Mitchell Fineran kicked a 39-yard field goal in overtime and Purdue finished off its best season since 2003 by overcoming a 14-point deficit and beating Tennessee, 48-45, on Thursday in a record-setting Music City Bowl in Nashville. Purdue (9-4) tied for the second-most wins in program history as only the 12th team in the Boilermakers’ 134-year history to win nine games. They also won their fifth game away from home, something they hadn’t done since 1943. Tennessee (7-6) missed a chance to make Josh Heupel the first Vols coach to cap his debut season with a bowl win since Bill Battle won the 1971 Sugar Bowl. The Vols also snapped a four-game bowl victory streak with a loss that dropped the Southeastern Conference to 1-5 this bowl season. This high-scoring game featured a flurry of big plays and points in the final five minutes only to see Purdue’s defense make the deciding play. On the first possession of overtime, Jamar Brown and Kieren Douglas stopped Vols running back Jaylen Wright short on fourth-and-goal at the 1. The stop was upheld on review for Wright’s forward progress being stopped despite Wright reaching the ball over the goal line before the whistle without a knee touching the ground while laying on top of Douglas. After Purdue ran three plays, Fineran sealed the victory with his fourth field goal of the game, sending the Boilermakers running down the field in celebration. The end of regulation featured Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell (26 of 47, 534 yards passing) throwing two of his five TD passes, starting with a pass tight end Payne Durham took 62 yards after breaking a tackle in front of the Purdue bench. Hendon Hooker (378 passing yards, 5 TDs) threw two of his scoring tosses to tie it up at 38 with a 13-yarder to Cedric Tillman (7 catches, 150 yards, 3 TDs) on fourth-and-goal from the Purdue 13, then again at 45. The Vols had a final chance to win in regulation, but Chase McGrath’s 56 yard field goal fell well short. Tennessee finished with 639 yards total offense and Purdue had 623 in regulation — both bowl records before overtime. Purdue came in without All-America wide receiver David Bell, who’s prepping for the NFL draft, and a receiving corps further thinned by injuries. Junior wideout Broc Thompson filled in with seven catches for a game-high 217 yards and two TDs.
South Carolina tops UNC in Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Jaheim Bell had five catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns to lead South Carolina to a 38-21 win over North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, N.C. Kevin Harris scored a touchdown and accounted for 169 of South Carolina’s 301 rushing yards. The victory, which enabled the Gamecocks (7-6) to rebound nicely from a 30-0 loss to Clemson in the regular-season finale Nov. 27, earned South Carolina coach Shane Beamer a celebratory mayonnaise bath after the game. Sam Howell threw for 205 yards and a touchdown, and reserve running back British Brooks had a bowl record 63-yard touchdown run for the Tar Heels (6-7) . . . Kennedy Brooks ran for 142 yards and three touchdowns, Caleb Williams passed for three more scores and the 14th-ranked Sooners rode a dominant first half to a 47-32 win over No. 15 Oregon in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio on Wednesday night. The victory marked a brief and happy reunion for coach Bob Stoops and school he led to a national championship and 10 Big 12 titles from 1999-2016. Stoops was called off a golf course to come out of retirement to coach the bowl game after the abrupt departure of Lincoln Riley for Southern California. Stoops earned career win No. 191 and boosted his bowl record to 10-9. Stoops stabilized the program after Riley’s defection to USC left the program upside down. and helped bridge the gap to the new era under incoming coach Brett Venables, the former Oklahoma assistant who spent nine seasons as Clemson’s defensive coordinator. Oklahoma (11-2) raced out to a 30-3 lead as Brooks and Williams sliced up the Oregon defense. But Oregon (10-4) didn’t quit and made a game of it in the second half, with quarterback Anthony Brown, a Boston College transfer, completing 27 of 40 passes for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns in a losing effort. Oregon was led by assistant coach Bryan McClendon, who was elevated to interim head coach for the bowl game after Mario Cristobal left for Miami. Oregon has hired Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning, who will take over the Ducks after the College Football Playoff . . . Syracuse coach Dino Babers has added a pair of former University of Virginia coaches to his staff, hiring Robert Anae as offensive coordinator and Jason Beck as quarterbacks coach. Both served in those positions for the Cavaliers for six years under coach Bronco Mendenhall, who suddenly resigned four weeks ago. Anae also spent nine years in two stints as offensive coordinator at BYU, his alma mater. He replaces offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Sterlin Gilbert, who was fired in November after two seasons with the Orange.
