BASKETBALL
Claws’ Mack is back in NBA after signing by Wizards
Maine Red Claws guard Shelvin Mack signed a contract with the Washington Wizards on Tuesday and is expected to join the team when they host Cleveland on Wednesday.
Mack has appeared in 10 games for the Red Claws this season, averaging 20.2 points, 7.1 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 40.7 minutes. He led Maine in scoring twice and led the team in assists in all 10 contests.
Mack returns to the Wizards having been selected by the team in the second round (34th overall) in the 2011 NBA draft.
In 22 games for Washington last season, he averaged 3.6 points, 2.0 assists, 1.4 rebounds and 12.2 minutes.
COLLEGES
FOOTBALL: A commanding performance by defensive end Margus Hunt set the tone as SMU beat Fresno State 43-10 in the Hawaii Bowl Monday night.
Hunt forced two fumbles that led to field goals and sacked Derek Carr for a safety as SMU (7-6) built a 22-0 halftime lead and never looked back. Hunt was voted the game’s MVP.
The Mustangs also had seven sacks and returned two interceptions for touchdowns, giving them eight for the season to tie the NCAA record set last year by Southern Miss.
Hayden Greenbauer picked off Carr and returned it 83 yards, the final blow to a miserable night for Fresno State (9-4).
n Auburn hired longtime Southeastern Conference assistant Melvin Smith as cornerbacks coach.
Smith spent the past seven seasons at Mississippi State.
BASEBALL
JURISPRUDENCE Jail records show that former Atlanta Braves star center fielder Andruw Jones is free on bond after being arrested in suburban Atlanta on a battery charge.
Jones signed a $3.5 million, one-year contract with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Pacific League earlier this month.
TENNIS
RETURN DELAYED: Rafael Nadal’s return has been delayed by a stomach virus.
He was scheduled to play an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi on Thursday after missing seven months because of tendinitis in his left knee. But he said on his Facebook page that his doctors ordered him to pull out when he was running a fever.
SOCCER
SHOOTOUT SUGGESTION: England Coach Roy Hodgson believes using penalties to settle deadlocked friendlies could help reverse his team’s dismal record in tournament shootouts.
England lost its sixth shootout in seven attempts to be ousted from the European Championship quarterfinals in June by Italy.
Looking ahead to 2014 World Cup preparations, Hodgson told Sky Sports TV it would give players more experience “in front of a big crowd than there is when you are taking penalties day after day in training.”
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