Weekday Morning Sports – 1/11/16

sportsreport

Sports Radio 1400 WSJM     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Monday, January 11, 2016

NFL – National Football League – Wild Card Weekend
Saturday
Kansas City Chiefs 30, Houston Texans 0
Pittsburgh Steelers 18, Cincinnati Bengals 16

Yesterday
Seattle Seahawks 10, Minnesota Vikings 9
Green Bay Packers 35, Washington Redskins 18

Seahawks 10, Vikings 9 – Seattle wins thanks to missed FG
The Seattle Seahawks pulled out a 10-9 playoff win at Minnesota on Blair Walsh’s missed a 27-yard field goal with 26 seconds left. Walsh had converted kicks of 22, 43 and 47 yards to help the Vikings take a 9-0 lead into the fourth quarter before his potential game-winning kick sailed very wide of the left goalpost. The Seahawks trailed 9-0 in the fourth quarter until Russell Wilson threw a touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin and Steven Hauschka drilled a 46-yard field goal.

Packers 35, Redskins 18 – Packers advance to face Cardinals
Aaron Rodgers threw for a pair of first-half touchdowns and the Green Bay Packers also ran for two scores in a 35-18 win at Washington. James Starks put the Packers back on top to stay with a four-yard run in the third quarter. Washington had leads of 11-0 and 18-17 before losing.

NFL – Lions hire Ernie Accorsi as advisor to team president
The Detroit Lions have hired Ernie Accorsi to be a special advisor to team president Rod Wood. Accorsi assisted the Lions in their search for general manager Bob Quinn, who agreed to a deal with the franchise Friday night. Accorsi is a former GM of the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts. Accorsi says he spoke to people who worked with Quinn, including New England coach Bill Belichick. Quinn worked within the Patriots’ personnel department for 16 years, including the past four seasons as their director of pro scouting. Accorsi told reporters on a conference call Sunday that Quinn will bring the Patriots’ “unique way of doing things,” to Detroit. Quinn will be introduced as Lions GM on Monday.

NCAA Basketball – Men’s
Last Night
(5) Michigan State 93, Penn State 65

#5 Michigan State 93, Penn State 65 – Forbes scores 20 to lead No. 5 Spartans over Penn St 92-65
Bryn Forbes scored 20 points, and No. 5 Michigan State welcomed back Denzel Valentine with a 92-65 rout of Penn State on Sunday. Forbes made six of the Spartans’ 10 3-pointers and scored all his points in the first half in a game in which they never trailed. Eron Harris and Gavin Schilling each scored 13 points, and Valentine returned from his knee injury to add 10. Michigan State (16-1, 3-1 Big Ten) led by as many as 31 points midway through the second half. Shep Garner scored 19 points for Penn State (10-7, 1-3). Julian Moore added 13 and Devin Foster had 12.

NCAA Football – ‘Bama on verge of unprecedented run, with Clemson in the way
Regardless of the outcome of Monday night’s College Football Playoff championship game between No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Alabama, a case can be made that no team in the history of the sport has had a better run than the Crimson Tide under coach Nick Saban. If Alabama beats the Tigers to win a fourth national title in seven seasons, the argument may be settled. There was talk early in the season after Alabama lost to Mississippi that the Tide dynasty was in decline. Now Alabama (13-1) is one victory away from an unprecedented achievement. The Tide can become just the third school in college football’s poll era, dating back to the creation of The Associated Press media poll in 1936, to win four championships in a 10-year span.

Tonight
2016 College Football Playoff – National Championship Game – University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ
(1) Clemson vs. (2) Alabama, 8:30 p.m.

NCAA Basketball – Women’s
Last Night
(23) Michigan State 74, (16) Northwestern 51
Michigan 93, Minnesota 86
(3) Notre Dame 88, North Carolina 54

#23 Michigan State 74, #16 Northwestern 51 – No. 23 Michigan State women beat No. 16 Northwestern 74-51
Aerial Powers recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 21 points and 12 rebounds to help No. 23 Michigan State cruise past 16th ranked Northwestern 74-51 on Sunday. Powers has 40 career double-doubles, which puts her alone in second place in program history.

