Raiders, Eagles advance in NFL playoffs
OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 13 (UPI) -- The Oakland Raiders used an offensive explosion to advance past the first round of the NFL playoffs Saturday night while the Philadelphia Eagles may have ended the coaching tenure at Tampa Bay for Tony Dungy.
Charlie Garner put an exclamation point to Oakland's big night by running 80 yards for a touchdown with 1:27 remaining, advancing the Raiders into the divisional round with a 38-24 victory over the New York Jets.
In Philadelphia, the Eagles rode big performances from Donovan McNabb and their defense to eliminate the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31-9.
It has been widely reported that Dungy would be fired if his team did not advance and one story suggested Bill Parcells was prepared to take the Tampa Bay job.
The wild card round continues today with Green Bay hosting San Francisco and Baltimore visiting Miami.
With Jerry Rice putting on a vintage performance that helped account for 22 Oakland points in the fourth quarter, the Raiders set up a divisional-round matchup next Saturday night against New England.
Every possession of the game saw the team with the ball advance past the 50-yard line and Oakland accounted for more than 500 yards. But the Raiders still found themselves having to fight off the Jets in the final moments when, holding only a seven-point lead, they faced a third and 10 at their own 20.
In anticipation that the Raiders would merely run a play into the middle in an attempt to run time off the clock, the Jets sent all 11 defenders crashing toward the line of scrimmage.
So when Garner took a pitchout to the right side, he quickly had an open field in front of him and he went untouched for the clinching score.
Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon completed 23 of 29 passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns as helped hold off the Jets during the second half.
McNabb completed 16 of 25 passes for 194 yards with two first-half touchdown passes that helped the Eagles open a 17-9 lead at the break. He also broke off a 39-yard run in the opening quarter that set up a short field goal by David Akers.
The Eagles' defense intercepted Tampa Bay quarterback Brad Johnson four times in the second half, including a 59-yard return for a touchdown by safety Damon Moore with just over two minutes remaining. Philadelphia will face the Chicago Bears next weekend.
O'Neal goes beserk in Lakers loss
CHICAGO, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Shaquille O'Neal was ejected Saturday night and faces a stiff suspension after throwing a frightening roundhouse right and the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers were punchless without him, falling in overtime to the league-worst Chicago Bulls, 106-104.
With 2:44 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Lakers holding an 87-84 lead, O'Neal was fouled hard by both Bulls center Brad Miller and forward Charles Oakley, whose hack also hit Miller in the face.
Miller walked away to shake off the blow, turning his back on the 7-2, 330-pound O'Neal, who finally snapped after years of being hammered by smaller players. He went after Miller with an overhand roundhouse closed fist that almost certainly would have dropped Miller had it connected.
The blow missed and Oakley and Bulls forward Ron Artest tackled O'Neal to the floor as he grappled with Miller on the baseline. O'Neal grabbed Miller's jersey and would not let go as players tried to pry the 7-footers apart. Miller had to slide out of his jersey to get free and four players were required to restrain O'Neal.
O'Neal, Miller and Oakley were ejected, as was Lakers forward Rick Fox, who protested an ensuing ruling by the referees.
Without O'Neal, the Lakers squandered their lead. A three-pointer by Chicago's Ron Mercer with nine seconds left tied it, 94-94.
The Bulls never trailed in overtime, although Robert Horry's three-pointer pulled the Lakers into a 103-103 tie with 38 seconds left. Rookie Tyson Chandler's follow dunk 10 seconds later gave the Bulls the lead for good.
Other NBA results: Boston 115, Atlanta 91; Minnesota 108, Washington 100; Detroit 104, Charlotte 76; Milwaukee 102, New York 97; New Jersey 91, Orlando 85; Dallas 111, Indiana 102; Houston 98, Denver 86; Phoenix 108, Miami 74; Memphis 97, Utah 95 in double overtime.
UCLA surprises Kansas
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Matt Barnes scored 27 points Saturday to lead the 14th-ranked UCLA Bruins to an 87-77 victory over No. 3 Kansas, which had a 13-game winning streak snapped.
UCLA (12-3) suffered an 81-77 Pac-10 loss at Southern California on Thursday that ended its nine-game winning streak. However, the Bruins rebounded to improve to 3-0 against ranked non-conference foes, including triumphs over Alabama and Georgetown.
Barnes scored a career-high 34 points in Thursday's loss and came back strong as UCLA extended its home winning streak to seven games. Billy Knight added 20 points for the Bruins.
The Bruins used a 19-5 spurt to open a 38-25 lead with 6:29 left in the first half on a dunk from Barnes.
