Mississippi State coach optimistic about QB Taylor after injury in Duke's Mayo Bowl

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby expressed optimism that Kamario Taylor escaped serious injury after the freshman quarterback was carted off the field in the final moments ofMississippi State's 43-29 loss to Wake Foreston Friday night in the Duke's Mayo Bowl.

With the Bulldogs trailing by 14 with under three minutes to play, Taylor was scrambling for extra yardage and his leg was hit awkwardly as he was tackled.

It appeared gruesome at the time and he writhed in obvious pain as play stopped and teammates gathered around him on one knee. A few moments later a cart came on the field to take Taylor, who is viewed as the team's promising young future quarterback, to the locker room.

"Initial reports have been good, so we'll continue to evaluate and get more information," Lebby said.

Lebby wouldn't say immediately after the game what part of the body Taylor injured, or if he broke any bones or tore any ligaments.

"I feel good about getting in the locker room, being able to talk, talk to our medical staff, and being able to see Kamario again," Lebby added. "We'll continue to evaluate."

However, his Taylor's mother, LaQuandra Conner,took to Facebook after the gameposting a picture of her and her son, saying "thanks everyone for the prayers it was his ankle but NOTHING is torn or broken GOD had MY BABY covered and for that I say THANK YOU LORD."

Taylor was making his second career start for the Bulldogs (5-8) after a promising initial appearance in a loss to No. 6 Ole Miss.

He finished 13 of 22 for 241 yards and a touchdown against Wake Forest. He also ran for 63 yards and another score in when he took a shotgun snap, ran forward and dove over a pile of players and extended the ball over the goal line.

"A ton of toughness and there's a ton of things to be excited about," Lebby said about Taylor. "... For what he was able to get out of this bowl experience with 15 extra practices, the ability to go play in another game against a really good opponent, to me that is huge for us as we're continuing to build this thing."

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign uphereandhere(AP News mobile app). AP college football:https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-pollandhttps://apnews.com/hub/college-football

byAdministrator

in

January 03, 2026

Mississippi State coach optimistic about QB Taylor after injury in Duke's Mayo Bowl

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby expressed optimism that Kamario Taylor escaped serious injury ...

Read More

Rangers ride Mika Zibanejad's hat trick to Winter Classic win over Panthers

Mika Zibanejad recorded the first-ever hat trick in a Winter Classic and logged two assists while leading the New York Rangers to a 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Friday night in Miami.

A sellout crowd of 36,153 attended the game at loanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins.

Artemi Panarin chipped in with two goals and an assist while Alexis Lafreniere dished a career-high three assists for New York, which snapped a three-game losing streak (0-2-1). Vincent Trocheck added two assists and Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves for the win.

Zibanejad opened the scoring on a power play at 15:09 of the first period. It was his 116th power-play goal for the Rangers, tying him with Camille Henry and Chris Kreider for the most in franchise history.

The Rangers are now 6-0-0 all-time in outdoor games. They also lead the NHL in road wins this season (15-8-2).

Sam Reinhart scored on a power play and Sergei Bobrovsky made 15 saves for the Panthers, who lost their second straight game. They are 2-3-1 over their past six games.

Panthers defenseman Seth Jones -- who is set to represent the U.S. in the Olympics next month -- took a puck to his neck/shoulder area in the first period. He didn't return.

New York went up 1-0 when Lafreniere threaded a pass to a charging Zibanejad, who redirected the puck in from point-blank range.

The Rangers doubled the lead 64 seconds later as Panarin's shot from the point got through several bodies that screened Bobrovsky's vision.

New York made it 3-0 on Zibanejad's second goal, this one just 58 seconds into the second period. The play started when Trocheck lost his edge but managed to pass the puck from the seat of his pants. Lafreniere then dished to Zibanejad, who hit the open left side of the net.

Trocheck nearly made it 4-0 with 9:59 left in the second, but his goal was disallowed because he batted the puck in with a high stick.

Florida got on the board 2:20 into the third. The play started when New York tried to clear the puck. Aaron Ekblad made a great move to keep the puck in, and that led to Sam Bennett feeding Reinhart for his power-play goal.

Panarin tacked on a power-play tally at 12:25, and Zibanejad scored a short-handed empty-netter with 1:28 remaining to complete the hat trick.

--Field Level Media

byAdministrator

in

January 03, 2026

Rangers ride Mika Zibanejad's hat trick to Winter Classic win over Panthers

Mika Zibanejad recorded the first-ever hat trick in a Winter Classic and logged two assists while leading the New Yo...

Read More

Canadiens, Blues set to face off minus key roster pieces

The first half of the season gave the Montreal Canadiens' organizational depth a severe test. The Canadiens passed it, overcoming myriad injuries to earn 50 points in their first 40 games.

"You're not going to go through this season with 23 guys," Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. "You're probably 30 deep, and that's for every team in the league ... and if you're 30 deep, it's good, because it could be way worse than that."

The Canadiens may face more lineup shuffling when they continue their seven-game road trip Saturday afternoon against the St. Louis Blues.

Key defenseman Mike Matheson missed Montreal's 7-5 victory at Carolina on Thursday night with an upper-body injury but practiced on Friday. Forward Josh Anderson exited the game against the Hurricanes with an undisclosed injury.

The Canadiens were already playing without defenseman Kaiden Guhle and forwards Patrik Laine, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook and Jake Evans due to their long-term injuries.

Adam Engstrom replaced Matheson in the lineup against the Hurricanes. Arber Xhekaj stepped up with six hits and a blocked shot as the Canadiens earned their first victory in Carolina since April 7, 2016.

