Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press
UNDATED (AP) — Some are Hall of Famers who are among the biggest names in the sport. Others are anonymous role players whose contributions went mostly unnoticed by outsiders. They all are part of the Brady Bunch, the 218 players who have appeared in a Super Bowl as Tom Brady's teammate in his record nine previous trips to the title game with New England. That list will grow by more than 40 names when Brady plays in his 10th Super Bowl and first with his new team in Tampa.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Tyreek Hill nearly threw away his career. Twice. Yet he has grown up considerably since his days at Oklahoma State and those early years with the Chiefs, becoming not only one of the most popular players in Kansas City but also one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. He had nine catches for 105 yards in helping the Chiefs rally past the 49ers in the Super Bowl last season. And after a first-round bye this season Hill followed up with eight catches for 110 yards in their divisional round against Cleveland and nine catches for a franchise record 172 yards in the AFC championship victory over Buffalo.
UNDATED (AP) — There was a regular-season shootout and a playoff masterpiece the first season that Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady met on a football field. Brady came out ahead in those two meetings but Mahomes has gotten the edge the past two times they met. Now they will face off on football's biggest stage of the Super Bowl. While their teams split the first four contests Mahomes has put up the better numbers with his 109.2 passer rating and 11 TD passes compared to Brady's 86 rating with six TDs.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brayden Schenn scored twice, Ville Husso got his first win as an NHL goaltender and the St. Louis Blues defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-1. Schenn is one of the NHL's hottest players with six goals in his last seven games. He also has four assists during that span, which is tied with Montreal's Nick Suzuki and Calgary's Johnny Gaudreau for the longest points streak this season. Husso stopped 25 shots in his second start. Sammy Blais and Colton Parayko also scored for St. Louis. Jakob Silfverberg scored for Anaheim.
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Nalyssa Smith scored 20 points and Dijonai Carrington added 17 as the Lady Bears avenged an earlier loss to the Cyclones. The victory keeps Baylor alone atop the Big 12 standings, while Iowa State falls two games back. Ashley Joens led the Cyclones with 25 points. Iowa State was trying to become the first opponent in more than a decade to beat Baylor three straight times.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Rhyne Howard scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and No. 15 Kentucky closed the game with an 11-2 run to defeat Missouri 61-55. In the final three minutes, after the Tigers scored nine straight pints to take a 53-50 lead, the Wildcats were 9 of 10 from the foul line while Missouri went 1 of 4 from the field, missed two critical free throws and had a shot clock violation. KeKe McKinney had two free throws with 15.7 seconds left to make it a two-possession game. Ladazhia Williams scored a career-high 23 points for Missouri and Aijha Blackwell had 13 points and a career-high 19 rebounds.
CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) — Lance Jones scored a season-high 27 points and Southern Illinois edged past Northern Iowa 71-68. Bowen Born led the Panthers with 16 points.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Darnell Brodie scored 20 points on 10-of-10 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds and Drake remained undefeated by beating Illinois State 78-76 in overtime. The Bulldogs became the third Missouri Valley Conference team in the last 50 seasons to win their first 16 games. The other two legendary teams were Wichita State, which started 35-0 in 2013-14, and Larry Bird's 1978-79 Indiana State team that won 33 games before falling to Magic Johnson and Michigan State in the NCAA championship game. Antonio Reeves scored a career-high 27 points for the Redbirds.
Update on the latest sports
NBA-SCHEDULE
Leonard, Clippers pull away from Knicks for 129-115 win
UNDATED (AP) — The Los Angeles Clippers have leapfrogged ahead of the Utah Jazz in the battle for the NBA's best record.
The Clippers won for the 10th time in 11 games by downing the Knicks, 129-115. Kawhi (kah-WY') Leonard scored a 28 for the Clippers, and hit a season high for points, shot 54% overall and nailed 17 3-pointers. The offensive eruption came against a team that had been limiting opponents to 42.6% shooting.
Reggie Jackson finished with 18 points and Paul George added 17 to help the Clippers improve to 16-5.
