Major League Baseball
BIG UNIT TO RETIRE: Randy Johnson is retiring after 22 major league seasons.
The Big Unit, an overpowering lefty who last June became the 24th pitcher in big league history to win 300 games, made the expected announcement Tuesday on a conference call.
"I really wanted to go out on my terms," Johnson said. "I just feel like there's not a lot more for me to do in this game. I just think it's a natural progression when you play this long. Eventually you have to say it's time."
A five-time Cy Young Award winner, the 46-year-old Johnson accomplished just about everything in his remarkable career that a player hopes for in baseball.
He owns a World Series ring and co-MVP honors, and was a 10-time All-Star. He threw two no-hitters, including a perfect game, and ranks second on the career strikeout list.
The 6-foot-10 Johnson finishes with a career record of 303-166 and 4,875 strikeouts in 4,135 1/3 innings.
Pro basketball
BULLS DOWNED AT CHARLOTTE: Gerald Wallace scored 32 points, Stephen Jackson and Flip Murray added 25 each, and the Charlotte Bobcats held off a late rally to beat the Bulls 113-108 on Tuesday night for their third straight victory.
Derrick Rose and John Salmons missed game-tying 3-point attempts in the closing seconds for the Bulls, who gave up seventh place in the Eastern Conference to the Bobcats despite wiping out a 13-point second-quarter deficit. The Bulls dropped to 3-12 on the road.
Rose scored 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, and Salmons added 19 for the Bulls in the fast-paced game that saw both teams shoot 51 percent.
PACERS TOP THE MAGIC: Roy Hibbert scored a career-high 26 points, leading the Pacers to a 97-90 victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.
Hibbert, a 7-2 center, added eight rebounds and four blocks. Luther Head had 18 points and Dahntay Jones scored 13 for the Pacers, who have won two of three after losing eight straight.
College basketball
IU'S CREAN COMPLIMENTS BUCKEYES: The Ohio State Buckeyes are caught between adapting to life without Evan Turner and welcoming him back soon.
This transitional phase for has resulted in a 3-3 record, with the three losses coming in their three most important games -- including their first two Big Ten games.
"People outside this team might think, 'Well, Evan's not playing ..."' said Turner's roommate, shooting guard Jon Diebler. "Obviously the first couple games without him we did struggle a little bit. But we have good players. It takes time to learn to play without a guy like that because he was such an integral part."
Turner, on the Wooden Award watch list and among the nation's best all-around players, broke bones in his lower back on Dec. 5 when his hands slipped off the rim while dunking. The original prognosis was that he would miss 8 weeks, meaning he'd be back when the Big Ten season was half over in early February.
But Turner, averaging 18.5 points, 11.4 rebounds and 6 assists when he went down, hopes to return almost a month before that.
"They've got such good players," said Indiana's Tom Crean, whose team visits Columbus tonight. "Obviously, I know they've been missing Evan Turner. We'll prepare like Evan Turner is going to be out there so that we're not caught by surprise if he is."
College football
THREE COACHES JOIN ND STAFF: Former Grand Valley State head coach Chuck Martin, former Cincinnati assistant Mike Elston and Mike Denbrock, who coached at Notre Dame under Tyrone Willingham, have been hired as Fighting Irish assistants.
New head coach Brian Kelly on Tuesday announced the hirings, naming Martin the defensive backs coach, Elston the defensive line coach and Denbrock, an Indiana State assistant last season, as tight ends coach. They join running backs coach Tony Alford, the only assistant retained from Charlie Weis' staff.
IOWA WINS ORANGE BOWL: No. 10 Iowa solved Georgia Tech's explosive triple option and Ricky Stanzi threw two early touchdown passes for a 24-14 victory Tuesday night in the coldest Orange Bowl ever.
Temperature at kickoff was 49 degrees, and Tech's offense was slow to warm up. The ninth-ranked Yellow Jackets averaged 35 points during the regular season, but their only score in the first three quarters came on Jerrard Tarrant's 40-yard interception return.
The Hawkeyes (11-2) earned their first Bowl Championship Series bowl win, matched the school record for victories and could claim their highest final ranking since finishing No. 3 in 1960.
Around the horn
For the second time this season, Prairie State women's basketball player Amanda Pierce was named NJCAA Region IV Player of the Week. ... Calumet College women's basketball player Lisa Upshaw (E.C., Central) was named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Division II Player of the Week. ... IU Northwest women's basketball player Sharon Houston (Merrillville) was named the NAIA Division II National Player of the Week. ... Purdue Calumet junior Michael Patton (West Side) was named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week after recording his first double-double of the season -- an 18-point, 10-rebound effort -- in the Peregrines' contest against Brescia on Dec. 30. ... E.C. Central grad Dee Dee Jernigan scored four points as No. 16 Xavier (10-3) beat Missouri 68-60 on Tuesday.
