Fast Break

Honors

Brady, Ochoa athletes of year

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was chosen the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year Friday.

He is in position to break Peyton Manning’s single-season record of 49 touchdown passes and the main reason the Patriots are challenging the 1972 Miami Dolphins’ status as the only team to go undefeated for an entire Super Bowl season.

Brady received 51 votes from members of the AP, 18 more than runner-up Roger Federer, who won his fifth straight Wimbledon and fourth straight U.S. Open tennis titles in 2007.

Lorena Ochoa, who won eight tournaments including the Women’s British Open and became the first LPGA Tour player to win $4 million in a season, was the runaway choice as top female athlete for the second straight year.

Basketball

EWU opens conference play

Portland State and Eastern Washington University tip off the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball season tonight at 7:05 at Reese Court.

The matchup will be the third of six consecutive home games for Eastern (5-8), which has won four of its last seven after starting the season 1-5. The Eagles, coming off an 84-75 win over Portland on Monday, have drawn one of the preseason conference favorites tonight.

“They are good, and we know that,” EWU coach Kirk Earlywine said of the Vikings (7-5), who were thumped by Washington 84-65 in Seattle on Tuesday night. “Just about everyone picked them to finish within the top three in the league, and our coaching staff and players know where they picked us to finish.”

The Eagles were picked to finish near the bottom of the Big Sky in most preseason polls but have played well lately.

“Idaho (3-7) plays at Arizona State (8-2) this afternoon in a non-conference matchup.

College Volleyball

Benson new coach at Auburn

Former Eastern Washington University coach Wade Benson was chosen head coach at Auburn. An assistant at Auburn this season, he succeeds Laura Farina, who resigned in November.

Benson was head coach at EWU from 2000-2006.