Dan Hurley, Mick Cronin to meet in March Madness: 'We're not coaching Little League'

PHILADELPHIA, PA —ConnecticutandUCLAare two of the biggest brands incollege basketball,but have a sparse history against each other, meeting only once in the Elite Eight of the 1995 Men's NCAA Tournament.

That all changes at 8:45 p.m. ET on Sunday inside Xfinity Mobile Area, where aberth to the Sweet 16will be on the line.

REQUIRED READING:How UConn's Tarris Reed Jr. terrorized Furman to avoid March Madness upset

It also features two of the more passionate, emotional, and fierce coaches in men's college basketball with UConn's DanHurleyand the Bruins'Mick Cronin.

"It's ridiculous. Everybody needs to get a life," Cronin said Saturday, March 21 when asked if he cares about how people perceive Hurley and himself. "You want to win big? Do you think Coach Hurley's not supposed to be intense, but you want to win? We're not coaching Little League."

UCLA associate head coach Darren Savino knows about Hurley and Cronin's passion better than most. Savino grew up "literally on the same block" as Hurley in Jersey City, New Jersey and played for Hurley's father, Bobby Hurley Sr., at St. Anthony High School alongside Hurley's older brother, Bobby Hurley Jr. He has been on Cronin's staff at UCLA for seven years and has been coaching with Cronin for 18 seasons.

"Two of the most competitive coaches that you'll come across," Savino told USA TODAY Sports. "Both guys don't like to lose."

While there are other college coaches who are as fiery and competitive as Hurley and Cronin, Savino said what sets these two apart is how consistently they maintain their competitive edge.

"It's not just on game day or once in a while. They're elite at bringing the competitive edge every single day and that's why their teams play that way," Savino added.

REQUIRED READING:Top March Madness scorers: Who is leading scorer in 2026 NCAA Tournament?

Hurley and Cronin met three times in their careers, first in November 2016, as coaches at Rhode Island and Cincinnati, respectively. When Hurley moved to take over UConn in 2018-19, Cronin took a 2-1 lead in the all-time series, sweeping the regular-season series when both programs were in American Athletic Conference play.

Hurley recalled the culture of Cronin's teams and "how hard they play" from those matchups.

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"They (UCLA) play a lot differently than those teams played in Cincinnati, but the culture, the standards, how hard they play, the quality of shots they take, the discipline they play with. That never changes with a Mick Cronin team," Hurley said.

They also share similar sources behind their coaching intensity: They are sons of high school coaches.

Hurley is the son of Bobby Hurley Sr., the legendary andHall of Fame Jersey City basketball coach, while Cronin is the son of Harold Cronin, a Cincinnati high school coach.

"I think it's a huge advantage growing up the way we grew up in the gym, which you don't realize until you go into coaching," Cronin said. "Everybody else has got to learn things that you learn through osmosis. ... Everybody doesn't have those dads."

REQUIRED READING:UCLA basketball's Skyy Clark all smiles after procedure repairs damaged tooth

Hurley and Cronin's styles have helped them to tremendous success, as Huskies and Bruins' coaches are two of the best in their profession. They have combined for 873 wins — including 33 in the NCAA Tournament — 24 NCAA Tournament appearances, three Final Four appearances and two national championships (both Hurley's).

Sunday's coaching matchup nearly didn't happen, either, with both programs facing legitimate upset threats in their first-round games against 15-seed Furman and 10-seed Central Florida, respectively.

The Huskies saw their 11-point cut to four after with 5:49 to go, but a 12-4 run to end the game, fueled by Tarris Reed Jr., helped UConn pick up its 30th win of the season. Reed became the first player since Houston' Elvin Hayes in 1968 to finish with at least 30 points and 25 rebounds in a March Madness game.

The Bruins, who sawguard Skyy Clark lose a tooth during the game, had to withstand a late push from the Knights, who cut the Bruins' lead to just three points with 10 seconds left in regulation.

So, get the popcorn ready: It's not every year in March Madness, especially this early on, that you get a coaching matchup like this.

A Texas Christian University Horned Frogs cheerleader practices before the game during a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2026 in Greenville, SC.

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A Texas Christian University Horned Frogs cheerleader practices before the game during a first round game of the men's2026 NCAATournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2026 in Greenville, SC.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Dan Hurley, Mick Cronin in March Madness is box office, expect theatrics

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March 22, 2026

Dan Hurley, Mick Cronin to meet in March Madness: 'We're not coaching Little League'

PHILADELPHIA, PA —ConnecticutandUCLAare two of the biggest brands incollege basketball,but have a sparse history against ...

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Iran refuses to back down after Trump issues 48-hour deadline over Strait of Hormuz

Tehran has threatened to escalate strikes on energy infrastructure and target critical water desalination facilities should PresidentDonald Trumpmake good on a promise to"obliterate" the country's power plantsif it does not reopen theStrait of Hormuz.

