December 2004 in Sports - December 4, 2004

December 4, 2004

• NBA: Former Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks (baseball) majority owner Jerry Colangelo is diagnosed with prostate cancer.(The Arizona Republic)
  • Carmelo Anthony scores his 2,000th career point in a 104–95 Denver Nuggets victory over the Miami Heat. (ESPN)
  • Kevin Garnett ties the game with a basket with 26 seconds left in regulation, and the Minnesota Timberwolves snap a winning streak for the second night in a row, stopping the Los Angeles Clippers streak at five wins and raising their own streak to five wins in a row, with a 107–100 overtime victory.(NBA)
  • Tracy McGrady hits a shot with 26 seconds to go, giving the Houston Rockets a 77–76 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Kyle Korver and Aaron McKie of the 76ers miss potential game winning shots as time expires. (AOL)
• Biathlon: In the WC 1 event Beitostølen, Norway, the women's 10 km Pursuit race is won by Uschi Disl (GER); her second victory at Beito in three days. Albina Akhatova (Албина Ахатова) (RUS) finishes 2nd, and Martina Glagow (GER) comes in 3rd. (IBU/EBU Results) In the men's 12.5 km Pursuit, 10 years+ BWC veteran Sven Fischer (GER) wins, followed by Nikolay Kruglov, Jr. (Николай Кругов) (RUS), who beats fellow Russian Sergei Rozhkov by a tenth of a second for the 2nd place. (IBU/EBU Results) The winner of Thursday's Sprint race for men, and thus start number one in the Pursuit, Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR), comes in no. 6, fronting a probably statistically unique cluster of five contestants from the same country placed contiguously on the result list. Bjørndalen loses his lead in the Biathlon World Cup to Kruglov (RUS), who has two 2nd places so far this BWC season.
• Boxing: WBC world Lightweight champion José Luis Castillo retains his title by a split and controversial decision (scores of 116–112, 117–111 and 113–115) over former two time world Jr. Lightweight champion Joel Casamayor. (Boxing Central)
• Cricket: England beat Zimbabwe by 8 wickets in the third One Day International at Bulawayo, Zimbabwe to lead the four-match series 3–0. (Cricinfo)
• Cross-country skiing: In the World Cup 2004/05's second Sprint event, in Bern, Switzerland, the 0.8 km Ladies' race is won by Norway's Marit Bjørgen, with Stefanie Böhler (GER) and Ella Gjømle (NOR) coming in second and third. (FIS-Ski Results). The 1.35 km Men's race is won by Tor Arne Hetland (NOR), with Thobias Fredriksson (SWE) and Johan Kjølstad (NOR) coming in second and third. (FIS-Ski Results)
• NCAA football:
  • The USC Trojans guarantee themselves a spot in the national championship game with a 29–24 win over the UCLA Bruins. (AP)
  • The Oklahoma Sooners, with a 42–3 rout of the Colorado Buffaloes in the Big 12 championship game, become USC's likely opponent in the Orange Bowl. (AP)
  • The Auburn Tigers win the SEC championship by beating the Tennessee Volunteers 38–28. (AP)
  • The Virginia Tech Hokies win the ACC title with a 16–10 win over the Miami Hurricanes. (AP)
  • Tyler Palko throws five touchdowns to lead his Pittsburgh Panthers to a 43–14 win over the USF Bulls, assuring Pittsburgh a share of the Big East Conference title (along with Boston College and Syracuse) and a spot in a BCS bowl. (AP)
  • In the 105th Army–Navy Game, quarterback Aaron Polanco passed for two touchdowns and scored another to lead Navy to a 42–13 win. President George W. Bush was in attendance. (AP)
  • The Capital One Bowl matchup for this year is announced: The Iowa Hawkeyes will play the LSU Tigers on January 1 in Orlando, Florida. (AP)