SPORTS IN BRIEF
North Texas earns bid to NCAA TournamentHOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Josh White's shot from near the free-throw line with 22 seconds remaining gave North Texas a 66-63 win over Troy on Tuesday night in the Sun Belt tournament title game.Troy (20-12) rallied ...

Rockets back above .500 after beating Wizards
WASHINGTON -- For the Houston Rockets, who need as many hands on deck as possible to get out of the win-lose blahs, it was good enough simply to see Trevor Ariza and Kyle Lowry back on the court.Ariza returned after missing seven games with a left hi ...

College Basketball Roundup
INDIANAPOLIS -- Shelvin Mack scored all 14 of his points in the first half, and Matt Howard had 14 points and nine rebounds to help No. 12 Butler rout second-seeded Wright State 70-45 in the Horizon League title game Tuesday night.Butler (28-4) exten ...

SPORTS IN BRIEF
Parker won't need surgery on broken handSAN ANTONIO -- Tony Parker won't need surgery on his broken right hand that will likely force the San Antonio Spurs guard to miss the rest of the regular season.Tests performed Monday confirmed that Parker frac ...

NBA ROUNDUP: Spurs edged by Cavs
Cavaliers 97, Spurs 95: CLEVELAND -- Mo Williams made two free throws with 9 seconds left and Delonte West made the kind of plays down the stretch reserved for LeBron James and Cleveland won without its superstar, beating San Antonio.Williams finishe ...

Mavs beat Wolves for 12th consecutive win
MINNEAPOLIS -- Shawn Marion had a season-high 29 points and 14 rebounds and the Dallas Mavericks stretched the league's longest active winning streak to 12 straight games with a 125-112 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night.Dirk Now ...

SPORTS IN BRIEF
Kansas State's Martin signs contract extensionKANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Frank Martin agreed to a contract extension with Kansas State that will boost his annual salary to more than $1.5 million on Sunday, the same day he was named Big 12 coach of the year ...

Kurt Busch wins race after two wild wrecks
HAMPTON, Ga. -- Kurt Busch won again at Atlanta Motor Speedway, pulling away on a second restart Sunday after a couple of wild wrecks to capture the Kobalt Tools 500.Busch won the spring race at the 1.54-mile trioval for the second year in a row, bea ...

Rockets tripped in OT
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Tayshaun Prince scored a season-high 29 points to help the Detroit Pistons snap a six-game losing streak with a 110-107 overtime win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday.Richard Hamilton added 22 points for Detroit, while Kevin M ...

NHL Capsules
Associated PressAvalanche 7, Blues 3DENVER (AP) -- Chris Stewart completed his first NHL hat trick with a penalty shot, Milan Hejduk scored twice for Colorado in his return from a seven-week injury layoff, and Craig Anderson made 39 saves in his team ...

TOP 25: No. 1 Syracuse falls
Louisville 78, No. 1 Syracuse 68: LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Kyle Kuric scored a career-high 22 points all in the second half, and Louisville upset No. 1 Syracuse on Saturday to provide one more highlight at Freedom Hall.Louisville (20-11, 11-7 Big East) may ...

3 earn automatic NCAA bids
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Isaiah Canaan came off the bench and scored 16 points, and Murray State earned its 14th trip to the NCAA tournament by beating Morehead State 62-51 Saturday night for the Racers' 14th Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship ...

SPRING TRAINING: Oswalt gets 2 innings of work
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Roy Oswalt threw two rocky, yet scoreless innings in his spring debut and the Houston Astros beat the Atlanta Braves 3-0 Saturday.Oswalt walked three and loaded the bases in the first. He allowed just one hit and struck out two whi ...

SPORTS IN BRIEF
Crosby, Penguins rally to beat StarsPITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby had two goals and the Pittsburgh Penguins scored the final five goals in a 6-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday.Crosby scored the Penguins' fourth and fifth goals -- with 3:13 t ...

Villegas still in lead after 3 rounds at Honda
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Ashes fell from the sky, smoke filled the air and a thick haze hovered over PGA National.Some might have found breathing difficult at the Honda Classic.Camilo Villegas wasn't among them.Once threatening to run away after a ...

NBA Roundup
CHICAGO -- Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points, Rodrigue Beaubois and Caron Butler added 24 apiece and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Chicago Bulls 122-116 Saturday to extend their season-high win streak to 11 games.Nowitzki scored 13 in the fourth quarter ...

SPORTS IN BRIEF
Mavs win 10th straight; Spurs defeat HornetsDirk Nowitzki had 31 points and 12 rebounds, rookie Roddy Beaubois added a career-high 22 points and the Mavericks extended their season-high winning streak to 10 games with a 108-100 victory over the Sacra ...

Mavs' Terry will need surgery after blow to face
DALLAS -- Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry is scheduled to have surgery Friday after taking an elbow to the face during a game. The team said a timetable for Terry's return would be determined after the surgery.Terry's left eye was nearly swollen s ...

Nowitzki, Terry lead Mavs to 9th straight win
DALLAS -- Jason Terry left the Dallas locker room with his left eye nearly swollen shut and possibly a broken nose. Jason Kidd wasn't even there, having gotten a needed break.And the Mavericks still stretched their winning streak to nine games, the c ...

Netherlands beats US 2-1 in World Cup warmup
AMSTERDAM -- DaMarcus Beasley may have boosted his World Cup chances. Jonathan Bornstein and Robbie Findlay did nothing to help theirs. And Stuart Holden joined the long U.S. injured list.The United States fell flat in Europe once again, losing to th ...

Berkman out for Astros' spring opener
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Houston All-Star first baseman Lance Berkman will sit out the Astros' spring training opener against Washington because of a bruised left knee.Manager Brad Mills said Wednesday that he's being cautious by holding Berkman out of Thu ...

Third & Short
COLLEGE BASKETBALLNo. 2 Kansas 82, No. 5 Kansas State 65: LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Sherron Collins had 17 points in his final game at Allen Fieldhouse and No. 2 Kansas beat No. 5 Kansas State 82-65 Wednesday night to clinch its sixth straight Big 12 regular ...