Houston and Texas remain firmly entrenched atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll.

The undefeated Cougars defeated the Hilltoppers 30-14.

The game was played in front of nearly 2,000 local kids on what was Education Day.

The game’s final score was Narrows 34, Covington 18.

After four quarters under the Friday night lights, Cougars came out victorious 54-24.

Pulaski County certainly didn’t go quietly. Christiansburg took the win, 34-31.

Flames record a season-high 547 total offensive yards and a season-best 300 yards rushing in the 41-14 win.

As the Flames prepare to face the Cougars in football Saturday, the schools are coming together to hold a children’s book drive.

The Spartans have flown away with many successful missions – they’ve won ten state titles so far.

Pulaski Co's senior running back galloped to Week 6 POW honors.

The final score of the game was 29-16

James River hosts Stuarts Draft and they start off 10-0.

There may be no reason to put second-ranked Alabama and No. 17 Baylor on upset alert even though both are playing Sun Belt Conference teams in Week 3.

The Storm was victorious, with a final score of 40-7.

The Vikings took on the Cougars under the Friday night lights.

Pulaski got it done on Friday night.

Pulaski County grad Cam Akers will lead the Cougars as interim head coach in 2022.

Jermaine Samuels had 16 points and 10 rebounds as Villanova advanced to its third Final Four in the last six NCAA Tournaments with a 50-44 victory over Houston in the South Region final.

The Region 4D Championship will be played on Friday in Lynchburg, where the 22-3 Pulaski County Cougars will face off at 22-3 E.C. Glass. The Cougars have become usual suspects at this level. They were state runner-ups a year ago, but on Tuesday, they downed Louisa County, the team that beat them for the ring. They are ready to make another run at the title.

Dylan Hopkins broke the Independence Bowl record for completion percentage in wind and driving rain, connecting on 19 of 23 passes for 189 yards and three touchdowns in UAB’s 31-28 victory over No. 12 BYU on Saturday.

Through three quarters, Pulaski County held a commanding 49-0 lead.

Hank Bachmeier threw for 172 yards and Boise State forced four turnovers in a 26-17 upset victory over No. 10 BYU on Saturday.

Tyler Allgeier ran for a career-high 218 yards and three touchdowns to help No. 13 BYU beat Utah State 34-20 on Friday night.

Titus Jones was 21-30 passing for 239 yards and three touchdowns to lead Ferrum to the season opening win over Averett tonight at W.B. Adams Stadium. Tmahdae Penn made nine receptions for 131 yards and a pair of scores for the Panthers (1-0), and linebacker Deven Hanson had a 90-yard interception pick six. Bryce Jackson was 31-54 passing for 322 yards and two touchdowns for the Cougars (0-1). Ja’Kari Williams had nine tackles for Ferrum, while JaVon Lofton had eight for Averett.

A deal BYU has made available to its football players could test how much allowing athletes to be compensated by outside companies for name, image and likeness can be used as a competitive advantage.

The Cougars enter the 2021 campaign with more confidence and familiarity as they open up year two of the Mark Dixon era.

The Hokies defeated the Cougars 11-3 in 5 innings after a strong performance from ace pitcher Keely Rochard and the team combining for five home runs.

Yes, Houston is going back to the Final Four for the first time since the famed “Phi Slama Jama” era after Monday night's 67-61 win against Oregon State. And Houston knocked down enough free throws late while holding Oregon State without a basket during a critical 3 1/2 minutes. Fittingly, it was DeJon Jarreau — the American Athletic Conference's defensive player of the year who led the effort that stymied Oregon State star Ethan Thompson — who was named the most outstanding player of the Midwest Region. “It was right there within our grasp with the effort we showed in the second half,” Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said. They held the Beavers to 35% shooting in the first half before Oregon State found some openings.

Now it's taken coach Kelvin Sampson's team somewhere new: the program's deepest NCAA Tournament run since the days of Olajuwon, Drexler and the famed “Phi Slama Jama." That sent the second-seeded Cougars through to their first regional final in 37 years, earning a matchup with No. Houston (27-3) came in holding opponents to a national-low 37.3% shooting, and then harassed Syracuse (18-10) into just 28% (14 for 50). “It’s the best defense that that we’ve seen this year and they deserved to win,” coach Jim Boeheim said. Syracuse had shot at least 52% each time while making 29 3-pointers — but there would be no repeat of that unexpected 2016 Final Four run thanks to Houston's defense.

Copyright 2021 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved. PULASKI COUNTY, Va. – Patrick Henry put the kibosh on Pulaski County’s perfect season, beating the Cougars 24-23. Patrick Henry prevails in back-and-forth battle against Pulaski County Patriots won 24-23If you need help with the Public File, call 540-512-1558.

