COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NORMAN, Okla. -- John Roberson scored 22 points, Darko Cohadarevic added 12 and Texas Tech barely held off a second-half rally to beat Oklahoma 72-71 Tuesday night, snapping the Sooners' 31-game home winning streak against unranked opponents.
Willie Warren and Tommy Mason-Griffin each missed potential game-winning 3-pointers in the final 5 seconds as Oklahoma (13-10, 4-5 Big 12) absorbed a disheartening blow to its postseason hopes.
Texas Tech (16-7, 4-5) built a 12-point lead early in the second half and was able to stave off a series of comebacks to break a six-game losing streak and sweep the season series from the Sooners.
Warren had 18 points while playing his most significant minutes since missing two games with a sprained ankle, and Tony Crocker added 16 points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma.
The Sooners played without suspended freshmen Steven Pledger and Andrew Fitzgerald, who were cited for shoplifting over the weekend.
*
Rutgers suspended Hall of Fame women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer on Tuesday for one game for misusing practice players.
Stringer will miss the Scarlet Knights' game against Seton Hall on Wednesday. She is third among women's coaches on the all-time victories list with 838 wins and was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last September.
Stringer violated an NCAA bylaw which states that managers may not participate as practice players with the institution's team if they are not eligible student-athletes.
Associate head coach Carlene Mitchell will be the acting head coach against Seton Hall.
Rutgers only has nine players on its roster after freshman Christine Huber decided to transfer in early January.
NHL
CHICAGO -- Kris Versteeg scored in the fifth round of a shootout Tuesday night and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Dallas Stars 4-3.
Patrick Kane had two first-period goals for the Blackhawks, his team-high 23rd and 24th of the season.
Dallas' Loui Eriksson tied it at 3 with 3:50 left in regulation, scoring from just outside the crease following a Chicago turnover.
Chicago had taken a 3-2 lead early in the final period on a goal by Troy Brouwer, who scored from the right circle after Marian Hossa fired the puck off the boards behind the net.
Mike Ribeiro and James Neal also scored in regulation for the Stars.
In the shootout, neither team could connect until Versteeg skated in and beat Marty Turco.
NBA
SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio Spurs guard George Hill is apologizing for nude pictures of himself that were recently posted online.
In a statement issued by the team Tuesday, Hill said: "A year ago I made a mistake and take full responsibility for my actions. I have matured and learned from this episode."
Hill apologized to his girlfriend, family, the Spurs and fans.
Hill, the Spurs' first-round draft pick in June 2008, is the first player from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis to make it to the NBA.
Last month, Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden apologized for nude photos of himself that surfaced on the Internet.
*
LOS ANGELES -- Kobe Bryant isn't sure if he'll play in this weekend's NBA All-Star game in Dallas because of his sore left ankle.
Bryant missed his second consecutive game Monday night against San Antonio, which lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 101-89.
"If I'm not able to play, I won't play. But I'm healthy, I will," he said.
Bryant said he can't push off on his left foot.
"I can't move to play. Can't go," he said, adding he would be a game-time decision Wednesday at Utah. "If I'm ready to go, I'll play."
Lakers trainer Gary Vitti would like Bryant to rest through All-Star weekend, capped by Sunday's game. Bryant said he couldn't commit either way.
"I don't know what it's going to look like on Sunday. I'm not clairvoyant," he said, laughing.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
HOUSTON -- Astros reliever Brandon Lyon had surgery to drain a small cyst in his pitching shoulder but is expected to be ready for spring training.
The team said in a statement Tuesday that Lyon had the cyst drained two weeks ago and has been throwing without discomfort since. The right-hander is expected to begin workouts with his new club Feb. 20, when pitchers and catchers report for spring training in Kissimmee, Fla.
He might be about 10 days behind in his throwing program, the Astros said.
Houston signed Lyon as a free agent in December to a $15 million, three-year contract.
Lyon was 6-5 with a 2.86 ERA and three saves in 65 relief appearances for Detroit last year.
*
SAN DIEGO -- Yorvit Torrealba and the San Diego Padres have finalized a one-year contract that guarantees the catcher $1.25 million.
Torrealba gets a $750,000 salary this year under Monday's agreement, and the deal includes a $3.5 million mutual option for 2011 with a $500,000 buyout.
He figures to share playing time with Nick Hundley, who started 71 games last year and hit .238 with eight homers and 30 RBIs.
Torrealba, who turns 32 in July, spent the last four seasons with the Colorado Rockies and batted .291 with two homers and 31 RBIs in 213 at-bats last year.
NFL
LAS VEGAS -- St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson won't face criminal charges over allegations that he beat a girlfriend who was nine months pregnant with the couple's child at his Las Vegas home last year, a police spokeswoman said Tuesday.
Investigators found insufficient evidence that Jackson, 26, attacked Supriya Harris of Mableton, Ga., in March 2009, Las Vegas police Officer Barbara Morgan said.
"Our investigation is complete," said Morgan, a department spokeswoman. "I don't think the time passage was a factor here. We contacted the victim, the accused and witnesses. There's insufficient evidence to go forward with the case."
Morgan said the case will be closed, and that records relating to the investigation would not immediately be released.
Jackson's publicist, Steve Caric, said the running back had no comment.
*
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Julius Peppers no longer wants a long-term contract with Carolina, saying the Panthers have ignored him this offseason.
In an interview aired Tuesday morning on Charlotte radio station WFNZ-AM, the five-time Pro Bowl defensive end indicated he's irritated by the team's "silence" and has changed his stance on whether he wants to continue his career in Carolina.
"Last year, at the time, that was the option that I wanted most," Peppers said. "Now it's not."
While agent Carl Carey said last week he believes the Panthers aren't interested in retaining Peppers, Carolina's career sacks leader, team officials haven't announced their plans for the impending free agent. General manager Marty Hurney didn't immediately return a phone message Tuesday.
"How can you say you want to be somewhere when you're not really sure if they want you there because they're not even talking to you?" Peppers said.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Former Ohio State football star Maurice Clarett is again seeking early release from prison.
Clarett, who scored the winning touchdown for the Buckeyes in the 2002 national title game, has filed a motion asking a judge to release him. No court date has been set.
Clarett withdrew a similar request filed with the Ohio Parole Board last year. He's still hoping to pursue a football career.
ET CETERA
LOS ANGELES -- The man who stalked ESPN reporter Erin Andrews and shot nude videos of her through a hotel room peephole videotaped 16 other women and ran background checks on 30 people, including female sports reporters and TV personalities, according to court documents.
A sentencing memo filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles says Michael Barrett uploaded videos of 16 other women to an online account.
Barrett also allegedly conducted 30 Internet background checks that can produce birthdays and home addresses, the document said. The filing did not name the other alleged victims or say what information he obtained or how he may have used it.
Barrett has pleaded guilty to interstate stalking and agreed to a 27-month prison sentence.
The filing noted that Andrews wants the 48-year-old insurance executive from the Chicago area to pay her about $335,000 in restitution.
Prosecutors claim that 32 videos provided by DailyMotion.com show Barrett "victimized approximately 16 other women in almost precisely the same way that he victimized" Andrews.
RSS
Mobile
Daily Emails
Twitter
Facebook
