In brief: Seattle settles for draw at quarterfinals

Soccer: Clint Dempsey scored in both halves, including a curling free kick just before halftime, but the host Seattle Sounders settled for a 2-2 draw with Club America in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday night.

Dempsey scored in the 44th and 52nd minutes, the second goal coming off a corner kick from Andreas Ivanschitz. But Seattle’s backline cracked under pressure from Club America and now will go to Azteca Stadium next week with the Sounders likely needing a victory to advance.

Darwin Quintero beat an attempted offside trap to score in the 45th minute just moments after Dempsey’s first goal, and Oribe Peralta scored in the 70th minute to get two crucial road goals for the defending CCL champions.

The first match of the season for Seattle was open and entertaining and featured a Club America lineup with about half of its normal starters. Club America is already seven games into the Liga MX Clausura season. It brought an enthusiastic supporters group that was part of the 42,836 in attendance and gave some international flair to the matchup.

It was also the Seattle debut of forward Jordan Morris, who nearly got his pro career off to a rousing start. Morris’ deflected header in the 12th minute was barely saved off the goal line by goalkeeper Hugo Gonzalez. Morris was mostly quiet otherwise in his pro debut.

Dempsey earned the foul that lead to his free kick goal from outside of 25 yards. Rather than having the left-footed Ivanschitz take the shot, Dempsey curled his drive wide and then back inside and past the diving attempt of Gonzalez.

The lead lasted less than two minutes. Quintero had threatened throughout the half and finally beat Seattle’s defense, collecting a long pass from Rubens Sambueza and beating Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei. Quintero had gotten the best of Seattle in the past, scoring the deciding goal for Santos Laguna in the 2013 Champions League semifinal victory over the Sounders.

Dempsey regained Seattle’s advantage when he leaped above Miguel Samudio and directed his header past Gonzalez in the 52nd minute, but after a lengthy buildup Peralta slipped past Chad Marshall and Brad Evans to redirect Sambueza’s cross past Frei.

Messi leads Barcelona: Barcelona’s strike force proved too hot for Arsenal to handle as Lionel Messi scored both goals for the titleholders in a convincing 2-0 victory in the last 16 of the Champions League in London.

Messi provided a clinical finish to a breakaway move that featured strike partners Luis Suarez and Neymar in the 71st minute, and then scored an 83rd minute penalty to seal a tense first-leg match at Emirates Stadium.

Wall’s triple-double lifts Washington

NBA: John Wall had 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists, helping the host Washington Wizards beat Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans 109-89.

Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 11 rebounds for Washington, which pulled away in the second half of its season-high fourth straight home win. Jared Dudley scored 18 points on six 3-pointers and helped hold Davis in check after his monster game at Detroit.

Jazz top Rockets in OT: Gordon Hayward scored 28 points and the Utah Jazz defeated the Houston Rockets 117-114 in overtime in Salt Lake City in a game with significant playoff implications.

The victory moved the Jazz into the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference playoff race, a half-game ahead of the Rockets.

Vucevic leads: Nikola Vucevic scored a season-high 35 points against his former team, leading the visiting Orlando Magic to a 124-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Vucevic, drafted 16th overall by the 76ers in 2011, also had nine rebounds in a “must-win” game according to coach Scott Skiles as the Magic try to gain ground in pursuit of their first playoff berth in four years. Vucevic was 13 for 21 from the field and 9 for 9 at the line.

Victor Oladipo added 22 points and Evan Fournier scored 21 for the Magic, who return home on Thursday to host the NBA-best Golden State Warriors. Aaron Gordon contributed a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Pekovi out indefinitely: Minnesota Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic has been ruled out indefinitely as he recovers from right Achilles tendon surgery last April.

Mason, No. 2 Kansas wins eight straight

College Basketball: Frank Mason III scored 19 points and Landen Lucas had the tiebreaking layup as No. 2 Kansas won its eighth straight game, moving closer to a 12th consecutive Big 12 title with a 66-60 victory at No. 19 Baylor in Waco, Texas.

The Jayhawks trailed by as many as eight points after halftime before a 9-0 run to take the lead. After the game was tied for the eighth time, at 55-all, Lucas had a layup with 3:03 left to put them ahead to stay.

