Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — BASKETBALL

Williams and Cooper arrested

Former University of Memphis basketball players Shawne Williams and Kareem Cooper were arrested after police found marijuana and a loaded gun in the car they were traveling in. Memphis police say they pulled over the Dodge Charger on Friday because Williams wasn’t wearing a seat belt. He was charged with driving on a suspended license.Police then searched the car and say they found more than 17 grams of marijuana and a gun on Cooper. Williams was a first-round draft pick in 2006, but his professional career has been marred by numerous off-court issues, arrests and weight problems. A police spokesman said she did not know who the men’s lawyers were.

FOOTBALL

USC’s Kiffin irks Titans’ Fisher

Southern California Coach Lane Kiffin hired Tennessee Titans assistant coach Kennedy Pola on Saturday to be his offensive coordinator and running backs coach, irking Titans Coach Jeff Fisher by failing to follow the usual protocol in courting another team’s assistant. Before the move became official, Fisher voiced his displeasure with Kiffin on Saturday to The Tennessean, saying the new USC coach hadn’t made the customary courtesy phone call to tell the NFL team he was interested in hiring Pola. Tennessee Titans training camp opens in a week. “I am very disappointed in Lane Kiffin’s approach to this,” Fisher told the newspaper. “Typically speaking when coaches are interested in hiring or discussing potential employment from coaches on respective staffs, there is a courtesy call made from the head coach or athletic director indicating thereis an interest in talking to the assistant. So I am very disappointed in the lack of professionalism on behalf of Lane, to call me and leave me a voice mail after Kennedy had informed me he had taken the job. It is just a lack of professionalism.” Pola is a former USC player and assistant coach and so is Fisher. Kiffin issued a statement Saturday saying he first spoke to Pola on Friday, and then called Fisher after Pola called him back.

MOTOR SPORTS

Power takes Edmonton pole

Will Power, going for his third consecutive victory in IndyCar, will start from the pole today in the Honda Edmonton Indy in Edmonton, Alberta. Power drove the 1.96-mile City Centre Airport track in 1:00.7126 to lead the 25-car field.Helio Castroneves, Power’s teammate with Team Penske, will start beside him on the front row while Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi will be third. Danica Patrick did not make it out of the first round of the three-round qualifying process and will start 21st. Paul Tracy of Toronto will start 15th.

Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson earned the No. 1 qualifier spot while breaking the track speed record at the NHRA Mile-High Nationals on Saturday in Morrison, Colo. Johnson drove his Dodge Avenger in an elapsed time of 6.981 seconds at a record 198.64 mph at Bandimere Speedway. It will be the fourth top qualifier this season for the event’s defending champion. Antron Brown, the 2009 winner, was Top Fuel’s No. 1 qualifier. Brown’s 3.961 time run a day earlier held up and gained him his fifth top spot of the year and the 27th of his career. Rogers’ Rod Fuller qualified 11th with a time of 4.113 at 280.66 mph and willface off against Shawn Langdon (6). Matt Hagan was atop Funny Car with a run of 4.161 seconds at 301.33. Michael Phillips led Pro Stock Motorcycle, breaking the track record of 7.308 seconds he set the day before. Phillips rode it in 7.238 Saturday at 186.41 and fiveother riders surpassed Phillips’ Friday time.

Sebastian Vettel of Germany edged Fernando Alonso to take pole position for the Formula One German Grand Prix in Hockenheim, Germany. Vettel’s Red Bull was .002 seconds faster than Alonso’s Ferrari on Saturday to give the German his sixth pole of the season. Felipe Massa of Brazil in the second Ferrari, who was third, and Mark Webber in the second Red Bull complete the two front rows for today’s race.

SOFTBALL

Shutout streak continues

Jessica Mendoza doubled twice and drove in four runs, Monica Abbott threw a one-hitter and the U.S. beat rival Japan (2-2) 8-0 Saturday night at the World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City. The Americans (4-0) have yet to allow a run or an extra-base hit in four victories at the World Cup, yielding only nine singles in 26 innings. Natasha Watley had an RBI single and scored three times and Kaitlin Cochran homered for the third time in asmany days to end the game after six innings because of the mercy rule. Jennie Finch, playing in her final international tournament, also drove in a run.

TENNIS

Isner to face Fish

John Isner has survived another challenge to his endurance, beating the heat and Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-7 (9-7), 6-3 Saturday to advance to the Atlanta Tennis Championships final in Johns Creek, Ga. Isner will face Mardy Fish, a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 winner over Andy Roddick, in today’s final.

Jurgen Melzer of Austria will play Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan for the German Open title. The third-seeded Melzer beat Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-4, 6-2, while the No. 82-ranked Golubev defeated Florian Mayer of Germany 7-6 (6), 6-4 in Hamburg to reach his first career final.

GOLF

Liu wins U.S. Junior Amateur

Fourteen-year-old Jim Liu of Smithtown, N.Y., beat Justin Thomas, 17, of Goshen, Ky., 4 and 2 Saturday in Ada, Mich., to become the youngest U.S. Junior Amateur champion. Liu, who turns 15 next month, is more than six months younger than Tiger Woods when he won the first of his three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur titles in 1991.

Seventeen-year-old Doris Chen of Bradenton, Fla., won four of five holes during one late stretch to beat Katelyn Dambaugh, 15, of Goose Creek, S.C., 3 and 2 in the final of the U.S. Girls Junior Championship in Pinehurst, N.C. Chen, 17, made a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 No. 16 to close the match and win the title at The Country Club of North Carolina.

American Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin will talk to Tiger Woods at next month’s PGA Championship to learn whether he wants to be on his team at Celtic Manor in Wales in October. Woods is seventh in the points table that will provide eight automatic members for the United States against Europe. However, he could drop down the standings and need a wild card if the likes of Ricky Barnes and Hunter Mahan outperform him at the Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship in August.

BOXING

Pacquiao to fight Margarito

Manny Pacquiao will face former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito in November after his promoters could not get a deal signed to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. Top Rank chief Bob Arum told The Associated Press on Saturday that Pacquiao will fight Margaritoon Nov. 13, though the location is up in the air. Margarito had his license suspended in California last year for an incident involving tainted hand wraps before a fight against Shane Mosley. If Margarito isn’t licensed to fight in the United States, Arum said the fight will likely be held in Margarito’s native Mexico.