Cardinals add Cy runner-up Gray

The Cardinals made their biggest splash yet in an attempt to revamp their lackluster rotation, agreeing with AL Cy Young runner-up Sonny Gray on a three-year contract Monday to anchor their staff heading into next season. John Mozeliak, the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations, already had signed free agent righthanders Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn to one-year deals. But Mozeliak also said the Cardinals were not at “the finish line,” and a week later, they have one of the best pitchers on the free-agent market at the front of their rotation. Gray, 34, went 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA for Minnesota last season. The righthander turned down a qualifying offer from the Twins, who get an additional pick in next year’s MLB amateur draft as compensation for losing him, currently No. 33.

Japan’s Imanaga a free agent

Shota Imanaga, who got the win for Japan in this year’s World Baseball Classic final against the United States, will become a free agent Tuesday and major league teams can sign him through 5 p.m. Jan. 11. Naoyuki Uwasawa, a 29-year-old righthanded reliever, also will become a free agent Tuesday and be available through Jan. 11. Imanaga, recognizable for throwback style high socks, became the second prominent Japanese pitcher on the free agent market after 25-year-old righthander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who can sign through Jan. 4.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Record for UConn men

Donovan Clingan scored a career-high 29 points and the No. 4 UConn men beat New Hampshire, 84-64, at Storrs, Conn., to set a record with its 24th consecutive victory over a nonconference opponent by double digits. The 7-foot-2-inch sophomore hit 12 of 13 shots from the floor for the Huskies (7-0), who broke a record held by North Carolina, which had 23 consecutive double-digit wins over nonconference opponents in 2008 and 2009. The Huskies will take their streak into Lawrence, Kan., on Friday to face the fifth-ranked Jayhawks. Jaxson Baker had 15 of his 20 points in the first half for New Hampshire (4-3).

Purdue men back on top

Purdue is back atop the Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll, right where it spent so much of last season. The Boilermakers ascended to No. 1 Monday after an impressive run through a loaded field at the Maui Invitational. They beat Gonzaga, Tennessee, and Marquette — three of the top 11 teams in the nation — in consecutive days, and that was enough to earn 60 of 63 first-place votes from the national panel of Top 25 voters. Purdue replaced preseason No. 1 Kansas, which fell to fifth after losing to Marquette in the Maui semifinals before beating Tennessee in the third-place game . . . Stellar freshman Juju Watkins has helped Southern California climb the women’s AP Top 25 to the team’s best ranking in 29 years. The Trojans moved up to sixth, its highest mark since the 1994. South Carolina remained the unanimous choice at No. 1. No. 11 UConn, which is once again beset by injuries, dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since Jan. 3, 2022.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Holy Cross’s Fuller tops in N.E.

Holy Cross junior Jordan Fuller is the New England Football Writers 2023 Harry Agganis/Harold Zimman Award winner as the most outstanding college football player in the region, regardless of division. New Hampshire junior QB Max Brosner, with an FCS-high 3,449 passing yards, is the Division 1 Gold Helmet recipient. Sammy McCorkle (Dartmouth) and Joe Adam (Saint Anselm) are the coaches of the year. The Jerry Nason Award for senior achievement goes to Harvard lineman Tyler Neville. And former Dartmouth star and two-time coach Buddy Teevens will receive the George Carens Award for contributions to football in New England, posthumously.

QB Sanders has back fracture

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders missed the season finale at Utah Saturday because of a fracture in his back, according to a YouTube video posted by “Well Off Media.” The site is run by one of coach Deion Sanders’s children and has been tracking the Buffaloes with behind-the-scenes footage throughout the season.

Elko named Texas A&M coach

Texas A&M hired Duke coach Mike Elko to lead the Aggies, replacing Jimbo Fisher with his former defensive coordinator for four years in College Station. Elko left the Aggies to take his first head coaching job at Duke after the 2021 season and went 16-9 in two seasons. The Blue Devils had won just 10 games combined the three previous years. Texas A&M fired Fisher this month, paying a record buyout of more than $75 million to move on from him with two games left in his sixth season.

NHL

Wild fire coach Evason

The Wild fired coach Dean Evason and assistant Bob Woods after losing seven straight and 14 of their first 19 to start to the NHL season. General manager Bill Guerin announced the moves but did not say who would be the replacement. Evason, 59, was nearly a quarter of the way through his fourth full season as coach. He is the second NHL coach fired this season after the Oilers dismissed Jay Woodcroft and replaced him with Kris Knoblauch. The Oilers have won four of seven since.