Photo by Dave Winder, MSU Athletics
FLOYD AND BAUM CLAIM WEEKLY OVC HONORS
Defensive back Marcis Floyd and kicker Aaron Baum have been named as the OVC Defensive Player and Specialist of the Week, respectively, for their performances in Murray State’s 32-27 win over Tennessee Tech on Saturday. Floyd set a new school record for interception return yards in a game with 117 including a 90-yard pick-six and a conversion interception that led to a 2-point defensive PAT score. He also tallied seven tackles and one sack. Baum made three of four field goals and 3 PATs for 12 points. We will talk Racer football and basketball on FROGGY tonight at 6:30 on Hey Coach, live from the Big Apple Grill and Bar.
RACER VOLLEYBALL SPLITS WITH SEMO
Murray State volleyball swept Southeast Missouri Saturday night at the Racer Arena, 25-22, 25-21, 25-21 to split the series with the Redhawks. The Racers improved to 14-11 overall, and 8-7 in the OVC. Murray State honored its three seniors, Emily Matson, Kolby McClelland and Becca Fernandez and manager Drew Langston pregame for their dedication and contributions to the Racers’ program. The Racers hosts Austin Peay for their home regular season finale at 6 pm Wednesday.
MURRAY HIGH TO FACE MAYFIELD AFTER DOWNING CALDWELL COUNTY
The Murray High football team avenged an regular season defeat to Caldwell County with a 27-20 win in a battle of the Tigers in the opening round of the KHSAA 2A Playoffs. Murray High travels to Mayfield for round two this Friday night.
SIUE TAKES OVC SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
Second-seeded SIUE defeated No. 1 UT Martin, 1-0, in overtime to win the 2021 OVC Soccer Championship title. It marks the Cougars second straight and fourth overall tournament title. SIUE’s Mackenzie Litzsinger scored her 10th goal of the season just under two minutes into the first overtime to give SIUE the win. Myah Diekema recorded the assist. SIUE earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will find out who they will play on Monday during the selection show at 3:30 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.
MILKMAN TO BE HONORED BY WGCA
In her 29th season at Murray State, Velvet Milkman will be given the Gladys Palmer Meritorious Service Award by her peers at the Women’s Golf Coaches Association. Milkman has guided teams to 12 Ohio Valley Championships and has coached nine OVC individual champions, nine OVC Players of the Year, and 53 all-conference selections. Milkman will be recognized December 5 as part of the program at the WGCA Hall of Fame inductions at Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas.
RACER RIFLE SWEEPS WEEKEND
The sixth-ranked Murray State rifle team defeated Akron 4705 to 4692 on Saturday in Columbus. Yesterday, the team tied its program record air rifle score to take down both Ohio State and NC State in Columbus. Murray State fired a 4714, while Ohio State shot a 4691 and NC State followed in third at 4664. This Saturday, the Racers will travel to Lexington to take on Kentucky and Morehead State in the annual Kentucky Long Rifle Match.
TITANS DOWN RAMS
The Titans improved to 7-and-2 after blow out win over the Rams in their own building. Tennessee picked off Matt Stafford twice in its 28-16 win over the Rams in Inglewood. Early in the second quarter, David Long intercepted Stafford deep in Rams territory, then on the very next series Kevin Byard took back a 24-yard pick-6 to shift the tone of the game. Ryan Tannehill threw for 143 yards, one touchdown, one pick and rushed for a score. Adrian Peterson scored on a one-yard run in the fourth quarter for his first touchdown as a Titan.
AREA HOCKEY ROUNDUP
In hockey, Chicago’s Alex DeBrincat scored in overtime in the Predators’ 2-1 loss to the Blackhawks in Chicago. Alexandre Carrier put Nashville on the board in the second period. Juuse Saros had a great game with 30 saves. The Preds have 13 points in the standings and play the Stars in Dallas on Wednesday night… The Anaheim Ducks handed the Blues a 4-1 defeat at the Honda Center. Brandon Saad scored the lone goal and Jordan Binnington made 23 saves for St. Louis, which was trying to match the best 10-game start in their history. Instead, the Blues dropped to 7-2-and-1. St. Louis visits the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow.
CATS LAND WALLACE
John Calipari and Kentucky landed another 5-star recruit. Five-star combo guard Cason Wallace committed to Kentucky yesterday. This is just another commitment in the Wildcats’ top-ranked recruiting class in the country. Wallace, a 6-foot-3 native of Richardson, Texas, chose Kentucky over Tennessee, Texas and UTSA. The Wildcats begin the 2021 season tomorrow night against Duke in the Champions Classic in Madison Square Garden.
FIVE CARDINALS RECEIVE GOLD GLOVE AWARDS
The Cardinals set a record with five Gold Glove winners this past season. St. Louis is the first team in history to do so. Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader and Tommy Edman took home the National League Gold Glove Award at their respective positions. For Bader and Edman, the award is the first of their careers. The awards come after the Cards led the Majors in defensive runs saved.
MEMPHIS HOSTS MINNESOTA TONIGHT
The Grizzlies are back in Memphis for a Western Conference duel. The Grizzlies host the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight. Memphis is 5-and-4 after it lost to the Washington Wizards on Friday night. Minnesota enters at 3-and-5.
