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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Dez Bryant grabbed two touchdown passes and also threw his first career TD pass as the Dallas Cowboys whipped Detroit, 42-21 to improve to 13-2. NFL rushing leader Ezekiel Elliott ran for 80 yards and two scores on just 12 carries, including a 55-yard TD. Matthew Stafford passed for 260 yards and no touchdowns for the Lions, who need to beat the Packers this Sunday night to win the NFC North.
UNDATED (AP) — Nelson Adams blocked Nick Dowd’s 37-yard field goal attempt with five seconds left to preserve Mississippi State’s 17-16 win over Miami of Ohio in the St. Petersburg Bowl. Patrick Towles threw for two TDs and grabbed a 20-yard scoring pass while Boston College was building a 23-point lead in a 36-30 triumph over Maryland in the Quick Lane Bowl at Detroit. And Jaylen Samuels caught three touchdown passes from Ryan Finley in N.C. State’s 41-17 pounding of Vanderbilt at the Independence Bowl.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — The Cleveland Cavaliers played without LeBron James on Monday and saw their five-game winning streak end with a 106-90 loss at Detroit. Tobias Harris scored 21 points for the Pistons, while Andre Drummond had 11 points and 17 rebounds. James was kept out with the Cavaliers playing for the fifth time in seven games.
HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Rockets have set a team record by winning 12 games for the month of December. James Harden contributed 32 points and 12 assists in just three quarters of a 131-115 rout of Phoenix. Montrezl Harrell had 14 points for the Rockets, who led by 27 entering the final period.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Toronto Raptors have set a team record with their seventh consecutive road win by downing the Trail Blazers, 95-91. Kyle Lowry scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half for the Raptors, who took the lead for good when Jonas Valanciunas (YOH’-nuhs val-ehn-CHOO’-nuhs) hit two free throws with 5:50 remaining. DeMar DeRozan added 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as Toronto handed the Trail Blazers their sixth straight loss.
The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Sports Director Chris Parks.
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Before Iowa can win a bowl game the Hawkeyes need to make a game of it first. Iowa has been outscored 21-0 in the opening quarter of its last two bowl games and coach Kirk Ferentz has streamlined and shortened practices as they get ready for the January 2 Outback Bowl against Florida. The Hawkeyes spent more time at home getting ready. They leave for Tampa today (Monday).
(Learfield Sports)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — With their postseason spot secured, the Kansas City Chiefs turned to Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill to roll past the Denver Broncos 33-10 on Sunday night and keep their AFC West title hopes alive. Kelce had 11 catches for 160 yards and a touchdown, and Hill took a handoff 70 yards for another score, as the Chiefs (11-4) beat the Broncos (8-7) for the third straight time and eliminated the Super Bowl champions from postseason contention.
Kansas City punctuated the win in style when 346-pound defensive tackle Dontari Poe, lined up at quarterback, threw a jump pass to Demetrius Harris with just under two minutes left. The Chiefs were already assured of a wild card when Pittsburgh beat Baltimore earlier in the day, 31-27. But a win next weekend in San Diego coupled with an Oakland loss in Denver would give the Chiefs their first division title since 2010, not to mention a first-round bye and home playoff game.
Meanwhile, the Broncos trudged through another inept offensive performance. Trevor Siemian was 17 of 43 for 183 yards and a game-ending interception, and the only TD drive he led came after a pick gave him the ball at the Kansas City 6. Justin Forsett scored two plays later. The lackluster performance came one week after a dismal showing in a 16-3 loss to New England led to a locker room shouting match between the Denver offense and defense. The Broncos downplayed any kind of disharmony this week , but their performance on a sloppy, soggy Christmas night at Arrowhead Stadium only seemed to underscore the rift during a most frustrating of seasons.
CLOSING SPEED: The biggest hit of the night came when a security guard tackled a fan that had run onto the field. Of course, it came after the fan already had run untouched about 90 yards, so in that respect the security force wasn’t a whole lot better than the Broncos’ first-half defense.
