COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Snipers were positioned on rooftops outside the Superdome in New Orleans as fans filed in for the Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish won the College Football Playoff semifinal 23-10. The game was originally scheduled for Wednesday night but was postponed until Thursday afternoon because of a terror attack on New Orleans' Bourbon Street that killed 14 revelers early on New Year's Day. Flags were at half-staff at the stadium, and a moment of silence was held before the singing of the national anthem. Fans said they felt safe amid the enhanced security.
Riley Leonard passed for a touchdown, Jayden Harrison returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score, and Notre Dame’s defense made it hold up in a 23-10 victory over No. 2 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl that sends the third-ranked Fighting Irish into the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. In a game that was delayed by a day because of a deadly terror attack in the host city, Notre Dame made enough big plays and got some help from a clever move by coach Marcus Freeman. He sent out the punt team deep in his own territory before running all 11 players off the field, and an offside penalty gave the Irish a critical first down.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart says he doesn't regret aggressive offensive play calls that backfired during the Bulldogs' College Football Playoff quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. A decision to have inexperienced quarterback Gunner Stockton drop back to pass in the final minute of the first half went badly when he was sacked by Notre Dame's RJ Oben and fumbled. Notre Dame recovered and scored a touchdown one play later. Smart's bid for his third national title with the Bulldogs fell short as he was frequently outmaneuvered by Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman.
Jaxson Dart threw for 404 yards and four touchdowns in his final collegiate game, leading No. 16 Mississippi to a 52-20 romp over Duke in the Gator Bowl. Dart connected with Jordan Watkins seven times for 180 yards and two scores, including a 69-yarder with 1:27 to play that got the quarterback chewed out by coach Lane Kiffin. Dart never considered opting out of the bowl game. Instead, he helped the Rebels (10-3) make history. With the victory, Ole Miss notched double-digit wins in consecutive years for the second time in program lore and the first since 1959-60. Duke finished 9-4.
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is calling for more consistency on what constitutes a targeting penalty after no call was made on Texas safety Michael Taaffe’s high hit on Arizona State receiver Melquan Stovall late in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Peach Bowl. Taaffe struck Stovall with a helmet-to-helmet hit as Stovall caught a pass near midfield with 1:15 left in regulation Wednesday. No flag was thrown, but referee Larry Smith of the Big Ten halted play to check the replay for possible targeting. As Stovall was being helped off the field, Smith announced there was no penalty.
Texas will be a whole lot closer to home than Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. The Buckeyes appear to be a whole lot closer to Atlanta. That’s where the winner of the Cotton Bowl, which doubles as a College Football Playoff semifinal this year, will be heading next for the national championship game. But first, two powerhouse college football programs meet Jan. 10 at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium. Ohio State has rebounded from two regular-season losses to rout a pair of elite opponents by a combined 45 points, while Texas has survived two difficult tests on its CFP journey.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Mika Zibanejad and Brett Berard scored in the first period, and Jonathan Quick made 32 saves as the New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 to snap a four-game losing streak. The Rangers won for the first time at home since Dec. 6 as Quick was steady in place of injured starter Igor Shesterkin to get his 399th career victory. Elias Lindholm scored for Boston and Jeremy Swayman had 25 saves.
Bobby McMann scored twice, including the tiebreaking goal late in the third period, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New York Islanders 2-1. Joseph Woll stopped 32 shots as the Maple Leafs topped the Islanders for the second time this week and won for the third time in four games. Scott Mayfield scored for New York and Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves in the Islanders’ third straight loss. Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech was called for a tripping penalty which set up the power play that McMann and Toronto capitalized on to get the winning goal with 2:59 remaining.
Devon Toews scored 48 seconds into overtime and the Colorado Avalanche overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Buffalo Sabres 6-5 on Thursday night and extend their winning streak to six games. After trailing 3-0 in the second period, the Avalanche regrouped and tied it with eight seconds remaining on a shot from Jonathan Drouin. That set the stage for Toews, who stole the puck and scored on a breakaway. It was the second time this season the Sabres blew a multi-goal lead against Colorado. The Avalanche came back from a 4-0 deficit for a 5-4 victory Dec. 3 in Buffalo. Cale Makar had two goals, while Ross Colton and Mikko Rantanen also scored. Jason Zucker scored three times for Buffalo.
Mark Stone, Nicolas Hague and Pavel Dorofeyev scored in Vegas’ three-goal second period and the Golden Knights beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2. Alexander Holtz and Tanner Pearson also scored for Vegas, which has won 11 of 13. Ilya Samsonov stopped 23 shots. Tyson Foester and Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers, who have lost six of their last nine. Aleksei Kolosov finished with 22 saves.
