THE INDIANA SRN “SPORTSPAGE” MONDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2024

“THE SCOREBOARD”

INDIANA HS FOOTBALL STATE FINALS

FRIDAY, NOV. 29

11 AM ET | CLASS 2A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP | TICKETS  
ADAMS CENTRAL (13-1) VS LINTON-STOCKTON (12-2)

3 PM ET | CLASS 4A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP | TICKETS  
EAST NOBLE (13-1) VS NEW PALESTINE (13-0)

7 PM ET | CLASS 6A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP | TICKETS  
WESTFIELD (12-1) VS BROWNSBURG (12-1)

SATURDAY, NOV. 30

11 AM ET | CLASS 1A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP | TICKETS  
NORTH JUDSON-SAN PIERRE (14-0) VS PROVIDENCE (13-0)

3 PM ET | CLASS 3A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP | TICKETS  
FORT WAYNE BISHOP LUERS (10-4) VS HERITAGE HILLS (13-1)

7 PM ET | CLASS 5A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP | TICKETS  
WARSAW COMMUNITY (10-3) VS DECATUR CENTRAL (10-2)

NFL SCORES

DETROIT 24 INDIANAPOLIS 6

TAMPA BAY 30 NY GIANTS 7

TENNESSEE 32 HOUSTON 27

MIAMI 34 NEW ENGLAND 15

DALLAS 34 WASHINGTON 26

MINNESOTA 30 CHICAGO BEARS 27 OT

KANSAS CITY 30 CAROLINA 27

DENVER 29 LAS VEGAS 19

SEATTLE 16 ARIZONA 6

GREEN BAY 38 SAN FRANCISCO 10

PHILADELPHIA 37 LA RAMS 20

MONDAY NIGHT:

BALTIMORE AT LA CHARGERS

NBA SCORES

INDIANA 115 WASHINGTON 103

BOSTON 107 MINNESOTA 105

LA CLIPPERS 125 PHILADELPHIA 99

MIAMI 123 DALLAS 118 OT

CLEVELAND 122 TORONTO 108

BROOKLYN 108 SACRAMENTO 103

NHL SCORES

TORONTO 3 UTAH 2

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOP 25

GEORGIA 66 #22 ST. JOHN 63

KENNESAW STATE 79 #24 RUTGERS 77

#19 WISCONSIN 81 PITTSBURGH 75

ELSEWHERE:

MARYLAND 76 VILLANOVA 75

VALPARAISO 81 EASTERN ILLINOIS 53

EVANSVILLE 66 CAMPBELL 53

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOP 25

#11 MARYLAND 107 ST. FRANCIS PA 35

#25 LOUISVILLE 64 S. FLORIDA 60

#12 OHIO STATE 96 BOWLING GREEN 53

INDIANA 73 #18 BAYLOR 65

#8 IOWA 80 DRAKE 78

#5 UCLA 77 #1 SOUTH CAROLINA 62

#16 NORTH CAROLINA 53 VILLANOVA 36

#19 TCU 86 IDAHO STATE 46

ELSEWHERE:

PURDUE 73 TEXAS ARLINGTON 55

MARQUETTE 83 IU INDY 50

MICHIGAN 111 LONG BEACH STATE 56

BUTLER 69 MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL 44

PRINCETON 66 RUTGERS 49

MINNESOTA 84 MONTANA 45

IOWA 72 WASHINGTON STATE 43

BALL STATE 75 TEXAS A&M 62

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER

ORLANDO CITY 1 ATLANTA 0

LA GALAXY 6 MINNESOTA 2

TOP NATIONAL HEADLINES

NFL

NFL ROUNDUP: COWBOYS SURVIVE WILD 4TH QUARTER VS. COMMANDERS

Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush passed for two touchdowns while watching his team return two kicks for additional scores and Dallas held off the Washington Commanders in a wild fourth quarter for a 34-26 win on Sunday afternoon in Landover, Md.

With his team trailing 27-20, Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels hit Terry McLaurin for an 86-yard touchdown with 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but Austin Seibert missed his second extra point of the game to prevent the Commanders from drawing even.

Juanyeh Thomas of the Cowboys then returned an onside kick 43 yards for a touchdown to complete the scoring.

Rush completed 24 of 32 passes for 247 yards for Dallas (4-7), which snapped a five-game losing streak. Rico Dowdle ran 19 times for 86 yards, and CeeDee Lamb had 10 catches for 67 yards.

Daniels was 25-of-38 passing for 275 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for reeling Washington (7-5), which has lost three straight games. Daniels ran for 74 yards and one score. McLaurin had five catches for 102 yards.

Vikings 30, Bears 27 (OT)

John Parker Romo made a 29-yard field goal to lift Minnesota to an overtime win against host Chicago.

Romo buried the game-winning kick in his third career game for Minnesota (9-2), which won its fourth game in a row. Sam Darnold completed 22 of 34 passes for 330 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Vikings. Wideout Jordan Addison finished with eight catches for a career-high 162 yards and a touchdown.

The overtime defeat spoiled an impressive performance from rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, who completed 32 of 47 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns for Chicago (4-7).

Eagles 37, Rams 20

Saquon Barkley ran for 255 yards, including touchdown runs of 70 and 72 yards, as Philadelphia increased its NFC East lead by defeating Los Angeles in Inglewood, Calif.

Barkley added four receptions for 47 yards to finish with 302 yards from scrimmage. Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 15 of 22 passes for 179 yards and a score as the Eagles improved to 9-2 to pull further away from the second-place Commanders in the division.

Matthew Stafford hit on 24 of 36 throws for 243 yards and two touchdowns for Los Angeles (5-6), which dropped a game behind NFC West co-leaders Seattle (6-5) and Arizona (6-5). Stafford operated under constant pressure and was sacked five times.

Chiefs 30, Panthers 27

Patrick Mahomes threw three touchdown passes and Spencer Shrader kicked a 31-yard field goal on the game’s final play as Kansas City topped Carolina in Charlotte.

It was a bounce-back effort for the Chiefs (10-1), who lost for the first time this season a week earlier against the Buffalo Bills. Kansas City never trailed and had to use a 57-yard drive to move into scoring position to close the game.

Bryce Young threw for 263 yards and a touchdown for the Panthers (3-8), who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Eddy Pineiro kicked field goals from 30, 32, 29 and 33 yards out.

Titans 32, Texans 27

Will Levis threw a go-ahead 70-yard touchdown pass to Chig Okonkwo in the fourth quarter to help Tennessee record a stunning victory over host Houston.

Tony Pollard rushed for 119 yards and one touchdown and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine caught a scoring pass as the Titans (3-8) won for just the second time in their past seven games. Levis was 18-of-24 passing for 278 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Houston (7-5) had a chance to force overtime, but Ka’imi Fairbairn missed a chip-shot 28-yard field-goal attempt with 1:53 remaining. The Texans got the ball back, but Harold Landry sacked C.J. Stroud in the end zone. Stroud completed 20 of 33 passes for 247 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for Houston, which lost for the fourth time in the past six games.

Lions 24, Colts 6

Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 90 yards and scored two touchdowns as visiting Detroit extended its winning streak to nine games by defeating Indianapolis.

Jared Goff passed for 269 yards for the Lions (10-1), completing 26 of 36 passes. The Lions’ winning streak is their longest since their first season in Detroit in 1934, when they won 10 straight games.

Anthony Richardson passed for 172 yards and rushed for 61 more for the Colts (5-7). Michael Pittman Jr. caught six passes for 96 yards, but Jonathan Taylor was held to 35 rushing yards.

Dolphins 34, Patriots 15

Tua Tagovailoa threw for 317 yards and four touchdowns to lead Miami to an easy victory over New England in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Jaylen Waddle hauled in eight receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown and former Patriot Jonnu Smith had nine catches for 87 yards and a TD for the Dolphins (5-6), who have won three straight games. Running back De’Von Achane was on the receiving end of a pair of scores.

Drake Maye finished with 222 yards, one TD and one interception on 22-of-37 passing for the Patriots (3-9), who have now dropped 10 of their past 12 games at Hard Rock Stadium.

Buccaneers 30, Giants 7

Baker Mayfield threw for 294 yards on 24-for-30 passing as Tampa Bay ended a four-game losing streak with a rout of New York in East Rutherford, N.J.

Star wide receiver Mike Evans returned after missing three games with a hamstring injury to lead the Buccaneers (5-6) with five receptions for 68 yards on six targets. Bucky Irving rushed 12 times for 87 yards and a score and caught six passes for 64 yards. Tampa Bay led 23-0 at halftime and outgained New York 290-45 in the first half.

Second-year pro and local boy Tommy DeVito was ineffective in his seventh career start and first of the season after the Giants (2-9) benched and then released veteran quarterback Daniel Jones. Pressured mercilessly — and sacked four times — DeVito finished 21-for-31 passing for 189 yards.

Broncos 29, Raiders 19

Rookie quarterback Bo Nix completed 25 of 42 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns as Denver beat host Las Vegas.

The Raiders (2-9) have now lost seven games in a row, last winning on Sept. 29 against the Cleveland Browns. The Broncos (7-5) completed a season-series sweep of the Raiders with the win.

After the game, NFL Network and The Athletic reported that Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew suffered a broken collarbone in the fourth quarter and is done for the season. The injury reportedly occurred when Minshew was sacked by two Broncos defenders and landed on his left shoulder. He left the game and was replaced by Desmond Ridder.

Packers 38, 49ers 10

Josh Jacobs rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns and the Green Bay defense forced three turnovers to lift the host Packers to a rout of slumping San Francisco.

Green Bay (8-3) avenged last season’s playoff defeat to the reigning NFC champion 49ers, who lost their second game in a row to fall to 5-6. Jordan Love passed for 163 yards and two touchdowns, helping the Packers to a season high in points.

Brandon Allen started at quarterback for San Francisco in place of Brock Purdy, who was out with a sore right (throwing) shoulder, while left tackle Trent Williams (ankle) also missed the game. Allen was 17-for-29 passing for 199 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Seahawks 16, Cardinals 6

Coby Bryant returned an interception 69 yards for a touchdown midway through the third quarter as Seattle defeated visiting Arizona to move into a tie for first place in the NFC West.

Geno Smith completed 22 of 31 passes for 254 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Seahawks (6-5), who won their second consecutive divisional game. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had six catches for 77 yards, including a 46-yard gain on a screen pass that set up his own 3-yard touchdown.

Kyler Murray was 24-of-37 passing for 285 yards with one interception for the Cardinals (6-5). Tight end Trey McBride established career highs of 12 catches and 133 yards.

NFL 2024 SEVEN FROM SUNDAY – WEEK 12

A look at seven statistical highlights from games played during the 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. ET windows on Sunday, November 24, the 12th week of the 2024 season.

• With two games remaining in Week 12, seven games were within one score (eight points) in the fourth quarter and five games were decided by eight-or-fewer points, including three teams – Cleveland, Kansas City and Minnesota – that recorded a game-winning score in the final minute of the fourth quarter or in overtime. There have been 82 games decided by six-or-fewer points this season, the most such games through Week 12 in NFL history.Kansas City defeated Carolina, 30-27, to improve to 10-1 this season as head coach Andy Reid became the third coach all-time with 19 seasons with 10-or-more wins, joining Bill Belichick (20 seasons with 10-or-more wins) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Don Shula (20).

Reid has 10 consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins, the second-longest such streak in NFL history, trailing only Bill Belichick (17 consecutive seasons from 2003-19 with New England).

Detroit defeated Indianapolis, 24-6, to improve to 10-1 this season, the first time in 90 years that the team has won 10 of its first 11 games (began 10-1 in 1934). The Lions, who tied a franchise record with 12 wins last year, have won at least 10 games in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history.

Including the postseason, Detroit has rushed for a touchdown in 25 consecutive games, the longest such streak in NFL history.

Detroit has rushed for a touchdown in 22 consecutive regular-season games, surpassing the 1974-76 Miami Dolphins (21 consecutive regular-season games) for the third-longest such streak in NFL history. Only the 1959-62 Green Bay Packers (35 consecutive regular-season games) and 2003-05 San Francisco 49ers (24) have longer such streaks.

Minnesota (9-2) defeated Chicago, 30-27, in overtime and Green Bay (8-3) defeated San Francisco, 38-10, in Week 12. Along with Detroit (10-1), the 2024 NFC North is the first division since 2002 with three teams each having at least eight wins in the first 12 weeks of the season.

• Detroit running back Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for two touchdowns and David Montgomery rushed for one touchdown in the Lions’ 24-6 win at Indianapolis.Montgomery, with 11 rushing touchdowns this season and 13 rushing touchdowns last season, and Gibbs, with 10 rushing touchdowns in 2024 and 10 rushing touchdowns as a rookie in 2023, are the first pair of running back teammates each with at least 10 rushing touchdowns in consecutive seasons in NFL history.

Montgomery and Gibbs joined the Pro Football Hall of Fame duo of Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor (1960-61 with Green Bay) as the only running back teammates each with at least 10 scrimmage touchdowns in consecutive seasons in NFL history.

Montgomery and Gibbs are the fourth pair of running back teammates in the Super Bowl era to each rush for a touchdown in five games in a season, joining Tennessee’s Chris Johnson and LenDale White (six games in 2008), Detroit’s D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams (five in 2022) and Philadelphia’s Brian Westbrook and Correll Buckhalter (five in 2003).

• Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes passed for 269 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 120.2 rating while tight end Travis Kelce had six receptions for 62 yards in the Chiefs’ 30-27 win at Carolina.Mahomes has 24 career games with at least three touchdown passes and no interceptions, tied with Russell Wilson (24 games) for the most such games by a player in his first eight seasons in NFL history.

Mahomes has 73 career games with at least two touchdown passes and surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino (72 games) and Russell Wilson (72) for the second-most such games by a player in his first eight seasons in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning (74 games) has more.

