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The Capital (Annapolis, MD)
A wild postgame brawl following a contentious game between Utah Valley and New Mexico State highlighted the risks when fans and players collide.
The Western Athletic Conference suspended New Mexico State junior guard K.C. Ross-Miller for two games and senior forward Renaldo Dixon for one for violating the league's sportsmanship policy following its review of the melee Thursday night in Orem, Utah.
Ross-Miller hurled the ball at Utah Valley's Holton Hunsaker seconds after the Wolverines' 66-61 victory over the Aggies. The ball hit Hunsaker - the son of Utah Valley coach Dick Hunsaker - in the leg. Some of the fans who stormed the court following the victory got caught up in the chaos and punches were thrown.
New Mexico State guard DK Eldridge was in the middle of the scrum before he was dragged away by Aggies coaches as order was restored. With the victory, the Wolverines claimed the top spot in the conference standings - their first year in the WAC.
While the brawl was touched off by Ross-Miller's actions, it sparked renewed debate about player and fan interactions, and the dangers posed when fans rush the court. It was one of several incidents involving fans and players or coaches in recent months.
Florida Atlantic's Mike Jarvis will resign at the end of the season, his 25th as a head coach and his sixth with the Owls.
In a statement Friday, the 68-year-old Jarvis said he wants to pursue other basketball opportunities. He had one year left on his contract.
The school issued a news release saying Jarvis would retire, then sent a revised announcement 20 minutes later saying he would instead resign.
Florida Atlantic lost at Tulane on Wednesday to fall to 10-19 overall and 5-9 in Conference USA with two games left in the regular season.
Jarvis has a record of 77-109 with FAU. He took Boston University, George Washington and St. John's to the NCAA tournament, but the Owls had losing records in five of his six seasons.
NFL: The New Orleans Saints placed their franchise tag on Jimmy Graham in order to protect the club's rights to its star tight end through next season.
The move means Graham, barring a holdout, will almost certainly play for New Orleans next season for no less than the tight end franchise tag of $7.04 million.
BASEBALL: The Seattle Mariners will shut down top pitching prospect Taijuan Walker for at least one week after exams revealed inflammation in the bursa of his right shoulder.
Masahiro Tanaka could make his first regular-season start in the New York Yankees' third or fourth game.
The Yankees complete a three-series at Houston on April 3, then have a day off before a three-game set at Toronto. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Friday "I think that's pretty safe to say" the Japanese right-hander will start game three or four.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke was scheduled to undergo treatment after straining his right calf after four pitches during his first spring training start.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly was hopeful Greinke could throw a scheduled bullpen session Saturday.
AUTO RACING: Panther Racing has filed a lawsuit against Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, IndyCar and others alleging it lost a $17.2 million sponsorship with the Army National Guard because of bid-rigging and other improprieties.
TENNIS: Fourth-seeded Roger Federer ended top-seeded Novak Djokovic's chance of defending his Dubai Championships title with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 semifinal win on Friday.
Federer will be looking for his sixth Dubai title when he plays third-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in Saturday's final.
Berdych reached his second consecutive Dubai Championships final with a tough 7-5, 7-5 semifinal win over seventh-seeded Philiipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.
Top-seeded Tommy Haas came back to defeat Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 to advance to the Brazil Open semifinals on Friday.
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