Notre Dame Hockey: Irish Tie/Beat Buckeyes

Ugh, let’s get this over with. I don’t mean mentioning that No. 18 Notre Dame gained two points in the Big Ten standings Friday against No. 9 Ohio State. I mean describing exactly how they got them. Try to follow me if you can. After the teams …

Ugh, let’s get this over with. I don’t mean mentioning that No. 18 Notre Dame gained two points in the Big Ten standings Friday against No. 9 Ohio State. I mean describing exactly how they got them. Try to follow me if you can.

After the teams played to a 4-4 tie in regulation and neither side could score in a five-on-five or three-on-three overtime, they went to a shootout that lasted six rounds and ended when Graham Slaggert scored and Cale Morris stopped Gustaf Westlund’s attempt to tie it.

So let’s review: Notre Dame (10-9-4, 5-5-3-2) and Ohio State (14-6-3, 7-4-2-0) will go into the records as playing to a tie. However, the Irish won the shootout, which only counts towards Big Ten points and not as a win. So they won and they didn’t.

There are a lot of dumb rules in sports, but this has to be near the top. Either declare a winner or don’t. How anyone can be glad to take part in this or put this rule in place is beyond reasoning. Please change this for the good of everyone’s sanity.

Titans-Chiefs: 5 Chiefs players to watch

Here’s a look at five Chiefs players to keep an eye on this week.

Sunday’s game between the Tennessee Titans and the Kansas City Chiefs will be the determining factor in which team represents the AFC in Super Bowl LIV.

Both teams will need breakout performances from some of their key players to come out with the win, and both Tennessee and Kansas City present their own unique challenges to their opponent.

Here’s a look at five Chiefs players to keep an eye on this week.

1. RB Damien Williams.

The Chiefs are much more of a passing team than they are a rushing team, but Williams has been an asset, finding the end zone on receptions and carries.

He’s been a historically dominant player in the postseason, having recorded four rushing touchdowns and three receiving scores in postseason contests, including last year’s.

He was a key factor in last week’s win over the Texans, finishing out with two rushing scores and one receiving touchdown.

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Ben Simmons reacts to Furkan Korkmaz’s big game on Twitter

Furkan Korkmaz had a huge game on Friday and teammate Ben Simmons took to Twitter to celebrate the performance and offer some praise.

The Philadelphia 76ers got a nice 100-89 win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night, and Furkan Korkmaz had a massive impact for the Sixers.

The 22-year-old came off the bench and absolutely went off. He was legitimately on fire, at one point making four straight 3-pointers, helping spark a 35-24 third quarter that propelled the Sixers to the win.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, Korkmaz had a career-high 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting from 3. He actually put eight 3-pointers through the net but had two wiped out by whistles. One occurred when the Sixers had six players on the court, and the other was on a borderline illegal screen call on Al Horford.

Ben Simmons, who had a good game himself with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists, took to Twitter to celebrate Korkmaz’s big game.

Goat-maz indeed.

Korkmaz’s lights-out shooting will deservedly garner the headlines, but he contributed in other ways Friday night. He had an impressive drive and dunk and a nice floater, grabbed four rebounds, and got a block and drew a charge on defense.

It was an impressive performance from Korkmaz, and he’s getting some much-deserved love from his teammates. [lawrence-related id=23719,23712,23702,23688]

Furkan Korkmaz reacts to career night in win over Bulls: ‘It was fun’

Philadelphia 76ers guard Furkan Korkmaz reacts to a career night against the Chicago Bulls.

Life in the NBA has not always been easy for Philadelphia 76ers guard Furkan Korkmaz, but on Friday night, the basket must have looked like a giant waste bin for him.

Korkmaz drilled six shots from deep on nine attempts on his way to a career-high 24 points to lead the Sixers to a 100-89 win over the Chicago Bulls. He was huge in the second half as 18 of those points came after halftime and he helped the Sixers pull away late.

“I feel really good as a player,” he said postgame. “When you do some stuff out there, my teammates, my coaching staff. It was fun. It was really fun.”

The Sixers really went through him in the second half as he did a terrific job of finding spots on the floor and he even had a big-time dunk as he drove past Bulls big man Cristiano Felicio and jammed it on his head. It was a move that even surprised Korkmaz himself.

“In that time of the game, I was really feeling it,” he laughed. “I got that confidence and when I see the open lane, I just take off. I was not also expecting that, but I just dunked it. It was all good moments.”

On the following possession, he took a charge. Which one felt better for him?

“That’s a tough question,” he added with another laugh. “I think I would say the dunk.”

The Sixers will now head out on the road where they are hoping to have a big turnaround considering they have had a lot of struggles on the road. They will begin a three-game road trip on Saturday against the New York Knicks. [lawrence-related id=23702,23688,23662]

 

Halftime Analysis: No. 19 Michigan at Iowa

Halftime analysis of No. 19 Michigan basketball’s road trip to Iowa, as conference play rolls on in the Big Ten conference.

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After opening the season 7-0 and rising as high as No. 4 in the country, Michigan has gone 4-5 in its last nine games and settled into the No. 19 spot in back-to-back weeks.