Michigan 93, Minnesota 86 – Wolverines beat Gophers
Michigan had four players score in double figures and led wire to wire in a 93-86 win at Minnesota on Sunday afternoon at Williams Arena. Sophomore Katelynn Flaherty scored 33 points on 9-for-14 shooting from the floor and a 12-for-13 showing from the free throw line. Junior Siera Thompson added a season-high 18 points to go with eight assists, while freshman Hallie Thome had 16, and senior Kelsey Mitchell scored 13 points and had nine rebounds.

#3 Notre Dame 88, North Carolina 54 – Ogunbowale scores 16, No. 3 Notre Dame beats UNC 88-54
Arike Ogunbowale, Marina Mabrey and Brianna Turner each scored in double figures Sunday as No. 3 Notre Dame defeated North Carolina 88-54. Ogunbowale had a team-high 16 points for the Irish, who won their eighth straight. Destinee Walker led the Tar Heels with 12 points.

NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Detroit Red Wings 2, Anaheim Ducks 1
Chicago Blackhawks 6, Colorado Avalanche 3

Red Wings 2, Ducks 1 – Sheahan scores in 3rd to lift Red Wings over Ducks 2-1
Riley Sheahan scored with 3:44 remaining in the third period to give the Detroit Red Wings a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night for their fifth straight win. Tomas Tatar also scored and Petr Mrazek made 30 saves to help Detroit end a four-game losing streak to Anaheim. After Sheahan forced a turnover inside the Ducks’ zone by tying up Ryan Getzlaf at the blue line, Dylan Larkin collected the loose puck and got it back to Sheahan. He unleashed a blistering wrist shot past John Gibson. Corey Perry scored for the Ducks, and Gibson stopped 22 shots. Anaheim did not earn a point for only the second time in its last nine games.

Blackhawks 6, Avalanche 3 – Blackhawks pound Avalanche 6-3 for 7th straight win
Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa each scored two goals and the Chicago Blackhawks rolled to a 6-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night that extended their season-high win streak to seven. Jonathan Toews had a goal and two assists to help Chicago chased Semyon Varlamov and improved to 18-5-1 at home. Brandon Mashinter scored his second career goal and Corey Crawford had 34 saves. The Blackhawks (58 points) moved within four points of idle Dallas for the top spot in the Western Conference. Matt Duchene had two goals and an assist for Colorado, which had won three in a row and four of six. Nathan MacKinnon also scored and Calvin Pickard finished with 13 stops in relief of Varlamov, who had 16 saves.

Tonight
Detroit Red Wings at Los Angeles Kings, 10:30 p.m.

NHL – Ovechkin reaches milestone
Alex Ovechkin notched his 500th and 501st goal to highlight the Washington Capitals’ 7-1 pounding of Ottawa. Ovechkin became the 43rd player and the fifth-fastest in league history to reach the 500-goal milestone when he scored from just beyond the left hash marks during a second-period power play. He added No. 501 midway through the third to cap the scoring in the Capitals’ fourth consecutive win

NBA – National Basketball Association
Tonight
Washington Wizards at Chicago Bulls, 8:00 p.m.

NBA – Nets fire coach
The Brooklyn Nets have fired coach Lionel Hollins and reassigned general manager Billy King in the midst of the team’s worst season since moving from New Jersey. The Nets say that assistant Tony Brown will serve as the interim head coach, and the GM position will remain open until a replacement is hired.

Golf – Spieth dominates in Hawaii
Jordan Spieth has joined Ernie Els as the only players in PGA Tour history to finish a 72-hole event at 30 under or lower. Spieth cruised to an eight-shot victory over Patrick Reed at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, finishing at 30 under. He joined Tiger Woods as the only players to record at least seven wins before his 23rd birthday since complete records began in 1970.

ECHL – East Coast Hockey League
Yesterday
Brampton Beast 7, Kalamazoo Wings 3

NBADL – NBA D-League
Yesterday
Grand Rapids Drive 106, Los Angeles D-Fenders 103

ISHSHA – High School Hockey
Yesterday
Lakeshore/St. Joseph 5, Summit City (Fort Wayne, IN) 2

MHSAA – High School Sports
Yesterday
Girls Basketball
Centreville at Bridgman, 7:30 p.m.
Battle Creek Calhoun Christian at Howardsville Christian, 4:30 p.m.