Thursday's Sports in Brief
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Best in the country and No. 1 and 2 in the NBA draft. The celebration goes on for Kentucky's kids.
The Wildcats became the first school to have the top two picks and tied a record with six players taken overall Thursday night.
After the New Orleans Hornets made the long-expected selection of forward Anthony Davis with the first pick, Charlotte followed by taking fellow freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
Kentucky had four players chosen in the first round, tying North Carolina, which won the race to four picks - all in the top 17 selections.
Harrison Barnes (No. 7, Golden State), Kendall Marshall (No. 13, Phoenix), John Henson (No. 14, Milwaukee) and Tyler Zeller (No. 17, Dallas) all went between Kidd-Gilchrist and the next Kentucky player, Terrence Jones at No. 18 to Houston.
Zeller's rights were later traded to Cleveland for a package that included No. 24 pick Jared Cunningham of Oregon State.
Six Kentucky players were selected overall.
MIAMI (AP) - Dwyane Wade needs surgery on his left knee and will miss the London Olympics.
The Miami Heat guard called USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski on Thursday and let them know that he is not healthy enough to participate in the Olympics. Wade was playing through pain for much of the postseason, yet still averaged 22.6 points during Miami's five-game win over Oklahoma City in the NBA Finals.
Wade tells The Associated Press that the situation is disappointing. Wade and his doctors are in the process of scheduling the surgery.
SOCCER
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Mario Balotelli scored twice Thursday to give Italy a 2-1 win over Germany and an unexpected spot in the European Championship final.
Extending its winless streak against Italy in major tournaments to eight matches, Germany had no answer for Balotelli nor Antonio Cassano's creativity.
In the 20th minute, Balotelli had no trouble getting past Holger Badstuber to head in a pinpoint cross from Cassano. Then in the 36th, the 21-year-old striker received the ball behind the defense and blasted a long shot into the top right corner.
Germany failed to trouble Italy for much of the match, but Mesut Oezil scored on a penalty kick in injury time after Federico Balzaretti was whistled for a handball.
Italy will face defending champion Spain in Sunday's final in Kiev, Ukraine - a rematch of their 1-1 draw that opened Group C.
While Italy has won four World Cups, it's only European Championship came in 1968. Like when they won the 1982 and 2006 World Cups, the Azzurri have managed to maintain their focus despite a match-fixing and betting scandal at home.
TENNIS
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) - Rafael Nadal made his earliest Grand Slam exit since 2005 when he was overpowered Thursday by big-serving Lukas Rosol 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the second round at Wimbledon.
Rosol, a 26-year-old Czech ranked No. 100, earned the biggest win of his career playing in Wimbledon's main draw for the first time. He lost each of the past five years in the first round of qualifying.
Rosol became the lowest-ranked player to defeat Nadal in a major tournament. The 6-foot-5, 178-pound Czech lost only 16 points on his first serve, returned well and won 22 of 28 points at the net.
It was a good day for Americans - Serena Williams, Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish and No. 126-ranked Brian Baker advanced, as did No. 28-seeded Christina McHale and Varvara Lepchenko.
Maria Sharapova's old serving problems resurfaced, costing her the second set before she recovered to beat dangerous Tsvetana Pironkova, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 6-0. The Court 1 match took two days and ended three minutes after Williams concluded her victory on Centre Court, beating qualifier Melinda Czink 6-1, 6-4.
TRACK
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - Allyson Felix glided to an easy heat win in the 200 meters.
Minutes later, appearing just as smooth and expending just as little of energy, Jeneba Tarmoh cruised to a victory in her heat as well at the U.S. Olympic track trials on a drizzly Thursday night.
If controversy was weighing the sprinters down, they didn't show it on the track.
Five days ago, the training partners crossed the finish line in a tie for the third and last Olympic spot in the 100.
Now, everyone is waiting to see what they will choose to break the dead heat - a runoff, coin flip or if one of them simply gives the spot to the other.
