Koulechov drops 22, in SEC opener for UF
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: No. 9 Penn State (11-2) built a 28-14 halftime lead and held on to defeat Washington 35-28 in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. The victory pushed the Big Ten bowl record to 6-0, while the Pac-12 dropped to 1-8. No. 11 Washington finished 10-3 . ... Allen Lazard tied a Liberty Bowl record with 10 catches and put Iowa State (8-5) ahead with a 5-yard TD reception in the third quarter, and the Cyclones beat No. 20 Memphis 21-20 on the Tigers’ home field. Memphis finished 10-3. ... Freshman Keytaon Thompson, making his first start in place of injured QB Nick Fitzgerald, ran for 147 yards and three TDs to help No. 23 Mississippi State (9-4) beat Louisville (8-5) and 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson 31-27 in the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla . ... Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield made it to the Rose Bowl media day and said he has been dealing with “flu-like” symptoms the last few days.
HOCKEY: Elias Pettersson and Lias Andersson each had two goals and an assist and Sweden beat Switzerland 7-2 in the world junior championship in Buffalo, N.Y., to wrap up Group B.
NFL: The Jets placed RB Matt Forte on IR. Forte, 32, has been slowed the last month with increased swelling in his surgically repaired right knee. He finished his second season with the Jets with a career-low 381 rushing yards . ... The Vikings placed long snapper Kevin McDermott on IR, forcing them to break in a new specialist Jeff Overbaugh right before the playoffs . ... The Giants fired Marc Ross, the team’s VP of player evaluation for the last five seasons. SOCCER: Mohamed Salah scored twice to match Roger Hunt’s club record for goals scored before the turn of the year as Liverpool came from behind to beat Leicester 2-1 in the English Premier League. ... Romelu Lukaku was carried off on a stretcher during Manchester United’s scoreless draw against Southampton. The United striker wore an oxygen mask as he left the field. Southampton defender Wesley Hoedt’s head collided with the back of Lukaku’s head in an aerial challenge.
TENNIS: Serena Williams lost in her return after giving birth in September, beaten by French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in an exhibition in Abu Dhabi. She’s not sure if she will defend her Australian Open title . ... Novak Djokovic withdrew from another tournament, this time his final warm-up event for the Australian Open, saying he still has pain in his right elbow and isn’t sure when he will return to action. The elbow problem forced Djokovic to withdraw from an exhibition tournament in United Arab Emirates on Friday. He said his elbow hadn’t improved and he was going to miss next week’s Qatar Open . ... CoCo Vandeweghe gave the USA an early lead in the 30th edition of the mixed team Hopman Cup event with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Perth, Australia.
WINTER SPORTS: Bryan Fletcher qualified for his second consecutive Olympic team in Nordic Combined after rallying for a victory at the U.S. Trials in Park City, Utah. Fletcher finished the 10-kilometer crosscountry course in 25 minutes, 6.81 seconds to overcome a poor showing in the earlier ski jump.
GAINESVILLE It’s been a long time, maybe even a decade, since Florida had this much confidence from the free-throw line.
It came in handy in the Southeastern Conference opener against Vanderbilt.
Egor Koulechov scored 22 points, Chris Chiozza added 17 and the Gators opened conference play with a 81-74 victory against the Commodores on Saturday.
Florida (9-4) led the entire game and ended a five-game losing streak in the series. The key was making 27 of 30 free throws.
“I thought we made some good decisions, our best freethrow shooters, in being aggressive,” Florida coach Mike White said. “Mature decisions.”
It was White’s first victory against the Vanderbilt (5-8), giving him a win against every team in the league in three seasons.
“It’s huge,” White said. “It feels good.”
This one was a one-sided affair early and a nail-biter late.
Florida scored the first nine points of the game and was up 40-20 at halftime. But Vanderbilt clawed its way back into the game thanks partly to 12 3-pointers and made it close down the stretch.
Riley LaChance’s 3-pointer with 1:38 remaining cut it to 74-70. But the Commodores missed their next two shots from behind the arc.
“It was a big hill, but we had a shot there to cut it to one with a minute left,” Vandy coach Bryce Drew said. “You would love to see that one go down if you are on our side just to see how that next possession would have gone. We might have been able to take the lead in the last 30 seconds.”
Instead, the Gators closed it out from the free-throw line.
Jeff Roberson led Vandy with 18 points and seven rebounds. Matthew FisherDavis (17), Saben Lee (13) and LaChance (11) also scored in double figures.
Florida plays Texas A&M on night. at No. 5 Tuesday