TOP 25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Top-ranked Kansas has opened its men's basketball schedule by taking Game 1 of the Champions Classic at Indianapolis.
Quentin Grimes scored 21 points in his college debut and the Jayhawks took a 44-27 halftime lead before holding off No. 10 Michigan State, 92-87. Dedric Lawson added 20 points and 14 rebounds for Kansas, which took control with a 13-3 run that put the Jayhawks ahead, 30-17.
The Spartans trailed by double-digits much of the game before a late charge got them within 90-87 with 34 seconds left. Michigan State promptly missed a free throw and a layup in the closing moments.
Joshua Langford's 18 points paced the Spartans.
Game 2 of the Champions Classic was a blowout as fourth-ranked Duke clobbered No. 2 Kentucky, 118-84. Freshmen RJ Barrett, Zion Williams and Cam Reddish had a combined 89 points for the Blue Devils, who handed coach John Calipari his most lopsided defeat at Kentucky.
Barrett finished with 33 points and Williamson added 28 as both surpassed the Marvin Bagley III's program record for points by a freshman in his debut.
Keldon Johnson scored a team-high 23 points and transfer Reid Travis had 22 for the Wildcats.
In other top-25 finals:
Rui Hachimura scored 33 points and Zach Norvell had 23 as third-ranked Gonzaga ripped Idaho State, 120-79. The Zags led 37-29 before going on a 10-2 run over the course of 1:28.
Fifth-ranked Virginia rolled to a 73-42 rout of Towson behind Ty Jerome's 20 points. Jerome made six 3-pointers for the Cavaliers, while De'Andre Hunter added 13 points and 10 boards.
No. 6 Tennessee had no trouble with Lenoir-Rhyne as Jordan Bone dropped in 18 points and Kyle Alexander had 16 in the Vols' 86-41 thumping of the Bears. Tennessee scored the first 19 points of the second half.
Caleb Martin scored all 21 of his points in the second half of seventh-ranked Nevada's 86-70 win against BYU. Jordan Caroline tied a career high with 16 rebounds and led all players with 25 points.
Cameron Johnson hit five 3-pointers while contributing 17 points and eight rebounds in No. 8 North Carolina's 78-67 victory against Wofford. Luke Maye had 24 points and Garrison Brooks added 20 as the Tar Heels avenged last season's loss to the Terriers.
The defending national champions won their opener as Eric Paschall poured in 26 points and Phil Booth contributed 17 in ninth-ranked Villanova's 100-77 pounding of Morgan State. Paschall made his first six baskets and scored 19 points in the first half.
No. 11 Auburn hammered South Alabama, 101-58 as Jared Harper had 20 points, 13 assists and six 3-pointers.
Payton Pritchard's 22 points carried No. 14 Oregon to an 84-57 thrashing of Portland St.
Oshae Brissett had 20 points and No. 16 Syracuse held Eastern Washington to 22 percent shooting in a 66-34 stifling of the Eagles.
P.J. Savoy nailed five 3-pointers on his way to 20 points in 17th-ranked Florida State's 81-60 win over Florida.
No. 19 Michigan whipped Norfolk State, 63-44 as Jon Teske furnished 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks in John Beilein's 800th career coaching victory.
No. 21 UCLA opened its 100th season by riding Kris Wilkes' career-high 27 points to a 96-71 rout of Fort Wayne.
Marcquise Reed had 20 points and a career-high 13 rebounds as No. 22 Clemson cruised past The Citadel, 100-80.
Naz Reid provided 17 points to lead six players in double figures in No. 23 LSU's 94-63 whipping of Southeastern Louisiana.
Carsen Edwards drained seven 3-pointers and contributed 30 points to lead 24th-rated Purdue to a 90-57 romp over Fairfield.
Noah Dickerson scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half to help No. 25 Washington rally from a nine-point, halftime deficit to beat Western Kentucky, 73-55.
