Weekday Morning Sports – Friday 1/27/17

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sportsreport-160

95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Friday, January 27, 2017

NCAAMBB – Men’s College Basketball
Last Night
Michigan 90, Indiana 60

Michigan 90, Indiana 60 – Michigan nearly flawless in 90-60 rout of Indiana
Derrick Walton scored 21 points on a nearly flawless night for Michigan, and the Wolverines routed Indiana 90-60 on Thursday night for their most lopsided victory over the Hoosiers since 1998. Moe Wagner scored 14 points for the Wolverines (14-7, 4-4 Big Ten) and Duncan Robinson added 13. Michigan went 11 of 20 from 3-point range and was never seriously threatened after racing out to an early 14-point lead. It was the largest margin of victory for Michigan in the series since a 112-64 win in 1998. Indiana (14-7, 4-4) nearly matched Michigan’s torrid shooting in the first half, but the Hoosiers trailed 50-35 at halftime because they couldn’t take care of the ball. The second half wasn’t much different. Indiana finished the game with 16 turnovers to Michigan’s six. Robert Johnson led Indiana with 14 points.

Saturday
(14) Notre Dame at Georgia Tech, 12:00 p.m.
Central Michigan at Kent State, 12:00 p.m.
Western Michigan at Ball State, 1:00 p.m.
Eastern Michigan at Miami (OH), 3:30 p.m.

Saturday
Michigan at Michigan State, 1:00 p.m.
95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports 12:30 (Michigan)
Superhits 103.7 Cosy-FM 12:00 (Michigan State)

NCAAWBB – Women’s College Basketball
Last Night
(8) Notre Dame 62, (14) Duke 58

#8 Notre Dame 62, #14 Duke 58 – Turner, Irish come back to beat Duke
Brianna Turner had 25 points and 12 rebounds and No. 8 Notre Dame held off an upset bid by No. 14 Duke with a 62-58 victory Thursday night. Lindsay Allen finished with 12 assists for the Irish (19-3, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who moved back into a first-place tie in the ACC with Florida State.  Lexie Brown scored 22 points to lead the Blue Devils (17-4, 5-3 ACC), who lost their 12th straight to Notre Dame.

Saturday
Buffalo at Western Michigan, 2:00 p.m.
Central Michigan at Toledo, 4:30 p.m.
Eastern Michigan at Akron, 5:00 p.m.

Sunday
Virginia at (8) Notre Dame, 12:00 p.m.

NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Winnipeg Jets 5, Chicago Blackhawks 3

Jets 5, Blackhawks 3 – Little, Jets beat Blackhawks 5-3
Andrew Copp and Bryan Little scored in a 32-second span in the third period, and the Winnipeg Jets beat Chicago 5-3 on Thursday night for their fourth straight victory against the Blackhawks this season. Little, Copp, rookie Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and an assist, helping the Jets to their third win in their last nine games. Connor Hellebuyck made 38 saves on the final night before the NHL All-Star break. The Blackhawks had a 3-2 lead before Copp tipped Josh Morrissey’s shot past Scott Darling with 4:03 left. Little then blasted a shot by Darling for his 13th of the season, silencing the crowd of 21,746. Scheifele added an empty-netter at 17:57 for his 22nd goal, moving the center into a tie with Laine for the team lead.

Sunday
2017 NHL All Star Game, 3:30 p.m.       (Los Angeles)

NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Indiana Pacers 109, Minnesota Timberwolves 103

Pacers 109, T-Wolves 103 – George leads Pacers over Timberwolves, 109-103
Paul George scored 32 points after being picked for his fourth All-Star game to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 109-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night.  Myles Turner added 23 points, and Jeff Teague had 20 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds to help the Pacers snap a three-game losing streak. Indiana outrebounded Minnesota 44-34 and shot 52 percent.  Karl-Anthony Towns had 33 points and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves after getting passed over for the Western Conference reserves. Zach LaVine scored 23 points, and Andrew Wiggins had 21, but the Timberwolves missed a chance for their first four-game winning streak since 2012.

Tonight
Sacramento Kings at Indiana Pacers, 7:00 p.m.
Miami Heat at Chicago Bulls, 8:00 p.m.

NFL – National Football League – 2017 Pro Bowl
Sunday
AFC vs. NFC, 8:00 p.m.     (Orlando, FL)                  95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports

NFL – League says less injuries this season
There was a reduction in injuries, including concussions, in the NFL this season. Emphasizing that players are doing more self-reporting of head injuries, the NFL released data that shows overall concussions for the preseason and regular season were down from 275 in 2015 to 244 in 2016.   The 275 diagnosed concussions in 2015 were a high over the last five years and were an increase of 69 over the previous season.

MLB – Avila says Tigers won’t be above luxury tax mark for 2018
Tigers general manager Al Avila says the team will be sure to avoid exceeding baseball’s luxury tax threshold in 2018 because the penalties would be too severe at that point. Detroit was over the tax boundary last season, and Avila said Thursday the same will be true this year. But he says the Tigers “certainly are not” going to exceed the threshold for a third straight season in 2018. The luxury tax threshold is $195 million for 2017 and $197 million for 2018. A team that is over the boundary for a third consecutive season would owe a 50 percent tax on the amount exceeding the threshold _ not including any possible surtaxes that could kick in. Detroit’s tax rate last season was 17.5 percent.

