Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • B5

WK4618 1 BASKETBALL NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Pct GB Toronto 12 4 .750 Boston 9 6 .600 Philadelphia 10 7 .588 Brooklyn 7 9 .438 5 New York 4 12 .250 8 Southeast Pct GB Charlotte 7 7 .500 Orlando 7 8 .467 Miami 6 9 .400 Washington 5 10 .333 Atlanta 3 12 .200 Central Pct GB Milwaukee 10 4 .714 Indiana 9 6 .600 Detroit 7 6 .538 Chicago 4 11 .267 Cleveland 2 12 .143 8 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Pct GB Memphis 9 5 .643 New Orleans 8 7 .533 San Antonio 7 7 .500 2 Houston 7 7 .500 2 Dallas 6 8 .429 3 Northwest Pct GB Denver 10 5 .667 Portland 10 5 .667 Oklahoma City 9 5 .643 Utah 7 8 .467 3 Minnesota 7 9 .438 Pacific Pct GB Golden State 12 4 .750 L.A. Clippers 9 5 .643 2 L.A. Lakers 8 6 .571 3 Sacramento 8 7 .533 Phoenix 3 11 .214 8 Thursday Houston 107, Golden State 86 Denver 138, Atlanta 93 L.A. Clippers 116, San Antonio 111 Friday Boston 123, Toronto 116 (OT) Brooklyn 115, Washington 104 Indiana 99, Miami 91 Philadelphia 113, Utah 107 Memphis 112, Sacramento 104 Minnesota 112, Portland 96 New Orleans 129, New York 124 Chicago at Milwaukee, late Saturday L.A. Clippers at Brooklyn, 5 p.m.

Atlanta at Indiana, 6 p.m. Denver at New Orleans, 6 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Orlando, 6 p.m. Philadelphia at Charlotte, 6 p.m.

Utah at Boston, 6:30 p.m. Sacramento at Houston, 7 p.m. Toronto at Chicago, 7 p.m. Golden State at Dallas, 7:30 p.m. Oklahoma City at Phoenix, 8 p.m.

COLLEGE MEN MAJOR SCORES EAST Austin Peay 80, CCSU 78 Brown 82, 74 Fordham 83, FIU 77 Holy Cross 84, Stony Brook 70 Howard 68, UMass 63 Lehigh 72, Princeton 57 Penn 78, N. Iowa 71 Pepperdine 74, Towson 65 Rhode Island 76, Harvard 74 Sacred Heart 79, Army 78 St. 84, Rutgers 65 Temple 81, Loyola (Md.) 67 UMBC 77, Air Force 72, 2OT Valparaiso 64, Monmouth (NJ) 53 Virginia Tech 88, Northeastern 60 Youngstown St. 94, Columbia 83 SOUTH Alabama 79, Ball St. 61 Campbell 66, Florida 59 Georgia 75, Sam Houston St.

64 Georgia Southern 80, FAU 70 Georgia Tech 79, East Carolina 54 James Madison 64, Charlotte 59 LSU 74, Louisiana Tech 67 Louisville 86, Vermont 78 Loyola (NO) 79, McNeese St. 78 Manhattan 55, Coastal Carolina 53 Maryland 80, Hofstra 69 Mercer 77, UT Martin 60 Middle Tennessee 76, Charleston Southern 73 Missouri 55, Kennesaw St. 52 Murray St. 106, Spalding 36 N. Kentucky 77, UNC-Asheville 50 North Carolina 108, Tennessee Tech 58 Oregon St.

61, Old Dominion 56 Purdue 79, Davidson 58 Richmond 78, IUPUI 70 SE Missouri 77, Jacksonville 71 South Alabama 73, Chattanooga 54 South Florida 73, Ohio 46 UCF 77, Saint 57 UNC-Greensboro 105, Johnson Wales (NC) 57 Vanderbilt 79, Alcorn St. 54 Virginia 97, Coppin St. 40 MIDWEST Akron 87, Chicago St. 46 Butler 83, Mississippi 76 Cincinnati 74, Milwaukee 63 Cleveland St. 84, SC State 69 Iowa 91, UConn 72 Kansas 89, Louisiana-Lafayette 76 Kansas St.

