Nov 10, 2017 4 min read

Penn State wins basketball opener

Tony Carr scored 24 of his career-high 33 points in the second half and Penn State beat visiting Campbell 86-75 Friday in the first college basketball game game for both teams.

Josh Reaves chipped in 15 points while Julian Moore and Shep Garner added eight apiece for the Nittany Lions, who won their sixth straight season opener.

Chris Clemons led Campbell with 39 points, and Andrew Eudy added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Camels, who trailed by as many as 17 points midway through the second.

The Nittany Lions went without a field goal for almost the final four minutes of the first half. But Carr backed his way to the hoop for a layup with three seconds left to give Penn State a 36-28 halftime lead. Penn State used a 16-8 run over the first 7:34 of the second half to take control and led for over 33 minutes.

Villanueva gives army helmet decals

Gradually over the course of the post-bye practice week at Pittsburgh Steelers headquarters, Alejandro Villanueva made the rounds to visit each of his teammates.

The starting left tackle, Villanueva was handing out helmet decals. But these stickers weren’t of his team’s familiar logo, nor were they even stickers representing the six military branches that players across the NFL are wearing in November.

A West Point graduate, Villanueva had acquired decals representing army infantry divisions from his former school. With the blessing of the Steelers, he wished to distribute them for players to wear on their helmets during the Steelers game on Veterans Day weekend.

And not unlike a parent contemplating the perfect Christmas gift for each of his children, the former U.S. Army Ranger was taking special care in choosing the appropriate decal for each teammate.

“Someone like him who served, taking the time out of his day to actually get us individual stickers that represent a certain infantry or a certain division, you always take a lot of pride and admiration in that,” linebacker Arthur Moats said.

Villanueva saved a special decal for the Steelers’ cornerbacks corps.

“I believe that we have the best corners in the NFL, so I assign them the best division in (the army), which is the 10th Mountain Division,” said Villanueva, who was assigned to the unit for a counter terrorism tour in Afghanistan. “Obviously, I am biased. But I think they really are.”

Blaney wins pole

Ryan Blaney has won the pole in his final chance to qualify for NASCAR’s championship race.

Blaney turned a lap at 137.942 mph around Phoenix Raceway in a Ford fielded by The Wood Brothers to take the top starting spot for Sunday’s penultimate race of the playoffs. There is one slot available in the field of four that will race for the championship next week, and Blaney is one of five drivers chasing that spot.

Blaney bettered Denny Hamlin in Friday qualifying. Both playoff drivers need to win to grab the final spot in the finale, and Hamlin waited until the third and final round to cut a corner on the track in an attempt to better his time.

Hamlin’s lap at 137.936 briefly put his Toyota on top of the leaderboard, but Blaney bumped him moments later.

Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. have already locked up spots in the finale. Busch and Truex are in Toyotas, while Harvick drives a Ford.

In golf

Defending champion Paul Goydos and major winners Vijay Singh and Lee Janzen shot 7-under 64 Friday to share the first-round lead in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Bernhard Langer, trying to sweep the PGA Tour Champions’ three playoff events and win the Charles Schwab Cup season points title for the fourth straight year and fifth overall, was tied for 28th at even-par 71 at tree-lined Phoenix Country Club. The points leader is one of five players who needs only to win the season-ending tournament to top the yearlong points competition.