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Top-25 College Basketball
In a double-overtime thriller, Naadir Tharpe's floater proved to be the
difference as the No. 9 Jayhawks returned the favor by downing 14th-ranked
Oklahoma State on its home court, 68-67, in a pivotal matchup for top
positioning in the Big 12 conference. Despite missing its first seven shots in
the extra sessions, Kansas (22-4, 10-3 Big 12) trailed by just one before
Tharpe's tear-drop floater with 20 seconds remaining in the second OT put the
visitors on top by one. The Cowboys (19-6, 9-4) had two chances on their final
possession, but Markel Brown's jumper misfired and Phil Forte, after grabbing
the offensive rebound, turned it over as Oklahoma State saw its seven-game
winning streak come to an end.
Elsewhere in the Top-25:
(3) Gonzaga 85, Santa Clara 42
(8) Syracuse 84, Providence 59
(11) Georgetown 90, DePaul 66
(12) Arizona 70, Washington 52
(18) Ohio State 71, Minnesota 45
(19) Wisconsin 69, Northwestern 41
(21) Memphis 81, Houston 74
UNLV 61, (22) Colorado State 59
National Basketball Association
Trading James Harden in the offseason came back to haunt the Oklahoma City
Thunder on Wednesday night. Harden poured in a career-high 46 points against
his former team, including 16 in the final frame, to lift the Houston Rockets
to a 122-119 come-from-behind victory over the Thunder at Toyota Center. The
third overall pick in the 2009 draft knocked down a career-high seven 3-
pointers and added eight rebounds and six assists to help Houston earn its
fifth straight home victory.
Elsewhere in the NBA:
Detroit Pistons 105, Charlotte Bobcats 99
Indiana Pacers 125, New York Knicks 91
Memphis Grizzlies 88, Toronto Raptors 82
Miami Heat 103, Atlanta Hawks 90
Cleveland Cavaliers 105, New Orleans Hornets 100
Brooklyn Nets 97, Milwaukee Bucks 94
Minnesota Timberwolves 94, Philadelphia 76ers 87
Dallas Mavericks 111, Orlando Magic 96
Golden State Warriors 108, Phoenix Suns 98
Los Angeles Lakers 113, Boston Celtics 99
National Hockey League
Jakub Voracek completed his first career hat trick thanks to recording the
game-winning goal with 1:31 left in regulation as the Philadelphia Flyers
gutted out a 6-5 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at CONSOL Energy Center.
Wayne Simmonds added two goals and one assist for the Flyers, who avenged an
opening-day 3-1 home loss to their bitter rivals and completed a season-long
six-game road trip with two straight wins to finish at 3-3-0. Nicklas Grossman
also tallied, while Claude Giroux posted a pair of assists as Ilya Bryzgalov
picked up the victory with 27 saves.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
Colorado Avalanche 1, St. Louis Blues 0 (OT)
Los Angeles Kings 3, Calgary Flames 1
HOCKEY
The Buffalo Sabres have relieved head coach Lindy Ruff of his duties, general
manager Darcy Regier announced Wednesday. Ruff had been the longest-tenured
active head coach in the NHL, having served behind the Sabres' bench since the
1997-98 season. He led the club to the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals in his second
year at the helm, but Buffalo failed to make the playoffs last season and is
currently tied for 11th in the Eastern Conference with a 6-10-1 record. Ruff
compiled a 571-432-78-84 overall mark in his 15 seasons with the organization.
Ron Rolston, head coach of the Sabres' AHL affiliate in Rochester, will take
over Ruff's duties on an interim basis for the remainder of the season.
Anaheim signed goaltender Viktor Fasth to a two-year contract extension on
Wednesday. The 30-year-old Fasth has been quite impressive in his first NHL
season, going 8-0-0 with a 1.78 goals-against average and a .933 save
percentage. He is one victory shy of matching Ray Emery's record of nine
consecutive wins to start an NHL career. Fasth signed a one-year contract with
the Ducks in May to be Jonas Hiller's backup after starring in the Swedish
Elite League, where he won the Honken Trophy as the Goaltender of the Year for
both the 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns.
AUTO RACING
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have to start from the rear of the field in
Thursday's first qualifying race for the Daytona 500 due to an engine change.
During Wednesday's practice at Daytona International Speedway, Earnhardt Jr.
blew a motor in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. He suffered engine
failure halfway through the first of the two practice sessions for the
Budweiser Duel (twin-qualifiers). Earnhardt Jr. finished 11th in last Sunday's
time trials for the Daytona 500 and had earned the sixth starting position for
race one in the twin qualifiers.
GOLF
The opening round of WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Marana, Arizona,
was suspended Wednesday because of accumulating snow on the course at The Golf
Club at Dove Mountain. Play will resume Thursday at 10:30 a.m. (ET).
Wednesday's lead match -- Sergio Garcia vs. Thongchai Jaidee -- had reached
the 16th green. Garcia has a putt to win the match as he held a 2-up lead
at the time play was stopped. None of the four top seeds -- Rory McIlroy,
Tiger Woods, Luke Donald and Louis Oosthuizen -- had teed off before the snow
started falling.
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