RECLAIMS TOP SPOT--Tiger Woods waves to fans as he walks off the 18th hole after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament, March 25, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

 by Doug Ferguson

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The moment was vintage Tiger Woods, and so was his reaction.

Seconds after Rickie Fowler made a 40-foot birdie putt on the 12th hole to pull within two shots of the lead, Woods posed over his 25-foot birdie putt until he swept the putter upward in his left hand and marched toward the cup as it dropped for a birdie.

Fowler, standing on the edge of the green, turned with a slight smile as if to say, "What else can I do?"

Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Monday and returned to No. 1 in the world for the first time since October 2010, the longest spell of his career. After all that time, after so much turmoil with his personal life and his health, Woods looks as good as ever.

Maybe better.

"It's a byproduct of hard work, patience and getting back to winning golf tournaments," Woods said.

He essentially wrapped up his eighth title at Bay Hill with an 8-iron out of a fairway bunker on the par-5 16th that easily cleared the water and landed safely on the green for a two-putt birdie. Woods dangled his tongue out of his mouth as the ball was in the air, another sign of his swagger.

Just like his other two wins this year, Woods never let anyone get closer than two shots in the final round. With a conservative bogey he could afford on the final hole, he closed with a 2-under 70 for a two-shot win over Justin Rose.

Woods walked off the 18th green waving his putter over his head — truly a magic wand at Bay Hill — to acknowledge the fans who have seen this act before. His eighth win in the Arnold Palmer Invitational tied a PGA Tour record that had not been touched in 48 years.

This win had extra significance. He's back to No. 1.

"If I get healthy, I know I can play this game at a high level," Woods said. "I know I can be where I'm contending in every event, contending in major championships and being consistent day in and day out — if I got healthy. That was the first step in the process. Once I got there, then my game turned."

A year ago, he came to Bay Hill without having won in more than 2½ years. He left this year having won six times in his last 20 starts on the PGA Tour.

Next up is the Masters, where Woods will try to end his five-year drought in the majors.

"I'm really excited about the rest of this year," Woods said.

Woods fell as low as No. 58 in the world as he coped with the collapse of his marriage, a loss of sponsors and injuries to his left leg. One week after he announced he was dating Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn, Woods returned to the top of golf.

"Number 1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!" Vonn tweeted moments after his win.

Asked if there was any correlation to his winning right after going public with his relationship, Woods smiled and said, "You're reading way too much into this."

Like so many other victories, this one was never really close.

Fowler pulled to within two shots with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole, but after he and Woods made bogey on the 15th, Fowler went at the flag on the par-5 16th and came up a few yards short and into the water. Fowler put another ball into the water and made triple bogey.

"I was swinging it well.  I made a few putts, and trying to put a little pressure on them, let them know I was there," Fowler said. "Just would like to have that 7-iron back on 16. Just kind of a touch heavy."

Woods played it safe on the 18th, and nearly holed a 75-foot par putt that even drew a big smile from the tournament host.

Woods tied the tour record of eight wins in a single tournament. Sam Snead won the Greater Greensboro Open eight times from 1938 to 1965 at two golf courses. Woods tied his record for most wins at a single golf course, having also won eight times at Torrey Pines, including a U.S. Open.

"I don't really see anybody touching it for a long time," Palmer said while Woods made his way up the 18th fairway. "I had the opportunity to win a tournament five times, and I knew how difficult that was."

Rose, who played the first two rounds with Woods, closed with a 70 to finish alone in second.

He pulled to within two shots of Woods with a birdie on the 16th. Woods was in the group behind him in the fairway bunker on the par 5, and hit 8-iron over the water and onto the middle of the green for a two-putt birdie to restore his margin.

"He plays every shot like he plays them on Sunday," Rose said. "His intensity is the same on Thursday often as it is on Sunday, and that makes Sunday a lot less different for him. He plays in that kind of atmosphere far more regularly than a lot of guys do, and it's an adjustment for most of us. It's a known for him."

Fowler had to settle for a 73 and a tie for third with Mark Wilson (71), Keegan Bradley (71) and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (72).

Rory McIlroy had been No. 1 since he won the PGA Championship last August. He can reclaim the No. 1 ranking by winning the Houston Open this week. Woods heads home to south Florida for two weeks before the Masters.

Asked the last time he felt this good going to Augusta National, Woods replied, "It's been a few years."

