Briefs | NBA: Oklahoma City waives Marshall, a former Sonic

NBA

Forward Marshall averaged 3.8 points for Sonics: Forward Donyell Marshall won't be joining several former Sonics making the move to Oklahoma City.

Marshall, 35, was waived Wednesday by the Oklahoma City franchise, which hasn't been renamed after its relocation from Seattle. Marshall was acquired by the Sonics from Cleveland in a three-team trade in February that sent Wally Szczerbiak and Ben Wallace to the Cavaliers.

Marshall averaged 3.8 points and 3.1 rebounds in 15 games for the Sonics and was sidelined by a sore knee late in the season.

Ratliff returns to Sixers: Center Theo Ratliff, 35, returned to the Philadelphia 76ers, more than seven years after he was traded from the team that went on to play in the 2001 NBA Finals, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Ratliff played a total of 26 regular-season games for Minnesota and Detroit last season, averaging 4.3 points.

College basketball

Kansas player faces battery charge: Markieff Morris, an incoming freshman at Kansas, is facing a battery charge after allegedly firing a BB gun from a dormitory window. The 18-year-old, a member of coach Bill Self's 2008 recruiting class along with his twin brother, Marcus Morris, has been ordered to appear Sept. 10 in Lawrence Municipal Court.

Markieff Morris is suspected of using alcohol during the incident.

Campus police said shots were fired about 11:15 p.m. Saturday. A 47-year-old Wisconsin woman was in the dorm's courtyard about the same time and reported being shot in the arm with a plastic BB. She reportedly suffered minor injuries.

Cook's request is rejected: The NCAA rejected Pittsburgh forward Mike Cook's request for an extra year of eligibility; his senior season ended after 11 games because of a knee injury. He averaged 10.4 points last season.

College football

New Mexico gets three years' probation: The NCAA placed New Mexico's program on three years of probation and cut five scholarships as punishment for academic violations involving two former assistant coaches.

The sanctions imposed by the NCAA's infractions committee went beyond the university's self-imposed penalties, which included two years of probation and fewer scholarship reductions. New Mexico coach Rocky Long was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

The NCAA concluded the former Lobos assistants in 2004 improperly helped three recruits to obtain fraudulent academic credits through correspondence courses they never completed at Fresno Pacific University of California.

Rules changes announced: The NCAA has banned the horse-collar tackle. Following the lead of the NFL and acting on a proposal made by its Football Rules Committee, the NCAA will assess a penalty this season when a runner is yanked to the ground from the inside collar of his shoulder pads or jersey.

Other changes announced include implementation of a 40-second play clock that will start as soon as the ball is ruled dead. Previously, a 25-second clock began only on the referee's signal.

Ex-Marshall coach denies allegations: Former Marshall coach Bob Pruett has denied allegations he was involved in an academic scandal or made athletes lie about a jobs program that drew NCAA sanctions in 2001. One of the former players who accused Pruett in a sworn affidavit, linebacker Charlie Tynes, has since recanted his statements.

Golf

Fire destroys home being built for Gary Nicklaus: A home being built for the son of Jack Nicklaus in Jupiter, Fla., has been destroyed by fire.

The fire started early Wednesday at the home of Gary Nicklaus, 39, and the cause was under investigation.

Soccer

U.S. men edge Guatemala: Carlos Bocanegra scored on a header in the 69th minute, and the United States escaped from Guatemala with a 1-0 victory in the U.S. team's opener in the semifinal round of World Cup qualifying.

Bocanegra headed in DaMarcus Beasley's corner kick in Guatemala City.

Beasley had entered the match three minutes earlier, as Eddie Lewis was bleeding from a head injury.

New England takes MLS lead: Taylor Twellman had a goal and assist, and the host New England Revolution beat D.C. United 2-1 in a Major League Soccer match.

New England has a league-leading 36 points, two more than Columbus.

Meanwhile, Western Conference-leading Houston routed visiting Chivas USA 4-0. Kei Kamara scored twice.

Italy, England struggle for draws: World champion Italy and England struggled to achieve ties in their final matches before the start of World Cup qualifying, and European champion Spain won its first match under new coach Vicente del Bosque.

In Italy's first match since Marcello Lippi returned as coach, the Azzurri rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie Austria 2-2 in an exhibition in Nice, France.

In London, David Beckham fed Wes Brown for England's first goal and Joe Cole scored in injury time to give England a 2-2 tie with the Czech Republic.

Spain defeated host Denmark 3-0 in Copenhagen.

Horse racing

Pyro is morning-line favorite in Travers: Pyro, trained by Steve Asmussen, was made a 7-2 favorite on the morning line for Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes for 3-year-olds at Saratoga in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Pyro drew post 11 in a field of 12 for the Grade I race at 1-¼ miles.

Seattle Times news services