Bafana make six changes for Mali clash

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Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba has made six changes to his side ahead of their friendly international against Mali.


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Johannesburg – Jackson Mabokgwane will make his first appearance in a Bafana Bafana jersey in one of six changes by Shakes Mashaba ahead of the country's friendly international against Mali on Wednesday night.


Wednesday's clash at Stade Monedan in Libreville, Gabon, is Bafana's final preparation game ahead of the start of the Africa Cup of Nations this weekend.


Brilliant Khuzwayo will make way for Mabokgwane in goal, while Darren Keet also starts on the bench.


All three goalkeepers will have had a run out before the start of the tournament, with Keet starting against Zambia earlier this month, and Khuzwayo starting in Bafana's 1-1 draw with Cameroon last weekend.


In defence, Siyabonga Nhlapho starts at right-back while Anele Ngcongca moves to central defence alongside Thulani Hlatshwayo.


Thabo Matlaba keeps his place at left-back.


Rivaldo Coetzee is rested and continues to nurse a knee injury.


Dean Furman keeps his spot in the middle of the park alongside Andile Jali, who will captain the team.


Thuso Phala and Mandla Masango take over from Themba Zwane and Oupa Manyisa on the flanks.


Bongani Ndulula returns to lead the attack along with Sibusiso Vilakazi, who came on from the bench to equalise against Cameroon.


Bernard Parker starts on the bench while Tokelo Rantie is not in the matchday squad due to injury.


Ayanda Gcaba, who was called-up as replacement for the injured Patrick Phungwayo, starts from the bench.


South Africa take on Algeria in their opening match of the Cup of Nations on Monday in Equatorial Guinea.


South Africa: Jackson Mabokgwane, Siyabonga Nhlapho, Thabo Matlaba, Thulani Hlatshwayo, Anele Ngcongca, Dean Furman, Andile Jali (captain), Mandla Masango, Thuso Phala, Bongani Ndulula, Sibusiso Vilakazi.


Replacements: Darren Keet, Brilliant Khuzwayo, Ayanda Gcaba, Eric Mathoho, Thamsanqa Sangweni, Themba Zwane, Oupa Manyisa, Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Bongani Zungu, Bernard Parker. – Sapa






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Chiefs mulling over Nkhatha’s fate

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Kaizer Chiefs are still weighing up their options about whether to let Kingston Nkhatha leave the club six months before his new deal with SuperSport United is due to begin at the end of the season.


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Johannesburg – Bobby Motaung says Kaizer Chiefs are still weighing up their options about whether to let Kingston Nkhatha leave the club six months before his new deal with SuperSport United is due to begin at the end of the season.


Nkhatha signed a three-year deal with United late last week, swapping Johannesburg for Pretoria when his current contract at Chiefs runs out in June.


“It puts us under pressure at this time of the season, in terms of us making up our minds whether we keep him or if he needs to go in January,” Motaung said of the Zimbabwean striker on Tuesday.


“We’re looking at various options. If we release him now, what options do we have? If we can’t release him now, what effect will it have on his game?”


According to contractual laws in the Premier Soccer League, a player who has entered into his final six months on his current contract is allowed to engage with other clubs about a possible move elsewhere.


United made the announcement via a statement last week, confirming that Nkhatha would be joining the Pretoria club in July.


Motaung revealed that Chiefs were made aware by Nkhatha that he was looking at a possible move away from Soweto due to his fractious relationship with Chiefs’ supporters, who have repeatedly booed and jeered him during matches.


“The player did mention to us that he was going to go home and discuss with his family about what he needs to do.


“We gave him that chance. SuperSport wrote to us to say that they are talking to him and we read about it in the news that he had signed.”


Motaung says Chiefs were prepared to offer Nkhatha a new deal, but admits the player’s desire to move elsewhere was a factor that could not be ignored.


“With the pressure from the supporters and everybody, I think maybe he was put in a corner where he had to make a call for himself.


