College Sports

OGDEN — Weber State coach Jody Sears would like to name a starter by the end of spring practices.

OGDEN — Weber State junior Davion Berry earned All-District honors Tuesday as he was named to the National  Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 6 first team. The team is selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC. 

Berry, a native of Oakland, Calif., earned First Team Big All-Conference honors and was named Big Sky newcomer of the year after leading the Wildcats this season. Berry has started all 34 games for the Wildcats this season, heading into Wednesday’s CIT quarterfinal game. 

LOS ANGELES — Ben Howland kept it classy in departing as UCLA basketball coach on Monday, thanking the athletic director who had fired him a day earlier while noting the high expectations that come with running a program that owns a record 11 national championships.

Howland was applauded by supporters as he walked into a news conference at Pauley Pavilion for the last time. The 55-year-old coach, who played at Weber State,  expressed gratitude for his 10-year run in Westwood, the longest tenure since John Wooden retired in 1975 after 27 years on the sideline.

Howland had a 233-107 record that included three consecutive Final Four appearances and four Pac-12 titles, including this season, when the Bruins were 25-10. Their season ended with a 20-point loss to Minnesota in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

SALT LAKE CITY — Gonzaga’s gone.

Cleanthony Early and Ron Baker scored 16 points apiece and Wichita State hit five straight 3-pointers late to knock the top-ranked and No. 1 seeded Bulldogs out of the NCAA tournament 76-70 on Saturday at EnergySolutions Arena.

The Shockers (28-8) advanced to the Round of 16 for the first time since 2006, while Gonzaga became the first top seed to be eliminated, giving all the Zags doubters an I-told-you-so moment.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Tim Hardaway Jr. can take the questions in stride at this point.

Any time Michigan is in the national spotlight, his familiar name stands out — and the queries about his father seem inevitable.

“It was hard just to try to follow his footsteps, and you try not to worry about it,” Hardaway said. “You try to leave a legacy of your own. It takes a long time to do that.”

SALT LAKE CITY — Forty-six years have passed since Wichita State had a crack at the No. 1 team in the country.

That opponent was part of John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty. This one bears no resemblance to that.

The Shockers woke up Friday, sensing a realistic opportunity for an upset after seeing top-ranked and top-seeded Gonzaga survive a scare the day before against 16th-seeded Southern.