Sports News Blog @newzblogz.com

There is so much versatility in the game today, you will always be able to fill in holes late in the draft no matter which direction the early stages have taken you.

In the old days, maybe you concentrated on power in the outfield and speed in the infield. Heck, you might have won championships with that philosophy.

But nowadays, you have second basemen hitting 30 homers and catchers batting .330. And productive players at first and third base are as plentiful as ever.

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"They trap everything," KU sophomore Brandon Rush said of the Salukis' full-court pressure defense. "It's kind of different than any other team we play. It makes every possession more valuable and (makes it important to) not turn over the ball."

Rush said the Jayhawks have become familiar with SIU's tactics over the past couple days, but acknowledged he was in the dark about the Salukis at this time last week.

"I didn't know anything about them. I watched them (on TV) a couple times, but I didn't know we were going to play them so I really didn't pay attention to them," Rush said. "I liked their pressure defense and how they attacked the offensive glass."

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"I need to shoot more next year," Anna Marchbanks said while stroking 15-foot jumpers while wearing a pair of white flats that offer no traction.This from the girl who averaged 20 points per game."I only shot once or twice a game," she said while swishing shot after shot with a bigger boys basketball.Her rebounder is puzzled.Eventually, the junior from McKay High School clarifies that she needs to shoot more from farther away, not just her trademark rebound basket."She has a nice jump shot, and ...

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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Kobe Bryant denied Wednesday that he has contacted Texas freshman Kevin Durant.

"I've never spoken to him," Bryant told The Orange County Register after the Lakers' practice. "I've never seen him. Obviously he's a phenomenal talent. I've watched him play on TV a couple of times. But I don't know him at all."

A source with the Texas basketball team told The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday that Bryant called Durant on behalf of Nike and indicated the shoe company was prepared to offer Durant a lucrative endorsement deal.

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One day after he nearly totaled his Mercedes in a traffic accident, the Giants infielder strained his groin while running down the first base line Wednesday and is expected to miss as much as a week.

Aurilia was hustling in a bid to keep from grounding into a triple play and injured himself as he stepped on first base in the first inning of the Giants' 10-9 exhibition loss to the Chicago White Sox. He beat the throw and was replaced after taking second base on Ray Durham's single.

"You hate to see it happen this late in the spring," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Richie was playing well."

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SAN ANTONIO – Based on seeding, Texas A&M is the third-most likely team to advance from the South Regional to the Final Four. But with the regional being played in the Aggies' home state at the Alamodome and the team boasting several qualities considered critical to NCAA Tournament success, A&M has become a fashionable Final Four pick.

Could the Aggies really make the Final Four just three years after going 0-16 in the Big 12? Fans know all about senior point guard Acie Law's clutch play and leadership, about the home court advantage, about A&M's tough-minded defense and experience.

NCAA Tournament

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Recent NFL troublemakers such as Titans cornerback Pacman Jones may face discipline soon after Commissioner Roger Goodell unveils the league's revised personal conduct policy to team owners next week."The commissioner has the disciplinary authority to deal with these matters," NFL vice president of public relations Greg Aiello said Wednesday. "He's looking to develop an overall, comprehensive and more effective program. As he puts it, one negative incident is too many for him."

The revised policy, which will be presented to owners on Tuesday at the league's annual meetings in Phoenix, is designed to better police players such as Jones and Chicago Bears lineman Tank Johnson, and teams like the Cincinnati Bengals.Johnson was recently sentenced to four months in jail for violating his probation in a gun case. The Bengals have had nine players arrested in the last year.Jones, however, seems to have been the central figure in recent discussions around the league about off-t...

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All the big boys sent the mid-majors packing over on the men's side of the NCAA Tournament. Cinderella is dancing with abandon in the women's half of the NCAAs, though.

Women's NCAA Tournament

Blog | Bracket

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SAN ANTONIO – Memphis coach John Calipari, whose teams haven't always been known for their mental toughness, appeared to go to work on the psyche of Texas A&M coaches and players on Wednesday.