Kelce has 11,897 regular-season receiving yards and surpassed Antonio Gates (11,841 receiving yards) for the third-most regular-season receiving yards by a tight end all-time. Only Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez (15,127 receiving yards) and Jason Witten (13,046) have more.

• Dallas wide receiver CeeDee Lamb had 10 receptions and linebacker Micah Parsons had two sacks while both wide receiver KaVontae Turpin and safety Juanyeh Thomas recorded kickoff-return touchdowns in the Cowboys’ 34-26 win at Washington. Lamb has 12 career games with at least 10 receptions, tied with Brandon Marshall (12 games) for the second-most such games by a player in his first five seasons in NFL history. Only Michael Thomas (18 games) has more.

Lamb has 77 receptions this season and joined Jarvis Landry as the only players in NFL history with at least 70 receptions in each of his first five seasons.

Parsons has 13 career games with at least two sacks, tied with Elvis Dumervil (13 games), Tim Harris (13) and Aldon Smith (13) for the fifth-most such games by a player in his first four seasons since 1982, when the individual sack became an official statistic. Only Pro Football Hall of Famers Reggie White (22 games) and Richard Dent (16) as well as J.J. Watt (15) and Simeon Rice (14) have more.

Turpin, who had a 60-yard punt-return touchdown in Week 1, is the first player since Jamal Agnew (2019 with Detroit) with both a kick-return touchdown and punt-return touchdown in the same season.

Dallas became the first team since the Buffalo Bills in Week 18 of the 2022 season with multiple kick-return touchdowns in a game.

• Tampa Bay safety Antoine Winfield Jr. recorded his second sack of the season in the Buccaneers’ 30-7 win at the New York Giants and became the third defensive back with at least two sacks in each of his first five seasons since 1982, when the individual sack became an official statistic, joining Adam Archuleta and Keith Bostic.
• New York Giants rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers had six catches for 64 yards in Week 12 and became the first player ever with at least five receptions and 50 receiving yards in eight of his first nine career games.Nabers has 67 receptions this season and surpassed Puka Nacua (64 receptions) for the most receptions by a player in his first nine games in NFL history.
• Washington rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels totaled 349 yards (275 passing, 74 rushing) and three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) in Week 12.Daniels joins Marcus Mariota (Week 13, 2015) as the only rookie quarterbacks all-time with at least 250 passing yards, 70 rushing yards, two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown in a game.

Daniels, who has 2,613 passing yards and 556 rushing yards this season, is the fourth rookie quarterback in NFL history with at least 2,500 passing yards and 500 rushing yards, joining Robert Griffin III (2012), Kyler Murray (2019) and Cam Newton (2011).

• Additional notes from Sunday include:
  • Green Bay running back Josh Jacobs rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns in the Packers’ 38-10 win over San Francisco.Jacobs has 944 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns this season and became the fourth player since 2000 with at least 800 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns in each of his first six career seasons, joining Ezekiel Elliott, Adrian Peterson and Pro Football Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson.
  • Arizona tight end Trey McBride had 12 receptions for 133 yards in Week 12.McBride became the third tight end in NFL history with at least five receptions in nine consecutive road games, joining Travis Kelce (10 consecutive road games from 2019-20) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez (nine from 2004-05).
  • Las Vegas rookie tight end Brock Bowers had four receptions and defensive end Maxx Crosby had three tackles for loss in Week 12.Bowers has 74 receptions this season – the most by a Raiders rookie all-time, tied with Jeremy Shockey (74 receptions in 2002 with the New York Giants) for the third-most receptions by a rookie tight end in NFL history. Only Sam LaPorta (86 receptions in 2023 with Detroit) and Keith Jackson (81 in 1988 with Philadelphia) have more.

Crosby has 102 tackles for loss in 93 career games, tied with Von Miller (93 games) as the third-fastest player since 2000 to reach 100 career tackles for loss, trailing only J.J. Watt (64) and Aaron Donald (81).

NBA NEWS

NBA ROUNDUP: HEAT TURN BACK MAVERICKS IN OT

Jimmy Butler scored a game-high 33 points and added nine rebounds and six assists as the host Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks 123-118 in overtime on Sunday night.

Mavericks star Kyrie Irving had 27 points and six assists, while P.J. Washington added 21 points and 10 rebounds. The Mavericks played without reigning NBA scoring champ Luka Doncic (wrist).

Miami, which had been off since Monday, had double-doubles from Bam Adebayo (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Tyler Herro (18 points, 10 boards).

The Heat went ahead for good on Adebayo’s 3-pointer that made it 120-118 with 2:54 left in overtime. Dallas missed its final seven shots.

Celtics 107, Timberwolves 105

Jaylen Brown scored 29 points and Jayson Tatum finished with 26 points and eight rebounds to help Boston extend its winning streak to five games by beating visiting Minnesota.

Brown made 7 of his 10 3-point attempts, including five in the opening quarter. Derrick White added 19 points and nine rebounds for Boston, which made 21 of its 56 3-point attempts (37.5 percent).

The Timberwolves have lost 18 straight games in Boston, last winning there in March 2005. Anthony Edwards had 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, Julius Randle finished with 23 points and Rudy Gobert added 10 points and 20 rebounds for the Timberwolves.

Pacers 115, Wizards 103

Pascal Siakam scored 22 points and Tyrese Haliburton added 21 points to help Indiana defeat Washington in Indianapolis.

Moses Brown scored 15 points off the bench for the Pacers, who had lost three straight and five of six. Myles Turner added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Alexandre Sarr had 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Wizards, who lost their 11th straight game. Bilal Coulibaly also had 17 points, while Corey Kispert, Malcolm Brogdon and Kyshawn George added 15 points each. Kyle Kuzma chipped in 10 points.

Clippers 125, 76ers 99

James Harden scored 23 points and Ivica Zubac had 16 points and 12 rebounds as visiting Los Angeles earned its fifth straight win by pounding Philadelphia.

In the opener of a four-game trip, the Clippers shot 58 percent from the field and 40 percent from long range and dominated the boards 44-33 despite playing without leading scorer Norman Powell (hamstring) and two-way standout Kawhi Leonard (knee).

Jared McCain scored 18 points on 3-of-15 shooting from the floor for the 76ers, who continued to play without Joel Embiid (knee) and Paul George (knee). Tyrese Maxey chipped in 17 points, while Kelly Oubre Jr. notched 12.

Cavaliers 122, Raptors 108

Ty Jerome came off the bench to score 26 points, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley each recorded double-doubles, and Cleveland led nearly wire-to-wire in turning back visiting Toronto.

Jerome has scored at least 24 points in three of his past four games. Donovan Mitchell added 26 points, Allen finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds, and Mobley chipped in 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Scottie Barnes and Gradey Dick led the Raptors with 18 points each. Jakob Poeltl had 12 points and a game-high 19 rebounds. RJ Barrett added 16 points, six rebounds and six assists for Toronto, which has lost eight of its past 10 games.

Nets 108, Kings 103

Cam Thomas scored a game-high 34 points and Brooklyn survived after blowing a 19-point lead to rally past host Sacramento.

Noah Clowney had 18 points off the bench and Cameron Johnson scored 16 for the Nets, who trailed 94-90 in the fourth before rallying for their second win in three games.

De’Aaron Fox had a team-high 31 points for the Kings, who dropped their third straight. Keegan Murray added 21 points and Domantas Sabonis finished with 13 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists.

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

AMID COMFORTS OF HOME, KENNESAW STATE UPENDS NO. 24 RUTGERS

Jamil Miller collected 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, Simeon Cottle added 15 points and host Kennesaw State earned a 79-77 victory over No. 24 Rutgers on Sunday afternoon in Georgia.

Miller made 6 of 7 shots — including 2 of 3 from 3-point range — to help the Owls (5-1) record their first win over a ranked team. They were 0-for-16 all-time against teams in the Associated Press Top 25.

Ricardo Wright had 14 points and Adrian Wooley had 10 to go along with seven assists and three steals to help Kennesaw State secure its fourth straight win.

The Owls benefited from a decisive advantage in rebounds (46-27) to hand the Scarlet Knights (4-1) their first loss of the season.

Rutgers freshman stars Dylan Harper had 21 points and Ace Bailey added 17.

Emmanuel Ogbole added 10 points for the Scarlet Knights, who ventured out of New Jersey for the first time this season.

Rutgers whittled a 20-point deficit in the first half down to two after Bailey sank a 3-pointer with 50 seconds to play in the second. Cottle misfired on a jumper but Kennesaw State reeled in the offensive rebound and Rongie Gordon sank a pair of free throws to push the Owls’ lead to 79-75 with 27 seconds remaining.

Harper halved the deficit after following his own missed shot and converting a layup with 15 seconds left.

Kennesaw State’s Delaney Heard missed both free throws, however Wooley intercepted Bailey’s cross-court pass to seal the win.

Ogbole made a layup to trim Kennesaw State’s lead to 18-16 before the Owls turned on the jets. Wright and Miller each made a 3-pointer and Cottle’s no-look alley-oop to Andrew Weir highlighted Kennesaw State’s 26-10 surge to close the half.

The Owls shot a robust 50 percent to seize a 44-26 lead at intermission.

DEMARY MAKES KEY STEAL TO LIFT GEORGIA PAST NO. 22 ST. JOHN’S

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Asa Newell scored 18 points, Silas Demary Jr. made a key steal in the final seconds and Georgia beat No. 22 St. John’s 66-63 on Sunday.

After a timeout with 10 seconds remaining, RJ Luis Jr. got past midcourt and then Demary poked the ball away from behind. Somto Cyril gathered the loose ball and passed it to Demary who dribbled out the clock.

Demary finished with 15 points and 10 turnovers for Georgia (6-1).

Zuby Ejiofor led St. John’s (5-2) with 22 points and eight rebounds. Aaron Scott added 14 points and Luis scored 13.

Takeaways

St. John’s entered the week with a 4-0 record before losing twice in four days. The Red Storm dropped a 99-98 double-overtime contest to No. 13 Baylor on Thursday when Ejiofor missed two free throws with 4.1 seconds left and Jeremy Roach sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win it.

Key moment

Georgia had three players foul out, leading to 28 free-throw attempts by St. John’s. Georgia forward Dylan James, who played just 20 minutes, came off the bench and blocked Simeon Wilcher’s jumper from the free-throw line and grabbed an offensive rebound while being fouled at the other end with 1:03 left. James, a 50% free-throw shooter, completed the three-point play for a 61-57 lead. St. John’s missed eight straight shots down the stretch.

Key stat

Georgia struggled with St. John’s defensive pressure, turning it over 24 times to go with 24 made shots. St. John’s forced Georgia’s last turnover with just over 30 seconds remaining, but Wilcher dribbled out of bounds to give the ball back with 30.3 left leading to free throws by Demary.

Up next

St. John’s returns home to play Harvard on Saturday.

Georgia hosts Jacksonville on Saturday.

TONJE SCORES 33, NO. 19 WISCONSIN BEATS PITT FOR GREENBRIER TIP-OFF TITLE

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) — John Tonje scored 25 of his 33 points in the second half, and No. 19 Wisconsin came back to beat Pittsburgh 81-75 in the championship of the Greenbrier Tip-Off on Sunday night.

John Blackwell added 14 points, Nolan Winter had 11 and Kamari McGee scored 10 for Wisconsin. The Badgers’ 7-0 start is the first since the 2014-15 season, when they lost to Duke in the national championship.

Ishmael Leggett scored 17 points, Cameron Corhen added 16 and Jaland Lowe had 15 for Pittsburgh (6-1).

Wisconsin trailed by as many as 14 points late in the first half. Tonje scored 11 points in a three-minute stretch, including a layup with 11:15 remaining, to give the Badgers a 51-49 lead, their first since scoring the game’s first basket.

McGee’s 3-pointer with 6:19 remaining put Wisconsin ahead 65-62, and it didn’t trail again.

Takeaways

Wisconsin: Tonje, a transfer from Missouri, missed his first six shots and went scoreless over the first 12 minutes, putting Wisconsin in a double-digit hole. He went 9 of 11 after halftime, finished 11 of 19 overall and made all 10 free-throw attempts.

Pittsburgh: Damian Dunn, Pittsburgh’s third-leading scorer at 13 points per game, landed awkwardly after a shot attempt two minutes into the game, limped off the court and did not return.

Key moment

After Pittsburgh pulled within 71-70 on Zack Austin’s 3-pointer with 3:30 left, Wisconsin finished the game on a 10-5 run.

Key stat

Wisconsin shot 60% (18 of 30) from the floor in the second half after missing all 10 3-point attempts in the first half.

Up next

Pittsburgh plays at Ohio State on Friday while Wisconsin hosts Chicago State on Saturday.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

NO. 5 UCLA SNAPS NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA’S 43-GAME WIN STREAK

The South Carolina women’s basketball team has been defeated for the first time since March 31, 2023. The No. 1 Gamecocks fell Sunday in Los Angeles as Lauren Betts posted a double-double effort to lead No. 5 UCLA to a 77-62 triumph.

The Gamecocks (5-1) suffered their first defeat after 43 consecutive victories, dating back to the loss to Iowa 77-73 in the NCAA Tournament semifinals. South Carolina defeated Iowa last season for the national championship.

Betts finished with 11 points, a game-high 14 rebounds, four assists and four blocks to power the Bruins (5-0) to a historic victory. UCLA also got 15 points from Londynn Jones on 5-of-5 shooting from 3-point range, 13 points from Elina Aarnisalo and 11 each from Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jacquez.

It’s the first time UCLA has beaten South Carolina since 1981. The Bruins lost twice to the Gamecocks in the 2022-23 season, including in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Te-Hina Paopao had 18 points for South Carolina on 4-of-4 3-point shooting, while Tessa Johnson had 14 points.

UCLA won the rebounding battle 41-34, marking the second time this season the Gamecocks have been outrebounded. South Carolina also got outscored in the paint 26-18. It’s rare that a Dawn Staley-coached team — units that typically revolve around dominant centers from A’ja Wilson to Aaliyah Boston to Kamilla Cardoso — gets beat in the paint and on the glass, but with 6-foot-7 Betts, UCLA had the recipe to outmuscle the Gamecocks in those areas of the game.

