2B Monday, November 26, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
SPORTS
COLLEGE FOOTBALL I Top 25
Ohio State jumps to
No. 6 with rivalry win
Associated Press
JAY LAPRETE I The Associated Press
Ohio State receiver Chris Olave (17) celebrates his touchdown
against Michigan during the first half of Saturday’s game in
Columbus, Ohio.
NBA
Magic hold off Lakers
MARK TERRILL I The Associated Press
Los Angeles Lakers center JaVale McGee, top, blocks the shot of Orlando Magic forward
Wesley Iwundu, bottom, during the first half of Sunday’s game in Orlando, Florida.
Orlando sweeps season series vs. Los Angeles
Associated Press
Ohio State moved up
to No. 6 in The Associ
ated Press college football
poll after trouncing rival
Michigan.
The Buckeyes jumped
four spots and the Wolver
ines fell four to No. 8 on Sun
day, but overall the rankings
were relatively stable after
the last weekend of the regu
lar season. Going into next
week, when each FBS con
ference will play a cham
pionship game, Alabama,
Clemson and Notre Dame
are the top three for the
sixth straight poll.
Georgia moved up a spot
to No. 4 and Oklahoma is
fifth. Unbeaten UCF also
moved up a spot to No. 7.
No. 9 Texas and Washington
round out the top 10.
Washington State and LSU
both dropped out of the top
10 and are tied for No. 12.
POLL POINTS
Alabama has been ranked
No. 1 for 14 straight weeks.
The Crimson Tide are the
first team to have three sea
sons of 14 straights weeks
at No. 1, starting from the
preseason. The Tide also
accomplished the feat in
2016, when it went 15 polls at
No. 1 before losing the Col
lege Football Playoff cham
pionship game to Clemson,
and in 2012, when it lost to
Auburn on the Kick Six dur
ing the final weekend of the
regular season.
Southern California is
the only other school to go
14 straight weeks in a sea-
GEORGIA
■ Continued from 1B
But they’ve known this
meeting was coming since
Nov. 3, the earliest the title
game matchup has been
set. Really, they’ve been on
a collision course since that
national title clash.
Saban called the Bull
dogs “probably one of the
most complete teams in the
nation in terms of offense,
defense, special teams.”
“This will be the most
challenging game that we
have all year,” he said. “I’m
really proud of our guys for
what they’ve been able to
accomplish this year. Why
guys come to this school is
they get to play in games like
this against great teams, and
this will be a great challenge
for us.”
son at No. 1, doing it in 2004
and 2005. The Trojans won
the national championship,
becoming just the second
wire-to-wire AP No. 1, and
lost the BCS championship
game to Texas to end the
2005 season.
IN
■ No. 22 Texas A&M
moved back into the rank
ing after beating LSU 74-72
in a game that tied the FBS
record with seven overtimes
and broke the record for
total points.
■ No. 25 Fresno State
also moved back into
Alabama has won every
game since the national
title game by 20-plus points,
a 12-game streak that is the
longest to open a season in
NCAA history. The previ
ous record of 10 consecutive
20-point wins at any point
during a season was set by
Boise State in 2002.
Alabama has reached the
12-win mark for the ninth
time in the last 11 seasons.
The Bulldogs haven’t
had that kind of sustained
success, but they’ve been
awfully good the past two
years.
They have won five
straight by 17-plus points
since dropping a similarly
lopsided game to No. 12
LSU.
The reward: An Alabama
rematch.
The January meeting
ended with Tagovailoa’s
winning, second-and-26
the rankings.
OUT
■ Utah State (10-2)
dropped out after losing to
Boise State in a game that
decided a spot in the Moun
tain West championship
game against Fresno State.
The Aggies had reached No.
14.
■ Pittsburgh is out after
losing to Miami. The Pan
thers had already clinched
a spot in the Atlantic Coast
Conference and will face
No. 2 Clemson unranked and
with a 7-5 record.
touchdown pass to DeVonta
Smith in overtime. Now,
Tagovailoa could perhaps
cement the Heisman if he’s
as good for four quarters as
he was for two on that last
visit. He wasn’t particularly
interested in talking about
either the Heisman or the
end of last season after Sat
urday’s win over Auburn.