Alex Ovechkin moved another step closer to breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record by scoring on Marc-Andre Fleury again. The Washington Capitals captain scored his 871st goal by beating Fleury on a power play in the second period against Minnesota. Ovechkin has scored on Fleury 28 times in 47 games against him over the past two decades. That's by far the most of the 178 different goaltenders Ovechkin has scored on. Beating Fleury put the 39-year-old 24 back of passing Gretzky's mark that was once considered unapproachable.
Jaccob Slavin scored the go-ahead goal to lift the Carolina Hurricanes over the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Thursday night. Florida’s Anton Lundell tied it at the beginning of the second before Slavin got one past Sergei Bobrovsky with about seven minutes left in the third. Pyotr Kochetkov made 26 saves, and Slavin also had an assist. Martin Necas added an empty-netter. Brent Burns gave Carolina a 1-0 lead 35 seconds into the game with a shot that bounced off Florida’s Aleksander Barkov and into the net. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 37 shots.
Jonatan Berggren scored with 36 seconds left in the third period and the Detroit Red Wings extended their winning streak to three games with a 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Alex DeBrincat scored and had two assists, Dylan Larkin and Patrick Kane each had a goal and an assist, and Erik Gustafsson added a goal for Detroit. Cam Talbot made 21 saves. James van Riemsdyk had two goals and an assist, Zach Werenski added a goal and two assists, and Sean Monahan also scored for Columbus, which was 4-1-1 in its previous six games. Elvis Merzlikins made 21 saves.
Troy Terry scored his second goal of the game at 3:34 of overtime to give the Anaheim Ducks a 4-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night. Terry added an assist in a three-point night, Radko Gudas and Leo Carlsson also scored and John Gibson stopped 27 shots for Anaheim. The Ducks improved to 16-17-4. Gudas forced overtime when his screened shot from the point beat Connor Hellebuyck with 1:10 left in regulation and the Gibson off for an extra attacker. Alex Iafallo gave Winnipeg a 3-2 lead with a wraparound with 2:44 left. Adam Lowry and Mark Scheifele also scored for Winnipeg. The Jets have lost two in a row to fall to 27-11-2.
Roope Hintz scored two goals for the second time in the last eight games giving him a team-high 18 goals as the Dallas Stars beat the Ottawa Senators 4-2 on Thursday night. Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene also scored, and Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston had two assists each for the Stars, who have points in five consecutive games for the first time this season. Jake Oettinger made 11 saves. Benn and Hintz scored 1:08 apart midway through the second period putting Dallas ahead 3-2. Brady Tkachuk and Ridly Greig scored 24 seconds apart for a 2-1 Senators lead midway through the first period. Leevi Merilainen stopped 21 shots.
Lawson Crouse scored twice and the Utah Hockey Club rallied to beat the Calgary Flames 5-3 on Thursday night to end a five-game winless streak. Logan Cooley, Clayton Keller, and Kevin Stenlund — into an empty net — also scored to help Utah improve to 17-15-6. Karel Vejmelka made 23 saves. Blake Coleman, Connor Zary, and Brayden Pachal scored for Calgary, and Dan Vladar made 21 saves. Down 3-2 after 40 minutes, Utah scored twice early in the third with goals less than two minutes apart. Keller steered in Olli Maatta’s point shot to tie it at 47 seconds. Crouse gave Utah the lead at 2:35 when he took a pass from Nick Bjugstad and beat Vladar.
J.T. Miller scored in the shootout and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Seattle Kraken 4-3. Conor Garland, Tyler Myers and Max Sasson scored in regulation for the Canucks. Thatcher Demko started and stopped 11 of 12 shots before leaving with back spasms in the second period. Kevin Lankinen came on and finished with 13 saves. Vince Dunn and Matty Beniers each had a goal and an assist, Chandler Stephenson also scored and Andre Burakovsky had two assists for Seattle. Philipp Grubauer finished with 19 saves. In the tiebreaker, Miller snuck one past Grubauer in the first round. Lankinen denied Oliver Bjorkstrand, Kaapo Kakko and Beniers to secure the win.
Tyler Toffoli and Mario Ferraro scored and the San Jose Sharks snapped an eight-game winless streak by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1. Toffoli used a nifty toe drag to score his 15th goal of the season midway through the first and Ferraro added a goal in the second to give the Sharks their first home win since Nov. 29. San Jose was 0-7-1 in its last eight games and had just one win in 12 games in a stretch that started with an 8-1 loss at Tampa on Dec. 5. Anthony Cirelli scored for the Lightning.
NBA
Cam Johnson scored 26 points and Cam Thomas had 24 as the Brooklyn Nets withstood a frantic Milwaukee comeback attempt down the stretch to beat the Bucks 113-110 on Thursday. Brooklyn led by as many as 24 and still owned a 111-90 advantage with less than seven minutes left before the Bucks scored 20 straight points. The Bucks had the ball with a chance to take the lead, but Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn’t finish on his drive to the basket. Brooklyn’s Ziaire Williams got the rebound and hit two free throws with 6.1 seconds left. Damian Lillard missed two potential tying 3-point attempts in the last 4.1 seconds.
