College Basketball

UNLV edges New Mexico

LAS VEGAS -- UNLV's TreVon Willis had 15 points late Saturday night to lead the Rebels to a 60-58 victory against New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference opener for both schools.

UNLV (13-2, 1-0) trailed 52-50 with 4:23 to play before going on an 8-1 run to take the lead for good. Willis had six consecutive points in the rally as the Rebels won their eighth straight game.

New Mexico's Jonathan Willis hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds to play to cut New Mexicos deficit to 58-56. But Willis connected on 2-of-4 fouls shots to seal the victory.

Joe Darger had nine points and 10 rebounds for UNLV, and Rene Rougeau added nine points and seven rebounds.

New Mexico (9-6, 0-1) got a game-high 19 points from Daniel Faris. Tony Danridge had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Lobos, and Nate Garth added nine points.

NFL

Cowher says he won't coach in '09, staying at CBS

NEW YORK -- Bill Cowher doesn't plan to coach in the NFL next year, and will stay with CBS Sports as a studio analyst.

Cowher was recently wooed by the New York Jets, but said during "The NFL Today" on Sunday that he's taking it "year to year."

"It's a privilege and an honor to be a head coach in the National Football League," Cowher said. "And I have been flattered about the attention, but the timing right now is not right. I don't plan on coaching next year."

The Super-Bowl winning coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006, Cowher took himself out of the running as a candidate for the Jets job on Dec. 30. He also was a candidate for the vacant Cleveland job, but asked to be taken off the list.

CBS Sports will broadcast the 2010 Super Bowl in Miami.

• Raiders talk with Gilbride about coaching opening: At Alameda, Calif., Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis had a 90-minute phone conversation with New York Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride about the team's coaching vacancy.

The two spoke Saturday after Gilbride had expressed interest in the job through his agent, Raiders senior executive John Herrera said Sunday.

Gilbride is the first outside candidate to talk to Davis about the job. Interim coach Tom Cable is also a candidate after running the team for the final 12 games following the firing of Lane Kiffin in September.

Gilbride's only previous head coaching experience in the NFL came in 1997-98, when he went 6-16 for the San Diego Chargers. Gilbride is a longtime assistant in the NFL and helped the Giants win the Super Bowl last season, then earn the top seed in the NFC playoffs this season.

• Dolphins owner: Parcells plans to stay: At Miami, Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga says Bill Parcells is staying with Miami.

Huizenga said Parcells has decided to stay for another season after the team's playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

Parcells' contract allows him to leave and still receive the $9-12 million remaining on his four-year contract if the team is sold. That sale is expected to be completed soon.

But Huizenga said Parcells told him Friday he plans to remain as executive vice president of football operations.

Thanks in large part to the leadership of Parcells, Miami went 11-6 and made the playoffs for the first time in seven years.

World Cup Skiing

Crash costs Vonn likely victory

ZAGREB, Croatia -- With the finish and the victory literally in sight, Lindsey Vonn made a costly error.

The 24-year-old American crashed just five gates before the finish Sunday on the icy Crveni Spust slalom course, losing a likely victory and the overall lead in the World Cup standings.

Maria Riesch of Germany finished in a combined time of 1 minute, 58.69 seconds to win her third straight slalom and take the lead in the standings.

Vonn led after the opening leg and was 0.94 seconds faster than Riesch at the second intermediate time in the final run before hitting a gate and crashing. She was not injured.

"So many things can happen in a second and your day is done," said Vonn, who was skiing aggressively because she wasn't aware of her massive lead over Riesch.