Trump on Saturday evening gave Tehran a48-hour deadlineto reopen the critical trade route, through which around 20% of the world's oil passes, threatening in a post onTruth Socialto target Iran's energy infrastructure if the demand is not met.

Iran has effectively blocked the strait since the U.S. and Israellaunched their attackson the country on Feb. 28, sparking swift retaliation from the Islamic Republic and triggering a wider war in the region.

Threats of retaliation

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday that the Trump administration was leaving "all options on the table" when it comes to seeing the strait reopened.

Asked by moderator Kristen Welker whether the U.S. was scaling back the war against Iran or escalating, he said those two things were "not mutually exclusive."

"Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate," he said.

Tehran on Sunday morning showed no signs of backing down, responding to Trump's ultimatum with its own threat of retaliation as it vowed to strike U.S. and Israeli infrastructure in the region in response to any attack on its power plants.

"If Iran's fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked, then fuel, energy, information technology systems and desalination infrastructure used by America and the regime in the region will be struck," Col. Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesman for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters, warned on Sunday, according to the IRNA Iranian state news agency.

Desalination, the process of creating drinkable water from seawater, is critical to supplying water across Israel and many of Iran's Gulf neighbors.

Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, echoed those threats in a post on X on Sunday, warning that "critical infrastructure, energy and oil across the region will be irreversibly destroyed and oil prices will rise for a long time" if Iran's power plants are struck.

Trump's ultimatum came as the war consuming the Middle East entered its fourth week, with Iran targeting a joint U.K.-U.S. base in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, whilenuclear sites in both Iran and Israelwere attacked.

The Iranian judiciary's official news agency, Mizan, reported that there was no leakage following the strike on its Natanz nuclear facility.

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The International Atomic Energy Agency said that no abnormal off-site radiation levels had been observed following that attack, or from an Iranian strike close to an Israeli nuclear site in Dimona.

'Limited options'

Ross Harrison, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and the author of "Decoding Iran's Foreign Policy," said Trump's threat suggested the president is facing "limited options to open the strait — and I think that may be dawning on him."

"Unless they completely obliterate all potential for the Iranians to respond, which is, I don't believe would be the case, military means alone to open the strait probably would not have the desired effect of easing up on the oil markets and on pricing," Harrison said in a phone interview Sunday.

"The ships are not going to pass, and insurance companies aren't going to insure ships as long as it's an active war," he said.

With Iranian attacks on ships in the area of the Strait of Hormuz effectively closing it off to maritime traffic, oil prices have soared globally, with retail gas prices rising 93 cents per gallon and the price of U.S. crude oil going up more than 70% since the start of the year.

Iran has allowed a small number of vessels to transit through the strait. Ali Mousavi, the country's representative to the United Nations maritime agency, told China's state news agency Xinhua on Friday that vessels except those that "belong to our enemies" could seek Tehran's permission to pass, though Iran has attacked a number of ships that are not American or Israeli.

The Trump administrationsaid Fridayit had lifted some sanctions to allow the sale of oil produced in Iran in the latest bid to temper soaring energy prices. Meanwhile, earlier this month, it also lifted the Jones Act, easing some shipping regulations on oil, with some sanctions on Russian oil also lifted temporarily.

Trump has repeatedlycalled on U.S. alliesto aid in clearing the Strait of Hormuz to little avail, telling reporters on Friday that China, Japan and NATO should be intervening.

Unlikely to capitulate

Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, an associate fellow at Chatham House's Middle East and North Africa program, said it was "unlikely" Tehran would "cave into the pressure" Trump is seeking to build.

"I think this is the result of lack of planning and the fact that the Trump administration didn't foresee the ... response from the Iranian side," she said on Sunday. "But the threats are not likely to have any impact, and Iran is actually going to continue trying to escalate the costs, thinking that this is the only way for the U.S. and therefore for Israel as well to stop threatening further action once this war is over."

Harrison said it was time for Trump to start looking for a viable off-ramp to exit the war against Iran, rather than "moving up the escalation ladder." The question remained, however, whether Tehran would be willing to "let him leave" the spiraling war.

Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, commander of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said on Sunday that the armed forces' military doctrine had "changed from defensive to offensive" and that "battlefield tactics" had been adjusted accordingly, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported.

"The outcome of the war depends on the will of both sides and in Iran there is unified determination among the people, fighters and leadership to continue until the aggressor is punished, damages are compensated and future deterrence is ensured," he said.

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March 22, 2026

Iran refuses to back down after Trump issues 48-hour deadline over Strait of Hormuz

Tehran has threatened to escalate strikes on energy infrastructure and target critical water desalination facilities shou...