ALLEGHANY COUNTY, Va. – We now know where the Brackman Cup will reside, for at least a few more months. The Cougars took the short bus ride to Alleghany High tonight, beating the Mountaineers 28-21.

The Cougars play No. By the time the first half ended, and the Scarlet Knights had forged a 30-27 lead, Rutgers and Houston each had two regulars mired in foul trouble. AdChaney took a seat with his fourth with 15:45 left and the Scarlet Knights went on the attack. And by the time there was 10 minutes to go, the Scarlet Knights had meticulously built a 50-40 lead. UP NEXTThe Cougars play the Orange next weekend for a spot in the Elite Eight.

UCLA basketball players celebrate their win over BYU after a first-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Saturday, March 20, 2021. 11 seed Bruins rally past Michigan State in the First Four, Juzang poured in 27 points against sixth-seeded BYU on Saturday night, carrying his team to a 73-62 victory and the second round of the East Region. This is the height of college basketball,” Juzang said, “and playing for the Bruins — I'm from Los Angeles. He's scouting Abilene Christian and he told me they would win,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. There's a number of things we can take from this game to get better,” BYU coach Mark Pope said.

1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, will try to become the first unbeaten national champion since Indiana in 1976. Two of the last three — UNLV in 1990-91 and the 2015 Kentucky team — carried unbeaten records into the NCAA Tournament but lost in the Final Four. 1 seeds for the NCAA Tournament. 13 after winning the program's first Big 12 Tournament title. AdCONFERENCE WATCHThe Big 12 had a national-best six teams in the poll, with No.

We wanted to be the American Conference champions.”Just more than an hour after the AAC title game ended, the Cougars (24-3) were named the No. The Bearcats won the previous two AAC title game matchups before last year’s tournaments were canceled because of COVID-19 after Houston had won its second consecutive AAC regular-season title. This title game got lopsided, like their only regular-season matchup three weeks earlier, when Houston won 90-52 at home. SMU's 15-point win over Cincinnati in 2017 had been the largest margin in an AAC tournament final. The Bearcats got to their fourth consecutive AAC tournament title game with a 60-59 win over the top-seeded Shockers in their semifinal game Saturday.

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – Pulaski County guaranteed itself an at-worst .500 record for the regular season with a Friday night win over Christiansburg. The now 3-0 Cougars beat the Blue Demons 28-7.

ROANOKE, Va. – Pulaski County came out strong against Halifax County in the Region 4D Semifinal, building a 10 point first half lead. But Halifax County stayed disciplined, remained poised and closed the game strong to force overtime. In Radford both the boys and girls programs advanced to Region 2C Finals. The girls defeated Fort Chiswell 64-32, behind four three pointer from Haley Whitt. AdOther Wednesday night scores included:BOYS:Blacksburg 50, Amherst County 30Halifax County 75, Pulaski County 69, 5OTLiberty Christian 67, Fluvanna 53Floyd County 73, Fort Chiswell 39Radford 66, Glenvar 45Narrows 59, George Wythe-Wytheville 57Parry McCluer 44, Auburn 33GIRLS:Pulaski County 64, Salem 33Glenvar 52, Giles 42Radford 64, Fort Chiswell 32

Washington State guard Charlisse Leger-Walker (5) shoots next to UCLA guard Chantel Horvat (0) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Pullman, Wash., Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)PULLMAN, Wash. – Freshman star Charlisse Leger-Walker helped Washington State knock off its highest-ranked opponent ever. “My shot felt good the whole game,” Leger-Walker said. She called Charlisse Leger-Walker mature beyond her years. AdThe Bruins led 22-16 after the first quarter despite 11 points from Charlisse Leger-Walker.

9 Alabama on Saturday, the Sooners became just the second team in 25 years to beat three straight top-10 opponents. The Sooners got off to shaky Big 12 start, opening 2-3 after losses to Baylor and Kansas. Oklahoma (11-4, 6-3 Big 12) has been on quite a run since then, taking down then-No. 17 West Virginia earlier this month, knocked off the Crimson Tide despite playing without Austin Reaves and starting guard Alondes Williams due to COVID-19 protocols. The Bears (16-0, 8-0 Big 12) received the other three first-place votes following wins over Kansas State and Auburn.

