Kentucky

Kentucky's primary goal against Delaware will be like all Blue Hens' opponents: try to keep all-American Elena Delle Donne from taking control of the game. It's not the first time this season the Wildcats have faced one of the sport's best players. Kentucky (29-5) coach Matthew Mitchell believes his team learned from its experience against the game's most imposing player - 6-foot-8 Brittney Griner - in an 85-51 loss to Baylor. The 6-5 Delle Donne presents a different challenge; she rebounds, is a willing passer, and averages 25.8 points - but she can dominate from the perimeter.

AFTER THE WORST game of her career, A'dia Mathies followed up with one of her best. Mathies matched her career high with 34 points and led second-seeded Kentucky to an 84-70 win over seventh-seeded Dayton on Tuesday night in New York in the second round of the Women's NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats (29-5) will face Delaware in the semifinals of the Bridgeport Regional on Saturday. With Kentucky clinging to a 46-44 advantage early in the second half, Mathies scored 10 points during a 16-3 run to help the Wildcats take control.

Kentucky coach John Calipari and Kentucky experienced an entirely different kind of "one-and-done" in Tuesday's opening round of the NIT. A year after cutting down the nets in New Orleans, the defending national champions were cut down in Calipari's hometown of Moon, Pa., by Robert Morris, who let a 13-point second-half lead disappear before pulling out a thrilling 59-57 victory. Robert Morris (24-10) led almost the entire way, never blinking in a rare visit from one of college basketball's Goliaths.

In Tuesday's NJSIAA Tournament of Champions boys' final, laden with future college talent, Roselle Catholic hoisted the trophy after a 65-49 win over St. Joseph (Metuchen). Malachi Richardson, a 6-foot-6 wing player who is the top-recruited sophomore in New Jersey, scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Lions to their first state title. Syracuse-bound senior Tyler Roberson scored 19 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and held 7-foot-1 Karl Towns, already committed to Kentucky as a sophomore, to just seven points.

MIKE MCFADDEN hit two free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining and host Robert Morris shocked defending national champion Kentucky, 59-57, in the opening round of the NIT on Tuesday night. The Wildcats decided not to call timeout after the second free throw but Kyle Wiltjer's three-pointer before the buzzer bounced harmlessly off the rim. Lucky Jones led the Colonials (24-10) with 15 points but was ejected for a flagrant foul on Archie Goodwin with 3:41 to play. Kentucky, which trailed by 13 in the second half, managed to tie it twice but could never grab the lead.

1 KANSAS Record: 29-5, 14-4 Big 12, cochampion. RPI: 5. Coach: Bill Self (20th season, 505-163 overall; 298-58 in 10 seasons at Kansas; 28-12 NCAA). Best win: 74-66 vs. Ohio State, Dec. 22. Worst loss: 62-55 vs. Texas Christian, Feb. 6. Three-pointers: 36.7 percent. Free throws: 73.3 percent. Top three: Ben McLemore (16.4 ppg., 5.3 rpg., 2.0 apg.), Jeff Withey (13.6 ppg., 8.4 rpg., 3.8 bpg.), Travis Releford (11.5 ppg., 2.6 apg., 1.2 spg.). The skinny: The Jayhawks will be disappointed with anything less than a second straight Final Four.

By Dick Jerardi   My first game in the NCAA Tournament for the Daily News was 25 years ago, a first-rounder in South Bend between La Salle (with senior Tim Legler, sophomore Lionel Simmons and freshman Doug Overton, NBA players all) and Kansas State, with Mitch Richmond and Steve Henson. It was also coach Speedy Morris' first NCAA game. It was the first of five teams K-State coach Lon Kruger would take to the tournament. La Salle had a really good team, but K-State was much more experienced and also very talented.

The unbeaten Verrazano ran his record to 3-0 with a comfortable three-length win in the Tampa Bay Derby Saturday. Hear the Ghost won the San Felipe at Santa Anita on Saturday with Goldencents fourth. Verrazano was purchased for $250,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September yearling sale by Let's Go Stable, and is named for the bridge that links the New York boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island. After his second win, a share of the colt was sold to owner/breeder Coolmore. There's a lot to like about the son of More Than Ready, who earned 50 Derby qualifying points with the win and is all but assured a spot in the field for the 11/4-mile Derby.

After helping to build and rehabilitate homes in Kentucky during spring break, 37 La Salle University students began a traditional hike up Pine Mountain to a place called High Rock about 1 p.m. Thursday. What should have been a fun excursion turned into a frightening ordeal when they got lost as darkness fell. The students and three university staffers endured subfreezing temperatures until they were rescued by authorities early Friday. The hikers were taken to a local hospital to be treated for hypothermia and dehydration, and one was kept for observation, said La Salle spokesman Jon Caroulis.

After helping to build and rehab homes in Kentucky during spring break, 37 La Salle University students began a traditional hike up Pine Mountain to a place called High Rock about 1 p.m. Thursday. What should have been a fun excursion turned into a frightening ordeal when they got lost as darkness fell. The students and three university staffers endured subfreezing temperatures until they were rescued by authorities early Friday morning. The hikers were taken to a local hospital to be treated for hypothermia and dehydration, and one was kept for observation, said La Salle spokesman Jon Caroulis.