Calipari was asked about being the No. 2 seed in a regional semifinal tonight in the Alamodome in which his third-seeded opponent was expected to have more than 20,000 fans.

"It's a disadvantage, there's no question," Calipari said. "They're going to have 30,000 fans here."

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All season long they donned grey T-shirts that read: "Defend the Hill.''

On Saturday, the Livonia Churchill girls' volleyball team already snapped up new ones proclaiming "State Champions.''

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Mostly, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said, his relationship with former mentor and UCLA-rival coach Ben Howland is about the other things.

The things that matter.

Such as last April, when Dixon's younger sister, Army women's basketball coach Maggie Dixon, collapsed and died due to a malfunctioning valve in her heart.

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Hart's shot from the baseline bounced twice on the side of the rim before falling in.

Corey Maggette scored 22 points and Elton Brand had 21 points and eight rebounds for Los Angeles, which moved into the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference.

Milwaukee, which trailed by 22 points late in the third quarter, got 27 points and five rebounds from Michael Redd. It was his fifth straight game with at least 25 points.

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NEW YORK - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could announce new initiatives Tuesday that will allow him to impose harsher and quicker discipline for players who get into trouble off the field.

League spokesman Greg Aiello said Wednesday during a conference call that Goodell could use his first full league meeting, to be held next week in Phoenix, to address the arrests and other off-field episodes that plagued the league in the last year.

They include the arrests of nine members of the Cincinnati Bengals; 10 encounters with the police by Tennessee's Adam "Pacman" Jones; the four-month jail sentence imposed this week on Chicago's Tank Johnson on weapons charges; and other run-ins with the law by NFL players.

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Dan Fife and his Clarkston boys basketball team took a different route to Saginaw Valley State University Tuesday than they had in the previous four years to that site. The drive home was still deja vu for the Wolves.

For the fifth straight year and for the eighth time in 12 seasons, Clarkston saw its season come to an end in the Class A quarterfinals round.

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TOKYO -- After winning the European Championships and all five other major competitions he entered, Brian Joubert became the first Frenchman in 42 years to capture the world title.

"It's been a great season," Joubert said Thursday after watching hometown favorite Daisuke Takahashi bring the house down with the best free skate of the night but fall short of the lead.

U.S. hopefuls Evan Lysacek, the new national champion, and Johnny Weir, his predecessor, finished fifth and eighth, respectively.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. Ripping through Conference USA was one thing, but the Memphis Tigers are with the big boys now.Memphis meets Texas A and M in the N-C-A-A regional semifinals in San Antonio on Thursday.The Tigers own the longest winning streak in the country with 24 straight, but doubters point to the weak competition they faced in the regular season, particularly in Conference USA.Memphis beat only three teams in the regular season that also advanced to the tourney ---Kentucky, Jackson State and ...

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The bad news keeps coming for the Chicago Cubs' once-dynamic duo of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.

For the second straight year, the oft-injured veteran pitchers could start the season on the disabled list.

The 29-year-old Wood, coming back from a torn right rotator cuff, threw 25 pitches off a mound Tuesday at the Cubs' spring training complex in Mesa, Ariz. He strained his right triceps on March 11 against Milwaukee, and it's unclear whether he will be ready for the start of the season.

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Princeton coach Joe Scott will take over as head coach at the University of Denver.

"Joe Scott spent three years as the head coach at Princeton and gave a lot of blood, sweat and tears to Princeton basketball. Unfortunately, it might not have worked out the way he had hoped," Princeton athletic director Gary Walters said in a statement Tuesday night. "We wish him the best at Denver."

