Sports News

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Taquan Dean hit a school record nine 3-pointers and scored a 31 points Tuesday as No. 25 Louisville coasted to a 107-56 blowout over Virginia Military.

COLLEGE PARK, Md., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Nik Caner-Medley scored 19 points Tuesday as No. 25 Maryland celebrated its return to the rankings with an 85-58 victory over North Carolina-Greensboro.

NEW YORK, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Latrell Sprewell scored 31 points, including a clutch 3-pointer in the final minutes, Tuesday as Minnesota posted a 98-92 victory over New York.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Richard Jefferson scored 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting Tuesday as New Jersey coasted to its sixth straight home win, 95-78 over Chicago.

ATLANTA, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter Tuesday as the Atlanta Hawks held on for a 93-88 triumph over the Boston Celtics.

TORONTO, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Gary Roberts scored a pair of power-play goals and Toronto extended its team-record points streak to 15 games with a 5-2 victory over Florida.

UNIONDALE, N.Y., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Jason Blake snapped a tie with five minutes left and Arron Asham had his first multi-goal game as the New York Islanders beat Philadelphia, 4-2.

BUFFALO, N.Y., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Todd White and rookie Antonie Vermette scored 29 seconds apart late in the second period as Ottawa rallied for a 2-2 tie with Buffalo.

BOSTON, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Andrew Raycroft had 31 saves and P.J. Axelsson his 100th NHL assist as Boston's home unbeaten streak over Tampa Bay became 19 games with a 1-1 tie.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Peter Bondra scored with 54 seconds remaining Tuesday as Washington ended a three-game winless streak with a 3-2 victory over Montreal.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- David Tanabe's power-play goal snapped a tie 1:52 into the third period Tuesday as Phoenix rallied for a 2-1 victory over Columbus.

MIAMI, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Rookie Dwyane Wade scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter Tuesday as Miami beat Washington, 79-72, for its fifth straight home win.

CLEVELAND, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Eric Williams scored seven straight points Tuesday to give the Cavaliers their first lead with 7:33 left on the way to a 97-86 victory over New Orleans.

SEATTLE, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Three-time All-Star guard Ray Allen was activated Tuesday from the injured list by Seattle and was to make his season debut against Phoenix.

ATLANTA, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Dany Heatley skated Tuesday for the first time since the September car accident that killed Atlanta Thrashers teammate Dan Snyder.