95, E. Kentucky 68 Liberty 77, Kent St. 70 Miami (Ohio) 89, N. Dakota St. 78 Morehead St.

99, UMKC 89 Wichita St. 82, Appalachian St. 76 SOUTHWEST Baylor 81, Nicholls 54 Texas 97, The Citadel 69 Texas 73, Texas-Arlington 67 Tulsa 82, California Baptist 79 TOP 25 SCHEDULE Saturday No. 8 Villanova vs. Furman, 4 p.m.

No. 12 Kansas State vs. Northern Iowa or p.m. or 6:30 p.m. No.

18 Michigan vs. George Washington, 11 a.m. No. 24 Marquette vs. Presbyterian, noon FOOTBALL NFL AMERICAN CONFERENCE East Pct PF PA New England 7 3 0 .700 280 236 Miami 5 5 0 .500 199 256 Buffalo 3 7 0 .300 137 251 N.Y.

Jets 3 7 0 .300 208 254 South Pct PF PA Houston 6 3 0 .667 216 184 Tennessee 5 4 0 .556 168 151 Indianapolis 4 5 0 .444 260 239 Jacksonville 3 6 0 .333 160 199 North Pct PF PA Pittsburgh 6 2 1 .722 279 209 Cincinnati 5 4 0 .556 235 288 Baltimore 4 5 0 .444 213 160 Cleveland 3 6 1 .350 218 263 West Pct PF PA Kansas City 9 1 0 .900 353 240 L.A. Chargers 7 2 0 .778 240 186 Denver 3 6 0 .333 205 213 Oakland 1 8 0 .111 147 272 NATIONAL CONFERENCE East Pct PF PA Washington 6 3 0 .667 176 175 Dallas 4 5 0 .444 181 171 Philadelphia 4 5 0 .444 198 183 N.Y. Giants 2 7 0 .222 177 228 South Pct PF PA New Orleans 8 1 0 .889 330 232 Carolina 6 3 0 .667 241 232 Atlanta 4 5 0 .444 244 254 Tampa Bay 3 6 0 .333 232 291 North Pct PF PA Chicago 6 3 0 .667 269 175 Minnesota 5 3 1 .611 221 204 Green Bay 4 5 1 .450 247 243 Detroit 3 6 0 .333 202 244 West Pct PF PA L.A. Rams 9 1 0 .900 335 231 Seattle 5 5 0 .500 246 216 Arizona 2 7 0 .222 124 225 San Francisco 2 8 0 .200 230 266 Thursday Seattle 27, Green Bay 24 Sunday Houston at Washington, noon Pittsburgh at Jacksonville, noon Tampa Bay at N.Y. Giants, noon Dallas at Atlanta, noon Cincinnati at Baltimore, noon Carolina at Detroit, noon Tennessee at Indianapolis, noon Denver at L.A.

Chargers, 3:05 p.m. Oakland at Arizona, 3:05 p.m. Philadelphia at New Orleans, 3:25 p.m. Minnesota at Chicago, 7:20 p.m. Open: Buf, S.F., Mia, N.E., Cle, N.Y.

Jets Monday K.C. vs L.A. Rams at Mexico City, 7:15 p.m. COLLEGE AP TOP 25 SCHEDULE Saturday No. 1 Alabama vs.

The Citadel, 11 a.m. No. 2 Clemson vs. Duke, 6 p.m. No.

3 Notre Dame vs. No. 12 Syracuse, 1:30 p.m. No. 4 Michigan vs.

Indiana, 3 p.m. No. 5 Georgia vs. UMass, 3 p.m. No.

6 Oklahoma vs. Kansas, 6:30 p.m. No. 7 WVa at Okla State, 2:30 p.m. No.

8 Ohio St at Maryland, 11 a.m. No. 9 Wash. State vs. Arizona, 9:30 p.m.

No. 10 LSU vs. Rice, 6:30 p.m. No. 11 UCF vs.

