National briefs: Clemson happy

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Associated Press
LYNCHBURG, Va. ó David Potter felt good from the start, early wakeup call included, and his career-best performance helped No. 22 Clemson roll over Liberty 79-39 Tuesday.
“My shot just felt good, even in warmups,” the senior said after scoring 17 points and hitting five 3-pointers. “It just felt good from the beginning, so I was just shooting.”
The Tigers hit 10 3s in all, most on wide open looks, and buried the Flames from the opening tip at 10 a.m. They led 17-1 before Liberty got its first field goal, and 42-19 at halftime, giving them more points than their smothering defense allowed in 40 minutes.
The victory was the 28th in a row in November for the Tigers under Purnell, a streak dating to his second season in 2004.
No. 19 Georgetown 46, Temple 45
WASHINGTON ó Greg Monroe scored on a driving layup with 6.5 seconds to play, rescuing No. 19 Georgetown from a lackluster Tuesday afternoon performance to give the Hoyas a 46-45 win over Temple.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
CLEMSON, S.C. ó Clemson coach Dabo Swinney wants his 18th-ranked Tigers to enjoy the excitement as they prepare for Virginia and what could be a spot in the ACC title game.
Swinney is confident, though, that the Tigers (7-3, 5-2 ACC) won’t be distracted by crazed fans or giddy classmates and will work just as hard as they have all season.
Clemson can clinch the ACC’s Atlantic Division with a victory over the last-place Cavaliers (3-7, 2-4). The Tigers have won five in a row since starting the season 2-3.
– SOUTH BEND, Ind. ó Charlie Weis is going about his job as Notre Dame coach as normal, saying he doesn’t think a decision about his future has been made.
The Irish (6-4) head into their game Saturday against Connecticut on a two-game losing streak that has left Weis with a 35-25 career record, a .583 winning percentage. That’s the same record Bob Davie was fired with and the same winning percentage Tyrone Willingham was fired with.
– LAWRENCE, Kan. ó A bad year for the Kansas Jayhawks just got worse.The school said Tuesday that it is investigating an unspecified personnel issue involving coach Mark Mangino, the national coach of the year two seasons ago. And Mangino ó his team mired in a five-game losing streak ó conceded that he’s lost the support of “some people around here.”
– FORT WORTH, Texas ó TCU coach Gary Patterson has no plans to lobby for votes and a spot in the national championship game if his team ends the regular season undefeated.
Patterson believes that all the fourth-ranked Horned Frogs (10-0, 6-0 Mountain West) can do to prove themselves is play well. If that’s not enough, he figures campaigning won’t really change anything.
NBA
CLEVELAND ó LeBron James watched the Cleveland Browns get shut out by Baltimore on Monday night and came to one simple conclusion: He could help.
“If I put all my time and commitment into it, if I dedicated myself to the game of football, I could be really good,” the Cavaliers superstar said Tuesday night. “No matter what team I was on.”
The Browns have one of the NFL’s most anemic offenses, a key problem during their 1-8 start. James was an All-Ohio wide receiver at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School before quitting football after his junior year to focus on basketball.
– MEMPHIS, Tenn. ó The Memphis Grizzlies officially have ended their relationship with Allen Iverson by waiving the 10-time All-Star.
NFL
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. ó The Buffalo Bills promoted coordinator Perry Fewell to take over as interim head coach after Dick Jauron was fired on Tuesday.
Wilson ran out of patience with Jauron, who ran out of time to build a contender or fix an offense that sputtered even with the addition of Terrell Owens.
The shakeup, which caught some players by surprise, came during the players’ day off and after the Bills (3-6) stumbled out of their off week to fall further out of contention with a 41-17 loss at Tennessee.
BASEBALL
NEW YORKó When the phone rang, Zack Greinke let it go ó he didn’t recognize the number. Only after listening to the voice mail did he call back and find out he’d won the American League Cy Young Award.
The Kansas City Royals ace easily beat out Felix Hernandez for the honor Tuesday after a spectacular season short on wins but long on domination. Winning left the extremely shy Greinke with mixed emotions.
– NEW YORK ó Wally Backman wants another chance to manage in the majors. The former Mets second baseman, fired after four days with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2004, was introduced Tuesday as manager of the Brooklyn Cyclones, New York’s Class-A farm team in the New York-Penn League.
NHL
NEW YORK ó Brendan Shanahan is retiring from the NHL after 21 seasons and an almost certain Hall of Fame career. The 40-year-old forward announced Tuesday that he wouldn’t play again.