COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
James Akinjo scored 25 points and Matthew Mayer had all nine of his points in the closing minutes while putting No. 8 Baylor ahead to stay as the Bears overcame West Virginia 81-77 on Monday night.
Mayer hadn’t scored until his layup with 3:27 left to break a 66-66 tie, and put the Bears (19-3, 7-2 Big 12) in the lead for good. Jeremy Sochan had a steal in the backcourt and passed ahead to Mayer, who seconds later rebounded Sochan’s second missed free throw and made a strong inside basket. He later added a 3-pointer.
Taz Sherman, a Texas native, had a career-high 29 points with six 3-pointers to lead the Mountaineers (13-8, 2-6), who have their first six-game losing streak since the end of the 2012-13 season. Sean McNeil added 16 points.
Sherman didn’t play the final 3:42, staying on the floor for a length period after a turnover before finally getting up and slowly going to the bench.
In other College basketball action:
Freshman Paolo Banchero had 21 points, fellow classmate A.J. Griffin added 13 and each had a team-high nine rebounds as No. 9 Duke handed Notre Dame its first home loss of the season in a 57-43 Atlantic Coast Conference rout. The Blue Devils pulled into a first-place tie with idle Miami with their fourth straight victory for coach Mike Krzyzewski, who is retiring at the conclusion of the season and was making his final appearance at the sold out Purcell Pavilion against protege Mike Brey, whose Irish saw their nine-game home win string end.
Auburn remains No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the second straight week. The Tigers have won 17 straight games. Gonzaga is No. 2 followed by UCLA and Purdue. No. 23 Texas re-entered the poll as the week’s lone new addition.
NBA:
Tyrese Maxey scored 33 points, including a driving layup with 26.4 seconds left in overtime that put Philadelphia ahead for good, and the 76ers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 122-119 without Joel Embiid. Tobias Harris added 31 points and Andrew Drummond had 16 points and 23 rebounds for Philadelphia, which won its fifth game in a row and 15th in the last 18.
The 76ers improved to 4-8 without Embiid, who sat out for rest. Ja Morant scored 37 points and Desmond Bane had a career-high 34 for Memphis.
In other NBA action:
Gary Trent Jr. scored 31 points, Pascal Siakam added 25 and the Toronto Raptors snapped Atlanta’s seven-game winning streak with a 106-100 victory. The Hawks were playing without All-Star guard Trae Young, who was scratched with a right shoulder contusion. Trent has scored at least 30 points in four straight games. Kevin Huerter scored 26 points for Atlanta, which never reclaimed the lead despite pulling within one late in the fourth.
Stephen Curry scored 21 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 122-108 win over the Houston Rockets Monday night. It’s the sixth consecutive win for the Warriors. Houston’s skid at home is up to 11 straight games. The Warriors were clinging to a four-point lead in the fourth when Curry scored the next five points to make it 113-104 with four minutes left. Christian Wood led the Rockets with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Curry’s 21 fourth-quarter points were the highest of his career.
Jaylen Brown had 29 points, Jayson Tatum added 20 points and 12 rebounds and the Boston Celtics rolled past the Miami Heat 122-92. Boston led by as many as 32 on their way to claiming the fourth victory in five outings. Marcus Smart added 16 points and seven assists. Miami has lost two straight and struggled mightily without Jimmy Butler, P.J. Tucker and Kyle Lowry. Max Strus finished 27 points for the Heat, Caleb Martin had 14 points and Bam Adebayo chipped in 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Reserve guard Brandon Goodwin matched a career-high with 21 points, Jarrett Allen added 16 and the Cleveland Cavaliers shook off an ugly road loss by rallying to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 93-90. The Cavs were without star guard Darius Garland due to a sore lower back. Kevin Love added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavs, who trailed by nine in the fourth quarter. Cedi Osman had a career-high 12 assists for Cleveland. Devonte’ Graham scored 20, Jaxson Hayes 19 and Jonas Valanciunas had 16 for the Pelicans. New Orleans has lost four straight.