“Can you imagine if we keep him by force and the supporters still boo him? The poor guy is not enjoying himself.”


According to Motaung, Nkhatha remains a valued member of the Chiefs setup and confirmed that he had been registered to take part in Chiefs’ Caf Champions League campaign, due to get underway next month.


“That’s why we are looking at those logistics (letting him join SuperSport this month) and how to deal with the challenges that we’re faced with now.” – Sapa






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$4bn worth of international transfers

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Fifa recorded international player transfers worth 4 billion dollars in 2014, according to Fifa general manager Mark Goddard.


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Zurich – Fifa recorded international player transfers worth 4 billion dollars in 2014, a high official of the governing body of world football said Tuesday.


“It's a considerable figure,” Fifa general manager Mark Goddard said in Zurich.


Goddard, who heads Fifa 's so-called Transfer Market System (TMS), said there are an additional 236 million dollars that go to agents and other intermediaries as commission.


Spain was the country that got the most money in transfers, 667million dollars, while England spent the most, 1.2 billion dollars, based on Fifa figures.


Brazil was once again the country that generated the most transfers, a total of 1 493.


TMS, which has been active since 2010, is in charge of regulating the global transfer market in order to ensure greater transparency, prevent money laundering and protect underage players, among others.


It was TMS rules on underage players that Barcelona violated, resulting in a one-year signing ban recently confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.


“That case is particularly important for us,” Goddars admitted. “This shows that the rules are the same for everyone.”


The ban on Barcelona is set to expire in January 2016. It is a punishment for the irregular signings of 10 underage foreign players, who were not registered with the TMS as required.


“These players were not in the system, that's all,” Goddard said.


The broader issue, he said, is where these young footballers actually came from. Goddard also noted that he did not know whether those players are still in Barcelona.


“What is certain is that they have been banned from playing,” he said.


Goddard said he did not know whether Barcelona were trying to clarify the players' status, and noted that, if they did try, the outcome would be decided case by case.


Goddard would not say how Fifa found out about Barcelona's rule violations.


“That would make our research work harder,” he said.


He mentioned reporters and other clubs as usual sources of information for the TMS, and said there are other ongoing investigations involving both underage players and other aspects of the TMS.


The TMS does not record signings between clubs that are in the same country, although it has developed a similar platform for the use of national federations.


The Netherlands is already using that system, and Goddard noted that seven further European countries are interested in using it too, although he did not give further details. – Sapa-dpa






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Chiefs won’t be bullied by Khune

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Bobby Motaung says Kaizer Chiefs will not be bullied into offering goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune a new bumper contract.


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Johannesburg – Kaizer Chiefs’ Bobby Motaung says the club would not be bullied into offering goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune a new bumper contract that does not meet their strict budget requirements.


Khune is yet to agree to a new deal with Chiefs and has entered into the final six months on his current deal, which means he is allowed to talk to other teams and sign a contract wherever he likes.


“I don’t think we would break the bank. We have standards at Chiefs and criteria of how we deal with our contracts and we stick to that,” Motaung said in Johannesburg on Tuesday.


“If there is a bigger offer, it’s about money for him. We’ve had players who have done that before.


“We won’t be shaken by clubs that offer more money. Players have come and left with this type of situation in the past and we have allowed them.”


Despite having spent his entire career with Chiefs, Khune has been linked with big-money moves elsewhere, including Mamelodi Sundowns and Soweto rivals, Orlando Pirates.


However, Motaung was unfazed by what he called “pressure on the media” to speculate on the future of the country’s top shot-stopper.


“He is our captain, so that question, I don’t know how to answer it, would I like him to stay?


“Khune has been a baby of Chiefs for how many years now? It’s like somebody saying, do you want your son to be your son?


“We’re not in a panic situation as a club. He’s not under pressure as a player. The contract only expires in June.”


