Fast Break

NBA

Tough break for Turiaf

Former Gonzaga University star and current Los Angeles Lakers player Ronny Turiaf left Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves because of back spasms.

He had eight points and three rebounds in only 6 minutes of playing time but did not return after getting fouled by center Mark Blount on a layup attempt with 8 minutes 25 seconds to play in the second quarter. He is listed as day to day.

Turiaf had played better since Kwame Brown’s return allowed him to play more at power forward, his natural position. He had eight points and four rebounds in 16 minutes Sunday against Phoenix.

Thorpe’s second of three wives dies in Yakima

Freeda Kirkpatrick Thorpe, the second wife of Olympic and professional athlete Jim Thorpe, has died. She was 101.

She died Friday at Willow Springs Care in Yakima.

Thorpe divorced her famous husband in 1941 after 15 years of marriage, but continued to field calls about their life together into the late 1980s. They had four children together.

Freeda Thorpe told the Yakima Herald-Republic in 1996 that she met Thorpe while she was working in Ohio for the manager of a baseball team Thorpe played for. Born in Edicott, Va., she had worked as a secretary. It was the second of three marriages for Jim Thorpe.

College football

Two Cougars Hall candidates

Former Washington State running backs Rueben Mayes and Clarence Williams are again on the ballot as candidates for the College Football Hall of Fame.

Mayes was a consensus first-team All-American in 1984 and leads WSU in single-season (1,632) and career rushing yards (3,519). He also set a NCAA single-game rushing mark with 357 yards against Oregon.

Williams was a first-team All-America pick in 1964, twice leading the Cougars in rushing, scoring and kickoff returns.

The 2007 class will be announced in May and inducted in December. The enshrinement takes place in the summer of 2008. This summer former University of Washington star Steve Emtman of Cheney will be enshrined.

College basketball

You can watch with the Cougars

The public is invited to join the Washington State men’s basketball team Sunday in Bohler Gym to watch the NCAA tournament selection show on CBS at 3 p.m. when the Cougars find out where – and who – they will be playing. The doors will open at 2 p.m. and there will be a couple events involving the team a half-hour before the broadcast. Admission is free.