No. 19 Cincinnati, 7 p.m. No. 13 Texas vs. No.

18 Iowa 7 p.m. No. 14 Utah St. at Colo. 1 p.m.

No. 15 Florida vs. Idaho, 11 a.m. No. 16 Penn St.

at Rutgers, 11 a.m. No. 17 Wash. vs. Oregon State, 3:30 p.m.

No. 20 Kentucky vs. Tenn, 11 a.m. No. 21 Utah at Colorado, 12:30 p.m.

No. 22 Boston Coll at Fla State, 2:30 p.m. No. 24 at Minnesota, 11 a.m. No.

25 Miss. State vs. Arkansas, 11 a.m. SCORES SOUTH Nicholls 44, SE Louisiana 0 MIDWEST Toledo 56, Kent St. 34 SOUTHWEST Northwestern St.

35, Stephen F. Austin 23 North Alabama at Incarnate Word, ppd. Houston 48, Tulane 17 North Texas 41, FAU 28 GOLF PGA TOUR THE RSM CLASSIC Friday at Sea Island Golf Club Sea Island, Ga. s-Seaside Course: 7,005 yards, par-70 (35-35) p-Plantation Course: 6,907 yards, par-72 (36-36) Second Round C. Howell III J.

C. N. Watney R. D. Hearn B.

Harman G. McDowell B. Garnett L. EUROPEAN TOUR DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP Friday at Jumeirah Golf Estates Dubai, United Arab Emirates Purse: $8 million Yardage: Par: 72 (36-36) Second Round M. Wallace, England J.

Smith, England A. Otaegui, Spain D. Willett, P. Reed, United States R. McIlroy, Northern Ireland T.

Fleetwood, K. Aphibarnrat, Thailand D. Burmester, South Africa H. Stenson, Sweden HOCKEY NHL Eastern Conference Atlantic GP OT Pts GF GA Tampa Bay 19 13 5 1 27 68 53 Toronto 19 13 6 0 26 68 50 Buffalo 19 11 6 2 24 57 54 Boston 19 10 6 3 23 56 48 Montreal 19 10 6 3 23 63 63 Ottawa 19 8 8 3 19 64 77 Detroit 19 8 9 2 18 54 63 Florida 16 7 6 3 17 52 53 Metropolitan GP OT Pts GF GA Columbus 19 11 6 2 24 65 62 N.Y. Islanders 18 10 6 2 22 61 49 N.Y.

Rangers 19 9 8 2 20 57 62 Washington 18 8 7 3 19 60 61 Carolina 18 8 7 3 19 50 54 Philadelphia 19 9 9 1 19 58 65 New Jersey 17 8 8 1 17 52 56 Pittsburgh 17 7 7 3 17 56 55 Western Conference Central GP OT Pts GF GA Nashville 19 13 5 1 27 62 44 Minnesota 19 12 5 2 26 62 51 Winnipeg 18 11 5 2 24 55 45 Dallas 19 10 7 2 22 52 50 Colorado 18 9 6 3 21 65 53 Chicago 20 7 8 5 19 53 69 St. Louis 16 6 7 3 15 52 52 Pacific GP OT Pts GF GA San Jose 20 10 7 3 23 64 64 Vancouver 21 10 9 2 22 65 75 Calgary 19 10 8 1 21 58 59 Edmonton 18 9 8 1 19 52 56 Arizona 18 9 8 1 19 48 46 Anaheim 20 8 9 3 19 44 59 Vegas 19 8 10 1 17 49 54 Los Angeles 18 6 11 1 13 36 56 Thursday Columbus 7, Florida 3 Tampa Bay 4, Pittsburgh 3 New Jersey 3, Philadelphia 0 N.Y. Islanders 7, N.Y. Rangers 5 Ottawa 2, Detroit 1 Minnesota 6, Vancouver 2 Arizona 2, Nashville 1 Montreal 3, Calgary 2 Toronto 5, San Jose 3 Friday Buffalo 2, Winnipeg 1, SO Dallas 1, Boston 0 (OT) Los Angeles 2, Chicago 1, SO Washington at Colorado, late Toronto at Anaheim, late St. Louis at Vegas, late Saturday Tampa Bay at Philadelphia, noon Detroit at New Jersey, noon Buffalo at Minnesota, 5 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Ottawa, 6 p.m. Montreal at Vancouver, 6 p.m. Columbus at Carolina, 6 p.m. Florida at N.Y. Rangers, 6 p.m.