Motaung made it clear that Chiefs had been trying to tie Khune down to a new deal for the last 12 months, alluding to a lack of decisive action from the player.


“We’ve been talking to him every month.


“We don’t put a gun to the player’s head. He must know what he wants and when he wants the contract.


“The player must also apply his mind. If he has not applied by now, he should be knowing what he wants.”


Chiefs expect Khune’s agent to be in the country this week to begin negotiating a new deal.


“His agent is not from here, he is from overseas so he’ll be arriving before Friday. We’ll have those discussions when he arrives,” Motaung said.


“It’s unfortunate that his agent is from overseas and he (the agent) felt that he would like to come here in January.


“I don’t know how he manages Khune but we are waiting for him to come. If Khune was managed locally, I think maybe this would have been resolved.” – Sapa






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News sport : Tyson Chandler's obvious flop fouls out DeMarcus Cousins, Mavs win in OT

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The NBA has made an effort to crack down on flopping with official warnings and fines for several seasons now, but players continue to embellish contact when they feel like it gives them an edge. For the most part, that's because it works. A stern lecture and minor fine aren't going to stop them from doing what it takes to win.


For proof, just look at the final minute of regulation in Tuesday's game between the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks at Sleep Train Arena. With 21 seconds on the clock and the game tied at 99-99, DeMarcus Cousins was called for an offensive foul while attempting to win better post position against Tyson Chandler. Another look at the play — or even a first look from any angle other than that of referee Lauren Holtkamp — proved that Chandler's head did not jerk back due to any contact from Cousins:



It was Cousins's sixth foul, disqualifying the Kings' best player by far on a night when he already had 32 points, 16 rebounds, and nine assists (plus nine turnovers) in 40 minutes. Monta Ellis missed a potential game-winner on the ensuing possession to maintain the tie and bring about overtime, but the damage had been done. Without Cousins, the Kings scored just five points in the extra period on their way to a 108-104 loss. It also didn't help that head coach Tyrone Corbin did not have his team foul for 11 full seconds in a 104-103 game with only a few seconds difference between the shot and game clocks.


While the absence of Cousins can't have caused all the Kings' issues in overtime it sure played a big part. Akis Yerocostas of Sactown Royalty summed up the effect of Chandler's flop pretty well:



Well, it would be more accurate to say that Chandler accepted a forthcoming warning in exchange for the win, because he hasn't been officially notified for a flop yet this season. That seems like a pretty good trade.


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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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Hammers battle past 10-man Everton

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West Ham United goalkeeper Adrian converted the decisive spot-kick in a penalty shootout against 10-man Everton to send the Londoners into the FA Cup fourth round.


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London - West Ham United goalkeeper Adrian converted the decisive spot-kick in a penalty shootout against 10-man Everton to send the Londoners into the FA Cup fourth round after a pulsating replay at Upton Park on Tuesday.


Adrian fired past opposite number and Spanish compatriot Joel Robles immediately after the Everton keeper had crashed his spot kick against the crossbar as West Ham won 9-8 on penalties.


The match had finished 2-2 after extra time following a highly entertaining 120 minutes at Upton Park.


“What a game. It's a long time since I've experienced so many highs and lows in one game of football,” West Ham manager Sam Allardyce told reporters.


“All the players gave everything, it really was a fantastic cup tie and we got a little bit of the magic of the cup going our way tonight.”


Everton, who have a fantastic record against West Ham, particularly in London, had to play more than half the game with 10 men after Aiden McGeady was sent off for a second yellow card after 56 minutes.


The visitors had fallen behind six minutes after the break when Enner Valencia slotted past Robles from a tight angle after running on to Andy Carroll's pass.


Everton's task got harder when McGeady was dismissed for bringing down Mark Noble but Kevin Mirallas curled in a superb free kick from the edge of the box after 82 minutes to make it 1-1 and send the game into extra time.