“That was last year,”
Tagovailoa said. “For me,
I just want to enjoy this win
with my team, with that
24-hour (celebration) rule.
And coming back into the
office on Monday, we want
to focus on Georgia.”
Georgia quarterback Jake
Fromm, likewise, resisted
the temptation to talk about
‘Bama after the Georgia
Tech game.
“I’m not supposed to,.”
Fromm said.
There’s no getting around
it now, guys.
The Orlando Magic had
swept the season series
against the Los Angeles Lak
ers once in their first 29 sea
sons in the NBA.
In a span of eight days, the
Magic did it for the second
time. Nikola Vucevic had
31 points, 15 rebounds and
seven assists and Terrence
Ross made a go-ahead lay
up with 34 seconds left to
help the Magic beat the Lak
ers 108-104 on Sunday.
Ross scored 16 points for
the Magic, who won 130-117
at home on Nov. 17.
“We’re trying to build
something, and wins like
these can really help you
build some momentum,”
Vucevic said.
Ross got to the rim to
break the 104-104 deadlock
after LeBron James missed
a step-back 3-pointer. Kenta-
vious Caldwell-Pope missed
another 3 on the ensuing
Lakers possession, and
Aaron Gordon got a dunk on
the runout to cap off the win.
Orlando was able to over
come poor starts in both
games, but had to outlast a
late charge to hold off Los
Angeles this time after a 14-4
run tied the game with 2:24
to play.
Gordon had 17 points
and D.J. Augustin added 12
points and nine assists for
the Magic.
James had 24 points and
seven assists for the Lakers,
who had won three straight
games and six of their past
seven. Kyle Kuzma scored
21 points and Brandon
Ingram added 17.
After falling behind by
many as 12 points in the first
quarter, the Magic would
outscore the Lakers 67-42
during the second and third
quarter. Orlando made 51
percent of its shots in that
stretch, including 9 of 19
3-pointers.
“It just took time, but we
stuck with it and put our
selves in position to win,”
Ross said.
Lakers players blamed
their inability to protect
their lead on a lack of effort.
“Defensively, we kind of
broke down and the energy
level was a little lower than
our expectations, and they
took advantage of that,”
James said.
PISTONS 118, SUNS 107:
Andre Drummond had 19
points and 16 rebounds, and
the Detroit Pistons pulled
away in the fourth quarter
to beat the Phoenix Suns on
Sunday.
Devin Booker scored
37 points for Phoenix, and
Detroit had a hard time
shaking free of the Suns
until a 15-3 run in the fourth.
Blake Griffin had 16 points
and 11 assists for the Pistons,
and Reggie Jackson had 19
points and eight assists.
Deandre Ayton had 25
points for 12 rebounds for
the Suns.
Phoenix forward T.J.
Warren was ejected in the
second quarter after receiv
ing two technical fouls fol
lowing an offensive foul call
that went against him.
Booker scored 21 points in
the first half, but the Pistons
led 62-60 after two quarters.
It was close throughout the
third and still tied at 88 early
in the fourth.
Then Langston Galloway
made a 3-pointer that began
Detroit’s crucial run. Jack-
son and Stanley Johnson also
made 3s during that stretch.
RAPTORS 125, HEAT
115: Kawhi Leonard had
29 points and 10 rebounds,
Kyle Lowry added 12 points
and 10 assists, and the
Toronto Raptors won their
fifth straight game, beating
the Miami Heat on Sunday
night.
Jonas Valanciunas had
17 points and 10 rebounds,
and Pascal Siakam scored
21 points, two shy of his
career high, as the Raptors
improved their NBA-leading
record to 17-4.
Dwyane Wade scored a
season-high 35 points, the
most ever by a Miami bench
player. Josh Richardson
scored 19 points and Bam
Adebayo had 16 points and a
career-high 21 rebounds, but
the Heat lost for the seventh
time in nine games.
