SEC suspends Vols’ Pearl for eight games

Men’s basketball: Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl has been suspended for the Volunteers’ first eight Southeastern Conference games as punishment from conference commissioner Mike Slive for violating NCAA recruiting rules and misleading investigators.

Tennessee associate head coach Tony Jones will replace Pearl during those eight games with help from assistants Jason Shay and Steve Forbes.

The commissioner said he considered suspending Pearl for the entire slate of SEC games, but took into account Pearl’s admission of misleading the NCAA and the punishment Tennessee officials had already imposed on him.

• Pitt beats Texas to win 2K Sports Classic; Illinois third: Ashton Gibbs scored 24 points and the No.5 Pittsburgh Panthers beat the Texas Longhorns 68-66 at Madison Square Garden in New York to win the 2K Sports Classic.

In the third-place game, Demetri McCamey scored 20 points, Brandon Paul added 12 more and No. 13 Illinois (4-1) beat Maryland (3-2) 80-76.

• Minnesota beats UNC in Puerto Rico; WVU advances: Blake Hoffarber scored 20 points for Minnesota and the Golden Gophers beat No. 8 North Carolina (2-1) 72-67 in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Golden Gophers (3-0) advanced to Sunday’s final against West Virginia (3-0), which beat Vanderbilt (2-1) 74-71 in the other semifinal.

Thunder earn tough road win over Celtics

NBA: Russell Westbrook scored 31 points despite missing all seven shots he took in the fourth quarter and the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder squandered most of a 10-point lead before holding on to beat the Boston Celtics 89-84.

The Thunder were playing without NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant, who has a sore left ankle. Kevin Garnett scored 16 points for the Celtics, who had won eight of nine.

• Duncan sets Spurs’ scoring mark in win over Jazz: Tim Duncan set San Antonio’s career scoring record, Tony Parker scored 24 points and the Spurs beat the Utah Jazz 94-82 in Salt Lake City for their ninth straight victory.

Duncan needed 13 points to eclipse the mark set by David Robinson over 14 seasons (20,790), and finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Deron Williams’ 23 points led Utah.

• Rose, Gibson lead Bulls past Mavericks: Derrick Rose scored 22 points, Taj Gibson added 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds before fouling out with less than a minute to play, and the Chicago Bulls rallied from a 12-point, third-quarter deficit to beat the host Dallas Mavericks 88-83. Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 36 points for the Mavericks.

Crosby, Pens beat Carolina in shootout

NHL: Sidney Crosby scored his 14th career shootout winner and the Pittsburgh Penguins came back after giving up three leads to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in Pittsburgh.

Crosby and Kris Letang each put the puck past Justin Peters in the shootout, while Jeff Skinner and Jussi Jokinen failed against Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury.

• Belanger, Coyotes top Oilers in SO: Eric Belanger scored the shootout winner for the Phoenix Coyotes, who rallied from a three-goal deficit and beat the struggling Oilers 4-3 in Edmonton, Alberta.

Phoenix tied it 3-3 with 35 seconds left in regulation when Wojtek Wolski netted his third of the season while Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov was off for an extra skater.

• Madden’s OT goal gives Wild win over Detroit: John Madden scored at 4:18 in overtime and the Minnesota Wild snapped the host Detroit Red Wings’ four-game winning streak with a 4-3 victory.

Brent Burns, Cal Clutterbuck and Mikko Koivu also scored for Minnesota. Patrick Eaves, Darren Helm and Johan Franzen scored for Detroit.

• Nash lifts Jackets past Ducks: Rick Nash scored for the sixth time in six games, Steve Mason made a season-high 47 saves in his fourth straight start, and the Columbus Blue Jackets improved their best start in franchise history with a 4-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in Anaheim, Calif.

M’s add 10 players to 40-man roster

MLB: The Seattle Mariners added 10 players to their 40-man roster, including pitchers Michael Pineda, Tom Wilhelmsen and Josh Lueke.

The other players added were outfielders Johermyn Chavez and Carlos Peguero; infielder Alex Liddi; and pitchers Maikel Cleto, Cesar Jimenez, Yoervis Medina and Mauricio Robles. Seattle’s 40-man roster stands at 39.

• McLane puts Astros up for sale: Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane is putting his franchise up for sale. McLane met with team employees before making a formal announcement at Minute Maid Park. He said “the time is right for this,” adding that his two adult sons were not interested in running the team.

Mallinger takes lead at Pebble Beach

Miscellany: John Mallinger shot a 7-under-par 65 at Pebble Beach to take a one- stroke lead in the Pebble Beach (Calif.) Invitational. Mallinger finished the day with a two- round total of 9-under 135.

Matt Bettencourt had a 72 at Spyglass Hill to drop into a tie for second with Russ Cochran and Candie Kung. Cochran had a 65, and Kung shot a 68, both at Del Monte.

• Former Hawaii QB Brennan injured: Former University of Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan and two women were seriously injured in a two-car crash on Hawaii’s Big Island.

His father, Terry Brennan, told KHON-TV by telephone from California that Colt Brennan suffered three or four broken ribs and head injuries.

Big Island police said Brennan was a passenger in an SUV that crossed the center line and collided head-on with a sedan. Both women were taken to the hospital, but their status was unknown.

• Montana St. surpasses stadium fundraising goal: Montana State raised more than enough money for the first phase of its planned renovation of Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman in just more than a month.

The $8 million, first phase of the renovation will replace grandstand seating in the south end zone, add 2,500 seats along with new locker rooms, public restrooms, concession facilities and a new scoreboard.

Another 2,700 seats would be added in the second phase, expected to cost an additional $2 million.

• USC’s Baxter left home after brush with agent: Southern California freshman tailback Dillon Baxter has been left home from the 20th-ranked Trojans’ trip to Oregon State after what football coach Lane Kiffin called inadvertent contact with an agent.

Kiffin said Baxter got a ride on campus Thursday in a golf cart driven by two students. The coach said USC later learned one of the students might be an agent, and the school immediately reported the incident to the NCAA.

• NCAA: Kansas’ Selby must sit 9 games: Kansas freshman point guard Josh Selby must sit out nine regular-season basketball games for accepting impermissible benefits prior to his signing, the NCAA ruled.

The 6-foot-3 Selby, the No. 1 recruit in the nation, has already missed three games. The playmaking point guard will make his debut Dec. 18 at home against Southern California.

• Busch wins NASCAR Trucks finale: Kyle Busch took the lead on a restart with four laps to go, then ran away from Ron Hornaday Jr. to win the NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Hornaday was second, followed by Johnny Sauter and Todd Bodine.