SCARY MOMENT: Broncos cornerback Kayvon Webster was taken from the field on a cart after getting hit high by Chiefs linebacker Terrance Smith while covering a touchback in the second quarter. Webster’s head was snapped back by the block and he was being evaluated for a concussion. He did not return.
OTHER INJURIES: Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe left in the first half with a neck injury and did not return. Denver was already without leading tackler T.J. Ward and tight ends Virgil Green and A.J. Derby because of concussions and linebacker Brandon Marshall because of a hamstring.
(A-P) The Big Ten might not be as good as it has been in recent years. But it sure looks like the conference title chase will be interesting in 2016-17. The conference didn’t have a team ranked in the top 10 in the most recent poll , with Wisconsin, Purdue and Indiana ranked Nos. 14, 15 and 16 respectively. Iowa (8-5) is one of the youngest teams in the country and soon could re-emerge as a top-tier Big Ten team. It likely won’t be this year though.
Teams like Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota and Northwestern — yes, Northwestern — have a shot at pushing for a top-three finish, and Michigan State can’t be counted out no matter how banged up the Spartans are.
Maryland is 12-1, Illinois has bounced back after losing three in a row and Iowa has somewhat turned a corner after an ugly start. The title picture is very muddled heading into league play, which starts on Tuesday.
Here are some keys to consider as the Big Ten gets set to kick off its 112th season:
Indiana (10-2) might have the conference’s most impressive win so far, knocking off No. 3 Kansas 103-99 in the season opener. But the Hoosiers were snapped back to reality with a 71-68 loss to IPFW just before Thanksgiving, and 13th-ranked Butler beat them by five last weekend on a neutral floor. Indiana has the Big Ten’s best offense and leads the league in rebounding margin though, and James Blackmon Jr., Robert Johnson and Thomas Bryant will be a handful for opposing defenses. Purdue’s only losses came against No. 1 Villanova and 10th-ranked Louisville — and big man Caleb Swanigan might be the Big Ten’s best overall player by early March.
Wisconsin (11-2) has only fallen to North Carolina and Creighton, and Bronson Koenig, Nigel Hayes and Ethan Happ make the Badgers dangerous on the perimeter and in the paint. But after opening Big Ten play by hosting Rutgers, Wisconsin has to travel to Indiana and Purdue before hosting Ohio State and Michigan. The Badgers can establish themselves as the front-runner by the middle of January — or fall behind in a hurry.
Losing to Arizona, Kentucky, Baylor and Duke is understandable. But Northeastern at home ? That was puzzling for Michigan State (8-5), which has been ravaged by injuries, most notably the sprained ankle that forced talented freshman Miles Bridges to the bench. But Bridges will likely be back by early January, and coach Tom Izzo’s teams are famous for finding their stride in league play. The front end of the Spartans’ league schedule is also relatively easy, but they can’t be considered a title threat just yet.
Michigan (9-3, plays Thursday) is holding opponents to just under 61 points per game, though that’s partly a result of its extremely slow tempo. Ohio State (9-3, plays Thursday) has six players averaging at least 10 points per game, and it nearly beat No. 12 Virginia on the road. Minnesota (11-1, plays Saturday) has been impressive defensively, but the Gophers have yet to beat anyone of note. Northwestern’s annual quest for its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid is off to a good start. The Wildcats’ only losses were to Butler and Notre Dame by just six combined points.
Maryland has some nice wins over Georgetown, Oklahoma State, Kansas State. But it’s still way too early to project the Terps as a serious threat. They’ll open with Illinois (10-3), which won six in a row heading into league play. … Rutgers started 11-1 after going 7-25 in 2015-16. But expect the Scarlet Knights to struggle yet again in league play. … Penn State and Nebraska are proving yet again that they were invited to the Big Ten for football, not hoops. They opened the season a combined 14-11.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – Iowa officials say this year’s deer harvest is slightly down this year with a little more than two weeks left in the season. Iowa’s second shotgun season ended last Sunday. Hunters have until midnight Monday to report their harvests. Antlerless deer only may be harvested from now until Jan. 2nd.