Boston at Arizona, 7 p.m. Los Angeles at Nashville, 7 p.m. Edmonton at Calgary, 9 p.m. St. Louis at San Jose, 9:30 p.m.

MOTOR SPORTS NASCAR MONSTER ENERGY CUP Ford EcoBoost 400 Lineup qualifying; race Sunday At Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, Fla. (Car number in parentheses) 1. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 173.863 mph. 2. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 173.622.

3. (78) Martin Truex Toyota, 173.539. 4. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 173.433. 5.

(22) Joey Logano, Ford, 173.366. 6. (41) Kurt Busch, Ford, 172.535. 7. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota, 172.507.

8. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 172.430. 9. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Ford, 172.403. 10.

(10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 172.353. NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK Ford EcoBoost 200 Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, Fla. Lap length: 1.50 miles (Start position in parentheses) 1. (5) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, 134 laps, 0 rating, 40 points. 2.

(1) Grant Enfinger, Ford, 134, 0, 53. 3. (3) Noah Gragson, Toyota, 134, 0, 34. 4. (2) Stewart Friesen, Chevrolet, 134, 0, 42.

5. (13) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 134, 0, 35. 6. (22) Matt Crafton, Ford, 134, 0, 44. 7.

(8) John Hunter Nemechek, Chevrolet, 134, 0, 0. 8. (4) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 134, 0, 29. 9. (9) Jesse Little, Toyota, 134, 0, 35.

10. (11) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 134, 0, 29. TRANSACTIONS FOOTBALL National Football League CINCINNATI TE Tyler Kroft on injured reserve. Signed LB Brandon Bell from the practice squad. INDIANAPOLIS DE Anthony Winbush from the practice squad.

Signed QB Phillip Walker to the practice squad. HOCKEY National Hockey League Pittsburgh Matt Cullen $1,000 for a dangerous trip against Tampa Bay J.T. Miller. ANAHEIM Sam Carrick to San Diego (AHL). ARIZONA Robbie Russo from Tucson (AHL).

COLUMBUS BLUE Maxime Fortier from Cleveland (AHL) to Jacksonville (ECHL). FLORIDA Patrick Bajkov from Springfield (AHL) to Manches- ter (ECHL). LOS ANGELES Cole Kehler from Ontario (AHL). NEW YORK Ryan Spooner to Edmonton for Ryan Strome. PREGAME.COM LINE Home team in CAPS Saturday Favorite Line Underdog LA Clippers 6 (222) BROOKLYN LA Lakers (222) ORLANDO INDIANA (219) Atlanta NEW ORLENS OFF (OFF) Denver CHARLOTTE 2 (226) Phila.

