“THE SCOREBOARD”
INDIANA HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL
AP POLL
CLASS 4A
| RANK | SCHOOL | TOTAL POINTS | PREVIOUS |
| 1. | FISHERS (10) (14-0) | 200 | 1 |
| 2. | CROWN POINT (11-0) | 169 | 2 |
| 3. | GREENFIELD (11-2) | 152 | 3 |
| 4. | WESTFIELD (9-1) | 122 | 4 |
| 5. | ANDERSON (13-1) | 107 | 6 |
| 6. | WARSAW (12-3) | 93 | 7 |
| 7. | AVON (13-1) | 82 | NR |
| 8. | EV. REITZ (11-0) | 76 | 8 |
| 9. | LAWRENCE NORTH (11-3) | 71 | 5 |
| 10. | INDPLS BEN DAVIS (12-3) | 70 | T9 |
CLASS 3A
| RANK | SCHOOL | TOTAL POINTS | PREVIOUS |
| 1. | S. BEND ST. JOSEPH’S (9) (12-1) | 198 | 1 |
| 2. | BROWNSTOWN (1) (11-0) | 151 | 6 |
| 3. | GUERIN CATHOLIC (13-2) | 150 | 5 |
| 4. | NORTHWOOD (13-1) | 149 | 4 |
| 5. | INDPLS CATHEDRAL (9-4) | 116 | 2 |
| 6. | SILVER CREEK (14-2) | 107 | 3 |
| 7. | NEW PALESTINE (11-2) | 86 | 7 |
| 8. | PRINCETON (12-1) | 69 | NR |
| 9. | INDIANAPOLIS ATTUCKS (8-5) | 53 | 9 |
| 10. | EVANSVILLE MEMORIAL (10-1) | 36 | NR |
CLASS 2A
| RANK | SCHOOL | TOTAL POINTS | PREVIOUS |
| 1. | WAPAHANI (10) (13-0) | 200 | 1 |
| 2. | LINTON-STOCKTON (10-1) | 144 | 5 |
| 3. | FT. WAYNE LUERS (11-2) | 141 | 2 |
| 4. | S. RIPLEY (14-0) | 134 | 6 |
| 5. | PARKE HERITAGE (12-2) | 121 | 3 |
| 6. | GARY 21ST CENTURY (12-3) | 114 | 4 |
| 7. | MANCHESTER (12-1) | 98 | 7 |
| 8. | NORTHEASTERN (15-0) | 94 | 10 |
| 9. | FOREST PARK (10-2) | 67 | NR |
| 10. | TAYLOR (12-1) | 40 | 8 |
CLASS A
| RANK | SCHOOL | TOTAL POINTS | PREVIOUS |
| 1. | CLAY CITY (9) (11-1) | 194 | 1 |
| 2. | ORLEANS (8-2) | 172 | 3 |
| 3. | INDPLS METRO (1) (11-4) | 141 | 6 |
| 4. | BLOOMFIELD (9-3) | 130 | 2 |
| 5. | TRITON (9-1) | 110 | 9 |
| 6. | HAUSER (9-2) | 95 | 7 |
| 7. | WASHINGTON TWP. (9-1) | 92 | NR |
| 8. | KOUTS (9-2) | 80 | 4 |
| 9. | CLINTON PRAIRIE (8-2) | 73 | NR |
| 10. | CARROLL (FLORA) (8-2) | 49 | 5 |
INDIANA BOYS HIGH SCHOOL SCOREBOARD
HOMESTEAD.COM
| ANDERSON PREP | 81 | UNION (MODOC) | 52 | |
| ANDREAN | 77 | SOUTH BEND ADAMS | 44 | |
| BELLMONT | 53 | FORT WAYNE NORTHROP | 49 | |
| CENTERVILLE | 55 | RUSHVILLE | 33 | |
| CLAY CITY | 68 | BLOOMFIELD | 64 | |
| DEKALB | 71 | ANGOLA | 67 | OT |
| FORT WAYNE SNIDER | 72 | HERITAGE | 46 | |
| GRIFFITH | 61 | HANOVER CENTRAL | 54 | |
| ILLIANA CHRISTIAN | 43 | LOWELL | 28 | |
| MISHAWAKA MARIAN | 53 | CULVER ACADEMY | 44 | |
| NEW HAVEN | 54 | FORT WAYNE DWENGER | 43 | |
| NOBLESVILLE | 62 | PARK TUDOR | 40 | |
| NORTH CENTRAL (INDIANAPOLIS) | 74 | BEN DAVIS | 64 | |
| SOUTH DEARBORN | 61 | EAST CENTRAL | 51 | |
| SOUTHPORT | 75 | BEECH GROVE | 42 | |
| BI-COUNTY TOURNAMENT | ||||
| TRITON | 59 | CULVER | 11 | |
| ARGOS | 61 | JOHN GLENN | 51 | |
| BREMEN | 69 | OREGON-DAVIS | 29 | |
| LAVILLE | 64 | NEW PRAIRIE | 37 | |
| PCC TOURNAMENT | ||||
| WASHINGTON TWP. | 50 | MORGAN TWP. | 48 | |
| SOUTH CENTRAL (UNION MILLS) | 62 | HEBRON | 57 | |
INDIANA HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL
| ALEXANDRIA | 60 | MISSISSINEWA | 34 | |
| ANGOLA | 36 | WESTVIEW | 32 | |
| BELLMONT | 61 | GARRETT | 23 | |
| BLUFFTON | 58 | DEKALB | 39 | |
| CARROLL (FLORA) | 66 | EASTERN (GREENTOWN) | 26 | |
| CENTER GROVE | 49 | INDIANAPOLIS CATHEDRAL | 32 | |
| CHARLESTOWN | 54 | LOUISVILLE BALLARD (KY.) | 46 | |
| CLINTON PRAIRIE | 54 | FRANKFORT | 10 | |
| COVENANT CHRISTIAN | 62 | INDIANAPOLIS RITTER | 30 | |
| EASTSIDE | 68 | WEST NOBLE | 32 | |
| EVANSVILLE CENTRAL | 60 | EVANSVILLE MEMORIAL | 41 | |
| HAMMOND MORTON | 73 | EAST CHICAGO CENTRAL | 46 | |
| INDIANA DEAF | 50 | PHALEN ACADEMY | 20 | |
| INDIANAPOLIS ATTUCKS | 68 | INDIANAPOLIS SCECINA | 32 | |
| INDIANAPOLIS CHATARD | 48 | PERRY MERIDIAN | 27 | |
| KANKAKEE VALLEY | 41 | KNOX | 34 | |
| LANESVILLE | 57 | CROTHERSVILLE | 6 | |
| MACONAQUAH | 59 | SOUTHWOOD | 52 | |
| MARQUETTE CATHOLIC | 65 | BOWMAN ACADEMY | 26 | |
| MONROVIA | 60 | SOUTH PUTNAM | 28 | |
| MUNSTER | 66 | HANOVER CENTRAL | 47 | |
| NORTH KNOX | 71 | SULLIVAN | 38 | |
| NORTH VERMILLION | 58 | SOUTH VERMILLION | 28 | |
| NORTHEASTERN | 31 | UNION COUNTY | 19 | |
| NORTHWESTERN | 48 | WESTERN | 42 | |
| PENDLETON HEIGHTS | 76 | LAPEL | 51 | |
| PURDUE POLY ENGLEWOOD | 66 | INDIANAPOLIS TINDLEY | 21 | |
| ROSSVILLE | 48 | FRONTIER | 37 | |
| SHAKAMAK | 45 | TERRE HAUTE NORTH | 37 | |
| SHELBYVILLE | 43 | WHITELAND | 30 | |
| SILVER CREEK | 76 | COLUMBUS NORTH | 58 | |
| SOUTH BEND ADAMS | 55 | MISHAWAKA | 51 | |
| SOUTH KNOX | 95 | SHOALS | 6 | |
| SOUTHWESTERN (SHELBYVILLE) | 39 | UNION (MODOC) | 37 | |
| SPRINGS VALLEY | 53 | WEST WASHINGTON | 49 | |
| TRI-CENTRAL | 47 | ELWOOD | 40 | |
| TRITON CENTRAL | 73 | GREENWOOD | 37 | |
| WABASH | 47 | LEWIS CASS | 44 | |
| WAPAHANI | 48 | MONROE CENTRAL | 20 | |
| YORKTOWN | 60 | FRANKTON | 40 | |
| BI-COUNTY TOURNAMENT | ||||
| CULVER | 38 | TRITON | 17 | |
| JOHN GLENN | 42 | ARGOS | 23 | |
| BREMEN | 84 | OREGON-DAVIS | 45 | |
| LAVILLE | 40 | NEW PRAIRIE | 23 | |
INDIANA BOYS WRESTLING:
DUAL RESULTS: https://indianamat.com/index.php?/dualresults.html/boys-dual-results/
TOURNAMENT RESULTS: https://indianamat.com/index.php?/curtournamentresults.html/boys-tournament-results/
INDIANA MAT HOMEPAGE: https://indianamat.com/
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
TOP 25
#7 HOUSTON 70 UTAH 36
#5 FLORIDA 70 SOUTH CAROLINA 69
#12 KANSAS 74 TCU 61
#20 ST. JOHN’S 79 XAVIER 71 OT
#13 TEXAS A&M 63 #16 OLE MISS 62
ELSEWHERE:
IU INDY 86 GREEN BAY 77
NORTHWESTERN 79 INDIANA 70
OAKLAND 76 PURDUE FORT WAYNE 72
CLEMSON 86 SYRACUSE 72
MILWAUKEE 95 WRIGHT STATE 79
CLEVELAND STATE 65 DETROIT 50
DRAKE 81 VALPARAISO 71
ILLINOIS CHICAGO 78 EVANSVILLE 67
COLORADO STATE 75 BOISE STATE 72
CALIFORNIA 77 FLORIDA STATE 68
BAYLOR 70 KANSAS STATE 62
USC 78 NEBRASKA 73
ARKANSAS 68 GEORGIA 65
UTAH STATE 90 NEVADA 69
SAN DIEGO STATE 77 AIR FORCE 76 OT
STANFORD 88 MIAMI FLORIDA 51
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
TOP 25
#21 MICHIGAN STATE 82 PENN STATE 61
#6 CONNECTICUT 100 VILLANOVA 57
#4 USC 79 PURDUE 37
OKLAHOMA STATE 60 #9 TCU 59
#24 MICHIGAN 70 #23 MINNESOTA 65
#16 WEST VIRGINIA 89 ARIZONA STATE 59
ELSEWHERE:
KENT STATE 77 CENTRAL MICHIGAN 56
MARQUETTE 67 PROVIDENCE 54
TEMPLE 69 E. CAROLINA 52
NAVY 74 BOSTON 64
TEXAS TECH 62 HOUSTON 44
VCU 65 GEORGE WASHINGTON 56
WYOMING 62 AIR FORCE 50
BUFFALO 72 OHIO 55
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 78 EASTERN MICHIGAN 70
DAYTON 87 ST. LOUIS 76
MIAMI OHIO 76 AKRON 54
PURDUE FORT WAYNE 72 DETROIT 65
CREIGHTON 63 BUTLER 52
WESTERN MICHIGAN 63 BOWLING GREEN 60
GEORGETOWN 56 ST. JOHN’S 54
ARIZONA 72 CINCINNATI 62
IOWA STATE 82 BYU 59
DEPAUL 57 XAVIER 50
UTAH 79 KANSAS 61
UNLV 73 FRESNO STATE 48
SAN JOSE STATE 67 SAN DIEGO STATE 57
IOWA 85 WASHINGTON 61
NFL PLAYOFFS
CONFERENCE CHA MPIONSHIPS
SUNDAY JANUARY 26
NFC
WASHINGTON (12-5) @ PHILADELPHIA (14-3) 3:30 FOX
AFC
BUFFALO (13-4) @ KANSAS CITY (15-2) 6:30 CBS
NBA SCORES
MINNESOTA 115 DALLAS 114
DETROIT 114 ATLANTA 104
PHOENIX 108 BROOKLYN 84
MEMPHIS 132 CHARLOTTE 120
OKLAHOMA CITY 123 UTAH 114
HOUSTON 109 CLEVELAND 108
SACRAMENTO 123 GOLDEN STATE 117
BOSTON 117 LA CLIPPERS 113 OT
MILWAUKEE AT NEW ORLEANS POSTPONED
NHL SCORES
NEW JERSEY 5 BOSTON 1
COLUMBUS 5 TORONTO 1
WINNIPEG 3 COLORADO 2 OT
LOS ANGELES 2 FLORIDA 1
TOP NATIONAL HEADLINES
NFL NEWS
LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AARON GLENN AGREES TO TERMS WITH JETS TO BE HEAD COACH, AP SOURCE SAYS
The New York Jets and Aaron Glenn agreed to terms on making the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator their head coach on Wednesday, according to a person with knowledge of the hiring.
Glenn, who oversaw the Lions’ defense the past four years, beat out 15 other candidates for the job as the Jets went through an extensive search to find their next coach.
And they ended up choosing one of their former players — a first-round draft pick in 1994 who now gets the chance to try to turn around the fortunes of the franchise 31 years later as its coach.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team had not yet announced the hiring. ESPN first reported that Glenn agreed to coach the Jets.
The 52-year-old, who turned Detroit’s defense into one of the best in the league, has been one of the most sought candidates during the NFL’s past two hiring cycles. He interviewed with Washington, Atlanta, Tennessee and the Los Angeles Chargers last year, and he met with the Jets, Jacksonville, Las Vegas and Chicago this year.
Glenn spoke with the Jets during a video call on Jan. 9 and then interviewed in person Tuesday.
The Jets also interviewed Brian Flores, Jeff Hafley, Vance Joseph, Mike Locksley, Josh McCown, Matt Nagy, Ron Rivera, Darren Rizzi, Rex Ryan, Bobby Slowik, Arthur Smith, Steve Spagnuolo, Jeff Ulbrich, Mike Vrabel and Joe Whitt Jr. for the job.
But only Glenn received a second interview. And New York didn’t need to think twice about talking to anyone else again.
The Jets also are going through a lengthy search for a general manager, and Washington assistant general manager Lance Newmark also was at the team’s facility Tuesday.
Newmark, one of 15 candidates to interview for the GM job, was the first to get a second meeting with the Jets — like Glenn — but hasn’t agreed to a deal.
Glenn and the new GM will be tasked with trying to revamp a franchise that has the NFL’s longest active playoff drought at 14 seasons.
Glenn played eight seasons with New York and was selected as one of the cornerbacks on the franchise’s All-Time Four Decade team in 2003.
He later had stints with Houston, Dallas, Jacksonville and New Orleans and finished his career with 41 interceptions, including six returned for touchdowns, and made the Pro Bowl three times.
After his 15-year playing career, Glenn had a stint as the general manager for the Houston Stallions of the Lone Star Football League in 2012 before coming back to the Jets as a personnel scout later that year. He served as Cleveland’s assistant defensive backs coach from 2014 to 2015 before being hired for the same position in New Orleans. After five seasons with the Saints, he was hired by the Lions as defensive coordinator in 2021.
Joe Namath, the quarterback who led the Jets to their only Super Bowl victory, in 1969, was pleased with the hiring of Glenn.
“I’m hoping all @nyjets fans are as thrilled as my family and I are that Aaron Glenn is our new Head Coach,” Namath wrote on X shortly after the news broke. “I wish the season would start next week!”
BUCS OC LIAM COEN WITHDRAWS FROM CONSIDERATION FOR JAGUARS’ COACHING JOB, AP SOURCE SAYS
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen is no longer a candidate to be Jacksonville’s next head coach.
Coen, who was scheduled for an in-person interview on Wednesday with Jaguars owner Shad Khan, general manager Trent Baalke and others, pulled his name out of consideration and will sign a new contract with the Buccaneers, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because neither side has disclosed the decision publicly.
