In brief: UConn upsets Michigan State in Maui invite
College Basketball: Kemba Walker scored 30 points and hit a key jumper with less than a minute left, helping Connecticut outlast No. 2 Michigan State 70-67 in a physical Maui Invitational semifinal on Tuesday in Lahaina, Hawaii.
Connecticut (4-0) fought the Spartans (3-1) for every inch every minute, refusing to be pushed around by a team projected to be a national title contender. The Huskies made it interesting by missing five late free throws, but survived Draymond Green’s midcourt heave at the buzzer.
Walker hit a fallaway jumper with 52 seconds left and Alex Oriakhi dominated inside for 15 points and 17 rebounds, sending UConn into the championship game against No. 8 Kentucky tonight.
Michigan State had three chances to tie in the final 20 seconds, but Green missed two free throws, Kalin Lucas threw a pass to no one and Green was just short on his desperation shot.
• Texas’ Barnes wins No. 500: Jordan Hamilton scored 25 points and No. 20 Texas gave coach Rick Barnes career victory No. 500, 84-50 over Sam Houston State.
Wizards work magic against 76ers in OT
NBA: Nick Young hit an open 3-pointer with 7.6 seconds left in overtime, and the Washington Wizards capitalized on Jrue Holiday’s unwise foul in the final seconds of regulation to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 116-114 in Washington.
Young finished with 19 points, but his winning shot wouldn’t have been possible if Holiday hadn’t fouled John Wall some 40 feet from the basket with 3.5 seconds left in regulation and the 76ers leading by three.
Wall, who returned after missing four games with a sprained left foot, scored all of his 25 points after halftime.
• Lopez leads Nets over Hawks: Brook Lopez scored a season-high 32 points and the New Jersey Nets snapped a three-game losing streak with a 106-99 overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks in Newark, N.J.
Devin Harris added 23 of his 27 points in the second half for New Jersey.
USC earns upset over No. 17 Georgia
Women’s basketball: Ashley Corral scored 15 points, including two key 3-pointers, to help Southern Cal (3-1) upset No. 17 Georgia (3-1) 71-63 in Los Angeles.
The Trojans, playing their third ranked team this season, made 5 of 9 shots behind the arc in the final 20 minutes.
Bryzgalov, Coyotes blank Oilers
NHL: Ilya Bryzgalov made 23 saves for his 17th career NHL shutout and Martin Hanzal and Lee Stempniak each scored twice to help the Phoenix Coyotes beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-0 in Glendale, Ariz.
Stempniak added an assist for the Coyotes.
Federer tops Murray in straight sets
Tennis: Playing like the Roger Federer of old, the 16-time Grand Slam champion beat Andy Murray 6-4, 6-2 at the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Robin Soderling defeated David Ferrer 7-5, 7-5 in the other Group B match, meaning all players still have a chance to advance.
Murray will face Ferrer in his final match Thursday while Soderling takes on Federer.
Jeter, Rivera arbitration denied
Baseball: Hank Steinbrenner has a message as the New York Yankees negotiate to re-sign Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.
“As much as we want to keep everybody, we’ve already made these guys very, very rich, and I don’t feel we owe anybody anything monetarily,” the Yankees co-chairman said.
With negotiations moving slowly, the Yankees declined to offer salary arbitration to Jeter and Rivera before the deadline. “Some of these players are wealthier than their bosses.”
New York also failed to offer arbitration to left-hander Andy Pettitte, reliever Kerry Wood and first baseman Lance Berkman but did make the offer to right-hander Javier Vazquez, unlikely to re-sign following a disappointing season.
New York has made a $45 million, three-year offer to Jeter, a baseball executive with knowledge of the proposal said, speaking on condition of anonymity because it wasn’t made public.
• Detroit adds Martinez: Catcher Victor Martinez and the Detroit Tigers reached a preliminary agreement on a $50 million, four-year contract, a person familiar with the agreement told the Associated Press.
• Nationals offer Dunn arbitration: The Washington Nationals have offered salary arbitration to first baseman Adam Dunn, assuring the team of receiving draft pick compensation if he signs elsewhere as a free agent.
Red card leads to road rage, jail
Miscellany: The harshest punishment soccer players can usually expect for berating a referee is a suspension or fine – not 24 weeks in jail.
But then most players don’t respond to the threat of a red card by driving a car on the field and at the official.
Amateur soccer player Joseph Rimmer has been given 24 weeks in jail after attempting to run down a referee in his range rover during a game in London.
Rimmer became incensed by a referee’s refusal to award a free kick during a February game between Lonsdale and Harrington in northwest England. Harkness was not hurt.