Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The St. Louis Blues cruised through the coldest outdoor game in NHL history to beat the host Minnesota Wild 6-4. Jordan Kyrou had two goals and two assists in a five-goal second period for St. Louis in the Winter Classic. The faceoff temperature was minus-5.7 degrees. This was the first of 33 outdoor games the league has played below zero. David Perron, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ivan Barbashev and Torey Krug also scored for the Blues. Kirill Kaprizov scored and had two assists for Minnesota. Wild goalie Cam Talbot left trailing 6-2 after two periods with a lower-body injury.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Chris Rodriguez ran for a 6-yard touchdown with 1:48 to play, and No. 25 Kentucky rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 17 Iowa 20-17 in the Citrus Bowl. Kentucky was forced to rally after blowing a 10-point lead in the second half. Wan'Dale Robinson set up the winning score when he caught a 52-yard pass from Will Levis to get the Wildcats to the 1-yard line. Robinson, the game's MVP, finished with 10 catches for 170 yards. Kentucky won a fourth straight bowl game for the first time in school history and became the fourth Wildcats team to win at least 10 games. Iowa's bowl streak ended at three games.
AMES, Iowa (AP) — James Akinjo scored 16 points, LJ Cryer had 10 of his 13 in the second half, and top-ranked Baylor beat No. 8 Iowa State 77-72 for the Cyclones' first loss. Baylor never trailed in only the fourth Division I matchup of 12-0 teams in 40 years and the first game between top-10 teams at Hilton Coliseum since 2014. The defending national champion Bears extended their win streak to 19 games and are among three remaining unbeaten teams. Tristan Enaruna scored a career-high 23 points for the Cyclones, who were off to the second-best start in program history after winning two games last season.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Elijah Harkless sank a go-ahead jumper with 35 seconds remaining, scoring 21 points to spark Oklahoma to a 71-69 victory over Kansas State in a Big 12 Conference opener. The basket by Harkless came after Kansas State battled back from an 11-point halftime deficit to tie the score at 65 on Ismael Massoud's 3-pointer with 63 seconds left. Umoja Gibson added 19 points, going 4 for 4 from the free-throw line in the final 17 seconds. Harkless was 4 of 4 from distance and grabbed seven rebounds for the Sooners (11-2). Mark Smith scored 14 of his career-high 25 points in the second half for the Wildcats (8-4), who trailed 33-22 at intermission.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Jalen Coleman-Lands came off the bench to hit five 3-pointers and score 20 points, Mitch Lightfoot added 14 points, and sixth-ranked Kansas held off George Mason 76-67. Kansas led 66-61 with 3 minutes left before putting the game out of reach. D'Shawn Schwartz had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Davonte Gaines also scored 15 for George Mason. The game was put together when Kansas had its Big 12 opener against TCU postponed by a COVID-19 outbreak and George Mason had four straight games canceled or postponed.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs have downgraded running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire to out of Sunday's game in Cincinnati. Edwards-Helaire hurt his shoulder early in the second half of last weekend's romp past Pittsburgh. He did not participate in practice this week and was listed as questionable on the final injury report before being downgraded Saturday. The Chiefs activated running back Jerick McKinnon off injured reserve, where he'd been recovering from a hamstring injury, and planned for him to make the trip to Cincinnati.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Max Abmas scored 20 points and Francis Lacis added 14 points and Oral Roberts topped the century mark for the second time this season in beating Omaha 107-62. Abmas led ORU in scoring for the 12th time this season. It was his eighth 20-plus point game of the season. Oral Roberts led 59-27 at halftime and went on to shoot 54.1% which included 14 for 29 from 3-point range.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Ryan Hawkins made a 3-pointer with 1:55 remaining in double overtime to give Creighton the lead en route to a 75-69 win over Marquette. Ryan Kalkbrenner had a career-high 20 points plus 12 rebounds to lead the Bluejays. Oso Ighodaro led the Golden Eagles with a career-high 22 points.
Update on the latest sports
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-BOWL SCHEDULE
Notre Dame loses to Oklahoma State in Fiesta Bowl
UNDATED (AP) — Spencer Sanders accounted for 496 yards and threw three of his four touchdown passes to Tay Martin, and No. 9 Oklahoma State overcame a 21-point deficit to beat No. 5 Notre Dame 37-35 in the Fiesta Bowl.
Oklahoma State came up inches short of securing a College Football Playoff spot in a loss to No. 6 Baylor at the Big 12 title game and fell into 21-point first-half deficit against Notre Dame. Jack Coan led Notre Dame's early charge while throwing for a Fiesta Bowl-record 509 yards and five touchdowns. Sanders threw for 371 yards on 34-of-51 passing and ran for 125 yards.
In other Bowl action:
— C.J. Stroud capped a record-setting offensive day by leading a 56-yard drive ending in Noah Ruggles' 19-yard field goal with nine seconds to play, and No. 7 Ohio State beat No. 10 Utah 48-45 in the Rose Bowl. Ohio State had to rally from 10 points down late in the third quarter to get past the Pac-12 champion Utes. Stroud passed for a school-record 573 yards and a record-tying six touchdowns for the Buckeyes — both also Rose Bowl records. Ohio State's Jaxon Smith-Njigba set the record for any FBS bowl game with 347 yards receiving, catching a school-record 15 passes and scoring three touchdowns.
