Saturday’s 6-pack:
College hoop teams shooting highest %age inside the arc:
63.1%— Alabama
62.7%— Michigan
62.2%— Cornell
61.3%— Auburn
60.6%— Indiana State
60.5%— Vanderbilt
Quote of the Day
“Through his actions and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of this team. Jimmy Butler and his representative have indicated that they wish to be traded, therefore, we will listen to offers.”
Statement from the Miami Heat, who are paying Butler $48,798,677 this season
Saturday’s quiz
What team lost the second Super Bowl?
Friday’s quiz
Kansas City Chiefs lost the first Super Bowl, 35-10 to Green Bay.
Thursday’s quiz
Mark Richt was the Miami Hurricanes’ coach the last time they won a bowl game, in 2016.
**************************************
Spartans shot 56.8% inside the arc.
MSU is 12-2, despite shooting 28% on the arc (#342)
Spartans have #35 eFG% defense in country.
— Marquette 79, Creighton 71
Marquette is 4-0 in Big East, for first time since 2013.
Creighton was only 7-31 on the arc.
Kam Jones had 22 points, nine rebounds, five assists.
— New Mexico 82, Nevada 81 OT
Lobos hit a 15-footer at the buzzer for the walk-off win.
Nevada starts out conference play 0-4; they were 23-35 on foul line.
New Mexico was 31-41 on charity stripe.
— Siena 103, Manhattan 95 2OT
Jaspers led by six with 1:07 left in regulation.
— Wisconsin 116, Iowa 85
Badgers shot 21-31 on the arc: 63 points on 31 shots, an over 100% eFG%.
Wisconsin is 11-3, 5-3 vs top 100 teams.
— Georgetown 69, Xavier 63
Ed Cooley’s Hoyas are 12-2, 3-0 in Big East games.
Hoyas never trailed; they shot 55.3% inside the arc.
— There are three unbeaten teams left in college basketball, all in the SEC:
Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee.
— Famous birthdays, January 4th:
Dyan Cannon, 88
Sidney Green, 64
Todd Sauerbrun, 52
Ted Lilly, 49
Eric Weddle, 40
Kris Bryant, 33
Michael Lorenzen, 33
Derrick Henry, 31
Reynaldo Lopez, 31
Victor Wembanyama, 21
— Baltimore Orioles gave 41-year old P Charlie Morton a one-year, $15M deal; Morton has started 30+ games each of the last four years- he was 8-10, 4.19 in 30 starts for Atlanta last season.
— Utility guy Josh Rojas signed with the White Sox, where he figures to play most every day. Rojas has a .247 batting average over six seasons, a .685 OPS, but he is versatile and that plays in this day and age.
— Korean 2B Hyeseong Kim signed a 3-year deal with the Dodgers, worth $12.5M; this isn’t Ha-Seong Kim, who played the last four years for San Diego. Hyeseong Kim hit .326 for the Kiwoom Heroes in the KBO last season.
— Texas State 30, North Texas 28
North Texas QB Drew Mestemaker started his first game at QB since he was in 9th grade; he threw for 393 yards and ran for 55 more. North Texas’ #1 QB bolted to Virginia.
Texas State QB McCloud threw for 307 yards and a TD.
Bobcats ran ball for 201 yards (4.6 yards/carry)
— Minnesota 24, Virginia Tech 10
Gophers win their 8th straight bowl game.
Minnesota outgained the Hokies, 403-223.
Virginia Tech lost five of its last six bowls.
— Miami Heat/Jimmy Butler are at an impasse; Heat suspended star guard Butler for seven games, for “conduct detrimental to the team” Butler is getting paid $48,798,677 this season, $336,543 per game, so this is a fine of $2,355,801.
Butler is in the last guaranteed year of his contract; he has a player option worth more than $52M for next season.
Miami will now listen to trade offers for the 35-year old Butler.
— Of the ten players who played the most games as a DH, six of them are in the Hall of Fame.
— Modern college sports: Georgia Tech poached UNLV’s punter.
— UConn football coach Jim Mora Jr posted a statement on social media about other teams poaching UConn’s players. Huskies just got their first bowl win since 2010.
“A simple note to the schools and coaches that have blatantly broken @NCAAFootball rules by tampering with our players in the last 24 hours. We do know who you are, we will pursue all avenues to hold you accountable. We are excited that we’ve built a program where coaches have to cheat to beat us and we will protect that program. Think hard before you tamper with our players.”
Alrighty then.
— Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)
AAC 6-2 SU/7-1 ATS
ACC 2-11 SU/1-12 ATS
Big 18 9-4 SU/11-2 ATS
Big X 3-4 SU/3-4 ATS
C-USA 1-3 SU/1-3 ATS
MAC 4-2 SU/4-1-1 ATS
M West 1-4 SU/1-4 ATS
SEC 7-6 SU/6-7 ATS
Sun Belt 4-3 SU/2-4-1 ATS
Favorites: 20-20-1 ATS
Totals: over 21-20
College hoop teams shooting highest %age inside the arc:
63.1%— Alabama
62.7%— Michigan
62.2%— Cornell
61.3%— Auburn
60.6%— Indiana State
60.5%— Vanderbilt
Quote of the Day
“Through his actions and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of this team. Jimmy Butler and his representative have indicated that they wish to be traded, therefore, we will listen to offers.”