South Carolina never led after UCLA began the game with an 18-5 run, capped off by back-to-back 3-pointers from Jones. The Gamecocks cut the deficit to nine points in the second quarter, but the Bruins responded with a 17-5 run and entered halftime ahead by 21 points. Aarnisalo scored seven points during that run.

From there, the Gamecocks never got within single digits of the lead in the second half.

It’s the first time in 21 tries that UCLA has beaten an AP-ranked No. 1 team. And it’s the first time South Carolina lost a true road game since 2021, a streak of 33 games.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for South Carolina. While UCLA faces UT Martin next on Friday, the Gamecocks play No. 8 Iowa State on Thursday.

NHL NEWS

MITCH MARNER SCORES TWICE AS LEAFS TOP UTAH FOR 4TH STRAIGHT WIN

Mitch Marner scored two goals and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the visiting Utah Hockey Club 3-2 on Sunday night.

William Nylander added a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who have won four in a row. Toronto goaltender Joseph Woll made 23 saves.

Logan Cooley had a goal and an assist for Utah, which has lost two of three on a four-game road trip. Jack McBain also scored.

Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka, who also played on Saturday, stopped 32 shots.

Toronto’s Pontus Holmberg hit the crossbar at 8:28 of the first period. The Maple Leafs went 0-for-2 on the power play in the period.

Utah took advantage of its first power play. Mikhail Sergachev passed to Dylan Guenther, whose shot was tipped in by Cooley from the left circle for his fourth goal of the season at 17:48 of the first. Toronto’s Jake McCabe was off for interference.

John Tavares made a long pass to Marner, who scored on a breakaway at 5:15 of the second period.

With Sergachev off for tripping, Marner scored his eighth goal of the season at 9:34 of the second during a power play, banking in a sharp-angled shot off Vejmelka.

Nylander scored his 14th at 10:50 of the second after winning the puck on a breakaway. He tucked in a backhand that beat Vejmelka.

Toronto had a five-on-three power play at 13:17 of the second but did not score.

McBain deflected Cooley’s shot for his seventh goal of the season at 1:51 of the third period.

Toronto’s Nicholas Robertson hit the right post with a shot at 8:34 of the third. Utah’s Michael Carcone also had his shot hit the left post at 13:19.

Toronto signed Alex Nylander, William’s brother, and he was in the lineup on Sunday with Matthew Knies (upper body) on injured reserve. Nylander started the season with the AHL Toronto Marlies.

GOLF NEWS

MAVERICK MCNEALY PICKS UP FIRST PGA TOUR WIN AT RSM CLASSIC

With a final-round, 2-under-par 68, Maverick McNealy earned his first victory on the PGA Tour on Sunday, edging a trio of players by one shot at the RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Ga.

Playing at Sea Island’s Seaside Course, the 29-year-old sank a 5-foot, 5-inch birdie putt on the par-4 18th hole to finish at 16-under 266, just ahead of amateur Luke Clanton (66 on Sunday), Nico Echavarria of Colombia (65) and Daniel Berger (67).

“My mind’s gone blank, honestly,” McNealy said. “It was an unbelievable adrenaline rush there, especially on 18. … It was a moment I will never forget getting to celebrate with my friends, my family, my wife, my team.”

Berger had a shot to force a playoff with McNealy, but he missed his birdie putt after his approach landed about 20 feet from the hole. Despite the loss, Berger finished inside the top 125 of the FedEx Cup Fall standings to secure his full tour status for 2025. Sunday was the final day of the fall series.

McNealy, who opened the week with a red-hot round of 62, entered Sunday tied with Vince Whaley for the 54-hole lead. McNealy had two birdies at Nos. 5 and 8 but missed a par putt at the par-4 14th, the bogey dropping him out of the lead and briefly leaving Echavarria all alone at 16 under.

Echavarria, however, flew his second shot at No. 18 over the green, chipped up to about 9 feet and could not save par, sliding to 15 under for the event after making six birdies. Clanton also started the final hole at 16 under and went on to finish with a bogey after finding a bunker.

That opened the door for McNealy’s big finish. Unlike his competitors, his approach at No. 18 was pure.

“I told (caddie and brother Scout McNealy) 195 6-iron,” McNealy said of his final approach. “A 6-iron is like a 200 club, so I didn’t need to kill it, but I just needed good solid one. He told me compress it, just smash down, take a divot. Scout’s coaching has been pretty simple lately, he says swing left and take a divot. So I just swung left, took a divot, all came out right online dead center of the clubface and it couldn’t have been a better time for it.”

Meanwhile, Clanton’s T2 finish earned him another point in the PGA Tour University Accelerated program. With 17, the Florida State athlete needs three more points to secure a PGA Tour card.

But Clanton said he was “really not at all” focused on qualifying through the accelerated program.

“I’m trying to win, that’s it,” Clanton said. “I think it’s a great system, of course, to have this opportunity to give us our card and it’s amazing. Again, I think every time we step out here, the one goal we have is to win. I think PGA Tour U’s been a great opportunity for all of us as college players who have these kind of talents and go pro sooner, so it’s awesome.”

J.T. Poston tied for the round of the day with a 7-under 63, forging a tie for fifth with Lee Hodges (67) and Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes (68) at 14-under 268. Eric Cole also had a 63 and finished 11 under.

Whaley finished T8 after shooting 71 on Sunday. Michael Thorbjornsen (69) and Patrick Fishburn (69) also tied for eighth at 13-under 269.

One another player who will go home happy is Joel Dahmen. A fan favorite, Dahmen entered the week No. 124 in the fall standings, right on the cusp of losing his PGA Tour card. He fired a 6-under 64 on Sunday to finish T35 at 7 under and earn just enough points to retain his tour status for 2025.

Dahmen’s bogey-free round featured a hole-out eagle at the par-4 13th and four birdies.

“This is my eighth year out here, I probably made it longer than I ever thought I would,” Dahmen said. “You take it for granted a little bit. It’s been relatively easy, cruise between 50 and 90 on the FedEx Cup every year and enjoy it, and our best friends are out here. Yeah, this is different. Makes you appreciate things a little more when times are tough. I thought a lot about everything. It came down to the last putt this week.”

WOMEN’S GOLF NEWS

JEENO THITIKUL WINS CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP BY ONE SHOT

Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul fired a 7-under-par 65 to claim a one-shot win at the CME Group Tour Championship and the $4 million first-place prize, the largest in professional women’s golf history, on Sunday in Naples. Fla.

Tied with Angel Yin entering the final round at Tiburon Golf Club, Thitikul birdied three of her first seven holes and finished strong, sinking an eagle on the par-5 No. 17 hole before closing her round with a birdie on No. 18.

“Actually, I don’t know what’s (happening) to me on 17 and 18,” Thitikul said after her fourth LPGA Tour win. “I mean, like I really make a birdie on 17, which is giving me a good chance.

“But like having eagle, it’s more than I can ask for. And then hitting really, really good second shot on 18 and hole the putt, it’s just like, you know, all the hard work that I’ve been, it’s just like pay off.”

The 21-year-old Thitikul collected a total of six birdies, one eagle and one bogey, on the par-4 No. 4 hole, to close at 22-under 266 in the LPGA’s season finale. With the win, she is the 2024 Race to the CME Globe champion.

As for the $4M payout, Thitiful already has plans for the money.

“Definitely spend it,” she said with a laugh. “That’s an honest answer for sure. Definitely going to spend it for a little while, but like saving it for my parents as well. Because I told them that I’m shopping a lot. Don’t tell my parents that I’ve been spending all the money.”

Yin played a bogey-free round with six birdies but shot a 6-under 66 to finish one shot behind Thitikul at 21-under 267.

“Lots of positives, hitting it good,” Yin said. “This is — you know, I’m happy because this is a golf course that I’m not very fond of and never played well. My track record, I think this is my best finish ever.”

New Zealand’s Lydia Ko posted the round of the day, notching a 9-under 63 and moving up nine spots to finish third, five spots off the lead. Ko delivered nine birdies, including three in a row on Nos. 7-9, and played bogey-free golf.

China’s Ruoning Yin (68 on Sunday) finished fourth, followed by World No. 1 Nelly Korda (66) and Narin An (68) of South Korea in a tie for fifth. Korda sank six birdies in a bogey-free round but couldn’t catch the leaders after a first-round 72.

“Motivated definitely, and just excited and proud of how this year went,” Korda said. “Never in a million years would I have thought last year, 365 days ago, I would be here with seven wins in one season and another major championship.”

Lexi Thompson, who had announced earlier this year that this would be her last full season on tour, shot a 2-over 74 and finished in a tie for 49th at 2-under 286.

“Yeah, it was very emotional,” she said. “Really wasn’t until I got to No. 9 for some reason. Kind of all hit me.”

TOP INDIANA SPORTS RELEASES

COLTS NEWS

PENALTIES SINK COLTS IN WEEK 12 LOSS TO LIONS

Maybe the most telling aspect of the Colts’ Week 12 loss to the Detroit Lions won’t show up in the box score.

Quarterback Anthony Richardson completed four of five passes for 78 yards – on plays that were called back for a penalty on the Colts.

“Penalties hurt us,” head coach Shane Steichen said. “That starts with myself, we’ve got to get those cleaned up. … That’s on me. We can’t have that. We’ve got to play clean football going forward.”

Those four passes called back on flags weren’t the only penalties assessed to the Colts on Sunday, but they negated completions of seven, 21, 21 and 30 yards, and the three drives on which these four penalties were called all ended in punts. Running back Jonathan Taylor’s longest rush of the game – a 19-yard gain – was called back due to a holding penalty, too.

“It felt like there was a few of them that felt like every time we had a 20-yarder or a 30-yarder, something was called back,” Steichen said.

The Colts in total ran 10 plays with at least 15 yards to the sticks, including three on third down (third and 19, third and 20, third and 15). Those are, of course, low-percentage snaps: Just 9 percent of third-and-15+ plays resulted in a first down in Weeks 1-11 of this season.

It would’ve been difficult for the Colts to overcome so many penalties – especially ones negating explosive plays – in any game. That the Colts were facing the top team in the NFC, and arguably the best team in football, on Sunday made those penalties too frequent and significant to overcome.

“That’s already going to put you behind,” Taylor said. “When you’re not playing clean football against a team like that, you’re already putting yourself behind the sticks. So that’s something that you have to fix immediately.”

The Colts also were unable to capitalize on two first half trips to the red zone, settling for short field goals when touchdowns could’ve set an early tone against the 10-1 Lions. The Colts elected to receive the opening kickoff after winning the coin toss and quickly marched downfield, leading to a second-and-2 at the Lions’ four-yard line. From there, the Colts’ next three plays were:

• Run to Taylor for no gain
• Richardson throwaway on an RPO, with left guard Quenton Nelson drawing an illegal man downfield flag
• Richardson incompletion intended for wide receiver Adonai Mitchell

After Detroit took a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter, the Colts again drove into Detroit’s red zone. On second-and-10 from the Lions’ 11-yard line, Richardson ripped a throw over the middle that went through the hands of tight end Drew Ogletree for an incompletion; Matt Gay knocked in a 29-yard field goal two plays later.

“You’ve got to take advantage of our opportunities when we’ve got them,” Steichen said. “Obviously, this league comes down to inches, it comes down to yards, and you’ve got to take advantage of those opportunities that we have.”

While the Lions’ 24 points were tied for their third-lowest total of the season and their 5.4 yards per play average was their second-lowest in 2024, they converted nine of 15 third down tries and only put the ball in harm’s way twice. The Colts weren’t able to take advantage of either opportunity – defensive end Laiatu Latu’s strip-sack of Goff was recovered by Detroit, and cornerback Sam Womack III wasn’t able to haul in a near-interception on a third-and-six late in the second quarter.

“They schemed against us really well,” Latu said. “They’re getting the ball out super quick. It’s tough to try to make every play consistently, but I felt like we gave our best out there.”

The Colts are now 5-7 and will operate without much margin for error the rest of the season. They are not buried in the AFC playoff race by any stretch – they own a head-to-head tiebreaker with a 5-6 Miami Dolphins and still play the No. 7 seed Denver Broncos in Week 15. They’re effectively three games back of the Houston Texans (7-5) with five to play, but the Texans’ loss to the Tennessee Titans (3-8) on Sunday was a reminder that the division is not settled yet, too.

Still, if the Colts are going to make a late-season playoff push, they know that starts with cleaning up the penalties that sunk them against the Lions on Sunday.

“Whenever you’re out there playing a good team like that, you can’t beat yourself and try to beat the other team at the same time,” Richardson said. “So the penalties definitely hurt us, but that’s just going back to the drawing board and understanding the minor details and the discipline between each and every play and just going to make it work.”

COACH SHANE STEICHEN POST GAME: https://www.colts.com/news/penalties-loss-detroit-lions-week-12-anthony-richardson-stats-offense

QB ANTHONY RICHARDSON POST GAME: https://www.colts.com/news/penalties-loss-detroit-lions-week-12-anthony-richardson-stats-offense

INDIANA PACERS

GAME PREVIEW: PACERS VS PELICANS

The Indiana Pacers’ four-game homestand marches on Monday night, as the Blue & Gold host the New Orleans Pelicans for game two of their series.

Indiana (7-10) got back on track Sunday with a victory over the Washington Wizards, while the Pelicans (4-13) bring a four-game losing streak to Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The Pacers will aim to earn their first win on the second night of a back-to-back on Monday, as they’re 0-2 in those games this season. New Orleans hasn’t played since Friday, a four-point loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Injuries have derailed the start of New Orleans’ season, as the Pelicans have lost nine of their last 10 games and sit in last place in the Western Conference.

