NFL-SAINTS/BEARS
Saints pound Bears to move back into first place
CHICAGO (AP) β The New Orleans Saints are back atop the NFC South following a convincing victory over the hapless Bears in Chicago.
Drew Brees (breez) completed 29 of his 36 passes for 375 yards and three touchdowns as the Saints hammered the Bears 31-15. Brees threw his scoring strikes while New Orleans was building a 21-0 lead that was more than enough against the 5-9 Bears. Josh Hill had two TD receptions and Pierre Thomas caught five passes for 83 yards as the 6-8 Saints moved one win ahead of Carolina for the division lead.
David Hawthorne had three of New Orleans’ seven sacks and the Saints intercepted three of Jay Cutler’s passes to bring his NFL-leading turnover total to 24. Cutler completed 17 of 31 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns, but he couldn’t get the Bears into the end zone until the fourth quarter.
NFL-COWBOYS
Bad news for the Cowboys
UNDATED (AP) β Cowboys running back and NFL rushing leader DeMarco Murray has a broken hand that requires surgery. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones says it is difficult to expect that Murray will be able to play Sunday against Indianapolis.
Murray has 1,687 yards rushing and needs 87 yards to break Emmitt Smith’s franchise record of 1,773 yards. The 10-4 Cowboys need to win both remaining games to ensure the end of a four-year playoff drought. They finish the regular season at Washington after this week’s game against the Colts.
In other NFL news:
β Robert Griffin III is back as the starter for the Washington Redskins. The announcement by coach Jay Gruden (GROO’-den) is the fifth starting quarterback change made by the rookie coach this season.
β Panthers coach Ron Rivera says he’s taking a wait-and-see approach as to whether or not quarterback Cam Newton will play Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. Newton missed the second game of his career yesterday against Tampa Bay after an automobile wreck last week left him with two fractures in his lower back.
β Jaguars’ quarterback Blake Bortles has a sprained right foot and is questionable to play Thursday night against Tennessee. Chad Henne (HEHN’-ee) will start if Bortles can’t go.
β The NFL Players Association has filed a federal lawsuit for Adrian Peterson, asking the court to dismiss an arbitrator’s decision to uphold the NFL’s punishment of the Minnesota running back. Peterson was suspended without pay for the remaining six games of this season by Commissioner Roger Goodell (guh-DEHL’) as a result of the child-abuse case that has kept the six-time Pro Bowl pick out of all but one game this year.
NBA-SCHEDULE
Blazers beat Spurs…Hawks outlast Bulls…Raptors keep conference lead
UNDATED (AP) β The Portland Trail Blazers have opened their season series with the San Antonio Spurs by knocking off the defending NBA champs.
LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard each had double-doubles as the Blazers topped the Spurs 108-95. Aldridge scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while Lillard added 23 points, 10 boards and six assists.
Kawhi (kah-WY’) Leonard had a team-high 21 points for the Spurs, who played without Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili (MAN’-oo jih-NOH’-blee), Tiago (tee-AH’-goh) Splitter and the injured Tony Parker.
Also in the NBA:
β Atlanta won for the 10th time in 11 games as Al Horford scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 93-86 triumph over Chicago. The Hawks led just 87-84 before Horford drained a 19-footer with just under a minute remaining.
β Lou Williams scored 18 points and Kyle Lowry had 17 in Toronto’s third straight win, 95-82 against Orlando. The Raptors lead the Eastern Conference at 19-6.
β Cleveland jumped out to a 21-0 lead before hanging on for a 97-88 win over Charlotte. LeBron James scored 27 points with 13 assists, while Kevin Love added 22 points and 18 rebounds to the Cavaliers’ ninth victory in 11 games.
β Khris Middleton capped his 14-point night by nailing a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Milwaukee a 96-94 win at Phoenix. Brandon Knight had 20 points, including a jumper with 7.2 seconds left before Middleton moved the Bucks back over .500 at 13-12.
β Indiana’s eight-game losing streak is over after Rodney Stuckey scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 110-91 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers. CJ Miles scored 20 for the Pacers, who led by as many as 39.
β Boston battered Philadelphia 105-87 as Kelly Olynyk (OH’-lih-nihk) scored a career-high 30 points and Avery Bradley added 15. The Celtics ended a three-game skid and dropped the 76ers to a league-worst 2-22 overall, 0-13 at home.
β DeAndre Jordan was the star in the Los Angeles Clippers’ 113-91 romp over Detroit, shooting 7 of 9 from the field and finishing with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Blake Griffin delivered 18 points, seven boards and seven assists to help the Clippers halt a two-game skid.
NBA-KINGS-MALONE
Kings sack Michael Malone after less than 2 seasons
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) β The Sacramento Kings are 11-13 through 24 games this season, a four-win improvement over last year. That hasn’t stopped the Kings from firing head coach Michael Malone, citing philosophical differences over the team’s style of play.
General manager Pete D’Alessandro says he decided to make the change because he wants the Kings to play a more free-wheeling offense, which was so successful for the franchise in the early 2000s.
Malone was 39-67 with the Kings.
Assistant coach Tyrone Corbin takes over on an interim basis. Corbin coached the Utah Jazz from 2011 through last season, going 112-146.
Sacramento has lost seven of nine games without star center DeMarcus Cousins, who is out with meningitis.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-HOUSTON/COACH
Source says Cougars close to hiring Buckeyes assistant
HOUSTON (AP) β A person familiar with the situation tells The Associated Press the University of Houston is negotiating with Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman to be its new head coach.
The 39-year-old Herman has been quarterbacks coach and play-caller for Ohio State teams that have gone 36-3 the past three seasons.
The Cougars fired coach Tony Levine last week.
