On the sidelines

Maui Invitational schedule set\nThe men's basketball pairings for the EA Sports Maui Invitational were announced Thursday, with the Hoosiers taking on Massachusetts in the opening round on Nov. 25 at 5 p.m. IU will then play Utah or Gonzaga in the second round on Nov. 26.\n"The Maui Invitational is a great way to start out our season," coach Mike Davis said in a statement. "The tournament field is very balanced. We'll have our work cut out for us with UMass in the first round, and then it doesn't get any easier -- Utah, Gonzaga, Arizona State, Virginia, Kentucky."\nThe tournament concludes Nov. 27 at 9:30 p.m. with the championship game. IU has competed in the event three times and holds a 5-4 record in Maui Invite games. \nAlso in the opening round, Chaminade takes on Virginia at 2 p.m., Arizona State plays Kentucky at 9 p.m. and Utah squares off against Gonzaga at 11:30 p.m. \nESPN will televise the tournament.\nRain plagues U.S. Open, sun shines on Agassi\nAndre Agassi and fellow U.S. Open champions Lleyton Hewitt, Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis got their playing out of the way early yesterday and escaped rain delays.\nOther players weren't as lucky, as much of the action didn't get under way until 4 p.m., five hours late, forcing postponement of all scheduled doubles matches and creating a logjam of stars on court. Jennifer Capriati was up first at Arthur Ashe Stadium and set the tone with an easy victory, despite nine double faults.\nAgassi's luck of missing most the rain extended as he beat Justin Gimelstob in 66 minutes to move into the third round. Agassi, who won the Open in 1994 and 1999, had 27 winners to six for Gimelstob.\nGimelstob blamed the rain for his loss. \n"The whole day is a tough situation," Gimelstob said. "You don't know if you\'re going to play, definitely not going to play, you might play, you might not play. That's probably one of the other reasons why it was so brutal, but way secondary to the fact that he was playing so well."\nWith a 'Spark' in their eye, LA defeats NY\nThe Los Angeles Sparks are one win away from their second straight WNBA championship.\nMwadi Mabika scored 20 points and DeLisha Milton added 17 as the Sparks rallied a late comeback to hold off the New York Liberty 71-63 Thursday night in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. Game two in the best-of-three series is Saturday in LA. The Liberty are 0-3 in WNBA Finals, losing all three times to the Houston Comets. The Sparks have better luck, already going 5-0 in the postseason this year. LA has two chances at home to win the WNBA title, but the Liberty are familiar with facing elimination. They won the decisive third game in series against the Fever and Mystics, but Thursday was disappointing, with their first home playoff loss this season. Becky Hammon led New York with 18 points, and Crystal Robinson scored 13.