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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

No. 2 Ohio State blasts No. 3 Duke

Ohio State’s William Buford, driving against Duke’s Andre Dawkins, scored 20 points for the Buckeyes. (Associated Press)

College basketball: Jared Sullinger scored 21 points and three teammates were close behind as No. 2 Ohio State roared out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back in beating third-ranked Duke 85-63 on Tuesday night in Columbus, Ohio, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

The Buckeyes (7-0) never trailed, weathering a Duke rally later in the first half and then leading by 20 for most of the second half.

“Sometimes you just get your butt kicked,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

Austin Rivers had 22 points and Mason Plumlee 16 for the Blue Devils (7-1), coming off wins over ranked opponents Michigan and Kansas in their previous two games.

William Buford scored 20, Deshaun Thomas 18 and Aaron Craft 17 for the Buckeyes.

Syracuse’s Boeheim not worried about job status: Syracuse men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim said “what happened on my watch” will be revealed once police complete their inquiry into child molestation accusations against his former longtime assistant.

“I never worried about my job status in 36 years,” Boeheim said after Syracuse beat Eastern Michigan 84-48 at his first postgame news conference since Bernie Fine was fired Sunday. “When the investigation is done, we will find out what happened on my watch.”

Advocates for sex-abuse victims said Boeheim should resign or be fired for adamantly defending Fine and verbally disparaging two former Syracuse ballboys who accused Fine of molesting them. Fine has denied the allegations.

“Based on what I knew at that time, there were three investigations and nothing was corroborated,” Boeheim said.

Asked to comment on Boeheim’s status earlier Tuesday, Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor said: “Coach Boeheim is our coach.”

Virginia upsets Michigan: Mike Scott had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Virginia used a 19-2 second-half run to take command and beat No. 14 Michigan 70-58 in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge in Charlottesville, Va.

Loyola Marymount upends Saint Louis: LaRon Armstead scored a career-high 22 points, Anthony Ireland added 17 and Jarred DuBois 16 to help Loyola Marymount beat No. 23 Saint Louis 75-68 in Los Angeles, snapping the Billikens’ six-game winning streak that returned them to the Top 25 for the first time since 1993-94.

Rangers edge Pens for third straight win

NHL: John Mitchell and Brad Richards scored 90 seconds apart in New York’s four-goal second period, and the Rangers held on to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 for their third consecutive win.

New York won its seventh straight at home and 10th in 12 games overall.

New coaches drop debuts: The Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes couldn’t make winners of their new coaches.

Dale Hunter’s Capitals struggled again in a 2-1 home loss to the St. Louis Blues, while the visiting Florida Panthers sent Kirk Muller to a loss in his debut with the Hurricanes, 3-1 at Raleigh, N.C.

T.J. Oshie and Matt D’Agostini scored and the Blues won their fourth straight game and improved to 8-1-2 under their new coach, Ken Hitchcock.

Shawn Matthias scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:19 left to lift Florida.

Royals solidify bullpen with Broxton

Baseball: Reliever Jonathan Broxton and the Kansas City Royals agreed to a one-year contract that guarantees the right-hander $4 million, solidifying one of the big league’s youngest bullpens and providing a setup man for closer Joakim Soria.

Kansas City was willing to take a chance on Broxton despite his being limited to just 14 games for the Dodgers last season because of elbow trouble. He was placed on the disabled list on May 6 with bone spurs in his right elbow that required surgery on Sept. 19. He’s expected to be ready to pitch by spring training.

Giants extend Sabean, Bochy: San Francisco Giants general manager Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy received contract extensions taking them through the 2013 season with club options for 2014.

Boxer sentenced in beating of man

Miscellany: Featherweight boxer Matt Remillard was sentenced to five years in prison for fracturing a Connecticut man’s skull with an aluminum baseball bat last year in what police say was a fight over a woman.

Remillard, 25, didn’t speak during the hearing in Hartford Superior Court, and he was led out of the courtroom by marshals to begin serving his sentence. He pleaded no contest to first-degree assault in September in exchange for the five-year term.

MLS announces openers: Major League Soccer’s 2012 season will open March 10 with six games, and the expansion Montreal Impact will play their first MLS home game at Olympic Stadium on March 17.

The league announced the dates of home openers without identifying opponents. Colorado, D.C. United, Los Angeles, San Jose, Seattle and Vancouver will be home on opening day, Chivas USA and Dallas will be home on March 11, and Portland will open the following day.

Kansas City and Salt Lake will open at home along with Montreal on March 17, followed by Philadelphia (March 18), Chicago, Columbus, New England and Toronto (March 24) and New York (March 25).

Houston, which is moving into a new stadium, opens at home on May 12.