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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.