Gonzaga remains No. 1
The holiday-week schedule was light in men’s college basketball. But a few results over the weekend, including a couple of top-five upsets, caused some shuffling in the final USA TODAY Sports coaches poll of the calendar year.
Gonzaga will enter 2020 with the No. 1 ranking. The Bulldogs strengthened their grip on the top spot, receiving all but two of 32 first-place votes. Duke climbed to No. 2 followed by No. 3 Kansas, each picking up one first. Baylor moved up to No. 4.
Ohio State slid three spots after a loss to West Virginia, but the Buckeyes edged Oregon by two poll points to stay in the top five. The Mountaineers jumped seven places to No. 16 thanks to the win against Ohio State.
Marquette received 27 points and sat five spots outside the top 25.
BASEBALL
The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed outfielder Kole Calhoun to a two-year contract worth $16 million that includes a club option for 2022.
The 32-year-old Calhoun, who lives in nearby Tempe, Arizona, has played eight major league seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, batting .249 with 140 homers. In 2019, he hit .232 with a career-high 33 homers while playing mostly right field.
Deal finalized: The Chicago White Sox finalized a $55.5 million, three-year contract with Dallas Keuchel on Monday, adding an accomplished lefthander to the mix of young pitching talent on the White Sox.
The 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner will earn $18 million in salary each of the next three seasons. The White Sox hold a $20 million option for 2023 with a $1.5 million buyout.
HOCKEY
Cole Caufield, who is from Stevens Point and is a freshman on the Wisconsin Badgers’ hockey team, scored in overtime to give the United States a 4-3 win over the Czech Republic at the world junior hockey championship Monday in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and a spot in the quarterfinals.
Caufield one-timed a shot with 1:46 left in overtime for a win that puts the U.S. atop Group B with eight points, two points ahead of Canada.
Earlier, Canada bounced back from a big loss to Russia with a 4-1 victory over Germany and also booked a spot in the quarters, which begin Thursday.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UW-Milwaukee’s womens team hit just two of its final 13 shots in falling to Northern Kentucky, 61-49, Monday night at the Klotsche Center.
Bre Cera was the only player to hit double digits in scoring for the Panthers (4-9, 1-1 Horizon League) as she finished with 13 points.
Molly Glick scored 14 points to lead the Norse (7-6, 1-1).
Scare for Kansas: A plane carrying the Kansas men’s basketball team was forced to return to a California airport after one of its engines failed.
The university said in a tweet that issues arose Sunday following a road victory over Stanford. After the engine failure occurred about 20 minutes into the flight, the pilot contacted the San Jose Airport, where the team returned and made a safe landing.