IN BRIEF

GOLF

UNLV men's team takes third in Hawaii event

The 18th-ranked UNLV men's golf team shot 6-under-par 282 Wednesday in the final round of the Turtle Bay Intercollegiate, but the Rebels couldn't keep up with Texas in falling from first to a tie for third in Kahuku, Hawaii.

UNLV finished at 14-under 850, tied with Texas-Arlington. But the Longhorns fired a 15-under 273 to win with a 21-under 843 total, three shots ahead of San Diego State.

UNLV's Eddie Olson shot 1-under 71 to tie for 10th individually at 5-under 211. Ohio State's Vaughn Snyder (67) was the medalist at 205.

Derek Ernst cracked the top 20 for UNLV, shooting 71 to tie for 18th at 213.

It was the final event of the fall for the Rebels, who return to action Feb. 2 and 3 at the Ping Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson, Ariz.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Notre Dame AD says Weis' job not in danger

Charlie Weis has the backing of his boss, who insists Notre Dame football is headed in the right direction despite the team's inability to beat its best opponents.

"He's our head coach, and I look forward to him being the head coach for a long time," athletic director Jack Swarbrick said.

Notre Dame fan Web sites have been deluged with people posting messages calling for Weis' firing, and newspaper columnists have been questioning whether he is capable of making the Fighting Irish national title contenders again.

Notre Dame (5-4) lost for the third time in four games Saturday, falling to Boston College, 17-0. The Fighting Irish have beaten only one team without a losing record, Stanford (5-5).

Also: Texas center Chris Hall will miss Saturday's game at Kansas after spraining his left knee in practice.

Trainer Kenny Boyd said Hall was injured Tuesday, and there was no timetable for his return. After the Kansas game, Texas has 11 days off before playing rival Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night.

Southern Methodist coach June Jones suspended three starters for the final two games of the season for violations of team rules.

Receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Aldrick Robinson and linebacker Justin Smart are out for the rest of the season, The Dallas Morning News reported.

TENNIS

Federer advances to Masters Cup semifinals

Roger Federer kept his hopes alive for a fifth Masters Cup title by beating Radek Stepanek 7-6 (4), 6-4 in Shanghai, China.

Stepanek was playing in place of Andy Roddick, who withdrew with a sprained ankle hours before his match with Federer.

The 26th-ranked Stepanek, from the Czech Republic, said he came directly to Shanghai from a vacation in Thailand to be an alternate. He had to borrow tennis rackets from Novak Djokovic and socks from Andy Murray.

Murray reached the semifinals of the season-ending tournament by beating Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-2 in the other Red Group match.

BASKETBALL

Knee surgery sidelines Bobcats' Richardson

Charlotte Bobcats scoring leader Jason Richardson will be out about a week following arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

Richardson underwent an exploratory procedure after complaining about inflammation. A team spokesman said no structural damage was found, but Richardson will miss Friday's game against Utah and is doubtful for Sunday's contest against Orlando.

Richardson is averaging 17.6 points and shooting 39 percent from 3-point range. He led Charlotte with 23 points in an 88-80 loss to Denver on Tuesday that dropped the Bobcats to 2-5 in coach Larry Brown's first season.

Also: Chicago Bulls rookie guard Derrick Rose is sitting out practice to rest a sore back but expects to play today against the Dallas Mavericks.

Rose, the No. 1 overall draft pick, started getting back spasms before Tuesday night's 113-108 loss to Atlanta but still played 42 minutes. He finished with 26 points to match his season high and had a season-best 10 rebounds for his first double-double.

North Carolina coach Roy Williams said reigning national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough is "extremely doubtful" for Saturday's season opener for the top-ranked Tar Heels against Pennsylvania.

Williams said the team will keep Hansbrough out of practice a little longer as he recovers from a stress reaction in his right shin. Hansbrough hasn't practiced for two weeks with the injury, which can be a precursor to a stress fracture.

Jerry Colangelo, who assembled the U.S. team that won the Olympic men's basketball gold medal, was elected as chairman of USA Basketball's Board of Directors for the 2009-12 term.

Colangelo spent the last three years as the managing director of the senior national team, implementing a program with a three-year commitment that culminated with the Americans' victory over Spain in the gold medal game in Beijing. The American men hadn't won a major gold medal since the 2000 Olympics.

MISCELLANEOUS

Ducks GM turns down contract extension

Brian Burke turned down a contract extension to remain general manager of the Anaheim Ducks, citing the need to spend more time with his family and the strong state of the team he helped turn into a Stanley Cup champion as reasons for leaving.

He was replaced by Bob Murray, who has spent the past three seasons in the Ducks' front office.

Also: Ottawa Senators forward Jarkko Ruutu was suspended for two games without pay by the NHL for catching Montreal's Maxim Lapierre with an elbow.

Ruutu received a two-minute penalty for charging in the third period of the Canadiens' 4-0 win Tuesday night.

Ten men were arrested and two others are being sought in Mineola, N.Y., on charges of being part of a multimillion-dollar sports gambling operation.

Authorities said a "wire room" in Queens handled bets on college and professional football. The alleged ringleaders are brothers.

Investigators said undercover detectives made bets between March and early November, but they estimate the operation took in $30 million the past five years.

The 10 men arrested Monday pleaded not guilty to promoting gambling and conspiracy. Each faces up to four years if convicted. A lawyer for the two alleged ringleaders did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, face no risk from the global financial crisis or the recent series of explosions in the Russian resort city, the games' chief organizer said.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the Sochi organizing committee, said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is taking personal responsibility to ensure the success of Russia's first Winter Olympics and that funding for the $12 billion project is secure.

John Marinatto was promoted to commissioner of the Big East Conference. He replaces Mike Tranghese, who announced his retirement in June after 18 years on the job.

Hall of Fame horse trainer Allen Jerkens, 79, was released from a New York hospital after having a pacemaker installed.

Peter Marshall of the United States broke the short-course record in the 50-meter backstroke, clocking 23.05 seconds at a World Cup meet in Stockholm, Sweden.

The record came a day after his record-setting win in the 100 backstroke.

Therese Alshammar of Sweden set a record in the women's 50-meter butterfly, with a time of 25.31.