Lu Dort scored 18 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 98-81 to snap a seven-game losing streak. Josh Giddey added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the short-handed Thunder. Oklahoma City’s scoring leader, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, is out until after the All-Star break with a sprained right ankle sustained last Friday against Indiana. CJ McCollum scored 21 points and Norman Powell added 18 for Portland. The Trail Blazers have lost four of five.
Rookie forward Isaiah Jackson scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first career double-double and led the Indiana Pacers past the Los Angeles Clippers 122-116. Both totals were season highs for Jackson. Duane Washington Jr. added 16 points and made all four of his 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. The Clippers were led by Amir Coffey with 27 points and Reggie Jackson with 21. Los Angeles went 4-4 on its road trip. The Clippers were up 88-82 early in the fourth but gave up 12 straight points and never led again.
Alec Burks had 21 points off the bench, Evan Fournier also scored 21 and the New York Knicks routed the skidding Sacramento Kings 116-96 to snap a three-game losing streak. Julius Randle added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks, who won for the second time in eight games. Tyrese Haliburton had 21 points and eight assists for the Kings, who have lost seven straight overall and 12 in a row on the road. Davion Mitchell added 18 points. Sacramento’s last road victory was Dec. 1 at the Los Angeles Clippers.
Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles tore a ligament in his right knee that will require surgery. He is out indefinitely. Ingles was injured in the second quarter of the Jazz’s game at Minnesota.
Portland Trail Blazers forward Nassir Little will miss the rest of the season because of a left shoulder injury that requires surgery for a torn labrum. Little was injured in the fourth quarter of Portland’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan. 25.
Elsewhere around the NBA:
Bradley Beal is expected to miss the next two games for the Washington Wizards after spraining his left wrist. Beal was injured in the third quarter at Memphis on Saturday.
NHL:
Sam Reinhart had his fifth career hat trick to lift the Florida Panthers over the Columbus Blue Jackets 8-4 for their fourth straight win. Mason Marchment had two goals and four assists for a career-high six points to help Columbus secure the top spot in the NHL standings heading into the All-Star break.
Aleksander Barkov, Owen Tippett and MacKenzie Weegar also scored, and Reinhart added an assist. Anton Lundell had a career-high five assists. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 shots for his 23rd win. Patrik Laine had two goals, and Gus Nyquist and Emil Bemstrom also scored for the Blue Jackets.
Elvis Merzlikins gave up four goals on 11 first-period shots and made 11 stops in the second period before Joonas Korpisalo came in for the third period, stopping 13.
In other NHL ice action:
Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves, Brock Boeser scored and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1. Alex Chiasson and Luke Schenn also scored for Vancouver, which had dropped four of five. Connor Murphy scored for the Blackhawks, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 stops. Playing without captain Jonathan Toews, who missed his second straight game because of a concussion, Chicago lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Auston Matthews had three goals and an assist, and the Toronto Maple Leafs scored four times in the third period to rally to a 6-4 win over the New Jersey Devils. Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists, Ilya Mikheyev had a goal and an assist, and Jason Spezza also scored to help the Maple Leafs win their fourth straight. Akira Schmid had 27 saves as the Devils lost their fifth straight.
Jordan Oesterle scored 2:11 into overtime as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1. Dylan Larkin had a game and an assist to help Detroit win for the second time in six games. Alex Nedeljkovic, starting for the 10th time in 11 games, had 14 saves. Rickard Rakell scored for Anaheim, and John Gibson finished with 26 saves. The Ducks snapped a two-game win streak. In the extra period, Oesterle one-timed a feed off a faceoff from Larkin for his first goal with the Red Wings.
Tim Stutzle scored at 4:22 of overtime and the Ottawa Senators beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2. Thomas Chabot and Nick Paul scored in regulation for the Senators, and Matt Murray stopped 37 shots. Connor McDavid and Darnell Nurse scored for the Oilers. Mikko Koskinen finished with 28 saves. With time winding down in the extra period, Stutzle squeezed the puck to the top corner to beat Koskinen for Ottawa’s third win in eight games.