Between both shotgun seasons, hunters reported 5 percent fewer deer than last year’s seasons. Andrew Norton of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says hunters purchased 2,118 fewer licenses, or tags, for the shotgun seasons this year compared to last year.
In total, hunters in Iowa have harvested 87,722 deer this year, which is about 4 percent lower than last year’s count at this time. Hunters harvested 105,401 deer through all of last year’s seasons.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos have historically had a hard time winning in December in Kansas City, where they’re 3-16. A loss today (Christmas Day) to the Chiefs, who won 30-27 in overtime last month in Denver, could erase the defending champs from the AFC playoff picture. (Pre-game tonight at 6, kick-off at 7:30, on KJAN)
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers threw for 347 yards and four touchdowns, Jordy Nelson shredded Minnesota’s secondary for 154 yards and two scores, and the resurgent Green Bay Packers beat the Vikings 38-25 Saturday. The Packers’ fifth straight win set up a winner-take-all showdown next week with Detroit for the NFC North title, while extinguishing the Vikings’ faint postseason hopes.
CHICAGO (AP) — Kirk Cousins threw for a touchdown and ran for two more, and the Washington Redskins gave their fading playoff hopes a boost with a 41-21 victory at the Chicago Bears Saturday. Washington intercepted Matt Barkley five times in the loss at Soldier Field.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Isaiah Crowell rushed for two scores and the Cleveland Browns finally earned their first win of the season by beating the Chargers, 20-17. San Diego kicker Josh Lambo missed a 45-yard field goal attempt as time expired to set off a celebration among the Browns players who stormed the field after improving to 1-14. Lambo also had a potential game-tying kick blocked by the Browns’ Jamie Meder with 3:49 to go.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Matt Ryan threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns to lift Atlanta past Carolina 33-16, allowing the Falcons to clinch the NFC South on Sunday. Ryan torched the defending NFC champions in their two meetings this season, passing for 780 yards and six TDs. Tevin Coleman had 135 yards from scrimmage, including a 55-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown run for the 10-5 Falcons.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans damaged Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes while allowing the Giants to clinch their first playoff berth since 2011. Marc Ingram ran for two touchdowns and a game-clinching first down that secured the Saints’ 31-24 triumph over the 8-7 Buccaneers. Drew Brees was 23 of 34 for 299 yards and a touchdown for the 7-8 Saints, who gained 417 total yards.
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston clinched the AFC South as Alfred Blue scored a go-ahead, 24-yard touchdown with 8:41 left to send the Texans past the Cincinnati Bengals, 12-10. Blue’s TD came two minutes after Brandon LaFell turned a short pass into an 86-yard score that put the Bengals ahead. Tom Savage threw for 176 yards and no interceptions in his first career start since replacing Brock Osweiler. The Bengals had a chance to pull out the victory until former Texan Randy Bullock’s 43-yard attempt sailed wide right as time expired.
The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Ric Hanson.
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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) – The Denver Broncos will be without their top two tight ends and their leading tackler for their game at Kansas City on Christmas night (a game you can hear on KJAN beginning at 6-p.m. Sunday, with the kick-off at 7-p.m.). The Broncos (8-6) could see their playoff hopes evaporate with another loss to the Chiefs (10-4). They’ve only won 3 of 19 December games in Kansas City.
Winning there will be harder without safety T.J. Ward, who leads Denver with 87 tackles, and tight ends A.J. Derby and Virgil Green. All have concussions. Rookies Will Parks and Justin Simmons will replace Ward. The Broncos are down to Jeff Heuerman at tight end and are considering promoting another from their practice squad.
Defensive end Derek Wolfe is questionable after missing practice all week with a neck injury and illness.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Mount Pleasant 70, Harlan 63
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