Notre Dame handles No. 8 Kentucky

Men’s basketball: Eric Atkins scored 16 points and Notre Dame beat Kentucky 64-50 on Thursday night for its 41st victory in the past 42 games in South Bend, Ind.

Jack Cooley and Jerian Grant each had 13 points for the Fighting Irish (7-1), who opened an 11-point lead by halftime.

Notre Dame outplayed Kentucky (4-2) inside during the first half and held the Wildcats to a season-low 40 percent shooting for the game. Students rushed the floor after the Irish wrapped up their second win over the Wildcats in the past 13 meetings.

Julius Mays led Kentucky with 16 points.

• Florida breezes past Marquette: Michael Frazier II scored 17 points and the seventh-ranked Gators routed Marquette in the SEC-Big East Challenge in Gainesville, Fla.

The Gators (6-0) stayed unbeaten without much help from Kenny Boynton. The team’s leading scorer was held scoreless until hitting a jumper with 16:34 remaining.

Vander Blue led Marquette (5-2) with 20 points, the team’s only player in double figures.

Hurricanes upset No. 6 Nittany Lions

Women’s basketball: Morgan Stroman scored 15 points, leading Miami to a 69-65 victory over No. 6 Penn State in Coral Gables, Fla.

Suriya McGuire’s layup with 14 seconds remaining broke a 65-all tie. Alex Bentley had a chance to tie it but her jumper with 5 seconds left bounced off the rim. Miami’s Michelle Woods grabbed the rebound and was fouled.

Woods made both free throws with 2 seconds left to secure the win for Miami (5-1).

Maggie Lucas led the Lions (5-1) with 20 points.

• Diggins leads Notre Dame past Central Michigan: Skylar Diggins scored 17 of her 25 points in the first half, and No. 5 Notre Dame pulled away late in a 72-63 victory over Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

Ariel Braker added 10 points and eight rebounds to help the Fighting Irish (5-0) close November undefeated for the first time since 2009-10. Jessica Green scored 19 points for Central Michigan (2-3).

Allen, Heat get past short-handed Spurs

NBA: Ray Allen’s 3-pointer with 22.6 seconds left gave the Miami Heat the lead, and they held on to beat the short-handed San Antonio Spurs 105-100 to remain perfect at home this season.

Down by one, LeBron James nearly lost the ball in the lane, then recovered and found Allen. James led all scorers with 23 points and added nine rebounds and seven assists for Miami.

• Warriors hold off Nuggets: Andre Iguodala’s 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded was waived off, and the Golden State Warriors held on for a wild 106-105 win over the Denver Nuggets after four replay reviews over the final 3.4 seconds in Oakland, Calif.

Iguodala had previously missed the last of three free throws that would have tied the game with 3.4 seconds to go, but Denver still had two more chances to win.

• Fisher signs with Mavs: Veteran point guard Derek Fisher has signed a contract with the Dallas Mavericks after passing a physical.

To make room on their 15-man roster, the Mavericks waived Troy Murphy, who had averaged 4.6 points and 3.5 rebounds in 14 games.

The 38-year-old Fisher was a free agent after playing last season with the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City.

• Cavs sign Jones, waive Harangody: The Cleveland Cavaliers have waived forward Luke Harangody and signed rookie forward Kevin Jones.

Harangody recently underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and is expected to be sidelined for another month.

Jones had been assigned to the Cleveland’s NBA Development League team in Canton.

Middle Tenn., Florida Atlantic to C-USA

Colleges: Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic will join Conference USA, leaving the Sun Belt as part of the ever-changing college landscape.

Conference USA announced the addition of its new members just two days after Tulane and East Carolina left for the Big East.

When the schools join by 2014, the league will consist of 14 schools in 10 states.

Watney takes 2-shot lead at Sherwood

Golf: Nick Watney made birdie at the 14th hole at Sherwood during a strong back nine that carried him to a 5-under 67 and a two-shot lead in the World Challenge at Thousand Oaks, Calif, surging past Jim Furyk, Keegan Bradley and Graeme McDowell.

Tiger Woods, the tournament host and defending champion, had a number of good par saves and scratched out a 70.

The World Challenge doesn’t count as an official win, though it awards world ranking points.

Chevrolet unveils 2013 Sprint Cup car

Auto racing: Chevrolet unveiled its 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup car – the SS – in Las Vegas. The SS replaces the Impala, which won 152 races from 1959-64 and 2007-12.

NASCAR has allowed its three manufacturers to redesign its 2013 cars to more closely resemble production cars.

Chevrolet officials used the events surrounding NASCAR’s season-ending awards ceremony to unveil the car, and had several of its drivers and team owners on hand with their 2013 cars.

The matching Chevrolet SS passenger car, a new rear-wheel drive vehicle that will be available in showrooms in August, will be unveiled in February around the season-opening Daytona 500, when it will debut on the track.

• FIA addresses Vettel passing case: Formula One’s governing body will explain to Ferrari why it did not penalize Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel for an overtaking maneuver in the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix.

FIA believes there is no cause for Ferrari to lodge an appeal that, if successful, would strip Vettel of the F1 title and give it to Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso.

Video footage from Sunday’s Brazilian GP appears to show that Vettel passed Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso’s while a yellow caution light was on.

If a rules breach were proven, Vettel would be hit with a 20-second penalty, which would move him from sixth place to eighth in the race and give Alonso the F1 title by one point.

Ronaldo, Wambach, Messi up for awards

Soccer: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta are the finalists for FIFA’s world player of the year award. The winner will be announced in Switzerland on Jan. 7.

Finalists for the women’s world player award are five-time winner Marta and America duo Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach.

• Scolari to lead Brazil at World Cup: The Brazilian soccer federation says Luiz Felipe Scolari has been hired to coach of the national team, returning 10 years after he led the nation to its fifth World Cup title at the 2002 tourney in South Korea and Japan.

The former Chelsea and Portugal coach replaces Mano Menezes, who was fired last week because the federation didn’t like his methods.