The move upends Jacksonville’s search, which had been narrowed to Coen, Las Vegas defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh. Graham and Saleh are scheduled for in-person interviews on Thursday and Friday.
Khan insisted after firing Doug Pederson earlier this month that he didn’t believe Baalke’s retention as GM would affect the coaching search.
The 60-year-old Baalke has a less than spotless reputation around the league, and three of the five coaches he’s hired in San Francisco and Jacksonville have had one-and-done tenures. His draft picks have been spotty, at best, and last year’s free-agent class turned out to be one of the worst in franchise history.
Keeping Baalke in place clearly has provided pause, at the very least, for candidates. Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Detroit defense coordinator Aaron Glenn were among the 10 who interviewed with Jacksonville initially, only to see Johnson sign with Chicago and Glenn scheduling second interviews with New Orleans and the New York Jets.
Jacksonville still could double back on Buffalo offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Philadelphia offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Under NFL rules, the earliest they can interview again is next week because their teams are in conference title games.
But Coen is out, turning down the chance to become a head coach now to remain a coordinator. The 39-year-old was the architect of one of Tampa Bay’s most productive offenses in team history. The Buccaneers ranked third in the NFL in yards (399.6 per game) and fourth in points (29.5).
Coen had less success during his first NFL season, in 2022 with the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams ranked last in the league in yards while playing half the season without quarterback Matthew Stafford and receiver Cooper Kupp. Coen returned to the college ranks (Kentucky) following that year.
Staying in Tampa Bay could leave Coen in line to eventually replace coach 61-year-old head coach Todd Bowles.
The Jaguars (4-13), meanwhile, will move forward with one less candidate.
They have a young quarterback (Trevor Lawrence) with upside, a budding star at receiver (Brian Thomas Jr.), a few defensive building blocks (cornerback Tyson Campbell and pass rushers Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker), a relatively new practice facility, a $1.4 billion stadium renovation upcoming and a hands-off owner with deep pockets.
They have the fifth overall draft pick in April and roughly $50 million in salary cap space for 2025, play in arguably the NFL’s weakest division (AFC South) and work in a state with plenty of sunshine and no income tax. They also went 3-10 in one-score games — an indication they could be a quick fix.
But Khan is committed to playing at least one home game annually in London — even though it may put the team at a competitive disadvantage — and will play home games in 2026 in front of a reduced capacity and play all of 2027 away from Jacksonville. The Jags also have several aging veterans and Baalke.
JOSH ALLEN LOOKS TO BREAK THROUGH IN FOURTH PLAYOFF MEETING AGAINST PATRICK MAHOMES
The near annual playoff matchups between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen are hardly unprecedented.
The one-sided nature of the postseason rivalry between the two star quarterbacks is more unusual.
Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs will host Allen and the Buffalo Bills in the AFC title game on Sunday night for the fourth postseason matchup between the QBs in the past five seasons.
Mahomes has come out on top in the first three, winning the 2020 AFC title game and 2021 divisional round matchup at home and then a divisional rounder last season in Buffalo.
Mahomes and Allen are the fifth set of quarterbacks to start against each other at least four times in the postseason, with most of the others being fairly even.
The Patriots’ Tom Brady won his first two playoff matchups against Peyton Manning before losing the final three in the only QB rivalry with five postseason meetings.
Brady split four matchups with Baltimore’s Joe Flacco, with the Patriots and Ravens alternating wins in those games that came in a span of six seasons.
Oakland’s Ken Stabler won his first and fourth playoff starts in four seasons against Pittsburgh’s Terry Bradshaw but lost the two in the middle. Stabler also came off the bench in the 1972 divisional round matchup and scored on a go-ahead TD run with 1:17 to play before Bradshaw and the Steelers won with the “ Immaculate Reception ” pass to Franco Harris for a game-winning 60-yard TD pass.
The only other matchup that started so one-sided came in the 1990s when Green Bay’s Brett Favre won his first three playoff games against Steve Young and the 49ers before San Francisco responded with “The Catch II” and a game-winning 25-yard TD pass from Young to Terrell Owens in a 1998 wild-card game.
Favre added one more playoff win over San Francisco with Jeff Garcia at QB and is one of two QBs to beat the same opponent four times in the postseason, with Brady holding a 4-1 record against the Colts.
Mahomes can join them on Sunday with a fourth playoff win against Buffalo. A loss would tie Allen with Aaron Rodgers (0-4 against San Francisco) for the most defeats against one opponent in the playoffs.
Sensational Saquon
The Los Angeles Rams seem to bring out the best in Saquon Barkley.
Barkley followed up his 255-yard rushing performance in the regular season against the Rams with a franchise playoff-record 205 in Philadelphia’s 28-22 win on Sunday, putting Barkley in some rare territory.
Barkley had the fifth-most rushing yards ever in a playoff game and broke the Eagles mark of 195 set by Steve Van Buren against the Rams in the 1949 NFL title game.
He did it thanks to big plays, with a 62-yard TD run in the first quarter and a 78-yarder in the fourth, giving him an NFL-record six touchdown runs of at least 60 yards this season, including four in the two games against the Rams.
Barkley finished with 460 yards against Los Angeles this season. There have been only four other times that one player ran for more than 430 yards against an opponent in a single season, playoffs included.
Adrian Peterson has the most, with 508 yards in three games against Green Bay in 2012, followed by Jamal Lewis with 500 against Cleveland in 2003, O.J. Simpson with 469 versus New England in 1973 and Derrick Henry with 462 against Houston in 2020.
Barkley needs 135 yards on Sunday against Washington to join that group for a second time after rushing for 296 yards in the first two meetings against the Commanders.
Quality Quinn
Coach Dan Quinn has helped engineer an impressive turnaround in Washington.
Quinn took over a team that finished tied for the second-worst record in the NFL last season at 4-13 and helped the Commanders make it all the way to the NFC title game.
With a win Sunday at Philadelphia, Quinn would become the ninth coach to make the Super Bowl in his first full season on the job and the first to do it after taking over a team with a losing record.
Four of those first-year coaches won the Super Bowl, with Gary Kubiak doing it in Denver in the 2015 season, Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay in 2002, George Seifert for San Francisco in 1989 and Don McCafferty for the Baltimore Colts in 1970.
This is the second time Quinn has taken a team to this stage of the playoffs, losing a Super Bowl as head coach for Atlanta in the 2016 season. He is the 13th coach since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to go to the conference title game with at least two teams and could become the eighth coach to take two franchises to a Super Bowl.
Dallas’ drought
With Quinn leading Washington to its first conference title game appearance in 33 years, that means 15 of the 16 teams in the NFC have made it to this stage in the last 15 seasons.
The lone exception? The five-time Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys.
Dallas last played in the NFC championship game in the 1995 season on the way to winning a third Super Bowl in four seasons. The once-proud franchise known as America’s Team has fallen short of that stage for 29 straight seasons despite being tied for the 10th-most playoff trips in that span with 13.
There are three AFC teams that haven’t made the conference title game since 1995, with Miami making its last trip in the 1992 season, Cleveland in 1989 and Houston never making it since becoming an expansion team in 2002.
The Texans fell to 0-6 in the divisional round with the loss on Saturday at Kansas City.
Division flop
The NFC North dominated the regular season, with three teams winning at least 11 games and the .750 winning percentage in non-division games tying for the second-best mark of any division since the 1970 merger.
That success didn’t carry over to the playoffs, with Minnesota and Green Bay losing in the wild-card round and the NFC’s top seed, Detroit, losing its playoff opener to Washington in the divisional round. Those three teams had gone 29-4 in the regular season against non-division opponents.
There had been 34 times since the merger when three teams from a division made the playoffs — excluding the 1982 strike-shortened season when there were no divisions — and this marked the only time none of the teams won a playoff game.
The Lions joined the 2011 Packers as the only teams that won 15 games in the regular season and then failed to win a playoff game.
RAIDERS HIRE BUCS ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER JOHN SPYTEK AS THEIR GM, AP SOURCE SAYS
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — The Las Vegas Raiders hired Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant general manager John Spytek to be their GM, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the hire has not been announced.
Spytek replaces Tom Telesco, who was fired along with coach Antonio Pierce. The Raiders are still searching for a new coach.
Raiders minority owner Tom Brady, who finished his playing career as the Bucs quarterback, is believed to have had a hand in the hiring.
Spytek is in his second season as the Bucs assistant GM and ninth year in the organization. Tampa Bay won the NFC South for the fourth year in a row
FORMER RAIDERS COACH JOSH MCDANIELS RETURNING TO PATRIOTS AS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR, AP SOURCE SAYS
Former Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels has agreed to become the New England Patriots offensive coordinator, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the contract was being finalized.
This will be a homecoming of sorts for the 48-year-old McDaniels. He will be entering his third stint with the Patriots, though this time as the first significant hire under new coach Mike Vrabel. McDaniels was the Patriots OC during Vrabel’s final three seasons as a player in New England.
The Patriots also interviewed Vikings assistant offensive coordinator Grant Udinski, former Chicago Bears interim coach Thomas Brown and Los Angeles Chargers passing game coordinator Marcus Brady.
McDaniels was one of the longest-tenured assistants under former Patriots coach Bill Belichick, working for him a combined 15 years, including nine as offensive coordinator. The only breaks in his Patriots’ timeline came from 2009 to 2011, when he served as the Denver Broncos coach for two seasons, followed by a stop in St. Louis as the Rams offensive coordinator in 2011.
It’s a run that allowed him to be a part of all six of New England’s Super Bowl wins. He left after the 2021 season to become coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. He held that post for two seasons before being fired eight games into the 2023 season.
McDaniels was also the quarterbacks coach during his previous run with the Patriots, and developed a tight knit relationship with Tom Brady. He now will be charged with mentoring Drake Maye, who just ended his rookie season.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
TOP 25 ROUNDUP: NO. 13 TEXAS A&M RALLIES, EDGES NO. 16 OLE MISS
Manny Obaseki sank the decisive 3-pointer with 12.5 seconds left as No. 13 Texas A&M rallied to beat No. 16 Ole Miss 63-62 on Wednesday night in Oxford, Miss.
Zhuric Phelps scored 14 points, Obaseki contributed 12 and Pharrel Payne added 10 points for the Aggies (15-4, 4-2 Southeastern Conference), who finished the game on an 11-2 run.
Sean Pedulla logged 16 points, Malik Dia and Jaylen Murray added 12 each and Jaemyn Brakefield scored 10 for the Rebels (15-4, 4-2). Brakefield grabbed eight rebounds, and Murray dished out six assists.
No. 5 Florida 70, South Carolina 69
Will Richard capped a 22-point showing by hitting the go-ahead layup with five seconds left as the Gators executed down the stretch and rallied for a victory over the Gamecocks in Columbia, S.C.
Florida (17-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) trailed 58-45 with 8:49 left but outscored the Gamecocks 25-11 the rest of the way. Richard scored 10 points during the game-ending surge. South Carolina’s Jacobi Wright missed a 3-point try with one second left.
Zachary Davis scored 18 of his 22 points after halftime for the Gamecocks (10-9, 0-6), whose six-game skid coincides with the start of the conference schedule. Collin Murray-Boyles added 14 points and eight assists.
No. 7 Houston 70, Utah 36
Milos Uzan scored 14 points and LJ Cryer added 13 as the Cougars mauled the visiting Utes.
J’Wan Roberts had 11 points and Terrance Arceneaux added 10 as the Cougars (15-3, 7-0 Big 12) won their 11th consecutive game. Houston also extended its national-best homecourt winning streak to 33 games.
Gabe Madsen had eight points for the Utes (11-7, 3-4), who posted a season low for points. Utah had a three-game winning streak end.
No. 12 Kansas 74, TCU 61
Hunter Dickinson scored a game-high 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds while Flory Bidunga posted his first career double-double as the Jayhawks overcame an early deficit to beat the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Jayhawks (14-4, 5-2 Big 12) had three other players finish in double figures, including with Zeke Mayo with 13, as Kansas shot 55.6 percent (30 of 54) from the field.
TCU (10-8, 3-4) got off to a strong start and led by as many as 14 in the first half before Kansas began its comeback. The Horned Frogs lost for just the second time this season at their home arena. Noah Reynolds had a team-high 14 points as TCU shot 37.9 percent (25 of 66) from the field.
No. 20 St. John’s 79, Xavier 71 (OT)
Zuby Ejiofor scored six of his 16 points in overtime for the Red Storm, who overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to beat the Musketeers in New York.
Kadary Richmond finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals for St. John’s (17-3, 8-1 Big East), which has won six straight to move into sole possession of first place in the Big East this late in a season for the first time since 1986.
Ryan Conwell scored 21 points while Dailyn Swain had 16 points and Zach Freemantle added 14 points for Xavier (12-8, 4-5), which had its three-game winning streak snapped.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
WOMEN’S TOP 25 ROUNDUP: OKLAHOMA STATE TAKES DOWN NO. 9 TCU
Stailee Heard scored 17 points as Oklahoma State beat a top-10 opponent for the first time since 2017, upsetting visiting No. 9 TCU 60-59 on Wednesday night in Stillwater, Okla.
Heard shot 6-of-10 from the floor and also had six rebounds for the Cowgirls (16-3, 6-2 Big 12), while Jadyn Wooten had 14 points and four assists off the bench. Anna Gret Asi scored 10 points and knocked down what proved to be the game-winning free throw.
In their first loss since Dec. 8, the Horned Frogs (19-2, 7-1) were led by 22 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks from Sedona Prince, and 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists from Hailey Van Lith.
Oklahoma State trailed by 15 points with 4:20 left in the third quarter, but outscored TCU 11-4 over the rest of the period and then 20-11 in the fourth.
The Cowgirls trailed by 11 points with 6:01 to play, then broke off an 18-2 run to go up by five with 20 seconds to play. Free throws from TCU narrowed the deficit to one. The Cowgirls turned 12 TCU turnovers into 16 points.
No. 4 Southern California 79, Purdue 37
JuJu Watkins’ streak of 16 consecutive games scoring at least 20 points came to an end, but she had 16 points and seven rebounds as the undefeated Trojans raced away from the host Boilermakers in West Lafayette, Ind.
Avery Howell led USC (18-1, 8-0 Big Ten) in scoring with 18 points off the bench in its 14th straight win. Kennedy Smith added 12 points, while Rayah Marshall grabbed 13 rebounds.
Kendall Puryear paced Purdue (7-12, 0-8) with 10 points in its seventh straight loss. Purdue led by one point at the end of the first quarter, and then USC outscored the Boilermakers 31-2 in the second frame.
No. 6 UConn 100, Villanova 57
Paige Bueckers scored 21 points — 19 of them in the first half — and flirted with a triple-double as the Huskies rolled over the Wildcats in Storrs, Conn.
Bueckers shot 8-of-11 from the floor and added eight rebounds, nine assists and three steals as the Huskies (18-2, 9-0 Big East) won their eighth straight game. Sarah Strong supplied 22 points and five assists, and Kaitlyn Chen scored a season-high 17 points.
Villanova (10-10, 4-4) was led by 15 points from Jasmine Boscoe, and 11 points apiece from Maddie Burke and Maddie Webber.
No. 16 West Virginia 89, Arizona State 59
JJ Quinerly scored 29 points to help the Mountaineers defeat the Sun Devils in Tempe, Ariz.
Quinerly shot 10-of-18 from the floor and also had four assists for West Virginia (16-3, 6-2 Big 12). Kylee Blackston added 24 points for the Mountaineers, Jordan Harrison added 11 points and eight assists, and Kyah Watson collected 11 rebounds and four steals.
Jalyn Brown scored 16 points for Arizona State (8-12, 2-6), while Kennedy Fauntleroy tallied 14 points and seven boards.