76ERS 127, NETS 125:
Jimmy Butler made a
3-pointer with 2.3 seconds
remaining to give the Phil
adelphia 76ers a victory
over the Brooklyn Nets on
Sunday.
Butler’s shot from the
right wing, similar to the
one that beat Charlotte in
overtime on Nov. 17, capped
Philadelphia’s rally from 20
points down in a game the
Nets led nearly all the way.
Butler finished with 34
points and 12 rebounds, and
Joel Embiid had 32 points
and 12 boards for the 76ers.
D’Angelo Russell had 38
points, his highest total with
the Nets, and added eight
assists and eight rebounds.
Football/college
Top 25
Record
Pts
Pv
1. Alabama (61)
12-0
1525
1
2. Clemson
12-0
1458
2
3. Notre Dame
12-0
1409
3
4. Georgia
11-1
1336
5
5. Oklahoma
11-1
1266
6
6. Ohio St.
11-1
1229
10
7. UCF
11-0
1146
8
8. Michigan
10-2
1058
4
9. Texas
9-3
959
11
10. Washington
9-3
897
16
11. Florida
9-3
876
13
12. Washington St.
10-2
818
7
12. LSU
9-3
818
8
14. Penn St.
9-3
751
15
15. West Virginia
8-3
672
12
16. Kentucky
9-3
602
17
17. Utah
9-3
536
18
18. Syracuse
9-3
475
19
19. Boise St.
10-2
409
21
20. Mississippi St.
8-4
324
22
21. Northwestern
8-4
322
20
22. Texas A&M
8-4
283
NR
23. Army
9-2
169
23
24. Iowa St.
7-4
116
25
25. Fresno St.
10-2
102
NR
Others receiving votes: Utah St. 92, Missouri
88, NC State 39, Cincinnati 33, Stanford 10,
Iowa 4, Appalachian St. 1, Buffalo 1, Oregon 1.
Friday’s games
MIDWEST
MAC Championship: Buffalo (10-2) vs. N. Illinois
(7-5) at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Pac-12 Championship: Utah (9-3) vs. Washing
ton (9-3) at Santa Clara, Calif., 8 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 1
SOUTH
Louisiana-Lafayette (7-6) at Appalachian St.
(9-2), Noon
East Carolina (3-8) at NC State (8-3), Noon
Akron (4-7) at South Carolina (6-5), Noon
Marshall (8-3) at Virginia Tech (5-6), Noon
Conference USA Championship: UAB (9-3) at
Middle Tennessee (8-4), 1:30 p.m.
Norfolk St. (4-6) at Liberty (5-6), 2 p.m.
American Athletic Championship: Memphis
(8-4) at UCF (11-0), 3:30 p.m.
SEC Championship: Georgia (11-1) vs. Alabama
(12-0) at Atlanta, 4 p.m.
SWAC Championship: Southern U. (7-3) at
Alcorn St. (8-3), 4:30 p.m.
ACC Championship: Pittsburgh (7-5) vs. Clem
son (12-0) at Charlotte, N.C., 8 p.m.
MIDWEST
Drake (7-3) at Iowa St. (7-4), 2 p.m.
Big Ten championship: Northwestern (8-4) vs.
Ohio St. (11-1) at Indianapolis, 8 p.m.
SOUTHWEST
Big 12 Championship: Texas (9-3) vs. Oklahoma
(11-1) at Arlington, Texas, Noon
FAR WEST
Mountain West Championship: Fresno St. (10-2)
at Boise St. (10-2), 7:45 p.m.
Stanford (7-4) at California (7-4), 3 p.m.
FCS Playoffs
Second Round
Jacksonville St. (9-3) at Maine (8-3), Noon
James Madison (9-3) at Colgate (9-1), 1 p.m.
Wofford (9-3) at Kennesaw St. (10-1), 2 p.m.
Montana St. (8-4) at N. Dakota St. (11-0), 3 p.m.
