Ninth-ranked Murray State loses 1st game
Men’s basketball: Robert Covington had 17 points and eight rebounds to lead Tennessee State to a 72-68 victory over No. 9 Murray State on Thursday night in Murray, Ky., handing the Racers their first loss of the season.
Isaiah Canaan had 31 points and six rebounds for Murray State (23-1, 11-1 Ohio Valley Conference), which was the last unbeaten team in Division I.
Murray State had won the previous eight meetings against Tennessee State (16-10, 9-4).
• Wisconsin wins in OT: Jordan Taylor scored 27 points and No. 21 Wisconsin (19-6, 8-4 Big Ten) gutted out a 68-61 overtime victory over Minnesota (17-8, 5-7) in Minneapolis.
Ryan Evans had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Wisconsin, which went 15 for 17 from the free-throw line in overtime.
• Tar Heels lose Strickland: North Carolina junior Dexter Strickland has had surgery to repair a right knee injury that will sideline him the rest of the season.
Detroit shocks No. 9 Wisconsin-Green Bay
Women’s basketball: Shareta Brown poured in 24 points and Senee Shearer scored 23 to help Detroit (13-11, 9-3 Horizon League) stun No. 9 Wisconsin-Green Bay 70-58 in Green Bay, Wis., handing the Phoenix (20-1, 10-1) their first loss of the season.
The Titans snapped the Phoenix’s 40-game regular-season winning streak.
• Illinois stuns No. 10 Ohio State: Alexis Moore made a winning layup with 2 seconds left to give Illinois (9-16, 3-9 Big Ten) a 66-65 win over No. 10 Ohio State (21-3, 8-3) in Champaign, Ill.
• Vanderbilt whips No. 11 Tennessee: Tiffany Clarke scored 23 points and Vanderbilt (19-5, 7-4 SEC) rolled to a 93-79 upset win over No. 11 Tennessee (17-7, 8-3) in Nashville, Tenn.
The Commodores beat the Volunteers for just the second time in 24 tries.
• Michigan pulls off upset: Carmen Reynolds matched her season high with 16 points and Michigan upset 13th-ranked Nebraska 63-52 in Lincoln, Neb.
The Wolverines (18-7, 7-5 Big Ten) held the Cornhuskers (19-4, 8-3) without a field goal for just over 14 minutes in the first half.
Gasol leads Lakers past Celtics in OT
NBA: Pau Gasol blocked Ray Allen’s putback attempt at the buzzer in overtime and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Boston Celtics 88-87 in Boston.
Gasol finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds while Andrew Bynum had 16 points and 17 rebounds.
Allen scored 22 points and Kevin Garnett had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Boston.
• Warriors keep Nuggets reeling: Stephen Curry scored a season-best 36 points and the Golden State Warriors handed the fading Denver Nuggets their fifth straight loss, 109-101 in Denver.
Former Washington State Cougar star Klay Thompson added a career-high 19 points.
• Garnett, Duncan fall short: Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce overcame slow starts to return to the All-Star game, but the long runs of Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan are over.
Nowitzki was chosen to his 11th straight All-Star game and Pierce his 10th in a row.
But Garnett wasn’t chosen after 14 consecutive selections, and Duncan was left out after 13 in a row. Five first-timers were selected: LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol, Andre Iguodala, Roy Hibbert and Luol Deng.
• Irving still ails: Cleveland Cavaliers rookie point guard Kyrie Irving remains day-to-day with a concussion that sidelined him for one game and could keep him out a few more.
Big comeback lifts Jets over Capitals
NHL: The Winnipeg Jets overcame a two-goal deficit in the final 2:15 of regulation, then prevailed in a shootout for a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals in Washington.
Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien awoke the Jets with power-play goals to force the game into overtime. Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little scored in the shootout.
All of the game’s goals came in the final 10 1/2 minutes of the third period.
• Blues win shootout: T.J. Oshie scored the only goal in the shootout and relief goalie Brian Elliott was perfect as the St. Louis Blues beat New Jersey 4-3 in Newark, N.J., to end the Devils’ five-game winning streak.
Elliott, who came on to replace Jaroslav Halak in the second period, stopped Ilya Kovalchuk, Patrik Elias and Zach Parise. Elliott also stopped all 15 shots in regulation and overtime.
• Rangers edge Lightning in extra period: Brad Richards scored 3:37 into overtime to give the New York Rangers a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in New York.
New York’s Brian Doyle tied it at 10:13 of the third period.
Steven Stamkos scored his National Hockey League-best 36th goal of the season for Tampa Bay.
• Coyotes edge Flames: Shane Doan scored a power-play goal at 3:05 of overtime and the Phoenix Coyotes beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 in Glendale, Ariz., to extend their winning streak to a season-high four games.
• Wings, Leafs in Classic: The Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs will began 2013 by renewing their rivalry at one of North America’s most iconic stadiums.
The two Original Six foes will play in the Winter Classic on Jan. 1 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.
Johnson tied for lead at Pebble Beach
Golf: Dustin Johnson pitched in for eagle on the third hole at Pebble Beach and wound up with a 9-under-par 63, and part of a three-way tie atop the leaderboard in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif.
Charlie Wi had a 9-under 61 at Monterey Peninsula, while Danny Lee carded a 9-under 63 at Pebble Beach.
Tiger Woods opened with a 4-under 68 at Spyglass Hill to tie for 15th place.
• Lewis, Kemp out in front: American Stacy Lewis and Australia’s Sarah Kemp shared the Women’s Australian Open lead at 4-under 69, leaving top-ranked Yani Tseng a stroke back in her bid to win the event in Melbourne for the third straight year.
Rangers, Cruz strike $16M, two-year deal
Miscellany: The Texas Rangers avoided arbitration with another of their core players, agreeing to a $16 million, two-year contract with outfielder Nelson Cruz.
The deal came eight days before a scheduled arbitration hearing for Cruz.
• Royals, Gordon avoid arbitration: The Kansas City Royals and outfielder Alex Gordon avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $4,775,000.
• Chadima accused again: Authorities have widened the investigation into former Wisconsin athletic official John Chadima after a third adult male came forward with allegations of sexual impropriety.