Maryland junior forward Ivan Bender to miss remainder of season

Ivan Bender

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maryland junior forward Ivan Bender will miss the remainder of the 2017-2018 season after suffering a torn meniscus in his right knee in the Terps' win over UMBC, the program announced Jan. 31.

“Ivan has been playing some of his best basketball over the past month,” head coach Mark Turgeon said in a statement. “He has developed into a strong contributor for our team and we are going to miss his leadership and presence on the court. We are confident that he will make a full recovery.”

Bender, who played in 15 contests with seven starts for the Terps this season, averaged 3.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists and per game.

Bender is the second member of the Terps' front court lost for the season in the past week, as the team announced Dec. 28 that Justin Jackson would miss the rest of the 2017-2018 campaign with a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

A native of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bender is scheduled to have surgery on his right knee later this week.

With Bender expected to see increased minutes due to the loss of Jackson before suffering his own season-ending injury, the Terps will likely now have to look further down the bench to big men Sean Obi and Josh Tomaic to help pick up the slack in the front court.

The Terps return to Big Ten play Jan. 2 when they host Penn State. The game is set to tip off at 7:00 p.m. ET and will be televised on BTN.

Manchester City fail to break Chelsea record & fall short of Bayern Munich streak with Crystal Palace draw.

Manchester City ‘s remarkable winning run came to an end against Crystal Palace as Roy Hodgson‘s side held the Premier League leaders to a 0-0 draw.

Pep Guardiola had guided his outfit to 18 victories in a row in the league since a 1-1 draw with Everton back in August but could not find a way through against a well-drilled Palace side. It was the first time in what’s been a tremendous season for the club that they’ve failed to find the back of the net in a domestic match and, in truth, clear chances were few and far between.

As they failed to pick up three points, Guardiola fell short of matching a European record of 19 consecutive wins, that he’d set with Bayern Munich in the 2013/14 season, while also failing to break Chelsea’s Premier league record of 12 away wins on the spin. They did, however, cling on to hopes of matching Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ by going a whole season unbeaten but have Ederson to thank as he saved an injury time penalty against Luka Milivojevic.

It was a frustrating game for City, who sit 14 points clear of second-placed Chelsea, with Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sane arguing, Gabriel Jesus leaving the pitch in tears due to an injury and De Bruyne being stretchered off. Despite the disappointment of failing to enter the record books once more, City do remain in control of the Premier League title race and are still battling on four fronts.

Serena Williams refuses to confirm she will compete at the Australian Open.

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Serena Williams hailed her comeback match against Jelena Ostapenko as ‘perfect’ but stopped short of committing to a defence of her Australian Open title

The 23-time grand slam singles champion was back on court for an exhibition clash with French Open champion Ostapenko less than four months after giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia. Williams struggled to start with and, despite losing 6-2 3-6 10-5, there was more than enough in her performance to send a message to her rivals that she will quickly be a force to be reckoned with. Whether she competes in Melbourne next month, however, is yet to be determined.

‘I’m taking it one day at a time,’ she said. ‘I’m going to assess everything with (coach) Patrick (Mouratoglou) and my team and go from there. ‘I don’t know if I’m totally ready yet or not. When I come back, I definitely want to be competing for championships. ‘I think everything is so much easier for me having my daughter at home waiting for me and knowing that I’ve won 23 grand slam singles titles. ‘I don’t have anything to prove but I just want to go out there and play. I’m not done yet.’

Manchester United eye Cristiano Ronaldo 'homecoming' as superstar checks out English schools and houses after Real Madrid bust-up

Manchester United have been put on alert by claims Cristiano Ronaldo wants to quit Real Madrid.

CRISTIANO RONALDO

The former Old ­Trafford superstar has ­reportedly fallen out with Bernabeu chief Florentino Perez, and has asked the Spanish giants to slash his £900million buy-out clause to £90m.

The Ballon D’or ­winner also wants to send seven-year-old son ­Cristiano Jnr to a private school in ­England, and secretly ­visited several of the top fee-­paying schools when he was in the UK last month.

A source said: “He’s also looked at possible homes in Leatherhead in Surrey and even a flat in central ­London.“It’s obviously something that he’s very seriously considering, but he’s yet to sign on the dotted line yet anywhere.”

The Portugal forward left United for Madrid in 2009, but a return could be on the cards now as his relationship with Perez has hit the rocks. Ronaldo, who signed a five-year deal worth £850,000 a week last year, is said to be unhappy over broken promises regarding a pay rise that would give him parity with his £1m-a-week Barcelona rival Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo is also furious that Madrid are trying to prise Neymar away from Paris St-Germain in a world-record deal that would make the Brazilian the game’s highest-paid player. Madrid may be tempted to use the Madeira-born forward as a makeweight in a deal to bring Neymar back to La Liga just a year after leaving Barcelona.

But United are sure to be rivals for Ronaldo’s signature, and the 32-year-old has now appeared to issue a come-and-get-me plea by claiming he still has plenty left in the tank.

He said: “Every now and then someone talks about my age – and I don’t agree. “There are many young players who have injuries because they do not take care of their body. I am 32 years old and I feel good.

“I’m very motivated and I feel powerful. I still have a lot of passion for football. I love it and I feel able to get more and more year after year.

“I had one of my best seasons last year. I got five team trophies, so 2017 was my best year. That’s why I say that age does not really matter.”

Chelsea have been chasing Alex Sandro for the longest time and they even went close to bagging the left-back during the summer. But Juventus played spoilsport and did not allow the Brazilian to move to England.

Now though the scenario has changed and Juventus seem to have finally decided to let go of Alex Sandro. While this is definitely good news but now with Manchester United also interested in the left-back, things will not be that easy for Antonio Conte this time around.

Maybe that is why the Italian has deployed scouts to watch Porto left-back Alex Telles in action. The 25-year-old has been hot property in Portugal this season having already managed to play 20 games throughout all competitions.

According to a report in the A Bola, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is not ready to pin all his hopes on Alex Sandro as a result of which he is looking at other potential alternatives. Telles moved to Europe in 2014 and has already played for clubs like Galatasaray and Inter Milan – so clearly he is not amateur to the European scene.

Reports claim that Juventus have already told Sandro that he can leave the club this summer but only at the end of the season – after returning the club’s investment on him. But with Manchester United already breathing down their necks, Antonio Conte clearly does not want to take any chances by focusing on only one player.