Louisville, Texas lose on the road
CINCINNATI, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- The nation's third and fourth-ranked teams were defeated Saturday and North Carolina suffered a memorable loss.
Sparked by Leonard Stokes and Tony Bobbitt, Cincinnati took a major step toward securing an NCAA Tournament bid with a 101-80 Conference USA rout of third-ranked Louisville.
Entering the contest with five losses in their last six games and trying to avoid consecutive home defeats for the first time in the 14-year history of the Shoemaker Center, the Bearcats (15-8, 7-5 C-USA American) responded with a record-setting performance.
Stokes and Bobbitt led the charge. Stokes played aggressive on both ends of the floor and finished with a season-high 33 points while Bobbitt added 25, making five three-pointers.
In a 77-71 loss at Louisville on Jan. 5, Stokes managed just 13 points while maknig three of 14 shots. Bobbitt was not a member of the Bearcats at the time after briefly quitting the team.
Paced by Stokes and Bobbitt, the Bearcats dominated the entire way, reaching 100 points in a game for the first time in school history.
With his team headed for its second straight and third loss in four games, Cardinals Coach Rich Pitino was ejected from the contest after picking up two technical fouls with 11:05 remaining in the contest.
Pitino seemed to have some reason for complaining about the officiating. Cincinnati made 42 of 58 free throws while Louisville went 14 of 34 at the line.
In Stillwater, Okla., Victor Williams scored 20 points, including a key three-pointer to stymie a late rally, as the 16th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys held on for an 82-77 Big 12 Conference victory over fourth-ranked Texas.
Texas was unable to pull out a win despite a career-high 32 points from point guard T.J. Ford.
Oklahoma State (20-5, 9-3 Big 12) shot 61 percent in the first half in building a 47-33 lead behind 13 points from Williams. Ford did everything he could to bring Texas back with 21 points in the second half.
North Carolina, meanwhile, suffered a 96-56 loss to Maryland in College Park. The Tar Heels matched the worst loss in their illustrious history.
North Carolina also suffered a 40-point defeat -- 79-39 -- to North Carolina State during the 1948-49 campaign. The Tar Heels needed a three-pointer by Melvin Scott at the buzzer to avoid equaling their worst loss ever, a 63-20 setback to Lynchburg in 1915.
Last season, Maryland beat the Tar Heels by 33 points at Cole Field House en route to the national championship.
The Terrapins completed their second straight season sweep of North Carolina and have won four straight against the Tar Heels, the winningest program in ACC history, for the first time since a five-game run from 1930-32.
North Carolina (14-12, 4-8) has lost seven straight road games to likely fall out of contention for an NCAA Tournament at-large berth. The Tar Heels are just 7-9 since losing freshman center Sean May to a broken foot on Dec. 27 and have dropped 11 of their last 12 ACC road contests.
Top-ranked Arizona had an easy time in downing Arizona State, 92-72.
Tyson wins in a walk
MEMPHIS, Tenn., Feb. 23 (UPI) -- After a long and trying week for both fighters, Mike Tyson made quick work of Clifford Etienne Saturday night.
Tyson's fading championship hopes got a badly needed boost from a stunning knockout as the former champion stopped Etienne just 49 seconds into the opening round of their heavyweight bout Saturday night at The Pyramid.
In flashing some of the brute power that characterized his run as champion, Tyson remained unbeaten in 38 non-title bouts and kept alive his hopes for a summer meeting with recognized champion Lennox Lewis.
Tyson improved to 50-4 with his 44th knockout, landing one of his trademark devastating blows.
Etienne (24-2-1) missed with a left-right combination and was off balance a bit when beginning to throw a right. Tyson countered with a right cross to the jaw that buckled Etienne's knees.
Etienne could not beat the count, giving Tyson had his 22nd first-round knockout.
Howell leads by three
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif., Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Charles Howell III eagled the par-5 11th hole Saturday en route to a three-shot lead after 54 holes at the Nissan Open.
Tiger Woods, meanwhile, suffered five bogeys and a double bogey while shooting a 73 and fell 11 shots off the pace.
Howell, seeking his second PGA Tour victory, shot a 68 at the Riviera Country Club for a three-round total of 11-under 202. The highlight of his day came at the par-5 11th, where he put his second shot within 12 feet of the hole and made the putt for an eagle.
Nick Price, who ended a four-year victory drought at the Colonial last season, was alone in second at 205 after firing a 70 and K.C. Choi was alone in third at 206 following a 67.
Current PGA champion Rich Beem and Len Mattiace, who won here last year, shared fourth place at 207.
Woods, who won last week in his 2003 debut, was tied for 28th at even-par 213. He double bogeyed the par-5 first, the easiest hole on the course, and played the front nine in 3-over 38.
