NFL:
In the NFL wild card playoffs, Green Bay crushed the Giants 38-13 and Pittsburgh beat Miami 30-12. On Saturday, Houston advanced by topping Oakland 27-14 and Seattle moved ahead after defeating Detroit 26-6. The New England Patriots will take on Houston on Saturday at 8:15 p.m.
The Browns have hired former Buffalo Bills head coach Gregg Williams as their defensive coordinator following a 1-15 season. Williams was the Saints' defensive coordinator when they won the Super Bowl in 2009. But he was suspended for the entire 2012 season for his role in the team's pay-per-performance scandal that became known as "Bountygate." Williams spent the last three seasons with the Rams.
NBA:
In the NBA, Philadelphia topped Brooklyn 105-95, Washington beat Milwaukee 107-101, the Clippers bested Miami 98-86, Houston won against Toronto 129-122, Memphis defeated Utah 88-79, Cleveland beat Phoenix 120-116, Detroit edged Portland in double overtime 125-124, Golden State won against Sacramento 117-106, and it was the Lakers over Orlando 111-95.
NHL:
In the NHL, Carolina skated by Boston in overtime 4-3, Columbus won against Philadelphia in overtime 2-1, Ottawa topped Edmonton 5-3, Chicago beat Nashville 5-2, Minnesota edged Anaheim 2-1, and it was Pittsburgh over Tampa Bay 6-2.
NCAA:
In college men's basketball, UConn snapped a four-game losing streak by beating UCF 64-49 yesterday. Rodney Purvis scored 17 points. Vance Jackson added 11 points and Jalen Adams had 10 for the Huskies, who held the Knights to 33 percent shooting.
Vermont used a dominant first half to roll over Hartford 85-54 yesterday for its fourth straight win. Darren Payen hit 8 of 9 shots and scored 18 points. The Catamounts scored the first nine points and had runs of 7-0, 10-0, 11-0 and 7-0 to lead 52-22 at the half.
Tyrell Sturdivant's layup with less than a second to play capped a 21-0 run that rallied Stony Brook to a 72-70 win over Albany on Sunday.
Monmouth beat Marist 71-64 yesterday. Austin Tilghman scored a career-high 21 points coming off the bench, and Micah Seaborn had 16 points to help Monmouth. Tilghman made 5 of 6 free throws in the final five minutes keeping Marist at bay.
UMass Lowell beat Binghamton 79-75 yesterday. Jahad Thomas scored a personal-best 28 points to top 1,000 for his career. Thomas scored 20-plus for the sixth time this season and he became the 40th player in program history to reach 1,000 points. He was 12 of 16 from the floor and had 15 rebounds and five assists.
In top-25 men's finals:
No. 14 North Carolina was more than ready for a game that was postponed a day because of bad weather. The Tar Heels scored 20 straight points in the first half of a 107-56 blowout against local rival North Carolina State. Justin Jackson poured in 21 points and Joel Berry II added 19 to help North Carolina beat the Wolfpack for the 20th time in 22 games. The Tar Heels after 14-3 overall and 2-1 in the ACC after clobbering a team that was coming off a lopsided win against No. 21 Virginia Tech.
— Lonzo Ball scored 21 points Bryce Alford added 17 as fourth-ranked UCLA led wire to wire in an 89-75 win against Stanford. TJ Leaf had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the 16-1 Bruins, who are 10-0 at Pauley Pavilion.
— Eleventh-ranked Virginia was a 79-62 winner over Wake Forest behind London Perrantes' 24 points. The Cavaliers upped their record to 12-3 and sent the Demon Deacons to their 25th consecutive ACC road loss.
— Caleb Swanigan's 18 points and 13 rebounds carried No. 20 Purdue to a Big Ten win over No. 13 Wisconsin, 66-55. The 14-3 Boilermakers used a 12-0 run in the second half to end the Badgers' nine-game winning streak.
— Ivan Rabb capped his 17-point, eight-rebound performance by hitting two free throws with 5.2 seconds left to send California past No. 25 Southern California, 74-73. Charlie Moore added 16 points to help the Bears send the Trojans to just their second loss in 17 games.
In college women's basketball, Number 23 DePaul won its seventh-straight game 96-65 over Seton Hall yesterday. Tanita Allen scored a career-high 30 points, Jacqui Grant had her fourth-straight double-double, and both had a career-best five 3-pointers for DePaul. Seton Hall lost its third straight, committing 23 turnovers that cost 36 points.
NCAAF:
Ohio State wide receiver Noah Brown says he's going to skip his final two years of eligibility to enter the NFL draft. Brown was a starter last season for the first time and finished second on the team to Curtis Samuel in receiving, catching 30 passes for 385 yards. Brown joins Buckeyes teammates' linebacker Raekwon McMillan, cornerback Gareon Conley and safety Malik Hooker in departing early for the NFL.
Sonny Dykes is out as football coach at California. He held the job for four seasons with one bowl appearance. Dykes left Louisiana Tech to take over the Cal program in 2013 but things never really improved. After going 8-5 in 2015 the program slid back to 5-7 this season.
Skiing:
Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S. has won another women's World Cup slalom race, this time in Slovenia. She got the win despite skiing over a gate that was rolling down the course in her final run. The victory is the 27th of her career, tying Phil Mahre for third place among American skiers with most World Cup wins.
Golf:
Justin Thomas is the lone reason Hideki Matsuyama hasn't won six straight tournaments. Thomas held off Matsuyama to capture the PGA's SBS Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. Thomas closed with a 4-under 69 for a 22-under total, three shots better than Matsuyama. The tournament turned on the next-to-last hole as Thomas carded a birdie while Matsuyama bogeyed to fall three strokes back. Matsuyama has four victories and two runner-up finishes in his last six starts, losing both to Thomas.
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