LocalLinks

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DENVER - Former Indianapolis Colts receiver Brandon Stokley has agreed to a one-year free agent deal with the Denver Broncos.Stokley's agent, Rick Smith, confirmed the deal Tuesday. Smith didn't reveal how much the deal was worth, and the Broncos declined to comment on the agreement.The Broncos also signed unrestricted free agent defensive tackle Alvin McKinley to a four-year contract Tuesday.Stokley, who was injured much of last season, was released March 2 by the Colts. He also visited New Orl...

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PITTSBURGH - The unthinkable upset not only seemed possible, it was beginning to look likely. Notre Dame sensed it was happening, and North Carolina's players were looking tentative and worried.

And then the Tar Heels staged a game-saving 15-0 rally that came out of nowhere and saved the season of one of the prime contenders for the NCAA women's championship.

LaToya Pringle led the frantic comeback and Ivory Latta made six free throws in the final minute as top-seeded North Carolina avoided the upset and rallied to defeat Notre Dame 60-51 Tuesday night in the second round of the NCAA women's tournament.

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TORONTO The Toronto Maple Leafs have pulled into a tie with Carolina and Montreal for eighth place in the East by downing the visiting New Jersey Devils 2-to-1.Mats Sundin (suhn-DEEN') set up goals by Kyle Wellwood and Nik Antropov (AN'-troh-pahv) as the Leafs prevented the Devils from expanding their Atlantic Division lead.Wellwood opened the scoring with a power-play goal late in the first period. Antropov made it 2-to-0 in the third with help from Sundin's 900th career point.Andrew Raycroft m...

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Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma's halftime message to his trailing team was calm and simple. "If you want to go to regional, you've got to defend the 3, and you've got to be smart," Auriemma said.

The top-seeded Huskies responded after the break with a 14-2 run to erase a 46-42 second-half deficit and pulled away from there, routing No. 9 Wisconsin-Green Bay 94-70 in the second round of the Fresno Regional.

The win snapped a 26-game winning streak for the Phoenix, the longest in the nation.

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. Carmelo Anthony scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter of the Denver Nuggets' fifth straight win, a 94-to-90 triumph at New Jersey.Allen Iverson added 20 points, including a clinching free throw in the final seconds to help the Nuggets win at New Jersey for the first time since 2000.Marcus Camby and Steve Blake each had ten points for the Nuggets, who had been 0-and-21 when scoring fewer than 99 points this season.Vince Carter had 29 points and nine assists for th...

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PHILADELPHIA - Olli Jokinen and the Florida Panthers can't afford a letdown, even against the worst team in the NHL.

Jokinen broke a second-period tie, and Nathan Horton and Juraj Kolnik added late goals to lead Florida to a 4-1 victory over Philadelphia on Tuesday night that completed the Panthers' first four-game season sweep of the Flyers.

David Booth also scored for Florida, which won for the fourth time in six games and is trying to get back in the playoff race.

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The Washington Redskins on Tuesday parted with safety Adam Archuleta, who rarely got off the bench the second half of last season.

An official within the NFL has told The Associated Press that the Redskins have sent Archuleta to the Chicago Bears for a six-round draft pick. He will be reunited with Bears head coach Lovie Smith, who was his defensive coordinator at St. Louis.

Archuleta languished on the bench despite having the richest contract ever given a safety.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. Gerald Wallace and Adam Morrison led the Charlotte Bobcats to a 108-to-100 win over Cleveland, ending the Cavaliers' eight-game winning streak.Wallace had 27 points and eleven rebounds to help the Bobcats end a two-game skid. Morrison hit a tiebreaking three-pointer with two-15 remaining before Raymond Felton added a driving layup to make it 101-to-96 in the final minute.Walter Hermann scored a career-high 19 points for Charlotte, including a three-pointer and two free throws in ...

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EAST LANSING, Mich. – Don't tell Bowling Green it's only a mid-major.

Seventh-seed Bowling Green moved into the NCAA tournament's round of 16 for the first time in school history, holding off a furious rally to edge No. 2 seed Vanderbilt 59-56 in the second round of the Greensboro Regional on Tuesday night.

