50+ min ago (506+ words) Christian McCaffrey ran for 89 yards and a touchdown and the San Francisco 49ers overcame a horrible first-half stretch from quarterback Brock Purdy to beat the Carolina Panthers 20-9 on Monday night in Santa Clara, Calif. The 49ers (8-4) did the job on defense to register back-to-back wins for the first time since September. The Panthers (6-6) dropped into second place in the NFC South, a half-game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, after managing just 230 yards of total offense. McCaffrey had 24 carries and caught seven passes for 53 yards against his former team. Purdy completed 23 of 32 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown, and he was intercepted three times. Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, who threw for a franchise-record 448 yards a week earlier at Atlanta, finished 18-for-29 for 169 yards. He had one TD pass and threw two interceptions. Carolina defensive back Jaycee Horn picked off two passes, but he…...

55+ min ago (388+ words) A.J. Greer scored twice and added an assist in the Florida Panthers' 8-3 convincing win over the host Nashville Predators on Monday night. Sam Reinhart and Carter Vergaeghe each had a goal and two assists, Evan Rodrigues contributed a goal and an assist while Jesper Boqvist, Sam Bennett and defenseman Gustav Forsling also scored for the Panthers, who have won three of their last four. Defenseman Uvis Balinskis had two assists and Daniil Tarasov made 36 saves. Filip Forsberg, Fedor Svechkov and defenseman Nick Blankenburg recorded the goals for the Predators, who lost for the eighth time in nine games (1-6-2). Juuse Saros stopped 11 shots before being replaced by Justus Annunen, who made seven saves. Blankenburg's power-play goal pulled Nashville to within 5-3, 2:11 into the third period. But Greer got his second goal 4:52 into the third, Reinhart scored at 8:33, extending his point streak to seven…...

55+ min ago (322+ words) Zion Williamson scored a team-high 29 points on Monday to help lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a rare 143-130 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls. Ayo Dosunmu led Chicago with 28 points, followed by Coby White's 24 and Josh Giddey's 21. Jalen Smith scored 13 points, Jevon Carter added 11 and Tre Jones tallied 10 points and 11 assists for the Bulls, who dropped their seventh game in 10 tries. Matas Buzelis scored 10 points in the loss. After trailing by 16 at halftime, Chicago sliced its deficit in half on Dosunmu's layup at the 7:52 mark of the third quarter. New Orleans then pushed the lead back to 18 after Fears' layup and 3-pointer bookended a 9-0 run to give the Pelicans a 96-78 lead. Julian Phillips' running 3-pointer pulled the Bulls within 11 with 9:25 left, before Williamson's consecutive baskets gave New Orleans a 121-106 lead. The Pelicans went ahead by 18 on Alvarado's layup with 4:40 remaining....

1+ hour, 5+ min ago (386+ words) Jamal Murray scored 29 points, Peyton Watson chipped in 27 and Nikola Jokic added 17 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds as the visiting Denver Nuggets snapped the Memphis Grizzlies' two-game winning streak with a 125-115 victory Monday night. The Nuggets made a season-high 22 3-pointers (22-of-43, 51.2%) to withstand a fourth-quarter rally by the Grizzlies. Memphis trailed 108-91 early in the quarter following a four-point play by Cam Johnson, but cut the lead to five after a 12-0 run. Denver closed strong with two 3-pointers by Murray in the final four minutes and went up 121-112 after a Jokic behind-the-back bounce pass to Watson for an uncontested layup. Murray hit six 3-pointers and Watson added a career-highfive from long range. Jock Landale paced the Grizzlies with a career-high-tying 26 points along with 10 rebounds off the bench. Jaylen Wells dropped in a season-high 22 points and Cam Spencer scored 18. Denver never trailed after…...

1+ hour, 10+ min ago (279+ words) Shohei Ohtani, a two-time World Series champion, will attempt to add a second World Baseball Classic title to his haul when he competes for the defending champion Japanese team again next year. The 31-year-old two-way superstar made the announcement Monday on social media that he would again participate in the international tournament. Ohtani is fresh off another spectacular season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was the unanimous selection as the National League's Most Valuable Player after going 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 14 pitching starts while leading the league at the plate with a .622 slugging percentage, a 1.014 on-base-plus-slugging percentage and a career-high 146 runs scored. In 158 regular-season games this year, Ohtani batted .282 with 55 home runs and 102 RBIs en route to his fourth career MVP honor. Then Ohtani helped the Dodgers complete a run to their second straight World Series championship. He hit…...

