VOLLEYBALL
Oregon knocks out Arkansas
The University of Arkansas grabbed the opening set against No. 3 seed Oregon, but the Ducks were able to move on to the Sweet 16 with a 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-9) win at the Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene Ore., on Saturday night. Arkansas jumped to a 5-0 lead to start the third set, but the Ducks answered and grabbed an 11-10 advantage. The Razorbacks managed to tie it at 15-15 but Oregon grabbed the lead for good on a kill by Brooke Nuneviller. The Ducks used an 8-0 run to break away in the fourth set en route to wrapping up the win. Oregon led only 8-6 but hit the accelerator to push the advantage to 16-6 and cruised from there. Nuneviller, a 5-11 senior outside hitter, finished with a match-high 19 kills, while Mimi Colyer added 15. Taylor Head and Jillian Gillen led Arkansas with 12 kills each. Arkansas (21-9) used a 9-1 run in the opening set to take control, turning a 7-6 deficit into a 15-8 lead and went on to the win. Oregon took advantage of Razorback hitting errors to the tune of a 9-0 run to win the second set. Oregon (25-5) matched a school record by winning its 15th straight match and improved to 14-0 at home this season. The Razorbacks were making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013.
BOXING
Fury retains WBC title
Tyson Fury easily retained his WBC heavyweight belt by stopping Derek Chisora again thanks to his overwhelming advantage of reach and height on Saturday in London. Referee Victor Loughlin didn't end the one-sided all-British fight until 10 seconds remained in the 10th round. It could have finished five rounds sooner and nobody could have complained. Not least Chisora, who could hardly see out of his right eye after seven rounds. Chisora was game and made good starts in the early going with a couple of flush rights to Fury's face in different rounds. But Fury shrugged them off and inevitably took control with his jab. The challenger, facing Fury for a third time, couldn't stop the jab thanks to Fury's reach advantage of more than 28 centimeters from a height advantage of 18 centimeters. Fury improved his record to 33-0-1 with his 24th knockout.
GOLF
Hovland's lead at 3 shots
The warm sun in the Bahamas brought out plenty of mud on the rain-soaked fairways and created some wild shots for just about everyone but Viktor Hovland. He made 10 birdies Saturday to build a three-shot lead in the Hero World Challenge. Hovland ran off six birdies on the back nine at Albany and finished with a bogey from a mud-shot on the 18th for an 8-under 64, putting him in position to join tournament host Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners of this tournament. Hovland was at 13-under 203, and he made it look easy. It wasn't that way for the rest of the 20-man field, even with some of the best scoring of the week. Scottie Scheffler, who can go to No. 1 in the world with a win, dropped only one shot and had an eagle on the par-5 15th for a 66 that put him in the final group with Hovland.
Lawrence in line for win
Thriston Lawrence put himself on course for victory in his home South African Open after a third-round 67 on Saturday. Lawrence maintained his two-stroke lead from overnight with a second consecutive round of 5 under par, finishing the Blair Atholl course with a sixth birdie. Lawrence has two European tour wins; the Joburg Open a year ago and the European Masters in August. He won the latter on the first playoff hole after starting the last round with a three-shot lead. Clement Sordet of France was his nearest challenger at 16 under.
FOOTBALL
Stafford heads to IR
Quarterback Matthew Stafford was placed on injured reserve by the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday, one day after he cleared the NFL's concussion protocol for the second time this season. Stafford already had been ruled out for the Rams' home game against Seattle today due to a neck injury. The Super Bowl winner will now be sidelined for at least four games, and his season could be over. Stafford has missed two of the past three games for the Rams (3-8), whose title defense season has fallen apart with a five-game losing streak. Although the Rams haven't confirmed Stafford had a concussion this season, he made two trips through the league's concussion protocol. John Wolford will start at quarterback for Los Angeles against the Seahawks. All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald and All-Pro receiver Cooper Kupp also are out with injuries.
BASEBALL
Pirates' OF requests trade
Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Bryan Reynolds has requested a trade ahead of baseball's winter meetings. Reynolds, who turns 28 in January, hit .262 with 27 home runs and 62 RBI in 145 games last season, when Pittsburgh finished with a 62-100 record. In Reynolds' four years with the team, the Pirates are 211-335 for a .386 winning percentage.
D-backs, Castro reach deal
The Arizona Diamondbacks signed hard-throwing reliever Miguel Castro to a $3.5 million, one-year contract that could be worth $9.5 million over two seasons. Castro, who turns 28 this month, has already spent eight years in the big leagues, most recently with the New York Yankees. He was 5-0 with a 4.03 ERA in 34 appearances last season. The 6-7 right-hander has averaged more than a strikeout per inning over the past three seasons.
Reds add catcher Maile
Catcher Luke Maile has a $1,175,000 salary as part of a one-year contract with his hometown Cincinnati Reds. Maile, 31, hit .221 with three home runs and seven RBI last season for the Cleveland Guardians. He is a .207 career hitter with 13 home runs and 80 RBI for Tampa Bay (2015-16), Toronto (2017-19), Milwaukee (2021) and Cleveland.
BASKETBALL
Morant fined $35K
Memphis guard Ja Morant has been fined $35,000 for getting angry at a referee and not leaving the court "in a timely manner" after he was ejected from Wednesday's game against Minnesota. The NBA announced the fine Saturday. Morant was given a technical and tossed from the game with 1:22 left in the fourth quarter. He had 24 points in the 109-101 loss. The Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks was also ejected from that game. The NBA said in a release that Morant directed "inappropriate language toward a game official." Morant is averaging 28.2 points and 7.3 assists per game for Memphis.
WINTER SPORTS
Goggia claims downhill win
Sofia Goggia of Italy captured a World Cup downhill race for a second consecutive day at Lake Louise. Goggia only got stronger Saturday, finishing with a time of 1 minute, 28.96 seconds. She withstood a late charge by Austria's Nina Ortlieb, who started way back with bib No. 26 and wound up 0.34 seconds behind. Ortlieb's finish pushed Corinne Suter of Switzerland into third place. Suter was runner-up to Goggia in Friday's downhill race. This was the third World Cup podium finish for Ortlieb. Her other two were in February 2020 and included a super-G win in Italy.
Kilde continues success
Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde won his second consecutive World Cup downhill race to start the season, despite feeling under the weather. Although dealing with an illness all week in training, Kilde powered through the challenging Birds of Prey course Saturday in a time of 1 minute, 42.09 seconds. It was enough to hold off Marco Odermatt of Switzerland by 0.06 seconds. James Crawford of Canada was third to earn his second career World Cup podium finish. Kilde also won the opening downhill last weekend in Lake Louise, Alberta.
Tyson Fury, right, lands a punch during his WBC heavyweight championship boxing match against Derek Chisora at Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane stadium London, Saturday Dec. 3, 2022.(AP Photo/Ian Walton)
Tyson Fury, right, lands a punch during his WBC heavyweight championship boxing match against Derek Chisora at Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane stadium London, Saturday Dec. 3, 2022.(AP Photo/Ian Walton)
Tyson Fury, celebrates after defending his WBC heavyweight boxing championship against Derek Chisora at Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane stadium London, Saturday Dec. 3, 2022. The fight was stopped by the referee in round 10. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)