Amber Flynn scored 19 for the Mid-American Conference champion Falcons, who face No. 3 seed Arizona State on Saturday.

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NEW YORK Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard scored 24 points apiece as the Dallas Mavericks pulled away for a 92-to-77 triumph at New York.Howard also had ten rebounds for the Mavericks, who improved to 2-and-0 on their six-game road trip. Jason Terry finished with 15 points to help the Mavericks reach the 55-win mark for the third straight season.The Knicks couldn't overcome the Mavericks' 53-percent shooting and lost for the third time in four games. Eddy Curry contributed 22 points and 12 rebounds...

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. Tayshaun Prince scored 30 points and the Detroit Pistons halted a three-game home losing streak by crushing Philadelphia 96-to-75.Richard Hamilton added 18 points for the Pistons, including a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.The game was the first between the teams since Chris Webber signed with the Pistons after being waived by Philadelphia in January. Webber finished with nine points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes as Detroit improved to 22-and-7 since he moved int...

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ASHBURN, Va. | Adam Archuleta's tumultuous time with the Washington Redskins ended tonight when he was traded to the Bears for a sixth-round draft pick, The Associated Press has learned.Archuleta, who languished on the bench most of last season despite having the richest contract ever given a safety, will be reunited in Chicago with coach Lovie Smith, his former defensive coordinator with the St. Louis Rams.The trade was confirmed by an official within the league who spoke on condition of anonymity because the teams do not plan to announce it until Wednesday.

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Shaver Hansen went 5-for-5 with six RBIs and scored four runs as the Baylor Bears defeated Texas Southern in a 22-1 rout Tuesday night.

Hansen homered in the second and had two RBI singles in an 11-run eighth inning for Baylor (13-10). Paul Miles had three RBIs and Beamer Weems and Aaron Miller each had two RBIs for the Bears.

Baylor got 23 hits off four Texas Southern pitchers.

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Frank Young scored 25 points, including 14 straight in the second half, and West Virginia defeated North Carolina State 71-66 on Tuesday night to advance to the NIT semifinals.

Young set the single-season school record with his first 3-pointer, then buried five more, including three in the last six minutes to help West Virginia advance to its first NIT semifinal since 1981. Young has 107 3-pointers for the year, eclipsing the 101 by Chris Leonard in 1992.

The Mountaineers play South Region top seed Mississippi State in the semifinals on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

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EAST LANSING, Mich. A taste of Vanderbilt's own medicine proved fatal for the Commodores.No. 7-seeded Bowling Green, showing off its offensive weaponry that had been compared to Vanderbilt's, with an emphasis on 3-point shooting, upset the No. 2-seeded Commodores 59-56 Tuesday night in an NCAA Tournament second-round game at Michigan State's Breslin Center before an announced crowd of 8,056.

When asked about what it was that Bowling Green did to pretty much shut down the Commodores on offense, Vandy Coach Melanie Balcomb said. "I don't know; all I know is what we did. Our spacing was not good; we took too quick a shots. They did a good job of making our drivers shoot from the outside. Our shooters did not get open looks. They did a real good job personnel-wise on us."Vandy, which trailed by 10 or more points much of the second half, rallied and managed to cut Bo...

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU is losing Glen Davis a year early.

He plans to skip his senior season and enter the NBA draft after averaging 17.7 points and 10.4 rebounds for the Tigers this season.

Davis and Shaquille O'Neal are the only LSU players to have career totals of over 1,500 points, 900 rebounds and 100 blocks.

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EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Playing at home is no advantage when facing Rutgers.

The fourth-seeded Scarlet Knights beat Michigan State 70-57 Tuesday night on the Spartans' own court in the second round of the Greensboro Regional.

"Since we were the higher seed, we just listened to the fans and thought they were cheering for us," Rutgers guard Dee Dee Jernigan.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. Gerald Wallace scored 27 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as Charlotte roared back to snap Cleveland's eight-game winning streak, 108-100, in overtime.

The Bobcats dominated the extra frame with a stingy defense, holding the Cavs to just six points. Both teams found scoring hard to come by early until rookie Adam Morrison rose up and drained a long three with 2:16 left. The bomb gave Charlotte a 99-96 edge.

The Bobcats then continued to clamp down on the defensive end and Raymond Felton really put the pressure on by driving down the heart of the lane for a layup and a 101-96 advantage with just 48 seconds left.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The locker room was quiet and LeBron James was accepting blame — not what the Cleveland Cavaliers planned heading into Wednesday's showdown with NBA-leading Dallas.

Gerald Wallace had 27 points and 11 rebounds, Adam Morrison hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime and the Charlotte Bobcats stunned Cleveland 108-100 on Tuesday night to snap the Cavaliers' eight-game winning streak.

Cleveland, which had been nearly flawless in its winning streak, fell apart down the stretch against one of the NBA's worst teams, blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead.

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PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Unaccustomed to playing an early round NCAA women's game on an opposing home court, Tennessee needed a big game from its best player to preserve the Lady Vols' perfect record in the first two rounds of the tournament. Candace Parker gave them exactly that, wearing out persistent Pittsburgh at both ends of the court with 30 points, 12 rebounds and a series of rally halting plays that carried the Vols to a 68-54 victory Tuesday night and the NCAA round of 16 for a 26th conse...

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STARKVILLE, Miss. - Somebody finally solved the riddle of how to neutralize Florida State's Al Thornton.

Mississippi State forced him to the bench with early foul trouble, then shouldered its way into the NIT semifinals with a frenetic 86-71 win over Florida State on Tuesday night.

"We went at him, forced him to guard us and got some calls," Mississippi State coach Rich Stansbury said.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. The Minnesota Wild have moved close to the Northwest Division lead with their team-record seventh straight win, a 3-to-2 decision over Phoenix.Marian Gaborik (GAB'-uh-rihk) and Pavol Demitra (deh-MEE'-truh) each had a goal and an assist while the Wild grabbed a 3-to-0 lead. Todd White also scored for the Wild, who are within two points of Vancouver following their team-record 43rd victory of the season.The Coyotes cut their deficit on power-play goals by Brendan Bell and Bill Thomas in the first ten minutes of the final period.Phoenix has dropped four in a row.

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BLUFFTON, Ohio — Bluffton University will play baseball this season despite the deaths of five players who were killed when the team bus toppled off an overpass in Atlanta.

"It's important they get back on the field and do what they love," athletic director Phill Talavinia said Tuesday.

School president James Harder said the players met daily the last week to talk about whether to play. More than anything, he said, they were concerned about the feelings of the families who lost sons. No one objected.

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Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma's halftime message to his trailing team was calm and simple.

"If you want to go to regional, you've got to defend the 3, and you've got to be smart," Auriemma said.

The top-seeded Huskies responded after the break with a 14-2 run to erase a 46-42 second-half deficit and pulled away from there, routing No. 9 Wisconsin-Green Bay 94-70 in the second round of the Fresno Regional.

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DENVER - Former Indianapolis Colts receiver Brandon Stokley has agreed to a one-year free agent deal with the Denver Broncos.

Stokley's agent, Rick Smith, confirmed the deal Tuesday. Smith didn't reveal how much the deal was worth, and the Broncos declined to comment on the agreement.

The Broncos also signed unrestricted free agent defensive tackle Alvin McKinley to a four-year contract Tuesday.

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HOUSTON — Texas A&M's Ben Feltner went 3-for-5 and scored an unearned run on a Rice error in the 11th inning to give the Aggies a 10-9 win on Tuesday night.

Reliever Kirkland Rivers (1-1) picked up the win, giving up one hit and striking out two as he worked two scoreless innings to finish out the game for Texas A&M (21-3).

