Wie follows 81 with an 80 in Japan

Michelle Wie was hoping to make the cut but ended up just trying not to finish last. Wie beat only one player in the men's event, shooting an 8-over-par 80 yesterday in the second round of the Japanese tour's Casio World Open in Kochi. Wie, 17, finished at 17-over 161 on the Kuroshio Country Club course, 27 strokes behind leader Tetsuya Haraguchi and a shot ahead of amateur Tomomichi Oto. She didn't birdie a single hole in the tournament. Haraguchi shot a 68 to top the leaderboard at 10 under . . . Australian amateur Aaron Pike followed his record-tying round of 64 with a 3-under 69 to take a two-stroke lead after two rounds of the Australian Masters at Huntingdale in Melbourne. The 21-year-old Pike is at 11-under 133. Justin Rose (66) is two strokes back.

Willie Pep, a Hall of Fame boxer and one of the best fighters of the 20th century, has died at the age of 84 in Rocky Hill, Conn., where he had been confined to an Alzheimer's unit in a nursing home since 2001. The embodiment of finesse and speed in his prime, Pep was 230-11-1 with 65 KOs during his 26-year career.

Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall signed a five-year, $15 million contract extension through the 2011-12 season. Kronwall, 25, had three assists in the first 16 games this season after playing in only 27 contests last season because of a knee injury . . . Center Jason Krog, a former University of New Hampshire star, was recalled by the Atlanta Thrashers from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.

Brian Joubert of France, seeking his second Grand Prix gold medal of the season, won the Cup of Russia men's short program in Moscow. Three-time US champion Johnny Weir was fewer than 2 points behind. It's the first time in the competition's decade-long history that the men's field wasn't dominated by Russians, who have won all the previous gold. Julia Sebestyen of Hungary took the lead after the women's short program with 54.36 points, about 7 points off her personal best. Elena Sokolova of Russia was second and Sarah Meier of Switzerland third. Alissa Czisny, the only American in the competition, was in eighth place. In ice dancing, Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia are nearly 1.5 points ahead of Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto after the compulsory dance. Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy won the pairs short program.

Memphis Grizzlies rookie point guard Kyle Lowry could miss most of the season after fracturing his left wrist Tuesday night in a loss at Cleveland. Lowry's left wrist was placed in a cast after he was injured in the second quarter. The official release states he will "be out indefinitely," but Grizzlies coach Mike Fratello said Lowry's absence will be extensive . . . Golden State guard Baron Davis didn't make the trip to Denver last night because of a strained muscle in his ribs. "He'll be out a couple of games for sure," Warriors coach Don Nelson said.

High levels of EPO were found in some of the bags of blood seized from two Madrid apartments belonging to Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes by Spanish authorities investigating doping in cycling, the Spanish daily El Mundo reported. Eight of the 90 bags tested at a Barcelona laboratory returned with traces of the hormone EPO, or erythropoietin, which stimulates the production of red blood cells to improve endurance.