"I felt good," Xhekaj said. "When your best defender goes down, you have to step up. There's no excuses. You can't be sitting here after the game saying, 'Oh, Mike (Matheson) wasn't playing.' It's, 'Mike's not playing and it's time to go, it's time to step up.'

"Your team needs you to step up, and it doesn't matter how young you are, how many games you have."

The Blues won the previous meeting 4-3 on Dec. 7 in Montreal. Captain Brayden Schenn led the way with two goals and an assist, and Dylan Holloway added a goal and two assists.

St. Louis heads into the rematch without three injured forwards who played in that contest: Holloway, Pius Suter and Nick Bjugstad.

The Blues snapped a two-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the visiting Vegas Golden Knights on Friday afternoon.

"New year, new us," winger Alexey Toropchenko told the FanDuel Sports Network.

The depleted Blues got a much-needed lift from their fourth line, with Toropchenko and Oskar Sundqvist scoring goals by driving the net. They combined with linemate Mathieu Joseph to produce six points.

Coach Jim Montgomery had challenged the Blues to play with more grit after they took an ugly 6-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Wednesday.

"The main thing tonight we talked about was just having a response," Schenn said after scoring the winning goal vs. the Golden Knights with 1:33 to play. "We felt we got embarrassed last game, and you have to respond with at least a good effort. They're a good team over there, Vegas, with a lot of high-end talent. I thought we did a good job."

The fourth line led the way with a rare offensive outburst. Toropchenko and Sundqvist each had a goal and an assist, and Joseph notched two assists.

"(We) just worked hard, played hard, play with heart, right, and just be good everywhere, try to be your best when you step on the ice," Toropchenko said. "Make everything you do for the team to win."

--Field Level Media

byAdministrator

in

January 03, 2026

Canadiens, Blues set to face off minus key roster pieces

The first half of the season gave the Montreal Canadiens' organizational depth a severe test. The Canadiens pass...

Read More

Doncic and James score 30+ each for 1st time this season in Lakers' 128-121 win over Grizzlies

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic and LeBron James were brought together for nights like these. The two Los Angeles Lakers superstars topped 30 points each in a game for the first time this season.

Doncic had 34 points, hitting 17 of 20 free throws, and six rebounds and eight assists. James had 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting to go with nine rebounds and six assists.

The Lakers rallied fora 128-121 victoryover the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.

It was the third time overall that Doncic and James both scored 30 or more points in the same game, their 42nd together. It happened twice in March, a month after Doncic joined the Lakers in a blockbuster trade from Dallas.

"Just playing in rhythm. Trying to find ways that we can be productive," said James, the NBA's oldest active player who turned 41 on Tuesday. "Luka did a great job getting to the free throw line. Myself, just trying to sprinkle in a little bit here, a little bit there. Just trying to be consistent and super efficient with my play. We worked well off each other."

Doncic's 17 made free throws were one off his career high, while his 20 attempts were a season high. As a team, the Grizzlies were 15 of 23 from the line.

"Just trying to get downhill a lot more than usual for me," Doncic said. "But for him, he's just playing his game, attacking whatever he sees, being efficient and helping us win the games."

The Lakers improved to 11-0 in clutch-time wins this season. The game was tied twice in the fourth, when the teams traded one-point leads until the final 5 1/2 minutes. James had 10 points in the period and Doncic had six. They combined for five assists and three rebounds.

"He was phenomenal," Lakers coach JJ Redick said about James. "There was just a few stretches there where they made runs and the response from him, it felt like nearly every time we needed a bucket, he just kind of willed it."

Doncic hit James with a 70-foot outlet pass at one point.

"One of the best quarterbacks and I'm a pretty good receiver when it comes to that," James said. "It's my job to not allow the defense to break that up or steal the ball. He put it on time and on target for me."

Doncic and James got plenty of help from their teammates. Jake LaRavia had 21 points and nine rebounds and Marcus Smart had 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Jaxson Hayes added 12 points off the bench.

"Them doing that, it actually takes the pressure and the load off LeBron and Luka," Redick said.

AP NBA:https://apnews.com/hub/nba

byAdministrator

in

January 03, 2026

Doncic and James score 30+ each for 1st time this season in Lakers' 128-121 win over Grizzlies

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic and LeBron James were brought together for nights like these. The two Los Angeles Lakers ...

Read More

Stan Wawrinka opens his 2026 farewell tour with a stirring comeback win at the United Cup

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Stan Wawrinka's 40-year-old legs didn't let him down over three-plus hours in his first singles match of a 2026 farewell tour on Saturday.

Three-time Grand Slam singles champion Wawrinka beat Arthur Rinderknech of France, who is ranked 29th to Wawrinka's 157th, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). The match went 3 hours, 16 minutes.

Wawrinka announced in Decemberthat this year would be his last on the ATP tour.

Ahead of his first match,Wawrinkasaid he hoped to improve on his current ranking and move back into the top 100 before he retires. His highest ranking was No. 3, achieved when he won the Australian Open in 2014.

"I'm happy with the decision (to retire) and feeling at peace with that," Wawrinka said.

The United Cup is among anumber of tournamentsbeing played over the next two weeks Down Under ahead of the Australian Open which begins in Melbourne on Jan. 18.

His teammate Belinda Bencic started off the tie Saturday with a 6-2, 6-4 win over France's Leolia Jeanjean, giving the Swiss team a winning 2-0 lead.

AP tennis:https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

byAdministrator

in

January 03, 2026

Stan Wawrinka opens his 2026 farewell tour with a stirring comeback win at the United Cup

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Stan Wawrinka's 40-year-old legs didn't let him down over three-plus hours in his first ...

Read More