Sports

Udonis Haslem had 24 points and 10 rebounds as third-ranked Florida opened defense of its Southeastern Conference championship by beating South Carolina Saturday.

Mario Austin hit his first career 3-pointer with 7 seconds left in regulation, then made five free throws in overtime as Mississippi State upset No. 6 Kentucky 74-69 Saturday.

Terrance Meade scored four points in the final 38 seconds including two free throws with 1.3 left - and No. 18 Alabama rallied for a 76-74 victory Saturday night over LSU.

Carl Baker came off the bench to score 17 points and lead Arkansas to a 83-77 victory over Auburn Saturday.

Josh Howard scored 20 points and Steve Lepore added 15 as No. 23 Wake Forest beat North Carolina 84-62 Saturday.

Wally Szczerbiak scored 23 points and Kevin Garnett added 22 points and 14 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Atlanta Hawks 112-96 Saturday night.

Daryl Dingle scored 21 points to lead Florida Atlantic to a 90-77 victory over Georgia State Saturday.

It was a two-point win Friday night for the Piedmont Lady Lions' basketball team over visiting Illinois Wesleyan.

Clarke Central took a basketball double-header at West Hall Friday night; while East Hall did the same at Lumpkin County as high school hoops action resumed.

Vince Dooley, the former longtime coach and current athletic director at Georgia, expressed surprise Friday at Steve Spurrier's decision to step down as football coach of the Florida Gators.