College Basketball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana coach Tom Crean has been fired after nine often lackluster seasons.
Athletic director Fred Glass announced the decision Thursday as the NCAA Tournament was beginning.
Crean won two Big Ten regular-season championships over the last five seasons but went 18-16 this year and missed the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in nine years — including each of his first three seasons after taking over a gutted team following an NCAA scandal.
The 50-year-old Crean went 166-135 at Indiana overall.
Golf
PHOENIX — Stacy Lewis missed a chance to shoot the second 59 in LPGA Tour history, settling for an 8-under 64 and a share of the first-round lead Thursday in the Bank of Hope Founders Cup.
Playing in low-90s heat in near-perfect conditions at Wildfire, Lewis was 9 under through 11 holes, parred the next six and closed with a bogey after hitting into the deep left greenside bunker.
Playing partner Ariya Jutanugarn, In Gee Chun, Katie Burnett and Sandra Changkija joined Lewis atop the leaderboard at Desert Ridge. All five played in the afternoon.
Gymnastics
Steve Penny has resigned as president of USA Gymnastics following intensified pressure on the organization for its handling of sex abuse cases.
The resignation came a week after the United States Olympic Committee’s board sent a recommendation to USA Gymnastics chairman Paul Parilla requesting Penny step down.
Penny joined USA Gymnastics in 1999 and oversaw one of the greatest runs in Olympic history. The success made USA Gymnastics a magnet for big-time corporate sponsors who wanted to be aligned with its healthy, winning image.
That image took a serious hit in recent months following an in-depth investigation by the Indianapolis Star that portrayed USA Gymnastics as slow to act when it came to addressing allegations of sexual abuse.
NBA
DENVER — Will Barton scored a career-high 35 points, Nikola Jokic recorded his fifth triple-double of the season and the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 129-114 on Thursday night to win their fourth straight.
Jokic finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists to help lead Denver to a win in a matchup of short-handed teams.
The Clippers played without Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, who were left back in Los Angeles for the one-game trip.
NFL
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman has confirmed Adrian Peterson’s time with the team is over.
The Vikings signed Oakland running back Latavius Murray early Thursday after a long night of negotiations. Then Spielman told reporters in the afternoon that he spoke with Peterson to wish him well, clarifying that the franchise’s all-time leading rusher will be playing elsewhere in 2017.
Peterson, the 2012 league MVP, played 10 seasons for the Vikings. Murray, who will join Jerick McKinnon as the team’s top two running backs, spent four years with the Raiders. He rushed for 788 yards and a career-high 12 touchdowns last season despite missing two games with a toe injury.
Associated Press
