Christian Pulisic equaled his career-best goal tally for a season with his 15th goal of the campaign in AC Milan's 2-1 win over Como on Saturday.

The goal came in his 38th game in all competitions, already matching the tally of his debut season with Milan, which came in 50 games. The 26-year-old is the first Milan player to score 15-plus goals in all competitions in each of his first two seasons since Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2010-11 and 2011-12.

His 47 goal contributions for Milan in all competitions (30 goals, 17 assists) is tied for the most for Milan since this past season, matching Rafael Leão.

It was also Pulisic's third goal in two matches after his two goals last weekend helped Milan fight back to win 3-2 at Lecce and end a three-match losing streak.

Milan went behind again on Saturday, when Lucas Da Cunha drilled into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the area in the 33rd minute.

Real Madrid escalated their complaints over scheduling on Saturday, with manager Carlo Ancelotti confirming the team will refuse to play in the future if their players aren't given a minimum 72 hours' rest between matches.

Madrid played rivals Atlético Madrid in their Champions League round-of-16 second leg on Wednesday, a game which kicked off at 9 p.m. local time and lasted 120 minutes, plus a penalty shootout, ending at close to midnight.

Their next game was against Villarreal on Saturday in LaLiga, with the match starting at 6.30 p.m. local time.

Ancelotti complained about the congested calendar on Friday -- blaming "television rights and money" and saying "the last thing on anyone's mind is the players' recovery."

Madrid went a step further on Saturday ahead of kickoff in Villarreal, with the club's TV channel stating that "Real Madrid will ask for FIFA's support ... so that this never happens again."

Following Madrid's 2-1 win over Villarreal, Ancelotti confirmed the club's stance.

"I think today is the last time that we'll play a game before 72 hours," he said. "We won't do it again, without 72 hours of rest. We asked LaLiga to change the time of the game twice, and they didn't do anything. But this is the last time."

Asked to confirm if the team would show up if a game was scheduled without 72 hours rest, he responded: "No, of course not."

FIFA recommends a minimum of 72 hours' rest between games, in order to protect players' health. However timings are set by competition organizers, with LaLiga determining kickoff times for league games in Spain.

Real Madrid's title rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid have an additional day's rest this weekend, facing off in a crucial LaLiga game on Sunday evening.

Saturday's win, courtesy of two goals from Kylian Mbappé, put Real Madrid three points clear of Barcelona at the top of the table, but having played two games more.

"I'm very proud of the players, it was a tricky game," Ancelotti added. "And the opponent plays very well. We hung on, above all in the second half. The team was exhausted but that's normal. It's a victory that says a lot about this team and the resources in this squad."

The busy fixture list has been a regular source of complaint among leading clubs and players in recent years, with the 2024-25 season being further extended by the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup, which will take place between June 15 and July 13.

NEW YORK -- RJ Luis Jr. scored all but two of his 29 points after halftime and No. 6 St. John's made 14 straight shots from the field in the second half to beat Creighton 82-66 on Saturday night for its first Big East tournament title in 25 years.

Zuby Ejiofor added 20 points and Kadary Richmond had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the top-seeded Red Storm (30-4), who reached 30 wins for the third time in program history in front of a roaring hometown crowd at sold-out Madison Square Garden.

They earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for their first trip since 2019, making 72-year-old Hall of Famer Rick Pitino the first coach to take six schools to the Big Dance. The others were Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville and Iona.

"For all the St. John's fans, this is for you!" Pitino proclaimed during a postgame interview on the court, pausing to remove falling confetti from his lips. "St. John's is New York's team!"

Pitino, in his second season at St. John's, also became the first coach to win the Big East tournament at two schools. He has won three times in his past four seasons in the league, after guiding Louisville to championships in 2009, 2012 and 2013.

"They've had a remarkable year. Dominated our league and pretty much saved their best for this conference tournament," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said of the Red Storm. "They just wear into you over time. ... We lost to a really good basketball team. I think they're going to represent the Big East in a positive way next week."

Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 15 for second-seeded Creighton (24-10), which fell to 0-5 in Big East championship games since joining the conference for the 2013-14 season.

It was the fourth Big East tournament title for the Johnnies, who made the championship game for the first time since winning the 2000 trophy under Mike Jarvis. The previous two came in the 1980s under Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca, who died Nov. 30 about five weeks shy of his 100th birthday.

"We had three phases we set out," Pitino said after the win, most likely referring to winning the Big East regular-season title, the conference's tournament crown and, ultimately, the national championship. The Red Storm have secured the first two phases.

"I'm so excited. I couldn't be more blessed for this opportunity," Luis said. "We're going to keep on going."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Tyrese Proctor scored 19 points on six 3-pointers, Kon Knueppel added 18 points and No. 1 Duke defeated 13th-ranked Louisville 73-62 on Saturday night to clinch its second Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship in three seasons under Jon Scheyer.

It was Duke's 23rd ACC title overall -- the most of any team in conference history -- and five more than rival North Carolina, who the Blue Devils knocked off 74-71 in a semifinal thriller.

Sion James added 15 points for Duke (31-3), which played its final two tournament games without ACC player of the year Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown due to injuries.

Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 29 points on five 3s for Louisville (27-7), which was playing in its first ACC final since joining the league in 2014. The Cardinals went 18-2 in conference play during the regular season under first-year head coach Pat Kelsey after going 5-37 vs. ACC foes in the previous two seasons.

There were nine lead changes, and neither team led by more than five before Duke broke the game open with a 12-0 run midway through the second half behind a 3 from Proctor in transition to build a 57-47 lead.

Takeaways

Louisville: Chucky Hepburn has been the team's offensive catalyst this season, but Edwards' recent play gives the Cardinals the needed scoring punch that could take them deep into the NCAA tournament. Edwards has averaged 24.8 points over the past six games.

Duke: The Blue Devils' defense in the tournament was outstanding. They held Louisville to 9-of-35 shooting in the second half to pull away.

Key moment

Patrick Ngongba II's spinning drive along the baseline and two free throws on the ensuing drive gave Duke a 13-point lead with less than five minutes to play.

Key stat

Proctor entered the game 6 of 29 from beyond the arc over his past seven games, including 0 for 10 in the tournament.

With the No. 1 seeds seemingly set for the women's NCAA tournament and a bubble without much depth or drama, some of the biggest bracket decisions for the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee have already been made.

That doesn't mean finalizing the official bracket ahead of its release on Selection Sunday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) will be easy -- as weeks of toiling over Bracketology have illustrated.

South Carolina, UCLA, USC and Texas should be the headliners when the bracket is announced, with UConn right behind the No. 1 seeds.

The Gamecocks, Bruins, Longhorns and Notre Dame all had a turn at No. 1 in the polls this year, a seasonlong showcase of just how wide open the race to the 2025 championship in Tampa could be.

As the committee finishes deliberations both big and small, ESPN looks at the questions it faces that will most influence the final bracket.

Where will the top seeds play in the regionals?

Matchups, matchups, matchups. One of the most important things to watch Sunday will be the geographical placement of the top seeds and how it impacts which teams stand in their way on the road to Tampa.

While the identity of the four No. 1 seeds might have been set heading into Championship Sunday on March 9, the order shifted following the title games in the SEC and Big Ten. How the committee now sees that order is what will determine the potential matchups deep in the NCAA tournament. All the discussions about the best teams in the regionals and which teams have the best chance to advance to the Final Four will be shaped by the order of the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds.

The loss to South Carolina in the SEC championship game presumably shifted Texas from the top No. 1 seed to the fourth. If the committee agrees, the Longhorns will still be in the Birmingham Regional but will now likely be in the same region as UConn as the No. 2 seed -- instead of potentially with TCU. Texas went from being paired with a program with no significant NCAA tournament experience to one with more than anyone in the field.

Because UCLA and USC are both on the No. 1 line, they will get to play in the Spokane Regional in opposite brackets. Notre Dame's struggles at the end of the regular season and in the ACC tournament pushed the Irish back enough that it now looks like they will be taking the longer trip to the Northwest to join one of the L.A. schools.