Duquesne (9-3) at S. Dakota St. (8-2), 3 p.m.
SE Missouri (9-3) at Weber St. (9-2), 4 p.m.
Nicholls St. (9-3) at E. Washington (9-2), 5 p.m.
N. Iowa (7-5) at UC Davis (9-2), 7 p.m.
Division II playoffs
Saturday’s scores
Slippery Rock 59, New Haven 20
Notre Dame (Ohio) 19, Hillsdale 14
Valdosta State 66, Bowie State 16
Ferris State 27, Northwest Missouri State 21
Ouachita Baptist 35, Indianapolis 7
Lenoir-Rhyne 21, Wingate 17
Minnesota-Mankato 24, Colorado State-Pueblo
10
Tarleton State 34, Texas A&M-Commerce 28
Quarterfinals
Saturday, Dec. 1
Slippery Rock (11-2) at Notre Dame (Ohio)
(12-0), TBA
Ferris State (13-0) at Ouachita Baptist (12-0),
TBA
Lenoir-Rhyne (12-1) at Valdosta State (11-0),
1 p.m.
Tarleton State (12-0) at Minnesota-Mankato
(12-0), 1 p.m.
Transactions
HOCKEY
National Hockey League
ANAHEIM DUCKS — Recalled D Andrej Sustr
and Andy Welinski from San Diego (AHL). As
signed D Josh Mahura to San Diego and LW
Max Comtois to Drummondville (QMJHL).
CAROLINA HURRICANES — Recalled D Jake
Bean and F Valentin Zykov from Charlotte (AHL).
LOS ANGELES KINGS — Recalled F Michael
Amadio from Ontario (AHL). Placed F Carl
Hagelin on injured reserve.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS — Recalled F Rocco
Grimaldi from Milwaukee (AHL). Placed F Kyle
Turris on injured reserve.
NEW JERSEY DEVILS — Terminated D Steven
Santini’s long-term injury conditioning loan to
Binghamton (AHL).
COLLEGE
ILLINIOS — Signed football coach Lovie Smith
to a two-year contract extension through the
2023 season.
NORTH CAROLINA — Fired football coach
Larry Fedora.
TEXAS TECH — Fired football coach Kliff
Kingsbury.
Golf
Sunday’s scores
At The Metropolitan GC
Melbourne, Australia
Purse: $7 million
Yardage: 7,308; Par: 72
Final
T.Pieters / T.Detry, BEL, $1,120,000 63-71 -
63- 68—265
A.Ancer / R.Diaz, MEX, $478,750 67-70-
65-66—268
M.Leishman / C.Smith, AUS, $478,750 62-76-
65- 65—268
A. Hadwin / N.Taylor, CAN, $181,000 68-73-
64- 66—271
T.OIesen / S.Kjeldsen, DEN, $181,000 63-77-
66- 65—271
B. An / S.Kim, KOR, $126,250 62-72-
68-70—272
A.Pavan / R.Paratore, ITA, $126,250 65-71 -
66- 70—272
T. Hatton / I.Poulter, ENG, $92,500 62-74-
67- 70—273
A.Bjork / J.Lagergren, SWE, $70,000 65-74-
64- 71—274
A.Lahiri / G.Bhullar, IND, $51,167 64-72-
70-70—276
S. Lowry / P.Dunne, IRE, $51,167 64-76-
65- 71—276
A.Levy / M.Lorenzo-Vera, FRA, $51,167 66-73-
68- 69—276
H.U / A.Wu, CHN, $41,000 66-76-
68-67—277
K.Aphibarnrat / P.Meesawat, THA 67-78-
67-66—278
R. Knox / M.Laird, SCO, $37,000 67-71 -
67-73—278
S. Manley / B.Dredge, WAL, $34,500 70-73-
66- 70—279
K.Stanley / M.Kuchar, USA, $34,500 66-79-
66-68—279
R.Fox / M.Brown, NZL, $32,000 65-76-
69-70—280
D.Frittelli / E.van Rooyen, RSA, $32,000 66-76-
66- 72—280
M.Korhonen / M.llonen, FIN, $32,000 66-75-
68-71—280
A.Otaegui / J.Campillo, ESP, $30,000 68-74-
64-75—281
G.Green / B.Leong, MAS, $29,000 63-73-
72-74—282
S.Kodaira / H.Tanihara, JPN, $28,000 66-79-
70-72—287
J.Vegas / J.Naffah, VEN, $26,500 65-82-
67- 75—289
J.Luiten / D.Huizing, NED, $26,500 69-82-
68- 70—289