ELSEWHERE IN MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
American East
UMass topped UMass Lowell 83-75
Cornell beat Binghamton 86-75
MAAC
Providence edged Siena 77-67
Army downed Marist 73-69
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
ACC
Syracuse crushed North Dakota 85-49
American East
Bryant edged UMass Lowell 58-57
NBA
The Milwaukee Bucks were a hot team entering Tuesday's game at Portland, but CJ McCollum was a bit hotter.
McCollum poured in 40 points on 17-for-26 shooting as the Trail Blazers dumped the Bucks, 118-103. McCollum entered shooting well below his career average before lighting up Milwaukee, torching the Bucks for 19 points in the third quarter.
Evan Turner had 16 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for the 8-3 Blazers.
Giannis Antetokounmpo provided 23 points and nine rebounds for the Bucks, who lost for just the second time in 10 games this season.
Checking out Tuesday's other NBA action:
Kemba Walker delivered 29 points and seven assists as the Hornets beat the Hawks, 113-102 to improve to 6-5. Walker has scored at least 25 points in seven of Charlotte's first 11 games. Marvin Williams had 20 points, who trailed by seven late in the first half.
The Nets won for the third time in four games as Caris LeVert scored 26 points in a 104-82 thumping of the Suns in Phoenix. Devin Booker led Phoenix with 20 points but made just 6 of 21 shots in the Suns' eighth loss in nine games.
The Mavericks' six-game losing streak is over after Luka Doncic scored 23 points and Dennis Smith Jr. made three key plays down the stretch in a 119-100 win over the Wizards. Wesley Matthews finished with 22 points and Harrison Barnes added 19 with 13 rebounds as Dallas beat Washington for the 16th time in their last 17 meetings.
Wednesday on the Court:
The New York Knicks take on Atlanta at 7:30 p.m.
The 76ers go against Indiana at 8 p.m.
Westbrook to sit at least one out:
Russell Westbrook is on the shelf once again, but this could be a short-term absence.
The Oklahoma City Thunder guard will miss Wednesday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers because of a sprained left ankle suffered in Monday's win over New Orleans. A Thunder spokesman says team wants to see how the ankle responds to treatment for the next few days before providing another update.
The former league MVP is averaging 24.1 points, 8.9 assists and 8.3 rebounds in seven games this season, missing the first two games while recovering from right knee surgery.
In other NBA news:
Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving has been fined $25,000 by the league for throwing a basketball into the stands after Monday's loss at Denver. Irving was mad that Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray took a 3-point-shot with the clock winding down when Denver already had put away the game.
Cavaliers forward Sam Dekker could be out a month with a sprained left ankle suffered in Monday's loss at Orlando. Dekker's injury is another blow to the Cavaliers, who are 1-9 this season and are playing at least six weeks without All-Star forward Kevin Love.
Veteran center Tyson Chandler has signed with the Lakers after reaching a buyout agreement with the Suns two days ago. The 36-year-old Chandler will provide needed frontcourt depth after the Lakers relied on JaVale McGee and undersized forwards to guard big men during their 4-6 start. Chandler is joining his seventh team early in 18 NBA seasons.
NHL
The Tampa Bay Lightning continue to own the best record in the NHL's Eastern Conference following a 5-2 victory against the visiting Edmonton Oilers.
Nikita Kucherov scored twice and had an assist as the Lightning improved to 10-3-1, keeping them one point ahead of second-place Toronto in the Atlantic Division. Linemate Steven Stamkos furnished a goal and two assists to back Andre Vasilevskiy, who stopped 33 shots in winning for the eighth time in 11 starts.
The Maple Leafs kept pace with the Lightning with a 3-1 win over the Golden Knights in Toronto. Connor Brown opened the scoring 5 ½ minutes into the game and assisted on Nazem Kadri's empty-netter.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
Anthony Duclair's power-play goal late in the first period put the Blue Jackets ahead to stay in a 4-1 win against the Stars. Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves in one of his better games this season.