The Pelicans will be without star forward Zion Williamson as well as guards Jose Alvarado and Herb Jones on Monday, and starter C.J. McCollum was upgraded to questionable on Sunday, while Dejounte Murray is listed as doubtful. McCollum has played just four games this season, while Murray hasn’t played since the season opener when he fractured his left hand.

Indiana will continue to be without Ben Sheppard (oblique strain), Andrew Nembhard (left knee patellofemoral inflammation), and Aaron Nesmith (left ankle sprain) on Monday.

The Pacers snapped a three-game skid on Sunday,  beating the Wizards 115-103.  Pascal Siakam logged 22 points, six assists, and six rebounds in the win, Tyrese Haliburton had 21 points and nine assists, and Bennedict Mathurin posted 16 points, six rebounds. and four assists.

The newest member of the Blue & Gold, 7-foot-2 center Moses Brown, provided a major boost off the bench, scoring 15 points while snagging four rebounds in just 12 minutes. Indiana signed Brown on Wednesday after the season-ending Achilles injuries to Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman left one true center on the roster in Myles Turner.

In their previous outing, New Orleans lost a tight 112-108 NBA Cup game to the Warriors on Friday. Trey Murphy III scored a team-high 24 points in the game, while Jeremiah Robinson-Earl provided 19 points off the bench and Brandon Ingram chipped in 18 points.

After hosting the Pelicans, the Pacers will welcome the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday and the Detroit Pistons on Friday for an NBA Cup game.

Projected Starters

Pacers: G – Tyrese Haliburton, G – Quenton Jackson, F – Bennedict Mathurin, F – Pascal Siakam, C – Myles Turner

Pelicans: G – Elfrid Payton, G – Javonte Green, F – Brandon Ingram, F – Trey Murphy III, C – Daniel Theis

Injury Report

Pacers:  Isaiah Jackson – out (torn right Achilles tendon), Andrew Nembhard – out (left knee patellofemoral inflammation), Aaron Nesmith – out (left ankle sprain), Ben Sheppard – out (oblique strain), James Wiseman – out (torn left Achilles tendon).

Pelicans: CJ McCollum – questionable (right adductor strain),  Yves Missi – questionable (sore left shoulder), Dejounte Murray – doubtful (left hand fracture), Jose Alvarado – out (left hamstring strain), Herbert Jones – out (right shoulder strain), Karlo Matkovic – out (G League assignment), Zion Williamson – out (left hamstring strain)

Last Meeting

Nov. 1, 2024: Behind 34 points and 10 assists from former No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson, a short-handed Pelicans squad topped the Pacers 125-118 at Smoothie King Center.

Neither team could get separation in the first half before the Pelicans built a six-point lead going into the fourth quarter. While the Pacers tied the game early in the final frame, the Pelicans came up with clutch shotmaking in the final two minutes for the win.

Turnovers plagued the Pacers in the loss, as they coughed the ball up 14 times, which the Pelicans turned into 21 points. The Pelicans also had 24 fast-break points in the game.

Seven Pacers players scored in double figures, led by a career-best 20 points from second-year guard Ben Sheppard and 19 points by Bennedict Mathurin.

After Williamson, Brandon Ingram added 26 points, and Jordan Hawkins scored 23 points for the Pelicans.

The Pelicans were without four players in the game, including All-Defensive first teamer Herb Jones (right shoulder strain) and veteran guard CJ McCollum (right Abductor strain). Pacers starting guard Andrew Nembhard didn’t play due to a sore left knee.

Noteworthy

Pacers center Myles Turner will play in his 586th career game in the Blue & Gold on Monday, passing Billy Knight (585) for most career games with the Pacers all-time.

Turner, the franchise’s all-time blocks leader, is four swats away from reaching 1,300 for his career. He is also 13 rebounds from reaching 4,000 for his career.

The Pelicans have not won a series against the Pacers since the 2019-2020 season.

Pelicans center Daniel Theis played for the Pacers from 2022-2024. He played just eight games for the Pacers.

Broadcast Information (TV and Radio Listings >>)

FanDuel Sports Network – Chris Denari (play-by-play), Quinn Buckner (analyst), Jeremiah Johnson (sideline reporter/host)

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan – Mark Boyle (play-by-play), Eddie Gill (analyst), Pat Boylan (sideline reporter/host)

Tickets

The Pacers continue their four-game homestand when they host the New Olreans Pelicans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Monday, Nov. 25 at 7:00 PM ET.

INDIANA VOLLEYBALL

COLUMBUS, Ohio. – All the momentum was on the side of the Indiana Volleyball team (13-15, 6-12 B1G) early in game four. But from there on out, Ohio State’s fifth-year senior opposite Emily Londot took over the match – helping the Buckeyes to a five-set win (25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 25-17, 15-7) at the Covelli Center on Sunday (Nov. 24) evening.

Junior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles did her best to keep the visiting Hoosiers in the match, providing 23 kills on 64 swings (.266). Junior opposite Avry Tatum provided 14 kills but IU ran out of offensive options late in the match. Sophomore middle blocker Ava Vickers had eight kills while fifth-year senior Morgan Geddes chipped in seven.

IU had no defensive answers in sets four and five. Ohio State hit .833 in the deciding set five and committed just one error (11-1-12). Londot combined for 11 kills in the final two sets to help propel her team to victory on senior night in Columbus. Fellow fifth-year senior Rylee Rader had 13 kills and hit .550 for the match.

The Hoosiers were able to score points in different ways but couldn’t get them down the stretch. IU had 60 kills and also racked up eight aces and 10 total team blocks. Senior setter Camryn Haworth had 49 assists, 15 digs, one ace, one block and three kills. IU racked up 32 attacking errors on 15 Ohio State team blocks.

Ohio State held the advantage in blocks (15.0-10.0), kills (64-60) and digs (81-61). IU was able to score more points from the service line but fell victim to 11 errors from the end line. This was the sixth-straight match between the two teams to go more than three sets. Three of those contests went the distance.

IU will close its season next weekend at Wilkinson Hall against Michigan (Wednesday) and Illinois (Friday). The Hoosiers will honor their seven seniors against on Friday evening. IU needs one more home win to finish with back-to-back 10-win home seasons for the first time since 1999-2000.

Set Breakdown

Set 1: Ohio State 25, Indiana 19

The Buckeyes got everything they wanted in the opening set on Sunday afternoon. The home team hit .444 (15-3-27), committing just three attacking errors. All three errors came via blocks for IU with junior middle blocker Madi Sell and junior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles each chipping in two. IU got 13 kills in game one including six from Alonso-Corcelles. The Hoosiers had a pair of aces during their long run but Ohio State eventually pulled away for the 25-19 win.

• IU was tentative early in front of a big Ohio State crowd on senior night. The Buckeyes got big rips from opposite hitter Emily Londot and outside hitter Grace Egan to take an early 8-2 lead. Much to the displeasure of head coach Steve Aird, sophomore middle blocker Ava Vickers was called for an early lift on an attack. With the lead out to six (8-2), he called timeout to regroup the Hoosiers in the early going.

• A kill from senior outside hitter Mady Saris and an ace from sophomore setter Luca Fickell helped trim the lead to six (9-15). From there, the Hoosiers gave away points on a kill from Ohio State middle blocker Rylee Rader and an attacking error from Saris. Aird was forced into his final timeout with the lead ballooned to eight.

• After Londot terminated to make it a 10-point lead (21-11), the Hoosiers reeled off an 8-0 run with sophomore libero Ramsey Gary at the line. Alonso-Corcelles had a pair of kills and also got involved on two blocks with Sell to close the gap to just three (18-21).

• The Hoosiers had the momentum back but couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity. Ohio State responded with three points to force set point. Alonso-Corcelles had one kill to stop the celebration but freshman outside hitter Emmi Sellman took a big rip off the IU block to win the set 25-19 for the home team.

Set 2: Indiana 25, Ohio State 23

Facing a 2-0 deficit at the Covelli Center, IU dug deep and found some late points to win game two. IU rattled off a 6-1 run to close the set and level the match. The Hoosiers held Ohio State to just a .132 hitting percentage (12-7-38) in the second set. Londot had just one kill with two errors on nine swings. Alonso-Corcelles and junior opposite hitter Avry Tatum combined on nine kills. IU benefited from 17 digs and some late rallies to win set two 25-23.

• It was another slow start for the Hoosiers, getting down by three after attacking errors from Tatum and Saris. Alonso-Corcelles got IU out of a hole and closed the gap to one with a roll shot to beat the defense to the floor. Sell and senior setter Camryn Haworth got hands in front of Egan for a block to tie the set at 9-all.

• Haworth aced Ohio State libero Olivia Hasbrook on a massive top-spin jump serve for IU’s first lead of the night (11-10). The lead quickly disappeared as self-inflicted mistakes continued to rack up. Alonso-Corcelles and Sell each took swings that resulted in Ohio State points. The lead went to 15-12 for the Buckeyes at the media timeout on a kill from Rader.

• With the lead trimmed to one (19-20), IU had a chance to level the set at 20-all. Tatum sent a shot wide on a long rally before freshman middle blocker Ella Boersema was denied on a quick set from Haworth. Aird was quick to burn his second timeout as the deficit grew to three (19-22).

• IU responded with a 6-1 run out of the break. Alonso-Corcelles recorded a kill out of the timeout and then served four-straight points to take a 23-22 lead. After Rader leveled the set, Tatum converted on an outstanding cut shot past the Ohio State block. Fifth-year senior outside hitter Morgan Geddes tapped down an overpass for the 25-23 set win on the next point.

Set 3: Indiana 25, Ohio State 22

The Hoosiers had their best offensive set of the night in game three, racking up 18 kills on 15 assists from Haworth. Both teams hit .267 in game three but IU had the advantage in kills (18-11). Three aces canceled out a three-block advantage from the Buckeyes. Alonso-Corcelles had six kills and continued to roll offensively. Geddes and Tatum each chipped in four kills to close the set out late.

• The trend of slow starts to sets continued in game three. Sellman terminated on back-to-back kills to take an early 8-4 lead. The Hoosiers quickly corrected that trend with Haworth helping IU to a 4-0 run. Sell recorded a kill in transition to level things at 8-all and force Ohio State to a timeout.

• Vickers had a solo block on a roll shot from Egan to give IU the lead at 13-12. The Hoosiers wouldn’t trail the rest of the way and opened up a lead as big as four (18-14) after a kill from Alonso-Corcelles. Ohio State went on a 7-3 run and received a kill from Londot to tie the set at 21-all.

• Tatum came up clutch out of a timeout from Aird. She had a kill and then earned a service ace on miscommunication from the Buckeyes. Ohio State setter Mia Tuman was called for an attacking error after an illegal back row attack. Alonso-Corcelles finished off the set with a kill to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Set 4: Ohio State 25, Indiana 17

The Hoosiers had an early chance to finish off the Buckeyes but again succumbed to self-inflicted mistakes. Ohio State turned up the pressure defensively and in serve receive. IU had just 10 kills in game four and fell into too big of a hole to come back. Londot began to take over and tallied up eight of her 20 kills in the fourth set. Haworth had eight digs, part of IU’s 22. The Hoosiers also had three blocks but couldn’t find enough offense.

• An early chance to blow the set open was squandered by IU. The Hoosiers scored the first two points but then had back-to-back attacking errors on freeball attempts from Tatum and Geddes. Vickers was denied by a big Ohio State block and the Buckeyes took the lead at 3-2.

• A kill from Londot handed the Buckeyes a 4-3 lead and they would never look back. The lead ballooned to five (13-8). on an open-net kill from Rader before Aird reached into his pocket for his first timeout. The advantage was out to seven (18-11) when he used his second timeout of the set.

• IU had a late run to trim the deficit to just seven (15-22) on a block from Sell and Tatum. But that didn’t affect Ohio State as it closed out the fourth set 25-17. Londot had her eight kill of frame on set point to force a fifth game at the Covelli Center.

Set 5: Ohio State 15, Indiana 7

The Hoosiers never got off the ground in game five and allowed Ohio State to run away with the deciding set. Ohio State hit a blistering .833 (11-1-12) to blow things open early. The Hoosiers had one block but didn’t dig a single ball in game five. Londot and Sellman combined for eight kills on eight errorless swings. Alonso-Corcelles had two kills out of the back row but IU had zero answers as Ohio State finished off the match on its senior night.

• IU got off to another bad start but got a break as Aird one a crucial challenge. The two teams replayed a point when it was ruled that the referees blew the whistle too early on the proceeding rally. IU didn’t take advantage as Haworth sailed her attacking long to give the Buckeyes a 6-2 lead.

• The lead ballooned out to six after kills from Londot and middle blocker Eloise Brandewie. Sell had a big solo block on Rader to get the deficit to four (7-11). But IU continued to have no answers in the fifth set. Sellman had a part in the final four points with three kills and a block to win the match for Ohio State.

Top Hoosier Performers

#3 Alonso-Corcelles, Candela

23 kills, 5 digs, 2 blocks, 2 aces, 50 receptions (0 errors)

#13 Tatum, Avry

14 kills, 3 blocks, 5 digs

#1 Sell, Madi

6 blocks, 6 digs, 1 ace, 3 kills

Notes to Know

• Junior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles was outstanding for the Hoosiers on Sunday night. She provided 23 kills – one short of her career high – with five digs, two aces, two blocks and two assists. She took 64 swings – one off her career high – and passed 50 balls in reception (season high) with zero errors.

• Alonso-Corcelles stepped up to the occasion this weekend with 43 kills in two matches (20 – UCLA, 23 – Ohio State). She had just nine attacking errors on 101 swings and hit a collective .336. This is the second time in her career she’s had back-to-back 20-kill matches. She last did it against Minnesota and Maryland on Nov. 12 and Nov. 17, 2023)

• Senior setter Camryn Haworth had a season high 15 digs on top of the 49 assists she contributed. It was the eighth 15+ dig match of her career and the first this year. Seven different Hoosiers had at least five digs in the match.

• For the ninth time this season, IU recorded double-digit blocks (10.0). Junior middle blocker Madi Sell had a hand in six rejections while junior opposite hitter Avry Tatum contributed three. Ironically, the Hoosiers are just 5-4 in matches where the team records 10+ blocks.

