Sports briefs 1/17/05

Basketball

* Toronto Raptors guard Rafer Alston was fined $7,500 by the NBA on Sunday for verbally abusing a game official Friday night in Philadelphia.

Alston had 11 points and 13 assists in Toronto's 106-96 loss to the 76ers.

* NBA steals leader Larry Hughes was diagnosed Sunday with a broken right thumb and will miss four to six weeks, the first real crisis to hit a Washington Wizards team off to its best start in decades.

Hughes was hurt when his thumb was hit by Quentin Richardson while driving for a layup in the final minutes of Saturday night's victory over the Phoenix Suns.

Colleges

* Memphis forward Sean Banks will be ineligible for the rest of the season because of poor grades, his teammates said.

Memphis coach John Calipari cited federal privacy laws and has declined to discuss the matter. He said that the final decision on Banks hadn't been made after the Tigers' 61-59 loss at the buzzer to Texas Christian on Saturday.

"We're going to know in the next day or so if he will be with the team or not," Calipari said. "I really don't have a feel (on which way it will go). I mean, I'm not involved in it. I'm just waiting to hear."

Banks, a top freshman player in the nation last season, damaged his NBA potential after skipping tryouts for USA Basketball's Under-21 team this summer.

Then, the coaching staff critcized him for poor practice habits in the preseason, and he was suspended for a game. Banks got into a scuffle with Barclay after the Tigers' loss Jan. 6 at Texas and had a black eye.

* TCU's Sandora Irvin set an NCAA Division I record with 16 blocked shots in the Lady Frogs' 75-34 win over UAB on Sunday.

Irvin also had 20 points and 18 rebounds for the first triple-double in school history.

Irvin broke the NCAA women's record of 15 that Amy Lundquist of Loyola Marymount set in December 1992 against Western Kentucky. The NCAA men's record of 14 is held by four players, including David Robinson and Shawn Bradley.

TCU finished the night with 19 blocked shots to tie the NCAA women's record for a team.

Hockey

* The NHL's official puck supplier has laid off half its staff, a result of the hockey lockout that entered its 123rd day on Sunday.

InGlasCo, of Sherbrooke, Quebec, laid off 20 of about 40 employees from a plant that normally produces about 300,000 pucks and souvenirs for the 30 NHL teams.