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T25 FOOTBALL-CHAMPIONSHIPS
LSU clobbers Georgia for SEC crown; Oklahoma beats Baylor in OT for B12 title
UNDATED (AP) — LSU wrapped up a berth in the CFP semifinals, and Joe Burrow likely clinched the Heisman Trophy.
Burrow threw for 349 yards and four touchdowns as the top-ranked Tigers rolled to a 37-10 rout of No. 4 Georgia. He was the Tigers' second-leading rusher with 41 yards on 11 carries, and even caught a pass on a ball that was batted down at the line and wound up his arms, taking off for a 16-yard gain.
Burrow's busiest receivers were Justin Jefferson and Terrace Marshall Jr., who combined for 204 yards and three scores. Jefferson had seven catches for 115 yards and a TD, while Marshall amassed 89 yards and two touchdowns with his five receptions.
Derek Stingley had two interceptions of Jake Fromm, who passed for 225 yards and one TD.
No. 2 Ohio State had to rally to win its third consecutive Big Ten crown and clinch a CFP berth.
The Buckeyes trailed 21-7 before Josh Fields threw all three of his touchdown passes in the second half of a 34-21 comeback against eighth-ranked Wisconsin. Fields was 19 of 31 with 299 yards and no interceptions.
J.K. Dobbins ran for 172 yards and a score for the 13-0 Buckeyes, who sealed their first playoff trip in three years and ran their winning streak to 19 games.
Jeremy Ruckert started the comeback with a spectacular one-handed catch in the back of the end zone on the fifth play of the third quarter.
Third-ranked Clemson quickly turned its fifth straight ACC championship game victory into a rout to solidify its spot in the CFP semifinals
Trevor Lawrence threw three of his four touchdown passes to Tee Higgins as the Tigers stormed to their 28th consecutive win, 62-17 against No. 22 Virginia. Lawrence set an ACC title-game record for touchdown throws while going 16 of 22 for 302 yards before coming out in the third quarter.
Higgins set conference championship-game records with his three touchdowns and 182 receiving yards. He was a big reason why Clemson established ACC title-game marks with 62 points and 621 yards.
Oklahoma staked its claim for a spot in the CFP semifinals by capturing the Big 12 championship game.
Rhamondre (rah-MAHN'-dray) Stevenson scored on a 5-yard run in overtime to lead the sixth-ranked Sooners to a 30-23 win over No. 8 Baylor. Oklahoma secured the victory by stopping the Bears with a sack and three incompletions.
Jalen Hurts threw for 278 yards and a touchdown, with CeeDee Lamb grabbing eight passes for 173 yards.
Baylor scored the last 10 points of regulation on two long passes by freshman Jacob Zeno (ZEE'-noh), including an 81-yard catch-and-run touchdown by Trestan Ebner in the fourth quarter. Zeno's 78-yarder to Chris Platt set up John Mayers’ game-tying field goal with 3:25 left in the final quarter.
In other conference title games involving ranked teams:
— Antonio Gibson caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Brady White with 1:14 left as 16th-ranked Memphis defeated No. 21 Cincinnati, 29-24 in the American Athletic Conference championship game. Gibson ran for 130 yards, including a 65-yard TD dash to help the 12-1 Tigers win their first AAC crown in their third straight title game appearance. Memphis won it despite a poor throwing day by White, who completed just 18 of his 40 passes for 253 yards.
— Jaylon Henderson threw for two touchdowns and ran for another score to lead No. 19 Boise State to a 31-10 victory over Hawaii in the Mountain West championship game. The Broncos trailed 3-0 before scoring two touchdowns in a 53-second span on a pair of 36-yard touchdown strikes by Henderson. Boise State made two defensive stands inside the 5, once in the second quarter and another early in the third.
— Darrynton Evans scored three TDs and 20th-ranked Appalachian State repeated as Sun Belt Conference champions with a 45-38 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette. Zac Thomas threw for 149 yards and two touchdowns for the Mountaineers, who racked up 416 yards on offense. Daetrich Harrington and Marcus Williams added touchdown runs to help Appalachian State become the first FBS team from North Carolina to post a 12-win season.
T25 MEN’S BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Terps eke one out
UNDATED (AP) — Third-ranked Maryland managed to stay unbeaten despite trailing by 14 at halftime and shooting 33% against Illinois.
Anthony Cowan Jr. made a free throw with 2.1 seconds left to give the Terrapins a 59-58 win over the Illini. Cowan had 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Terps, who didn't lead in the second half until his free throw left them 10-0.
Jalen Smith added 14 points and 13 rebounds for Maryland.
