Monday Sports Update – NFC/AFC Playoffs Set

(Undated) — Four teams are left in the NFL playoffs following the divisional round. The top-seeded New Orleans Saints will host the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday while the New England Patriots are set to visit the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. The winners of the conference championship games will advance to Super Bowl 53 on February 3rd in Atlanta.

Patriots Advance To Eighth Straight AFC Championship

(Foxboro, MA) — The New England Patriots are headed back to the AFC Championship Game for the eighth consecutive season. Tom Brady threw for 343 yards and a touchdown as the Pats cruised past the Chargers 41-28 in the Divisional Round of the playoffs in Foxboro. Sony Michel ran for 129 yards and three scores for New England.

Saints Rally Past Eagles Into NFC Championship

(New Orleans, LA) — The New Orleans Saints are going to the NFC Championship Game. The Saints overcame a two-touchdown deficit as they rallied past the Eagles 20-14 at the Divisional Playoffs in New Orleans. Drew Brees threw for 301 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the win. Michael Thomas hauled in 12 passes for 171 yards and a score.

Cowboys’ Season Is Over

(Los Angeles, CA) — The Cowboys can start planning for 2019. The Rams ended their season with a 30-22 victory in the playoffs in Los Angeles. Dak Prescott passed for 266 yards and a touchdown and ran for another in the defeat. Ezekiel Elliott was limited to 47 yards rushing on 20 carries, including a one-yard TD run. The Rams rushed for 273 yards in the win.

Cowboys Will Pick 59th In Draft

(Undated) — The Cowboys will not have a selection in the NFL Draft until the second round, 59th overall. They traded their first-round pick, 27th overall, to the Raiders in October for wide receiver Amari Cooper. Also, the Cowboys’ staff will coach the NFC in the Pro Bowl. The game will be January 27th in Orlando.

Mavericks Tumble To Warriors

(Dallas, TX) — The Mavericks lost 119-114 to the Golden State Warriors in Dallas. Rookie Luka Doncic led the Mavs with 26 points. Harrison Barnes scored 22 points in defeat. Dallas is 2-and-4 in its last six. The Mavericks are home again Wednesday against San Antonio.

Rockets Home Tonight After Losing In Orlando

(Orlando, FL) — The Rockets lost 116-109 to the Magic in Orlando. James Harden finished with a game-high 38 points, despite missing 16 of 17 treys, and 12 assists. Austin Rivers had 25 points in the defeat. Brandon Knight sat out the game with a tender knee. The Rockets are 2-and-3 in their last five games, but lead the Southwest with a 24-and-18 record. They are home tonight against Memphis.

NBA
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Toronto Raptors 140, Washington Wizards 138 (2OT)
Philadelphia 76ers 108, New York Knicks 105
Milwaukee Bucks 133, Atlanta Hawks 114
Orlando Magic 116, Houston Rockets 109
Golden State Warriors 119, Dallas Mavericks 114
Denver Nuggets 116, Portland Trail Blazers 113
Cleveland Cavaliers 101, Los Angeles Lakers 95

NHL
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Carolina Hurricanes 6, Nashville Predators 3
Columbus Blue Jackets 7, New York Rangers 5
Winnipeg Jets 4, Anaheim Ducks 3 (OT)
New York Islanders 5, Tampa Bay Lightning 1
Vancouver Canucks 5, Florida Panthers 1
Calgary Flames 7, Arizona Coyotes 1

Stars Return to Ice Tomorrow

(Dallas,TX) — The Stars will attempt to end a two-game slide tomorrow night when they meet Tampa Bay in Dallas. The Stars lost 3-1 to St. Louis at home on Saturday to open a six-game homestand.

Rangers Avoid Arbitration With Mazara, DeShields

(Arlington, TX) — The Rangers avoided arbitration with outfielders Nomar Mazara and Delino DeShields. Mazara, who has hit 20 homers in each of his first three seasons, will make 3.3 million dollars and DeShields will get $1.4 million. Both made about five-hundred fifty thousand dollars last season.

Three Arbitration Eligible Astros Do Not Reach Agreement

(Houston, TX) — The Astros did not reach an agreement on three arbitration-eligible players. They are shortstop Carlos Correa, starting pitcher Gerrit Cole and reliever Chris Devenski. Correa is seeking five million dollars. Houston countered at four million, two hundred and twenty five thousand dollars. Cole filed for thirteen and a half million dollars. The Astros’ figure is more than eleven million. Devenski is seeking one million, six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The Astros checked in at one million and four hundred thousand dollars. If they reach no settlement, they will have arbitration hearings to determine their salary.

Report: Murray Wants $15M From A’s To Choose Baseball

(Undated) — Former Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray wants more money if he is going to stick with the Oakland Athletics and forgo the NFL Draft. According to multiple reports, Murray has requested 15-million-dollars from the A’s to choose baseball and not enter the NFL Draft by today’s deadline. A’s executive Billy Beane met with Murray in Texas over the weekend to convince him to choose baseball.

College Basketball (Top-25 Coaches Poll)
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#4 Michigan Wolverines 80, Northwestern Wildcats 60
#5 Michigan State Spartans 71, Penn State Nittany Lions 56

Baylor Loses Clark For Season

(Waco, TX) — Baylor will be without sophomore forward Tristan Clark for the remainder of the season because of a left knee injury that required surgery. Clark was injured in the Bears’ upset of 21st-ranked Iowa State last Tuesday. Clark led the nation with a 73.7 field goal shooting percentage. Baylor plays tonight at Oklahoma State.

College Basketball Roundup

(Undated) — In area college basketball tonight, Texas will try to end a two-game skid when it plays at number-nine Kansas. Tomorrow night, TCU will host West Virginia. On Wednesday, SMU will host 15th-ranked Houston, Iowa State will be at eighth-ranked Texas Tech and Texas A&M will face Auburn in College Station. On Thursday, UT-Arlington will be at home against Arkansas State.

West Texas A&M Buffs Roundup

(San Angelo, Texas) – No. 8 West Texas A&M led from the opening whistle en route to defeating Angelo State 89-78 on Saturday afternoon at the Junell Center in San Angelo, Texas. Ryan Quaid made a career-high 14 free throws en route to a team-high 24 points as the Buffs improved to 16-3 on the season and 5-1 in Lone Star Conference play.
The #2 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M showed heart on Saturday afternoon as they trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half before fighting back as Lexy Hightower connected on a jumper in the paint as time expired to give WT a Lone Star Conference road victory 61-59 over the rival #18 Angelo State Rambelles..