— Al Walcott set a Sugar Bowl record with a 96-yard interception return, Monaray Baldwin raced 48 yards for the go-ahead score on an end around, and sixth-ranked Baylor beat No. 8 Mississippi 21-7. Rebels quarterback Matt Corral was hurt when sacked from behind on Mississippi's third series of the game and looked on from the sideline the rest of the way.
— KJ Jefferson picked up 104 of his 110 rushing yards in the second half and threw for 90 more to lead No. 22 Arkansas past Penn State 24-10 in the Outback Bowl. Raheim Sanders had 79 yards and two touchdowns on 13 rushing attempts and Dominique Johnson added 85 yards on 11 carries as the Razorbacks finished with 361 rushing yards.
— No. 25 Kentucky rallied to beat No. 17 Iowa in the Citrus Bowl. Kentucky blew a 10-point lead in the second half, but Chris Rodriguez scored on a 6-yard touchdown with 1:48 to play for the victory.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEWS
North Carolina QB Sam Howell to forgo senior season for NFL
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell is forgoing his senior season to enter the NFL draft.
Howell's decision was not surprising, but he made it official with a video posted on North Carolina football's official Twitter account. He is considered a potential first-round draft pick.
The 6-foot-1, 220 pound junior will leave college as North Carolina's most prolific quarterback, with career records in yards passing, 10,283, and total offense, 11,292.
NBA SCHEDULE
DeRozan beats the buzzer again, giving Bulls 7 straight wins
UNDATED (AP) — DeMar DeRozan hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the second straight game to give the Chicago Bulls a 120-119 win over the Washington Wizards.
Kyle Kuzma's 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds to play gave Washington a two-point lead, 119-117 lead, until DeRozan's 3.
DeRozan finished with 28 points and Zach LaVine had 35 points to help the Bulls to their seventh straight win. That's their longest streak since December 2014.
In other NBA action:
— Stephen Curry scored 28 points and had nine assists to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 123-116 win over the Utah Jazz. Andrew Wiggins had 25 points for the Warriors, while Otto Porter Jr. had 20 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
— The Denver Nuggets used a huge second quarter to take control in a 124-111 win over the Houston Rockets. Nikola Jokic's (nih-KOH'-lah YOH'-kihch-ihz) 24 points led the Nuggets, as they returned to action after their game against Golden State on Thursday was postponed because they didn't have enough players available due to injuries and health and safety protocols.
— The short-handed Los Angeles Clippers, playing on the second night of a back-to-back, rallied to beat the Brooklyn Nets 120-116. Eric Bledsoe scored a season-high 27 points, while Terance Mann and Reggie Jackson added 19 points apiece for the Clippers. The Nets wasted James Harden's seventh triple-double and game-high 34 points.
— The Milwaukee Bucks won their sixth straight game, beating the New Orleans Pelicans 136-113 on Saturday night. Giannis Antetokounmpo (YAH'-nihs an-teh-toh-KOOM'-poh) had 35 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists for his second triple-double of the season.
— Saddiq Bey hit a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left in overtime, leading the Detroit Pistons to a 117-116 win over the San Antonio Spurs. Hamidou Diallo had 34 points and 13 rebounds to lead Detroit, which had lost four in a row and 18 of its last 19 games.
T25 MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE
Top-ranked Baylor gets by Iowa State
UNDATED (AP) — James Akinjo scored 16 points, LJ Cryer had 10 of his 13 in the second half, and top-ranked Baylor beat No. 8 Iowa State 77-72 for the Cyclones' first loss.
Baylor never trailed in only the fourth Division I matchup of 12-0 teams in 40 years. The defending national champion Bears extended their win streak to 19 games and are among three remaining unbeaten teams.
In other T25 action:
— Sixth-ranked Kansas held off George Mason 76-67. Jalen Coleman-Lands came off the bench to hit five 3-pointers and score 20 points, while Mitch Lightfoot added 14 points.
— Justin Moore hit a go-ahead jumper with 1:36 to play and No. 22 Villanova beat short-handed but gutsy No. 15 Seton Hall, 73-67. Villanova dominated the boards 42-28 with Seton Hall missing two key big men because of COVID-19.
— Marcus Carr scored a season-best 20 points and No. 17 Texas defeated short-handed West Virginia 74-59 in the Big 12 opener. The Mountaineers' eight-game winning streak came to as they played without three players in COVID-19 protocols, including starting guard and leading scorer Taz Sherman.
— Aljami Durham scored 17 points and No. 21 Providence beat DePaul 70-53. The Friars are off to their best start since the 2015-16 team won 14 of its first 15. They grabbed a 25-point halftime lead on the way to their eighth straight win.
NFL-NEWS
Colts activate QB Carson Wentz from COVID-19 list
UNDATED (AP) — The Indianapolis Colts have activated quarterback Carson Wentz from the reserve/COVID-19 list and he should be able to start against Las Vegas.