The Rangers earned their fourth straight win as Mike Zibanejad scored a tiebreaking, short-handed goal with 1:48 left in a 5-3 comeback over the Canadiens. Zibanejad also set up Neal Pionk's game-tying goal 56 seconds before giving New York its only lead of the night.
The Senators blew out the Devils 7-3, as Mark Stone delivered two goals and three assists. Thomas Chabot had a goal and two assists in Ottawa's first game since video surfaced showing seven Senators insulting the team and assistant coach Martin Raymond during an Uber ride last month.
The Sharks squandered a 3-1 lead in the third period before Barklay Goodrow scored in a 4-3 win against the Wild. Marcus Sorenson had a goal and two assists for San Jose.
Ryan O'Reilly's first career hat trick was the difference in the Blues' 4-1 win against the Hurricanes. Robby Fabbri scored his first goal since tearing an ACL in his left knee 21 months ago.
The Kings were winners in their first game under coach Willie Desjardins as Ilya Kovalchuk supplied a goal and two assists to lead a 4-1 verdict over the Ducks. Dustin Brown and Kyle Clifford scored first-period goals to support Jack Campbell's 30-save performance.
Dylan Larkin scored the only goal in a shootout to give the Red Wings a 3-2 comeback victory over the Canucks. Jimmy Howard stopped 40 shots before denying all three Vancouver shootout attempts.
Wednesday on the Court:
The Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Washington Capitals at 7:30 p.m.
Quenneville dismissed by Blackhawks:
The second all-time winningest head coach in NHL history has been shown the door.
Joel Quenneville has been dismissed after 10-plus seasons, three Stanley Cups and 452 wins with the Chicago Blackhawks. He was replaced by Jeremy Colliton, who was promoted from Rockford of the AHL to become the team's 38th head coach.
Quenneville was a major part of the greatest decade in franchise history, winning three Cups from 2010-2015 to double the team's all-time total. The 60-year-old Quenneville is 890-532-77 behind an NHL bench, trailing only Scotty Bowman on the all-time wins list.
Colliton was in his second season as head coach of Rockford. He led the IceDogs to a 40-28-4-4 record and a third-round appearance in the playoffs last season.
NFL
The San Francisco 49ers are sticking with Nick Mullens as their starting quarterback for Monday night's game against the New York Giants.
Mullens led the Niners to a win over the Raiders last Thursday while recording the highest quarterback rating in an NFL debut since the 1970 merger. The undrafted free agent joined Hall of Famers Jim Kelly in 1986 and Fran Tarkenton in 1961 to throw for at least 250 yards and three touchdowns with an interception in their debuts.
Elsewhere around the league:
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sat out practice on Tuesday to give his broken left index finger a rest. However, he is expected to play Thursday night against Carolina in Pittsburgh.
The Lions have released running back Ameer Abdullah, cutting ties with their seldom-used, second-round pick from the 2015 draft. Detroit also signed running back Zach Zenner and receiver Bruce Ellington.
MLB
The New York Yankees are hanging onto CC Sabathia.
A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press the lefty has accepted a one-year, $8 million contract. The 38-year-old Sabathia went 9-7 with a 3.65 ERA in 29 starts this year, his 10th with the Yankees.
Sabathia is 129-80 for New York.
Also in the majors:
Houston Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. will miss the entire 2019 following Tommy John surgery yesterday. The 25-year-old was 10-6 with a 3.86 ERA in 22 starts and three relief appearances this year, striking out 142 in 128 1/3 innings. He was 10-4 before the All-Star break, but he missed much of the final two months of the regular season due to elbow discomfort.
The Reds filled out part of manager David Bell's staff by hiring away hitting coach Turner Ward from the Dodgers and getting former Brewers pitching coach Derek Johnson. Ward spent the last three seasons as the Dodgers' hitting coach as the club set franchise records for homers, extra-base hits and slugging percentage each of the last years.
Paul Davis has been hired by the Mariners as hitting coach after five seasons in the Cardinals organization. Last season, Davis was the Cardinals' manager of pitching analytics and worked with pitchers at all levels of the St. Louis organization.
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