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Wednesday's Sports In Brief

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) Kendall Pollard scored 17 points, and the Dayton Flyers used every bit of their home-court advantage on Wednesday night, rallying for a 56-55 win over Boise State in the First Four.

Now the Flyers (26-8) get to stay in the Buckeye state - taking on sixth-seeded Providence on Friday in Columbus.

In the first game of the night, the three-pronged offense of Lucky Jones (21 points), Rodney Pryor (20) and Marcquise Reed (19) powered Robert Morris back from a 13-point second-half deficit to an 81-77 victory over North Florida.

The Colonials (20-14), who won the Northeast Conference Tournament to get into the field as a 16, now meet top-seeded Duke in the second round on Friday in Charlotte.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim will retire in three years and the university's athletic director has resigned, the school announced Wednesday following a scathing NCAA report that imposed sanctions for violations that lasted more than a decade.

Chancellor Kent Syverud said Wednesday that Boeheim, a Hall of Famer and head coach for 39 years, decided to make the announcement to ''bring certainty to the team and program in the coming years'' and to allow for a smooth transition.

Athletic director Daryl Gross will take another marketing position with the school.

The violations involved academic misconduct, extra benefits and the university's drug testing policy. Boeheim, 70, is already suspended for the first half of the next Atlantic Coast Conference season, a total of nine games. Syracuse will also have three scholarships taken away for four seasons and all wins vacated in which an ineligible player participated from 2004 through 2012.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is predicting that Kentucky will remain undefeated and take home the title in the NCAA Tournament.

The basketball fan in chief says there's a good reason the Wildcats are the prohibitive favorite in the tournament after going 34-0 so far. He picked them to beat Villanova in the title game during an interview broadcast Wednesday on ESPN.

The president advanced Arizona and Duke to the NCAA Final Four, scheduled for April 4-6 in Indianapolis.

Obama hasn't picked the correct national champion since his first year in office, when North Carolina won the 2009 championship.

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NFL

NEW YORK (AP) - Video replays galore. More coaches' challenges. And a ''bonus field goal.''

All are on the agenda for next week's NFL meetings, when team owners will spend much time deciding whether 13 proposals to amend instant replay should pass.

Among the replay proposals are Detroit suggesting reviewing all penalties called by game officials - yes, including pass interference and holding calls; all personal fouls; penalties against defenseless players; any foul that results in an automatic first down; and clock issues.

Other proposals include moving the extra point attempt to the 15-yard line; guaranteeing both teams a possession in overtime even if one scores a touchdown on its first drive; and a scenario that gives teams that successfully convert a 2-point conversion the chance to immediately add another point from midfield with a ''bonus field goal.''

IRVING, Texas (AP) - The Dallas Cowboys have made their big play in free agency with defensive end Greg Hardy.

Although Hardy could face a league suspension for violating the NFL's domestic conduct policy, the team said it agreed to terms with the former Carolina Panther on Wednesday.

A person with knowledge of the contract tells The Associated Press it is a one-year deal that could earn him $13.1 million if he meets incentives. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because terms of the deal were not announced.

The Cowboys let DeMarco Murray go to NFC East rival Philadelphia because they decided the NFL rushing champion was too expensive. Now, they've bolstered the defense, particularly the pass rush.

BALTIMORE (AP) - The Baltimore Ravens released running back Bernard Pierce on Wednesday, hours after he was charged with drunken driving.

Baltimore County police said an officer stopped a Ford Mustang that was speeding around 2 a.m. Wednesday in Towson, north of Baltimore.

Police spokesman Cpl. John Wachter said Pierce had been driving 55 mph in a 30 mph zone, and that Pierce failed a series of field sobriety tests after he was stopped. Pierce was taken to a station house in Towson for processing, and later released.

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NBA

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Harrison Barnes had 25 points, Andre Iguodala added 21 points and six assists, and the Golden State Warriors cruised past the Atlanta Hawks 114-95 on Wednesday night in a matchup of the NBA's top two teams.

Stephen Curry had 16 points and 12 assists, Draymond Green contributed 18 points and Andrew Bogut grabbed 14 rebounds as balanced Golden State maintained the best record in the league (54-13) with its 10th straight win at home.

The Hawks, looking fatigued and trailing big by the fourth quarter, were denied again in a chance to clinch their first division title since the 1993-94 season as Washington won at Utah.

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TENNIS

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) - Roger Federer dominated Jack Sock in a 6-3, 6-2 victory to reach the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday, with the four-time tournament champion winning 14 consecutive points in the second set.

Federer has yet to drop a set in three matches so far, needing 69 minutes to polish off Sock and earn his 50th match win at Indian Wells.

Rafael Nadal advanced with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Gilles Simon to stay on track for a shot at his fourth career title in the desert.

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SOCCER

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Lionel Messi set up Ivan Rakitic's goal in the 31st minute, and Barcelona defeated Manchester City 1-0 Wednesday night for a 3-1 aggregate win to reach the Champions League quarterfinals for a record eighth consecutive season.

In the night's other match, Carlos Tevez scored twice and set up a goal in Juventus' 3-0 win at Borussia Dortmund that completed a 5-1 aggregate victory.

Defending champion Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco and Porto also are in Friday's quarterfinals draw. The final eight includes three teams from Spain for the third straight year.

After having a quarterfinalist each year from 1997-2012, England has none for the second time in three seasons.

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