Off the wire

GOLF Streelman shares lead

Kevin Streelman shot 6-under-par 65 Saturday to grab a share of the lead with Justin Leonard and George Coetzee at 6-under 207 at the Tampa Bay Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla., but they will have plenty of company at the top of the leaderboard today with 16 players separated by only three shots heading into the final round. Leonard ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn and had the lead to himself before a bogey from the bunker on the 15th. He finished with a 67. Coetzee bounced back from his lone bogey with a birdie on the 17th hole that gave him a 68. The group one shot behind the leaders included 2010 winner Jim Furyk (67), and former Arkansas Razorback Tag Ridings (70). Defending champion Luke Donald had a 67 and was two shots behind at 4-under 209, along with 19-year-old Jordan Spieth of Texas, who is coming off a runner-up finish in Puerto Rico and can be set for the year on the PGA Tour depending on how he plays today, and Bryce Molder (Conway), whohad a 68.

Ai Miyazato pulled back in front in the LPGA Founders Cup on Saturday, making three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the back nine and saving par with a long putt on the par-4 finishing hole in Phoenix. Miyazato, returning from a whiplash injury sustained three weeks ago in a five-vehicle crash in Thailand, shot her second consecutive 5-under-par 67 after opening with a tournament-record 64. At 19-under 197, she had a two-stroke lead over Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks), who birdied the last hole for a 66 in cooler conditions on the cactus-lined course.

David Frost maintained a onestroke lead over Fred Couples in the Toshiba Classic, eagling the final hole Saturday for a 5-under-par 66 in Newport Beach, Calif. After opening with a 63, Frost had a 13-under 129. The South African made an 18-foot putt for the eagle on the par-5 18th,while Couples two-putted from 35 feet for birdie and a 66.

South African Thomas Aiken shot a 10-under-par 62 to lead in the Avantha Masters by three shots after three rounds Saturday in Greaternoida, India. Aiken had eight birdies and an eagle for an 18-under 198 to move ahead of Liang Wenchong of China, whose 69 left him 15 under.

BASKETBALL Texas Tech fires 6 assistants

Texas Tech fired six assistant men’s basketball coaches but retained interim head coach Chris Walker. Dismissed were assistants Jeremy Cox and Bubba Jennings, Craig Wells and Jim Shaw in operations, and Josh Mills and Derrick Jasper in video production. Athletic department spokesman Blayne Beal confirmed the firings Saturday, which happened earlier in the day. Beal said there is no timetable for Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt to pick a permanent head coach. Hocutt has said Walker will be included in the search. Walker was an assistant during Billy Gillispie’s lone season at Texas Tech last year.He led the Red Raiders to an 11-20 overall record and 3-15 in Big 12 play this season.

Sue Bird will have her fourth surgery in six years in early May to remove a cyst from her left knee. It will sideline the perennial WNBA All-Star for six months and she’ll miss the season. Bird, 32, had her left knee scoped in 2007, her right hip labrum repaired in 2011 and the left one done last October. She also has had three nasal bone surgeries since 2004. The latest surgery will be performed by Dr. Michael Joyce on May 9.

Bill Carmody had 13 years to get Northwestern into the NCAA Tournament for the first time and it never quite worked out. That was enough for Athletic Director Jim Phillips, who fired Carmody on Saturday after a long tenure during which the Wildcats raised expectations but failed to reach their biggest goal. Carmody ranks among the most successful coaches at Northwestern with a 192-210 record.

TENNIS Djokovic upset in semis Juan Martin del Potro defeated top-ranked Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., handing the Serb his first loss in 21 matches dating to last October. Del Potro snapped his own four-match skid against Djokovic, who had beaten the Argentine in eight of 10 career meetings. Del Potro’s 133-mph ace closed out the nearly threehour match in 96-degree heat. Del Potro raised both arms in celebration. At times, the unseasonable heat seemed to have worn down Del Potro, who draped a white towel packed with ice around his shoulders on changeovers, his chest heaving from several long rallies. It was Djokovic’s first loss since Oct. 31, when American Sam Querrey beat him indoors at the Paris Masters. The Serb had won 17 consecutive matches and two titles, including the Australian Open, to start the year.Del Potro, the second Argentine to reach the final here, will play Rafael Nadal for the title today. No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova and No. 8 Caroline Wozniacki will play in the women’s final. Nadal rallied to beat Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-5 and reach his fourth ATP Tour final in as many events. Off to the best start of his career, Nadal improved to 16-1- including 13 victories in a row - on the year, having won two clay-court titles and been runner-up in another since returning from a left knee injury that idled him for seven months.

FOOTBALL USC tailback tears meniscus

Southern California tailback Silas Redd will miss the rest of spring practice with a torn meniscus in his knee. Redd will have surgery on his knee but should be completely healthy for training camp in July, Coach Lane Kiffin said Saturday. Redd hurt his knee during practice Thursday.

FIGURE SKATING Davis, White skate to another title

LONDON, Ontario - Two years after giving the United States its first world title in ice dancing, Meryl Davis and Charlie White did it again.

In Canada, of all places.

The five-time U.S. champions upstaged reigning Olympic and world champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir at the World Figure Skating Championships on Saturday afternoon.

It was a stunning victory, both in margin and that in came in the Canadians’ hometown, where they are, as the public address announcer said, “local skating icons.”

But it wasn’t even close. With189.56 points, Davis and White beat Virtue and Moir by about 4½ points. That score also topped the world record they’d set at last season’s Grand Prix Final by a point.

European champions Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev of Russia won the bronze medal.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates were seventh in their worlds debut while Maia and Alex Shibutani were eighth. The United States will be able to send three dance teams to Sochi, Russia, the third consecutive Olympics the Americans have qualified the maximum spots.