This was the fourth time in his career that he already had three PGA Tour wins before the Masters — he didn't win a green jacket in any of the previous years (2000, 2003 and 2008). More telling, perhaps, is that Woods has won back-to-back starts for the first time since the Buick Open and Bridgestone Invitational in August 2009.

"I think it shows that my game is consistent," he said. "It's at a high level."

Woods finished at 13-under 275 and won for the 77th time on the PGA Tour, moving to within five of Snead's record.

Fowler, his first time playing with Woods in the final group, opened with eight pars when he needed to be making up ground. And when he finally had a few openings on the back nine, Woods refused to let him through.

Woods salvaged a two-putt par with a 7-footer on the 11th hole to keep a three-shot lead. On the next hole, Fowler looked to gain some momentum when he made a 40-foot birdie putt only for Woods to match him with that 25-foot birdie.

Woods produced some absurd statistics with the putter this week, making 19 of 28 putts from between 7 feet and 20 feet.

He walked off the green to share a handshake with Palmer, along with a big smile and some words that Woods said were best kept private. He left the course in that familiar blue blazer that goes to the winner.

And he left as the No. 1 player in the world.

It's the 11th time that Woods has gone back to No. 1, tied with Greg Norman since the ranking began in 1986. Still to be determined is how long Woods stays there this time.

STAYING AT PITT--Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon shouts to his team during a second-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament against Wichita State in Salt Lake City, March 21. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

by Will Graves
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jamie Dixon isn't going anywhere but back to work.

STATE CHAMPS--Holy Cross' Connor Callejas (13) stumbles as he dribbles against Beaver Falls' Javon Turner in the first half of the PIAA Class AA boys basketball championship game, Saturday, March 23, in Hershey, Pa. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

by Genaro C. Armas

HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) — The Beaver Falls defense came in waves, and it didn't stop whether the team was down 12 or surging ahead in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers' pressure finally wore down Holy Cross late, especially with the Crusaders' 6-foot-6 center Josh Kosin in foul trouble.
The Tigers took advantage of Kosin's absence by attacking the basket, hitting 3-pointers and making clutch foul shots down the stretch to rally for a 69-63 victory Saturday to win the state Class AA title.
"We just ramped up the pressure a little bit to a level perhaps that they hadn't seen," Tigers coach Doug Biega said. "I'm just very proud of how our team closed the game."
Micoy Mason hit two late 3-pointers and finished with 14 points for the WPIAL champions, who lost in the finals last year to Imhotep Charter, this year's Class AAA champ. Four Tigers finished in double figures.
But the Tigers (28-3) pride themselves especially on defense. They limited the Scranton-area Crusaders (27-6) to 36 percent shooting in the second half after Holy Cross hit 60 percent before halftime.
Having Kosin (25 points, 11 rebounds) hampered with four fouls for much of the second half didn't help. Holy Cross led by eight at the half and 48-41 after three quarters thanks in large part to Kosin.
He understandably plays a huge part in stabilizing Holy Cross on the offensive end, and provides a defensive presence down low.
But the Crusaders seemed to lose aggressiveness as Kosin and frontcourt-mate Casey Gaughan (10 points) battled foul trouble. Gaughan also entered the fourth with four fouls and eventually fouled out.
"Anytime guys get in foul trouble, we have a problem. We get short in a hurry," Holy Cross coach Al Callejas said. "We had two guys in foul trouble and that kind of hurt us. It was a physical game."
Beaver Falls got its last seven points at the foul line, including a pair of big shots by Drew Cook with 10 seconds left.
Just seconds earlier Cook missed two foul shots with his team leading by three. The errant free throws breathed new life into Holy Cross' hopes for a miracle comeback. But Cook (15 points, six rebounds) dashed those hopes by sinking both shots.
Beaver Falls finished 8-of-21 shooting from the 3-point arc, including the three 3s in the final five minutes — two by Mason — and a handful of 3s in the first quarter that helped the Tigers hang in the game after Kosin dominated early.
"If we're hitting our 3s and executing our plays, we'll be in pretty good shape, and that's what happened," Mason said.
Beaver Falls' Dan Stratton scored 14 points before fouling out, while Elijah Cottrill added 12.
Holy Cross controlled the pace early, buoyed by a boisterous student section that showed up in white for a makeshift "whiteout" inside the Giant Center.
Kosin gave Holy Cross a 35-27 halftime lead by altering a couple of shot attempts on the defensive end and hitting a pair of foul shots after chasing down a loose ball.
"We threw everything but the kitchen sink at that kid to stop him, and we really didn't," Biega said. "He scored 25 points in 27 minutes."
What did stop limit Kosin was foul trouble.
Kosin picked up his fourth foul with 1:06 left in the third quarter. He and Gaughan were on the bench when the fourth quarter started, but the pair quickly re-entered as Callejas sought to slow down the Tigers' momentum.
It didn't really help. The Crusaders were outscored 28-15 in the final quarter.
"I'm so proud of our effort," Callejas said. "Give Beaver Falls credit ... They hustled all over the place. Eventually that's what cost us."
Callejas' son, Connor, finished with 12 points and six assists for the Crusaders.
Beaver Falls last won a state title in 2005.