Four of those losses came away from Ann Arbor, and the Wolverines have yet to win a game in an opponent’s arena (0-4). Michigan (11-5 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) tries to turn that around with it’s trip to Iowa (12-5, 3-3) tonight.

The Wolverines defeated the Hawkeyes, 103-91, earlier this season at the Crisler Center. Iowa has gone 6-2 overall since their defeat in Ann Arbor.

The Hawkeyes had revenge on the mind at home, building a double-digit lead in the early-goings of the half, but Michigan was able to hang around and get themselves back to within four points at the break. The Wolverines currently trail, 47-43.

POSITIVES:

  • Welcome back Eli Brooks. The junior carried Michigan in the first half, scoring 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting including a pair of three-pointers, breaking a 1-of-16 slump from deep. Brooks had been very quiet in recent games, and the Wolverines missed his scoring desperately. He led Michigan in scoring in the half.
  • David DeJulius was very good off the bench for the Wolverines, scoring 8 points on 4-of-8 shooting with 3 rebounds and 2 assists. His contributions were big given that starting point guard Zavier Simpson was out of the game for an extended stretch with foul trouble.
  • Michigan did an excellent job taking care of the ball in the first half, with just two turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

NEGATIVES:

  • Michigan struggled on defense in the first half, as the Hawkeyes managed to shoot nearly 52 percent from the field (15-of-29) and over 45 percent from the three-point line (5-11). Iowa knocked down a couple tough shots, but for the most part they got the looks they wanted in the first 20 minutes, and knocked them down more often than not. The Wolverines need to be stingier on the defensive end in the second half.
  • Foul trouble is a major concern for Michigan entering the second half. Backup center Austin Davis had three fouls in the first half, while starters Zavier Simpson and Franz Wagner both had two fouls. Iowa took advantage of the fouls as well, shooting a perfect 12-of-12 from the free throw line.

Diego Ferriera plans on showing off jiu-jitsu game vs. Anthony Pettis at UFC 246

Diego Ferreira is looking to show a different side of his game vs. Anthony Pettis at UFC 246.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Diego Ferreira[/autotag] is looking to show a different side of his game Saturday.

Ferreira will enter the biggest fight of his career when he takes on former UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag] at UFC 246.

Ferreira is currently riding a five-fight winning streak as he’s used his pressure and striking to stifle his opponents, most recently putting a halt to Mairbek Taisumov’s impressive six-fight unbeaten run.

But speaking to MMA Junkie at Thursday’s media day, the third-degree jiu-jitsu blackbelt Ferriera (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) said he plans on displaying his ground skills against Pettis.

“That’s what I do the most. I’m a fighter that puts a lot of pressure, moving forward, don’t care like how to get hit, just moving forward, but I still have jiu-jitsu, and I really want to work my jiu-jitsu a little bit too and get some submissions,” Ferreira said. “Because from the past few fights, I’ve just been looking to prove a little bit my strikes, and I already did it. Now it’s time to go out there and try to use my jiu-jitsu and get him in a good submission.”

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Pettis has won some of his biggest fights by way of submission and possesses a very dangerous bottom game. He captured the UFC 155-pound title with a first-round armbar and notched his first title defense with a guillotine, showing his versatility on the ground.

While Ferreira is well aware that he has to be cautious, he is confident in his abilities, too.

“You have to be careful the whole time,” Ferreira said. “You cannot slip, especially on a position like the way he does, triangles and armbars, but I like all type of submissions. I’ve been working at everything. I do a lot of jiu-jitsu competitions, too. I’ve been working on a lot of good techniques, and I can’t wait to show my fans and my friends what I can do on the ground, too.”

UFC 246 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

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Bill O’Brien doesn’t want to get into specifics of Texans QB Deshaun Watson contract talk

Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien doesn’t want to get into specifics yet about the contract extension talks that could happen with Deshaun Watson.

Now that quarterback Deshaun Watson has completed his third professional season with the Houston Texans, he is eligible to enter into contract extension talks with the club that drafted him in the first-round of the 2017 NFL draft.

However, coach Bill O’Brien, who is an influential part of the Texans’ five-man general managing council, doesn’t have any specific information on when the club would start negotiations with their franchise quarterback.

“Relative to those things, I really don’t want to talk about those things publicly,” O’Brien told reporters Monday. “I can tell you publicly, though, that we obviously want the Deshaun Watson here for a long, long time. We want him to be a Houston Texan for his career. He is a great person, he’s a great football player and he means a lot to this organization, to this city, to this league.”

Watson instantly brought promise and hope to quarterback his rookie season, even though he hadn’t taken a single snap for the organization. Until his untimely ACL tear in practice on Nov. 2, 2017, the Texans were 3-4 on the season and possibly could have won the division that year, as the eventual winner, the Jacksonville Jaguars, were 10-6. Or, the Texans could have qualified as a wild-card as both the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds were 9-7 each that year. Instead, the Texans faded to a 4-12 finish without Watson.

With Watson under center for two full seasons, the Texans are 21-11 with two AFC South titles and a playoff win. There is no question that the former Clemson Tiger gives Houston the best chance at postseason success.