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Phillies agree to 6-year contract with opening day starter Cristopher Sánchez

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to a new six-year contract with opening day starter Cristopher Sánchez.

WBC Nicaragua Dominican Republic Baseball

The deal announced Sunday for last season's NL Cy Young Award runner-up begins in 2027 and will run through 2032 with a club option for 2033.

Terms were not immediately available.

Sánchez had been pitching under a $22.5 million, four-year contract that was through 2028.

He went 13-5 with a 2.50 ERA in 32 starts last season and struck out a career-high 212 batters. He's 30-21 overall in four full big league seasons.

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Originally signed by the Tampa Bay Rays as an amateur free agent in 2013, Sánchez was acquired in a trade by the Phillies on Nov. 20, 2019, for infielder Curtis Mead.

Mead played in just 41 games for the Chicago White Sox last season while Sánchez has blossomed into one of the best pitchers in baseball and helped key the Phillies' run to consecutive NL East titles in 2024 and 2025.

The Phillies want to keep their postseason run going — four straight appearances headed into 2026 — and have locked up all veteran members of their staff to long-term deals.

Jesús Luzardo earlier this month finalized a$135 million, five-year contractthat starts in 2027. Zack Wheeler has a$126 million dealthrough the 2027 and Aaron Nola a$172 million, seven-year agreementthrough 2030. Rookie Andrew Painter is under team control through 2031 and earned the fifth starter spot in the rotation.

AP MLB:https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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March 22, 2026

Phillies agree to 6-year contract with opening day starter Cristopher Sánchez

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to a new six-year contract with opening day starter Cristopher ...

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Israeli settlers smash cars and set fires in attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israeli settlers rampaged through multiple Palestinian villages overnight Saturday and into Sunday, smashing cars, setting fires and wounding several men in the latest flare-up of violence in the occupied West Bank.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported attacks in at least six communities on Sunday. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said at least three Palestinians in the village of Jalud suffered head wounds from beatings and were hospitalized after confronting settlers, who were also reported injured.

The violence came as Israel's government presses ahead withnew settlementsin the occupied West Bank. Attacks by settlers have intensified alongside a broader surge in violence since the Iran war started.

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Israel's military said it responded to Israeli civilians carrying out "arson against structures and property, as well as engaging in disturbances in the area," but did not report any arrests or indicate whether investigations were opened.

WAFA reported attacks in the villages of Silat al Dahr and Fandaqumiya, both near Jenin; in Jalud and Salfit, both south of Nablus; and in the agricultural regions Masafer Yatta and the Jordan Valley. Homes and cars were set ablaze, Palestinians were pepper-sprayed and at least five people were wounded in the overnight assaults, which took place during the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the agency said.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported 25 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers this year as of March 15. The Palestinian Authority has also documented a series of arson attacks, including on mosques, across the territory.

The rampage came one day after an 18-year-old settler was killed in a collision with a Palestinian vehicle in an area near two of the villages attacked. Police said they were investigating the settlers' claims that the collision was deliberate.

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March 22, 2026

Israeli settlers smash cars and set fires in attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israeli settlers rampaged through multiple Palestinian villages overnight Saturday and into Su...

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Japanese national detained in Iran last year has been released, Japan's foreign minister says

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Sunday that one of twoJapanese nationals detained in Iranhas been released and is headed home.

Motegi, speaking on a Fuji Television talk show, said the person had been detained since last year and was released on Wednesday. He said the person took a flight from Azerbaijan which was scheduled to arrive in Japan on Sunday.

Kyodo News agency and other Japanese media said the former detainee later returned to Japan.

Motegi said another Japanese national who was arrested earlier this year is still in custody.

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Motegi said the release came after his repeated demands to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and that he is "working to win an early release" of the other detainee while communicating with his family and other concerned parties.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has named the person detained in Iran in January as a journalist at Japan's public broadcaster NHK. The CPJ said the NHK journalist was arrested Jan. 20 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was transferred Feb. 23 to Evin Prison, quoting unidentified sources citing fear of persecution.

Motegi did not identify either of the people detained but said the released Japanese national was detained in 2025.

The Foreign Ministry said earlier this month the detainees were safe and in good health, but only acknowledged that one was detained last year and the other one in January.

The ministry gave no further details and did not say whether the two cases were related.

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March 22, 2026

Japanese national detained in Iran last year has been released, Japan's foreign minister says

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Sunday that one of twoJapanese nationals detained in Iranha...

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Cuba plunged into second nationwide blackout in less than a week

Cuba has suffered another island-wide electrical blackout, the Ministry of EnergyannouncedSaturday evening, leaving more than 10 million people without power.

"A total disconnection of the National Electric System has occurred," the ministry said in a post on X. "Protocols for restoration are already beginning to be implemented."