Jayson Tatum had 33 points, nine assists and eight rebounds as the Boston Celtics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 118-115. Derrick White scored 26 points for Boston, while Sam Hauser — filling in for the injured Jaylen Brown — hit five 3-pointers and scored 15 points.Julius Randle led Minnesota with 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Naz Reid scored 20 off the bench, while Jaden McDaniels had 19 points and eight boards. The Timberwolves trailed by eight with two minutes to play but they had a chance to send it into overtime. However, Anthony Edwards’ 3-pointer fell short at the buzzer.
Stephen Curry had 30 points and made all eight of his 3-point attempts, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Philadelphia 76ers 139-105. Jonathan Kuminga added 20 points off the bench. Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Golden State led 35-19 after the first quarter and extended a 16-point halftime lead to 25 at the end of the third quarter. Curry had 24 points by the end of the third quarter after going 6 of 6 from 3-point range. He made consecutive 3-pointers early in the fourth to put the Warriors up by 30.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 33 points and handed out 15 assists, Myles Turner added 21 points and the Indiana Pacers rolled past the Miami Heat 128-115. Pascal Siakam had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who shot 53% and led by as many as 28. Kel’el Ware led the Heat with 25 points. Bam Adebayo scored 20, Tyler Herro added 17 and Terry Rozier had 16 for Miami. Jimmy Butler scored nine points, and didn’t play in the fourth quarter for a second consecutive night.
Jimmy Butler says he needs to find joy again on the basketball court. And when asked if he can find that joy in Miami, he had a two-word answer. “Probably not,” he said. The relationship between Butler and the Heat — a talking point for weeks now — seems to have further deteriorated. The Heat lost to Indiana 128-115 on Thursday night, Butler scoring exactly nine points and playing exactly zero seconds in the fourth quarter for the second consecutive game. It also happened Wednesday in a win over New Orleans.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder won their franchise-record 13th consecutive regular-season game, 116-98 over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Thunder trailed by 16 in the first half before pulling within 52-48 at halftime. Shaking off a cold shooting first half, the Thunder exploded for 42 third-quarter points and an 18-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. Jalen Williams scored 18 points and Isaiah Hartenstein added 11 points and nine rebounds for Oklahoma City. Amir Coffey led the Clippers with 26 points.
LeBron James scored 38 points, Max Christie had a career-high 28 and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame Anthony Davis’ absence for a 114-106 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. James hit a season-high seven 3-pointers and Christie added five for the Lakers, who have won six of eight .Davis sat out for only the second time this season to rest his sprained left ankle, which the star big man hurt on Christmas. Anfernee Simons scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter for the Blazers, who have lost four of six.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo is the early leader in fan balloting for the NBA All-Star Game, and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers seems well on his way toward extending his record and getting picked for a 21st time. The first update on All-Star voting for this season’s revised game was released Thursday, with Antetokounmpo the overall leader with about 1.7 million votes. Denver’s Nikola Jokic is second overall with about 1.4 million votes, which is tops among all Western Conference players.
Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey had surgery on his left leg, a day after breaking his fibula in a collision during a win over the Orlando Magic. The Pistons said Thursday that Ivey will be reevaluated in four weeks. Ivey shared a social media post that said he promises to come back even better. Detroit drafted Ivey with the No. 5 overall pick in 2022 and the former Purdue star was having a breakout year. Ivey averaged 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and four assists in 30 games this season.
NFL
Nine Baltimore Ravens, including two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, were selected for the Pro Bowl Games. The Detroit Lions are next with seven players and the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles each have six players on the NFC roster. Patrick Mahomes wasn’t selected to the AFC roster for the first time since becoming Kansas City’s starting quarterback in his second season. Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl MVP and six-time Pro Bowl pick, wasn’t among five Chiefs chosen. Travis Kelce made it for the 10th time.
GOLF
Tom Hoge has a new baby and no expectations. The North Dakota player had the right vibe for Maui in the opening round of The Sentry. He just took whatever golf gave him. That was 10 birdies in the wind at Kapalua for a 64. Hoge leads the PGA Tour opener by one shot over Hideki Matsuyama and Will Zalatoris. Matsuyama had a birdie-eagle-birdie stretch on the back nine to get back in the game. Zalatoris came to Kapalua weighing some 20 pounds more than he did in August. He hopes a stronger physique will be good for his back.
MLB
105 years ago today: Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sells pitcher-outfielder Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 plus a $350,000 loan.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UAlbany 64 Vermont 55
Siena 62 Manhattan 60
Georgia Tech 85 Syracuse 68
Iona 69 Marist 67
UMass 72 St. Louis 55
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