SALEM, Va. – The Spartans took to the court for the first time this season on Monday night to faceoff with fellow River Ridge District opponent Pulaski County. Tanner Dakas and Qualee Robinson each scored 13 points for the Spartans while Kyle O’Neal and Peyton McDaniel each dropped 12 for the Cougars in the 53-45 win. Other scores from Monday night:Boys Scores:Auburn 74, Eastern Montgomery 37Cave Spring 64, Hidden Valley 39Christiansburg 64, Blacksburg 56E.C. Glass 56, Amherst County 45Liberty Christian 73, Rustburg 56Lord Botetourt 72, GW-Danville 63Northside 62, William Byrd 49Parry McCluer 47, Narrows 35Pulaski County 53, Salem 45Radford 90, Carroll County 52Girls Scores:Auburn 44, Eastern Montgomery 40Blacksburg 43, Christiansburg 22Brookville 43, Heritage-Lynchburg 22Cave Spring 64, Hidden Valley 12E.C. Glass 46, Amherst County 31George Wythe-Wytheville 52, Fort Chiswell 36Nelson County 48, Appomattox 21New Covenant 49, North Cross 12Parry McCluer 57, Narrows 37Salem 54, William Fleming 37William Byrd 46, Northside 30

11 Houston used a dominant first half to cruise to a 75-58 win over UCF on Sunday. Houston (11-1, 6-1 American Athletic Conference) won its fourth straight game since its loss to Tulsa. “It was a great game for us,” Houston guard DeJon Jarreau said. “They made a lot of shots to start the first half off and kind of knocked us back,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. Sampson passed former Houston coach Tom Penders.

Washington State has earned its first ranking ever in The Associated Press womens college basketball poll, entering at No. (AP Photo/Collin Andrew, File)Kamie Ethridge was surprised to hear that Washington State had never been ranked before. How exciting it is to be on the way up.”The ranking comes a day after Washington State beat then-No. Washington State (7-1) has won five of its first six Pac-12 games for the first time since the 2013-14 season. We’ll celebrate and acknowledge and enjoy the feeling.”While Washington State was enjoying its first ranking, Stanford tightened its grip on the No.

17 Michigan State — sets the stage for what could be an epic start to the new year in the improbably deep Big Ten. 15 Illinois and Michigan State visits the Cornhuskers. The weekend wraps up Sunday with Wisconsin visiting Penn State, Northwestern heading to Michigan and Ohio State traveling to Minnesota in a pair of matchups involving ranked teams. The Hokies already have wins over teams that were ranked in Villanova and Clemson. BIG 12 BATTLESThe Big Ten has the most teams in the Top 25 but the Big 12 may have the best — the league has five teams ranked in the top 13.

(AP Photo/George Frey, Pool)Preparing for the Boca Raton Bowl proved a bit of a slippery slope for the Central Florida Knights. All part of Heupel’s plan to bring a dose of fun to the bowl game with some of the customary pageantry halted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “A really good football team,” Heupel said. “Kind of reminds me of why you don’t play football in Provo in December,” Sitake joked. They're 0-3 in Florida bowl games, including losses in the 1976 Tangerine Bowl, 1985 Florida Citrus Bowl and 2014 Miami Beach Bowl.

SAN DIEGO – In a normal visit to San Diego State, the BYU Cougars would have to face a trash-talking student section and a sellout crowd of 12,414 at Viejas Arena. Alex Barcello scored 22 points and Brandon Averette hit a huge 3-pointer with 51 seconds left for BYU, which blew a 17-point lead before beating San Diego State 72-62 despite Matt Mitchell’s career-high 35 points. But BYU (7-2) regained control and handed San Diego State (5-1) its first loss. San Diego State: The Aztecs couldn’t handle BYU’s size early. San Diego State: Faces Saint Mary’s at Cal Poly SLO on Tuesday.

The Cougars defense, which had allowed less than 90 yards rushing a game coming in, was pounded by Coastal Carolina for 281 yards. But Coastal Carolina linebackers Gunter and Teddy Gallagher kept blocking and hitting Wilson after the interception. Coastal Carolina: The Chanticleers pulled off the latest milestone in a season full of them. POLL IMPLICATIONSCount on Coastal Carolina moving up if there's any room in the rankings. Coastal Carolina travels to Troy next Saturday to make up a game postponed in November.

