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Harrellson, a 6-foot-9, 260-pound player, hoped to stay close to his St. Charles, Mo., home because of family problems that included his parents' divorce. He tried to get Missouri interested, but Mizzou had no scholarships available. He then considered St. Louis, where first-year coach Rick Majerus gave the Billikens credibility.

Kentucky acted as a counterweight. UK lacked a geographical advantage. But Kentucky could sell tradition, exposure and the perennial hope of contending for championships.

Two days after declaring himself "confused and torn," Harrellson cast his lot with UK.

"The only reason I didn't want to go to begin with is because it's five hours away," Harrellson said on Tuesday. "I can't let the decision be ruled by distance.

Troy Glaus and Rick Ankiel combined for four hits and five RBIs their first two at-bats for the Cardinals, who scored three runs in the first and four in the second. Skip Schumaker tied his career best with four hits and Albert Pujols was 0-for-4 to end a nine-game hitting streak, but walked off Josh Fogg in the eighth and has reached base safely in all 28 games.

Cueto (1-3) allowed seven runs, six earned, on eight hits in only 1 2-3 innings in his sixth career start. The 22-year-old right-hander worked at least six innings in each of his first five starts, including seven innings three times, but was behind 3-0 after retiring one batter and departed with a 5.40 ERA.

Ken Griffey Jr., who needs three homers to become the sixth player to reach 600, was 0-for-4 and hasn't homered in six games. He was misidentified on a scoreboard graphic his first at-bat, with a different Reds left-handed hitter that might have been Dan Driessen shown instead, although in subsequent at-bats his mug shot was used.

Pineiro (2-2) gave up a leadoff single to Corey Patterson in the first and issued three of his four walks in the first two innings, then retired the last 12 batters in order, striking out three in seven innings. He benefited from an unusual double play to escape damage in the first when both Patterson and Jeff Keppinger were caught in rundowns.

Harris said the thought of a no-hitter crept into his mind when he went to the mound to start the sixth, and figured he jinxed himself when James Florence led off the inning by slicing a double to left.

"I had a little bit of a letdown after that," Harris said, who gave up run-scoring singles to Dan Olszowy and Bobby Bollmer before getting out of the sixth.

"I had to regroup, but I always felt I was in control."

Henry Clay Coach Herb Hammond agreed with his senior right-hander:

The Cats (33-11, 11-10 Southeastern Conference) are 24-2 at home this season and haven't lost a non-conference game at Cliff Hagan since Morehead State beat them on April 17, 2007.

Marshall (22-22-1, 9-8-1 Conference-USA) has won eight of its past 10 games after a lackluster start.

Outfielders Sawyer Carroll (.433 average, 12 home runs) and Collin Cowgill (.385, 16 homers) continue to lead the Cats at the plate.

David West scored 25 for New Orleans and Jannero Pargo had 17, while Tyson Chandler had 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Devean George added 11 points in the fourth quarter as Dallas nearly pulled off an improbable comeback. The Mavs cut a 17-point deficit to three in the final seven minutes before Peja Stojakovic hit a pair of free throws to seal it with 5.7 seconds left.

Tempers flared near the end, and Jerry Stackhouse was ejected for a second technical foul with 1:47 left after slapping the ball out of Paul's hands during a stoppage in play, then getting in a face-to-face standoff with West.

Dallas never led and was hurt badly by an 11-1 Hornets run after Nowitzki's free throw had pulled the Mavs to 73-66 early in the fourth quarter.

Harris said the thought of a no-hitter crept into his mind when he went to the mound to start the sixth, and figured he jinxed himself when James Florence led off the inning by slicing a double to left.

"I had a little bit of a letdown after that," Harris said, who gave up run-scoring singles to Dan Olszowy and Bobby Bollmer before getting out of the sixth.

"I had to regroup, but I always felt I was in control."

Henry Clay Coach Herb Hammond agreed with his senior right-hander:

The on-track attendance represents a 13 percent increase over last spring's total of 215,030 and fell just behind the record total of 244,145 set during the 2006 spring meet. Average daily attendance of 15,225 rose six percent from 14,335 in 2007, and ranks third-highest behind 2006 (16,276) and 2004 (15,522). Attendance totaled 20,000 or more on four of the 16 spring race dates between April 4-25.

All-sources wagering (on-track and off-track wagering and whole-card simulcasting conducted at Keeneland) totaled $150,471,818, the second-highest spring meet handle and five percent off last spring's record of $158,368,309. Average daily all-sources handle was $9,404,489, down 10.9 percent from last year's record $10,557,887.

