Sports briefs for Saturday, Nov. 28

UK basketball

Wildcats to hold open practice at Freedom Hall on Sunday

Kentucky's men's basketball team will hold an open practice at Freedom Hall on Sunday ahead of Monday night's game against UNC-Asheville. The Wildcats will hold a walkthrough practice at the arena starting at 5:30 p.m., with gates opening an hour earlier.

Kentucky (6-0) is coming off an overtime win over Stanford in the championship game of the Cancun Challenge on Wednesday.

Coach John Calipari has said he has plans for Freedom Hall going forward. The venue has been the longtime home of the University of Louisville basketball team, but the Cardinals will begin play in a downtown arena next year.

Major League baseball

Larkin, Alomar, McGriff on Hall ballot

Former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin is among 15 first-time candidates on this year's Hall of Fame ballot, joining holdovers Mark McGwire, Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven.

Larkin was a 12-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner in 19 seasons, all with Cincinnati. He had a .295 career average with 198 homers and won the 1995 NL MVP award.

Roberto Alomar, Edgar Martinez and Fred McGriff also are new to the ballot this year. There are 26 candidates, three more than last year when Rickey Henderson was elected in his initial appearance and Jim Rice made it on his 15th and final try. Dawson fell 44 votes shy of the 75 percent needed and Blyleven was 67 short.

Also on the ballot for the first time are Kevin Appier, Ellis Burks, Andres Galarraga, Pat Hentgen, Mike Jackson, Eric Karros, Ray Lankford, Shane Reynolds, David Segui, Robin Ventura and Todd Zeile. Other holdovers on the list announced Friday include Harold Baines, Don Mattingly, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Lee Smith and Alan Trammell.

Track and field

Montgomery tells newspaper he took steroids to beat Greene

Tim Montgomery says he started taking performance-enhancing drugs because he wanted to beat American sprint rival Maurice Greene and become the fastest man in the world. The former 100-meter world-record holder, who also said he and former partner Marion Jones stored their steroids in the refrigerator "next to the vegetables," spoke to The Times newspaper of London from a federal prison in Alabama where he is serving time for bank fraud and drug dealing.

"Maurice got in my head real bad," Montgomery said in the interview, which was published Friday. "I wanted everything that he had.

golf

Ireland maintains World Cup lead

Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy held onto Ireland's three-stroke lead in the World Cup of Golf on Friday, shooting a four-under par 68 in the second round at Shenzhen, China. They were 18-under 126 for 36 holes after the alternate-shot second day of the tournament. Defending champion Sweden was second after Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson shot the day's best round — a 7-under 65. Americans Nick Watney and John Merrick are tied for 20th at 5-under.

Tennis

Davydenko advances to ATP Finals semis

Nikolay Davydenko grabbed the last spot in the semifinals at the ATP World Tour Finals at London by beating Robin Soderling 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 Friday, knocking defending champion Novak Djokovic out of the tournament. Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 7-6 (5), 6-3 earlier Friday, handing the Spaniard his third straight loss at the tournament. Davydenko will face top-ranked Roger Federer in Saturday's first semifinals. Soderling will take on U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro later in the day.

Etc.

Horse racing returning to Hialeah Park

Historic Hialeah Park in Florida is set to reopen this weekend for its first race day in years. Track owner John Brunetti expects 10,000 to 15,000 people to walk through the park's gates for quarter horse racing on Saturday. The track was built in the 1920s, but slipped into a state of disrepair after it closed. Saturday will be the first live race day at Hialeah since 2001. Hialeah Park was previously a destination for Thoroughbreds, but track lost its permit for that type of racing in 2004.

■ Fluke beat Ever a Friend by a length in an emotional upset to win the $300,000 Citation Handicap race at Hollywood Park. The Brazilian-bred Fluke, the sixth choice at odds of 9-1, was trained by Humberto Ascanio, who took over the late Bobby Frankel's stable after the Hall of Fame trainer died on Nov. 16.

■ Sara Louise, the 3-5 favorite, was fully extended to beat Justwhistledixie by a half length in the $150,000 Top Flight Handicap for fillies and mares at Aqueduct.

■ Graham Gano kicked a 33-yard field goal in overtime to give the Las Vegas Locomotives a 20-17 victory over the visiting Florida Tuskers in the inaugural UFL championship. Former Cincinnati Bengals running back DeDe Dorsey ran for 66 yards and two TDs for the Locomotives.

■ Chilean club Rangers has dropped a court case that threatened the national team's participation at next year's World Cup. FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, had said it could kick Chile out of the World Cup unless Rangers withdrew the court case, which contested the club's demotion to the second division of the national league.

The last word

Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf, when asked if he has ever given the finger to opposing fans the way the Tennessee Titans' Bud Adams did two weeks ago:

"Now that I know you get fined $250,000, I'll put my hands in my pockets."