COLLEGES

Sage Drinkwater scored three goals as the University of Southern Maine field hockey beat Salem State 7-0 in a Little East Conference game on Tuesday in Salem, Massachusetts.

Brooke Carson also added two goals for the Huskies (6-4, 4-0 LEC), while Jaigan Boudreau and Chloe Arsenault each had one.

Julianna Kiklis had four saves for USM, while Kaia Hollingsworth made 13 saves for Salem State (1-5, 0-3).

MEN’S BASKETBALL: The NCAA put Memphis on three years of probation with a public reprimand and a fine, but declined to punish Tigers Coach Penny Hardaway or hand down an NCAA Tournament ban.

The NCAA had accused Memphis of four Level I and two Level II violations, considered the most serious infractions, and a total of seven alleged violations including lack of institutional control, head coach responsibility and failure to monitor.

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The Independent Accountability Review Panel put the blame on Memphis failing to monitor Hardaway as an athletics booster or educate him better after hiring him as the Tigers’ men’s basketball coach. The panel also ruled Memphis provided impermissible benefits of meals to athletes and publicity benefits to recruits.

HOCKEY

NHL: A.J. Greer scored his second goal of the game in overtime as the Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers 3-2 in a preseason game in Boston.

New York took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by Adam Fox. Greer scored his first goal to tie it early in the second, but Alexis Lafreniere gave New York the lead back later in the period. Oskar Steen scored a short-handed goal in the third for Boston.

Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, a former University Maine star, had 24 saves.

BASKETBALL

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WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Kelsey Plum scored 20 points, Chelsea Gray added 16 and the United States routed Bosnia and Herzegovina 121-59 on Tuesday to break the team record for consecutive wins at the World Cup.

The victory was the 27th in a row in World Cup play for the Americans, who haven’t lost since the 2006 semifinals against Russia. The U.S. won 26 in a row from 1994-2006 leading up to that game. The Soviet Union holds the World Cup record with 56 straight wins from 1959-86.

After going unbeaten in pool play again, the U.S. hasn’t lost a game prior to the semifinals since 1983. The Americans (5-0) won their pool games by an average of 46.2 points and never trailed in any. They’ll face Serbia in the quarterfinals Thursday. In other quarterfinal games, Puerto Rico will face Canada; China plays France and Australia takes on Belgium.

• Two Mali players have apologized for fighting in the mixed zone following their loss to Serbia on Monday at the women’s World Cup.

The scuffle between Salimatou Kourouma and Kamite Elisabeth Dabou happened while they were walking through the postgame media area and was caught on film by Serbian media.

FIBA is investigating the incident. Kourouma threw a few punches at Dabou before their Mali teammates jumped in to break them apart. The two played in the Canada game and Coach Joaquin Brizuela said he didn’t consider benching them as punishment.

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NBA: Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball said he can’t run at full speed or jump and still experiences pain in his left knee walking up stairs.

Ball spoke ahead of his scheduled surgery in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The team said last week he would undergo an arthroscopic debridement and be re-evaluated in four to six weeks.

Ball said doctors are “going in there to see” exactly what the extent of the injury is and fix it. He did not have a timeframe for his recovery, though expects to play this season.

SOCCER

U.S. MEN: The United States ended its World Cup tuneup matches in unimpressive fashion, playing a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia at Murcia, Spain, that saw oft-injured Gio Reyna come off in the 30th minute because of muscle tightness.

Christian Pulisic returned to the depleted U.S. lineup after missing Friday’s 2-0 loss to No. 24 Japan with an unspecified injury, among four changes by Coach Gregg Berhalter.

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Ricardo Pepi, inserted at forward in a final audition for the 26-man World Cup roster, had a team-low 13 touches and no shots against the 53rd-ranked Saudis before Jesus Ferreira replaced him in the 59th minute.

GOLF

LIV LAWSUIT: Phil Mickelson, the driving force among PGA Tour players in the rival LIV Golf series, and three other players asked a federal judge to remove their names from the antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.

Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Ian Poulter filed separately to have their names removed. That leaves only three players – Bryson DeChambeau, Peter Uihlein and Matt Jones – and Saudi-funded LIV Golf as plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in early August. The trial is not scheduled to begin until January 2024.

Mickelson’s decision was not a surprise. He had said two weeks ago to SI.com that he no longer needed to be involved in the lawsuit now that LIV Golf has joined as a plaintiff.

LIV Golf already suffered one setback in court when U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman denied a temporary restraining order that sought to allow LIV Golf players to compete in the PGA Tour’s lucrative postseason.

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AUTO RACING

NASCAR CUP SERIES: Kurt Busch said he remains “hopeful” he will recover from a concussion in time to race again before the end of the NASCAR season.

The 2004 Cup champion has been sidelined since he crashed July 23 during qualifying at Pocono Raceway. He’s so far missed 10 races — both Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace have driven the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI since Busch was injured — and withdrew his eligibility to participate in the playoffs.

“I’m doing good. Each week is better progress and I feel good and I don’t know when I will be back, but time has been the challenge. Father Time is the one in charge on this one,” Busch said.

There are six races remaining this season and 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin said the team has contingency plans for Busch’s recovery and is not pressuring the 44-year-old to get back in the car. Busch is under contract at 23XI through next season with an option for 2024.

• NASCAR docked William Byron 25 points and fined him $50,000 for deliberately spinning championship rival Denny Hamlin in a retaliatory move missed by scoring officials.

The penalty dropped Byron to eight points below the cutline heading into Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. The Hendrick Motorsports driver had been 17 points to the good, and third in the standings, before the penalty.

NASCAR also fined Ty Gibbs $75,000 and docked 23XI Racing 25 owner points for what it called “retaliatory vehicle contact on pit road with crew members/officials in close proximity; second offense” in Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.


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