In other top-25 men's basketball finals:
— Ochai Agbaji scored 20 points and Devon Dotson added 18 points to lead second-ranked Kansas to a 72-58 victory over No. 20 Colorado. The Buffaloes forced 21 Kansas turnovers, but the Jayhawks shot 52.9% to improve to 7-1.
— Kaleb Wesson scored 28 points and had 10 rebounds in helping the sixth-ranked Buckeyes rout Penn State 106-74. Andre Wesson added 15 points for the Buckeyes, who shot 57.4% and scored 100 against a Big Ten rival for the first time since 1991.
— EJ Montgomery poured in a career-high 25 points on 12 of 16 shooting as eighth-ranked Kentucky rolled to its 600th victory at Rupp Arena, 83-52 against Fairleigh Dickinson. Forward Nick Richards had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the 7-1 Wildcats, whose 19-2 run helped them build a 43-23 halftime lead.
— Payton Pritchard furnished 20 points and a season-high 11 assists as part of No. 13 Oregon’s 89-64 thumping of Hawaii. Freshman C.J. Walker finished with a career-high 18 points for the Ducks, who opened the second half with a 20-1 run to secure their first win in three games.
— No. 15 Memphis trailed by 14 at halftime before holding UAB to 17 points in the second half of the Tigers' 65-57 victory. Precious Achiuwa (ah-CHOO'-wah) finished with 14 points and 11 boards for the 8-1 Tigers.
— MaCio Teague dropped in 19 points and Freddie Gillespie added 17 with 13 rebounds as 18th-rated Baylor got past No. 12 Arizona, 63-58. The Bears handed the Wildcats their first loss just a year after ending Arizona's 52-game home winning streak.
— Saddiq Bey (sah-DEEK' bay) provided 22 points and Collin Gillespie had 20 as No. 23 Villanova picked up a 78-66 win against Saint Joseph's.
— Sean McDermott and Aaron Thompson each scored 16 points to lead No. 24 Butler to a 76-62 win over Florida.
— No. 25 Utah State was a 77-70 winner against Fresno State behind Sam Merrill's 24 points and eight boards.
NBA-SCHEDULE
Mavs crush Pelicans
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks have won five in a row and 10 of 11 for the first time since winning its only NBA championship in 2010-11.
The latest victory was a no-doubter as Luka Doncic (DAHN'-chihch) scored 28 points in 26 minutes to lead Dallas to a 130-84 dismantling of the Pelicans. The blowout comes 2 1/2 weeks after the Mavericks posted a 48-point rout of Golden State.
Boban Marjanovic (BOH'-bahn mahr-YAH'-noh-vihch) had season highs of 15 points and 16 rebounds off the bench. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kristaps Porzingis (KRIHS'-tahps pohr-ZIHN'-gihs) scored 14 and 13 points before taking a seat with Doncic.
Checking out Saturday's other NBA action:
— James Harden delivered 18 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter and Ben McLemore added 27 to help the Rockets outlast the Suns, 115-109. Russell Westbrook had 24 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for his third straight triple-double and sixth this season.
— Ben Simmons hit his second career 3-pointer and scored a career-high 34 points in the 76ers' 141-94 laugher against the Cavaliers. Simmons made 12 of 14 field goals to help Philadelphia improve to 11-0 at home despite the absence of center Joel Embiid (joh-EHL' ehm-BEED'), who was out with a hip contusion.
— The Pacers pulled out a 104-103 win over the Knicks when Julius Randle missed a free throw with 0.1 seconds left. T.J. Warren contributed 25 points and Domantas Sabonis (doh-MAHN'-tahs sah-BOH'-nuhs) scored 19 with 15 rebounds as Indiana won for the eighth time in 10 games.
— Donovan Mitchell led Utah's balanced attack with 22 points and Rudy Gobert (goh-BEHR') added 19 with 11 boards in a 126-112 win against the Grizzlies. Bojan Bogdanovic and Jeff Green also had 19 points to help the Jazz stop a three-game slide.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Avs continue Beantown success
UNDATED (AP) — The Boston Bruins are the last NHL team to suffer a regulation home loss this season.
Ian Cole scored his first goal of the season in his 500th career game to help the Avalanche pick up their sixth straight win, 4-1 over the Bruins. Backup goalie Pavel Francouz (FRAN’-sohz) stopped all 16 shots he faced in relief of Philipp Grubauer, who left late in the first period with an apparent injury after giving up a goal on four shots.
Andre Burakovsky (bur-ah-KAHF’-skee), Valeri Nichushkin (nih-CHOOS’-kihn) and Gabriel Landeskog (LAN’-dehs-kahg) also scored for the Avs, who have won 11 of 14 overall and are 12-0-2 in their last 14 visits to Boston.
