About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 17, 2018)
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com SPORTS 2B Monday, December 17, 2018 COLLEGE FOOTBALL Heupel, Saban and Kelly top coach finalists Associated Press PHELAN M. EBENHACKI Associated Press Central Florida head coach Josh Heupel talks with quarterback McKenzie Milton during the first half of a game against Cincinnati on Nov. 17 in Orlando, Fla. UCF’s Josh Heupel, Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly and Alabama’s Nick Saban are the finalists for The Associ ated Press national college football coach of the year after leading their teams to unbeaten regular seasons. The winner will be announced at noon today. Heupel guided No. 7 Cen tral Florida (12-0) to a sec ond consecutive unbeaten season. The American Ath letic Conference champions will play No. 11 LSU in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1. Kelly led the third-ranked Fight ing Irish (12-0) to its first College Football Playoff appearance. The Irish play No. 2 Clemson in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 29. Saban has No. 1 Alabama (13-0) in the playoff for the fifth consecu tive season. The Crimson Tide won the Southeastern Conference and face No. 4 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 29. The AP coach of the year was established in 1998. Saban is one of two coaches to win the award twice, along with Gary Patterson of TCU. Saban was coach of Bowl glance Saturday’s games Celebration Bowl At Atlanta N.C.A&T 24, Alcorn State 22 Cure Bowl Orlando, Fla. Tulane 41, Louisiana-Lafayette 24 New Mexico Bowl Albuquerque Utah State 52, North Texas 13 Las Vegas Bowl Fresno State 31, Arizona State 20 Camellia Bowl Montgomery, Ala. Georgia Southern 23, Eastern Michigan 21 New Orleans Bowl Appalachian State 45, Middle Tennessee 13 Tuesday’s game Boca Raton (Fla.) Bowl UAB (10-3) vs. North Illinois (8-5), 7 p.m. (ESPN) Wednesday’s game Frisco (Texas) Bowl San Diego State (7-5) vs. Ohio (8-4), 8 p.m. (ESPN) Thursday’s game Gasparilla Bowl At St. Petersburg, Fla. Marshall (8-4) vs. South Florida (7-5), 8 p.m. (ESPN) Friday, Dec. 21 Bahamas Bowl Nassau Toledo (7-5) vs. FIU (8-4), 12:30 p.m (ESPN) Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Boise Western Michigan (7-5) vs. BYU (6-6), 4 p.m. (ESPN) Saturday, Dec. 22 Birmingham (Ala.) Bowl Memphis (8-5) vs. Wake Forest (6-6), Noon (ESPN) Armed Forces Bowl Fort Worth, Texas Houston (8-4) vs. Army (10-2), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN) Dollar General Bowl Mobile, Ala. Buffalo (10-3) vs. Troy (9-3), 7 p.m. (ESPN) Hawaii Bowl Honolulu Louisiana Tech (7-5) vs. Hawaii (8-5), 10:30 p.m. (ESPN) Wednesday, Dec. 26 the year with LSU in 2003 and with Alabama in 2008. Kelly won coach of the year in 2012, the last time he led Notre Dame to a 12-0 season. SERVPRO First Responder Bowl Dallas Boston College (7-5) vs. Boise State (10-3), 1:30 p.m. (ESPN) Ouick Lane Bowl Detroit Minnesota (6-6) vs. Georgia Tech (7-5), 5:15 p.m. (ESPN) Cheez-lt Bowl Phoenix California (7-5) vs. TCU (6-6), 9 p.m. (ESPN) Thursday, Dec. 27 Independence Bowl Shreveport, La. Temple (8-4) vs. Duke (7-5), 1:30 p.m. (ESPN) Pinstripe Bowl Bronx, N.Y. Miami (7-5) vs. Wisconsin (7-5), 5:15 p.m. (ESPN) Texas Bowl Houston Baylor (6-6) vs. Vanderbilt (6-6), 9 p.m. (ESPN) Friday, Dec. 28 Music City Bowl Nashville, Tenn. Purdue (6-6) vs. Auburn (7-5), 1:30 p.m. (ESPN) Camping World Bowl Orlando, Fla. West Virginia (8-3) vs. Syracuse (9-3), 5:15 p.m. (ESPN) Alamo Bowl San Antonio Iowa State (8-4) vs. Washington State (10-2), 9 p.m. (ESPN) Saturday, Dec. 29 Peach Bowl Atlanta Florida (9-3) vs. Michigan (10-2), Noon (ESPN) Belk Bowl Charlotte, N.C. South Carolina (7-5) vs. Virginia (7-5), Noon (ABC) Arizona Bowl Ihcson, Ariz. Arkansas State (8-4) vs. Nevada (7-5), 1:15 p.m. (CBSSN) Cotton Bowl Classic Arlington, Texas CFP Semifinal, Notre Dame (12-0) vs. Clemson (13-0), 4 p.m. (ESPN) Orange Bowl Miami Gardens, Fla. CFP Semifinal, Oklahoma (12-1) vs. Alabama (13-0), 8 p.m. (ESPN) Monday, Dec. 31 Military Bowl Annapolis, Md. Cincinnati (10-2) vs. Virginia Tech (6-6), Noon (ESPN) Last year’s winner was Scott Frost of UCF. No school has ever had differ ent coaches win the award in consecutive seasons. Sun Bowl El Paso, Texas Stanford (8-4) vs. Pittsburgh (7-6), 2 p.m. (CBS) Redbox Bowl Santa Clara, Calif. Michigan State (7-5) vs. Oregon (8-4), 3 p.m. (FOX) Liberty Bowl Memphis, Tenn. Missouri (8-4) vs. Oklahoma State (6-6), 3:45 p.m. (ESPN) Holiday Bowl San Diego Northwestern (8-5) vs. Utah (9-4), 7 p.m. (FS1) Gator Bowl Jacksonville, Fla. NC State (9-3) vs. Texas A&M (8-4), 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) Tuesday, Jan. 1 Outback Bowl Tampa, Fla. Mississippi State (8-4) vs. Iowa (8-4), Noon (ESPN2) Citrus Bowl Orlando, Fla. Kentucky (9-3) vs. Penn State (9-3), 1 p.m. (ABC) Fiesta Bowl Glendale, Ariz. LSU (9-3) vs. UCF (12-0), 1 p.m. (ESPN) Rose Bowl Pasadena, Calif. Washington (10-3) vs. Ohio State (12-1), 5 p.m. (ESPN) Sugar Bowl New Orleans Texas (9-4) vs. Georgia (11-2), 8:45 p.m. (ESPN) Monday, Jan. 7 College Football Championship Santa Clara, Calif. Cotton Bowl winner vs. Orange Bowl winner, 8 p.m. (ESPN) Saturday, Jan. 19 East-West Shrine Classic At St. Petersburg, Fla. East vs. West, 3 p.m. (NFLN) NFLPA Collegiate Bowl At Pasadena, Calif. American vs. National, TBA (NFLN) Saturday, Jan. 26 Senior Bowl At Mobile, Ala. North vs. South, 2:30 p.m. (NFLN) Associated Press Basketball/NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pet GB Toronto 23 8 .742 — Philadelphia 20 11 .645 3 Boston 18 11 .621 4 Brooklyn 13 18 .419 10 New York 9 22 .290 14 Southeast Division W L Pet GB Charlotte 14 15 .483 — Orlando 14 15 .483 — Miami 12 16 .429 V/2 Washington 12 18 .400 2 1 /2 Atlanta 6 23 .207 8 Central Division W L Pet GB Milwaukee 19 9 .679 — Indiana 20 10 .667 — Detroit 14 13 .519 4 1 /z Chicago 7 23 .233 13 Cleveland 7 23 .233 13 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division W L Pet GB Dallas 15 12 .556 — Memphis 16 13 .552 — New Orleans 15 15 .500 1 1 / 2 San Antonio 15 15 .500 1 1 / 2 Houston 14 14 .500 1 1 / 2 Northwest Division W L Pet GB Denver 19 9 .679 — Oklahoma City 18 10 .643 1 Portland 16 13 .552 3 1 / 2 Utah 14 16 .467 6 Minnesota 13 16 .448 6 1 / 2 Pacific Division W L Pet GB Golden State 20 10 .667 — L.A. Lakers 18 12 .600 2 L.A. Clippers 17 12 .586 2 1 / 2 Sacramento 15 13 .536 4 Phoenix 6 24 .200 14 Sunday’s Games Brooklyn 144, Atlanta 127 Philadelphia 128, Cleveland 105 Indiana 110, New York 99 Washington 128, L.A. Lakers 110 Miami at New Orleans, late Sacramento at Dallas, late Toronto at Denver, late Today’s Games Milwaukee at Detroit, 7 p.m. Phoenix at New York, 7:30 p.m. Chicago at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. Sacramento at Minnesota, 8 p.m. Basketball/college Men’s scores EAST Boston College 77, Fairfield 67 Drexel 92, Quinnipiac 83 Duquesne 72, Maine 46 Fordham 74, Howard 67 Hartford 87, Oakland 82 Niagara 77, Cornell 74 Providence 87, CCSU 63 Rhode Island 83, West Virginia 70 St. John’s 73, Wagner 58 Stony Brook 74, Delaware 