Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
AP
LAHAINA, Hawaii - Yancy Gates was ready to go as soon as breakfast was over.
The 6-foot-9, 260-pound forward scored 12 points in an 18-2 first-half run that set the tone for Cincinnati’s 67-58 victory over No. 24 Vanderbilt on Monday in the first round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
“We were really focused at breakfast this morning,” Gates said of the game that started at 12:30 p.m. “There wasn’t a lot of running around. I felt ready to go from the tipoff. The players were asking me, ‘Are you ready?’ My game plan was to be ready to go on the glass. I was able to get out ahead and get some easy buckets. That really got me going.”
Cincinnati will face No. 21 Maryland, which beat Division II Chaminade 79-51, in the semifinals on Tuesday.
“I think this is a statement game for us,” Gates said. “We were actually watching it this morning, me and my roommate. We watched it and we saw they were No. 24 and that kind of gave me some incentive. We feel we needed to get the win and after breakfast some of the guys were texting about it.”
Ranked for the first time since March 17, 2008, the Commodores (2-1) didn’t come out like a team that broke into the Top 25 earlier Monday.
“The right team won. They were much more aggressive, much more physical,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. “We certainly congratulate them. They did the things to us we wanted to do to them.”
Behind Gates, the Bearcats (3-0) broke from a 4-4 tie to take a 22-6 lead midway through the first half. Gates finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while reserve Dion Dixon added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“I thought our players came out with tremendous effort today,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. “That was the best defensive effort of the year. We finally played defense like we have in practice. Our rebounding was the best I have had as head coach here and our defensive rebounding carried us.”
Jarmaine Beal had 16 points for Vanderbilt, which was 14 of 51 (27.5 percent) from the field.
The Bearcats outrebounded the Commodores 53-32.
Stallings, who got a technical foul in the second half, said it wasn’t just Gates who dominated.
“We make all-stars out of everybody. We are just kind of used to that at this point it wasn’t just him,” Stallings said. “At halftime he had almost as many offensive rebounds as my team had defensive rebounds, so that is kind of embarrassing.”
Cronin said his team was able to overcome its own poor shooting. The Bearcats were 27 of 68 (39.7 percent) for the game, including 3 of 15 from 3-point range.
“We were able to overcome a poor shooting effort and we are better shooting team than that,” Cronin said. “It is encouraging to beat a Top 25 team when you shoot like that.”
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
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Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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