December 23, 2020 3:53 am
BOISE, Idaho (AP) – Carson Strong threw for 271 yards and five touchdowns, Devonte Lee and Toa Taua each rushed for over 100 yards, and Nevada beat Tulane 38-27 in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Tuesday. Nevada finished 2020 the same way it started the year – by playing in the same bowl game, which the Wolfpack lost 30-21 to Ohio on Jan. 3. This year’s Potato Bowl allowed Nevada to end with a win after losing its regular-season finale to San Jose State, which cost the Wolfpack a spot in the Mountain West title game. Tulane failed in its bid to win three consecutive bowl games for the first time in program history.
December 23, 2020 3:52 am
Christian Braun hit six 3-pointers and had 22 points, Jalen Wilson made four 3s and scored 17, and No. 3 Kansas shrugged off a mid-game malaise before cruising past seventh-ranked West Virginia 79-65 on Tuesday night. Marcus Garrett finished with 15 points, Ochai Agbaji had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and David McCormack added 10 points and 11 boards as the Jayhawks won their fifth straight against the Mountaineers.
December 23, 2020 3:51 am
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Florida forward Keyontae Johnson is being released from the hospital. It comes 10 days after he collapsed on the court at Florida State and needed emergency medical attention. The school released a statement from his family saying, “We continue to be amazed at the pace of his recovery and look forward to spending Christmas together as a family.” The family added that it will share “any information we think could help others” regarding the cause and extent of Johnson’s illness. Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 over the summer and it’s unclear if his collapse was related to that.
December 22, 2020 3:45 am
CINCINNATI (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers look nothing like the team that opened the NFL season with 11 straight wins. The Steelers wasted a chance to clinch the AFC North title by falling to the struggling Bengals, 27-17. Giovani Bernard scored two touchdowns while Cincinnati was building a 17-0 halftime lead. Quarterback Ryan Finley completed seven passes for 89 yards, but his 23-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter all but sealed it as the Bengals handed the Steelers their third straight loss. The Steelers got within 17-10 before Finley ran untouched around the left side with 11:21 left. Ben Roethlisberger completed 20 of his 38 passes for 170 yards, one touchdown and an interception
December 22, 2020 3:52 am
Kevin Greene, one of the more recognizable and popular players of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ renaissance in the 1990s, has died at age 58. The Pro Football Hall of Fame was among those announcing the death of the Hall of Fame outside linebacker who spent three of his 15 NFL seasons as part of a feared Steelers defense from 1993-95. “We lost an amazing player and person this morning with the passing of Kevin Greene,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said in a statement released by the team. “His sudden death is a shock to us all as he was a close friend and teammate to so many people in the Steelers family.” A cause of death was not immediately reported.
December 22, 2020 3:47 am
UNDATED (AP) – Led by their star quarterbacks, the Seahawks, Chiefs and Packers join the Ravens as having seven players selected to the Pro Bowl. Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes joins Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Houston’s Deshaun Watson as the AFC quarterbacks. For the NFC, it’s Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Arizona’s Kyler Murray. Mahomes and Rodgers are the starters, though there will be no actual game this season because of the COVID-19 pandemic
December 22, 2020 3:49 am
UNDATED (AP) – Camerun Peoples ran for a bowl-record 319 yards and tied a record with five rushing touchdowns as Appalachian State beat North Texas 56-28 in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. Peoples surpassed the 307 yards rushing of Georgia Tech’s PJ Daniels in the 2004 Humanitarian Bowl. The Mountaineers finished with 508 yards rushing and remain perfect in bowls since joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2014.
December 22, 2020 3:48 am
UNDATED (AP) – Gonzaga has strengthened its hold on the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll after beating Iowa. The Zags received 61 of 64 first-place votes from a media panel and No. 2 Baylor got the remaining three. No. 3 Kansas moved up 2 spots this week, with Iowa and Villanova rounding out the top 5. No. 10 Texas cracked the top 10 for the first time since reaching No. 6 in 2014-15. No. 12 Michigan State dropped 8 spots after losing to Northwestern.
December 21, 2020 4:05 am
Baker Mayfield led two 95-yard touchdown drives and the Browns moved closer to ending their 17-year playoff drought with a 20-6 victory over the Giants. Mayfield finished 27 of 32 for 297 yards and scoring passes to Jarvis Landry and Austin Hooper. Nick Chubb had a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that put it out of reach. The Giants played without quarterback Daniel Jones and stayed one game off the NFC East lead. Meanwhile, Lamar Jackson threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score to carry the Ravens to their third straight win, a 40-7 shellacking of the Jaguars. Rookie J.K. Dobbins ran for 64 yards and a score for the 9-5 Ravens, and 32-year-old receiver Dez Bryant celebrated his first touchdown since 2017 late in the first half. Baltimore built a 26-0 halftime lead and handed Jacksonville its 13th consecutive loss. Gardner Minshew completed 22 of 29 passes for 226 yards and two scores, but he was sacked five times and lost a fumble.
December 21, 2020 4:02 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Kansas City Chiefs earned their ninth straight win to maintain control of the top seed in the AFC playoffs. And the New York Jets have avoided the distinction of becoming the third team in NFL history to finish 0-16. Patrick Mahomes threw for 254 yards and three touchdowns in the Chiefs’ 32-29 victory at New Orleans. Mahomes’ scoring passes went for 5 yards each to Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman as Kansas City improved to an NFL-leading 13-1. The Chiefs also spoiled the return of Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who missed five straight games with broken ribs and a punctured lung. Brees passed for 234 yards and three TDs, but he completed less than half of his passes and was intercepted for just the fourth time this season. The 10-4 Saints missed a chance to clinch the NFC South for a second straight week and now are long-shots to capture the NFC’s top seed. On the other side of the NFL spectrum, Sam Darnold passed for 207 yards and the Jets finally earned the first victory of their miserable season by holding on for a 23-20 road win against the Rams.