NASHVILLE DRAWS IN FINALE
Nashville SC drew the New York Red Bulls in its final regular season game Sunday. Hany Mukhtar scored Nashville’s only goal in its 1-1 draw with New York yesterday at Nissan Stadium. With the draw, Nashville finishes third in the MLS Eastern Conference with 54 points. Nashville SC will open the first round of the playoffs at home against Orlando City SC.
PLANT LOSES IFB BOUT
A Tennessee native is no longer a boxing champion. Ashland City’s Caleb Plant lost his IFB super-middleweight title to boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Plant was stopped in the eleventh round by technical knockout. Alvarez is now the undisputed super-middleweight champion.
NATIONAL SPORTS BRIEFS
Everything clicked just right for the Broncos defense as Denver stunned the Cowboys 30-16 in Arlington. The Broncos held Dallas scoreless through the first three quarters, building a 30-0 lead in the fourth quarter. It was a rough day for Dak Prescott and the Cowboys, who had a six-game winning streak snapped. It was the lowest scoring game of the season for Dallas, which fell to 6-and-2.
Justin Fields will get a taste of primetime when the Bears visit the Steelers on Monday Night Football. The Bears are hoping to build some momentum behind their young quarterback. Fields has thrown for three touchdowns and seven interceptions so far this season. The Bears are 3-and-5. Pittsburgh meanwhile is rolling. The Steelers have won three straight games. Pittsburgh is 4-and-3.
The Dodgers are not extending a qualifying offer to their franchise arm. Los Angeles didn’t extend the one-year, 18.4 million-dollar deal to Clayton Kershaw as the three-time NL CY Young Award winner approaches free agency. Notable players to receive the one-year qualifying offer were Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman, Houston’s Carlos Correa and New York’s Noah Syndergaard.
Kyle Larson is finally going home with the big one. Larson finished first to win the NASCAR Cup Series Championship in the final race of the year at Phoenix Raceway. The driver had returned this year after being suspended by NASCAR for use of a racial slur during an e-sports game. Martin Truex Jr. finished in second.
Viktor Hovland is defending his title at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in Mexico. It was the first time Mayakoba has had a repeat winner since it began in 2007. Hovland finished the tournament 23-under, four strokes ahead of Carlos Ortiz, who took second place at 19-under.
SUNDAY’S SCOREBOARD
NFL
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Cleveland Browns 41, Cincinnati Bengals 16
Denver Broncos 30, Dallas Cowboys 16
Miami Dolphins 17, Houston Texans 9
Atlanta Falcons 27, New Orleans Saints 25
New York Giants 23, Las Vegas Raiders 16
New England Patriots 24, Carolina Panthers 6
Jacksonville Jaguars 9, Buffalo Bills 6
Baltimore Ravens 34, Minnesota Vikings 31 (OT)
Los Angeles Chargers 27, Philadelphia Eagles 24
Kansas City Chiefs 13, Green Bay Packers 7
Arizona Cardinals 31, San Francisco 49ers 17
Tennessee Titans 28, Los Angeles Rams 16
NBA
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Brooklyn Nets 116, Toronto Raptors 103
Cleveland Cavaliers 126, New York Knicks 109
Orlando Magic 107, Utah Jazz 100
Washington Wizards 101, Milwaukee Bucks 94
Indiana Pacers 94, Sacramento Kings 91
Oklahoma City Thunder 99, San Antonio Spurs 94
Golden State Warriors 120, Houston Rockets 107
LA Clippers 120, Charlotte Hornets 106
NHL
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Detroit Red Wings 5, Vegas Golden Knights 2
Chicago Blackhawks 2, Nashville Predators 1 (OT)
Minnesota Wild 5, New York Islanders 2
Anaheim Ducks 4, St. Louis Blues 1
Vancouver Canucks 6, Dallas Stars 3
NASCAR
——-
NASCAR Cup Series Championship (at Avondale, AZ)
1. Kyle Larson
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Denny Hamlin
PGA
——-
World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba (at Quintana Roo, Mexico)
1. Viktor Hovland (-23)
2. Carlos Ortiz (-19)
3. Justin Thomas (-18)
MONDAY’S SCHEDULE (All times are Eastern)
NFL
——-
8:15 p.m. – Chicago Bears at Pittsburgh Steelers
NBA
——-
7:00 p.m. – New York Knicks at Philadelphia 76ers
8:00 p.m. – Brooklyn Nets at Chicago Bulls
8:00 p.m. – Minnesota Timberwolves at Memphis Grizzlies
8:30 p.m. – New Orleans Pelicans at Dallas Mavericks
9:00 p.m. – Miami Heat at Denver Nuggets
10:00 p.m. – Atlanta Hawks at Golden State Warriors
10:00 p.m. – Phoenix Suns at Sacramento Kings
10:30 p.m. – Charlotte Hornets at Los Angeles Lakers
NHL
——-
7:00 p.m. – Florida Panthers at New York Rangers
7:00 p.m. – Buffalo Sabres at Washington Capitals
7:30 p.m. – Los Angeles Kings at Toronto Maple Leafs