Julius Randle had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks, while rookie Immanuel Quickley added 25 points.
The Clippers took over first place in the NBA's overall standings when the Nuggets ended Utah's 11-game winning streak, 128-117.
Nikola Jokic (nih-KOH'-lah YOH'-kihch) matched his career high with 47 points on 17 of 26 shooting, including 4-for-4 from 3-point range. Jokic had 33 points by halftime and finished with 12 rebounds and five assists.
Will Barton added 18 points, and Jamal Murray had 16 to help the Nuggets win for the sixth time in seven games.
Bojan (BOY'-ahn) Bogdanovic led the Jazz with 29 points.
Checking out Sunday's other NBA action:
— Tobias Harris poured in 27 points and Furkan Korkmaz (FUR'-kan KORK'-maz) added 17, including the go-ahead baskets in the fourth quarter of the 76ers' comeback over the Pacers, 119-110. Philadelphia trailed by 16 early in the fourth but closed on a 31-6 run to pick up its sixth win in seven games.
— Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook hit 3-pointers in the final seconds to push the Wizards past the Nets, 149-146. Westbrook had 41 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and Beal scored 22 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter.
— The Raptors' three-game skid is over after Pascal Siakam (see-A'-kam) had 30 points and 10 rebounds in a 115-102 decision over the Magic. Kyle Lowry had 12 points and 14 assists for Toronto, while Aaron Baynes added eight points and 16 boards.
— Malik Beasley furnished 23 points and rookie Anthony Edwards finished with 23 in his second straight start as the Timberwolves held on to beat the Cavaliers, 109-104. D'Angelo Russell added 19 points for Minnesota, which snapped a three-game losing streak and won for just the third time in 17 games.
NBA-NEWS
Herro questionable for Monday
UNDATED (AP) — Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart is expected to be sidelined two to three weeks because of a Grade 1 tear of his left calf muscle.
Smart missed the final 10 1/2 minutes of Boston's 96-95 loss to the Lakers on Saturday night after he was helped off the court following a collision with Montrezl (MAHN'-trehz) Harrell underneath the basket. Smart's injury will mean yet another adjustment to a Celtics lineup that was playing with its projected starters Smart, Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Daniel Theis for just the second time this season.
In other NBA news:
— Heat guard Tyler Herro (HEE'-roh) has revealed that someone who lives with him tested positive for COVID-19. Herro is listed as questionable on the team's injury report for Monday's game against the Charlotte Hornets. Herro was not with the team for practice Sunday.
T25 MEN'S BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Buckeyes batter Spartans
UNDATED (AP) — Ohio State is the latest men's basketball team to rough up Michigan State.
E.J. Liddell and Justin Ahrens carried the 13th-ranked Buckeyes to a 79-62 rout of slumping Michigan State. Liddell had 20 points and eight rebounds while helping the Buckeyes hold the Spartans to 25% shooting in the second half. Ahrens hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 17 points in Ohio State's third win in a row and sixth in seven games.
The Spartans couldn't bounce back from Thursday's 30-point loss to Rutgers, shooting 32% as a team. Joshua Langford had a team-high 14 points for Michigan State, which is 2-6 in the Big Ten.
In Sunday's other top-25 action, sixth-ranked Houston is 15-1 overall following its eighth straight win, 70-48 against SMU. Marcus Sasser scored 19 points for the Cougars, who shot just 34% but held the Mustangs to 32% from the field. Justin Gorham had nine points and 17 rebounds in helping the Cougars earn their 20th consecutive home win.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL-RICHMOND-COVID-19
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Richmond is the latest men's basketball team to pause all activities in response to the results of Sunday's COVID-19 testing and contact tracing in the Spiders' program.
The decision comes two days after No. 22 Saint Louis opted to return home from Richmond without elaboration, but without playing because of concerns raised by its medical staff.
The 10-4 Spiders have now paused three times for COVID-related concerns.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Panthers continue strong start
UNDATED (AP) — The Florida Panthers remain one of the more pleasant surprises from the early part of the NHL season.
