Duke heats up at Maui Invite; Kansas next
College basketball: Michigan righted itself after a sluggish first half, dropping in one shot after another in the second.
It wasn’t nearly enough against Duke, the kings of Maui.
Unable to stop No. 6 Duke’s array of 3-pointers and dunks, No. 15 Michigan wasted a hot-shooting second half to lose to the Blue Devils 82-75 in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Tuesday.
“They answered, didn’t they?” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “We did not have a good first half. You could see by the number of points we scored – and they answered continually.”
Michigan (4-1) struggled early, falling behind by 16, and fought its way back by hitting 21 of 34 shots in the second half.
Duke made sure it wasn’t enough.
The Wolverines couldn’t slow down the sure-shooting Blue Devils, watching shot after shot go in to slip into the third-place game. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 19 points and Trey Burke added 17 points and nine assists for Michigan.
Duke (6-0) put on an offensive show near the shores of the sparkling Pacific Ocean, scoring on an array of 3-pointers and spectacular shots to remain undefeated (14-0) at the Maui Invitational.
Austin Rivers had 20 points, Seth Curry and Ryan Kelly had 17 each, and Andre Dawkins added 14 points for the Blue Devils. Duke hit 11 of 21 3-pointers while shooting 56 percent overall to earn a spot in tonight’s title game against No. 14 Kansas (3-1), a 72-56 winner over UCLA (1-3).
In another Maui Invitational game, Will Barton had 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 8 Memphis (2-1) to a 99-97 double overtime win over Tennessee (2-2).
Highlights in other Top 25 games included Reggie Bullock’s career-high 23 points that led No. 1 North Carolina (4-0) to an easy 102-69 win over Tennessee State (2-3) at Chapel Hill, N.C. … No. 21 Missouri (5-0) continued to dominate, whipping No. 20 Cal (4-1), 92-53, to win the CBE Classic in Kansas City, Mo.
• Arkansas loses leading scorer, rebounder: Arkansas forward Marshawn Powell, the team’s leading scorer and leading returning rebounder from last year, will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. Razorbacks coach Mike Anderson said an MRI revealed torn ligaments and that Powell will require surgery.
Oilers among rude visitors to rule night
NHL: The visiting teams dominated, winning all three games on the NHL schedule.
Jordan Eberle had two goals and an assist and Shawn Horcoff scored twice for Edmonton in its 6-2 win at Nashville, Tenn. Devan Dubnyk made 30 saves for Edmonton.
At Tampa, Fla., Tyler Bozak scored two goals and added an assist and Tim Connolly had a goal and two assists to lead Toronto to a 7-1 win.
At St. Louis, Mike Richards had a goal and an assist and Willie Mitchell scored the winner on his first goal of the season as the Los Angeles Kings beat the Blues 3-2.
The Kings got a team-leading 10th goal from Anze Kopitar, and Jonathan Bernier stopped 23 shots in only his fourth start of the season for the Kings.
• Coyotes re-sign Turris to 2-year contract: Kyle Turris ended his long holdout by agreeing to a two-year contract with the Phoenix Coyotes.
The team announced that the deal is contingent on Turris passing a medical examination. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Turris sat out all of training camp and has missed Phoenix’s first 19 games this season.
Parcells, Bettis among semifinalists
NFL: Former coach Bill Parcells, running back Jerome Bettis and NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue are among 26 modern-era semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The list was announced by the Hall of Fame following a vote by its selection committee. There were 105 preliminary nominees.
Among other semifinalists for the Class of 2012 are wide receivers Tim Brown, Cris Carter and Andre Reed, along with former 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr.
Former Chiefs guard Will Shields is the only first-year eligible player to make the list.
The list will be reduced to 15 modern-era finalists and announced in early January, and between four and seven enshrinees will be announced before the Feb. 5 Super Bowl.
Groin injury forces Murray out of ATP
Tennis: Andy Murray spent two hours debating whether to play on at the ATP World Tour Finals, and said his body made the decision for him.
The third-ranked Scot pulled out of the season-ending tournament with a groin strain he sustained during practice last week.
After struggling through a straight-sets loss to David Ferrer, Murray decided to take the safe option. Murray said the injury wouldn’t require surgery but that he feared it might get worse if he kept playing. His main concern was not disrupting his preparation for the Australian Open in January, the first Grand Slam of next season.
Murray is not the only player to have arrived in London hurt. Rafael Nadal said after his loss to Roger Federer on Tuesday that he had a shoulder problem, Mardy Fish is nursing a hamstring injury, while Novak Djokovic also has an injured shoulder, putting a dampener on a tournament that is billed as the “final showdown” between the year’s top eight players.
Loud music may have ignited Halman tragedy
Baseball: Police say an argument about loud music could be the reason Seattle Mariners outfielder Greg Halman was stabbed to death.
Police spokeswoman Patricia Wessels tells The Associated Press that loud music “appears to be the reason the victim walked downstairs,” but police are still trying to piece together what happened after that.
Police say they are still interviewing the brother of Halman as a suspect in the death of the 24-year-old Dutch baseball player, who was killed in the early hours of Monday morning at an apartment in Rotterdam.
• Marlins acquire LeBlanc from Padres for Baker: The Miami Marlins acquired left-hander Wade LeBlanc from the San Diego Padres for catcher John Baker.
LeBlanc went 5-6 with a 4.63 ERA for the Padres last season, winning three of his last four decisions. Baker was limited to 16 games last season after having elbow reconstruction surgery in September 2010.