Bucks closer to new arena
The Wisconsin state Assembly has passed a bill to have taxpayers pay $250 million to help finance a new Milwaukee Bucks arena. The bill passed on a bipartisan 52-34 vote.
The measure now goes to Gov. Scott Walker, who has been working with lawmakers to reach a deal. Under the agreement, current and former Bucks owners will pay $250 million toward the cost of the arena. The taxpayer portion will eventually grow to about $400 million over 20 years.
More pro basketball
The Denver Nuggets signed 20-year-old Serbian center Nikola Jokic to a multi-year contract.
• Tamika Catchings hit a winning fadeaway jump shot with six seconds left in overtime and became the WNBA’s second all-time leading scorer as the visiting Indiana Fever beat the Connecticut Sun, 75-73, to open the second half of the season.
Hockey
USA Hockey named Pittsburgh as one of five finalists to host the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Junior Championship tournament. Other cities in contention are Buffalo, Chicago, St. Louis and Tampa. A selection will be announced at the end of the year. Buffalo was the most recent United States city to host the tournament in 2011.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs signed forward Mitch Marner to a threeyear entry-level contract. Marner, 18, was selected fourth overall by the Maple Leafs in the draft. … The Philadelphia Flyers signed center Sean Couturier to a multi-year contract extension. … Washington Capitals defenseman and former Penguin Brooks Orpik had wrist surgery. The team said in a statement he will resume full workout activities in two weeks.
Colleges
The Syracuse football team dismissed senior Ashton Broyld for violating team policy. … South Dakota coach Joe Glenn said two-year starting quarterback Kevin Earl will miss what would have been his senior season because of a lingering back injury.
• Illinois men’s basketball senior point guard Tracy Abrams will miss a second consecutive season after tearing his left Achilles. His surgery is scheduled for Aug. 5. Abrams missed last season with a knee injury.
Tennis
Top-seeded Rafael Nadal overcame a sluggish start to beat Fernando Verdasco, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, in the first round of the Hamburg Open in Hamburg, Germany. Second-seeded Tommy Robredo rallied for a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2 win against Alexander Zverev. No. 3 seed Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 4 seed Andreas Seppi and No. 6 seed Juan Monaco all advanced into the second round. … Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil earned a 6-2, 6-3 first-round victory against Kimmer Coppejans in the Swiss Open in Gstaad, Switzerland. Mikhail Youzhny of Russia lost, 6-1, 6-2, against seventhseeded Pablo Carreno of Spain, and Marcel Granollers of Spain lost, 1-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4, to Robin Haase of the Netherlands. Eighthseeded Santiago Giraldo of Colombia beat Italian Paolo Lorenzi, 6-3, 6-2. … The first stop of Mardy Fish’s farewell tour ended with a 6-4, 6-4 first-round loss to Dudi Sela in the Atlanta Open.