68 Vermont 75, Northeastern 70 SOUTH Canisius 92, Elon 91 Coastal Carolina 69, NC Central 65 Mississippi 90, Chattanooga 70 Troy 87, W. Kentucky 81 UCF 90, Stetson 65 William & Mary 106, William Peace 89 Winthrop 109, Hiwassee 66 MIDWEST Bowling Green 82, Findlay 57 Illinois St. 88, Cleveland St. 77,0T Loyola of Chicago 80, Norfolk St. 49 Michigan St. 104, Green Bay 83 Milwaukee 87, Wisconsin Lutheran 64 SOUTHWEST Houston 68, Saint Louis 64 TCU 90, Indiana St. 70 Tulsa 72, Dayton 67 UTEP 68, UC Riverside 56 FAR WEST New Mexico 82, Cent. Arkansas 70 Pacific 79, CS Northridge 77 San Francisco 68, Cal St.-Fullerton 54 South Dakota 68, Colorado St. 63 UC Davis 83, William Jessup 65 Men’s schedule Today’s games EAST Longwood at Cornell, 7 p.m. SOUTH Arizona St. at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. Davidson at Wake Forest, 7 p.m. Wesleyan University at High Point, 7 p.m. SE Missouri at Florida St., 7 p.m. Wilmington at Morgan St., 7 p.m. Houston Baptist at Samford, 7:30 p.m. Gardner-Webb at Georgia Tech, 7:30 p.m. Covenant at Lipscomb, 7:30 p.m. Texas Southern at Tulane, 8 p.m. California Baptist at SE Louisiana, 8:30 p.m. MIDWEST Incarnate Word at Ill.-Chicago, 8 p.m. SlU-Edwardsville at Drake, 8 p.m. Ball St. at Valparaiso, 8 p.m. Chicago St. at Northwestern, 9 p.m. W. Illinois at N. Illinois, 9 p.m. SOUTHWEST Bethany (KS) at UTSA, 8 p.m. FAR WEST Florida A&M at Utah, 8 p.m. N. Dakota St. at Montana, 9 p.m. N. Colorado at New Mexico St., 9 p.m. Pepperdine at Oregon St., 10 p.m. Seattle at Portland, 10 p.m. Rider at Washington St., 10 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 18 EAST Appalachian St. at Georgetown, 6:30 p.m. Drexel at UConn, 7 p.m. Albany (NY) at Providence, 7 p.m. St. Bonaventure at Vermont, 7 p.m. Coll, of Charleston at Siena, 7 p.m. Franciscan University of Steubenville at St. Francis (Pa.), 7 p.m. Mount St. Mary’s at American U., 7 p.m. Buffalo at Syracuse, 8 p.m. SOUTH Princeton at Duke, 6 p.m. UNC-Asheville at Stetson, 7 p.m. The Citadel at Campbell, 7 p.m. Charleston Southern at Clemson, 7 p.m. Oakland at Georgia, 7 p.m. Elon at Kennesaw St., 7 p.m. South Florida at FIU, 7 p.m. Radford at UNC-Greensboro, 7 p.m. Louisiana-Lafayette at McNeese St., 7:30 p.m. Bradley at Georgia Southern, 7:30 p.m. Louisiana College at Northwestern St., 7:30 p.m. East Carolina at Charlotte, 7:30 p.m. Liberty vs. Alabama at Huntsville, Ala., 8 p.m. Mercer at Florida, 8 p.m. Alcorn St. at UAB, 8 p.m. Nicholls at Louisiana-Monroe, 8 p.m. Evansville at Murray St., 8 p.m. Williams Baptist at New Orleans, 8 p.m. North Alabama at Jacksonville St., 8:15 p.m. Chattanooga at UT Martin, 8:30 p.m. MIDWEST IUPUI at Purdue Fort Wayne, 7 p.m. Xavier at Missouri, 7 p.m. Binghamton at Notre Dame, 7 p.m. Youngstown St. at Ohio St., 7 p.m. Tennessee St. at Akron, 7 p.m. Morehead St. at Wright St., 7 p.m. South Dakota at Kansas, 8 p.m. Benedictine at Loyola of Chicago, 8 p.m. Rice at Rio Grande, 8 p.m. Presbyterian at Butler, 8:30 p.m. North Dakota at Marquette, 9 p.m. TODAY ON TV BASKETBALL ■ Davidson at Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ESPNU ■ Chicago State at Northwestern, 9 p.m., ESPNU FOOTBALL ■ Saints at Panthers, 8:15 p.m., ESPN COLLEGE BASKCTBALL I Top 25 No. 4 Gonzaga able to endure difficult stretch NATI HARNIKI The Associated Press Creighton’s Davion Mintz (1) is guarded by Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura (21) during the second half of the game Dec. 1 in Omaha, Nebraska. Bulldogs picked up big wins during December Associated Press Gonzaga has