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Towns, Edwards get going in Timberwolves’ win over Utah

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:29:37 GMT

Not only did the Timberwolves win Saturday — beating Utah 123-95 for their second straight victory at Target Center — they did it largely through the efforts of their two star players.That hasn’t often been the case this season as Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards have struggled in their own ways. Towns struggled to find clean looks from the power forward position, and Edwards struggled to work within the flow of Minnesota’s offensive system.Neither was an issue Saturday, as Towns took advantage of 1-on-1 opportunities in the post and beat Utah’s occasional looks of zone defense with his outside shot, while Edwards was consistently aggressive, but in a sensible way.Edwards finished with 31 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Towns tallied 25 points and seven boards.Just as importantly, Rudy Gobert finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Of his five buckets, at least three of them came off interior feeds from Towns and Edwards, who ingrat...

How the Gophers squandered many chances in Illinois loss

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:29:37 GMT

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said critical miscues in November games often go under the microscope for further examination.“You can’t make mistakes, and I thought we played really clean football for a long time, but there are some catastrophic things that happen,” Fleck said after a 27-26 loss to Illinois at Huntington Bank Stadium. “Whatever happens in November, good or bad, gets magnified.”There were plenty of slides to move under the lens for a much closer look after Saturday loss. Here are some of the biggest miscues:— Gophers kick returner Sean Tyler continued to be plagued by fumbling issues this season when he coughed up the opening kickoff. Illinois recovered the ball and took a 7-0 lead three plays later.Fleck showed faith by going back to Tyler after he fumbled yet again in the Michigan State win last week, but after his latest fumble, Tyler was immediately replaced on kickoff returns and didn’t have any carries as a running back Saturday.— Linebacker Cody Lindenberg and safet...

Schenn, Kyrou star in Blues' 6-3 victory over Canadiens

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:29:37 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou each had a goal and two assists, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 on Saturday night.Alexy Toropchenko, Robert Thomas, Kasperi Kapanen and Brandon Saad also scored for St. Louis. Joel Hofer made 30 saves.The Blues (5-4-1) recorded back-to-back wins for the first time this season. They beat New Jersey 4-1 on Friday night.Juraj Slafkovsky, Brendan Gallagher and Nick Suzuki scored for Montreal (5-4-2) in its third consecutive loss. Samuel Montembeault made 29 stops.St. Louis led 3-2 after two periods, and then scored three times in the third. Toropchenko posted a short-handed goal at 2:50. Schenn made it 5-2 with his first goal of the season at 5:53, and Kapanen scored into an empty net at 16:00.Suzuki scored his third goal with 1:28 remaining, but that was it for Montreal.Kyrou put St. Louis in front 1:24 into the first. Schenn got the puck in the corner and made a nifty pass to Kyrou, who was parked just to the ri...

Aho scores in overtime as Hurricanes rally past Islanders 4-3

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:29:37 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Sebastian Aho scored 1:14 into overtime as the Carolina Hurricanes rallied from three goals down to beat the New York Islanders 4-3 on Saturday night.Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a goal and an assist, Jalen Chatfield and Dmitry Orlov also scored and Andrei Svechnikov had two assists for Carolina, which has won four of five. Antti Raanta had 22 saves.Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist, and Noah Dobson and Simon Holmstrom also scored for the Islanders, who were 3-0-1 in their last four. Bo Horvat had two assists, and Ilya Sorokin finished with 44 saves.Aho scored in the extra period just after Raanta denied Ryan Pulock’s point-blank shot. Dobson opened the scoring with 2:20 left in the first period with the teams skating 4-on-4. The defenseman skated in close on Raanta before flipping a backhand past the goalie for his third goal of the season. Dobson leads the Islanders with 10 points (three goals, seven assists).Holmstrom made it 2-0 with a short-handed goal at 4...

Red Wings hand Bruins 1st regulation loss of the season, scoring 3 times in 3rd in 5-4 win

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:29:37 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — David Perron had the go-ahead goal and two assists as the Detroit Red Wings scored three times in the third period to beat Boston 5-4 on Saturday night, handing the Bruins their first regulation loss of the season.Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond each had a goal and an assist and Andrew Copp and Jake Walman also scored for Detroit, which had lost four of five (1-3-1). Ville Husso had 26 saves.James van Riemsdyk, Matthew Poitras, Charlie Coyle and David Pastrnak scored for the Bruins (9-1-1). Linus Ullmark stopped 35 shots.Larkin tied it at 6:50 of the third when he beat Ullmark on the short side off a feed from Raymond for his fifth of the season.Perron gave the Red Wings their first lead 2:06 later when he whiffed on a shot, regained control of the puck and fired it past Ullmark’s glove.PREDATORS 5, OILERS 2EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Ryan O’Reilly had three goals and an assist and Nashville beat Edmonton to end a two-game losing streak.Filip Forsberg added a goal and two...

Eduardo Rodriguez opts out of last 3 years and $49 million of contract with Detroit Tigers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:29:37 GMT

Eduardo Rodriguez opted out of the last three seasons and $49 million of his contract with the Detroit Tigers to become a free agent.Rodriguez’s agent, Gene Mato, confirmed his client’s decision Saturday.The right-hander was 13-9 with a 3.30 ERA last season. The 30-year-old Venezuelan is 82-53 with a 4.03 ERA over his career, which includes six years with the Boston Red Sox and two in Detroit.Sensing Rodriguez would make this move, the Tigers tried to trade him last season. Rodriguez, though, used his no-trade clause to block a deal that would have sent him to the Los Angeles Dodgers.“His performance is a fit for every team in baseball,” Tigers general manager Scott Harris said in August. “However, there were contractual headwinds that influenced his market.”He signed a $77 million, five-year deal with the Tigers in November, 2021. He opted out of a deal that would have paid him $18 million in 2024, $16 million in 2025 and $15 million in 2026.Rodriguez bounced back in 2023 aft...

Brooks has big fourth quarter, scores 26 to lead Rockets over Kings 107-89

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:29:37 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Dillon Brooks scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Houston Rockets to a 107-89 win over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.It’s the second straight win for the Rockets after they opened the season 0-3.A 3-pointer by Malik Monk got the Kings within 3 with about 8 1/2 minutes remaining. The Rockets then went on a 10-2 run, with six points from Brooks, to push the lead to 90-79 midway through the period.Monk made a layup after that, but Brooks hit a 3-pointer seconds later to extend Houston’s lead. Harrison Barnes made one of two free throws for Sacramento before Brooks struck again, making another 3-pointer to extend it to 96-82 with 4 ½ minutes left.He blew a kiss to the crowd before racing down the court to play defense. Monk scored 18 points off the bench to lead the Kings with star De’Aaron Fox out for a second straight game with a sprained right ankle. Domantas Sabonis had 11 points with a team-high 15 rebounds and Harrison Barnes ...

Clarification: Brazil-China-Beef Trade-Deforestation story

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:29:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a story published Nov. 3, 2023, The Associated Press reported that in 2014, PMI pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of making a false statement to U.S. authorities about the destination of its beef exports and paid a $1 million fine. The story should have made clear that Parker International, a predecessor of PMI and co-creator of the PMI Foods brand, pleaded guilty.Source

Maiava, Davis lead UNLV in 56-14 rout of New Mexico

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:29:37 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Jayden Maiava threw three touchdown passes and Vincent Davis Jr. ran for two more as UNLV walloped New Mexico, 56-14 on Saturday night to remain one game behind Mountain West Conference leader Air Force.UNLV (7-2, 4-1) bounced back from a 31-24 loss at Fresno State last week that snapped a string of five straight wins.After stopping the Lobos on their opening series Maiava found Ricky White with a 30-yard touchdown on the Rebels first play. Davis capped a five-play, 32-yard drive with a 5-yard run and a 14-0 lead. Andrew Henry answered with a 3-yard run to cap a 12-play, 75-yard drive by New Mexico only to watch UNLV roll off three straight touchdowns to end the half with a 35-7 lead, then score three more to start the second half. Maiava threw a 43-yard strike to Dominic Gicinto early in the third quarter and hit White with a 58-yard scoring pass two minutes later. Maiava was 13-of-18 passing for 247 yards. White pulled in eight passes for 165 yards and two...

Salter’s 4 TD passes help Liberty beat Louisiana Tech 56-30, improve to 9-0

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:29:37 GMT

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — Kaidon Salter threw four touchdown passes, Quinton Cooley and Aaron Bedgood scored two touchdowns apiece and Liberty beat Louisiana Tech 56-30 Saturday night to improve to 9-0 for the first time in program history. Jacob Barnes made a 26-yard field goal to open the scoring with 11:21 left in the first quarter but Salter answered with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Bentley Hanshaw just over a minute later and threw a 24-yard scoring strike to CJ Daniels that made it 14-3 with 1:27 remaining in the period. Bedgood scored on a 5-yard run and his 4-yard touchdown reception with 6 seconds left in the half gave the Flames (9-0, 7-0 Conference USA) a 28-10 lead. Noah Frith scored on a 55-yard catch-and-run before Cooley, who finished with 179 yards rushing, added TDs of 29 yards in the third quarter and 7 yards in the fourth. Hank Bachmeier was 22-of-33 passing for 304 yards and two touchdowns for Louisiana Tech (3-6, 2-3). Keith Willis Jr. scored two short rushing touch...