NBA-SCHEDULE
Four straight for Spurs…Thunder finally back over .500
UNDATED (AP) β The San Antonio Spurs continue to work themselves back into the NBA’s Southwest Division title chase.
The defending champions picked up their fourth straight victory and sixth in seven games as Kawhi (kah-WY’) Leonard had 17 points and 15 rebounds in a 109-99 triumph over Denver. Leonard has been a big part of San Antonio’s recent surge, playing for the third time since returning from a bruised hand that had sidelined him for the previous 15 games.
Tony Parker finished with 18 points for the Spurs, while Tim Duncan scored all 16 points in the second half of the Spurs’ fifth consecutive win over the Nuggets.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have a winning record for the first time all season after winning the NBA’s only other game. Russell Westbrook scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Thunder topped the Heat 94-86 in Miami. Kevin Durant added 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as the Thunder won for the 18th time in their last 26 games since a 3-12 start. Reggie Jackson scored 16 points and Anthony Morrow added 12 for Oklahoma City.
TOP 25 MEN’S BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Wildcats stay perfect
UNDATED (AP) β Top-ranked Kentucky survived another recent scare before remaining one of the two unbeaten teams in Division I men’s basketball.
Twin guards Aaron and Andrew Harrison combined for 11 points in the latter stages of the Wildcats’ 65-57 win over Vanderbilt. Aaron Harrison had 14 points to help Kentucky improve to 18-0 overall and 5-0 in the SEC.
The other unbeaten is Virginia.
In other top-25 men’s finals:
β Sixth-ranked Wisconsin held No. 25 Iowa to 28 percent shooting in the first half of an 82-50 rout of the Hawkeyes. Frank Kaminsky finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Sam Dekker added 17 points and eight boards for the 17-2 Badgers.
β Monte Morris hit a floater with 37 seconds left to give ninth-ranked Iowa State a 73-69 lead in a 77-71 triumph over Kansas State. Jameel McKay had 15 points off the bench for the Cyclones, who improved to 4-1 in the conference and 14-3 overall.
β Freshman Peyton Aldridge had 22 points and senior Tyler Kalinoski added 21 as Davidson topped No. 22 Dayton 77-60. Aldridge and Kalinoski were both 9 of 14 from the field and combined to shoot 7 of 9 from beyond the arc.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Lightning take over East lead
UNDATED (AP) β The Tampa Bay Lightning have replaced the New York Islanders atop the NHL’s Eastern Conference standings.
Alex Killorn opened and closed the Lightning’s three-goal third period in a 4-1 win over Vancouver. Valtteri Filppula (val-TEHR’-ee FIHL’-poo-lah) added a goal and an assist as the Lightning won their third in a row and sixth in their last eight games.
Tampa Bay moved a point ahead of the Isles and kept their one-point lead over Detroit in the Atlantic Division.
Elsewhere on ice:
β The Red Wings coughed up a 4-1 lead in the third period before Pavel Datsyuk (DAHT’-sook) and Gustav Nyquist scored shootout goals to lead Detroit’s 5-4 win over Minnesota. Nyquist also had a goal and an assist in regulation of the Wings’ fifth consecutive victory.
β The New York Rangers won for the 16th time in 19 games as Carl Hagelin (HAG’-lihn) scored at 2:55 of overtime to lift the Blueshirts past Ottawa 3-2. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 33 shots for the Rangers, who trailed 2-1 until Chris Kreider scored early in the third period.
β P.K. Subban (SOO’-ban) scored 4:08 into overtime to push Montreal past Nashville 2-1, keeping the Canadiens three points behind the Lightning. Subban and Alex Galchenyuk (gahl-CHEN’-yuhk) each had a goal and an assist against the Predators, who moved one point behind West-leading Anaheim.
β Andrew Shaw scored twice and Chicago halted a two-game skid by trouncing Arizona 6-1. Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists as the Blackhawks moved within five points of the Central Division-leading Predators.
