NFL-COWBOYS/BEARS
Cowboys crush Bears
CHICAGO (AP) β The Dallas Cowboys have clinched their first winning season in five years by posting an easy win over the Bears in Chicago.
DeMarco Murray moved closer to a rushing title by gaining a season-high 179 yards and scoring a touchdown in the Cowboys’ 41-28 rout of the Bears. Tony Romo was 21 of 26 for 206 yards and three TDs to help the Cowboys improve to 9-4.
Dallas broke it open with 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to take a 35-7 lead into the final period.
The Bears dropped to 5-8 and finished the game without star receiver Brandon Marshall, who suffered a rib injury in the second quarter.
Jay Cutler threw for two touchdowns and ran for another while completing 32 of his 46 passes for 341 yards and one interception.
NFL-TEXANS/CLOWNEY
Clowney done for season
HOUSTON (AP) β Jadeveon (jah-DEH’-vee-ahn) Clowney didn’t have much of a rookie season
The first player taken in last year’s NFL draft will have a second surgery on his right knee, ending his rookie season for the Houston Texans after just four games.
The outside linebacker was injured in Week 1 and had arthroscopic surgery Sept. 8. He has played three games since then, but has never completely recovered from the procedure and said last week that he’s still in a lot of pain.
NFL-RAVENS-NGATA SUSPENDED
Ravens’ Haloti Ngata draws 4-game drug ban by NFL
BALTIMORE (AP) β Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (hah-LOH’-tee NAH’-tah) has been suspended without pay for the team’s final four regular-season games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. Ngata said in a statement released by the team that he took Adderall, a drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He will be eligible for the playoffs should Baltimore advance.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-FLORIDA-MCELWAIN
Florida hires Colorado State’s McElwain as coach
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) β After working though a buyout issue, Jim McElwain is leaving Colorado State to become Florida’s next head coach. The Gators announced McElwain agreed to a six-year deal that will average $3.5 million annually. He made $1.5 million this year with the Rams.
McElwain is 22-16 in three seasons at Colorado State. He was offensive coordinator at Alabama, where he helped the Tide win two national titles, before moving to Fort Collins, Colorado.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-NEBRASKA-RILEY
Nebraska hires Oregon State’s Mike Riley as coach
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) β Mike Riley will be introduced as Nebraska’s new football coach at a news conference on Friday.
Riley is the longest-tenured coach in the Pac-12 and has coached at Oregon State for 14 seasons, but the Beavers just completed a 5-7 season in which they won just two conference games. He replaces Bo Pelini, who was dismissed after the Huskers finished the regular season 9-3.
NBA-SCHEDULE
Warriors win again
UNDATED (AP) β The Golden State Warriors continue to own the NBA’s best record after running their winning streak to 11 games.
Klay Thompson shot 5-for-8 from 3-point range while scoring a team-high 23 points in the Warriors’ 112-85 pounding of New Orleans. Stephen (STEH’-fehn) Curry finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Warriors, who trailed by six before outscoring the Pelicans 31-12 in the second quarter.
Harrison Barnes added 15 points and nine boards to help Golden State improve to 16-2.
Also in the NBA:
β Kyrie Irving poured in 37 points, including a huge layup with 10 seconds left in Cleveland’s 90-87 win over New York. LeBron James added 19 points and 12 assists to the Cavaliers’ fifth consecutive win.
β Portland picked up its third straight win and improved to 15-4 as Damian Lillard contributed a team-high 23 points and eight rebounds in a 88-82 decision over Indiana. LaMarcus Aldridge chipped in 18 points and 13 boards to the victory.
MLB-MARINERS-CRUZ
Mariners sign Nelson Cruz to 4-year deal
SEATTLE (AP) β The Seattle Mariners have signed slugger Nelson Cruz to a four-year deal, adding a needed right-handed power hitter to their lineup. Cruz led the major leagues with 40 home runs last season and had 108 RBIs for Baltimore, which signed him to an $8 million, one-year deal. He served a 50-game suspension in 2013 for violations of the major league drug agreement in relation to the sport’s Biogenesis investigation.
MLB-RANGERS-LEWIS
Colby Lewis signs $4M, one-year deal with Texas
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) β The Texas Rangers have finalized a one-year, $4 million contract with Colby Lewis. The 35-year-old Lewis was 10-14 with a 5.18 ERA in 29 starts last season, but had a 3.86 ERA with two complete games while averaging 6 2/3 innings his last 13 starts after the All-Star break. Lewis says he feels no pain following major hip surgery performed in 2013.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL-T25 SCHEDULE
Iowa State cruises, WVU loses
UNDATED (AP) β Just four top-25 men’s basketball teams were in action on Thursday, two of which battled it out in Ames, Iowa.
Bryce Dejean-Jones had 27 points and Georges Niang (johrj NEE’-ang) added 26 with eight assists to carry 20th-ranked Iowa State to a 95-77 rout of No. 18 Arkansas. Dustin Hogue scored 14 for the 5-1 Cyclones, who never trailed and led by as many as 23 points in extending their non-conference home winning streak to 24 games.
Iowa State took its first double-digit lead less than six minutes in and led 52-32 at the break.
In other top-25 hoops action:
β Dwayne Polee II scored 14 points and J.J. O’Brien had 13 to lead No. 13 San Diego State to a 57-48 triumph over San Diego. O’Brien and Polee combined for 16 points while the 6-1 Aztecs were outscoring the Toreros 31-19 in the first half.
