San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was questionable to return to the NFC championship game on Sunday after he took a hard hit to his right elbow in the first quarter. Purdy was drilled in the arm by Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick on a play that was ruled a fumble. The Eagles recovered and Purdy was examined on the sideline. Purdy was replaced by backup Josh Johnson.
Kahliel Spear finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds to power Robert Morris to a 68-63 victory over Oakland. Jackson Last scored nine points for the Colonials (11-12, 6-6 Horizon League). Stephaun Walker added eight points and nine rebounds. The Golden Grizzlies (9-14, 7-5) were led by Jalen Moore, who finished with 24 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Led by Keith Higgins Jr.'s 19 points, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks defeated the Boston University Terriers 66-55 on Sunday. The Mountain Hawks improved to 13-8 with the win and the Terriers fell to 10-13.
San Francisco 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell was inactive for Sunday’s NFC championship game because of a groin injury. The 49ers promoted veteran running back Tevin Coleman from the practice squad to the active roster.
Erik Reynolds II scored 30 points to lead Saint Joseph’s to a 79-76 victory over George Mason. Reynolds was 9-of-18 shooting, including 5 for 12 from distance, and went 7 for 10 from the free-throw line for the Hawks (10-11, 4-5 Atlantic 10 Conference). Lynn Greer III pitched in with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Ejike Obinna made all seven of his shots and scored 15. Josh Oduro finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and two steals for the Patriots (12-10, 4-5).
Jared Bynum scored 19 points and hit a key jumper and two free throws late to help No. 23 Providence defeat Villanova 70-65. Ed Croswell scored 14 points for the Friars, who improved to 17-5. Cam Whitmore had 21 points to lead Villanova, which returned to the court after an eight-day layoff. The Wildcats are 10-11. Justin Moore played for Villanova for the first time since suffering a torn Achilles’ in Villanova’s Elite Eight victory over Houston last spring. He finished with five points. The game was played at the Wells Fargo Center and ended about an hour before the Philadelphia Eagles hosted San Francisco in the NFL championship game across the street at Lincoln Financial Field. There were some Eagles chants and plenty of green jerseys throughout the arena.
Jalen Pickett scored 25 points with eight rebounds and eight assists, Andrew Funk surpassed 1,500 points and Penn State raced past Michigan 83-61. Seth Lundy scored 22 points for the Nittany Lions, who matched last season’s win total. Penn State, which lost the first meeting 79-69, was shooting 58% and led by 32 midway through the second half before finishing 4 of 13. Jett Howard made 5 of 7 3-pointers and scored 21 points for the Wolverines, who were coming off a five-point loss to No. 1 Purdue without Howard. Penn State had an 18-0 run starting with five-straight 3-pointers in the closing minutes of the first half for a 49-30 lead. Michigan added a basket and trailed 49-32 in what was PSU’s highest-scoring half of the season.
Philadelphia takes on the Orlando Magic after Joel Embiid scored 47 points in the Philadelphia 76ers' 126-119 victory against the Denver Nuggets. Monday's meeting will be the third of the season between the two teams. Philadelphia is 18-10 against the Eastern Conference, and Orlando is 9-21 against conference opponents.
Carter Hart made 40 saves for his first shutout of the season in the Philadelphia Flyers’ 4-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night. Noah Cates had a goal and an assist, Kieffer Bellows, Owen Tippett and Tony DeAngelo also scored, and Rasmus Ristolainen added two assists. Philadelphia (21-21-9) is 7-1-1 in its last nine road games. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 26 shots for Winnipeg before being relieved by David Rittich. Rittich made three saves. The Jets have lost three straight to drop to 31-19-1.
Logan Couture had two goals and three assists as the San Jose Sharks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-4 to snap a four-game skid. Alexander Barabanov had a goal and two assists, Erik Karlsson added a goal and an assist, and Michael Eyssimont and Noah Gregor also scored for the Sharks, who are 4-5-4 in their last 13 games. Marc-Edouard Vlasic had two assists and Kaapo Kahkonen made 37 saves. Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist, Evgeni Malkin had two goals and an assist, and Ryan Poehling added a short-handed goal for Pittsburgh, which snapped a six-game point streak (3-0-3). Casey DeSmith stopped 26 shots.
Damar Hamlin released a video Saturday in which he says he’s thankful for the outpouring of support and vows to pay it back, marking the first time the Buffalo Bills safety has spoken publicly since he went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated on the field in Cincinnati on Jan. 2. Hamlin said now was “the right time” to speak after the Bills’ season ended and because he needed time to recover and gather his thoughts. The 5 1/2-minute video was posted on Hamlin's social media accounts.
The UMass Minutemen defeated the Duquesne Dukes 87-79 led by RJ Luis' 31 points. The Minutemen improved to 13-8 with the win and the Dukes fell to 14-8.
Joel Embiid won the battle of MVP candidates with 47 points and 18 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers extended their winning streak to seven games with a 126-119 win over Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. Jokic and Embiid have finished first and second in voting for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award over the last two seasons. James Harden had 17 points and 13 assists, and Tobias Harris scored all 14 of his points in the second half after being shut down by Denver’s defense in the first half. Jokic had 24 points, eight rebounds and nine assists in the losing cause.