Barnes had 18 points in the opening 20 minutes as UCLA built a 46-35 lead.
Kansas (13-2) got within 80-77 on a three-point play by Drew Gooden with 1:42 remaining. Knight sealed the win with two free throws 37 seconds later and another pair with 39 seconds left.
Gooden led the Jayhawks with 22 points and Kirk Hinrich fouled out with 17.
In East Lansing, Mich., Kevin Torbert's last-second basket was waved off Saturday, taking Michigan State's 53-game home winning streak along with it.
Freddie Owens scored high off the glass with 25 seconds left and Torbert's bank shot off an alley-oop inbounds pass with two-tenths of a second left was disallowed, giving Wisconsin a 64-63 win over No. 22 Michigan State.
In other action involving top 10 teams, No. 2 Florida downed Vanderbilt, 95-85; No. 5 Virginia bested North Carolina, 71-67; No. 6 Oklahoma State beat Iowa State, 69-66; No. 7 Oklahoma crushed Texas Tech, 98-72; No. 8 Syracuse held off West Virginia, 75-69; No. 9 Kentucky nipped South Carolina, 51-10; and No. 10 Illinois ran away from Michigan, 94-70.
Flyers spoil return of Lindros
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Kim Johnsson burned his former team by scoring the go-ahead goal 5:51 into the third period Saturday as the Philadelphia Flyers spoiled Eric Lindros' return with a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers.
Lindros was held without a point in his first game at First Union Center since he was traded to New York over the summer -- a deal provoked by his contentious relationship with Flyers general manager Bobby Clarke.
Clarke received three players from New York in exchange for the former Hart Trophy winner, including Johnsson, a 24-year-old defenseman who had a goal and an assist in his second game against the Rangers.
Johnsson gave the Flyers the lead for good, 3-2, when he found a lane to the net from the left point and put a quick snap shot over the left shoulder of goaltender Mike Richter.
Justin Williams added an insurance goal with 4:23 left as the Flyers moved six points ahead of the second-place Rangers atop the Atlantic Division.
Other NHL results: Detroit 5, Dallas 2; St. Louis 4, Pittsburgh 1; Los Angeles 3, San Jose 2; New York Islanders 5, Boston 4; Buffalo 2, New Jersey 1; Columbus 5, Chicago 4; Toronto 1, Montreal 1; Washington 1, Florida 0; Ottawa 2, Tampa Bay 1; Nashville 2, Anaheim 1; Vancouver 7, Carolina 1; Colorado 2, Edmonton 2.
Kwan wins sixth national title
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Michelle Kwan won her sixth national title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships Saturday night and set her sights on next month's Olympics.
All nine judges placed Kwan first in her long program and two of them gave her a perfect score for presentation.
With the home crowd behind her, Kwan will be favored in Salt Lake City to grab her first Olympic gold in what should be a duel with Russian Irina Slutskaya.
Kwan, 21, will be joined at the Olympics by teen-agers Sasha Cohen and Sarah Hughes, who finished second and third Saturday night.
Her six national crowns places Kwan in a tie for second on the all-time list behind Maribel Vinson, who recorded nine titles. It was Kwan's fifth straight U.S. championship.
Earlier in the day, Peter Tchernyshev and Naomi Lang won the championship dance portion of the event, earning their first trip to the Olympics.
Tchernyshev and Lang floored the Staples Center crowd. They finished their routine with an incredible move as Tchernyshev balanced his partner on his chest without holding her.
Jerry Kelly leads Sony Open
HONOLULU, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Jerry Kelly moved a step closer to his first PGA Tour title Saturday, shooting a 5-under-par 65 for a two-shot lead after the third round of the Sony Open.
Playing in the last group at breezy Waialae Country Club, Kelly had an early bogey and four birdies, closing with two in a row to reach 14-under 196.
Second-round leader John Cook and PGA champion David Toms were tied for second at 12-under 198. Cook followed a career-low 62 with a 70 and Toms had the low round of the day with a 63.
Jim Furyk was alone in fourth at 199 after carding a 66. Rookie of the Year Charles Howell III, first-round co-leader Chris Riley and Stephen Ames of Trinidad were tied for fifth at 200.
Kelly followed a bogey at the fourth hole with a 15-foot birdie putt at the fifth, then added birdies at the ninth, 13th, 17th and 18th.
A two-time runner-up in five-plus PGA Tour seasons, Kelly will sleep on a Saturday lead for the fourth time. The last was at the Reno-Tahoe Open in August, when he triple-bogeyed the 16th hole Sunday and finished second to Cook.
