NBA:
In the NBA, the Knicks topped Miami 114-103, Memphis won against Philadelphia 96-91, Utah bested Phoenix 112-105, San Antonio defeated Minnesota 105-91, and it was Orlando over Washington 124-116.
For NBA All-Star Jayson Williams now says he is a "coward" for his cover-up of a drunken accidental shooting that killed his limo driver in 2002. Williams served prison time for Gus Christofi's death and made the comment in an interview with Showtime's "60 Minutes Sports" that aired last night.
NHL:
In the NHL, the Islanders doubled up the Rangers 4-2, New Jersey edged Florida 3-2, Buffalo skated by Edmonton in overtime 4-3, Philadelphia beat Florida in overtime 3-2, Nashville won against Colorado 4-3, Calgary defeated Dallas 2-1, Chicago blanked Arizona 4-0, Detroit edged Winnipeg in a shootout 4-3, and it was St. Louis over Montreal in overtime 3-2.
MLB:
The Boston Red Sox have acquired Chris Sale from the Chicago White Sox for prospects in the biggest deal yet at the winter meetings in Maryland. Sale was 17-10 with a 3.34 ERA and 233 strikeouts this year, a season after he led the majors with 274 Ks. The White Sox received highly-touted third baseman Yoan Moncada, pitchers Michael Kopech and Victor Diaz and outfielder Luis Basabe.
Derek Jeter's No. 2 is being retired, the last of the New York Yankees' single digits. The Yankees said Tuesday the number will be retired on May 14 before a Mother's Day game against Houston, and a plaque in his honor will be unveiled in Monument Park during the ceremony. Jeter's number is the 21st retired by the team. He won five World Series titles and was a 14-time All-Star during a 20-season career that ended in 2014 and he is sixth in career hits with 3,465.
The Tampa Bay Rays are close to completing a two-year package with All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos. The 29-year-old Ramos batted .309 with a career-high 22 home runs and 80 RBIs for the Nationals this year before tearing his right ACL on Sept. 25. And catcher Jeff Mathis has finalized a two-year, $4 million contract with the Diamondbacks.
New York Mets manager Terry Collins says Tim Tebow may see some spring training action. The Mets signed Tebow to a minor league deal earlier this year and he hit .194 in the Arizona Fall League, with 20 strikeouts over his 70 plate appearances.
Catcher Jeff Mathis and the Diamondbacks have finalized a $4 million, two-year contract. The 12-year veteran had been the Marlins' No. 2 backstop since 2013 and hit .238 with two home runs and 15 RBIs in 41 games this year.
The Chicago Cubs' first World Series title in 108 years is worth about $369,000 to each player after the team split up over $27.5 million in postseason shares. The AL-champion Indians' portion of the player pool is about $18.4 million, or 262,000 for each full share. The champion series runners-up get over $123,000 per full share.
NFL:
The Louisiana man who fatally shot former NFL running back Joe McKnight in an apparent road-rage incident was jailed Monday night on a manslaughter charge. Ronald Gasser was initially questioned after the shooting last Thursday and was released without being charged. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand drew heated criticism last week from protesters who said race played a role in the investigation.
The New York Jets have waived running back/kick returner C.J. Spiller and wide receiver/kick returner Jeremy Ross. Coach Todd Bowles said yesterday, a day after a 41-10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, he has not yet decided how he will fill the two vacant spots on the active roster.
Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez is set to appear in court in Boston in connection with the shooting deaths of two men in 2012. Hernandez and his lawyers are expected to attend a status conference Wednesday for his upcoming trial in Suffolk Superior Court. He's accused of killing Safiro Furtado and Daniel de Abreau in a drive-by shooting following a dispute at a Boston nightclub.
Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Mike Pennel has received his second four-game suspension of the season for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy. Pennel missed the first four games of the season due to the suspension and will miss the Packers' final four games as the team tries to earn an NFL playoff berth. Colts linebacker D'Qwell Jackson also received a four-game suspension from the NFL for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances.
San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins says Colin Kaepernick will start Sunday against the Jets despite the quarterback's poor performance versus the Bears over the weekend. Kaepernick was removed from the game for Blaine Gabbert in the fourth quarter after taking five sacks and completing one pass. He threw for 1,110 yards in his previous four games since the bye week, the most of any four-game stretch of his career.
Colts linebacker D'Qwell Jackson has been suspended for four games for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances. Jackson will sit out the team's final four games, leaving the Colts without one of their top defensive players as the team tries to win the AFC South. He has 78 tackles and a sack this season.
Running back Joique Bell is back with the Detroit Lions, who also signed cornerback Asa Jackson and put defensive end Armonty Bryant and cornerback Quandre Diggs on injured reserve. Bell played four years with the Lions and rushed for 860 yards and seven touchdowns during the 2014 season.
MLS:
David Villa earned Major League Soccer's Most Valuable Player award after scoring 23 goals for New York City in his second season with the team. Villa received the award, named after Landon Donovan, from MLS Commissioner Don Garber on Tuesday. Villa got an average of 25.9 percent of the vote in balloting by players, club officials and media. The New York Red Bulls' Bradley Wright-Phillips was second at 19.3 percent, followed by Red Bulls midfielder Sacha Kljestan (17.6), Toronto forward Sebastian Giovinco (16.3) and Montreal midfielder Ignacio Piatti (7.7).
