SJSU gets blown out by UC Riverside 80-65

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Photo credit: @SanJoseStateMBB

By Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose State returned home to open a three-game homestand and to snap a seven-game losing skid at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.

SJSU hosted Star Wars Day. That being said, the blue and gold force was with Spartan Nation.

SJSU’s starting lineup featured Brae Ivey, Seneca Knight, Omari Moore, Christian Anigwe and Ralph Agee. Agee was in the starting lineup for the second straight game.

SJSU opened the first half with a 8-2 run initially sparked by Omari Moore’s three-pointer just 22 seconds into the game, but the Spartan defense began to falter midway through the half. UCR took its first lead of the game, 22-21, with 9:55 left in the half. The Highlanders’ Angus McWilliam made the go-ahead layup.

SJSU, however, refused to let the game slip away. The Spartans’ Sam Japhet-Mathias hit a three with 9:11 left in the half. Moore made a paint jumper and a fastbreak dunk in a 20-second span. Knight made a paint layup and a free throw with 5:41 left

The Highlanders’ Zyon Pullin ended the Spartans’ little run with a paint and fastbreak layup with 5:33 left in the half. From there, UCR took a 32-31 lead, thanks to Pullin’s layup with 3:32 left. Both teams made pairs of fastbreak free throws in the closing minutes, but it was the Highlanders who held on for a 39-37 lead over the Spartans at the break.

SJSU had some work to do in the second half. Agee hit a three just 1:03 in, but the Highlanders responded with layups by George Willborn III and Callum McRae at 18:43 and 18:08, respectively, for a 43-42 lead. Pullin made a pair of free throws and Dikymbe Martin hit a three to extend the Highlander lead to 48-42 at 16:34.

The Spartans’ Brae Ivey hit a three, but got fouled. By adding a free throw, Ivey completed the four-point play regardless. Yet, SJSU trailed 52-49 at 14:26.

Ivey and Zach Chappell made their respective pairs of free throws, but the Highlanders’ Arinze Chidom hit a three to help his team maintain an 11-point lead, 64-53, with 9:09 left.

The Highlanders’ Khyber Kabellis threw down a dunk to extend his team’s lead to sixteen, 80-64, with 2:04 left. The Spartans quickly responded with Chappell’s fastbreak free throw six seconds later, but lost by a final of 80-65.

With the win, UCR improved to 8-5, 0-0 Big West. With the loss, SJSU fell to 3-9, 0-2 Mountain West.

SJSU hosts Pepperdine on Saturday, December 28 at 6 pm PST.

NHL podcast with Daniel Dullum: Coyotes big take on getting Hall; NHL All-Star captains Ovechkin, Pastrnak, MacKinnon and McDavid; plus more

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espn.com file photo: Former New Jersey left winger Taylor Hall, who was dealt to the Arizona Coyotes this week is featured in Daniel’s NHL podcast.

On the NHL podcast with Daniel:

1 Coyotes pull trigger on big trade, landing 2018 NHL MVP Hall from Devils

2 Ovechkin, Pastrnak, MacKinnon and McDavid are All-Star captains

3 Coyotes goalie Darcy Kuemper out for extended period with lower-body injury

4 Islanders’ Clutterbuck out indefinitely after wrist surgery

5 Sidney Crosby donates gear to youth hockey programs in Nova Scotia

Daniel Dullum does the NHL podcast each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Umpires Strikeout Robots Coming

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dodgersnation.com file photo: MLB Umpire Angel Hernandez and the rest of the MLB umpires will be replaced at home plate by an auto ball strike system anytime as part of a five-year deal.

By Amaury Pi-González

There should be little surprise we knew it was coming, it was not “if” but “when”. It was announced Saturday that umpires agreed to cooperate with Major League Baseball on a new system of an automated ball and strike system at the plate, as part of a five-year deal.The computer plate umpires could make an appearance in MLB anytime during the next five years.It will be the independent Atlantic League the first organized professional baseball league to let a computer call balls and strikes at their All-Star Game on July 10. A plate umpire wore an earpiece that is connected to an iPhone in his pocket and relayed the call upon receiving it from a TrackMan computer system that uses Doppler radar. (More on that below)

A Doppler radar is a specialized radar that uses the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance. Most people are familiar when they learned that is the common practice use by TV meteorologist in on-air-weather reports. Decades ago,the umpires only knew Doppler when they were checking the weather for a game, the possibility of a rainout, rain coming or not. Stuff like that.

