NFL:
In the NFL playoffs, on Sunday, Seattle edged Minnesota 10-9, Green Bay topped Washington 35-18, and on Saturday Kansas City shut out Houston 30-0, and Pittsburgh slid past Cincinnati 18-16.
Veteran NFL executive Ernie Accorsi has been hired by the Lions as a special adviser to team president Rod Wood. He assisted the Lions in their search for general manager Bob Quinn, who agreed to a deal with the franchise Friday night. Accorsi is a former GM of the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts.
In other NFL news:
— Buffalo has signed general manager Doug Whaley to a contract extension. He just completed his third season as GM and was entering the final year of his contract. The Bills finished 8-8 and extended the NFL's longest active playoff drought to 16 seasons.
— Tom Coughlin may not be done coaching in the NFL. According to two people familiar with the team's plans the Eagles will interview Coughlin for their coaching vacancy on Monday. Coughlin is a two-time Super Bowl champion who stepped down last week after 12 seasons with the New York Giants. He previously coached Jacksonville from 1995-2002.
— Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan has hired his twin brother to become a member of his staff. Rob Ryan will serve as assistant head coach with a specific responsibility for defense. Rob Ryan was fired as the New Orleans Saints' defensive coordinator in mid-November with the team ranking last in the NHL in yards and points allowed.
— The Cleveland Browns have interviewed New England defensive coordinator Matt Patricia for their head coaching job. Patricia is the fifth candidate to meet with the Browns, who began their search by speaking with Chicago offensive coordinator Adam Gase. He was hired by Miami on Saturday.
NBA:
In the NBA, New York bested Milwaukee 100-88, Memphis defeated Boston 101-98, Denver beat Charlotte 95-92, Portland topped Oklahoma City 115-110, Utah won against the Lakers 86-74, Houston beat Indiana in overtime 107-103, Cleveland bested Philadelphia 95-85, Dallas won against Minnesota 93-87, and it was the Clippers over New Orleans in overtime 114-111.
The Brooklyn Nets have fired coach Lionel Hollins and reassigned general manager Billy King in the midst of the team's worst season since moving from New Jersey. The Nets say that assistant Tony Brown will serve as the interim head coach, and the GM position will remain open until a replacement is hired. The Nets have lost four in a row overall and nine straight at home. The Nets are 10-27 this season after making the playoffs every year since relocating for the 2012-13 season.
NHL:
In the NHL, Buffalo doubled up Winnipeg 4-2, New Jersey edged Minnesota 2-1, Florida won against Edmonton 2-1, Detroit skated past Anaheim 2-1, Washington crushed Ottawa 7-1, and it was Chicago over Colorado 6-3.
The player who was injured during a women's hockey exhibition before the Winter Classic says it didn't spoil "the best day of my life." Denna Laing has been hospitalized with a severe spinal injury since crashing into the boards during the December 31st game at Gillette Stadium. Her family said last week that she had limited movement in her arms and no feeling in her legs.
Golf:
Jordan Spieth has joined Ernie Els as the only players in PGA Tour history to finish a 72-hole event at 30 under or lower. Spieth cruised to an eight-shot victory over Patrick Reed at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, finishing at 30 under. It comes 13 years after Els won at Kapalua with a record 31 under.
Spieth closed with a 6-under 67 that included five birdies and no bogeys over his final 10 holes. His lead shrunk to three strokes with a bogey on the par-3 eighth hole, but he immediately followed that with consecutive birdies to move five ahead of Reed. Spieth joined Tiger Woods as the only players to record at least seven wins before his 23rd birthday since complete records began in 1970.
NCAA:
Tonight at 8:30 the No. 1 Clemson Tigers will face off against No. 2 Alabama in the College Football Playoff championship game. Regardless of the outcome of tonight’s game between the two teams, a case can be made that no team in the history of the sport has had a better run than the Crimson Tide under coach Nick Saban. If Alabama beats the Tigers to win a fourth national title in seven seasons, the argument may be settled.
There was talk early in the season after Alabama lost to Mississippi that the Tide dynasty was in decline. Now Alabama (13-1) is one victory away from an unprecedented achievement. The Tide can become just the third school in college football's poll era, dating back to the creation of The Associated Press media poll in 1936, to win four championships in a 10-year span.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney expects starting defensive end Shaq Lawson to play in the national championship game against Alabama on Monday night. Lawson, the Atlantic Coast Conference defensive player of the year and first-team All-American, hurt his left knee early in the Tigers' 37-17 victory over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Eve. Lawson said Saturday there's still pain, but he wanted to play in the game. Swinney said Sunday that Lawson "looked good" in the team's practice a day earlier. The coach said he could not be sure how effective Lawson might be until the game begins. Swinney said Lawson has done "everything that he needs to do" to play in the game.
In other college sports news:
In college women's basketball, Number 1 UConn overcame cold shooting to pull away to a 75-59 victory over Number 22 South Florida yesterday. Morgan Tuck had 22 points and 12 rebounds. Breanna Stewart finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Huskies, who extended their winning streak to 51 games despite shooting 38 percent in the opening half.
Dave Rice has resigned while in the middle of his fifth season as UNLV's men's basketball coach. The decision was announced one day after the Runnin' Rebels fell to 0-3 in the Mountain West Conference. Associate head coach Todd Simon will serve as interim coach for the rest of the season.
Seventh-ranked Arizona has lost freshman Allonzo Trier for up to six weeks with a broken hand suffered against Southern California Saturday night. He has been leading the Wildcats in scoring with 14.8 points per game.
Fifteenth-ranked SMU remains one of two unbeaten teams left in Division I men's basketball after an impressive effort against Central Florida. Ben Moore had a career-high 23 points and Nic Moore added 20 as the Mustangs thumped UCF 88-73. SMU reeled off 15 straight points in the first half, including three 3-pointers in a 57-second span. The Mustangs are 15-0 this season, with nine victories coming while coach Larry Brown was serving a suspension for NCAA violations within the program. The 75-year-old Brown wasn't on the bench after halftime Sunday because he wasn't feeling well.
In other top-25 finals:
— Bryn Forbes hit six of Michigan State's 10 3-pointers and scored all 20 of his points by halftime of the fifth-ranked Spartans' 92-65 pounding of Penn State. Denzel Valentine returned from his knee injury to score all 10 of his points after the break for the 16-1 Spartans.
— No. 11 Villanova won a battle of ranked teams as Josh Hart scored 22 points in the Wildcats' 60-55 win at Butler. The Wildcats trailed by seven in the second half before reeling off runs of 14-0 and 10-2 to earn their sixth straight win.
— Clemson surprised 16th-ranked Louisville as Jaron Blossomgame scored 17 points and Avry Holmes added 16 in the Tigers' 66-62 victory over the Cardinals. Holmes sank two free throws with 5.5 seconds left to seal Clemson's first win over a ranked ACC team in its last 11 tries.
— Malcolm Hill scored 30 points and Kendrick Nunn added 22 to lead Illinois past No. 20 Purdue 84-70. Hill and Nunn were a combined 17 for 27 from the field for the Illini, who entered the game just 8-8 before handing the Boilermakers their third loss in 17 games.
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