TOP 25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Opening night in men’s hoops
UNDATED (AP) β It was opening night in men’s college basketball, and the top team in the Associated Press poll had an easy time winning its season debut.
Kennedy Meeks poured in 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as North Carolina hammered Temple 91-67 at the Naval Academy. Meeks went 10 for 14 from the floor and sank five of seven free throws in matching his career high for points.
Brice Johnson contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Nate Britt scored 15 for the Tar Heels.
The big stunner was in Madison, Wis. as Garrett Covington hit two fouls shots with 10.2 seconds left to give Western Illinois a 69-67 triumph over the 17th-ranked Badgers, last season’s NCAA finalists. Wisconsin’s Bronson Koenig missed a mid-range jumper with 3 seconds left.
The Armed Forces Classic between No. 9 Gonzaga and the Panthers was canceled at halftime because of slippery conditions on the court at Foster Field House on Okinawa. Pittsburgh was leading 37-35 when the game was stopped.
All but two of the AP’s top-25 teams were on Friday’s schedule, with eighth-ranked Oklahoma and No. 24 Butler off. Here are the rest of the day’s finals:
β Jamal Murray scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half of second-ranked Kentucky’s 78-65 victory against Albany. Derek Willis got Kentucky going with a career-high 14 points, all in the first half.
β Jake Layman scored 16 points and Melo Trimble had 14 as No. 3 Maryland ripped Mount St. Mary’s 80-56. Jared Nickens also scored 11 points for the Terrapins, who outrebounded the Mountaineers 44-20.
β Brannen Greene hit all five of his 3-point attempts and had 18 points as No. 4 Kansas trounced Northern Colorado 109-72. Perry Ellis added 16 points and Wayne Selden Jr. scored 13 for the Jayhawks.
β Fifth-ranked Duke thumped Siena 92-74 as Grayson Allen scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half. Amile Jefferson matched a career high with 19 points and added 12 rebounds to help the blue Devils earn a win in the first round of the 2K Classic.
β Sixth-rated Virginia missed 12 of its first 13 shots before putting together a 24-9 run in the first half of an 86-48 pounding of Morgan State. Mike Tobey had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, while Devon Hall added 13 points.
β The first top-25 team to tip off was No. 7 Iowa State, and the Cyclones struggled in beating Colorado 68-62. Preseason All-American Georges Niang (nee-ANG’) scored 17 points and Abdel Nader had 14 as the Cyclones won their first game under head coach Steve Prohm.
β Ron Baker scored 15 points, while freshmen Landry Shamet and Eric Hamilton each added 13 to carry No. 10 Wichita State’s offense in a 88-63 rout of Charleston Southern. Anton Grady had 12 points for the Shockers, who shot 53.6 percent from the floor in the second half.
β Daniel Ochefu (OH’-sheh-foo) scored 16 points and freshman Jalen Brunson chipped in 12 and four assists to help No. 11 Villanova post a 91-54 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson.
β Ryan Anderson had 18 points and 12 rebounds in his Arizona debut to highlight the 12th-ranked Wildcats’ 79-61 victory over Pacific.
β Matt Costello had 15 points and Denzel Valentine scored 13 in leading No. 13 Michigan State to an 82-55 win over Florida Atlantic.
β Tyrone Wallace scored 20 points and No. 14 Cal shot 51 percent in a 97-65 thrashing of Rice.
β No. 15 Indiana clobbered Eastern Illinois 88-49 as James Blackmon Jr. scored 17 points and Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell added 13.
β Jordan Loveridge hit for 24 points and Kyle Kuzma and Jakob Poeltl each had 23 as No. 16 Utah got by Southern Utah 82-71.
β No. 18 Vanderbilt hammered Austin Peay 80-41 behind Luke Kornet’s 13 points and 13 rebounds.
β Demetrius Jackson scored a career-high 27 points to lead No. 19 Notre Dame to an 87-56 victory over St. Francis of Pennsylvania.
β Sterling Gibbs scored 20 points and Shonn Miller provided 17 and 10 rebounds as No. 20 Connecticut ripped Maine 100-56.
β LSU’s Antonio Blakeney had 22 points and 11 rebounds as the 21st-rated Tigers dumped McNeese State 81-70.
β No. 22 Baylor battered Stephen F. Austin 97-55 as Rico Gathers scored 18 points and Lester Medford had 13 and nine assists.
β Kendall Stephens and Ryan Cline each made four 3-pointers in No. 23 Purdue’s 81-40 laugher against North Carolina A&T.
