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#SportsReport: Russian Sports Official Out As Head Of World Cup Committee

Soccer ball
Scott Calleja | Flickr

SOCCER-WORLD CUP-MUTKO

A top Russian official who has been dogged by allegations of involvement in the Russian doping program says he will step down as head of the organizing committee of the 2018 soccer World Cup.

Vitaly Mutko told Russian news agencies on Wednesday that he would be replaced by another World Cup organizer, Alexei Sorokin.

Investigations by the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Olympic Committee alleged that Mutko was involved in a state-sponsored doping program while serving as Russia's sports minister during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. He has strongly denied all doping allegations.

NBA-SCHEDULE

The Boston Celtics remain the top team in the NBA's Eastern Conference after holding off the Hornets in Charlotte.

The Celtics had dropped three of four before Kyrie Irving and Al Horford led them to a 102-91 victory over the Hornets. Irving had 21 points for the Celtics, who saw a 20-point, first-half lead shrink to one by the end of the third quarter. Horford finished with 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting and had 11 rebounds to help Boston rebound from Monday's eight-point loss to visiting Washington.

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have their first losing streak since they opened the season 5-7.

Vince Carter scored a season-high 23 points on 10 of 12 from the field as the Kings knocked off Cleveland 109-95. Willie Cauley-Stein had 17 points and nine rebounds to help Sacramento overcome LeBron James' triple-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists.

Checking out the rest of Wednesday's NBA action:

— The Wizards followed up their impressive Christmas Day win in Boston by falling to the worst team in the East, 113-99 in Atlanta. Dennis Schroder (SHROO'-dur) scored 21 points and Ersan Ilyasova 20 to help the Hawks earn a second straight victory for the first time all season.

— The Warriors outscored the Jazz 42-22 in the third quarter to turn a one-point lead into a 126-101 blowout victory at Golden State. Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 21 points and Draymond Green chipped in 14 with eight rebounds and eight assists in just three quarters.

— Russell Westbrook's 30 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds carried the Thunder past the Raptors 124-107. Paul George shot 7-for-10 from 3-point range and finished with 33 points Oklahoma City's sixth win in a row.

— Jimmy Butler scored 12 of the Timberwolves' 14 overtime points and finished with a season-high 39 in a 128-125 downing of the Nuggets. Andrew Wiggins made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points for Minnesota, while teammate Taj Gibson added 20 points in the Wolves' fifth consecutive win.

— Kris Dunn's 17 points included two free throws in the waning moments of the Bulls' ninth win in 11 games, 92-87 against the Knicks. Kristaps Porzingis had 23 points in New York's third consecutive loss.

— Rajon Rondo set a franchise record with a career-high 25 assists in just 30 minutes of playing time as the Pelicans dumped the Nets 128-113. Anthony Davis had 33 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks in the victory, while teammate DeMarcus Cousins added 27 points and 14 boards.

— Dallas ended an eight-game road losing skid as Dirk Nowitzki scored a team-high 15 points in a 98-94 win at Indiana. Harrison Barnes hit the tiebreaking free throw with 37.7 seconds left and finished with 13 points.

— The Grizzlies beat the Lakers 109-99 behind Tyreke Evans' 32 points. Jarell Martin added 20 points to help Memphis win for just the second time in six games.

NBA-PISTONS-JACKSON INJURED

The Detroit Pistons will spend the next 6 to 8 weeks without point guard Reggie Jackson because of a sprained right ankle suffered in Tuesday's win over the Pacers.

Jackson leads the Pistons with 5.5 assists per game and ranks third with 14.6 points.

Ish Smith is the likely replacement for Jackson, who missed 30 games last season.

TOP 25 MEN'S BASKETBALL

The top-ranked Villanova men's basketball team remains perfect this season after capturing its Big East opener.

Mikal Bridges scored 20 points and Phil Booth added 17 and six assists as the Wildcats whipped DePaul 103-85 in Chicago. Villanova was 15-for-31 from 3-point range, with Bridges and Booth hitting four apiece in coach Jay Wright's 399th victory at the school.

Chicago-area product Jalen Brunson had 16 points and five assists for the 13-0 Wildcats, who are one victory away from matching the best start in team history set last season.

The only other top-25 team in action Wednesday was No. 6 Xavier, and the Musketeers rode Trevon Blueitt's 23 points to a 91-87 win at Marquette. J.P. Macura scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half to help Xavier pick up its eighth straight win and improve to 13-1.

NFL NEWS

Jay Cutler's future plans are incomplete.

The Miami Dolphins quarterback says he made a good decision to come out of retirement, but he added Wednesday that he hasn't decided whether to play a 13th NFL season in 2018.

A return to Miami as a backup seems unlikely. Cutler delayed the start of a broadcasting career in August to join the Dolphins when quarterback Ryan Tannehill suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Tannehill is expected to return as the starter next season, and Cutler said playing in 2018 likely would appeal to him only if he's the starter.

In other NFL news:

— First-round draft pick Patrick Mahomes II will make his NFL debut at quarterback in the Chiefs' regular-season finale against the Broncos Sunday. The Chiefs locked up the AFC West with a 29-13 victory over the Dolphins last weekend and cannot improve their playoff positioning against the Broncos.

— Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford could return to practice next week as he recovers from a knee injury from Week 1. Bradford has been out since a brief return in Week 5 against Chicago.

— Giants cornerback Eli Apple has been suspended by the team for the season finale against the Redskins for what interim general manager Kevin Abrams calls a "pattern of behavior that is conduct detrimental to the team." The decision comes a day after Pro Bowl safety Landon Collins referred to him as a cancer.

