LAst Night's Action: Kobe Overcomes Madness

Lakers 116, Blazers 111, OT - Maybe he's got a chip on his shoulder because he never played college ball and everybody's talking about March Madness. Maybe he's angry about all those NBA suspensions and the so-called witch hunt. Either way, Kobe was on fire with 65 points in the Laker's OT victory over Portland. The second highest point total in his career propelled Los Angeles to its first win in their last eight games and snapped the longest loosing streak of Phil Jackson's career. Kobe netted 24 of his points in the fourth quarter and had half of the Laker's 18 in overtime.

Trojans 77, Razorbacks 60 - Echoing recent gridiron action, USC hoops dominated Arkansas on the hard court. Freshman Taj Gibson finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds, most of which came during a major first half turnaround. He was T-ed up for hanging on the rim after a dunk, but Trojan fans probably enjoyed the show. Some of the ladies (and Boi from Troy) probably enjoyed the show when Abdoulaye N'Diaye went in to play, but was forced to strip down to his shorts when officials ruled that his undershirt wasn't an allowable color.

Clippers 102, Bobcats 93 - The Clippers improved to 6-0 against Charlotte this season and are tied for the final playoff spot in the West with Golden State. The Bobcats controlled the first half, but Los Angeles evened it going into halftime and controlled the rest of the way.

Vols 121, 49ers 86 - Turns out the 49ers weren't well qualified to represent the LBC. That, or Tennessee is going to buzzsaw their way through some brackets this year. The Vols set a scoring record for the first round of the NCAA Tourney to send Long Beach State home until next season.

Ducks 5, Blackhawks 2 - After dispatching Chicago, Anaheim is just one point behind Detroit for the best record in the NHL. Teemu Selanne and Andy McDonald each had two goals and Scott Niedermayer had three assists. Three assists? Kobe had three assists while he was busy scoring 65. That, kids, is why basketball gets better ratings.

AP photo by Kevork Djansezian.