BOSTON 4 Utah HOUSTON 12 (220) Sacramento CHICAGO OFF (OFF) Toronto Golden State DALLAS PHOENIX OFF (OFF) Oklahoma City COLLEGE BASKETBALL Saturday Favorite Line Underdog LA SALLE Drexel NOTRE DAME 11 William Mary MEMPHIS 4 Yale SETON HALL Saint Louis Bradley DRAKE 1 Texas State Portland CS NORTHRIDGE Michigan George Wash Providence South Carolina NHL Saturday Favorite Line Underdog Line NEW JER -178 Detroit PHILA. OFF Tampa Bay OFF MINN OFF Buffalo OFF Montreal -114 VANCOUVER Florida -124 NY RANGERS Pittsburgh -155 OTTAWA CAROLINA OFF Columbus OFF NASHVLE -245 Los Angeles ARIZONA -105 Boston -105 CALGARY -133 Edmonton SAN JOSE -200 St. Louis COLLEGE FOOTBALL Saturday Favorite OpenToday Underdog MICHIGAN Indiana Pittsburgh 7 6 WAKE FOR Iowa 19 14 ILLINOIS PURDUE 4 (53) Wisconsin GA TECH 6 5 Virginia MINNESOTA 2 (47) CLEMSON 26 28 Duke Penn St 28 RUTGERS Texas Tech (57) KANSAS ST E. CAROLINA 17 UCONN TEMPLE 14 (61) S. Florida GEORGIA 45 UMass Ga Southern 6 7 COASTL CAR Missouri (57) TENNESSEE KENTUCKY 14 16 MIDLE TENN Ohio State 13 14 MARYLAND NC State 19 LOUISVILLE UCF 11 7 Cincinnati AUBURN 33 (62) Liberty FIU 6 (47) CHARLOTTE BYU 22 24 (56) New Mex St WYOMING Air Force Utah 7 7 (48) COLORADO Utah St 24 (67) COLO ST Notre Dame 10 10 (65) Syracuse APP.

ST 28 (54) Georgia St MARSHALL 21 (45) UTSA Stanford 2 2 (45) CALIF OREGON 4 (64) Arizona St WASH. ST 10 Arizona Nevada 14 SAN JOSE ST TCU 1 BAYLOR NAVY 5 6 Tulsa TEXAS (46) UAB MISS. ST Arkansas Virginia 5 (73) OKLA ST SO. MISS PK (47) La Tech AKRON 7 7 Bowling Grn LSU 44 42 (52) Rice VANDERBILT 3 Miss FLORIDA ST PK (48) Boston Col OKLAHOMA (69) Kansas WASH 31 (58) Oregon St ARK. ST La-Monroe TROY 22 (48) Texas State LA-LAFETE 17 S.

Alabama Miami 3 6 VA TECH KENTUCKY 7 7 (47) UTEP NEBRASKA PK Michigan St TEXAS 3 3 (47) Iowa St SO. CAL 5 3 UCLA FRESNO ST 16 (42) San Diego St HAWAII (70) UNLV NFL Sunday Favorite OpenToday Underdog Carolina 3 4 DETROIT ATLANTA 4 Dallas BALTIMORE OFF (OFF) Cincinnati CHICAGO Minnesota NEW ORLNS 7 8 (56) Phila. INDY 2 Tennessee Houston 3 (42) WASH NY GIANTS PK 2 Tampa Bay LA CHRGRS 7 7 Denver ARIZONA 3 (41) Oakland Pittsburgh 4 5 (47) JAXSONVILLE Monday LA RAMS 1 (63) Kansas City NATIONAL SCOREBOARD Under the cloak of putting together manager Chris coaching staff, the Texas Rangers have landed a veteran catcher known for his defensive prowess and leadership skills. The Rangers have signed Jeff Mathis to a two-year contract, a deal first reported by the in- trepid Ken Rosenthal and confirmed by a source. The Mathis signing ap- pears to shut the door to a Robinson Chirinos return as, true to his word, gener- al manager Jon Daniels sought a defensive up- grade be- hind the plate.

Daniels did not return a message seeking information on the reports. Mathis, 35, spent the past two seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks. a 14-year veteran who started his career with the Los Angeles An- gels, but, curiously, Mathis has never caught more than 100 games in his career. Mathis is a defense-first catcher who has a career .198 batting average and 48 homers in 2,419 at- bats. He has a reputation for working well with pitching staffs, something that would be coveted for a rebuilding team, and for being a solid clubhouse guy.