“This idea has been around for a long time and it’s the first time it’s been brought to life in a comprehensive way,” Morgan Sword, MLB’s senior vice president of economics and operations, said on the night the Atlantic League experiment started. Humans still will determine checked swing and making sure TrackMan doesn’t call a strike on a pitch that bounces and goes through the strike zone. And other crazy stuff that always finds its way to a baseball diamond.

Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt said in October: “We have replay everywhere else in the game. Like it or not, replay gets the call right.” Meanwhile, MLB has discusses installing the system at Class-A Florida State League for 2020 season. If the test is satisfactory,the computer umpires could be used in Triple-A in 2021 as if it works there, then they will come to the Major Leagues. It is not clear whether the Major League Baseball Players Association would need to approve computerized ball and strikes.

Soon, an umpire could ride in a car that drives itself to the park and then another computer that tells him what happened. Yes, we are on the eve of another decade.

This time, it is all about TrackMan!

Best wishes during these holidays! Felíz Navidad!

The Kings lose the final game of their road trip in Memphis 119-115

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Buddy Hield vs Memphis
Buddy Hield goes for the steal @NBC CA

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings had to fly home from Memphis licking their wounds after losing the final three games of their four-game road. On Saturday night, the Kings dropped the final game of the road swing to the Grizzlies 119-115. The game was never as close as the final score might imply.

Lead Changes

There were three lead changes in the game; however, the Kings never held the lead after the first quarter of the game. The largest lead of the game for Sacramento was seven points. The Grizzlies biggest lead was 17 points.

Memphis held a 10 point lead – 60 to 50 – at halftime.

By the end of three quarters, the Grizzlies were up 91-78 over the Kings.

The Kings made a big charge in the final period as De’Aaron Fox scored 14 points while Memphis went 12 players deep to rest their starters. Sacramento outscored the Grizzlies 37-28 the fourth quarter but came up four points short of winning the game when the final buzzer sounded.

3-point baskets made the difference 

The Grizzlies hit 15 of 35 attempts (42.9%) from downtown in the game versus the Kings.

The Kings shot just 30.6% (11-for-36) from behind the arc in the contest which ultimately led to their downfall.

The charity stripe was unkind to SAC

The Kings went to the line 24 times but hit only 18 shots.

The Grizzlies went 24-for-29 from the charity stripe. Those six points proved too big when the final horn sounded.

Sacramento

  • Harrison Barnes led all scorers with 25 points in the game.
  • De’Aaron Fox – who got the start in the game – finished with 22 points.
  • Richaun Holmes put up a double-double putting in 18 points and hauling in 12 rebounds.
  • Marvin Bagley III also had a double-double game with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Memphis

  • Jaren Jackson Jr. was the Grizzlies leading scorer with 18 points.
  • Jae Crowder recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
  • Dillon Brooks scored 16 points.
  • Ja Morant and Grayson Allen both scored 13 points in the contest.

Up next

The Kings return home to host the very tough Houston Rockets on Monday night.

The Grizzlies will host the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.

Sharks Fall 5-2 to Blues, San Jose 1-3-0 Since Coaching Change

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sfgate.com photo: St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo shoots for a goal against the San Jose Sharks during the third period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019.

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The Sharks fell 5-2 to the St. Louis Blues Saturday. Blues goals came from Jordan Kyrou, Jaden Schwartz, Alex Pietrangelo, and Ryan O’Reilly. Jake Allen made 34 saves in the win. Sharks goals came from Brent Burns and Stefan Noesen. This was Noesen’s first game as a Shark after being claimed off of waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 19. Martin Jones made 23 saves in the loss.

The Sharks are 1-3-0 since Bob Boughner took over as Sharks Head Coach on December 11. In two of those games they gave up five or more goals against. After Saturday’s game, Sharks captain Logan Couture described the Sharks’ offensive zone struggles:

I thought in the offensive zone we didn’t have enough, I guess polish around their net, you know, we weren’t winning enough battles to score enough goals. The pucks were there, he wasn’t handling many of the shots well. There were a lot of rebounds in the slot, we just didn’t get there to got the second opportunities.

Asked for a reaction to these two losses in a row where the Sharks out-shot their opponent, Couture said: “I don’t care about shots on goal, I care about us losing. We’ve been doing a lot of that. So, the feeling sucks, I mean it’s not fun.”