The Panthers remain one of two teams without a regulation loss, improving to 5-0-1 with a 3-2 victory over the Red Wings. Patric Hornqvist, Aaron Ekblad and Carter Verhaeghe (vur-HAY'-gee) scored to back Chris Driedger (DREE'-gur), who finished with 32 saves.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— Brayden Schenn scored twice and Ville Husso (VIH'-lay HOO'-soh) got his first NHL win as the Blues downed the Ducks, 4-1. Schenn is one of the league's hottest players with six goals and 10 points in his last seven games.
— Kevin Hayes scored 4:22 into overtime to allow the Flyers to beat the Islanders for the second straight night, 4-3. Joel Farabee had a hat trick to give Philadelphia a 3-1 lead, but third-period goals from Josh Bailey and Mat Barzal tied it before New York fell to 0-3-2 in its last five games.
— Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves and the short-handed Blackhawks jumped on two costly mistakes by Elvis Merzlikins (murz-LEE'-kihnz) in the third period to beat the Blue Jackets, 3-1. Patrick Kane and Philipp Kurashev each had a goal and an assist in Chicago's first win in four games.
— Nino Niederreiter (NEE'-dur-eye-tur) provided the tying goal with 2:35 left in regulation before Vinvent Trocheck (TROH'-chehk) netted the deciding shootout tally in the Hurricanes' 4-3 win over the Stars. Jordan Staal and Brock McGinn also scored as Carolina beat Dallas for the second consecutive day.
— Jonas Brodin (YOH'-nuhs broh-DEEN') scored 18 seconds into overtime to give the Wild a 4-3 victory over the Avalanche. Victor Rask scored his second goal of the game for Minnesota to tie it with 7:26 left in regulation.
— Michael McLeod and Miles Wood each scored twice to lead the Devils over the Sabres, 5-3. McLeod put the Devils ahead for good with his second goal at 10:40 of the third period.
— The Oilers were 8-5 winners over the Senators behind Connor McDavid's goal and four assists. Leon Draisaitl (DRY'-sy-tul) had six assists to fall one shy of the NHL's all-time record shared by Billy Taylor Sr. and Wayne Gretzky.
NHL-RANGERS-DEANGELO
Rangers waive DeAngelo
NEW YORK (AP) — The slumping New York Rangers have placed defenseman Tony DeAngelo on waivers, one day after he struggled in a 5-4 overtime loss to Pittsburgh. DeAngelo was on ice for four of the Penguins' goals in that defeat. He also was benched by coach David Quinn earlier this season for a third-period unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and complaining loudly to the referees after drawing a holding penalty.
MLB-NEWS
MLB proposes delaying start to April 28, cut to 154 games
NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball has proposed a one-month delay in starting spring training due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and pushing back opening day to April 28. That's according to two people familiar with the plan who tell The Associated Press the regular season would be cut from 162 games to 154.
The playoffs would be expanded from 10 teams to 14 and the designated hitter would extend to the National League for the second straight season. In addition, MLB would keep the experimental rules for seven-inning doubleheaders and beginning extra innings with a runner on second base.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— The Twins have finalized a one-year, $10.5 million contract with shortstop Andrelton Simmons, enhancing their infield defense as they seek a third straight AL Central division title. The four-time Gold Glove award winner will allow Jorge Polanco to move to second base and form a strong tandem on the left side with third baseman Josh Donaldson.
PGA-FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN
Reed earns comfortable win at Torrey Pines
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Patrick Reed pulled away for a five-shot victory in the Farmers Insurance Open.
Reed closed with a 4-under 68 at Torrey Pines, making an eagle on the par-5 sixth and finishing off his ninth PGA Tour title with a birdie on the 18th.
The former Masters champions finished at 14 under after a consistent four days at the blufftop municipal courses overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Tony Finau (FEE'-now), Xander Schauffele (ZAN'-dur SHOW'-flee), Ryan Palmer, Henrik Norlander and Viktor Hovland tied for second.