Thursday Morning Sports Update-12/30/2021

jaden-akins-gabe-brown

NCAAMBKB – Men’s College Basketball
Last Night
(10) Michigan State 81, High Point 68
Toledo 83, Western Michigan 56
Central Michigan 72, Kent State 69

(10) Michigan State 81, High Point 68 – Brown scores 24 as No. 10 Michigan State beats High Point
Gabe Brown scored a career high 24 points, as short-handed No. 10 Michigan State pulled away in the second half to beat scrappy High Point, 81-68 in a matchup of longtime coaching friends Tom Izzo and Tubby Smith. The Spartans (11-2, 2-0 Big Ten) were without four players, including starters Marcus Bingham Jr. and Max Christie, who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. Joey Hauser had a season-high 17 points and 11 rebounds for Michigan State, while Jaden House had 11 of his 18 points in the first half for High Point (6-7).

Toledo 83, WMU 56 – Shumate carries Toledo past W. Michigan 83-56
JT Shumate had 22 points plus 11 rebounds as Toledo rolled past Western Michigan 83-56. Ryan Rollins added 20 points for the Rockets. Lamar Norman Jr. led the Broncos with 10 points.

CMU 72, Kent State 69 – Henderson carries Central Michigan over Kent State 72-69
Harrison Henderson had 18 points as Central Michigan ended its eight-game losing streak, narrowly beating Kent State 72-69. Sincere Carry led the Golden Flashes on Wednesday with a season-high 22 points.

Tonight
Michigan at UCF, 7:00 p.m.                  News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM 6:30

NCAAMBKB – Dick Vitale taking extended break from ESPN college hoops
Dick Vitale is taking an extended break from the airwaves to rest his voice. The ESPN college basketball analyst says in a story posted to ESPN Front Row that a throat doctor advised the move because he has pre-cancerous Dysplasia of the vocal cord membranes. Vitale has undergone treatment this year for melanoma and in October announced he had been diagnosed with cancer for a second time. This time it was lymphoma, for which he said he would undergo six months of chemotherapy.

NBA – National Basketball Association
Tonight
New York Knicks 94, Detroit Pistons 85
Charlotte Hornets 116, Indiana Pacers 108
Chicago Bulls 131, Atlanta Hawks 117

Knicks 94, Pistons 85 – Burks, Knicks bench power past short-handed Pistons 94-85
Alec Burks scored a season-high 34 points to lead a huge night from New York’s bench and the Knicks beat the short-handed Detroit Pistons 94-85. Burks was a point shy of his career high and Immanuel Quickley added 18 points as the Knicks’ reserves combined for 65 points. RJ Barrett was the only starter in double figures at 15 points, and New York outscored Detroit 30-14 in the fourth quarter. Saddiq Bey had a career-high 32 points for the Pistons, while Hamidou Diallo had a season-high 31 points with 13 rebounds. The Pistons have lost four in a row and 18 of 19.

Hornets 116, Pacers 108 – Hornets take charge early, hold on late to beat Pacers
Terry Rozier scored a season-high 35 points, LaMelo Ball added 21 points and 12 rebounds, and the Charlotte Hornets beat the Indiana Pacers 116-108. Caris LeVert scored 27 points and Domantas Sabonis posted his 25th double-double this season with 15 points and 18 rebounds. Sabonis also had seven assists, but Indiana has lost five of seven games.

Bulls 131, Hawks 117 – Bulls beat Hawks for 2nd time in 3 nights, run streak to 5
Zach LaVine scored 25 points and the Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks for the second time in three nights, 131-117 on Wednesday. The Bulls extended their winning streak to a season-high five games. The Hawks, who are playing without 15 players due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols and injuries, lost for the fifth time in six games. Trey Young scored 26 points, and Clint Capela added 18 for the Hawks in the opener of a six-game trip. The Bulls shot 61.9% and had season-high 38 assists. They beat the Hawks 130-118 on Monday night in Atlanta.

NCAAFB – College Football – Bowls
Yesterday
Maryland 54, Virginia Tech 10                            New Era Pinstripe Bowl – Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY
(19) Clemson 20, Iowa State 13                          Cheez-It Bowl – Camping Word Stadium – Orlando, FL
(16) Oklahoma 47, (14) Oregon 32                      Valero Alamo Bowl – Alamodome – San Antonio, TX
SMU vs. Virginia, Cancelled                              Wasabi Fenway Bowl – Fenway Park – Boston, MA

Today
(12) Pitt vs. (10) Michigan State, 7:00 p.m.* Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl – Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Atlanta, GA
*Superhits 103.7 Cosy-FM 5:30

North Carolina vs. South Carolina, 11:30 a.m.      Duke’s Mayo Bowl – Bank of America Stadium – Charlotte, NC
Tennessee vs. Purdue, 3:00 p.m.                          TransPerfect Music City Bowl – Nissan Stadium – Nashville, TN
Wisconsin vs. Arizona State, 10:30 p.m.              SRS Distributing Las Vegas Bowl-Allegiant Stadium – Las Vegas, NV

NCAAFB – Michigan State, Pitt are without biggest stars in Peach Bowl
No. 11 Michigan State and No. 13 Pittsburgh each will be without its most prominent players when they meet in the Peach Bowl. Spartans running back Kenneth Walker and Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett finished among the top six in the Heisman Trophy voting before opting out of the bowl game. Coming off its first ACC championship, Pitt aims to become the second 12-win team in school history. The Panthers finished 12-0 in 1976 and won the national championship. Michigan State is looking to cap a dramatic turnaround under 2nd year coach Mel Tucker after going 2-5 last season.

NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Detroit Red Wings at New York Islanders, PPD
Chicago Blackhawks at Winnipeg Jets, PPD

NHL – NHL cutting isolation time to 5 days, change applies in US
The NHL is following other leagues and the CDC by cutting COVID-19 isolation times to five days under certain conditions and where it is allowed by local laws. The change only applies in the United States because of stricter pandemic regulations in Canada. Players, coaches and staff who test positive for the coronavirus can return after five days with a negative PCR test or two negative rapid test results taken more than two hours apart. The 10-day isolation requirement remains in Canada. The NBA and NFL previously reduced to five days after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance.

NHL – NHL players vent frustration over being barred from Olympics
A handful of NHL players are voicing frustration over the league’s decision barring them from participating in the Beijing Olympics. Boston’s Brad Marchand ripped the league and NHLPA on social media for adding taxi squads to keep the season going but not in February to give players the option to leave for the Olympics. St. Louis sniper Vladimir Tarasenko agreed with Marchand and said he would have gone if given the choice. Keeping the season going while allowing individual players to choose whether to go wasn’t something that was ever considered.

NFL – Fields returns to practice, status for Giants game up in air
Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields was feeling good enough to practice Wednesday after missing a game because of an ankle injury. Whether the rookie will be ready to start when the New York Giants visit Soldier Field on Sunday was unclear. The Bears will monitor how he feels before deciding whether they will go with Fields, backup Andy Dalton or Nick Foles. Fields did not play in the win at Seattle after hurting himself in a Monday night loss to Minnesota in Week 15. Dalton was sidelined because of a groin injury so the Bears went with Foles. He threw for 250 yards and a touchdown to Jimmy Graham with about a minute remaining that led to a winning 2-point conversion pass to Damiere Byrd.

NFL – NFL teams taking extra precautions beyond COVID-19 protocols
NFL coaches are taking precautions beyond the league’s COVID-19 protocols to help ensure players are available for games. Several teams are separating quarterbacks, holding virtual meetings and doing whatever it takes to avoid breakouts of the virus. Green Bay, Washington, Baltimore, Chicago and New Orleans have played without starting quarterbacks due to COVID-19. Other key players have also missed important games in recent weeks. The league and the NFL Players Association revised protocols on Tuesday, reducing isolation time for players who test positive for COVID-19 and are asymptomatic, including unvaccinated players, to five days from 10.

IIHF – Rest of world junior championship canceled over COVID-19
The remainder of the world junior hockey championship has been canceled over fears of a COVID-19 outbreak. The International Ice Hockey Federation made the announcement. Two games had already been forfeited because of positive coronavirus test results among U.S. and Czech players and another was imminent with Russia. The top tournament in the world for players under age 20 had completed nine games in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta, before being called off.

NCAAWBKB – Women’s College Basketball
Last Night
Buffalo 92, Central Michigan 75
Western Michigan at Ball State, PPD
Bowling Green at Eastern Michigan, PPD

Today
Nebraska at Michigan State, 3:00 p.m.
(17) Notre Dame at Virginia, PPD

NCAABKB – NCAA Tournament scheduled to go on as planned
The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are scheduled to go on as planned amid a rise in postponements and cancellations. NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt told NCAA.com the NCAA Tournament was slated to go on in the normal format and there’s been no discussion of playing in a bubble like last season. Gavitt said there was no reason to alter plans for the 2021-22 season since it started on time and and there are a variety of mitigation aspects to combat the virus, including vaccines and boosters. He added games that aren’t played will be declared no contest and the selection committee will be aware of those games. The 2022 men’s NCAA Tournament is scheduled to be held in New Orleans and the women’s in Minneapolis.

Virus postpones Westminster Kennel Club’s annual dog show
A surge of coronavirus cases in New York has forced the postponement of another signature event, the Westminster Kennel Club’s annual dog show. The show announced Wednesday it has postponed its 146th annual event to have been contested in late January. The announcement didn’t give a new date for the show but said it would be later in 2022. The dog show normally is held in February, with semifinal and final rounds at Madison Square Garden. It was moved to June last year and held outdoors at the Lyndhurst estate in suburban Tarrytown. Spectators weren’t allowed, and human participants had to be vaccinated or newly tested.

WNBA – Candace Parker voted AP Female Athlete of Year for 2nd time
Candace Parker staved off Father Time to help the Chicago Sky win the franchise’s first WNBA championship and capped off 2021 by being named The Associated Press’ Female Athlete of the Year for a second time. Parker also won the AP award her rookie year with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2008, when she was honored as the WNBA’s MVP and top rookie. She helped Tennessee win the national championship that year. The 35-year-old Parker is now a working mom in the twilight of her playing career who also is a basketball analyst for TNT.

MHSAA – High School Sports
Last Night
Boys Basketball
Battle Creek Harper Creek 71, Battle Creek Lakeview 47
Battle Creek Pennfield 64, Battle Creek Central 60

Girls Basketball
Battle Creek Lakeview 65, Battle Creek Harper Creek 31
Battle Creek Pennfield 39, Battle Creek Central 36

Tonight
Boys Basketball
Bridgman at River Valley, 6:30 p.m.
Otsego at Marshall, 7:00 p.m.
Kalamazoo Central vs. Romulus Summit Academy, 6:00 p.m.                   at Van Andel Arena, GR
Pewamo-Westphalia vs. Schoolcraft, 6:30 p.m.                          at Cornerstone University, GR

Girls Basketball
Marshall at Otsego, 7:15 p.m.