USC beats Cal Baptist in OT; Mobley has 21 in debut
LOS ANGELES — Highly recruited Evan Mobley had 21 points and nine rebounds in his college debut, helping Southern California defeat Cal Baptist 95-87 in overtime on Wednesday night in the teams’ season opener.
Tahj Eaddy, a graduate transfer from Santa Clara, added 18 points for the Trojans (1-0), who had all five starters in double figures. Mobley’s older brother, Isaiah, added 14 points and 10 rebounds reuniting with his sibling for the first time since high school.
Cal Baptist’s Ty Rowell, who missed most of last season due to injury, had career highs of 32 points and nine 3-pointers. Mark Carbone added 15 points. Starters Gorjok Gak (13 points, 8 rebounds) and Reed Nottage (nine points) each fouled out. The Lancers made a school-record 20 3-pointers.
The Trojans fell behind by five under a barrage of 3-pointers by the Lancers (0-1) before Eaddy’s 3-pointer tied it 79-all, sending the game into overtime.
USC dominated the extra session, outscoring the Lancers 16-8. Evan Mobley had a couple highlight plays: hitting a hook shot and dunking off a teammate’s missed free throw. He scored six points in OT.
Evan Mobley began the game by tapping
the ball out of bounds on the opening tip. The 7-foot forward who is expected to be a one-and-done player did just about everything else right.
Browns place DE Gustin on COVID list, team hit hard by virus
CLEVELAND — The Browns didn’t dodge COVID-19 on the holiday.
Cleveland placed defensive end Porter Gustin on the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday, further weakening a group already missing star Myles Garrett and the latest move for a Browns team hit hard by the virus in recent weeks.
Gustin’s positive test forced the Browns to close their facility for the third day in a row to conduct contact tracing. It also altered coach Kevin Stefanski’s practice schedule again as he prepares the Browns (7-3) for Sunday’s game at Jacksonville.
Cleveland’s defense did not get on the field on Thanksgiving as the unit was limited to only virtual meetings.
The Browns won’t be close to being at full strength this week, and it’s good they’ll be playing the Jaguars (1-9), who are dealing with their own COVID issues.
With Gustin now out, the Browns will be missing five players, including Garrett and defensive end Joe Jackson to coronavirus, which has been spiking in the NFL and across the country.
Dolphins optimistic Tua will face Jets despite sore thumb
MIAMI — Tua Tagovailoa’s sore thumb was better Thursday, and Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores expressed optimism his rookie quarterback will be able to play Sunday against the New York Jets.
Tagovailoa hurt the thumb on his throwing hand in practice and was limited in practice for the second day in a row.
“He got banged up a little bit,” Flores said. “I don’t think this is something we’re too worried about. ... He’s getting treatment, he’s rehabbing. We’ll see how this goes. It’s sore, but he’s a tough kid. He has played through some things before.”
Tagovailoa was sacked six times before being pulled in the fourth quarter of the Dolphins’ loss last weekend at Denver, but he remains the No. 1 quarterback ahead of veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick.