Vinatieri gives Patriots Super win
NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Adam Vinatieri finished off one of the most dramatic of all Super Bowls Sunday night by kicking a 48-yard field goal on the game's final play to make the surprising New England Patriots champions of professional football with a 20-17 victory over the St. Louis Rams.
Tom Brady, who became the youngest winning quarterback in Super Bowl history and was voted the game's MVP, guided the Patriots from their own 17 to the St. Louis 30 in the span of 74 seconds, setting up Vinatieri for the winning kick.
The Patriots, 14-point underdogs, held St. Louis' high-powered offense to just three points through the first three periods and converted three Rams turnovers into 17 points to take control. But the Rams capitalized on huge call by the officials to ignite what became the biggest rally ever in a Super Bowl.
No team had ever made up more than a 10-point deficit in the Super Bowl, but the Rams scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter on a two-yard run by quarterback Kurt Warner and a 26-yard throw from Warner to Ricky Proehl.
The second of those touchdowns tied the game with 1:30 to play and after the Patriots received the ensuing kickoff, they had the ball at their own 17 with 1:31 remaining.
Conventional wisdom suggested the Patriots, with no time outs remaining, would play it safe to bring about what would have been the first Super Bowl overtime.
The Patriots, however, chose to go for it.
Brady, in his first year as a starter, completed two short passes to fullback J.R. Redmond that advanced the ball to the 30 and Brady quickly killed the clock with 41 seconds to go.
The Patriots' quarterback then hit Redmond again for 11 yards and he was able to get out of bounds to stop the clock with 33 seconds left. Next came a key play with Brady hitting Troy Brown on a 23-yarder to the St. Louis 36 and Brown also got out of bounds with 21 seconds remaining.
Vinatieri had the distance to make the kick from there, but the Patriots ran one more play, a quick six-yard completion from Brady to Jermaine Wiggins.
With the clock running, the Patriots hustled to the line of scrimmage and Brady spiked the ball to stop the clock one last time with seven seconds to go.
Vinatieri's kick was never in question, sailing down the middle of the field with plenty of distance to spare. The clock showed two seconds left when the ball cleared the uprights, but those two seconds ticked off without any whistle blowing.
New England ended the season with nine straight victories and won the Super Bowl despite giving up 160 more yards than it gained. No team had ever been outgained by that margin and still won a Super Bowl.
Gogel wins wild one at Pebble Beach
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Matt Gogel ran in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to cap a bizarre final round Sunday and capture the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, his first victory on the PGA Tour.
Gogel won the tournament at the expense of Pat Perez, who walked to the 18th tee with a one-shot lead but wound up hitting two shots out of bounds en route to a triple-bogey eight. That gave Gogel a three-shot victory in an event he had threatened to win the previous two years.
In 2000, Gogel led by seven shots with seven holes to go only to shoot a 40 on the back nine and watch Tiger Woods produce an amazing comeback to win. And last year, Gogel had the 36-hole lead before shooting an 81 to miss the 54-hole cut.
Perez did not learn his tee shot at the 18th had gone out of bounds until he walked all the way to the spot where the ball had come to rest. So he had to go back to the tee and, after a penalty, hit his third shot. Needing to make an eagle with the second ball, Perez tried to reach the green from close to 300 yards away and the shot hooked into the Pacific Ocean.
Gogel fired a final-round 3-under 69 for a 14-under 274 total. Perez, playing in only his fourth PGA Tour event, finished second at 277 following a 76 that included six birdies, five bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey. Andrew Magee and Lee Janzen shared third place at 278 while Jose Maria Olazabal was among those tied for fifth at 280.
Woods, who was never in contention this week after struggling with the flu during practice rounds, closed with a 68 that vaulted him into a tie for 12th at 282.
O'Neal leads Lakers past Mavericks
DALLAS, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Shaquille O'Neal collected 31 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in a dominant effort Sunday and Kobe Bryant scored 24 points to carry the Los Angeles Lakers past the Dallas Mavericks, 101-94.
