IN BRIEF

BASKETBALL

Touched by TV report, O'Neal pays for funeral of slain girl

NBA star Shaquille O'Neal paid for the funeral of a 5-year-old North Carolina girl after being moved by national news coverage of the case of Shaniya Davis, who police say was kidnapped and killed.

The Cleveland Cavaliers player was touched by the stories he saw and got in touch with the family to see what he could do to help, a spokeswoman for O'Neal said Thursday.

More than 2,000 people attended the girl's funeral Sunday. Her body was found Nov. 16 beside a rural road.

Her mother, Antionette Davis, who had reported the child missing six days earlier, is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving prostitution. Mario McNeill is charged with murder, rape and kidnapping.

"I was sitting at home watching it on the news and the story brought a tear to my eye," O'Neal told The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper.

Corey Breece, of Rogers and Breece Funeral Home, which handled the service, declined to tell the Fayetteville Observer newspaper how much it cost but added that a child's funeral "averages around $4,500."

Also: Philadelphia 76ers guard Lou Williams will miss eight weeks after having surgery on his jaw.

Williams broke his jaw in Philadelphia's loss to Washington on Tuesday. His averages of 17.4 points and 5.1 assists are second highest on the team behind Andre Iguodala.

MISCELLANEOUS

Del Petro reaches ATP World semifinals, bumps out Murray

Juan Martin del Potro squeaked into the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals in London by beating Roger Federer 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3 -- the slimmest possible margin to advance and knock Andy Murray out of the tournament.

The result means Del Potro and Federer both advance after a three-way tie in Group A, with Murray's elimination coming down to the last game after three rounds of group matches.

All three players finished the round-robin stage with two wins and identical 5-4 set records, but Murray had the lowest percentage of games won. Had Del Potro lost just one more game against Federer, Murray would have advanced at the Argentine's expense.

Earlier, Murray beat Fernando Verdasco, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3).

Also: Colorado football coach Dan Hawkins will get a fifth season in Boulder instead of a pink slip and a $3.1 million buyout.

Athletic director Mike Bohn announced he's sticking with his coach despite a 16-32 record, including 2-20 on the road.

The Buffaloes have endured four consecutive losing seasons under Hawkins, who has cleaned up a program tarnished by scandal under his predecessor, Gary Barnett, but has been unable to find success on the field.

Colorado (3-8, 2-5 Big 12) wraps up its season today against Big 12 North champion Nebraska (8-3, 5-2).

Former NFL offensive lineman Ross Verba was arrested on suspicion of failing to pay a $26,000 gambling debt to the Palms.

Clark County prosecutors said the 36-year-old Verba was arrested in Phoenix this week on an arrest warrant. He is charged with three counts of writing bad checks to the Palms in January 2008.

Prosecutors said Verba is fighting extradition and remained jailed.

In 2007, Verba was arrested on bad check charges for allegedly failing to pay for $50,000 in markers at Wynn Las Vegas. Those charges were dismissed after he paid off the debt.

Verba was a first-round draft choice of the Green Bay Packers in 1997. He played eight seasons with Green Bay and Cleveland before signing a one-year deal with Detroit in 2006.

European soccer leaders unanimously backed a proposal to limit participation in future Olympic Games to players under the age of 21.

The International Olympic Committee wants to keep the status quo of under-23s plus three overage players, which allows countries to bolster their teams with star talent and enhances the appeal and credibility of the Olympic tournament.

But UEFA's strategy council of clubs, national associations, leagues and players' unions unanimously agreed that the men's Olympic tournament should be changed to under 21.