NHL:
In the NHL, Buffalo beat Dallas 4-1, the Islanders shut out Boston 4-0, Detroit blanked Montreal 1-0, San Jose topped Winnipeg 5-2, Tampa Bay won against Los Angeles 2-1, Pittsburgh edged Washington in overtime 8-7, and it was Edmonton over Arizona 3-1.
NBA:
In the NBA, Boston beat Charlotte 108-98, Atlanta topped the Knicks 108-107, Golden State bested Cleveland 126-91, Utah won against Phoenix 106-101, the Clippers defeated Oklahoma City 120-98, Denver topped Orlando 125-112, Indiana squeaked by New Orleans 98-95, Philadelphia bested Milwaukee 113-104, and it was Washington over Portland 120-101.
MLS:
The New York Red Bulls have traded midfielder and team captain Dax McCarty to the Chicago Fire for $400,000 in general allocation money. The Red Bulls announced that they will be paid $200,000 this year and the next for their franchise's all-time leader in regular season starts and minutes played.
Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch says "at this point in time, we felt that this was the right move to put our team in the best position to succeed both now and for years to come." McCarty joined New York in 2011 in a trade with D.C. United. In 5 1/2 seasons, he made 163 regular-season starts and played 14,381 minutes, both club records. He made 169 regular-season appearances, tied for the most in club history, and recorded 14 goals and 27 assists. He also had 17 playoff appearances.
NCAA:
Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams earned his 800th career victory when Isaiah Hicks scored 20 points to lead No. 9 North Carolina to an 85-68 victory over Syracuse. Kennedy Meeks added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the 17-3 Tar Heels, who shot 52 percent from the field.
Louisville guard Quentin Snider will miss 2-3 weeks with an injured hip, leaving the No. 12 Cardinals without their assists leader and No. 2 scorer. The school said Snider won't need surgery and should heal with rest. Snider strained a hip flexor early in the second half Saturday in a win over Duke. The junior stayed in the game and finished with 13 points, six assists and five rebounds. Snider is averaging 12.1 points and 4.0 assists per game.
In other top 25 play:
— Kris Jenkins scored 16 points and Jalen Brunson added 13 to lead No. 1 Villanova to a 76-46 win over Seton Hall. The 18-1 Wildcats looked every bit like a team that could win back-to-back national championships in their first game at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll following a one-week hiatus after their upset loss to Butler.
— Frank Mason III had 16 points, Landen Lucas scored 14 and No. 2 Kansas held off Iowa State 76-72 for its 17th straight win. The Jayhawks are 17-1 and 6-0 in Big 12 play.
— Cole Huff made a pair of free throws with 16.7 seconds left to give No. 7 Creighton (KRAY'-tuhn) a 72-67 win over 22nd-ranked Xavier. Marcus Foster led the Bluejays with 15 points. The Bluejays are off to the best start to a season in school history with an 18-1 mark.
— No. 13 Butler rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat Marquette 88-80. Kelan Martin scored 22 points in the win as the Bulldogs improved to 16-3. Butler trailed by 16 at halftime, but outscored Marquette 38-18 in the next 11 minutes to take the lead.
David Nichols scored 18 points, Joe Cremo added 15 and Albany beat Maryland, Baltimore County 77-50 on Monday for its first conference win of the season. UMBC went scoreless for seven-plus minutes in the second half until Jairus Lyles completed a 3-point play and Albany had a 27-point lead with 9:32 to go.
Stony Brook remained unbeaten in league play with an 86-75 win against UMass Lowell yesterday. Tyrell Sturdivant was 10 of 12 from the field, 8 for 10 at the line and scored a career-high 28 points for Stony Brook. Tyler Livingston hit five 3-pointers and scored 23 points for UMass Lowell.
Vermont beat New Hampshire 71-59 yesterday for its seventh straight win. Trae Bell-Haynes made 8 of 10 shots and scored 22 points. It was Bell-Haynes' second straight 20-plus outing after going 5 of 12 for 20 points in a nine-point win versus Maryland, Baltimore County.