Coastal Carolina needed a Plan B — as in BYU. BYU is currently 13th in the College Football Playoff rankings. Coastal Carolina is No. That kind of scheduling flexibility is unheard of in college football, where nonconference games are usually set years in advance. "Everybody's just kind of been riding the wave and trying to prepare the most they can.”___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/tag/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

21 Boise State 51-17 on Friday night. Boise State (2-1) suffered its worst loss since a 64-19 rout by rival Idaho in 1996, the Broncos first year as an FBS program. Wilson, who originally committed to Boise State before signing with BYU, completed 21-of-27 passes and threw TDs of 5 and 20 yards. “They came out and they put on a show,” Boise State receiver Khalil Shakir said. Boise State: The Broncos have another short week before returning to conference play, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

(AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)HOUSTON – Down by double-digits late in the third quarter, BYU did not panic. 14 BYU rallied for a 43-26 win over Houston on Friday night. Wilson gave BYU the lead back with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Masen Wake with 10:35 left to make it 29-26 following a 2-point conversion pass from Wilson to Tyler Allgeier. Wilson threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Milne with three minutes remaining before Allgeier iced it with a 14-yard touchdown run with 1:40 left. Clayton Tune finished 21 of 31 for 310 yards and two touchdowns to lead Houston (1-1).

Alabama won 63-48. 2 Alabama in a game that could very well be first of three meetings between the SEC superpowers. A conference title rematch in Atlanta would surprise no one and another meeting in the College Football Playoff would hardly be shocking. UCF (minus 3 1/2) at Memphis — @alanwooten19Knights have won 13 straight against the Tigers; average score in the last three: 50-42 ... UCF 45-44. ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

15 BYU past UTSA 27-20 on Saturday. Allgeier posted his second 100-yard game of his career to help rescue an inconsistent BYU offense. Lowell Narcisse threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns – all after halftime – on 17-of-20 passing to lead the Roadrunners. BYU trailed for the first time this season when UTSA took a 3-0 lead on a 39-yard field goal from Hunter Duplessis in the first quarter. The Roadrunners forced a punt, but BYU was able to run out the clock following a roughing the punter penalty with 15 seconds left.

Former Galax head coach Mark Dixon is in charge at Pulaski now, but even though some things are new, one thing hasn’t changed. “I love coming here every day and working hard. He’s an amazing coach, played in the NFL for 9 seasons, that’s a great accomplishment,” Cougars senior Zeke Surber said. The Cougars have been working out for a few days now, while taking every precaution mandated by the VHSL. It’s serious, pretty serious.

ROANOKE, Va. When you think of Galax football, you think of a rugged, hard-working blue-collar style of play. Thats been thanks, in large part, to coach Mark Dixon who led the Maroon Tide for 10 years. As he shifts to Pulaski County, Dixon says he feels nervous as he strives to live up to the tradition-rich football program that was once led by VHSL Hall of Famer, Joel Hicks. Its trying to prepare more and understand whats at stake for the community and especially for the kids at Pulaski County, Dixon said. And the other thing is I want to make sure all these kids get to play in really big games, Dixon said.

NARROWS, Va. The Narrows girls basketball team is ready to turn the page and start fresh with a new coach. Former Pulaski girls basketball head coach Bradley Sutphin has been named the new head coach for the Green Wave. Sutphin lead the Cougars to a Class 4 state runner-up finish in 2019, and this season they won the region 4D title and went 21-7. A lot of the girls over here are excited as much as Ive talked to them, Sutphin said. Its been a smooth transition but the hardest thing I ever had to do was telling the girls over at Pulaski.

A changing of the guard is in the works at Pulaski County as coach Stephen James has resigned his post as the Cougars head football coach after six seasons. The team went 43-20 with five playoff berths during James tenure. In Salem Berlyn Seitz is the new varsity head girls basketball coach. She comes to the Spartans from Franklin County where she served as a varsity assistant. The Bridgewater College grad has also been a varsity assistant at Liberty High School in Bedford.

PROVO, Utah - PROVO, Utah (AP) - Baylor Romney completed 23 of 33 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns and BYU beat Liberty 31-24 on Saturday night. Micah Simon had seven receptions for 91 yards and a score and threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Matt Bushman and Sione Finau had 10 carries for 69 yards for BYU. Romney's 2-yard TD pass to Simon tied it midway through the first quarter, Jake Oldroyd kicked a 24-yard field goal early in the second and Bushman's touchdown made it 17-7 at halftime. Romney threw touchdown passes of 41 yards to Aleva Hifo and 17 yards to Moroni Laulu-Pututau in the second half. Calvert completed 27 of 45 for 303 yards and three touchdowns and Antonio Gandy-Golden had 10 receptions for 162 yards and a score for the Flames.

FERRUM, Va. - Ferrum dropped its home-opener football game 35-12 against Averett on Hall of Fame Weekend. Jacob Wright was 16-23 through the air for 229 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Cougars (2-1). Brad Green was Ferrum's lone bright spot, setting a new school record with four field goals (21, 39, 29 and 33 yards). Hunter Hinson had a solid defensive effort for Averett with six solo and two assisted tackles. Billy Higgins had a solo tackle, seven assisted tackles, and a fumble recovery for the Panthers.