β Pittsburgh was a 3-2 loser to Philadelphia as Claude Giroux (juh-ROO’) scored a power-play goal at 3:57 of OT. The outcome leaves the Penguins four points behind the Metropolitan Division-leading Islanders.
β Derek Roy (roy) and Teddy Purcell (PUR’-sul) scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as Edmonton handed the Capitals their third straight loss, 5-4 in Washington. The Caps led 4-2 until Purcell and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored in the last 4:11 of regulation.
β Boston’s Tuukka (TOO’-kah) Rask handled 36 shots in a 3-1 win at Dallas. Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist in the Bruins’ sixth victory in seven games.
NHL-COYOTES
Arizona loses Boedker
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) β Arizona leading scorer Mikkel Boedker (mih-KEHL’ BAHD’-kur) is listed as week-to-week after having his spleen removed last weekend. The left wing was injured in Sunday’s game against Winnipeg after taking a hard hit. The 25-year-old is Arizona’s leading goal-scorer with 14 and had five goals in four games before being injured on Sunday. He also has 14 assists.
NHL-SHARKS-INJURIES
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) β The San Jose Sharks have placed forward Tommy Wingels (WING’-ulz) and defenseman Justin Braun on injured reserve and called up defenseman Dylan DeMelo from the American Hockey League. Wingels and Braun both left last night’s 5-2 loss to New Jersey with upper-body injuries. Coach Todd McLellan says both players will be out for “a while,” a blow for a team battling Calgary and Los Angeles for a Western Conference playoff berth.
NFL-BRONCOS
Kubiak is back in Denver
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) β Gary Kubiak (KOO’-be-ak) is back with the team he spent most of his career with, as a player and coach.
Kubiak has been introduced as the 15th head coach of the Denver Broncos. He said he was prepared to remain Baltimore’s offensive coordinator after turning down opportunities to interview for two other head coaching jobs. He says he changed his mind after hearing from Broncos president John Elway.
Kubiak spent 13 seasons either backing up Elway at quarterback or drawing up blueprints as his offensive coordinator.
NFL-ASSISTANT COACHES
New job for former Bills’ coach
UNDATED (AP) β Former Bears head coach Marc Trestman has been named the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, replacing Gary Kubiak.
Doug Marrone (mah-ROHN’) has joined the Jacksonville Jaguars as assistant head coach and offensive line coach after one season as Buffalo’s head coach.
The New York Jets have hired Chan Gailey as their offensive coordinator.
Vic Fangio becomes the Bears’ defensive coordinator after four seasons in that capacity with San Francisco.
The Redskins hired San Diego linebackers coach Joe Barry, who was once in charge of the only 0-16 defense in NFL history.
Bill Musgrave has been hired as the Raiders offensive coordinator under new head coach Jack Del Rio.
NFL-LIONS
Veteran center no longer wanted
DETROIT (AP) β The agent for Dominic Raiola (ray-OH’-luh) says the veteran center has been informed by the Detroit Lions that he is not part of their plans next season. Raiola has played all 14 of his NFL seasons with Detroit, starting 203 games.
NFL-PRO BOWL
Dalton replaces Rodgers
CINCINNATI (AP) β Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton has been added to the Pro Bowl for the injured Aaron Rodgers. Dalton was a seventh alternate in voting for the Pro Bowl last month. Green Bay lost the NFC championship game to Seattle with Rodgers playing with an injured calf. This will be Dalton’s second trip to the Pro Bowl as he also made it during his 2011 rookie season.
NFL-PRO BOWL
Tougher extra point conditions at Pro Bowl
PHOENIX (AP) β The NFL will continue to experiment with making the extra point attempt harder to convert at this weekend’s Pro Bowl.
The uprights will be at the standard 18.6 feet for field goal attempts but will be squeezed down to 14 feet on extra points. The kick also will be moved back from the 2-yard line to the 15, essentially making it a 33 1/2-yard kick attempt.