Romelu Lukaku fired Everton ahead six minutes into the extra period, dedicating his goal with a skywards salute to fellow Belgian and former Vfl Wolfsburg midfielder Junior Malanda, who was died in a car accident in Germany on Saturday.


Substitute Carlton Cole, however, sent the tie to penalties when he stabbed home from a corner with seven minutes of extra time remaining and just over a minute after coming on.


“It was a great cup tie, I am very proud of the team and it's one of those things when you lose on penalties,” Everton boss Roberto Martinez told reporters.


“I thought it was a terrific performance, we played with vitality, and I think our fans appreciated our dynamic play and for them to give us a standing ovation at the end was great.”


West Ham visit Bristol City in the next round after the third-tier side overcame Doncaster Rovers 2-0 in another replay.


Also on Tuesday, Fulham edged Wolverhampton Wanderers 5-3 in a penalty shootout, after the game finished 3-3 following extra time, to seal a trip to Premier League Sunderland. – Reuters






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News sport : Mark Hendrickson, now a grandfather, wants a shot with Orioles

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(Getty Images) Granpda isn't ready to let the kids have all the fun just yet.


Mark Hendrickson, who recently became a grandfather, is pining for one more chance to pitch in the major leagues.


At 40 years old he's attempting a comeback with the Orioles, telling Roch Kubatko of MASN.com he feels he still has something to prove:



I still have the desire. To me, it's unfinished business. The last two years, I've come a long way in my delivery and I'm a better pitcher now than I've been in a long time. I'm just trying to perfect a new delivery. That's what I'm doing, and that's why I'm here



Hendrickson has already had a fascinating professional sports career. The 6-foot-9 left-hander didn't make his big league debut until 2002 because from 1996 to 2000 he was playing in the NBA. He has 10 years of experience pitching in the majors, but his last appearance came with Baltimore back in 2011.


After spending 2013 in the Orioles' minor league system, he played independant ball last season for the York Revolution. With the Revolution he posted a 1.54 ERA in 55 appearances. Using a sidearm delivery
 suggested to him by Baltimore manager Buck Showalter, Hendrickson reached out to Showalter recently and asked him for a tryout.


He threw in front of members of the Orioles staff on Monday and will take the mound again on Wednesday. It's Hendrickson's opportunity, maybe his last one, to show what he can do. If he impresses, he could earn an invite to spring training.


"I'm a grandfather, for goodness sake, and that was two months ago," Hendrickson said. "Now there's extra motivation. How many active grandfathers have been in the big leagues? Well, that right there is motivation in itself."


More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:





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Israel Fehr is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter.






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News sport : LeBron James pushes coach David Blatt out of the way to argue call during Cavs-Suns

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LeBron James made his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers lineup on Tuesday after missing two weeks with left knee pain and a strained back. His overall form after the longest layoff of his professional career looked to be a matter of some debate in the early going — on the plus side, sweet dunk; on the minus side, not-so-sweet transition defense — but his facilitating game sure seemed to be on point.


Don't believe me? Just ask Cavaliers head coach David Blatt, who found himself on the receiving end of James' assistance in moving away from the referees so that he didn't get a technical foul while complaining about an offensive foul call on James during the second quarter:


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That's the way it seemed to me, at least — Blatt was furious and about to get himself T'd up, and James wanted to step in front to A) plead his own case and B) give his coach the chance to cool off. Because of the nature of LeBron's action, though — literally pushing the first-year Cavs coach back toward the bench — and the context in which it comes, with Cleveland scuffling at 19-19, and folks' memories stretching back to that time that James bumped Erik Spoelstra in the midst of some early-season struggles during his first year with the Miami Heat, LeBron's physical suggestion that his coach take a load off raised more than a few eyebrows on Tuesday night.


Including, it seemed, new Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith:



That look you're seeing is J.R. wondering why he never thought of just moving any of his past coaches out of the way so he could do the thing he wanted to do. Can it be that it was all so simple, all this time?