Basketball
Cavaliers eyeing deal for Lakers G Rajon Rondo
The Cleveland Cavaliers have made progress in talks with the Los Angeles Lakers about a trade involving veteran point guard Rajon Rondo, a person familiar with the potential deal told The Associated Press. Cleveland has been urgently looking for an experienced guard since Ricky Rubio suffered a season-ending knee injury Tuesday night. Rondo is in his first season with the Lakers, who are just 17-19 and have struggled with one of the NBA’s older rosters. In a reserve role, the 35-year-old is averaging 3.1 points and 3.7 assists in 18 games.
Hockey
Wild extend head coach Dean Evason and his staff
The Minnesota Wild signed coach Dean Evason and his staff to multiyear contract extensions on Thursday, a reward for keeping them as one of the top teams in the Western Conference. Evason, 57, is in his second full season as Minnesota’s coach after replacing Bruce Boudreau in February 2020. The Wild made the NHL’s expanded postseason that year and with 19 victories in 30 games are well on their way to a third consecutive playoff appearance with Evason in charge. The longtime assistant has helped Minnesota rank fourth in the league in goals since taking over. The Wild are 62-29-7 under Evason, including four winning streaks of five games or more. Assistant coaches Darby Hendrickson, Brett McLean and Bob Woods, goaltending coach Frederic Chabot and video coaches T.J. Jindra and Jonas Plumb also were extended. The Wild are set to host their first Winter Classic on Saturday when they face the St. Louis Blues outside at Target Field in Minneapolis . . . J.T. Miller scored 26 seconds into overtime and the Vancouver Canucks beat the host Anaheim Ducks, 2-1, Wednesday night in Anaheim, Calif. Vancouver extended its winning streak to seven straight games since coach Bruce Boudreau was brought in Dec. 3 after a purge of leadership in which two team executives and coach Travis Green and an assistant coach were fired. Boudreau is the third coach in NHL history to start 7-0 with a new team, matching Geoff Ward in 2019-20 with Calgary and Jacques Lemaire in 1993-94 with New Jersey. Vancouver was in last place in the Pacific Division with a record of 8-15-2 when Boudreau was hired. They are seventh in the Pacific now, but only four points back of third.
Soccer
Man City’s João Cancelo assaulted in home burglary
Manchester City player João Cancelo was left with cuts and bruising around his right eye after being attacked by four people during a burglary at his home. The Portugal defender said in a post on Instagram Stories he fought back while protecting his 2-year-old daughter, Alicia, and partner Daniela Machado. Premier League champion City gave more details of the incident. “We are shocked and appalled that João Cancelo and his family were subjected to a burglary at their home this evening during which Joao was also assaulted,” City said in a statement. “Joao and his family are being supported by the club and he is helping the police with their enquiries as they investigate this very serious matter” . . . Cristiano Ronaldo scored a fourth goal in his last five Premier League games to help Manchester United beat Burnley, 3-1, for its biggest win under recently hired manager Ralf Rangnick.
Miscellany
Men’s World Cup super-G called off by weather
A men’s World Cup super-G scheduled for the Stelvio course in Bormia, Italy, was called off because of warm weather. With the temperature forecast to reach 7 degrees Celsius (45 degrees Fahrenheit), organizers were concerned that conditions would not be safe enough. The race, which would have been the final event of the calendar year, was originally scheduled for Lake Louise, Alberta, in November but had been postponed because of weather issues at the Canadian resort. It was not immediately clear if the race would be postponed to a later date again or canceled altogether . . . The International Ski Federation announced that women’s giant slalom and slalom races scheduled for Maribor, Slovenia, on Jan. 8 and 9, respectively, have been canceled because of “the present situation on the race hill and unfavorable weather forecast. A possible replacement will be communicated in due course,” the FIS said . . . Five-time Olympic kayak champion Lisa Carrington was awarded the title of Dame in New Zealand’s New Year honors list. Paralympics swimmer Sophie Pascoe, winner of 11 gold medals over four Paralympics, was also made a Dame, becoming the youngest New Zealander at 28 to be awarded the title. Carrington, 32, became New Zealand’s most-successful Olympian when she won three gold medals in the K1 200 meters, K1 500 meters and K2 500 meters at this year’s Tokyo Olympics, adding to her gold medal victories in the K1 200 meters at the 2012 London Games and at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 . . . Canada’s figure skating championships will have no fans in attendance as the national federation adapts to surging COVID-19 numbers. The change aligns with the Ontario government’s decision to limit attendance at sporting and other event venues. The government capped crowd size for indoor venues at 1,000 spectators or 50 percent capacity, whichever is less. The new capacity limits will go into effect Friday when the NBA’s Toronto Raptors are scheduled to host the Los Angeles Clippers.