Houston

Peter Breck, 82, who starred as Barbara Stanwyck's most temperamental son, Nick Barkley, in the popular 1960s Western series The Big Valley , died Monday in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he had lived since the 1980s. Mr. Breck began his acting career shortly after serving in the Navy. He studied drama and English at the University of Houston and began appearing in productions at the Alley Theater in Houston before moving on to the Arena Stage theater in Washington, where Robert Mitchum saw him in George Bernard Shaw's Man of Destiny and offered him a small role in his next film, Thunder Road . Mr. Breck had already made his television debut, in 1956, in an episode of Sheriff of Cochise , which was not a Western but a contemporary police drama.

Derrick McKey's layup at the buzzer spoiled a dramatic Houston comeback and gave the Seattle SuperSonics a 98-96 victory that eliminated the Rockets from the NBA playoffs. The SuperSonics, who won the best-of-five series by 3-1, will meet the Los Angeles Lakers next. Trailing by 92-83 with 6 minutes, 25 seconds to play, the Rockets outscored Seattle, 13-4, including Sleepy Floyd's three-pointer with one second left in regulation play. Seattle went 5:05 without scoring during Houston's rally.

The University of Houston rolled out the big guns when Chester High track star Adonis Coles paid an official visit last month. Carl Lewis, Penn Wood graduate Leroy Burrell - how could Coles turn down a scholarship offer with Olympic gold-medal winners tugging on his sleeve? But it wasn't Houston's storied past that swayed Coles. It was a future under the tutelage of head coach Tom Tellez. "I talked to Carl Lewis. I talked to Leroy Burrell," Coles said. "But I couldn't base my decision on what they did. I decided to go there because of the coaching.

Charles Barkley wants to play for the 76ers against Houston tomorrow night at the Spectrum. But will he? "I think I'm playing, but that's just my opinion," said Barkley, who has been out since Nov. 4, when he suffered a bruised spleen and internal bleeding in a double overtime loss in Indianapolis. Barkley was to be re-evaluated Monday, but says he intends to ask to have that done tomorrow. "Sunday, Monday, that shouldn't make any difference," he said. "Twenty- four hours aren't going to make it or break it. I've been feeling good, haven't had any pain.

For Eric Futch, a standout track and field athlete at Penn Wood, it came down to two schools: Houston and Louisiana State. He made his decision two weeks ago. He just didn't tell anybody. On Wednesday, in Penn Wood's auditorium partially filled with family, friends, school administrators, and classmates, the 5-foot-11, 160-pound sprinter who holds the PIAA record in the 300-meter hurdles made his college destination public. Futch, wearing a maroon Penn Wood track and field shirt, with a backward Penn Wood hat, sat at a table draped with Houston and LSU T-shirts.

Jennifer Gillom scored 29 points as the Phoenix Mercury beat the visiting Los Angeles Sparks, 73-68, last night to win the Western Conference title. In Thursday semifinals, Charlotte (15-13) visits Houston (18-10), the Eastern Conference winner at 7:30, and Phoenix (16-12) hosts New York (17-11) at 9:30 p.m. The league championship will be held on Saturday at 4 p.m. New York, which finished second in the East, closed out its season with a 79-72 overtime win over Cleveland before 18,051 fans at Madison Square Garden last night.

In the older days of college basketball, Temple might have had a chance in such a one-sided arrangement by sitting on the ball. If the game were slow-pitch softball, the Owls might have been spared by the 10-run rule. A boxing match? A white towel thrown into the ring, or a cry of "no mas," perhaps. But this was big-time college football. There was no plug to be pulled. And yesterday, the Temple Owls were invited to play a patsy role to the finish. Right there, in the dome this city's professional football fans refer to as "The House of Pain," Houston inflicted a 65-7 hurting on the Owls, a score that will do nothing positive for Jerry Berndt's rebuilding program.

Villanova, apparently left for dead by its offensive ineptitude, turned to its defense to rescue a 63-60 victory over Houston in the first round of the Sugar Bowl Classic last night. Junior forward Mark Plansky's 18-foot jumper with 6 seconds left provided the difference for the Wildcats (7-3). In tonight's final, Villanova will face South Carolina, which defeated Vanderbilt, 96-91, in double overtime last night. The Cats won despite a 5-for-22 shooting performance by guard Harold Jensen, usually their best shooter, and despite being outrebounded, 32-25.

It figures to rate with the all-time wipeouts, right up there with Custer's Last Stand and the Charge of the Light Brigade. Southern Methodist at Houston. SMU coach Forrest Gregg, whose 1-4 team is an incredible 57-point underdog, isn't painting a picture of false optimism. He knows the young, inexperienced Mustangs, coming off a two-year NCAA suspension, are going into a sword fight armed with a butter knife. "I don't get into point spreads, but (the 57-point line) doesn't surprise me," Gregg said.

UNION MANAGER John Hackworth hasn't had many opportunities over the last month to joke around. Mired in an eight-game winless streak, the Union entered Sunday's match against Houston at PPL Park on the brink of elimination from the playoffs. Granted, with six games to play that's almost inevitable, but there are still things this roster can accomplish and build on heading into an important offseason for the 3-year-old franchise. Not to mention that a win against a perennial power like Houston is not something that should be overlooked.