• The Hoosiers had 60+ kills for the first time since Nov. 1 (at Rutgers) and just the fourth time this season. On the other side of things, IU committed a season high 32 attacking errors. It was the most attacking errors by the program since conceding 34 in a five-set loss to Maryland on Nov. 25, 2022.

• Ohio State and Indiana are 3-3 against each other over the past three seasons. All six of those contests have gone at least four sets with three of them going the distance. The seven points scored in game five were the fewest in a deciding set since Nov. 16, 2017 (vs. Purdue).

INDIANA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – Junior guard Shay Ciezki scored 34 points and hit four 3-pointers in a 73-65 win over No. 18/17 Baylor to advance to the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis.

KEY MOMENTS

Indiana (4-2) started off the first quarter hot, using a 17-0 run to lead by as many as 15 in the opening period. Junior guard Shay Ciezki led the way with nine points including two 3-pointers as Baylor (4-2) went scoreless for a nearly 6:30 stretch.

It also capitalized at the line in the first, going 8-for-10 but the Hoosier offense slowed in the second quarter. The two teams exchanged 3-pointers, but graduate student guard Sydney Parrish saved a broken play to get a bucket in transition to keep the lead at double digits, 32-21.

The Hoosiers had to weather the storm right before the break, as the Bears pulled within four at the break, 37-33. BU trimmed the lead down to as few as one possession early in the third quarter and evened the score with just under five minutes to play.  In response, Ciezki drained a 3-pointer and senior forward Karoline Striplin finished at the rim to pull the Hoosiers back up five, 51-46.

Ciezki added nine more points in the fourth quarter as Baylor made a push late and come within as few as four with 11 seconds in the game. But Ciezki helped ice the game in the bonus where she hit four-straight at the line.

NOTABLE

Ciezki set a new IU high and the first player to score 34 points since Amanda Cahill scored 38 points versus Michigan State in 2018. The Buffalo, N.Y. native went 9-for-16 from the floor and 4-for-5 from the arc and 12-for-13 from the free throw line. 

Moore-McNeil tied a career-high 10 rebounds while adding seven points and three assists.

Garzon continues her hot streak at the line, improving to 22-for-22 and extending her streak to 25-consecutive free throws made which dates back to last season.

Indiana has now won three games in a row which include a pair of victories over Top 25 opponents.

The Hoosiers narrowly won the glass, 42-41, led by Moore-McNeil’s 10 and seven from Striplin.

UP NEXT

The Hoosiers will face North Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

INDIANA MEN’S SOCCER

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — In recent years, NCAA Tournament golden goals poisoned Indiana men’s soccer. The Hoosiers faced “sudden death” in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020-21 and 2021 – twice in national championship matches.

Maybe 2024 is different.

The No. 14 national seed Hoosiers believe it can be, and Sunday (Nov. 24) on Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium, brought that belief to life, as senior defender Jansen Miller’s 100th-minute header sent IU to its 10th straight Sweet 16, extending the nation’s longest active streak.

Miller’s match-winner came as IU’s first favorable golden goal in the tournament since 2012, Indiana’s most recent championship season.

Indiana (11-4-5, 7-1-2 B1G) overcame a 1-0 deficit to defeat No. 13-ranked Akron (12-5-4, 7-0-1 BIG EAST) 2-1 in overtime in the NCAA Tournament Second Round. IU will travel to face No. 3 Denver on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET, Indiana’s NCAA-record 43rd appearance in the round of 16. 

KEY MOMENTS

• 27′ – Senior goalkeeper JT Harms made a highlight-reel save to keep Akron off the board early. A shot to his right took a deflection to his left from eight yards out. Harms reacted quickly to dive to his left and push it away.

• 31′ – Akron kept the pressure on and converted from a corner as redshirt senior midfielder Victor Gaulmin’s cross found the head of classmate Dyson Clapier.

• 62′ – A header from freshman defender Josh Maher hit the crossbar early in the second half. The ball fell awkwardly to junior midfielder Jack Wagoner, and the keeper smothered his attempt trickling towards goal.

• 71′ – Moments after coming on as a sub, sophomore forward Collins Oduro won a header at midfield that found senior midfielder Patrick McDonald. McDonald quickly played it up to Justin Weiss ahead of the final defender, and the senior forward chipped the onrushing goalkeeper to tie the match.

• 100′ – After nine minutes of scoreless overtime, an Oduro curled cross floated above a crowd in the box. Miller leaped highest and headed it past the leaping keeper. 

NOTABLES

• IU improved to 4-1-2 against ranked opponents this season. The Zips boasted national rankings from United Soccer Coaches (13) and Top Drawer Soccer (20). Head coach Todd Yeagley is 58-36-19 against ranked opponents since 2010.

• Sunday’s result marks Indiana’s second come-from-behind win of the season. On October 8, the Hoosiers recovered from a 2-0 halftime deficit to beat Kentucky 3-2.

• Miller’s winner was the second goal of his career and first since another game-winning header at Butler on September 14, 2022.

• Weiss seventh goal in his last six appearances came as his 25th-career goal, tying senior forward Samuel Sarver. Indiana is one of two programs with multiple active 25-career goal scorers on its roster (West Virginia; Marcus Caldeira and Sergio Ors Navarro). The score also came as Weiss’ first-career postseason goal in his first-career NCAA Tournament appearance.

• Indiana improved to 27-7-3 in the all-time series with Akron and has advanced or won six of eight tournament meetings against the Zips. The Hoosiers have never lost to the Zips at home, boasting a 16-0-2 record as the host.

UP NEXT

No. 3 national seed Denver will host the Hoosiers in the NCAA Tournament Third Round on Saturday, Nov. 30, at 4 p.m. ET.

PURDUE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women’s basketball team improved to 4-1 on the year with a 73-55 win over UT Arlington on Sunday afternoon at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers controlled the defensive end, holding the Lady Mavs (2-4) to 31% shooting and turned 16 turnovers into 23 points.

The Boilermakers placed four players in double figures, led by Lana McCarthy matching her career high of 18 points.

For the second straight game, a pair of Boilermakers finished with double-doubles. Reagan Bass recorded her second straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Destini Lombard stuffed the stat sheet for her first career double-double going for 13 points and 13 rebounds, to go with four assists, three steals and one block.

Kendall Puryear went 4-of-5 from the field to finish with 10 points.

TOP STATS

Lombard powered the Boilermakers on an early run with seven points and eight rebounds in the first quarter alone. McCarthy bounced back from early foul trouble with 16 points in the second half. The sophomore was 8-of-11 and grabbed four rebounds over the final 20 minutes.

Defensively, the Boilermakers broke any rhythm, as the Lady Mavs shot 31% from the field and went 3-of-16 from distance. Purdue recorded a season-high 10 steals. Sophie Swanson topped the team with a career-high four swipes. Lombard finished with three steals for the fourth time this season.

The Boilermakers blocked nine shots on Sunday, tied for the most in the Katie Gearlds era. Eight different players rejected a shot, led by Bass’ pair.

Purdue dominated on the glass with a plus-15 rebounding margin (48-33). The Lady Mavs grabbed 12 offensive rebounds, but the Boilermakers surrendered just 11 second chance points.

KEY MOMENTS

• The Boilermakers started hot with six straight points with scores from Lombard, Ella Collier and McCarthy.

• Purdue later went on a 12-3 run with five points from Bass to open a 12-point advantage at 20-8 with 1:40 to play in the first.

• After UT Arlington cut the gap to give at the end of the first, Puryear went on her own eight-point run in the first 3:37 of the second to extend the advance back to 32-18.

• The Boilermakers scored one field goal in the final 3:03 of the half and carried a 10-point lead into the break.

• Sophie Swanson opened the second half with a steal and score, before Purdue turned its offense over to McCarthy in the post. The freshman scored 10 straight for the Boilermakers to keep the lead in double digits.

• Purdue opened the fourth on a 14-6 run with 3-pointers from Swanson and Rashunda Jones, the latter’s first of the year.

• The Boilermakers shot 61.5% (8-13), while holding UT Arlington to 36% (5-14), to pull away in the final frame.

NOTES

• Saturday was the first meeting between the two clubs.

• Purdue moved the ball around with a season-high 20 assists on 29 made field goals.

• The Boilermakers are 19-1 when dishing out 20 or more assists under Katie Gearlds.

• The Boilermakers recorded 14 points on fast breaks.

• Bass is the first Boilermaker with consecutive double-doubles since Jeanae Terry during the 2022-23 season.

• Purdue has not had two players with double-doubles in consecutive games in over 23 years.

• Purdue has held an opponent to 60 or fewer points in 32 games under Gearlds, posting a 29-3 record in those contests.

UP NEXT

Purdue will head to the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off this week. The Boilermakers will open the event at 4:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving against Middle Tennessee State, before squaring off with No. 1 South Carolina on Saturday at 11 a.m.

NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S SOCCER

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 4 seeded Notre Dame women’s soccer squad is feeling elite! The Fighting Irish (14-3-4) will now make their 17th all-time Elite Eight appearance after knocking off No. 1 seed Mississippi State, 2-0. Doug & Lisa Jones Family head coach Nate Norman has now reached the Elite Eight twice in the past three years.

The Irish became the first team to score on the Bulldogs’ (19-3-0) home pitch all season and the first to earn a win there as well.

This also marked the first time Notre Dame toppled a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since the 2010 season, which coincidentally was the last time the Irish won a national championship.

Who else but Izzy Engle got the first Irish goal of the game. She now owns 19 on the season, which puts her in a tie for most in the country. Lily Joseph earned her sixth assist on the year which brings her points total to 22.

Grace Restovich also supplied a goal in the first half. It marked her fifth on the season to bring her points total to 21.That means that Engle, Joseph and Restovich all now boast 20+ points on the season and they are just freshmen. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Notre Dame was all over Mississippi State in the first half. Case in point, the shot differential at halftime was 14-1.

The Irish scored two goals five minutes apart, with the first coming in the 25th minute. Lily Joseph played a ball over the top as Engle timed her run perfectly. With just the Mississippi State keeper to beat, she tapped it past her into the corner for the goal.

Fast forward to the 30th minute and Restovich’s goal was simply something to marvel at. Ellie Ospeck dished to Restovich about 25 yards out. The St. Louis native took a few dribbles to her left and then unleashed a rocket to the upper-right 90.

The Fighting Irish continued to lock it down in the second half. In fact, the Bulldogs didn’t register their first shot on goal until the 81st minute.

Ultimately, the Irish ran out the clock and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the second time in three years. Notre Dame outshot Mississippi State 24-8, with a 7-1 shots on goal advantage, plus an 8-0 edge on corners.

UP NEXT

The Irish will travel to three-seed Stanford, whom they played earlier in the ACC regular season. That match will take place this upcoming weekend at a TBD time.

NOTRE DAME VOLLEYBALL

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-16, 4-14) fell in three sets (21-25, 22-25, 21-25) on the road to the Virginia Cavaliers (21-8, 11-7) on Sunday afternoon.

Phyona Schrader did it again as she recorded her twelfth triple-double of the season. The setter finished with 12 kills, 15 assists, and 11 digs. Sydney Palazzolo recorded 8 kills, followed by Avery Ross with 7 kills. Anna Bjork chipped in 6 kills, hitting .375 on the match, and recorded a team-best 5 blocks. Ella Sandt finished with 17 assists for the Irish.

Virginia posted an 8-2 lead to force an early timeout in the first set, but the Irish chipped away to bring it within two at 9-7. A kill followed by a solo block from Bjork sparked the Irish offense as they went on a 6-2 run to tie it up at 14-all. A Palazzolo kill and Sandt ace put the Irish in front 16-15 before another run from Virginia would put UVA in the lead 19-16. Notre Dame tied it up at 20-all, but Virginia would close it out on a 5-1 run to take set one 25-21.

It was a close start in the second set as Maisie Alexander’s second ace of the day tied it up at 9-all. The Irish trailed 15-12 at the media timeout, but a 4-1 Notre Dame run capped off by another Ross kill would force the UVA timeout with it tied at 16-16. Tied again at 18-all, the Irish were battling to take the set and while they brought it within two, Virginia won the second 25-22. 

Tied at 9-all in set three, the 6-1 Cavaliers run put Virginia up 15-10 at the media timeout. The two squads would trade points until the Irish cut it to three at 20-17. It would go back and forth until the very end, but Virginia secured the win taking set three 25-21.

The Irish will take on Virginia Tech for the second time this season on Wednesday, Nov. 27 as they host the Hokies at Purcell Pavilion.

BUTLER WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Caroline Strande scored a game-high 26 points in Butler’s 69-44 victory over UMass Lowell on Sunday afternoon. The Bulldog victory moves the team’s overall record to 5-1 heading into Thanksgiving.

Strande scored her 26 points in 25 minutes on 9-for-14 shooting. She made four of her six 3-point attempts and added seven rebounds in the outcome.

Strande was one of three Bulldogs to score in double figures. Kilyn McGuff posted a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Riley Makalusky also had a solid all-around game with 10 points, five assists and four rebounds.

Butler and UMass Lowell were tied at 12-12 after the first quarter, but the Bulldogs would end the first half on an 8-0 scoring run to take a 31-23 lead into halftime.

BU outscored the River Hawks by five in the third quarter and blew the game open in the fourth with 23 points over the final 10 minutes.

The Bulldogs scored 40 points in the paint and came up with 24 points on 16 UMass Lowell turnovers. Kilyn McGuff led the defensive charge with four steals and Lily Carmody added two allowing BU to record 10 as a team.

Cristen Carter also patrolled the paint for BU by blocking three shots. Carter had eight points and five rebounds. She only missed one shot on Sunday.

Butler’s next game will come in the 2024 Gulf Coast Showcase against Santa Clara. Opening tip in Bonita Springs, Fla. is set for 5 p.m.