He could also help de- velop young catchers Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jose Trevino. Kiner-Falefa is still trying to convert to catch- ing after starting his pro- fessional career as an infielder, and he broke into the majors this year as an infielder. He is expected to be on the Opening Day roster. Trevino, who also made his MLB debut in 2018, will be in spring training but could be slowed after having surgery on his shoul- der in July. He is the bet- ter defensive catcher, but his bat has lagged behind.

Mathis to replace Chirinos, source says BY JEFF WILSON Jeff Mathis and building relation- There are still two more positions for fill on manag- er Chris staff, bullpen coach and assist- ant hitting coach. The Rangers are interviewing for those positions, but the hires pending. However, if the addi- tions of Ortiz and Rangel are any indication, the next hires could be some- what inexperienced but with a solid development background. Woodward acknowl- edged that the inexperi- ence might be concerning to some, but he is looking forward to growing and learning alongside them. In some ways, he said, it could turn into an ad- vantage.

look at this from the outside in, you would maybe have some con- Woodward said. look at it, as a first-year manager, I wait to dig into this with these guys. going to bet on these guys that in a month, in a year, going to be better than they are today. kind of mirror our ballclub. going to show our players that going to dig in.

going to set an example for our players. That might be better for our young players because going to see how we grow. Ortiz was the Los An- geles assistant hitting coach last season and left a favorable im- pression on Woodward, the third-base coach, in how he teaches the swing and with the kind of quality person he is. Ortiz also knew Rangel, who spent four years in banking after his playing career fizzled out in Dou- ble A. He has held a varie- ty of roles in minor-league coaching, from coordina- tor to focusing on the mental side of the game.

was a situation where we all kind of got to know him Da- niels said. came down to three finalists. We sat down as a group a few nights ago and decided that Julio was the guy we FROM PAGE 1B RANGEL Being in a dryer. how Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage described his experience of flying in the passenger seat of a Red Bull Air Race plane. recommend Gossage said, laughing.

jerked this way and that way and down. These pilots, the human element, the G- force battling, the precise movement just Yours truly experienced it first-hand on Friday and it is quite the ride. The pilots fly the planes as low as 50 feet off the ground to navigate air-filled py- lons, and every maneuver in the air requires preci- sion. Fans can witness it all this weekend as TMS is hosting the season finale of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship on Saturday and Sunday. The track hosted pre- vious events in September 2014 and 2015, but this marks the first time for the finale to take place here.

you explain the Red Bull Air Race, both difficult to compre- hend and easy to Gossage said. thought of an airplane race inside the footprint is one of those things that baffles the imagination. But when you see it, it makes total sense. thrilled to host it a third time. an Red Bull Air Race gen- eral manager Erich Wolf said the high-tech and aviation industry preva- lent throughout the Dal- las-Fort Worth area makes it an attractive market.

lot of fans here are going to come watch the Wolf said. also a beautiful location and amazing and challenging race The course is a low- level, slalom track featur- ing 82-foot-high, air-filled pylons that pilots must navigate through while reaching speeds of 230 mph. The biggest challenge will be the cooler temper- atures this weekend, as well as a forecasted change in wind direction between Saturday and Sunday. going to be very difficult because of the said pilot Mi- chael Goulian, the points leader going into the fi- nale. wind will switch 180 degrees, so learn the track Friday and Saturday and then have it change on Sunday.

A fan favorite for the local fans will be pilot Kirby Chambliss, a Corpus Christi native. The Texan who now calls Arizona home has been competing in the sport since 2003. He has two world titles and 10 race victories. can win this Chambliss said. got a lot of experi- ence, but so does everybo- dy else.

These guys are hard to Wolf put it best, saying: in for an epic weekend of Fans interested in at- tending the air race can purchase tickets at www.redbullairrace.com. Grandstand tickets for both days are $59 for adults and $20 for chil- dren. Single-day tickets for Saturday are $29 for adults and $10 for chil- dren, and on Sunday are $39 for adults and $10 for children. BOB BOOTH Special to the Star-Telegram The Red Bull Air Race World Championship comes to Texas Motor Speedway. FLYING Air Race World event flies into Texas Motor Speedway BY DREW DAVISON.