No. 21 Michigan State 82, Penn State 61
Theryn Hallock scored 17 points as the Spartans won their fourth straight game, defeating the Nittany Lions in East Lansing, Mich.
Julia Ayrault added 16 points, five rebounds and three steals for Michigan State (16-3, 6-2 Big Ten), while Jocelyn Tate collected 15 points, five assists and five rebounds. Grace VanSlooten chipped in 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and five boards off the bench.
Moriah Murray scored 24 points for Penn State (10-10, 1-8), but the Lady Lions could not defeat a ranked opponent for the second straight game after upsetting Ohio State on Sunday.
No. 24 Michigan 70, No. 23 Minnesota 65
Syla Swords scored 23 points to help the Wolverines defeat the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis.
Swords knocked down 6-of-11 3-pointers and also had seven rebounds and four assists as Michigan (14-5, 5-3 Big Ten) won its fourth straight game. Olivia Olson added 19 points and eight rebounds, while Mia Holloway chipped in 12 points, five boards and five assists.
Amaya Battle powered Minnesota (17-3, 5-3) with 25 points, six rebounds and six steals. Annika Stewart scored 16 points.
NBA NEWS
NBA ROUNDUP: SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER SCORES 54 IN OKC’S WIN
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 54 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 123-114 home win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.
Neither team led by double digits until the Thunder pulled away in the last three minutes.
Gilgeous-Alexander easily topped his previous career high of 45. He attempted a career-high 35 shots, making 17, and also went 17 of 18 from the free-throw line. The two-time All-Star added eight rebounds, five steals, three steals and two blocks.
Jalen Williams, back from a one-game injury absence, put up 25 points as the Thunder won for the 21st time in 23 games. John Collins (22 points, 12 rebounds), Walker Kessler (17 points, 15 boards) and Keyonte George (15 points, 10 assists) had double-doubles for Utah, which has lost four in a row.
Rockets 109, Cavaliers 108
Alperen Sengun sank two free throws with 4.5 seconds left and Houston survived a seven-minute scoring drought in the fourth quarter to outlast visiting Cleveland.
The Cavaliers appeared to secure the upper hand when Darius Garland was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 2.8 seconds left. However, Garland missed the first two free throws, and Donovan Mitchell missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer as Cleveland fell to 3-3 in its past six games.
Fred VanVleet led Houston with 26 points, while Sengun (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Amen Thompson (16 points, 16 rebounds) chipped in double-doubles. Garland paced Cleveland with 26 points, Mitchell added 19 on 7-of-21 shooting, and Jarrett Allen posted 17 points and 13 boards.
Kings 123, Warriors 117
De’Aaron Fox saved eight of his 14 points for a game-ending flurry, DeMar DeRozan scored 32 points and Sacramento overcame an 18-point deficit to beat visiting Golden State.
In the last four minutes, the Kings rattled off 10 consecutive points to take a lead that turned into the 10th win in their past 11 games. Domantas Sabonis amassed 26 points and 18 rebounds for Sacramento.
Andrew Wiggins logged a team-high 25 points for the Warriors, who took their second loss in a row. Stephen Curry made just one 3-pointer on four attempts, finishing with 14 points and 12 assists.
Celtics 117, Clippers 113 (OT)
Jaylen Brown scored 25 points and Jayson Tatum added 24 as Boston edged Los Angeles in Inglewood, Calif., on a night when key players were missing from both sides.
While the Celtics won without Jrue Holiday (shoulder), Al Horford (toe) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness), the Clippers were without four starters: Kawhi Leonard (rest), James Harden (groin), Norman Powell (back) and Ivica Zubac (eye).
Derrick White delivered 20 points for Boston, which improved to 2-0 to begin a four-game road trip following a 3-4 stretch. The Celtics will remain in Los Angeles and face the Lakers on Thursday.
Pistons 114, Hawks 104
Cade Cunningham scored 29 points and Malik Beasley came off the bench to score 19 to lead Detroit over host Atlanta.
The Pistons won their second straight and improved to 10-4 since Christmas. Detroit is now 13-10 on the road and moved past the Hawks into sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Detroit broke a seven-game losing streak in Atlanta and won there for the first time since Jan. 18, 2020.
The Hawks were led by Dyson Daniels with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Jalen Johnson with 17 points, nine rebounds, four assists and six steals. Trae Young had 13 points and nine assists.
Timberwolves 115, Mavericks 114
Jaden McDaniels scored a career-high 27 points and Anthony Edwards added 21 as Minnesota held on to beat host Dallas.
Mike Conley added a season-high 18 points for Minnesota, which snapped a two-game losing skid and won the season series against Dallas 2-1, with the road team winning all three matchups.
Kyrie Irving led Dallas with 36 points and nine assists. While P.J. Washington scored a season-high 30. The short-handed Mavericks played without several key players, including center Dereck Lively II, who is expected to miss two to three months with a stress fracture in his right foot.
Grizzlies 132, Hornets 120
Desmond Bane scored 24 points to extend his streak of 20-point games to six, leading Memphis to a wire-to-wire win over visiting Charlotte.
Reserve Luke Kennard contributed a season-high 23 points — including 18 in the first half — and Jaren Jackson Jr. had 22 points to help the Grizzlies win their fourth game in a row. Memphis’ Ja Morant finished with 16 points and 13 assists.
Charlotte, which saw its three-game win streak end, got a career-high 38 points from Mark Williams. The center made 14 of 18 field-goal attempts and 10 of 13 free throws in addition to grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out five assists. LaMelo Ball had 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Miles Bridges had 17 points and six assists.
Suns 108, Nets 84
Kevin Durant scored 24 points in three quarters against his former team and Phoenix ended a five-game road trip by never trailing in a victory over Brooklyn in New York.
Nearly two years after getting his trade request granted, Durant helped the Suns conclude a 3-2 road trip and win for the seventh time in 10 games to go back over .500 at 22-21. Devin Booker put up 12 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter for the Suns, who shot 47.7 percent and led by double digits for the entire second half.
The Nets had nine players available and saw their home losing streak reach nine games. Brooklyn also lost for the 10th time in 11 games and dropped to 5-21 since a 10-point win at Phoenix on Nov. 27. Keon Johnson led the Nets with 20 points and Jalen Wilson added 15.
Bucks at Pelicans, ppd.
The scheduled game between Milwaukee and host New Orleans was postponed due to extreme weather conditions that left roughly 10 inches of snow in the Big Easy on Tuesday. The date for the rescheduled game will be announced at a later time.
NHL NEWS
NHL ROUNDUP: JACKETS’ ADAM FANTILLI LOGS FIRST HAT TRICK
Adam Fantilli scored his first career hat trick as the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 on Wednesday night.
Luca Del Bel Belluz added a goal and an assist and James van Riemsdyk also scored for the Blue Jackets, who have won seven of nine (7-1-1).
Elvis Merzlikins was often spectacular in stopping 28 shots for Columbus. The Blue Jackets are 1-1-1 on their four-game road trip.
Auston Matthews scored and Dennis Hildeby made 14 saves for the Maple Leafs, who had a three-game winning streak end.
Kings 2, Panthers 1
Adrian Kempe netted the game-winner as Los Angeles cued up a third-period comeback to claim a victory over visiting Florida.
Samuel Helenius scored his first NHL goal and Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves for the Kings, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Helenius, a 2021 second-round pick, was playing in his 25th career game. Kempe has a four-game goal-scoring streak, tying his career best.
Evan Rodrigues tallied for the Panthers, who lost for only the second time this season when leading after two periods (18-2-0). Florida goalie Spencer Knight stopped 26 shots.
Devils 5, Bruins 1
Dawson Mercer scored bookend goals in New Jersey’s four-goal second period, propelling the Devils over Boston in Newark, N.J. Mercer recorded his first multigoal game this season.
Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists, and Dougie Hamilton (one goal, one assist) and Timo Meier (two assists) also had multipoint efforts for the Devils.
Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom did not return after his left leg struck the post during a second-period collision with Boston’s Justin Brazeau. Markstrom made six saves on seven shots in 23:09. Jake Allen stopped all 16 shots he faced in relief. Morgan Geekie scored for the Bruins.
Jets 3, Avalanche 2 (OT)
Neal Pionk scored 17 seconds into overtime and Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves as Winnipeg beat Colorado in Denver.
Morgan Barron and Gabriel Vilardi also scored and Josh Morrissey and Vladislav Namestnikov had two assists each for the Jets, who won the season series 3-1-0.
Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar scored goals, Jonathan Drouin had two assists and Blackwood turned away 22 shots for the Avalanche, who are 1-2-1 in their past four games.
GOLF NEWS
HOT START PACES LUDVIG ABERG TO LEAD AT FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN
Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg shot a 9-under-par 63 on the Torrey Pines North Course to take a two-shot lead after the opening round of the Farmers Insurance Open on Wednesday at San Diego.
Danny Walker and Hayden Springer each delivered an opening round of 7 under to tie for second place. Walker had the best score of the day on the more difficult South Course.
A group of four tied for fourth place at 6 under consists of Lanto Griffin, Zac Blair, Zach Johnson and South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter. All four played the North Course.
Aberg opened his round on the back nine and got off to a fast start with birdies on his first three holes and four of his first five. He delivered an eagle 3 in the 520-yard 17th hole (his eighth of the day) and shot a 30 on his opening nine holes.
Aberg, 25, has one victory on the PGA Tour, winning the RSM Classic in November 2023 at St. Simons, Ga. He also won the Omega European Masters in September 2023 in Switzerland.
Defending champion Matthieu Pavon of France struggled to a 1-over 73 on the South Course and is tied for 100th place.
The four-day tournament concludes Saturday, avoiding a traditional Sunday finish in order to not go up against the AFC and NFC Championship games on television.
TOP INDIANA HEADLINES
INDIANA PACERS
PARIS NOTEBOOK: HALIBURTON PRAISES CLARK, NBA SELLS TICKETS IN 50+ COUNTRIES FOR SPURS-PACERS GAMES
PARIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark turned 23 on Wednesday. And as a birthday gift of sorts, Tyrese Haliburton offered her some more high praise.
Haliburton stars for the Indiana Pacers. Clark stars for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever and is that league’s reigning rookie of the year (plus is pals with fellow Kansas City Chiefs fan Taylor Swift).
Haliburton and Clark have become fast friends, both complimenting the other on multiple occasions. Haliburton went as far as to say in Paris on Wednesday, on the eve of the first of two San Antonio-Indiana matchups here, that she’s become a face of the game.
Not the women’s game. The whole game.
“I think when it comes to the game of basketball, she’s probably in the top-five most famous people that are playing now, just in general. That includes our league as well,” Haliburton said. “And she handles it with such grace. She’s such a cool person. At the end of the day, she’s just a girl from Iowa who is just really good at basketball. And it’s really cool to see what she does.”
It makes sense that Haliburton and Clark would hit it off. Both are kids from the Midwest, both are the faces of their franchises, both are point guards who can score and shoot from anywhere and, obviously, both now call Indianapolis home. They haven’t collaborated on anything big yet, but Haliburton is hopeful that such a pairing happens.
Haliburton says he considers the Fever — not just Clark, the whole organization — to be “rock stars” at the forefront of growing the WNBA.
“Anything that I can do to help, I will. But I don’t think she necessarily needs my help,” Haliburton said. “I mean, she’s amazing. That group is amazing. To see what they’re doing for women’s basketball as a whole has been really cool. She’s spearheaded that, so I’m just glad to be a part of the journey and watch what she does.”
Future Paris games
The NBA doesn’t announce things too far ahead, but it’s safe to guess that more games in Paris are coming in future years.
And if the San Antonio Spurs get asked, they’ll jump at the chance.
With French star Victor Wembanyama already cemented as the face of the franchise, the Spurs — who already had an enormous following in France because of former players like Tony Parker and Boris Diaw — are seeing even more interest here.
Being here this week for a pair of games with Indiana is only strengthening the Spurs’ ties with France.
“Any time we have an opportunity to play internationally, we want to be in that rotation,” Spurs CEO R.C. Buford said Wednesday.
The Spurs even arranged for a pop-up shop to happen during this visit, featuring exclusive merchandise, items showcasing Wembanyama and Chris Paul, plus jerseys for team greats like Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan.
“It’s an expensive trip,” Buford said. “The economics say a single trip probably isn’t a big moneymaker. However, our goal is to show the community of France that we’re here for the long run.”
Global games
There will be a lot of French people at these games Thursday and Saturday, as would be expected in Paris.
But these games will also be global — truly global.
The NBA said fans from at least 53 different countries and territories have purchased tickets for the Spurs-Pacers games, a record for any league event anywhere in the world.
These will be the NBA’s 96th and 97th games in Europe and the 14th and 15th games in France, all happening in a season that marks the 40th anniversary of the league’s inaugural games in Europe — back when the Seattle Supersonics played exhibition games in Germany, Switzerland and Italy against local professional teams.
San Antonio is playing in France for the first time since the preseason in 2006. Indiana is playing in France for the first time.
INDIANA FUEL
FUEL HEAD TO BLOOMINGTON TO BEGIN WEEKEND ROAD TRIP
INDIANAPOLIS – The Fuel will look to win their third game in a row away on Friday night in Bloomington against the Bison. The Fuel are riding a three-game point streak and looking to extend that streak this weekend.
LAST TIME OUT
These two teams last met on December 18th when the Bison defeated the Fuel 3-1 at home. The Fuel have played the Bison twice this season, with the season series split 1-1-0-0. Indy scored one goal in the third period thanks to Darby Llewellyn, who tallied an assist in the game last Saturday against the Cyclones.
KEEPING UP MOMENTUM
The Fuel hope to continue their winning streak after a weekend of back-to-back wins as they travel to Bloomington this Friday. They secured a point in an overtime loss against the Mariners last Wednesday and responded with a 4-0 shutout against the K-wings and a 3-4 overtime win over the Cyclones last weekend.
INDIANA MEN’S BASKETBALL
HOOSIERS FALL LATE IN EVANSTON
EVANSTON, Ill. — Indiana head coach Mike Woodson searched for answers that wouldn’t come. Not on Wednesday night. Not when a first half of dominating defense became a second half of misery.
“I wish I knew. I’m still trying to figure that out,” Woodson said in the aftermath of a 79-70 loss at Northwestern.
The Hoosier defense, so good in the first half, became a second half liability. It was torched outside, sprung leaks inside and couldn’t contain Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli, Ty Berry, Jalen Leach and Brooks Barnhizer – who combined for 77 points.
“We didn’t answer the bell,” Woodson said. “They did. We didn’t guard well. They made us pay, especially in the second half. They made shots all over the court.”
IU (14-6 overall, 5-4 in the Big Ten) was poised for a second-straight road victory, a follow-up to its tough-minded overtime win at Ohio State, until Northwestern’s 21-4 down-the-stretch run, fueled by 3-point sharp-shooting, wrecked that opportunity.
“We play a good game on the road and beat Ohio State, then come here and got an opportunity to win a game, and we let it get away the second half,” Woodson said. “You’ve got to give them credit — they played their butts off in the second half, and we didn’t.”
The Wildcats (12-7, 3-5) made nine 3-point field goals in the second half while scoring 54 points.
“Our communication from a defensive standpoint was lost in the second half,” Woodson said, “and they made us pay.”
The Hoosiers had a similar big run in the first half. They fell behind by 10 points, then ended the half on an 18-2 surge for a 31-25 lead. They had energy and momentum.
It wasn’t enough. Not with 17 IU turnovers leading to 21 Northwestern points. Not with the Wildcats shooting 64.5% on 3-point field goals and 62.5% overall in the final 20 minutes.
“It was turnovers,” Woodson said. “Not guarding. We gave up too many opportunities and they made us pay.”