IU INDY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

MILWAUKEE, Wisc. – A strong offensive start for the Jaguars quickly slowed as the IU Indianapolis women’s basketball team fell to the Marquette Golden Eagles, 83-50, on Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee.

The game began on a high note for the Jaguars, who shot 5-for-8 from beyond the arc in the opening quarter. Nevaeh Foster led the charge with nine points, keeping IU Indy within striking distance. The Jaguars trailed by just two at 21-19 after the first period, with Marquette’s perfect 5-for-5 performance from the free-throw line giving them the slight edge.

However, the momentum quickly shifted in the second quarter. IU Indy’s offense slowed, scoring only 10 points and shooting just 21.4% from the field. Meanwhile, Marquette dominated the boards, outrebounding the Jaguars 12-3, and took a 40-29 lead into halftime.

The second half saw little improvement for the Jaguars, who continued to struggle offensively. Shooting just 25 percent from the field in the third quarter, IU Indy couldn’t keep pace with Marquette, who shot 57.1 percent and extended their lead to 63-40. The Golden Eagles capped off their performance with a 20-10 advantage in the final frame, securing the 83-50 victory.

Azyah Newson-Cole led the Jaguars with 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting, while Faith Stinson added 10 points. Alexa Hocevar was also a bright spot for IU Indy, contributing nine rebounds and seven points.

With the loss, the Jaguars drop to 1-5 on the season. They will look to bounce back when they travel to Eastern Illinois to face the Panthers on November 27.

BALL STATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – The Ball State women’s basketball team (5-1) advanced to the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament consolation title game after defeating Southeastern Conference (SEC) foe Texas A&M (3-4) by a score of 75-62 late Sunday night at Imperial Arena.

Ball State head coach Brady Sallee has now defeated a Power 5 conference team eight times during his tenure with the Cardinals — Minnesota (54-51, 2012-13), Iowa (77-72, 2015-16), Vanderbilt (88-79, 2017-18), Purdue (66-60, 2017-18), Pitt (68-66, 2022-23), Pitt (73-62, 2023-24), Georgia (52-51, 2023-24) and Texas A&M (75-62).

The game opened as an up-and-down affair between the Cardinals and the Aggies. The last tie 9-9 came at the 5:22 mark. Ball State began to pull away after putting together an 9-0 run which was capped off by a layup from current Cardinal and Texas A&M transfer, Maliyah “MJ” Johnson. The Cardinals ended up taking an eight-point edge (20-12) over the Aggies into the second quarter of play.

Ball State’s defense, normally man-to-man, played zone tonight against the Aggies. That seemed to be the ticket, as Texas A&M was forced to settle on the 3-point line. Ball State concentrated on its fast-paced offense which saw the Cardinals build a 32-15 cushion with just under five minutes left in the first half. The Cardinals led by as many as 18 points (35-17) with 3:59 on the clock. After that, Texas A&M outscored Ball State 14-6 to come within 10 points (41-31) by intermission.

After the break, Ball State continued with its fast-paced style of play allowing players to score in transition while attacking the rim.

For the second-straight night, Madelyn Bischoff found her stroke from behind the arc. But Texas A&M wasn’t going to go away lightly making it a six-point contest (48-42) midway through the third stanza. Elise Stuck, Bischoff, Marie Kiefer and Ally Becki, were able to stop the Aggies in their tracks as the trio scored a combined nine points to put BSU back up by 15 (57-42). The Aggies again kept chomping at the heels of BSU but found themselves down by 11 (59-48) as both squads headed into the final 10 minutes of play.

The fourth quarter wasn’t a cake walk for Ball State. Becki had gotten four fouls, so naturally had to sit the bench. Lachelle Austin and Stuck took over from there for the Cardinals to put BSU back up by 16 (74-58) after Texas A&M had cut it to eight (66-58) with under five minutes to play. From that point forward, Texas A&M was unable to come within single digits the remainder of the contest.

Two nights in a row, the Cardinals were led by Bischoff who ended the night with 17 points. Austin also tallied a 17-point performance while Stuck and Becki both ended the night with 12 points apiece.

As a team, points off turnovers played a big role offensively for the Cardinals outpacing the Aggies, 29-12.

The Ball State women’s basketball team will close out play at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament on Monday in the consolation championship game against Columbia University at 5 pm ET.

 Ball State Marketing Note:

The Cards are hot and you’re not going to want to miss a chance to see them in action. The #1 Mid-Major team in the country will be back in Worthen Arena on Sunday, December 1st as they host No. 3 South Dakota State.  Make sure you secure your tickets today to continue to witness history!

BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – – Despite 12 kills from Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year Carson Tyler, third-seeded Ball State suffered a 3-0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-13) setback to fourth-seeded Western Michigan in the title match of the 2024 Mid-American Conference Volleyball Championship.

The Cardinals (22-10) could never find its rhythm in the Stroh Center against the Broncos (20-12) squad which took down top-seeded Bowling Green in Saturday’s semifinal action. In that five-set thriller, WMU scored the first seven points in the fifth frame and never looked back.

Unfortunately, Western Michigan carried over the momentum in Sunday’s match, countering a 3-0 Ball State run to start the match with six of the next seven. WMU would hold a 15-12 edge at the court switch, before three kills and a block from Tyler helped the Cardinals pull ahead 17-15.

BSU would maintain the lead at 19-18, before WMU scored six straight to take control of the match and would never trail again the rest of the afternoon.

Along with her team-high 12 kills, Tyler chipped in 13 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. She also led the Ball State defense with a pair of block assists, while hitting .367 (12-1-30).

Junior opposite Madison Buckley was second on the squad with seven kills, while junior outside Katie Egenolf finished the day with six.

Ball State freshman libero Sophie Ledbetter paced all players with 18 digs, while senior setter Megan Wielonski dished out a team-high 27 assists. She also served up one more ace, raising her career total to 197.

For their efforts over Ball State’s three-day run at the MAC Volleyball Championship, Tyler and Wielonski were both named to the all-tournament team.

Julia Marr led the WMU attack with 14 kills, while Carley Piercefield collected a team-best 14 digs. Overall, the Broncos hit .394 (51-8-109) in the sweep, while limiting the Cardinals to a .196 (36-14-112) rate of success.

INDIANA STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Indiana State men’s basketball heads to the University of Southern Indiana on Monday night, a quick turnaround after winning at home on Friday night. Monday night’s matchup begins at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.

The Sycamores defeated the Cougars of Chicago State on Friday night with its second-straight 90-point game, winning 97-61. Samage Teel scored 20 points, Markus Harding recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, Jahni Summers with 13 points, and Aaron Gray rounded out the four in double figures with 12.

USI is coming off a home win over South Dakota, 92-83, shooting a season-high 52.9% from the field. Of the Screaming Eagles’ 68 shot attempts, 18 came from three, converting on 44.4% (8-for-18). Jayland Randall scored a career-high 24 points in the team’s victory.

The Sycamores and Screaming Eagles have seen each other only twice in their programs histories, as USI took the debut game in Evansville in the 2022-23 season and Indiana State winning last year’s game in Terre Haute.

Indiana State scored more points in the second half (62) then Chicago State did in the full game (61). The help of 35 defensive rebounds on Friday night lands the Sycamores ninth in the nation averaging 32.0 rebounds per game (through games 11/23). Indiana State is also seventh in the nation through those games in three-pointers per game (12.0).

Head Coach Matthew Graves has stated that the Sycamores want to play fast, and that’s just what they are doing. Indiana State is 18th in the country in adjusted tempo (KenPom), which is an estimate in the number of possessions per 40 minutes. This correlates to the Sycamores leading the country in “3PA/FGA” which is the percentage of field goal attempts that are three-point attempts; 57.7% of Indiana State’s shot attempts are three-pointers.

After Monday’s game, Indiana State heads to the Baha Mar Hoops event in The Bahamas. The Sycamores take off on Wednesday to play Arkansas State on Friday, Iona on Saturday, and Tarleton State on Sunday. Following this event, Indiana State kicks off Missouri Valley play on the road at Missouri State on Saturday, December 7.

PURDUE FT. WAYNE MEN’S BASKETBALL

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Just days after Fort Wayne (3-2) received the first snow of the season, the Mastodon men’s basketball team heads south to Daytona Beach, Florida to play in the Sunshine Slam. First up is a contest against Drexel on Monday. The following the day the ‘Dons will play either Chicago State or Radford.

Game Day Information
Who: Drexel (4-2)
When: Monday, November 25 | 12:30 PM
Where: Daytona Beach, Fla. | Ocean Center
Live Stats: Link
Watch: Baller TV ($)
Listen: 1380 AM
Series History: First Meeting
Game Notes (PDF): Purdue Fort Wayne | Drexel

Game Day Information
Who: Chicago State or Radford
When: Tuesday, November 26 | 10:30 AM if a loss on Monday | 6:30 PM with a win on Monday
Where: Daytona Beach, Fla. | Ocean Center
Live Stats: TBD
Watch: Baller TV ($)
Listen: 1380 AM
Series History: No previous meetings with Radford. | ‘Dons lead the series with Chicago State 5-1

‘Dons & Ends

// The Mastodons are no stranger to the Ocean Center just steps from the beach. The ‘Dons played in the CBI in 2022 in Daytona, falling to Drake 87-65. The venue was home to professional minor league hockey 1992-96 with the Daytona Beach Hawgs calling the venue home. The arena has also hosted multiple indoor/arena football teams including the Daytona Beach ThunderBirds of arenafootball2 in 2008.

// The Mastodons are 27th in the nation in turnover margin at 5.8

// Eric Mulder is 3rd in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (5.2).

// The Mastodons are 10th in the nation in free throw percentage (81.6 percent).

// Maximus Nelson has opened the season shooting 50.0 percent (13-of-26) from three, 44th in the nation.

// Opponents are 38-of-125 (30.4 percent) from three against the ‘Dons this year.

// The ‘Dons earned 50 total points from the free throw in back-to-back games earlier this year, going 26-of-31 vs. Bethune-Cookman and 24-of-26 against Southern Indiana the next game.

// The ‘Dons had only eight turnovers against Bethune-Cookman and only eight against Southern Indiana. The ‘Dons recorded single-digit turnovers in 16 games last year. After just 10 turnovers against Penn State on Wednesday, the ‘Dons are averaging only 8.6 turnovers over the last three games.

// Rasheed Bello earned his second career Horizon League Player of the Week accolade on Nov. 18, averaging 24.5 points, 2.5 steals, 2.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds in wins over Bethune-Cookman and Southern Indiana. He had a career-high 31 points vs. Bethune-Cookman.

// The ‘Dons have won 23 straight regular season home games against non-league opponents, a streak that started on Nov. 16, 2019 vs. Stetson.

// Jalen Jackson is averaging 8.4 fouls drawn per game, 17th in the nation per Ken Pom.

// Another Ken Pom stat, the ‘Dons lead the nation in minutes continuity at 76.0 percent. Ken Pom describes the stat as “determining what percentage of a team’s minutes are played by the same player from last season to this season.” The current national average is 34.0 percent.

// Eric Mulder has recorded just one turnover in 128 minutes.

// Notes on the Penn State contest:

– The Mastodons’ 89 points are the second most points the ‘Dons have ever scored against a Big Ten team, only behind the 92-72 win at Indiana on Dec. 18, 2017. The Mastodons’ 89 points would have been enough offense to win 25 of their previous 27 contests against Big Ten schools.

– The ‘Dons led by as many as 11 points, holding a 47-36 lead with 1:24 left in the first half.

– Jalen Jackson recorded a career-high 31 points, after setting his career mark of 29 just a game earlier.

– Corey Hadnot II had a career-high 20 points while draining four 3-pointers.

– Eric Mulder recorded his fifth career double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.

EVANSVILLE MEN’S BASKETBALL

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Tayshawn Comer scored a team-high 18 points to lead the University of Evansville men’s basketball team to a 66-53 victory over Campbell on Sunday afternoon at the Ford Center.

Comer led the Purple Aces with six assists and five free throw makes while grabbing six rebounds.  Cam Haffner scored 16 points, going 7-for-15 from the field.  Gabriel Pozzato and Tanner Cuff scored 10 points apiece.  Pozzato tied for the game-high with seven boards.

“It is a good feeling to win again.  I am really proud of how our defense played, to hold a team that averages over 70 points to just 53 shows the effort our guys put in,” Aces head coach David Ragland said.  “We dealt with some adversity earlier in the week and to see how we responded on Friday and today is a major positive for us.”

Campbell scored the opening four points of the game before Cam Haffner got the Aces on the board with a triple.  Gabriel Pozzato followed with another trey to give UE its first lead at 6-4.  Converting four of their first five attempts, the Fighting Camels retook a 10-6 edge.

Evansville countered with a 9-0 run that put them back in the lead at 15-10 at the 12:35 mark.  Tayshawn Comer had back-to-back field goals to open the stretch.  Campbell fought back with the next seven to jump back on top before another UE run put them up by five.  Another 7-0 rally was highlighted by Pozzato’s second long ball of the afternoon.

Once again, the Camels answered, retaking a 28-27 edge inside of the 3-minute mark, however, in a half that was highlighted by runs from each team, UE made its move.  Trent Hundley’s triple in the final minute helped the Aces secure a 34-28 halftime lead.

After the Camels opened the second half with a 3-pointer, UE responded with eight in a row to take its first double figure lead at 42-31.  Campbell got as close as seven points midway through the second half, but Evansville never let them get closer, finishing the day off with a 66-53 victory.

Leading Campbell was Jasin Sinani who posted 22 points.  He was a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line.  The Camels finished the game shooting 32.7% while the Aces finished at 45.1%.  UE wrapped up the contest with a 35-29 edge on the boards.

Tanner Cuff scored just five points but was effective in every facet of the game in a career-high 36:57 of action. Along with a career-best five steals, Cuff added three assists without turning the ball over.

UE has a nine-day break before returning to action on Dec. 3 with the Missouri Valley Conference opener at Murray State.