Spurs win, Artest sits out second half
SAN ANTONIO, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Another strange scenario involving Ron Artest Saturday night accompanied a collapse by the Indiana Pacers.
Indiana suffers its fourth straight loss as it took a 105-96 beating from the San Antonio Spurs.
After a poor second quarter, the Pacers went to the locker room facing a 50-39 deficit. When they returned to the court, Artest -- who has been suspended twice this season for a total of seven games -- was not with them.
Initial reports said nothing was wrong with the defensive-minded forward. When Artest did return to the bench, he was in street clothes with his injury status described as a sore right elbow.
By the time Artest rejoined his teammates, the game was out of hand. The Spurs began the third quarter with a 24-4 burst, opening a 74-43 lead with 4:54 remaining.
San Antonio coasted thereafter to its 10th win in 11 games as it bounced back nicely from a tough loss at league-leading Dallas on Thursday. The Spurs are 9-0 at home against the Eastern Conference.
Other NBA results: New Orleans 93, Detroit 91; Miami 100, Chicago 90; Houston 93, Memphis 82; Utah 99, Denver 89.
Penguins win in overtime
PITTSBURGH, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Shawn Heins scored his first goal of the season with 27 seconds left in overtime Saturday, giving Pittsburgh a 2-1 win over St. Louis.
Heins finished a give-and-go with Mario Lemieux for the winning goal. Heins put home the game-winner with the Penguins' only shot on goal in the extra period. He scored on a one-timer from the lower left faceoff circle after exchanging passes with Lemieux.
The Blues earned a point but lost for the first time in their last five road games (2-1-2-1) and just second in 11 away games. They have the fifth-best road record in the league at 15-10-5-3.
After a scoreless first period, Rico Fata had given Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead 7:06 into the second with a wrist shot from the high left circle that went under goalie Brent Johnson.
The lead lasted just 93 seconds as Pavol Demitra tied it with his sixth goal in the last eight games. Demitra swiped the puck out of the air for his 24th goal of the season after Keith Tkachuk dumped it in front of the crease from the right side.
Other NHL results: Toronto 5, Montreal 3; Ottawa 4, Nashville 0; Florida 4, Philadelphia 2; Detroit 5, Washington 1.
Weather clears for NASCAR race
ROCKINGHAM, N.C., Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Weather conditions are expected to be decent enough Sunday for NASCAR to run the Subway 400, the second race of the season.
Dave Blaney will be on the pole in the traditional second stop of the season -- a race that is run on a one-mile track after the opening race on the superspeedway at Daytona Beach.
Saturday's Rockingham 200 at the North Carolina Motor Speedway was postponed due to rain.
NASCAR officials waited about 90 minutes before rescheduling the 200-lap Busch Grand National series event for Monday at 11:00 a.m. EST.
Seles falls in final
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Top seed Justine Henin-Hardenne saved a match point and rallied to beat Monica Seles Saturday in the Dubai Championships.
Henin-Hardenne recorded a 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 triumph after trailing in the second set, 4-5 and 30-40.
Seles also had a 5-4 lead in the final set before Henin-Hardenne won the last three games to claim her first title of the year and seventh of her career.
The match lasted two hours, 46 minutes.
Eberharter wins downhill title
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Austria's Stephan Eberharter won Saturday's men's downhill to clinch the World Cup title in the discipline.
Although the difficult icy conditions hindered many of his rivals, Eberharter remained composed. The course was inspected on a number of occasions to ensure it was safe for competition.
It was the sixth downhill victory of the season for the Super-G champion and he completed the course in 1 minute 55.68 seconds.
Didier Cuche of Switzerland was second and American Daron Rahlves finished third.
The World Cup downhill title was the second of Eberharter's career and he is more than 100 points ahead of Rahlves.
Eberharter previously had never won a race in the downhill category at the Bavarian venue.
Although the win secured the downhill title, Eberharter's goal this season is to finish as overall World Cup champion and the points from Saturday's win took him more than 100 in front of his chief rival, American Bode Miller, who finished outside the top 20 here.
America's Cup postponed again
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- The fourth race of the America's Cup final was postponed again Sunday.
That made it five days in a row the crews bidding for the biggest prize in sailing have been unable to compete.
Light and shifting winds once more forced a postponement and although Monday was originally scheduled to be an off day, defending champion Team New Zealand and Swiss challenger Alinghi will try to get a race in.
Alinghi holds a surprising 3-0 lead in the best-of-nine series.
The boats have not raced since Tuesday, when Alinghi capitalized on a wind ashift on the first leg to build and lead and hung on to hand New Zealand another disappointing setback.
New Zealand lost the first race when the boat took on water and then had a boom break and two sails rip away. New Zealand had a 23-second lead heading into the last leg of the second race only to see Alinghi come from behind and record a seven-second victory.