Rice (17-8) trailed 9-7 going into the eighth inning, but scored two unearned runs, on an error and a walk, to tie the game at 9-9.

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TOKYO ? France's Brian Joubert took the lead in the men's event while other top contenders fell and stumbled in a tension-filled short program Wednesday at the World Figure Skating Championships.

Joubert scored 83.64 points, followed by Canada's Jeff Buttle in second with 79.90 points. Japan's Daisuke Takahashi was next at 74.51, ahead of former American champion Johnny Weir at 74.26.

Evan Lysacek, who ended Weir's three-year run as national champion, was fifth with 73.49, stumbling on a quad toe loop, while two-time world champion Stephane Lambiel was sixth with 72.70.

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DENVER — Princeton coach Joe Scott will take over as head coach at the University of Denver, Princeton's athletic director confirmed Tuesday night.

"Joe Scott spent three years as the head coach at Princeton and gave a lot of blood, sweat and tears to Princeton basketball. Unfortunately, it might not have worked out the way he had hoped," athletic director Gary Walters said in a written statement. "We wish him the best at Denver."

Telephone messages left by The Associated Press on Scott's cell phone were not immediately returned.

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Sneaker deal could be deciding factor if Durant is one-and-done

12:49 AM CDT on Wednesday, March 21, 2007

E-mail chipbrown@dallasnews.com

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WACO, Texas – Shaver Hansen went 5-for-5 with six RBIs and scored four runs as the Baylor Bears defeated Texas Southern in a 22-1 rout Tuesday night.

Hansen homered in the second and had two RBI singles in an 11-run eighth inning for Baylor (13-10). Paul Miles had three RBIs and Beamer Weems and Aaron Miller each had two RBIs for the Bears.

Baylor got 23 hits off four Texas Southern pitchers.

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NEW YORK ? Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard each scored 24 points, and the Dallas Mavericks hit the 55-win mark for the third straight season by beating the New York Knicks 92-77 Tuesday night.

Jason Terry added 15 points for the Mavericks, who pulled away from the banged-up Knicks early in the second half and improved the NBA's best record to 55-11. They have won three in a row after losing consecutive games for the first time since starting 0-4.

"We can score with the best of them," Nowitzki said. "I think even though we're a slower team now than we used to be with (Don Nelson), defensive-minded, we still have a lot of offense out there."

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Kerry Wood and Mark Prior could start the season on the Chicago Cubs' disabled list. Wood, coming back from a torn right rotator cuff, threw 25 pitches off a mound Tuesday at the Cubs' spring-training complex in Mesa, Ariz. On March 11, he strained his right triceps while pitching against Milwaukee, and it's unclear whether he will be ready for the start of the season. "Until we get him back out there and get him on a schedule, you just don't know," pitching coach Larry Rothschild said. "Hopeful...

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WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - The Cleveland Indians are taking a gamble on a sportscaster fresh out of prison for betting on sports.

SportsTime Ohio, a 24-hour TV network owned by the club, announced Tuesday that it has hired longtime local radio personality Bruce Drennan to host a weekday talk show. Drennan was released from a federal prison in Morgantown, W.Va., on March 2 after serving a five-month sentence on tax fraud.

In July 2006, Drennan was sentenced after pleading guilty for failing to pay between $12,500 and $30,000 in taxes on gambling winnings. From 2000 to 2004, Drennan placed bets on baseball games with five or six bookmakers daily with some bets up to $5,400, according to the plea agreement he signed.

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TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Jeff Weaver looked more like the guy who was dumped by the Los Angeles Angels last July than the postseason star who helped the St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series last October. Weaver gave up consecutive homers to Chris Young and Stephen Drew in a five-run first inning Tuesday as the Seattle Mariners lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-1. In all, Weaver allowed six runs, seven hits and two walks in four innings. He has an 8.31 ERA, allowing 12 runs and 18 hits in 1...