In a thrilling finish to end the night, Galen Rupp caught Bernard Lagat in the 5,000 final, a scintillating race that came down to a sprint at the end.
Rupp finished in a time of 13 minutes, 22.67 seconds, significant because it broke meet record set by the late Steve Prefontaine nearly 40 years ago.
Julie Culley (women's 5,000), Evan Jager (steeplechase), Lance Brooks (discus) and Brad Walker (pole vault) also won.
SWIMMING
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - After a couple of epic duels with his biggest rival, Michael Phelps made this one look easy.
Phelps stayed on course to swim eight events at the London Games, pulling away for a dominating win in the 200-meter butterfly at the U.S. Olympic trials on Thursday night.
Phelps has locked up three individual events for London and he's got two more to go in Omaha. Combined with a likely spot on all three relays, the 26-year-old from Baltimore - already the winningest Olympian ever - would have a chance to duplicate his record from the Beijing Games if he doesn't stumble over the next three days.
Davis Tarwater led at the first and second turns, but there was never any doubt about Phelps pulling ahead in his signature stroke. He surged to the front on the third leg, his body slinking through the water like a dolphin, and was a body-length ahead of the field when he touched in 1 minute, 53.65 seconds.
Phelps had a much easier time than his first two events at Omaha, when he was going against Ryan Lochte. Phelps edged out Lochte in the 200 free after losing to him in the 400 individual medley (but still finishing second, earning an Olympic spot).
The real race was for second place - and another spot on the Olympic team. Tyler Clary, who lost out to Phelps in the 400 individual medley, rallied from behind for a time of 1:55.12, edging Bobby Bollier's touch of 1:55.79.
Phelps' training partner, Allison Schmitt, was equally dominating in the 200 free. She broke her own American record with a time of 1:54.40, the best in the world this year. Already the winner in the 400 free, she eclipsed the national record set in the 2009 world championships at Rome.
Seventeen-year-old Missy Franklin locked up another Olympic race, claiming the second 200 spot in 1:56.79.
Dana Vollmer and Lauren Perdue finished third and fourth, assuring themselves of being in the pool for the 800 free relay. Shannon Vreeland (fifth) and Alyssa Anderson (sixth) also are likely to be taken to London as potential relay swimmers.
Caitlin Leverenz locked up two events at her first Olympics with a victory in the 200 individual medley.
Ariana Kukors, who won gold in the event at the 2009 world championships and was third at last year's worlds, rallied to claim a spot on her first Olympic team, as well.
GYMNASTICS
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Sam Mikulak was impressive during the first day of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials Thursday, threatening to break up the grip national champion John Orozco and Danell Leyva have on the role of top Americans heading into the London Olympics.
Looking as relaxed as if he was competing in a college dual meet for Michigan, the 2011 NCAA champion posted an all-around score of 91.80, the best on a day many of the other contenders to make the five-man Olympic team faltered.
Leyva moved past Orozco into first place in the overall standings, which combine scores from nationals and trials, but couldn't top Mikulak, at least for a couple of hours. Mikulak remained third in the overall standings but drew closer to the top two heading into the finals Saturday.
The team won't be announced until Sunday morning, but Mikulak took major strides into having his name written down in pen - not pencil - with a sublime performance that showed the 19-year-old is ready for the sport's biggest stage.
Orozco and Leyva remain in perfect position to earn an automatic spot on the team, which is reserved for the top two all-around finishers provided they also rank among the top three in at least three of the six disciplines. At the moment, Orozco and Leyva both fill that criteria, with Mikulak quickly closing in.
HOCKEY
NEW YORK (AP) - The NHL salary cap is going up, allowing teams to spend about $6 million more on players this season.
Before opening labor talks, the league and the NHL Players' Association announced the cap has been set at $70.2 million. That's a significant jump from last year's cap of $64.3 million, and continues the trend of increases since the cap system was established in 2005.
The minimum teams can spend on payroll is also rising, going from $48 million to $54.2 million.
The announcement comes as the league prepares to open its free-agency period Sunday.
