Smith-Wade, National beat American in Senior Bowl
Washington State cornerback Chau Smith-Wade returned an interception 83 yards in the final two minutes to set up a decisive score and secure the National's 16-7 victory over the American team in the Senior Bowl on Saturday.
In a game dominated by the defenses, Smith-Wade sprawled out to pick off a deep ball from Tennessee's Joe Milton III. He hesitated momentarily before realizing he wasn't officially down under NFL rules.
Then he shook off one tackle attempt on the right sideline and cut back across the field before TCU running back Emani Bailey stopped him at the 1 with 1:38 left. The offense couldn't punch it in, but Joshua Karty of Stanford made his third field goal, scoring on kicks of 19, 37 and 52 yards.
Smith-Wade got his second pick on a Hail Mary pass into the end zone by Tulane's Michael Pratt.
It wasn't a big game for the quarterbacks, with the toprated passers seeing only limited action in the game for NFL prospects.
Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. opted not to play. The Heisman Trophy
runner-up did participate in practices this week after leading the Huskies to the national championship game.
Fellow Pac-12 Conference star Oregon's Bo Nix, who was third in the Heisman voting, played only two series. So did South Carolina's Spencer Rattler for the American team.
NFL KINGSBURY WITHDRAWS NAME FROM CONSIDERATION FOR RAIDERS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR >>
Former Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury isn't going to Las Vegas to become the Raiders offensive coordinator after all, a person informed of the decision told the Associated Press on Saturday.
Kingsbury, who spent this past season at USC as an offensive analyst, had agreed to join new coach Antonio Pierce's staff on Thursday, but he couldn't reach a deal with the Raiders, so he told the team he's pursuing other options, the person said, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because the discussions were to remain private.
NBA
WAITING GAME CONTINUES FOR 76ERS ON JOEL EMBIID'S INJURY STATUS >> The longterm
status of Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid remained up in the air as the defending NBA MVP and team officials continued to wait for potential options to deal with a meniscus injury suffered on Tuesday at Golden State.
“Nope, we're just still waiting,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said when asked for an Embiid update during his pre-game press conference Saturday before Philadelphia's game against the Brooklyn Nets.
The team confirmed in a statement to reporters on Thursday that Embiid suffered a lateral meniscus injury after Warriors forward
Jonathan Kuminga fell on his leg during the fourth quarter of Golden State's 119-107 win. The report continued by saying that Embiid would miss Philadelphia's game on Saturday against Brooklyn and would be reevaluated by doctors and team officials to determine a rehabilitation plan for Embiid.
Men's basketball AIMAQ, TYSON RECORD DOUBLE-DOUBLES TO HELP LEAD CAL PAST ARIZONA ST. >>
Fardaws Aimaq scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Jaylon Tyson also recorded a double-double and Cal put together a dominating road win over Arizona
State.
Tyson scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds, Jalen Cone scored 19 on 6-for-9 shooting and Keonte Kennedy 10 for Cal (9-13, 5-6). Cal was 27-for54 shooting, including 11 of 22 from 3-point range.
It was Cal's first win at ASU since 2017 when the Bears beat Arizona State by a near-identical score — 81-65 — on New Year's Day that year. Cal now has won three of four.
TOP-RANKED UCONN BEATS ST. JOHN'S 77-64 >> Cam Spencer scored 23 points, freshman Stephon Castle had a seasonbest 21 and top-ranked UConn pulled away from St. John's for a 77-64 victory at Madison Square Garden.
Tristen Newton added 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the defending national champion Huskies (20-2, 10-1 Big East), playing without injured forward Alex Karaban, won their 10th straight game.
The winning streak began Dec. 23 with a 69-65 victory over St. John's at home.
Motor sports NASCAR MOVED CLASH TO SATURDAY NIGHT BECAUSE OF WEATHER CONCERNS >>
NASCAR moved The Clash at the Coliseum to Saturday night out of concerns for inclement weather headed toward California.
Only heat races were scheduled to be run Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but with a forecast calling for heavy rains and flooding to begin Sunday, NASCAR abruptly changed the schedule.
Olympics O'KEEFFE SMASHES WOMEN'S US OLYMPIC TRIALS RECORD IN MARATHON DEBUT >>
Fiona O'Keeffe smashed the women's U.S. Olympic marathon trials record in her debut at the distance to secure her spot in the Paris Games.
O'Keeffe finished in a time 2 hours, 22 minutes, 10 seconds to break the American marathon trials mark of 2:25:38 set by Shalane Flanagan in 2012 in Houston. Emily Sisson, the U.S. marathon record holder, was second and Dakotah Lindwurm surged into third to make Team USA for Paris.
On the men's side, training partners and good friends Conner Mantz and Clayton Young finished 1-2 to qualify for Paris. They celebrated with the crowd as they made their way to the finish line. Mantz finished in a time of 2:09:05 as Young gave way near the end and finished a second behind.