SOUTHERN INDIANA MEN’S BASKETBALL

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball continues its three-game homestand Monday when the Screaming Eagles host the Sycamores of Indiana State University at Liberty Arena. Tipoff time for the game sponsored by HFI is set for 7 p.m.

The game also is the annual Hawaiian Night with fans encouraged to wear tropical attire for the game.

Following the USI-ISU matchup, the homestand concludes December 2 when the Screaming Eagles host East/West University. Game time December 2 is 7 p.m.

All of the action from USI’s upcoming homestand can be seen live on ESPN+. The game can also be heard on ESPN 97.7FM (http://listentotheref.com) and 95.7FM The Spin (http://957thespin.com).

Tickets for the homestand and all USI home dates are on sale now at USIScreamingEagles.com.

The USI Screaming Eagles opened the three-game homestand with a 92-83 victory over the University of South Dakota. Junior guard Jayland Randall led four Eagles in double-digits with a season-high 24 points. Junior guard Jared Washington and sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi followed with 16 and 14 points, respectively, while graduate forward Jack Mielke rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points.

Junior guard Jack Campion dished a career-high nine assists in the win over South Dakota.

Randall leads USI through the first six games, overall, with 16.8 points per outing, while Harrison is close behind with 14.2 points per contest. Washington follows the top two with 13.7 points per appearance, while Olowoniyi is averaging 13.3 points and is grabbing a team-high 6.8 rebounds.

The Sycamores are 3-2 to start the 2024-25 season after posting a 97-61 victory over Chicago State University. ISU posted wins over Eureka University, 93-48, and Ball State University, 94-84, to start the year before losing to Florida Atlantic University, 97-64, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 77-72.

The series is tied, 1-1, after USI lost to ISU, 98-54, last season in Terre Haute. Jeremiah_Hernandez led USI with 16 points, while A.J. Smith added 12 points in the loss.

VALPO VOLLEYBALL

The sixth-seeded Valpo volleyball team saw its time at the MVC Tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa come to an end in the second round Sunday night, as third-seeded UIC earned a 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 25-19) victory. The back-and-forth affair featured 34 tie scores and 18 lead changes over the four sets.

How It Happened

Valpo won the race to 20 in the opening frame, owning a slim 20-19 edge with five points to go. But UIC scored the final six points of the set to take the opener.

It was a four-point advantage for the Beacons in set two at 18-14 before the Flames scored five in a row to pull in front, 19-18.

Valpo responded with a 7-2 run to end the set, capped by consecutive kills from freshman Lilly Merk (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South Vigo), to even the match at one set apiece.

Just like the second set, the Beacons held a four-point lead late in set three at 21-17. This time, however, UIC scored eight of the final nine points of the set to pull back in front in the match, 2-1.

Valpo enjoyed a 16-12 lead in set four, but again the Flames had a big run late in the set, scoring 13 of the match’s final 16 points to close out their win.

Inside the Match

Merk enjoyed the best attacking match of her rookie year, finishing with a team-high and season-best 12 kills on .600 hitting. The .600 hitting percentage was the best by a Beacon this year (minimum 10 kills) and is tied for fourth-highest in a four-set match by a Valpo player in the 25-point era.

Senior Elise Swistek (LaPorte, Ind./New Prairie) posted her 18th double-double of the season and the 42nd of her career, finishing with 11 kills and 11 digs.

Junior Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) easily led all players with 35 digs, her sixth effort of 30 or more digs this season. The 35 digs are tied for second-most in a four-set match by a Valpo player in the 25-point era and are seventh-most in a single match in MVC Tournament history.

UIC enjoyed a 62-50 edge in kills at the end of the night and outhit Valpo .266-.166, thanks in large part to a 16-6 advantage in the blocks department.

Inside the Season

Valpo won 18 matches this season and extended its streak of top-half MVC finishes and qualifying for the MVC Tournament to eight consecutive seasons — every year since joining the Valley.

The Beacons counted on their freshman class for 58.7% of the team’s points this year, far and away the highest percentage of points accounted for by freshmen in the tenure of head coach Carin Avery.

Freshman Jessica Pickett (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) posted a .331 hitting percentage for the season, second-best by a Valpo player in the 25-point era and third-best across all eras, and tallied a team-high 139 blocks, third-most at Valpo in the 25-point era and eighth-most across all eras.

Led by Pickett, the Beacons averaged 2.22 blocks/set this year, third-highest in the 25-point era.

Sophomore Mara Thomas (Bogart, Ga./Athens Academy) delivered 41 service aces, tied for second-most at Valpo in the 25-point era. As a team, the Beacons racked up 180 aces, second-most by a Valpo team in the 25-point era.

Hickey became just the second player in program history with multiple 700-dig seasons, tallying 715 digs — sixth-most in a season by a Valpo player.

Swistek racked up 371 kills to lead the Beacons, eighth-most by a Valpo player in the 25-point era and the most since 2018.

Freshman Ava Helming (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) finished the year with 293 kills, tied for third-most by a freshman under Avery, and 78 blocks, sixth-most by a freshman in Avery’s tenure. Merk’s 75 blocks ranks seventh by a freshman under Avery, while Jordyn Gove (Amarillo, Texas/Randall) posted 238 kills, eighth-most by a freshman in Avery’s tenure.

Inside the Careers

This year’s Valpo squad featured just two seniors.

Swistek ended the night with 1,479 career digs and 1,018 career kills, ranking 12th and 19th in program history, respectively. She surpassed former Valpo standout Angie Nordquist in both categories on Sunday.

Abby Boyle (Byron Center, Mich./Byron Center) appeared in 91 matches, tallying 118 digs.

VALPO MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team’s mantra of “strength in numbers” was on full display on Sunday as the Beacon bench made a significant impact in an 81-53 drubbing of Eastern Illinois at the Athletics-Recreation Center. Valpo started its three-game multi-team event on a winning note against its former Mid-Continent Conference foe thanks in part to a team-high 19 points from Tyler Schmidt (Valparaiso, Ind. / Victory Christian Academy) and 16 from freshman Justus McNair (Joliet, Ill. / Joliet West).

How It Happened

Points were hard to come by in the early going as Valpo led 4-2 up until a traditional 3-point play by Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (LaSalle, Quebec, Canada / Orangeville Prep [Western Michigan]) lifted the edge to five with 14:20 left in the first half.

After a low-scoring first eight minutes, Valpo led 11-6 at the under-12 media timeout. Five straight points by McNair including a triple built the lead to 11 at 19-8 with 9:53 left in the first half.

The Beacons faced adversity as Eastern Illinois went on a 12-0 run to take a 20-19 lead with 5:38 left in the half. Valpo recovered as Schmidt and Darius DeAveiro (Kanata, Ottawa, Canada / Orangeville Prep) both hit 3s in the final stretch of the first half, helping the Beacons enter the locker room with a 35-29 lead despite shooting just 3-of-17 (17.6) percent from long range and 9-of-32 (28.1 percent) from the floor.

The Panthers were within four with 17:53 on the second-half clock, but Valpo scored the next 10 points – a run that featured two triples by McNair and finished with a second-chance basket by Kaspar Sepp (Tartu, Estonia / Fairmont Academy) that bolstered the lead to 48-34 with 13:41 to play.

After leading by 16 with just under 12 minutes to play, Valpo went on another run – this time rattling off 12 straight points – to provide a final dagger. That run finished with a DeAveiro 3 at 9:15 that made it 66-38.

The lead reached as many as 33 before 28 was the final margin. Valpo outscored Eastern Illinois 46-24 in the second half, turning around the shooting numbers by going 50 percent both from the floor (15-of-30) and from the 3-point arc (7-of-14).

Inside the Game

Schmidt turned in a flawless shooting performance, going 4-of-4 from the floor, 2-of-2 from 3 and 9-of-9 from the free-throw line while totaling 19 points in 23 minutes and posting an eye-popping plus-minus total of +42.

Schmidt became the first player nationally to go perfect from both the floor and the free-throw line with at least four field-goal attempts and at least nine free-throw attempts this season. The last player to do so nationally was Josh Cohen of Massachusetts on Dec. 23, 2023 vs. Portland and the last Missouri Valley Conference player with a similar stat line was Wichita State’s Fred VanVleet on Feb. 19, 2014 at Loyola (6-6 FG, 10-10 FT).

The 28-point cushion marked Valpo’s most lopsided win over a Division-I opponent in over seven full years, dating back to Nov. 19, 2017 vs. Southeastern Louisiana (W 83-50).

McNair’s 16 points came on 5-of-8 shooting including a 4-of-6 performance from 3-point land.

Sepp squeezed 11 boards to go along with seven points and three assists, taking home the team’s Grit Award. Six of his rebounds came on the offensive glass, helping Valpo own a 46-31 rebounding edge. Sepp finished a rebound shy of his career high of 12, which came on Dec. 6 of last season at Central Michigan.

Sophomore Cooper Schwieger (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley Southwest [Link Year]) pulled down seven rebounds and has at least six in all five games this year.

Valpo’s depth was on display as the lopsided win came despite no starters scoring in double figures.

The Beacons continued their stellar free-throw shooting, a season-long trend. They went 23-of-25 (92 percent) at the stripe, a season high. Valpo has shot 79 percent or better at the foul line every game this year and owns a glowing team free-throw percentage of 85.1 on the young season.

Valpo owns back-to-back wins for the first time since Nov. 21, 2023 vs. Western Illinois and Nov. 25, 2023 vs. Southern. The Beacons will seek their first three-game winning streak of the Roger Powell Era on Wednesday.

This marked the first matchup between Valpo and EIU since the Panthers left the Ohio Valley Conference after the 1996 season. Valpo extended its head-to-head winning streak to nine dating back to Feb. 27, 1993.

INDIANA SMALL COLLEGE WEB SITES:

INDIANA WESLEYAN ATHLETICS: https://iwuwildcats.com/

EARLHAM ATHLETICS: https://goearlham.com/

WABASH ATHLETICS: https://sports.wabash.edu/

FRANKLIN ATHLETICS: https://franklingrizzlies.com/

ROSE-HULMAN ATHLETICS: https://athletics.rose-hulman.edu/

ANDERSON ATHLETICS: https://athletics.anderson.edu/landing/index

TRINE ATHLETICS: https://trinethunder.com/landing/index

BETHEL ATHLETICS: https://bupilots.com/

DEPAUW ATHLETICS: https://depauwtigers.com/

HANOVER ATHLETICS: https://athletics.hanover.edu/

MANCHESTER ATHLETICS: https://muspartans.com/

HUNTINGTON ATHLETICS: https://www.huathletics.com/

OAKLAND CITY ATHLETICS: https://gomightyoaks.com/index.aspx

ST. FRANCIS ATHLETICS: https://www.saintfranciscougars.com/landing/index

IU KOKOMO ATHLETICS: https://iukcougars.com/

IU EAST ATHLETICS: https://www.iueredwolves.com/

IU SOUTH BEND ATHLETICS: https://iusbtitans.com/

PURDUE NORTHWEST ATHLETICS: https://pnwathletics.com/

INDIANA TECH ATHLETICS: https://indianatechwarriors.com/index.aspx

GRACE COLLEGE ATHLETICS: https://gclancers.com/

ST. MARY OF THE WOODS ATHLETICS: https://smwcathletics.com/

GOSHEN COLLEGE ATHLETICS: https://goleafs.net/

HOLY CROSS ATHLETICS: https://www.hcsaints.com/index.php

TAYLOR ATHLETICS: https://www.taylortrojans.com/

VINCENNES ATHLETICS: https://govutrailblazers.com/landing/index

FOOTBALL HISTORY

The First Homecoming Game is Played

November 25, 1911 – Columbia, Missouri – The football game played between Missouri and Kansas is considered to be the first-ever homecoming game. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch covered the day’s festivities, stating that Coach Chester Brewer invited alumni to “come home” for the game, which included parades, bands, and more. The people enjoyed it so much that a tradition was born. Apparently, due to the poor weather in the days leading up to the game, the administrators had 86 bails’ worth of straw on the field to act as a covering of sorts. The straw was removed just before game time, and though the weather was now pleasant, the field was not so much. The game had drawn so much interest across the state that it had an almost play-by-play “broadcast” sent via telegraph to fans in Lawrence, Kansas.

 3 Grey Cup games

November 25, 1911 – Varsity Stadium, Toronto – The 3rd Grey Cup was played as the Toronto Varsity Blues won their third consecutive title by defeating the Toronto Argonauts by the score of 14-7 per the canadianfootball.fandom website. 

November 25, 1944 – Civic Stadium, Hamilton – The 32nd Grey Cup was played as the St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy defeated the Hamilton Flying Wildcats by the score of 7-6 per the American Football Fandom site. 

November 25, 1950 – Varsity Stadium, Toronto – The 38th edition of the CFL Grey Cup was played per the amp.blog-shops web page. This game is often referred to as the “Mud Bowl” due to the sloppy field conditions that day. It was the Toronto Argonauts who won claiming the franchise’s 9th title in a shutout victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 13-0. 

Big Numbers in the Bears vs. Browns Game

November 25, 1951 – Cleveland Municipal Stadium – The Chicago Bears traveled to meet the reigning champion Cleveland Browns per the grayflannelsuit.com internet site. It was a record setting day to say the least in a few ways.   Cleveland halfback Dub Jones tied the NFL record for most touchdowns in a game as he punched through the Bears defense six times to find paydirt in the Browns 42-21 win versus the Bears. The most tired team on the field had to be the officials as they threw flags and handed out penalties like it was Halloween candy. The Cleveland Browns were penalized a record 209 yards on 21 offenses while Chicago had 16 penalties for 165 yards.