It's unclear what effect labor talks will have on the salary cap. The two sides are opening talks this week in a bid to reach a new deal before the current CBA expires Sept. 15.
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Sidney Crosby agreed to a 12-year, $104.4 million contract Thursday with the Pittsburgh Penguins that will keep the 24-year-old captain under contract through 2025.
The deal also gives the Penguins some room to play in the free-agent market. The new deal will go into effect after the current one expires next summer and will average around $8.7 million a season. Crosby will officially sign the extension on Sunday.
The contract also puts to rest any speculation the Penguins have about Crosby's health. The 2009 MVP has been limited to just 28 games in the last 18 months after sustaining a concussion in the Winter Classic against the Washington Capitals in January 2011.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jonathan Quick has agreed to a 10-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Kings.
The Kings announced the agreement on Thursday for their Conn Smythe Trophy-winning goalie, who led Los Angeles to its first Stanley Cup championship earlier this month.
Quick can't sign the deal until Sunday, but he will be under contract through the 2022-23 season.
GOLF
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) - Bo Van Pelt holed out from the fairway for eagle and kept bogeys off his card for a 4-under 67. It gave him a one-shot lead Thursday in the AT&T National, which felt more like a U.S. Open than Congressional did last year.
Only seven players managed to post scores in the 60s, and the average score was about 73.5.
Tiger Woods didn't play the U.S. Open last year. Even so, the course was far stronger than when he last won here in 2009. Woods was never under par in the opening round and had to settle for a 72.
Vijay Singh, Brendon De Jonge and Jimmy Walker were at 68, while Pat Perez, Jason Day and Navy veteran Billy Hurley III were at 69.
PRO FOOTBALL
NEW YORK (AP) - The NFL is shifting the start time of the second game of its Sunday TV doubleheaders by 10 minutes to ensure fewer fans miss any of the action on the field.
The late afternoon matchups on CBS and Fox will kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET instead of 4:15, the league said Thursday. Because of the networks' contractual obligations, fans in the past would sometimes miss the end of the early telecast or the beginning of the late one if the 1 p.m. game ran long.
The broadcasters must switch to the start of the second game in the home teams' cities even if the day's first televised contest is still going on. For fans in other markets, that overlap means they don't get to see the opening of the late game.
During the 2009-11 seasons, 44 games lasted long enough to require part of the audience to be switched. Under the 4:25 kickoff, that number would have been reduced to 15.
Late afternoon games not on that week's doubleheader network will still start at 4:05.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Former Notre Dame assistant football coach Corwin Brown on Thursday pleaded guilty but mentally ill to charges that he struck his wife and held her hostage with a handgun in a seven-hour standoff with police.
In a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to drop a class B felony confinement charge against Brown in the August 2011 incident at his home in Granger, just northeast of South Bend. With his house surrounded by police, Brown eventually released his wife, Melissa, then shot himself in the stomach.
Brown, 42, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to class D felony confinement and domestic battery charges.
His family says they believe he sustained brain trauma while playing as a defensive back at college in Michigan and during his eight seasons in the NFL with the Patriots, Jets and Lions.
Sentencing is set for Aug. 21.
The plea agreement recommends a four-year prison sentence, but also states that prosecutors would not oppose a suspended sentence with Brown placed on probation.
The agreement also calls for Brown to pay $4,471 in restitution to the St. Joseph County police department and $3,763 to the Mishawaka police department.
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - The Rose Bowl has agreed to a 12-year extension with ESPN that will keep the game on the network through 2026.
ESPN President John Skipper, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott and Rose Bowl officials announced the deal Thursday. Skipper called the Rose Bowl ``one of sport's most meaningful'' events.
ESPN will keep the broadcast rights to the Rose Bowl regardless of the final format developed for college football's new playoff system, which kicks in for the 2014 season. The first championship game under the new system is Jan. 12, 2015.
The network's current deal with the Rose Bowl runs through the 2014 BCS title game.
