Sports Briefs November 21, 2011
Hockey
Sid the Kid is back.
Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby will make his season debut tonight against the New York Islanders, his first game in nearly a year since being sidelined with concussion-like symptoms.
Crosby hasn't played since taking head shots in consecutive games in January against Washington and Tampa Bay.
The 2007 NHL MVP spent the last 10 months undergoing a painstakingly thorough rehabilitation that left him wondering when - or if - he'd play again.
Sharks 4, Avalanche 1: At Denver, Patrick Marleau had a hat trick and San Jose beat Colorado.
Red Wings 4, Ducks 2: At Anaheim, Calif., Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and Brad Stuart scored and Detroit beat Anaheim.
Hurricanes 3, Maple Leafs 2: At Raleigh, N.C., Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist to lead Carolina over Toronto.
Canucks 2, Senators 1, OT: Chris Higgins scored 2:18 into overtime to lift host Vancouver past Ottawa.
Golf
South Korea's Hee Young Park won the LPGA Tour's season-ending Titleholders for her first tour victory, closing with a 2-under 70 to hold off Paula Creamer and San Gal by two strokes in Orlando, Fla.
Basketball
• TOP 25
No. 1 North Carolina 101, Mississippi Valley State 75: At Chapel Hill, N.C. John Henson had 18 points and 14 rebounds to help the Tar Heels (3-0) beat the Delta Devils (0-3).
No. 4 Connecticut 87, Coppin State 70: At Hartford, Conn., Shabazz Napier recorded the ninth triple-double in UConn's history to help the Huskies (4-0) past Coppin State (1-3).
No. 16 Alabama 65, Purdue 56: At San Juan, Puerto Rico, Trevor Releford scored 20 points and the Crimson Tide (5-0) won the Puerto Rico Tip-Off title over the Boilermakers (4-1).
No. 21 Marquette 96, Mississippi 66: At St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Jae Crowder scored 25 points to lead Marquette (4-0) over Ole Miss (3-1).
No. 25 Florida State 80, South Alabama 39: At Tallahassee, Fla., Luke Loucks scored 18 points to pace the Seminoles (4-0) over South Alabama (1-2).
Football
The Southeastern Conference is the second league to have the top three spots in AP college football poll all to itself.
No. 1 LSU held the top spot for the ninth straight week, and after a weekend when three other top-five teams lost, Alabama moved up a spot to No. 2 and Arkansas jumped three places to No. 3.
Boise State in now seventh in the poll.
• Miami is not going to a bowl this season, self-imposing a ban that school officials say was "necessary" in response to an ongoing NCAA investigation into the university's compliance practices.
• Fresno State 24, Hawaii 21: At Honolulu, Derek Carr threw for 271 yards and two scores to lead Fresno State (4-7, 3-3 Western Athletic Conference) over Hawaii (5-6, 3-4) late Saturday night.
Volleyball
Debbie Buchanan of Idaho was named Western Athletic Conference volleyball coach of the year Sunday night.
Buchanan, the former St. Maries High standout, led Idaho to a 16-11 overall record, a 10-4 record in WAC play and the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, Idaho's highest finish since joining the WAC.
The Vandals begin the WAC tournament with a semifinal match Tuesday against the winner of today's match between No. 3 New Mexico State and No. 6 San Jose State.
Soccer
Landon Donovan scored in the 72nd minute on passes from Robbie Keane and David Beckham, and the Los Angeles Galaxy's three superstars won their first MLS Cup together with a 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo in Carson, Calif.
Tennis
An ailing Rafael Nadal toiled for nearly three hours before beating Mardy Fish 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (3) at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, while Roger Federer beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
- The Associated Press