Canadians to watch in the Sweet 16
Several impact players still alive in the women's and men's brackets
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Canadians are back on the court for the Sweet 16
The NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments are each down to the final 16 teams, with games resuming Saturday. Here's a look at the key Canadians left in both brackets:
Women's
Several Canadians are still in contention to cut down the nets in San Antonio, including one on each of the four No. 1-seeded teams. The most impressive so far has been UConn freshman forward Aaliyah Edwards, who's averaging 18 points and 8.5 rebounds in the tournament for a team that's expected to reach the title game. The Huskies face 5 seed Iowa on Saturday.
South Carolina sophomore forward Laeticia Amihere is averaging 9.5 points and 8.5 rebounds through two games for South Carolina, which faces 5 seed Georgia Tech on Sunday. The Canadians on the other 1-seeded teams — Stanford's Alyssa Jerome and North Carolina State's Rebecca Demeke — have yet to score a point in the tournament.
Outside of the 1 seeds, the Canadian to watch is Michigan's Hailey Brown. The senior forward scored 10 and 14 in the 6-seeded Wolverines' two games. They'll try to take down 2-seeded Baylor on Saturday.
Men's
Top-ranked Gonzaga is still the team to beat, and Canadian guard Andrew Nembhard is one of their starters. He managed only 11 points combined in the Bulldogs' first two games but is the team co-leader in minutes played in the tournament. They face 5-seeded Creighton on Sunday.
If there's an honorary Canadian team in the Sweet Sixteen, it's Oregon. The 7-seeded Ducks' top two scorers in the regular season were Canadians Chris Duarte and Eugene Omoruyi, who each averaged 16.7 points. Both came up big in Oregon's second-round upset of 2-seeded Iowa. Duarte had team highs in points (23) and assists (seven), while Omoruyi added 17 points, six rebounds and five assists. They face 6-seeded USC on Sunday night.
Sophomore forward Quincy Guerrier helped 11 seed Syracuse crash the Sweet Sixteen with 12 points, seven rebounds and five blocks in a second-round upset of West Virginia. The Orange meet 2 seed Houston on Saturday night.
Alabama's fast-paced offence is turning heads, and Canadian Josh Primo is back in the mix. After missing the first round with a knee injury, the freshman guard came off the bench to score 10 points in a win over Maryland. The 2-seeded Crimson Tide face 11 seed UCLA on Sunday night.
Maurice Calloo helped 12 seed Oregon State reach the Sweet Sixteen with 15 points in a second-round upset of Oklahoma State. The Beavers now face Sister Jean's Loyola Chicago, which starts a Canadian at forward: senior Aher Uguak. That game is Saturday afternoon.
It's also a big weekend for Canadian men's soccer
An under-24 Canadian squad will play for a spot in the Olympics on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET when it faces Mexico in the semifinals of its regional qualifying tournament. The winner gets to play in Tokyo this summer. The loser is eliminated. Same scenario for the other semifinal between the United States and Honduras. The Canadian men's team hasn't qualified for the Olympics since 1984. Read more about last night's draw vs. Honduras, which got Canada into the do-or-die game vs. Mexico, here.
Meanwhile, the senior men's national team looks to build on its strong start to qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. Canada routed Bermuda 5-1 last night in Orlando, Fla., with Cyle Larin scoring a hat trick and star Alphonso Davies setting up all three. Canada's second qualifying match is Sunday at 4 p.m. ET vs. Cayman Islands, which is ranked lower than Bermuda. Canada's final two matches of the opening round are in early June vs. two more minnows: Aruba and Suriname. Only the winner of the group advances to the next round. Canada last qualified for the men's World Cup in 1986.
WATCH | Canada rolls past Bermuda:
Quickly...
Canadian ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are on the cusp of the podium at the figure skating world championships. They placed fourth in the opening segment today and are less than two points out of the bronze-medal spot heading into tomorrow's free dance. Two other Canadian duos qualified for the final round too. The women's free skate is also happening today in Stockholm. It runs until about 5 p.m. ET, so if you're reading this in time you can catch the end here. Tomorrow is the final day of competition, and it features the conclusion of the most talked-about showdown of the event. Two-time Olympic gold medallist Yuzuru Hanyu will try to hold onto his lead in the men's competition and prevent Nathan Chen from taking his third consecutive world title. Canada's Keegan Messing is fifth heading into the free skate, which goes from 6-10 a.m. ET. It's followed by the ice dance free from noon-3 p.m. ET. You can stream both live on CBCSports.ca and the CBC Sports app, and watch more coverage on the Road to the Olympic Games shows on CBC TV Saturday from 2-6 p.m. ET and Sunday from 1-3 p.m. ET in your local time.
Bianca Andreescu is back (again). The Canadian tennis star was set to make her latest return from a layoff today at the Miami Open. Her round-of-64 match vs. 105th-ranked Tereza Martincova (scheduled to begin a little after our publish time) is Andreescu's first since the Phillip Island Trophy in Australia in mid-February. She reached the semifinals of that lower-tier event after losing in the second round of the Australian Open, which was her first tournament in more than 15 months. Andreescu took the last five weeks off to recover from her matches in Australia. She's the only Canadian woman in the singles draws in Miami. Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov and Milos Raonic are in the men's. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Serena Williams are all skipping the event, but the top six-ranked women in the world are there, including No. 1 Ash Barty and No. 2 Naomi Osaka. Andreescu is ranked No. 9 and seeded eighth in Miami despite playing only two tournaments in the last 17 months. Read more about her return here.
Canada might finally end its mixed doubles curling world championship drought. It's hard to believe, but the best curling country in the world has never won the event, which has been held 12 times. There's a good chance that changes this year after Brad Gushue and Kerri Einarson earned the right to represent Canada by winning the national championship last night in Calgary. With three Brier titles, two Scotties and an Olympic gold medal between them, no team at the worlds will be able to match their talent. The event begins May 17 in Scotland. Read more about Einarson and Gushue's victory at the Canadian championships and watch highlights here.
The National Women's Hockey League will crown a champion this weekend. Back in February, the NWHL suspended the Isobel Cup playoffs on the eve of the semifinals because of a COVID-19 outbreak in its Lake Placid hub. A few weeks ago, the league announced the semis and final would take place this Friday and Saturday in Boston. The top-seeded Toronto Six will play the Boston Pride in one of the semis, with the Minnesota Whitecaps and the Connecticut Whale facing off in the other. The winners meet the next night for the Isobel Cup.
And finally...
Bobby Clarke. Julius Erving. Rocky. Mika Zibanejad? OK, a New York Ranger is never going to be considered a Philadelphia sports icon. But Zibanejad has put himself into Philly lore (at least tangentially) with what he's done in his last two games against the Flyers. On March 17, he scored a hat trick and added three assists — all within a 17-minute span — to match the NHL record for most points in a period. Then, last night, Zibanejad dropped another natural hat trick and three assists on Philly, becoming the first player in NHL history to record six or more points in consecutive games played against the same opponent in the same season.
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