β Caris LeVert scored 18 points and No. 25 Michigan led from the start in a 70-44 rout of Division II Northern Michigan.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
New contracts for NC State hoops coaches
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) β North Carolina State has handed out new contracts to men’s basketball coach Mark Gottfried and women’s basketball coach Wes Moore. Each deal runs through 2020. Gottfried has led the men’s program to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first four seasons while Moore is entering his third season.
NBA-SCHEDULE
Cavs top Knicks
UNDATED (AP) β The Cleveland Cavaliers sit atop the NBA’s Eastern Conference standings after rallying to earn their eighth straight win.
LeBron James scored 31 points, Mo Williams made a tiebreaking jumper with 41 seconds left as the Cavs downed the Knicks 90-84 in New York. Williams scored Cleveland’s final six points and finished with 20 to help the Cavaliers storm back from an eight-point, fourth-quarter deficit.
Cleveland outscored the Knicks 24-12 in the final period to remain unbeaten since their season-opening loss to Chicago.
Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony scored just four of his team-high 26 points in the second half.
Elsewhere in the NBA:
β Jimmy Butler had 27 points and Pau Gasol (pow gah-SAHL’) added 19 and 13 rebounds in Chicago’s 102-97 win against Charlotte.
β Russell Westbrook had his second straight triple-double with 21 points, a career-high 17 rebounds and 11 assists in Oklahoma City’s 102-85 verdict over winless Philadelphia.
β Zach Randolph capped his 31-point performance by hitting a putback with 0.6 seconds left to give Memphis a 101-100 triumph over Portland.
β Dallas beat the Lakers for the ninth straight time as Zaza Pachulia (pah-CHOOL’-yuh) delivered season highs of 18 points and 16 boards in a 90-82 decision over Los Angeles.
β Danilo Gallinari (gah-lih-NAH’-ree) had 27 points and Will Barton scored a career-high 26 points in lifting Denver past Houston 107-89.
β Isaiah Thomas scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half and added 10 assists as Boston beat Atlanta 106-93.
β Jonas Valanciunas (YOH’-nuhs val-an-CHOO’-nuhs) had 20 points and 10 rebounds in Toronto’s 100-81 win over New Orleans.
β Indiana knocked off Minnesota 107-103 as Paul George scored 29 points and Monta (MAHN’-tay) Ellis added 24 in his best game this season.
β Evan Fournier scored 21 points and the Orlando Magic raced out to a 16-2 lead in a 102-93 triumph against Utah.
β DeMarcus Cousins lit up Brooklyn for 40 points and Rajon Rondo (RAH’-zhahn RAHN’-doh) had a triple-double of 23 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds in Sacramento’s 111-109 victory over the Nets.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-MISSOURI
Pinkel to step down at end of season
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) β Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel is citing health reasons for his decision to retire at the end of the season.
The 63-year-old Pinkel was diagnosed with lymphoma in May and said during his retirement announcement Friday that the turmoil surrounding the Columbia campus had nothing to do with his decision. Pinkel kept his team united when players went on strike last week because of racial tensions on campus.
Pinkel is the winningest coach in school history with a 117-71 record over 15 seasons. His team has won the last two SEC East titles, but is out of contention this year and currently owns a 4-5 record.
NFL-JETS
Surgery for a pair of Jets
NEW YORK (AP) β Two members of the New York Jets have undergone surgery. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had surgery to repair his injured left thumb and running back Zac Stacy had surgery on his broken left ankle.
Coach Todd Bowles says Fitzpatrick is still on track to return for the Jets’ next game at Houston on Nov. 22, but Stacy is out for the season.
MLB-NEWS
3 take qualifying offers
UNDATED (AP) β Orioles catcher Matt Wieters (WEE’-turz) and Dodgers pitcher Brett Anderson joined Houston outfielder Colby Rasmus as the only players to accept qualifying offers rather than remain free agents.
They were among 20 players given the one-year, $15.8 million qualifying offers last week, and the first of 54 players to accept qualifiers in the first four years of baseball’s current collective bargaining agreement. Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy and Padres pitcher Ian Kennedy are among those rejecting the offer before the Friday afternoon deadline.
In other major league news:
β The Boston Red Sox have acquired closer Craig Kimbrel from the San Diego Padres for four prospects: outfielder Manuel Margot, infielders Javier Guerra and Carlos Asuaje, and left-hander Logan Allen. Kimbrel had 39 saves in 43 chances for the Padres this year.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Jackets, Flames pull road upsets
UNDATED (AP) β The Columbus Blue Jackets and Calgary Flames have struggled this season, but they managed to cool off two of the NHL’s hottest teams on Friday.
