Good morning, New York/New Jersey-area sports fans! Here is your first look at the regional sports scene on a very rainy Tuesday here in upstate New York.
↵COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Congratulations to the Connecticut Huskies, who won the national championship Monday night with a 53-41 victory over Butler. The Huskies defended the honor of the Big East Conference, which started this tournament with a record 11 teams in the field. Oh, and Connecticut defended Butler pretty well, too. The Huskies harassed the Bulldogs into the worst shooting night in title game history as Butler made just 12-of-64 (18.8 percent) from the field. The flustered Bulldogs couldn't even make layups or open jumpers in the second half.
↵MLB: The New York Yankees have a formula they hope to follow this season. Hit home runs, get decent starting pitching, turn over a lead to the bullpen the last three innings. Win. That worked to perfection Monday night in a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins. The season is only four games old, but it is brutally obvious that if teams want to beat the Yankees they had better not be trailing when Yankee Manager Joe Girardi decides it is time to go the bullpen.
↵NHL: The New York Rangers earned an improbably victory Monday night. Trailing 3-0 halfway through the second period the Rangers came back to defeat the Boston Bruins, 5-3. The NHL playoffs are now a near-certainty for New York.
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