Wolfe, who had not gotten a carry in either of the Bears' last two games, is suffering from a kidney issue. In eight games this season, the third-year pro racked up 120 yards and one touchdown on 22 rushes.

Bell was an undrafted free agent out of UCLA, and was signed by the Bears to the practice squad on September 16 after being waived by the Vikings one month earlier.

Northwestern has won three of its last four games to move to 4-3 in Big Ten play and 7-4 overall but still are seven-point underdogs at home against Wisconsin. The Wildcats outplayed Illinois on the road last week in a spot they could have easily faltered coming off the huge upset win over Iowa. And don't forget the Fighting Illini came into that match up on a two-game winning streak.

Wisconsin is 3-2 in its last five (8-2 overall) with the lone two losses coming against Iowa and Ohio State. The Badgers are currently in a three-way tie for second place in the conference with the Hawkeyes and Penn State at 5-2.

Iman Shumpert netted 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three-point range for Georgia Tech (2-1), which suffered a 63-59 setback to 18th-ranked Dayton in the tournament's opening round on Thursday. D'Andre Bell and Mfon Udofia each ended with eight points.

Kevin Foster went for a team-high 15 points and nine boards off the bench, while Andre Cornelius added 11 points for George Mason (2-2), which lost by a 69-68 score to Villanova on Thursday.

The New York Times reported on Friday that the organization decided late Thursday not to offer the journeyman guard a contract.

It is a surprising turn of events for the former star. After being waived by the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, Iverson apparently was set to land with the struggling Knicks, who expressed a high level of interest in signing the future Hall of Fame guard for the remainder of the season.

Murphy became the school's head baseball coach in August 1994 and helped the Sun Devils become one of the premier programs in the Pac-10 and the nation. During his tenure, Arizona State won four Pac-10 titles, including three in a row, and clinched four College World Series berths. Since the 2000 season, no other Pac-10 school has won as many games as Arizona State.

Murphy was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year four times and the National Coach of the Year in 1998.

Godwin assumed the head coaching duties in the fall of 2005 following a short stint as an assistant. Under his tutelage, the Pirates have gone 161-90 and made three consecutive NCAA Regional appearances.

"Coach Godwin's teams have achieved a great deal of success on the baseball field, but just as importantly, he and his program have embraced both East Carolina University's values and Coach Keith LeClair's vision for ECU Baseball," said athletic director Terry Holland.

The incident occurred during Thursday's game in Columbus, when Neal appeared to leave his feet to check Blue Jackets defenseman Marc Methot along the boards.

He missed and connected instead with Jackets forward Derek Dorsett, and the force of the contact drove Dorsett's face into the glass.

Vancouver now begins a five-game homestand versus Colorado tonight at GM Place in what is already the fourth meeting between the division rivals this season.

The Avalanche took the first matchup between the clubs back on October 3, but the Canucks have answered with a home victory of their own before an 8-2 triumph in Colorado last Saturday. The victory allowed Vancouver to end its swing with a 2-3-0 record.

It is the first MVP award for the 27-year-old U.S. International, who scored 12 goals and six assists in 25 games this season.

"He's grown on the field as a player. He's a more mature consistent player, but his role off the field with this team has been perhaps even better, remarkable," Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said recently.

"We are very excited to make this announcement today," TFC director of soccer Mo Johnston said.

"Preki has everything we were looking for, and we feel he will be a perfect fit with our club. His resume with Chivas is impressive - having made it to the playoffs in every season he was there. His experience is what we need to take this club to the next level, and we can't wait to get started." The 46-year-old Yugoslavian-born American's contract with Chivas USA expired at the end of the season, and he and the Los Angeles-based club decided to part ways, ending his three-year tenure there. Preki posted a record of 40-29-21 with Chivas, guiding it to top spot in the Western Conference while winning Major League Soccer's Coach of the Year that season.

"Jimmie is charting new territory in our sport, and that's due to a combination of natural talent and unsurpassed work ethic," said team owner Rick Hendrick. "How he's committed himself is just incredible, and it shows in everything that he does -- not just on the racetrack. There's no question that he's one of the great champions in all of sports, and he's not done yet." The new deal comes two days before Johnson aims to lock up an unprecedented fourth consecutive Sprint Cup championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He boasts a 108-point lead over Mark Martin entering Sunday's finale, needing to cross the finish line in 25th place or better to win the title.

It was also announced Friday that Lowe's signed an extension through 2013 to be the primary sponsor of Johnson's No. 48...

Although Kyle Busch was unable to clinch the Nationwide championship last weekend at Phoenix, he will secure the title once he takes the green flag in Saturday's season-ending race at Homestead.

Carl Edwards postponed Busch's inevitable championship by leading the most laps and winning at Phoenix. Busch, who finished ninth and surprisingly did not lead a lap, left Phoenix with a 190-point lead over Edwards. If Busch would have held an advantage of 195 points or higher, he would have clinched the title there.

Federer-Verdasco will be preceded by the first bout of the week, which will pit fourth-seeded Andy Murray against fifth-seeded U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, who stunned Federer in September's Grand Slam final in New York.

The Day-2 schedule for Monday was also announced, as second-seeded Rafael Nadal will battle eighth-seeded French Open runner-up Robin Soderling and third-seeded and defending World Tour Finals titlist Novak Djokovic will encounter sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko in a rematch of last year's finale, which was won by Djokovic in Shanghai.

inal in Shanghai.

Westwood completed 36 holes at nine-under 135.

The Englishman could win the season-long Race to Dubai with a victory this week. Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer and Ross Fisher can also win the bonus money from that race.

The first round was suspended due to darkness with 10 players still needing to finish their rounds. The golfers will be back at 8:00 a.m. (et) Friday to complete the round.

There is quite a bit at stake this week, but nothing more important than the Player of the Year race. Ochoa is second, eight points behind Jiyai Shin, and can capture her fourth Player of the Year title with a big tournament this week.

Already a veteran of 10 championship bouts and one of history's select few with multiple bites of the division's fractured pie -- the "Quiet Man" will meet his verbal converse when he shares a ring with newly minted WBA belt- holder David Haye sometime between now and mid-2010.

Date and site logistics are unclear, but a contract is in place for the fight to occur before the end of May, according to Ruiz's manager Anthony Cardinale.

The end came at 55 seconds of the 12th, when referee Kenny Bayless stepped in after Pacquiao landed a combination along the ropes to the head of an already battered Cotto.

It was the 50th win in 55 fights of a 14-year pro career for the 30-year-old Pacquiao, who held previous world titles at 112, 122, 130 and 135 pounds, and walked into the ring as the reigning IBO champion at 140 pounds.

The three-year-old colt has another session of school scheduled with the starting gate.

"We'll try to simulate a race scenario a little bit, and see if we can load him without incident," said trainer Todd Pletcher.

"He is back on the farm and he seems like a happy horse," said Neal McLaughlin, assistant to his brother.

"After we got him, he was gelded and then went to Saratoga the first of June. He was there about a week and got real sick. He lost muscle and started losing protein through his liver. It was pretty dangerous and we have no idea what caused it." Mafaaz spent more than three months at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in Massachusetts.