PANTHERS-WILLIAMS
Williams tells TV station Panthers are releasing him
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams says the team has decided to release him after nine seasons.
Williams told Charlotte television station WBTV Monday that he was informed of the decision in a meeting last week with general manager Dave Gettleman and coach Ron Rivera.
Panthers spokesman Steve Drummond confirmed the meeting, but says the team hasn’t released Williams at this point.
It’s possible the team could designate Williams, the franchise’s all-time leading rusher, as a post-June 1 cut. That would save about $2 million under the salary cap.
Williams told WBTV that he was being cut because the team doesn’t run the ball enough to justify keeping him and Jonathan Stewart on the roster.
Williams missed 10 games last season due to injury and ran for just 219 yards.
MORGAN ST-NC A&T
NC A&T gets by Morgan State in overtime, 60-57
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) β Ahmad Abdullah scored 14 points, including two free throws to force overtime and another to close the game, and North Carolina A&T beat Morgan State 60-57 on Monday night.
Morgan State’s Blake Bozeman hit a deep 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down for a 53-51 lead. Abdullah drove the length of the floor, got fouled, and hit both free throws with 5.8 seconds left to tie it at 53-all. NC A&T was whistled for a foul at midcourt but Morgan State missed the front end of a one-and-one, forcing overtime.
Andrew Hampton hit a baseline jumper to tie the game at 57 for Morgan State. James Whitaker hit two free throws for a 59-57 lead.
Bruce Beckford had 13 points and nine rebounds for North Carolina State (7-21, 4-9 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference).
Bozeman led Morgan State (7-21, 5-9) with 25 points.
The last five meetings between the two schools have been decided by three points or less.
T25-DUKE-OKAFOR
Coach Krzyzewski: Okafor’s sprained ankle improving
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) β Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski says center Jahlil Okafor’s sprained left ankle is improving.
Krzyzewski said Monday that he hopes the 6-foot-11 freshman can play at Virginia Tech on Wednesday night.
He says Okafor was not wearing a protective boot Sunday when he arrived for treatment.
Krzyzewski says the swelling is down to the point that “you could see definition” in the ankle, and he hoped Okafor could “run around a little bit” Monday during practice.
Okafor injured his ankle late in the first half of last week’s overtime win against rival North Carolina, but played the entire second half and overtime. He was held out of the Clemson win Saturday and watched from the bench in a sport coat and the boot.
He leads the team in scoring, rebounding and shooting percentage.
HOWARD-SC STATE
Big second half lifts Howard over South Carolina St., 75-65
ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) β James Carlton and James Miller each scored 13 second-half points to help Howard beat South Carolina State 75-65 Monday night.
Carlton made 8 of 13 field goals, finishing with 21 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Miller scored 19 on 8-of-12 shooting and James Daniel III added 16 points β going 10-for-10 from the free throw line β for Howard (15-13, 9-5 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference).
Howard trailed 31-27 at halftime but caught fire in the second half, scoring 48 points on 16-of-24 (66.7 percent) shooting.
Carlton hit a 3 to open the second half and, after a South Carolina State’s Patrick Kirksey made a layup, Howard took the lead for good during a 10-1 run.
Carlton’s layup with 5:12 remaining gave the Bison their biggest lead, 61-42.
Greg Mortimer paced the Bulldogs (10-19, 7-7), who made just 12 of 22 free throws, with 17 points.
T25-COLLEGE BKB POLL
Kentucky unanimous No. 1 in AP poll for 4th straight week
UNDATED (AP) – Kentucky is the unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 for the fourth straight week.
The Wildcats (27-0) received all 65 first-place votes from a 65-member media panel Monday after routing Tennessee and Auburn last week.
Virginia remained No. 2, followed by Gonzaga, Duke, Wisconsin, Villanova and Arizona. It’s the first time the top seven have remained the same for six straight weeks since 1992-93.
Northern Iowa moved into the top 10 for the first time in school history, sliding in behind No. 8 Kansas and No. 9 Notre Dame.
San Diego State returned to the poll at No. 24, and No. 25 Providence was ranked for the first time since the final poll of 2003-04.
Ohio State and Oklahoma State dropped out.
NASCAR-SHR-REGAN SMITH
Stewart-Haas sticks with fill-in Regan Smith in Atlanta
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (AP) β Stewart-Haas Racing is sticking with Regan Smith in place of suspended driver Kurt Busch.
SHR made the announcement Monday, one day after Smith drove the No. 41 Chevrolet to a 16th-place finish in the Daytona 500. Smith will be behind the wheel for Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It will be his seventh Sprint Cup Series start at the track.
The 2008 Cup Series rookie of the year, Smith also will continue driving full time in the Xfinity Series.
NASCAR suspended Busch last week after a Delaware judge said the 2004 champion almost surely choked and beat his former girlfriend at Dover International Speedway last fall. Chevrolet suspended ties with Busch, but SHR has not decided who will drive at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next week.