HOUSTON - National Rifle Association leaders told members Saturday that the fight against gun control legislation was far from over, with battles yet to come in Congress and next year's midterm elections, but they vowed that none in the organization would ever have to surrender their weapons. Proponents of gun control also asserted that they are in their fight for the long haul and have not been disheartened by last month's defeat of a bill that would have expanded background checks for gun sales.

HOUSTON - A man who had fired a gun inside a ticketing area at Houston's largest airport was killed after being confronted by a law enforcement official during an incident that sent people in the terminal scrambling and screaming, police said Thursday. It's unclear whether the man fatally shot himself or was killed by a Homeland Security agent who had confronted him, said Houston police spokesman Kese Smith. The man's name was not released by police, but they said he was about 30 years old. Police say the man walked into the ticketing area in Terminal B at Bush Intercontinental Airport around 1:35 p.m. and fired at least one shot into the air. The agent, who was in his office, came out and confronted the man, telling him to drop his weapon, but the man refused, police said.

CYPRESS, Texas - A man accused of stabbing more than a dozen people at a suburban Houston community college randomly selected his victims and told investigators he had been fantasizing about conducting such an attack since he was 8 years old, authorities said Wednesday. Dylan Quick, 20, has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault in the Tuesday attack at the Lone Star Community College in Cypress, a school he attended about 20 miles northwest of Houston. Classes resumed Wednesday at the bustling campus where more than 18,000 students take courses.

Each year, Mike Kern of the Daily News offers some Masters trivia. Here's this year's edition: 1. Last year, who led after the first round? a. Lee Westwood. b. Peter Hanson. c. Louis Oosthuizen. 2. Which one of these guys wasn't tied for the lead after the second? a. Jason Dufner. b. Louis Oosthuizen. c. Fred Couples. 3. And who was in front after 54 holes? a. Louis Oosthuizen. b. Jason Dufner. c. Phil Mickelson. 4. What did Bubba Watson shoot on Sunday?

HOUSTON - After two Texas prosecutors were slain in two months, law enforcement agencies across the state are considering steps to better protect attorneys who go after violent criminals, including providing round-the-clock security details and withholding personal information from public records. Last weekend's fatal shootings of the Kaufman County district attorney and his wife in their home were so alarming that county officials assigned a 24-hour security detail to the interim prosecutor who took over the job. Another prosecutor in the state's Panhandle region encouraged his staff to request that property records not list their home addresses.

HUMBLE, Texas - D.A. Points came back from a long rain delay and made four pars. The last one gave him a 1-shot victory in the Houston Open and sent him to the Masters. Points closed with a 6-under 66 on Sunday, saving par on the last two holes at Redstone Golf Club to outlast Masters-bound Henrik Stenson and Billy Horschel. The final round was halted for nearly three hours because of storms. Points kept alive the streak of Americans winning all 14 events on the PGA Tour this year.

Steve Wheatcroft , who narrowly qualified for the Houston Open at the start of the week, ran off three straight birdies early in his round for a second straight 5-under 67 and a 1-shot lead over D.A. Points and Jason Kokrak going into the weekend at Redstone Golf Club in Humble, Texas. Rory McIlroy also will be around for two more days, but just barely. He made the cut on the number. TENNIS: David Ferrer reached the final at the Sony Open, rallying from a break down in the third set Friday to beat Tommy Haas , 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, in Key Biscayne, Fla. The No. 3-seeded Ferrer's opponent Sunday will be 2009 champion Andy Murray , who defeated No. 8-seeded Richard Gasquet , 6-7 (3-7)

THE ONLY TRADE involving Dwight Howard, it turns out, came last summer. The potent scorers who moved did so long ago. There was no eye-catching activity left for deadline day, resulting in minor deals Thursday to the disappointment of those hoping for a frenzy. Josh Smith stayed put and the Boston Celtics' core stayed together, leaving J.J. Redick, dealt to Milwaukee, as the biggest name to be traded. "I don't think I've seen fewer trade deadline deals, ever," Houston general manager Daryl Morey said.

HOUSTON - Michael Jordan turned 50 on Sunday, giving this year's All-Stars a chance to reflect on his illustrious career and how much he still means to the sport. In a weekend filled with the NBA's greatest players, Jordan was the topic no one could stop talking about. Though he hasn't played since the 2002-03 season, Jordan's influence still permeates the league and its players. "Every kid that wanted to play basketball, that could play, that couldn't play, you tried to emulate Michael Jordan," Heat star Dwyane Wade said.

The following is a post by Bob Cooney from the Daily News' Sixers blog, Sixerville: HOUSTON - To many, Jrue Holiday is still a kid. At 22, he sort of is, and he was acting it Friday. That's because he was being paraded around Houston with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant. For once, he wasn't an opponent of those stars, he was a peer, a fellow All-Star. And you couldn't wipe the smile off Holiday's face. "It's crazy, the attention that you get is kind of overwhelming," he said.