Indiana sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako bounced back from recent offensive struggles for 20 points along with five rebounds. Sixth-year center Oumar Ballo had 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Senior forward Luke Goode made 4-of-5 3-pointers for 14 points. Redshirt sophomore guard Myles Rice had 11 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Junior forward Malik Reneau played after missing the previous five games with an injury. He totaled two points and three rebounds in 11 minutes after coming in at the 14:15 mark of the first half.
“It will take a while,” Woodson said. “He’s not there yet. He hasn’t played in a number of games. I knew I wasn’t going to play him many minutes. He has to get his conditioning back.”
Six turnovers in the game’s first four minutes produced a 4-4 tie. Northwestern edged ahead 12-7. Goode and fifth-year senior guard Trey Galloway responded with 3-pointers off Ballo assists to get IU within 15-13 before the Wildcats surged ahead 23-13 behind Berry.
Four straight Ballo points, set up by strong Hoosier offensive rebounding, was followed by a Rice 3-pointer and an Anthony Leal free throw. The lead was down to two.
Reneau’s two free throws got IU within 24-23 with three minutes left in the half. Baskets by Mgbako and Galloway, and then two Galloway free throws, and then an Mgbako layup, pushed the Hoosiers to a 31-25 halftime lead.
Ballo and Galloway led with seven points each. Mgbako added six in the first half.
Northwestern missed its final 12 shots and had no offensive rhythm.
“We played beautiful in the first half,” Woodson said.
Everything changed in the second half.
A Rice basket and an Mgbako 3-pointer — his first after 17 straight long-distance misses — boosted IU to a 36-29 lead after two minutes. The Wildcats rallied for a 39-37 advantage two minutes later and were up 49-42 before a Goode 3-pointer, a Rice layup and another Goode 3-point basket helped the Hoosiers take a 52-49 lead.
Northwestern used that 21-4 run to go ahead 70-56. IU made a final surge with nine Mgbako points and a Goode 3-pointer to close within four points before the Wildcats clinched their fifth straight win over the Hoosiers.
IU hosts Maryland on Sunday.
“We had our chances,” Woodson said. “We let it get away in the second half.”
PURDUE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
#4 USC TOPS PURDUE AT MACKEY
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Squaring off with its ninth ranked opponent of the season, the most in the nation, the Purdue women’s basketball team fell 79-37 to No. 4 USC on Wednesday night in Mackey Arena.
Freshman Kendall Puryear finished with 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting. It was her seventh game in double figures this season. McKenna Layden grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for her third straight game of seven boards or more.
Purdue (7-12, 0-8) shot 30.6% from the field and dished out nine assists on 15 made field goals with a trio coming from Layden.
USC placed three players in double figures, led by Avery Howell’s 18 points on four 3-pointers and 6-of-6 at the line. The Trojans shot at a 43.5% clip and went 11-of-13 from behind the arc. USC All-American JuJu Watkins finished with 16 points.
Purdue held a 16-15 lead after the opening 10 minutes. Destini Lombard connected twice from behind the arc as Purdue hit four of its first five shots. Defensively, the Boilermakers held the Trojans to 2-of-11 to start and forced five turnovers in the frame.
After shooting 58.3% from the field and hitting 2-of-3 from three, the Boilermakers went 8-of-37 from the floor without a triple over the next three quarters.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will head to Illinois on Monday for an 8:30 PM ET tip. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL
FREEMAN NAMED BEAR BRYANT COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNER
Dick Corbett Head Football Coach Marcus Freeman has been named the winner of the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award, which honors contributions that make the sport better for athletes and fans alike by demonstrating grit, integrity and a winning approach to coaching and life – both on and off the field.
One previous Notre Dame coach has won the Bear Bryant Award: Lou Holtz in 1988.
Freeman was also the winner of the 2024 Dodd Trophy and the 2024 George Munger College Coach of the Year Award, and was selected as the honorary head coach for the 2024 AFCA Allstate Good Works Team. In his third season at Notre Dame, he led the Irish to a National Championship appearance and a 14-2 record, with a final Associated Press ranking of No. 2.
The third-year head coach has an all-time record of 33-10, with a postseason record of 5-2, including three CFP wins in 2024. Freeman led Notre Dame to seven victories over opponents ranked in the AP Poll at the time of the game this season: No. 20 Texas A&M, No. 15 Louisville, No. 24 Navy, No. 18 Army, No. 9 Indiana, No. 2 Georgia and No. 5 Penn State. The CFP victory over Penn State was the 14th ranked win of the Freeman era at Notre Dame, more than any other Irish head coach in the first three years of his tenure, and tied for the most of any FBS program over the last three years (Georgia, 14).
Notre Dame owned the most wins against AP ranked teams in 2024, with a 7-1 record. No other team faced more AP-ranked teams in 2024 than Notre Dame’s eight.
Among teams ranked in the final AP Top 25, Notre Dame notched four wins, the most for Notre Dame since 2002 (four). Notre Dame’s three wins over teams ranked in the final Top 10 is the most for the program since 1990 (three).
With the conclusion of the 2024 season, Notre Dame was first in pass efficiency defense (104.4), first in turnovers gained (33), first in defensive touchdowns (6), first in blocked kicks (6), second in fumbles recovered (14), second in blocked punts (3), fourth in passing yards allowed (169.4), fourth in scoring defense (15.5), fifth in passes intercepted (19), fifth in turnover margin (1.13), seventh in kickoff return defense (15.61), ninth in first downs (326), 10th in scoring offense (36.1) and 11th in total defense (307.4).
NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
THIRD-RANKED WOMEN’S HOOPS SHIPS UP TO BOSTON
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — No. 3 Notre Dame (16-2, 7-0) will play the first of three consecutive road games starting Thursday, as the Irish head to Chestnut Hill to play Boston College (12-8, 3-4).
The Irish have won 11 consecutive games dating back to Dec. 5, and the offense is beginning to fire on all cylinders with both Maddy Westbeld and Hannah Hidalgo back in the starting lineup.
After missing two games against Clemson and Georgia Tech with an ankle sprain, Hidalgo returned to the court Sunday night against SMU and recorded 23 points and 10 rebounds, her third double-double of the season. Front court mate Olivia Miles also had a double-double, notching 17 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. It was the 25th double-double of her storied career. No other Notre Dame guard has had more than 17.
Notre Dame continues to dominate the national rankings as a team. The Irish rank in the top 10 in the country in scoring offense and rebounds, assists and blocks per game. Notre Dame also leads the nation with a 41.3 success rate from beyond the arc, led by Miles who is shooting 44.8 percent from deep, a more than 20 percent increase from her average over the first three years of her career.
The Eagles are winners of back-to-back ACC games, edging Miami by 4 points last Thursday and dominating Syracuse by 41 on Sunday. Four Boston College players scored in double figures in the win, including 22 points from veteran Dontavia Waggoner and 21 from Teya Sidberry. The Eagles knocked down 10 triples after 12 against Miami, marking the first time since 2019 that they had 10 or more 3-pointers in back-to-back games. That charge against Syracuse was led by T’yana Todd, who went 4-5 from deep.
On the season, Boston College sits in the middle of the ACC in both scoring offense (ninth) and scoring defense (11th). They do an excellent job passing the ball, averaging 16.5 assists per game (fourth). Kaylah Ivey ranks second in the conference with 6.1 assists per game, trailing only Miles (7.1). Ivey has an assist/turnover ratio of 3.9, which leads the ACC.
Thursday’s game will air on ACCNX and tips off at 7 p.m. Notre Dame is 30-9 all-time against Boston College and has won the last five meetings.
BUTLER WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
BLUEJAYS TOP BULLDOGS 63-52 AT HINKLE FIELDHOUSE
The Creighton Bluejays recorded a 63-52 win at Butler on Wednesday night to remain undefeated in BIG EAST action. With the setback, the Bulldogs move to 12-9 on the season. The win pushes Creighton to 16-3.
Morgan Maly and Lauren Jensen combined to score 46 of Creighton’s 63 points. Maly led all players with 24 on 10-of-21 shooting. Jensen put on a shooting display by making five of her nine 3-point attempts to net 22. Molly Mogensen also reached double figures with 11 points.
For Butler, Kilyn McGuff notched her eighth double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Sydney Jaynes was a force inside with 16 points, and Lily Carmody got to the rim to add nine.
Creighton jumped out to a 9-2 lead after three different Bluejays buried a 3-pointer. The Bulldogs returned fire and hit a pair of triples to make the game 9-8 at the first media timeout. Karsyn Norman and Lily Zeinstra were responsible for the 6-0 BU scoring run, but the ‘Dawgs would trail Creighton 15-10 after one.
Sydney Jaynes got rolling in the second quarter and would tie the game at 15-15 and again at 20-20. BU scored the first five points of the second quarter, followed by five-straight from CU. The Bluejays used a 6-0 run to move the score to 28-21 and they would own a 31-23 advantage at the half.
Creighton made five of their final seven shots of the first half. Lauren Jensen led the way with 13 points and Morgan Maly added 11. Jaynes was the leading scorer for BU with nine and Kilyn McGuff was in the box score with seven.
Third quarter action didn’t feature much scoring over the first five minutes of the second half. CU pushed their lead to double digits at 37-27 and a late scoring spree would give the visitors a 47-32 edge heading to the fourth.
Creighton outscored Butler 16-9 in the third, but the Bulldogs won the fourth quarter 20-16. Jaynes would once again cut into the Creighton lead, this time with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make the game 54-42. Butler’s scoring run moved to 10-0 to make the game 54-47, but they wouldn’t get any closer.
Inside the Box Score
– Sydney Jaynes scored her 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting
– Five different Bulldogs hit a 3-pointer vs. CU
– Butler shot 7-for-17 from 3-point range
– Lily Carmody came up with two of Butler’s three steals
– Ari Wiggins led BU with three assists
– The Bluejays scored 22 points off 20 BU turnovers
– Creighton never trailed in the contest
Up Next
Butler will host DePaul on Sunday at 2 p.m.
IU INDY MEN’S BASKETBALL
RED HOT JAGUARS RACE PAST GREEN BAY, 86-77
ASHWAUBENON, Wisc. – The IU Indianapolis men’s basketball team drilled 15 threes and shot 55 percent overall as the Jaguars gunned down Green Bay, 86-77, inside Resch Center on Wednesday night (Jan. 22). The Jags shot a scintillating 63 percent (15-of-24) from three-point range and led nearly wire-to-wire in the road victory.
The victory gave the Jaguars (7-14, 3-7 HL) a regular season sweep of Green Bay, having already won the matchup in Indy.
Sean Craig led four Jaguars in double-digits with 24 points and nine rebounds while Paul Zilinskas deposited 21 points, including five threes. Jarvis Walker finished with 18 points and a career-high eight assists and freshman DeSean Goode just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
“Really happy for our guys that we went out and took care of business and they were rewarded with a win. I thought we shared the ball incredibly well and did a great job of making the extra pass to find our shooters,” head coach Paul Corsaro said. “We were a little sloppy in the last few minutes, but all around, I was pleased with the effort and excited to come home with a win.”
Jeremiah Johnson paced five Green Bay (2-19, 0-10 HL) players in double-figures with 18 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Both Marcus Hall and Mac Wrecke closed with 12 apiece.
In what proved to be a precursor to the evening’s events, Zilinskas and Craig swished threes on the Jaguars’ opening two possessions to build a quick 6-0 lead as IU Indy made 10 triples in the first half. The Phoenix took a brief 8-7 lead on a Wrecke layup before Alec Millender followed with a corner trey to give the Jags the lead for good. Walker and Zilinskas made back-to-back threes to ignite an 8-0 run that pushed the lead out to double-digits and a late 10-0 run extended the advantage to 18 just before halftime.
Corsaro’s team pushed the lead beyond 20 for much of the second half, peaking at 78-56 with 3:47 to play on a Walker layup. The hosts outscored IU Indy by 13 points down the stretch to shrink the final margin to nine.
The Jaguars’ offense was brilliant, delivering 22 assists on 29 field goals while committing just seven turnovers. Zilinskas hit 5-of-8 from beyond the arc while Craig was 4-of-5 and finished one point shy of tying his career-high scoring total. Walker connected on 3-of-5 from deep and Goode hit both of his three-point attempts.
Keenan Garner came off the bench to provide five points and four rebounds and Ajay Holubar had quality minutes with three points, an assist and blocked shot in seven minutes of action.
The Jaguars will return to the Jungle to host Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday (Jan. 25) at 2:00 p.m. on Metros Day and Winter Homecoming. The Jaguars will wear throwback uniforms to honor the 1985 IUPUI Metros squad that advanced to the NAIA National Tournament and alumni in attendance will be recognized at halftime. The first 200 fans in attendance will receive a commemorative Metros poster of this year’s team members.
BALL STATE MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL HOSTS LEES-MCRAE THURSDAY, MARYVILLE FRIDAY
No. 7 Ball State (3-3) vs. Lees-McRae (0-2)
Last Meeting: Ball State 3, Lees-McRae 0 (1/5/18)
Series History: Ball State leads the series 2-1
No. 7 Ball State (3-3) vs. Maryville (0-2)
Last Meeting: Ball State 3, Maryville 0 (1/13/22)
Series History: Ball State leads the series 1-0
This Week in Ball State Men’s Volleyball: This week the Cardinals remain at home, welcoming Lees-McRae College on Thursday and Maryville University on Friday. Both matches are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET.
Last Serve: Last week the Cardinals hosted BYU for two matches in Worthen Arena. Both matches forced five sets with the Cougars able to do just enough to pull off the 2-0 sweep. Match one looked like the Cardinals would pull off the upset, starting the match up 2-0 (25-23, 27-25) on the BYU team. However, the Cougars battled back to take the final three sets (25-15, 25-19, 15-12) and get the win. Match two started a little differently, as Ball State and BYU split the first two sets (25-22, Ball State; 26-24, BYU). The Cardinals took the advantage in the third frame (25-22), but the Cougars were once again able to battle back in the finals two sets (25-27, 15-9) for the victory. Rajé Alleyne, Patrick Rogers, Tinaishe Ndavazocheva and Braydon Savitski-Lynde were consistent leaders for the Cardinals in both matches. Alleyne totaled 29 kills, four aces and four blocks, followed by Rogers who totaled 28 kills, one ace and six blocks.
First Serve vs Lees-McRae: Lees-McRae last visited Worthen in 2018 for the Cardinals’ season opener. Ball State swept them 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-10), holding the Bobcats below 20 points in each set.
First Serve vs Maryville: This will be just the second time these two teams meet on the court. In their first matchup, the Cardinals swept the Saints 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-13) while hitting an impressive .506 average.
Scouting Less-McRae: The Bobcats are currently 0-2 on the season, most recently coming off a 3-0 loss to Quincy. They currently average a .124 hitting percentage. Lincoln Scofield leads the team’s offense with 16 kills and an ace on the season. Thiago Da Silva leads in assists with 45, as well as blocks with four. Lees-McRae will take on Long Island University (LIU) on Wednesday, Jan. 22 before heading to Muncie for Thursday’s match.
Scouting Maryville: The Saints are 0-2 on the season with losses from MIVA foes Lewis and Loyola. They fell in a 3-0 sweep to Lewis, but were able to take one from the 12th-ranked Loyola team in a 3-1 loss. The outside hitter Makai Scott currently leads the team in kills with 30 on the season, averaging 4.29 kills per set and hitting .362 from the floor.
Coach Cruz: Ball State head coach Donan Cruz enters his fourth season at the helm of the Cardinals and owns an overall record at BSU of 67-26 (.720) along with a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Tournament Championship, three MIVA regular season titles and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Preseason All-MIVA: The 2025 roster welcomes back many well-known faces and also offers several exciting new additions. Two impactful returners include senior outside hitter Tinaishe Ndavazocheva and junior outside hitter Patrick Rogers. Ndavazocheva and Rogers were named to the Preseason All-MIVA team, along with Cardinal newcomer Rajé Alleyne. Alleyne, the opposite senior transfer from Quincy, brings a wealth of experience at the net. Last season, Alleyene led the MIVA in kills per set (4.41) and in points scored (421.5), averaging 5.08 points per set. He also earned First Team All-MIVA honors and AVCA All-American Honorable Mention.
