Friday sports in brief | Tacoma News Tribune

COLLECTIVE FOOTBALL

ARLINGTON, TX (AP) – Brian Robinson Jr. ran for a career-high 204 yards and top-ranked Alabama advanced to another National Championship game as they crushed the first non-Power Five team to qualify. for the college football qualifiers.

Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young threw three touchdown passes while mostly avoiding exceptional cornerbacks from Cincinnati and the Crimson Tide beat the Bearcats 27-6 in the CFP semi-finals at the Cotton Bowl on Friday. It was the sixth straight semifinal victory for the Crimson Tide.

Alabama (13-1) will look to win their second straight national title and fourth in eight seasons in the CFP format with coach Nick Saban.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) – With an overwhelming half in the Orange Bowl, No.3 Georgia has shown that a humiliating loss to Alabama hasn’t broken the Bulldogs.

In fact, it might have made them even stronger.

Stetson Bennett threw three touchdown passes, Nakobe Dean led an angry defense and Georgia reverted to their dominant ways, beating Michigan No.2 34-11 on Friday night to advance to the college football playoff championship .

Georgia (13-1) won a rematch against Southeastern Conference nemesis Alabama (13-1) in the title game on Jan. 10 in Indianapolis.

NFL

The Minnesota Vikings placed starting quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​on the COVID-19 reserve list on Friday, two days before their most important game of the season in Green Bay.

Cousins, who is not vaccinated, could not be allowed to play in time even though he was feeling well. The NFL recently reduced the required quarantine period to five days for asymptomatic players.

The Vikings (7-8) are one game away from the last wildcard in the NFC with two weeks to go. The Packers (12-3) control the seed and a pass in the first round.

The Vikings activated backup quarterback Sean Mannion from the COVID-19 reserve roster, putting the seventh-year veteran in line to start at frigid Lambeau Field on Sunday night.

NBA

LOS ANGELES (AP) – LeBron James became the oldest player in NBA history to play a game with at least 40 points and 14 rebounds, scoring a season-high 43 on Friday night as the Los Lakers Angeles won a 139-106 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

According to Sportradar, the oldest player to play a 40-14 game was Larry Bird, who was 35 when he had 49 points and 14 boards for the Boston Celtics in 1992 (who coincidentally also came against the Trail Blazers. ).

James, 37, recorded the 67th 40-point game of his career and the sixth in four seasons with the Lakers.

James had 16 of 26 shots from the field and had five 3-pointers in a game the Lakers led throughout.

CLEVELAND (AP) – The Cavaliers have agreed to acquire veteran goaltender Rajon Rondo as part of a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers for goaltender Denzel Valentine, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday. .

The Cavs needed an experienced goalie to help them continue their strong start after losing Ricky Rubio to a season-ending knee injury. They will add Rondo once the deal is approved by the NBA, said the person who requested anonymity as the teams have not yet had the required conference call with the league.

Four-time All-Star, Rondo, 35, averaged 3.1 points and 3.7 assists coming off the Lakers bench. It was his second visit to Los Angeles. He has been under league health and safety protocols and will need to be cleared before joining the Cavs.

– By AP Sports writer Tom Withers.

NEW YORK (AP) – The virus outbreak hasn’t just sent NBA teams to seek help from the G League. The NBA refereeing body had to do the same.

A trio of G League officials – Tyler Mirkovich, Clare Aubry and Pat O’Connell – were awarded games on Friday, the NBA debut for all three. It was the first time the NBA had to call G League officials to work on games this season.

Mirkovich was assigned to Phoenix in Boston, Aubry got Atlanta in Cleveland, and O’Connell was picked for New York in Oklahoma City.

OBITUARY

BOSTON (AP) – Basketball Hall of Fame member Sam Jones, the top scorer whose 10 NBA titles are just behind his Boston Celtics teammate Bill Russell, has died, the team announced. He was 88 years old.

Jones died Thursday night in Florida, where he had been hospitalized for health reasons, Celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss said. The team has scheduled a minute of silence before Friday’s game against the Phoenix Suns.

A native of North Carolina, Jones played for Hall of Fame coach John McLendon at North Carolina Central before Celtics general manager Red Auerbach selected him eighth overall in the 1957 draft despite his had never seen him play.

He went on to average 17.7 points and just under five rebounds in 12 years, winning eight straight titles from 1959 to 1966.

WNBA

NEW YORK (AP) – Becky Hammon returns to the WNBA as head coach.

The veteran assistant San Antonio Spurs took the lead with the Las Vegas Aces on Friday.

She will be the highest-paid coach in the league, potentially earning three or four times as much as the highest-paid player according to someone familiar with the deal. The person spoke on condition of anonymity as the terms of his contract were not disclosed.

Hammon has been Spurs’ assistant for eight seasons. She has interviewed several NBA head coaching positions in the past, but has not received an offer to be the first woman to lead a team.

– By basketball writer Doug Feinberg.

FOOTBALL

LONDON (AP) – A persistent coronavirus outbreak in Newcastle has resulted in Sunday’s game in Southampton being postponed, the Premier League announced on Friday.

Newcastle’s previous game against Everton scheduled for Thursday had also been called off.

The Premier League said a combination of COVID-19 cases and injuries meant 19th Newcastle lacked the required 13 outfielders and a goalkeeper available to face Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium.

This brings the total to 18 Premier League games postponed over the past three weeks, including Norwich’s last trip to Leicester on Saturday.

TENNIS

LONDON (AP) – US Open champion Emma Raducanu was honored by Queen Elizabeth II in the British Monarch’s annual New Years List on Friday following the teenager’s breakthrough performance at Flushing Meadows.

Raducanu, 19, who became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title, has been appointed MBE – or Member of the Order of the British Empire – by the Queen.

It crowns a remarkable year for Raducanu, whose US Open victory catapulted her to instant stardom in Britain. She was also named the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year for 2021 after becoming the first British woman to win a Grand Slam tournament since Virginia Wade in 1977.

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