While it's unlikely that James' push speaks to any larger beef broiling between Bron-Bron and Blatt, it's equally unlikely that this clip — divorced from the actual in-game context in which it occurred, natch — won't garner an awful lot of the wrong kind of attention for a Cavs team that's had more than its fair share of that this season.


If Cleveland can begin to right the ship and rack up some wins with James back in the fold, stuff like this will all fade to the far recesses of our minds, like the Spo bump in the aftermath of four straight Finals trips and two NBA championships. If the Cavs continue to flail, though, every little thing — every jolt, shove and bristle — will keep generating headlines and headshakes.


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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!



Stay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, "Like" BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.






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News sport : New York Jets hire Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles

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Todd Bowles (Getty Images) The New York Jets will still be a creative, blitzing, difficult defense to prepare for, even without Rex Ryan.


The Jets landed Todd Bowles, the Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator who has been in high demand since Arizona's season ended. He was considered one of the top available candidates and interest was high. The Atlanta Falcons also sought a second interview with Bowles, but the Jets got their second interview with Bowles first, and didn't let him leave without the job.


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Bowles' defenses in Arizona the last two seasons were known for being very aggressive, with many creative blitzes. Despite an offense that had three different starting quarterbacks, Arizona went 11-5 and got a wild-card spot in a competitive NFC. Arizona allowed 18.7 points per game, the fifth best mark in the NFL. Bowles was interim head coach for the three games with the 2011 Miami Dolphins after Tony Sparano was fired, and Bowles went 2-1.


Bowles, who was a defensive back for eight NFL seasons (seven with the Washington Redskins and one with the San Francisco 49ers), takes over a Jets defense that ranked sixth in yards allowed under Ryan. There is talent on that side of the ball. The problem is offense. The Jets have struggled to find stability at quarterback for many, many years. How Bowles fills out his offensive staff will be key to his success.


The dominoes are starting to fall in the NFL vacancies. Rex Ryan was hired by the Buffalo Bills, and now perhaps the hottest candidate remaining has gone to the Jets. Now that teams don't have Bowles as an option anymore, the others with vacancies might start to move quickly to get the best of the remaining candidates.


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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!






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News sport : Mo Williams sets Wolves record with 52 points to stop losing streak at 15

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Why are you passing, Mo? (Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports) Long basketball careers are supposed to hew to a standard schedule. A player enters the NBA with considerable talent but a lack of experience, improves steadily as he learns more, hits his prime around 28 or 30 years old, and slowly deteriorates until he becomes a husk of his former self and finally retires after becoming a subject of internet derision. We see players at various points in this journey every season. It is the league's version of the circle of life.


Minnesota Timberwolves Mo Williams is theoretically at the end-of-career portion of his basketball life cycle. The 32-year-old guard has seen a progessive dimming of his star since making the All-Star Game alongside Cleveland Cavaliers teammate LeBron James in 2009. He joined the Wolves as a free agent this summer with the intention of serving as a veteran presence on a young team but has been thrust into a larger role since Ricky Rubio went down with a high ankle sprain in this season's second week. He has responded by averaging 11.0 points on 39.7 percent shooting in 26.4 minutes, which doesn't exactly bode well for his future.


It is in this context that Williams has come through with the most surprising individual performance of the 2014-15 season to date. Minnesota visited the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night in the midst of a 15-game losing streak, just three defeats shy of the longest in franchise history. He responded by breaking the franchise single-game scoring record with 52 points, one more than Corey Brewer's equally shocking (or more shocking!) performance in the final week of last season.


Here's a look at his shot chart:



Yes, that's 19-of-33 shooting overall, including an absurd 17-of-29 on shots outside the paint. It was crazy enough that injured Pacers star Paul George could only look on in disbelief after one crazy basket:



The Wolves' 110-101 win has finally raised their record to 6-31, which makes the 5-35 New York Knicks the only five-win team remaining in the league. Yet the story that will remain not the end of the streak, but that of Williams, who joins Brewer and the immortal Tony Delk on the list of most surprising 50-point games in recent NBA history. Williams had previously scored 40 points twice in his career, hadn't scored 30 since March 2012, had only scored 30 twice in the last five seasons, and hadn't scored more than 25 points in a game this season. There was no evidence to suggest this was possible, let alone probable.


