Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
Marlies Schild of Austria won her sixth World Cup slalom of the season Saturday after overall leader Lindsey Vonn and defending champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch crashed out in the opening run on the windy Pyrenees course.
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
NEW YORK - John Wall has played nine games for Kentucky. His latest was his best — and the end of this one showed the freshman guard is as good as advertised.
Wall scored a season-high 25 points, including 12 of his team’s last 15, and the fourth-ranked Wildcats beat No. 14 Connecticut 64-61 on Wednesday night in the SEC/Big East Invitational.
“He’s phenomenal, one of the best players out there,” Kentucky forward Patrick Patterson said. “If we need a crunch-time basket we give it to John and we know we are going to have the advantage. Pretty much when we need baskets we know who to get the ball to.”
What made Wall’s performance in his first appearance in Madison Square Garden even more remarkable is that he was saddled with foul trouble in the first half before dominating the game over the final 7½ minutes — even when Connecticut made a defensive switch that slowed him down for a few possessions.
“I just try to be a point guard,” Wall said. “I struggled some in the first half then picked it up in the second and led us to the victory.”
Connecticut’s Kemba Walker, considered one of college basketball’s fastest guards, spent most of the game covering and being covered by Wall.
“He’s not a freshman, not at all,” Walker said. “The ball is always in his hands and that’s good for him and his team.”
Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said Wall “is no freshman. He’s a great player.”
The Wildcats (9-0) moved John Calipari closer to one of the icons at the school that has more wins (1,997) than any other program. The only coach to have a better start to his career at Kentucky was Adolph Rupp, who started 10-0 in 1931.
What Calipari was worried about after the game was how he is going to react to a season with a young team that plays great in some stretches and is downright quizzical in others.
“I’m going to look like Dick Vitale when this season’s over or I’ll be as gray as Bobby Cremins,” Calipari said. “We rode John Wall at the end of the game.”
Jerome Dyson had 17 points for the Huskies (6-2), who finished 14 of 24 from the free throw line, including 2 of 4 in the final 3 minutes.
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“They made big plays down the stretch,” Calhoun said. “If we made some foul shots. We did play 40 minutes of tough basketball.”
After a first half of runs and big swings, neither team had a lead of more than five points over the final 7 minutes.
Wall, the key player as Calipari tries to lead Kentucky back after two disappointing seasons under Billy Gillispie, scored almost every way possible in his game-closing spurt.
His three-point play on a breakaway dunk gave the Wildcats a 54-47 lead with 7:16 left. Stanley Robinson, Connecticut’s skywalking forward, finally became a factor for the Huskies, scoring six straight points. When Gavin Edwards scored on a break dunk with 4:24 to play, Connecticut was within 56-55 with 4:24 to go.
Walker, who had 12 points and six assists, gave the Huskies their final lead of the game on a jumper with 1:12 left.
Wall, who was slowed a bit when Calhoun switched the 6-9 Robinson on him for five possessions, put Kentucky ahead for good on a three-point play when he was fouled hard as he drove to the basket — making it 63-61 with 30 seconds left.
Connecticut called two timeouts then went for the tie as Walker drove and there was a tip by the Huskies as well. But Walker was forced to foul on the rebound, and Ramon Harris made one of two free throws with 13 seconds left.
Edwards missed a forced 3-point attempt, and Walker couldn’t get a shot off from the corner in time after corralling the rebound.
Patterson had 16 points for Kentucky, and DeMarcus Cousins added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
There were two totally different halves played in front of the crowd of 15,874, which seemed split down the middle.
Kentucky opened the game with a 12-0 run, and the Huskies scored the next 10 points as part of a run that gave them a 26-18 lead on a drive by Walker with 6:30 left. Connecticut led 29-23 at halftime.
“We drank the poison in the first half and listened to all the hype about John Wall and our players,” Calipari said. “We go up 12-0 and they’re acting like we won the national championship, and then Connecticut makes a run as all well-coached teams do, and it’s on.”
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.
Beyond the Arc: No. 11 Michigan State ends No. 3 Ohio State's 39-game home winning streak with a 58-48 victory.
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 | College hoops power rankings A look at the top teams in college basketball based on performance and potential. NBCSports.com |
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Five up, five down from college hoops’ huge day8 hr 26 min ago Michigan State sure shook up Big Ten by beating Buckeyes9 hr 11 min ago UNLV’s thrilling win vs. SDSU adds spice to MWC race13 hr 39 min ago |
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 Getty Images Highlights: No. 14 UNLV 65, No. 13 SDSU 63 Mike Moser scored 19 points, and UNLV forced three turnovers in the final 42 seconds to win. |
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Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
