January 6, 2020 3:48 am
UNDATED (AP) – The road team went 2-0 in the NFC wild-card playoffs on Sunday. The Seattle Seahawks shut down the Philadelphia Eagles’ short-handed passing attack and the Minnesota Vikings extended their season by defeating the New Orleans Saints in overtime. Russell Wilson threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf and Marshawn Lynch had a rushing score as the Seahawks beat the Eagles, 17-9 in Philadelphia. Wilson threw for 325 yards and led the team with 45 yards rushing. Metcalf had seven catches for 160 yards. The Seahawks had a season-high seven sacks from six players, but the biggest hit was provided by Jadeveon Clowney. He knocked out quarterback Carson Wentz with a helmet-to-helmet hit in Philadelphia’s second series. Josh McCown replaced Wentz and was 18 of 24 for 174 yards, but he couldn’t get the Eagles into the end zone. The Seahawks now prepare to play the Packers in Green Bay. In New Orleans, the Vikings blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter before Kirk Cousins hit tight end Kyle Rudolph for a four-yard touchdown on the first possession of overtime to give Minnesota a 26-20 victory against the Saints. Dalvin Cook gained 130 yards from scrimmage and scored a pair of touchdowns that put the Vikings ahead, 20-10. Cousins finished with 242 yards, highlighted by his 43-yard completion to Adam Thielen that put the ball on the Saints 2-yard line. Cousins furnished his lone scoring pass of the game three plays later to send the Minnesota to the NFC divisional round against the 49ers in San Francisco. Drew Brees was 26 of 33 for 208 yards, including a 20-yard scoring strike to Taysom Hill that got the Saints within 20-17 with 10:31 left in the fourth quarter. Will Lutz forced OT by nailing a 49-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in regulation.
January 6, 2020 3:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Mike Hoffman had a goal and an assist, rookie Chris Driedger stopped 31 shots and the Florida Panthers ended an eight-game losing streak on Pittsburgh ice with a 4-1 victory over the Penguins. Brett Connolly scored his 16th of the season for the Panthers, Frank Vatrano had his ninth and Evgenii Dadonov added an empty-netter for his 18th. Florida bounced back from a loss to Buffalo on Saturday by winning in Pittsburgh for the first time since Jan. 20, 2014. Jared McCann scored his 11th for Pittsburgh. Tristan Jarry finished with 31 saves.
January 5, 2020 8:17 am
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas coach Bill Self knew he would need his toughest bunch on the floor to muscle up against West Virginia. All three of them showed up. Udoka Azubuike had 17 points and 11 rebounds while outplaying Mountaineers big man Oscar Tshiebwe in the second half, Devon Dotson and Marcus Garrett made crucial plays down the stretch, and the third-ranked Jayhawks rallied from a slow start to beat No. 16 West Virginia 60-53 in the Big 12 opener for both teams Saturday. Dotson added 16 points and Garrett finished with 12 points and six assists for the Jayhawks (11-2), who won their 28th straight conference opener by overcoming a sluggish first half. Kansas trailed by as many as 10 before leaning on defense and dunks to beat the Mountaineers (11-2) for the seventh time in their last eight meetings.
January 3, 2020 3:51 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Brent Burns’ power-play goal 2:02 into overtime gave the San Jose Sharks a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Burns picked up his seventh goal of the season when his slap shot from high in the slot beat Tristan Jarry to give the Sharks only their third win in 14 games. Joe Thornton got the primary assist to move past Adam Oates for seventh place on the career list. Tomas Hertl scored his 15th goal for the Sharks and Logan Couture added his 13th as San Jose improved to 3-5-1 under interim coach Bob Boughner.
January 2, 2020 3:47 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Don Larsen, the journeyman pitcher who reached the heights of baseball glory in 1956 for the New York Yankees when he threw a perfect game and the only no-hitter in World Series history, died Wednesday night. He was 90. Larsen’s agent, Andrew Levy, said the former pitcher died of esophageal cancer in Hayden, Idaho. Levy said Larsen’s son, Scott, confirmed the death. Larsen was the unlikeliest of characters to attain what so many Hall of Famers couldn’t pull off in the Fall Classic. He was 81-91 lifetime, never won more than 11 games in a season and finished an unsightly 3-21 with Baltimore in 1954, the year before he was dealt to the Yankees as part of an 18-player trade.
December 31, 2019 3:46 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Evgeni Malkin had two goals, Jake Guentzel was injured right after scoring his 20th of the season and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators 5-2. Malkin stretched his points streak to six games and has seven goals and 24 points in his past 13 contests. Guentzel had a three-point night but left after scoring 6:55 into the third period. Guentzel tapped one into a partially empty net off Malkin’s feed but crashed hard into the wall right after. He immediately went to the dressing room after getting his 200th career point.
December 31, 2019 3:40 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers survived the loss of franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in Week 2 to finish 8-8, in 2019. Where the Steelers go from here will depend largely on how Roethlisberger recovers from right elbow surgery. Pittsburgh’s offense languished without Roethlisberger. Replacements Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges failed to give the Steelers a consistent boost, forcing the defense to carry much of the load. Pittsburgh’s shot at the playoffs ended with a late three-game swoon. While most of one of the NFL’s best defenses will return in 2020, the offense needs to find playmakers to complement Roethlisberger.
December 31, 2019 2:57 am
DALLAS (AP) – Cory Munson’s 52-yard field goal with no time remaining after a rules review gave Western Kentucky a 23-20 victory over Western Michigan in the First Responder Bowl in Dallas. Munson was given the final play after a five-yard defensive substitution penalty against Western Michigan for having 12 players on the field. Munson had kicked two other field goals and missed one.
December 29, 2019 6:46 pm
GLENDALE (AP) – LSU got the drama out of the way early while Clemson needed almost all 60 minutes in a white-knuckle contest. The result was the same. The two teams of Tigers won Saturday in the College Football Playoff semifinals and will meet in New Orleans for the title on Jan. 13. LSU is moving on after a brilliant 63-28 win over Oklahoma. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow threw for 493 yards and seven touchdowns. Clemson beat Ohio State 29-23 after a late rally and then an interception with 37 seconds left. Clemson will be playing for its third title in four seasons.
December 26, 2019 3:48 am
DETROIT (AP) – Pittsburgh and Eastern Michigan will meet in the Quick Lane Bowl hoping to end postseason droughts. The Panthers are 0-4 in bowls under coach Pat Narduzzi. The Eagles have lost all three of their bowls as a Division I football program. One bowl skid will end Thursday night in Detroit. Pitt had higher hopes for the postseason after surging to a 5-2 record with four straight victories. Losing three of four games pushed it to the lower-tier bowl in the Motor City. Eastern Michigan is not so picky, earning a bowl bid in consecutive years for the first time in school history.