As if he knew to emphasize the ridiculousness of it all, Williams ended his night with an airball:



We should cherish this game, and not just because Williams almost certainly won't reach this scoring peak again in his career. His performance is the sort of randomly fascinating event that makes the logically too-long NBA season entertaining despite any reasonable arguments that it should be shorter. We don't know when another random veteran — C.J. Watson? — will put forth an unlikely 50-point game, but we will know that it will happen eventually. Thankfully, the NBA rewards our faith in the unexpected with amazing regularity.


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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : Oklahoma overwhelmed by the pressure at West Virginia

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Oklahoma has started a key stretch of its season with a thud.


The 18th-ranked Sooners traveled to No. 16 West Virginia on Tuesday night fully aware they needed to handle the Mountaineers' pressure, limit turnovers and get a little boost somehow from the bench. None of it happened and West Virginia ran away with an 86-65 victory.


It's the second straight loss for the Sooners who have five of their next six games against ranked opponents, including both games in the rivalry with Oklahoma State and a rematch with the Mountaineers.


Oklahoma committed 22 turnovers that led to 27 West Virginia points. All five Sooners starters committed at least two miscues, despite going into the game focused on the pressure and trapping coach Bob Huggins has the Mountaineers executing so well.


West Virginia guard Javon Carter came off the bench to singlehandedly more than double the point production of the six Oklahoma reserves who played in the game. Carter scored 18 points. The Oklahoma bench scored eight.


The Mountaineers rolled the Sooners despite an off night from their best player, point guard Juwan Staten, who made just one of nine shots but dished eight assists.


While Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger has to figure out how to get more out of his core group because the bench seems to be so lacking, Huggins' team continues to surpass expectations considering it had to replace two guards who transferred in the offseason and was thought to be a second-teir team in the Big 12 at best. Nine Mountaineers combined for 16 steals against the Sooners.


West Virginia has two losses this season by a combined three points and boasts victories over UConn, a North Carolina State team that just beat Duke and now the Sooners. Things are shaping up nicely in Morgantown. Concerns loom in Norman.


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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!






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News sport : Jeff Gordon: 4-time Cup champion and trike race master (Video)

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Jeff Gordon was at the Washington Wizards game on Tuesday night and competed in a tricycle race with a fan.


Gordon is apparently very good at trike racing.


Gordon got a good start (what do you know?) and smoked the fan, who wasn't even in the camera frame by the time the video ends.


You can tell there's carryover from Gordon's day job.


Gordon then had some fun with his NASCAR race restart issues after the trike race on Twitter.



Well done, Jeff. If the Daytona 500 comes down to a green-white-checker finish with a bicycle pedal start, our money is on you.


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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : Kurt Busch testifies his ex-girlfriend is a trained assassin

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Kurt Busch testified Tuesday that Patricia Driscoll, his ex-girlfriend, was a trained assassin.


Busch was on the stand once again as part of his testimony in a four-day hearing surrounding a no-contact order that Driscoll is seeking against Busch.


After the relationship between the two ended, Driscoll came to Busch's motorhome at Dover in September. There, she says Busch assaulted her and slammed her head against the wall of the motorhome. Busch refutes the allegations.


Busch previously testified that he told her to leave repeatedly on that Friday night.


From the AP:



''Everybody on the outside can tell me I'm crazy, but I lived on the inside and saw it firsthand,'' Kurt Busch said when his attorney, Rusty Hardin, questioned why he still believed Patricia Driscoll is a hired killer.



