NFL:
In the NFL, the Giants beat Detroit 17-6, New England topped Denver 16-3, Buffalo blasted Cleveland 33-13, Atlanta crushed San Francisco 41-13, New Orleans beat Arizona 48-41, Oakland defeated San Diego 19-16, Dallas bested Tampa Bay 26-20, Green Bay won against Chicago 30-27, Baltimore edged Philadelphia 27-26, Tennessee defeated Kansas City 19-17, Pittsburgh trumped Cincinnati 24-20, and Indianapolis topped Minnesota 34-6. On Saturday, Miami crushed the Jets 34-13.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have fired Gus Bradley, ending the least successful coaching tenure in NFL history. Bradley went 14-48 in four seasons in Jacksonville, with his .225 winning percentage the worst of any NFL coach with at least 60 games.
The New England Patriots will enjoy another year in which they have earned a first-round bye in the upcoming NFL playoffs. The Pats clinched their seventh straight bye by beating the defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos 16-3 at Mile High yesterday.
The Steelers can clinch another AFC North championship next Sunday at home when they face Baltimore. Both the Steelers and Ravens won yesterday to set up the big showdown in the Steel City.
NHL:
In the NHL, the Rangers won against New Jersey in a shootout 3-2, Ottawa tripled up the Islanders 6-2, Boston beat Los Angeles 1-0, Chicago bested San Jose 4-1, Columbus won against Vancouver 4-3, and it was Winnipeg over Colorado 4-1.
NBA:
In the NBA, Boston bested Miami 105-95, Philadelphia squeaked by Brooklyn 108-107, Utah beat Memphis 82-73, San Antonio topped New Orleans 113-100, Toronto defeated Orlando 109-79, Dallas beat Sacramento 99-79, and it was Washington over the Clippers 117-110.
NCAA:
Matt Harris hit four 3-pointers, Logan Primerano made all seven of his shots and both scored 16 points to lead Massachusetts-Lowell to an 86-69 win over Central Connecticut State yesterday. Jahad Thomas had 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the River Hawks, who ended a four-game losing streak. Ryan Jones had 13 points.
Chaise Daniels had 17 points and nine rebounds, Mikey Dixon added 16 points, and Quinnipiac overcame a cold-shooting first half to beat Maine 85-75 yesterday. The Bobcats only scored nine points through the first 10 minutes of the game and trailed 36-28 at halftime, behind Daniels' eight points. Daniels tied it 40-all early in the second half and Peter Kiss gave Quinnipiac its first double-digit lead of the game at 71-61 with 4:53 left.
Kentan Facey scored a career-high 20 points to lead five Huskies in double figures as UConn beat North Florida 80-59 yesterday. The 6-foot-10 senior added nine rebounds and four of the team's 13 blocked shots as UConn evened its record at 5-5. Christian Vital and Jalen Adams each had 13 for UConn. Rodney Purvis and Amida Brimah added 11 apiece.
Nigel Williams-Goss scored 20 points and No. 8 Gonzaga remained undefeated by holding off Tennessee 86-76. The 11-0 'Zags hadn't played since Dec. 10. But they looked strong as the Bulldogs scored the first eight points and never trailed. In Sunday's only other game involving a team ranked in the AP Top-25, Johnathan Motley had 20 points and nine rebounds in No. 4 Baylor's 107-53 victory over overmatched NAIA school John Brown. The Bears 11-0.
In women’s college basketball, St. Bonaventure beat UAlbany 67-59.
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