Feb 17, 2021 4 min read

Pitt basketball schedule changes

There are three more men’s basketball postponements in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The league said Wednesday that No. 18 Virginia Tech’s trip to No. 16 Florida State as well as Clemson’s visit to Pittsburgh scheduled for Sunday have been postponed. Additionally, North Carolina’s game at Boston College next Tuesday is also postponed.

The postponements come amid positive COVID-19 tests, quarantining and contact tracing for Virginia Tech, Clemson and Boston College.

The league has revised its schedule to have Florida State visit Pitt on Saturday.

Lions hire Randle El

The Detroit Lions have hired wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El.

Detroit coach Dan Campbell added the former NFL receiver to his staff Wednesday after he was with the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers the past two seasons as an offensive assistant.

Randle El was drafted by Pittsburgh in 2002, and the former Indiana quarterback and point guard had a nine-year career in the NFL as a dynamic receiver with the Steelers and Washington.

In baseball

Oakland Athletics catcher Sean Murphy will be sidelined for several weeks with a collapsed lung that required surgery but is expected to be fine and fully recovered by opening day.

• Cody Allen, the Cleveland Indians’ career saves leader and an underappreciated closer for the team, has retired at age 32.

Allen spent seven seasons with Cleveland, which drafted him in 2010. The right-hander recorded 149 saves and appeared in 456 games – both club relief records.

• Right-handed reliever John Curtiss was traded Wednesday by the Tampa Bay Rays to the Miami Marlins for minor league first baseman Evan Edwards.

Curtiss went 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 17 games last year. He had a 6.30 ERA in 10 innings in the postseason for the American League champions.

• Tim Tebow is retiring from baseball after five years as a minor leaguer with the New York Mets.

The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner returned to baseball in 2016 for the first time since his junior year of high school and reached Triple-A, encouraged by then general manager and current team president Sandy Alderson.

Tebow played 77 games at baseball’s highest minor league level in 2019, batting .163 with four home runs. He finishes his career with a .223 average over 287 games.

• Fernando Tatis Jr. has agreed to a $340 million, 14-year deal that will keep the electrifying shortstop with the San Diego Padres until he’s 35 years old, according to two people familiar with the situation.

The two people spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday night because the deal hadn’t been announced.

It will be the longest contract signed in MLB history. Giancarlo Stanton, now with the New York Yankees, signed a 13-year, $325 million deal with Miami in 2015. Bryce Harper signed a 13-year, $330 million deal with Philadelphia in 2019. The biggest deal by dollars remains Mike Trout’s $426.5 million, 12-year deal signed with the Angels in 2019.

In the NHL

Jonathan Huberdeau scored his second goal of the game with 2:31 remaining in overtime as the Florida Panthers rallied to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 Wednesday night.

Huberdeau opened the scoring for Florida and added an assist before his seventh goal of the season sealed the win. Alex Wenneberg and Juho Lammikko also scored for the Panthers.

• Kevin Lankinen made 29 saves for his first career shutout and fellow rookie Philipp Kurashev scored a pretty goal in the Chicago Blackhawks’ 2-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

The Blackhawks are 4-0 against the Original Six rival Red Wings this season. They have won three straight overall and six of their last seven.

Alex DeBrincat added an empty-net goal with 58 seconds remaining.

In the NBA

Terrence Ross scored 18 of his season-high 30 points in the second half, and the Orlando Magic used a decisive third-quarter run to beat the New York Knicks 107-89 on Wednesday night.

Correction

Chris Vargo (113) and Vitali Daniels (heavyweight) took first place for Bentworth in the Section 1 Subsection B wrestling tournament Tuesday. Tasso Makripodis was first for McGuffey at 215, not heavyweight.