Sports briefs

Kim moves into match play semifinals

CASARES, Spain — Anthony Kim advanced to the Volvo World Match Play Championship semifinals Friday despite losing to Scott Strange by three holes in his final round-round match at Finca Cortesin.

Strange needed to beat Kim by at least four holes to advance and was 4-up going to the par-5 18th, but Kim took the hole after hitting his second shot within 4 feet. Strange put his third shot into a bunker before conceding the hole.

Kim will face undefeated Robert Allenby in the semifinals. Allenby beat Oliver Wilson by three holes to set up a Presidents Cup rematch, where Kim won easily. Kim made bigger headlines then after being called a loose cannon by Allenby for reportedly being spotted drunk only hours before teeing off. Angel Cabrera will face Ross Fisher in the other semifinal. Cabrera beat Simon Dyson by seven holes, and Fisher edged Jeev Milkha Singh by a hole.

S. Florida knocks off No. 20 West Virginia

TAMPA, Fla. — B.J. Daniels threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns, and South Florida rebounded from two subpar defensive performances to frustrate No. 20 West Virginia in a 30-19 victory Friday night.

The Bulls (6-2, 2-2 Big East) allowed 75 points and 887 yards in conference losses to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh the previous two weeks, yet found a way to hold Noel Devine of the Mountaineers to his lowest rushing total of the season. West Virginia (6-2, 2-1) lost to the Bulls for the third time in four years. Devine was limited to 42 yards on 19 carries. He entered averaging 130.3 yards per game.

Olympic torch begins trip across Canada

VICTORIA, British Columbia — Triathlon gold medalist Simon Whitfield and speedskating champion Catriona Le May Doan joined to light a torch for the Vancouver Games on Friday, kicking off the longest domestic torch relay in Olympic history.

Whitfield, who won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and silver at the 2008 Beijing Games, resides in Victoria, where the relay started. Le May Doan is the only Canadian to successfully defend an individual Olympic title, having won gold at Nagano and Salt Lake City.

Over 106 days, the torch ?— which arrived by plane Friday from Greece — will stop in every Canadian province and territory leading to the lighting of the cauldron at BC Place. The games will be held from Feb. 12-28 in Vancouver and Whistler.

The torch relay will cover nearly 28,000 miles. It will pass through more than 1,000 communities and be carried by 12,000 torchbearers on a journey by plane, boat, bike, dogsled, skateboard and other modes of transportation.

Series TV ratings take big jump over '08

NEW YORK — Television ratings for the World Series are rebounding from last year's record lows.

The Yankees' 3-1 win over the Phillies on Thursday night on Fox earned an 11.7 fast national rating and 19 share. That's up 44 percent from the 8.13 for last year's Phillies-Rays Game 2.

The network said on Friday it's the highest-rated Game 2 since the Red Sox-Cardinals in 2004.