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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

No. 9 Missouri beats Illinois for 12-0 mark

Michael Dixon, left, came off the bench Thursday to score 18 points for No. 9 Missouri in a 78-74 win over No. 25 Illinois. (Associated Press)

Men’s basketball: Phil Pressey had 18 points, five assists and two steals, and ninth-ranked Missouri held off a second-half charge by No. 25 Illinois (11-2) for a 78-74 victory in the annual Braggin’ Rights game on Thursday night at St. Louis.

Reserve Michael Dixon added 18 points and Ricardo Ratliffe had 14 for Missouri, which squandered a 13-point cushion before recovering late. The Tigers have won three straight in the series and they’re 12-0 for the first time since a 19-0 start in 1981-82.

No. 6 Baylor stops Gaels: Quincy Miller scored 15 points and Perry Jones III had 14 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 6 Baylor (11-0) over Saint Mary’s 72-59 in the third round of the Las Vegas Invitational.

Rob Jones led Saint Mary’s (10-2) with 14 points, but the Gaels’ eight-game winning streak was snapped.

UConn sends Calhoun off with win: Shabazz Napier scored 24 points to lead No. 8 Connecticut (10-1) over in-state rival Fairfield (7-5) 79-71 in Hartford, Conn., in the final game before coach Jim Calhoun serves a three-game suspension for NCAA recruiting violations.

Creighton handles Big 10: Doug McDermott scored 18 of his 27 points in the second half and No. 23 Creighton (10-1) defeated a Big Ten opponent for the third time this season with an 87-79 victory over Northwestern (10-2) at Omaha, Neb.

Kings win in shootout in Sutter’s debut

NHL: Dustin Brown scored in the second period and got the deciding goal in a shootout, lifting Los Angeles to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Anaheim Ducks in Darryl Sutter’s debut as the Kings’ coach.

Predators win in final seconds: Martin Erat scored with 8.4 seconds remaining to give the Nashville Predators a 6-5 comeback victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nashville, Tenn.

Nets lose top scorer, trade for Okur

NBA: The New Jersey Nets will be without center and leading scorer Brook Lopez for a couple of months because of a broken right foot.

Lopez, who did not miss a game in his first three seasons, was injured during an exhibition game against the Knicks on Wednesday and he will have surgery Friday.

The injury is a stress fracture to the slow-healing fifth metatarsal, the same kind of injury that New York Giants first-round draft pick Prince Amukamara suffered on Aug. 6 in training camp. He did not play in a game until Nov. 20.

Lopez averaged 20.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists last season.

The Nets responded by trading a second-round pick to the Utah Jazz for All-Star center Mehmet Okur. The 6-foot-11 Okur is in his 10th year and was to earn $10.8 million this season in the final year of his contract.

Bryant expects to play in opener: Kobe Bryant expects to play in the Los Angeles Lakers’ season opener Sunday against Chicago, saying his right wrist “should be fine.”

Bryant sustained a torn ligament while trying to break his fall in Monday’s exhibition game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Beltran joins Series champion Cardinals

Baseball: Carlos Beltran and the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals agreed to a two-year contract pending results of a physical, fortifying the team’s lineup following the departure of Albert Pujols.

The team said it expects to make a formal announcement shortly after the holidays. KMOX, the Cardinals’ flagship radio station, reported the deal is for $26 million over two years.

The 34-year-old Beltran batted .300 with 22 home runs, 84 RBIs and a .385 on-base percentage for the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants last season. He played for the Spokane Indians in 1996.

Yanks, Red Sox assessed luxury taxes: The New York Yankees were hit with a $13.9 million luxury tax bill, their lowest since 2003.

The fee, assessed by Major League Baseball under its labor contract, is down from $18 million last year and $25.7 million in 2009, when the Yankees won the World Series.

Boston, which missed the playoffs for the second straight season, is the only other team that will have to pay a tax. The Red Sox received a bill for $3.4 million, up from last year’s $1.5 million.

Phoenix Racing, Busch join forces

Auto racing: Kurt Busch has a new ride. NASCAR’s most polarizing figure announced he’ll drive the No. 51 car for Phoenix Racing and owner James Finch for the entire 2012 Sprint Cup season.

Busch says in a release “after entertaining a lot of quality offers, there’s no better place for me.”

Busch has won 24 Sprint Cup races, as well as the 2010 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

IndyCar schedule reveals changes: The IndyCar schedule will have a different look in 2012.

China will host its first race Aug. 19, series officials have put Detroit and Fontana, Calif., back on the schedule, and only four of 15 races are currently slated for ovals. It could change again, too.

Series CEO Randy Bernard acknowledged he’s still contemplating the addition of two more races.

LPGA founding member Danoff dies

Miscellany: Bettye Danoff, one of the LPGA Tour’s 13 founding members, has died. She was 88.

The LPGA Tour said Danoff died Thursday in Texas.

At 5-foot-2 and barely 100 pounds, Danoff earned the nickname “Mighty Mite” and was the first grandmother to play the tour. Before the formation of the LPGA Tour, she beat Babe Zaharias 1-up as an amateur in the final of the 1947 Texas Women’s Open to end Zaharias’ 17-tournament winning streak.

Texas A&M lineman killed: Texas A&M senior offensive lineman Joseph Villavisencio has been killed in a car accident, according to the university.

Witness reports say that Villavisencio swerved to avoid a buzzard and veered head-on into the path of an 18-wheeler near the town of Normangee about 40 miles from College Station.