Chris Wagner tallied for the Bruins, who are 0-1-1 in their last two home games since an 11-0-4 start.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— Auston Matthews broke out of a slump with a pair of goals and Zach Hyman also scored twice as the Maple Leafs dumped the Blues, 5-2. Frederik Andersen made 26 saves in Toronto's first win in its last eight meetings with St. Louis.
— Steven Stamkos had two power-play goals and had an assist in the Lightning's 7-1 blowout over the Sharks. Tyler Johnson also scored twice and Alex Killorn (kih-LOHRN') added a goal and three assists for Tampa.
— The Stars won for the second time since a four-game skid as Alexander Radulov (RAD'-yoo-lahv) scored the game-winner and had an assist in a 3-1 victory over the Islanders. Ben Bishop stopped 34 shots and blanked New York until Mat Barzal scored with 4:33 left in the Isles' fifth loss in their last six road games.
— Sebastian Aho (AH’-hoh) recorded a career-high five points and tied his personal best with three goals as the Hurricanes halted the Wild’s five-game winning streak, 6-2. Teuvo Teravainen (TOO’-voh tehr-ah-VY’-nehn) added three assists for Carolina, which also got goals from Lucas Wallmark, Andrei Svechnikov and Joel Edmundson in its third win in four games.
— Scott Laughton had a goal and an assist as the Flyers won for the sixth time in seven games, 4-3 versus the Senators. Ivan Provorov (PROH'-voh-rahv), Travis Konecny (kah-NEHK'-nee) and Shayne Gostisbhere (GAHS'-tihs-behr) also scored for Philadelphia .
— The Predators earned a 6-4 win over the Devils as Nick Bonino, Dante Fabbro and Rocco Grimaldi each had a goal and an assist. Yakov Trenin scored his first NHL goal to help Nashville halt a two-game losing skid.
— Evgeni Malkin and Jake Guentzel (GEHNT’-sul) each had a goal and two assists to help the Penguins get their third straight win, 5-3 against the Red Wings. Matt Murray made 26 saves for his first win in nearly a month as Pittsburgh handed Detroit its 11th consecutive loss, the Wings’ longest losing streak since dropping a franchise-record 14 consecutive games during the 1981-82 season.
— The Panthers notched a 4-1 win over the Blue Jackets as Sergei Bobrovsky (boh-BRAHF'-skee) made 33 saves against his former team. Mike Hoffman had a goal and an assist, and Josh Brown provided the game-winner as Florida won for only the second time in six games.
— Vancouver blew a 5-3 lead over the last 7:55 of regulation before J.T. Miller scored a power-play goal 3:21 into overtime to give the Canucks a 6-5 win over the Sabres. Josh Leivo (LEE'-voh) and Antoine Roussel (roo-SEHL') each tallied twice in the Canucks' third win in four games.
— Milan Lucic (LOO'-cheech) and Dillon Dube (doo-BAY') each had a goal and an assist to back Cam Talbot's 30-save performance in the Flames' fourth consecutive win, 4-3 against the Kings. Lucic has scored in two straight games since being blanked over his first 27 with Calgary.
NFL-NEWS
Falcons put Bosher back on IR after re-injuring groin
UNDATED (AP) — Atlanta Falcons punter Matt Bosher is done for the season after re-injuring his right groin.
Bosher was activated from injured reserve on Monday and expected to play for the first time since Week 4 when the 3-9 Falcons host the 5-7 Carolina Panthers. But the team announced Saturday that Bosher was headed back to IR and Ryan Allen had been re-signed to handle the punting duties.
In other NFL news:
— The Panthers have signed linebacker Shaq Thompson to a four-year extension that runs through 2023. The five-year NFL veteran is averaging more than eight tackles a game and has had double-digit tackle totals in four games this season, including a career-high 14 in Carolina’s Week 3 win at Arizona.
— The NFL has confirmed the Lions have been fined $75,000 for violating the league's injury reporting policy. Head coach Matt Patricia also was fined $25,000 and general manager Bob Quinn received a $10,000 penalty. The fines were levied for failing to properly update the game status of quarterback Matthew Stafford prior to the Nov. 10 contest against the Bears.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Matt Jones wins second Australian Open title by 1 stroke
SYDNEY (AP) — Matt Jones made a testing four-foot par putt on the final hole to hold off Louis Oosthuizen (WUHST'-hy-zehn) and win his second Australian Open golf championship on Sunday by one stroke after a 2-under 69.
Jones, who is a member at the host Australian Golf Club and won his first national title there in 2015, had a 72-hole total of 15-under 269. Oosthuizen, playing for the first time in Sydney, finished second after a 66. Japanese amateur Takumi Kanaya (71) finished tied for third with Australian Aaron Pike (69).
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