NEW YORK (AP) - Justify defied all the odds on his way to achieving Triple Crown immortality.

The late bloomer won the Belmont Stakes by 1¾ lengths on Saturday, giving the sport its 13th Triple Crown champion and second in four years.

Justify began his racing career on Feb. 18, a scant 77 days before the Kentucky Derby. He won his first three races by a combined 19 lengths, making trainer Bob Baffert a believer.

NEW YORK (AP) - Something Bob Baffert always dreads has come true ahead of the Belmont Stakes: Justify drew the No. 1 post for the colt's bid to sweep the Triple Crown.

The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner was made the early 4-5 favorite in the 10-horse field for Saturday's race.

Baffert is not a fan of the inside post for his horses, no matter what the race.

SNY's Marc Malusis speaks with Hofburg's trainer Bill Mott to discuss their chances at upsetting betting-favorite Justify in the Belmont Stakes.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Malik Newman scored 28 points, Udoka Azubuike stood toe-to-toe with Seton Hall's bruising Angel Delgado, and No. 1 seed Kansas held off the plucky Pirates 83-79 on Saturday night to send the Jayhawks to their third consecutive Sweet 16.

WICHITA, Kan. -- For top-seeded Kansas, production at the point made up for the loss of a post in the paint in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

That tradeoff might be difficult to pull off Saturday, however, when the Jayhawks (28-7) face brawny Seton Hall (22-11) at Intrust Bank Arena.

Senior point guard Devonte' Graham was sensational in a first-round win over Penn, posting 29 points, six rebounds and six assists to wake up the slow-starting Jayhawks. The performance prompted Bill Self to stack up his point guard with past Kansas greats.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) Kevin Willard was watching TV on the eve of Seton Hall's NCAA Tournament opener against North Carolina State when the self-described "Mr. Negativity" turned to his wife and asked what he would tell his core group of seniors if they lost.

Together they had resurrected a program fallen on hard times, yet success in March had been hard to achieve. Two straight years, the Pirates had been knocked out in the opening round.

"I said, `What am I going to say if they ask about their legacy?'" the Pirates coach recalled.

PITTSBURGH (AP) Marvin Bagley III dominated in his NCAA Tournament debut, pouring in 22 points to go with seven rebounds as Duke rolled by Iona 89-67 on Thursday.

The Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year made 10 of 14 shots in 32 minutes, grabbed seven rebounds and knocked down his lone 3-point attempt as the second-seeded Blue Devils overwhelmed the 15th-seeded Gaels.

Grayson Allen scored 16 points and added a game-high nine assists for Duke (27-7), Trevon Duval finished with 19 points and eight assists and Gary Trent Jr. had 16 points and six rebounds as the deeper, more talented Blue Devils withstood an early push from Iona (20-14) to win going away.

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) Travis Fields Jr. and Ed Polite Jr. each scored 13 points to lift Radford to its first-ever NCAA Tournament win, 71-61 over LIU Brooklyn in the First Four on Tuesday night.

Seton Hall, Iona and LIU-Brooklyn all qualified for the NCAA tournament and will play first-round games later this week.

Seton Hall is an 8-seed and will face No. 9 NC State in the Midwest Region on Thursday. The winner of that matchup will face the winner of No. 1 Kansas and No. 16 Penn in the second round on Saturday.

NEW YORK (AP) Sean O'Mara put an exclamation point on Xavier's runaway victory with a two-handed jam in the final seconds and Paul Scruggs cupped a hand to his right ear as the school band played the team off a winner.

The Musketeers never let up in the final minutes, crushing 3s and dunking with such ease that it ticked off a sore St. John's. The Red Storm's Ahmed Bashir popped off at Tyrique Jones in the handshake line and it quickly disintegrated into shoving and shouting. The scuffle was busted up by players and assistants from both teams as the crowd stood for a better view of the unexpected fracas.

St. John's coach Chris Mullin, a native New Yorker, simply said, "I didn't see anything."

NEW YORK (AP) Shamorie Ponds returned from an abdominal strain and scored 26 points and ninth-seeded St. John's took over in the second half to beat ninth-seeded Georgetown 88-77 in the first round of the Big East Tournament on Wednesday night.

Marvin Clark II scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half and the Red Storm (16-16) beat the Hoyas (15-15) in the first round for the second straight year. It also was St. John's first win over Georgetown in three games this season and its sixth win in nine games overall.

Justin Simon added 16 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals as the Red Storm advanced to a quarterfinal game against top-seeded Xavier on Thursday at Madison Square Garden. >> Read more

PHILADELPHIA (AP) St. John's took down another of the nation's elite, and stunned No. 1 Villanova 79-75 on Wednesday night for its second win over a top-five team this week - and first over the top-ranked team in 33 years.

Shamorie Ponds scored 26 points to spark the Red Storm (12-13, 1-11 Big East) to its first conference win of the season and easily their best week since Chris Mullin was in uniform, not the coach.

Mullin played for St. John's when it beat No. 1 Georgetown 66-65 on Jan. 26, 1985. And he was on the sideline exhorting his players in the final minutes of this shocker. >> Read more

NEW YORK (AP) That's two losses in three games for No. 4 Duke - and this one to a team that hadn't won since Christmas.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Standing at 6'9", Donatas Kupsas probably sticks out everywhere he goes. 

But the Island Long Lutheran center's performance stood out this afternoon as he helped to propel his team in the SNY Invitational championship as they defeated Cardinal Hayes Cardinals, 76-57.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - It was all Hudson Catholic all game and it started early. 

After falling to Cardinal Hayes last night, the Hawks cruised to an 83-64 routing over the Archbishop Molloy Stanners in the star-studded consolation game of the SNY Invitational. 

NEW YORK, N.Y. - For "AA" city champs, the Cardinal Hayes Cardinals feel they are always underdogs. 

When Archbishop Molloy coach Mike McCleary first heard about the field for the 2018 SNY Invitational, he knew his team was going to face a tough road.

"It's an incredibly difficult tournament," McCleary told SNY.tv. "When we first met, they hadn't done the matchups and they said to me, 'Who would you prefer playing?' I said, 'That's like asking, 'Do you want to die by lethal injection or firing squad?'

"There are very, very talented teams in this tournament. You'd be lucky to come out with a win, and certainly lucky to win the championship."