Looking Ahead: Following Friday’s match against the Saints, Ball State will welcome Tusculum to Worthen Arena for two matches on Thursday (Jan. 30) and Friday (Jan. 31). Friday’s match will be Hometown Heroes Night. First serve will be at 7 p.m. ET both days.
INDIANA STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL
LATE SECOND-HALF COMEBACK FALLS SHORT AS SYCAMORES SUFFER LOSS TO ILLINOIS STATE
NORMAL, Ill. – Indiana State men’s basketball’s late second-half comeback fell short at Illinois State on Tuesday night, falling 85-81.
With 5:29 left in the game, the Sycamores (9-11, 3-5 MVC) found themselves down 13 points, tying their largest lead of the game. Less than a minute later, six points on back-to-back possessions by Indiana Stare brought the team down 73-66. Camp Wagner drilled a triple, then Aaron Gray converted the traditional and-one.
After a pair of Illinois State (12-8, 4-5 MVC) free throws, Wagner made another three-pointer to trail 75-70 just inside the four-minute mark. Illinois State jumped back up nine points with 1:53 remaining.
A 7-1 run by Indiana State made it a one-possession game with 25 seconds to play. Josiah LeGree scored on a layup, then the Sycamores’ pressure full-court defense forced a turnover picked up by K’mani Doughty and passed ahead to Gray on the layup. A Redbird free throw was made at the other end before Gray capped the run with a three-pointer from the top of the key.
Johnny Kinziger from Illinois State made one free throw with 21 seconds to play to go up four, 83-79. Wagner grabbed an offensive board and put it back in for Indiana State to trail only two, 83-81 – but there was only a second left in the game. Dalton Banks iced the game making two free throws, sending Illinois State to the victory column with the 85-81 victory.
To open the game, Illinois State nearly doubled the shot attempts as Indiana State, but the Sycamores trailed only 8-5 early. Indiana Statet took its first lead, 12-11, off a Bruno Alocen left-wing triple and a Samage Teel layup with 13:12 on the clock. The game bounced back-and-forth the next few minutes where Wagner gave the game its fourth lead change and the Sycamores a 17-16 lead with 10:42 left.
Coming out of the 10:42 media timeout, it was an exchange of almost all three-pointers. Banks made a triple followed by a stepback three-pointer by Wager. Jaden Daughtry made a three of his own after a Redbird layup, then Banks made another trey. Down three, five-straight points put Indiana State back on top 28-26 with 7:40 left in the half.
The game continued its trend of going back and forth, staying tight through the rest of the half. In the final eight minutes, neither team could grow more than a three-point lead, but it was Indiana State that held a 33-30 lead with just under four minutes to play.
Gray finished a two-hand flush with under 10 seconds to play in the half to go up two, but a Johnny Kinziger jumper in the paint right before the buzzer knotted the game at 40 apiece.
At the half, all nine players who entered the game for Indiana State scored at least two points. There were already 16 lead changes in the game. Gray tallied nine points and six rebounds through the half in 14 minutes on the court. The 40 points in the first half ties for the most in the first half for Indiana State since playing at Valparaiso (40 points) on January 8.
Illinois State jumped out to a six-point lead early in the second half on two different occasions, but Indiana State stayed tough and hung in with a credit to Alocen draining a corner three and knocking down the free throw attempt.
Following a Teel layup at 15:51, Indiana State was held to only a Wagner three-pointer for almost six minutes which allowed Illinois State to score nine points to hold an eight point, 60-52 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
The Redbirds continued to strike, going up 13 for the first time with 7:06 to play, 69-56. A pair of layups by Markus Harding and Daughtry kept the game close before Illinois State went up 13 at the 5:29 mark.
For the Sycamores in the game, Aaron Gray led the team in scoring with 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting, and he tied Markus Harding for a team-high eight rebounds. Camp Wagner finished with 17 points on a 6-for-10 effort from the floor, including a 5-for-9 mark from downtown. Bruno Alocen and Jaden Daughtry each finished with 10 points, Alocen draining three triples. Samage Teel led the assist category with six.
Illinois State had three players score 17+ points, and the next highest scoring total was seven points. The three double-figure scoring Redbirds were Banks (21), Kingizer (20), and Chase Walker (17).
News & Notes
Indiana State’s five-game skid matches the five-game losing streak from the 2022-23 season when the Sycamores recorded five straight from January 11-24.
The 81 points by Indiana State is the most since scoring 95 against Valparaiso on January 8.
The Sycamores shot 47.5% from the field, the second-best effort since playing UHSP on December 21.
Indiana State shot 58.3% against UHSP and 50.0% at Valparaiso.
Indiana State made 13 three-pointers and shot 37.1% from three, the best effort since UHSP when the Sycamores also made 13 triples and shot 37.1% (Indiana State shot 13-for-35 in both the Illinois State and UHSP games).
This marks only the sixth time this season the Sycamores have made 13 or more.
Indiana State scored only 12 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, scoring 29-of-41 second-half points in the final 10 minutes.
The Sycamores have recorded 15+ turnovers in six of the last eight games and 16+ in each of the last three.
Indiana State notched 10 steals, which marks only the fourth time in the last 14 games to reach 10+.
Fourteen games dates back to the beginning of Baha Mar Hoops; the high in this 14-game span for the team 10.
It’s only the seventh game out of 20 so far this season with 10+.
Aaron Gray set a new career high while playing in a Sycamore uniform with 19 points, breaking his old Indiana State high of 13 points.
Camp Wagner’s 17 points are the most for the sophomore since scoring a career-high 20 points in the home Bradley game on January 1.
Bruno Alocen’s three three-pointers are the most in a game for the freshman since making four against Tarleton State on December 1.
Markus Harding’s eight rebounds are the most since pulling down a season-high 11 rebounds in the Chicago State matchup on November 22.
Samage Teel dished out six assists in Tuesday night’s game. He has six-plus assists in four of the last six games.
Up Next
Indiana State takes on Northern Iowa on Saturday, January 25 at 1 p.m. ET inside Hulman Center. Following Saturday’s game, the Sycamores host the Bears of Missouri State on Wednesday, January 29 at 7 p.m. ET.
PURDUE FT. WAYNE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
MASTODON WBB WINS 12TH STRAIGHT WITH 72-65 VICTORY AT DETROIT MERCY
DETROIT – Purdue Fort Wayne women’s basketball erased a 10-point first-quarter deficit on Wednesday (Jan. 22), coming back to beat Detroit Mercy 72-65 for its 12th victory in a row.
The Mastodons own the seventh-longest win streak in the nation after Wednesday’s game. Purdue Fort Wayne is now 10-0 in Horizon League play at the halfway mark.
Purdue Fort Wayne’s wealth of offensive options showed true in Calihan Hall, as Sydney Freeman scored 20 and Amellia Bromenschenkel and Jazzlyn Linbo had 16 points each. All three of those ‘Dons hit six free throws each. While she was relatively quiet in the scoring column, Lauren Ross grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go with her eight points.
The ‘Dons struggled to settle into an offensive flow early in the game. They were just 2-for-12 in the first 10 minutes while allowing Detroit Mercy to go 10-for-20 and lead by 10 at the break. The scale tilted entirely to the Mastodons in the second quarter as they out-scored the Titans 21-10. Bromenschenkel had seven points in a 9-0 run that tied the game at 22. The Mastodons eventually led by one at the halftime stoppage after holding Detroit Mercy to 0-for-9 from 3-point range.
The ‘Dons had just two baskets in the first five minutes of the third quarter, but eight free throws in that time helped buoy the ‘Dons to hold a 3-point lead. After the Titans took a 44-43 lead, Purdue Fort Wayne mounted an 18-4 that saw Lauren Ross score all eight of her points. Detroit Mercy brought it back within five after an 8-0 run, but the ‘Dons sealed away a comeback attempt on the back of Freeman. She had seven points in a stretch of nearly four minutes, helping the ‘Dons push it back out to a seven-point game.
Linbo matched her career-high with five assists to go with 16 points and four rebounds. She had half of the team’s assists. Freeman’s line of 20 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals highlighted the box score, but Bromenschenkel had seven rebounds, four steals and a block to pair with her 16 points.
Purdue Fort Wayne managed 25 points off 15 Detroit Mercy miscues.
Aaliyah McQueen was very good for Detroit Mercy, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Detroit Mercy falls to 12-6, 6-4 in Horizon League play while Purdue Fort Wayne improves to 15-5, 10-0 in league. The Mastodons will look to start the second half of league play with a victory on Saturday (Jan. 25) when IU Indianapolis comes to the Gates Sports Center for a 2 p.m. game.
PURDUE FT. WAYNE MEN’S BASKETBALL
‘DONS FALL AT OAKLAND 76-72
ROCHESTER, Mich. – Purdue Fort Wayne fell 76-72 on Wednesday (Jan. 22) evening at the O’Rena in a Horizon League men’s basketball contest which featured 10 lead changes and eight ties.
An 8-0 Mastodon run put the ‘Dons up 67-66 following a transition 3-pointer by Quinton Morton-Robertson with 2:43 left. Oakland scored the next six points to take the lead for good.
The game could’ve gone either way as neither team held a lead larger than eight points in the contest. The ‘Dons led for 47.6 percent of the contest to Oakland’s 42.0 percent. It was tied at 30 at half.
The ‘Dons shot 10-of-15 from three. The game featured only 13 combined free throw attempts with the ‘Dons going 6-of-6 and Oakland finishing at 6-of-7.
Tuburu Naivalurua and Allen David Mukeba each scored 22 points for Oakland.
Jalen Jackson scored 12 of his team-high 17 points in the second half. Chandler Cuthrell totaled 13 points off the bench while adding seven boards. Morton-Robertson had 11 points. Corey Hadnot II added 10 points and one steal off an inbound pass which led to a layup with 7:53 left in the second half to get the ‘Dons within three at 56-53.
The ‘Dons fall to 14-7 (7-3 Horizon League). Oakland improves to 9-12 (6-4 Horizon League). Purdue Fort Wayne is at IU Indy on Saturday (Jan. 25).
EVANSVILLE MEN’S BASKETBALL
SECOND-HALF RALLY FALLS SHORT AGAINST UIC
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – After trailing by as many as 20 points in the second half, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team stormed back to get within seven points before UIC held on to take a 78-67 victory on Wednesday evening inside the Ford Center.
Five Purple Aces reached double figures in scoring with Tayshawn Comer leading the way with 18. Gabriel Pozzato scored 13 while Josh Hughes had 12. Tanner Cuff and Connor Turnbull finished the night with 10 points apiece. Comer led the way with eight assists and Pozzato hauled in a team-best six rebounds.
“We need to have the same urgency in the first half that we brought in the second,” Aces head coach David Ragland exclaimed. “We didn’t do that tonight. Credit UIC for the way they played throughout those segments.”
Converting four of their first five attempts, UIC took a 9-4 lead out of the gate. Trailing 11-6, the Purple Aces stormed back with seven in a row to take their first lead of the night at 13-11. Josh Hughes recorded seven of those tallies before connecting on a triple for his 10th point of the night to give UE a 16-4 edge.
Eight lead changes took place in the opening half as the squads swapped multiple leads over the middle portions of the period. Things took a turn the Flames way in the final eight minutes. With the game tied at 22-22, UIC embarked on a 16-3 run to go up 38-25 with three minutes on the clock. The lead for the Flames reached as many as 17 (46-29) before a late basket from Tayshawn Comer made it a 47-32 game at the break.
Connor Turnbull knocked down a shot for the Aces first basket of the second half, but a pair of 3-pointers by the Flames pushed the advantage to 20 points at 56-36 at the 16:03 mark. Despite the deficit, Evansville fought back. Midway through the second half, a basket from Gabriel Pozzato cut the gap to 61-48. With just over nine minutes remaining, Pozzato’s triple made it a 12-point game.
While UIC fended off the challenge to go back up 15, the Aces never gave up. A pair of free throws by Hughes with five minutes left made it a 10-point game at 69-59. On the ensuing UIC possession, a turnover led to a Comer basket that cut the gap to eight. UE got as close as seven in the final minutes before the Flames fended off the challenge to take the win.
Jordan Mason scored a game-high 19 points to pace the Flames, who shot 48.1% in the game. Evansville finished at 45.9%. On the rebounding side, it was UIC finishing with a 40-30 edge.
Next up for the Aces is a trip to Valparaiso for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday.
SOUTHERN INDIANA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
EAGLES HEAD BACK ON THE ROAD TO SIUE AND EASTERN ILLINOIS
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball heads back on the road this week for the start of another three-game road swing, making stops at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Thursday and Eastern Illinois University on Saturday.
Reaching the halfway point of the Ohio Valley Conference season, the Screaming Eagles will take on SIUE Thursday at 5 p.m. from Edwardsville, Illinois, and Eastern Illinois Saturday at 1 p.m. from Charleston, Illinois. This week’s games can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM.
Southern Indiana (14-5, 6-2 OVC) enters the week in a four-way tie for second in the OVC standings after a homestand sweep from Liberty Arena, home of the Screaming Eagles, last week. USI is set to face conference-leading Eastern Illinois on Saturday.
The upcoming road trip marks the second three-game road swing this month for the Eagles, who opened the new calendar year with three straight road contests. Six of USI’s eight games in January are on the road. USI went 1-2 in the first three-game road set earlier this month. Overall, Southern Indiana is 2-5 away from home this season.
Southern Indiana has won two games in a row after a homestand sweep last week, defeating Lindenwood University, 70-66, last Thursday and Western Illinois University, 72-58, last time out on Saturday. The pair of victories improved the Eagles to 10-0 at home on the campaign and 5-0 in home OVC games.
In Saturday’s win against Western Illinois, Southern Indiana jumped out quickly with a 22-8 advantage after the first quarter. Western Illinois climbed back to within single digits in the second half, but USI held off the Leathernecks for the win. Graduate forward Meredith Raley led all scorers with 21 points as one of four Screaming Eagles in double figures. It was Raley’s fifth 20-point game of the season and fourth in the last six outings. Senior guard Vanessa Shafford finished with her fourth double-double of the season and 16th in her career, posting 10 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore guard Sophia Loden matched a career high with 13 points.
Shafford, who recently became USI’s all-time leader in three-pointers, enters the week one made three shy of 200 in her career. Shafford set USI’s three-point record on January 12 against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. As a team, USI is first in the OVC and top 15 in the nation with a three-point percentage of 37.2. Five Screaming Eagles are shooting over 35 percent with more than 40 attempts from beyond the arc. Shafford leads the team at a clip of 41 percent.
Raley leads the team this season and is fourth in the OVC at 15.2 points per contest. Shafford and junior guard Ali Saunders are second and third, respectively, at 12.1 and 11.9 points per outing. Sophomore guard Triniti Ralston is USI’s fourth double-digit scorer at 10.9 points per contest. Ralston is coming off a 16-point performance last Saturday against the Leathernecks.
Southern Indiana is first in the OVC in scoring offense at 74.2 points per game. USI is also first in scoring defense, holding opponents to 62 points per contest. Defensively, the Eagles are also atop the conference in field-goal percentage defense (37.2).
SIUE (3-14, 1-7 OVC) is coming off a 72-65 loss against the University of Tennessee at Martin last Saturday. The Cougars collected their first OVC win last Thursday in a 76-70 overtime decision at Tennessee State University.
Graduate guard KK Rodriguez paces the Cougars at 12.1 points per game. Rodriguez also leads the team in assists (2.4) and steals (1.8). Rodriguez had 21 points and 12 rebounds in SIUE’s win against Tennessee State. SIUE averages 60.1 points while allowing 72.1 points per game.