The Minnesota Wild and left wing Jordan Greenway have agreed to a three-year, $9 million contract extension. It runs through the 2024-25 season.
The 24-year-old Greenway has four goals, nine assists and a career-high plus-17 rating in 33 games this season. He is third on the team with 82 hits.
The Wild are 8-0-1 in their last nine games.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
New Jersey Devils coach Lindy Ruff will miss the next two games following the death of his father in western Canada. Leeson Ruff died on Friday at a hospital in Warburg, Alberta.
MLB LOCKOUT:
Baseball labor negotiations are set to resume Tuesday, just over two weeks before the scheduled start of a spring training that’s threatened by a lockout. The sport’s ninth work stoppage began Dec. 2 after the expiration of a five-year labor contract.
The sides did not meet again on the central economic issues until Jan. 24, when players withdrew their proposal for more liberalized free agency. Management responded the following day by withdrawing its proposal for more limited salary arbitration.
Tuesday’s session will be the first on the central issues since then and the sides are apart on many economic proposals. That leaves very little time to end the lockout and avoid disrupting the Feb. 16 scheduled start of spring training workouts. Players would need several days to travel to team complexes in Arizona and Florida, plus time to go through COVID-19 protocols.
Given the need for at least three weeks of workouts, Opening Day on March 31 would be threatened if there is not an agreement by late February or early March.
NFL:
Tom Brady says he’s still evaluating his future and the seven-time Super Bowl champion isn’t ready to make a decision about retirement. Speaking on his SiriusXM podcast, Brady said that he thinks when the time is right, he’ll be ready to make a decision, one way or the other.”
The 44-year-old quarterback has already stated a desire to spend more time with his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, and three children.
He’s under contract for 2022 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and is coming off one of the best seasons in his 22-year career.
In other NFL news:
Kirk Cousins will be the Pro Bowl injury replacement for Aaron Rodgers for a third time. Rodgers played much of the season for the Green Bay Packers with a broken toe. A pair of Tennessee Titans were also added as Pro Bowl injury replacements. Defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons is replacing Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, while left guard Rodger Saffold, a 12-year veteran, is filling in for Quenton Nelson of Indianapolis. This will be the first Pro Bowl appearance for both.
The Minnesota Vikings have entered a fast-paced final stretch of their head coach search. Vikings officials flew to California on Monday to conduct a second interview with both Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell and Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. According to a person with knowledge of the process, New York Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham will interview at Vikings headquarters on Tuesday followed by Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh on Wednesday.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are rebooting their coaching search. The Jaguars interviewed former Las Vegas Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia on Monday and lined up a second interview Tuesday with former Philadelphia coach Doug Pederson. The Jaguars also want to interview Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell but will have to wait until after the Super Bowl to do it. Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich remains a possibility in Jacksonville, although he’s starting to seem like a long shot.
The Green Bay Packers have promoted Adam Stenavich from offensive line coach to offensive coordinator as they fill the vacancy created when Nathaniel Hackett left to become Denver Broncos head coach.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh says that injured quarterback Lamar Jackson can resume workouts the day after the Super Bowl on Feb. 14.
The Atlanta Falcons have hired former Chicago Bears assistant Michael Pitre as running backs coach. He replaces Desmond Kitchings, who left the Falcons with one game remaining in Atlanta’s 7-10 season to become Virginia’s offensive coordinator.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL:
Wisconsin’s new offensive coordinator is coming from the pro ranks. Bobby Engram has spent eight seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, first as a wide receivers coach and most recently as a tight ends coach. He’s also familiar to Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst, because Engram was Chryst’s wide receivers coach at Pittsburgh in the 2012-13 season. Engram's son, Dean Engram, will play wide receiver for Wisconsin in the upcoming season.
Bobby Engram played in the NFL with the Chicago Bears (1996-2000), Seattle Seahawks (2001-08) and Kansas City Chiefs (2009). He had 650 career catches for 7,751 yards and 35 touchdowns.
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