Blake Hinson tipped in a Jamarius Burton miss with 31 seconds remaining and Pittsburgh rallied past No. 20 Miami 71-68. The Panthers held the Hurricanes scoreless over the final 2:26 while closing on an 11-0 run to beat a ranked team for the third time this season. Hinson finished with 21 points for Pitt. Jordan Miller led the Hurricanes with 18 points. Isaiah Wong added 14 but the Hurricanes committed three of their 12 turnovers in the final 35 seconds as the Panthers stormed back.
Led by Sean Halloran's 18 points, the Elon Phoenix defeated the Drexel Dragons 72-58. The Phoenix moved to 3-19 with the victory and the Dragons dropped to 12-10.
Ishmael Leggett scored 20 points to help Rhode Island hold off La Salle 72-70. Leggett added six rebounds for the Rams (8-13, 4-5 Atlantic 10 Conference). Jalen Carey added 18 points and six rebounds. Brayon Freeman contributed 12 points and six boards. Josh Nickelberry led the Explorers (8-13, 2-6) with 16 points.
Led by Jordan Dingle's 27 points, the Penn Quakers defeated the Harvard Crimson 83-68 on Saturday. The Quakers improved to 11-11 with the victory and the Crimson fell to 12-9.
Led by Tucker Richardson's 15 points, the Colgate Raiders defeated the Lafayette Leopards 69-57 on Saturday. The Raiders are now 16-7 with the win and the Leopards dropped to 7-16.
Led by Jaylin Andrews' 24 points, the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds defeated the Bucknell Bison 80-66 on Saturday. The Greyhounds are now 8-15 on the season, while the Bison fell to 8-15.
Led by Davonte Sweatman's 20 points, the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils defeated the Saint Francis (PA) Red Flash 88-74 on Saturday. The Blue Devils moved to 6-17 with the win and the Red Flash dropped to 8-13.
Khalif Battle scored 26 points, including nine in overtime, as Temple took down UCF 77-70. Battle also added seven rebounds for the Owls. Jamille Reynolds added 16 points and five rebounds. Ithiel Horton finished with 13 points and six rebounds for the Knights.
DeMeco Ryans might be in San Francisco, but he still has some influence in Philadelphia. He finished his player career there and four teammates who are still with the Eagles say they learned a lot from him. Ryans has helped put together the NFL's stingiest defense with the 49ers. The two teams play Sunday for the NFC title and a Super Bowl berth. Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham says Ryans had a knack for knowing what play was coming next from the opposing offense and was able to communicate that to his teammates.
If Vegas oddsmakers are correct — and there’s a reason those casinos are huge and luxurious — then football fans are in for a treat this weekend. The NFL’s conference championship weekend is here: The Philadelphia Eagles will host the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC title while the Kansas City Chiefs host the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC. Both games are Sunday. The gambling odds are tight for both games, though both home teams have a slight edge. The Eagles are a 2 1/2-point favorite while the Chiefs are favored by 1 1/2 points, according to odds from FanDuel Sportsbook. The winners will meet in the Super Bowl on Feb. 12 in Glendale, Arizona.
Quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Brock Purdy have been here before. Just not in the NFL. The two met in November 2019, when Hurts was the QB for Oklahoma and Purdy was the QB for Iowa State. In that game, Hurts passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more scores for Oklahoma. Purdy passed for five touchdowns for Iowa State. could be primed for a shootout in the NFC championship game. Hurts is now an NFL MVP finalist for the Philadelphia Eagles and Purdy is the rookie sensation for the San Francisco 49ers.
The San Jose Sharks aim to stop a four-game slide with a victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Kahliel Spear scored 25 points and Robert Morris beat Antoine Davis and Detroit Mercy for the first time 85-77. Spear made 10 of 14 shots from the floor and all five of his free throws for the Colonials (10-12, 5-6 Horizon League). Josh Corbin hit six 3-pointers and scored 20. Davis led the Titans (8-14, 4-7) with 29 points. He made 9 of 11 shots from beyond the arc but sank just 1 of 10 from inside it. The fifth-year senior, who is second on the Division I all-time scoring list, now has 3,317 career points. He trails record-holder Pete Maravich of LSU (1967-70) by 350. Maravich set the record in three seasons.
The NBA has fined Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid $25,000 apiece for actions on the court. Curry was penalized Friday for throwing his mouthpiece into the crowd late in Golden State’s 122-120 home victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night. The All-Star guard was given a technical foul and ejected. Embiid’s fine was for an obscene gesture midway through the third quarter of Philadelphia’s home victory over Brooklyn on Wednesday night.
The San Francisco 49ers got a jolt offensively when they made the bold decision in October to trade four draft picks to add Christian McCaffrey to an already deep group of playmakers. The Philadelphia Eagles made an aggressive trade of their own to supercharge their offense when they added game-breaking receiver A.J. Brown in a draft-day trade. The two moves by the NFC powerhouses are big reasons why the Niners and Eagles are set to meet in the conference title game in Philadelphia on Sunday with a spot in the Super Bowl on the line.
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