Sports Briefs November 22, 2011
Baseball
Detroit's Justin Verlander became the first starting pitcher in a quarter-century voted Most Valuable Player, adding it to the Cy Young Award he won last week.
Verlander earned the American League MVP honor Monday, receiving 13 of 28 first-place votes and 280 points in voting announced by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
"Obviously pitchers are not just written off all of a sudden because they're pitchers," Verlander said.
Boston center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was second with four firsts and 242 points, followed by Toronto right fielder Jose Bautista with five firsts and 231 points, Yankees center fielder Curtis Granderson with 215 and Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera with 193.
Basketball
• TOP 25
No. 3 Ohio State 85, North Florida 50: At Columbus, Ohio, Jared Sullinger had 27 points and 13 rebounds, and the Buckeyes (4-0) beat North Florida (1-4).
Deshaun Thomas added 16 points and William Buford 13 for Ohio State, which ran its home winning streak to 26 in a row.
No. 6 Duke 77, Tennessee 67: At Lahaina, Hawaii, Austin Rivers scored 18 points and the Blue Devils (5-0) pulled away in the second half to beat the Volunteers (2-1) in the first round of the Maui Invitational.
No. 15 Michigan 73, No. 8 Memphis 61: At Lahaina, Hawaii, Tim Hardaway Jr. had 21 points, Trey Burke added 14 and Michigan (4-0) knocked off (1-1) in the opening round of the Maui Invitational.
No. 10 Florida 78, Wright St. 65: At Tampa, Fla., freshman Bradley Beal scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Gators (3-1) over the Raiders (2-2).
No. 14 Kansas vs. Georgetown, late
No. 16 Marquette 59, Norfolk State 57: At St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Darius Johnson-Odom scored 20 points to lead the Golden Eagles (5-0) over Norfolk State (3-2) in the Paradise Jam championship game.
No. 18 Vanderbilt 64, Oregon State 62: At East Rutherford, N.J., Brad Tinsley hit a 15-foot jumper with 4.5 seconds to play and the Commodores (4-1) beat the Beavers (4-1) in the championship game of the TicketCity Legends Classic at Izod Center.
No. 20 California 70, Georgia 46: At Kansas City, Mo., Harper Kamp scored 16 points to lead the Golden Bears (4-0) to a rout of the Bulldogs (3-1).
No. 21 Missouri 87, Notre Dame 58: At Kansas City, Mo., Marcus Denmon scored 26 points to help Missouri (4-0) knock off Notre Dame (4-1) in the semifinals of the CBE Classic.
No. 24 Mississippi State 78, Louisiana-Monroe 63: At Starkville, Miss., Dee Bost scored 21 points, freshman Rodney Hood added a career-high 20 and the Bulldogs (5-1) beat the Warhawks (0-5).
Football
Utah State running back Robert Turbin, Louisiana Tech linebacker Adrien Cole and San Jose State placekicker Jens Alvernik were named the Western Athletic Conference offensive, defensive and special teams players of the week, respectively.
Turbin, a junior, rushed for a career-high 208 yards and three touchdowns in Utah State's 49-42 double overtime win at Idaho.
Cole, a senior, recorded a career-high 17 tackles (15 solo) in Louisiana Tech's 24-20 win at Nevada, ending the Wolf Pack's 16-game home winning streak.
Alvernik, a senior, hit two field goals from 44 and 23 yards out to help San Jose State beat Navy, 27-24.
n Eastern Washington quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and Weber State running back C.J. Tuckett shared the Big Sky Conference offensive player of the week honors.
Mitchell had 433 yards and four passing touchdowns in his final game at Eastern Washington, a 45-14 win over Idaho State.
- The Associated Press