“I just don’t want to get into the nuts and bolts of when you would do that and all those different things,” said O’Brien. “Those things take time, but we want him here for a long time.”

Watson will be entering the fourth and final year of his contract, unless the club exercises a fifth-year option. The Texans may want to get out ahead of the QB signings as Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is also on a similar timeline and could set the market for the Texans if they get a deal done sooner.

Austin Rivers out for Rockets vs. Lakers game with sprained thumb

Mired in a recent shooting slump, reserve guard Austin Rivers will miss Saturday’s Rockets game versus the Lakers with a sprained thumb.

Houston Rockets reserve guard Austin Rivers will miss Saturday’s home game versus the Los Angeles Lakers with a right thumb sprain.

It’s unclear when the injury was suffered by the 27-year-old, who was first listed as out on the team’s Friday night injury report. The Rockets have yet to say whether Rivers could miss more time beyond Saturday’s game.

The 6-foot-3 guard is averaging 7.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in 22.9 minutes per game with the Rockets (26-14) this season.

Rivers still provides capable perimeter defense for the Rockets, but he’s slumped offensively with just a 30.3% clip on 3-pointers in the 2019-20 season. In his last 17 games since Dec. 7, Rivers has shot just 38.2% overall and 25.5% on 3-pointers.

It’s not known how long the thumb on his shooting hand has been injured, but it could potentially explain some of the downturn.

With Rivers out, that likely means more minutes for guards Ben McLemore and Eric Gordon. Rookie Chris Clemons is next on the depth chart, but it seems doubtful that head coach Mike D’Antoni would go that far down his bench in a game against the West-leading Lakers (33-8).

Saturday’s game tips off at 7:30 p.m. Central from Toyota Center in Houston, and it will be broadcast nationally on ABC.

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Zack Martin passes on Pro Bowl, undergoes ankle surgery

The 6-time Pro Bowler will watch someone else take his spot as he recovers from minor ankle surgery, according to the Cowboys.

Guard Zack Martin earned his sixth Pro Bowl trip for the 2020 all-star game, one for each year he’s been in the league. This time around, though, he’ll have to watch from the couch as someone else takes his place.

Martin underwent “minor clean-up surgery” on his ankle this week, the team says. The 29-year-old Notre Dame product was bothered at times this season by ankle and back ailments; the back issue kept him out of the majority of training camp.

But 2014’s 16th overall draft selection started every game in 2019 en route to another All-Pro nod, and has missed just two games in his stellar career. The club expects Martin to be back at full strength for the team’s offseason program.

Larry Worford of the New Orleans Saints will take Martin’s place along the NFC’s offensive line in Orlando, alongside Cowboys Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick.

Furkan Korkmaz explodes, sparks Sixers to 100-89 win over Bulls

Furkan Korkmaz came off the bench and erupted for a career-high 24 points to help lead the Sixers to an 11-point win over the Bulls.

The Philadelphia 76ers got their second straight win with a 100-89 victory over the Chicago Bulls Friday night. It’s a win that will be remembered as “the Furkan Korkmaz game.”

Throughout the first half, there was concern that the Sixers may be on their way to a disappointing home loss. The team continued to struggle from beyond the arc, and the Bulls were getting to the rim at will. As a result, Chicago took a three-point lead after the first quarter and maintained a one-point lead into the break.

That changed in the third quarter as the Sixers broke out, led by Korkmaz, posting 35 points in the frame and turning the one-point deficit into a 10-point lead. They were able to maintain the advantage throughout the fourth and cruise to an 11-point win.

It was all sparked by a career night from Korkmaz. He came off the bench for a career-high 24 points and a career-high six 3-pointers. Korkmaz added four rebounds and a block, knocking down 8-of-11 from the floor and 6-of-9 from 3. It wasn’t all just 3’s for Korkmaz either. He had an impressive drive to the basket that he finished with an emphatic dunk and knocked down a pretty floater. He also took a charge on Zach LaVine. Just how good was Korkmaz? Consider that he had two 3-pointers taken away, one because the Sixers hilariously had six players on the court and one on a questionable illegal screen call on Al Horford. Also consider that the rest of the Sixers were 3-of-20 from 3.

Korkmaz’s impact can’t be overstated, but he wasn’t alone. Al Horford had a very good game with 20 points, six assists, and five rebounds. Ben Simmons had 20 points as well, adding 11 rebounds and seven assists. Mattise Thybulle chipped in seven points, four rebounds, three blocks, two assists, and two steals.

The Sixers shot 58.4 percent on 2-point attempts and assisted on 30 of their 40 made shots. They only committed 11 turnovers and only allowed 42 second-half points. Philadelphia was also +7 on the glass and piled up nine steals and seven blocks.

It maybe wasn’t the dominant performance you might expect against a team that entered the game with a 15-27 record, but there was a lot to like about the showing. The Sixers improved to 27-16 on the season and 20-2 at home with the victory.

They’ll look to keep things going, and try to find a remedy for their road woes, on Saturday when they travel to Madison Square Garden to take on the Knicks.