Michigan climbs to #2, Red Wings win 3rd straight – WSJM Morning Sports

NHL – National Hockey League
Yesterday
Detroit Red Wings 4, Minnesota Wild 1
St. Louis Blues 4, Chicago Blackhawks 2

Red Wings 4, Wild 1 – Perron scores 300th goal, Red Wings hand Wild seventh consecutive loss, 4-1
David Perron scored twice on the power play, including his 300th career goal, and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-1. Dylan Larkin supplied a goal and an assist for the Red Wings, who have won three straight games. Shayne Gostisbehere added an empty-net goal and two assists, while Alex Lyon made 37 saves in his third start this season. Joel Eriksson Ek scored a power play goal for the Wild, who are winless in their last seven games. Filip Gustavsson stopped 19 shots. Minnesota is 0-5-2 during the skid.

Blues 4, Blackhawks 2 – Jake Neighbours scores 2 goals as St. Louis Blues beat Chicago Blackhawks 4-2
Jake Neighbours, Pavel Buchnevich and Kevin Hayes scored in the first period, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2. Neighbours also scored in the third and Jordan Binnington made 32 saves as St. Louis bounced back nicely after losing 8-3 to Nashville on Friday. Binnington went the distance in his sixth win after the Blues used two goaltenders in their previous two games. Chicago lost for the sixth time in seven games. Ryan Donato and Boris Katchouk scored for the Blackhawks, and Arvid Soderblom made 24 stops.

NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Brooklyn Nets 118, Chicago Bulls 109

Nets 118, Bulls 109 – Nets hit NBA season-high 25 3-pointers, beat Bulls 118-106
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 24 points and the Brooklyn Nets made an NBA season-best 25 3-pointers in a 118-109 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night. Lonnie Walker IV and Royce O’Neale each made six 3-pointers and Mikal Bridges had four. The previous high this season was 23 by Dallas at Memphis on Oct. 30. The Nets set a franchise record for any quarter with 11 3-poiners in the second and made 16 in the first half. They finished 25 of 52, falling short of the franchise record of 27 and the NBA mark of 29. Walker and O’Neale each scored 20 points and Bridges had 15 to help Brooklyn improve to 8-8. DeMar Derozan led Chicago with 27 points.

Tonight
Washington Wizards at Detroit Pistons, 7:00 p.m.
Portland Trailblazers at Indiana Pacers, 7:00 p.m.

NFL – National Football League – Week 12
Last Night
Indianapolis Colts 27, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20

Colts 27, Buccaneers 20 – Taylor scores twice to help the Colts overpower Buccaneers 27-20
Jonathan Taylor ran for two scores, Gardner Minshew added another and the Indianapolis Colts defense came up with a late turnover to preserve a 27-20 victory over Tampa Bay. Indy has won three straight to climb above .500 for the first time since the end of September. The Bucs have lost four straight road games, this one in uncharacteristic fashion. Indy gashed the usually stingy Tampa Bay run defense for 155 yards and 5.7 yards per carry. Taylor’s 1-yard TD run with 7:30 to play made it 27-17 and the Bucs couldn’t get in the end zone again.

Other Week 12 Scores
Green Bay 29, Detroit 22
Dallas 45, Washington 10
San Francisco 31, Seattle 13
Miami 34, N.Y. Jets 13
Atlanta 24, New Orleans 15
Jacksonville 24, Houston 21
N.Y. Giants 10, New England 7
Pittsburgh 16, Cincinnati 10
Tennessee 17, Carolina 10
Denver 29, Cleveland 12
L.A. Rams 37, Arizona 14
Kansas City 31, Las Vegas 17
Philadelphia 37, Buffalo 34, OT
Baltimore 20, L.A. Chargers 10

Tonight
Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings, 8:15 p.m.

NFL – Bears-Vikings game could be a 2-person QB scramble
Joshua Dobbs’ scrambling speed is a vital skill that has given the Minnesota Vikings an unexpected jolt after the season-ending Achilles tendon injury to Kirk Cousins. Dobbs is second among NFL quarterbacks with 389 rushing yards. He might just be a casual jogger compared to Justin Fields. His average of 6.41 yards per rushing attempt over the past three years is the best by any quarterback with 20 or more tries. Fields returned to the Chicago Bears last week after missing four games with a dislocated thumb. The Vikings host the Bears on Monday night.

NCAAFB – College Football – Week 13
Friday
(11) Penn State 42, Michigan State 0
Toledo 32, Central Michigan 17

Saturday
(3) Michigan 30, (2) Ohio State 24
(18) Notre Dame 56, Stanford 23

NCAAFB – Washington, Oregon move up, give Pac-12 2 in top 5 for 1st time since 2016
No. 3 Washington, No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 Oregon all moved up a spot in The Associated Press college football poll to give the Pac-12 two top-five teams for the first time since the final ranking of the 2016 season. Georgia remained No. 1 and received 52 of 62 first-place votes. Michigan returned to No. 2 and received 10 first-place votes after beating Ohio State 30-24. The Buckeyes slipped from second to No. 6 and cleared the way for Washington to reach its best ranking since finishing the 2000 season at No. 3.

