Brown takes on SMU challenge

Basketball: Larry Brown has returned to coaching.

The 71-year-old Hall of Famer was formally introduced Monday as the new coach at SMU, returning to college for the first time in a quarter-century by taking over the perennially underachieving Mustangs.

SMU last won an NCAA tournament game in 1988. That’s the year Brown won the tournament with Kansas.

He’s coached nine NBA teams and won a championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. Brown says he’s stayed involved in the college game and still knows how to teach basketball.

SMU is looking to boost its basketball program before it jumps from Conference USA to the Big East in 2013.

Associated Press

Senators are Canada’s last hope in playoffs

Hockey: The Ottawa Senators, the last Canadian team left in the NHL playoffs, are welcoming all aboard the bandwagon.

“Lots of room. We’ve got a big one,” forward Jason Spezza said Monday before facing the Rangers in Game 6.

The Senators haven’t found themselves in this position since 2007, when they advanced to the Stanley Cup final and were beaten by Anaheim in five games.

Few would have guessed they’d be in this spot. But a surprisingly good run coupled with Vancouver’s shocking first-round exit Sunday night left the spotlight shining solely on the Senators. The other five Canadian teams missed the playoffs.

“When you set your goals you don’t say ‘We want to be the last Canadian team around,’ ” Spezza said. “You just want to be the last team standing, period. That’s all we want to do, is focus on winning our series and keep moving on.”

The Senators are one game from elimination themselves, however, having lost to New York 3-2 on Monday.

Game 7 will be Thursday night in New York.

Associated Press