O'Neal has been hampered by an arthritic big toe on his right foot all season and has hinted he will not play in next Sunday's All-Star Game. He also may sit out against Chicago on Wednesday, giving him a 10-day layoff before the Lakers begin the second half of the campaign.
But O'Neal had no trouble against the Mavericks, making 12 of 20 shots from the floor and seven of nine free throws.
The Mavericks scored 11 straight points over the third and fourth quarters and tied it, 76-76, on Wang Zhizhi's free throws with 9:45 remaining.
O'Neal responded with a dunk and two free throws to put the Lakers ahead for good. Rick Fox converted a crucial three-point play with 5:30 to go and Derek Fisher scored nine of his 19 points in the final 2:38 as Los Angeles rolled to their fourth straight victory.
Other NBA results: Washington 109, Indiana 89; Miami 94, New York 83; San Antonio 105, Orlando 98; Sacramento 112, Minnesota 107; Charlotte 97, Memphis 79; Boston 104, Los Angeles Clippers 91; Portland 101, Chicago 96; Phoenix 98, Golden State 97.
Maryland wins 13th straight home game
COLLEGE PARK, Md., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Juan Dixon had 27 points, including five three-pointers, and Lonny Baxter added 18 Sunday as third-ranked Maryland posted its 13th straight home win over North Carolina State, 89-73.
The victory moved Maryland back into a first-place tie atop the Atlantic Coast Conference with No. 1-ranked Duke.
Dixon hit a three-pointer and Byron Mouton hit a jumper, capping a 10-0 run in the second half, to help give the Terrapins (18-3, 8-1 ACC) their ninth win in the last 10 games.
Baxter collected 12 points in the opening 20 minutes as Maryland took a 41-38 lead at halftime.
Duke stays unanimous No. 1
DURHAM, N.C., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Duke maintained its unanimous grip on the top spot while Oklahoma moved up three spots to fourth in the latest basketball coaches' poll released Sunday night.
Duke (20-1) posted easy Atlantic Coast Conference wins over North Carolina and Clemson last week and received all 30 first-place votes and 750 points from a panel of Division I coaches.
The Blue Devils have been ranked No. 1 in all but one week this season, losing the top spot after their lone loss to Florida State three weeks ago.
Oklahoma (17-3) defeated then No. 9 Oklahoma State and Texas this week to rise to fourth. The Sooners blew a 17-point lead in regulation before holding on for an 85-84 overtime victory over Texas on Saturday.
Kansas (19-2) and Maryland (18-3) remained second and third, respectively.
Cincinnati had its 20-game winning streak ended with a 74-60 loss to Marquette on Saturday, but the Bearcats fell just one spot in the poll, dropping to fifth. Marquette (19-3) moved into the poll at No. 22.
Alabama (19-3) was sixth and followed by Florida (16-4), Virginia (14-5), Kentucky (15-5) and Gonzaga (20-3).
Hingis defeats Seles
TOKYO, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Martina Hingis continued her domination of Monica Seles Sunday when she won her fourth Pan Pacific Open with a three-set victory over Seles in the final of the $1.2 million indoor event.
The top-seed from Switzerland topped Seles, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-3, in a rematch of last week's Australian Open semifinal and captured her second title of the year. She won the adidas International in Sydney to start the season.
Playing in her sixth straight final here, Hingis rallied twice to take the first-set tiebreaker and, after losing the second set, gained the upper hand in the deciding set with a break of serve in the second game.
Coaching great Ed Jucker dies
CINCINNATI, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The University of Cincinnati announced Sunday that Ed Jucker, who coached the school to NCAA basketball championships in 1961 and 1962, died Saturday. He was 85.
Jucker died at his home in Callawassis Island, S.C. The cause of death was not disclosed.
No coach in NCAA basketball history has matched Jucker's .917 winning percentage in NCAA tournament play (11-1). He piloted the Bearcats to their first national title in 1961 in his maiden season at his alma mater, defeating Ohio State, 70-65, in overtime.
A year later, Cincinnati topped Ohio State, 71-59, in the title game. Jucker narrowly missed a then-unprecedented third straight title in 1963 when the Bearcats lost in overtime to Loyola of Chicago.
