Collegebasketball

In a long-awaited response to allegations that former basketball star O.J. Mayo received improper cash and gifts while in school, USC will penalize its team by forfeiting victories and money, forgoing postseason play and curtailing recruiting. "When we've done something wrong, we have an obligation to do something about it and that is exactly what we are doing here," Athletic Director Mike Garrett said in a statement on Sunday. The action comes as USCalso faces allegations that two prominent football players -- current tailback Joe McKnight and former tailback Reggie Bush -- accepted improper benefits.

Rk. Team Rec. Result Next 1. CONNECTICUT 29-0 Did not play at Notre Dame, today 2. STANFORD 27-1 Did not play at California, Saturday 3. NEBRASKA 27-0 Did not play Kansas, Wednesday 4. TENNESSEE 27-2 d. Mississippi, 75-63 SEC quarterfinals, Friday Pat Summitt unhappy with effort, but Lady Vols fight off second-half...

Twenty years later, grown men still grab Bo Kimble's hand and cry. "They won't let go," he says. Twenty years later, Paul Westhead plays the videotape for his Oregon women's basketball team and they howl. "They can't believe what they are seeing," he says. "Sometimes I can't either." Twenty years later, the mother of the late Hank Gathers can finally smile. "My son's memory has become such a strength to so many people," Lucille Gathers Cheeseboro says.

at UC Davis 66, UC Riverside 43 -- Mark Payne scored 19 points to lead the Aggies (12-16, 7-7 Big West Conference), who clinched a bid to the conference tournament. Kyle Austin had eight points and 10 rebounds for the Highlanders (12-16, 5-10), who did not have a player score in double digits. -- associated press

It's not easy being on late-night television. Marv Albert, the veteran NBA announcer for TNT, was in town for the Lakers-Chicago Bulls game Thursday night. On Wednesday, Albert was a guest on the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" show. The musical star was rapper 50 Cent. As Albert arrived, with an entourage of one, TNT public relations specialist Jeff Pomeroy, there was a sudden scuffle when a multitude of 50 Cent protectors seemed unfamiliar with Albert. There was shouting ("It's Marv Albert," yelled a Kimmel show guard, a pronouncement that seemed to have no effect on the 50 Cent phalanx.

Reeves Nelson , UCLA's 6-foot-8 freshman forward and amateur stuntman, loped through the hotel lobby Friday fielding jokes about his purple-and-black right eye, which was swollen nearly shut. "You look like a boxer," radio analyst Tracy Murray said. Nelson laughed and replied, "Got the hands of one too." And maybe the head of one. Nelson will be back in the lineup against Washington on Saturday, gruesome looks and all. His Frankenstein appearance was the result of his dunk late in the first half Thursday against Washington State.

Forty years later, Chito Reyes can't help grinning, eyes wide, as he steps onto the floor at Pauley Pavilion. "Look at this place," he says. The arena is empty on a weekday afternoon but he can still see the crowd, hear the band, just like 1969 when he first set foot in the building. Memories come trickling back from that day when Reyes, a sophomore forward for New Mexico State, played against UCLA in a regional semifinal of the NCAA basketball tournament. He recalls seeing the blue-and-gold flags and feeling jittery during warmups.

UCLA guard Mustafa Abdul-Hamid had a moment of concern in the giddiness that followed his recent game-winning shot against Washington. Teammate Reeves Nelson was bearing down on him. "I saw Reeves came running at me, lifted me up and bearhugged me," Abdul-Hamid said. "That scared me." There are reasons to be concerned when Nelson is in your face, whether you're an opponent in the key or a teammate who has made a key shot. There are the seven tattoos, all etched into his skin since he arrived in Westwood, each with a special meaning.

O.J. Mayo did not accept gifts or money while being recruited by or playing for USC, the player's agent said Wednesday. LaPoe Smith also said the NCAA, Pacific 10 Conference and officials from the school have not attempted to contact Mayo since August, when the former Trojans and current Memphis Grizzlies star became his client. USC on Sunday announced self-imposed sanctions on the Trojans men's basketball program, citing rules violations involving Mayo and Rodney Guillory, a former advisor to the player who the school referred to as a "booster."

Most people around the UCLA basketball program know Nikola Dragovic as soft-spoken, not the type to lose his temper on-court. Outside that circle, he's known as a college athlete who got into a fight at a Hollywood concert last month and has been charged with felony assault. An athlete who missed the start of last season after being arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor battery. Which left UCLA with a tough call this week. The team ended Dragovic's suspension Wednesday, clearing him to return for tonight's opening-round game against Portland in the 76 Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center.

J.P. Prince had 20 points and Scotty Hopson scored 15, and No. 19 Tennessee withstood a late rally to upset No. 2 Kentucky, 74-65, Saturday, handing the Wildcats just their second loss of the season. It was the second major upset of a highly rated program this year for the Volunteers (21-7, 9-5 Southeastern Conference), who also knocked off top-ranked Kansas last month. The Wildcats (27-2, 12-2) had trailed by 19 early in the second half but managed to tie the game at 65 with just over two minutes left before Prince and Hopson scored the final nine points to clinch the victory.

Up next AT ARIZONA Thursday, 7:30 p.m. PST, McKale Center, Tucson: Arizona has stumbled toward the finish, with five losses in its last seven games. But the Wildcats buried the Bruins, 77-63, in January behind Kyle Fogg's 25 points. -- Chris Foster

James Anderson scored 27 points, Keiton Page was perfect on four three-point tries at crucial times and Oklahoma State denied a bid by No. 1 Kansas to go undefeated through Big 12 play with an 85-77 victory on Saturday. The Jayhawks (27-2, 13-1) had won their last 13 games since losing at Tennessee to close nonconference play and suffered their second loss of the season just hours after No. 2 Kentucky also lost to the Volunteers. The last time the top two teams lost on the same day was Jan. 21, 2006, when No. 1 Duke lost to Georgetown and No. 2 Florida lost to Tennessee.

There are days you just can't win. UCLA senior forward Nikola Dragovic, who was already dealing with a shoulder injury, stepped on a basketball during warmups and sprained his right ankle Saturday. Jerime Anderson, the sophomore guard with the Bruins' senior day desires in his hands, tossed an errant pass for a turnover with just over a minute left and the score tied, then threw a no-look pass out of bounds with 30 seconds to go and UCLA down by three. Dragovic's senior trip at the start and Anderson's sophomore slip at the end made Oregon's 70-68 victory at Pauley Pavilion seem almost predetermined.

It hardly seemed fair when, on top of everything else, Jamal Boykin got sick. So much of his life had pointed toward playing basketball for Duke, and now that he had made it, entering his sophomore season, Boykin should have been living a dream. Except the Blue Devils had a roster full of proven veterans and blue-chip prospects on the way, barely enough room for a young forward from Los Angeles who relied mainly on ambition and grit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski sat him down to discuss his role on the team.

Most of USC's current players were never teammates of O.J. Mayo , the former Trojans guard at the center of allegations that have resulted in the school's imposing sanctions on its basketball program. Junior guard Marcus Simmons is an exception. He wasn't only a teammate, he was Mayo's roommate -- and he says he never saw any evidence that his friend was accepting money, gifts or special favors that would be in violation of NCAA rules. "I didn't notice anything," Simmons said.