Cuba was still recovering from a nationwide power grid collapse on Monday, the first since the US beganblocking fuel suppliesfrom Venezuela earlier this year. Just prior to Saturday's blackout, the country's state-owned electricity companyreportedon social media that it was expecting a power deficit of 1.704 megawatts during its busiest period on Saturday night.

US President Donald Trump has spoken frequently in recent weeks about Cuba, predicting an imminent collapse of its communist government. On Monday, he wondered aloud whether he would have the "honor of taking" the island.

"You know, all my life I've been hearing about United States and Cuba, when will the United States having the honor of taking Cuba? That's a big honor," Trump said from the White House. "Taking Cuba in some form, yeah, taking Cuba — I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it."

The president refused to say when asked whether an operation to "take" Cuba would involve the same level of force as the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro – a key ally of Havana – in January.

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Yesterday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said in a speech to international activists bringing humanitarian aid to the island that his government recognizes that "there could be an attack on Cuba," and is preparing accordingly.

Last week, Díaz-Canel confirmed in a national address that Cuban officials were speaking with their US counterparts about negotiations to end the fuel embargo. Since then, Cuba's government has clarified that it does not intend to negotiate about its political system.

Since Cuban revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro overthrew the regime of Fulgencio Batista in 1959, the country has been under a strict economic embargo from the United States. Cuba has weathered previous stretches of severe economic uncertainty, such as the "Special Period," when the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union cut the communist government's main source of outside assistance.

This latest crisis is similarly bleak. The lack of fuel from Mexico and Venezuela has stopped virtually all tourism to the island, disrupted education, cut services at hospitals, and prevented farmers from taking their produce to market.

CNN's Uriel Blanco, Patrick Oppmann and Anabella González contributed.

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March 22, 2026

Cuba plunged into second nationwide blackout in less than a week

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Museum sues Trump administration alleging it canceled grant on basis of race

An Underground Railroad museum in upstate New York alleged in a lawsuit Friday that the Trump administration unlawfully terminated its federal grant on the basis of race, pointing to President Donald Trump's efforts to dismantle diversity-focused initiatives.

The Underground Railroad Education Center, located in Albany N.Y., alleges in its lawsuit that the National Endowment for the Humanities' cancelation of a $250,000 grant amounted to viewpoint and racial discrimination, violating the First and Fifth Amendments, respectively.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of New York, calls for the funds to be reinstated.

The suit citedTrump's January 2025 executive orderthat required federal agencies to eliminate any operations supporting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within 60 days. The 40-page brief outlined 1,400 grants that were terminated in early April 2025 "for their conflict with President Trump's EOs and the new agency priorities adopted in their wake."

Nina Loewenstein, a lawyer for the museum, told NBC News that there is "just no legitimate basis" for the grant's cancellation, adding that it is "just explicitly erasing things associated with the Black race."

Loewenstein and the team of lawyers volunteering on the case through Lawyers for Good Government, an organization that provides free legal services for civil and human rights cases, argued that the Underground Railroad Education Center is just one of thousands of organizations that have been unlawfully targeted by the Trump administration.

"Numerous statements of the current Executive Branch leadership reflect overt and coded racism supporting white supremacy and denigrating Black history in America," the lawsuit said.

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It added that the administration "systematically targeted grantees and programs that sought to increase the public's understanding of Black history and cultures."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday evening.

The Trump administration has targeted museums and exhibits across the United States in an effort to enforce the president's anti-DEI directives. A judge ordered the administration last month torestore a slavery exhibit in Philadelphiaafter pieces of artwork and informational displays were removed at the President's House Site.

The administration also changed which days Americanscan visit national parks for freethis year in a November directive, removing Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth. In August, it called foran expansive review of the Smithsonian's museumexhibitions, materials and operations to ensure they aligned with the president's view of history.

The Underground Railroad Education Center is based in the home of Stephen and Harriet Myers, abolitionists who helped thousands of people escape slavery in the decades leading up to the Civil War, according to the museum's co-founders, Paul and Mary Liz Stewart.

The Stewarts began working on Underground Railroad research in the late 1990s, after Mary Liz, a fifth-grade teacher at the time, heard from her students that they had almost no awareness on the subject despite the deep ties it had to their neighborhood. Since 2004, the couple has worked to restore the home and turn it into a place at the center of the community, hosting tours and activities.

The Stewarts had been working towards funding a $12 million project to construct an interpretive center next to the Myers' residence, as its current operations have outgrown the space. Losing the $250,000 grant from the NEH, they said, caused a major setback for the project.

Mary Liz said the grant "validated who we are as an organization, what we were trying to do. And in turn, sort of said to the to the wider world, this is an organization worth paying attention to."

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March 22, 2026

Museum sues Trump administration alleging it canceled grant on basis of race

An Underground Railroad museum in upstate New York alleged in a lawsuit Friday that the Trump administration unlawfully t...

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