spent the early part of the season trav eling around the country to face high-profile nonconfer ence opponents, and coach Mark Few has no regrets about that. Even after the fourth- ranked Bulldogs fell at No. 12 North Carolina for their second straight loss. “When you play games in December, I think col lege basketball gets noticed. instead of waiting until Feb ruary to pay attention,” Few said after Saturday night’s 103-90 loss in Chapel Hill. “It’s the right time and the right game to play. “With that said, I really loaded up on the schedule for this particular team. This has been a tough little run here. But I’d definitely do it again, especially with this group of guys.” Gonzaga (9-2) has had a headline-grabbing opening month, for sure. The Bull dogs won the Maui Invita tional by holding off Duke star freshmen RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson to beat the then-No. 1 Blue Devils. That propelled Gonzaga to No. 1 in the AP Top 25. The Bullldogs then traveled to Creighton (103-92 win ) and edged Washington (81-79 win ) before losing to No. 3 Tennessee last weekend in Phoenix. Then came Saturday’s visit to UNC, the start of a home-and-home series that will bring the Tar Heels to Spokane, Washington, next season. “I’ve never had any of my teams play a schedule this tough,” Few said. North Carolina’s offense turned in a huge perfor mance by shooting 55 per cent and making 13 of 25 3-pointers, while the Tar Heels dominated the boards (42-21) and finished with an almost unthinkable 27-0 edge in second-chance points. It certainly high lighted what the Zags need to improve: defense and rebounding. Gonzaga should get help with some of that when Killian Tillie is ready to go. The 6-foot-10 junior hasn’t played this year because of ankle surgery, though his projected eight-week recov ery time could have him back in time for the start of West Coast Conference play next month. Offense isn’t a problem. The Bulldogs rank first in KenPom’s adjusted offen sive efficiency rankings at 122.1 points scored per 100 possessions. “We’re good,” guard Josh Perkins said. “We’re right where we want to be. We’re still at the top, close to the top. We know we’ve got some things to fix, and they’re all internal things that we can fix. That’s good news. We still believe we’re the best, and we’re going to keep pushing to be the best. “Mentally and physically, everybody is good in here. We’re ready to go.” TAR HEELS’ RISE?: That same game offered the Tar Heels a glimpse of what can happen when they shoot the ball well and attack the glass. The same team that looked flummoxed in a dou ble-digit loss at No. 5 Michi gan on Nov. 28 played with a confident edge. The Tar Heels shot 57 percent in the first half and led 53-39 and never let the Zags closer than eight after halftime. The only real blemish was the season-high 23 turn overs that led to 29 points for Gonzaga, along with a few defensive breakdowns. Overall, though, it could give the Tar Heels a chance to climb back inside the top 10 when Monday’s poll is released. “It was a great opportu nity to prove something to ourselves,” said UNC’s Cam eron Johnson, who scored 25 points. “We belong at the top and I think we’ve got a really good team. I’ve said all along that you’re going to see strides .. you’re going to see strides of the team just kind of finding their chemis try. I think we found a little bit of that tonight. And we could’ve played better so there’s definitely room to grow.” KANSAS ON TOP: Kan sas moved to No. 1 after Gonzaga’s loss to Tennessee. The Jay hawks are