NBA:
In the NBA, Atlanta squeaked by the Knicks in overtime 102-98, Chicago topped Brooklyn 101-99, Milwaukee bested Detroit 119-94, San Antonio beat Phoenix 119-98, Denver won against Minnesota 105-103, Portland defeated Sacramento 102-89, Golden State beat Toronto 121-111, Washington bested Indiana 111-105, and Charlotte topped Orlando 120-101.
NHL:
In the NHL, Pittsburgh beat Carolina 3-2, Toronto won against Florida in a shootout 3-2, Tampa Bay slid past Montreal in overtime 4-3, St. Louis doubled up Philadelphia 6-3, and Vancouver beat the Kings 2-1.
The Los Angeles Kings have placed forward Tyler Toffoli on injured reserve. He's already missed two games with a lower-body injury and will miss at least three more, leaving the team without its No. 2 scorer.
Chicago Blackhawks forward Artemi Panarin has agreed to a two-year, $12 million contract extension that runs through the 2018-19 season. The reigning Calder Trophy winner has 114 points in 117 NHL games, including 15 goals and 22 assists in 37 games this season. Panarin made the team out of training camp last season and delivered 30 goals and 77 points as a rookie.
NCAA:
In college men's basketball, Number 9 North Carolina beat Monmouth 102-74 last night. Justin Jackson scored 28 points for North Carolina. Micah Seaborn scored 19 points and Je'Lon Hornbeak added 17 before fouling out for Monmouth, which had its program-record nine-game winning streak snapped.
Number 10 Creighton opened Big East play with an 89-75 win over Seton Hall last night. Maurice Watson had 21 points and 10 assists, and four other Creighton players scored in double figures. Khadeen Carrington led Seton Hall with 27 points and Desi Rodriguez, who came into the game 6 of 29 from 3-point range, made a career-high five 3s while scoring 24 points.
Number 24 Notre Dame closed out its non-conference schedule with a 63-55 victory over Saint Peter's last night. V.J. Beachem scored 18 points for Notre Dame. Nick Griffin led Saint Peters with 16 points.
Houston held UConn to 12 first-half points in a 62-46 victory yesterday. Rob Gray scored 20 points for Houston. Christian Vital led UConn with 15 points, while Vance Jackson and Rodney Purvis each had 12. For the second time this season, the Huskies were held without a block as 7-foot center Amida Brimah played just 14 minutes due to foul trouble.
Princeton beat Hampton 77-49 last night. Spencer Weisz had 17 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Weisz made five of Princeton's 14 3-pointers as the Tigers shot 45.2 percent from distance. Steven Cook added 13 points and eight rebounds for Princeton.
Davidson defeated Hartford 105-75 last night, breaking 100 points the first time this season. Jack Gibbs scored 27 points, leading six teammates into double figures, for Davidson. Jalen Ross led Hartford with 22 points, J.R. Lynch added a season-high 17 and Jason Dunne had 16.
NJIT held off Stony Brook 64-61 last night. Damon Lynn scored 26 points and Tim Coleman had 20. The Highlanders led 38-34 at the half and the game that was tight throughout was decided when Lucas Woodhouse's 3-pointer bounced off the back iron as time expired.
In college women's basketball, Northeastern bested Siena 61-50.
Number 13 Stanford beat Yale 102-44 yesterday. Karlie Samuelson made four 3-pointers and scored 21 points, and Erica McCall had 19 points and six rebounds for Stanford. Megan Gorman made three 3-pointers and scored 21 points for Yale. She also grabbed seven rebounds but the Bulldogs were outrebounded 49-33.
In college football, UConn is bringing back Randy Edsall as coach, hoping to turn around the Huskies by bringing back the winningest coach in school history. Athletic director David Benedict announced Edsall's hiring yesterday, two days after firing Bob Diaco. Diaco went 11-26 in three seasons.
Top-25 teams went 0-2 in Wednesday's bowl action. Brad Kaaya tied a career high with four touchdown passes while completing 24 of 34 passes for 282 yards in Miami's 31-14 rout of 14th-ranked West Virginia in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Justin Jackson ran for 226 yards and three touchdowns to lead Northwestern's 31-24 win over the Panthers in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.
NFL:
New York Jets center Nick Mangold says he has no plans to retire despite an injury-filled 11th NFL season that ended three weeks ago when he was placed on injured reserve. Mangold says he'll know in two or three weeks whether his injured right ankle will require surgery.
The New York Jets have placed running back Khiry Robinson on injured reserve after he broke his right leg for the third time in 13 months. Robinson was injured last Saturday in his first game back since breaking the leg in the preseason finale at Philadelphia in September. He was waived/injured on September 4th and re-signed with the Jets on December 7th.
Aside from having an interim head coach in Anthony Lynn, the Buffalo Bills also have an interim starting quarterback: EJ Manuel. Without going into detail, Lynn called it "a business decision" to start Manuel in place of Tyrod Taylor in Buffalo's season finale against the New York Jets on Sunday. Both teams are eliminated from playoff contention.
DeMarcus Ware needs season-ending back surgery that could spell the end of his NFL career. The Broncos have placed Ware on injured reserve along with cornerback Kayvon Webster, who sustained a concussion last weekend at Kansas City. Ware took a big pay cut to return to the Broncos after winning his first Super Bowl ring, but he missed almost all of the offseason with back troubles. The 12-year veteran is sixth on the all-time sacks list with 138 ½ after recording four in 10 games this year.
Elsewhere:
— A.J. Green's hamstring injury will force the Bengals' receiver to miss the season finale Sunday against Baltimore. Green finishes the season with 66 catches for 964 yards, leaving him 36 yards shy of joining Randy Moss as the only NFL players to top 1,000 yards receiving in each of their first six seasons.
— Miami Dolphins safety Isa Abdul-Quddus will miss the rest of the season due to a neck injury suffered in Sunday's win over Buffalo. He was placed on season-ending injured reserve when the Dolphins promoted undrafted rookie free agent safety A.J. Hendy from the practice squad.
— Baltimore receiver Steve Smith says he's "89 percent" sure Sunday's game against Cincinnati will be the last of his 16-season career. That percentage coincides with his number. Although Smith spoke with deep emotion during his 10-minute media session, he did not formally announce his retirement. He did that prior to last season but ended up changing his mind after tearing his Achilles tendon in Week 7.
— The Pro Football Hall of Fame has announced that next year's Hall of Fame game will be played on a Thursday night, two days before the inductions into the pro football shrine. In recent years the game was played on a Sunday night, one night after the inductions.
Junior Hockey World Cup:
Boston College's Joseph Woll made 18 saves to help the United States beat Slovakia 5-2 last night in the world junior hockey championship. Ohio State's Tanner Laczynski, Boston College's Colin White, Connecticut's Tage Thompson, Boston University's Charlie McAvoy and Denver's Troy Terry scored. The United States tied Canada for the Group B lead.
Cycling:
Britain's Bradley Wiggins has announced his retirement from cycling. The 36-year-old Wiggins won a British-record eight Olympic medals and became the first racer from Britain to win the Tour de France when he won in 2012.
Tennis:
Ana Ivanovic has announced her retirement at age 29, saying she is no longer able to play at the highest level because of injuries. Ivanovic was ranked No. 1 in women's tennis in 2008, the year she won the French Open. The Serb won 15 tour titles but has dropped down to 63rd in the ranking.
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