Pittsburgh had won 10 of its previous 12 games before a 2-1 loss to visiting Columbus. The game was scoreless until Scott Hartnell and Brandon Saad (sahd) scored 1:41 apart midway through the second period.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots and blanked the Penguins until Patric Hornqvist scored with 58 seconds remaining.
The Flames blew a 2-0 lead in the third period before Sean Monahan’s second goal of the night gave Calgary a 3-2 overtime win at Washington. Monahan’s goal at 1:40 of OT came after Jay Beagle knotted the score with 4:48 left in regulation.
Karri Ramo (KAH’-ree RAH’-moh) stopped 36 shots and helped the Flames keep Alex Ovechkin (oh-VEHCH’-kihn) off the scoresheet. Ovechkin hasn’t scored a goal in three games since tying Sergei Fedorov’s all-time NHL record for goals by a Russian-born player.
The Caps lost for just the fifth time in 16 games.
The road team also won the NHL’s two other games :
β Martin Jones handled 26 shots and Joe Pavelski provided the game-winner midway through the second period of San Jose’s 3-2 win at Detroit.
β Frans Nielsen scored a pair of third-period goals and Cal Clutterbuck scored the deciding goal in the New York Islanders’ 4-1 victory at Anaheim.
NASCAR-KENSETH-LOGANO
Kenseth says he’d wreck Logano again.
AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) β Matt Kenseth spoke about his recent on-track retaliation against fellow NASCAR driver Joey Logano, telling The Associated Press that he stands by his actions and would do it again.
Kenseth’s comments to the AP came after he had said Friday he would have handled the payback differently had he known he’d draw such an unprecedented penalty.
Kenseth deliberately wrecked Logano’s car, two races after Logano spun Kenseth while driving to a victory at Kansas that Kenseth needed to continue his championship chances. Kenseth told the AP that he felt like there was a breaking point and that it was about getting the situation fixed and making it stop.
Kenseth also said to the AP that he accepted responsibility for wrecking Logano but insisted he feels no remorse that it potentially ruined Logano’s title chances.
Kenseth received a two-race suspension for the collision.
NASCAR
Johnson takes pole; Kurt Busch has No. 2 spot
AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) β Jimmie Johnson continued to play spoiler to the Chase for the championship contenders by winning the pole for Sunday’s race at Phoenix International Raceway.
Johnson turned a lap at 143.158 mph to nose out Kurt Busch, who was the highest-qualifying driver still eligible for the championship.
Johnson was eliminated from the Chase in the first round before winning last week’s Sprint Cup race at Texas, denying Brad Keselowski (kehs-LOW’-skee) a spot next week in the title-deciding finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Busch is one of seven drivers vying for one of the three remaining championship spots. Jeff Gordon is the only driver locked into the final four.
PGA-OHL CLASSIC
McDowell leads
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico (AP) β Graeme McDowell ran off seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch Friday for an 8-under 63 and a one-shot lead over Derek Fathauer in the PGA’s OHL Classic at Mayakoba.
Fathauer made four birdies over his last seven holes for a 66. Tour rookie Harold Varner III birdied four of his last five holes for a 62 to join Si Woo Kim (64) two shots behind.
LPGA-LORENA OCHOA INVITATIONAL
Lee in front by 1
MEXICO CITY (AP) β Minjee Lee will take a one-stroke lead over four players into weekend play at the LPGA Tour’s Lorena Ochoa Invitational.
Lee is at 6-under through 36 holes, one shot better than second-ranked Inbee Park, defending champion Christina Kim, Angela Stanford and rookie of the year Sei Young Kim. Lee shot a second consecutive 69 to overtake Park for the lead.
OLYMPICS-RUSSIA-DOPING
Russia track and field federation suspended
LONDON (AP) β Russia’s track and field federation has been provisionally suspended by the sport’s governing body. That will keep Russia out of international competition for an indefinite period that could include next year’s Olympics in Brazil.
The suspension was approved by a 22-1 vote during a teleconference of the 27-member council of the IAAF.
IAAF President Sebastian Coe convened the meeting after Russia was accused of widespread, systematic doping in a report released Monday by a World Anti-Doping Agency commission.
SANDUSKY-PENSION
Court reinstates Sandusky’s pension
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) β Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky has had his pension restored by a Pennsylvania court while he continues to serve time in prison for sexually abusing 10 boys. A Commonwealth Court panel ruled unanimously that the State Employees’ Retirement Board wrongly concluded Sandusky was a Penn State employee when he committed the crimes. The panel also ordered the board to pay back interest.
The pension is worth about $4,900 a month to Sandusky and his wife.