set to stay there after Saturday’s home win against No. 17 Villanova , the reigning national cham pion that beat the Jayhawks in last year’s Final Four. That’s a third marquee name on Kansas’ victory list, joining No. 9 Michigan State in the Champions Classic and an overtime win against the Volunteers in the NIT Season Tipoff. STUMBLES: Villanova’s loss at Kansas wasn’t its only stumble of the week. The Wildcats lost to Penn earlier this week, snapping a city- record 25-game winning streak against Philadelphia “Big 5” rivals Temple, Saint Joseph’s, La Salle and Penn. Then there was No. 25 Syracuse, which lost at home to Old Dominion on Satur day. The Orange had won five straight but shot just 33 percent and missed 12 free throws in this one. Syracuse is now shooting just 41 per cent from the field and 69 percent from the foul line on the season. WOMEN’S TOP 25 No. 2 Notre Dame rolls to win over Binghamton Associated Press Marina Mabrey had 21 points and 10 assists, room mate Arike Ogunbowale had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 2 Notre Dame beat Binghamton 103-53 on Sunday. Jackie Young also scored 21 points for the Irish (9-1), adding six rebounds and seven assists. Ogunbowale became the fifth player to move over 2,000 career points under coach Muffet McGraw, who is now within three victories of 900 for her career, includ ing 809 in 32 years at Notre Dame. Jackie Shepard had 18 points on 8-for-8 shooting, and Brianna Turner finished with 14 points for the Irish. Rebecca Carmody led the Bearcats (5-6) with 12 points and Lizzy Spindler had 10. NO. 12 TEXAS 65, STET SON 46: Danni Williams scored 15 points and No. 12 Texas overcame miserable long-range shooting to beat Stetson. Williams took the first two 3-pointers, hitting the second early in the game, but then the Longhorns (8-2) proceeded to miss their next 16 attempts behind the arc before Williams connected again in the closing seconds of the third quarter. That produced a 44-32 lead and the Longhorns steadily pulled away. Day’Neshia Banks had 14 points for the Hatters (2-7). NO. 13 CALIFORNIA 69, UC SANTA BARBARA 45: Kristine Anigwe had 18 points and 16 rebounds and California beat UC Santa Barbara to improve to 9-0. Anigwe had 11 offensive rebounds. The Golden Bears had a 44-34 edge in overall rebounding and outscored the Gauchos 38-16 in the paint. Tal Sahar had 20 points — shooting 6 of 10 from 3-point range — for the Gauchos (2-8). NO. 16 IOWA 83, NORTH ERN IOWA 57: Megan Gus tafson scored 28 points with 12 rebounds for her 64th career double-double and ninth this season to help Iowa beat Northern Iowa. Gustafson was 11 of 14 from the field. Kathleen Doyle added 13 points and seven assists for Iowa (8-2). The Hawkeyes won their fourth straight and improved to 6-0 at home. Karli Rucker scored 13 points for the Panthers (5-4). NO. 17 ARIZONA STATE 65, KANSAS STATE 51: Sophia Elenga scored 12 points and Arizona State showed its depth and bal ance, beating Kansas State in the Battle by the Bluff on the Wisconsin-La Crosse campus. Reili Richardson, Robbi Ryan and Kianna Ibis each scored 10 points to help the Sun Devils (8-2) push their winning streak to six games. Kayla Goth scored 19, and Peyton Williams had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Kansas State (7-3). NO. 21 GONZAGA 70, MISSOURI STATE 67: Chandler Smith had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Zykera Rice added 13 points and eight and Gonzaga held off Missouri State. The Bulldogs (10-1) have won six straight in the best start in school history.