USI leads the all-time series against SIUE, 29-25. The two sides have a long history going back to previous matchups as foes in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Screaming Eagles won both meetings last season, winning 87-64 at SIUE last January and 75-58 at home last February. In last year’s contest at SIUE, USI graduate forward Madi Webb made her return to SIUE, where she spent her first three seasons, with 18 points and 10 rebounds against the Cougars.
Eastern Illinois (11-6, 8-0 OVC) had a difficult start to the season, which included three games against top-25 opponents, but the Panthers have found their stride in conference play. EIU has not lost since the end of the non-conference slate. The Panthers are coming off a 67-54 victory against Tennessee State and will face Morehead State University on Thursday before hosting USI on Saturday.
Senior forward Macy McGlone once again leads the charge for Eastern Illinois this season. McGlone averages a double-double of 18.1 points and 11 rebounds per outing. The forward has tallied four consecutive double-doubles and 10 total on the season. McGlone, the reigning OVC Player of the Year, is second in the OVC in scoring and first in rebounding. EIU averages 61.5 points and has held opponents to 63.3 points per game.
Eastern Illinois leads the series history against USI, 4-2. Southern Indiana won both matchups last season, including a 70-60 win in the regular season and a 69-54 victory in the semifinals of last year’s OVC Tournament championship run.
Southern Indiana caps off the road swing next Tuesday at Morehead State before starting a three-game homestand to begin the month of February.
VALPO MEN’S BASKETBALL
VALPO FALLS TO DRAKE IN DES MOINES
The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team outscored Drake after halftime on Wednesday night in Des Moines, Iowa, but a first-half hole was too big to overcome in an 81-71 defeat to the Bulldogs, a team that improved to 31-1 in its last 32 home games and holds the top NET and KenPom ratings in the Missouri Valley Conference. Foul trouble plagued the Beacons as the Bulldogs made their big run with several key Valpo players sidelined.
How It Happened
The game was tightly played for the first eight minutes, which featured seven lead changes. All Wright (Durango, Mexico / Link Year) had a pair of early buckets including Valpo’s first triple of the game, and both teams were 5-of-9 from the floor with Drake leading 14-13 when the game reached the under-12 media timeout of the first half.
The next stretch saw the first separation of the game, as Drake went on an 11-0 run and made 10 of their next 11 shots, building up a lead that reached double figures at 11 with 8:52 to go in the half.
The Bulldogs assembled another 8-0 run late in the half, building the margin to 14 at 38-24. By the time the horn sounded to end the first 20 minutes of play, Drake led 43-29 behind scorching shooting at 69.3 percent from the field in the opening half.
Bennett Stirtz was a big factor with 12 points, five assists and no turnovers in the first half alone, while Mitch Mascari was 4-of-5 from the field, hit two 3s and tallied 10 points in the first stanza. Foul trouble plagued the Beacons, as Tyler Schmidt (Valparaiso, Ind. / Victory Christian) played just four minutes and had two fouls, while Cooper Schwieger (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Vally Southwest) was limited to 14 minutes and picked up three fouls before the break.
Valpo battled early in the second half, and Schmidt hit a big 3 with 14 minutes on the clock to shrink the deficit to single figures. On the next possession, Justus McNair (Joliet, Ill. / Joliet West) was dead center on two free throws, and Valpo cut the lead to seven at 52-45 with just over 13 minutes to go.
The Beacons scored six straight points to cut a 15-point lead back to single figures when a Schwieger bucket at 4:15 made it 67-58. Valpo made several impressive stops on the defensive end during that stretch.
The Beacons kept fighting each time the lead ballooned to double figures. Wright drained a triple at 1:16 to cut the lead to nine at 73-64. Valpo repeatedly fought back to within single figures but Drake hit its free throws down the stretch and held on for the 81-71 win despite the Beacons holding a 42-38 edge in the second half.
Inside the Game
De La Cruz Monegro tallied a team-high 16 points and went 7-for-7 at the free-throw line. He had his highest point total in the last five games.
Wright went 5-of-8 from the field and hit both of his 3-point attempts while compiling 15 points. This marked his third straight game in double figures including his second straight with at least 15.
Schwieger had his 11th straight game with at least a dozen points, scoring 14 on 5-of-7 shooting and pulling down a team-high six rebounds.
McNair chipped in 10 points off the bench, the fifth double-figure scoring output of the season for the rookie.
Schmidt swiped three steals, his fourth three-steal game of the season and second in the last three games. That helped Valpo hold an 11-10 edge in the turnover battle.
Drake had 17 assists to Valpo’s five.
Foul trouble was key as Schwieger (+3) and Schmidt (+5) were both positive in the plus-minus category in a game Valpo lost by 10. The duo was sidelined by foul trouble when Drake made its big first-half run.
The Beacons held the Bulldogs to 41.7 percent shooting in the second half after the hosts shot at a 69.6 percent clip in the first half.
Each team had six offensive rebounds as Valpo battled on the boards. Valpo shot 48.9 percent from the floor against a stout Drake defense. As a team, Valpo was 21-of-25 (84 percent) at the free-throw line, while Drake was equally as impressive at 83.3 percent (20-of-24).
Stirtz finished with 14 points and nine assists, while Mascari hit five 3s and tallied 21 points for Drake.
Up Next
Valpo (10-10, 3-6 MVC) will return home to host Evansville at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Athletics-Recreation Center. It’s Cartoon Character Day featuring photos with everybody’s favorite, Bluey & Bingo! The Chicago Bears drumline will perform at halftime. For ticket information, visit tickets.valpoathletics.com.
ANDERSON MEN’S BASKETBALL
ANDERSON TAKES DOWN FRANKLIN, GAINS OUTRIGHT HCAC LEAD
In a first-place showdown, the Anderson University men’s basketball team (14-3, 9-1) took down Franklin College (12-5, 8-2) by a score of 77-62 to gain the outright lead in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) standings on Wednesday in O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.
Anderson entered Wednesday’s game receiving votes in the latest D3hoops.com poll.
Tate Ivanyo broke two career records during the win. The senior from Valparaiso took down the career scoring record in Anderson’s D-III era, which began in 1993. His first point of the game broke the Anderson D-III era record of 1,522 career points set by 2018 graduate Trevor Lucas. Ivanyo currently holds 1,544 career points and ranks seventh all-time in Anderson’s 95-year history. He also took down the all-time 3-point record by draining his 230th career 3-pointer. Ivanyo broke the previous record of 229, set by 2017 graduate Nathaniel Acree.
COACH CARTER COLLINS’S COMMENTS
I’m definitely happy with our effort and focus [on Wednesday]. I thought that we came ready to play, executed our plan of attack, and we were backed by great home support by the student section and everyone else that came out. We’re sitting in a good spot right now, but we still have a lot of work to do, starting with a tough road game at Mount St. Joseph on Saturday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Franklin turned the ball over 24 times while Anderson committed 10 turnovers. The Ravens outscored the Grizzlies 29-9 off turnovers.
Anderson powered to a 19-4 advantage on fast-break points.
The Ravens converted 10-of-32 (31.3 percent) shots from 3-point range while the Grizzlies made 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) attempts from the perimeter.
Anderson knocked down 27-of-67 (40.3 percent) shots from the field while Franklin made 22-of-60 (36.7 percent) attempts from the floor.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Raven of the Game – Tate Ivanyo – 22 Points, 8 Rebounds, 5/10 (50%) 3FG
Rob Davidson – 13 Points, 6 Steals, 7 Rebounds, 4 Assists
Axel Laby – 8 Points, 4 Steals, 6 Rebounds, 1 Block
Bryce Williams – 12 Points, 5 Assists
Marco Beverly – 5 Points, 3 Steals, 5 Rebounds, 1 Block
Elisha Moore – 8 Points
Nolan Swan – 4 Points
Kenney Troutman – 5 Points
UP NEXT
Anderson battles Mount St. Joseph University (9-8, 5-5) in HCAC action on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Cincinnati.
ANDERSON WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
RAVENS VICTORIOUS IN THRILLER AT FRANKLIN
Anderson University women’s basketball team (9-7, 6-4) claimed a hard-fought 74-71 victory over Franklin College (12-5, 6-4) during Wednesday’s Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) matchup in Franklin.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Franklin surged to an early 21-10 lead, but Anderson responded with an 11-0 run to tie the game.
From there, the game turned into a back-and-forth battle, featuring five ties and 16 lead changes.
Anderson’s defense shined, tying a school record with 12 blocks.
The Ravens shot 35.4% (23-of-65) from the field, while the Grizzlies hit 33.3% (28-of-84).
Anderson knocked down 10-of-32 (31.3%) from beyond the arc compared to Franklin’s 6-of-17 (35.3%).
At the free-throw line, the Ravens converted 18-of-26 (69.2%), while the Grizzlies made 9-of-12 (75.0%).
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Raven of the Game – Makynlee Taylor – 12 Points, 16 Rebounds, 4 Blocks
Izzy Davis – 22 Points, 7 Rebounds, 4 Assists
Mackinzie Toliver – 12 Points, 80.0 3PT% (4-5), 3 Rebounds, 3 Steals
Victoria Detraz – 11 Points, 6 Rebounds, 5 Blocks
Sarah Sewak – 7 Points, 2 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Blocks
Bella Larrison – 5 Points, 3 Rebounds, 3 Assists
Emily Reed – 3 Points, 2 Rebounds
Brynn Beard – 4 Rebounds, 2 Assists
COACH JON GIN’S COMMENTS
This was truly a gritty team win. I couldn’t be prouder of these guys.
The flu has been going through our team all week. Not many of us felt great, but we left everything we had on the court.
We did a great job on defense, mixing up our looks and trying to keep their high-octane offense off balance.
Offensively, we did a great job of putting pressure on the paint and finding shooters on the outside.
It was a HUGE night for our bench. They really led the way for us.
UP NEXT
The Ravens head to Cincinnati to take on the Lions of Mount St. Joseph University (11-6, 6-4) in HCAC action on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
VINCENNES MEN’S BASKETBALL
NO. 16 TRAILBLAZERS GET 10TH STRAIGHT WIN GOING WIRE-TO-WIRE OVER OLNEY CENTRAL
VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers jumped up eight spots this week in the NJCAA Division I National rankings, checking in this week at No. 16, while also holding the No. 7 spot in the JUCO Advocate Media Poll and No. 6 in the Nielsen File Top 25 rankings.
The Trailblazers showed why they deserve to continue to climb in the rankings Wednesday night inside the Physical Education Complex, posting a big 102-58 Region 24 victory over Olney Central College.
This is the 10th straight victory for the Trailblazers and their fourth straight win leading from tip to buzzer.
The Trailblazers have not trailed in a game since early in the second half against Volunteer State Community College back on Jan. 4.
Vincennes was able to get the game started with another big early run as VU quickly took control of the game and held a big 24-6 lead over the Blue Knights.
VU was able to get ahead early with the help of seven big first half three-pointers, shooting an impressive 41 percent from behind the arc in the first half.
VU continued to add to their lead and closed out the first half on a 7-0 scoring run to take a 54-27 advantage into the locker room at the break.
Coming out in the second half Olney Central looked to battle back early but were unable to chip away at the big deficit.
Vincennes used a 17-4 run to increase the lead to 78-40 before emptying the bench at about the eight minute mark and putting the game in cruise control.
The VU reserves continued to connect from long range throughout the second half, hitting six of 14 three-point shots in the second half to give VU 13 made triples in the game and shooting 42 percent from long range in the game.
Vincennes continued to pull away and closed out the game with a big 102-58 victory over Olney Central College.
“I thought we moved the ball pretty well,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “There were a lot of possessions in the game, we scored a bunch of points and only had six turnovers. I would have liked to see us be a little bit more intense about posting hard inside at times. Then there were times when we did and we scored. But I thought offensively we were fine.”
“We’ve seen a lot of zone and we’ve seen a lot of everything, so at this point our comfort level against all of these things is just up to us,” Franklin added. “Can we go out there, do what we are supposed to and be in a rhythm. We know how to try and dissect it and I think as you are seeing that, you are getting obviously better. You get a better rhythm. You get a better ability to not turn the ball over. You are able to move the ball better because you know where to move it. So I think the one thing that I would nitpick a little bit about is that I did not think that we posted as hard.”
“I thought that we could score in there and you saw when Kenaz did, he scores easily,” Franklin said. “Kenaz is honestly the most natural scorer we’ve had inside since Lony Francis, Jr. He’s shooting like 78 percent. He scores. It’s just about getting him to play with the intensity and the hunger of wanting to do that. Where Lony, you didn’t have to worry about that. Lony wanted to do it. Kenaz has more bounce and more spring and more abilities, he can just go and get it. So it’s going to be big. He didn’t do anything in the first half, he wasn’t ready. We tried to get him to post up and he was in the short corner. If you watch the second half, when he wanted to, you know why. There’s nobody in our league that can stop him when he wants to get down and go to work. We’ve just got to find some way to break through that wall to get him to where he wants to do it all the time.”
“Other than that we were pretty okay,” Franklin added. “We are getting guys that are getting wide open shots in the corner and we’ve got a couple that haven’t hit them. If we ever start doing that, which they can, we’ll really roll up some things. When you get 102 like tonight and we don’t press and trap and try to get that and we score over 100 against Lake Land on Saturday, as we start getting more intense about wanting it inside and we start having guys pop that wide open corner shot, we’ll be awful hard to handle because we’re getting those turnovers down under control. Getting that to six tonight was really good.”
“Defensively, I can’t really say a whole lot because for the most part we stopped everything but Bethea,” Franklin said. “And it was just that he’s going one on one with a rub screen every once in a while. We’ve got to sit down and cover better at that position. But he hit some step backs but we’re going to get back and go to work on that these next couple of days to see if we can’t get a little bit better at moving our feet there. Other than that, we stopped them. He had 34 and they had nobody else in double figures.”
“I thought we got a little loose and gave them some offensive rebounds and didn’t get after some loose balls during one stretch in the first half and gave them some points but for the most part we were okay there,” Franklin added.
All 13 active VU players entered the game Wednesday night and all 13 Trailblazers scored against the Blue Knights.
VU was led offensively by a big night from sophomore Michael Cooper (Minneapolis, Minn.) who finished 24 points, 17 of which coming in the first half, to go along with eight rebounds and three assists.
Freshman Dayton Williams (Louisville, Ky.) got the VU offense going early with four first half threes on his way to 14 points, three rebounds and three blocks.
Sophomore Bryan Akanmu (Paris, France) picked up the first double-double of his Trailblazer career Wednesday night, finishing the game with 12 points, a team-high 15 rebounds and six assists.
Freshman Kenaz Ochogwu (E. Providence, R.I.) was the fourth VU scorer in double figures, finishing his game with 10 points and three rebounds.
“I thought Lebron did a good job because he moved the ball,” Franklin said. “He didn’t try to force stuff. You get a guy like that, sometimes he thinks ‘I’m not getting a bunch of points’ and they start to force it. He’s got himself locked in right now to where he’s going to move it and we’re going to get great shots and not turn it over and that’s his job. So he’s doing a good job there.”
“I thought Michael Cooper had a really good night tonight,” Franklin added. “I thought offensively Michael was really good, efficient, hit his shots from the right places. He got the ball and drove it sometimes, got on the offensive glass some. You look at his numbers, he had no turnovers, three assists, he only played about 24 minutes. I thought he was good. I thought he was really good on both ends. They didn’t put a whole lot of pressure on him on the defensive end. He just had to make sure that he stayed up on Nash. We gave him the assignment of guarding a smaller guy who can really shoot it and stretch it out and for the most part he did a really good job with that.”
