Associated Press
RALEIGH ó Farnold Degand will play but not start this weekend for North Carolina State.
Coach Sidney Lowe said Friday during his weekly news conference that the Wolfpack’s point guard will return for today’s game against No. 22 Davidson in Charlotte. Degand has missed three games with discomfort in his surgically repaired right knee.
He could have played earlier this week against UNC Greensboro, but Lowe wanted to make sure he was healthy for Davidson.
Javier Gonzalez will start at the point for N.C. State.
UNC-GGREENSBORO ó North Carolina-Greensboro is moving its home basketball games to the spacious Greensboro Coliseum.
School officials on Friday announced that the Spartans will officially call the 23,500-seat arena home beginning next season.
They said moving the games from the 1,833-seat Fleming Gym will help increase the program’s visibility. Officials said they hope the move will lead to nonconference games against Atlantic Coast Conference schools.
UNC Greensboro has played 39 games in the coliseum in 30 seasons, and already has games against Princeton, North Carolina State and East Carolina scheduled there in 2009-10.
The ACC tournament will be played five times at the Greensboro Coliseum from 2010-15.
TUBERVILLE
AUBURN, Ala. ó Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville’s job was not in jeopardy when he decided to step down and he declined several requests from his bosses to reconsider, athletic director Jay Jacobs said.
Jacobs said Tuberville’s departure after 10 mostly successful seasons was “completely his decision” and that the coach would be leading the Tigers next season if he had not chosen to leave.
Jacobs said he and school president Jay Gogue agreed to pay Tuberville the buyout price of $5.1 million ó even though it was not required since he wasn’t fired ó because they felt it was “the right thing to do.”
Tuberville resigned Wednesday afternoon during the third day of meetings with Jacobs and Gogue, following the Tigers’ 5-7 season ó the worst of his tenure.
GOLF
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. ó Michelle Wie offset her mistakes with enough birdies Friday, shooting a par 72 that left her two shots behind and still in good shape at the LPGA Tour qualifying tournament.
NHL
ST. PAUL, Minn. ó Kevin Bieksa’s power-play goal and an early scuffle sparked Vancouver in the first period, and goalie Cory Schneider picked up his first career victory for the Canucks in a 2-1 decision over the Minnesota Wild on a fight-filled Friday night.
Vancouver’s four-game losing streak ended.
Flames 4, Blues 3, OT
ST. LOUIS ó Michael Cammalleri scored in overtime to help the Flames overcome a pair of two-shot deficits against the Blues.
Cammalleri took a pass from Jarome Iginla and beat Chris Mason with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle 2:21 into the extra period.
Stars 2, Avalanche 1; SO
DALLAS ó Mike Modano scored in the fourth round of a shootout, and Marty Turco stopped Ryan Smyth’s shot to give the Stars the victory.
AVERY SUSPENDED
NEW YORK ó Sean Avery can return to the NHL in less than two weeks. The Dallas Stars, however, seem much less forgiving than commissioner Gary Bettman.
Avery drew a six-game ban Friday for a crude comment regarding his ex-girlfriends dating other hockey players. It will take a lot longer to repair the damage he caused to the Stars organization and the coaches and teammates who don’t appear to want him back.
“He’s always on the edge, certainly, on the ice, which no one really has an issue with,” forward Mike Modano said. “But when it becomes public and it becomes off-ice situations, that’s when you have a problem with it.”