February 16, 2023 3:44 am
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Zakai Zeigler and Santiago Vescovi each scored 15 points and No. 10 Tennessee took down newly minted No. 1 Alabama 68-59. Playing its first game as the top-ranked team since the 2002-03 season, the Crimson Tide led just once in the early going and committed 19 turnovers. Unlike football, when Tennessee fans stormed their home field after beating No. 3 Alabama 52-49 in October, this sellout crowd stayed in the seats when it was over. “Rocky Top” loudly blared as the Volunteers ended a two-game skid. Tennessee is 20-6 and Alabama is 22-4. Alabama became the last Power 5 men’s team to lose a conference game this season. The Tide reached No. 1 in the latest poll by The Associated Press on Monday.
February 16, 2023 3:45 am
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Alex Bowman won his third career Daytona 500 pole and will be joined by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson on the front row for NASCAR’s season opener. The Hendrick dominance is no surprise. Bowman is on the Daytona 500 front row for the the sixth straight time and the organization has produced a pole winner in eight of the last nine years. Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana both qualified for the race. They were among six drivers competing for four open spots in the Daytona 500.
February 15, 2023 3:46 am
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Casey DeSmith made 38 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1. The Penguins’ top line of Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Rickard Rakell each had three points. Crosby reached 41 assists on the season. Timo Meier scored his 31st goal late in the third period for the Sharks. Aaron Dell made 24 saves in his third start for San Jose this season. He has yet to earn a win. Erik Karlsson and Alexander Barabanov both had their four-game point streaks snapped.
February 15, 2023 3:44 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Blake Hinson made six 3-pointers in scoring 21 points and Pittsburgh left Boston College behind in the second half to win 77-58 and take a half-game lead in the ACC. The Panthers won their sixth straight game, set a program record for most ACC wins in a season, and gave themselves at least a 24-hour perch alone atop the conference standings. No. 7 Virginia, a half-game back, plays at last-place Louisville on Wednesday. Mason Madsen made four 3-pointers and scored 14 points for the Eagles.
February 15, 2023 3:49 am
The consolation prize for the Philadelphia Eagles’ coordinators following their Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was head coaching jobs for Jonathan Gannon and Shane Steichen. Gannon replaced Kliff Kingsbury in Arizona and Steichen replaced Jeff Saturday in Indianapolis. This wraps up the annual head coach hiring cycle that featured just five openings this year. The hires come less than 48 hours after the Eagles’ 38-35 loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl 57. Left out again in this year’s round of head coaching hires was Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
February 14, 2023 3:53 am
Sunday’s Super Bowl was the third most-watched television show in history, with an estimated 113 million people watching the Kansas City Chiefs rally to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles. Fox said Monday that the preliminary numbers include the broadcasts on Fox and Fox Deportes as well as streaming on Fox and the NFL’s digital sites. The figures are via Nielsen’s Fast National data and Adobe Analytics. Final Nielsen data will be available on Tuesday. Rihanna’s halftime show averaged 118.7 million viewers, making it the second-most watched in Super Bowl history behind Katy Perry’s 2015 performance.
February 14, 2023 3:52 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Starting extra innings with a runner on second base during the regular season was made a permanent rules change by Major League Baseball after three seasons of use during the coronavirus pandemic. Use of position players as pitchers also was tightened by the joint competition committee. They will be limited to extra innings, when a player’s team is losing by eight or more runs or is winning by 10 or more runs in the ninth inning. Last year, a position player could pitch only in extra innings or if his team was losing or winning by six or more runs. Meanwhile,  Spring training opens Monday in Florida and Arizona. And there’ll be lots of new changes, like pitch clocks, limits on defensive shifts and larger bases. Players are reporting early ahead of the World Baseball Classic. Opening day is March 30. This season will see some star players in new places: Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander, Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts. There also are four new managers: Bruce Bochy, Matt Quatraro, Pedro Grifol and Skip Schumaker.
February 13, 2023 3:54 am
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – Patrick Mahomes was magical when the Kansas City Chiefs desperately needed him to pull off another Super Bowl comeback. Playing on an injured ankle, Mahomes threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and scrambled 26 yards on the go-ahead drive before Harrison Butker kicked a 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds left to give the Chiefs a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night. The Chiefs won their second NFL title in four years and two-time NFL MVP Mahomes earned his second Super Bowl MVP award. Mahomes and Jalen Hurts excelled in the first Super Bowl matchup featuring two Black starting QBs. But Mahomes turned it up in the second half after reaggravating a sprained right ankle.
February 12, 2023 2:00 am
The high school basketball section season wrapped up Friday night for most teams. Now, 25 teams (13 girls, 12 boys) from the Washington & Greene Counties will begin preparation for the WPIAL playoffs. The League will set the pairings over the next several days and release the brackets Monday afternoon. Ten of the girls teams, nine boys squads are from Washington County. Avella, Burgettstown, Chartiers-Houston, Ft. Cherry, McGuffey, Peters Township, Trinity and Wash High qualified both girls and boys teams. Carmichaels is the only Greene County school to qualify both.
Section championships were claimed by Burgettstown, Wash High and Waynesburg girls, along with Ft. Cherry, Peters Township and Wash High boys.
Here’s the complete breakdown for Washington & Greene County girls & boys teams following the regular season:
Boys
Clinched (12): 5A Peters Township, Trinity, 3A Wash High, McGuffey, 2A Ft. Cherry, Chartiers-Houston, Burgettstown, Bentworth, Carmichaels, 1A Avella, Jeff-Morgan, Mapletown.
Eliminated (7): 6A Canon-McMillan, 5A Ringgold, 3A Charleroi, Waynesburg, 2A Beth-Center, 1A California, West Greene.
Girls
Clinched (13): 6A Peters Township, 5A Trinity, 3A Waynesburg, Charleroi, McGuffey, 2A Burgettstown, Ft. Cherry, Wash High, Chartiers-Houston, California, Carmichaels., 1A Avella, West Greene.
Eliminated (6): 6A Canon-McMillan, 4A Ringgold. 2A Bentworth, Beth-Center, 1A Mapletown, Jeff-Morgan.
February 13, 2023 3:56 am
New Mexico State has called off the rest of its men’s basketball season after reviewing a police report that cited three players for false imprisonment, harassment and criminal sexual contact against a teammate. In a statement, chancellor Dan Arvizu said the action was needed after receiving additional details of reports related to hazing allegations against players. KTSM-TV in El Paso, Texas, obtained what it said was a redacted police report with none of the players named. The station said the report detailed the victim telling investigators that on Feb. 6, three members of the team held down the victim, removed his clothing exposing his buttocks and began to hit him in the buttocks, The victim also said the players touched his scrotum.
