The Enquirer and wire reports

Trainer Nick Zito is pointing Birdstone toward the Grade II $500,000 Lane's End Stakes on March 20 at Turfway Park.

Birdstone won last year's Champagne Stakes and made a successful 3-year-old debut in allowance company Feb. 14 at Gulfstream Park.

Birdstone, son of 1996 Kentucky Derby winner Grindstone, is one of three major Kentucky Derby candidates in the barn of Zito, a two-time Derby winner.

According to the Daily Racing Form, there are several reasons why Zito believes the Lane's End is a better fit for Mary Lou Whitney Stable's Birdstone than the March 13 Florida Derby.

Firstly, Zito gets to keep Hall of Famer jockey Jerry Bailey, who would have ridden Read the Footnotes in the Florida Derby. Secondly, Zito believes the Lane's End might be easier for Birdstone, a light-bodied colt scheduled to make the Wood Memorial his final prep, three weeks before the May 1 Kentucky Derby.

Zito's two other classic hopefuls, The Cliff's Edge and Eurosilver, are probable for the Florida Derby and Swale Stakes on the Florida Derby undercard.

Silver Minister, winner of the Battaglia Stakes, could be Birdstone's main competition in the Lane's End.

College basketball

TOP 25 MONDAY: Emeka Okafor, a 6-foot-10 junior center, had 25 points and 15 rebounds to lead seventh-ranked Connecticut to an 89-67 victory over Seton Hall.

• Northern Iowa 68, No. 15 Southern Illinois 52: Matt Schneiderman and David Gruber scored 16 points each, ruining the Salukis' bid to finish unbeaten in the Missouri Valley Conference. Northern Iowa (18-9, 12-6) never trailed. SIU (24-3, 17-1) failed to become the first MVC team to go unbeaten in the league since Bradley in 1985-86.

Hockey

MIAMI VS. OSU: No. 9 Miami, second in the CCHA standings (35 points), and No. 11 Ohio State, fourth in the CCHA (30 points), face-off in home-and-home regular-season finale series Friday at Goggin Arena and Saturday at Value City Arena.

Friday's game will determine the winner of the annual Ohio Cup, a traveling trophy awarded by the Columbus-based Buckeye Sports Bulletin to the Ohio-based team with the best record against its instate foes. OSU is 2-1-1, MU is 1-1-1 and Bowling Green is 1-2-1 in designated Ohio Cup games.

No. 6 Michigan (37 points) can clinch the CCHA regular-season title with two points against No. 14 Michigan State (33 points) Friday at East Lansing or Saturday at Joe Louis Arena.

MONDAY IN THE NHL: Jason Ward scored a power-play goal with 24 seconds left in regulation, and the Montreal Canadiens extended their season-high win streak to five with a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

• Lightning 3, Avs 0: Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis scored; Nikolai Khabibulin got his 35th career shutout.

• Blackhawks 2, Predators 2: Chicago goaltender Adam Munro earned a tie in his first NHL game.

Soccer

USA VS. COSTA RICA: Goals by Christine Latham and Aysha Jamani led Canada to a 2-1 victory over Costa Rica in women's Olympic soccer qualifying. The host team will face the United States, winner of the other group, Wednesday, while Canada meets Mexico. The winners will go to Athens

College football

NOTRE DAME: Athletic director Kevin White thinks adding a fifth game to the Bowl Championship Series is good for college football - and for the Fighting Irish.