The league has looked into making point-after kicks more difficult as kickers have become almost automatic from the short distance. Teams converted 99.3 percent of extra point attempts this season.
The NFL moved extra point attempts during the preseason.
NFL-DEFLATED BALLS
Patriots find humor in league investigation
UNDATED β The NFL says its investigation into whether the New England Patriots used under-inflated footballs in the AFC championship game is ongoing following a report Tuesday night that claimed the league found 11 balls were not properly inflated.
ESPN cited anonymous league sources saying 11 of the Patriots’ 12 allotted game footballs were under-inflated by two pounds. The network did not say how that occurred.
League executive vice president for football operations and former Patriot Troy Vincent told The Associated Press that the investigation is underway, adding that the NFL is still awaiting findings.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady says the investigation is the least of his worries. And tight end Rob Gronkowski tweeted a photo of himself spiking the ball with the words: “WARNING GRONKING MAY CAUSE DEFLATION.”
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-BOWL GAME BRAWL
Memphis, BYU handling bowl brawl discipline internally
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) β Memphis will punish 12 Tigers for their role in the brawl after their double overtime win over Brigham Young at the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl following an internal review. Memphis officials announced that they had identified 12 Tigers who took part in the brawl. BYU said in a statement that punishment of its players is being handled internally.
MLB-ASTROS/RASMUS
Rasmus goes to Astros
HOUSTON (AP) β The Houston Astros have worked out a one-year, $8 million contract with free agent Colby Rasmus. The outfielder hit .225 with 18 homers and 40 RBIs in 104 games for Toronto last season, including 80 starts. He comes to the Astros one day after the team shipped center fielder Dexter Fowler to the Cubs.
MLB-GIANTS
World champs agree with Aoki
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) β The Giants got a good look at outfielder Nori Aoki (ah-OH’-kee) during the World Series when they met and beat the Royals. They apparently liked what they saw as the Giants have come to terms on a one-year, $4.7 million contract with the free agent. Aoki hit .285 with a home run, six triples, 22 doubles and 43 RBIs over 132 games in his lone season with the Royals after two in Milwaukee. He also stole 17 bases.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN-DAY 3
Another busy day of play
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) β The No. 2 seeds won through at the Australian open, but not without some extra effort.
Second seed Maria Sharapova came very close to becoming a second-round upset victim. Sharapova made 51 unforced errors and saved two match points in a narrow escape against No. 150-ranked Alexandra Panova, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
Roger Federer dropped the first set, and asked for medical advice on his sore right pinkie finger, before beating Simone Bolelli 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the third round.
Three-time finalist Andy Murray didn’t let the crowds bother him as he beat Australian Marinko Matosevic 6-1, 6-3, 6-2, while No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov beat Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-7 (10), 6-3, 6-3.
Seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych advanced with a 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-2 win over Austrian qualifier Jurgen Melzer, moving into the third round along with No. 14 Kevin Anderson and No. 24 Richard Gasquet.
Viktor Troicki, banned from tennis for failing to provide a blood sample for a drug test, is making the most of his second chance. After capturing just the second title of his career at the Sydney International last week, he’s now into the third round of the Australian Open after upsetting Leonardo Mayer, the 26th seed from Argentina.
Seventh seeded Eugenie Bouchard’s strong record in Grand Slam tournaments continues. She defeated Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-0, 6-3 in 54 minutes.
Serena and Venus Williams withdrew from their first-round doubles match. Both of the Williams sisters have second-round singles matches tomorrow.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-OHIO STATE-DEAD PLAYER
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) β Police records show an Ohio State University athlete who had just gone through a breakup texted suicidal messages to his ex-girlfriend before he took his life. Twenty-two-year-old wrestler and football scout team member Kosta Karageorge (KOH’-stah KAHR’-ah-johrj) was found in a trash bin Nov. 30.
Records show he texted his girlfriend early on the morning he disappeared, saying he loved her and wanted to talk. When he received responses indicating rejection he replied he was going to kill himself.