ONE AND DONE--Wichita State Chadrack Lufile, left, fights for the ball with Pittsburgh's Steven Adams during a second-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Salt Lake City, Thursday, March 21. (AP Photo/George Frey)

by Lynn BeBruin

AP Sports Writer
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — This was supposed to be a comeback season for Pittsburgh after failing to make the NCAA tournament last year.
But a quarterfinal loss to Syracuse in the Big East tourney and a 73-55 thumping at the hands of Wichita State on Thursday in the second round of the NCAA tournament had coach Jamie Dixon feeling bad for his players.
"I'm sorry for our seniors to go out this way. They had great careers, and won a lot of games for us," Dixon said of Dante Taylor and Tray Woodall, who wept during postgame interviews.
Dixon, the subject of speculation surrounding the head coaching job at Southern California, said "Well, yes," when asked whether he expected to be back at Pitt (24-9).
"I just had my point guard break down here," he added quickly. "That's the farthest thing from my mind."
Woodall was leading No. 8 seed Pitt in scoring entering Thursday's second-round game. He finished with two points on 1-of-12 shooting, including 0 of 5 from 3-point range, with five turnovers.
"They played great and seemed to be far more aggressive," Dixon said of the ninth-seeded Shockers. "Extremely disappointed in the loss. I know we're a better team that what we played today."
The Panthers will go forward with 7-footer Steven Adams, forward Lamar Patterson and freshman Durand Johnson.

Adams led Pitt (24-9) with 13 points and 11 rebounds in his first NCAA action, hardly overwhelmed at the big stage, something that could be a springboard for next year.
"Well, it has to be," Dixon said. "That's what I told our returning guys ... it's something we've got to learn from and for Steve, he kept battling and kept going and was active around the glass."
Malcolm Armstead led Wichita State with 22 points and Cleanthony Early added 21. Carl Hall added 11 points for the Shockers (27-8), who face the winner of the No. 1-ranked Gonzaga-Southern game.
The Shockers forced Pitt into 15 turnovers and held the Panthers to 35 percent shooting, including 1 of 17 from 3-point range.
Woodall missed his first four shots and it didn't get much better from there.
Plenty of credit went to Tekele Cotton, who had the task of guarding Woodall.
"Tray missed three layups there in a row at one point," Dixon said. "It's just one of those days for us. We talked about him being their best defender. ... Our balance has been our key, but when you don't have anybody shoot it well and you go 1 of 17 from the 3, there are not a lot of things you can point to."
The Shockers scored 21 points off turnovers and took advantage at the free throw line, making 33 of 41 attempts.
Wichita State led 26-21 at the break but nearly doubled its offensive output in the second half.
Early's layup and two free throws by Armstead pushed Wichita State's lead to 30-21 early in the second half. Johnson's 3-pointer cut it to 30-26, and the Panthers were within 35-31 following a three-point play by James Robinson. Cotton answered with a 3-pointer to bump the Shockers' lead to 38-31 with 12:44 remaining.
Hall's three-point play with under 12 minutes left gave the Shockers a 10-point lead, 41-31. Pitt pulled within six after four free throws but the Shockers went on a 6-0 run, fueled by a pair of steals, a dunk by Cotton and two more free throws by Early for a 47-35 advantage with 10:13 left.
The Panthers wouldn't get any closer than eight the rest of the way.
The game was expected to be a defensive struggle, with Pitt allowing just 55.4 points and the Shockers known for dominating the glass with 38 rebounds a game.
As expected, it was physical.
When Adams went in strong for a dunk in the first half, he was fouled hard by Early.
"We weren't surprised at all," Woodall said. "Coming into this game, coach emphasized to us that they were real physical. These guys were real tough."