NFL
Broncos coach Gary Kubiak has officially stepped down because of health concerns, telling reporters “the demands of the job are no longer a good fit for me.” Kubiak held the Denver job for two seasons and went 24-11, including a win in last year’s Super Bowl. A 9-7 finish this year kept the Broncos out of the playoffs. Kubiak missed a week of work in October after suffering a complex migraine, his second health scare in three years.
Saints head coach Sean Payton is staying put, saying during a radio interview with the Saints’ flagship station that he plans to be back with New Orleans next season and honor a contract that runs through 2020. Payton told WWL-AM radio host and former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert that he has absolutely no interest in coaching elsewhere. He also refuted reports he met with general manager Mickey Loomis after Sunday’s season finale to discuss the coach’s future with the club. The Saints just completed their third consecutive 7-9 season.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
ROSE BOWL – USC 52, PENN STATE 49
Ninth-ranked Southern California and No. 5 Penn State have produced the highest-scoring game in Rose Bowl history.
The Trojans erased a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit before Matt Boermeester kicked a 46-yard field goal as time expired to give them a 52-49 triumph over the Nittany Lions. Boermeester missed two earlier field-goal tries before capping the comeback.
Freshman Sam Darnold led USC to its ninth consecutive victory following a 1-3 start, throwing for 453 yards and five touchdowns. Darnold hit Deontay Burnett for a tying, 27-yard TD with 1:20 remaining before Leon McQuay III picked off Trace McSorley and returned it 32 yards to the Penn State 33 with 27 seconds left.
McSorley passed for 254 yards and threw two of his four touchdown passes to Chris Godwin. Saquon Barkley rushed for 194 yards and two TDs for the Nittany Lions, who ended a nine-game winning streak and ended up 12-2.
SUGAR BOWL – OKLAHOMA 35, AUBURN 19
Joe Mixon rushed for 91 yards and two touchdowns as the seventh-ranked Sooners knocked off No. 17 Auburn, 35-19 at the Sugar Bowl. Baker Mayfield helped Oklahoma finish the year 11-2 by completing 19 of his 28 passes for 296 yards, two TDs and no interceptions. The Sooners led just 14-13 in the third quarter until Mayfield hit Dede Westbrook for a short touchdown and Mixon ran four yards for a score later in the period. Kamryn Pettway had 101 yards rushing for the 8-5 Tigers.
COTTON BOWL – WISCONSIN 24, WESTERN MICHIGAN 13
Eighth-ranked Wisconsin ruined Western Michigan’s bid for a perfect season as tight end Troy Fumagalli made a leaping grab for an eight-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to help the Badgers beat the 13th-ranked Broncos, 24-16 in the Cotton Bowl. Corey Clement and Dare Ogunbowale ran for TDs on Wisconsin’s first two drives to put the Badgers ahead 14-0. Wisconsin finishes 11-3, while the Broncos wind up 13-1.
OUTBACK BOWL – FLORIDA 30, IOWA 3
Austin Appleby threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns as No. 20 Florida whipped No. 21 Iowa, 30-3 in the Outback Bowl to finish the year 9-4. Appleby hit Mark Thompson for an 85-yard TD and found DeAndre Goolsby for a six-yard score that broke the game open late in the third quarter. Chauncey Gardner Jr., returned the first of his two fourth-quarter interceptions 58 yards for a 24-3 lead as the Gators dropped the Hawkeyes to 8-5.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Longtime combatants Kansas and Kansas State renew their rivalry Tuesday evening in Lawrence. The two schools are located just 75 miles apart and enter tonight’s game with identical 12-1 records. The difference being that Kansas, which has won 191 of the 284 games they’ve played, is ranked third in The Associated Press poll.
Each team is coming in on a winning streak as the Jayhawks have won their last seven games while the Wildcats have won 12 in a row.
In the lone game of the night featuring two ranked schools, 13th-ranked Wisconsin is playing host to No. 25 in a Big Ten game.
The rest of the schedule has sixth-ranked Kentucky at home to Texas A&M, No. 7 West Virginia at Texas Tech, 14th-ranked North Carolina at Clemson and 24th-ranked Florida home to Mississippi.
Jeff Capel is getting a chance to serve as acting coach of his alma mater. Capel will run the Duke Blue Devils while head coach Mike Krzyzewski recovers from Friday’s scheduled back surgery. Krzyzewski is expected to need four weeks to recover from the procedure, which will remove a fragment of a herniated disk. He has tried several treatment options during the past month without success after undergoing four surgeries on his left knee, left ankle and hernia over the summer. Capel will be at the helm beginning Wednesday against Boston College.
NBA
The Houston Rockets have pulled within one game of the Southwest Division-leading San Antonio Spurs by going 16-2 since December. The Rockets picked up their fifth consecutive win on Monday as Eric Gordon poured in 31 points and James Harden posted his ninth triple-double of the season to lead a 101-91 victory against Washington. Harden had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Rockets, who trailed by 12 before outscoring the Wizards 37-17 in the third quarter. Harden also committed six turnovers and shot 2-for-11 from 3-point range, but that didn’t prevent Houston from improving to 27-9 with their 14th win in 17 home games.
Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant scored over 20 points apiece and Draymond Green added a triple-double in Golden State’s third straight win, 127-119 over Denver. Thompson had a team-high 25 points, Curry finished with 22 and Durant added 21 as the Warriors improved to a league-best 30-5. Green contributed 15 points, 13 assists and 10 boards in the Warriors’ eighth straight home win.
Jimmy Butler poured in a season-high 52 points and contributed 12 rebounds and six assists while going 21-for-22 from the line in Chicago’s 118-111 victory over Charlotte. Butler scored at least 25 points for the fourth straight game to win an offensive showdown with Kemba Walker, who finished with 34 points and a season-high 11 rebounds for the Hornets.
(Courtesy: Associated Press)