MLB – Indians to host 2019 event
The baseball All-Star game is reportedly on its way back to Cleveland. A person familiar with the decision says the Indians will host the 2019 All-Star Game at Progressive Field. The person told The Associated Press that the team will hold a news conference on Friday to formally announce the event. The last time it was held in Cleveland was 1997.  The city also hosted the game in 1935, 1954, 1963 and 1981 at Municipal Stadium, which was torn down in the 1990s.  The Indians will be the first AL host since Minnesota in 2014. The All-Stars will be in Miami this year and Washington, D.C., in 2018.   The state of Ohio last host the All Star Game in 2015 when Cincinnati played host to the game.   San Diego was the host city for the 2016 contest.

NCAAFB – Michigan hires ex-Rodriguez assistant Frey to coach O-line
Michigan has hired Greg Frey to be its tackles and tight ends coach and run-game coordinator.  Coach Jim Harbaugh announced the move Thursday, filling an opening created when running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley left for the same role with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Harbaugh’s son, Jay, will coach the team’s running backs and remain its special teams coach. Frey was the Wolverines’ offensive line coach from 2008 to 2010 under Rich Rodriguez. Frey coached Indiana’s offensive line the last six seasons. Harbaugh previously hired Pep Hamilton away from the Cleveland Browns to be his passing coordinator. Michigan is paying Hamilton, defensive coordinator Don Brown and offensive coordinator Tim Drevno $1 million each per year.

AHL – American Hockey League
Tonight
San Jose Barracuda at Grand Rapids Griffins, 7:00 p.m.

ECHL – East Coast Hockey League
Tonight
Brampton Beast at Kalamazoo Wings, 7:00 p.m.

MHSAA – High School Sports
Yesterday
Girls Basketball
Comstock 51, Berrien Springs 31
Buchanan 38, Brandywine 32
Bronson 46, White Pigeon 29

Boys Swimming
St. Joseph 112, Portage Northern 72
Mattawan 101, Bridgman/Lakeshore 83

Tonight
Boys Basketball
SMAC – All games at 7:00 p.m.
St. Joseph at Portage Northern 95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports
Portage Central at Lakeshore
Gull Lake at Mattawan
Battle Creek Lakeview at Battle Creek Central

Non-Conference/Independent
Benton Harbor at Niles, 7:00 p.m.

Wolverine – All Games at 7:15 p.m.
Otsego at South Haven Superhits 103.7 Cosy-FM
Sturgis at Dowagiac
Three Rivers at Edwardsburg
Plainwell at Paw Paw
Allegan at Vicksburg

BCS
Howardsville Chr. at Lake Mich. Catholic, 7:30 p.m.
Brandywine at Buchanan, 7:30 p.m.
Countryside at River Valley, 7:30 p.m.
Bridgman at Parchment, 7:15 p.m.
Cassopolis at New Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Comstock at Berrien Springs, 7:30 p.m.

SAC – All Games at 7:30 p.m.
Coloma at Bangor
Delton-Kellogg at Watervliet
Gobles at Hartford
Eau Claire at Lawrence
Decatur at Bloomingdale
Saugatuck at Fennville
Marcellus at Lawton
Kalamazoo Christian at Lawton
Galesburg-Augusta at Kalamazoo Hackett
Constantine at Schoolcraft

Girls Basketball
SMAC – All games at 5:45 p.m.
St. Joseph at Portage Northern 95.7 & 1400 WSJM Sports
Portage Central at Lakeshore
Gull Lake at Mattawan
Battle Creek Lakeview at Battle Creek Central

Non-Conference/Independent
Benton Harbor at Niles, 5:45 p.m.

Wolverine
Otsego at South Haven, 6:00 p.m.
Sturgis at Dowagiac, 6:00 p.m.
Three Rivers at Edwardsburg, 6:00 p.m.
Plainwell at Paw Paw, 6:00 p.m.
Vicksburg at Allegan, 7:15 p.m.

BCS
Howardsville Chr. at Lake Mich. Catholic, 6:00 p.m.
Brandywine at Buchanan, 6:00 p.m.
Countryside at River Valley, 6:00 p.m.
Bridgman at Parchment, 5:45 p.m.
Michigan Lutheran at Grace Christian, 6:00 p.m.

SAC – All Games at 6:00 p.m.
Coloma at Bangor
Delton-Kellogg at Watervliet
Gobles at Hartford
Eau Claire at Lawrence
Decatur at Bloomingdale
Saugatuck at Fennville
Marcellus at Lawton
Kalamazoo Christian at Lawton
Galesburg-Augusta at Kalamazoo Hackett
Constantine at Schoolcraft

Ice Hockey
Lakeshore/St. Joseph vs. Winnetka (IL) New Trier White, 4:15 p.m.                  (at Notre Dame)

Saturday
Boys Basketball
Plainwell at Hastings, 7:30 p.m.

Girls Basketball
Plainwell at Hastings, 6:00 p.m.

Wrestling
Greater Berrien County Invitational (at St. Joseph), 9:30 a.m.