At the other end of the ice, the Sharks fell short as well. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones said: “Made some mistakes that we shouldn’t be making late in the game and they cost us. When you do that you need a save and we’re not getting that either.” Of Jones’s performance, Bob Boughner said: “He was pretty decent. He gave us a chance. I think their first goal was just okay but there’s not much he could do on the other two. We ask our goalies not to try and have to win us a game, just give us a chance. I thought he gave us a chance tonight.”

The Sharks out-shot the Blues in the first period 15-6 but the period ended with the Sharks on a power play and no goals scored.

Brent Burns changed that at the start of the first period, before the Sharks power play expired. He scored his first goal in 16 games with a beautiful shot that went off the post and in. Receiving a pass from Burns in the corner, Erik Karlsson took a moment to settle the puck at the top of the slot before sending the puck back to Burns for the shot above the face-off circle.

The Blues got that back in less than two minutes. Jordan Kyrou entered the zone and split the defense with his formidable speed. One on one with Jones, his back hand went right under the goaltender.

The visitors went on to take the lead at 5:30 of the period during a power play caused by a delay of game penalty to Evander Kane. Brayden Schenn sent the puck right through the blue paint in front of Jones and Jaden Schwartz had his stick free on the other side of the net so he could tap the puck in. Assists went to Schenn and David Perron.

The Sharks tied it back up when Brenden Dillon’s stretch pass found Stefan Noesen just above the St. Louis blue line. Noesen caught it in stride and skated until he was a nose ahead of the Blues defender before he took the shot. He beat Jake Allen on the short side. Assists went to Dillon and Burns. It was Noesen’s second of the season and his first as a Shark.

The shot count was a little closer in the second period, 13-9 Sharks.

St. Louis took the lead back at 11:07 of the third period with a goal from Alex Pietrangelo. Pietrangelo and Ivan Barbashev came out of the neutral zone with only Marc-Edouard Vlasic back. Vlasic effectively eliminated the pass so Pietrangelo shot from the top of the face-off circle and put it in the top corner. Assists went to Jaden Schwartz and Brayden Schenn.

The Sharks got a game-ending power play at 16:53, not unlike the end of their last game in Arizona. The Sharks could not score again and this time they also gave up a short-handed, empty net goal. That was scored by Ryan O’Reilly with an assist to Justin Faulk. Alex Pietrangelo scored another at 19:52.

The Blues out-shot the Sharks 13-8 in the third period.

The Sharks next play on Sunday at 7:00 PM PT against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Despite tragedy, Niners triumph in shoot-out 31-28

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sfgate.com photo: San Francisco 49ers kicker Robbie Gould (9) is congratulated by teammates after kicking the game-winning field goal against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019.

By Jeremy Harness

SANTA CLARA – George Kittle woke up Saturday morning to find out that the brother of his college, and current 49er, teammate C.J Beathard had been fatally stabbed. He said that for this reason, Saturday night’s game against the Rams “the hardest of my career.”

“(The day) sucked all around,” Kittle said. “Overall, it was a brutal day.”

Facing this, as well as a resilient Los Angeles Rams team that was fighting for a playoff spot, Kittle and the rest of the 49ers were able to band together and rally from an early deficit and some late-game struggles to pull out a 31-28 win at the horn, keeping their hopes for the NFC West division title and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs alive and sinking the Rams’ postseason aspirations altogether.

With the game tied in the final minutes, they faced a pair of third-and-16’s and converted both of them. Garoppolo found receiver Kendrick Bourne – who has developed a real knack for making big catches when they are most needed – and three plays later, he found a streaking Emmanuel Sanders, who had gotten deep behind corner Jalen Ramsey, with just under a minute to go.

That put the ball at LA’s 23-yard line, and from that point, the 49ers just ran a couple of plays in the middle of the field to set up Robbie Gould’s game-winning 33-yard field goal.

“This week, we made sure we knew what was on the line,” said linebacker Fred Warner, whose interception return for a touchdown late in the second quarter gave the 49ers a 24-21 lead at halftime. “We could have been way cleaner, but it’s all about (putting one) in the win column.”

The 49ers will now have eight days to prepare for a matchup in Seattle for the division title. The Seahawks currently hold the tie-breaker over the 49ers, so a victory is a must if they hope to get home-field advantage and a first-round bye. If they lose next Sunday, they will have a wild-card matchup on the road against the eventual NFC East champion.

