Weekday Morning Sports – Tuesday 3/21/17

sportsreport-175
sportsreport-175

95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Tuesday, March 21, 2017

NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Buffalo Sabres 2, Detroit Red Wings 1

Sabres 2, Red Wings 1 – Eichel-led Sabres beat Red Wings 2-1 on power-play goals
Jack Eichel and Matt Moulson each scored a power-play goal in the first two periods, and the Buffalo Sabres held off the Detroit Red Wings for a 2-1 victory Monday night.  Robin Lehner made 34 saves for the Sabres. Tomas Tatar scored in his third straight game, pulling Detroit within a goal midway through the second. The Red Wings had power plays early and late in the third period but failed to take advantage of their opportunities to tie the game, falling to 0 for 4 with an extra skater. Petr Mrazek stopped 28 shots for Detroit.

Tonight
Detroit Red Wings at Montreal Canadiens, 7:30 p.m.
Vancouver Canucks at Chicago Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m.

NCAAWBB – Women’s NCAA Tournament
Yesterday
(1) Connecticut 94, (8) Syracuse 64
(2) Stanford 69, (7) Kansas State 48
(10 Oregon 74, (2) Duke 65
(4) Louisville 75, (5) Tennessee 64
(3) Washington 108, (6) Oklahoma 82
(1) Baylor 86, (9) California 46
(12) Quinnipiac 85, (4) Miami-FL 78
(4) UCLA 75, (5) Texas A&M 43

NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Indiana Pacers 107, Utah Jazz 100

Pacers 107, Jazz 100 – Pacers hit all right notes in victory over road-weary Jazz
Jeff Teague scored 21 points, Paul George added 19 and the Indiana Pacers beat the Utah Jazz 107-100 on Monday night. Indiana continued its trend of following a loss with a win, failing to do either in consecutive games since Feb. 16. The win helped the Pacers maintain the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. Former Butler star Gordon Hayward led the Jazz with a career-high 38 points. Rudy Gobert had 16 points and 14 rebounds on the final stop of a four-game trip.      Utah looked sluggish all night, and the Pacers took advantage. While they struggled to put away the win, the Pacers seized control with an early 8-0 run and never trailed after the 6:42 mark of the first quarter.

Tonight
Chicago Bulls at Toronto Raptors, 7:00 p.m.
Detroit Pistons at Brooklyn Nets, 7:30 p.m.

NBA – Silver tells NBA team owners to take note of rest issue
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sent a memo to the league’s board of governors Monday, calling the way teams are choosing to rest starters in some games “an extremely significant issue for our league” and pressing owners to be more involved in the decision-making process. Silver also told the owners that the matter will be discussed at league meetings next month after nationally televised games on back-to-back Saturday nights were diluted by decisions to rest star players.     ESPN.com first reported the contents of the memo.  The rest issue has been an even hotter-than-usual talking point in the NBA of late with teams like Golden State and Cleveland, the last two NBA champions, electing to rest superstars in recent nationally televised games.

NBA – Pistons assign Ellenson to D-League
The Detroit Pistons have assigned first-round draft pick Henry Ellenson to their Grand Rapids affiliate in the D-League. Ellenson has appeared in only 14 games this season for the Pistons, averaging 1.5 points and 0.9 rebounds in 4.0 minutes per game. He’s averaged 18.3 points and 8.9 rebounds in 18 games with Grand Rapids. The Pistons play their next four games on the road and don’t have another home game until March 28. The next game for Grand Rapids is Wednesday night.  Detroit took Ellenson with the 18th pick in the 2016 draft.

MLB – Major League Baseball – Spring Training
Yesterday
Detroit 5, N.Y. Mets 1
San Francisco 3, Chi. White Sox 2
Chicago Cubs 9, Colorado 6

Today
Chicago White Sox vs. Texas at Surprise, Ariz., 9:05 p.m.
Cubs and Tigers are off.

NFL – Police: Brady’s missing Super Bowl jerseys tracked to Mexico
Tom Brady’s missing Super Bowl jersey has been found in Mexico six weeks after it vanished from the Patriots’ locker room, but the mystery isn’t over. The NFL said the jersey was found in “possession of a credentialed member of the international media,” and authorities were investigating Monday whether a former Mexican tabloid newspaper executive played a role in the theft.  It wasn’t the only piece of memorabilia recovered: Authorities found a Brady jersey that had gone missing after the Patriots’ 2015 Super Bowl win over the Seattle Seahawks. And NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy says that a helmet belonging to a Denver Broncos player was also discovered. The stolen jersey, and the investigation that stretched from Boston to the border, captivated Patriots fans and social media for several days after the Patriots’ 34-28 overtime win over the Atlanta Falcons.

NFL – Detroit Lions sign free agent DT Jordan Hill
The Detroit Lions have signed free agent defensive tackle Jordan Hill. Hill is entering his fifth NFL season after previously playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Seattle Seahawks. He was drafted by the Seahawks in the third round in 2013. Hill has seven sacks in 31 career games. He played in four games for the Jaguars last season, making no starts. In 2014, he had 5 ½ sacks in a reserve role for Seattle. The Lions announced the move Monday and did not release contract terms.

NFL – Bears re-sign safety Chris Prosinski
The Chicago Bears have re-signed safety Chris Prosinski to a one-year contract. Prosinski played in 16 games and had 15 tackles and one pass breakup last season, his second in Chicago. He also finished third on the team with seven special teams tackles. Prosinski has 120 tackles and 43 special teams tackles for Jacksonville (2011-14), Philadelphia (2014) and Chicago (2015-16). The Bears announced the move on Monday. Chicago finished last in the NFC North at 3-13 last season.