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Maryland's Laura Harper, left, and Marissa Coleman pursue Mississippi's Alliesha Easley as Easley drives down the floor in the first half of their NCAA second-round game Tuesday in Hartford, Conn. Mississippi made 15 steals and forced 29 turnovers to send defending NCAA champion Maryland packing, 89-78.

HARTFORD, Conn. – Maryland fell into Mississippi's trap and the defending NCAA champion never got out.

Mississippi used its stifling defense to steal the ball 15 times and force 29 Maryland turnovers and the Rebels upset the No. 2 seed Terrapins 89-78 in the Dayton Regional on Tuesday night.

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HOUSTON (AP) -- Even with two fingers taped together, Yao Ming showed a deft shooting touch Tuesday night to lead the Houston Rockets past the Indiana Pacers. His dribbling was another story. Yao had 32 points and 14 rebounds and went 12-for-13 from the free-throw line to help the Rockets to an 86-76 victory. But he also coughed up six turnovers, most of them Indiana steals coming after Yao tried to put the ball on the floor. "The way to cut down turnovers is to limit the dribble," said Yao,...

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CALGARY, Alberta The Detroit Red Wings lost to the Flames in Calgary, 2-to-1.Kristian Huselius scored a goal and set up another for the Flames, who snapped a three-game losing streak last (Tuesday) night.Pavel Datsyuk scored the lone goal for Detroit, which dropped both games on a Western trip that started in Vancouver.Daymond Langkow also scored for Calgary.Detroit goalie Dominic Hasek made 21 saves, while the Flames' Miikka Kiprusoff made 30.The Red Wings host the Columbus Blue Jackets tomorrow (Thursday) night.

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He's constantly hounded by autograph seekers. Fans everywhere acknowledge him as one of the top players for Leones del Caracas, one of the two most popular winter league teams in a country that is rabid about baseball.

So it's a bit of an adjustment for Scutaro when he arrives in the Bay Area each spring, walks into a grocery store and goes about his business uninterrupted. "I'm always signing autographs everywhere (in Venezuela)," the A's infielder said. "When I come here it's kind of rest for my hand a little bit."

Unlike in his native land, Scutaro flies under the radar on the Major League Baseball celebrity scale. It's easy to overlook his value despite the fact that he's been one of the A's most indispensable partsover the past three seasons.

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FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -- How much would you pay to cook up a few steaks on a fancy grill? If you buy it from Manny Ramirez, prepare to shell out more than $20,000 - but it comes with an autographed baseball. The Red Sox quirky slugger with the $160 million contract is selling on eBay a JENN-AIR grill he said he bought for about $4,000. "Manny, get over here now," teammate David Ortiz bellowed when he saw a television report about Ramirez's move into the luxury appliance trade before Tuesday ...

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The Dallas Mavericks are loaded. The New York Knicks are short-handed.

Not surprisingly, the result was lopsided.

Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard each scored 24 points, and the Mavericks hit the 55-win mark for the third straight season by beating the Knicks 92-77 Tuesday night.

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STANFORD, Calif. A storybook season had a disappointing ending for MTSU's Lady Raiders on Monday night.MTSU was seeking its first trip to the Sweet Sixteen, but

No. 13 seed Marist handled everything the Lady Raiders threw at it and recorded its second straight upset, 73-59, at Stanford's Maples Pavilion. The Red Foxes knocked off No. 4 seed Ohio State in the first round.

The fifth-seeded Lady Raiders' saw their 27-game winning streak snapped and their season end at 30-4. Marist advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, where it will face the Tennessee/Pittsburgh winner."We don't like it, but we've got the foundation built," MTSU Coach Rick Insell said. "(Marist) did a great job tonight and I think you have to pat them on the back for that. We're not through, though. We've just got the car out of the garage. We haven't got on the track to race."The Red Foxes (29-5) dominate...

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Austin Wood gave up three hits and one run in 5 2-3 innings to help lead Texas to a 5-3 win over Texas State on Tuesday ni