“We know it’s going to be loud, we know it’s going to be a hostile environment,” quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said. “I can’t wait for it. It’s going to be awesome.

“Every week is a big game. This time of year, they all are.”

But first, the 49ers needed to win Saturday night, but the Rams gained the upper hand early, frustrating the defense with bootleg action to get down the field and grab a 21-10 second-quarter lead while the offense struggled to find its footing.

Garoppolo himself was not sharp at all in the first quarter. He found Deebo Samuel for a 9-yard hookup to start his night but did not complete another pass for the rest of the quarter. He was also picked off by Jalen Ramsey to kill the team’s third drive and finished the game with two interceptions.

However, Garoppolo got things together to start the second quarter, using the play-action that LA had used on the 49ers defense to march down the field. Samuel capped off the drive with a 19-yard fly-sweep run to narrow the Rams’ lead to 14-10.

The 49ers defense had major issues in the first half, as the vaunted defensive line was unable to get any pressure on Goff, and the secondary was picked apart as a result.

The 49ers got tired of the screen passes and dump-offs, and Warner did something about it with a minute left in the second quarter by jumping a screen route in the flat and returned it 46 yards for a score, giving his team its first lead of the night, 24-21.

Late in the third quarter, the Rams regained the lead on a seven-play 68-yard scoring march that saw right corner Ahkello Witherspoon get victimized by a pair of significant pass plays, including the 22-yard touchdown by Cooper Kupp.

As Goff used his tight ends to get ahead in the first quarter, Garoppolo utilized his in a lead-taking scoring drive late in the fourth quarter. He found Ross Dwelley deep over the middle to put the 49ers in scoring position while George Kittle, who is widely considered as the best tight end in football, broke free for a pair of big plays, including the 7-yard score that gave the 49ers a 31-28 advantage.

Huskies, Petersen beat Boise State in Las Vegas Bowl 38-7

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Petersen-Lake-Gettyt-620x370

Photo credit: Getty Images

By Shawn McCullough

LAS VEGAS–The Washington Huskies sent their head coach out on a good note.

Washington (8-5) beat up the Mountain West champion Boise State Mustangs 38-7 in the Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Huskies head coach Chris Petersen surprisingly announced his retirement from Washington on December 2nd, but agreed to coach the Huskies for his final game in the Las Vegas Bowl.

“It’s never about one person,” said Petersen about his last game.  “It’s about the team playing really, really well.”

Petersen formerly was the head coach at Boise State and went 92-12 from 2006 to 2013.  He led the Broncos to two undefeated season in 2006 and 2009.

“For us to finish on this note, I just feel really good for the guys that are leaving this program and the guys that are coming back,” said Petersen.

Redshirt junior quarterback Jacob Eason led the Huskies throwing for 210 yards and one touchdown.

“It was awesome just the way this whole team played,” said Eason.  “I play well and this team plays well.  Overall we just played well and efficient and got the result that we wanted.”

The Huskies started the scoring in the first quarter with Eason hitting Andre Baccellia on a slant for a 17 yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.

Washington later scored in the second quarter on a pitch sweep to running back Salvon Ahmed, who beat the outside contain and sprinted into the right corner of the end zone to go up 14-0.  The Huskies added a field goal late in the second to go into halftime up 17-0.

“Our guys played hard and they were ready to go out there and play, but as coaches, we didn’t do a good enough job to make the adjustments that we needed to do,” said Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin.  “I am proud of our guys”.

Boise State freshman quarterback Hank Bachmeier struggled in the first half throwing for just 87 yards and two interceptions sparking a quarterback change to redshirt senior Jaylon Henderson.

Henderson led an eleven play, 77 yard drive in the third quarter for the Mustang’s only points of the game on a 10 yard touchdown pass to running back George Holani.

The Mustang loss dropped Boise State to 12-2 on the season, snapping a six game winning streak.

Game Notes:

  • Washington defensive back Elijah Molden was named the game’s MVP with nine tackles and one interception
  • This was the 28th straight and final Las Vegas Bowl played at Sam Boyd Stadium
  • Sam Boyd Stadium seats 36,800
  • The Las Vegas Bowl will move to the currently under construction Allegiant Stadium in 2020, home of the Oakland Raiders and the UNLV Running Rebels

Bears blow an opportunity for a brighter Christmas, lose to Boston College, 64-60 in the final minutes

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Travel-weary Boston College afforded the Cal Bears a fast start. The Bears in turn kept the door open, and allowed the Eagles a chance to creep back into the contest.

