Off the wire

BASKETBALL Ole Miss suspends star guard

Mississippi guard Marshall Henderson has been suspended indefinitely. In a release Wednesday, the university announced the 6-foot-2 senior from Hurst, Texas, is suspended because of a “violation of team rules,” but it did not provide any details about the violations. “Since the season ended, we have talked a lot about Marshall taking a greater leadership role with our team,” Ole Miss Coach Andy Kennedy said in a statement. “With that comes greater responsibility, and he must do a better job of living up to the high standard we expect from him and he desires from himself.” Henderson averaged 20.1 points per game last season - bombing three-pointers from nearly every inch of the court. He helped the Rebels win the SEC tournament championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002. Henderson came to Ole Miss with a history of discipline problems. He was arrested in both 2009 and 2011 and served time in jail after the second arrest because he violated his probation. Ole Miss has said the coaches were aware of Henderson’s past when he signed with the program.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are taking a chance on Andrew Bynum and his creaky knees. The free agent center, who never played one second with Philadelphia last season because of knee injuries, has agreed to terms on a two-year contract with the Cavs, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The Cavs are only guaranteeing $6 million and one year to Bynum, the person said. The team has a $12 million option on the second year, and the contract could reach $24 million if Bynum hits certain performance bonuses.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to a trade with Oklahoma City for guard Kevin Martin that also allowed them to land swingman Corey Brewer in free agency. The Wolves agreed to terms with Martin on a four-year contract worth nearly $30 million last week. Rather than sign him outright, they decided on Wednesday to execute a sign-and-trade deal with the Thunder to help them free up more cap room to land Brewer. Luke Ridnour is headed from Minnesota to Milwaukee in the three-team trade, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.

The three-team trade that will send swingman Andre Iguodala to the Golden State Warriors, guard Randy Foye to the Denver Nuggets and a trio of expiring contracts along with a package of draft picks to the Utah Jazz is complete. The trade announced Wednesday started when the Warriors reached a free agent agreement with Iguodala on a four-year, $48 million deal last week. Golden State cleared more than $24 million by sending Richard Jefferson, Andris Biedrins and Brandon Rush to the Jazz along with four draft picks and cash.

Chris Andersen is returning to the NBA champion Miami Heat, and at a bargain price. Andersen signed a $1.7 million, one-year deal Wednesday, becoming the latest in a long line of current Heat players who were willing to sacrifice some salary. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, Shane Battier and Ray Allen are among those who could have gotten more money either from the Heat or elsewhere when signing their current deals. And now, Andersen has done the same, a move that lessens the luxury tax burden the Heat will face this coming season. Andersen could have commanded $3.2 million from the Heat this season, but by taking the lesser deal, he saves the Heat more than $1.5 million on that looming tax bill.

BASEBALL Darvish placed on 15-day DL

Right-hander Yu Darvish has been placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Texas Rangers and will miss the All-Star Game next week. Darvish has a mild strain in his upper back. The move was announced Wednesday and is retroactive to July 6. Darvish was scheduled to pitch against Baltimore today, but has been scratched. He’s 8-4 overall, but has won only once in his last nine starts. Darvish leads the majors with 157 strikeouts. He has a 3.02 ERA.

Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter is set to make his first minor league rehabilitation start next week. The former Cy Young winner pitched a three-inning simulated game on Wednesday. St. Louis Manager Mike Matheny said Carpenter, 38, will start Monday at ClassAA Springfield against the Arkansas Travelers. Matheny said Carpenter will be limited to a pitch count in the “60s-range” in his first live action since making three starts during the playoffs last year.

Ryan Howard had surgery Wednesday morning to repair a tear in his left knee. The Philadelphia Phillies’ slugger will miss between six to eight weeks. He had an MRI on Monday that revealed the injury. Howard, the 2006 NL MVP, went on the disabled list Saturday. The three time All-Star was hitting .266 with 11 home runs and 43 RBI. He was noticeably hobbling during games before he was sidelined.

Major League Baseball has upheld a two-game suspension of Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Skip Schumaker for his involvement in a fight with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Schumaker served the first game of his suspension Wednesday night against the Diamondbacks and was expected to be out of the lineup again today against Colorado. Schumaker was one of eight people suspended after the Dodgers and Diamondbacks traded beanballs on June 11. He could be seen pulling players off the pile after Diamondbacks starter Ian Kennedy triggered a benches-clearing brawl by hitting Zack Greinke after the Dodgers pitcher hit Arizona catcher Miguel Montero in the top of the seventh inning.

HOCKEY

Rask remains with Bruins

Tuukka Rask turned an outstanding first season as the Boston Bruins’ No. 1 goalie into a longterm commitment on Wednesday by signing an eight-year contract to stay with the Eastern Conference champions. There was little doubt that the restricted free agent would be back, especially after the Bruins cleared about $4.75 million in space under the salary cap when they sent Tyler Seguin to the Dallas Stars in a seven-player deal last Thursday. The Bruins said the annual salary cap charge on Rask’s contract is $7 million.

The St. Louis Blues have traded David Perron to the Edmonton Oilers for Magnus Paajarvi and a 2014 second-round draft pick. Perron, a 25-year old left-wing, had 10 goals and 15 assists in 48 games for St. Louis last season. In his career, Perron has 84 goals and 114 assists in 340 games. Perron has three more years left on his contract at a cap hit of just over $3.8 million. Paajarvi has 26 goals and 32 assists in 163 games with the Oilers. He was drafted 10th overall by Edmonton in 2009.

CYCLING Froome widens Tour lead

MONT-SAINT-MICHEL, France - Halfway through the Tour de France, Chris Froome appears unstoppable after extending the lead on his rivals in the time trial on Wednesday.

Although Froome missed out on his second stage win by 12 seconds to winner Tony Martin of Germany, the stage 11 performance felt like a big victory for the British rider because his challengers were at least two minutes slower.

“My biggest race today was with the other GC riders,” Froome said. “I’ve extended my lead so I’m very happy with that.”

Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde is still in second place overall but 3 minutes, 25 seconds behind Froome, while Alberto Contador improved to fourth but is 3:54 behind.

Meanwhile, 2010 Tour champion Andy Schleck and 2011 winner Cadel Evans lost massive time.

“I’m happy with my shape,” Froome said. “I think I’ve shown in the mountains that I can hold my own and time trial, also.”

As the two-time world time trial champion, Martin did not disappoint over the 20.5-mile route in Normandy from Avranches to the breathtaking island citadel of Mont-Saint-Michel.

“Hats off to Tony Martin,” Froome said. “It just goes to show what class he has.”

Froome was quicker over the first two time splits but slowed down in the last section. Martin won in just over 36 minutes.

“I’m not sad at all with that,” said Froome, who also finished second behind countryman Bradley Wiggins on last year’s longer time trial. “I gave that time trial everything I had.”

He was the only rider to get within a minute of Martin, with Belgian Thomas De Gendt 1:01 behind in third.

Martin was lucky to be racing after he lost consciousness on his team bus after his crash in the opening stage. His left lung was bruised and layers of skin were shredded off his back.

“At night, I couldn’t sleep either on my left or right sides or on my back,” Martin said.

Sports, Pages 16 on 07/11/2013

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