In Brief

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Cougars' Fredette, Irish's Brey named player, coach of year

Brigham Young senior guard Jimmer Fredette was selected The Associated Press' player of the year Friday.

Notre Dame's Mike Brey was selected coach of the year as he led the Fighting Irish to a second-place finish in the Big East Conference and a No. 5 ranking in the final poll. The Fighting Irish finished 27-7, their second-most wins in a season.

The Cougars won the Mountain West regular-season title and lost to San Diego State in the tournament final. A No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, they lost to Florida in overtime in the round of 16 and finished 32-5.

"It's been quite a ride, and it's been a lot of fun, and I wouldn't take anything back," said Fredette, who averaged 28.9 points. "I had quite the career at BYU. There were a lot of ups and downs, but there were a lot more ups this year."

Fredette received 48 votes from the 65-member national media panel that selects the weekly Top 25. The voting was done before the NCAA Tournament. Kemba Walker of Connecticut was second with 11 votes, Nolan Smith of Duke had five and Jared Sullinger of Ohio State one.

Brey drew 28 votes, 14 more than runner-up Steve Fisher of San Diego State.

Also: Missouri State hired Purdue assistant Paul Lusk as its head coach. The 40-year-old replaces Cuonzo Martin, who resigned after three seasons to become Tennessee's coach.

E.J. Singler hit a bank shot from just inside the lane with two seconds left to give Oregon a 71-69 victory over Creighton in Eugene, Ore., in the deciding game of the College Basketball Invitational. Joevan Catron scored 29 points to lead the Ducks (21-18), earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors. Antoine Young had 21 points and seven assists for the Bluejays (23-16).

Andrew Goudelock of College of Charleston scored 21 points, making five 3-pointers, and Kenneth Faried of Morehead State had 17 points and 18 rebounds to lead the West team to a 113-108 victory over the East in the Reese's college All-Star Game in Houston.

GOLF

PGA Tour rookie Kirk leads ex-champs in Houston Open

PGA Tour rookie Chris Kirk shot a 3-under-par 69 to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Anthony Kim and 2008 winner Johnson Wagner after two rounds of the Houston Open in Humble, Texas.

Kirk was at 9-under 135, playing his last few holes just as the wind picked up in the afternoon and made scoring more difficult. Kim and Wagner took advantage of the calm morning conditions and used their background at Redstone to move into contention. Kim shot a 64, the lowest round of the day, and Wagner had a 67.

Padraig Harrington, first-round leader Jimmy Walker and Josh Teater were two shots back at 7 under. Phil Mickelson (70) and Lee Westwood (72) were part of a large group at 4 under.

Organizers groomed the course to simulate conditions that players will see at the Masters next week, and the setup lured many of the world's top players.

Also: Stacy Lewis persevered through more triple-digit temperatures to shoot a 3-under 69 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif., opening a three-stroke lead over Yani Tseng, Brittany Lincicome and Jane Park after two rounds. Lewis is at 9-under 135.

Michelle Wie shot a 67, matching the day's best round and closing within six shots in contention for her first major title. Tseng, the defending champion and the world's top-ranked player, shot a 68, and first-round co-leader Lincicome mustered a 72 to stay one stroke ahead of Morgan Pressel and Amy Yang.

The leaders managed to thrive on dry, speedy greens during a second windless day at Mission Hills, with the temperature topping 100 degrees by midday.

Jeff Sluman tied a course record with a 6-under 66 to take a one-shot lead over Tom Lehman after the first round of the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in Saucier, Miss. Sluman had a bogey-free round, highlighted by an eagle from 154 yards on the par-4 No. 4.

Defending champion Rhys Davies of Wales shot a 1-under 70 and shared the lead with Joost Luiten after the second round of the Trophee Hassan II in Agadir, Morocco. They were at 6-under 137.

TENNIS

Nadal whips Federer, to meet Djokovic for Key Biscayne title

Rafael Nadal defeated rival Roger Federer with surprising ease in the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., cruising to a 6-3, 6-2 victory.

The Spaniard never lost serve, converted four of five break-point chances and committed only 10 unforced errors to 31 for Federer. Nadal is now 15-8 against Federer.

The first matchup in the United States in six years between the two was a clunker instead of a classic, disappointing a capacity crowd that tried in vain to inspire a Federer comeback by chanting his name. They met before the final round for the first time since 2007 because Federer recently slipped from second to third in the rankings and landed in Nadal's half of the draw.

The No. 1-ranked Nadal and No. 2 Novak Djokovic will play Sunday for the championship. Djokovic won the tournament in 2007, and Nadal is seeking his first Key Biscayne title.

Djokovic stretched his winning streak to 25 consecutive matches by beating American Mardy Fish, 6-3, 6-1.

LOCAL COLLEGES

Peters tosses seven-hitter, lifts UNLV baseball team past Utah

Tanner Peters allowed seven hits and struck out eight to lead UNLV to a 6-1 baseball victory over Utah in the opener of a three-game Mountain West Conference series in Salt Lake City.

Peters (5-1) pitched his third complete game of the season for the Rebels (19-9, 2-5 MWC). He has allowed only six earned runs.

Trevor Kirk and Ryan Scott each had three hits and Brandon Bayardi had two hits and two RBIs for UNLV, which scored four runs in the eighth inning to take a 5-1 lead.

Also: Amanda Oliveto pitched her second straight no-hitter to spark UNLV to a 9-0 softball victory over Seattle at Eller Media Stadium.

Oliveto (14-5) came within one walk, in the fifth inning, of a perfect game. She struck out six in pitching her fourth shutout and 14th complete game this season.

Tayler Aleman, Stefany Valentino and Pauline Monreal hit two-run homers for the Rebels (17-12) in the five-inning game.

The UNLV women's tennis team defeated Wyoming 6-1 in its Mountain West Conference opener at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

Wyoming took a 1-0 lead after winning two of three doubles matches, but the Rebels (12-4) won all six singles matches, five in straight sets. Lucia Batta (No. 1), Aleksandra Josifoska (No. 2), Nives Pavlovic (No. 3), Adrienn Hidvegi (No. 4), Jana Albers (No. 5) and Anna Maskaljun (No. 6) posted victories.

The College of Southern Nevada baseball team defeated Eastern Utah 14-1 and 10-2 in Scenic West Athletic Conference action at Morse Stadium.

Cameron Harper was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Bobby Shiroky had a two-run homer and three RBIs in the first game for the Coyotes (18-16, 7-11). In the second game, Shiroky was 4-for-4 with one RBI, and Kris Kaplan drove in four runs.

The CSN softball team split with North Idaho at Russell Road Recreation Complex, winning the first game 9-7 before losing 11-5.

Alicia Firelein hit a solo homer for the Coyotes (25-19, 18-12 SWAC) in the first game, and Katie Uriarte and Tiffini Lucero each had three hits in the second game.