On-track wagering, which includes incoming simulcasts, totaled $25,973,789 for 16 days. Last year's handle was $25,859,224 for 15 days.

Keeneland realized several wagering records surrounding the April 12 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, when 12 horses, the largest field since 1983, went postward.

The Legends were behind 5-1 after the sixth inning, but scored two runs in the seventh and one each in the eighth and ninth to tie it up.

The Shorebirds scored the winning run off Jordan Powell. With one out and Delmarva shortstop Matthew Tucker on second, Powell intentionally walked third baseman Tyler Henson, bringing up the designated hitter, Joseph Mahoney.

Mahoney knocked a ground ball into left field, driving in Tucker and ending the game.

The Legends were outhit 16-7 and left 11 runners on base. Powell took the loss, his second of the season.

But thanks to a recent trend on racing's grandest stage, homebred horses might find themselves in the midst of a resurgence.

Money can buy a lot of things but, in the last several years, a Kentucky Derby winner hasn't been one of them. Since 2004, homebred horses have dominated the 11/4-mile test, with Smarty Jones, Giacomo, Barbaro, and Street Sense all sweeping home to claim the roses.

Before the current run of four straight winners, no homebred had taken the Derby since Grindstone in 1996. Their current reign stands a good chance of continuing this year as six Derby contenders -- Adriano, Colonel John, Cowboy Cal, Pyro, Smooth Air and Tale of Ekati -- are cut from the owner-breeder cloth.

While few are suggesting the commercial marketplace will become any less popular, some say the current streak might make some in the breed-to-sell business readjust their mentality.

The person with knowledge of the vote requested anonymity because the official announcement has not been made.

The honor was first reported by The Seattle Times in Wednesday's editions.

The announcement is expected to become official on Thursday.

Durant was the SuperSonics leading scorer, living up to the lofty expectations placed on him after being the national college player of the year at Texas and the No. 2 overall pick in June's draft.

Medina Garrigues overcame Bulgarian teenager Sesil Karatantcheva 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 at this French Open tune-up. The 18-year-old Karatantcheva returned to the WTA Tour just this week after serving a doping suspension she received in January 2006. The Bulgarian hadn't played in a WTA event since November 2005.

Up next for Medina Garrigues will be Ukrainian Olga Savchuk.

A bevy of second-round upsets came when Hungarian Greta Arn erased third- seeded Italian Tathiana Garbin 6-4, 7-5, Czech Petra Cetkovska took out fifth- seeded Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 6-1, 7-5 and Savchuk toppled eighth-seeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Arn will meet Cetkovska in Friday's quarters.

There was a pair of first-round matches here on Day 3, as second-seeded Argentine Gisela Dulko drubbed Italian Maria Elena Camerin 6-1, 6-1 and fourth-seeded Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai rolled past American Vania King 6-2, 6-4.

In a statement Wednesday, the team said the noted agitator was taken to St. Vincent's Medical Center after New York's 5-3 loss Tuesday night and was admitted following a CT scan.

Avery, whose spleen was not removed and isn't expected to need surgery, likely will be hospitalized for a few days, team spokesman John Rosasco said.

Michael Fagan, spokesman for St. Vincent's Medical Center, said Avery is in "stable" condition.

Rosasco said it's unclear when Avery was injured, but the forward complained during the game of pain that got worse. Following the game, Avery went in a car from Madison Square Garden to the hospital with team physician Dr. Andrew Feldman.

Mathieu handled Italian qualifier Gianluca Naso 6-3, 6-4 on Day 3 at MTTC Iphitos. Up next for the Frenchman will be eighth-seeded Croat Marin Cilic.

An upset came when Simone Bolelli bounced sixth-seeded fellow Italian Andreas Seppi 6-4, 7-5 at this French Open tune-up.

The aforementioned Cilic avoided an upset by holding off German Philipp Petzschner 6-4, 7-6 (9-7), while Korean Hyung-Taik Lee dropped Brazilian lucky-loser and fellow non-seed Julio Silva 6-1, 6-4. Lee will encounter Bolelli in the round of eight here.

Wild card and former world No. 1 Marat Safin was an opening-round victor, as the big Russian outlasted Argentine Carlos Berlocq 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in a match that was postponed because of rain here on Tuesday. Safin will face German Michael Berrer on Thursday.

Fellow first-time All-Star David West was a rookie reserve the last time the Hornets were in postseason - and they lost in the first round.

Yet, when New Orleans eliminated Dallas in five games with a 99-94 victory on Tuesday night, West and Paul kept their celebration brief.