In the end, it wasn’t an even swap.

BC made the adjustments in their offensive attack, got nastier on the glass, and pulled out a much-needed 64-60 win over Cal at the Chase Center on Saturday. The meeting of struggling Power 5 conference teams went to the visitors from the East Coast and they couldn’t have been happier.

“In the second half, we played smarter,” Boston College coach Jim Christian said.

The Bears have dropped six of eight after a 4-0 start to the season. Christian and his Eagles won their fourth straight after losing five of six. Both teams craved a win, but Boston College kept the mistakes to a minimum down the stretch.

“I thought we were just settling for threes,” Christian said. “We were taking the first three available to start the game. We hit a couple early, which sometimes is a bad thing. In the second half we played really smart.”

Cal led by 12 early, then they went scoreless for the final seven minutes plus of the half, and saw their lead sliced to three at the break. They seemed to take control again leading 48-37 with 11:43 remaining. But their points in the paint, and transition opportunities slowed, and BC quietly creeped back in.

“You can’t play 34 or 36 minutes,” Coach Mark Fox admitted. “You have to play a great segment of quality minutes, and tonight we didn’t do that.”

Fox cited six missed free throws in the opening 20 minutes as a major factor in the loss. Those misses kept Cal from extending their double-digit lead, according to Fox, and that factored heavily into BC’s initial comeback.

Neither team accomplished anything of note from distance. Both teams missed eight of nine 3-point attempts before the half. Cal controlled the paint, getting strong, offensive games from Andre Kelly and Lars Thiemann. The 7’0″ center Thiemann enjoyed his best game in a Cal uniform eight points, nine rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench. But Cal’s turnover count mounted (11 of their 16 turnovers came after halftime) and their shot selection deteriorated.

“I should have made sure we finished this game out–as captain and one of our leaders. That didn’t happen tonight. Obviously, I’m frustrated with myself,” said Matt Bradley, who led the Bears 21 points, but missed six of his seven attempts from distance.

The Bears now turn their attention towards their final non-conference contest against Harvard on December 29. Cal is trying to avoid a third, consecutive last place finish in the Pac-12, and they’ve now become the first conference school to lose six times this season.

Meanwhile, the conference continues to trend upward despite the top three programs–Arizona, Washington and Oregon–all losing to highly-regarded Gonzaga. While Cal has six losses, seven other Pac-12 schools have lost just once or twice, including Stanford, who won the opening contest of the Al Attles Classic against San Diego 62-59. The Cardinal are 11-1, their best start to a season in a decade.

CHRISTIAN’S ROUGH WEEK: BC coach Jim Christian hobbled up and down his team’s sideline on crutches with a pained look on his face, the aftermath of ankle microfracture surgery he had on Monday in Boston.

Christian conceded the cross-country flight to San Francisco was painful. He anticipated the flight back also will be agonizing.

The former Cornell coach retained his sense of humor however when explaining what led to the surgery.

“I injured my ankle in a dunk contest,” he said.

49ers quarterback CJ Beathard’s brother murdered in double stabbing

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photo from Nashville Police: Metro Nashvillle Police released this photo and asked the public for any information that would help identify the person of interest. A Rhodes College student and the brother of a San Francisco 49ers quarterback were fatally stabbed outside of a Nashville bar.

By Jeremy Harness

SANTA CLARA–San Francisco 49ers quarterback CJ Beathard’s brother Clayton Beathard, 22, and his friend Paul Trapeni III, 21, were both stabbed in their sides and later died after being rushed to a local Nashville hospital. The stabbing apparently was caused over a woman. Beathard and Trapeni were inside a midtown bar and went outside when the confrontation turned physical.

The suspect was identified as a student at Rhodes College, who is still at large. Clayton comes from a football family Clayton’s grandfather was a former NFL executive and Beathard is a current Niner quarterback.

Police said, “The fatal stabbings appear to have resulted from an argument over a woman that began inside Dogwood Bar and then turned physical when the parties went outside.”

No word from Beathard, the 49ers backup quarterback who is with the team playing the Los Angeles Rams at Levi’s Stadium on Saturday. Beathard could be leaving for Nashville right after tonight’s game.

Jeremy Harness is a 49ers analyst for http://www.sportsradioservice.com