Sports briefs February 19, 2013
Basketball
Spokesman Bob Steiner said Los Angeles Lakers' owner Jerry Buss died Monday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He'd been hospitalized for cancer, but the immediate cause of death was kidney failure. He was 79.
Buss shepherded the NBA franchise to 10 championships. He transformed the Lakers into Southern California's most beloved sports franchise and a worldwide extension of Hollywood glamour after buying the club in 1979.
Buss acquired, nurtured and befriended a staggering array of talent during his Hall of Fame tenure, starting with his first draft pick, Magic Johnson.
With Buss' leadership and lavish spending, the Lakers won five championships during the 1980s Showtime dynasty and added five more in an 11-year span of Kobe Bryant's career.
- Top 23 Men
No. 13 Kansas State 71, West Virginia 61: At Manhattan, Kan., Will Spradling scored 19 points and the Wildcats (21-5, 10-3) used a big first-half run to beat the Mountaineers (13-13, 6-7).
No. 25 Notre Dame 51, No. 20 Pittsburgh 42: Jerian Grant and Jack Cooley scored 13 points each to lead visiting Notre Dame (21-6, 9-5 Big East) over Pittsburgh(20-7, 8-6).
- Indiana held on to the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press' Top 25 for the third straight week.
The Hoosiers received 43 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel.
Miami had 20 No. 1 votes and moved up one spot to second. Gonzaga (25-2), with the other two first-place votes, climbed two spots to third.
- Tyler Harvey came off the bench to score 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting but the Eastern Washington Eagles fell to host Portland State 89-80 at the Stott Center.
Eastern fought back from a 12-point halftime deficit to take the lead midway through the second half and kept it close to the very end.
Former North Idaho College standout Renado Parker had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Vikings 7-16, 5-11 Big Sky).
The Eagles (8-18, 6-10) host Sam Houston State on Saturday.
Hockey
Alessio Bertaggia, Adam Helewka and Mike Aviani scored for Spokane, but the Chiefs lost to the Portland Blackhawks 8-3 in Western Hockey League play before 6,055 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Mitch Holmberg added two assists for the Chiefs (34-24-2, 70 points), who remain in fourth place in the Western Conference.
Spokane hosts Edmonton on Friday at 7 p.m.
Avalanche 6, Predators 5: At Denver, Paul Stastny and Jamie McGinn scored goals 13 seconds apart and Colorado snapped a nine-game losing streak to Nashville.
Flyers 7, Islanders 0: At Uniondale, N.Y., the line of Claude Giroux, Matt Read and Jakub Voracek combined for three goals and 10 points to lead Philadelphia over New York.
Senators 2, Devils 1, SO: At Newark, N.J., Jakob Silfverberg beat Martin Brodeur to his stick side in the shootout and goalie Ben Bishop turned aside 30 shots to lift Ottawa over New Jersey.
Canadiens 3, Hurricanes 0: Peter Budaj stopped 19 shots and host Montreal shut out Carolina.
Maple Leafs 3, Panthers 0: At Sunrise, Fla., Nazem Kadri had a goal and assist to lead Toronto past Florida.
Ducks 3, Blue Jackets 2: Peter Holland and Ryan Getzlaf scored 21 seconds apart in the first period and host Anaheim beat Columbus.
Coyotes 4, Flames 0: At Glendale, Ariz., Mike Smith stopped 29 shots to lead Phoenix past Calgary.
- The Associated Press