The committee does not project matchups down the road in the NCAA tournament. Its job is to select the right 68 teams as the members see them, seed them properly and keep the bracket as balanced as possible. Still, the decisions Sunday will likely impact the games two weeks from now, helping to create the storylines that fuel the sport at the most important time of the season.

How much did Champ Week influence the top 16?

Alabama, Tennessee and Maryland have more Quad 1 wins than Baylor. Kansas State's NET ranking is six spots higher than that of the Bears. Yet Baylor feels like a more worthy choice to be in the top 16 and earn the right to host first- and second-round NCAA tournament games.

The Bears were also playing from behind entering Champ Week, but they made it to the Big 12 tournament finals, while the Crimson Tide, Lady Vols, Terps and Wildcats were a combined 2-4 in conference tournament play. As a result, Baylor slid past those teams and into the top 16. It was the same for Ohio State, which reached the Big Ten semifinals. The Buckeyes have nine wins against other teams presumably in the field. Even with a NET ranking of 19, that number of wins against good teams should be enough for Ohio State's inclusion in the top 16.

Will the committee agree?

Because the top 16 seeds host early-round games in the women's NCAA tournament, selecting the top 16 is one of the most impactful decisions the committee makes every year. And while the Bears and Buckeyes should be the choice this season, rest assured that determining this will be a long-debated part of the process.

Which team takes the final spot in the field?

It should come down to Princeton or Virginia Tech -- and this might be the toughest decision the committee makes in the entire process of selecting the bracket. Just one year after the Ivy League got two teams into the NCAA tournament, the conference is on the brink of having three teams go from Ivy Madness to March Madness. Because this is a bubble with little depth, two Ivy teams should get bids (Harvard won the Ivy's automatic berth) -- and with a regular-season title and two wins over Princeton, Columbia has the better case than the Tigers.

That leaves Princeton up against Virginia Tech, the only other viable candidate. Both résumés are full of holes. The Hokies had nine chances in Quad 1 and won one of those games. Princeton also had only one Quad 1 win, at Harvard on Feb. 28. Their NET ratings are essentially the same (Virginia Tech 46, Princeton 47). The Tigers were 4-4 in Quad 1 and 2 games and 6-6 against the top 100 of the NET. The Hokies were 3-8 and 7-12, respectively.

Princeton played a slightly more difficult nonconference schedule. But Virginia Tech beat Louisville and Cal. None of the Tigers' wins are that good. However, they also don't have losses as bad as Virginia Tech's: to Stanford and Virginia at home, and to Syracuse and Boston College on the road. Those losses, combined with Virginia Tech losing four of its final six games to this point, might be the difference.

Last year, Columbia got an at-large bid with zero Quad wins and a NET of 57 over teams with better numbers in both categories but with poor finishes, very similar to the Hokies this year. No two seasons are the same, but last season offers a parallel. Princeton might be the team to capitalize in 2025.

Cam Thomas, the Brooklyn Nets' leading scorer, is expected to miss the rest of the season with a strained left hamstring.

The Nets said Saturday that Thomas was injured during their loss at Chicago on Thursday, when he had his first career double-double, getting 24 points and a career-best 10 assists. The team said it was unlikely he could appropriately recover with the amount of time left in the season.

Brooklyn has less than a month left before the regular season ends April 13.

Thomas averaged 24 points, with a team-high six 30-point games, but was limited to just 25 appearances. He missed 37 games with an injury to the hamstring after initially hurting it in November, minimizing his opportunities to show he can be a distributor and not just a scorer.

"He's worked every single day, he's built relationships," Fernandez said. "We all know his super power is being a very good scorer. He's done a good job with his efficiency, his playmaking."

Thomas can become a free agent after this season. Fernandez didn't know what the recovery process for Thomas would entail.

"So it's unfortunate that he had the injury he had three times, and now the most important thing is to help him get back healthy," Fernandez said.