M.Kaymer / M.Kieffer, GER, $25,000 68-81 -
68-73—290
S.Vincent / B.Smith, ZIM, $24,000 72-84-
66-73—295
P.Karmis / A.Tranacher, GRE, $23,000 66-87-
68-86—307
TODAY ON TV
BASKETBALL FOOTBALL
■ Nebraska at Clemson, 7 p.m., ESPN2 ■ Titans at Texans,
■ Minnesota at Boston College, 9 p.m., ESPN2 8:15 p.m., ESPN
GOLF
Pieters, Detry win
World Cup of Golf
Thomas Pieters and
Thomas Detry gave Bel
gium its first World Cup of
Golf title Sunday, holding on
for a three-stroke victory at
Metropolitan Golf Club.
Pieters and Detry closed
with a Funder 68 in four
somes to finish at 23-under
265. They opened with a 63
in fourballs, shot 71 in driv
ing rain and wind Friday in
foursomes and had a 63 on
Saturday in fourballs to take
a five-stroke lead into the
final round.
The Belgians each earned
$1.12 million
Australia’s Marc Leish-
man and Cameron Smith
and Mexico’s Abraham
Ancer, the Australian
Open winner last week,
and Roberto Diaz tied for
second.
Leishman and Smith shot
65, and Ancer and Roberto
Diaz closed with a 66.
Americans Matt Kuchar
and Kyle Stanley tied for
16th at 9 under after a 68.
EUROPEAN TOUR/
ASIAN TOUR: Aaron Rai
won the Hong Kong Open in
torrential rain for his Euro
pean Tour title, shooting a
l-under 69 for a one-shot vic
tory over fellow Englishman
Matthew Fitzpatrick.
The 23-year-old Rai, six
strokes ahead entering the
round, finished at 17-under
263 Hong Kong Golf Club.
He shot a course-record 61
on Friday.
Associated Press
UNITED
Atlanta United defender Franco Escobar (2) and New York
Red Bulls defender Connor Lade (5) fight for control of the
ball during an MLS playoff game on Sunday in Atlanta.
■ Continued from 2B
Atlanta can afford to play
conservatively in the sec
ond leg, but doesn’t want to
totally abandon the attack
ing style that has served it
so well.
“You go and play the
game,” Jeff Larentowicz
said. “You can’t sit on top of
your goal and think you’re
going to defend for 90 min
utes. It’s not going to work.”
A matchup between the
two best teams in MLS was
a one-sided affair. Atlanta
dominated much of the
game and could have won
by an even bigger margin.
While a New York goal
was waved off after a video
review and goalkeeper Brad
Guzan made a clutch save
in the closing minutes, this
game was played mostly
in the Red Bulls’ end of the
field.
United finished with a
14-6 edge in shots. That late
stop by Guzan was New
York’s only official shot on
goal.
New York is facing
another postseason flop. A
charter member of MLS
and one of the league’s most
successful teams during the
regular season — including
three Supporters’ Shield
titles in the last six years —
the Red Bulls have never
won the cup.
Now, they need to match
their second-leg perfor
mance in the conference
JOHN BAZEMORE I Associated Press
semifinals, when they over
came a 1-0 loss at Colum
bus by winning 3-0 at Red
Bull Arena. New York went
14-2-1 at home this season,
including a 2-0 victory over
Atlanta on Sept. 30.
“At home, we are very
confident,” Sean Davis said.
“We love playing at home
in front of our fans and we
have been great there all
year.”