Busch said Driscoll asserted many times that she was a trained assassin and per the AP, she hasn't disagreed with the statements in her testimony. A decision from the hearing, which concluded on Tuesday, is expected in the coming weeks.



Busch said Driscoll repeatedly asserted her assassin status and claimed the work took her on missions across Central and South America and Africa. He recounted one time when the couple was in El Paso, Texas. He said Driscoll left in camouflage gear only to return later wearing a trench coat over an evening gown covered with blood.


A day earlier, Busch's said his ex-girlfriend told him she was a mercenary who killed people for a living and had shown him pictures of bodies with gunshot wounds.



In December testimony from the hearing, a personal assistant to the two said Driscoll said in September she was picked up and slammed to the ground while on the Mexican border.


Driscoll runs the Armed Forces Foundation, which is set up to benefit United States soldiers. She's also involved with Frontline Defense Systems, which is a defense contracting company.


According to Give.org, the Armed Forces Foundation does not meet its charity standards.


Busch aso said that Driscoll was monopolizing his life. AFF held events at NASCAR tracks and Driscoll played a significant role in Busch's double-race Memorial Day weekend when he ran the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600.


Busch moved to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014 after spending a year with Furniture Row Racing. He made the Chase after winning at Martinsville in the spring. He saw a sports psychologist after parting ways with Team Penske after the 2011 season.


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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : LeBron James returns from 2-week injury layoff for Cavs-Suns

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LeBron eyes his return. (Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports) The King is back, and not a minute too soon for the Cleveland Cavaliers. In a video posted to Bleacher Report on Tuesday, LeBron James announced that he would play for the Cavs in the night's game vs. the Phoenix Suns at the U.S. Airways Center. James had missed eight straight games with lingering pain in his left knee and a back strain. The Cavs went 1-7 during that time to see their record drop to 19-19.


LeBron practiced on Monday in Phoenix and was announced as a game-time decision for Tuesday. He then created a minor stir by attending and enjoying Ohio State's College Football Playoff National Championship victory over the Oregon Ducks. It now appears that his short trip to Texas did not hinder his plans to rejoin the Cavs for their visit with the Suns.


The Cavs figure to be very glad to see their superstar return to the court. Since LeBron's first missed game on December 30, the Cavs have struggled at both ends of the court, obtained several new players via trade, and weathered a minor controversy involving head coach David Blatt and struggling power forward Kevin Love. They are also in the midst of a five-game losing streak. A loss to Phoenix would drop their record below .500 for the first time since a November 24 loss to the Orlando Magic put them at 6-7.


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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : Fantasy golf power rankings: Sony Open in Hawaii

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It's Tuesday, and that means we reveal our Devil Ball Golf power rankings for this week's PGA Tour event, the Sony Open in Hawaii.


The long-time Hawaiian Open is played at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, which is a classic, tree-lined track that's fairly short by modern tour standards. However, the targets are also small, placing a premium on approach shots, particularly into the par 4s on this par-70 course. Low scores can be had with a hot putter.


Here's a look at our top five.



  1. Chris Kirk: Kirk closed the TOC on a tear, with a course-record-tying 62 at the Plantation Course. He was runner-up here a year ago to Jimmy Walker and in fifth position in 2013. No brainer.

  2. Jimmy Walker: Walker may have let the TOC slip away to Patrick Reed in a playoff, but the Sony Open defending champion is clearly on form. Well worth a look.

  3. Zach Johnson: The 2009 Sony Open winner looked great at Kapalua, although he didn't figure in the playoff. He was T-8 here last year and this old-style course fits hits game perfectly.

  4. Matt Kuchar: Kuchar closed nicely at the Tournament of Champions, following up on a lousy third-round effort. He's been in the top eight in his last three Sony Open starts.

  5. Russell Henley: The 2013 winner here was knocking on the door of the Kapalua playoff and has been playing some hot golf dating back to last calendar year.


Feel free to ask specific fantasy questions on Twitter @RyanBallengee. Good luck!



Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.







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