T25 MEN’S BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Okafor leads Blue Devils…Zags rip Texas Southern
UNDATED (AP) β It hasn’t taken Jahlil Okafor (jah-LIHL’ OH’-kah-fohr) long to break a record with the Duke Blue Devils.
Okafor set a school freshman record with 20 rebounds while also scoring a season-high 25 points to lead the second-ranked Blue Devils past Elon 75-62. He had the Blue Devils’ first 20-rebound game since Elton Brand in 1998.
Amile Jefferson added 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Justise Winslow had 12 points to help Duke improve to 9-0.
Monday’s other top-25 game had eighth-ranked Gonzaga ripping Texas Southern 94-54 to improve to 10-1. Kyle Wiltjer scored 21 points and Domantas Sabonis (sah-BOH’-nihs) added 16 in the Bulldogs’ 32 straight home victory.
T25 BASKETBALL POLLS
Kentucky and South Carolina continue to lead the way
UNDATED (AP) β Kentucky’s Wildcats remain the unanimous choice as No. 1 in The Associated Press Top-25 men’s basketball poll. The 11-0 ‘Cats got all 65 first-place votes for the second straight week.
Duke, Arizona, Louisville and Wisconsin round out the top five, followed by Virginia, Villanova, Gonzaga, Texas and Kansas.
The only poll newcomer is No. 25 Michigan State, ranked again after a one-week absence. Northern Iowa dropped out after a double-overtime loss to VCU.
For the women, South Carolina stays No. 1 in the AP poll for the fourth straight week after a 62-point win in its lone game last week.
The first 14 teams remained unchanged with, second-ranked UConn followed by Texas, Texas A&M and Notre Dame. North Carolina, Stanford, Kentucky, Baylor and Louisville round out the first 10.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Pens top East, Isles right behind
UNDATED (AP) β The Pittsburgh Penguins stayed atop the Eastern Conference standings, while helping the New York Islanders move into second place.
Steve Downie scored the game-winning goal on a power play and had an assist as the Penguins beat Tampa Bay 4-2. Marc-Andre Fleury turned back 28 shots to help the Pens improve to 3-0-2 in their last five games.
Bryan Rust and Brian Dumoulin (DOO’-moh-lihn) scored their first NHL goals in the Penguins’ 10th straight win over the Lightning.
Pittsburgh leads the East with 44 points, two more than the Isles.
The Islanders slipped ahead of the Lightning and Detroit in the East by turning a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2, shootout victory over New Jersey. Josh Bailey started and ended the Islanders’ comeback, scoring early in the second period and again in the fifth round of the shootout. Matt Martin also tallied for the Isles, who are tied with Anaheim and Chicago for the NHL lead with 21 wins.
Also in the NHL, Buffalo blew a 3-1 lead before posting its fourth straight win, beating Ottawa 5-4 on Matt Moulson’s shootout goal. Brian Flynn tied the game for the Sabres with 3:29 remaining.
NHL-EDMONTON
Oilers dump coach
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) β Dallas Eakins (AY’-kihnz) has been fired as coach of the Edmonton Oilers, one day after losing for the 15th time in their last 16 games.
General manager Craig MacTavish will coach the team until the job is given to Todd Nelson, who is being promoted to interim head coach from Edmonton’s AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City.
Edmonton is in the Western Conference basement with 19 points through 31 games. The Oilers went 36-63-14 under Eakins in parts of two seasons, including 7-19-5 this year.
MLB-NATIONALS
Report: New deal for Harper
WASHINGTON (AP) β The Washington Nationals and outfielder Bryce Harper have come to terms on a $7.5 million, two-year contract, thus avoiding a grievance hearing scheduled for this week. A person familiar with the agreement says Harper will receive $2.5 million in 2015 and $5 million in 2016.
The 2012 NL Rookie of the Year had been scheduled to have a $1 million salary in 2015, but the Major League Baseball Players Association filed a grievance on his behalf over whether he could void the final season of the $9.9 million, five-year contract he signed in 2010.
MLB-NEWS
Yanks bring back Headley
UNDATED (AP) β The New York Yankees have re-signed third baseman Chase Headley to a four-year, $52 million contract, leaving Alex Rodriguez without a position.
Headley said the Yankees assured him the third base job was his after hitting .262 with six homers and 17 RBIs in 191 at-bats for New York last season. Headley came over to the Yanks from San Diego last summer while Rodriguez served his one-year suspension for violations of baseball’s drug agreement and labor contract.
In other baseball news:
β Infielder Jed Lowrie and the Houston Astros have agreed to a $23 million, three-year contract. The switch-hitting Lowrie had 35 home runs and 155 RBIs over the last three seasons
β A person with direct knowledge of the deal says veteran reliever Jason Motte (maht) has agreed to a one-year, $4.5 million contract with the Chicago Cubs. He went 1-0 with a 4.68 ERA in 29 games with the Cardinals after recovering from ligament replacement surgery.
β The White Sox finalized a $42 million, three-year contract with free agent Melky Cabrera. The 30-year-old left fielder hit .301 with 16 homers and 73 RBIs in 139 games with Toronto last season.
β And Kansas City has worked out a one-year, $11 million package with outfielder Alex Rios, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The 34-year-old Rios hit .280 this year with four homers and 54 RBIs.
NASCAR-VICKERS
Surgery for driver
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β NASCAR driver Brian Vickers underwent a second surgery on Saturday to repair a hole in his heart. The procedure was done after tests revealed his body was rejecting the artificial patch he received in a 2010 procedure to fix the hole in his heart.
The recovery period will cause him to miss the start of the 2015 season.
SOCCER-BEASLEY
Beasley retires from international competition
CHICAGO (AP) β DaMarcus Beasley is retiring from the U.S. national team after 14 years.
The 32-year-old Beasley was the first American to play in four World Cups. He scored 17 goals and made 121 international appearances.
