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Avalanche observations: Jets look like Central Division contenders with convincing win

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:02:56 GMT

A slow start on offense and a couple of defensive breakdowns spurred on a long night in Winnipeg for the Colorado Avalanche.Gabe Vilardi scored twice, and the Jets handled the Avalanche with relative ease for the second time in nine days in a 6-2 victory. This also looked more like a few of those early-season blowout losses than any of the Avs’ recent run of results.Most pundits saw the Central Division race as a two-team battle between the Avalanche and Dallas Stars in the preseason, but the Jets moved ahead of Colorado in the standings with this win and looked impressive even without leading goal-scorer Kyle Connor.Where’s Makar?: Cale Makar missed the game with a lower-body injury. He took part in the morning skate, according to reporters in Winnipeg. Makar has been dealing with a nagging injury for a while. Avs head coach Jared Bednar admitted that both he and Josh Manson have been nursing something. Makar has been heading for the bench during power plays earlier tha...

Keeler: If CU Buffs, CSU Rams rivals Travis Hunter, Henry Blackburn could hug it out, so can Deion Sanders, Jay Norvell. Here’s how.

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:02:56 GMT

The adults in the room could learn a heck of a lot from the kids, couldn’t they? If Travis Hunter and Henry Blackburn found common ground, surely there’s hope for Colorado’s most star-crossed football lovers, Deion Sanders and Jay Norvell.(Opens Amazon Prime app)OK, sooo … maybe not.I mean, did you catch the audio of the exchange that followed the 2023 Rocky Mountain Showdown a few months back?“Congratulations,” Norvell, CSU’s second-year football coach said to Sanders at Folsom Field, per the “Coach Prime” Amazon television series. “And I was never talking about your family.”Sanders: “Oh, you was talking about my momma.”Norvell: “No, I was not.”Sanders: “Yes you were, yes you were.”Now Norvell, to be fair, fired the first metaphorical shot, having poked that curiously quiet bear a few days earlier.“When I sat down with ESPN (to talk about the CU-CSU game), and I don’t care if they hear it in B...

Nick Martinelli scores 16 points, No. 25 Northwestern bounces back to beat DePaul 56-46

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:02:56 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — No. 25 Northwestern struggled to find the touch against DePaul coming off a stunning loss. The Wildcats settled into a rhythm in the second half and made enough shots down the stretch to secure a victory they sorely needed. Nick Martinelli scored 16 points and Northwestern bounced back to beat DePaul 56-46 on Saturday.Ryan Langborg added 14 points, Brooks Barnhizer and Boo Buie each had 11 and the Wildcats (8-2) came away with the win after getting surprised at home by Chicago State on Wednesday night.“Everybody gets kicked to the pavement,” coach Chris Collins said. “Everybody has a tough moment in whatever you do. It’s how you bounce back.”The loss to Chicago State was one of those moments for a team that knocked off then-No. 1 Purdue less than two weeks earlier. The victory over the Boilermakers helped push the Wildcats into the Top 25. The loss to Chicago State will likely make it a one-week stay.Northwestern got all it could handle from DePaul before taking contr...

Holmes, Elvis power Dayton to 82-68 victory over Cincinnati

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:02:56 GMT

CINCINNATI (AP) — DaRon Holmes II had 28 points, Kobe Elvis scored 27 and Dayton cruised to an 82-68 victory over Cincinnati on Saturday.Holmes made 10 of 17 shots with three 3-pointers for the Flyers (8-2), who have won five in a row. He added seven rebounds and blocked five shots to extend his school record to 171 in his career. Elvis made 6 of 11 shots with a 3-pointer and all 14 of his free throws. He added five rebounds and three assists. Koby Brea scored 12 off the bench on 4-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc.Holmes had 12 points and Elvis scored 10 to help the Flyers take a 35-29 lead into halftime. The Bearcats (8-2), who have lost two of their last three games after a 7-0 start, shot 37% from the floor and made only 3 of 15 from 3-point range before intermission.Nate Santos had a three-point play after making two free throws to give Dayton its first double-digit lead at 53-39 with 13:48 left to play in the second half. The Flyers maintained at least a three-possession lead...

Ohtani and Acuña win MLB’s Hank Aaron Awards as outstanding offensive performers

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:02:56 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. won the 2023 Hank Aaron Awards on Saturday, presented by Major League Baseball to the most outstanding offensive performer in each league.The MLB award is picked by fan balloting combined with votes from a panel of Hall of Famers and former winners, a group that this year included Johnny Bench, Craig Biggio, Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones, Pedro Martínez, Eddie Murray, Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, John Smoltz and Robin Yount.The pair also won Most Valuable Awards last month in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Ohtani was the first two-time unanimous MVP.Ohtani became a free agent after the season and left the Los Angeles Angels for a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He led the AL with 44 homers and hit .304 with 96 RBIs, eight triples and 20 stolen bases in a season at the plate that ended Sept. 3 because of an oblique injury. The right-hander was 10-5 with a 3.14...