Giving Thanks for Dallas Texans Only “W”

November 25, 1952 – Dallas, Texas – Thanksgiving games in Dallas are not just from the current era of football. The Dallas Texans hosted one during a dismal 1952 season against a pretty good Chicago Bears team. ESPN.com has a pretty good story on the game that states that before the game instead of the normal warmups and such that the Texans players went up into the stands thanking the patrons for coming to the game. Up to that point the Texans team had not smelled victory for the season. The air was so chilly that day that the players had set up burn barrels on each end of the bench area to keep their hands warm. They always say don’t count the home team out in a Thanksgiving day battle and that may have started in this very game because the only win ever for the NFL’s Dallas Texans was on this day when they beat the Bears 27-23. 

1971 Heisman

November 25, 1971 – New York City – The 37th Heisman Trophy was awarded to Auburn’s Quarterback Pat Sullivan. According to the website Heisman.com this was unbelievably Auburn University’s first player to ever receive the prestigious award that normally goes to the nation’s top college player. Remember Coach John Heisman spent time coaching the Tigers during his illustrious coaching career.  Sullivan led the nation with 2,856 yards of total offense as a junior. His 1971 Senior season was special too for his 2,012 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. The voting was close as Cornell’s outstanding running back Ed Marinaro was a close second.

Grey Cup 61

November 25, 1973 – CNE Stadium, Vancouver -The 61st CFL Grey Cup was played as the Ottawa Rough Riders earned their 8th Championship by defeating the Edmonton Eskimos by the score of 22-18 per the cbc.ca. Charlie Brandon was Most Valuable Player, and Garry Lefebvre, Most Valuable Canadian.

OJ Breaks Brown’s record

November 25, 1976 – The Buffalo Bills running back O.J. Simpson rushed for 276 yards against the Detroit Lions. The Buffalonews.com story gives all the action in the game and from it we gather that Simpson’s 273 yards came on 29 carries during this Thanksgiving day game against the Detroit Lions. The Juice also broke one of Jim Brown’s NFL records by rushing for a fifth game of 200 yards or more during his career. The yardage wasn’t enough though for the Bills as Detroit rolled to a 27-14 win in the contest.

Grey Cup 67

November 25, 1979 – Olympic Stadium, Montreal – The CFL 67th Grey Cup game was played as told by the New York Times. The Edmonton Eskimos retained the CFL Championship by knocking off the  Montreal Alouettes, 17-9. The MVP of the game was running back David Green and the Most Valuable Canadian was awarded to Tom Cousineau.  Interesting tidbit.. David Green went to my alma mater Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

Dynamic Broadcast Duo Debut

November 25, 1979 – It was the first time that the broadcast team of John Madden and Pat Summerall were in the same booth together on a game in what became 22 years of their great announcing together per the classictvsports.com site.

Iron Bowl 53

November 25, 1988 – Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama – The 53rd Iron Bowl was played and it was the Auburn Tigers claiming victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide by the close score of 15-10 per onthisday.com.

Hurricanes Stop Irish Streak

November 25, 1989 – Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida – The Miami Hurricanes ended Notre Dame’s all-time longest winning streak of 23 games by defeating the Irish 27-10 per the Irishlegends.com site. 

More Grey Cup Action

November 25, 1990 – BC Place, Vancouver -The 78th Grey Cup to determine the Champion of the CFL was played. The Edmonton Eskimos and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were matched up to play for the cup that year per onthisday.com. It was the Blue Bombers who came out on top in a wide margin of 50-11 on the scoreboard. The offensive Most Valuable Player was Tom Burgess while Greg Battle was the Defensive MVP of the game. The Most Valuable Canadian was Warren Hudson.

November 25, 2001 – Olympic Stadium, Montreal – The 89th battle for the Grey Cup was played. It was the Calgary Stampeders who took their 5th Championship in team history as they outlasted the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 27-19. Marcus Crandell was the game’s MVP and Aldi Henry took home the Most Valuable Canadian award per onthisday.com..

November 25, 2007 – Rogers Center, Toronto – Saskatchewan Roughriders won their 3rd title in the 95th edition of the Grey Cup Championship game of the CFL per the Grey Cup’s website. The Roughriders squeaked past the  Winnipeg Blue Bombers by the score of 23-19. DB James Johnson sealed the deal of victory for Saskatchewan as he picked off a Bombers pass with a mere 54 seconds remaining on the clock. Roughriders receiver Andy Fantuz was named the game’s Most Outstanding Canadian. The Most Valuable player was handed to James Johnson not just for his interception at the end of the game but also his two other picks which set a Grey Cup record by one player. 

November 25, 2012 – Rogers Center, Toronto – Per the National Post’s story it was the Toronto Argonauts overcoming the Calgary Stampeders by the final score of 35-22 in the 100th quest for the Grey Cup according to the National Post. The Argos owner David Braley established himself in the record books by being the first person in ownership to win back-to-back Grey Cups with 2 different teams as he held the deed on the 2011 champion BC Lions franchise. Boatmen running back Chad Kackert earned the MVP award after posting almost 200 yards of total offense.

November 25, 2018 – Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta – The Calgary Stampeders outscored the Ottawa RedBlacks, 27-16 to claim the CFL Championship game in the 106th playing of the Grey Cup.  It was the Calgary franchise’s 8th Cup victory per the Calgary Sun. Stampeder Terry Williams scores a record 97-yard punt-return touchdown just before halftime to highlight the scoring for the game. The third time was truly the charm for the Calgary squad as they had lost the previous two Grey Cup games.

Rivers has a Day

November 25, 2018 – The LA Chargers Quarterback Philip Rivers  had an unbelievable game as he set an NFL single-game record, completing 25-straight passes in a 45-10 win versus the Arizona Cardinals. The previous times was achieved by Mark Brunell & David Carr who previously share record (22); also sets NFL record for best single-game completion % (96.6). 

Action Jackson!

November 25, 2019 – Quarterback Lamar Jackson, in just his second season in the League, became the first QB in NFL history to throw for at least 3,000 passing yards and rush for 1,500 yards in his first 2 NFL seasons. The record was recorded  as the Ravens flexed their muscles against the LA Rams with a 45-6 blowout.

HOF Birthdays

Johnny Kitzmiller

November 25, 1904 – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – Oregon’s outstanding halfback Johnny Kitzmiller came into this world. According to  footballfoundation.org, Kitzmiller had an interesting nickname on the gridiron, as he was often referred to as the the “Flying Dutchman.” The National Football Foundation voted Johnny Kitzmiller into their College Football Hall of Fame in 1969. Johnny played one season in the NFL with the New York Giants.

Lenny Moore

November 25, 1933 -Reading, Pennsylvania  – Lenny Moore the great running back from Penn State was born. Lenny was a first round pick in the 1956 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts. In the 1958 season Lenny scored 14 touchdowns and had 1638 total offensive yards and 938 of those were on pass receptions.  The Colts won the NFL Championship Game that year and they probably would not have done it without the help of Lenny Moore. He was an All-Pro 5 times and he played in 7 Pro Bowls during his 12 year career. The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Lenny Moore in 1975.

Joe Gibbs

November 25, 1940 –  Mocksville, North Carolina – Joe Gibbs had a remarkable coaching career. In his 12 seasons with the Washington Redskins his teams won 10 or more games 8 times and they also took home 3 Lombardi Trophies with a different starting quarterback in each one. A Gibbs led team made it to a fourth Super Bowl and lost to the Raiders per the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s website.  The Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted Joe Gibbs in 1996.

George Webster

November 25, 1945 – Anderson, South Carolina – George Webster the fine linebacker from Michigan State University was born.  According to his bio on the NFF’s web site, Webster was twice an All-America selection. He was a powerful tackler and as his Coach at Michigan State, Duffy Daugherty, said of George, “He doesn’t tackle people. He explodes them!” Michigan State appreciated George so much that his jersey number became the second in school history to be retired. The National Football Foundation voted George Webster into their College Football Hall of Fame in 1987. When his schooling was completed George was the top draft pick of the Houston Oilers. Webster was AFC Rookie of the Year. He played five years with Houston, then a couple with the Steelers and three more seasons with the New England Patriots.

Chris Carter

November 25, 1965 – Chris Carter the standout wide receiver from Ohio State University was born. When a wideout plays in the NFL for 16 seasons you know they are a superior athlete.  When you have an athlete that played 13 complete 16 game schedules and puts up the numbers that Carter did in his 16 seasons you have a Hall of Famer. Carter amassed 1101 catches and 130 TDs. He had 10 seasons where he caught at least 70 balls and added 8 straight 1000 yards seasons. Carter played in 8 Pro Bowls and was on the All decade team of the 1990’s. Chris was picked in the 1987 supplemental draft by the Philadelphia Eagles and then joined the Minnesota Vikings in 1990. He played most of his career as a Viking and then retired. He did come out of retirement in 2002 to play 5 games with the Miami Dolphins who had many receivers injured. The Pro Football Hall of Fame placed Chris Carter in their Gold Jacket club in 2013.

TV SPORTS MONDAY

NFL REGULAR SEASON	TIME ET	TV
Baltimore at LA Chargers	8:15pm	ABC ESPN
NBA REGULAR SEASON	TIME ET	TV
New Orleans Pelicans at Indiana Pacers	7:00pm	FanDuel Sports Indiana GCSN
Orlando Magic at Charlotte Hornets	7:00pm	FanDuel Sports Southeast FanDuel Sports Florida
Toronto Raptors at Detroit Pistons	7:00pm	TSportsnet FanDuel Sports Detroit
Dallas Mavericks at Atlanta Hawks	7:30pm	NBATV KMPX FanDuel Sports Southeast
Los Angeles Clippers at Boston Celtics	7:30pm	NBCS-BOS FanDuel Sports SoCal
Portland Trail Blazers at Memphis Grizzlies	8:00pm	KPTV FanDuel Sports Southeast
New York Knicks at Denver Nuggets	9:00pm	MSG ALT
Brooklyn Nets at Golden State Warriors	10:00pm	Yes NBCS-BAY
Oklahoma City Thunder at Sacramento Kings	10:00pm	NBATV FanDuel Sports Oklahoma NBCS-CA
NHL REGULAR SEASON	TIME ET	TV
Colorado at Tampa Bay	7:00pm	ALT FanDuel Sports SUn
Dallas at Carolina	7:00pm	FanDuel Sports South Victory+
Nashville at New Jersey	7:00pm	FanDuel Sports South MSGSN
St. Louis at NY Rangers	7:00pm	FanDuel Sports Midwest MSG
Vegas at Philadelphia	7:00pm	Scripps NBCS-PHI
Washington at Florida	7:00pm	MNMT Scripps
Calgary at Ottawa	7:30pm	Sportsnet
Detroit at NY Islanders	7:30pm	FanDuel Sports Detroit MSGSN
Winnipeg at Minnesota	8:00pm	FanDuel Sports North Sportsnet
Seattle at Anaheim	10:00pm	Prime-Seattle Victory+
Los Angeles at San Jose	10:30pm	FanDuel Sports West NBCS-CA
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL	TIME ET	TV
Cayman Islands Classic	11:00am	FloSports
Howard at UMBC	12:00pm	ESPN+
Ball State vs. Eastern Kentucky	12:00pm	FloSports
Paradise Jam	1:30pm	ESPN+
Cayman Islands Classic	1:30pm	FloSports
CSUN vs. Denver	2:00pm	ESPN+
Memphis vs. UConn	2:30pm	ESPN2
Southern Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech	3:00pm	FloSports
Penn State vs. Fordham	4:00pm	CBSSN
Paradise Jam	4:00pm	ESPN+
Colorado vs. Michigan State	5:00pm	ESPN2
Cayman Islands Classic	5:00pm	FloSports
Michigan vs. Virginia Tech	6:00pm	FS1
Merrimack at UMass Lowell	6:00pm	ESPN+
Florida Tech vs. Richmond	6:00pm	FloSports
Clemson vs. San Francisco	6:30pm	CBSSN
Paradise Jam	6:30pm	ESPN+
LIU at Winthrop	6:30pm	ESPN+
Green Bay at Ohio State	7:00pm	BTN
East Texas A&N at Stonehill	7:00pm	NEC Front Row
New Hampshire at Columbia	7:00pm	ESPN+
North Carolina A&T at Buffalo	7:00pm	ESPN+
Cornell at Iona	7:00pm	ESPN+
Washington (MD) at Navy	7:00pm	ESPN+
Tennessee State at Chattanooga	7:00pm	ESPN+
Le Moyne at UTRGV	7:30pm	ESPN+
Mississippi College at Nicholls	7:30pm	ESPN+
Cayman Islands Classic	7:30pm	FloSports
Utah Tech at Montana	7:45pm	ESPN+
Quinnipiac at Saint Louis	8:00pm	FanDuel Sports Midwest Extra
Maryland Eastern Shore at Arkansas	8:00pm	ESPN+
Indiana State at Southern Indiana	8:00pm	ESPN+
Eastern Michigan at Houston Christian	8:00pm	ESPN+
Oregon State at North Texas	8:00pm	ESPN+
UIW at South Alabama	8:00pm	ESPN+
UTSA at Troy	8:00pm	ESPN+
Central Michigan at Minnesota	8:00pm	B1G+
Randall at South Dakota	8:00pm	Summit
Rogers State at Oral Roberts	8:00pm	Summit
South Carolina vs. Xavier	8:30pm	FS1
San Jose State vs. UTEP	8:30pm	FloSports
Little Rock at Illinois	9:00pm	BTN
Auburn vs. Iowa State	9:00pm	ESPNU
Paradise Jam	9:00pm	ESPN+
Embry-Riddle at Idaho State	9:00pm	ESPN+
Norfolk State at UC Davis	9:00pm	ESPN+
Justice at Weber State	9:00pm	ESPN+
Long Beach State vs. UNCG	11:00pm	FloSports
Dayton vs. North Carolina	11:30pm	ESPN2
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL	TIME ET	TV
Battle 4 Atlantis	12:00pm	ESPN2
SOCCER	TIME ET	TV
Serie A: Empoli vs Udinese	12:30pm	Paramount+ Fubo
Serie A: Venezia vs Lecce	2:45pm	Paramount+ Fubo
EPL: Newcastle United vs West Ham United	3:00pm	USA Peacock Fubo