National Sports

By TIM WILLERT – Associated Press STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — J’Wan Roberts had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 14 Houston past Oklahoma State 60-47 on Monday night in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams. L.J. Cryer added 18 points and Oklahoma transfer Milos Uzan contributed 12 points and six rebounds

By AP The Lions beat the 49ers 40-34 in a tuneup for Week 18 division showdown SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes and the Detroit Lions tuned up for their Week 18 division showdown against Minnesota by beating the San Francisco 49ers 40-34. Goff threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to

By AP LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Reserve Connor Essegian matched his career-high with six 3-pointers and scored 20 points and Nebraska dominated the first half in a 77-43 win over Southern on Monday night. Brice Williams, who averaged 24 points in the Cornhuskers’ last four games, added 11 points and surpassed 1,500 for his career.

By The Associated Press SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Jesper Boqvist scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the third, and the Florida Panthers beat the New York Rangers 5-3 on Monday night. Eetu Luostarinen, Aleksander Barkov and Mackie Samoskevich also scored for Florida, and Uvis Balinskis had two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves. Florida

By AP TUSCON, Ariz. (AP) — Caleb Love hit five 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 33 points, Henri Veesaar added 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Arizona beat TCU 90-81 on Monday night in the Big 12 opener for both teams. Love made 11 of 17 from the field, hit 6 of 6 from

By SHANE LANTZ – Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Kraken scored three goals in the third period to finish off a 5-2 win over the Utah Hockey Club on Monday. Jaden Schwartz broke a 2-2 tie with 12:38 remaining, Matty Beniers made it a 4-2 game a few minutes later with his sixth

By BRETT MARTEL – AP Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Norman Powell scored 35 points, James Harden hit go-ahead free throws with 17.9 seconds left and the Los Angeles Clippers held on to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 116-113 on Monday night. With the Pelicans — losers of 10 straight and 19 of 20

By STEPHEN HAWKINS – AP Baseball Writer ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Joc Pederson won a World Series in Texas with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020, then got another championship ring the following season after twice changing teams. The Rangers missed the playoffs last season after winning their own title in 2023, when shortstop Corey

By The Associated Press All Times EST Tuesday, Dec. 31 NBA Milwaukee at Indiana, 3 p.m. Toronto at Boston, 3 p.m. L.A. Clippers at San Antonio, 7 p.m. Minnesota at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. Cleveland at L.A. Lakers, 9 p.m. Memphis at Phoenix, 9 p.m. NHL Boston at Washington, 12:30 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Toronto,

By AP WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Gabriel Vilardi scored a pair of power-play goals a minute apart in the third period to help the Winnipeg Jets extend their winning streak to four games with a 3-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Monday night. Connor Hellebuyck made 22 saves for his fifth shutout of the

By AP FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Adou Thiero and Boogie Fland each scored 22 points and No. 23 Arkansas put away Oakland 92-62 in its final non-conference game Monday night. Thiero made 8 of 12 shots and had six rebounds and six assists for the Razorbacks, who shot 60.3% overall. Fland, who had 21 points

By AP NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tyler Nickel made five 3-pointers and scored 19, Devin McGlockton posted a double-double and Vanderbilt rolled to a 100-56 victory over New Orleans on Monday night, closing out nonconference play on a six-game win streak. Nickel made 7 of 14 shots for the Commodores (12-1), who improved to 8-0

By AP LAVAL, Quebec (AP) — Claire Dalton had a goal and an assist as the Montreal Victoire defeated the Boston Fleet 3-1 on Monday night. Anna Wilgren and Kristin O’Neill also scored, while Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 18 shots for Montreal. The Victoire took over first place in the six-team PWHL standings with their fourth

By AP SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Jesper Boqvist scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the third, and the Florida Panthers beat the New York Rangers 5-3 on Monday night. Eetu Luostarinen, Aleksander Barkov and Mackie Samoskevich also scored for Florida, and Uvis Balinskis had two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves. Florida took a

By STEVE REED – AP Sports Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Coby White narrowly missed his first career triple-double, finishing with 23 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and Torrey Craig scored 18 with five 3-pointers after halftime as the Chicago Bulls held on to beat the Charlotte Hornets 115-108 in overtime Monday night. Nikola

By AP OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Starr Jacobs scored 14 points and No. 25 Mississippi cruised to a 93-41 win over Alcorn State on Monday in the Rebels’ final tuneup before starting Southeastern Conference play. Sira Thienou and Tameiya Sadler both added 13 points for Ole Miss (10-3), which shot 67% with just three 3-pointers.

