BASEBALL

METS MEET WITH DELGADO IN PUERTO RICO

Carlos Delgado met with the Mets for three hours in Puerto Rico for a second time yesterday. Delgado plans to meet today with Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks and General Manager John Hart. He also is being courted by Florida and Baltimore.

Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon and General Manager Omar Minaya were at yesterday’s session with Delgado and his agent. Minaya is trying to sign his third major free agent this off-season, following huge deals with three time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez and All-Star center fielder Carlos Beltran.

LOS ANGELES DOESN’T WANT THE ANGELS

The city of Los Angeles has filed a brief supporting Anaheim’s lawsuit that claims the name Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim violates the team’s stadium lease. Los Angeles calls it “improper” for the Angels to use the name of a city in which they do not play or pay taxes. The Angels said the name change, announced earlier this month, is intended to increase fans, advertisers, and broadcast contracts, by emphasizing the team’s connection to the nation’s second-largest media market.

BASKETBALL

JEFFERSON HAS SURGERY ON INJURED WRIST

Nets forward Richard Jefferson had surgery yesterday to repair a ruptured ligament in his left wrist, an injury that’s expected to keep him out for the rest of the season. Jefferson, the Nets’ leading scorer and rebounder, will be in a cast for at least two months and then will need two months of rehabilitation.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

TOP-RANKED ILLINOIS DOWNS IOWA IN OVERTIME

Luther Head scored 25 points and his layup with 40 seconds remaining in overtime sealed no. 1 Illinois’s 73-68 win over no. 23 Iowa last night.

Head scored 12 straight points during one stretch and had six steals and six rebounds as Illinois (19-0, 5-0 Big Ten) overcame its worst shooting night of the season and a late comeback by Iowa. The Hawkeyes (13-4, 1-3) battled back from a 13-point deficit and outscored Illinois 7-1 in the final 1:06 to force the extra period.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

TEMPLE WILL PLAY AS INDEPENDENT NEXT YEAR

Temple’s football program will remain at the Division I-A level but will play without a conference next season, the school announced yesterday.

The Owls will play as an independent next season and are actively seeking conference affiliation. Temple was kicked out of the Big East for failing to meet minimum requirements for membership, most notably in attendance, facilities, and fielding a competitive team. The school could join the mid-major Mid-American Conference, though they played two MAC teams last year and lost big both times, 45-17 at Toledo and 70-16 against Bowling Green. Temple tallied just 14 conference wins in 14 seasons in the Big East.

GOLF

LEHMAN TAKES EARLY LEAD AT BUICK

Tom Lehman birdied the last six holes on the easier North course at Torrey Pines for a 10-under 62 and a one-shot lead in the Buick Invitational yesterday in San Diego. He birdied nine of his final 12 holes for a one-shot lead over Dean Wilson.

All but two of the top 17 scores came from the North course, which played nearly three strokes easier. Aaron Baddeley (66) and Peter Lonard (67) had the best scores on the harder South course.

Ernie Els took advantage of the North course, making nine birdies for a 7-under 65. On the South, Tiger Woods made a 45-foot birdie on the par-3 third and twice saved par with long putts for a 69, putting him in a large group that included Sergio Garcia. Vijay Singh birdied his final hole for a 71 on the South. Phil Mickelson made an inauspicious season debut by hitting only five fairways and shooting 72.

HOCKEY

NHL, UNION FAIL TO REACH AGREEMENT

After two days of negotiations, the NHL and the players’ association appeared no closer to a deal that could save the hockey season.

Representatives from the NHL and the players’ association met for four hours yesterday in Toronto, the second straight day the sides held discussions in an attempt to end the four-month lockout. They remain divided on the idea of cost certainty, a concept the players’ association says is an unacceptable salary cap.

“We’ve had two good days of communication,” Bill Daly, the NHL’s chief legal officer said. “But we still have very strong philosophical differences. I can’t say we’re any closer.”

No further meeting has been scheduled.

– Associated Press