Inside: A Florida college basketball player collapses on the court, News+Notes,
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. >> Florida standout for ward Keyontae Johnson, the Southeastern Conference’s preseason player of the year, collapsed coming out of a timeout against rival Florida State and needed emergency medical attention Saturday. Johnson was taken off the floor on a stretcher and rushed to Tallahassee Memorial for evaluation. The team said he was in critical but stable condition and later said he would remain in the hospital overnight.
Johnson had just dunked in transition before he crumpled to the floor as the team broke its huddle. Several Gators were in tears and a couple buried their faces in towels as Florida coach Mike White gathered them in prayer.
Johnson, a 6-foot- 5 junior from Norfolk, Virginia, averaged a teamhigh 14 points last season to go along with 7.1 rebounds. He also led the Gators with 38 steals.
He scored five points in four minutes Saturday.
Like many of his Florida teammates, Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 during the summer. Although the cause of Johnson’s ailment was not immediately known, the coronavirus can lead to myocarditis, a viral infection of the heart muscle. At its most severe, myocarditis can lead to sudden cardiac arrest and has been a documented cause of death for young, otherwise healthy athletes.
Hockey
SHARKS PROSPECT BORDELEAU RELEASED FROM TEAM USA DUE TO COVID PROTOCOLS >> San Jose Sharks prospect Thomas Bordeleau will not be part of Team USA for the IIHF World Junior Championships in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, after his roommate at the American selection camp, Boston Bruins draft pick John Beecher, tested positive for the coronavirus.
Bordeleau and Beecher, teammates at the University of Michigan, had been
rooming together at the camp in Plymouth, Mich.
A Team USA spokesman said after the test, per IIHF protocols, the players were removed immediately and deemed ineligible to play in the tournament, which begins Christmas Day and ends Jan. 5. Team USA general manager John Vanbiesbrouck said there was just one positive test.
College football
FULLER 1ST WOMAN TO SCORE IN POWER 5 GAME >> Sarah Fuller became the first woman to score in a Power Five conference football game by kicking an extra point for Vanderbilt.
T he goa lkeeper for Vanderbilt’s Southeastern Conference women’s soccer champs put the ball through the uprights and celebrated by slapping high-fives with teammates.
Fuller made history as the first female to play in a Power Five conference game on Nov. 28 with a squib kick to open the second half. She has remained on the roster even as Vanderbilt’s other kickers came out of quarantine and rejoined the team.
No woman before Fuller had appeared in an SEC game or for any Power Five team. Liz Heaston became the first woman to score in college football with two extra points for Willamette of NAIA on Oct. 18, 1997.
ARIZONA FIRES SUMLIN FOLLOWING BLOWOUT LOSS >> Arizona fired football coach Kevin Sumlin following a blowout loss to rival Arizona State that extended a record losing streak.
Sumlin was fired less than 24 hours after a 70-7 loss to Arizona State that stretched the Wildcats’ losing streak to 12 games spanning two seasons.
Sumlin entered this year on the hot seat after the Wildcats closed the 2019 season with seven straight losses.
Baseball
SOURCE: CATCHER MCCANN, METS NEAR $40M, 4-YR DEAL >> Free agent catcher James McCann and the New York Mets were close to completing a $40 million, four-year contract as the team continues to upgrade its roster under new owner Steve Cohen.
McCann was an All-Star with the White Sox in 2019 when he hit .273 with 18 home runs and 60 RBIs. He batted .289 with seven homers and 15 RBIs for Chicago this year in 31 games while splitting time with Yasmani Grandal during the pandemic-shortened season.
Golf
KUCHAR, ENGLISH OPEN 5-SHOT LEAD IN QBE SHOOTOUT >> Matt Kuchar and Harris English took a fivestroke lead in the QBE Shootout, opening and closing with long birdie runs for an 11-under 61 in modified alternate- shot play.
Kuchar and English birdied the first five holes on Tiburon Golf Club’s Gold Course, then ran off six in a row on Nos. 12-17. They had a 25-under 125 total after opening the 12team event Friday with a 58 in the scramble format. The final round will be better ball.
Kevin Na and Sean O’Hair, the first- round leaders at 56, were second after a 68.
REED IN 3-WAY TIE FOR LEAD IN DUBAI >> Patrick Reed rolled in an 8-foot birdie putt at the last hole to move into a three-way tie for the third-round lead at the World Tour Championship, keeping him on track to become the first American to finish a season as the European Tour’s No. 1 player.
Reed, who shot 1-under 71, was tied with Englishmen Laurie Canter (68) and Matt Fitzpatrick (69) at 11 under par overall in the season-ending event at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
Reed leads the Race to Dubai standings.
Skiing MA RTA BAS S I NO WI N S WORLD CUP GIANT SLALOM; SHIFFRIN 4TH >>
Marta Bassino won her second straight World Cup giant slalom of the season, and Mikaela Shiffrin placed fourth in her return to the event after an 11-month gap.
Shiffrin had been thirdfastest in the morning and was again quick in the top sections before losing time in the lower part of a course slowed by steady falling snow. She finished 1.70 behind Bassino. SWISS SKIER MAURO CAVIEZEL GETS 1ST WORLD CUP WIN >> At age 32, Swiss skier Mauro Caviezel got the first win of his late-blooming career in a World Cup super- G.
Caviezel topped a podium with two racers getting their first career top-3 finishes.