β Josh Gray’s layup with 7.4 seconds left gave LSU a 74-73 triumph at No. 16 West Virginia. Tim Quarterman came off the bench to score 21 points and Jarell Martin had 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Tigers.
GOLF-WORLD CHALLENGE
Woods struggles in return…Spieth leads
WINDERMERE, Fla. (AP) β Tiger Woods returned to competitive golf on Thursday, but he forgot to bring his short game.
Woods looked very rusty in his first competition in nearly four months, shooting a 5-over 77 in the first round of the World Challenge in Florida. Woods flubbed four chips, needed two shots to get out of a bunker on the par-5 seventh hole and didn’t have a birdie putt inside 20 feet until the 11th hole. He’s in last place in the 18-man field, 11 shots behind Jordan Spieth (speeth).
Woods has missed most of the year because of back issues.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Brodeur loses Blues debut
UNDATED (AP) β For the first time in his career, Martin Brodeur (broh-DOOR’) suffered a loss on a night when the New Jersey Devils won a game.
Brodeur made his St. Louis Blues debut and stopped 20 shots in a 4-3 setback at Nashville. Mike Ribeiro (rih-BEHR’-oh) had a goal and two assists, while rookie Filip Forsberg added a goal and an assist to help the Predators win for the fifth time in their last six games.
Brodeur was back in goal after signing with the Blues earlier this week. The NHL’s all-time leader in games, wins and shutouts spent his previous 21 seasons with the Devils before joining the Blues after Brian Elliott was sidelined by a knee injury.
Farther north of Nashville, Eric Gelinas (ZHEH’-lih-nuh) and Steve Bernier (BURN’-yay) each had a goal and an assist in the Devils’ 5-3 triumph at Toronto. Cory Schneider stopped 29 shots for the winners.
Elsewhere on ice:
β Casey Cizikas (sih-ZEE’-kuhs) scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and the New York Islanders took over the Metropolitan Division lead by winning for the 13th time in their last 15 games, downing the Senators 2-1 in Ottawa. Jaroslav Halak (hah-LAHK’) stopped 24 shots in his 11th consecutive victory, breaking Billy Smith’s team record.
β The Isles remain a point off the Eastern Conference lead after Steven Stamkos (STAM’-kohs) notched a goal and two assists in Tampa Bay’s fifth victory in six games, a 5-0 shutout of Buffalo. Ben Bishop needed to make just 13 saves for his ninth career shutout.
β Eddie Lack picked up his fifth straight shutout by stopping 21 shots in a 3-0 win at Pittsburgh. Brad Richardson had a goal and an assist in the Canucks’ league-leading 11th road win.
β Darren Helm scored twice and Stephen Weiss added a goal and two assists to highlight Detroit’s 5-2 win against Dallas. Kyle Quincey was a +4 while providing a goal and an assist in the Red Wings’ fifth victory in six games.
β San Jose came back from deficits of 2-0 and 4-3 to clobber Boston 7-4. Joe Pavelski led the Sharks’ scoresheet with two goals and an assist, while Tyler Kennedy and Tommy Wingels each scored twice in San Jose’s third straight win.
β Calgary earned its fourth straight win as Sean Monahan’s goal at 1:47 overtime capped the Flames’ comeback in a 4-3 win at Colorado. The Flames trailed 3-2 until Dennis Wideman notched his second goal of the night, beating Semyon Varlamov (vahr-LAH’-mahv) with 1:17 left in regulation.
β Los Angeles posted its second straight shutout as Martin Jones turned back 26 shots in a 4-0 win at Arizona. Dustin Brown had two goals and an assist to support Jones’ second shutout of the season and sixth of his career.
β Washington beat Carolina 2-1 on Eric Fehr’s (fehrz) goal with 4:02 remaining. Jay Beagle scored an early goal and Braden Holtby stopped 29 shots as the Capitals ended a two-game skid and moved back over .500.
β Sergei Bobrovsky (bah-BRAHF’-skee) stopped 52 shots before turning back all four of Florida’s shootout attempts to lead Columbus past the Panthers 4-3. The Blue Jackets blew a 3-0 lead before Ryan Johansen’s shootout goal sent Columbus to its second straight win since a six-game losing streak.
NHL-ALFREDSSON RETIRES
Sens star officially retires
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) β Former Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson has officially retired. The 41-year-old Swedish forward made the announcement at Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre, the rink he called home for most of his 18 seasons in the NHL.
The Senators have signed their longtime captain to a ceremonial one-day contract that will allow him to lace up his skates in his old stall and take part in pre-game warm-ups with his old team.
NASCAR-GIBBS LINEUP
Gibbs shuffles crew chiefs for 2015
LAS VEGAS (AP) β Joe Gibbs Racing is shuffling its crew chief lineup as it expands to a new fourth team to accommodate the addition of Carl Edwards.
Darian Grubb will shift from Denny Hamlin to Edwards, Dave Rogers will shift from Kyle Busch to Hamlin, Adam Stevens will be Busch’s new crew chief and Jason Ratcliff will remain with Matt Kenseth in the only untouched driver-crew chief combination.
BOXING-HALL OF FAME
Riddick Bowe, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini head Boxing Hall of Fame’s 2015 Class
CANASTOTA, N.Y. (AP) β Former heavyweight champ Riddick Bowe and popular lightweight champion Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini are among those who have been selected for induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony will be held June 14 at the Hall of Fame in upstate New York.