Khallid Hart scored 31 points and hit five 3-pointers to help Marist outlast Niagara 93-87 in overtime on Monday night. A Matt Scott layup at the buzzer for Niagara forced overtime, tied at 81. But Marist (6-13, 3-5 Metro Atlantic) immediately regained control, taking an 86-81 lead following a 3 by Hart and a layup by Isaiah Lamb.
Hartford snapped a five-game losing streak with a 54-44 victory over Maine yesterday. Jalen Ross scored 19 points, and Jason Dunne added 10 for Hartford. Vincent Eze had 13 points and nine rebounds for Maine, which was held to 32.1 percent shooting and lost its ninth game in the last 10.
Fresh off its record-breaking 91st consecutive victory, UConn remains the Number 1 team in The Associated Press women's basketball poll. The Huskies routed SMU on Saturday to best their own NCAA mark and stay as the unanimous choice atop the poll. They garnered all 33 votes from the national media panel Monday.
Meanwhile, UMBC beat UAlbany 64-56.
NFL:
Green Bay's thrilling, 34-31 last-second win over Dallas in the NFL playoffs drew a record number of viewers to its television broadcast. Fox Sports reports that an average of 48.5 million people watched the game. That would make it the most watch NFL divisional playoff game in league history.
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is expressing appreciation for the opportunity to interview with the San Francisco 49ers, but says for now he'll remain in New England. He said during a conference call yesterday that the decision was what's "best for my family and myself" and that he will stay with the Patriots to focus on this year's playoffs and finish out the season "however it turns out."
Atlanta coach Dan Quinn says All-Pro receiver Julio Jones will play in the NFC championship game despite a lingering foot injury. That injury limited Jones during the divisional-round victory over Seattle Saturday. Quinn insists there's no chance of the Falcons being without one of their offensive leaders when they host Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers for a trip to the Super Bowl. Jones had 83 receptions for 1,409 yards and six touchdowns this season.
In other NFL news
— The New York Jets have signed right guard Brian Winters to a four-year contract extension. Winters, who was scheduled to become a free agent in March, missed the last two games of the season when he was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
— Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said on his radio show that cornerback Richard Sherman played the second half of the season with an MCL injury in his knee. Carroll told KIRO-AM that Sherman's injury was significant and it was "stressful" for Sherman to play with the injury.
— The Jacksonville Jaguars have hired former Michigan standout Tyrone Wheatley as running backs coach. Wheatley spent the past two years coaching running backs at his alma mater. Before that, he spent five years working for new Jags coach Doug Marrone.
Tennis:
Serena Williams took her first step toward Australian Open title No. 7 and Grand Slam singles championship No. 23 with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Belinda Bencic. Williams broke the Swiss player's service in the 10th game to clinch the first set. In the second set, she pulled out to a 5-love lead but Bencic staged a comeback, breaking Williams' serve the first time she served for the match. Williams will play Lucie Safarova, who beat Yanina Wickmayer on Tuesday in the second round.
U.S. Open finalist Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic followed her title win at the Brisbane International with a 6-2, 6-love victory over Sara Sorribes Tormo to get day two under way on Rod Laver Arena. Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic got his campaign started with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Dustin Brown. The No. 3-seeded Raonic reached the semifinals here last year in his best run so far at Melbourne Park.
F1:
The Mercedes F1 racing team has replaced reigning world driving champion Nico Rosberg with Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas. Rosberg retired from the sport just days after winning the 2016 world championship.
MLB:
The Royals and pitcher Danny Duffy have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $65 million, five-year contract. Under terms of the deal Duffy will make $5 million this year, $14 million in 2018, $15.25 million each in 2019 and 2020 and $15.5 million in 2021. The Royals drafted Duffy in the third round of the 2007amateur draft.
In other baseball:
—An All-Star last season outfielder Michael Saunders reportedly has a contract worked out with the Phillies. A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that the two sides have agreed on a $9 million, one-year contract. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Phillies had not announced the agreement. Saunders hit a career-best 24 homers last year for Toronto.
— President Barack Obama welcomed the World Series champion Chicago Cubs to the White House. The president has a home in Chicago and said that despite being a White Sox fan he cheered for the Cubs to win. The Cubs won their first World Series title since 1908 by defeating the pitching-depleted Cleveland Indians in seven games.
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