"We're not going to pop champagne bottles or anything like that," said Paul, who had 24 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds in the clincher. "We're trying to set a new standard here with our organization. This isn't like a fairy tale for us. This is something that we're trying to keep going."

Also, the San Antonio Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns 92-87 to win that series in five games; the Houston Rockets beat Utah 95-69 to cut the Jazz's lead to 3-2; and the Detroit Pistons took a 3-2 lead over the Philadelphia 76ers with a 98-81 rout.

Norstrom scored from the top of the left circle 4:37 into overtime Tuesday night to give the Stars a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks and a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov had already made several impressive saves in the overtime, denying Loui Eriksson twice in the first couple of minutes. The second shot by Eriksson came as he tried to knock in the rebound of Brad Richards' shot that the goalie kicked away.

But Nabokov had too many bodies around him and couldn't see the shot by Norstrom, who scored his second goal in 47 playoff games. He took a pass from Mike Ribeiro and slapped it through the traffic and into the net.

The last time the Stars had a 3-0 series lead was in the first round of the 1999 playoffs, when they swept Edmonton and went on to win the Stanley Cup. This is their 16th postseason series since then.

The third-seeded Spurs will meet the No. 2 seed Hornets in a second-round series that begins Saturday at New Orleans. The Hornets finished off their series with the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, also in five games.

Boris Diaw, who had a near triple-double in the Suns' rout of the Spurs in Game 4, led the Suns with 22 points.

Four other players scored in the double digits, but the Suns had a number of costly turnovers down the stretch and were sent home yet again by the Spurs, who have eliminated Phoenix in four of their last five playoff appearances.

With the Spurs up 88-87 after battling back and forth with the Suns throughout the fourth quarter, Manu Ginobili, who had been cold all night, hit one of two from the line with 25 seconds on the clock.

Hard-throwing Max Scherzer, Arizona's 2006 first-round draft pick out of the University of Missouri, made an impressive major league debut, to say the least, in relief of Diamondbacks starter Edgar Gonzalez.

Scherzer retired all 13 batters he faced, seven by strikeout, with a fastball that reached 98 mph on the Chase Field radar gun. It was the most strikeouts ever by an Arizona pitcher in his first big-league game.

Jose Valverde, who led the majors with 47 saves for Arizona last year and was traded to Houston in the offseason, pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save in seven opportunities.

The Astros ended Gonzalez's night with a four-run third inning that put Houston up 6-2. Blum drove in three with a bases-clearing double, then scored on J.R. Towles' double to left that replays showed should have been ruled a home run.

Nalbandian, who received a bye into the second round, came back to edge out fellow Argentine Agustin Calleri 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 on the red clay at Barcelona Tennis Club. Nalbandian is now 15-2 on clay this season.

Croatian wild card Mario Ancic prevented Murray from reaching the third round with a 6-4, 6-4 decision at this French Open tune-up.

One other second-round result saw Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti outlast Spanish qualifier Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5.

A pair of seeds posted first-round wins on Day 2, as No. 10 Spaniard Nicolas Almagro was leading Viktor Troicki 6-2 when the Serbian retired due to a back injury, while No. 16 Spaniard Feliciano Lopez was ahead of Jose Acasuso 5-2 when the Argentine retired due to a stomach problem.

Zvonareva zipped past Czech lucky-loser Lucie Hradecka 6-2, 6-3 on the red clay at this French Open tune-up. Up next for the Russian will be Slovakian wild card Magdalena Rybarikova.

Two other seeds reached the round of 16, as No. 4 Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik posted the third double-bagel of her career by dismantling Austrian Yvonne Meusburger 6-0, 6-0 and No. 7 Czech crowd favorite Klara Zakopalova eased past Italian Sara Errani 6-1, 6-3.

Two other seeds went by way of the upset, as American Jill Craybas erased fifth-seeded Italian Karin Knapp 6-4, 6-2 and Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova dismissed sixth-seeded Dutchwoman Michaella Krajicek 6-4, 6-3.

A bout for third-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka was postponed until Wednesday because of rain.

Rodriguez joins injured catcher Jorge Posada on the DL. The Yankees are waiting for additional opinions on Posada's ailing throwing shoulder before determining whether he needs surgery.

A three-time AL MVP, Rodriguez was sent for an MRI exam Tuesday that revealed a Grade 2 strain. He was put on the DL for the first time since July 2000 with Seattle, when he had a strained right knee.

This is Rodriguez's fifth career trip to the disabled list.

"If it's a Grade 2, it's going to be at least the two weeks. That's why we're doing it," general manager Brian Cashman said.