— Browns coach Hue Jackson says he has no doubt he'll back next year despite a 1-30 record over the past two seasons. Jackson says he "unequivocally believes without question" that owner Jimmy Haslam will keep his word and not fire him following Sunday's finale in Pittsburgh. Haslam announced on Dec. 8 that Jackson will return next season.

NHL-SCHEDULE

The New Jersey Devils were hoping to end a five-year playoff drought when they took Nico Hischier with the first overall pick in the NHL draft six months ago.

Hischier now has seven goals and 23 points in 36 games after scoring twice in the first period to spark the Metropolitan Division leaders to their season-high fifth straight win, 3-1 over the Red Wings. Hischier had collected just one point in his previous eight games before netting his first goals since Nov. 27.

Taylor Hall had two assists and Cory Schneider made 31 saves as the Devils improved to 22-9-5, a 14-point improvement from their first 36 games last season.

New Jersey leads its division by two points over Columbus and Washington.

The Blue Jackets and Capitals failed to keep pace with the Devils.

Evgeni Malkin collected a goal and two assists in the third period before netting one of the Penguins' two shootout goals in a 5-4 verdict over the Blue Jackets. Jake Guentzel tied the game with 1:40 remaining in regulation before Malkin and Sidney Crosby delivered the shootout tallies to send Pittsburgh to its third win in eight games.

The Capitals absorbed their third straight loss as Ondrej Pavelec stopped 30 shots in the Rangers' 1-0 shutout of Washington. Mats Zuccarello and Mika Zibanejad furnished the shootout goals to send New York to its fourth win in six games.

Elsewhere on NHL ice:

— Malcolm Subban stopped 27 shots and Cody Eakin delivered the tiebreaking goal in the second period as the Golden Knights won their fifth in a row 4-1 at Anaheim. Vegas pace the Pacific Division by two points after becoming the first expansion team in NHL history to collect a point in ten straight games.

— Nashville is back atop the Central Division after Pekka Rinne handled 29 shots in a 2-1 win at St. Louis. Craig Smith and Calle Jarnkrok did the scoring for the Predators as they stopped their season-high, three-game losing streak and dealt the Blues their sixth loss in eight contests.

— Joel Armia scored twice and Winnipeg stayed one point behind the Predators by topping the Oilers 4-3. Bryan Little and Kyle Connor also scored and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 21 shots as Winnipeg halted Edmonton's four-game winning streak.

Riley Nash scored twice and the Bruins picked up their fifth straight win by thumping the Senators 5-1. Tuukka Rask is 9-0-1 in his last 10 games, and Boston has won 14 of 18 since a 6-7-4 start.

— The Islanders pulled out a 3-2 win over Buffalo on rookie Mathew Barzal's goal 68 seconds into overtime. Josh Bailey scored the equalizer with just 1:09 left in regulation before setting up Barzal.

— Sebastian Aho provided a pair of third-period goals to send the Hurricanes to their sixth victory in seven games, 3-1 over the Canadiens. Cam Ward is 7-0-1 in his last eight games after stopping 23 of Montreal's 24 shots.

— Mikael Granlund snapped a 2-2 tie in the second period by scoring for just the second time in 12 games, leading the Wild past the Stars 4-2. Jared Spurgeon, Eric Staal and Jason Zucker also scored in Minnesota's second victory in six games.

— Alex Goligoski scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period of the Coyotes' 3-1 win at Colorado. Tobias Rieder scored 54 seconds after the opening faceoff and Antti Raanta stopped 25 shots in Arizona's second victory in 10 games.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL-BOWL GAMES

Wednesday's college football schedule began with Florida State's victory in the Independence Bowl.

James Blackman threw three of his four touchdown passes to Auden Tate in the Seminoles 42-13 rout of Southern Mississippi. Blackman completed 18 of 26 passes for 233 yards to help the Seminoles finish 7-6 and avoid their first losing season in 41 years.

Cam Akers led Florida State with 94 yards rushing, and Jacques Patrick added 61 yards.

In other bowl action:

— Drake Kulick's only carry in the Pinstripe Bowl was a one-yard touchdown run with 3:09 remaining to send Iowa past Boston College 27-20. Kulick's go-ahead TD came after Hawkeyes defensive end Anthony Nelson hit Darius Wade to cause a fumble that was recovered by Parker Hesse at the Eagles 45. The 8-5 Hawkeyes ended a five-game bowl losing streak and finished 8-5.

— Elijah Sindelar threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Mahoungou with 1:44 remaining to give Purdue a 38-35 victory over Arizona in the Foster Farms Bowl. Sindelar threw for 396 yards and four touchdowns, with Mahoungou and Gregory Phillips each providing two TD catches and over 100 yards. The Boilermakers had squandered a 17-point halftime lead when Khalil Tate threw his fifth TD pass with 3:21 remaining to give the Wildcats the lead.

— Shane Buechele and Sam Ehlinger each threw touchdown passes and freshman running back Daniel Young had 112 total yards as Texas tamed Missouri 33-16 in the Texas Bowl. Young Young had 64 yards receiving with a touchdown and added 48 yards on the ground. Tigers quarterback Drew Lock passed for 269 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw an interception and lost a fumble as both teams finished 7-6.

MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Reigning American League MVP Jose Altuve has been named AP Male Athlete of the Year after leading the Astros to their first World Series title.

Altuve picked up the franchise's first MVP trophy in more than two decades, a couple of weeks after helping the club beat the Dodgers in the Fall Classic. He led the AL with a .346 average and 204 hits while providing 24 homers, 81 RBIs and 112 runs scored.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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