A World Cup champion with Spain in 2010, Villa finished second in MLS in scoring this year, one behind the Wright-Phillips. Villa, who turned 35 on Saturday, is Spain's career scoring leader with 59 goals. He scored 22 regular-season MLS goals from inside the penalty area this year, including five on penalty kicks. He led the league with 68 shots on target.
NCAA Football:
Matt Rhule has left Temple to become Baylor's head football coach. Rhule becomes the full-time replacement for two-time Big 12 champion coach Art Briles, who was dismissed after a scathing report over the university's handling of sexual assault complaints. The school and the football program in particular have been rocked by the scandal. Rhule was 28-23 in four seasons with the Owls, including a 10-3 mark and the American Athletic Conference title this year.
Boxing Hall of Fame:
Former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield and three-division champion Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico head a list of nine people selected for induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Holyfield captured the WBC-WBA-IBF titles in 1990 with a third-round knockout of Buster Douglas and made successful defenses against George Foreman, Bert Cooper, and Larry Holmes. He also upset Mike Tyson for the WBA title in 1996 and won the rematch the next year. Holyfield retired in 2011 with a record of 44-10-2 with 29 knockouts.
Barrera won his first 43 bouts and captured the NABF super flyweight title before winning world championships in three weight divisions in the 1990s. Also to be inducted June 11 in Canastota, New York are: super flyweight champion Johnny Tapia; Australian trainer Johnny Lewis; judge Jerry Roth; journalist-broadcaster Steve Farhood; broadcaster Barry Tompkins; and posthumous honorees Eddie Booker and ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Sr.
World Cup Luge:
World Cup luge races scheduled for Friday at the Whistler Sliding Center have been delayed until Saturday because heavy snow has delayed the delivery of sleds. The sleds that were shipped from Lake Placid, New York, last weekend are stuck in Manitoba because of the snow, and aren't expected to arrive in British Columbia before Wednesday. Friday will be a training day for all teams, and all four disciplines men's, women's, doubles and the team relay will be run on Saturday. Parts of western Canada have gotten nearly a foot of snow because of the storm, with more in Wednesday's forecast.
NCAA Basketball:
UAlbany takes on Marist tonight at 7 p.m. in the SEFCU Arena.
In women’s college basketball, UAlbany beat Fairfield 59-45, New Hampshire topped Siena 77-67.
The UConn women's basketball team are getting their own reality show. The HBO series "The March to Madness" debuts next March and will follow the Huskies as they go for a fifth straight national title. It will cover the team's goings-on and will also have behind-the-scenes access to UConn coach Geno Auriemma.
The defending-champion Villanova Wildcats had a bit of trouble in their first game since climbing to the top of the AP men's basketball poll.
The Wildcats are 9-0 after squeezing out an 89-79 triumph over city rival La Salle at the Palestra in Philadelphia. Villanova failed to dominate despite 26 points from Jalen Brunson and 21 from Josh Hart.
The Explorers trailed by just four late in the game following a 3-pointer by Jordan Price. Pookie Powell had a game-high 27 points, but it wasn't enough for La Salle to pull off its biggest victory since reaching the 2013 Sweet 16.
Checking out the rest of the top-25 schedule:
Duke won a matchup of ranked teams at the Jimmy V Classic in New York as Amile Jefferson had career highs of 24 points and 15 rebounds to lead the No. 5 Blue Devils to an 84-74 victory over 21st-rated Florida. Luke Kennard scored 29 points and freshman Jayson Tatum added 22 for the 9-1 Blue Devils.
Bill Self picked up his 600th coaching victory as Frank Mason matched his career high with 30 points to lead third-ranked Kansas to a 105-62 rout of Missouri-Kansas City. Josh Jackson had 19 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, while Devonte Graham was 6 of 8 from beyond the arc and finished with 18 points to help the Jayhawks get to 8-1.
Kyle Guy scored 13 points and 14th-ranked Virginia bounced back from Saturday's loss to West Virginia by hammering East Carolina, 76-53. The Cavaliers trailed 16-15 before ending the first half on a 27-4 run en route to their eighth win in nine games.
Isaac Haas and Vincent Edwards were both 6 of 9 from the field and had 16 points to lead No. 18 Purdue to a 97-64 rout of Arizona State in the Jimmy V Classic. The 6-1 Boilermakers used a 26-2 spurt to take a 35-12 lead.
Lauri Markkanen and Dusan Ristic combined to shoot 15-for-21 while scoring 18 points apiece in Arizona's 79-57 romp over UC Irvine. Rawle Alkins finished with 14 points, seven boards and five assists for the 20th-ranked Wildcats.
Bonzie Carlson recorded his sixth straight double-double by delivering 17 points and 14 rebounds in No. 23 Notre Dame's 87-72 win over Fort Wayne. Steve Vasturia had a team-high 21 points as the Fighting Irish improved to 9-0 for the first time since a 12-0 start to the 1973-74 season under coach Digger Phelps.
Golf:
Thomas Bjorn has been named captain of Europe's 2018 Ryder Cup team. He is the first Scandinavian to be named Europe's Ryder Cup leader. The 45-year-old will lead the team against the United States in Paris. The 15-time European Tour winner has played in three Ryder Cups and been a vice captain in four matches. That includes this year's 17-11 loss to the United States at Hazeltine (HAY'-zuhl-teen) in Minnesota.
Tennis:
Former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic says he and coach Boris Becker are splitting up after three seasons together. Djokovic won six of his 12 career Grand Slam singles titles with Becker in his corner. Only Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal have won more men's Grand Slam crowns.
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