UMass blows 18-point lead before Minutemen beat West Virginia 87-79

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:02:56 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Josh Cohen scored 19 points and Robert Davis Jr. hit six 3-pointers and finished with 18 points to help Massachusetts survive a furious rally by West Virginia and beat the Mountaineers 87-79 Saturday night at the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic Rahsool Diggins scored 15 points and Matt Cross added 13 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals for UMass (6-2). Quinn Slazinski, who picked up his third personal foul about 2 minutes into the second half, scored 10 consecutive West Virginia points in a 16-2 run sparked when Noah Farrakhan hit a 3-pointer with about 15 minutes to play and capped when Kerr Kriisa made another 3 with 10:29 left. The Mountaineers tied it on a 3-pointer by Seth Wilson about 90 seconds later and Akok Akok threw down a dunk to make it 62-all with 6:34 to go. Cohen answered with a layup 14 seconds later and UMass led the rest of the way.The Minutemen made 15 of 18 from the free-throw line in the final 3 minutes to seal it. Daniel ...

Creighton’s Kalkbrenner returns after missing most of 1st half against Alabama with ankle injury

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:02:56 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner returned to the eighth-ranked Bluejays’ game against Alabama at the start of the second half after injuring his right ankle.Kalkbrenner turned his ankle while running back on defense seven minutes into the game. He went to the locker room for the rest of the half but was back on the court after doing some jogging and stretching drills. The 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner is the Bluejays’ second-leading scorer, two-time Big East defensive player of the year and one of the country’s premier rim protectors.Fredrick King, Isaac Traudt and Jasen Green took over in the middle during Kalkbrenner’s absence.___Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here.___AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketballSource

Canada beats US 3-2 to cut Americans’ Rivalry Series lead to 3-1

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:02:56 GMT

SARNIA, Ontario (AP) — Marie-Philip Poulin scored the lone shootout goal, Ann-Renée Desbiens made 22 save sand Canada beat the United States 3-2 on Saturday night to cut the Americans’ Rivalry Series lead to 3-1.Canada overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period, with Danielle Serdachny scoring with 9:54 left and Ella Shelton tying it with 7:21 remaining. “The game was such a back-and-forth contest,” U.S. coach John Wroblewski said. “It was a physical contest and a classic U.S.-Canada game.”Megan Keller opened the scoring for the United States with a short-handed goal at 8:19 of the second period. Alex Carpenter made it 2-0 at 4:46 of the third.Nicole Hensley stopped 24 shots for the Americans.On Thursday night in Kitchener, U.S. captain Hilary Knight scored on a power play 28 seconds into overtime to give Americans a 3-2 victory.The U.S. opened the series last month with a 3-1 victory in Tempe, Arizona, and a 5-2 decision in Los Angeles. The series shifts to Saskatchewan ...

Joel Embiid scores 42 points as 76ers hand Hornets worst loss in franchise history, 135-82

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:02:56 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Joel Embiid had 42 points and 15 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers handed the injury-depleted Charlotte Hornets their worst loss in franchise history, 135-82 on Saturday night.Tyrese Maxey added 21 points for the 76ers (18-7), who shot out quickly when Embiid outscored the Hornets by himself in the first quarter, built a 29-point halftime lead and were never challenged.The Hornets’ previous largest loss was a 50-point defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 10, 2000.Charlotte played without three starters in LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward and Mark Williams, two key reserves in P.J. Washington and Cody Martin, and then lost top scorer Terry Rozier in the third quarter when he caught an elbow to the nose. Rozier, who averaged more than 28 points over the previous seven outings, was never ruled out, but did not return to the game.Brandon Miller led the Hornets (7-17) with 14 points despite shooting 4 of 16 from the floor.Embiid set the tone early with 18 poin...

Virginia Beach, Richmond, Fairfax receive millions for trails and road safety improvements

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:02:56 GMT

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the city of Virginia Beach a $14.9 million federal grant on Wednesday, marking the single largest grant to a Virginia’s locality from the Safe Streets and Roads for All program established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.The funding will support the Virginia Beach Trail, a 12-mile long east-west corridor for walkers and bikers that will stretch the length of the city from its western edge to the Oceanfront.Currently, pedestrians and cyclists traveling along the corridor must walk or ride in heavily trafficked roadways or on narrow sidewalks. The trail project will instead provide a paved, shared-use path for safer non-car transit.The trail is also the final segment of a regional trail system that will connect Richmond to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.“The city appreciates the support for public safety improvements in our community and acknowledges the significance of the Virginia Beach Trail project,” said city spokeswoman Tiffany R...