Statement from the Miami Heat, who are paying Butler $48,798,677 this season
Saturday’s quiz
What team lost the second Super Bowl?
Friday’s quiz
Kansas City Chiefs lost the first Super Bowl, 35-10 to Green Bay.
Thursday’s quiz
Mark Richt was the Miami Hurricanes’ coach the last time they won a bowl game, in 2016.
**************************************
Saturday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here…….
— Michigan State 69, Ohio State 62Spartans shot 56.8% inside the arc.
MSU is 12-2, despite shooting 28% on the arc (#342)
Spartans have #35 eFG% defense in country.
— Marquette 79, Creighton 71
Marquette is 4-0 in Big East, for first time since 2013.
Creighton was only 7-31 on the arc.
Kam Jones had 22 points, nine rebounds, five assists.
— New Mexico 82, Nevada 81 OT
Lobos hit a 15-footer at the buzzer for the walk-off win.
Nevada starts out conference play 0-4; they were 23-35 on foul line.
New Mexico was 31-41 on charity stripe.
— Siena 103, Manhattan 95 2OT
Jaspers led by six with 1:07 left in regulation.
— Wisconsin 116, Iowa 85
Badgers shot 21-31 on the arc: 63 points on 31 shots, an over 100% eFG%.
Wisconsin is 11-3, 5-3 vs top 100 teams.
— Georgetown 69, Xavier 63
Ed Cooley’s Hoyas are 12-2, 3-0 in Big East games.
Hoyas never trailed; they shot 55.3% inside the arc.
— There are three unbeaten teams left in college basketball, all in the SEC:
Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee.
— Famous birthdays, January 4th:
Dyan Cannon, 88
Sidney Green, 64
Todd Sauerbrun, 52
Ted Lilly, 49
Eric Weddle, 40
Kris Bryant, 33
Michael Lorenzen, 33
Derrick Henry, 31
Reynaldo Lopez, 31
Victor Wembanyama, 21
— Baltimore Orioles gave 41-year old P Charlie Morton a one-year, $15M deal; Morton has started 30+ games each of the last four years- he was 8-10, 4.19 in 30 starts for Atlanta last season.
— Utility guy Josh Rojas signed with the White Sox, where he figures to play most every day. Rojas has a .247 batting average over six seasons, a .685 OPS, but he is versatile and that plays in this day and age.
— Korean 2B Hyeseong Kim signed a 3-year deal with the Dodgers, worth $12.5M; this isn’t Ha-Seong Kim, who played the last four years for San Diego. Hyeseong Kim hit .326 for the Kiwoom Heroes in the KBO last season.
— Texas State 30, North Texas 28
North Texas QB Drew Mestemaker started his first game at QB since he was in 9th grade; he threw for 393 yards and ran for 55 more. North Texas’ #1 QB bolted to Virginia.
Texas State QB McCloud threw for 307 yards and a TD.
Bobcats ran ball for 201 yards (4.6 yards/carry)
— Minnesota 24, Virginia Tech 10
Gophers win their 8th straight bowl game.
Minnesota outgained the Hokies, 403-223.
Virginia Tech lost five of its last six bowls.
— Miami Heat/Jimmy Butler are at an impasse; Heat suspended star guard Butler for seven games, for “conduct detrimental to the team” Butler is getting paid $48,798,677 this season, $336,543 per game, so this is a fine of $2,355,801.
Butler is in the last guaranteed year of his contract; he has a player option worth more than $52M for next season.
Miami will now listen to trade offers for the 35-year old Butler.
— Of the ten players who played the most games as a DH, six of them are in the Hall of Fame.
— Modern college sports: Georgia Tech poached UNLV’s punter.
— UConn football coach Jim Mora Jr posted a statement on social media about other teams poaching UConn’s players. Huskies just got their first bowl win since 2010.
“A simple note to the schools and coaches that have blatantly broken @NCAAFootball rules by tampering with our players in the last 24 hours. We do know who you are, we will pursue all avenues to hold you accountable. We are excited that we’ve built a program where coaches have to cheat to beat us and we will protect that program. Think hard before you tamper with our players.”
Alrighty then.
— Conference bowl records (SU/ATS)
AAC 6-2 SU/7-1 ATS
ACC 2-11 SU/1-12 ATS
Big 18 9-4 SU/11-2 ATS
Big X 3-4 SU/3-4 ATS
C-USA 1-3 SU/1-3 ATS
MAC 4-2 SU/4-1-1 ATS
M West 1-4 SU/1-4 ATS
SEC 7-6 SU/6-7 ATS
Sun Belt 4-3 SU/2-4-1 ATS
Favorites: 20-20-1 ATS
Totals: over 21-20