Kentucky on top: Jamal Murray scored 23 points, Tyler Ulis added 19 and 10 assists and No. 16 Kentucky pulled away from Alabama for a 78-53 victory in Lexington, Kentucky.

Senior Alex Poythress returned after a five-game absence because of an injury to come off the bench and score 14 points, helping the Wildcats bounce back from Saturday’s overtime loss at Texas A&M.

Isaiah Briscoe scored 10 points and Marcus Lee grabbed 12 rebounds for the Wildcats, who limited the Crimson Tide (16-11, 7-8) to 35 percent shooting and handed them a second straight loss. Kentucky outscored Alabama 40-22 inside, outrebounded the Crimson Tide 41-29 and made 22 of 28 free throws.

Travis sidelined: Stanford sophomore forward Reid Travis will miss the remainder of the season because of a leg injury sustained in December.

Coach Johnny Dawkins said Travis will apply for a medical redshirt to get his year of eligibility back.

Spight leavees Devils: Arizona State junior guard Andre Spight has left the program and plans to transfer, leaving the Sun Devils with eight scholarship players for the remainder of the season.

Tate out for season: Ohio State forward Jae’Sean Tate will have season-ending left shoulder surgery on Friday.The sophomore is expected to be ready for the start of practice in the fall.

Barbee injured: Georgia senior guard Shacobia Barbee, the team’s second-leading scorer, has had season-ending surgery to repair a broken bone on her lower left leg. Barbee suffered the fracture of her left distal fibula in the second half of the Lady Bulldogs’ win over Florida on Sunday.

Ruling brings bigger 2016 NFL salary cap

NFL: The NFL’s salary cap will get an additional boost of more than $1.5 million per team next season following an arbitration victory by the players union.

An additional $50 million or so will be available for teams to spend. The official salary cap has not been determined, but before the ruling it was expected to rise by at least $10 million from the $143.5 million ceiling of last season.

The arbitrator’s ruling was made last week but not announced until Tuesday.

The NFL calls the adjustment a technical accounting matter. The NFL Players Association contends the league miscalculated or was hiding money due the players.

The issue was whether specific revenue the league called exempt from being applied toward the salary cap actually should be counted.

The NFL said the decision will “increase the number of seasons over which the league’s investments in stadium projects will be recouped from local stadium revenues.”

Allen expects Griffin to move on: Redskins president Bruce Allen has voiced what everyone has assumed for quite some time: Robert Griffin III is done in Washington.

In an interview with the “Dan Sileo Show” on 1090 AM in San Diego, Allen replied “well, no” when asked whether he thinks Griffin will be with the Redskins next season. Said Allen: “I see Robert getting an opportunity with another team.”

Red Wings edge Blue Jackets in shootout

NHL: Riley Sheahan scored in a shootout and had a tying goal in the second period, helping Detroit beat visiting Columbus 2-1 snap a four-game losing streak. Andreas Athanasiou sealed the victory by scoring in the shootout after Petr Mrazek stopped two shots in one-on-one duels. Columbus’ Boone Jenner broke a scoreless tie late in the first period. Sheahan tied it in the second with Detroit’s first short-handed goal this season.

Mrazek made 28 saves for the Red Wings. Curtis McElhinney stopped 27 shots for the Blue Jackets.

Both goaltenders were strong in overtime, making saves that sent the game to a shootout.

Lightning wins four straight: Steven Stamkos scored a goal in his fourth consecutive game, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning won their fourth straight by beating the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 in Tampa, Florida.

Tampa Bay also got a goal from Cedric Paquette on a short-handed penalty shot. The Lightning, second in the Atlantic Division, are three points behind first-place Florida.

Caps pick up Weber: Looking to add depth for a playoff run, the Washington Capitals acquired defenseman Mike Weber from the Buffalo Sabres for a third-round pick in the 2017 draft.

Kerber loses first match at Qatar Open

Tennis: Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber made a disappointing return to tournament tennis, losing 7-5, 6-1 to China’s Zheng Saisai in the second round at the Qatar Open in Doha, Qatar.

Kerber beat Serena Williams at Melbourne in the opening Grand Slam of the year on Jan. 30. The top-seeded Kerber split two matches in Germany’s loss to Switzerland in the Fed Cup and received a first-round bye at Doha.