Holiday Bowl. (ESPN) The Northern Illinois Huskies defeat the Troy Trojans 34–21 in the Silicon Valley Football Classic. (ESPN) NBA: The Seattle SuperSonics defeat the Atlanta Hawks, 94–79, in Atlanta. (NBA) The New Jersey Nets play the Indiana Pacers, in New Jersey. The Detroit Pistons play the Miami Heat, in Detroit. The San Antonio Spurs play the Portland Trail Blazers, in Portland. Football (soccer): Real Madrid announce that former Brazil coach Wanderley Luxemburgo will be their new coach, replacing Mariano Garcia Remon. Luxemburgo will be Real's third coach this season. He leaves Santos, which he recently led to the Brazilian championship. (BBC) Manchester United's 19-year-old star Wayne Rooney has been given a three-match ban by the Football Association for violent behaviour after TV images showed him shoving Bolton defender Tal Ben Haim in the face. Haim has also been criticised for poor behaviour, as he was judged to exaggerate the episode. Alex Ferguson has criticised the FA for their handling of the case. (BBC) December 29, 2004 (Wednesday) Cricket: Australia (379 and 127 for 1) beat Pakistan (341 and 163) by 9 wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia to lead the 3 test series 2–0. Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, later suggests that Shoaib Akhtar did not bowl as well as he should have done. (Cricinfo) Sri Lanka postpone their tour of New Zealand to return home. The decision is taken after a tsunami struck the eastern Sri Lankan coast, killing tens of thousands. The New Zealand Cricket Board and the International Cricket Council support the move. Muttiah Muralitharan, the second highest wicket-taker in test match history, avoided the tsunami striking Galle by minutes. The Test match ground in Galle has been devastated. (Cricinfo) (ICC) Zimbabwe's arrival in Bangladesh has been postponed by two days as a result of disruption to flight schedules from India into Bangladesh caused by a tsunami striking the region. (Cricinfo) College football bowl games: The Colorado Buffaloes defeat the UTEP Miners 33–28 in the Houston Bowl. (ESPN) The Ohio State Buckeyes defeat the Oklahoma State Cowboys 33–7 in the Alamo Bowl. (ESPN) December 28, 2004 (Tuesday) College football bowl games: The Iowa State Cyclones defeat the Miami RedHawks 17–13 in the Independence Bowl. (ESPN) The Oregon State Beavers defeat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 38–21 in the Insight Bowl. (ESPN) NBA: Chauncey Billups scores the game-winning fade-away shot with 0.7 seconds remaining as