Wentz, who is unvaccinated, must have a negative test Sunday to be allowed to play under new protocols adopted by the NFL and the players' union this week. He went on the COVID-19 list Tuesday and was required to isolate for five days.
The 9-6 Colts can clinch a playoff berth by winning.
In other NFL news:
— The Kansas City Chiefs have downgraded running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire to out of Sunday's game in Cincinnati. Edwards-Helaire hurt his shoulder early in the second half of last weekend's romp past Pittsburgh. The Chiefs activated running back Jerick McKinnon off injured reserve, where he'd been recovering from a hamstring injury, and planned for him to make the trip to Cincinnati
NFL-OBIT-DAN REEVES
Former Broncos, Falcons, Giants coach Dan Reeves dies at 77
ATLANTA (AP) — Former Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Reeves has died at the age of 77. His family says he died peacefully Saturday of complications from dementia.
Reeves won a Super Bowl as a player with the Dallas Cowboys but was best known for a long coaching career highlighted by four more appearances in the title game with Denver and Atlanta, all losses. He teamed with John Elway to take the Broncos to three Super Bowls in 12 seasons.
Reeves also guided the Falcons to their first Super Bowl during the 1998 season. And he coached the New York Giants in a career stretching 23 seasons.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Maple Leafs rout Senators 6-0 at empty Scotiabank Arena
UNDATED (AP) — The home crowd would have loved it, but Toronto's Scotiabank Arena was mostly empty of fans as the Maple Leafs thrashed the Ottawa Senators 6-0.
Justin Holl and Ilya Mikheyev scored on the same first-period penalty kill for their first goals of the season.
The game was played without fans after the Ontario government announced Thursday that attendance at indoor events, including arenas, would be capped at 1,000 spectators because of COVID-19. Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the NBA's Toronto Raptors, subsequently said it would operate without sold tickets for games, save for league and team requirements, for the next three weeks.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— The St. Louis Blues cruised through the coldest outdoor game in NHL history to beat the host Minnesota Wild 6-4. Jordan Kyrou had two goals and two assists in a five-goal second period for St. Louis in the Winter Classic. The official faceoff temperature was minus-5.7 degrees, the first of 33 outdoor games the league has played with a temperature below zero.
— Charlie Coyle scored on a wrist shot from the slot 34 seconds into overtime and Boston completed a 4-3 comeback victory over the Buffalo Sabres. The Bruins erased a 3-1 deficit, with Nick Foligno and Taylor Hall each scoring early in the third period.
— Noah Dobson scored 3:52 into overtime to give the New York Islanders a 3-2 victory over the slumping Edmonton Oilers. It was the Islanders first win beyond regulation this season. Edmonton lost in overtime for the second straight day and fell to 2-7-2 in its last 11 after starting the season 16-5-0.
— The Panthers won their third straight game, this one 5-2 over the Montreal Canadiens. Sam Bennett scored twice and Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves to lead the Panthers. Aleksander Barkov, Frank Vatrano and Mason Marchment also scored and Jonathan Huberdeau added three assists as Florida improved to 17-3 at home.
— A 4-0 lead approaching the midpoint of the game is generally pretty comfortable, but it wasn't enough for the Blue Jackets against the Hurricanes. Brady Skjei and Steven Lorentz each scored twice as Carolina had the last seven goals to beat Columbus 7-4.
— The Nashville Predators routed the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-1. Tanner Jeannot scored twice while Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen each scored once and added an assist for Nashville, which snapped a two-game losing streak.
— Vancouver stayed hot with a 5-2 win over the Seattle Kraken. The Canucks improved to 8-0-1 since Bruce Boudreau took over as coach. The Kraken lost their fifth straight and eighth in the past nine games.
— The Los Angeles Kings beat the visiting Flyers 6-3. Viktor Arvidsson led the L.A. attack with two goals and two assists, while Trevor Moore also scored and registered three assists. With the Kings victory, Todd McLellan earned his 500th win as an NHL coach.
OLYMPICS-WOMEN'S HOCKEY
Knight headlines US team for Beijing
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Four-time Olympian Hilary Knight is one of 15 players with prior Winter Games experience on the U.S. women's team seeking to defend its gold medal next month.
Knight joined Jenny Potter, Angela Ruggiero and Julie Chu as the only American women to make four Olympic hockey teams. Brianna Decker, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Amanda Kessel and Lee Stecklein were all named to their third Olympic team.
The Americans start the Olympic tournament in Beijing on Feb. 3 with a group-play game against Finland.
HORSE RACING-OBIT-BILLY TURNER
Billy Turner, trainer of Triple Crown winner, dies at 81
REDDICK, Fla. (AP) — Billy Turner, the Triple Crown-winning trainer of Seattle Slew has died.
Turner's wife, Pat, says he died at his home in Florida, where he had been in hospice care after battling prostate cancer for two years.
Turner trained Seattle Slew to an undefeated season in 1977, highlighted by a sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont stakes. The colt was named Horse of the Year. He was inducted into racing's Hall of Fame in 1981.
Billy Turner was 81.
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