COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Trevor Thompsons matching double-double -- 17 points and 17 rebounds -- pushed Ohio State past Connecticut, 64-60 on Saturday night.Jalen Adams made a 3-pointer with 26 seconds left and converted a 3-point play eight seconds later to pull UConn within three, but Ohio States Marc Loving hit a free throw put the lead back to four. The Huskies missed their final three shots.Thompson averaged 10.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in 20 minutes of play. He played for 30 minutes and reached a career high in points and rebounds. Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie described Thompsons presence as a monster.(I) definitely came into tonight with a chip on my shoulder after how I played and what happened last year (against Connecticut), Thompson said. I told myself before the game that I wanted revenge and payback. Thats what my mind was on.Thompson was primarily a starter last year, but has come off the bench in each of OSUs 10 games. Coach Thad Matta said that, despite mental things, Thompsons play has improved from a season ago.It just seems like hes calmed down a little bit more and has got a good focus about how hes playing and what hes doing, Matta said. Hes starting to get a little more instinctive, especially on the defensive end, which is good to see.UConn shot 54.2 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, including 4 of 9 from 3. Adams hit a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer to take a 34-32 lead into halftime, despite 10 team turnovers.UConns Vance Jackson was 0 for his last 10 shots and 2 for his previous 18 coming into the game, but the Buckeyes had no answers for him and he scored nine of his 12 points in the first half.I felt like he was real aggressive, Ollie said. I could see him looking for his shot. Our guys were looking for him.After the under-eight timeout, UConn guard Rodney Purvis nailed a 3-pointer to end a team field-goal drought of more than five minutes. After the two teams traded baskets and were tied at 54, OSU began an 8-0 run that ended up being the difference.JaQuan Lyle, who had 16 points and only one turnover, converted six straight from the line down the stretch.Adams led UConn with 19 points.BIG PICTUREOhio State: Coach Thad Mattas team was able to close out a win following a disappointing loss on Tuesday to mid-major Florida Atlantic. The Buckeyes came into the game as one of the worst teams from the free throw line, but made 7 of 8 in the final two minutes and shot 76 percent.They were down to seven players tonight and we wanted to go at them and put ourselves in that position to get to the line, Matta said.Connecticut: The Huskies lost their fifth game of the season in the fewest number of games since Kevin Ollie took over as head coach in 2012. UConns poor shooting showed in the second half, just 35.5 percent from the field. What hurt the Huskies more than anything was a lack of ball control and foul trouble.Its just a scene. Its not the movie. Weve been through this before. Our guys have been through this before.UP NEXTThe Buckeyes and Huskies each have a full week to prepare for their next games. OSU competes in the CBS Sports Classic against No. 2 UCLA in Las Vegas on Dec. 17. UConn hosts the North Florida Ospreys in Storrs, Connecticut, on Dec. 18. . The Swede became the first golfer to win the PGA Tours FedEx Cup and European Tours Race to Dubai in the same season. "It is still taking a little time to sink in what Ive achieved this week as was the case when I won the FedEx Cup but then it just kept getting better and better as the days went on and I am sure this will be the same," he said. . Roman Josi had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday night. .Y. -- Jayna Hefford scored the winning goal Friday as Canada survived a scare with a 4-3 win over Sweden at the Four Nations womens hockey tournament. . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Not so fast, Usain Bolt.Please dont run away from us after this Olympics. Dont even think about putting an end to the greatest show in track.The Olympics need you badly. The sport of track needs you desperately.On a beautiful night in Rio, the most beautiful sight at the Olympic Stadium had to be Bolt chasing down Justin Gatlin and pulling away to an unprecedented third straight Olympic gold in the race that crowns the fastest man on earth.Bolt preened like the superstar he is, then ran yet another race to back it up. Then he preened some more, much to the delight of those who came to watch history.I told you guys I wanted to set myself apart from everybody else, Bolt said. This is the Olympics that I have to do it at, so I came here focused and ready to go and it was brilliant.The golden shoes were a nice touch, but the gold medal was far more impressive. It was No. 7 over three Olympics for Bolt, and the odds are he will have two more before these Olympics come to a close.If that is truly the end, as Bolt has said it will be, he will go into the record books as the greatest sprinter ever. But Bolt has always been more than that, ever since he announced his dominance of the sport with three gold medals in his Olympic debut eight years ago in Beijing.The mere mention of his name Sunday night prompted roars in the stadium. The victory lap he took carrying a stuffed Olympic mascot was an added bonus, a chance for the crowd to stick around and show him some love.Several hundred of them stayed more than an hour after the race, chanting Bolts name and shrieking with excitement each time it appeared he might come out to acknowledge them.Hes the undisputed star of a sport that doesnt produce stars anymore, a runner so popular in his native Jamaica that he is often compared to the iconic reggae master Bob Marley.And as a runner who has never tested positive for anything, he may be the only thing holding together a sport so decimated by doping that the entire country of Russia was banned from track and field at these Olympics.Its hard to believe anything you see on the track anymore. Thats especially true in the 100, where Ben Johnson famoussly lost his gold medal in 1988 after a positive drug test, and where four of the five fastest men in the record books have also been caught doping.ddddddddddddBelieve it, though, when you see the magnificence of a runner so smooth and fast that nothing that made him this spectacular could have come out of a bottle.Hes so good he didnt flinch when afterward he was asked about being the greatest ever.Yeah, thats what Im here to prove. Thats what Im here to prove again and again. I just want to be among the greatest, so thats why I am here.Gatlin would have been heading toward a second Olympic gold in the 100 against anyone else, something that would not have pleased the crowd that booed him because of his doping suspension. This was a race viewed by many as good versus evil, though in track nothing is ever as simple as it looks.Bolt overcame his typically slow start to catch Gatlin just after the midway point of the race and pull away in what for him was a relatively slow time of 9.81 seconds. By the time he hit the finish line Bolt was pointing to his chest, where the only thing missing on his uniform was a Superman cape.Bolt would take a long, lingering victory lap around the stadium, finally stopping in one end to unlace his gold spikes and take selfies with fans. They wanted more, and he delivered once again, turning his yellow hat backward before kneeling down and doing his To the World pose.And over the loudspeakers, Marleys Jammin echoed through the stadium.Theatrical, yes, but thats Bolt. This is a guy, after all, who was last seen taking selfies as he danced the samba with a line of women at his press conference earlier in the week.Hes a showman extraordinaire and an athlete unparalleled. The combination is exquisite, with the only downside being the world only gets to see him this way once every four years.The only hope is that his retirement plans are as short as his races.---Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or
http://twitter.com/timdahlberg ' ' '