NFL – Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers battling dementia
Relatives of Hall of Famer Gale Sayers say the Chicago Bears legend has been diagnosed with dementia. His wife, Ardythe Sayers tells The Kansas City Star that her 73-year-old husband was diagnosed four years ago and she blames Sayers’ playing career. He played for the Bears from 1965-71 after setting records at the University of Kansas.

NFL – Trump rips NFL QB Kaepernick during speech in Kentucky
President Donald Trump has taken a swipe at controversial NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick at a campaign-style rally in Louisville, Kentucky.  Kaepernick, who played for the San Francisco 49ers but now is a free agent, hasn’t yet been signed to another team.  Trump told the crowd he read an article reporting that NFL owners don’t want to pick Kaepernick up “because they don’t want to get a nasty tweet from Donald Trump.”  “Do you believe that?” he asked the enthusiastic crowd. Kaepernick refused to stand during the national anthem at the start of NFL games last season to protest police treatment of minorities.   Trump says of the people of Kentucky, “They like it when people actually stand for the American flag.”

NFL – Director wants to know why there’s no interest in Kaepernick
Spike Lee says it’s “fishy” that former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick remains an NFL free agent. Kaepernick’s season-long protest of “The Star-Spangled Banner” ahead of 49ers games became a topic of national debate last season. Kaepernick was protesting police treatment of minorities in the country. He has indicated he plans to stand for the anthem next season. Lee wrote on Instagram Sunday that he had brunch with Kaepernick in New York. The director questioned what crime Kaepernick has committed. He says the quarterback’s lack of suitors “smells mad fishy to me.”

USAHockey – Women’s players call negotiations with USA Hockey productive
The U.S. women’s national team says discussions with USA Hockey over an ongoing wage dispute were productive and will continue this week. The team released a statement Monday night after a lengthy meeting that included almost 20 players and top executives from USA Hockey. Players announced last week they’d boycott the upcoming world championships in Plymouth, Michigan, unless significant progress was made toward a labor agreement.  In the statement, players said the goal was to reach an agreement this week that would still allow them to get to training camp and play in the tournament. Camp was set to begin Wednesday with the tournament beginning March 31.

Golf – Johnson faces a major group in Match Play
Dustin Johnson is facing a trio of major champions in his group at the Dell Technologies Match Play. Johnson is the No. 1 seed for the first time in Match Play, which starts Wednesday at Austin Country Club in Texas. The three players assigned to his round-robin group are PGA champion Jimmy Walker, two-time major champion Martin Kaymer and former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson. Defending champion Jason Day, the No. 3 seed, has Bay Hill winner Marc Leishman in his group. They are only two Australians in the 64-man field. Rory McIlroy has Emiliano Grillo, Gary Woodland and Soren Kjeldsen, while fourth-seeded Hideki Matsuyama has drawn Louis Oosthuizen, the runner-up last year. Also in Matsuyama’s group are Ross Fisher and Jim Furyk.

Olympic Golf – 2020 Olympic golf course votes to amend membership policy
The course that will host the 2020 Olympic golf tournament has decided to change its membership policy to include women. The Kasumigaseki Country Club says its executive board decided on the change after discussions among its members. The membership policy came under scrutiny when Tokyo’s governor urged it to admit women as full members. Other critics said the club’s policy was contrary to the spirit of the Olympics.

MHSAA – Kalamazoo Central’s Livers named Mr. Basketball
Isaiah Livers of Kalamazoo Central has been named Mr. Basketball for the state of Michigan. Livers, who has signed to play at Michigan for the Wolverines next season, edged Xavier Tillman of Grand Rapids Christian in voting by members of the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan. The Hal Schram Mr. Basketball award is given to the state’s top senior by the coaches group in conjunction with the Detroit Free Press. Livers averaged 17.5 points and 14 rebounds per game during the regular season. Kalamazoo Central faces Grand Rapids Christian on Tuesday in a Class A quarterfinal.  G.R. Christian defeated Kalamazoo Central 53-51 on March 2nd at Kalamazoo

MHSAA – Whitens, Washington named Class D boys AP Players of Year
Powers North Central’s Jason Whitens and Southfield Christian’s Bryce Washington have been named The Associated Press Class D boys co-Players of the Year in Michigan.  The senior forward Whitens averaged 23.2 points, 10.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 3.1 steals per game for the unbeaten Jets, who are looking to win a third straight state title. Washington averaged 20 points, seven rebounds and two steals per game and is looking to lead his Eagles to the top of Class D this weekend.  Joining them on the all-state first team are Powers North Central’s Dawson Bilski, Southfield Christian’s Brock Washington, Denver Cade of Buckley, Derrick Edington of Pickford, Matt Havey of Lansing Christian, Dylan Jergens of Marcellus Howardsville Christian, Gabe Meriwether of Bellaire and Jake Witt of Ewen-Trout Creek. They were selected by a panel of sportswriters.     Powers North Central’s Adam Mercier was named Class D Coach of the Year.

MHSAA – High School Sports – Boys Basketball Quarterfinals
Today
Class B at Caledonia
Benton Harbor vs. Spring Lake, 7:00 p.m.                 95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports

Class D at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix
Dream Academy vs. Lansing Christian, 7:00 p.m.

Class A at Lansing Eastern
Kalamazoo Central vs. Grand Rapids Christian, 7:00 p.m.

Class C at Holland West Ottawa
Kalamazoo Christian vs. G.R Covenant Christian, 7:30 p.m.