Endy Chavez singled off John Van Benschoten (0-1), Pittsburgh's sixth pitcher, leading off the 11th. Van Benschoten, called up Sunday when Matt Morris was released, balked to move Chavez to second. Marlon Anderson sacrificed, and after Jose Reyes was walked intentionally - he reached in all six plate appearances - Luis Castillo walked.

Wright then hit a fly that just barely landed inside the right-field line, causing a delayed reaction from the players and fans.

Jorge Sosa (3-1), the Mets' seventh pitcher, worked one inning for the win.

The Pirates tied it in the ninth against Billy Wagner with an assist from Reyes' throwing error. It was Wagner's first blown save of the season - his first run, too, albeit unearned.

A total of 24 horses were placed into the entry box Wednesday morning, but only the top 20 horses based on graded stakes earnings made the field, including the first filly in nine years.

Big Brown, the expected Derby favorite, will have the No. 16 selection at the post position draw later Wednesday.

Eight Belles will have the No. 6 selection in the draw, a spot that clinched the filly's place in the field as she will attempt to become the fourth of her sex to take the Derby. Winning Colors was the most recent, winning in 1988.

Trainer Larry Jones said Eight Belles would run in Friday's Kentucky Oaks if she drew an outside post in the Derby. That won't happen now.

Malkin, hours after being announced as a finalist for the NHL MVP award, scored two power-play goals and added an assist to lift Pittsburgh to a 5-3 victory Tuesday night that stretched the Penguins' lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series to 3-0.

The Penguins are 7-0 in the postseason, still rolling after a four-game sweep of Ottawa in the first round.

They eked out wins at home in the opening two games against the Rangers, rallying from a 3-0 deficit to win Game 1 and prevailing 2-0 on Sunday on the strength of Marc-Andre Fleury's shutout.

Pittsburgh, which lost all four road meetings with the Rangers this season, can advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2001 as early as Thursday. Only two teams have come back to win a series after trailing 3-0. The 1975 New York Islanders did it to the Penguins in the second round.

Detroit leads in the series for the first time after being the first team to win consecutive games.

If the Pistons win Game 6 on Thursday night in Philadelphia or Game 7 at home, they will advance in the playoffs for the seventh year in a row.

The third-seeded Orlando Magic, who eliminated Toronto on Monday night, await the winner in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Andre Iguodala scored a career playoff-high 21 points, finally putting together a night that resembled his play in the regular season, but he didn't have much help.

Dikembe Mutombo grabbed 10 rebounds as the Rockets cut their series deficit to 3-2 and forced Game 6 in Utah on Friday night.

Now, the Jazz can end the series at home, where they went 37-4 during the regular season. But it's no guarantee - Houston was the first team to beat Utah in Salt Lake City during the regular season and won Game 3 there last Thursday.

The Rockets did everything they hadn't done for most of the series. They shot well, hit their free throws and got valuable production off the bench.

Houston came into the game with the lowest scoring average of any playoff team (85.5) and was shooting only 39.9 percent from the field and 65.7 percent from the free throw line in the series. In Game 5, the Rockets shot 47 percent (37-of-79), went 15-of-19 from the line and outscored Utah's bench 26-9.

Pavel Datsyuk scored twice and Johan Franzen picked up his sixth goal of the series, putting the Red Wings on the cusp of the Western Conference finals with a 4-3 victory Tuesday night over the ailing Avalanche, who lost another star skater when leading scorer Paul Stastny went down with a knee injury in the first period.

The Red Wings can wrap up the series with a win in Game 4 on Thursday night at the Pepsi Center. None of the five previous playoff series between the archrivals ever ended in a sweep.

The Avs have lost all seven times they played Detroit this season, including three shutouts in the regular season. To advance to the conference finals, they'll have to become the first team in 33 years to overcome a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs.

And they sure don't look like a team ready to make a historic run to join the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders as the only NHL teams ever to win a series after losing the first three games.

Stonerside Stable's Country Star is the 4-1 choice behind 5-2 favorite Eight Belles co-second choices Proud Spell and A To The Croft (7-2).

Country Star is trained by two-time Oaks winner Bobby Frankel and won the Darley Alcibiades and Hollywood Starlet to close out 2007. In her lone 2008 start, Country Star finished fifth in the Grade I Ashland Stakes at Keeneland.

Darley Stable's Little Belle, winner of the Ashland in her most recent start, brings a three-race win streak into the Oaks.

Ron McCauley's Golden Doc A took the Grade I Las Virgenes at Santa Anita in February and followed that effort with runner-up finishes in the Santa Anita Oaks and Stonerside Beaumont.