SPORTS digest

Green, Burfict power Bengals over Dolphins

CINCINNATI

Bengals receiver A.J. Green followed his disappointing game with a dominating one — 173 yards and a touchdown — and the Cincinnati defense that was inspired by Vontaze Burfict’s return clamped down on the Miami Dolphins for a 22-7 victory Thursday night.

The Bengals (2-2) rebounded from a 29-17 home loss to Denver on Sunday with a solid all-around game against a depleted team.

Green led the way, beating the Dolphins (1-3) on every type of route . He was upset with himself after he dropped a pivotal third-down pass and failed to make an impact against the Broncos.

During the first three quarters, Green had 166 yards on catches while Miami had 152 total yards. The Bengals’ season-long problem of stalling out near the goal line forced them to settle for Mike Nugent’s season-high five field goals.

The Dolphins were missing four starting offensive linemen, two linebackers, running back Arian Foster and tight end Jordan Cameron. They had one big play — Ryan Tannehill threw a 74-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Stills — but couldn’t do anything else on offense.

Ward has big game as No. 6 Houston rolls

HOUSTON

Greg Ward Jr. threw for a career-high 389 yards and accounted for five touchdowns in just more than three quarters to help sixth-ranked Houston beat Connecticut 42-14 on Thursday night.

The victory was a bit of redemption for the Cougars, whose only loss last season came in a 20-17 defeat by the Huskies when they were 10-0.

Ward didn’t start that game because of an ankle injury, and there was a scary moment early in the second quarter when he took a hard hit in the midsection by Junior Joseph on a flea-flicker and had to leave the game.

But he missed just one play before returning and showed no ill effects from the blow, leading the Cougars (5-0, 2-0 American) on three more touchdown drives in the half to leave Houston up 28-7 at halftime.

Noel Thomas had a career-high 135 yards receiving and a touchdown for Connecticut (2-3, 0-2), and Bryant Shirreffs threw for 239 yards and ran for a TD.

The Cougars weren’t slowed by playing without three starters on Thursday. Running back Duke Catalon and linebacker Tyus Bowser both missed the game with head injuries and coach Tom Herman sat linebacker Matthew Adams for reasons the team said Herman would address after the game.

Marchand lifts Canada with shorthanded goal

TORONTO

Brad Marchand scored a short-handed goal with 43.1 seconds left and Canada beat Team Europe 2-1 on Thursday night to win the World Cup of Hockey.

The Canadians won the best-of-three finals 2-0.

Patrice Bergeron tied it with a power-play goal with 2:53 left in the third, and Marchand won it with a shot from the slot.

Canada has won 16 straight games, including two Olympic gold medals, since losing to the U.S. in the 2010 Olympics.

Carey Prince made 32 saves for the Canadians, who started slow before ending the tournament with a furious rally that fired up a once-quiet crowd.

Zdeno Chara scored early for Europe, and Jaroslav Halak made 32 saves for the eight-nation team.

Dubinsky lifts Jackets past Predators

COLUMBUS

Brandon Dubinsky scored at 2:49 of overtime to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators in Thursday’s preseason game at Nationwide Arena.

Dubinsky also had the primary assist on Paul Bittner’s tying goal with 4:04 left in regulation. Ryan Craig also scored for the Blue Jackets.

Curtis McElhinney made 15 saves for the victory. Starter Joonas Korpisalo stopped all 10 shots he faced in 27:57 of game action.

Anthony Bitetto and Yannick Weber scored for the Predators.

Associated Press