By AP COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Tamar Bates scored 16 points, Mark Mitchell added 14 and Missouri closes its nonconference schedule with an 82-65 win over Alabama State on Monday. Trent Pierce and Tony Perkins added 12 points apiece as 10 players played at least 10 minutes in the Tigers’ last warmup before Southeastern Conference

By DAVID BRANDT – AP Sports Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Four-time All-Star pitcher Corbin Burnes and the Arizona Diamondbacks have finalized their $210 million, six-year contract. The team made the announcement on Monday night, two days after news broke that the 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner had agreed to terms, pending a successful physical.

By AP NEW YORK (AP) — First baseman Paul Goldschmidt and the New York Yankees finalized their $12.5 million, one-year contract on Monday. Goldschmidt’s deal had been agreed to on Dec. 21 subject to a successful physical. He became the Yankees’ fourth significant addition since Juan Soto’s departure for the New York Mets, after left-hander

By RICH DUBROFF – Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Josh Hart had 23 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for his third triple-double of the season, Karl-Anthony Towns had 32 points and 13 rebounds, and the New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards 126-106 on Monday night for their eighth straight victory. It was the

By AP COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Collin Murray-Boyles scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half and South Carolina rallied to beat Presbyterian 69-59 on Monday night. Murray-Boyles made 6 of 10 shots from the floor and 10 of 14 free throws, adding nine rebounds for the Gamecocks (10-3), who upped their win

By AP IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Payton Sandfort had 15 points to lead six Iowa players in double figures and the Hawkeyes never trailed Monday night in their 112-70 win over New Hampshire, the final nonconference game of the season for both teams. Sandfort hit a jumper to open the scoring 57 seconds into

By DAVE SKRETTA – AP Basketball Writer MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Coleman Hawkins had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Dug McDaniel added 17 points and Kansas State led No. 16 Cincinnati nearly wire-to-wire in a 70-67 victory Monday night to open the 20-game Big 12 conference grind. David N’Guessan also had 13 points, and C.J.

By RONALD BLUM – AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Prized Japanese free agent Roki Sasaki may visit one or two teams before deciding which club he wants to sign with. Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, said Monday that 20 Major League Baseball clubs submitted information to the 23-year-old right-hander, who listened this month to

By JAY COHEN – AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — Connor Bedard practiced with the Chicago Blackhawks right in the middle of Wrigley Field. He skated with his parents and his sister. The moment was not lost on the 19-year-old center. “It’s one of the coolest experiences of my life so far,” Bedard said, “and

By JUSTIN FERGUSON – Associated Press AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Johni Broome had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Dylan Cardwell had 12 points and 11 rebounds and No. 2 Auburn overcame a slow start to beat Monmouth 87-58 on Monday night. After an eight-day break between games, Auburn (12-1) struggled early and trailed Monmouth (2-11)

By GREG BEACHAM – AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oregon and Ohio State are two of the most daunting teams left in the College Football Playoff in no small part because they’ve both got starting quarterbacks who had already seen — and beaten — just about everything they’re ever going to face at

By FRED GOODALL – AP Sports Writer TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Todd Bowles didn’t bother staying up late to find out whether the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got some much-needed help to make the NFL playoffs. The Bucs (9-7) have been in playoff mode for more than a month, winning five of the past six games

By AP MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Ja Morant has a sprained right shoulder and will be considered week to week, the Memphis Grizzlies said Monday. Morant was hurt Friday when he crashed into a hard, but legal, screen set by Daniel Theis during the third quarter of the Grizzlies’ 132-124 victory in New Orleans. He

By AP NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA’s five-game Christmas Day slate averaged about 5.25 million viewers per game across ABC, ESPN and its platforms, in final ratings released by the league and Nielsen on Monday. All of the Yuletide games — San Antonio at New York in Victor Wembanyama’s holiday debut, Minnesota at Dallas,