NCAAFB –Harbaugh would take less salary if athletes would be paid
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is ready to put his money where his mouth is if it means college football players and other athletes would be paid. He said he would take less pay if that would help athletes to get paid by the schools. He said he hopes other coaches would make the same offer. He said he was reminded of the sacrifice athletes make when offensive lineman Zak Zinter broke his leg in the 3rd quarter of the Wolverines’ 30-24 win over Ohio State.

NCAAFB – Ferentz knows beating Michigan is a tall task. He says ‘anything is possible’
Other than the people inside the Iowa football building and the team’s most optimistic fans, few expect the Hawkeyes to pose much of a challenge to Michigan in the Big Ten championship game. Doubts that the No. 18 Hawkeyes can upset the second-ranked Wolverines are illustrated by the point spread. FanDuel Sportsbook lists Iowa as a 22 1/2-point underdog for Saturday night’s game in Indianapolis. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says his team has won as a long shot before and that anything is possible in sports.

NCAAFB – Tom Allen won’t return as Indiana Hoosiers coach, gets $15.5 million buyout
Football coach Tom Allen and Indiana are parting ways. Allen had four years left on a contract he received in 2021 and was owed $20.8 million. The two sides reached a financial settlement worth $15.5 million. It would be the biggest buyout ever paid by a Big Ten school, surpassing the $15 million Scott Frost receiver from Nebraska last year. Allen led the Hoosiers to back-to-back bowl games in 2019 and 2020 and coached them to a 6-2 record during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He was named Big Ten and National coach of the year that season. But Indiana fell on hard times since, posting three consecutive losing seasons and a three-year conference record of 3-24.

NCAAFB – MSU hires Jonathan Smith away from Oregon State to turn around program
Michigan State has hired coach Jonathan Smith away from No. 15 Oregon State. The school has announced the move. Interim coach Harlon Barnett was 2-8 in place of Mel Tucker, who was suspended and later fired. The 44-year-old Smith was 34-35 over six seasons at Oregon State, including an 8-4 mark this year to help the program to at least eight wins in consecutive seasons for the first time in more than a decade. Smith had six years remaining on his contract, worth $31.2 million through 2029.

NCAAFB – James Madison, Jacksonville State along with Minnesota get last 3 bowl slots
Football Bowl Subdivision newcomers James Madison and Jacksonville State along with five-win Minnesota are bound for bowls because of a shortage of six-win teams. Those three teams round out the 82 available spots because only 79 teams achieved the six wins necessary for bowl eligibility. James Madison is 11-1 and Jacksonville State is 8-4 but they are transitioning to full FBS status and wouldn’t be eligible if there were enough six-win teams. Minnesota gets the final slot based on its high Academic Progress Rate score.

NCAAMSOC – Men’s College Soccer – NCAA Tournament
Yesterday
Third Round
(2) Notre Dame 0, Western Michigan 0 – Notre Dames wins 4-2 on penalty kicks

NCAAMBB – Men’s College Basketball
Yesterday
North Dakota 72, Eastern Michigan 70

UND 72, EMU 70 – Eaglestaff puts up 22, North Dakota downs Eastern Michigan 72-70
Treysen Eaglestaff had 22 points in North Dakota’s 72-70 win over Eastern Michigan on Sunday at the Central Arkansas Classic.  Eaglestaff was 6 of 12 shooting, including 4 for 7 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 6 from the line for the Fightin’ Hawks (5-1). B.J. Omot scored 17 points and added five rebounds. Tsotne Tsartsidze had 13 points and 11 rebounds.  The Eagles (4-3) were led by Tyson Acuff, who posted 31 points. Arne Osojnik added 12 points and two blocks for Eastern Michigan. Legend Geeter also had 11 points.

MLB – Pitcher Kenta Maeda and Detroit Tigers agree to a $24 million, two-year contract
A person familiar with the deal tells The Associated Press that free agent right-hander Kenta Maeda and the Detroit Tigers have agreed to a $24 million, two-year contract. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement was subject to a successful physical and had not been announced. Maeda, who turns 36 on April 11, spent the past three years with the Minnesota Twins. He was 6-8 with a 4.23 ERA in 20 starts and one relief appearance this year in his return from Tommy John surgery on Sept. 1, 2021.

AHL – American Hockey League
Yesterday
Manitoba Moose 3, Grand Rapids Griffins 2

ECHL – ECHL Hockey League
Yesterday
Indy Fuel 4, Kalamazoo Wings 2

MHSAA – High School Sports
Saturday
Football – State Finals – Ford Field, Detroit
Division 8
Ubly 21, Ottawa Lake Whiteford 6

Division 4
Harper Woods 33, Grand Rapids South Christian 27

Division 6
Kingsley 37, Almont 24

Division 2
Muskegon 33, Warren De La Salle 21

Sunday
Football – State Finals – Ford Field, Detroit
Division 7
Jackson Lumen Christi 34, Menominee 30

Division 3
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central 27, Mason 10

Division 5
Grand Rapids Catholic Central 21, Corunna 7

Division 1
Southfield Arts and Technology 36, Belleville 32
End Fall Sports