1+ hour, 15+ min ago (388+ words) Boopie Miller scored 25 points and dished out 10 assists as SMU defeated feisty Radford 89-72 on Monday in Dallas to remain undefeated. The Mustangs (7-0) finished off the sweep of their season-opening seven-game homestand but was not as dominating as in some of those games. SMU led by just a bucket late in the first half before forging a 20-3 run over the final minute of the first and the first four of the second half. The Mustangs eventually led by 23 points after a B.J. Edwards layup at the 12:29 mark of the second. Radford closed to within 71-60 after a free throw by Del Jones with 5:39 remaining but would never get closer. Corey Washington added a career-high 21 points and 12 rebounds and Jaron Pierre Jr. racked up 15 points and 13 boards for the Mustangs. Saget Yigitoglu added 10 rebounds for SMU. Dennis Parker Jr. led Radford with 18 points while…...

1+ hour, 15+ min ago (324+ words) Tahaad Pettiford scored 24 points and No. 21 Auburn used a 10-0 run late in the second half to take control in an 84-73 win over Oregon on Monday in the first game of the Players Era men's championship for both teams at Las Vegas. The Tigers (5-1) took advantage of 18 Ducks turnovers and turned what was a close game into a more comfortable outing down the stretch. The game had 13 lead changes and seven ties until Auburn tool control. Keyshawn Hall, the Tigers' leading scorer, had 18 points and six rebounds in his return from a foot sprain that kept him out for one game. He played 36 minutes. Takai Simpkins led Oregon (4-1) with 22 points, making 5 of 8 3-point attempts. However, Oregon's two top scorers, Nate Bittle and Jackson Shelstad, were held to 10 and nine points, respectively. Oregon led five times in the second half, never by…...

1+ hour, 25+ min ago (304+ words) Jerami Grant scored 35 points to lead the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers to a 115-103 victory over the Bucks in Milwaukee on Monday night. Deni Avdija added 22 for a Portland team without former Buck Jrue Holiday (calf), Scoot Henderson (hamstring) and Shaedon Sharpe (calf). Donovan Clingan added 14 points with 12 rebounds. Milwaukee lost its fifth in a row and third straight without Giannis Antetokounmpo (groin strain). Bobby Portis led the Bucks with 22 points, though all but two of them came in the first half. Cole Anthony kept the game within reach with 16 points, while Kyle Kuzma scored 15 and Myles Turner added 13 with 11 rebounds. The Blazers came out strong at the start, with Grant pouring in 13 in the opening quarter and Portland growing a 12-point lead. The second quarter largely belonged to Portis, who scored 14 in the quarter, including 4 of 5 shots from 3-point range....

1+ hour, 25+ min ago (390+ words) Tyler Herro scored 24 points in his season debut and Kel'el Ware paired 20 points with 18 rebounds as the Miami Heat defeated the visiting Dallas Mavericks 106-102 on Monday. Herro missed his first four shots in his first game back from left ankle surgery, before hitting 12 of his next 14. Ware also had three blocks, while Bam Adebayo contributed 17 points in Miami's fifth consecutive win. P.J. Washington had 27 points for Dallas. Max Christie added 15 as six Mavericks reached double figures. With the score tied at 102, Adebayo stole Washington's inbounds pass with 48 seconds left, and Herro converted the turnover with a pullup bucket. The Mavericks had another chance to steal the win when Flagg picked off an inbounds pass from Jaime Jaquez Jr. with 18.4 seconds remaining, but Washington missed a three with 5.5 seconds on the clock, before Adebayo sealed it from the stripe. It was ugly…...

1+ hour, 34+ min ago (394+ words) Amier Ali banked in a tiebreaking 3-pointer from with 1.9 seconds remaining in overtime as Mississippi State came back for an 81-78 win over New Orleans on Monday in Starkville, Miss. Josh Hubbard scored 24 of his 28 points in the second half and overtime for the Bulldogs, who needed a 15-2 run in the final five minutes of regulation to extend the game. In the extra session, Mississippi State (3-3) led most of the way, but the Privateers (2-4) pulled even on a banked-in 3-pointer from Coleton Benson with 29 seconds left to play. Ali then answered with his long bank shot from the right wing. Hubbard rallied after a 2-for-8 first-half shooting performance to finish 9-for-21 from the floor. Ali added 16 points hit 3 of 6 attempts from 3-point range. Mississippi State's Ja'Borri McGhee also tallied 16 points and dished five assists, and Quincy Ballard added 11 points and seven…...