UNDATED (AP) – Minnesota’s high-powered offense, led by sophomore quarterback Tanner Morgan, goes against SEC defensive player of the year Derrick Brown and the Auburn defense in the Outback Bowl. Morgan has passed for nearly 3,000 yards and 28 touchdowns. No. 9 Auburn is the only team to have played five of the top-13 teams in the final CFP rankings.á The last time No. 16 Minnesota ended the season in the AP Top 25 was 2003, when the Golden Gophers were 20th in the final poll after winning the Sun Bowl.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – After trailing by as many as 18 points in the second quarter, the Sioux Falls Skyforce cut the deficit to just a single point (88-87) with 5:10 left in the game before ultimately falling 99-92 to the Oklahoma City Blue on Tuesday night at the Sanford Pentagon. Oklahoma City Thunder two-way player Luguentz Dort (21 points) led the Blue (7-12) in scoring followed closely by fellow two-way player Kevin Hervey (19 points and 11 rebounds) who tallied the game’s only double-double. Sioux Falls’ bench unit was largely responsible for the second-half comeback, led by Bubu Palo’s 16 points and Marcus Lee who added 12 points. In the end, the Blue held the Skyforce to just 34.9 percent from the field, marking the third-straight game that Sioux Falls has failed to eclipse 40 percent from the field. The Skyforce will stay at home for the second of a three-game homestand, taking on the South Bay Lakers (9-9) on Thursday.
PIERRE, S.D. – There was limited high school basketball in the area on the final day of 2019 but there were a few games. Stanley County’s girls offensive struggles continued in Murdo as the Buffalos dropped their 5th game of the season with a 48-24 setback to Jones County who won for just the second time this season. In the boy’s game the Stanley County Buffalos downed Jones County 64-61 won for the second time this season and improved it’s record to 2-2. The Bufffalos will host a split doubleheader on Thursday at Parkview Gym when the girls entertain Kadoka and the boys host Potter County.
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Potter County improved it’s record to 2 and 3 on the sason with a convincing 64-49 win over Langford Area in the Big Bo Classic in Wolsey. Grant Luikens led 3 double figure scorers with 23 for the Battlers while Dylan Drew had 17 and Copper Logan scored 13. Meanwhile the Potter County girls were beaten by Langford Area 60-37. The Battlers were led by Kristie Lake who scored 11 in the win.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Aaliyah Patty had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Kierstan Bell also scored 13 points and Ohio State beat No. 24 Minnesota 66-63. áOhio State trailed 63-59 with 2:55 remaining after Destiny Pitts made her fifth 3-pointer for Minnesota. Jacy Sheldon answered with a 3-pointer and Pattyáadded a go-ahead basket on the Buckeyes’ next possession. Dorka Juhasz missed a 3-pointer in the closing second, but rebounded her own miss and the Buckeyes called a timeout with 1.8 seconds left. Juhasz capped the scoring at the buzzer Sheldon added 10 points for Ohio State (8-5). Pitts led Minnesota (11-2) with 26 points.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Auston Matthews and William Nylander each had a goal and an assist and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Minnesota Wild 4-1. Alexander Kerfoot also scored and John Tavares added an empty-net goal for Toronto, which improved to 7-0-1 in its last eight games. Toronto has won 13 of 18 games since Sheldon Keefe took over as coach. Frederik Andersen stopped 26 shots. Ryan Suter had a goal and Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves for Minnesota.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Sioux Falls Stampede closed out the year 2019 with a 4-1 loss to the Des Moines Buccaneers at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center Tuesday night. Jakub Lewandowski scored midway through the second period but four unanswered goals by the Western Conference foe thwarted a happy ending to the year. Jaxson Stauber made his third-consecutive start in net, stopping 19 of 22 shots on goal.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Homer Bailey and Rich Hill are joining the Minnesota Twins for the 2020 season. The Twins signed both to one-year contracts. The 33-year-old Bailey made 31 starts between the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics last season. He was a combined 13-9 with a 4.57 ERA. He started 18 games for Kansas City before being traded in July. The 39-year-old Hill started 13 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. He was 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA. He missed about two months with a left forearm strain. Hill has been in the majors parts of 15 seasons with eight teams.
NATIONAL SPORTS HEADLINES
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Paul George had 21 points with season highs of 11 rebounds and nine assists to shake off a slow start, and short-handed Los Angeles thumped Sacramento. Kawhi Leonard scored 14 of his 24 points in the third quarter to help the Clippers to their 14th consecutive win in Sacramento dating to 2013. The Clippers played without Patrick Beverley and sixth man Lou Williams.
HOUSTON (AP) – James Harden scored 35 points after missing the last game with an injury to lead the Houston Rockets to a 130-104 victory over the Denver Nuggets Tuesday night. The Rockets were back to full strength after Harden missed his first game of the season because of a sprained right toe in a loss to New Orleans on Sunday. Clint Capela (bruised heel) and Russell Westbrook (load management) also returned after sitting out on Sunday in the 127-112 defeat.
DENVER (AP) – Kyle Connor had three goals for his first regular season hat trick to lead the Winnipeg Jets over the Colorado Avalanche 7-4. Blake Wheeler scored twice and Mark Sheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers had empty-net goals for Winnipeg. Scheifele had three assists and Ehlers had two. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 39 shots. Connor’s second goal broke a 3-all tie and came just seven seconds into Winnipeg’s only power play of the game.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – Phil Kessel scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and the Arizona Coyotes beat St. Louis 3-1 to halt the Blues’ eight-game winning streak. Conor Garland also scored and Antti Raanta (AHN’-tee RAHN’-tuh) stopped 38 shots as the Coyotes ended a three-game losing streak. Nick Schmaltz added an empty-net power-play goal and raised his team-leading point total to 32. The Coyotes earned the 1,300th win in franchise history.
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) – Patrick Kane had two goals and two assists, and the Chicago Blackhawks raced out to a four-goal lead and held on to beat the Calgary Flames 5-3. Kane set up goals by Olli Maatta at 4:14 and Alex Debrincat at 5:35 and then made itá3-0 at 12:44 of the first period. Dylan Strome also scored for Chicago (18-17-6), which has won three straight and five of six.áSam Bennett, Michael Frolik and Sean Monahan scored for Calgary.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Sam Ehlinger passed for three touchdowns and ran for another as Texas rolled over No. 12 Utah in the Alamo Bowl 38-10. The Longhorns excised the frustrations of a disappointing regular season with a dominant win over a Utes team that just missed a chance at the College Football Playoff. The Longhorns ran for 231 yards against the nation’s No. 1 rush defense. Texas coach Tom Herman improved to 4-0 in his career in bowl games. His three wins at Texas came with the Longhorns the underdog each time.
UNDATED (AP) – The Cleveland Browns have parted ways with general manager John Dorsey two days after the team fired coach Freddie Kitchens after Dorsey refused to take a lesser role with the team. Dorsey’s stunning departure came after he met with owner Jimmy Haslam. Dorsey had revamped the Browns during his two seasons as GM, but his hiring of Kitchens backfired as the Browns fell way short of expectations and missed the playoffs for the 17th straight season – the NFL’s longest current drought.
UNDATED (AP) – For the fifth consecutive week, the Baltimore Ravens are the unanimous choice as the top team in the AP Pro32 poll. The New Orleans Saints remained No. 2. In fact, the top five teams all stayed the same from the previous week. The San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Green Bay Packers each rounded out the top five in the final poll of the season.
