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USC’s Williams wins Heisman after leading Trojan turnaround

NEW YORK (AP) — Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams has won the Heisman Trophy to make USC the first school to take home college football’s most prestigious player of the year award eight times. TCU quarterback Max Duggan finished second. Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud was third in the voting after coming in fourth last season. Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett finished fourth. Williams transferred to USC from Oklahoma, following coach Lincoln Riley from Norman to Los Angeles, and led a turnaround season for the Trojans. USC finished 11-2 after going 4-8 last year.

Mets add latest pricey arm, land Japanese ace Senga for $75M

NEW YORK (AP) — Japanese pitcher Kodai Senga and the New York Mets have agreed to a $75 million, five-year contract, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a physical. It’s the latest big move for free-spending owner Steve Cohen and the busy Mets during a dizzying week. Senga figures to slot into the middle of a revamped rotation headed by three-time Cy Young Award winners Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

Army tops Navy 20-17 in first OT game in 123 rivalry games

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Navy’s Anton Hall Jr. fumbled at the goal line in the second overtime and that helped set up Quinn Maretzki’s 39-yard winning field goal as Army beat The Midshipmen 20-17 in the first OT game in 123 games of the rivalry series. There wasn’t much offense throughout the game until the waning moments of regulation when Maretzki kicked a 37-yarder with 1:53 left to tie the game at 10-all. Navy leads the series against Army 62-54-7.  The Black Knights have won five of the last seven meetings.

France advances to semifinals at World Cup, tops England 2-1

AL KHOR, Qatar (AP) — Kylian Mbappe and France made it back to the semifinals of the World Cup by beating England 2-1. Olivier Giroud scored in the 78th minute at Al Bayt Stadium to keep France on course to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups. England striker Harry Kane had a chance to even the score late in the match but he sent a penalty attempt over the bar. It was his second spot kick of the match. He earlier scored to make it 1-1 after Aurelien Tchouameni had given France the lead. France will next face Morocco in the semifinals on Wednesday.

Morocco reaches World Cup semifinals, tops Portugal, Ronaldo

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Morocco became the first African country to reach the World Cup semifinals by beating Portugal 1-0 to likely end Cristiano Ronaldo’s chances of winning soccer’s biggest prize. Youssef En-Nesyri scored the winning goal in the 42nd minute to continue Morocco’s improbable run that has generated an outpouring of pride in the Arab world during the first World Cup to be staged in the Middle East. The 37-year-old Ronaldo is one of soccer’s greatest players. He didn’t start for the second straight game but came on as a substitute in the 51st minute. Morocco will next play defending champion France in the semifinals.

Light heavyweight title remains vacant after draw in UFC 282

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The light heavyweight title remained vacant after judges awarded the main event in UFC 282 a controversial draw between third-ranked Jan Blachowicz and No. 4 Magomed Ankalaev. Blachowicz said he didn’t think he won the fight and that Ankalaev deserved the belt. One judge gave Blachowicz the fight a 48-47, another Anklalaev at 48-46 and the third a 47-47 score. The top two fights of the night went to the judges, and both are sure to draw scrutiny. Lightweight Paddy Pimblett won a unanimous decision over Jared Gordon in the co-main event.

Vlhová leads Holdener after 1st run of World Cup slalom

SESTRIERE, Italy (AP) — Petra Vlhová leads after the opening run of a World Cup slalom as she searches for her first win of the season. The Slovakian skier posted a time of 58.51 seconds in Sestriere to take an advantage of 0.24 over Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener. Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States is 0.33 behind Vlhová. The 27-year-old Vlhová won Olympic gold and the slalom title last season but finished second in the overall standings to Shiffrin. Vlhová won the overall title the previous year. Shiffrin has a 25-point lead over Vlhová in the overall standings. She won the two season-opening slalom races but Holdener and Anna Swenn Larsson triumphed in a joint win in Killington, Vermont.

Crawford knocks out Avanesyan in 6th round, keeps WBO title

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Unbeaten world champion Terence Crawford knocked out David Avanesyan in the sixth round to retain his WBO welterweight belt. Crawford, fighting for the first time in more than a year, had the sixth-ranked challenger wobbling with a flurry of blows before landing a right cross to the chin that put Avanesyan to the canvas 2 minutes, 14 seconds into the round. The pay-per-view bout was made after negotiations for an undisputed welterweight championship fight between Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. broke down in October.

Vaughn defends Nets decision to rest most of top rotation

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Brooklyn Nets coach Jacque Vaughn convinced All-Star forward Kevin Durant to stay home this weekend. Then he tried to explain why the Nets opted to rest their top seven scorers against Indiana in game where they rallied to beat the Pacers 136-133. For Vaughn, it came down to a simple calculation. With two games in two nights, most of those players dealing with injuries and one game between Sunday and Friday, Vaughn felt it was the best thing to do. But it also cost Pacers fans an opportunity to see Durant, All-Star Kyrie Irving or Ben Simmons in their final trip to Indiana this season.

One-armed player for Northwestern St scores first points

NATCHITOCHES, La. (AP) — A college basketball player who lost nearly all of his left arm in a childhood accident has scored his first points for Northwestern State. Freshman Hansel Emmanuel had a dunk, layup and foul shot for five points in a 91-73 win over Louisiana-Monroe in the Southland Conference on Saturday night. The 19-year-old Emmanuel was injured at 6 years old when a pile of cinder blocks fell on him. The 6-foot-6 guard had played four previous games for his Louisiana college this season without having a point.

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