“Bryan got on the glass some,” Franklin said. “Him and Michael combined for 23 rebounds, 15 by Bryan and eight by Michael. But the best news out of that was that those two guys only had one turnover in basically 50 minutes combined play with nine assists. They have been a little turnover prone and that’s been one of the problems. They haven’t really been forced turnovers, they just turn the ball over. Tonight they only had one and tonight that’s probably the difference of scoring over 100 or scoring in the high 80s.”
“It was fine, we’ll go back to work tomorrow,” Franklin added. “There’s a number of good things in here but there are things that I can go to work at and be a little unhappy about tomorrow at practice.”
Sophomore and 2024 NJCAA All-American Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.) moved the ball well all night for Vincennes, leading the Blazers with 10 assist to go along with six rebounds and five points.
The Trailblazers will look to keep this momentum going into the weekend as VU gets set to head to Mt. Carmel, Ill. Saturday, Jan. 25 where VU will square off against Wabash Valley College at 7 p.m. eastern.
This will be the first of three straight road games for the Trailblazers as VU will head to Centralia, Ill. Wednesday, Jan. 29 to face off against Kaskaskia College at 7 p.m. eastern and then head to Carterville, Ill. Saturday, Feb. 1 to take on John A. Logan College at 4 p.m. eastern.
“We just need to have Championship level intensity,” Franklin said. “I don’t know how to explain that to everybody. It’s in every facet and in every deal. We know it now. It’s about being at that and locking into that. It’s about going back and watching tonight where we could have been and should have been better individually and saying ‘yeah, I know why Coach says that now’ or ‘yeah, I didn’t do that, but if I had I would have had a better chance of stopping them’. But just getting it tuned up for Saturday. Every day we are just trying to put together a Championship effort from here on out. That’s all it is.”
VINCENNES WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
DEFENSE SHINES AS LADY BLAZERS GET REGION WIN OVER OLNEY CENTRAL
VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers returned to the home court Wednesday for a Region 24 showdown with Olney Central College from nearby Olney, Ill.
The offenses for both teams struggled all night but it was the Vincennes defense that was able to come out on top in the end, coming away with a 52-43 victory over the Lady Blue Knights.
The game was a defensive struggle from the very beginning with both teams having a hard time finding the bottom of the net early before the Lady Blazers were able to get some shots to fall and ride a 12-2 scoring run to take a 15-6 and end the first quarter of play holding a 15-9 advantage.
Olney Central came back firing in the second quarter, cutting the VU lead down to just a single point at 17-16 before the Lady Blazers closed out the first half strong by scoring the final five points of the half to head into the locker room holding a 25-20 lead.
Vincennes was able to carry this momentum over into the start of the third quarter where VU opened the second half with five straight points.
The Lady Blue Knights continued to battle and cut the deficit to five and the Lady Blazers were able to get the lead to 39-33 heading into the fourth quarter.
Olney Central again attempted a late run at the Lady Blazers early in the fourth, getting the VU lead down to 42-40 but Vincennes again was able to regain the momentum and ride the home crowd to close out the game on a 10-3 run to come away with the 52-43 victory over Olney Central.
The Lady Blazers defense controlled the game all night, forcing 22 turnovers and holding the Lady Blue Knights to just 22 percent shooting from the floor.
VU was led offensively by another big game by freshman Emani Washington (Indianapolis, Ind.) who came away with 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Sophomore Marta Gutierrez (Alicante, Spain) matched Washington’s 12 points to lead the Lady Blazers, while also dishing out a team-high seven assists to go along with six rebounds.
Freshman Jasmyn Robey (Sellersburg, Ind.) was the third VU scorer in double figures Wednesday night, coming off the bench to add 10 points, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
Freshman Delora Pricop (Satu Mare, Romania) just missed out on another double-double with eight points, a team-high 11 rebounds and setting a new career-high with seven big blocks in the game.
Freshman Ahmya Thomas (Phoenix, Ariz.) came away with eight points, six rebounds and three steals, while freshman Yanni Huggins (Belleville, Mich.) rounded out the VU box score with two points, seven rebounds and a team-high five steals.
The Lady Trailblazers will hit the road again this weekend as they get set to head to nearby Mt. Carmel, Ill. Saturday, Jan. 25 and face-off with No. 7-ranked Wabash Valley College at 5 p.m. eastern.
This will be the first of three straight road games for the Lady Blazers as they head to Hillsboro, Mo. Monday, Jan. 27 to take on Jefferson College at 6 p.m. eastern and face-off against John A. Logan College in Carterville, Ill. Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. eastern.
WABASH MEN’S BASKETBALL
LITTLE GIANTS ROLL WITTENBERG TO REMAIN IN SECOND PLACE IN NCAC STANDINGS
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Indiana — Wabash raced out to a 36-18 halftime lead over Wittenberg University Wednesday evening. The Little Giants defeated the visiting Tigers 72-46 to claim their fourth consecutive victory to keep Wabash in second place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings a game back of Denison University.
Wabash moves to 11-6 overall and 7-1 in NCAC games. Wittenberg is now 7-10 overall and 3-5 in NCAC contests.
The Little Giants trailed 6-2 in the opening minutes of the contest before using a 7-2 run to take a 9-8 lead. Wabash erupted offensively over the next four-and-a=half minutes, outscoring the Tigers 13-2 to take a double-digit lead at 22-10. The Little Giants extended the lead to 17- points with 5:13 remaining in the opening period before taking the 18-point advantage to the locker room with a 36-18 halftime lead.
Wabash kept up the offensive onslaught in the opening minutes of the second half, pushing the advantage to 24 points in the first four minutes of the final period. Driving layups by Gavin Schippert and Nate Matelic and a three-pointer from Robert Sorensen pushed the lead to 32 with 11:21 left to play in the contest. The Tigers got no closer than 25 points over the final ten minutes of the contest, with Wabash claiming the 26-point victory, the largest winning margin for the Little Giants since beating Wittenberg 101-73 at Chadwick Court in 2021.
The Little Giants made 27 of 57 field goals (47.4 percent) and hit 10 of 25 three-pointers (40 percent). Wabash limited Wittenberg to 7-of-25 shooting in the first half and 18 of 47 for the game (38.3 percent). The Little Giants dominated the boards, outrebounding Wittenberg 39-28, including an 11-6 edge on the offensive glass that led to 15 second-chance Wabash points.
Sorensen, back in the lineup after an injury sidelined him for the past four games, led the Little Giants with 14 points. The freshman hit 5 of 9 total shot attempts and went 5 of 9 from three-point range. Vinny Buccilla added 12 points, Matelic scored 11, and Schippert finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Eddie Brown led the Tigers with 12 points and six boards.
Wabash remains a game behind Denison (16-1, 8-0 NCAC) in the conference standings after the Big Red picked up a 77-65 win at Wooster Wednesday evening.
The Little Giants travel to Hiram on Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest to begin the second half of the 2024-2025 NCAC schedule.
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
“SPORTS EXTRA”
NUMBERS IN SPORTS
9 – 22 – 13 – 6 – 7 – 15 – 3 – 63 – 18 – 4 – 34 – 24 – 23 – 11
January 23, 1934 – Murray Murdoch, Number 9 on the New York Rangers roster, played in his 400th straight NHL game on this date. The Rangers skated past the Ottawa Senators 5-2 in the game. Mr. Murdoch’s streak continued until he hit the milestone of 508 consecutive games.
January 23, 1959 – Elgin Baylor, who wore Number 22 for most of his NBA career, was voted as the Co-MVP of the NBA All-Star game with Forward Bob Pettit. Baylor who was the Rookie Strong Forward of the Minneaplois Lakers also wore the number 34 for a small segment of that season on the hardwoods in Minnesota.
January 23, 1965 – Do you think one player can make a difference? Led by newly acquired Wilt Chamberlain, wearing Number 13, the Sixers forced Boston Celtics’ center Number 6, Bill Russell to miss all 14 of his shots as the 76ers cruised to a 104-100 victory.
January 23, 1968 – Joe Medwick, who wore Number 7 for the majority of his MLB career with the St Louis Cardinals was selected to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame on this date.
January 23, 1968 – 18th NBA All-Star Game, Madison Square Garden, NYC: East beats West, 144-124; MVP chiosen for the game was none other than Philadelphia 76ers, PG, Number 15, Hal Greer
January 23, 1972 – 22nd NFL Pro Bowl, LA Memorial Coliseum: AFC beats NFC, 26-13; MVPs chosen for their top notch play in the game were a pair of Kansas City Chiefs teammates, Place Kicker, Number 3, Jan Stenerud and Linebacker, Number 63, Willie Lanier
January 23, 1973 – 23rd NBA All-Star Game, Chicago Stadium: East beats West, 104-84; MVP selected for the contest was Boston Celtics, C, Number 18, Dave Cowens
January 23, 1975 – Former Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Number 4, Ralph Kiner was honored with selection to the Baseball Hall of Fame
January 23, 1978 – NFL Pro Bowl, Tampa Stadium: NFC beats AFC, 14-13; MVP selected for the game was Chicago Bears, RB, Number 34, Walter Payton
January 23, 1979 – Former New York and San Francisco Giants as well as New York Mets center fielder, Number 24, Willie Mays was elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
January 23, 1981 – New York Islanders star Number 22, Mike Bossy became the first in NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games
January 23, 1998 – NBA legend, Chicago Bulls, Number 23, Michael Jordan scored in double figures for 800th consecutive game in a 100-98 OT win over New Jersey; adds 40 more double-figure scoring games to his NBA record before retiring for the second time (1998)
January 23, 2015 – Golden State Warriors guard Number 11, Klay Thompson scored the most NBA points in a quarter (37) and most 3-pointers in a quarter (9) in Warrior’s 126-101 win over Sacramento Kings
January 23, 2018 – Cleveland Cavaliers Forward, Number 23, LeBron James became the 7th and youngest (33 years 24 days) to reach the 30,000 NBA point milestone during 114-102 loss to San Antonio Spurs
January 23, 2022 – Buffalo wide receiver Number 13, Gabriel Davis scored an NFL playoff record 4 TDs in the Bills’ epic 42-36 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in their divisional-round playoff at Arrowhead Stadium
FOOTBALL HISTORY
Football History Headlines
January 23, 1950 – NFL rule changes which according to the sportattic.com were unlimited free substitution was restored, opening the way for the era of two platoons and specialization in pro football such as offense, defensive and special team specialist.
January 23, 1953 – At the NFL owners meeting the successful sale of the franchise that would become the reincarnation of a Baltimore franchise took just over four weeks as Carroll Rosenbloom became the principal owner of the new Baltimore Colts and absorbed many of the defunct Dallas Texans team. (look back at the December 28 History headlines). Also decided at this meeting was that the NFL’s National & American conference would become Eastern & Western conferences.
January 23, 1978 – Tampa Stadium – At the NFL Pro Bowl the NFC squad edges out the AFC, 14-13. The game’s MVP was Chicago Bears running back Walter Peyton. According to the Tampa Sport History Blogspot the game was broadcast nationwide on ABC and called by the renowned “Monday Night Football” crew of Frank Gifford, “Dandy” Don Meredith and Howard Cosell.
January 23, 1983 – Miami’s Orange Bowl – The New York Jets in the early 1980s were a team built on speed. The worst thing that could have happened to a team of that nature is to have it rain for days on end on a southern Florida natural playing surface, and unfortunately for the Jets it did occur according to a News Day Article. The game has gone down in the annals of NFL history as the “Mud Bowl.” The wet, muddy field negated the Jets significant speed and skill advantage and the Miami Dolphins benefitted as they blanked the New York Jets 14-0 in the AFC Championship Game to advance to the Super Bowl.
January 23, 1994 – Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York – The 1993 season’s AFC Championship game saw the passing offenses almost nullified by the defenses, Bills Running back Thurman Thomas thrived with 186 yards on the ground and 3 touchdowns as the Buffalo Bills beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 30-13 to advance to Super Bowl XXVIII.
January 23, 1994 – Texas Stadium, Irving – Dallas Cowboys punched their tickets into Super Bowl XXVIII to face the Buffalo Bills as they knocked off the San Francisco 49ers, 38-21 in the NFC Championship game.
January 23, 2000 – Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville – Some new names were found in the AFC Championship in the new millennium as the Tennessee Titans beat Jacksonville Jaguars, 33-14 per the Pro-Football-Reference.com. Titans Quarterback Steve McNair had almost as many yards rushing, 91 with three TDs as he did passing, 14 of 23 for 112 yards. With the victory Tennessee earned the right to play in Super Bowl XXXIV.
January 23, 2000 – A defensive battle ensued in the 1999 season’s NFC Championship game played at the Trans World Dome, St. Louis per the Pro-Football-Reference. The St. Louis Rams outscored the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 11-6 to advance to Super Bowl XXXIV to face the Titans.
January 23, 2005 – Heinz Field, Pittsburgh – The New England Patriots ruined the party for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they handily defeated them 41-27 in the AFC Championship game. Patriot wide out Deion Branch scored twice as New England won the Lamar Hunt Trophy.
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200501230pit.htm
January 23, 2005 The Philadelphia Eagles knocked around the Atlanta Falcons, 27-10 in the NFC Championship played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philly. Chad Lewis caught two Donovan McNabb passes to help the Eagles advance to Super Bowl XXXIX per the Pro-Football-Reference.
January 23, 2011 – Heinz Field, Pittsburgh – The AFC Championship game had Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall ran 27 times for 121 yards and scored once to help the Pittsburgh Steelers overcome the New York Jets, 24-19 per an ESPN.com story.
January 23, 2011 – The NFC Championship played at Soldier Field in Chicago was a matchup of two long time NFC North rivals. In the game for the right to play in the Super Bowl, it was the Green Bay Packers knocking out the Chicago Bears, 21-14.
Hall Of Fame Birthdays
January 23, 1935 – Throckmorton County, Texas – Oklahoma’s fantastic fullback, linebacker and center Jerry Tubbs was born. He enjoyed an11-year pro career as linebacker for the Chicago Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, and Dallas Cowboys.
January 23, 1936 – Jordan, Montana – Jerry Kramer the star guard of the University of Idaho was born. Jerry was a fourth round pick of the Green Bay Packers in the 1958 NFL Draft according to the Profootballhof.com website. Kramer was looked upon as the foundation of the Lombardi era’s Packers O-lines as his athletic skill and smarts made him a formidable challenge for any defender to get past. He was a starter in 6 NFL Championships and also two Super Bowls and the Packer only lost one time in those eight games! Jerry was named to the All-NFL team 5 times in his 11 year Pro career and played in 3 Pro Bowls. This man had special skills that even empmoyed him as the Packers kicker in the 1962 and 63 season and even a little bit in his last year in the League. In fact his three field goals in the 1962 NFL Championship propelled Green Bay to victory over the Giants. In 2018 Jerry Kramer slipped on a brand new Gold Jacket and was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
January 23, 1952 – East St. Louis, Illinois – Washington University of St Louis linebacker Shelby Jordan arrived into this life. According to the footballfoundation.org Shelby was a 6-foot-7, 270-pound beast, as he led WUSL in tackles for three consecutive seasons en route to being named a Kodak First Team All-American during his senior campaign. The National Football Foundation voters selected Shelby Jordan to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013. After graduation Jordan went in the seventh round of the 1973 NFL Draft as he was picked by the Houston Oilers. Eventually Shelby became a six-year starter with the New England Patriots at offensive tackle and later won Super Bowl XVIII with the Los Angeles Raiders.
January 23, 1971 – Savannah, Georgia – The great offensive lineman from the LSU Tigers, Kevin Mawae was born. Kevin Mawae played in the NFL for 16 seasons according to his Hall of Fame Bio on the Profootballhof.com website. He played in 8 Pro Bowls over that span and was on the 2000’s all decade teams as a center. Kevin was originally drafted in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft by Seattle and played guard for the first two seasons in the League. He then changed to the position of Center where he thrived for the rest of his long career. He played 4 seasons with the Seahawks, 8 with the Jets and four final years as a member of the Tennessee Titans. The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Kevin Mawae in the class of 2019.
TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1958 The Red Sox trade outfielder Albie Pearson and first baseman Norm Zauchin to the Senators for shortstop Pete Runnels. En route to capturing the American League’s batting crown in 1960 and 1962, Boston’s newest infielder will compile a .320 batting during his five years with the team.
1962 The BBWAA elects Dodger infielder Jackie Robinson (77.5%) and Indians right-hander Bob Feller (93.8%) to the Baseball Hall of Fame, marking the first time in MLB history that the writers select two players in their first year on the ballot. The Veterans Committee previously chose center fielder Edd Roush, a lifetime .323 hitter during his 18 years as a major leaguer, and manager Bill McKechnie, who compiled a record of 1896-1723 (.524) in his 25-year tenure with five teams, to also be inducted into the Cooperstown shrine this summer.
1967 The Cardinals named their former standout Stan Musial, four years removed from the playing field, as the team’s general manager, replacing Bob Howsam, who resigned to take a similar post with Cincinnati. Although his tenure will last only ten months, ‘The Man,’ who turned down the position shortly after he retired in 1963, will become the first GM to win a world championship in his first season on the job.
1968 Outfielder Joe Medwick, who captured the National League triple crown in 1937, is selected by the BBWAA to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. ‘Ducky,’ best known for his years with the Cardinals as a member of the Gashouse Gang, ended his 17-year career with a .324 batting average.
1973 The Hall of Fame Special Veterans Committee selects nineteenth-century players Mickey Welch and Mike Kelly for enshrinement in Cooperstown. ‘Smiling Mickey,’ who posted a 307-210 (.594) during his 13 years in the National League, and ‘King Kelly,’ baseball’s first matinee idol, will be joined Billy Evans, nicknamed ‘The Boy Umpire,’ who, at age 22, became the youngest arbitrator in major league history.
1975 By the slimmest of margins, Ralph Kiner is elected into the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA, receiving 273 votes on the 362 ballots cast by the writers, just enough to reach the 75% needed to be selected. During his brief ten-year major league career, the former Pirates slugger led the National League in home runs for seven consecutive seasons, starting with his rookie campaign in 1946.
1979 In his first year of eligibility, Willie Mays is selected by the BBWAA as a member of the Hall of Fame, receiving 409 of the 432 (94.7%) ballots cast. The center fielder, a five-tool player known mostly for his 21-year tenure with the Giants, is the only player elected by the writers for induction this summer, but 23 scribes inexplicably leave the ‘Say-Hey Kid’ off their ballots.
1981 The Red Sox, due to a front office mistake, are forced to trade Fred Lynn, along with Steve Renko, to the Angels, for Jim Dorsey, Joe Rudi, and Frank Tanana. Boston had failed to mail their outfielder a new contract by the deadline, allowing the former Rookie of the Year to become a free agent.
2002 The Rangers avoid salary arbitration with 29-year-old Jeff Zimmerman, who saved 28 games for the team last season after replacing an injured Tim Crabtree when their closer agrees to a $10 million, three-year contract. Unfortunately, the right-hander will never throw another pitch in a major league game, suffering an injury in spring training that leads to three major surgeries on his elbow, including a pair of Tommy John surgeries.
2006 In a surprising move, the Reds fire Dan O’Brien with spring training scheduled to begin in a few weeks. Cincinnati’s new owner, Bob Castellini, makes it clear the team’s former GM’s performance is not the reason for dismissal but that he wanted to place his ‘own’ person in the position.
2008 The Indians, avoiding salary arbitration, sign Rafael Betancourt (5-1, 1.47) to a $5.4 million, two-year deal. The 32-year-old right-handed reliever was used primarily last season as an eighth-inning set-up man for Cleveland’s closer, Joe Borowski.
2008 Kevin Towers, the longest-tenured active major league general manager, gets a two-year contract extension from the Padres, which goes through the 2010 season. Although the club would not reveal financial details, the deal reportedly makes the 46-year-old one of the top five or six highest-paid G.M.s in the game.
2008 Troy Tulowitzki (.291, 24, 99 ) and the Rockies agree on a six-year, $31 million deal, including a club option for 2014. The National League champs’ second baseman was the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year award, narrowly outpointed (128-126) for the BBWAA honor by Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun.
2008 To add experience for an unseasoned rotation, the Marlins sign 33-year-old southpaw Mark Hendrickson (4-8, 5.21) to a one-year, $1.5 million deal, which includes an additional $500,000 in performance bonuses. The 6-foot-9 former NBA player pitched for the Blue Jays, Devil Rays, and the Dodgers.
2010 Major League Baseball announces the Dodgers, who in 1993 became the first big league club to play in Taiwan, will return to the island in March to play a pair of exhibition games against a Chinese Professional Baseball League team. During their first trip, L.A. played a squad of Chinese All-Stars.
2010 Arbitration-eligible Hunter Pence (.282, 25, 72) signs a $3.5 million, one-year deal with the Astros. The 26-year-old All-Star outfielder with the rifle arm earned only $464,000 last year, his third season with Houston.
TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
Jan. 23
1944 — The Detroit Red Wings defeat the New York Rangers 15-0 to set an NHL record for consecutive goals.
1959 — In the NBA All-Star game in Detroit, St. Louis’ Bob Pettit and Elgin Baylor of Minneapolis become the first co-winners of the MVP award, leading the West to a 124-108 victory.
1979 — Willie Mays is named on 409 of 432 ballots and elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
1980 — George Gervin of San Antonio scores 55 points in a 144-130 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
1987 — Hana Mandlikova upsets Martina Navratilova 7-5, 7-6 to win the Australian Open.
1988 — Steffi Graf wins the Australian Open with a 6-1, 7-6 victory over Chris Evert.
1993 — Mike Gartner of the New York Rangers sets an NHL record when he reaches 30 goals for the 14th consecutive season. Gartner, with three goals in the Rangers’ 8-3 victory over Los Angeles, surpasses Phil Esposito, Bobby Hull and Wayne Gretzky.
2001 — Sam Cassell scores 22 points and the Bucks hit a franchise record 14 3-pointers to beat the Knicks 105-91 and snap New York’s NBA-record 33-game streak of holding opponents to under 100 points.
2005 — Jennifer Rodriguez becomes the first American woman in nine years to win the World Sprint Speedskating Championship.
2008 — Baylor, which waited 39 years to get back into the Top 25, plays five overtimes in its first win as a ranked team. Curtis Jerrells scores a career-high 36 points, including 11 in the fifth overtime to lead No. 25 Baylor to a 116-110 win over No. 18 Texas A&M.
2010 — Lindsey Vonn makes it five wins in five downhills this season. Her 30th World Cup victory ties her with Croatia’s Janica Kostelic for eighth place on the career list and nearly halfway to Austrian leader Annemarie Moser-Proell’s 62 wins.
2011 — Francesca Schiavone wins the longest women’s match in Grand Slam history — a 6-4, 1-6, 16-14 victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova that takes 4 hours, 44 minutes at the Australian Open. Schiavone saves six match points, then converts on her third match point in the longest women’s match at a major in terms of time in the Open era.
2011 — Aaron Rodgers runs for a touchdown and makes a saving tackle, B.J. Raji returns an interception for a score and Sam Shields has two interceptions to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 21-14 win over the Chicago Bears in the NFC championship game. The Packers, with road wins in Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago, become the first NFC No. 6 seed to advance to the Super Bowl.
2011 — The Pittsburgh Steelers advance to their third Super Bowl in six years with a 24-19 victory over the New York Jets.
2012 — Skylar Diggins matches a season high with 27 points and No. 2 Notre Dame routs No. 7 Tennessee 72-44, holding the Lady Vols to their lowest scoring output in modern school history.
2015 — Klay Thompson sets an NBA record for the most points in a quarter, a 37-point third period that powers the Golden State Warriors to a 126-101 victory over the Sacramento Kings. Thompson makes all 13 shots and finishes with a career-high 52 points.
2022 – Buffalo wide receiver Gabriel Davis scores an NFL playoff record 4 TDs in the Bills’ epic 42-36 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in their divisional-round playoff at Arrowhead Stadium.
TV SPORTS THURSDAY
| NBA REGULAR SEASON | TIME ET | TV |
| San Antonio Spurs vs Indiana Pacers | 2:00pm | NBATV FanDuel Sports SW FanDuel Sports IND |
| Portland Trail Blazers vs Orlando Magic | 7:00pm | Rip City FanDuel Sports FL |
| Toronto Raptors vs Atlanta Hawks | 7:30pm | FanDuel Sports SE Sportsnet |
| Miami Heat vs Milwaukee Bucks | 7:30pm | TNT |
| Dallas Mavericks vs Oklahoma City Thunder | 8:00pm | FanDuel Sports OK KFAA |
| Sacramento Kings vs Denver Nuggets | 9:00pm | ALT NBCS-CA |
| Washington Wizards vs Utah Jazz | 9:00pm | MNMT KJZZ |
| Chicago Bulls vs Golden State Warriors | 10:00pm | NBCS-BAY CHSN |
| Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers | 10:00pm | TNT |
| NHL REGULAR SEASON | TIME ET | TV |
| Ottawa Senators vs Boston Bruins | 7:00pm | ESPN+ NESN Sportsnet |
| Montreal Canadiens vs Detroit Red Wings | 7:00pm | ESPN+ FanDuel Sports DET Sportsnet |
| Philadelphia Flyers vs New York Rangers | 7:00pm | ESPN+ NBCS-PHI MSG |
| Columbus Blue Jackets vs Carolina Hurricanes | 7:00pm | ESPN+ FanDuel Sports OH FanDuel Sports South |
| Vegas Golden Knights vs St. Louis Blues | 8:00pm | ESPN+ FanDuel Sports MW Scripps |
| Utah Hockey Club vs Minnesota Wild | 8:00pm | ESPN+ Hulu |
| Vancouver Canucks vs Edmonton Oilers | 9:00pm | ESPN+ Sportsnet |
| Buffalo Sabres vs Calgary Flames | 9:00pm | ESPN+ MSG-BUF Sportsnet |
| Washington Capitals vs Seattle Kraken | 10:00pm | ESPN+ MNMT KONG |
| Pittsburgh Penguins vs Anaheim Ducks | 10:00pm | ESPN+ ATTSN-PIT Victory+ |
| Nashville Predators vs San Jose Sharks | 10:30pm | ESPN+ FanDuel Sports South NBCS-CA |
| COLLEGE BASKETBALL | TIME ET | TV |
| Kennesaw State at NM State | 4:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Hampton at William & Mary | 5:00pm | CBSSN |
| Maine at UMass Lowell | 6:00pm | ESPN+ |
| UMBC at UAlbany | 6:30pm | ESPN+ |
| FGCU at Bellarmine | 6:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Marist at Niagara | 6:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Wichita State at Memphis | 7:00pm | ESPN2 |
| Samford at Chattanooga | 7:00pm | ESPNU |
| WKU at Louisiana Tech | 7:00pm | CBSSN |
| Campbell at Stony Brook | 7:00pm | SNY |
| Delaware at Hofstra | 7:00pm | MSGSN |
| UNCW at Charleston | 7:00pm | WCBD-DT2 |
| Mount St. Mary’s at Siena | 7:00pm | WNYA |
| Sacred Heart at Canisius | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Merrimack at Saint Peter’s | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Fairfield at Manhattan | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Iona at Rider | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| NJIT at Vermont | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Bryant at New Hampshire | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Lipscomb at North Alabama | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| North Florida at Queens | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Jacksonville at West Georgia | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Stetson at Eastern Kentucky | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Marshall at Georgia State | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Southern Miss at Troy | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Monmouth at Elon | 7:00pm | FloSports |
| Drexel at Northeastern | 7:00pm | FloSports |
| North Carolina A&T at Towson | 7:00pm | FloSports |
| Austin Peay at Central Arkansas | 7:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Middle Tennessee at Sam Houston | 7:30pm | ESPN+ |
| South Alabama at ULM | 7:30pm | ESPN+ |
| La Salle at Saint Louis | 8:00pm | FanDuel Sports Midwest |
| South Dakota at North Dakota | 8:00pm | MidCo Sports |
| South Dakota State at Kansas City | 8:00pm | KMCI |
| Seattle U at UTA | 8:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Tarleton at Abilene Christian | 8:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Denver at Oral Roberts | 8:00pm | Summit |
| St. Thomas at Omaha | 8:00pm | Summit |
| Grand Canyon at Southern Utah | 8:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Southeast Missouri at Lindenwood | 8:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Little Rock at Western Illinois | 8:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Tennessee Tech at Tennessee State | 8:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Southern Indiana at SIUE | 8:30pm | ESPN+ |
| App State at Arkansas State | 9:00pm | ESPN2 |
| Maryland at Illinois | 9:00pm | FS1 |
| Morehead State at Eastern Illinois | 9:00pm | ESPNU |
| San Francisco at Saint Mary’s | 9:00pm | CBSSN |
| Northern Colorado at Idaho | 9:00pm | SWX |
| Northern Arizona at Eastern Washington | 9:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Hawai’i at UC Davis | 9:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Jacksonville State at UTEP | 9:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Pepperdine at Oregon State | 9:30pm | ESPN+ |
| UC Santa Barbara at UC San Diego | 10:00pm | Spectrum |
| Long Beach State at CSUN | 10:00pm | ESPN+ |
| UC Irvine at UC Riverside | 10:00pm | ESPN+ |
| CSU Bakersfield at Cal State Fullerton | 10:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Weber State at Portland State | 10:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Idaho State at Sacramento State | 10:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Loyola Marymount at Pacific | 10:00pm | ESPN+ |
| San Diego at Portland | 10:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Utah Valley at California Baptist | 11:00pm | ESPNU |
| Washington State at Santa Clara | 11:00pm | CBSSN |
| WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL | TIME ET | TV |
| N.C. State at Syracuse | 6:00pm | ACCN |
| Maryland at Ohio State | 6:00pm | BTN |
| UCLA at Rutgers | 7:00pm | FS1 |
| Kentucky at Texas A&M | 7:00pm | SECN |
| LSU at South Carolina | 8:00pm | ESPN |
| Duke at SMU | 8:00pm | ACCN |
| Illinois at Northwestern | 8:00pm | BTN |
| Tennessee at Texas | 9:00pm | SECN |
| GOLF | TIME ET | TV |
| PGA Tour: Farmers Insurance Open | 3:00pm | GOLF |
| TENNIS | TIME ET | TV |
| Australian Open | 2:00pm | ESPN2 |
| SOCCER | TIME ET | TV |
| UEFA Europa League: Porto vs Olympiakos Piraeus | 12:45pm | CBSSN Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: Bodø / Glimt vs Maccabi Tel Aviv | 12:45pm | Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: Fenerbahçe vs Olympique Lyonnais | 12:45pm | Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: Malmö FF vs Twente | 12:45pm | Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: Qarabağ vs FCSB | 12:45pm | Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: Hoffenheim vs Tottenham Hotspur | 12:45pm | Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: Viktoria Plzeň vs Anderlecht | 12:45pm | Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: AZ vs Roma | 12:45pm | Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: PAOK vs Slavia Praha | 3:00pm | Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: Union Saint-Gilloise vs Sporting Braga | 3:00pm | Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: Rīgas FS vs Ajax | 3:00pm | Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: Manchester United vs Rangers | 3:00pm | Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: Ludogorets vs Midtjylland | 3:00pm | Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: Lazio vs Real Sociedad | 3:00pm | CBSSN Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: Elfsborg vs Nice | 3:00pm | Paramount+ VIX |
| UEFA Europa League: Eintracht Frankfurt vs Ferencváros | 3:00pm | Paramount+ VIX |